Month: December 2018

Books and Reading

My goal for 2018 was to read 32 books. 2017 was not a good reading year, but 2018 was much better. As of this writing, I read 45 books!

The following are books that I dumped:

  • Georgette Heyer mysteries – I read the one that I owned then I tried to read one more from the library, but gave up. I enjoyed Heyer’s Regency romances, but her mysteries were rather flat.
  • The Queen’s Fool by Philippa Gregory – I was already prepared to dump this, but I read the first prologue and some of the first chapter. I did not like it and skimming through a coupe of chapters.
  • Joy on Demand by Chade-Meng Tan – A book on meditation that I started and was then put on hold for months. I gave up and realized it didn’t grab me.

2019 Books and Reading Goals

  1. Read 42 books for 2019 – This was my old standard goal of 42 books. I think 50 would be pushing my luck. I want to go back to the old days of my youth when I did read 50+ books in a year, but I don’t think there are gurantees of it.
  2. Read more cookbooks – So many cookbooks, so little time.
  3. Read remaining 2018 New Yorker magazines – I received a promo subscription in 2017. I only have about five to read.

Knitting

For 2018, I wanted to knit six projects. I finished three and am currently still work on my fourth. I am satisfied since my current project is a light sweater.

2019 Knitting Goals

  1. Finish three projects in 2019 including my current sweater
  2. Continue to not buy yarn – With the exception of travel (and even on my last few trips), I have not bought yarn in a couple years.

Food

This year, I finally made kimchi. I continue to bake bread but always using the same recipe since sourdough is finnicky. I want to learn more recipes, but the most important is to keep baking bread.

Some ideas for 2019:

  1. Make stollen next Christmas
  2. Find another reliable sourdough bread recipe that works for my starter and me
  3. Cook and Bake from my cookbooks

Other Goals

I have many other small goals. I am continuing to work on writing more, meditation, and fitness. I have planned and booked a few races in the new year.

This is a late review that has been hanging over me a month. I read all volumes of this manga series in October and November, but I wanted to review the work as a whole.

I consider Hayao Miyazaki a genius and one of my favourite artists and film makers ever. The Ghibli films are special to me and his work does move me. This series is definitely one of his best works.

This series has a lot on humanity and it covers so many facets of life. It’s beautiful. I found it emotional and so detailed to read through. The character of Nausicaa is incredible. I wish this series would be turned into a live action or a mini series. That won’t ever happen, but this to me is better than anything HBO or the cable networks put out to adapt.

This work is more grim than some of Miyazaki’s films, but it does have moments of hope. It has moments of whimsy, magic, death, innocence, and honesty. As usual, there are many characters and amazing moments.

I love this work. It is now one of my favourite graphic literary works. I do wonder if I should buy it for the ages.

Read October to November 2018.