Went to another funeral today.

Anyone got any good jokes? The blacker the better.

Got tagged in a book meme today on Facebook, and since I had nothing else to post today, I’m replying here.

Rules: In your status line, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take more than a few minutes and don’t think too hard – they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag 10 friends, including me, so I’ll see your list.

First off, ten? Are you kidding me? I read more than 120 books a year! I’m 42 and a half years old, and I’ve been reading since I was four! Just ten?

So, screw your ten. These are the books that have been important to me, and had an affect on me, since, say, I was a teenager.

The Hobbit – JRR Tolkein

This is the first non-kids book I remember reading, and until college, I read it at least once a year. I read my first copy, literally, to pieces.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is the second non-kids book I remember reading, and this book to I read almost every year. This book set the bar by which most other mysteries fall short, because no other detective is Sherlock Holmes. It’s also the book behind my love of the historical English setting for books.

The Mirror Crack’d – Agatha Christie

My other favorite mystery author is also English, but although I read many (perhaps even most) of her other books, it is only Miss Marple that I love. Her mind like a sink. Her gentle inquisitiveness. Her patience and willingness to listen that were the key to solving so many mysteries. I want to be a woman who wears purple when I am old, but I’d settle for being Miss Marple.

This particular story has parts that have always stuck with me–the woman, staring, struck as if by some terrible fate. The secretary and her nose drops that she realized, and instant too late, smelled of bitter almonds. This is what I want cozy mysteries to be, but they never are.

The Belgariad – David Eddings

I ended up with this series as part of a Christmas gift exchange at a restaurant where I worked in college. I hadn’t read any fantasy since my usual re-read of The Hobbit, and I devoured this series, falling in love with fantasy all over again, and I haven’t stopped reading it since. I particularly loved Polgara, how she fought the restrictions placed upon her, solely because she was female.

On a Pale Horse – Piers Anthony

I’ve always been slightly obsessed with death–the rituals, the pageantry, the ceremonies, but even more, the many ways that people deal with loss. This story of a man who becomes death resonated deeply with me, as did the many deaths he (as Death) witnessed. It’s perhaps what started my obsession with Good Death–for individuals at the end of their lives to spend their last days in comfort and love.

These Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley

I haven’t read this book in years, partially because it’s a tome, and I don’t want to hold it, but also because I fear it won’t have held up to what it is in my memory. This book kindled my love of strong, female leads in fantasy. It also caused me to have little patience for shallow, one-sided villains. Every is the hero of their own story, and I don’t believe in the existence of evil for the sake of evil.

Good Omens – Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

This book introduced me to both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. And it’s hilarious. And marvelous. I’ve spent many many hours lost in stories written by these authors, but somehow, together, they managed to be greater than the sum of their individual parts, and I love this story better than any single book either had written alone.

Best-Loved Folktales of the World – Joanna Cole

This is another book that is worn, the dust cover lost decades ago. It’s also the reason I have two shelves of folk and fairy tales and mythology. I remain fascinated by the themes that crop up time and again in stories from different cultures. And it delights me to see these ideas and themes pop up in books.

Rising Stars – J. Michael Straczynski

This was the second comic series I read as an adult and I was completely blown away. I ended up reading it through twice, and have to be careful when I’m going through my comics, because if I flip through any one of the books, I’ll end up reading them all again, in one sitting, usually on a cold floor, because I can’t be bothered to move somewhere comfortable.

Small Vices – Robert B Parker

I picked this up as an audio book, narrated by Burt Reynolds, to listen to while I was doing cell culture. It was an enlightenment. Spenser is almost killed in this book, and instead of shrugging off the injuries, he spends months recovering. Spenser’s first attempt at the hill was as gripping and thrilling as any shoot out or chase. That might sound stupid, but it’s true. For me, the mystery has always played second fiddle to the time they spend in California, but never fear, the mystery is also top notch, and between the two, I can read this book time and again, and fall in love with Spenser just like I did the first listen.

Swordspoint – Ellen Kushner

What I find fascinating about this story is that it as classified as a fantasy, even though there is not one drop of magic in the pages, besides the magic of the story itself. It’s what I read when I want to lose myself, and completely disappear into a world that never existed, but very easily could have. This story is not action and adventure, but instead a long slow soak in a gorgeous setting with fascinating characters.

The Fencing Master – Arturo Perez Reverte

I picked this book up and discovered that, “Hey! Books that are translated into English from another language aren’t all boring crap read by pretentious assholes!” Yeah, that was a revelation to me, and led me to discover many authors who don’t write in English, whose stories I love. (See Andrea Camilleri and Sergei Lukyanenko)

Dreams Underfoot – Charles de Lint

This was the first Charles de Lint book I read, and it was adoration from the start. He writes novels, and I like those novels, but I love his short stories more, and eagerly snatch up any anthology he puts out. These are stories filled with bad things happening to people, but they are not in any way dark, and with very few exceptions, I always feel better after reading his stories, no matter how equivocal the story itself may be.

