Friday Reads: September 27

Currently Reading (actually just finished): Divergent, by Veronica Roth

   As a huge Hunger Games fan, I actually tried to read this one a while back-I could barely get through the free sample. However, upon my latest try I'm actual interested in the story. Unlike the Hunger Games, Roth doses not provide the same illustrative background to her story like Suzanne Collins.  We know something happened that caused the factions to exist, but what? And why did those particular factions come into being?  What apocalyptic event turned the Chicago we know into the Chicago of the story?  Personally, these issues are actually a big deal.  It's nice that this civilization exists for the story, but I want to know why.

  Next, I actually like Tris, the main character.  Sure, she is the typical YA heroine, not pretty, not strong--someone to whom everyone can relate. But unlike Katniss, Clary or (God forbid) Bella Swan, she has depth to her character that the others don't seem to have.  She has the ability to make friends!  She can utter complex sentences that aren't just about her love interest (I'm looking at you, Swan).  She's funny and generally seems to be a normal human being.  If there is something I can't stand about YA it is how stupid and dull they make characters--all one sided a there to fit an obvious mold and fit an obvious purpose.
  The story itself was a little weak, and while I understand this is a series, I wish the first installment would have had a bit more going.  The first 350 pages or so was a struggle-sure she was going through training and all-but it was simply rehashing the same idea over and over.  It got tiring, to say the least.  The last bit was by far the best.  It was obviously the climax and ended at a point where you want to pick up the next novel.
  This brings me to my last point:  Will I buy the next in the series, Insurgent? I haven't decided the answer to that yet.  It wasn't so good that I have to go out and buy it right now, and after reading Divergent directly following, the God-awful, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, I'm burnt out on YA.  I'm probably going to pick up the fourth Fire and Ice book-A Feast for Crows. I guess you will have to wait until next Friday to find out!

To Read: 

A Feast For Crows, George R. R. Martin

A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

Sherlock Holmes, Sir Authur Conan Doyle

Friday Reads

So, in order to create a sense of continuity from week to week I'm going to plan on having a weekly post, on Fridays, that discusses what I'm reading at the time and what books are in my 'to read' list. It may include my thoughts on the book I'm reading or a review once I finish a book; or it may just be a list. It all really depends on how much I've read over the past week. 

So, just giving you a heads up on my new weekly post! I'll have one this Friday, September 27. 

Gumbo

It is safe to say that that I have struggled with homesickness. There were days I could barely stop crying over missing home-not just my family and everyone I've ever known, but the spaces, smells and general tempo of things I've known for 21 years. It took about two months for it to hit. One day I was fine and the next, getting out of bed wasn't even worth the effort. After my family spent a weekend up here, homesickness lost its sharpness. There aren't anymore raw edges inside, it's been replaced by more of a small ache with a twinge every now and then. 

We have been getting cool-ish days lately. In fact, the high tomorrow is 72 and the weekend promises mid 70s temps. Any Louisianaian worth their salt knows the first cool snap of the season means one thing....GUMBO. For me, at least, gumbo is more than thick, soupy rice and gravy. It's a connection. It's my Maw Maw. They say that out of the five senses, our sense of smell has the strongest ties to our memory. The smell of roux cooking will always bring me back to her kitchen, to piles of Avon products and the tangled jumble of my family: my Uncle Robert asleep in the recliner, my boy cousins tossing a football or playing hide and seek, my Aunt Suzette doing the crossword puzzle and so many more thousands of moments. It's also birthdays. Being an October baby, there was a 50/50 chance that we would have cool weather for my birthday, so I always requested seafood gumbo be served at my party. Generally at 6:30 on a Friday night, my birthday always involved gumbo, a bonfire a cake and an even more extended version of my family. I hold on tight to those memories. Because they will always call me home. 

What do the last to paragraphs have to do with each other? I think I've found the cure for homesickness, and it's gumbo. 

Now, if you don't know the process for making it, gumbo has many steps. I'm of the train of thought that if you are going to bother spending a few hours on a meal, then you might as well do it right. This means making my own stock and roux. I'm a purist of sorts. So yesterday around 1 I got to cooking. First boiling my chicken and making the roux. 

This is what I started with, a little to runny for my taste but oh well. And forty five minutes of stirring later here is what I ended up with....

It ended up a little darker than this picture shows but that's iPad cameras for you. 

For those forty five minutes I was no longer in the kitchen of our very urban apartment. I was home and everything was right in the world. Food, I guess, is a vehicle, a time machine to wherever you let it take you. When Doug and I were finally able to tear into it home seemed much closer than 500 miles away. I felt like I was home. And that, made it all worth it.