Breakfast this morning - homemade scones (see my post about how Royal Holiday made me crave scones https://reallifereading.com/2019/11/16/royal-holiday-made-me-do-it-weekendcookin... ) and this interesting time travel read by Mike Chen. Bonus: set in the Bay Area!
Reading the first few chapters of Royal Holiday made me long for a good scone. And since I live in suburban USA, the best (perhaps only) scones around are my own (recipe from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum). I don‘t mean to toot my own horn but there really isn‘t a place where one can get scones here.
I‘m about 60-odd pages into this book and scones have already been consumed several times. How can one resist the call of the scone?
I‘m not quite sure why I thought this would be a serious book. Maybe because the main character is given only six months to live. Maybe because I thought of St Aubyn as a serious writer. As in serious, stern, frowning. How did I get that impression I have no clue. But maybe that was why I‘ve not picked up his books until today. It is witty and delightful despite the impending death that hangs over.
Audiobook plus big bar of chocolate = lots of chocolate shavings to top a black forest cake and a slightly sore hand. Also chocolate everywhere
didn‘t really manage to do a proper #readathon last weekend so here I am, with my pile of Giant Days, attempting my own mini readathon! Readathon snack of homemade matcha kasutera or green tea castella cake. Made this for the first time yesterday!
The castella cake is a fat-less sponge cake (no oil no butter) and no raising agents (you have to whisk the eggs to get the volume) and was brought to Japan by the Portuguese in the 16th century
Happy Friday/Saturday!
I‘m working on a Ravenclaw scarf for the kids (one done already) and listening to The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
The kids‘ school has a festival later today and my 6yo is going as a Ravenclaw student (the 8yo is a ninja) but of course I have to make two scarves to make it fair!
Are you all ready for Halloween?
#audiocrochet
Giant Days is a reread. At least of these five volumes. I first read them a few years ago but didn‘t keep up so I was thrilled to see all the volumes on the library shelves .
I hadn‘t heard of Hit-Girl before and the first volume wasn‘t available but hey the Canada volume is written by Jeff Lemire!
Diary of a Tokyo Teen was something I spotted while browsing the memoirs shelves. It looks cute!
I had a nice wander around the library just before school pickup and it was so pleasant and quiet. Don‘t get me wrong, I love seeing kids at the library but sometimes it‘s nice to be able to browse in peace.
I snagged books from some authors whose works I‘ve previously enjoyed (Nakamura and Jaswal) & also a new-to-me author, Ji-Min Lee. I read Monica Ali‘s Brick Lane years ago. As for St Aubyn, I‘ve been meaning to read his works for so long!
Latest #audiocrochet project done! I finished up this shiny magikarp hat while listening to I Am I Am I Am. It was a lot harder than I thought especially the tail which didn‘t turn out right and I‘m not sure if I was counting wrong or the pattern had issues (I had to frog it twice & still doesn‘t seem right). I haven‘t put in the barbels yet and was thinking of leaving it off as I imagine the 6yo might complain about it hanging about his face.
I just came back from a MixxedFit workout and I am starving and all my hunger wanted was a cookie. So I gave it two. Meanwhile I have just met Tamsen Donner (yes of that Donner Party) and her wagon train has been on the trail for 1.5 months, making very slow progress. I can‘t help wondering, how did people do this? Brave unknown (or little known) territory, for miles and miles and months and months?
Yay #bookmail
It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo - a work of translated fiction by a Venezuelan-born writer.
The ebook is You Beneath Your Skin by @damyantig and is set in New Delhi and promises a tale of murder and corruption. Its main character is a single mother with an autistic teenage son.
My friend sent me this copy of The Weight of Our Sky who was at the Asian Festival of Children‘s Content in Singapore.
Last night with my reading buddy
Last night‘s book and dinner. The drumsticks were marinated in a black bean-soy sauce-brown sugar concoction I made up. Asparagus and potatoes grilled in the oven.
Tangzhong method raisin bread made while listening to Bill Nye read his book
Starting Friday morning off with a coffee and a comic. Happy Friday!
Some slightly darker comics fare for #ripxiv
I first read vol 1 of Monstress when it came out but didn‘t continue and I was thrilled to find the three volumes at the library. Abbott is set in 1972 Detroit and has a reporter investigating grisly crimes. I read previous volumes of X-23 and was surprised to see that this one is by Marino Tamaki. A new series? A reboot? Honestly I can never keep up with comics but I‘m just happy to start reading it
Charging the car and reading this new-to-me author for #ripxiv
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It‘s set in South Africa in 1952 when the new apartheid laws have gone into effect and an Afrikaner police officer is found dead
Have you read Malla Nunn‘s books before?
Bill Nye is keeping me company this Sunday morning. What are you up to?
It‘s the first day of school and now the house seems is so quiet and peaceful without children. The boys are finally in school at the same time (PM kindergarten schedule last year made things rather tricky!). And I‘m celebrating with drip coffee (from a Singapore brand), almond biscuits from Marks and Spencer, and a great read. Happy first day of school everyone!
