Reading & Recipes #4

It’s been a bit. But I love this post, so it’s definitely not going away! I love to read and I love to cook/bake, so Reading & Recipes is the culmination of two of my favorite things!

If you don’t know what Reading & Recipes is… Well, for this post, I’m going to be posting a recipe I used recently along with a picture of the finished product, as well as discussing a book I was reading the same day a little bit. Annnd that’s it, that’s pretty much the post.

Recent Recipe: Baked Salmon Fillet w/ Garlic Herb Butter & Bay Seasoning

This is another Mar original. It’s a bit of a pricier meal than we usually have, but we saw a giant salmon fillet at Sam’s this past weekend and I was like 👀 to my spouse. I prepared it last night and it turned out wonderful. Which is especially cool, because I’ve never made salmon before.

(Sidenote: I’m sorry the picture sucks – I didn’t think to take a picture of it before we cut it up and divided it, lol. ☺️)

INGREDIENTS:

one large salmon fillet (because this is what we got, but you can get smaller ones – you’ll just need to adjust the cook time probably)
some garlic butter (I just kind of winged it)
a little salt and pepper
Bay’s Seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray the foil with nonstick spray, and unwrap salmon and lay it on top.
Lightly season the fillet with salt and pepper. Heat up garlic butter in microwave until completely melted and drizzle atop salmon. Then season salmon fillet with as much Bay’s seasoning as you’d like.
After oven is heated up, place baking sheet with salmon inside and bake for 20 minutes. (Make sure it’s cooked – all ovens are different! If you have a food thermometer and you like to make sure your food is cooked perfectly, use it to make sure salmon is internally 175°F (~87°C).)
Take salmon out of oven and enjoy! If it still has skin on it, be careful while eating not to eat the skin.

Recent Reads: One Piece (Skypiea 25 – 26 – 27)

One Piece (Volumes 25 - 26 - 27) by Eiichiro Oda

Join Monkey D. Luffy and his swashbuckling crew in their search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece.

Luffy and team must figure out a way to get their ship, the Merry Go, to sail up—the Straw Hat crew’s next destination is an island in the sky. It may seem like an island paradise, but the interesting characters they meet there are hardly heavenly. Soon Luffy and the Straw Hats are on the run… and it turns out they’re on the path to a city of gold!

I haven’t read it in a few months, but I’m still enjoying One Piece. My spouse and I have been buddy reading it, and we’re planning on finishing it. But, I dunno, I took a bit of a break after November, but maybe I shouldn’t have. ‘Cause I’ve had quite the reading slump these past few months, and this might’ve gotten me out of it – as it’s a fun, easy read, with great world building, adventure and characters.

I will say that I haven’t enjoyed this super volume as much as the ones I’ve read so far. But that’s not that surprising, as I’ve noticed the beginnings of arcs have some slow parts, in order to establish and build up the rest of the current arc, as well as future plot stuff beyond it (sometimes waaayy beyond it).

But I’ve still been enjoying the rich world and hijinks, and I’m looking forward to the rest of this massive undertaking – One Piece currently has over 103 regular volumes of story published, and over 1100 chapters out. So it’s huge, is what I’m getting at. But I’ve been enjoying reading it between regular novels – between manga, books and fanfiction it all keeps reading very fresh.

So what books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What’s your favorite food, meal or dessert?

Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you all have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: March Reading 2024

This is a bit later than I had wanted to post this, but it’s better than last month, so I’m taking that as a win! As usual, this wrap-up for March Reading 2024 features my reading statistics from The StoryGraph.

I met my goal from February’s wrap-up – to read more than one book. But I know that I can still do better, and had hoped to read about a book a week, so it isn’t quite what I was hoping for. But I still read more than February, January and especially December, so I don’t feel that irritated with myself.

So yeah, let’s get on with the wrap-up!

March Reading 2024

I read 2 books and 797 pages

😐 MOODS: All the slices of pie were equal this time! The Moods that I had in March were: Adventurous, Funny, Mysterious, Dark, Lighthearted and Tense.

👢 PACE: My books from last month were two different kinds of paces: medium and fast.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 300 and 499 pages. A nice blue pie!

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month.

