Book Review: A Discovery of Witches by Diana Harkness

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" />A">http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8667848-a-discovery-of-witches">A Discovery of Witches by Deborah">http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3849415.Deborah_Harkness">Deborah Harkness

My rating: 4">http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/604781348">4 of 5 stars


I liked it. Diana can be annoying with her stubbornness, but I like Matthew. As a librarian, the base story of an enchanted book hidden deep in the recesses of the Bodleian Library is quite appealling.



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Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Interesting concept. While there are flaws in the story, and many questions left unanswered (I'd probably read a sequel if it was written), I enjoyed A's exploration of the different bodies/personalities that were inhabited. Quite interesting to read about mental illness and other traits from inside the person's head.
I will admit to getting upset with A at the end, but I think the storyline was handled well from a Young Adult point of view. This might be a candidate for reluctant readers, even though it really doesn't read like a series of short stories as one might speculate.




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Book Review: Reached by Ally Condie

Reached by Ally Condie


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I think this might be the best one in the trilogy. I was fascinated by the world Ally Condie created in Matched, but since the second book took place in the outer edges of the Society it seemed a bit disjointed. And truth be told, I was beginning go get impatient with Cassia. However, Crossed ended with enough of a cliffhanger to make me want to see it through.

Lots of growth in this book, both in Cassia as a character and I think in Condie's writing. I'd love to debate the idea of "Pilot" in a book discussion group not just with Teens but with adults. Was Lei a bit of a stretch, just to make everyone happy? Another point to debate.




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Bento 101 Assignments 2 & 3

So we're on the home stretch of the Bento 101 course, and I'm excited about planning meals and future lunches.

The second part of Assignment 2 had us select the container that would be most useful for the type of lunches we would plan to pack. My typical leftovers lunch usually has rice and some kind of meat. I had actually just ordered some divided containers to play around with portion control, but true to what the reviews said, they are not leak proof. So those will be best for foods that don't have a lot of liquid.

I splurged at an online bento store and picked up two different containers, only one of which I have a picture of, sorry!

This is a Lock & Lock set, 2 containers and a cute carrying case. The upper container is divided into 3 parts. I wanted a set that was microwaveable, since I have access to one at work and would very much prefer to warm my food before eating it.

So for Assignment 3, we got to pack the container. Ideally one would think about what kinds of foods to pack, and perhaps set some dinner aside for the next day's lunch. However, we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel which has made food prep quite challenging. So I cheated by picking up some food at the Japanese market.

The container on the right contains rice (from my freezer) and asparagus steamed in a microwave steamer. On the left, from the bottom, is Japanese fried chicken, dumplings, and blueberries. The fruit is in a silicone cupcake liner so I can just lift it out before nuking the container.

Total prep time was maybe 10 minutes, not including throwing the frozen rice into the microwave. I did that way before beginning to pack so the rice could start cooling.

Bento 101 Assignment 2: Sizing it up

I did a quick post of these pictures to Instagram and Twitter, but since I couldn't really fiddle with the pictures you really don't get the full effect. So I thought I'd post about the assignment here too.

Assignment 2 of the Bento 101 course calls for us to see just how much food can really go into a bento box. The boxes may seem small, but the idea is to really pack the food in so it doesn't move and it holds up better during transit. Even before this course started and I was thinking about trying to make bento lunches, I had purchased some divided containers, and I used one for this assignment.

First picture: Dinner on a regular dinner plate. This is some ribeye steak, steamed white rice, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and edamame.

And here is the same food packed into a 650 ml container. I even had extra room, so threw in some grape tomatoes.

The rice is underneath the meat and mushrooms, with plenty of headspace left.

BTW, I couldn't finish all of the food.

Audiobook Review: Snobs by Julian Fellowes

Snobs by Julian Fellowes


My rating: 3 of 5 stars







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Getting into the Bento habit!

I've signed on to do the Bento 101 course on the website Just Bento. Even though I've got an hour for lunch now, I'd rather just bring my lunch so I can wolf it down and use the rest of the time to either read or knit (or do both if I've got a good audiobook). Plus, I can pack a lunch for my husband and leave it in a spot so he's reminded to eat.

The course will be pretty interactive, with the opportunity to post pictures and such. The first assignment, making a list of foods we like to eat, doesn't call for pictures, but I thought I'd share anyway. We are to list foods we like to eat, that would be "good the next day". I'm a fan of taking leftovers for next day's lunch so this wasn't too hard for me. For proteins I listed beefsteak, chicken and pork adobo, and meatloaf. For carbs, spaghetti and rice. The combo box was more interesting, it has chicken with sausage and peppers, and fried rice. So on and so forth.

The second assignment is already up, we're to take a plated meal and practice packing it into a bento box. The idea is to have us see that although some bento boxes seem small, when packed it can hold a substantial amount of food. I'm not sure what kind of meal I'm going to pack since it's making up to be a rainy weekend and so I had it in my head to do soups all weekend long.