Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i enjoyed this book quite a bit, though i didn't *love* it like others have. maybe it's that i'm not so interested in planes.

but the story is fantastic.

View all my reviews

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i really enjoyed the story, so much that i was trotting around the house with it so i could read a couple lines as i was cooking, or a page while my kids watched a 5-minute tv show.

View all my reviews

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

it's a coming of age book, sure. and yes, it's another white boy in not-so-poor america. so i was dubious.

but the voice of the narrator is great, the story is engaging, and i bet it would charm most people.

View all my reviews

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

it's a good story with a nice twist.

View all my reviews

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Yes Please by Amy Poehler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i enjoyed most of the essays in the book. it's a fun, quick read.

View all my reviews

Forever by Judy Blume

Forever by Judy Blume
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

after listening to a podcast about judy blume, i realized i wasn't familiar with this YA classic.

it was fascinating to read it now. it's great that it depicts teenage sex and teenage intensity pretty accurately, at least in the realm i'm familiar with (white suburban america). it's a bit heartbreaking to read how much the narrator defers to whatever the boyfriend wants to do or talk about. i know that as a kid i read books as mostly scripts on how to behave, so i was cringing thinking of other young girls reading this and seeing how the girl gets just sort of guided along in conversation and activities (although she holds her own in the bedroom).

View all my reviews

The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll

The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage by Clifford Stoll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i really enjoyed it. the chapters are short and the author does a good job explaining any technical concepts (some are hilariously entertaining because the story is from 1985 before most people were familiar with email and the internet and so on).

recommended to me by larry carter.

View all my reviews

2 weeks of selfies: cancelled

i forgot that we are moving, so things are chaotic and i'm not taking selfies every day. but 1 week was fun.

2 weeks of selfies: day 8

would you believe i just applied lipstick? i guess i need to go darker.

anyway, tomorrow the movers come so it's a bit stressful. to feel at my most energetic, i'm wearing a favorite t-shirt.

Prague by Arthur Phillips

Prague by Arthur Phillips
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i got this book as a gift (i was living in prague at the time and i think the giver mistakenly (though understandably) believed the book was about prague (spoiler: it isn't.). the book is set in budapest among a circle of expats in the early years just after the fall of the iron curtain.

i finally got around to reading it and i enjoyed it. the characters are interesting and the setting is fascinating. i met a few expats who lived in prague in 1990 and their stories are great.

View all my reviews

2 weeks of selfies: day 7

if i have learned nothing else in the past week, it is that i should embrace lip color.

2 weeks of selfies: day 6

...and i'm back at home and working.

2 weeks of selfies: day 5

the first one is me relaxing only 1 foot from a 1000m drop into the fjord. the second is from the last ridge before the parking lot. it was a great day: i am proud of the hike and less proud about chickening out before i got onto the kjeragbolten and happy to have met some new friends.

2 weeks of selfies: day 4

still terrible hair. still eating well. i even resisted fairy cakes at a birthday party!

two weeks of selfies: day 3

hair still comically bad. maybe i will go in search of a hat soon.

but! eating is going well. i have stopped eating sprinkles right from the bottle ("because i have to use them up before we move"). i have not had chocolate. i made pancakes for breakfast today and didn't have any myself.

two weeks of selfies: day 2

hair still unflattering (how do i fix this?). lipstick upgrades me from "dead" to "alive".

i ate healthily yesterday and plan to continue today.

here i am

it's wednesday morning. i'm 36 years old and working from home and not wearing makeup.

i need to be doing something with my hair (some sort of easy up do, i think). don't know what though. and some kind of makeup.

but the point of this is that i need to eat better. i am resolving now to eat well for the next 2.5 weeks. we are moving and starting a trip so there is no better time to feel at my best.

the hair probably isn't going to improve during that time so don't get those hopes up too high.

The Castle in the Pyrenees by Jostein Gaarder

The Castle in the Pyrenees by Jostein Gaarder
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was my first foray into Norwegian literature. I didn't enjoy it. Maybe it's because I couldn't relate to any of the characters. Or maybe it's because the epistolary form was not believable. There was too much detail in the letters to be realistic.

I wouldn't recommend it to any adults. Maybe to an adolescent for whom a debate about spiritual vs scientific is exciting and covering new ground.

View all my reviews

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i flew through the book and got a lot of tips about changing or enforcing habits that i have already put into use. i wouldn't say that everyone would enjoy reading the book, but i would say that everyone could learn a lot from it.

View all my reviews

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i really enjoyed reading this.

part of the pleasure was simply learning about a place i have never been to. nigeria (and nigerians) are important globally, yet many of us know nothing about life there. and this book especially pleasurable for me because the protagonist is an educated woman (like myself) and we get to grow with her from adolescence through early middle age. too often the protagonists we get from developing countries are villagers with "simple" lives and their lives are too foreign to relate to. but Ifemelu is understandable and real. adichie creates a compelling story. at a certain point (maybe halfway?) i had a lot of trouble putting the book down.

View all my reviews

the light!

today's pre-6am wake up call from the baby offered something else: a hint of light. it wasn't sunrise yet (which happened around 7am), but it was definitely lighter outside and not night anymore.

and so this marks the beginning of the bright time of year in the nordics, at least at the latitude where i live.

it's wonderful.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

even though wwii is a somewhat tired topic, this is a fresh story line with captivating characters.