🎭 GENRES: Of the two novels that I read, neither of them shared any Genres. So I didn’t have any predominant Genres at all, but I did have seven of them. The Genres I did have, though, were: Fantasy, Horror, Manga, Romance, Short Stories, YA and LGBTQIA+.

📄 FORMAT: This little StoryGraph pie chart is, in fact, correct for March. I read one ebook and one physical print novel.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.25. The ratings I gave were either 4 or 4.5 stars so it makes sense.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I didn’t read as much as I’d have liked in March, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. I read a little bit at the beginning of the month, but most of my reading happened during different points of the last week.

The Books I Read in March

★★★★✯ • my review

★★★★☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, March reading for 2024 wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked, but it was better than the three preceding months, so I’m still happy with myself. I wish I was able to read a couple more books, though.

April has a bunch of books that I’m interested in, several that have already come out, so we’ll see what I read. I’m also still interested in continuing with One Piece, so I’m planning on reading the next arc this month. I’m hoping that I get out of this reading slump soon. It’s miserable.

Also, it’s a bit late, but Happy Eclipse Day!! 🌑☀️🌕🌙 I hope that anyone in or near totality was able to see it that was interested. We were pretty close where I live, and it was still really cool, even though we weren’t in the path of totality.

So yeah, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: February 2024

I’m a little bit late with the Monthly Wrap-Up again, but thankfully still not as late as last month, lol. I’m not literally posting this on St. Patrick’s Day (unlike February’s prominent holiday). I still didn’t read as many books as I’d have liked last month, but we can’t all get what we want sometimes.

So yeah, even though my reading goal was a measly two books in February, I still didn’t make it, unfortunately. But I still read one book, so I’m still doing this!

So here’s my stats from The StoryGraph from February 2024.

February 2024 Reading

1 read 1 book and 152 pages

So, once again, there’s not a lot here, unfortunately. I only read one book, and my StoryGraph statistics reflect that.

I still have three different Moods though – Tense, Mysterious and Dark. It’s not my usual Mood graph, so that’s pretty cool. My pace was pretty medium, the book I read was sub 300 pages, and it was fiction (as seems to be the usual with me).

Still not a lot here – courtesy of my reading habits last month. But there is stuff here. The novel I read – What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher – had two genres applied to it: Horror and LGBTQIA+.

The format of this novel was digital – as in, an ebook – so the Format chart is once again wrong, as it tends to be. I rated the three and a half stars, and my reading was split between both ends of February.

The Book I Read in February

★★★✯☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah. I didn’t really do a lot of reading last month. Again, ugh. (Well, technically I read a lot of fanfiction, again, but I don’t count that here.) The only thing that I really want to do for March is read at least two books. Hopefully one book a week even, but that would be kind of a miracle. Anything’s better than the last few months.

Regarding my poor, neglected reading blog, I’m hoping to post a little better. I’m planning on posting some Tasteful Tuesdays again, hopefully starting today, I’m planning on participating in my monthly posts, and I have a St. Patrick’s Day post I’m thinking about. I’m also hoping to post a few book reviews, if I can manage to read more than one book in a month. Fingers crossed. 🤞🍀

Anyway, thank you to anyone who still checks out my blog. I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Reading & Recipes #3

So, here I am! Back with another Reading & Recipes post; this time featuring contemporary fiction and cookies.

Recent Recipe: Lemon Cool Whip Cookies

This one isn’t exactly an original, but I’ve been seeing Cool Whip Cookies a bunch of places online. And the recipes are all pretty much the same, no matter where you look. So I’ll just write what I did here.

INGREDIENTS:

one box of 18.25 oz cake mix (you can use any flavor you like – I just used lemon for mine)
one 8 oz container of cool whip
one large egg
some powdered sugar, for rolling

DIRECTIONS:

Mix the cake mix, cool whip and egg together.
Form into small balls (don’t make them too big or else they might stick and not come off the pan that great – don’t do what I did, lol). Then roll in the powdered sugar.
Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 10 to 12 minutes.
Cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before you remove them. Then, enjoy! (Yields around 24 to 36 cookies.)

As I mentioned above, it’s important to me that you know you can basically use any kind of cake mix that you’d like. I just decided to use lemon, ’cause lemon season is almost here, and I wanted to welcome spring. I’m planning on trying this recipe with chocolate cake mix eventually, and maybe even strawberry as well.

These cookies are soft and chewy, and the lemon flavor was sweet and strong. But not overpowering or tart. Also, make sure you roll them in powdered sugar really well as they’re pretty sticky as batter.

Recent Reads: Stars and Smoke

This smoldering enemies-to-lovers novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu puts a superstar global phenomenon and a hotshot young spy on a collision course with danger – and Cupid’s arrow – in an electric new series perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Nicola Yoon.

Meet Winter Young – International pop sensation, with a voice like velvet and looks that could kill. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. His rabid fans would move heaven and earth for even a glimpse of him – just imagine what they’d do to become his latest fling.

Meet Sydney Cossette – Part of an elite covert ops group, Sydney joined their ranks as their youngest spy with plans to become the best agent they’ve ever had. An ice queen with moves as dangerous as her comebacks, Sydney picks up languages just as quickly as she breaks hearts. She’s fiery, no-nonsense, and has zero time for romance – especially with a shameless flirt more used to serving sass than taking orders.

When a major crime boss gifts his daughter a private concert with Winter for her birthday, Sydney and Winter’s lives suddenly collide. Tasked with infiltrating the crime organization’s inner circle, Sydney is assigned as Winter’s bodyguard with Winter tapped to join her on the mission of a lifetime as a new spy recruit. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter’s charms, but as their mission brings them closer, she’s forced to admit that there’s more to Winter Young than just a handsome face…

Technically, I’m still reading this book – I’m only about 30% of the way through it, actually. This one’s been a bit slow going for me. I found the idea interesting, as well as a departure from Lu’s typical sci-fi, but it’s been difficult for me to get into, not to mention it isn’t what I usually read. I’m on the fence about DNF-ing it, so we’ll see what happens.

I’m not really gonna get into it, but this book has some of the same problems I had with the author’s Legend series. Mostly related to my suspension of disbelief. This book also has another big problem, however: I’m finding it kinda boring so far. But, like I said, we’ll see.

So what books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What’s your favorite meal or dessert?

Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you all have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Reading & Recipes #2

Sooo… It’s been awhile. I know I kind of did this post for the first time right before Christmas and then left you guys hanging. Sorry.

But I’m finally back with another Reading & Recipes. For this post, I’m going to be posting a recipe I used recently along with a picture of the finished product, as well as discussing a book I was reading the same day a little bit. Annnd that’s it, that’s pretty much the post.

Recent Recipe: Stir Fry w/ Udon

Unlike the recipe in my last post, this one is entirely a Mar original. Stir fry isn’t something that I really grew up with, until high school when my dad started making it with rice. I love rice, but I love noodles even more, so use them instead.

Stuff I Put In It:

2 pkgs Kame udon noodles
1 pkg beef stew meat
2 chicken breasts, cubed
2 broccoli florets
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper

I put this stuff in my stir fry this time, though it always varies. One time I did beef and shrimp, another I did beef, chicken and pork, and one time I did beef on its own. You can really put anything you want in it, even tofu if you want a vegetarian option.

You don’t even have to use udon if you don’t want to. Like I said, my dad uses rice. Either white or brown works great. But if you want to use noodles but not udon, a variety are available. You can use hokkien noodles, soba noodles or Thai ribbon noodles.

What I Put In the Sauce I Stir Fry it In:

Soy sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Sesame oil
Ginger (ground)
Garlic powder
A pinch of salt
A dash of sugar

I don’t bother to measure my amounts for my stir fry sauce. I just keep adding stuff I like, until I have a flavor I like. I typically use a lot of sesame oil and ginger though. You can pretty much put whatever you want in the sauce though.

How I Cook It:

Turn the surface heating on high
Put on the wok (I don’t have an electric wok – if you do, DO NOT put in on the burner!)
Pour in the sauce after it heats up
Put in your meat / seafood / tofu first
After they’re mostly cooked, put in your vegetables (if you’re using any)
Add the noodles last, mix them in and cook them for two minutes
Take stir fry off heating and ladle into portions

Like everything else, this can be super varied. You can really put in whatever you want to stir fry, and you can prepare it how you want. You could even cook it over a skillet or pan fry it, and it works pretty well (this is what I did before I got a wok).

Recent Read: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures… and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

This has been my most anticipated read of 2024 so far, and it hasn’t disappointed. I love Emily and Brambleby, and I love their banter. I love the world that Heather Fawcett has created.

I know that the year has just started, but I think this is going to be one of my highest rated books over 2024. Of course, I’m also still excited about what other novels might be coming out soon, as well.

So what books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What’s your favorite meal or dessert?

Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you all have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

2023 Reading: Another Year of Books

I read so many books in 2023 I almost can’t believe it. Like, I’ve never, ever read so many books in one year in my entire life. 65 books people! SIXTY. FIVE.

I honestly don’t have much to say, surprisingly. Except for how sorry I am that this post is over two weeks late. Yeah, as we all know, my posting hasn’t been all that great lately. (Read: terrible.)

Anyway, I’m trying to get back into it. I’ve started a new planner. Not only that, but it’s a daily planner with daily time slots in it, as opposed to the kind I’ve been using until now that didn’t have time slots. I’m really hoping it’ll increase my productivity and motivation this year. Fingers crossed it helps. 🤞🍀

Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough. Let’s get into the post. Here’s all my reading statistics from The StoryGraph for 2023.

A Year in Review

I read 65 books and 23,833 pages

😐 MOODS 😐

It was a rollercoaster of reading for me last year, cuz I went through a bunch of kinds of moods. (Eleven to be exact.) Adventurous was uncontestedly the largest Mood on the pie chart, but Mysterious and Emotional weren’t ones to sneeze at either. Lighthearted, Funny and Dark make up about a quarter of the graph together, but then the Moods get much, much smaller.

👢 PACE 👢

For 2023, the majority of the books that I read were medium paced (50%!). Fast paced is right on mediums tail, however, with 42% of the graph to itself. Slow is lagging very far behind with 8%, which isn’t a surprise. Since I don’t like slower paced books and all that.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER 🔢

Most of the books I read last year were between 300 and 499 pages (49%). After that there’s 300 pages or less books with 31%. I didn’t read too many really long novels last year, so they’re at the end with 20%.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION 📖

During 2023, nearly all of the novels that I read were fiction. I actually think that I only read one nonfiction book last year – I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy.

🎭 GENRES 🎭

I read from so many different Genres from last year that I don’t really want to talk about them. But I will. A little bit. Fantasy, to no one’s surprise, is the Genre that I read from the most. It looks like I read around 55 books or so that were Fantasy. YA is next with around 15 titles, and Romance and Science Fiction are right behind it, boasting about 10 books each. Annnd after that it just starts to get way too small.

📄 FORMAT 📄

Listen – I know this chart is wrong, you know this chart is wrong. Let’s just move on from this one, okay?

✍️ MOST READ AUTHORS ✍️

This is one that doesn’t normally appear on my monthly wrap-ups. Actually, I don’t think Most Read Authors has ever appeared on one at all. For whatever reason, in 2023 I chose not to add this particular stat to my wrap-ups. I think it was because I’d only ever read multiple books from one or two different authors a month and didn’t really find it necessary to post about it. But when you look at it from a year’s perspective, it’s an entirely different story. So I thought I’d post it in my yearly wrap-up. You can see which authors I read a lot of last year.

📈📉 NUMBER OF BOOKS AND PAGES 📈📉

This graph looks a little different than it usually does. That’s because, since this is over the entirety of 2023, it’s tracking the number of books read as well. So there are two different lines here. It’s interesting to see the correlation between the novels read compared to the pages read, as well as when they were read. My highest spike of reading activity was in the last quarter of the year, during October and November where I read 13 and 10 books, respectively. The lowest that wasn’t December was during June where I think I only read 2 books. The page count and the number of books also correlate the least during July.

⭐ STAR RATINGS ⭐

My median rating for the novels I read in 2023 is 3.9, which I’m mostly happy with. It’s almost 4 stars, which means I enjoyed more books overall than I hated. Actually, I think that’s why it’s so close – because I rated over a quarter of what I read 4 stars, and a decent chunk 4.5 and 5 stars.

Wrapping Up 2023

During 2023, I read the most books that I ever had in a year. I feel very proud of myself, and it really makes me feel positive about my reading speed and my desire to do… stuff. Like, guys, my reading goal last year was 20 books. I tripled it!

