And the winner is..

The  Spin landed on.....

Which is.....

So I guess I'll be reading this soon!

Classic Club Spin #14

I just joined the Classics Club--so actually this is my first Classics spin.

I have to list 20 of my 50 classics that I want to read in the next 5 years, then on Monday October 3rd, the spin number will be announced and I have 2 months to read the classic that corresponds to the number on my list.

So here goes (I had no rhyme or reason for picking these):

1. Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

2. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

3. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

4. The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester

5. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

7. The Hound of the Baskervilles  by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

8.  Stoner by John Williams

9. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

10.  Beast in View by Margaret Millar

11. I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

12. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

13. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

14. The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bown

15. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

16. It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

17. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

18. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

19.  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

20.  The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

I'm excited to see how this will work out for me.  My first spin will be my first classic.

Sunday Post and the Classics Club

This is my Sunday Post #9

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

I am not consistent.

My last Sunday Post was on April 17th..

That's EXACTLY  how I began my last "Sunday Post", except for the date of course.

At least I am consistent on my non-consistencies.

Before I get started,  I am going to do this....

I am joining the Classics Club!

I've given this a lot of thought and read thru the 'very relaxed' rules a few times and decided to join---with my own spin put in.

The rules  (check out the Classics Club Blog here for everything you've ever wanted to know about it)  say I have to list 50 classics that I will read in the next 5 years.

Let me do that now....

Random Classics that I want to read:

1. Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut

2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

3. Maggie: a Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane

4.  Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

5. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

6. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

7. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allen Poe

8. Stoner by John Williams

9. From Here to Eternity by James Jones

10. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

11. Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

11.  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

12. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

13. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

14. The Hound of the Baskervilles  by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15. Petyon Place by Grace Metalious

16. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

17.  Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

18. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

19. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

20.  The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bown

Classic Mysteries that I want to read:

21. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

22. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

23. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

24. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

25. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

26.  Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

27. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by PD James

28. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

29. Beast in View by Margaret Millar

30. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Classic Science Fiction that I want to read:

31. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

32. Dune by Frank Herbert

33. Logan's Run by William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson

34. Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

35. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

36. The Robber Bride by Margarett Atwood

37. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

38. The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester

39. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

40. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Classic Children's Fiction that I want to read:

(Newbery Award Winners from 1964 thru 1974)

41,  Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
42. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
43. Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
44.  Sounder by William H. Armstrong
45. The High King by Lloyd Alexander
46.  From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
47. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
48. I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
49.  Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
50. It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

*****

My spin being the themes.

Also, this list is subject to change, as the rules state that this is a 'living' list.

My goal date is: December 31st, 2021

(yes that is 5 years 3 months---it was bugging me to end in the middle of a year--even tho I am starting in the middle. Go figure?)

Okay, now on to the rest of my Sunday Post:

On the blog this past week:  (it was a really busy posting week for me)

Monday-- Elizabeth is Missing.

Wednesday -- Friday Friend Recipe #103 - Lemon Lush

Wednesday -- Outdoor Wednesday

Wednesday --  Cookbook Countdown #94 -- The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

Wednesday -- Food n Flix: Frida -- Fruity Slaw

Friday --   Book Blogger Hop and Fabulous Friday

Saturday --  The Wednesday Wars

Saturday --  Saturday Snapshot

Saturday -- What should I read next? (from my TBR List)

Sunday (this morning) -- Sunday Soup! Chicken and Kielbasa Soup

So, sometimes I'm a bit obsessive---but I had to get all those things done! Right?

Off the blog?

Walking-- I haven't done any lately and that makes me sad.

TV-- Well, all the new fall shows have begun, but I've been too busy writing blog posts.  Actually We are watching the latest "Walking Dead" season to come out on Netflix, as well as their new original series "Stranger Things".  And Football and the Seattle Seahawks of course.

Music -- Nada

Letters -- Nada lately and I have a whole stack to answer.

In the Kitchen -- oh my gosh I've done lots of cooking lately.  I don't know why, maybe the change in the weather.

But cooking lots and not walking is a dangerous combination!

The Handyman told me this morning that eating at the Stone-house (our house) is like going to a wedding.  I was like "what?"  He said, 'yep, you can't have any fun (or eat) until all the pictures are taken. 

It's not THAT bad. Really.

I still have coffee every Tuesday morning at 6am with my friend Debbie.  Have been doing it for 15 years or so.  Yesterday we snuck in an extra coffee date as her daughter was visiting from Kentucky and it was nice to see her and catch up.

Had dinner with our Friday Night Friends on Saturday!  Kind of discombobulating.

And today I am defrosting the freezer and guess what I found?  Christmas Cookies from last year.  Tossed them of course, but please remind me to not make so many this year.  Oh well, wait a minute---I will have grandkids here this year.

How much holiday baking do you do?

Do you make any fun stuff for Halloween?  Cookies? Caramel apples?  Do you read any good spooky books?

Have a good week!  Happy Reading--Cooking--blogging!!

Sunday Soup! Chicken and Kielbasa Soup

October!  My favorite month of the year!  And by some miraculous weather pattern, it always gets a little cooler around here the moment I turn the calendar over.  I love it.

This is what I made for my Sunday Soup--- Chicken and Kielbasa Soup--- and it was so, SO good.

The description in the magazine says that there is something satisfying about that snap that comes when you bite into a chuck of Kielbasa,  and that its smoky flavor begs to be added to cold-weather dishes.

AGREED!

Co-signed!

I need to write nothing more, because I can't say it better than that.

If you make a salad and grab some French bread, this is a perfect light fall meal.  You should probably have some wine also--it kind of rounds out the meal.

