Lots happened last week!

 

It was “dress in green” for St Patrick’s Day and the two-year-old’s Ireland t-shirt won him best dressed in his class!

I got to hit the library book sale and picked up lots of books for myself and the kids (there’s quite a few there, mostly thin emerging reader sorts, although the stack is small). The library book sales are held at a small building in the Central Park so the Husband took the kids to the playground while I put in a good 40 minutes browsing. I saw so many more books I considered buying but some of them were in less than ideal state, so too bad.

 

The younger boy had his first dentist appointment! He did so great, even insisting that he be the first at it.

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

  Seven Japanese Tales – Junichiro Tanizaki

 

Arcadia – Lauren Groff

I’m really loving the voice that Groff uses to narrate the story of this commune, a young boy named Bit, the first child born in Arcadia.

 

 

Watching:

Angel Season three

So when Scribd announced its recent changes (reducing the number of ebooks), I thought, oh crap, better go read all those Angel comics. Which wasn’t the best thing to do mostly because I hadn’t finished watching Angel! I’m only on Season Three so it was a bit bizarre to find out about Illyria and the other characters. Yep I spoiler-ed myself!!! Genius huh.

Listening:

Modern Romance – Aziz Ansari

I am starting to understand the importance of previewing an audiobook! I was quite excited to see Patti Smith’s M Train on Scribd but after listening to her narrate her own book during my walk, I realized that I could not do it any more. It’s nothing against her story, she had a fascinating story that I wanted to read, but I did not want to listen to her voice while I walked. I know I’m going to get boos from that, I do love her voice when she sings, and she has this distinctive raspy drawl of a voice that makes you think of cigarettes and whiskey. But it wasn’t really a book for me to listen to during a brisk walk. It made me want to curl up on the sofa with a book and a cup of coffee (with a little something splashed in). I needed something more peppy and more brisk-walkable. And so I tried another book. I’ve only seen one episode of Masters of None and none of Parks and Rec, and besides that, don’t really know much about Aziz Ansari, But I was curious enough to try out the preview and ha, I was suckered into Aziz’s ad-libbing, breaking away from the script and talking to the listener. Like in the opening, he says something like “I wonder what you’re doing right now?” then ‘are you getting irritated with me?’. Well the rest of it was pretty fun and interesting too. And more importantly, I actually went for an extra round without realising it!

(you can listen to the opening here)

 

Eating:

 

 Drinking:

Tea of course

Cooking:

I’m thinking of doing some slow cooker stuff maybe chicken stew. And on a chicken-y note, the thought of Japanese curry crossed my mind. But is that too much chicken for one week?

It’s been a while since I’ve done a bolognese, so maybe this week.

 

Browsing:

Hey it’s Once Upon A Time X! In case this is your first time, it is a challenge that stretches from March 21 to June 21, and it is a “reading and viewing and gaming event that encompasses four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology”, and you just need to read one book (or challenge your self with the different quests if you’d like).

Lit Hub’s Five Necessary French Books You Should Read 

I’m a little bit puzzled by how Locke and Key is on the list of the 2016 Audie Award Finalists. I am intrigued because it is one of my favourite comic series and it is narrated by Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew, and a full cast. Has anyone listened to it?

Julianne at Outlandlist Lit highlighted 10 nonlinear novels. One of my favourites is Evie Wyld’s All The Birds, Singing.

The Atlantic talks about the Obama’s smart cultural power 

A great Millions piece on historical fiction

Also, a new-to-me webcomic, Aatmaja Pandya’s Travelogue (Booklist Reader)

Also, did you know that fresh bamboo can be toxic?? (via No Recipes)

 

Last week:

I read:

Alone Forever – Liz Prince
One of those very personal comics, detailing her single life. Sometimes funny, sometimes just really painful. A bit repetitive!

Liar’s Kiss – Eric Stillman

A bit of a noir detective mystery type thing going on here. The cover looks fantastic but the illustrations inside are only so-so. The story is decent enough, a private investigator is carrying on with his client’s wife, his client paying him to prove that his wife is loyal to him. And then the client ends up dead.

Fiction Squad – Paul Jenkins and Ramon Bachs

Jim Henson’s The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow – Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, Roger Langridge
The Gwaii – Sean Patrick O’Reilly, Grant Chastain (Editor), Pedro Delgado (Illustrator)

I’m going to talk about these in a separate #weirdathon comic round-up later this week.
I posted:

#weirdathon – Gold Fame Citrus and other books with cults

Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR