Kidzdoc's Year of Uncertainty and Opportunity, Part 1

 

My father's unexpected death on 6 December 2021 has upended my life more so than any other event, as I submitted my resignation to my employer, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, after working there as a pediatric hospitalist (inpatient pediatrician) for 21½ years, in order to become the primary caregiver for my 86 year old mother, who has moderate Alzheimer's disease and lives in suburban Philadelphia.

For the first time in 40 years I am neither employed full time nor a full time medical student or pediatric resident, and I'm in no rush to start working again, especially since I was feeling a moderate degree of burnout due to the pandemic and my parents' failing health, and I was seriously considering take a 6-12 month sabbatical starting next spring. I plan to care for Mom as long as I can at home, with assistance, and I'll probably accept a non-clinical physician position that will allow me to work from home.

2022 will be the most uncertain year of my life to this point, but it may also present an opportunity to do a tremendous amount of reading, since I don't anticipate beginning a job search before the middle of the year.

Most people who follow me know that I typically make ambitious goals at the beginning of every year, and always fail spectacularly to even come close to achieving any of them. This year will be different! (Stop laughing in Heaven, Rebecca (@rebeccanyc).)

Currently reading:

  

Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems by Dulce María Loynaz
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby
Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl by Uwe Johnson

Completed Books:

January:
1. The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Dr Jason Karlawish
2. Pauli Murray's Revolutionary Life by Simki Kuznick
3. Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
4. Autumn Rounds by Jacques Poulin

February:
5. Milongas by Edgardo Cozarinsky (DNF)
6. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis
7. Passing by Nella Larsen
8. The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano
9. The Trees by Percival Everett
10. Mom's Gone Missing: When a Parent's Changing Life Upends Yours by Susan Marshall

The African Diaspora: Fiction and Poetry (2022 goal: 25 books)

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa
The Actual by Inua Ellams
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah ✅️
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna
Black Bazaar by Alain Mabanckou
Brotherhood by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
Magical Negro by Morgan Parker
Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey
Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
The Ones Who Say They Don’t Love You by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah
Passing by Nella Larsen ✅️
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
The Trees by Percival Everett ✅️

The African Diaspora: Nonfiction (2022 goal: 12 books)

Afropessimism by Frank B. Wilderson III
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth by Orlando Patterson
Ella Baker & the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby
Frantz Fanon: A Biography by David Macey
The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness by Kevin Young
Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudine Rankine
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis

Asian Book Challenge 2022

January: Turkey
February: Israel & Palestine
March: The Arab World
April: Iran
May: The -Stans
June: The Indian Subcontinent
July: China
August: Japan
September: Korea
October: Indochina
November: The Malay Archipelago
December: The Asian Diaspora

The 2022 Booker and the International Booker Prize Longlists (TBD)

Dignidad Literaria: Literature by Authentic Latinx Writers

Bless Me, Última by Rudolfo Anaya
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester
Friction by Eloy Urroz
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea

 

Faulkner, Faulkner! Part 1: I own all five editions of the Library of America collections of William Faulkner's novels, and I intend to read one of them each year, starting with William Faulkner: Novels: 1926-1929.

Soldiers’ Pay
Mosquitoes
Flags in the Dust
The Sound and the Fury

Medicine, Public Health and Science

Fevers, Feuds and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History by Dr Paul Farmer
How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS by David France
Listen: How to Find the Words for Tender Conversations by Dr Kathryn Mannix
My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing “Slow Medicine,” the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, MD (re-read)
The Problem of Alzheimer’s: How Science, Culture and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Dr Jason Karlawish ✅️
Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing by Dr Victoria Sweet

Reading Globally Quarterly Theme Reads

Q1: Around the Indian Ocean
Q2: Outcasts and Castaways
Q3: When Alphabets Collide: Books Written in the Slavic Languages
Q4: Prize Winners in Their Own Language

Reading plan for January:

Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
Brotherhood by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, MD
The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Dr Jason Karlawish
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Trees by Percival Everett
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

This thread is now open for business!

>1 kidzdoc: Love the pictures! I lost my father this year, too. You have my sincere condolences. 2022 is uncertain for me, too. I don't know what will happen with the farm - I might have to move and I might not. I had also planned to retire early in 2022, and now I think I will be working at least another year. I find your goals very inspirational! Mine are, if not ambitious, at least elaborate. I've already been working on it for a couple weeks and MAYBE I will get my thread up today. Best wishes to you in 2022! On with the reading!

Welcome to Club Read 2022, Darryl. I'm glad to see you out and about. I hope you are feeling better (no covid) and that you are able to get your things from Atlanta so you can settle in more comfortably.

I love the photo in >5 kidzdoc: and am delighted that you are going to be participating in the Asia Reading Challenge. I wasn't sure how ambitious you were feeling these days. The Reading Globally quarterly theme reads look interesting also, and I will peek in on the threads even if I don't have the bandwidth to participate.

So many books and so many competing demands on my time!

>13 WelshBookworm: Thanks, Laurel. I'm sorry that your father also died this year. It's not yet a month since mine passed, and I think I'm more numb than anything else, as his loss hasn't sunk in yet. He was hospitalized from late January to mid March last year, and since I took a leave of absence from work in order to care for my mother during that time it seems similar. However, every day or two I'll be acutely, and painfully, aware of his permanent absence, especially if I come out of the garage or kitchen and start to ask, "Dad, where is the...?"

This was the year that I was supposed to have started making firm plans to retire to Portugal, and I was supposed to have met the husband of a long time member of LibraryThing, in order to look at retirement property. I postponed my trip to Lisbon in late October, as my father was having far more cognitive difficulty than he had even this summer, and things were beginning to unravel. I had hoped that they could hold out until next spring, but my father had an episode of status epilepticus on the Saturday before Thanksgiving that he did not recover from, as it caused severe and irreversible brain damage. My parents own a modest but comfortable house in a nice and well connected township just north of Philadelphia with great neighbors, and I'm now thinking that I could finish out my work career here, instead of returning to Atlanta, and move in once my mother is no longer able to be cared for at home (I'm in absolutely no rush for that to happen). I had planned to retire in 2027, when I turned 66, but I may now choose to hang up my stethoscope for good considerably earlier than that, given this new reality.

My reading has tailed off considerably in the past few years, particularly after the 2016 presidential election. Before then I routinely read 100 or more books a year, from 2003 to 2015 or 2016 IIRC, and I hope to get back to those previously lofty totals starting next year, especially since my collection of unread books at home is multiplying like tribbles.



Good luck with your reading in 2022!

>14 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa, and thanks for agreeing to lead Club Read in 2022. I am feeling better, but I don't know if I have a mild case of COVID-19 or not (I suspect not). I went to a local urgent care center to get tested this morning, but the site was closed due to a medical emergency (from what I could tell a patient or a staff member died just before my visit). My cousin from Michigan, who has become the daughter my parents never had, was going to drive from Ypsilanti to Philadelphia today, but she is experiencing a moderate health problem that would be better off being managed before she drives or flies here. She is practically the only other person who my mother would be comfortable being alone with for an extended period of time, and since I'm not in an acute rush to return to Atlanta I'll postpone my flight there until after she arrives, and leave next week at the earliest.

My friend @PaulCranswick, a Yorkshireman who lives in Kuala Lumpur, is leading the Asian Book Challenge, and once he invited me to join I readily accepted, as it would allow me to read some books that I own but haven't gotten to yet. I may get off to a slow start, as I may not get to Atlanta before the second week of January, but I would like to read A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar at least (it was published by Archipelago Books several years ago), and hopefully one novel or nonfiction book by Orhan Pamuk, as I have yet to read anything by him.

I've hardly read anything since I arrived here five weeks ago, but now that the dust is beginning to settle and the new year approaches my interest in getting back to the books will increase significantly.

Hi Darryl--starring your thread as you always read so many interesting things. I'm very sorry to hear about your dad, and it sounds like your mom is lucky to have you. I hope 2022 is a good reading year! The list already looks pretty impressive. I have Nervous Conditions on the pile and was planning to start it in January.

>15 kidzdoc: Goodness. That must have been disconcerting to have the clinic close as you get there. I'm glad you are feeling better, and I hope your mom remains illness-free. I have been reading about all the flights being cancelled due to ill crew members and have worried about various friends and family getting stranded somewhere. Perhaps things will be more stable by the time you are ready to leave. Your cousin sounds like a special person.

I too used to read over a 100 books a year, back in the day. I think you and Rebecca inspired a lot of it. This year was a much better reading year for me, and I'm hoping next year will be equally or even more fun and productive. I started Snow by Orhan Pamuk today. Enjoying it so far. I loved My Name is Red, and I think you would too. The art history of Persian miniatures was fascinating.

>16 DieFledermaus: Thanks, Stephanie, and welcome back! My father will be sorely missed, both within and outside of the family, but by no one more than my mother, as they were happily married for 61 years. She is extremely grateful that I will be able to stay with her, as I have a substantial financial nest egg and don't need to work now.

I look forward to your review of Nervous Conditions, especially since it will be a while before I'll get to it.

>17 labfs39: Going to the urgent care center this morning was a bit surreal. There was an ambulance with a patient in the back parked just outside the entrance, which pulled away slowly with its lights off shortly after my mother and I arrived there, presumably to take the deceased person elsewhere. The front doors of the clinic were locked, and the staff inside pointed to a sign on the inside of one of the doors, which mentioned that it would be closed for several hours.

I've been peripherally following the news of the flight cancellations, which made me hesitant to fly to Atlanta, and Tina felt the same about flying from Detroit. A number of my (fully vaccinated) work partners have contracted COVID-19 this month, along with other physicians and nurses on the hospital staff. I also hope that things will improve by the time Tina leaves from Michigan, and since she will likely stay here for two weeks I can take my time returning to Atlanta. The thought of driving 12+ hours on New Year's Eve was very unpleasant, and we both feel much more comfortable with her decision to postpone her trip here. Staying here until early January will also allow me to make Hoppin' John and collard greens for my mother on New Year's Day, as she needs all the good luck she can get.

I just saw that you're reading and enjoying Snow. I have a copy of the hardcover in Atlanta, but I just noticed that the Kindle version is on sale for $1.99. I'll buy it now, and start it after I finish Afterlives. I'll bring my copies of Snow and My Name Is Red with me, along with A Mind at Peace.

I have starred you here, Darryl. Good to see you making plan, however lofty (isn't that what the new year on LT is all about, anyhow? ;-)

It sounds like you are doing exactly the right things right now, namely, taking things as they unfold. Breathe in, breathe out, one foot in front of the other, and all that jazz. The lack of urgency to do anything or be anywhere but where you are and the comfort and luxury of not needing to work, will all work in your favour as you meet the new year and bid good riddance to this godforsaken one.

Looks like you have some great reading planned. It'll be fun following along with all you y'all taking part in the Asia Challenge.

Hope you can get things settled for you in Philadelphia. Dealing with your parent's passing and flagging health is not easy.

Darryl, I'll be sticking with you through this new year (may it be better than those that preceded it). I think you and your mom are such good support for each other with the sudden, recent loss of your dad. I'm now reading The Theft of Memory by Jonathan Kozol which I know you read back in 2015 when it was an LT Early Reviewer book. I never finished it then, but I picked it up recently and started it anew. It's more relevant now as I know a few people who have had or or are suffering from Alzheimer's now, but so much of what is in that book reminds me of you and your family. It is a very endearing book because of the relationship between the author and his very elderly parents. I didn't have the good fortune to have my parents with me at an advanced age, but the warm parent-child relationship in the book is what I think of mostly reminds me of you (as well as I can know someone I've never met!). :D

@PaulCranswick also enticed me into the Asian Book Challenge. I guess that is mainly because I usually love reading literature from so many of those countries. I already read Snow by Orhan Pamuk and loved that book. I'm sure you will enjoy that novel as well.

As for wondering what the future will bring reminds me of when I lost my job suddenly after almost forty years, and I came home in disbelief. Although fortunately I didn't experience any death of loved ones, it was a very disorienting time for me as I didn't know what the next day would bring. I felt overwhelmed and got through it by taking one step at a time, one day at a time. It took me a full year to recover from that trauma, but here we are back in Trauma Land with COVID-19. So now life is not the same for anyone.

I find that in these times, we need to reach out to those who mean the most to us, and help them if we can (which you are doing) and receive their comfort as well (which you are doing).

I wish you, your mom, and your extended family a peaceful, safe and healthy New Year. I didn't mean to be so wordy, but my thoughts are sincere. Happy 2022.

What a completely untethered time this is, Darryl. I hope you feel better and the way of things smooths out a bit. Your page looks great, and I'm really interested to follow along with your upcoming reading choices. Peace out, my friend.

I am thinking of you, and hope that things settle down for you and your mother. I hope that 2022 is a better year for you and your family.
Orhan Pamuk's best book that I have read-Istanbul Memories and the City.

My condolences on the loss of your father - I love the photos in >1 kidzdoc:.

I look forward to following your diverse reading this year.

Starred again, Darryl! Love your topper. Sounds like you are making the best of your tough situation. I hope an upside is you get more reading time to tackle your ambitious lists (which I admire as per usual). I do have My Name is Red lined up for January. Wishing you a happier, easier 2022.

Darryl, you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers, especially at this time of year. I know that 2022 will hold challenges for you but I hope that overall it will be much better year for you. I'm looking forward to joining you in the Asian Reading Challenge as well as following the rest of your reading.

Dropping off my star, Darryl. Sounds like you will find some solace in reading this year, which I'm glad to hear. I hope your move from Atlanta goes smoothly.

Out of interest, what type of work might you be able to do from home as a non-clinical practitioner?

In case you haven't seen this yet Darryl:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/337945#n7694949

Lovely to have your parents at the top.

So sorry about your dad. I'm looking forward to reading your reviews.

Ah, Darryl - I have been looking out for your thread as I have got hopelessly behind with your 2021 thread, only to find 30 posts already! I will try and keep up better this year (how's that for a lofty goal).

I hope you are feeling better - all the best for this year, and I look forward to following your reading even if we can't meet in person.

Hugs to you, Darryl! Hoping that 2022 brings good things.

Can I suggest adding a book to >4 kidzdoc: ? How The Word Is Passed by Clint Smith was one of my favorites of 2021.

Huge thanks go out to Monica for setting up the 12 in this thread:

Abasiyanik, Sait Faik: A Useless Man
Abe, Kobo: Secret Rendevous
Achebe, Chinua: A Man of the People
Achebe, Chinua: Anthills of the Savannah
Bellos, Daniel: Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything

Buarque, Chico: Spilt Milk
Calvino, Italo: Cosmicomics
Chandra, Vikram: Red Earth and Pouring Rain
Darwish, Mahmoud: Journal of an Ordinary Grief
Dikötter, Frank: Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962

?Farmer, Paul: Haiti After the Earthquake (I think I’ve read this already)
Figueras, Marcelo: Kamchatka
Galeano, Eduardo: Genesis
Gombrowicz, Witold: Bacacay
Grushin, Olga: The Dream Life of Sukhanov

Hua, Yu: Brothers
Hustvedt, Siri: The Blazing World
Judt, Tony: Ill Fares the Land
Keene, Donald: The Pleasures of Japanese Literature
King, Gilbert: Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America

Knausgaard, Karl Ove: A Time for Everything
Krasznahorkai, Laszlo: Satantango
Laab, Abdellatif: The Rule of Barbarism
Lehrer, Jonah: Proust Was a Neuroscientist
Jian, Ma: The Noodle Maker

Mak, Geert: In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century
Marias, Javier: All Souls
Mercier, Pascal: Night Train to Lisbon
Mishra, Pankaj: From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia
Norwid, Cyprian: Poems

Ross, Alex: The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
Rythkeu, Yuri: The Chukchi Bible
Sand, Shlomo: The Invention of the Jewish People
Saramago, José: Baltasar and Blimunda
Sarduy, Severo: Firefly

Schulz, Bruno: The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories
Tanpinar, Ahmet Hamdi: A Mind at Peace
Tokarczuk, Olga: House of Day, House of Night
Tutuola, Amos: The Palm-Wine Drinkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Vargas Llosa, Mario: A Fish in the Water

Vargas Llosa, Mario: The Bad Girl
Vargas Llosa, Mario: The Way to Paradise
Wood, James: How Fiction Works
Yan, Mo: The Garlic Ballads

A Mind at Peace was already on my list of books to read in January, for Paul Cranswick's Asian Book Challenge, so I'll start reading it in the second half of the month.

>20 jessibud2: Hi, Shelley! I have starred your thread, and I'll follow you as well. Yes, the end of the old year is the best time to establish reading and other goals for the new one.

I am in absolutely no rush to go back to work, at the moment, especially since I've had a very busy work and education schedule for nearly 40 years, starting in March 1982. I expect that, at some point of being a full time caregiver for my mother, I'll become a bit stir crazy and eager to see patients again, or work in a non-clinical position that requires an M.D. degree, but I have no idea when that will happen: three months? six months? one year or longer? Like many of my physician partners and colleagues I was experiencing burnout this year, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the stress of getting seriously ill from a patient, and the futility of dealing with anti-vaxxer patients or parents, along with high patient volumes for most of 2021. There was a time where I would be raring at the bit to return to clinical service after a vacation of two weeks or longer, but for the past few years I dreaded going back to work on that first day, although I almost always got back into the groove and enjoyed seeing patients within hours of my return. The pandemic progressively took away that pleasure of working, so, although I mourn my father's unexpected death, regret having to resign, and dearly miss my partners and colleagues in Atlanta, I would be lying if I said that I wished I could go back to my previous position at this time.

>21 stretch: Thanks, Kevin. I wasn't keen to participate in many of the challenges in the 75 Books group, but this one definitely caught my eye, especially since it will allow me to get to a dozen or more books that I've been meaning to read.

Caring for my mother at the present time isn't that hard, as she is a very pleasant person at baseline and wants to help out as much as she can, while recognizing her limitations. Assuming responsibility for an aging house and my father's affairs are far bigger concerns at this time, although I do have the luxury of time and the support of family, friends and neighbors to alleviate that burden.

>22 SqueakyChu: Thanks for your kind comments, Madeline! I'll certainly do much more reading about Alzheimer's disease and the care of an elderly parent in 2022, which will include re-reads of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, and My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, MD. I may give The Theft of Memory: Losing My Father, One Day at a Time another go as well.

I'm glad that you enjoyed Snow. I may start it sooner rather than later, as my mother has started reading my copy of Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, which I was about to get back into. I can deprive my mother of raspberry rugelach from Russ & Daughters, especially since there are enough sweets in the house to open a bakery, including a loaf of chocolate babka that hasn't been touched yet, but I can't take a book away from her.

My work situation is far different than yours was, in that I resigned voluntarily instead of being let go, and my team and colleagues, including the chief medical officer of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, regretted my decision while respecting my choice. I have plenty of potential options, both here in the Delaware Valley and back in Atlanta, but after making my way out of the frying pan I'm not eager to jump back into the fire at the present time.

One of the worst things about this decision will be the inability to take vacations and travel abroad to see my former and current LibraryThing friends, especially in England, the Netherlands, and Portugal, including our mutual friend Joaquim. I will re-establish ties with at least three old friends, including two of my best friends from high school and the Lutheran pastor who conducted my father's funeral service, whose family and mine were very close when we were kids, and this will be very important, though they won't replace my dear European friends. My plan to retire to Portugal has taken a huge and possibly permanent hit, as it would now be much easier to stay in my parents' modest but comfortable house in a peaceful suburban neighborhood where we are treated with great love, support, and respect.

I'll be looking forward to following your reading in 2022, Darryl, and glad to see you'll be joining in the Asian book challenge as well.

Your plans for the year sound wisely fluid, and I hope this turns out to be a welcome respite from the challenges of working in the medical field during Covid.

>23 lisapeet: Untethered indeed, Lisa. I do hope that this latest COVID-19 wave will burn itself out in a month or so, and that life can return to a relative state of normal...whatever that is.

I hope to get off to a quick start in my 2022 reading, but I suspect that won't happen, due to my responsibilities here and in Atlanta.

>24 torontoc: Thanks, Cyrel; I hope so, too.

Istanbul: Memories and the City sounds great. I would love to visit the city, although it will be a while before I do any traveling again.

>25 rhian_of_oz: Thanks, Rhian. The first photo is my father's graduation photo from Howard University in 1958, and the second one was taken by one of our neighbors last year, IIRC.

I also love this recent photo of my father holding the three month old grandson of our closest neighbor. Liam had his days and nights mixed up and was very cranky when my father visited, but he calmed down after Dad held and sang to him.

>26 Berly: Thanks, Kim. I'll follow you more closely in 2022 than I did this year, especially since I'll (theoretically) have more time to do so. I probably won't get to My Name Is Red in January, but I will bring my copy with Atlanta with me.

