April 11, 2016 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 11, 2016)

Happy Monday, my friends! I’m heading into what I am hoping will be my last crrrrrrazy week for a little while. I’ve got speaking engagements on Monday and Wednesday, a Very Important Meeting on Tuesday, and a hearing scheduled for Thursday and Friday (which may be rescheduled, and honestly I’m hoping that it will, because I’m behind on everything after two weeks of almost constant sickness for everyone in the family, and a week of that falling when Steve was out of town and I had to hold down the fort almost completely on my own). I am staring down the barrel of one of those weeks when I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done – even after I worked both days this weekend to try to stay on top of the workload. I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to this week being over, and to taking a big, deep breath next weekend.

So, despite starting the week with the stomach flu and fighting through crazy work stress the rest of the week, I did actually have a good few days of reading there. Diary of a Provincial Lady has been on my list for awhile now (thanks, Amazon recommendations!) and finally I decided it was time to put in a request and call it up from the library closed stacks. I was LOLing within the first couple of pages, and cracking up every few pages throughout the book – and now I can’t wait to read the rest in the series (there are four). How had I never read any E.M. Delafield before? I’m a convert. I finished Provincial Lady on Friday night after nibbling at it all week (didn’t want it to end!) and then read The Story of Hong Gildong, a new translation of a classic Korean work that Penguin has just republished, over Saturday (when I wasn’t working). I enjoyed the gorgeous imagery – the descriptions of mountainous hideaways had me imagining Colorado – and the story was packed full of adventure and thrills.

Now I’m finally checking off another book that’s been on my to-read list for ages (years, in fact): Kindred, by Octavia Butler. Back when I first switched from food blogging to book blogging, a reader suggested Butler to me and recommended starting with Kindred, and I put it on my list accordingly, but had never gotten to it before now. It’s time! What with everything I have going on this week, it may be the only book I finish, but I’ll be sure to let you know my thoughts.

Coming up on the blog: a National Poetry Month post (your annual dose of e.e. cummings!) on Wednesday, and a meditation on never being bored (I never am, and it’s a blessing and a curse!) on Friday.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Date. Thanks for the inspiration!

What are you reading this week?

April 8, 2016 by Jaclyn

ColoRADo 2015: Hiking Hall Ranch

Every day as we drove to and from my brother’s house in the Rockies, we passed by a small parking area with a sign that looked suspiciously like a trailhead, about ten minutes from my brother’s place. Something about the spot was really calling to me, so I asked my brother what it was. “Oh, that’s Hall Ranch,” he replied. “We hike there sometimes but we haven’t been in awhile.” Was it worth our family exploring? Definitely – Dan said that there were nice views of his valley, and it was mostly flat. Okay, I’m sold – let’s go.

On Sunday morning, we all piled into the cars and headed into the village of Lyons for a quick brunch at Danielle’s favorite coffee shop. Warm and full, we made our way to Hall Ranch.

How lucky are Dan and Danielle to live near this spot? If I lived close by, I’d be on this trail every weekend.

Mountain lions or no mountain lions.

We headed down the trail. The red dirt was mostly covered by snow, but there was just enough to lend beautiful contrasting color to the scenery.

I was in awe of the beautiful vistas. My brother lives in the mountains, surrounded by Ponderosa pines. I couldn’t believe that this (completely different!) landscape was only ten minutes from his mountain hideaway!

The earth and rock formations were like nothing I’d ever seen on a hike before. I made everyone pose for pictures.

(Yes, they were all annoyed. No, I didn’t care.)

Danielle is a walking encyclopedia of plant and animal facts, and she pointed out all kinds of interesting flora and fauna as we hiked. We saw several bunnies (Peanut was delighted) and Danielle found some wild thyme for us to sniff.

(Can I be sappy for a second? She makes my brother so happy, and she has brought all kinds of joy to our family. We’re so lucky to have her!)

