It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

Last Week on the Blog:

Interview with Hungry Hearts
editor Caroline Tung Richmond

Last Week in Books: 

Here are the standouts from my reading this week: Other Words for Home is a middle grade treasure. Jade and her family are going through some seriously difficult times, but they are survivors. A Plan for Papa is a sweet picture book. The Benefits of Being an Octopus was a tough one to read, but I think we need more books showing that economic challenges are something many children deal with on a daily basis. The Happiness Trap didn't end up being exactly what I had imagined. It really focuses on mindfulness and choosing how to react to what is going on in our lives rather than just letting emotions control us. I found some helpful recommendations there. Winnie's Great War made me cry. It's a lovely story told well. Hello, Crabby! and Bunny Will Not Smile have similar story lines, but I found Crabby to be more fun. Both will be a great addition to emergent reader collections. I enjoyed quite a few poems in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but I see it as one adults will like more than children. 

The Coming Week:

I am loving The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America and will likely finish it the evening. I have quite a pile from the library, but I'm not sure what I'll pick up next. I wish you a great week full of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 194/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 112/275
#MustReadin2019 - 20/30
Year of the Aisian 2019 - 15/30

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

Last Week on the Blog:

Family Birthday Cake

Last Week in Books: 

Middle grade was the winner this week. I really enjoyed reading A Good Kind of Trouble, Right as Rain, and Mech Cadet Yu. I'll review Hungry Hearts at Rich in Color at the end of the week (I had an ARC from NetGalley). The rest of the books were okay, but not super noteworthy. I did really like Skyward, but it was creative nonfiction and the author did not explain what was fabricated and what was fact. It would have been amazing otherwise. 

The Coming Week:

I'm still reading The Happiness Trap and I have just started Winnie's Great War. I am taking a class this week and that has me busy Monday through Thursday, so I'm not sure about getting a lot of reading accomplished. Have a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 178/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 108/275
#MustReadin2019 - 20/30
Year of the Aisian 2019 - 15/30

Family Birthday Cake

Baking with Family

I have learned how to cook and bake from quite a few different people. My mother and grandmother were likely the first ones to teach me. The family where I was a nanny taught me some of their recipes too. As an adult, my mother-in-law has also shared many recipes while we cooked and baked together. I'd like to share this recipe because the other day I couldn't find the recipe card at first. I was in a bit of a panic as I needed to back the cake for a celebration later in the day. With the recipe posted here, anyone can find it when they need it - even me.

Family Birthday Cake

4 egg yolks, 1 whole egg

1 1/2 c butter

2 c sugar

4 c unbleached flour

Heat over to 350 degrees. Sift flour into large bowl. Make a well in the flour. Pour in sugar. Mix yolks and whole egg with the sugar in the center. Cut butter into chunks over sugar mixture. Cover with flour from the sides and mix in with your hands. Kneed until smooth. Divide dough into six portions. Form into 9" cookies (use a rolling pin or hands and to make them uniform, I usually lay a plate on top and trim the edges, but my mother-in-law bakes it before trimming). Prick with a fork before baking so they do not bubble up. Bake each cookie for 7-9 minutes (lightly brown - watch that the edges don't get too crunchy). Let cool on cookie sheet for one minute before removing to cooling rack. When cookies are completely cooled, decorate with whipped cream mixture below.

Whipped cream:

1 pint whipping cream

1 cup chopped almonds or hazelnuts

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c sugar

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla. Reserve 3/4 c of the whipped cream. Fold nuts into remaining whipped cream. Make a layered cake alternating cookies and whipped cream mixture. Use cream without nuts as the topping. Decorate as you wish or not at all. My mother-in-law would trim the edges off the cookies after baking and use those pieces of cookie to decorate. You may also use sliced nuts. 

Cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until ready to eat. Refrigerate leftovers. I suggest you serve smaller than normal potions and let people get seconds if desired. It is very rich and a small  portion is plenty.

If you hadn't noticed, this is basically giant sugar cookies sandwiched together with whipping cream. As you can imagine it is pretty yummy. Let me know if you try to make it. I'm going to go have a slice.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

Last Week on the Blog:

Review: Like a Love Story

Last Week in Books: 

My favorite of these was I Love You So Mochi. It was adorable and fun, but also let me remember my trip to Kyoto last summer. The others were okay, but not super spectacular. The Future is Feminist has fonts in hot pink and gray and sometimes bright orange is the background for the gray and it all did a number on my eyes. It actually hurt sometimes. The writings were okay, but the format detracted. Field Notes on Love was cute and It's Not Like It's a Secret was also a love story, but not my favorite. Blood Water Paint was a great novel in verse, but I'm not so sure that it was historically very accurate. It made for compelling reading though.

The Coming Week:

I have a digital ARC of Hungry Hearts from Netgalley and am enjoying it. I'm also still reading The Happiness Trap. I picked up about 10 books at the library today and I have no idea which one I will get to this week, but it will be fun reading once I am out for the summer Tuesday afternoon. Have a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 165/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 100/275
#MustReadin2019 - 20/30
Year of the Asis an 2019 - 14/30

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

Last Week on the Blog:

Spotlight on Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

Last Week in Books: 

Like a Love Story is a YA book that is set during the AIDS crisis. It is a coming-out story, but is also about family, activism, and friendship. I'll be reviewing it on Rich in Color later this week. Zen Happiness has twelve wise sayings that are inspirational. I think you could read one each day or each week and think about them for a long time. It's not one to rush. It seems like a gift book. My Name is Not Chief is a the story of one Ho-Chunk man's life including the struggles and triumphs. Somewhere Only We Know was just what I needed after a particularly exhausting week. Maurene Goo's YA books are always filled with humor and fun. This one is about a young K-Pop star and a photographer who chases celebrities. It is a modern Roman Holiday, but has its own twists.

The Coming Week:

I'm reading The Future is Feminist and The Happiness Trap right now and will likely start a few more since the final day for students is this Wednesday.

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 160/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 100/275
#MustReadin2019 - 20/30
Year of the Asis an 2019 - 12/30