Snow and Good Books

 

Somehow it is March. It doesn’t feel like March because there’s still snow, trying to melt, from the storm we had a week ago. The forecasters lied to us and told us we would get scant snow. Twenty-four hours later we were buried in over a foot. Our yard looks especially beautiful in the snow, so I can’t complain too much. Although, look at the photo of my garden! Then go to this post to see what those raised beds usually look like!

The first winter we lived here, six years ago now, the Portland area had more snow than usual and we were iced and snowed in for almost a week and we thought we would die. When I told the story, I would always joke that I finally understood Johnny in The Shining after being snowed-in with my spouse and kid.

Of course, Covid hit a few years later and we all learned what stir-crazy really feel likes, so last month’s snow and the few days we spent being stuck inside didn’t feel so bad. It was a breeze.

I cooked and baked a lot. Just before I got sick, I went to Powell’s for a book signing with Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen fame (I’ve been reading her since the early days of her blog) and got her new cookbook. I think I’ve made more than half the recipes in there already, which is unheard for any of the cookbooks I own. Honestly, I got her first cookbook and we hardly made anything but this is her third cookbook and it is fantastic. Try this recipe for Green Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Butter to get a taste of what you can expect. 

Besides cooking, I spent our snow days reading. I set the audacious Goodreads goal of reading 65 books this year. I usually blow by my usual goal of 50 books so I thought pushing myself to read a little more might just help me choose to read more and watch less television. Of the books I read last month, I would say these were my favorites:

The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang It’s a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov and it was fabulous. The writing was excellent-I especially loved how well the developed all the characters were. And don’t worry if you never read The Brothers Karamazov, I didn’t and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Though now I’m itching to read it. I''d also like to pick-up another retelling of the story, The Brothers K by David James Duncan that takes place in Camas, WA where I live. Honestly. I do tend to go down the rabbit hole once I like something. One summer, I read almost all the books by E.M. Forester and then watched all the Merchant-Ivory movies based on the books.

I also read The Angel of Rome by Jess Walter. It’s a collection of short stories and I enjoyed everyone of them, but of course, I did have favorites. If you need to save time, read Town and Country and This is the Way the World Ends. Not to spoil it, but I cried when I finished This is the Way the World Ends. It was so bittersweet and hopeful. I think we all need a little hope these days, don’t you?

I have to say it wasn’t just the snow that kept me in. It took me awhile to recover from Covid. While I think I avoided long-Covid, I struggled to get my energy and my brain back to normal.

That’s about all that is happening around here. Thanks to those of you who joined The Story Club. It means a lot to me that you want to read my stories. You can expect the first one to be in your mailbox March 16. If you haven’t signed up yet, feel free to do so here.

How are you? What have you been reading?