Looking for a Great Summer Read? Crazy Rich Asians is Perfect!

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up to read in advance of the movie version coming out in August. Throughout the book there are many references to luxury designers and descriptions of such an opulent lifestyle, I was overwhelmed at times with the conspicuous consumption of it all. Kevin Kwan overwhelms the reader with generational wealth on a massive scale and through this I was as overwhelmed as Rachel midway through the book.

At the same time, Kwan manages a to add depth this large cast of characters and the reader is able to look beyond the trappings of billionaire wealth and care what happens to not just Rachel and Nick but also Astrid, Colin, Araminta, etc. He also does a wonderful job imparting cultural and historical knowledge about Singapore bringing readers without an understanding of the area into the fold and making readers who are familiar with Singapore feel at home.

On the whole this book draws heavily from the classic tale of Cinderella, and it works very well. There is a reason some themes are done over and over and it's because they are classic. As I read the book, I found myself looking increasingly forward to seeing the movie. The descriptions and the landscapes in the book lend themselves to being on the big screen and the cast lines up so well with how I pictured the characters.


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Did you know you can find Plated Meal Kits at the Grocery Store?

Recently, I was enjoying the option of being able to skip a trip to the grocery store by ordering my groceries online.  Seriously, what a treat!  As I was ordering I saw that my local Jewel carries Plated meals, and thought I'd give it a try.  If you are like me, you like to try new recipes and are happy for the convenience of getting a box containing everything you need along with detailed instructions.   Yesterday I made the Gnocchi Pomodoro.  I had one slight hiccup with my meal prep.  The yellow squash in the meal kit was not fresh. Lucky for me, I had garden fresh zucchini ready to use.  If I hadn't, I would have contacted Plated to see if I could get a replacement meal because the yellow squash shouldn't have had brown slimy spots. 

You get a bi-fold in the kit showing the included ingredients and step-by-step instructions with pictures.

Here is my good looking zucchini 

The instructions were easy to follow and the meal came together quickly.  The kit included a small amount of sugar to add to sauce, I chose not to use it as the sauce had  a nice rich flavor.

 I love a skillet filled with a colorful meal and this meal definitely fit that criteria.

Behold!  The finished product.  The meal claims to be for two people but I got three decent sized servings. If you threw in one more squash or zucchini or some mushrooms, you could feel a family of four from this kit.

Will I buy more from Plated?  Yes, but in the future I'll be sure to buy it when I am at the store and can see the meal and judge the freshness of the produce. (FWIW this isn't an ad, I paid for the meal and just felt like writing about it.)

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How's the book going?

Thanks for asking!  I spent a few days thinking I should start back at the beginning of my book and read through what I have written and work on finding continuity errors. I sort of started on this work, but now I'm back in the frame of mind that I should just keep on writing until I get to the end and then begin to work through what I have written to do major editing and revising.

 I did spend some time make a detailed floor plan of my main character's condo- not really necessary- what I should be doing is make a map of the town where my book takes place so I have that to refer to when I am placing people and places.

Have a great day!
xoxo

Is a Raised Garden Bed Worth the Effort?

Is it? Yes, a resounding yes is the only answer.  Here is my picture proof!  The garden was started on Memorial Day weekend.  We used Miracle Gro for fruits and vegetables and I got all the plants from Home Depot.  I did splurge and got the Bonnie Plants tomatoes and peppers because they were on sale 3 for $5.  A decent deal but still on the high side for starter plants.

This is how it began. By the second half of June, the bibb lettuce was ready to be harvested and it was used for some quick and easy lunches.  Then I had to replant one of the two pepper plants in lettuce space because the zucchini leaves were shading my pepper plant to death.

 Here we are just about 6 weeks later... See what I mean about the zucchini leaves?  They are huge!

 The largest of my tomatoes so far, about the size of golf balls.

This zucchini is twice a big today as it was on Sunday when I took this picture. I'm hoping to harvest my first zucchini by Sunday!

I also have thyme, rosemary, lemon balm and flat parsley growing in the garden, next year we will add a second bed so we can have an herb garden and a vegetable garden and I'll probably have a couple fewer plants, I'm worried I have too many plants in the space.

So there you have it, raised garden beds are fantastic.  Miracle-Gro Soil and Bonnie Plants rock.  Knock on wood we continue to enjoy a garden with few weeds  and other pests!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

I just finished a good summer audiobook here are the details:
Hounded by Kevin Hearne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On audible they recommended this book and it was on sale, so I listened rather than read this book. The audiobook has a very good reader who does a great Irish Wolfhound voice. The story is enjoyable and I look forward to the second book in the series. Note: if you read paranormal for the romance, you won't find a romance in this particular book.


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Summer is Speeding Along

From June 15-30 I participated in #1000wordsofsummer and I did it.  I wrote over 15,000 new words in my book.  I am now on Chapter 18 and am right about to the halfway point of the book. If I can keep up practice, I can finish my rough draft before winter.  #1000wordsofsummer was created by writer Jami Attenberg you can click on her link to see her published works and what she has coming out soon!

 Im very glad I participated in the challenge it made a real difference and moved my work forward. Now since July began I've only written 1200 words and it's the 9th.  This I blame on being on vacation.  😁

Our vacation was a long drive 600 mile drive to visit family.  The highlights of the trip were hiking around a lake to see a waterfall at Vogel State Park  and getting to be on Lake Chatuge.  We are very lucky in  that we have a family member who has a family member who has a boat.  Above is my first attempt to use the panoramic feature on my phone to capture the setting sun.  I think turned out pretty well.

On the trail to the waterfall. 

Three generations of the men of my family and the waterfall.

The Man is sporting his Tindr shirt from Gamestop.  Fun Fact: he doesn't swipe left right or up, he doesn't have Tindr! 

It's been wet and warm in Chicagoland so we came home to a garden gone wild- well tomatoes and zucchini gone wild. We should be harvesting in the next couple weeks.  I can't wait for fresh tomatoes! 

READING:

I'm currently reading Crazy Rich Asians.