>27 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Claire. I don't expect that 2022 will be an easy year, but I hope that it will be far better than the past two ones have been. It will probably be several years before I return to London, but hopefully we can meet here if you return to the Philadelphia area in the near future.

>28 AlisonY: Hi, Alison! I enjoyed reading your thread in 2021, and I'll certainly do so this coming year. The move from Atlanta will be a slow and sporadic one, as I'll have to wait for my cousin's visits from Michigan to leave my mother alone, and because there is a remote possibility that her Alzheimer's disease could quickly deteriorate in 2022 and require her to be admitted to a memory care center or nursing home far sooner than I had anticipated. I pray that this doesn't happen for several years, but if it does then I would likely return to Atlanta and rejoin my work group.

At least two of my friends, both of which are pediatricians who I trained with during residency, are or were working in non-clinical positions that require a doctorate in medicine, and at least two others are currently doing the same thing for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Several of them are peer review and/or utilization review specialists, who determine payment for patients by insurance companies or are involved in the correct billing of these companies for services provided by physicians or hospitals. One friend that she was able to work from home when her children were little, and that she earned as much as she did when she worked in private practice. One of them worked for a company based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, which is also in suburban Philadelphia, so if I was chosen to work there and needed to be in the office I could do that, while hiring someone to watch over Mom during my absence. At some point next year I'll talk with friends on a more concrete level about job opportunities, perhaps during the late spring or early summer but probably not before then. I anticipate that I'll need to get a Pennsylvania medical license, so I'll work on that early next year.

>29 Caroline_McElwee: I most certainly did see this, Caroline! I failed badly in my attempt to honor Rebecca several years ago after her death, so I welcome this opportunity to read books from my TBR pile from her Hope to Read soon list.

I have many more pictures of both parents, and I will probably post one or more of them in future Club Read threads in 2022.

>30 Dilara86: Thanks, Dilara. Writing prompt reviews of books I've read is a chronic weak point of mine, but I should do much better in that regard in 2022.

>31 wandering_star: Good to see you here, Margaret! I will share your lofty goal of keeping up with my favorite Club Read threads, including yours.

I am feeling better, thanks for asking. I doubt that what I had was COVID-19, especially since our next door neighbor's two young children had similar respiratory illnesses last week and tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

I was looking forward to seeing you and Fliss in Edinburgh and London again in 2022. Sigh...

>32 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda! I've added How the Word Is Passed to my Amazon wish list, although I don't know if I'll get to it in 2022 or not. I'll have to transport several thousand books from Atlanta to Philadelphia in the next few months, so I will greatly restrict my book purchases for the next six months, at least.

>35 bell7: Hi, Mary! I followed your thread in 2021, although I rarely posted comments, but I intend to be more active next year.

Now that my mother has nabbed my copy of Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, the novel I was currently reading, I may start Snow by Orhan Pamuk for the Asian Reading Challenge sooner than I had anticipated, especially since I downloaded the $1.99 Kindle version of it earlier this week.

"Wisely fluid"...I like that phrase! You're right, the practice of medicine has been much more challenging and far less enjoyable and rewarding during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the doctor-patient relationship has greatly deteriorated as a reult.

>34 kidzdoc: >37 kidzdoc: Utilization review! That’s exactly what I did for the last few years at the home health agency before I lost my job. It was the perfect job for me at the time even though I resisted taking it, knowing I would become an “auditor”! Who knew I would even like it? The reasons that it worked so well for me was because I was losing my hearing and after hours supervision by phone would have become more difficult for me with my progressive hearing loss. That was also before the new technology we have now for hearing aids to synch to smart phones. In addition, it was just computer work which I found fun. The best part of it for me was that I could finally make nurses accountable for their work and their charting. I always wanted nurses to do the best they could do for themselves and their patients with honesty and integrity. At that time, I was not allowed to do this from home, mainly because of computer security. Now, especially during pandemic, working from home has become a “thing”. My best reward for this was when our team, headed by an RN and composed of RNs and administrative support got our agency off a five-year mandated watch by Medicare threatening withdrawal of our state licensure. It was overseen by the HHS Office of Inspector General.

A very interesting fact I just NOW discovered (looking for the exact name of the agency that mandated the five year review at large cost to our agency) that, once again, the agency for which I worked was cited for bad billing practices in 2015-2016!! When I lost my job in 2013, the agency had decided they no longer needed utilization review and canned me. I guess what goes around, comes around. :)

Here’s the info I found:
https://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region3/31700009.asp

Bottom line...I loved doing utilization review.

Now...back to books! :D

ETA: Coding was a HUGE part of my utilization review job. I had to become certified in coding in order to maintain my job in utilization review. That part was difficult, but I eventually succeeded in getting my certification.

Lovely pictures at the top and >36 kidzdoc:
I think it is great that you are taking care of your mother now. Philadelphia sounds like a much nicer place for you.
I will follow your life & readings as always, and find some interesting books along the way.

I found your thread! Wonderful!

I am still in Kansas and feel much better physically. I had a nice Christmas with my vaccinated family members but had a scare yesterday. I took my sister to the airport to catch her plane back to Montana, and my other sister road along with us. She wasn't feeling good but didn't want to sacrifice any time with us. As the day went on she got progressively sicker. She drives a public bus for disabled and elderly people and she voiced the concern that she hoped she didn't have COVID. This morning I took her to the doctor and this afternoon, after all the tests were done, we were all relived to learn that she has pneumonia. The doctor wanted to put her in the hospital but my sister said no. The local hospital is full of COVID patients and she didn't want to get COVID. (she is fully vaccinated and boosted.) She and her husband live by themselves so she felt she would be safer spending the time at home than in the hospital. My mother, where I am staying, lives right across the street from her so we are able to monitor and help as she needs for the next couple of days. We are also expecting a snow storm on New Year's Day so it could be an interesting weekend for us. I have been working on perfecting my gingerbread cake this week and doing lots of reading and resting. I have a feeling that our semester is going to be very interesting - especially right here at the beginning.

My sisters and I have spent two days working with my mother getting her hearing tested and helping her navigate the world of hearing aids. My mother has put off getting them far too long, but it is becoming a quality of life issue and this Christmas forced her to realize that she can't hear and participate in conversations with us. It has been a hard revelation for her. The two appointments we have had have been emotionally trying for her and I can only describe her mood as morose. It is so hard for her and for all of us. I think that with my father gone and her being in the house by herself for long periods of time she didn't realize how much difficulty she was having with conversation. To escape I have been reading several science fiction books.

Have a Happy New Year filled with lots of good cooking.

>42 benitastrnad: As someone who had to navigate the world of getting hearing aids to improve quality of life, I applaud what you are now doing for your mom. This will help her in more ways than she could know.

I'm so very sorry about your dad, Darryl. Thank you for sharing those wonderful photos. May the upheaval also bring you good things.

>40 SqueakyChu: Ah. I knew that you were laid off from your job, Madeline, but I didn't know, or had forgotten, that you were a utilization review specialist. That's one non-clinical job that can require an MD degree and pays well, which should allow me to work from home. My friend and former colleague worked for a utilization review organization in Newtown Square, PA, although she lived in metro Atlanta while doing so, and then she eventually returned to primary care pediatrics.

I'm glad that you liked working in utilization review! My friend Regina liked it as well, and mentioned it to me as a possible opportunity if I ever needed to move back home to care for my parents. Fortunately we've remained in close contact via Facebook, and she has already offered to help me when I started to look for work.

There is very little I know about utilization review, peer review, and other non-clinical jobs. However, looking for a job now is literally the last thing on my mind at the moment.

Oops. I suppose that organization wished it had kept you after that HHS audit. Talk about penny wise and pound foolish...

>41 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. The Delaware Valley (Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland) is a far friendlier area than metro Atlanta, the people here are more down to earth, far less pretentious, and friendlier with much less political, social and racial animosity than where I used to live, and there is far less crime in the Philadelphia suburbs than in Intown Atlanta, even though I lived in an upscale part of the city. I won't have access to the same great restaurants and cultural amenities here (I lived within easy walking distance of Symphony Hall, the home of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the city's main arts museum, a large playhouse, and dozens of diverse eateries), but we don't live far (25 miles) from Center City Philadelphia, which has considerably more than Atlanta does, being a much larger and older city. Once the weather turns nicer I'll take my mother to some of these places, as she loves going to museums, seeing plays, musical and modern dance performances, and is a bit of a foodie, going back to her days when she lived in NYC and worked as a hospital dietician in two of the major Jewish hospitals, Jewish Memorial Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

I look forward to a far better reading year in 2022 than in the recent past.

>42 benitastrnad: Hi, Benita! I'm glad that you're spending quality time with your family in Kansas. Wow...that's a damning indictment of the extent and deadliness of the pandemic when you're happier to have pneumonia than COVID-19, and when you (rightly) feel safer being cared for at home than in hospital. I hope that your sister has an uneventful and complete recovery from her illness.

My cousin, who has become very close to me and my parents in recent years, will drive from Michigan to Philadelphia next week, and I've been keeping a closer eye than usual on the weather outside of the Northeast. Is the storm you're expecting related to the wintry weather in the PNW? Here it's been warmer and rainier than usual, and in the past five weeks we've only had the lightest dusting of snow. The weekend will continue to be warm (high 50s to low 60s) and rainy until a cold front passes through on Sunday night. I'm hopeful for good travel weather next month when I drive from Atlanta to Philadelphia, especially since my preferred route will take me through the Appalachian Mountains on Interstates 77 and 81 for most of the nearly 860+ mile trip.

>42 benitastrnad: Yes, there will be plenty of good cooking in the immediate future, even more than usual! After talking with Lisa I'll start the La Cucina thread in Club Read tomorrow and post recipes, starting with the ratatouille niçoise over Moroccan couscous that I made for lunch for my mother and the young couple who lives next door yesterday.



In addition to recipes I'll read and review several of the cookbooks I and my parents both own, including one that I gave my father nearly a decade ago, The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Marcus Samuelsson.

>42 benitastrnad:, >43 SqueakyChu: Good for you for getting your mother fitted for hearing aids. I was eventually able to convince my father to see an audiologist last year, after he developed tinnitus a decade or more ago, and it made a noticeable difference in his ability to participate in conversations when multiple people were speaking or when the radio or television was playing.

>44 LolaWalser: Thanks for your kind comments and wishes, Lola. They are greatly appreciated.

>42 benitastrnad: Ive had hearing aids for a while, and have been amazed by the progress made to make them better since I first started. Hate that they are so expensive; so sorry about that. Hard to adjust tho with your dad gone. bless you for all you are doing for her

Quite a thread you have going. I'll be following and thinking about you. And once you get settled in, I'll start letting you know when I'm in the Philly area. I will make a few trips this year to visit mother (who is restricted to her assisted living home).

>48 dchaikin: Keep me in the loop if you’re going to plan a meetup in the Philly area when things get better!

>49 SqueakyChu: I will! I should be there in January...although I haven't picked dates yet. But also a few other times through the year - and I imagine a little later would be much better. A meet up with both you and Darryl would be terrific.

>50 dchaikin: With omicron the way it is now and my husband and I very vulnerable because of our age and medical issues, I seriously doubt I'd be willing to come up in January. I was thinking more like spring when the weather is good and perhaps all of us would feel safer being together, perhaps even meeting at an outside venue. I made it to an LT meetup in Ontario a few years ago, Philly is much closer. :D

Hi Darryl, I am a new member of this group. The past two years have shown me that I couldn't post much on LT in the 75 group. So I decided to join a group that is a bit more comfortable, but none the less very interesting.
I admire your decision to take care of your mother. I wish you a lot of strength in this.

Hi Darryl, your thread was one of the first I read when I discovered Club Read and your thoughtful words as well as inspiring reading plans were one of the first things that made me want to wish to join.

I am so sorry for what happened to you this year but I also admire your decisions and the way you deal with things. You have been giving me courage!
Like you I have experienced a difficult year in 2021, although the blows were not as severely as yours. My mom (who is 72) had a fall in her apartment in May and I nearly lost her. She was in hospital for weeks and weeks (not easy because of Covid rules) and when things became a little better in July, my hometown was hit by the European floods. It's all made even more difficult because I live in another part of Germany and have to go back and forth and deal with things from afar.
I don't want to burden you with my story and definitely don't want to hijack your thread, but wished to tell you that it gave me courage to read your story because being in my thirties, I feel quite alone with my situation - most of my friends and even colleagues don't have to deal with situations like that yet. LibraryThing so far has been one of the few places where I found solace and people understanding what it is like to be in this place.

In the pictures you posted your father looks like such a kind person and that makes me so happy, because it is something I did not experience in my life.

I am happy to meet your here and I wish you all the best and that things work out for you in the best way possible. And of course I look forward to your future posts and following along with what you read this year!

>47 cindydavid4: Thanks, Cindy. My father told me that his hearing aids were quite expensive, but he also said that they were well worth it.

>48 dchaikin: That sounds good, Dan. Hopefully we can meet up often when you're in town.

>49 SqueakyChu: Will do, Madeline!

>50 dchaikin: My cousin from Michigan will likely stay here for two weeks in January. Someone needs to be with my mother at all times, and if Tina is here I could take SEPTA Regional Rail into Center City Philadelphia and meet you there. I will travel to Atlanta for a few days to retrieve my SUV, load it, and drive back to Philadelphia, but I won't know when until Tina tells me when she is coming here. Needless to say weather will play a major role in her departure date, as she will likely drive here from Ypsilanti, rather than fly from DTW.

>51 SqueakyChu: That makes sense. My mother and I are as fully protected against SARS-CoV-2 infection as we can be, as we've each received three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Hopefully the omicron variant of the virus will be significantly decreased by springtime, and fingers crossed that no new variants will have emerged by that time.

>52 Ameise1: Welcome to Club Read, Barbara! I'm glad that you decided to make this your home on LibraryThing, and I think you'll like it here. I'll continue to follow threads from my closest friends in the 75 Books group, but it's far easier to keep up here than it is there.

Regarding our conversation about the ratatouille on Instagram earlier this week, I have found recipes online that do contain yellow squash, although I defer to your far greater knowledge that it is not found in the classic version of it made and served in France. I do like how it tastes in it, though, and that recipe, which I've made twice so far this year and will post below and in the 2022 version of La Cucina, is superb. My mother had two servings of it on Wednesday — the only thing she normally takes two servings of are cookies — and the young couple who lives next door loved it as well. I'll be curious to read what the French members of Club Read think of that recipe.

>53 MissBrangwen: Hi, Mirjam! I'm honored that you liked reading my thread and that doing so inspired you to join Club Read. I think you'll like it here.

My decision to assume the role of primary caregiver of my mother wasn't a hard one to make. My parents have been my biggest supporters throughout my life, and if in the past I was in a situation where I was in need of 24/7 care my father would have done the same thing for me if he was still working. My relationship with both parents is very strong, and as they have become more frail and less independent they have increasingly relied on me to support and advise them, despite living more than 800 miles away in Atlanta. I have told my work partners for years that I would probably resign if I was needed to provide full time care for one or both parents, as no one else is in a realistic position to assume that role, and they knew of the increasing difficulties my folks were having, so they were saddened but not shocked when I announced my decision to resign, at least temporarily, after my father died three weeks ago. The harder part was leaving a very lucrative and enjoyable position in a field that I greatly enjoyed, in a healthcare organization that was supportive and nurturing during my 21 year career there. I turned 60 this past March, and I had planned to retire from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta when I turned 66, in the first half of 2027, but that is far less likely to happen, even though the head of my group, and the Physician in Chief of Children's, want me to return there ASAP.

I'm very sorry to read about your mother's brush with death after her fall; I'm very concerned the same thing may happen to my mother, as she frequently has night terrors and often tries to get out of bed when she is unconscious.

One of my closest friends, Bianca (@drachenbraut23), is a former member of LibraryThing who lives and works in London, but comes from Voerde. She was visiting her son in the south of Germany when her hometown was afflicted by those awful floods, but her stepfather lived in the house she grew up in, which is relatively close to the Rhine. She didn't hear from him or any of her other relatives for over a day. Fortunately the flood waters stopped a block or two from the house, and he was safe. We in the United States can wait DW's English channel online, and the images and videos shown were both horrifying and unbelievable. I'm sorry that your town was also affected by that disaster.

Please feel free to share your experiences and concerns on your thread, on mine, or via private message. Although LibraryThing is a book club, I've found it to be a very supportive platform, and many of the closest friends I've made over the past decade are current or past members of the group, who I've met frequently and even vacationed with in Europe. BTW, I spent a lovely day in Cologne with Bianca in 2015, during my first trip to Amsterdam, and I hope to return there in the not too distant future.

My father was a kind and loving man, despite coming from what would nowadays considered to be a broken home. He was raised by a single mother with three other children who did not love him, and she and her sisters viewed him as a ne'er-do-well who would never amount to anything, even though he was the hardest working member of his family of five, did well in school, and never got into any serious trouble as a child. That experience, and the abuse he suffered from his mother, siblings and relatives, could have easily embittered and broken him, but it made him more determined to prove them wrong, and he did so spectacularly, as he put himself through college after his mother used all of the earnings he asked her to hold for him that was meant to pay for tuition and fees for his education, earned bachelor's and master's degrees, and taught transistor technology to engineering students at City College of New York and NYU before he was able to get a job as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy. Despite his successes his mother continued to reject him, and she showed no love to my mother, my brother and me, but my father did learn what true love was from my mother and her parents, who were dear to me in a way that his mother never was, and my parents spread their great love to each other for 61 years, and to practically everyone they met.

Thank you for your very kind wishes. I'm relying on my faith in God to guide and sustain me, as He has done on numerous occasions throughout my life, and the support of family, friends and neighbors. I hope and pray that your mother continues to improve, and that 2022 is a much better year for all of us.

Id say I cant imagine a mother singuling out one child for such abuse but it probably happens more oft than we think. Thank goodness he had such strength and determination to rise above that, even considering the times he grew up in. And that he was able to pass those skills on to you as well.

>55 kidzdoc: Thank you so much for the warm welcome, Darryl. When it came to the ratatouille, I didn't mean to unsettle you. I'm sure it tastes great with squash in it.

Hi Daryl-I am still thinking of you and your loss. I so admire your decision to take care of your mother at home as long as feasible. Your posts have always conveyed what a special relationship you have with both your parents.

I noticed on Dan's thread (and above) your Faulkner project. Faulkner is one of my all-time favorite authors. In November I completed a reread (4th reading) of The Sound and the Fury for a 20th century classics postal book club on Litsy. On my non-review review on my thread I ended by saying that even though I am now in my 70's, The Sound and the Fury is a book I can see rereading a 5th (or more) time. Perhaps I'll join you when you get to it.

I am currently planning a trip to NYC in April to visit the 3 of my kids still living there. If covid cooperates perhaps we could have a meetup.

Looking forward to following your reading this year.

>54 kidzdoc: Good to know. Once I set on a date, I'll keep you updated. (Uncertainty reigns with me too. The assisted living home changes rules with Covid rates and even overnight once some employee tests positive. So, my plans will always have a significant uncertainty attached to them.)

>56 cindydavid4: Sadly I suspect that is the case, Cindy. I'm not sure, but I think that it's common that parents show far more favor to one or more of their children than to others. I was the first born, and was a well-behaved kid from day one, except for the time that I decided to ride my new tricycle down the metal stairs of the apartment building we lived in when I was a toddler after my mother told me that I had to wait until we went outside to use it. My younger brother, on the other hand, was quite rebellious and difficult, and we still joke that his real name should have been "Why Can't You Be More Like Your Brother?" Fortunately he didn't get into any serious trouble in grade school, and he has done well for himself after a rocky start.

>57 Ameise1: You're welcome, Barbara! I took no offense to your comment about my ratatouille; I did like that recipe, as did my mother and the young couple who lives next door. I'll post the recipe for it below, along with the Mexican version of chicken matzo ball soup that I made for lunch today.

>58 arubabookwoman: Thanks, Deborah. Nothing is more important or precious to me than my parents, and I'm happy to be able to help them when they needed me the most, both in the last few months of my father's life and now. I don't think what I'm doing is admirable, rather it's just doing what needs to be done, as they would have done for me if I was in a similar situation.

I didn't know that you were such a Faulkner fan! According to my LT library I purchased Faulkner: Novels 1926-1929 in 2010, so I'm long overdue in reading it. The only novel I've read by him is As I Lay Dying, which I enjoyed, and since I love the works of two other Southern Gothic writers, Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor, I expect that I'll enjoy Faulkner as well.

I anticipate reading one novel each quarter, which means that I'll get to The Sound and the Fury in or after October.

I would love to go to NYC and meet you in April. However, someone will have to watch my mother, as she cannot be safely left alone for any substantial period of time. With any luck my cousin Tina or my brother can watch her if we're able to plan a meet up, and hopefully we can plan a large scale get together during that time, as I haven't seen any of my NYC area LT friends since the pandemic began.