I’m also not sure if I’ll ever do it again, so I’m really happy that I managed to do it last year. It’s not that I think I couldn’t ever do it again either – I know that I could. It’s just that stuff is gonna change this year and I’m going to be busier. Not to mention that I’m pretty sure that I burned out with reading novels last year because I was reading so much – well that and combined with the insanity of the holidays. But still, I don’t really want to feel obligated to do something I love.

Which is why I’m going to take it easier this year, and I’m not planning to set a reading goal. I know that I’m going to read a lot of books, anyway. Plus, I’m still gonna try for a book review a week, which means I’ll be reading a book a week.

But yeah, I think that’s it for this wrap-up. How many books did you guys read in 2023? How many pages? What did you think about the books you read, overall?

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: December 2023

So. Confession time: this is not much of a reading wrap-up. In fact, it can hardly be considered one at all. But seeing as this has been an uninterrupted monthly tradition for me since starting activity on this blog in 2022, I feel compelled to do a variation. Like, it feels wrong for me not to, even though I have basically nothing to show for my reading in December 2023.

Last month, I attempted to read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and I got about a quarter through it (around 220 pages or so) before I decided that I wasn’t going to be able to get into it. And I figured I’d have to DNF it before I fell into a reading slump or something. Well, I guess I was a bit too late for that, haha. Cuz, uh, I ended up in a reading slump. Nice going me.

So yeah, I didn’t really do any reading, unfortunately. (With actual novels – fanfiction was a whole nother story in December.) But I’m gonna talk about my failures last month anyway. So here’s my stats from The StoryGraph from December 2023.

December 2023 Reading

Parts of 2 different books and approximately 300 pages (but no books finished)

Moods 😐, Pace 👢, and Page Number 🔢

GENRES 🎭, Format 📄, and Fiction/Nonfiction 📖

Books I Read (Parts of) in December

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, quite frankly, I sucked last month; both with my book reading and my blogging. And I’m determined to do better this month. Though it hasn’t yet, hopefully I’ll have a strong start here in 2024. I have some books on my TBR that I’m looking forward to somewhat, and a few anticipated releases in the first quarter of this year.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a good day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/4 – 12/22

So, um, the title of this post is a little misleading. Technically, this is almost a “three weeks-ly” wrap-up. But that sounds dumb, so I’m still gonna call this a Weekly Wrap-Up.

Anyway, I haven’t really been too active on the blog this month. December is always a busier month for me, and to be honest, as much as I adore it, the holiday season stresses me out. Just a tiny bit. So I kind of took it easy this month. Sorry.

Anyway, let’s talk about the stuff I have done on the blog, since my last weekly wrap-up.

Wednesday 12/6: WWW Wednesday

Two and a half weeks ago, on Wednesday, I finally participated in another WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday: 12/6

Saturday 12/10: Spell the Month in Books

Two Saturdays ago, I participated in Spell the Month in Books for December 2023. Spell the Month in Books is a monthly post created and hosted by Jana @ Reviews from the Stacks.

Spell the Month in Books: December 2023

Thursday 12/21: Birthstone Book Covers / Reading & Recipes

Two days ago, this past Thursday, I ended up double posting. The first post that I did was Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a monthly post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.

The second post that I did on Thursday was a new thing that I thought up a few weeks ago. It’s called Reading & Recipes, and for it I showcase the thing I baked or cooked most recently and discuss the book I was reading at the time a little.

Birthstone Book Covers: December 2023

Reading & Recipes #1

Friday 12/22: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries Review

Yesterday I finally, finally, finally posted my review for Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I absolutely loved the book and I gave it ★★★★★.

My review of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Books I’ve Read in the Last Three Weeks

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, I haven’t been all that active so far this December. I’m hoping to post more than I have been next week, but no promises. Also, I probably won’t be posting tomorrow or the next day, as they are Christmas Eve and Christmas, and I want to spend all my time with family and friends. Plus, I’ll probably be tired from holiday stuff. I’m already pretty boned now actually – I’ve been busy making a ton of cookies these last couple days! (Not to mention wrapping presents the day before that!)

And… that’s kind of it for this wrap-up. I don’t have as much to say this time, I know, but like I said: I’ve been busy the last few days. I’ll probably end up reading books I get for Christmas next (if I get books for Christmas), and then I’ll read something else.