Hall Ranch was a perfect hike. It was flat enough that we were able to negotiate the trails without any problem, even with little ones – and we didn’t have to walk far into the park to be surrounded by gorgeous vistas and natural wonders. We saw other families, including one with a baby even younger than Nugget, out on the trails, and for good reason – between ease of access and lots of bang for your buck, I think this was the most family-friendly hike we did on the entire trip.

I really can’t describe how much I loved Hall Ranch. Part of the fun of traveling, for me, is getting to see things that are really different from my regular environment. With its geology and plant life, Hall Ranch was different from any other hike I’ve ever done, and I was completely in love with it – and completely jealous that Dan and Danielle can come here anytime they want!

(For those of you who got our Christmas card and were wondering where the picture was taken – it was here! Courtesy of Aunt Danielle, who did her best to get Peanut to smile. She’d just sort of had it with the hiking backpack at that point.)

Such a beautiful spot! And what a way to wrap up a fabulous week spent with two of our favorite people. On Monday, we headed out of the mountains and back into Denver. Our flight was very early – think 6:00 a.m. early – on Tuesday morning, so we decided to spend Monday night in the airport hotel; had we stayed at my brother’s house, we would have had to get up at about 2:00 a.m. in order to make our flight. We had big plans for spending Monday exploring more of Denver, but an urgent work matter intervened and I spent the morning holed up at the Denver library, using the Wi-Fi to churn out a memo that couldn’t wait another minute. It happens.

We reunited for lunch and a walk along Cherry Creek…

…before heading to the airport.

And we were up at zero dark hundred the next morning, heading back East and back to reality – but full of happy memories, and with the red soil of the Hall Ranch trails still clinging to the treads of our hiking boots.

Sadly, I must tell you that this concludes my recaps of our fabulous trip to Colorado. We had such a wonderful time, and I can’t wait to go back! Until we do, I’ll be revisiting these pictures over and over again. Thanks for coming along as I relived the journey!

April 6, 2016 by Jaclyn

Reading Round-Up: March 2016

Reading Round-Up Header

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for March, 2016…

Jam on the Vine, by LaShonda Katrice Barnett – The fictionalized story of an actual historical figure, Jam on the Vine introduces Ivoe Williams, who along with her lover, Ona, founded and ran the first African-American female-run newspaper. We meet Ivoe as a young girl and see her struggle through hardships and injustices with the help of her love of words, and cheer as she falls in love with Ona and grows into a determined and, ultimately, a successful woman. I thought this book was wonderful – but fair warning, there are some scenes of violence that are very distressing (up to my threshold, which is admittedly not that high, but any more violent and I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish the book – so if you’re sensitive, be forewarned).

My Man Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse – I needed something a little lighter after reading about horrible violence in the Jim Crow South, and Jeeves always does the trick. This wasn’t my favorite – it’s the first appearance of the brilliant valet, and you can tell that Wodehouse is still developing the characters. And there are a few stories featuring neither Bertie nor Jeeves, which felt like filler material (although I’m sure they weren’t at the time the book was first published, before Bertie and Jeeves were so well-known and beloved). Still, Jeeves and Wooster are always good for a laugh, and My Man Jeeves is no exception to that rule.

The Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson – Oh, how I love Bill Bryson. Let me count the ways. The man is the patron saint of American Anglophiles, he’s achieved what most of us only dream of (living in England!) and he’s absolutely hilarious. In this latest offering, Bryson commemorates the twentieth anniversary of his classic Notes from a Small Island with more travels around Great Britain. He’s cantankerous and grumpy and wonderful. (Although I have to agree with Rebecca of Book Riot – why is it necessary to describe hills as “bosomy”? Dear editor, this is where you come in.)

Saga: Volume 5, by Brian K. Vaughan – The fifth trade paperback installment of Saga delivered on the drama and excitement just as its predecessors had. Marko and IV are searching for their families, but will they find them in time? Sophie and The Brand are looking for a cure to The Will’s injuries, and Dengo involves some really frightening characters in his quest to bring attention to the disadvantaged of the Robot Planet. Saga is weird and disturbing and excellent – but why is the next trade not being released until JULY?

The Queen of the Night, by Alexander Chee – Lilliet Berne is an opera sensation in 1870s Paris, with every honor except one – a role written just for her. So she is intrigued when a novelist approaches her with a proposal to write an opera for her. There’s just one problem – the opera is based on her life and reveals secrets she thought long buried. Now Lilliet must discover who from her past may have betrayed her. This was really well written, and there were a couple of twists I didn’t see coming (although I did predict the biggest one). I really enjoyed it, but I think I would have liked it better had it not been so hyped.

The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim – This is the most famous and beloved of von Arnim’s works, so I’m glad to have started here. The Enchanted April tells the story of four English ladies, none of whom know one another particularly well, who escape a rainy Hampstead spring in favor of a villa in Italy. Among the wisteria and sunshine, their hearts and souls are cured of various and sundry hurts. I found this story charming, atmospheric, and just what the doctor ordered to get me through grey March.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Katarina Bivald – Another one that was everywhere, and that I might have enjoyed more had it not been so hyped, but I have to confess I was kind of underwhelmed by The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. I found the legal issues really distracting (although they did lead to a good laugh with one of the partners at my firm, so that’s something!) and I just couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the characters or buy into the central romance. The best characters, Claire and George, were only half-developed, and the rest seemed wooden. I know that many, many people just loved Broken Wheel, but I couldn’t get into it.

So, not a bad month of reading, although only one book by a person of color this month, which isn’t great. But as for enjoying myself, for the most part I did. I loved The Road to Little Dribbling and The Enchanted April and really enjoyed several other of my reads this month. Looking ahead to April, I have a teetering library stack (again) but there’s some good stuff on it, so I’m excited for page turns to come.

What was the best thing you read in March?

April 4, 2016 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 4, 2016)

Sorry for the late post today, guys. I’m home sick with the dreaded stomach flu – we’re pretty sure Nugget brought it into the house this time, and Peanut got nailed too. (So far Daddy is unscathed – fingers crossed he stays that way.) It was the last thing I needed because last week was a doozy. I like to post pictures of our weekend adventures for these posts, but today, nothing is quite as appropriate as the picture above – that was naptime on Tuesday. Yes, Tuesday. Steve left last Sunday (Easter – so sad) for a week-long business trip. I was dreading it, because I was swamped at work and holding down the fort all on my own was going to be stressful no matter what. Then, about three hours after dropping the kids off at school on Monday, I got a call from Peanut’s teacher – she had a fever and I had to come get her. I retrieved her, took her home and reconciled myself to working from home while she watched Curious George. Two hours later, I got another call – Nugget was getting the boot from his classroom, too. And so began a week of downward spiraling into kid fever hell while trying to keep my head above water at work and juggling child care and two kids who were both plastered to my face every second. I ended up cobbling together a Wednesday that included Grandpa (for Nugget) and a trip to my office (for Peanut) and finally got them both back to school on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, I was beat by Friday and was looking forward to a relaxing weekend – which didn’t happen. Nugget was sick on Saturday, and Daddy had a headache, and then Peanut and I got hit with our current horror on Sunday. And now I’ve gone on for way too long about what a miserable week it was. Let’s just hope for something better this week.

Given what a mess the week was, I’m kind of surprised that I read as much as I did. I ended up polishing off The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend and reading most of What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours in bed while Peanut snuggled next to me at night, after we put Nugget down, as a way to both get extra reading time in and encourage Peanut to fall asleep a little earlier (and kick that fever). As I wrote last week, I was underwhelmed by Broken Wheel. I did end up really enjoying What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours – it was incredibly well-written and creative. I didn’t find every story equally engaging, but that’s par for the course with me and short story collections (and one reason I don’t often pick them up). I finished What Is Not Yours on Friday night and immediately plowed through Men Explain Things To Me, which was incredible and distressing and should be required reading for everyone. (There are a couple of essays in there I really want Steve to read, but I returned it to the library; hopefully I can find the specific essays online.) Then I started Jane Steele, which was the only other library book I’d brought home for the weekend, but almost immediately felt it wasn’t for me, at least not right now. I may pick it up again in the future, but for now I was looking for something lighter (and less violent) so back to the library it went and I grabbed one of my birthday books – the absolutely hilarious Very British Problems – instead. And polished that off in a day.

Up next in reading, I will have to return to my library book stack, but they’re all at work and I’m home moaning on the couch, so that will wait until tomorrow. TV for me tonight, and then I think I’ll dive into Diary of a Provincial Lady, which I’ve been wanting to read for awhile and which I recently requested from the library closed stacks. Can’t wait.

What are you reading this week?

April 1, 2016 by Jaclyn

ColoRADo 2015: Rocky Mountain National Park

When we sat down to plan our trip to Colorado, we didn’t have many “musts” on the agenda. Mostly, we just wanted to spend time with Dan and Danielle and have them show us what they wanted us to see in their area. But there was one thing I did request – a day at Rocky Mountain National Park. I love our national park system – visiting Acadia with my grandparents and Yosemite with my parents are some of my fondest memories from childhood. Taking my kids to national parks has always been high on my list of family to-dos, and Steve had actually never been to one of the big parks before. (He’s been to Great Falls a million times, of course, and to various smaller DC sites run by the NPS, but not a big park – nope, not even Shenandoah.) So we told Dan that we really wanted to visit RMNP, and he was on board. Dan and Danielle live near the park and love to visit.

You’ve already seen some of our pictures, because we did our November hike around Bear Lake, deep in RMNP. But I hope you’ll indulge me and look at a few of them again, and a few more pictures of the park besides. It was just so breathtakingly beautiful.

Shortly after we arrived in the park, we saw this massive herd of elk. Apparently they’re very common – to the point that they will meander down to Estes Park and disrupt traffic. But we still thought they were amazing and majestic!

We pulled over on the side of the road for a few photo sessions every time there was a herd within eyesight. Danielle is truly gifted at spotting animals – and maybe more. Dan has told us that whenever Danielle expresses a desire to see an animal, as if by magic, they see the animal that same day. Even shy bighorn sheep are no match for her wildlife summoning powers. I told Dan he’d better pray she never takes it into her head that she wants to see a yeti.

We drove through the park and stopped now and then to marvel at the scenery. It was a good way to see the sights – with the kids still bundled cozily in their car seats.

As we got deeper into the park and continued to gain in elevation, the turns got sharper and the roads more harrowing – but the scenery was that much more spectacular. My knuckles were white, though, as we inched around some of those switchbacks.

As you know, though, the payoff was so worth it. Bear Lake was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Heart-stoppingly beautiful.

After our hike around Bear Lake, we were all starting to get a bit peckish, so we drove down into Estes Park for dinner. Estes Park was an adorable and historic town with cute shops and restaurants and an adorable playground that, had it not been dark and cold out when we were walking around, I know Peanut would have loved.

We started out by strolling down a walk that ran the length of a sweet little stream and took us right into the center of town.

The restaurants were warmly lit and all looked so cozy and welcoming. We set course for a pub that Dan and Danielle recommended.

(Detour to check out the playground.) I really wish we’d been able to see more of Estes Park in the light! Like with Nederland, I was sure we were missing out on a lot of charm, by not seeing these places until after dark. Oh, well – I’m sure there will be other visits, so we’ll get a chance to play in all the best Rocky Mountain spots.

We warmed up from our chilly hike and walk with a delicious pub dinner. Steve got an elk burger, and I was more than mildly horrified that, after we saw herds of beautiful elk roaming free and wild in RMNP all day, an elk burger was what sounded particularly good to him – ha! I stuck with a turkey burger (I don’t eat four-legged friends) and a glass cowboy boot full of stout. Because when you’re in the Rocky Mountains, you drink glass cowboy boots full of stout. Hey, I don’t make the rules.

What a fun day! RMNP was incredible in its winter finery. Now I can’t wait to visit the park – and Estes – in the other three seasons! Next week, our final recap – I’ll share photos of a spectacular hiking spot not ten minutes from my brother’s house. Check back!

March 30, 2016 by Jaclyn

Early Spring Adventures

Happy spring! The calendar says it’s spring, and that’s good enough for me. We were lucky enough to have a relatively mild winter this year, but we’re still having our customary weird March weather. Rainy and cold one day, sunny and warm the next, then snow, then warm rain, until I don’t know which end is up and I’m just, like, TEA. But we’re having a good time on the weekends, crazy weather notwithstanding, searching out the adventures to be had around the turn of the seasons.

Last weekend we went down to East Aurora and checked out a working maple farm as part of New York Maple Days. Maple Days is a statewide event in which all of the maple producers all over the state open their doors to the public, and we get the chance to see a real life sugar shack.

We visited Stony Acres Maple Farm and it was so cool to see their operation and talk with the producers.

And of course, we left with sugar. Lots of sugar. We bought a medium-sized jug of maple syrup, a box of maple candy, and a tub of maple cream. The maple cream has been my favorite of our purchases – I’d never had it before, although I did bookmark a recipe to make my own a few years ago, and I should probably dig that out and give it a try. Maple is my favorite sweetener (much to the dismay of my honey-loving BFF, but the way I see it, more honey for her and more maple for me).

I wanted to walk over to show the kids where the trees were tapped, but I was the only one interested in taking a walk at the time. So we just wandered around near the sugar shack and saw the tubing in which the sap is pumped into the boiler. It was cool and educational, and I think Peanut had a good time. We’ve been reading books about maple syrup production (Sugar Snow from the My First Little House series, and Curious George Makes Maple Syrup) to prepare for our big outing, so she was really into seeing the sugar shack at work.

Such a cool outing, and something we definitely don’t get to do every day! Maple Days is continuing into April, so local friends, let me know if you make it to a sugar shack!

The following day was the first official day of spring, so even though it was brisk, we bundled up and headed out for a hike at a new-to-us park – Tillman Road Wildlife Management Area.

We explored the boardwalk (which was relatively short) and the network of trails, and spotted some early arrivals – a few Canadian geese and one or two very intrepid Eastern Bluebirds.

Peanut has good days and bad days when it comes to the hiking backpack lately. As you can see, on this outing we caught her on a good day.

If you look closely, I think you should be able to spot a couple of geese. Can’t wait to see more feathered friends as the days get warmer and the sun shines brighter.

It was a weekend of early spring adventures, indeed! One thing that we’ve had to learn (or re-learn, I suppose) since moving here is to get outside and seek out adventures no matter the weather. Early spring is a tough time for me – and I think, for a lot of people. The novelty of snow has long worn off, but the ground is still hard and brown and the trees are still bare, and you’re just ready for the green that is weeks away yet. So it’s nice to know that even when the weather is grey and dreary, there’s still fun to be had.

Have you been out and about on any early spring adventures?

March 28, 2016 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 28, 2016)

Happy Easter Monday, to my friends who were celebrating this weekend, and happy new week to those who weren’t. We had a quiet weekend at home – on Saturday Peanut and I attended a birthday party for one of her school friends, and on Sunday we celebrated Easter with a family hike, and later a trip to the playground. The Easter Bunny didn’t go too crazy on the kids’ Easter baskets – he never does – but they each got something to read and a few small treats. Peanut received a paper-mache egg painted with Peter Rabbit, with some candies inside, a chocolate bunny, and a boxed set of four of the Brambly Hedge stories. Nugget got Camp Rex (sequel to Peanut’s old favorite Tea Rex) and a dinosaur sippy cup and bowl.

the queen of the night the readers of broken wheel

Not much reading this week and weekend – it’s been particularly busy. I finally finished The Queen of the Night, by Alexander Chee, which took the better part of a week. It was very well-written, but I was underwhelmed in light of the hype surrounding it. I loved the imagery and the gorgeous set writing, but I found the characters a bit wooden (even the heroine, although she less so than the others) and the central romance seemed slightly forced. There was a big twist that I predicted a mile away, which always puts me off a book slightly, although there was a smaller twist that I didn’t see coming. In all, a rather mixed bag on The Queen of the Night – I’d recommend it, but I’m not waxing poetic about it as others are in the blogosphere. Another one that has been a little underwhelming is The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. It’s a huge bestseller and I’m seeing it everywhere, so perhaps my expectations were unrealistically high. But about 130 pages from the end, I’m finding it hard to care about the characters or believe the story. I’m also – and this may be a lawyer thing, so those of you non-attorneys may not care about this – distracted by Sara’s immigration situation. She travels to the U.S. on a tourist visa and even says early on in the book that she can’t work – but she opens a bookstore selling the books of her deceased pen pal. Questions, I have them all. Where is the money that she brings in from the bookstore going, since she can’t work on her tourist visa? Why isn’t ICE asking questions? How can she sell her pen pal’s books? Was there a will? Did her pen pal die intestate? There are ways of disposing of people’s property when they pass away, and it isn’t to let some random stay in their house claiming to be their pen pal, and then start selling their stuff. What is happening here? I’m afraid I’m too distracted by these questions to really enjoy the story.

Up next on the reading stack is What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, the new collection of short stories by Helen Oyeyemi, and then more digging in the library stack, which keeps growing. I’m not expecting to have much reading time this week, so we’ll see how it goes.

On the blog: early spring adventures here in WNY on Wednesday, and back to Colorado on Friday. See you around!

What are you reading this week?

March 25, 2016 by Jaclyn

ColoRADo 2015: Opting Outside on Black Friday

Continuing with our Colorado adventures! We left off in Denver on the day before Thanksgiving. Back in 2015, I showed you pictures of our Rocky Mountain turkey day, so let’s roll right on to Black Friday. For years, I’ve fantasized about spending Black Friday on a peaceful family hike in the wilderness, but since we usually trim our tree on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we’re always busy decorating the house and getting ready for Christmas (which is also fun, don’t get me wrong). But this year, since we were out of town, our tree-trimming festivities were pushed back and we had a wide-open agenda on Black Friday. So my hiking dreams became a reality!

We started our day with a “walk around the block.” Dan lives in Roosevelt National Forest (yes, he lives in the National Forest – I know you’re jealous; I am too) so when he “takes the dog for a quick walk around the block,” what he really means is that he’s hiking on gorgeous wooded trails. We loved checking out his neighborhood of a few other cabins tucked into wooded clearings. (My hermit heart was singing.)

We saw this amazing sign ^ and I had to snap a picture to send to my sister-in-law Emma, who keeps backyard chickens. She totally needs a sign like this for her property.

And we took the occasional break to snap a picture and send it back east. Hi, Mom!

(If you’re wondering whether Dan is wearing a ladies’ hat, the answer is: yes, he is. Again.)

If this was my “block,” I’d walk around it every day!

We headed home for a quick lunch, and then were back at it, on our way down to Boulder to hit the trails there. Our destination…

Chautauqua Park, home of Boulder’s famous Flatirons! The Flatirons are beautiful rock formations towering above Boulder. I was itching to see them, but sadly, it started snowing fairly hard and our view was obscured. Even without a crystal clear day, though, Chautauqua Park was beautiful.

You can see a little bit of the Flatirons here. The whole park was dusted with sparkling snowflakes.

We walked about a third of a mile into the park and enjoyed the scenery, then decided to turn around because the kiddos’ cheeks were starting to feel quite chilly.

But not before we snapped a family picture!

(I know they look miserable, but they’ll thank me one day when they have a family yearbook to look back on and remember the fun we had together.)

(“You sure about that, Mom?”)

We turned around and picked our way over the slippery, snow-covered trail back towards the car. The view of Boulder was almost as pretty as the view of the Flatirons! We were all hungry and thirsty after a day of playing in the snow, so Dan suggested we head into town and hit a German biergarten that he liked. Sounds good to me! As we walked through the downtown area, I mused that I should probably order a beer, since we were going to a biergarten, but that what I really wanted was something warm. Imagine my delight to see a mug of gluhwein delivered to the table next to us, just as we were opening our menus. I will have one of those, please.

I’d never had gluhwein before. It smelled incredible and tasted even better. Only complaint was that it was gone too quickly. Yum.

We also split a pretzel and an order of fries. Peanut and the boys handled the fries themselves, but I put a hurting on the pretzel. It was almost as good as the pretzels our DC friend Stephen makes. Almost.

Not a bad way to spend Black Friday! I’d say that two hikes and a German biergarten made for a far better day than fighting the crowds at Target!

Next up: Steve’s first visit to a big national park!

March 23, 2016 by Jaclyn

Diverse KidLit: Bee-Bim Bop! (March 2016)

diverse kidlit

Happy spring, fellow readers! Winter is in retreat, but at least where I live, it’s not gone yet. On the technical first day of spring, it was below freezing, and we’ve had snow a few times since (just flurries, not to worry). Still, it’s cold out, no matter what the calendar says, and some nice warming comfort food would be just what the doctor ordered.

Enter Bee-bim Bop!, by Linda Sue Park, a bouncy, joyful ode to one of the most delicious (in my humble opinion) of rice dishes: the Korean rice bowl known as bibimbap.

In Bee-bim Bop!, a little girl accompanies her mother to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for their family dinner – hungry hungry hungry for some BEE-BIM BOP!

When they get home, the cooking begins. Mama chops vegetables, slices meat, and flips eggs. And her extremely willing sous-chef volunteers to help, too.

It doesn’t go very well – oops.

Looks like Mama is running a tight ship. You spill water, you mop it up. I could take a lesson from Mama, since a certain little someone is always making messes in my house and not mopping them up.

Soon it’s time for the family to come to the table. They gather together, bless their meal, and then dig in.

We first read Bee-bim Bop! during a visit to the Explore and More children’s museum in East Aurora, and I knew right away that we would love having it for our family library. And not just because I love bibimbap (which I used to get at a fantastic Korean restaurant at D.C., and man, could I go for some bibimbap right now) but because the jaunty rhythm was just delightful. The little girl’s obvious joy at cooking and preparing a meal with her mom is infectious, and it’s a lovely, happy ode to family dinners and to one of the most famous Korean dishes. I am hoping to introduce my kids to food and cultural traditions from all around the world, and what better way than through a delightful book?

Have you had bibimbap?

March 21, 2016 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are you Reading? (March 21, 2016)

Yawwwwwwn. Good morning, y’all. How were your weekends? Ours was fun, and busy celebrating the turn of the seasons – about which, more next week. But it’s possible that the most exciting part of the weekend was the newest addition to Peanut’s library – wait for it – an early reader, much-abridged version of Anne of Green Gables. We’ve been reading it all weekend, and Steve now has a basic introduction to the story that was, no big deal, but just the formative literary experience of my childhood, whatever. I think I might convince him to read Anne. (And then it’s only a short step to the rest of the Anne books, and then the Emily books, and then Jane and the Story Girl, and I’m not plotting at all.)

the queen of the night the enchanted april

It’s been a slow week for reading. I’m making my way through The Queen of the Night, which is sumptuous and fantastic, but is taking a little while to get through. Of course, because nothing can be simple, I’ve got two more new books out from the library – What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, and The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, and naturally they’re both due back on the same day, which also happens to be the day The Queen of the Night is due back, too. I don’t think I can renew any of them, nor do I think I can finish all three in time to avoid overdue fees. And then I’m still nibbling away at The Enchanted April (and really enjoying it) on iBooks.

On the blog this week – my March pick for Diverse KidLit on Wednesday, and a Black Friday hike on Friday. Check back!

What are you reading this week, my friends?

covered in flour

the adventures of a wandering reader…

Author: Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 11, 2016)

ColoRADo 2015: Hiking Hall Ranch

Reading Round-Up: March 2016

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 4, 2016)

ColoRADo 2015: Rocky Mountain National Park

Early Spring Adventures

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 28, 2016)

ColoRADo 2015: Opting Outside on Black Friday

Diverse KidLit: Bee-Bim Bop! (March 2016)

It’s Monday! What Are you Reading? (March 21, 2016)