>59 dchaikin: That sounds good, Dan. Fingers crossed that we can get together in Philadelphia next month. I had invited one of my former work partners to join us for Sunday dinner last week, but I had to cancel it, due to my mother's state of mind after my father's funeral on 12/18, and because I developed an upper respiratory tract infection on Christmas Eve that I thought might be a breakthrough case of COVID-19 in a fully vaccinated person.

I usually cook up a storm when I stay with my parents, and this week was no exception. On Wednesday I made another batch of ratatouille niçoise over Moroccan couscous for my mother and myself, as she and my father loved it when I cooked it for them earlier this year, using a somewhat nontraditional recipe I found online from Cookie and Kate:



INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds ripe red tomatoes (6 medium or 4 large)
1 medium eggplant (1 pound), diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large red, orange, or yellow bell pepper (about 8 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch squares
1 medium-to-large zucchini (about 8 ounces), diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large yellow squash (about 8 ounces), diced into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, more to taste
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with one rack in the middle of the oven and one in the upper third of the oven. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper for easy clean-up, if desired.

2. To prepare your tomatoes, remove any woody cores with a paring knife. Then, grate them on the large holes of a box grater into a bowl (this is easiest if you hold the tomato at a diagonal), and chop any remaining tomato skin. Or, blitz the tomatoes in a food processor until they are broken into a frothy pulp. Set aside.

3. On one baking sheet, toss the diced eggplant with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until lightly coated. Arrange the eggplant in a single layer across the pan, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and set aside.

4. On the other baking sheet, toss the bell pepper, zucchini and yellow squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer. Place the eggplant pan on the middle rack and the other vegetables on the top rack. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and caramelizing on the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes.

6. Add the garlic, stir, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, and use a wooden spoon or sturdy silicone spatula to stir any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan into the mixture. Reduce the heat to medium-low, or as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.

7. Once 15 minutes are up, remove both pans from the oven, stir, and redistribute the contents of each evenly across the pans. This time, place the eggplant on the top rack and other vegetables on the middle rack.

8. Bake until the eggplant is nice and golden on the edges, about 10 more minutes (the eggplant will be done sooner than the rest). Remove the eggplant from the oven, and carefully stir the eggplant into the simmering tomato sauce.

9. Let the squash and bell pepper pan continue to bake until the peppers are caramelized, about 5 to 10 more minutes. Then, transfer the contents of the pan into the simmering sauce. Continue simmering for 5 more minutes to give the flavors time to meld.

10. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon olive oil, the fresh basil and red pepper flakes. Crumble the dried oregano between your fingers as you drop it into the pot. Season to taste with additional salt (I usually add 1/4 teaspoon more) and black pepper.

11. Serve in bowls, perhaps with a little drizzle of olive oil, additional chopped basil, or black pepper on top (all optional).

Like all stews, this ratatouille’s flavor improves as it cools. It’s even better reheated the next day. Ratatouille keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for 4 days, or for several months in the freezer.

NOTES:

Serving suggestions: This stew is great on its own, with crusty (potentially toasted) bread, with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, with cooked eggs, or on pasta.
________________________________

I came up with the idea of using Moroccan couscous when I first made this recipe, and I think it's a perfect accompaniment to it. Vine ripened tomatoes are out of season, needless to say, so I substituted a 28 oz can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes, as Cookie and Kate suggested. Barbara informed me that yellow squash is not an ingredient in classic ratatouille, which I didn't know. I used butternut squash the first time I made it, and yellow squash this time, and I like the additional flavor it adds to the stew. My mother asked for seconds after I made it, and she had it again for dinner last night, and since I also love it I'll make it on a regular basis from now on.

I made a Mexican version of matzo ball soup (a.k.a. "Jewish penicillin") for lunch today, using a recipe from Pati Jinich's book Mexican Today that Jim (@drneutron) shared with me several years ago (For Rosh Hashana, A Matzo Ball Soup By Way Of Mexico). My mother worked as a dietician at Jewish Memorial Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx in the mid to late 1950s before she married my father, and she often made chicken matzo ball soup for my brother and I when we were sick as young children, so this is one of my favorite comfort foods:



Matzo Balls With Mushrooms And Jalapeños In Broth
(Bolas de Matza con hongos y chiles)

Ingredients:

1 cup matzo ball mix (or two 2-ounce packages)
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher or sea salt
4 large eggs
8 tablespoons canola or safflower oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sparkling water
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 jalapeño chiles, finely chopped (seeded if desired) or to taste
8 ounces white and/or baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and thin­ly sliced
8 cups chicken broth, homemade or store-bought

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the matzo ball mix, parsley, nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In another small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with 6 tablespoons of the canola oil and the sesame oil. Fold the beaten eggs into the matzo ball mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the sparkling water and mix until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and chiles and cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, until they have softened a bit. Stir in the mushrooms and 3/4 teaspoon salt, cover, and steam the mushrooms for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the lid and cook uncovered until the liquid in the pot evaporates. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

3. Meanwhile, when ready to cook the matzo balls, bring about 3 quarts salted water to a rolling boil in a large pot over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and keep at a steady simmer. With wet hands, shape the matzo ball mix into 1- to 1 1/2-inch balls and gently drop them into the water. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the matzo balls are completely cooked and have puffed up. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the soup. Serve.
________________________________________

My mother always added chicken to her matzo ball soup, so I add 2 lb of chopped uncooked chicken thighs to the infused chicken broth, and let the mixture cook on a low simmer for 20 minutes while the matzo balls are boiling. Otherwise I follow the recipe exactly, save for a few minor changes. I normally keep some on hand, along with Down in the Tremé Carrot Coconut Ginger Shrimp Soup, for sick day meals in wintertime, especially if I have gastrointestinal infections that greatly affect my appetite. It may be all in my head, but I firmly believe in the curative power of homemade chicken soup!

>62 kidzdoc: I agree! Nothing is like a good chicken soup when you are "under the weather"!

Sunday dinner this week was a modified version of Moqueca Baiana, an Afro-Brasilian seafood stew that I made late last year, using a combination of a recipe that I received from a Brasilian friend, along with Yewande Komolafe's recipe in NYT Cooking, with codfish and bay scallops:

Ingredients:

3 T azeite de dendê (red palm oil) (available in specialty markets or online)
6 cloves diced garlic
1 diced medium sweet or yellow onion (I used half of a Vidalia sweet onion)
2 diced bell peppers, preferably of different colors (I’d suggest one red and one green pepper)
1 finely diced chile pepper (I left this out, as my mother doesn't like overly spicy foods)
1 lb tomatoes, diced into 1 inch pieces
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
12-16 oz of a firm whitefish (halibut, cod, bass, etc.), cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces
12-16 oz jumbo shrimp or prawns (preferably unpeeled and deveined by hand, although I used frozen peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp with tails on) (as mentioned above, I used 1 lb of bay scallops
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Kosher salt
2 limes (or 4 T of lime juice)
Cornstarch (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Season fish and prawns separately with 1 t of kosher salt and the juice of one lime (2 T of lime juice), along with 2 T of chopped cilantro for the prawns; set aside.

2. Heat 2 T of azeite de dendê in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven on medium heat.

3. Add diced garlic, cook for 1 minute or until fragrant, stirring constantly.

4. Add diced onion, cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently
Increase heat to high, add bell and chile peppers and tomatoes, season with kosher salt, cook for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables begin to evaporate, stirring frequently.

5. Reduce heat to medium, add coconut milk, cook for 10 minutes until stew has thickened, stirring frequently; add salt and (optional) freshly ground black pepper to taste.

6. If you wish to thicken stew further, remove ½ cup of stew, add to a glass or metal bowl, add 1-2 t cornstarch, stir vigorously with a fork, add back to stew (I highly recommend this step!)

7. If using unpeeled prawns, add to stew, cook for 2 minutes on each side before adding fish.

8. If using jumbo shrimp, add to stew simultaneously with the fish, cook for 4-5 minutes.

9. Remove from heat, add 1 T azeite de dendê and 2 T cilantro.

Notes:

1. Vegetarians can substitute extra firm tofu or yellow plantains in place of the seafood.

2. Serve with rice, yucca or another side of your choice.
____________________________________________

I used jasmine rice as an accompaniment to the moqueca, which worked well. This is another stew that tastes better on the second day.

I'll post these recipes to the La Cucina thread, which I'll create after I make dinner for my mother.

I look forward to following your reading next year, Darryl, as well as keeping up with how you're getting on with all the recent changes. I'm knee-deep in a move to Bloomington, Illinois, for unexpected but fortunately good reasons. I'm glad you are settling in well with your mother and are looking forward to getting out and about with her as well as reading more.

I love the recipes you share! My husband is the cook in our family and makes really beautiful meals, but I will pass some of these along to him - he's always willing to try something new.

Happy new year to a good man and a good friend.

>61 kidzdoc: Yum!! Absolutely stealing that recipe, especially since I'd like to consume more veggies this year. Thanks!

Happy reading 2022 :-)

Happy New Year, Darryl. I was saddened to hear about the sudden death of your father. My condolences. I hope 2022 is a good one for you; it will certainly be full of changes. I hope they are good ones.

May 2022 be a better year!

Happy New Year, everyone! In keeping with Southern tradition, I'm cooking Hoppin' John (good luck) and collard greens (wealth) for dinner, and my mother and I had chicken matzo ball soup (health) for lunch, so I think I have all of the New Year's Day bases covered.

>63 torontoc: Right, Cyrel. I completely believe in the curative powers of chicken soup, especially chicken matzo ball soup, and it tastes great, as well.

>65 RidgewayGirl: Happy New Year, Kay! I'll of course follow your reading closely in 2022, as well. Congratulations on your husband's new job, and good luck on your upcoming move to (brr) Bloomington, IL. I suppose that our moves out of the Deep South will make it more difficult, at least, to attend the Decatur Book Festival in future years.

Are you making Hoppin' John and collard greens today?

>66 japaul22: Thanks, Jennifer! If your husband makes any foods that are unique or you particularly love I would be all ears.

Now that I have a break, as the collard greens are cooking and the black-eyed peas are done, I'll create the first La Cucina thread.

>67 PaulCranswick: Happy New Year to you, Hani and your children, Paul! That is very good advice, indeed. I'll try to make the rounds amongst my 75 Books friends, including yourself, later today, after I finish cooking New Year's Day dinner.

>68 Berly: You're welcome, Kim. That recipe for ratatouille is absolutely superb. I've never made it before, and I'm not sure that I've ever had it, either.

>69 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! Happy New Year to you and your family.

I hope to see plenty of beautiful photos of Zürich in your thread.

>70 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. 2022 will certainly be a challenging year, but I hope it will be a much better one that the previous two have been.

>71 Berly: Thanks for that lovely image, Kim!

Good luck, Darryl.

>74 BLBera: Thanks, Beth.

  

As I mentioned in my first Club Read thread of 2021, Hoppin' John and collard greens are traditional New Year's Day foods in households in the Deep South. Hoppin' John, which typically consists of black-eyed peas or other cowpeas, pork and rice, was first described in slave populations in the Lowcountry of South Carolina in the 1840s, although it may have originated amongst the peoples of West Africa, as cowpeas are commonly grown there. The peas are meant to represent coins, collard greens, which are commonly served with Hoppin' John, represent U.S. dollar bills, and cornbread, with its yellow color, represents gold. A dinner with these items served on New Year's Day is supposed to ensure prosperity and good luck, which is enhanced if the black-eyed peas, pork and rice are eaten the following day, which is known as Skippin' Jenny.

This tradition spread to Southerners of all races after the Civil War, and in Atlanta, where I lived for nearly a quarter century until last month, most of my friends and colleagues are also enjoying it today. (The photos above are the Hoppin' John (sans rice) and collard greens with pork neck bones that I cooked earlier this afternoon.)

The recipe I use for Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon and Pork comes from the show Down Home with the Neelys on The Food Network:

Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon and Pork

Ingredients:

1 pound dried black-eyed peas (fresh or canned black-eyed peas can be substituted)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 ounces pork shoulder, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
4 strips thick sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, small diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
3 bay leaves
Hot-pepper vinegar, as desired

Directions:

1. If using dried black-eyed peas, put them in a large pot and cover with about 4 inches of water. Soak the peas overnight, then drain the water and rinse. Alternatively, you can "quick-soak" the peas by bringing them and the water to a boil for 2 minutes. After this, remove them from the heat, cover the pot and soak the peas for 1 hour. Then, drain and rinse the peas.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the pork. Sear until the pork is browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the bacon, onion and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring, until the onion and garlic are lightly browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne and garlic powder. Cook until the entire mixture is coated with the spices, about 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and water and drop in the bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.

3. When the pork begins to fall apart, add the prepared peas to the pot and simmer until the peas are very soft, about 1 to 1½ hours (see Cook's Note).

4. Taste for seasonings, and add some hot-pepper vinegar, if desired. Discard the bay leaves and transfer the black-eyed peas to a serving bowl.

Cook’s Note:

Using the back of a spoon, smash some of the peas against the inside of the pot then stir them into the mixture. This will break up some of the peas and give them a creamier consistency. Alternatively, you can puree 1 cup of the peas and broth in a blender or a food processor, then return the puree to the pot.

I learned how to make collard greens from my father:

Collard Greens

Ingredients:

2 lb of fresh or bagged collard greens
1 chopped Vidalia sweet onion
4 cloves finely diced garlic
3 smoked ham hocks, or an equivalent amount of smoked turkey or pork neck bones
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Bring ~4 cups of water to a boil in a large soup pot
2. Add ham hocks, onion and garlic
3. Decrease heat to low medium to achieve a gentle simmer, cover and cook for ~90 minutes, until meat is tender and falling off the bone
4. If using fresh greens, cut out stems and rinse three times in cold water to remove dirt; this step is not necessary if you're using bagged greens
5. Cut (chiffonade) fresh greens into large strips
6. Add greens to pot, cover with a lid, and cook for 1 to 1½ hours until greens are tender
7. Season with apple cider vinegar, hot pepper vinegar, or other spices of your choice.
_____________________________________

In other cultures and countries there are different New Year's Day traditional foods, such as the pork and sauerkraut made by the Pennsylvania Dutch, and by one of my medical school classmates today. What are your traditional New Year's Day foods?

Condolences on the loss of your father, Darryl. Your mother is very lucky to have you there. I’ll be following along as usual, enjoying your book reviews, and the delicious looking recipes. I hope that we all have a better year this year.

This thread is making me hungry. Hope you can settle into a better year Daryl.

Happy New Year, Darryl. I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your father. Losing a parent is always so hard.

Faulkner is an author I'd like to seriously explore, but I'm unsure when I could take that on. I am quietly encouraging his work as a theme for an in-person discussion group I will be involved with later this year. Maybe it would overlap with your Faulknerthon!

The ratatouille and Moqueca look delicious! I don't eat meat so I'll reserve judgment on the others—I did make black-eyed peas today, but just a simple onion-garlic-peppers-celery batch (with a little chipotle chili and thyme) with brown rice.

If you do ever make it to the NYC area for a meetup, let me know and I'll make it a point to be there.

Here's to a calmer, steadier year ahead... for us all but definitely for you, Darryl.

>36 kidzdoc: - A really nice picture of your father.

Glad to see your recipes and food pics, here and in the other thread. This one was several years back, but you posted a recipe for Moroccan lentil stew and I made it several times--very tasty and lots of leftovers. I showed my mom how to make it, and now it's one of her go-to recipes. She probably makes it about once a month, maybe more.

Happy New Year Darryl. What Philly burb are you in? Jenkintown? I’m about 90 minutes away. My husband went to his niece’s in Philly on Wednesday. We got a call today that one of the grand-nieces tested positive for covid but has no symptoms.I usually stay at home and glad I did.

When people get covid now - is it all omicron? Or are all the strains still around?

>77 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen. It would be easy to say that 2022 has to be a better year than 2021, but I said the same thing about 2021 in relation to 2020, and was proven wrong.

>78 baswood: Thanks, Bas. Now that I spent a good portion of yesterday cooking I'll start my 2022 reading today.

>79 Linda92007: Happy New Year to you too, Linda, and thanks for the condolences.

I will stick with my plan of reading one of the Library of America's editions of Faulkner's novels each year for the next five years, starting with Faulkner: Novels 1926-1929. The first four editions have four novels each, and the last one has three novels, so I'll read one novel each quarter, which is a nice steady pace.

Happy new year, Darryl. I wish you peace as you navigate all the changes in your life.

>80 lisapeet: Thanks, Lisa! My mother loved both dishes, especially the ratatouille, so I'll make it more often from now on.

Your black-eyed peas sound good. Many if not most of my Atlanta friends also made black-eyed peas yesterday, along with collard greens, and some of them made cornbread as well. I have a nice recipe for Spanish cornbread that I haven't made in a couple of years, so I'll make it, and another batch of Hoppin' John and collard greens, after my cousin comes from Michigan next week.

I'll make a lot more vegetarian recipes from on, starting next week. I would like to become a relative pescetarian, with little or no red meat consumption, maybe once every 2-3 months, and make recipes with chicken once every week or two. There are a lot of cookbooks in my parents' house, I have many more in Atlanta that I'll bring back with me later this month, and I have hundreds of recipes that I've tried and liked or want to try on three Pinterest boards. Now that winter is here I'll be on a bit of a cooking frenzy for the beginning of the month, cooking and storing soups and stews in the large standalone freezer in the garage, in case we have severe winter weather that keeps us indoors for days on end.

I hope to make day trips to NYC and Philadelphia when my cousin is in town and can stay with my mother while I'm gone, hopefully starting in the spring.

Thanks for your kind wish. I'm sure all of us would benefit from a better year, after the last two horrible ones.

>81 DieFledermaus: Thanks, Stephanie.

I will probably make Moroccan Lentil and Vegetable Soup in the next few days, along with other vegetable soups and stews. I'm glad that you and your mother like it!

>82 dianeham: Thanks, Diane. We live in Middletown Township, close to Sesame Place and Reedman's, which was at one time the largest new and used auto dealership on the East Coast. It's easy to get to Center City Philadelphia from here, by car or SEPTA Regional Rail from Langhorne station.

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's exposure to SARS-CoV-2; hopefully neither he nor you develop COVID-19. My mother and I are monitoring ourselves, as the youngest son of my best friend from high school tested positive for COVID-19 at midnight yesterday. He is ill, but improving; he did not get a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. My friend, who we saw on Friday, and her husband are doing well so far; they did receive their booster doses of the vaccine, and their sick son, who is in his 20s and still living with them, is in quarantine in his room.

According to the latest published data from the CDC (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions), for the week of 19-25 December 58.6% of the isolates were due to the omicron variant, 41.1% were delta, and 0.2% were another strain. I would expect that the relative percentage of omicron will increase significantly over the next few weeks. The CDC will publish a new update tomorrow.

>84 katiekrug: Happy New Year, Katie!

I would like to let you know that I will also follow your thread with great interest this year. I hope you can find joy and relief in books when the stress of everyday life hits you, Darryl.

>33 kidzdoc: You're welcome.

>87 Trifolia: Thanks, Monica! I'll certainly follow your thread as well.

You are so ambitious with your cooking. I love good food, but after nearly 50 years of preparing 3 meals a day for 5 kids and a husband I just want quick (or eating out).

>85 kidzdoc: funny, I live in Middle Township in Cape May County.

>89 arubabookwoman: Oh, I get that. For me, cooking is more of a hobby and a labor of love than a chore, as I like the process of cooking, and sharing food with colleagues and loved ones. The positive feedback I receive is all I need to keep me going. What's different now is that I'm responsible for feeding my mother, but I had taken on that responsibility during my visits home starting last January, when my father was in hospital for five weeks and I took a leave of absence to care for my mother. I only have to cook for two people most of the time, and up to four or five on special occasions, so I don't have to cook anywhere near as often as you or my mother did when we were kids.

>90 dianeham: Nice!

Happy New Year Darryl, may it treat you better than the previous two.

I just wanted to say that you are an inspiration -- over the years I've admired your ideas/pans for retirement and thoughtful exploration of care that would be needed by your aging parents. While the current upheaval is not easy, I hope your forward-looking has helped you navigate current events.

And selfishly, I am very much looking forward to your vegetarian explorations! Thanks for setting up La Cucina.

I found you! Looking forward to your reads and excellent recipes. I will try to visit more often :)

>3 kidzdoc: Quite a few good ones in there.

Best wishes for the New Year Darryl and condolences to you and your mother for the loss of your father.
Wow, your life has certainly changed for you, in ways you did not foresee, though it already sounds like you can see many positives ahead.

>62 kidzdoc: I love this Matzo Ball soup recipe and have made it often through the years since you first talked it up. I didn't realise that it was Jim who first alerted us to the recipe.
Confession - I don't add the mushrooms as I'm not a fan.