Just sayin'

There was a time I didn't like wine.  Imagine that!?

I found this recipe in an old issue of Cuisine magazine, the winter 2013 'special publication'.   There are many good soups in here that I can't wait to try.

I really hope it's cooling down in your neck of the woods--because you really need a pot of simmer soup on your stove today.

Happy soup day!  Happy Sunday!

This soup is so easy!  

Don't be afraid--soups are really the easiest thing in the world.

Chicken and Kielbasa Soup

Brown: 

8 oz kielbasa, bias sliced

1 T olive oil

Add:

1 1/2 cups diced onions

1/2 cup EACH diced carrot and celery

1 T minced fresh garlic

1 T tomato paste

Deglaze:

1/4 cup dry white wine

Stir in:

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes in juice

1 can navy beans

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 dried bay leaf

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

Juice of 1/2 lemon

salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Brown kielbasa in oil in a pot over medium for 2-3 minutes; transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

Add onions, carrot, celery and garlic to pot; cover and sweat over medium-low heat until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, 7-8 minutes. Remove lid, increase heat to medium-high, and stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute.

Deglaze pan with wine and simmer until nearly evaporated, 3 minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, bean w/liquid, rosemary and bay leaf; simmer 10 minutes.

Add chicken and kielbasa; simmer 3 minutes.  Stir in lemon juice, season with salt, pepper and pepper flakes.

Remove bay leaf and rosemary sprig before serving.

I am going to link up  with

Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen!

Souper Sundays is a weekly blog event that started because of her love of soup and a desire to work through the many soup and soup-like recipes in cookbooks and magazines, Deb set a goal to make a soup or "soupish" dish each week and post it each Sunday and invited others to do the same.

What should I read next? (from my TBR List)

 

A monthly meme hosted by Michelle at  Because Reading is Better than Real Life.

Michelle says:

We sit for hours looking through our TBR lists wondering when we will ever get to that one book we were dying to read when we added it 3 months ago or maybe even a year. As our piles get bigger we realize there is just not enough time in a day to read all the books that we wanted to read. So I had a great idea, pick 3 books from my TBR Pile and have you all pick which one I should read next. This is a monthly MEME and you are more than welcome to join me.

There are of course some rules, but if you want to join in go here to check them all out.

********************

Okay people....help me out here!  I need a book to read and I need your help in choosing which one.

Below are three I want to read, but..... my decision making skills when I'm not at work are nil.

All you have to do is  just make a comment  on which one you choose for me and I'll let you know next Saturday what I'm reading next....the majority wins!

** sorry, sorry, sorry--- I usually play by the rules, but ??  Life?

Before I start the month off with my new list, please  rest assured that I am almost done with the one from last month.  Forgive me for falling behind. I'll post the review next week.

It's good tho---thanks for choosing it!

And now... on to

What should I read next?

These are 3 very different books, so...what do you think?

William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known.

And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.

John Williams's luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.

Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend's brother for...well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret...and fears she doesn't know him at all.

Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone's preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can't seem to publish an edition without mentioning him in the first paragraph. But when Colin returns to London from a trip aboard he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same -- especially Penelope Featherington! The girl haunting his dreams. But when he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide...is she his biggest threat -- or his promise of a happy ending?

Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn't real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn't bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin's yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they'd imagined.

Just make a comment in the comments. 

I'm so well versed! Ha!

Yes please comment on which one  you think I should read please.

Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by

West Metro Mommy Reads!

To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post to West Metro Mommy Reads!   Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Last evening I had to attend a "BAH" Business After Hours Mixer for work,  usually I don't like to 'have' to attend anything, but this Mixer is always fun, because it's a sneak peak of the Fall Farm Adventures at the Lazy P Adventure Farm.

We get to go thru the corn maze before it opens up to the public.

After all the speeches, etc,  We were able to do the BIG corn maze and make it thru in record time. 

Our grandson Camron is going to be a 'corn cob' this year.  It's his life ambition to be a corn cob. 

Okay, not really-- I just like saying it.

A Corn Cob is someone who works the corn maze making sure no one is destroying or doing what they shouldn't do, or are lost.  He gets to spend his Saturdays in October wandering around in a corn maze.

I love fall and anything that has to do with fall... so here are a few snapshots of our Mixer last night and our corn cob grandson and then a few of my backyard just now.

Lazy P Corn Maze Mixer:

Cam and Grandad trying to figure out the clues on how to get thru this maze!

Once upon a time I said "I like to watch corn grow" MEANING when we drive by corn fields it changes fast--corn grows kind of fast. 

He said I was a cheap date.

He's lucky I'm still with him!

My backyard:

I need to get out there an pull up stuff before winter comes. 

I just like the fall-ish-ness of it.

The Handyman asks me? "dead leaves?  you like dying stuff?"

Kind of--I do.

(he just sees work)

The Wednesday Wars

From Goodreads:

In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year in Long Island, New York.

Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn’t like Holling—he’s sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation—the Big M—in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.

From Me:

I LOVED this book.

I don't know what else to say.

A middle grade, Newbery Honor award winning book--that everyone should read!

Nostalgic, emotional, funny, compelling!

You'll fall in love with Holling Hoodhood.

I listened to the audio version and the narration was great, but I'm also going to purchase this for my bookshelf, so my grandkids can have easy access to it.

Loved it!!

Earlier in the  year, I signed up for the Newbery Reading Challenge, hosted by Julie at Smiling Shelves.

This is only my 2nd book in the challenge.

I better get busy--I have a few more to read before the end of the year.