Gnocchi and history

and a visit to Crescent City

On the topic of things I’ve been putting off forever but finally (somehow) found the time, this week I had my first vision checkup in… possibly over a decade? I don’t even know, it’s been a while.

Have those eye dilation drops always been this bad? I remember having to wear sunglasses after the appointment, that’s nothing new. But I don’t remember everything being so terribly blurry the entire time… possibly because the last time this happened was before I was always trying to read on my phone (I don’t even know if I owned a smartphone the last time I got my eyes checked - it’s been that long!)

On the bright side (heh), my vision is doing pretty well, so no need for glasses (yet)! On the not so bright side they want me to go see an ophthalmologist because of one of my RA meds (ugh) so I’ll have to do this all over again soon (double ugh).

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What I’m reading

Same as Ever by Morgan Housel

This was recommended to me by my husband, who recently listened to the audiobook version. This book is “a guide to what never changes,” in an effort to prepare for the future by looking at the past.

I really enjoyed this book - it was well-written, had a lot of good points, and contained many great historical stories explaining each point he wanted to make. This is one of those books that I’d want to reread every few years, because it has a lot of helpful information about the ways the world tends to work.

A Black and Solemn Silence by Danielle Thompson

This is such an eerie story - not spooky or scary at all, but the kind of story that lives in shadows and dread. This is the story of two kitsune - mystical demon foxes - who only have each other, but when one accidentally gets himself photographed by a human, the other takes that as an excuse to indulge his cruelest tendencies.

I was completely enthralled by this book - from the start, I couldn’t put it down. The bits of magic, the way the relationships stretch and pull, they way little offerings of the full story are slowly revealed, all had me hooked. At times it could be shockingly gory, but the gore never felt gratuitous.

My only complaint is the cliffhanger ending - how cruel to leave us readers at that point! - but we’ve been promised even more kitsune in future books, so all will eventually be forgiven.

This review copy of A Black and Solemn Silence was provided by Danielle Thompson via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City Book 3) by Sarah J. Maas

Wow this book was such a ride. This is the third book in her Crescent City series, and while it reads like it’s the series finale, there’s at least one more book that she’ll be writing as part of this series. There is so much packed into these books. I had to find some recaps online for the first two books because I could not for the life of me remember what happened (and later realized that I read the first two in 2022, 6 weeks after giving birth and severely sleep-deprived… no wonder I couldn’t remember a dang thing.) I’d also recommend reading her ACOTAR series before this, as there are some ACOTAR spoilers in this book.

I adore all things SJM and loved this book. It was constant action from beginning to end - there was never a dull moment for her characters. This book had some spice, but wasn’t nearly as spicy as many of her others can be. When I thought this was the series finale, I was a little confused that there were a few parts of the story that clearly didn’t get resolved, but with at least one more book expected, it’ll be interesting to see where the story goes next.

How Would You Like Your Mammoth? by Uta Seeburg

When someone from The Experiment reached out to see if I’d be interested in a copy of this book¹, it was an immediate yes. While history was always my worst subject in school (I just cannot with all the memorizing of names and dates), I actually do enjoy history when it’s presented well, particularly when food is involved! And this book is exactly that. It’s composed of 50 little essays, each about a dish that was prominent at a particular place and time in history.

Were I back in my pre-kids, blogging or streaming or video-making days, I think it would be a really fun project to cook through the book and try to replicate all the dishes it features. Alas, there’s not a chance of me finding the time for that these days, but this book was still a lot of fun to read!

This review copy of How Would You Like Your Mammoth? was provided by The Experiment. All opinions are my own.

What we’re eating

Smoothies. My husband recently decided he really wanted to start making us all smoothies. So he got himself a Ninja smoothie blender (so we don’t have to pull out the Vitamix every time he wants a smoothie) and some smoothie kits, and has been regularly making smoothies for all of us ever since. The toddler is a fan.

Sheet-pan gnocchi bake. I’ve been wanting to try this for a while, and finally took the leap with a meal kit from Good Eggs. This had broccolini, mushrooms, and pesto; I also added in some chicken and apple sausage that I had in the freezer. This doesn’t seem like something my husband would be into (he’s usually not that much of a pasta person) but surprisingly he was a big fan. I’ll definitely make this again, but probably skip the sausage next time - maybe it was just the particular sausage I used, but it didn’t add much.

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That’s all for this week! What have you been eating and reading lately? Reply to this email or let me know in the comments - I’m always looking for food inspiration and books to add to my TBR!

1. IT’S HAPPENING!!!