It’s Monday and I’m finally reading The Mothers

June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 ~ Sharlene ~ 1 Comment

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

On a lovely overcast morning – such a relief from the heatwave of the past week! – we took a hike in Coyote Hills again.

Our friend introduced us to an Indonesian restaurant in Berkeley. I got the Ayam Penyet (smashed chicken), served with tempeh and tofu. So good! Of course everything is fried so…

Currently…

Reading:

A bit of a strange book this one

Watching:

Gossip Girl. For some reason I decided to try watching it and I’ve watched the first few episodes!

Eating:

Takeout from the Kebab Shop – mixed meat with green lentils and hummus

Drinking:

A very delightful Gewürztraminer

Cooking:

Oyako don

Maybe some pork chops and potatoes with zucchini

Browsing:

Last week:

I read:

Also,
Lady Killer – Joëlle Jones, Jamie S. Rich
Moving Sideways like a Crab – Shani Mootoo
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and the Great Lakes Avengers – Steve Ditko

I posted:

It’s Monday and it’s summer vacation!

June 19, 2017June 18, 2017 ~ Sharlene ~ 3 Comments

Thursday was the last day of school and the Kindergarten class had a class party with performances, awards and more. My boy received a “good citizen” award. Every kid got a different award and a medal. They were all so excited. About half of the class joined us in an after-school picnic at a nearby park. I brought the 4yo along too – he’s always joined in at their Friday after-school playground play so it’s almost like he’s part of the class. He knows many of the kids already!

I’ve signed up the 6yo for some summer camps in the area (mostly sports related), and the 4yo’s preschool is a year-round one so phew! one less thing to worry about for now.

A proud moment for me – the 6yo sat down and read most of this chapter book on his own accord!

On Saturday we went out for an early Father’s Day lunch at Black Angus. And with Sunday being so hot, there’s nothing much to do except stay home and build Lego!

Currently…

Reading:

Watching:

Bones Season 5

Eating:

Waffles

Drinking:

Nespresso

Cooking:

Well this week is all about lunch – I have to pack lunches every day for the 6yo while he’s off for his sports camp! Luckily he’s happy to eat sandwiches (quite a few of his friends aren’t bread eaters!).

Maybe I’ll try my hand at onigirazu (sushi sandwiches)

Browsing:

Fun post – a book playlist for Want by Cindy Pon

Book covers of note June 2017 (The Casual Optimist)

This review of The Mountain by Paul Yoon

Last week:

I read:
Unicorn vs Goblins – Dana Simpson
I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It (Squirrel Girl Vol 4) – Ryan North (Writer), Erica Henderson (Artist)
Frostbitten – (Women of the Otherworld #10) Kelley Armstrong
Paper Girls Vol 2 – Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang (Illustrator)
Jesus’s Son – Denis Johnson
The Dew Breaker – Edwidge Danticat
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe – Ryan North (Writer), Erica Henderson (Artist)

I posted:

It’s Monday and I’m reading Jesus’ Son

June 12, 2017June 11, 2017 ~ Sharlene ~ 9 Comments

It’s the last week of school for my 6yo!! He will be finishing off his year as a kindergartner and will be in first grade next year. And finally (finally!) I will have my mornings to myself again. It’s definitely been a challenging school year for us – he’s the first in the family to attend an American elementary school and it’s so different from what primary school is like in Singapore. For starters, the Singapore school year is January to December! And there are lots of tests, mid-year and end-year exams, even in Primary One.

Here, my boy attends Kindergarten in the afternoon, and it is Mandarin immersion so his main teacher speaks to the class in Mandarin only, while the AM class teacher takes over and handles the English half hour of the class. So very different! But he loves school and his friends and the fact that on Thursdays and Fridays he gets to stay after school and play in the playground with some of his classmates. And so it has been a successful year!

Anyway, this weekend…I seem to have caught a bit of a cold/itchy throat/cough thing. But I still managed to make a pandan cake, pasta salad and luckily the husband helped with making sandwiches – all for a picnic on a strangely chilly and blustery Sunday. We found a new-to-us park convenient for our friends too and for a while there it was like we had reserved the whole place for ourselves. The playground was empty and we had our pick of picnic spots. Of course some families arrived later but it was a lovely place that wasn’t as busy as the central park on a weekend. And there was even a nice field for the kids to play soccer. We are definitely coming back to this park!

Currently…

Reading:

Watching:

Bloodline on Netflix – I have a weakness for Kyle Chandler and there’s the bonus of Linda Cardellini (you may know her from Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men)

Eating:

Leftover sandwiches for dinner

Drinking:

A glass of warm milk

Browsing:

Review of The Good Immigrant (Huntress of Diverse Reads)

Not typically a book I would reach for but I’m intrigued by Deb’s description of how she was sucked into the story – White Fur by Jardine Libaire (Kahakai Kitchen)

Where are the great Italian women writers? (Lit Hub)

Last week:

I read:

The Dispossessed – Ursula K Le Guin (Loved it but may have been too heavy a book, coming from my marathon Asian Lit Bingo reading session last month which led to a book hangover).

Phantom Pains – Mishell Baker (LOVED IT)

It’s Monday and I’m reading The Dispossessed

June 5, 2017June 5, 2017 ~ Sharlene ~ 8 Comments

Last week saw the wrap-up of Asian Lit Bingo and I am so grateful for the organizers of this challenge! It’s an awesome way to promote and encourage the reading of books by Asian authors and I loved that the bingo topics made me challenge myself to read books I may not have tried or heard of, if not for the challenge! I didn’t do too badly with my challenge and I do want to continue finding and reading books to fill up the rest of the squares!

Also, we went hiking again! This time to the lovely Coyote Hills which overlooks the Dumbarton bridge and the bay. It was a bit more challenging than last week’s hike and I’m proud to say the kids did great! At last week’s hike, the 6yo declared he was tired after climbing up the hill (the 4yo wanted to keep going!). This time the path was quite steep (if not steeper), a lot further and had a lot of loose stones on the downward path. But they were raring to go and still had energy after to check out the park’s Bird and Butterfly Festival where they made butterfly pins and bee houses. It was definitely a fun Sunday.

(Saturday though, was unfortunately for me, a migraine day. I usually can manage my migraines – I get them every so often – but this one just came out of nowhere and hit me hard and I had to go lie down and close my eyes in a darkened room).

Currently…

Reading:

The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin

Mind MGMT Vol 2

Watching:

More Gilmore Girls. The last episode of Top Gear (I must say that the season has definitely improved a lot and while I’m still not a fan of Matt LeBlanc, I don’t cringe anymore when I see him)

Listening:
The BBC Radio adaptation of Twelfth Night (I was listening to it while trying to conquer my migraine).

Eating:

A bagel

Drinking:

PG Tips

Cooking:

Browsing:

This interview with Madeleine Thien (Lit Hub)

Secrets of the Book Designer: how to design for a feminist icon (Lit Hub)

Added to my TBR list:

Shattered Minds by Laura Lam (via The Illustrated Page)

Eva Sleeps by Francesca Melandri (via Word by Word)

Not A Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science by Dave Levitan (via We Be Reading)

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (via SFF Book Reviews)

Last week:

I read:
Mind MGMT Vol 1 Matt Kindt
Funny Boy Shyam Selvadurai
A Time to Dance Padma Venkatraman
I posted:

#AsianLitBingo: Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai

#AsianLitBingo wrap-up

#AsianLitBingo: A Time to Dance by Padma Venkataraman

TLC Book Tours: The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

#AsianLitBingo: Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen

#AsianLitBingo: The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino

It’s Monday – Happy Memorial Day!

May 29, 2017May 29, 2017 ~ Sharlene ~ 2 Comments

On Saturday we took the kids on their very first uphill hike at Garin Regional Park in Hayward. Luckily it was a nice cool morning and while a bit steep initially, we all made it to the top of one hill and got some nice views of the bay! And then back down again for a nice picnic.

Indian/Pakistani food for dinner! The kids ate the tandoori fish and naan and carrot sticks. The curries here are just way too spicy for them. Sadly the Saag Dal seems different these past couple of orders – the restaurant seems to be using a different dal and there’s a lot less spinach? It’s my favourite curry, I really hope it returns to its original recipe…

Currently…

Reading:

Funny Boy – Shyam Selvadurai

Watching:

Hidden Figures

Eating:

Made a pandan cake for a potluck dinner last night. Pandan is a green leafy plant used in Southeast Asian cooking. It’s very fragrant and makes for a lovely green cake!

Drinking:

Yorkshire Gold

Cooking:

We’ll be going to a friend’s house for a potluck dinner and I’ll be making this miso potato gratin that I found on Tasty Japan. Looks simple and so delicious. I love the idea of adding miso to a gratin. I love watching videos from Tasty Japan and Tastemade Japan as they have such different ideas sometimes.

Browsing:

Why are doughnut boxes pink? (LA Times)

Added to my TBR:

Mad Country by Samrat Upadhyay (via Lit Hub)

Chemistry by Weike Wang (via BookDragon)

The very beautiful The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi (via Pickle Me This)

Last week:

I read:

Malice – Keigo Higashino
Goat Days – Benyamin
Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America – David H T Wong
Goddess Chronicle – Natsuo Kirino
Pioneer Girl – Bich Minh Nguyen
The Girl from Everywhere – Heidi Heilig

I posted:

#AsianLitBingo: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Malice by Keigo Higashino #AsianLitBingo

#AsianLitBingo: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

#AsianLitBingo Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

#AsianLitBingo – Bright Lines

It’s Monday and it’s too hot!

May 22, 2017May 21, 2017 ~ Sharlene ~ 3 Comments

We finally bought fruits at the farmers market! The nearest farmers market is a year-round one (this is California after all) but the offerings during winter/early spring are a bit sad, also it rained a lot this winter so we never really went. But this time, there was so much to buy! We picked up cherries, nectarines, peaches, a whole flat of strawberries, green beans, zucchini. The kids had a blast tasting all the different samples.