Check your email, littens. Change is a-comin‘

You guys. You guys. This is a thing. A thing that is going in my son‘s Easter basket.

*incoherent screeching*

Welp, I just blew through this 68 page story in half an hour. Not sure I‘d pay full price for it, but it sure was entertaining. Now onto the next Slow Horses spy novel!

The second book in the Slow Horses series is just as gripping and twisty and surprising as the first. These are such great spy novels! (And this from someone who tried to read and wanted to like John LeCarre, and failed miserably. Or he failed me, whichever you prefer). 10/10 would recommend!

One of my favorite things about my kid is his voracious appetite for reading and dinosaurs. And this book combines his two loves perfectly.

Bring a book on the boat, the in-laws said, and you can read while we fish. We‘ll keep an eye on the Bebe, who has his own fishing pole and net.

So I did. I finished my book, and no one fell overboard or got dehydrated or sunburned.

The best/worst thing that came home in the Bebe‘s treat bag from his Valentine‘s Day celebration at school. 😂😂😂

Congratulations, Erin Entrada Kelly, on winning the Newbery Medal! 🎉🥂😘

Didn‘t have scallions, and raw garlic is NOT my friend, but I made my own buttermilk (one tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk) and this dressing was AH. MAZE. ING.

You get a 6 oz container of crumbled Feta cheese and a container of ricotta cheese, and some beautiful tiny Cherub tomatoes.

You go home and plop the Feta in a mixing bowl and add a couple of scoops of ricotta to the feta, and mix it up with oregano, salt and pepper.

Then you‘ll spread that gorgeous stuff on the slices of bread you just grilled (and then rubbed with garlic cloves), and top it with tomatoes simmered briefly in balsamic vinegar.

All I know is, Princess Margaret‘s daily schedule is #goals

This counts as one scoop.

Take heart, fellow home-cooks, no matter your experience level, sometimes you‘ll look right at the metal probe of the meat thermometer sticking out of the pork tenderloin that you‘ve pulled out of the 425 degree oven, and you‘ll think, “don‘t touch that, it‘s hot,” and then you‘ll grab it with your bare fingers anyway, because your brain didn‘t keep up with your mouth. #ouch

Just making my son little old man hair for the 100th day of pre-k by rubber-cementing cotton balls to a shower cap. You know, just my usual Thursday morning.

Happy national chocolate cake day!

It‘s a good day for reading.

I don‘t think Andy Weir could write a believable female character if he tried. Has he met any women, ever? Yikes.And the science and banter that were charming and engaging in The Martian are draggy and downright distracting here. Ugh.

If you pick up a copy of this week‘s Time, you‘ll see an old student of mine from way back when I taught tenth grade: Anna, who‘s running for state rep and is part of the 2018 class of women aiming to change the status quo. #shepersisted annaforflorida.com

We‘ll miss you, Ursula Le Guin.

This book, and its wall-to-wall coverage at nprbooks is not even remotely appealing or interesting. I‘ve read several chapters online in various reviews, and that‘s more than enough for me.

I can understand the writer‘s point – that when you‘re blinded by xenophobia, you overlook the dangers lurking in your own native land. But still. All that baby and little kid murder puts this book squarely in the Not For Tomes category of literature.

It‘s little wonder that so many women read P&P and see themselves in Elizabeth Bennet: I wish I could be half as clever (especially under duress when she says exactly the right thing exactly when she means to say it).

Happy 200th birthday, Frankenstein! You haven‘t aged a day. Well, except for your left arm. #timeforanupgrade 😂😂

This page-turner was unputtdownable. When the deaf protagonist finds the body of an old friend in the river, her life as a former nurse, current unemployed alcoholic becomes more complicated than she could have imagined, and she learns that she‘s even stronger than she ever thought possible.

My first book of 2018 was this YA charmer. An unlikely group of friends (a psychic, her jump-roping sister, a guinea pig, and a boy who feels invisible) work together to save one of their tribe from an abandoned well, thwarting a bully in the process.

I was, of course, the only person reading in the god-forsaken Apple store this afternoon. But this book is so gripping right from the jump, the din faded away and I nearly missed being called for my turn at the Genius Bar.

The rest of my new year books just arrived! 🎉🎉🎉

Watching this for the first time; it‘s so swoony, I love it.

We‘ve had New Years appetizers and wine, and now it‘s time to wait out the fireworks with a book and the Ella Fitzgerald pandora station. #HappyNewYear

Starting 2018 off right (and early) #HappyNewBookYear

Omg. Anybody else think this too? 😂😂😂

What she said.

The Porgs and I want you to know that The Last Jedi is just wonderful, from beginning to end.

😭😭😭😭😭😭

Pictured: George Orwell‘s reaction to current events.

Ugh. This is my first (and probably last) Whitehead novel. If the protagonist is as utterly mediocre and unremarkable as we‘re told (over and over), then all the florid prose is just the author showing off his vocabulary. Dude, you know what extant means. Great. Now. Get. To. The. Point. Stop using 100 words when 15 will do. This book was so bad, I wanted a zombie to come chomp me and put me out of my misery.

🎵it‘s the most wonderful time of the year🎵 Hooray for the NPR book concierge! https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2017/

Best wine pairing ever: champagne and fried chicken. #ithelpskeepyourarteriesfromclogging #anditsdelish

You guys have all gone to see Coco, right? Because it‘s amazing and perfect and true. Go go go!

Not a Mary Berry recipe, but from my grandmother. This cream cheese pound cake is great for dessert or for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

Omg. If you‘ve had a hankering for Great British Bake Off, go to Netflix and watch the Big Family Cooking Showdown. Look! There‘s Nadiya!

We‘re really on a roll with all this bowling. *snort*

If you give a Mouse/Bebe a mountain of ornaments, he‘s going to put them all in the lower left quadrant of the tree.

In case you‘re worried about tomorrow: the best pumpkin pie you‘ve ever had is about as good as the worst pumpkin pie you‘ve ever had. #definitionofrelativity #itllallbeok

I love my grudges, I tend to them like little pets. #madelineismyhero

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, NOW MY ARM IS SO DIZZY. (Sings the Bebe in his bed, waving out the letters in the air with one finger)

I found this book very compelling. The complex feelings Celeste experiences, the way her friends love and support her without ever knowing the full truth, the friendships between all the women made this an excellent read. Can‘t wait to watch the HBO series.

We made our own bowling alley today.

You guys: go here, make this. You‘re welcome. (Also; litsy, there HAS to be a cleaner way to share links) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/a-humble-yet-glorious-way-to-eat-y...

Raise your hand if you‘re ready to weep your way through the new Star Wars.