View all my reviews

diet update

my diet changes are mostly going well!

since i haven't gone fully "no carb", it's not striking success, but it is success nonetheless. 

1. the biggest habit break is the tea sweetener. i haven't added honey in a week, i think. and i still drink a lot of tea with milk. i told myself that it is okay to use stevia or this natrium-stevia mix they sell here. but i really don't like the taste, so i just go without.

2. i have had the occasional apple or part of a banana, but it's rare. and i have been skipping the raisins, which makes a big difference.

3. last wednesday i fell off the wagon. but instead of considering the project done, i simply got back on it thursday morning.

am i less pudgy? maybe slightly. i feel like my muffin top is ever so slightly smaller. hopefully it will keep shrinking and i will keep up these good habits and keep improving steadily.

my relationship with food is difficult

here we go again with the "eating right" attempt.

i have a sweet tooth. and when i eat sugar, my sugar cravings just gain momentum. so it's not like i can have one cookie -- it just makes me crazy for more cookies.

i have about a month and a half before i travel again, and i'm going to try to make that a month and a half of good eating choices. i do have one exception i know of: kimmo's birthday is at the end of the month and i will have some cake then. but otherwise i am going to try to avoid sugar.

it sounds so easy and i'm embarrassed that it's so difficult to do.

for meals, my system is in place and i feel reasonably good about it. i cook mostly from scratch and avoid gluten and overall that is working for me. my fail points are:

1. snacks -- i can eat a lot of sugar via fruit during the day. the biggest problems are apples and raisins. yes, they are healthy. but they are not healthy when you eat a lot of them, and i have trouble with keeping it to a reasonable amount (see above)
2. game night desserts -- most saturday nights, we get together with the neighbors and play a board game and eat some kind of homemade dessert. i really enjoy this ritual, and so do the other three people involved. i'm not sure about the best plan: make a small dessert to share and allow myself the once-a-week thing, since it's not like i can easily get more the next day? try to do only savory treats, like nice cheeses (possible, but only when we are hosting)?
3. tea - i use a lot of honey in my tea. i'm trying to go without honey, full stop.
4. other social events when i'm hungry and we're out and about -- at norwegian cafes, it's quite difficult to find savory but gluten-free options. i can sometimes just get a coffee or tea and add lots of milk and sugar and not eat anything, especially if we're heading home soon. but that doesn't always work because we aren't heading home soon. i can pack lots of snacks for myself, but that gets frustrating because kimmo and the kids eat it too and then i end up with not very much at all. i can choose to eat gluten but nothing sweet, which means i have less of the sugar momentum. none of those options sound great. maybe the liquid plus snacks thing. maybe it's a matter of finding low carb snacks that the kids hate (chili peanuts?).

let the challenge begin.

American Savage by Dan Savage

American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics by Dan Savage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

if you listen to the podcast and hear his rants at the top of the show every week, then this book doesn't offer you much you haven't heard before. he posits good arguments and tells interesting stories.

View all my reviews

something i didn't know last week

1. there is a pseudo-playground in vålandsparken with outdoor trampolines.

2. we may be moving this summer.

3. i need some sort of fitness partner, someone to share my goals with and keep me on track. i don't do a good job all by myself.

Things I didn't know last week

You can bike to work here in winter with just one studded tire (and the back one could be a regular summer tire).

The Norwegian stance is that babies one year and up should have fluoride.

Anger-related reading post

Resolution #493: Don't Yell

I'm trying harder to not yell at my kids. Part of actually accomplishing that is regular readings and reminders about controlling my anger. Today's reading, from an advice column post I bookmarked almost 2 years ago and still enjoy re-reading because it's like she's speaking straight to me :

To illustrate: Not only do I try hard not to yell, but I also try very hard not to use a Harsh Tone of Voice. Now this part is fucking bullshit if you ask me, but I've been told many, many times over the years that I "sound harsh," either when I'm in a hurry, or I'm just answering the phone and I'm not sure who it is yet, or maybe I haven't had any caffeine yet and I'm wondering where my keys are. I Sound Harsh. Everyone agrees! And even though I personally feel that it's well within my fucking rights to sound as harsh as I fucking want (since I'm not yelling and throwing shit, which is how we do it in my family, for fuck's sake!), even though I have a serious problem with how much sugarcoating and pussyfooting women have to do in this world not to be encountered as demonic whore assassins by a populace that cultivates Disney Princess visions of femininity, I still comply with this seemingly universal desire for me to Sound Less Harsh. Here's why: My life is easier, I feel less shitty about myself, my friends are nicer to me, my kids look less jumpy, my mother is less critical, and my husband is more helpful. This Deluxe Showcase of Super-Special Bonuses is mine, just from Sounding Less Harsh. It's not that hard, honestly. And you know what? I feel less harsh, too.

http://www.theawl.com/2013/02/ask-polly-why-are-people-such-assholes

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity by Katherine Boo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

it's a great story but so sad. my life is far from life in an indian slum and i am grateful.

View all my reviews