But yeah, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day/night! Also, to everyone who celebrates, Merry Christmas!! 🎄❄️🔔🎁

See ya ~Mar

Reading & Recipes #1: Spritz Cookies w/ The Way of Kings

Let me tell you something you don’t know about me: I love baking – and cooking in general. So I thought that I could combine it with some of my other loves, reading and blogging. (Also: double post!)

Before I continue though, I have to say that this post is slightly inspired by something I’ve seen YouTuber Cindy Pham do on her channel a couple of times. It’s called Cook & Book and she cooks herself dinner while talking about books she read recently and what she thought of them.

But Reading & Recipes is a little bit different. For one thing, there’s a huge difference in presentation between a video and a blog post. So for this thing, I’m going to be posting a recipe I used recently along with a picture of the finished product, as well as discussing a book I was reading the same day a little bit. Annnd that’s it, that’s pretty much the post.

So, I’ll stop blabbering and get on with it.

Recent Recipe: Spritz Cookies

The spritz cookies that I made last week. I used the tree shape and the snowflake shape, and decorated them with red and green sugar. :) — **The** ***spritz cookies*** **that I made last week. I used the tree shape and the snowflake shape, and decorated them with red and green sugar. 🙂**

Confession(s): Even though I really enjoy baking, I’m not a genius. Nor do I have the will or the desire to spend time testing recipes (particularly baking ones) dozens of times. So I sought out Sally’s Baking Recipes and found this recipe. This is also my first time making Spritz Cookies, so I haven’t messed around with it or modified the recipe to my tastes yet, so the one I used was exactly the same.

And, I gotta say, this recipe is pretty awesome. The only thing that I’d really change is add waaayy less almond extract (like to about 1/8 of a teaspoon). I can’t stand it when sugar cookies taste too almondy. I’d also take the cookies out of the oven a minute or two early, cuz I like my sugar cookies nice and soft.

But yeah, other than my highly specific nitpicks, three cookies turned out very well. I’ll definitely be making them again!

Recent Read: The Way of Kings

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

So… Here’s the thing. I’m pretty sure – like 98% sure – that I’m gonna DNF this book. I just… don’t care for it for whatever reason. I don’t know what it is about some 800+ page books, but I just can’t get into them sometimes.

And the amount of scenes that use telling instead of showing grated on my nerves a little bit. That, and I really wasn’t too interested in the individual character plots. I don’t know, it was a bunch of little things, plus the fact that I’m having trouble getting into the book, plus the length of the novel. So I think I’m going to stop.

I really, really wanted to like this book. And I have oodles of respect for Brandon Sanderson. But I don’t think me and the Stormlight Archive were meant to be. Maybe someday I’ll try Mistborn…

So what books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What’s your favorite meal or dessert? How about cookies, specifically?

Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you all have a fantastic day/night! Happy Holidays, as well, to anyone who celebrates!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 12/6

It’s been, what, like two and a half months since I left did this post? Yeah, I fell off of it for a bit for whatever reason. I don’t really know why. (Also, I know I said I was gonna do a Tasteful Tuesday yesterday, but… yeah, the stars just didn’t align.)

Anyway.

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Thing I’m Currently Reading

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

CURRENT STATUS: 22%

CURRENT FEELS: 🫤 (really bored, I think it’s too slow for me) (this is why I don’t normally go for 800+ page books) (might DNF it)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

The Thing I Most Recently Finished Reading

One Piece: Volumes 22 – 23 – 24 by Eiichiro Oda

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Join Monkey D. Luffy and his swashbuckling crew in their search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece.

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again–a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

Luffy’s epic clash with Baroque Works pirate captain Crocodile continues, while deposed princess Vivi and the rest of the Straw Hat crew race against time to save the ancient kingdom of Alabasta. Just when it seems smooth sailing is ahead, Luffy and crew discover an interloper among their ranks Who is this former Baroque Works member, and what does she want from the Straw Hats?

The Thing I Might Read Next

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

(This is something I got years ago but never read. I think I’m interested in reading it now, though)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Stop the Magician.
Steal the book.
Save the future.

In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she’s been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.

What books are you guys currently reading? Have you read any of the ones on my list this week? What did you think of them, if you had? How do you feel about the book(s) you’re reading now?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar