The days are getting shorter and the mister has already been waxing poetic about his waning nightly routine of sitting outside on the deck watching the sun drop down over the trees. Each night after arriving home from Global Headquarters, he reclines in his chaise with a book in hand and his red Solo cup in the other. He will read a half page or so, take a sip, then read a bit more - he's a two-sip-a-page kind of guy. If I'm outside with him, he will want to read out loud to me, parts he thinks are interesting, so I'll listen, even though I'm reading my own book, nod appropriately, even offer up a hmmmm, then I'll turn back to my book and try to remember where I was. Usually I only put up with this for about 30 minutes or so because I get NO reading done when the mister IS reading. I thought I would tell you what I've been reading this summer - if you need a good book for yourself, these were pretty good:
I can't take credit for finding these books, no, I have to thank Bill Gates, via Time Magazine. Bill was asked what was on his summer reading list and he mentioned 4 of these books. So if I read the same books at Bill Gates, on the Bacon-6-Degrees-of-Separation-Scale, would this move me any closer to Bill? Also, just in case you've ever wondered what was going through my mind, now I can say that at some point Bill and I were thinking (reading) the exact same thing...in other words, Bill Gates and I think alike. (You have no idea how much I liked typing that!)
Bill didn't recommend Jon Meacham's book, Thomas Jefferson The Art of Power, which is what the mister is reading, a half page at a time. When the mister finishes, if I'm still alive, I want to read this. It was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, The Seattle Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was a New York Times Notable Book...all fake news sources (!) according to one, but the mister has enjoyed this history lesson and I've had practically half the book read to me so I might as well!
The Heart by Maylis DeKerangal was probably my favorite read this summer - its a quick (242 pages) read that will keep you going until you're done. It's the story of three teenage boys who are involved in a car accident, which results in one of them being declared brain-dead, with his heart still beating. The Heart is really about a transplant and all that is involved medically and emotionally - it's gripping. It reminded me of when the girl had a very serious car accident and she was in ICU after hours of surgery to put her back together - I was sitting in her room with a friend when a nurse stuck his head in and said, "Is your daughter an organ donor?" I was stunned, at the time we didn't know if she would live through the night, so I replied, SHE'S NOT TONIGHT! It will make you think about organ donation and what you would do...I highly recommend it, the book AND being an organ donor!
Jimmy Carter's A Full Life Reflections at Ninety, is sweet and interesting and will have you asking yourself, What have I done with my life?!? The 39th President of United States has led a very, very full life - he must never sleep! He's been a businessman, politician, evangelist and is now one of our greatest humanitarians and at age 90 he is still going strong! At 238 pages it's a quick read and even if you didn't like him as our President, you'll find he's a really likeable guy. Thanks to Bill for recommending this book, I never would have picked it up on my own!
Another from Bill, Trevor Noah Born a Crime, Stories From A South African Childhood. This is worth reading - it's truly a book filled with miracles! How did a kid born in the apartheid ghetto of Soweto, South Africa, to a black woman and a white man, manage to survive and not only that, make it all the way to American late night TV?? Surely that is a miracle right there! Trevor Noah made it all the way to the desk on The Daily Show because he's a survivor and he's funny! Parts of the book are a little rough in terms of language but his stories had me thanking my lucky stars I was raised a little mountain girl in Utah and not in Soweto!
Homo Deus A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari is fascinating...and not the kind of book you can sit and read straight through, at least not for me. I'm only on page 150 of this 400 page book and it's taking me a while to digest...so much information! According to Harari, on the back cover of the book: "War is obsolete, you are more likely to commit suicide than be killed in conflict. Famine is disappearing, you are more at risk of obesity than starvation. Death is just a technical problem, equality is out - but immortality is in. What does our future hold? This is the next stage of evolution...This is Homo Deus." This one will make you think - something I'm not all that good at, but I have loved reading what might be possible...living to be 150? Yes please, and hopefully in the next 250 pages I'll find out how to do just that!
I picked up these two books at Half Price Books in July, just in time for my annual picnic to see the Blue Angels fly over Lake Washington. They are both worth full price! I love the Pike Place Market Recipes by Jess Thomson, because they are the exact recipes from all of my favorite Seattle restaurants - Le Pichet, Matt's in the Market, Etta's Seafood, Market Spice and Il Bistro's...I'm getting a little verklempt just thinking about them! If you come to Seattle as a tourista, you need this as a souvenir and if you live here, this should be part of your culinary rotation!! Picnic by Annie Bell has some very interesting recipes - some that I felt couldn't be taken on a picnic, at least not the kind of circus-picnic I'm used to but all in all, a great little book - I'll be posting some of my very favorites from this book soon!
The Summer Table by Lisa Lemke is just fun. There are just too many recipes/reasons why I love this book to mention here - just know that I will be posting the recipes I've made all summer long very soon - like the Bread Omelet with Grapes and Gorgonzola...it's yummy, truly yummy! This book is filled with beautiful salads, desserts and vegetables - with beautiful photographs - it's everything a really good cookbook should be and then some.
You're rolling your eyes, aren't you? Yes it's August and Thanksgiving is 3 months away...but this is one of the strange things I do this time of year - I start reading recipes/books on Thanksgiving, because why not?!? This Williams-Sonoma book, Thanksgiving Entertaining, was first published in 2005 and if you can find it, you'll have a treasure in your hands. Not only are the recipes inside great for T-Day but for every day leading up to it! This is hands-down one of my most loved/used recipe books.
Okay, that's it - that's what I've been keeping busy with late at night while the mister is out on the deck reading, humming (he's not allowed to sing because he disturbs the neighbors!), talking to Rosie...
Can't say as I blame him our deck does look pretty nice this year, thanks to the 55 straight days of sun and then we had a spittle of rain and now we're back to sunny days, cooler temps and thankfully the Canadian smoke from the fires (or lots and lots of Canadian doobies) has blown away...August in Seattle, it just doesn't get any better!