(trumpet fanfare)

We’re back! Is everyone ready to play?!

Anyone?

Well, here’s the start, today’s word is: echo

I’ve been trying for the past several months to make really delicious risotto. Since I started this in the autumn, butternut squash was the perfect add-in.

The base recipe is from Simply Recipes but I found it kinda boring, so I’ve been modifying to get something with a stronger flavor, more to my tastes.

Yesterday, I succeeded.

Butternut Squash Risotto
generously serves two for dinner with leftovers for two the next day for lunch
4 cups chicken stock (I make my own stock, so sometimes it’s chicken, other times it’s vegetable)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
~1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups butternut squashed, peeled and chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1 single serving bottle of white wine (I don’t drink wine, so I buy single serving bottles to use in cooking)
~1/2 cup Parmesan cheese / Asagio cheese
Sea salt

Heat the stock over medium/low heat. I use frozen stock, so I start it on medium until it’s all melted and then drop it to low heat.

Microwave the squash for a few minutes over medium heat until it’s slightly softened. I actually microwaved it to cooked today, and it turned out fine. But you want it at least a little soft, else you get crunchy squash in your risotto. Which is wrong.

Mince the garlic into olive oil and let it rest while you’re sauteing the rice.

Melt butter in large saucepan, add onion and squash, and saute over medium heat (~5 minutes). Add the garlic and olive oil.

Add rice to the onion and squash, and cook about two minutes. Pour in the wine, and cook, stirring, until wine is absorbed.

Add enough warm broth to cover the rice and squash. Cook, stirring, until broth has been absorbed. Continue to add broth, 1/2 cup or so at a time, cooking and stirring, until all the broth has been added and the rice is tender. The original recipe says about 15 to 20 minutes. I have no idea if this is correct, because I’m listening to the radio and not paying attention to the clock.

Add salt to taste–I add a fair amount of salt–maybe a teaspoon or so. Add cheese and mix until incorporated.

Serve with fresh bread and butter.

This recipe has more fat than the original, and I added the garlic, because I found the original recipe entirely too bland. Feel free to mess around and tell me what works for you, if you try this.

Comics

Fables: Fairest In All the Land  (2013) Bill Willingham et al (8/10)

Mystery

Jar City (2000/2004) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder (7/10)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie  (2009) Alan Bradley (8/10)
Treasure Hunt (2010/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10)
Bad Blood (2013) Dana Stabenow (1/10)

Fantasy

Written In Red  (2013) Anne Bishop (8.5/10)
Chimes at Midnight  (2013) Seanan McGuire (6/10)
Fated  (2012) Benedict Jacka (6.5/10)
Deadly Descendant  (2012) Jenna Black (6/10)
Dark Descendant (2011) Jenna Black (7/10)
Libriomancer (2012) Jim C. Hines (6/10)
Blood and Bullets (2012) James R. Tuck (6/10)

Short Story

Scarlet Sails  (2013) TS Rhodes (7/10)

Anthology

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives  (2001) edited by Justin Gustainis (7/10)
The Collected Short Stories  (2013) Dana Stabenow (8/10)

Fifteen books this month, most of which were read at the end of the month.

As far as good books, mysteries beat out fantasies by a long shot, with the exception of the first book I read in November, Anne Bishop’s Written in Red (Thanks Neurondoc!)

Genre-wise, fantasy and mystery were pretty easily matched. That might not hold for December, because I’ve started reading some mysteries series I picked up cheap for the kindle and REALLY like them. They follow the trend of mysteries set in other countries and initially written in a language other than English. So I’ll get to redo that list soon.

Anthology 2
Comic 1
Fantasy 9
Mystery 7
Romance 1

Format? Once again eBooks blew away all other formats. All paper books were new releases of series I have been reading for years and plan to keep getting in paper format.

Paperback 1
Trade Paperback 2
eBook 12

Gender split for the month was pretty even.

Male 6
Female 6
Initials 1
Anthology 2

8 female authors, 6 male authors, and an anthology heavily weighted towards female authors. Pretty good.

There you go. That’s last month’s round-up. Remember, if you click through to Amazon from the links on the reviews, I get some pennies towards MORE BOOKS!

Nope.

I did, however, start a new job, so my brain has been super full of that.

So far I REALLY like my new job. I like what I’m doing, I like my co-workers, and I like the potential this job has.

I’d been so miserable in my last job for so long, I think I’m kind of in shock right now.

Now that I’m settling into my new schedule, and have gotten most of my Christmas shopping done, I’m going to try to get back into posting her semi-regularly.

And I’ll keep up with Wednesday Word Association Games. I promise!