Hi Darryl, are you still in to read W.F. Hermans with me this month?
If not, no problem, we could set an other month.

Starring your thread for this year Darryl, and I truly hope that 2022 brings you a better year than 2021.

>92 ELiz_M: Thanks, Liz, and Happy New Year to you, too! My father's death was unexpected and relatively sudden, so there is a lot for me to do over the next few weeks, especially in regard to my father's estate and financial affairs, but also my health insurance (I'll talk with my former practice manager and HR about continuing my coverage through COBRA), the steps I need to take to get a Pennsylvania medical license, and, either this week or next week, returning to Atlanta to pick up my SUV from the airport, clear out my desk at work and take care of any necessary business, load my vehicle as best I can, and drive back to Philadelphia when the weather is good. I have to wait for my cousin from Michigan to get here and find out how long she can stay with my mother — and, make sure that my mother will not regress with Tina here, which I'm much less worried about than I was in the week after my father's funeral — before I can leave. My mother requires 24/7 care, and although my younger brother lives close by, he refuses to stay with her overnight so that I can leave town, so I'm reliant on my cousin, who has become the sister I never had, to stay with Mom. Tina is a practicing lawyer who recently had to handle the affairs of her two brothers, who both died recently of separate causes, so she will be even more invaluable in the coming weeks.

I will be cooking a lot more from now on, and many if not most of the recipes I'll try will be vegetarian ones I've either tried and liked, or ones I've collected from the Internet, cookbooks or friends. I have several active food boards in Pinterest (my user name is darrylmorris2), along with at least half a dozen cookbooks here that I bought for my parents myself, so I'll start looking at these sources for recipe ideas in the coming weeks.

>93 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! I'll follow you in the 75 Books group as well.

>94 avatiakh: Thanks, Kerry. This was a very unexpected surprise, as I had hoped that I could convince my father to move himself and my mother into an assisted living facility sometime this year, which he was highly resistant to when I broached the topic in November. That would have allowed me to continue working in Atlanta, but now I have to assume responsibility for my mother, something that I'm happy to do, but it has turned my life upside down.

Yes, it was Jim (@drneutron) who shared the matzo ball recipe with me several years ago; I can't remember if he posted it on my 75 Books thread, or on my Facebook timeline. Interestingly the author of the recipe is friends with one of my work partners, a Jewish woman who grew up about 25 miles from my parents' house, and Rachel was tickled when I first made and posted a photo of the soup on Facebook.

>95 FAMeulstee: Hi, Anita! My copy of Herinneringen van een engelbewaarder (A Guardian Angel Recalls) is in Atlanta, so I don't have it with me. I'm not exactly sure when I'll fly there, but it probably won't be before this weekend, as there is a winter storm headed our way on Friday that could cause significant snow and/or ice accumulation in the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia metropolitan area. I'll bring my copy with me when I drive back, but it would probably be better for me to wait until February to read it, if that's okay with you.

>96 SandDune: Thanks, Rhian; I hope so, too. I see that you created a thread in Club Read along with your 75 Books thread, so I'll follow you here.

Happy New Year, Daryl! Sending hope and best wishes for this year of new beginnings for you.
And good luck with that January reading list. Here I am on day 3 and haven't really started a new book yet. (But I did binge and finish 3 books last week)

Happy new year Darryl! I hope Covid will allow me to come to the US this year; if so, I expect I'll be staying with my friends in Fort Washington. I'll certainly let you know if that happens.

If your mom is a good walker then you might enjoy taking her to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. I know I've talked about it before - it's my favourite place to visit in the PA/NJ area.

Wow, your mom is getting 5 star catering with you living in! I hope you'll enjoying having time to try new recipes for you both.

>97 kidzdoc: That is okay, Darryl, and later in the year would be fine too.
I will check again when you have been to Atlanta.

>98 tangledthread: Happy New Year, Valerie! Thanks for your good wishes; I hope that 2022 is a better year for you, as well.

My reading has picked up in the past two days. I've read 80 pages of The Problem of Alzheimer's, and I may finish it as early as tomorrow.

>99 Sakerfalcon: Happy New Year, Claire! I hope that you do visit the Delaware Valley later this year, and we'll definitely have to get together, as Fort Washington is an easy and short (less than 30 minute) drive from where we live, in Middletown Township.

Thanks for the reminder about the Grounds for Sculpture. It's also a short (20 minute) drive from home, and we could combine a trip there with a visit to see my nephew and his mother, who also live in Hamilton Township. My mother loves parks, along with sculpture and art exhibitions, and she enjoys going for walks, so we'll definitely go there when the weather warms up. A few weeks ago on a particularly warm day I took her to a park along the Delaware River, which isn't far from our house, in order to take a walk, but the wind from the river was a bit too much for her. We're using their recumbent bicycle indoors, and I've been taking her with me to the supermarket, to let her push the cart while I buy items. I do have to watch her closely to keep her from putting cookies and other sweets into the cart, though; we have plenty of that at home!

She thanks me at least once a day for making her food that she loves to eat. Her appetite has never been good, but she's finishing 80-90% of her meals, and only leaving a small amount behind if she can't eat it all. My father was doing very little cooking in his last few months, due to his own cognitive decline and the increased demands of caring for my mother, and although he was giving her adequate foods, it was often similar if not identical foods for days on end, and she was getting tired of having the same things over and over. We're now at the point where I can offer her a wide variety of home cooked and prepared foods, and she likes having the ability to choose what she wants to eat at any time, or, on rare occasions, change her mind after I give her a plate and request something else. Neither of us are picky eaters or have any food allergies; broccoli doesn't agree with my gastrointestinal tract, but I can eat broccolini and I'll gladly eat any well prepared vegetables except for turnips and mirliton, a green squash that is part of Louisiana cuisine.

I'll look through cookbooks and my Pinterest boards tomorrow to get some ideas on what to make next, especially vegetarian entrées, soups and stews. Oh...one soup I should make is African Groundnut and Sweet Potato Soup, which is loaded with healthy ingredients, and I'll make another batch of John Boutté's Down in the Tremé Carrot Ginger Coconut Shrimp Soup, which is a great cold weather and sick day meal; she tore it up when I made it two or three weeks ago.

>100 FAMeulstee: That sounds good, Anita. I'll let you know when I return to Philadelphia from Atlanta, and when I might be able to start reading Herinneringen van een engelbewaarder.

Just catching up with you, Darryl, but your thread is tending to make me hungry and I am on a plan to lose weight!

>102 PaulCranswick: Ha! There will be many more vegetarian and other healthy recipes in this thread from now on.

>103 kidzdoc: I am feeling frustrated because of the need to stick to a low sodium diet for cooking because of my husband’s health problems. Everything I try to make seems flat and tasteless. If you make dishes, like that ratatouille you made, that are low sodium, I’d love to hear about them if they turn out well.

Happy New Year, Darryl. I hope it's full of wonderful things and special time with your Mom.

I'll also be following your reading and your recipes with interest. I'm also heading vegetarian/vegan since my son and dil are pretty strict followers of John McDougal's eating.

I know you didn't have time to try out the virtual United We Eat cooking classes - the new one is coming up January 12th by a Pakastani chef. You can check out their post on my facebook feed or on their website.

>101 kidzdoc: Both those soups sound tremendous, Darryl. I've printed out the recipes to try in the coming months.

>101 kidzdoc: I quietly enjoy your food posts, but hearing about you making this all for your mom is just really lovely.

My sincere condolences on the loss of your father, Darryl. Blessings on you for stepping up to care for your mother. I know it feels right and natural for you to do so, but not everyone can manage it. You know I'm thrilled to see you embark on a Faulkner reading year! I have all those Library of America editions as well, and I'd like to revisit some of the novels. I don't think I've read any Faulkner in the last couple years---not normal for me.

>104 SqueakyChu: We (my parents and I) have never used a lot of salt when we cook, and I often use less than the recommended amount of salt in recipes. The salt shaker on our dining room table is probably the least used item in the house; I haven't added salt to cooked food in years, and neither have my parents, and I should replace it with a bottle of Chohula hot sauce.

Is it possible to use other spices when you cook, e.g. paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, etc.? Another thought would be to divide the prepared food in two portions, with one half being low salt for your husband, and the other seasoned to your liking. I would also consider consulting with a nutritionist or dietician that specializes in low salt diets. My mother received her degree to become a registered dietician from the New York Institute of Dietetics in the mid 1950s, and she worked in Jewish Memorial Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx for the remainder of the 1950s, where she designed menus for hospitalized patients who required special diets. If she didn't have dementia, I could have asked her for advice.

>105 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. So far things have gone as well as I could have hoped here, especially during the past two weeks. My mother had acute mental status deterioration, with confusion and agitation, just before and for a few days after my father's funeral on 12/18, but that cleared a few days before Christmas, and since then she has been in good spirits, with occasional and obviously understandable brief periods of sadness.

I'll look through cookbooks and my Pinterest page in the next couple of days for new vegan and vegetarian recipes to try. There are several other soups and stews that I can make that I know my mother likes, and, since she loves eggplant, I'll almost certainly make imam bayildi, Turkish stuffed eggplants, either before I leave for Atlanta on Sunday, or after I return next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thanks for mentioning the upcoming United We Eat virtual class. I'll probably attend it if I'm back here in time. I haven't yet decided if I'll drive from Atlanta to Philadelphia on Tuesday 1/11, or Wednesday 1/12, or do the 800+ mile drive in two days, over Tuesday and Wednesday. My cousin from Michigan will stay with my mother while I'm gone, and since she plans to return on 1/13 I want to be back in time for her to make it back by then, weather permitting.

>106 bell7: Hi, Mary! I look forward to your opinions about those soups; I've made each one at least half a dozen times, and each is amongst my favorites. I also love the Detox Crockpot Lentil Soup recipe from Pinch of Yum, which I make in my slow cooker. Fortunately I bought my parents the same Hamilton Beach Set it and Forget It 6 quart slow cooker that I have in Atlanta, and it makes a ton of soup, so I'll make another batch after I return here next week.

I've starred and am following your 75 Books thread, and will look for your recipes as well.

>107 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. I enjoy cooking for myself, but even more so for others, especially those I cherish the most. Fortunately my mother loves my cooking, and she thanks me at least once a day for making her good food that she enjoys. I definitely take after my late father in that regard; he was an exceptional cook who loved to make food for others.

>108 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. I think you're right; it is the right thing to do, and I'm comfortable in this role, as I did so for six weeks in early 2020 after my father's prolonged hospitalization. My younger brother lives 40 miles away, but he could not do this, for several reasons, and neither can anyone else.

I'm looking forward to finally getting to William Faulkner this year. I had decided to take on this five year project sometime last year, after a conversation in Club Read or the 75 Books group. I'll read the novels in order, one each quarter, and I'll probably start Soldiers' Pay in March.

Please don't judge Faulkner by Soldier's Pay. It's not his best, nor is it indicative of his style or typical subject matter. His strongest work is set in Oxford and rural Mississippi. I always recommend that people do not read him in publication order, but as you're not most people, I suspect you can do it any way at all, and still "get" him.

>111 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. You or someone else whose opinion I trust previously told me that Soldiers' Pay was one of Faulkner's weakest novels. I accept that, and I won't let my opinion of it dissuade me from reading his subsequent books.

I had leftover pork tenderloin from the Hoppin' John I made on New Year's Day that I had no plan for. Fortunately that I remembered that one of my colleagues, an ICU physician in the hospital I (sigh) used to work in, made Pinchos Moruños, Spanish spice-crusted pork tenderloin bites, which derived from a similar recipe for lamb that came from the Moors when they controlled al-Andalus and much of Spain in the Middle Ages, and I cooked them for dinner last night.



Ingredients:

1½ teaspoons ground coriander
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
¾ teaspoon each kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
1 -pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1- to 1½-inch pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
1 tablespoon honey
1 large garlic clove, finely grated
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the coriander, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Add the pork and toss to coat evenly, massaging the spices into the meat until no dry rub remains. Let the pork sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine the lemon juice, honey and garlic. Set aside.

3. In a large skillet over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil until just smoking. Add the meat in a single layer and cook without moving until deeply browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip the pork and cook, turning occasionally, until cooked through and browned all over, another 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Off the heat, pour the lemon juice-garlic mixture over the meat and toss to evenly coat, then transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle the oregano over the pork and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Serve with lemon wedges.

Tip: Don’t cut the pork tenderloin too small. Cutting it into 1- to 1½-inch cubes produced more surface area, allowing the spice rub to quickly penetrate and season the meat. Any smaller and the meat cooked too quickly.
___________________________________________

This was a very easy entrée to make, which took 45-50 minutes from start to finish. I thought that these pinchos would be too spicy for my mother, but she enjoyed the two that I gave her. I cooked them in a skillet, then placed the cooked pork on skewers for the sake of presentation. They tasted great, and I'll certainly make the pinchos again soon.

>113 kidzdoc: That sounds delicious, Daryl. Copying that into my Paprika file.
BTW...do you know about the Paprika App? https://www.paprikaapp.com/

I have all my recipes on there. You can search by ingredient, name, notes directions, etc.
You can also make menus and shopping lists, keep track of your pantry. It just depends on how organized you want to be.
I'm able to find most recipes online and just copy them there. That way when we are up north or where ever, I always have my recipe file with me...even when there is no wifi.

You know, Darryl, if you can't find a job as a doctor, you could probably slide easily into the role of chef, or food blogger...or something like that! You'd be a natural! ;-)

>115 jessibud2: I was thinking more in the line of an author (which I guess a blogger is). Darryl, you write so well. I would love for you to keep on writing...and writing...and writing! So many doctors have ended up writing some amazing books which have become bestsellers, widely read, but (most importantly) widely appreciated. Think about it.

>65 RidgewayGirl:
You're moving? Wow! I agree with Daryl. It will be harder to meet up in Decatur when they have it again, but I will have something to look forward to if you come down for it. However, they have some great book festivals up in the Chicago area as well.

Daryl,

I am having fun reading up on all your cooking. I didn't make beans for New Year's Day. I cooked lentils instead. My mother gets commodities from the local food bank and she had a big bag of lentils. She was going to through them out as she didn't know what to do with them. I had brought one of my gigantic America's Test Kitchen cookbooks home and found a recipe for lentils and rice with Indian flavors. I made it and my mother and my sister loved them! That recipe is a keeper. I also made the Chicken and Dumplings recipe from this cookbook and that went over very well. My mother has had trouble eating since she had COVID a year ago. She lost her taste and smell and is just now getting it back. Of course, this affected her ability to eat and I think that was part of the reason why she had three relapses with COVID and ended up in the hospital each time. It is hard to eat when the food has no taste or doesn't taste good. This Christmas she complained about every chicken dish that I made. She said that the chicken was rancid and got very persnickety about it. My sister's both thought the Chicken and Dumplings were good and I confess it took us some time to figure out that it was still residual COVID talking and not our mother. She loved the lentil dish and most of the other food. She wasn't a big fan of the Gingerbread Cake, but Gingerbread flavors are quite strong and perhaps not the norm when it comes to flavoring in a cake.

I am a big fan of Marcus Samuelsson and his work in broadening the American palate. I have 3 of his cookbooks but I have not cooked out of any of them. I am starting to explore Indian flavors and cooking more dishes with those spices at the moment. I am also continuing to cook pasta dishes as well. I am now back in Alabama preparing to start the new semester. I had thought this would be my last semester but we will see. Financially, it would benefit me to wait to retire until I turn 67 and 1/2. I guess I will see what the new year brings. We are back to being fully masked in all campus buildings and probably will be until the rates of infection go down here in Alabama. This is not the way I wanted to start the year.

It figures: by the time I even manage to stop by your thread, it's already got well over 100 posts! I doubt I'll do any better at keeping up with things here this year than I did last year, but I did at least want to drop by, wave hello, and offer my best wishes to you and your mother in the new year.

I finally finished my first book of 2022, The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Dr Jason Karlawish of the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where my mother was formally diagnosed with moderate Alzheimer's disease this past October. I'll write a review of it either this weekend, or after I return to Philadelphia next week.

>114 tangledthread: I haven't heard of the Paprika app before, but it sounds useful, and more relevant to recipes and foods than Pinterest. Thanks for telling me about it, Valerie.

>115 jessibud2: My family says the same thing, Shelley. I tell them that the recipes I try come from cookbooks, food bloggers, NYT Cooking and elsewhere, though. Besides, I don't think I could earn as a food blogger what I can as a physician!

>116 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. However, my full time responsibility of caring for my mother, and making plans to re-enter the workplace at some point leave me no time to write, unless I give up reading, which I definitely won't do.

>117 benitastrnad: Unfortunately I almost certainly won't be attending any book festivals outside of the immediate Philadelphia/NYC area, as someone would have to stay with my mother during my absence.

I'm glad that your mother's sense of taste and smell is starting to return to normal. That had to have been difficult to prepare food for her when those senses were out of whack.

I can't remember if I mentioned that one of the cookbooks I purchased for my parents was The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Marcus Samuelsson, back in 2012 when both of them were cooking on a regular basis. I doubt that either one tried any of the recipes in it, but I'll start looking at it next week for additional ideas.

>118 bragan: Thanks for visiting, Betty. Club Read has been especially active the past two weeks (which is a good thing, of course), and it's been more of a challenge for me to visit everyone's threads. I should also be able to keep up better this year, although I probably won't be very active until I return to Philadelphia from Atlanta next week.

I'll still be going to the Decatur Book Festival if possible. And do mention any book festivals you're planning on attending in or near Philadelphia and I'll see if I can attend. I have family outside of Trenton, so it would be easy to combine with a trip to see them.

>121 RidgewayGirl: I wonder if real life book festivals in 2022 will also have an online presence. It would be great for them to do so.

>122 SqueakyChu: Most of the festivals went online in 2020, but it's not at all the same as being there. I did like how it made things accessible to those who can't physically go to events, but after attending one author event via Zoom, I'm just going to wait for the in-person stuff to start up again (someday!).

>123 RidgewayGirl: I haven't attended any of the online book festivals. You are right that they are not the same. However, I had a different problem with The National Book Festival. I used to really enjoy it when it was outdoors and smaller. Later it grew so huge (and they had problems with using the National Mall, claiming that visitors walking on the grass ruined it!) that they moved it indoors. It was never the same. It was too crowded so I could never sit near enough to see the speakers (the Jumbotron in the room was like watching a video at home). The speaker systems and the venue caused echoes so I could not understand anyone who was speaking. I do very much miss our local outdoor book festivals (Kensington Day of the Book, Gaithersburg Book Festival) in which my Bookcrossing book group used to (and will one day again) give away hundreds of free books in our BookCrossing tent. Who knows what April and May of this year will bring?

>120 kidzdoc: - I borrowed the Samuelsson book from the library last year, Darryl, and loved it. Loved the reading of it, that is; I doubt I'd try any of the recipes though many appealed to me and I'd try them if I were ordering in a restaurant. (just seemed too complicated for me to make) The backstories were wonderful, though!

>113 kidzdoc: I can't eat them, Darryl, but they do look delicious!

I must admit that your recipe made me smile a little using kosher salt to flavour pork tenderloins!

>120 kidzdoc:
One of the things that Samuelsson said was that when he returned from a trip to Africa he went to a bookstore to find cookbooks of African cooking and couldn't find any. He said that publishers need to remedy that, but also that American's need to be more adventuresess in there tasting and try some of the different food combinations and spices common in Africa. I had to confess to myself that I never thought that being willing to be open to different tastes was a mindset of willingness to be open rather than a reaction to expected taste. I know that there are tastes and combinations of food that I don't like, but because of what he said I try food first and then make a decision about whether or not I like it. If I don't like it I try to be more analytical about why I might not like it and I try very hard to not just dismiss tastes simply because I am not familiar with it. I think that Samuelsson has done some great things for American food tastes by being so forward with introducing American's to food tastes from all over the world.

I got way behind on last year's threads. Just catching up with you now, Darryl. So sorry to read about your Dad. Wonderful that there are so many supports already in place where your mother lives and that so much was already in place for you to be able to care for your mother where she is most comfortable.

Good luck with your plans to drive your stuff back from Atlanta.

Thanks for keeping my thread warm, everyone! I flew to Atlanta on Monday night, paid $950 to the Atlanta Airport Parking Authority for the privilege of having my SUV parked in a protected parking garage adjacent to the South Terminal for 50 days, loaded the SUV with essential items for the next two months (read: books), and drove from there to our house just north of Philadelphia, an 839 mile journey through seven states that took 14½ hours to make. I took a scenic route mainly through the Appalachian Mountains, which avoided having to take the dreaded I-95 corridor through Richmond, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, which is 33 miles shorter in distance but would have added at least 45 minutes to my trip, especially since I would have gone through the latter three cities during the late afternoon and early evening rush hour. It was as pleasant a trip as I could have wished for, and I made it home safely.