Someone‘s taken over my spot tonight
Sunday is brought to you by the letter C - Comics (Skim and The Adventures of Superhero Girl), Coffee, and Chocolate from Singapore - Nanyang Kaya “traditional Singaporean breakfast in a bar” and one of things I love most is Kaya toast, Kaya being a delightfully delicious coconut jam and it‘s traditionally served between two crispy thin slices of toast and a slab of butter. Best with soft boiled eggs and dark soy sauce, and a milky sweet tea
Current audiobook and wip - a baby blanket using a Catherine wheel stitch. #audiocrochet
Also I have to add lugging two tote bags full of library books to and from my car
Sunday morning bright and early with homemade banana pancakes and maple syrup and starting a new book that I hadn‘t heard of before until I browsed the library‘s ebook catalogue. It sounded devastating (bereavement) but because of its Sicilian setting, fascinating and possibly likely to induce pasta cravings. Have you read this yet?
Coincidentally I had seen an article on this very restaurant this morning (think it may have been in Bon Appetit magazine) and was thinking that it‘s been a year since I had a tiki cocktail, when I was in Phuket, Thailand.
Good morning! I am seriously jetlagging. I spent the last few hours awake (since 326am) tossing and turning, reading a bit, lying there practicing deep breathing and trying various things like counting backwards from 1000 in threes. And of course googling things like “how long does it take to get over jet lag”. Which isn‘t helpful as it takes 1-2 days to recover for each time zone crossed and Singapore is 15 hours ahead of CA
Haven‘t been doing as much reading as I was hoping on this 3 day mini vacation to Bintan (Riau islands, Indonesia). We had a 3 bedroom villa with my parents and sister. And it had its own private pool with this view of the sea. Lots of swimming, hunting the beach for shells, not so much reading but I did manage a few chapters of this Singaporean-written book.
Sometimes it‘s nice to take a break from busy squeeze lots of things in days and sit down with a latte (this one from a Korean coffee chain) and read a book. I didn‘t bring a physical book so I was reading from my phone. Hope your week‘s going well!
Not at all a bookish post but we had a fun time at Jewel, part of Changi Airport today. If you‘ve got a long transit in Singapore, this is a great place to visit!
Another photo of the library at the Vivocity mall in Singapore. I love the lighting of the shelves!
Library with a view! Checking out the awesome library at Vivocity Singapore which has a view of Sentosa island and the roller coasters of Universal Studios Singapore .
Reading on the MRT is never easy. The seats are narrow and I have wide shoulders and I feel the need to compress myself a bit next to these strangers. Almost everyone, young and old, are on their phones. The 20-something guy next to me was watching Big Bang Theory, the 20-something girl next to me had some Korean TV show on her phone. No one is reading or at least I can‘t see anyone with a book, as I pull out mine
One of the best places in Singapore‘s Orchard Road shopping street is the library. Unfortunately there were more people on phones, tablets and computers, or taking photos of the place, than people reading books. But I spent a lovely 2 hours there browsing and reading.
Singapore was a former British settlement so we like our colours and favourites, “u”s and all. But it‘s also a country with lots of American influences (I grew up watching lots of American TV shows), and also quite a bit of Aussie influences. At any rate, in terms of books, I‘m always pleased to find different editions at the bookstores.
Love seeing all the Enid Blytons on the shelves!
Wandering around Books Kinokuniya!
Scenes from one of the many suburban libraries in Singapore. This one recently opened last year (if I‘m not wrong). It was moved from a small building of its own to this massive complex that houses a sports hub (tennis courts, fitness studios, swimming pools), clinics and more.
I reckon you don‘t get mangoes at the South Pole. I‘m enjoying my juicy breakfast with a side of freezing temps wafting from my read.
Yesterday‘s bookstore haul! The three books in the top row were books the kids bought with their $10 gift cards and the rest were ARCs they got to select after finishing their bingo cards as part of the bookstore‘s summer reading challenge!
Hooray! The awesome Books Inc bookstores has a book bingo for kids each summer and this year both my boys managed a blackout. They each got a $10 gift card and got to pick from some ARCs!
Saturday doings: morning swim class for the kids (and reading this fun middle-grade novel for me), lunch at Super Duper burger, some Wizards Unite around the big mall, watching Goblet of Fire and crocheting this cupcake! How was your Saturday?
Yesterday‘s birthday cake for breakfast = happy Friday
I was reading Ballet Shoes for Anna by Noel Streatfeild, a book I did not know existed until I found it in a secondhand bookstore in Gold Beach, Oregon, when the 6yo asks me to read The Little Prince to him. This copy of The Little Prince is one I‘ve read since I was a kid. And which my mum brought over from Singapore for me. And there‘s something special about reading a book I once read as a kid to my own kids
An octopus cupcake 🐙 🧁 made while listening to DFW talk about how lobsters are cooked. #audiocrochet
Today‘s playground read is this interesting translated book by a Brazilian woman writer and is set in 1940s Rio de Janeiro
A bit late of a wrap-up but here are some books I finished reading in June. I traveled far in my reading in June - Alaska, Tahiti, India, Germany, Korea
Total: 16
3 comics (2 of which were nonfiction)
1 NF audiobook
2 YA
1 classic
11 books by women writers
6 books by POC writers
Latest #audiocrochet project - a short-sleeved cardigan using Jeans yarn from Lion Brand yarn. Cute and relatively easy to make! Also, I‘ve been wanting to read Consider the Lobster for a while and the push was listening to Ruth Reichl‘s Save Me the Plums where she talks about that very essay that was published in Gourmet magazine.
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