Hooray! It’s finally February and that means I can attack that stack of comics that has been sitting on my dining table ever since I lugged them home from the library. And it is such a good stack. Just look at it! There’s some classic stuff like Osamu Tezuka’s Ode to Kirihito and the graphic novel version of Peter S Beagle’s The Last Unicorn, and plenty of new stuff that I hadn’t heard of before but just pulled off the shelves because the covers looked interesting and because, hey, gotta make sure the library knows that at least one library user loves comics!

Anyway, last week wasn’t such a great week as it was my first week alone with the boys again, after their grandmother flew back to Singapore after six weeks with us. It’s not easy to adjust to that! Plus the Husband caught a cold and that’s never pleasant.

So last week was about taking things easy and going back to my cooking staples of pasta and noodles. Things that are easy to make ahead or throw together while the kids are watching Daniel Tiger or Thomas or Sesame Street.

But I managed to do quite a bit of reading, mostly during the younger one’s nap time. The almost-4 doesn’t nap anymore (sigh) but I make sure he knows it’s quiet time and he will play his Lego or his cars or look at books on his own, relatively quietly. And I can prep for dinner and sometimes sneak in a quick read.

On the weekend though we had lunch at our favourite Japanese restaurant. Chirashi for me please!

And picked up some pastries from that little French bakery with the expensive but so delicious croissants in Stanford shopping centre. The Husband also picked out this chocolate dome for me.

Currently….

Reading:

Girl Runner – Carrie Snyder
For an upcoming book tour. But so good!

Ode to Kirihito – Osamu Tezuka
For Comics February

Ms Marvel: No Normal – G. Willow Wilson

Because I have waited so long for this!

Love on the Dole – Walter Greenwood
A “forgotten classic”. I’m finally getting started on my Back to the Classics challenge!

Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
I realized last year that I hadn’t reread any books. There are so very many books out there waiting to be read, why reread? You might be wondering just that. But I don’t know, somehow I was interested in rereading this classic again. It is the book that I dip into when I’m waiting to pick Wee Reader up from preschool. It’s always on my phone and won’t expire. And it’s so comforting to hear about Laurie and Jo and Meg and Beth and Amy and Marmee!

Just downloaded:

My hold for Florence Gordon came in. It’s on the Tournament of Books shortlist.

I also just added John Scalzi’s The Last Colony (Old Man’s War #3) to my Kindle, a library e-book.

Eating:

Made some oatmeal raisin-coconut cookies for the kids. And a batch of oatmeal-chocolate chip for myself. There’s oatmeal in it, so it counts as a breakfast item, right?

Drinking:
Black tea with milk

Cooking:
I have a hankering for Hainanese chicken rice so I’m going to crack open one of these pastes, stir it into uncooked jasmine rice, place some chicken on top and let the rice cooker do its thing. Then serve with stirfried leafy vegetables.

Also, some beef stew in the slow cooker, to be served with a couscous or mixed harvest grains from Trader Joe’s – love how quick it cooks up.

Noodles of some sort again. Maybe using the Korean sweet potato noodles, some chicken and lots of vegetables.

Watching:

The Fall. 

It’s rather sickening to be honest…

Listening:

Arcade Fire.

Last week…

I read:

An Untamed State – Roxane Gay

Devastated me completely.

Book of Strange New Things – Michel Faber

I posted:

Let’s get graphic! or, how I got started with graphic novels and comics!

Library Loot

F is for Ferrante, Ferrante is Fabulous

More comics this Library Loot!

Yes! Two Library Loots last week!

What are you reading this week?