I haven't done any significant reading so far this week, but after my cousin from Michigan, who stayed with my mother while I was gone, leaves this morning, I'll resume reading Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems by Dulce María Loynaz, and Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl by Uwe Johnson, for the group read that Jennifer (@japaul) is leading in the 1001 Books to read before you die group.

>121 RidgewayGirl: I'm glad that you'll continue to go to the Decatur Book Festival, Kay. I'll certainly want and need to make regular trips to Atlanta, probably every 1-2 months, and since Wednesday's drive was quite pleasant and very doable I'll continue to travel that way preferentially. As long as my cousin Tina or someone else can stay with my mother during the festival I'll do my best to make it as well.

>125 jessibud2: I'm glad that you liked The Soul of a New Cuisine, Shelley. I just retrieved my parents' copy that I bought for them, and I'll start reading it soon.

>126 PaulCranswick: Gaynor, the partner of the other Paul, Paul Harris (@Polaris-), was also curious about kosher salt. It's a bit of a misnomer, according to Wikipedia:

Kosher salt or kitchen salt (also called cooking salt, flake salt, rock salt, kashering salt or koshering salt) is coarse edible salt without common additives such as iodine.

Coarse edible salt is a kitchen staple, but its name varies widely in various cultures and countries. The term "kosher salt" gained common usage in North America and refers to its use in the Jewish religious practice of dry brining meats, known as kashering, and not to the salt itself being manufactured under any religious guidelines.

Many of the recipes I make call for kosher salt or sea salt, which is an even more coarse salt. Let's see...I had five different types of salt in my kitchen in Atlanta, regular table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, and black lava salt, but there are only two types in my parents' kitchen, table salt and kosher salt.

>127 benitastrnad: Thanks for that great post, Benita. I agree with Marcus Samuelsson that we Americans, taken as a whole, are not as adventurous eaters as we should be, and we don't take full advantage of the variety and complexity of spices and foods available in African and other countries.

>128 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg.

Glad to hear that you made it to and fro. I drove that Appalachian road once and thought it a beautiful drive. I have a nice three day weekend and will try a new recipe this weekend. I am going to make a Quinoa and red rice warm salad this weekend and see how I like it. That is going to be fun.

The semester has started and I taught four classes this last week. By and large the students are wearing masks but many of them are wearing the masks below their nose. At the beginning of each class I told them to pull those masks up over their nose and keep it there. If they persisted I told them I would ask them to leave the class becuase the rules state that the face mask must cover both the nose and mouth. I then told them that they were all going to have to keep wearing masks until people started using some commonsense about stopping this disease. I also told them that they were in the Teacher Education Program and that they were going to have to learn to be the enforcerers of these rules themselves so they had better start practicing what they were going to asking their students to do. All of them complied. I got my booster shot late yesterday afternoon and so far I feel fine. My arm is a bit sore, but no other side effects.

I had a conversation with my mother regarding her hearing aids this morning. She went to a different audiologist and liked this one better. She has decided that she will get her hearing aids from that clinic rather than the local one. It means that she is going to have to drive 100 miles for appointments and that will be burdensome at the beginning, but I told her that it is important that she feel that she can work with them. That alone makes it worth driving the 100 miles. I feel much relief at her report. She has come to terms with her hearing loss and is willing to try to work with them. That is a major step forward. I hope that we can time things so that I can be at home for Spring Break with her to take her to at least one of her appointments.

I am reading a good book right now. It is Unwarrented: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman. It won the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award for works that best explain the American legal system. It won the award in 2017 - this is prior to most of the recent upheavels but after the Ferguson, Missouri protests. I think that means that some people were thinking about the problems with our policing before the recent protests. I was astonished to learn in this book, that there are 50,000 to 80,000 SWAT raids each year in the U.S. All of these are done on "No Knock" warrents. That sounds like Brown Shirt tactics to me.

>127 benitastrnad: This is so beautifully said.

>129 kidzdoc: We always went the WV route when we drove between our house and my MIL's house in NJ. It has always been quick and easy.

I'm glad you were able to pick up a selection of books. I'm glad you made the drive ahead of the expected snow. We were planning on flying to Bloomington, IL this Sunday, but our flight has already been canceled.

Glad your trip ran smoothly Darryl.

Is your mother able to still enjoy reading, so you can have some companionable reading time together?

I hope everything runs as smoothly as possible going forward.

>130 benitastrnad: so glad your mom saw the light! Too bad there isn't another clinic closer but sounds like she is comfortable with this audiologist. They are expensive unfortunately; if she's not given any options, the FDA has recently approved otc aids that are cheaper and since she got evaluated she can get help findingin which is best for her hrg loss.

More Info:A law established as part of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017 directed the FDA to create a category of OTC hearing aids for adults with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss. As part of this process, in October 2021, the FDA formally proposed a rule to establish the new OTC hearing aids category. When finalized, the rule would allow hearing aids within this category to be sold directly to consumers in stores or online without a medical exam or a fitting by an audiologist. Hearing aids for severe hearing loss or for users younger than age 18 would remain prescription devices.

I was really worried this wouldn't have any restrictions, but apparently for kids and adults with profound losses, they need a prescription. Now to figure out a way to make the aids lower for them as well!

ETA this has not been finalized yet, hope that happens soon!

>129 kidzdoc: glad you made it there and back safely, smart move to avoid 95! Good that your cousin was there, hope they did ok together!

>130 benitastrnad: so glad you are putting your foot down spec if these students plan to do teaching, crazy that they are not alreadt do so. Hope you don't get any hasseles from any one. Stay safe!

Some of you who watch CNN or read CNN.com may have heard that Jeffrey Parker, the CEO of MARTA, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transportation Authority, committed suicide last night, after he was hit by a MARTA subway train. His wife is a dear friend of mine, and she sent me a text message just before noon to let me know of his death. I met Jeff at least twice, as his wife, who also works for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, is a fabulous cook, and she and I talked frequently about cooking dinner side by side, although we only did it once, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeff was a lovely and humble man, who preferred to talk about travel, cooking and books than his very prestigious position, and I am shattered by his sudden death, and what it means for his wife and their two lovely and talented daughters.

CNN: CEO of MARTA, Atlanta transportation service, dies by suicide

>135 kidzdoc: I'm sorry to hear this, Darryl. A tragedy for all involved, including the conductor, if there was one, and all those on the train.

>135 kidzdoc: How very sad Darryl. Despite all you have on your plate right now, I'm sure you will be supporting your friend.

>135 kidzdoc: Oh Darryl, I'm so sorry to hear that. This is such a hard time of year for folks who are struggling.

Oh, that is really sad!

Glad to hear you're back safely after your road trip and have more books in hand.

>135 kidzdoc: So sorry for your loss and his wife & family. That's heartbreaking.

What a tragedy, Darryl.

Glad you are back safely and didn't encounter any *weather* on your travels.

>135 kidzdoc: How completely horrible and sad, especially for his family.

>135 kidzdoc: What terrible news, Darryl. This year is so, so tough. I am deeply sorry for the loss of your friend and the effect his death will have on his wife and daughters.

>135 kidzdoc: Oh no... I'm lost for words. I'm thinking of you and of his family.

>129 kidzdoc: - Good to hear that your trip went smoothly, but >135 kidzdoc: sounds like a very sad situation for everyone.

>135 kidzdoc: What an awful thing, Darryl. I'm sorry for your loss, and for Parker's family. Speculation about his choice to end his life in that particular manner must be rife in Atlanta. It certainly won't make it any easier for his wife and daughters to deal with this. Tragedy upon tragedy.

Just read the article, he looks so young. what a horrible loss. Mental illness is so easy to hide; I know, I did it for years. People don't know what others go through, and the pain they feel is sometimes so deep that all they want to do is escape it, and think they only have one option. So sorry for his family, and his colleagues, thats gonna be a rough time for them. So sorry for all of you. May his name be for a blessing, and may memories bring strength, comfort and peace

Following the way news reports like this end:

How to get help: In the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also can provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.

>130 benitastrnad: I had a conversation with my mother regarding her hearing aids this morning I have had so many conversations with my mother regarding her hearing aids that I have completely given up on the topic. For whatever reason she is adamant that she will not wear her hearing aid, so she hears hardly anything of what is being said.

>135 kidzdoc: So sorry to hear of your friend's husband's death, Darryl.

We watched a film set in Philadelphia over the weekend (Concrete Cowboy with Idris Elba) and got into a discussion as to how cold it would be there in the winter. Do you get much snow in the winter.

>135 kidzdoc: how sad. Sorry to hear this.

Sorry to see the news about the death of your friend's husband, Darryl. Good to see that you made it to Atlanta and back and are okay with doing it again.

>135 kidzdoc: That is awful news, Darryl, and I pray his family are able to cope and come to terms with whatever demons he had been dealing with that drove him to such desperation.

What a tragedy.

When I read about this in the news I thought he must have been in awful pain. H ope and pray for healing for his family.

Glad you made it back to Philadelphia safely.

Darryl, can't tell if I've already posted, but our condolences on the death of your Dad. It must be a comfort for you mom to have you with her. Will be stopping in from time to time to see what you are reading (what an amazing number of years we've all been hanging out together!)

>135 kidzdoc: This is heartbreaking news. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family, and friends like you who are also touched by this loss.

>135 kidzdoc: Awful

I'm back. I've now finished two books, so it's time to write a couple of reviews.

>130 benitastrnad: Please let us know how you like Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission, Benita.

>131 RidgewayGirl: The drive I took through the Appalachian Mountains from Atlanta to Philadelphia last Wednesday is similar to the one I took to go from Pittsburgh to Atlanta in 1997, except that I took I-81 to go to Harrisburg this time, versus I-79 to come from Pittsburgh a quarter century ago. There is an excellent chance that I'll make that drive every month or two for the foreseeable future, possibly as early as the second half of February, weather permitting.

BTW, are you still in Greenville? The Weather Channel had plenty of coverage of Winter Storm Izzy that blasted SC, NC and VA, but left the Delaware Valley relatively unscathed. We received an inch of snow Sunday night, but it rained hard overnight, and by the morning there was no trace of wintry precipitation anywhere. I probably told you that a good friend of mine is a pediatric hospitalist in Greenville, and she posted photos of her 0.85 mile walk to Prisma Health Children's Hospital on Monday morning on Facebook.

>132 Caroline_McElwee: Is your mother able to still enjoy reading, so you can have some companionable reading time together?

Yes! My father, mother and I are all avid readers, and she is reading three books at one time now, which she enjoys while listening to gospel music or smooth jazz on the television. She probably isn't retaining much of what she reads, but reading is a pleasurable activity for her. We tried to visit her favorite library yesterday, but it was closed to visitors for renovations, so we'll go to another public library this afternoon.

>133 cindydavid4: Thanks for that useful information about hearing aids, Cindy.

>158 kidzdoc: She probably isn't retaining much of what she reads
A great-aunt who lived well into her 90s always kept the same book by her chair. She cheerfully reported that she didn't remember the plot from one day to the next, but she did remember that she enjoyed it.

Thank you Lisa S., Caroline, Lisa P., Cyrel, Mary, Shelley, Katherine, Madeline, Mirjam, Stephanie, Linda, Cindy, Rhian, Dan, Meg, Paul, Ardene, Claire and Michael for your kind thoughts about Jeff and his family. Erin, his wife, is a nurse practitioner at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and until recently she was one of the APPs (advance practice providers) on the inpatient Psychiatry service for the hospital that I work(ed) for. We share an office space with the Psychiatry and Palliative Care services, so I saw Erin practically every weekday morning that both of us were on service, and we shared hundreds of patients together over the years. We developed a close friendship, due to our similar interests, and after multiple failed attempts to meet for dinner in Atlanta we were finally able to do so in 2016 — in Paris, while she and her youngest daughter were on vacation there, and I was on holiday in London. (Our front office staff was quite sad when we unwittingly discussed our dinner plans within earshot of them before our trip.) I met Erin, Jeff and their daughters over dinner in their home several times, as she is a fabulous cook, and we met to cook alongside each other for the five of us on two occasions.

Erin, to her great credit, wanted to make the public aware of Jeff's suicide, and soon she will set up a fund to promote suicide awareness in his honor. I had absolutely no idea that he was suffering with mental health problems, and they seemed like a perfect and balanced family, with two accomplished and sensitive adult daughters. Jeff's death came as a great shock to all of us who knew Erin well, and I'm still in disbelief that he took his own life.

>136 labfs39: Yes, that train would have had a conductor, and he or she probably saw that the victim was the head of the transit system, which must have been especially traumatic. The incident took place at East Lake station on the Blue (East-West) Line, between Downtown Atlanta and Decatur. Kay, Pattie, Benita and I passed through that station when we went to and from the Decatur Book Festival in 2017 and 2018, and you may have done so as well when we met for dinner at The Iberian Pig in Decatur.

>141 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. I was very fortunate that the weather during the long drive from Atlanta to Philadelphia was picture perfect, which was not the case this past Sunday and Monday when the entire area between those two cities received significant snowfall due to Winter Storm Izzy.

>150 SandDune: Do you get much snow (in Philadelphia) in the winter?

Good question, Rhian. Snowfall is very variable in the Delaware Valley (metropolitan Philadelphia, which consists of southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and northern Maryland). According to this recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the city's morning newspaper, Philadelphia had 0.3 inches of snow in the 2019-20 winter season, versus 78 inches in the winter of 2009-10. There can also be significant variations in snowfall amounts in different parts of the region, depending on the track of the storm. Earlier this month we had four inches of snow just north of the city, but my brother, who lives 40 miles to the southeast in Burlington County, New Jersey, had twice that amount, and Cape May, on the southernmost tip of New Jersey, received 14-16 inches of snow.

Most of the major snowstorms on the East Coast of the United States come from nor'easters, which form due to a combination of warm, moist air from a system in the South Atlantic and a cold front from Canada. They can be dangerous and deadly storms, with strong winds, coastal flooding, and heavy snowfalls of up to three feet. I don't know what the winter forecast for this area is for this year, but now that I've moved back home, at least temporarily, I need to find out!

>155 avaland: Thanks, Lois. I hope to have a much better reading year in 2022, especially since I probably won't return to work until this summer, at the earliest. I'll have more time to follow you, Michael and other members of Club Read as well.

>159 qebo: A great-aunt who lived well into her 90s always kept the same book by her chair. She cheerfully reported that she didn't remember the plot from one day to the next, but she did remember that she enjoyed it.

Nice. I think the same could be said of my mother.

Erin just set up a memorial fund to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for her husband, with lovely photos of him, her, and their daughters, which demonstrate the love and warmth they all shared.

Jeffrey Parker Memorial Fund

>160 kidzdoc: It's difficult to know what goes on in a family behind closed doors which is why it comes as a shock when something viewed as going well turns out to be the opposite. It's hard for everyone concerned.

The image of your mother enjoying her reading although she doesn't remember the plot brought a smile to my face.

>163 Familyhistorian: Right, Meg. I've only been in the company of all of the Parkers on three occasions, which is nowhere near enough time to detect any signs of distress in Jeff. I greatly enjoyed his company, and I was looking forward to getting to know him better, as Erin and I had agreed to getting together on a regular basis to cook our favorite dishes together in her spacious and inviting kitchen, for myself, her family, and mutual friends, after our last dinner in the fall of 2019. Unfortunately my father's near fatal illness in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, her elderly father's infirmity, and now my father's death prevented us from fulfilling that plan, which saddens me immensely.

My mother is lying on her favorite couch reading Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, after finishing dinner, and she's enjoying it before she turns in for the night.

Book #1: The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Dr Jason Karlawish



My rating:

In The Problem of Alzheimer’s Disease Dr. Jason Karlawish, the co-director of the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, provides a superb and comprehensive analysis of “the disease of the century”, from the standpoint of a clinician who routinely diagnoses and treats patients with all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, who is also a physician researcher, bioethicist, and medical historian who has spent his career studying this dreaded and pervasive illness that has afflicted millions of people around the world, and adversely affected many other family members of the sufferers.

Karlawish begins by noting a landmark 1976 editorial in the journal Archives of Neurology by Dr Robert Katzman, the chairman of the Department of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, titled “The Prevalence and Malignancy of Alzheimer Disease,” which first sounded the alarm about the high prevalence of this underrecognized cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly Americans, a disease that he estimated to be the fourth or fifth most common cause of death in the United States. His commentary did not fall on deaf ears, as the National Institute of Aging, a new division within the National Institutes of Health, chose Alzheimer’s disease as its primary focus, bipartisan political support for this dreaded disease led to more funding and greater public attention on this malady, and researchers worked tirelessly to discover diagnostic techniques that would permit earlier and more definitive diagnoses, and uncover new medications targeted at the processes that caused the disease to progress. Forty five years have passed since Dr Katzman’s call to action, yet Alzheimer’s disease has neither been cured nor alleviated to an appreciable degree.

Part 1 of The Problem of Alzheimer’s describes what Alzheimer’s disease is, how it is diagnosed, and how it differs from other forms of dementia, such as Lewy body disease. The stages of the disease are characterized, the burden of moderate and severe Alzheimer’s on spouses, children and other family members is chronicled, and the astronomical cost of care is mentioned. The modern history of Alzheimer’s disease is recounted, with detailed descriptions of the researchers and clinicians whose studies were the most important in advancing knowledge about it. Part 2 recalls the early history of the disease, which was first described by the German psychiatrist Dr Alois Alzheimer in the first decade of the 20th century, based on a small number of patients he cared for, along with meticulous studies of biopsied and stained brain tissue after their deaths, which first demonstrated the plaques and tangles that are characteristic of this form of dementia. In Part 3, Dr Karlawish describes the sociopolitical barriers that prevent Alzheimer’s patients from receiving adequate and optimal care for the disease and its sequelae, and Part 4 serves as a second call to action, while acknowledging the limitations and barriers that must be overcome to give the best care for these patients, along with the great distance that must be bridged before a true cure is achieved.

The Problem of Alzheimer’s is written for a lay audience, yet it has enough detail to satisfy scientists, clinicians and policy makers who wish to understand more about the science behind the different medications and diagnostic modalities available for people with the disease. My mother has moderate Alzheimer’s disease and is followed by one of Dr Karlawish’s colleagues at the Penn Memory Center, so this book was both essential and very helpful, now that I have assumed the role of primary caregiver of Mom after my father’s recent death.

Knowing what field Erin worked in,this had to come as a double whammy. But as always, you really never know whats happening to others, even if you are close. I hope the support she is receiving from the community and her friends like you will give her peace. I applaud her openess, and hope this makes people observe, and ask questions, or at the very least, provide the above information on my post to the family or the person so they can start getting some help.

Those photos speak volumes of the love they all had for each other. So damn sad.

Darryl--So sorry to hear about your friend's husband. It sounds like he was a wonderful husband and father and I am sure he will be missed. I wish you luck pulling all the things together in your own life. And thanks for positing the review of The Problem of Alzheimer’s Disease--it sounds really good. Best wishes.

>150 SandDune:, >160 kidzdoc: I was disappointed that in the 8 years I lived in Philadelphia we never had a white Christmas, and only once or twice did we get any significant amounts of snow. Mind you, the first winter that I was back in London it snowed, and I set out to the railway station for work as usual. When I got there the trains were all cancelled, and I thought "Ahhh, I'm back in England now!" Less than an inch of snow and London transport shuts down!

>165 kidzdoc: Great review of the Alzheimer's book. I wish I'd had something like that to read while my dad was suffering with it. I'm glad you have support both in books and from friends, family and medical professionals.

>166 cindydavid4: Sad indeed, Cindy. The photos that Erin and her daughters chose are accurate reflections of the love they shared together, and the way Jeff treated his wife and children, from what I observed. Despite his many accomplishments he was very approachable and engaging, and I am disheartened that the pandemic and family illnesses kept us from developing a close friendship.

>167 Berly: Thanks, Kim.

>168 Sakerfalcon: I'm glad that I haven't been in London to experience any major transit shutdowns due to wintry weather, although I would have loved to have walked around the city on a snowy day. Is the age of the London Underground's stations and tunnels the cause for it to be shut down during relatively minor snowfalls?

>167 Berly:, >168 Sakerfalcon: I'm glad that you both liked my review of The Problem of Alzheimer's. It was published early last year, so it's up to date on the latest treatments, including the new and controversial medication aducanumab (Aduhelm), which my mother's neurologist at Penn Memory Center mentioned to my father, mother and I when we saw her in October.

Book #2: Pauli Murray's Revolutionary Life by Simki Kuznick



My rating:

I was provided with an Advance Reviewers' Copy of this book through LibraryThing, in exchange for writing a timely and honest review of it.

The Reverend Dr Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was one of the most unsung, unique and accomplished members of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights Movements in the United States, whose life was notable for her struggles with her transgender identity. She was born in Baltimore, and was raised mainly by a maternal aunt and her family in Durham, North Carolina after the premature death of her mother and her father’s institutionalization for severe mental illness. Facing limited educational opportunities in the South she sought to attend Barnard College, the private women’s college associated with Columbia University in New York, but her limited education in segregated schools did not adequately prepare her for that rigorous institution. She completed college entrance requirements in a high school in Queens, and was accepted to the Brooklyn annex of Hunter College, which at that time was a public women’s college that was open to all students regardless of race or religious background. She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1933, as one of only four African American women to earn an undergraduate degree from the school that year.

After graduation Murray taught literacy classes through the Works Progress Administration, one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs meant to provide jobs and stimulate the economy during the Great Depression. During that time, and before then when she worked odd jobs to support herself through college, she became an active participant in small protest movements against racial injustice in restaurants and other public settings in New York. Her first notable protest came in 1940, when she and a friend attempted to spend the Easter holiday with the aunt who raised her in Durham, and were arrested in St Petersburg, Virginia for disorderly conduct after they challenged the state’s segregation policy on the public bus they rode on. Her imprisonment and trial attracted the attention of the local branch of the NAACP and the Workers’ Defense League, and she was hired by the latter group to work in its New York office. She traveled back to Virginia to give a speech requesting financial and moral support for a Black man who was sentenced to death for murdering his White landlord, and while there she met future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who at that time was one of the chief lawyers for the NAACP. He encouraged Murray to apply to Howard Law School, and she was awarded a full scholarship to attend, graduating at the top of her almost entirely male class. As a student she continued her activities against discrimination, and while doing so she met First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and the two become lifelong friends and colleagues in the battle for racial and gender equality. She subsequently earned a master’s degree in law from the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first African American woman to serve as deputy attorney general of California, and the first to earn a doctorate from Yale Law School in 1965.

Murray’s most important published work was States’ Laws on Race and Color, which was the basis for the successful Supreme Court argument in the famous Brown v. Board of Education case that overturned state sanctioned racial segregation in the nation’s schools. She wrote a legal memorandum that ensured that women had equal rights under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which until then only protected against racial discrimination, she was one of the co-founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and she was credited by future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her essential legal contributions to the Reed v. Reed Supreme Court case that extended equal protection by law to women under the Fourteenth Amendment.

In later years Murray taught law in several universities in the United States and Ghana, and, after she earned a master’s degree in Divinity from the General Theological Seminary, she became the first African American woman ordained as an Episcopal minister. Her last years were spent ministering to the sick in Baltimore and Washington, and giving sermons to other churches across the country, before she died of pancreatic cancer in Pittsburgh in 1985.

Pauli Murray’s Revolutionary Life is a young adult book which compellingly shines a light onto Murray’s inspiring family background and extraordinary life, along with her struggles with her sexual identity, to readers who may not be familiar with her story. I learned far more about this amazing woman as a result of reading it, and I’ll use it as a stepping stone to learn more about her, and her role in the movements for racial and gender equality in this country.

>169 kidzdoc: No, I think it's just that we get snow so rarely that none of the infrastructure is designed with it in mind. In theory the underground parts of the Tube could keep running, but as you know all of the lines have aboveground sections, and likewise the depots where the trains stay overnight are aboveground. We also have no/very few snowploughs in southern England, and drivers don't really know how to cope with even a thin layer of snow/ice on the road which means buses tend to stop too. The one thing that I've never known to close down because of snow is the Tramlink from Croydon/Beckenham to Wimbledon.

I have to say, my workplace does look lovely in the snow!

ETA I tried to post a photo but somewhere between my phone and LT it turned upside down!

>165 kidzdoc: Great review, Daryl. I've placed it on hold at my library. The topic is of interest to me since my mother and grandfather both suffered from dementia without clear cut diagnoses. One always has to wonder what may be in store in the future and what can be done.

>171 Sakerfalcon: That makes sense re: the London Underground.

Yes, I can imagine that your workplace would be absolutely gorgeous in the snow!

>12 kidzdoc: Thanks, tangledthread. My father was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, which can be an early sign of dementia, less than two months before he died, and it was quite clear that his mental status had deteriorated significantly between the time I saw them in the summer and my visit in October. Now that I've reached 60, and given my parents' cognitive decline, I'm much more interested to find out what I can do to maintain and strengthen my memory. I have at least two books on hand that should provide some information, and I'll read and review them soon.

Yesterday I tried a new recipe for lunch, Potaje de garbanzos a la Madrileña, a chickpea stew from Madrid, which turned out quite well.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 30 ml
2 onions
1 carrot
4 cloves garlic
4 tomatoes
2 1/2 cups canned chickpeas 20 oz / 400 grams
4 cups water
1/4 tsp saffron threads
2 cups fresh spinach
1 bay leaf
2 eggs
pinch sea salt
dash black pepper

Instructions:

1. Roughly chop 1 onion and roughly chop 1 carrot, add into a stock pot, fill with 4 cups cold water, season with sea salt, 1 bay leaf and heat with a high heat

2. Meanwhile, add 2 eggs into a sauce pan, fill with cold water, enough to cover the eggs by 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) and heat with a high heat, once it comes to a boil, place a lid on the sauce pan and turn off the heat, let the eggs sit for 12 minutes and then drain.

3. After cooking the vegetables for 20 minutes, drain them into a sieve with a bowl underneath, set the vegetables aside and reserve the water.

4. Finely chop 1/2 onion, roughly chop 4 cloves garlic, finely grate 4 tomatoes to end up with 1 cup (225 grams) tomato sauce and drain the canned chickpeas into a sieve and rinse under cold water.

5. Heat the same stock pot with a medium heat and add in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

6. After 1 minute add in chopped onion and garlic, mix with the olive oil, after 3 minutes and the onion is translucent, add in the 1 cup tomato sauce, mix together and simmer.

7. Meanwhile, add the reserved vegetables that we boiled earlier into a tall plastic cylinder, along with 1/4 cup (20 grams) of the drained chickpeas and 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the reserved broth, using a handheld mixer blend together until smooth, you can also use a food processor for this step.

8. .After simmering the tomato sauce for 4 minutes and it has thickened up, add the remainder of the drained chickpeas, the vegetable puree and season with sea salt & black pepper, gently mix together, then add in 2 cups of the reserved broth and a 1/4 tsp of saffron threads, mix together and raise the heat to a high heat, once it comes to a boil, place a lid on the stock pot and lower to a low-medium heat.

9. After 10 minutes remove the lid, add in 2 cups fresh spinach, mix together until wilted, remove from the heat, transfer into shallow bowls and garnish with the hard boiled eggs cut into quarters, enjoy!
_________________________________________

I followed this recipe nearly exactly, except that I measured the amount of drained chickpeas in two standard cans, which was 510 grams, or roughly 1¼ times the amount called for in this stew. I used 1¼ cups of tomato sauce, and roughly 2½ cups of broth. My mother, best friend from high school and I all loved this stew, which was perfect on a cold, wintry day, so I'll add it to my list of favorite soups and stews.

>173 kidzdoc: cognitive decline
I have similar concerns and look forward to your reviews.

>175 qebo: From the Ask and You Shall Receive Department: I took my mother to see her primary care physician earlier this afternoon, and I expressed my concern about my own mental status to him. He briefly left the examination room, and gave me a copy of Memory: Remembering and Forgetting in Everyday Life by Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., the founder of the Memory Clinic at Johns Hopkins, who happens to be his brother. I'll start reading it soon.

something tells me that author is going to see an uptick in sales over the next few weeks courtesy LT. Getting that for myself. However, this book was published in 1995; wonder if there is newer version?

I forgot to tell you I made you ratatouille recipe the other day and it was delish!! Thanks for posting. I recently purchase The Weekday Vegetarian and am going to give those recipes a try. I will have some difficulty since I can't do the fish or coconut, but still, should be fun and good!

>177 cindydavid4: I just checked, and I don't see a newer version of it, unfortunately.

>178 Berly: I'm glad that you enjoyed the ratatouille, Kim. My mother can't get enough of it, and I'll make another batch of it again very soon.

Please let me/us know which recipes in The Weekday Vegetarians you particularly like. Does it actually contain fish recipes?

I would like to become a relative pescatarian, one who occasionally goes off the rails and has white meat once a week or so, and red meat on relatively rare occasions. I like lamb too much to give it up completely, but once a quarter seems plenty.

>179 kidzdoc: I get an eggplant rollatini from an Italian restaurant in AC that I adore. Can’t get hubby to eat eggplant.

>169 kidzdoc: Is the age of the London Underground's stations and tunnels the cause for it to be shut down during relatively minor snowfalls? I think a lot of it is drivers not being able to get to work. Bear in mind that the level of snow that the average British person feels is appropriate for driving in is virtually non-existent (certainly in the south)! I always think it’s hilarious when films are set in a snowy London and everyone is just going about their normal business, rather than running around like headless chickens. Based on anywhere I’ve ever worked in London it only takes about 5 minutes from the first snowflake for the worries to start. “Do you think we should go home now?” “Will we get snowed in?”

>174 kidzdoc: Love Chickpeas, may give that a go Darryl.

>173 kidzdoc: And there is the MIND diet
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mind-diet#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

We are not religious about it, but stick to it....mostly.

>165 kidzdoc: >170 kidzdoc: Two fantastic reviews, as always, Darryl.

As a member of search and rescue, as well as the granddaughter of someone with the disease, I've often wondered why people with Alzheimer's feel the urge to flee. It seems to go beyond getting lost on their way somewhere. Did the book mention this aspect at all?

Great review of the Pauli Murray biography, Darryl. She is mentioned frequently in Barbara Ransby's Ella Baker biography that is currently, I believe, on your TBR stack.

I am so sorry to hear of your friend's death. No words. Just hugs.

Interesting review of the Pauli Murray book. I admit that I had not heard of her. I remember a sit-com a few years ago (perhaps black*ish?) where the kids in the family were having to choose a black historical figure and bemoaning the fact that due to lack of resources, everyone gave a report on MLK Jr or Harriet Tubman. It's really good to see diversity coming to young adult books.

>170 kidzdoc: wow. What a terrific review about Pauli Murray’s life.

>179 kidzdoc: Sorry for the confusion. I am trying to eat less red meat. Some people then try to eat more fish, but I can't do fish as an alternate. The cookbook sticks to veggies. ; )

I made the spicy chickpeas with tomatoes and greens and it was pretty good! A little on the bland side so Hubby and I divided it into small piles and played with adding more spices. It was actually kinda fun.

>176 kidzdoc: I'm interested to hear what you think about the book for similar reasons.

And just piping up for pescatarianism... it's not perfect from an ethical standpoint, but I can live with it. And after struggling with what do I eat that's not pasta all the time for the first nine months or so it's become an easy and intuitive way to eat. I missed the homey stuff—roast chicken, meatballs, meatloaf—for a while, but ten years later I don't even think about it. Plus meat substitutes have gotten 100% better in the past decade.

A certain lady told me that you upheld family honour in the baking of a cake which was the specialty of your mother. The same lady informed that whilst hers was tasty but mainly stuck to the tin her friend had completed a triumph.

Your first bake too?

>85 kidzdoc:, >189 lisapeet: Veggie to varying degrees for 45 years, my go-to is tempeh.

>180 dianeham: Yes: eggplant rollatini! I love it, as does my mother, as we are both plans of that delightful fruit. I made it for her several years ago, and I should do again soon.



Here's the recipe I used, courtesy of Pasquale Sciarappa:

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 lb fresh ricotta
1/2 cup pecorino cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg
handful fresh parsley, chopped
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
24 oz. tomato sauce
1 tsp. olive oil
Makes 12.

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400º F.

2. Begin by coating a baking sheet with olive oil.

3. Slice the ends off of the eggplant. Holding the eggplant vertically, cut lengthwise thin slices. Place the eggplant slices onto the baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool off before rolling.

4. To make the cheese filling, in a bowl, mix the ricotta, pecorino cheese, 1/2 of the mozzarella, parsley, egg, black pepper, and salt.

5. Next, spread a ladle of sauce evenly on the bottom of a baking pan.

6. Once the eggplant has cooled off, place a spoonful of the cheese filling at the wider end of the eggplant slices and then roll the eggplant over itself.
7. Place the eggplant roll with the loose end on the bottom of the pan so it does not unroll while baking. Continue these steps until the baking pan is full.

8. Cover the top of the eggplant rollatini’s with another layer of sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

9. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top and place back into the oven for about 5 minutes to let the cheese melt. Remove from the oven and serve while still hot. Enjoy and cin cin!
_____________________________________________

>181 SandDune: the level of snow that the average British person feels is appropriate for driving in is virtually non-existent (certainly in the south)!

This is still surprising to me, as we (in Pennsylvania, not Georgia) routinely drive on snowy roads. Two or three inches of snow isn't unusual or remarkable here, and unless the roads were also icy there wouldn't be any school closings, transit delays, or other disruptions in Philadelphia. Three inches in Atlanta would all but shut down the city, though.

Based on anywhere I’ve ever worked in London it only takes about 5 minutes from the first snowflake for the worries to start. “Do you think we should go home now?” “Will we get snowed in?”

Ha! That describes most native Atlantans as well.

>182 Caroline_McElwee: Sounds good, Caroline. My mother and I had the potaje for dinner last night, and we both enjoyed it.

>183 tangledthread: Thanks, tangledthread! The MIND diet is one I can follow with little difficulty, and I'll print it out, both here and in the house, for current and future reference:

10 Foods to Eat on the MIND Diet

Green, leafy vegetables: Aim for six or more servings per week. This includes kale, spinach, cooked greens and salads.

All other vegetables: Try to eat another vegetable in addition to the green leafy vegetables at least once a day. It is best to choose non-starchy vegetables because they have a lot of nutrients with a low number of calories.

Berries: Eat berries at least twice a week. Although the published research only includes strawberries, you should also consume other berries like blueberries, raspberries and blackberries for their antioxidant benefits.

Nuts: Try to get five servings of nuts or more each week. The creators of the MIND diet don’t specify what kind of nuts to consume, but it is probably best to vary the type of nuts you eat to obtain a variety of nutrients.

Olive oil: Use olive oil as your main cooking oil. Check out this article for information about the safety of cooking with olive oil.

Whole grains: Aim for at least three servings daily. Choose whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and 100% whole-wheat bread.

Fish: Eat fish at least once a week. It is best to choose fatty fish like salmon, sardines, trout, tuna and mackerel for their high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.

Beans: Include beans in at least four meals every week. This includes all beans, lentils and soybeans.

Poultry: Try to eat chicken or turkey at least twice a week. Note that fried chicken is not encouraged on the MIND diet.

Wine: Aim for no more than one glass daily. Both red and white wine may benefit the brain. However, much research has focused on the red wine compound resveratrol, which may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

5 Foods to Avoid on the MIND Diet

Butter and margarine: Try to eat less than 1 tablespoon (about 14 grams) daily. Instead, try using olive oil as your primary cooking fat, and dipping your bread in olive oil with herbs.

Cheese: The MIND diet recommends limiting your cheese consumption to less than once per week.

Red meat: Aim for no more than three servings each week. This includes all beef, pork, lamb and products made from these meats.

Fried food: The MIND diet highly discourages fried food, especially the kind from fast-food restaurants. Limit your consumption to less than once per week.

Pastries and sweets: This includes most of the processed junk food and desserts you can think of. Ice cream, cookies, brownies, snack cakes, donuts, candy and more. Try to limit these to no more than four times a week.
___________________________________________

This is great. My biggest challenges will be to limit my cheese intake and to eat three servings of whole grains each day. My mother has a major sweet tooth, so I'll have to encourage her to limit her consumption of Famous Amos cookies, which she has at least twice a day. We don't eat much butter, and even less red meat and fried foods. I go through olive oil like water — there are three bottles of EVOO sitting on one of our kitchen counters — and I use other oils in cooking only very occasionally, and in small amounts.

I think I'll create a food diary starting tomorrow, to help me keep track of our intake.

ETA: I'm about to start making Greek Chicken Stew with Cauliflower and Olives for Sunday dinner, and, with this diet in mind, I'll serve it over quinoa.

>184 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. I'm glad that you liked my reviews. I'll try to do a better job writing reviews promptly this year.

My reading so far this year has been considerably less than I had hoped for, as I've only finished those two books to date. Hopefully I can pick up the pace starting today.

I've often wondered why people with Alzheimer's feel the urge to flee. It seems to go beyond getting lost on their way somewhere. Did the book mention this aspect at all?

It did not. My mother has a very disturbing tendency to open the front door in the middle of the night, to look for me or because she thinks someone is at the front door, which scares the crap out of me, especially now when the temperatures are well below freezing. At 1 am today I heard her open the door and call "Cheryl?", the name of my best friend from high school, who I'm paying to bathe Mom and help me organize the house three times a week. I had a hard time going back to sleep after that, and I woke up multiple times this morning if I heard the slightest noise from downstairs.

I will want to look into this, and what methods I can use to keep my mother safe, and me sane.

>185 rocketjk: Thanks, Jerry. That review is more of a short biography of Pauli Murray than anything else, though.

>186 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. Jeff's death hit me relatively hard, due to my close relationship with his wife and my respect and fondness toward him and his daughters.

Yes, there seems to have been a great increase in the number of children's and YA books about prominent African Americans in recent years, including Pauli Murray's Revolutionary Life. When I was a kid in the 1960s and early 1970s there was a dearth of books in this category, with most being ones about famous athletes like Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, and very little about lesser known participants in the Civil Rights Movement.

>187 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan.

>188 Berly: Ah. That makes more sense, Kim.

I'm glad that you and your husband liked the potaje de garbanzos a la Madrileña. I didn't find it to be bland, though, rather a mix of subtle flavors that blended together well. My mother can't handle overly spicy foods any longer, so this recipe is ideal for her.

>189 lisapeet: Will do, Lisa. I'll probably read Memory: Remembering and Forgetting in Everyday Life next month.

And just piping up for pescatarianism... it's not perfect from an ethical standpoint, but I can live with it.

Agreed. I do want to eat more seafood, especially fish, and preferentially purchase types that have been ethically obtained.

I missed the homey stuff—roast chicken, meatballs, meatloaf—for a while, but ten years later I don't even think about it. Plus meat substitutes have gotten 100% better in the past decade.

I do love chicken, but my desire for red meats has significantly decreased as I've gotten older.

I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen yesterday afternoon, which reviewed several meat substitutes. The staff recommended two brands, the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Meat Beyond Burger. I'll keep those two in mind if I want to use a meat substitute in recipes. I'm also still looking for a good substitute for sausage, to potentially replace Andouille sausage, chorizo or chouriço.

>190 PaulCranswick: A certain lady told me that you upheld family honour in the baking of a cake which was the specialty of your mother. The same lady informed that whilst hers was tasty but mainly stuck to the tin her friend had completed a triumph.

That is absolutely correct, Paul, and I suspect that I know the lady who you are referring to, as we discussed this cake yesterday as we were each making it. A neighbor and dear friend of hers commented wistfully earlier this week that his birthday was coming up (yesterday), and that he missed the sour cream coffee cake that my mother used to make him. My cousin and I were going through my mother's recipe box last month, and we found the card for her beloved Sour Cream Coffee Cake. I had never baked a cake before, but I told Bob and his wife that I would give it a try.







You may notice that a small piece of crust is missing, as it stuck to the Bundt pan. Otherwise Bob and his wife loved the cake, and my mother and I ate and enjoyed that small piece of stuck cake as well. Sadly, my mother's dementia prevents her from knowing anything about the wonderful foods that she used to make, including this cake, but I intend to try several of the recipes she saved in her precious recipe box.

>191 qebo: Thanks for mentioning tempeh, Katherine. I don't believe that I've ever tried it.

Thanks for sharing the MIND diet recommendations, Darryl. This sounds quite doable with a couple exceptions that will be difficult for us (we are shameless meat eaters, I'm afraid). I'm sure by paying attention to this list, we could improve our diets without feeling deprived in any way.

That sour cream coffee cake looks and sounds like what my mother used to make, and I have never found her recipe for it! As your recipe looks like it was cut from a magazine or newspaper, I'll bet both our mothers came across it at about the same time...maybe even from the same source.

>193 kidzdoc: "Thanks, Jerry. That review is more of a short biography of Pauli Murray than anything else, though."

Oh, sure, I got that. Just noting where I'd read about her and the fact that you're going to be reading about her again when you get to the Ransby book. Cheers!

>194 kidzdoc: The Beyond Meat burger patty is very popular in Germany. I cannot really give a detailed opinion because I don't really remember real meat, but I can say that from my point of view this patty tastes so much like meat that I cannot eat it. I tried once but had to stop because it felt so similar. So it might be a good product for people who miss meat or who like the taste but want to cut down their meat consumption.
My husband, who only quit eating meat a few years ago, also reported that the product is very similar, at least compared to many other products.

Thank you for sharing the outline of the MIND diet! It was interesting to compare it to my own diet and it is another incentive to cut down on sweets, which is very hard for me and my biggest challenge when it comes to healthy eating.

ETA: My husband eats substitute sausages frequently, but unfortunately I cannot recommend any because they are all German brands.

Beyond has a good Italian sausage, and I think some other (meatless) sausage types. I like their burgers too, and there’s a brand around here, it sure if it’s national—Gardein—that makes great meatless meatballs.

>192 kidzdoc: Thank you for that rollatini recipe.

Hey, Darryl, Got a good dirty rice recipe?

Darryl, we still have snow in the shady parts of the yard from Izzy. It shut us down for a day or two, but the sun melted the stuff on the roads within a few days. Illinois was very cold in comparison. I'll be making the drive around February 20th, once the closing on the house is complete. We have the closing on the new house a week later, so if all goes well, I'll be a midwesterner by the beginning of March. We found a house we both fell in love with, built in 1900 by a local architect and very thoughtfully modernized. There's far too much about it in my thread, but I'm looking forward to the house, if not the weather so much.

>165 kidzdoc:, >170 kidzdoc: - Terrific reviews--especially since yours is the only one for the AD book. I've been thinking about a future project reading books about the clinical/social aspects of various diseases (I read many papers about different diseases, but it's mostly basic research at the cellular/molecular level), and this one sounds like a good pick.

>174 kidzdoc: - The chickpea stew looks very tasty and not too difficult to make. The only thing I'm wondering about is the saffron--I don't think I've ever purchased it before, and I've heard that it's expensive. Will have to look into it.

Catching up after a week away from LibraryThing. I finally finished another book earlier this morning, Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, which I greatly enjoyed. I hope to read at least one more book today, starting with Autumn Rounds by Jacques Poulin, another favorite author.

>196 laytonwoman3rd: You're welcome, Linda. If the first week is an accurate gauge my first week on the MIND diet has been a successful one, as I've lost 2.6 lb since Monday. I stuck to it for at least 75% of the time, and significantly increased my intake of green leafy vegetables, fruits and nuts. I made two batches of Green Breakfast Smoothies, using fresh spinach or kale, pineapple, apple, a frozen banana and chia seeds, and had glasses for breakfast on four days and dinner one other day, versus a more typical breakfast of a bagel with either cream cheese or toasted with provolone, which I only had once last week. The smoothies are very filling, and I'll continue to make them as my breakfast of choice. I'm having the last remaining one for breakfast now with coffee (no sugar or cream), and later today or tomorrow I'll try this Blueberry Avocado Banana Smoothie.

we are shameless meat eaters, I'm afraid

I could completely give up beef, although I love lamb and would still like it as a treat 3-4 times a year. I had a deli ham and provolone cheese sandwich one day for lunch, but that was my only consumption of red meat all week. I made several vegetarian soups and stews for myself and my mother, along with a knock off of Zuppa Toscana from Budget Bytes in which I substituted ground turkey in place of pork sausage, and swordfish tacos.

I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen on PBS two Saturdays ago, and one of the stories was The Best Meat-Free Burgers. Two brands were recommended by the staff, the Impossible Burger, and Beyond Meat's Beyond Burger. I bought two Impossible Burger patties, two Beyond Burger patties, and four Beyond Sausages, also from Beyond Meat. I'll try the Beyond Sausage later this week, with the hope that they can be an acceptable substitute for Andouille sausage in my favorite Cajun or Creole recipes.

This past Monday I created my first sourdough starter, following this YouTube video that a friend shared with me in 2020, when I had originally thought of baking bread. I also purchased a Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker in the summer of 2020, but I haven't used it yet. The sourdough starter will be 7 days old at noon, so I'll read the instruction manual of the bread maker to see if I can use it to make whole wheat bread, which is on the MIND diet.

I have no doubt that my mother's sour cream coffee cake recipe came from a magazine, newspaper, or a friend, as you said. She doesn't remember ever making it, but I'm sure that it's been at least 50 years since she first did so.

>197 rocketjk: I'm glad that Pauli Murray is featured in Ella Baker & the Black Freedom Movement, Jerry, especially since I plan to read it for Black History Month in February.

>198 MissBrangwen: Although I'm sorry that you can't eat it your and your husband's view of the Impossible Burger make me more confident that I'll like it, Mirjam.

I don't have much of a sweet tooth at all, and I have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy any desserts. (I'm very weird, I know.) My weaknesses are breads and cheeses, so I'll have to watch how much bread I eat once I start making it this week.

I haven't nearly all of the meat substitute sausages I've tried in the US, although I understand that the quality of them has improved significantly in the past few years.

>204 kidzdoc: I look forward to your review of Afterlives.

>199 lisapeet: I'm glad that you approve of Beyond Sausage, Lisa, especially since I just purchased a package of them on Thursday. Interestingly, the Gardein Ultimate Beefless Burger was not recommended by America's Test Kitchen, although the staff did not review sausage, meatballs or other products.

>200 dianeham: You're welcome, Diane. I'll have to make eggplant rollatini for my mother sometime next month, as she loves that fruit. I made another batch of ratatouille for Sunday dinner yesterday, so I'll wait a week or two before I make rollatini.

>201 rocketjk: I've never made dirty rice, Jerry! I do love it, so I'll have to give it a try soon (even though it's assuredly not on the MIND diet).

>202 RidgewayGirl: I'm glad that you found a house in Illinois that you and your husband like, Kay. I haven't been following any threads on LibraryThing for at least a week, but I'll catch up in a day or two.

We dodged a major bullet when Kenan passed through this weekend. Our part of Middletown Township received 5-6 inches of snow, which was in line with the 6-9 inch projection by 6abc Action News on Friday night, but far less than the coastal areas in the Mid Atlantic and New England. It's been very cold here since Saturday morning, but we will finally get above freezing by tomorrow, and the snow will likely wash away on Thursday, when it will be rainy with a high temperature of nearly 50° F.

>203 DieFledermaus: I'm glad that you liked my review of The Problem of Alzheimer's, Stephanie. Your future project sounds like a great idea, and one that I would be very interested in. Have you heard of the Johns Hopkins Biographies of Disease series? I own and have read several of the JHU books, and I liked them.

Saffron is the most expensive spice, and I'm not sure that it adds much other than color to cooked foods. I think you could safely leave it out.

>205 labfs39: I'll probably review Afterlives by tomorrow, Lisa.

I made some dirty rice the other night, using a recipe my wife had found online somewhere a while back. Didn't have any chicken livers on hand, though, so I had to use a double supply of gizzards. I didn't let the rice simmer long enough, but otherwise, it was delicious. Looking forward to trying again. However, I'm going to do some more research to come up with a really good, Louisiana sourced, recipe, which, once I've had success with, I will share with you if you like.

>208 rocketjk: Sounds good. Yes, please share that recipe with me!

>208 rocketjk:, >209 kidzdoc: You can't do much better than Chef Paul Prudhomme, when it comes to Louisiana cooking...here's his recipe for dirty rice. I can't vouch for it, because we don't really care for dirty rice and I've never made it.

DIRTY RICE
from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen

Seasoning mix: (Linda’s note: If you have a good Cajun seasoning mix on hand, that should work)

2 tsp. Ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp black pepper
1 ¼ tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
½ tsp. dried oregano leaves
Combine seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

2 Tblsp. Chicken fat or vegetable oil
½ pound chicken gizzards, ground
¼ pound ground pork
2 Bay leaves
½ cup finely chopped onions
½ cup finely chopped celery
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
2 Tblsp unsalted butter
2 cups basic chicken or pork stock
1/3 pound chicken livers, ground

¾ cup uncooked long grain rice (preferably converted)

Place the chicken fat, gizzards, pork and bay leaves in a large heavy deep skillet* over high heat; cook until meat is thoroughly browned, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the seasoning mix, then add the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic; stir thoroughly, scraping pan bottom well. Add the stock and stir until any mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan comes loose; cook about 8 minutes over high heat, stirring once. Then stir in the chicken livers and cook about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir thoroughly; cover pan and turn heat to very low. Cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered until rice is tender, about 10 minutes. (The rice is finished this way so as not to overcook the livers, and to preserve their delicate flavor.) REMOVE BAY LEAVES and serve.

* Linda again...skillet should be big enough to accommodate the total amount of product you'll end up with

>210 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda! This recipe looks legit.

Sending you this link because you have enjoyed reading Israeli/Palestinian books in the past:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/339017#

>212 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. So far my reading output in 2022 has been slower than I had first anticipated, as I don't have nearly as much free time as I thought that I would. Because of that, and because of themes and challenges that I had previously committed to, I probably won't participate in Paul's challenge, or at least not as regularly as I originally thought that I would. I will read A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, as it fits for both the tribute to Rebecca (@rebeccanyc) and for Paul's Asian Book Challenge for January.

These are the books I hope to read in February:

Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems by Dulce María Loynaz (gift from a LibraryThing friend)
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga (Black History Month)
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka (Literature from the African Diaspora)
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby (Black History Month)
Memory: Remembering and Forgetting in Everyday Life by Barry Gordon MD, PhD
A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar (A Tribute to Rebecca/Asian Book Challenge)
Passing by Nella Larsen (monthly read for the Literary Fiction by People of Color group in Goodreads/Literature from the African Diaspora)
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis (Black History Month)

I'll also finally sink my teeth into Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl by Uwe Johnson for the group read led by Jennifer (@japaul22). If I have time I'll read Friendly Fire: A Duet by A.B. Yehoshua for Paul's Asian Book Challenge.

>213 kidzdoc: That's quite a list right there!

If your mom has any other doors to go through on her way to the front door, perhaps a simple if not permanent solution would be to put a bell on the door knob. We did that with some folks who wandered at night when I worked in a nursing home.

>204 kidzdoc: Yay for you on the MIND diet. My favorite part is the nuts and berries!

I agree with you on Saffron. To me it smells and tastes like Mercurechrome (where I date myself...yes we used to put a mercury compound on cuts.)

We've made it to February! No small feat in these crazy times.

>214 SqueakyChu: Right, Madeline. That list may be overly ambitious, as five of the eight books are at least 400 pages in length. It's probably more realistic to think that I can only read one of those books in a week, so I'll probably put Black and British on the back burner, and find a much shorter book to replace it, possibly something that fits the current Reading Globally theme.

>215 nancyewhite: Thanks for reminding me, Nancy! I had the same thought a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to look for or order one. I did so this morning, and it will come tomorrow.



>216 tangledthread: I've been eating plenty of nuts and berries lately. Today I had a glass of the Blueberry Avocado Banana Smoothie I mentioned in >204 kidzdoc:, which also contains spinach, almond milk and almond butter, and I had half of a Fuji apple along with a half handful of the roasted chickpeas and roasted cashews I purchased from a local farmers' market last week. My mother loves the ratatouille I made twice previously, so I cooked another batch of it on Sunday, and we've had it at least once a day since then. I had a moderate setback over the weekend due to night time snacking, but I got back on the wagon the past two days and lost nearly 1½ pounds this morning as compared to yesterday.

Oh, I remember mercurochrome, and iodine, far too well. I learned that it was better to care for my own wounds during childhood than to let my mother or maternal grandmother pour one of those noxious liquids, or hydrogen peroxide, on them, as the pain from those compounds, especially iodine, was worse than the cut or scrape itself.

I am very glad to see January behind us. That's usually the snowiest month in the Delaware Valley, and we escaped relatively unscathed as compared to much of the Mid-Atlantic, and especially New England, particularly this weekend. We only had 5-6 inches of snow on Friday night and Saturday morning, which is hardly worth mentioning compared to what Boston had.

Book #3: Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah

  

My rating:

The latest novel by last year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature is set in the former colony of German East Africa, or Deutsch-Ostafrika, beginning in the immediate aftermath of the Maji Maji Rebellion (1905-07), in which an armed insurrection by local residents against harsh demands and working conditions imposed on them by the colonists was met with brutal and overwhelming force, and the resultant genocide by the Germans cost approximately 300,000 Africans their lives.

Khalifa is a half African, half Indian young man who is hired as a bookkeeper by a cunning and largely unscrupulous merchant in a port city in German East Africa. After he agrees to marry the niece of the merchant, a match which benefitted the merchant but did not bring happiness to Khalifa or his new wife, he meets and befriends a younger man, Ilyas, who enters town with a letter of recommendation by his German overseer. Ilyas was orphaned at a young age and rescued from bondage by his master, who taught him both the language and the customs of the mother country. Once he is settled Ilyas returns to his home village and rescues his beautiful younger sister, Afiya, from the family who has kept her as little more than a house servant. After the two settle in a peaceful existence in town Ilyas suddenly decides to enlist as a soldier in the schutztruppe, the colonial troops which were tasked to crush any rebellious activities or behaviors by the resentful and downtrodden subjects of the Germans. Afiya is left unprotected, but is rescued from a life of abuse and bondage by Khalifa and his wife Asha.

The schutztruppe in German East Africa is used to fight against the askari, Africans of other countries who were often forcibly recruited to engage in war against enemy colonies during the First World War, under inhuman conditions and with heavy loss of life. One survivor of the war is Hamza, who returns to the port city that he escaped from by joining the schutztruppe. He is hired by the son of the merchant who employed Khalifa, and he gradually gets to know, and ultimately fall in love with, Afiya, who remains unmarried and available.

The primary focus of Afterlives is the growing relationship between Afiya and Hamza, and their story is beautifully conveyed by the author, with rich portrayals of the young lovers and the other major characters in the novel. The brutality of colonial rule under the Germans between the end of the Maji Maji Rebellion and the end of World War I is also compelling and evocative, particularly Hamza’s often harsh treatment by his commanding officers. However, the end of the book is quite rushed, underdeveloped and somewhat unconvincing, as if Gurnah wanted to be done with the book. As a result I knocked down my rating of Afterlives by half a star to four stars, but it is still a superb novel and one well worth reading.

>218 kidzdoc: Great review, as always, Darryl. I was glad to see you posted it on the Indian Ocean theme read thread. I'm currently reading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh for that challenge. It's set in the Sundarbans, an area of the world I knew nothing about, and I'm learning a lot about both the geography and history of that region. It's a perfect example of the benefit of participating in theme reads, etc. I'm sure the book would have languished on my shelves indefinitely, if not for the challenge.

>219 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. I was going to read Afterlives early this year, even if it didn't fit this quarter's Reading Globally challenge. Hopefully Mark's review and mine will encourage others to buy and read it, and other works by Abdulrazak Gurnah, as well.

I have an unread copy of The Hungry Tide back in Atlanta, so I'll consider reading it soon. I have to take some time and think about which books I have fit the geography and the spirit of the Reading Globally theme, but I'm leaning toward reading Waiting for Tomorrow by Nathacha Appanah from Mauritius, since I loved her earlier novel The Last Brother. I haven't read anything by J.M.G. Le Clézio for a number of years, so he would also be a strong possibility.

Book #4: Autumn Rounds by Jacques Poulin, translated from the French by Sheila Fischman

  

My rating:

This charming and simple novel takes place in and around Québec City, and the primary character is an older man known as The Driver, who owns an old milk truck that he has converted to a bookmobile. During the autumn months he travels to nearby towns and hamlets, delivering books provided to him by the provincial government, and meeting old and new friends along the way. He enjoys what he does, but he lives alone in a fifth floor apartment, and loneliness is a constant companion that saps his life of satisfaction.

On one summery day he hears a band playing a marching tune, and he decides to go out and investigate this unusual occurrence. The music comes from a band accompanied by a troupe of jugglers, acrobats and singers from France, who are traveling from town to town. While there he meets the manager, a striking woman who resembles an older version of Katherine Hepburn in appearance and manner. The Driver and Marie immediately hit it off, and after spending time together she and the members of the troupe decide to rent an old bus and follow The Driver on his rounds to deliver books in the province, as they need to earn money to allow them to return to France.

The book is filled with rich descriptions of the Québec countryside, along with books and beloved singers of the past. The burgeoning love between The Driver and Marie is quite touching, and I was caught up in their relationship as if they were close friends of mine.

I’ve loved the two books I’ve read by Jacques Poulin, as he is a master storyteller whose books touch my heart. Autumn Rounds is right up there with Mister Blue and Translation Is a Love Affair, and it’s a novel that I’ll certainly read again in the near future.

Darryl, I have never heard of Jacques Poulin! I need to remedy that right away! Thank you.

>221 kidzdoc: That sounds like just what the doctor ordered! I am not familiar with Poulin, and I'm going to do something about that right away. Thanks, Darryl.

ETA: Look at that---you took down two with one BB!

>223 laytonwoman3rd: - LOL! Great minds....;-)

Book #5: Milongas by Edgardo Cozarinsky, translated from the Spanish by Valerie Miles

  

My rating:

Milonga is a musical genre that originated in Argentina, Uruguay and Brasil, and it is believed to have originated from the music and dance performed by African slaves in South America. The music resembles the tango, but the dance is faster, more sensuous, and requires greater concentration to avoid embarrassing mistakes.

Edgardo Cozarinsky, a filmmaker and writer from Buenos Aires, is also a lover of and an eager participant in milango. He travels to different countries across the world to observe musicians and dancers, and to chronicle performers past and present who contributed to the development of this art form. Unfortunately I have no prior knowledge of milango, and I lost interest in the book after less than 50 pages.

>222 jessibud2: You're welcome, Shelley. At least four of Jacques Poulin's novels have been translated into English and published by Archipelago Books, a Brooklyn based publisher of contemporary and classic world literature. I was an Archipelago subscriber for several years, stopped my subscription after unread Archipelago books were piling up at home, and resumed my subscription the year before last. I was thrilled to receive Autumn Rounds with my latest shipment from the publisher, and after reading the description I wanted to read it straight away. I'm very glad that I did!

>223 laytonwoman3rd: You're welcome, Linda! Poulin deserves much wider recognition IMO, as he is a very gifted storyteller. I found myself wishing I could have accompanied The Driver on his rounds, and befriended The Driver, Marie, and the members of the troupe.

Jacques Poulin now fits my criteria of Favorite Writers, as I've read at least three of his books that I've given at least 4 stars to. Fortunately he is a prolific and apparently still active writer, and only a small number of his novels have been translated into English, as far as I'm aware.

>224 jessibud2: Ha!

>220 kidzdoc: I loved The Hungry Tide when I read it a long time ago. I especially loved that it had a strong female protagonist. I hope that you get to this book.

>220 kidzdoc: I finished The Hungry Tide last night in a flurry, as man-eating tigers and a cyclone kept me flipping pages. I was considering J.M.G. Le Clézio for the Indian Ocean challenge too, but all three of his books that I own are set far from the ocean.

>221 kidzdoc: I love Jacques Poulin, and Autumn Rounds has been on my wish list since 2011, but has been hard to find. Thank you Archipelago Press for coming to the rescue. I see they (re)published it in November 30, 2021. Hot off the press!

>223 laytonwoman3rd: make that three! eta on its way! (love using bookfinder, makes it much easier to find affordable books and the way that I buy, cheaper the better!

>221 kidzdoc: I picked up a copy of Mister Blue back when you reviewed that one and I think I should read that first.

>227 SqueakyChu: I'm glad that you enjoyed The Hungry Tide, Madeline. I'll plan to read it relatively soon, though probably not this year.

>228 labfs39: I'll look at your review of The Hungry Tide today, Lisa. I haven't read anything by J.M.G. Le Clézio for several years, but I have read most of his recent novels, and own at least half a dozen of his early works. I'll have to see if any of them fit the spirit of this quarter's Reading Globally theme.

Right! I thought that Autumn Rounds was a newly published book, but I saw that Tad (@TadAD) reviewed it favorably in 2012. Now that we're in 2022 I'll have to see if my Archipelago Books subscription is still active.

>229 cindydavid4: Great! I'm pleased to introduce one of my favorite writers to others.

>230 RidgewayGirl: I loved Mister Blue, so that's a great introduction to Jacques Poulin's work.

I hadn't cooked anything new in a couple of weeks, as I've been rotating old recipes that my mother likes the best. Yesterday, though, I did make Truita Amb Suc, a Catalan white bean and spinach omelette served over romesco sauce, courtesy of the website and YouTube channel Spain on a Fork.



Ingredients:

FOR THE OMELETTE:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 45 ml
3 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh spinach 100 grams
1 1/4 cups canned white beans 200 grams
4 cage-free organic eggs
pinch sea salt
dash black pepper

FOR THE ROMESCO SAUCE:
5 jarred roasted red bell peppers
1/4 cup canned tomato paste 60 grams
1 clove garlic
8 roasted almonds
8 roasted hazelnuts
1 tsp sherry vinegar 5 ml
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 60 ml
pinch sea salt
dash black pepper

Instructions:
1. To make the romesco sauce, add in 5 jarred roasted red bell peppers into a food processor, along with 1/4 cup canned tomato paste, 1 clove garlic, 8 roasted almonds & 8 roasted hazelnuts (I bought mine preroasted from the nut aisle at the market), 1 tsp sherry vinegar and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, season with sea salt & black pepper and run the food processor on a low speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until you end up with a creamy sauce with no lumps, set aside

2. Roughly chop 3 cloves garlic, roughly chop 2 cups fresh spinach, drain a can of white beans into a sieve and rinse under cold water and crack 4 eggs into a large bowl, season with sea salt & black pepper and whisk together

3. Heat a large nonstick fry pan with a medium heat and add in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add in the chopped garlic, mix with the olive oil, after 1 minute add in the chopped spinach and mix together, once all the spinach is wilted (about 1 to 2 minutes), add in the drained white beans (about 1 1/4 cups) and season with sea salt & black pepper, gently mix together until well mixed, then transfer everything into the bowl with the whisked eggs, gently mix together and let it sit for a couple of minutes

4. Meanwhile, heat the same pan with a medium heat and add in 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, swirl it around so it covers the entire surface of the pan

5. After a couple of minutes add the egg mixture into the pan, gently mix it so everything is evenly distributed, after 3 minutes gently fold the omelette in half, after 30 seconds flip it to cook the other side, then remove from the heat

6. Cut the omelette into 4 evenly sized pieces and top off each piece with the romesco sauce, enjoy!

Alternatively you can watch the YouTube video of Albert Bevia making Truita Amb Suc here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJPpDsibDY8.
__________________________________________________

I didn't have any canned white beans on hand so I used a can of garbanzos, along with 20 roasted hazelnuts since I was also out of roasted almonds, and since I couldn't find sherry vinegar in any of the local supermarkets or farmers' market I substituted red wine vinegar. This omelette was tasty by itself, but the romesco sauce was out of this world! The recipe for the sauce makes far too much for one omelet, so I'll use it over white fish this weekend and next week.

Hi. Enjoyed your reviews of Afterlives (i need to get to another Gurnah) and Autumn Rounds. Add me as another who has not previously heard of Poulin. And i also need to read more le Clezio.

I'd also not heard of Poulin, so thank you. And that omelet looks good—I love romesco sauce and that looks like an excellent vehicle for it.

>233 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. Have you read By the Sea by Gurnah? That's my favorite book of his. I took advantage of Kindle sales and bought three of his books that I didn't already own, Dottie, Gravel Heart and Pilgrims Way, and I'll try to read all of them by year's end.

I'm mildly surprised that Jacques Poulin isn't better known amongst this erudite group of readers, but I'm glad that my reviews of his books will encourage others to try him.

>234 lisapeet: You're welcome, Lisa. The omelette was fabulous, especially in combination with the romesco sauce. I had never had that sauce, at least not to my knowledge, as it's entirely possible that I did have it during one of my past visits to Spain, especially Barcelona.

I tried another enticing recipe from Spain on a Fork for lunch today, One-Pan Creamy Tuna Pasta, which was also quick and quite tasty:



Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 30 ml
2 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika 1.15 grams
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes 400 grams
2 cups vegetable broth 475 ml
2 cups uncooked penne pasta 200 grams
2 cans tuna in olive oil 3.25 oz / 90 grams each
1/2 cup Greek yogurt 125 grams
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley 8 grams
pinch sea salt
dash black pepper

Instructions:
1. Heat a large fry pan with a medium heat and add in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2. After 2 minutes, add in 2 shallots thinly sliced and 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped, mix with the olive oil, after 2 minutes and the shallots & garlic are lightly sauteed, add in 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika and quickly mix together, then add in a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes and season with sea salt & black pepper, mix together and raise to a high heat

3. After simmering the tomatoes for about 3 minutes, add in 2 cups vegetable broth, mix together and bring to a boil, then add in 2 cups uncooked penne pasta, mix together and cook for about 9 minutes, then place a lid on the pan and lower to a low-medium heat, after 3 to 4 minutes and the majority of the broth has been absorbed by the pasta, turn off the heat and remove the lid

4. Meanwhile, drain 2 cans of tuna in olive oil into a sieve with a bowl underneath, mix the tuna around to remove any excess oil

5. After leaving the pasta to slightly cool off, add in the drained tuna, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt at room temperature, 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley and season with black pepper, mix together until well mixed

6. Top off with finely chopped parsley and serve at once, enjoy!
_______________________________________________

I used whole wheat fusilli instead of penne, as I like how the coils in fusilli capture the sauce, especially in thicker ones such as this one; otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. It didn't knock my socks off as the Truita Amb Suc did, but my mother lapped it up, so I'll make it on a regular basis from now on.

>235 kidzdoc: By the Sea would be a good fit for the Indian Ocean theme read. I'll try to squeeze it in.

Good to see you are reading and reviewing again Darryl. You have reminded me that I must try something by Jaques Poulin

>236 kidzdoc: looks very yummy.

Great recipes!

Passing through to say hi to you Darryl! Good to see you reading and cooking.

>221 kidzdoc: Great reviews, Darryl. I think that I would enjoy reading Poulin. I am another who is unfamiliar with him. Thanks for the introduction!

Le Clezio is a great favorite of mine. A few weeks ago I realized that I had not read some of his most recent work, so I did some Kindle ordering. I have read most of his earlier works, but quite some time ago now, and would like to go back, revisit a few and fill in some missing titles. I don't believe that I own either The Flood or Fever. Unfortunately, I am very bad at keeping my LT library up to date and am also lacking any serious organization in how I store my books. So it may take some effort to track them all down.

>236 kidzdoc: That's a pretty fancy-looking tuna casserole; I'm going to have to try it. I'm sure that sauce beats canned cream of mushroom soup!

>232 kidzdoc: That's an interesting recipe for romesco. I'll need to experiment a bit I think (the one I make is roasted peppers, roasted unpeeled tomatoes (or re-hydrated sun dried tomatoes), roasted almonds, garlic, red wine vinegar and sunflower oil (plus salt and pepper) - all in the processor until everything is as smooth as you want it). Hazelnuts and tomato paste are an interesting idea...

I rarely make romesco for meals which are supposed to have it (I don't like tomato-based sauces with fish) but it is a poor-man quick substitute for a lyutenitza spread (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ljutenica) so when I cannot get to the Bulgarian store (or when there was no Bulgarian store in town when I first moved...), I've been known to make romesco instead. Usually minus the almonds because I rarely have any around the house (which makes it even closer to the spread) but they do add a nice taste to it.

I need to get around to reading my Archipelago books... :)

>221 kidzdoc: This sounds so good! Count me as another victim of this well-aimed book bullet!

My reading output continues to be slow, as I've been quite busy caring for my mother, cooking, decluttering the house with my best friend from high school, who I'm paying to help me and my mother three times a week, handling my father's affairs, and working on getting a Pennsylvania medical license. I'm about halfway through Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis, the former civil rights icon and my United States congressman from 1997, when I first moved to Atlanta, to 2020, when he died of pancreatic cancer, and it's very good so far.

>237 labfs39: Sounds good, Lisa. I hope that you enjoy By the Sea as much as I did.

>238 baswood: Thanks, Barry. Jacques Poulin is certainly deserving of greater attention IMO.

>239 dianeham:, >240 torontoc: Thanks, Diane and Cyrel. We'll have that tuna pasta for lunch or dinner today or tomorrow, although I've tried two more new recipes in the past two days that I've liked a lot. I'll describe them shortly.

>241 EllaTim: Hi, Ella! At some point I'll have to catch up with you and my other friends in the 75 Books group. I'm way behind threads in Club Read, so I'll visit after I'm caught up in this group.

>246 kidzdoc: Glad you stopped by for a moment, I know how busy you must be, but it's nice to hear from you. I hope you and your mom are starting to settle into a routine, despite all the tasks facing you at present. Routine can be helpful. The nice things about books are that they are patient with their readers. I think we've all been there, times in our lives when reading didn't happen for various reasons. Fortunately the books and your friends on LT will always be here.

>221 kidzdoc: The Jacques Poulin book sounds delightful. I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

>246 kidzdoc: I loved Walking with the Wind Darryl. I put it on my RL reading group suggestion list, and it was chosen, and loved, despite few of them knowing anything about John Lewis.

I have a recent biography in the tbr mountain now.

>247 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. Today has been a total crap day, and for the first time since I came back home 2½ months ago I lost patience with Mom. (Actually this was the second time; back in mid December she was being extremely mean to Cheryl, my best friend from high school who views Mom as her "second mother", and I refused to let Mom get away with treating Cheryl, who has been incredibly loving and supportive, like dirt.) I've definitely been spoiling her rotten, due mainly to her beloved husband's death and my profound love for her, but after running around almost nonstop the past two days to meet her needs and wishes, including a slew of unreasonable ones today, I temporarily lost my cool after she treated me like crap. Fortunately she's finally asleep, and hopefully (and probably) she'll be in a better mood after a long nap.

>248 janeajones: Sounds good, Jane.

>249 Caroline_McElwee: I'm glad that you enjoyed Walking with the Wind, Caroline. I should finish it before the weekend.

>250 kidzdoc: That’s really tough Darryl. I hope she is in a better mood later - but I think you have been heroic not to lose patience in 10 weeks. I can’t go ten days, under much less pressure than you have! Do make sure you look after yourself too, while you are caring for another. Thinking of you.

>250 kidzdoc: Thinking of you, dear fellow. Patience and understanding are attributes you have in abundance. Give your Mom a gentle hug from your friend in Malaysia when you are able to.

>250 kidzdoc: I'm sending virtual hugs Darryl. Do remember to prioritise your own mental health as well as the support for your Mom. If you burn-out, then you won't be able to care for her. You have so much more patience than I would have in the same situation, even if you did become cross yesterday.

>250 kidzdoc: It is SO hard to keep your cool in the face of unreasonable behavior in a loved one, even when you know it's not her fault, that she wouldn't be happy with herself if she were herself, that life is beyond bewildering to her these days...you have much more patience and restraint than most people, and certainly more than I was able to summon when caring for my Mom in her last few years. Don't forget your own grief and sadness underlying everything you see and do. And try to take comfort in the fact that when she wakes up, she will most likely have no recollection of the exchange that's making you feel guilty.

At times my MIL turned absolutely vicious, let along unreasonable with her demands. My DH and I told her we were leaving if this continued and if it did, we made sure she was safe and walked out the door. we waited and took a breather, then returned. She had calmed down after that, and were able to talk with her, tho it would continue to happen. So not sure it changed the behavior but was a much needed escape from abuse. Your mom is nowhere near that severe, but remember its important that you find a way to get some relief if nec, a time for you both to calm down and breath. Hang in there.

>250 kidzdoc: lost patience
Sympathies. Been there. She is going through a major life upheaval, but so are you. I can imagine that you've developed the patience of one in a thousand as a hospital doctor, but now you're on 24/7.

I can't tell you how much I admire what you are doing. Be kind to yourself, and take a break when you can. As my husband's caregiver for the last 3 years on his difficult medical journey, I can't count the number of times I've lost patience. I don't always let him know (at least I don't think so), but it's happened, and I know how horrible it can make you feel. Your mom is so fortunate to have you there for her.

>250 kidzdoc: I hope your mom has recovered her mood after her nap Darryl. It's one f those difficult things carers have to cope with. I think its harder on family/friend carers.

>218 kidzdoc: This is definitely a BB for me. I'm ashamed to say that German colonialism wasn't at all a part of my school education (or only a very small part when it came to the lead up to World War One) and I think it is not taught to this day. It is horrifying that what the Germans did in German East Africa does not play any role in today's society.
Only in recent times, in the wake of Black Lives Matter, has this made the news because some places (streets and squares) were renamed or at least discussed, as well as a few other issues.
So this is a must read for me. I haven't really heard of the author apart from the name but will check him out.
There is a local group here, called "Decolonize Bremen", who offer walks around the city to visit sites connected to the colonial history, and I wanted to do this with my students. Unfortunately it's all suspended because of Covid.

>250 kidzdoc: Seconding what everyone else has said. Although we only met here recently, I often think of you and hope that you're alright.

ETA: I changed my comment to >218 kidzdoc: because I was afraid it would come across wrong, so I changed my wording a bit. Sorry, I'm still a bit under the weather!

>250 kidzdoc: My sympathies on the tough day (and, I'm sure, days)—like kids, the elderly forgive your lapses of patience and roll on, probably more quickly than you do. Your mom is absorbing the holistic 360˚ essence of your love and care for her every day, and—particularly because she raised a couple of children herself—on some level she recognizes passing anger as another facet of your relationship, not abusive, just real. I'm very convinced that even with cognitive impairment people absolutely understand the difference between moments of short temper and something deeper. That inclination toward forgiveness is at the core of our natures.

Thanks for your kind and supportive words, Margaret, Paul, Rhian, Linda, Cindy, Katherine, Deborah, Caroline, Mirjam and Lisa. Fortunately Tuesday's episode was short lived, and after she took a long afternoon nap she was in much better spirits and was far less confused, so we ended the day on a good note. In retrospect she may have been thrown off kilter by the anesthesia she received early that afternoon when she underwent a dental procedure, as she can be very sensitive to medications.

Compared to my normally patient and stoic father my words to her were considerably less harsh than his. The worst things I said to her were "Would you please stop it!" and "Please lie down and leave me alone for a few minutes!" In the grand scheme of things those aren't terrible things to say, but I felt (and still feel) absolutely awful and very guilty after losing my cool, especially given her worsening dementia, her grief over the loss of her husband, and what was probably mildly altered mental status due to the anesthetic. Things have been relatively back to normal since Tuesday night, although her formerly excellent appetite hasn't been as good this week as it was previously. She's maintaining her weight, so I can live with that.

>259 MissBrangwen: I knew nothing about the German colonization of Africa in the late 19th and early 20th century until I saw the play We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury at the Bush Theatre in London in 2014. (If anyone knows of a play with a longer title I'm all ears.) Afterlives provided far more information than that superb play, though.

I've finished two books in the past two days, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis, and Passing by Nella Larsen. I'll create a new thread soon, and review both books.

>261 kidzdoc: thrown off kilter by the anesthesia
My mother had a horrible time after outpatient surgery with anesthesia last year. I was with her during the surgery and for a couple hours after her return to skilled care, and eventually had to summon my brothers for evening shifts because she just wouldn't/couldn't settle down and staff could check in but couldn't stay with her continuously. She was agitated and confused and wanted to die and was afraid we were trying to kill her. The next day she was still suspicious why everyone had been urging her to sleep.

Even mentally "sound" people can be a bit off kilter after anesthesia...my husband had trouble coming fully back to normal cognition after surgery years ago. So overlaying the anesthesia effects on dementia must be wicked.

Hi Daryl, I don't know if you are still into books with medical topics, but NPR reviewed this one about TB this AM https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/13/1079505737/before-covid-tb-...

It sounds pretty interesting, but I understand you may need a little space from such topics right now.

Looking forward to your promised book reviews.
Hope you and your mom have a peaceful Sunday.

>220 kidzdoc: I see you have posted a review on the Gurnah, Darryl. I've had the book since before he won his Nobel and still haven't opened it yet. Don't know way; he's always been a favorite. Anywho, when I finally read it, I'll come back and enjoy your review :-)

Catching up on many weeks of your thread Darryl. Autumn rounds is on my list thanks to you.

Pauli Murray is indeed an interesting and admirable person. I am struggling to complete my early reviewers copy of the biography you reviewed because it feels like a textbook to me in style.

I've read two books about her I liked better. One is her autobiography, Song in a weary throat, which is very accessible, but does gloss over her sexuality. The second is Jane Crow by Rosalind Rosenberg. This is dense, but I thought it did a good job with Murray's family history and health issues, and treats her sexuality with respect. I remain in awe of what she accomplished.

Glad to see the recipes and hear what sounds to me like good settling in with you and your mom. I think an occasional exasperated outburst is to be expected, and hope you don't beat yourself up over it. Overall, it sounds like you are good care of her and yourself, having friends help out where needed.

>206 kidzdoc: saffron
This appeared in a local news feed a few days ago though it's from several years ago. Saffron can be grown in Pennsylvania:
https://www.10best.com/interests/food-culture/how-pennsylvania-dutch-country-bec...

>267 markon: another Autumn Rounds fan because of your suggestion Darryl. Hoping to read his volkswagon blues soon.

>206 kidzdoc: Saffron is the most expensive spice, and I'm not sure that it adds much other than color to cooked foods. I think I’d have to strongly disagree with you there Darryl! In my view there is really no substitute and you absolutely can tell if it’s left out. Do you remember our trip to Saffron Walden? No saffron grown there now unfortunately.

I know Abdulrazak Gurnah is one of your favourite novelists - we’ve just booked to see an in-person talk by him in April which I’m really looking forward to.

>262 kidzdoc: Hmph. So much for "soon"...

>263 qebo: I've also cared for hospitalized children who had adverse reactions to anesthesia and were wacked out for hours afterward. I'm sorry that your mother had that experience, Katherine.

My mother developed significant left lower molar pain two weekends ago, a few days after the dental procedure that seemingly led to her behavioral change; the pain was on the opposite (right) side where she had dental work done. I took her back to the dentist last Tuesday, and an orthopantogram demonstrated a large cavity. Fortunately he was able to perform a root canal and a filling right then and there, which resolved her pain. Interestingly she did not have the same reaction to anesthesia this time.

>264 laytonwoman3rd: my husband had trouble coming fully back to normal cognition after surgery years ago. So overlaying the anesthesia effects on dementia must be wicked.

I would think so, especially for people like my mother who are sensitive to medications. OTOH she underwent a major surgical procedure in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2018, the removal of one of her adrenal glands, which had a benign tumor that was producing excess amounts of the hormone aldosterone that was causing her to have extremely high and difficult to control blood pressures. She did very well postoperatively, although she had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days to correct post-surgical electrolyte abnormalities.

>265 tangledthread: Thanks, Valerie! Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History sounds interesting, so I'll be on the lookout for it.

>266 avaland: Sounds good, Lois. I recently purchased Kindle editions of three other novels by Gurnah, Dottie, Gravel Heart and Pilgrims Way, and I'll read one or two of them later this year.

>267 markon: I hope that you enjoy Autumn Rounds as much as I did, Ardene.

My recommendation of Pauli Murray's Revolutionary Life is admittedly more about her life than the book itself, which I didn't realize was a Young Adult book until I received it. That book made me want to read and learn more about Murray, and I now know far more about her than I did beforehand, so it was a worthwhile read for me.

>268 markon: Thanks, Ardene. In retrospect I don't feel as guilty about my brief outburst as I did in its immediate aftermath, especially since mine was more of a plea of exasperation than a burst of anger. My father would get angry at her in moments like those, and his reactions were significantly worse than mine.

On that night, like all nights, we read together until one or both of us was falling asleep, and said goodnight on amiable terms. I always tell Mom that I love her and say something funny before I go upstairs to retire for the night, as none of us liked going to bed angry at anyone else in the family.

>269 qebo: Wow! Who knew that saffron could be grown in Pennsylvania Dutch Country?! There are two Amish farmers' markets in close proximity, and I'll have to see if either one sells Pennsylvania saffron, and for how much.

>270 cindydavid4: Ah! I haven't used saffron all that much, mostly in paella and North African and Mediterranean recipes, so I'm still learning about it.

I definitely remember our Sunday meet up in Saffron Walden in 2015. Bryony was playfully offended that I ordered, IIRC, Moroccan lamb for Sunday roast, and your husband certainly didn't like my comparison of Yorkshire pudding to an unsweetened popover!



I know Abdulrazak Gurnah is one of your favourite novelists - we’ve just booked to see an in-person talk by him in April which I’m really looking forward to.

Nice! If the talk is available for viewing online please let me know.

You may not be able to fit this in your schedule, but thought you'd be interested to know there's some talk of starting a reading in Portuguese subgroup in the Great African reads group on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22173667-who-s-interested-in-reading-in-por...

Hi. Thinking about you, so I’m happy to catch an update.

I'm glad you and your mom are doing well, Darryl. Nice to hear from you.

>274 markon: Thanks, Ardene. I didn't know about the Great African Reads discussion group in Goodreads, so I joined it.

>275 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan.

>276 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. My beloved cousin from Michigan arrived yesterday to spend two weeks with us, and since my mother is very comfortable with Tina and vice versa I'll drive to Atlanta on Sunday, clean out my desk at work and meet with the head of my group and our practice manager, possibly meet with my dear friend whose husband committed suicide last month, and drive back to Philadelphia next Wednesday or Thursday, weather permitting.

It's time for a new thread.