The Ramble

DNFs, typewriters, cover news and carrots

I had a DNF (did not finish) during the week. I won’t tell you what the book was, but I’d reserved it at the library months ago and had been eagerly waiting my turn to read it.

It was a book that had been read and recommended by so many people whose opinions I respect and for me to abandon it felt almost like … like I was letting them down.

Even as I say that I know how ridiculous it is. After all, it was only last week that we discussed The World According To Garp, and as much as I wanted to love the book as much as my friend did, it felt completely fine to express a contrary opinion. (Have I ever mentioned how much I adore the women in my classics book club?) Why then did I feel so badly about not finishing this particular best-selling book?

The answer to that hypothetical question is, of course, because any DNF says more about me than the book - also the reason why I tend not to publicise my DNFs.

My daughter had called it early. When I told her I’d picked it up from the library she said, ‘I loved that, but you won’t. It’ll creep you out and make you feel claustrophobic.’ She was right.

The thing is, I’ve never been the person who reads all the best-sellers. I’m certainly not the person who watches the awarded movies. I’ll never make a critic. I don’t want to have nightmares about a book, and I don’t want to feel the sense of trapped dread I got from the opening few chapters of this week’s book. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it (and you probably already have) it means I don’t want to.

Just like we don’t all have to get on with the same people in life, we don’t all have to resonate with the same authors. Take the current Liane Moriarty everyone is talking about, for instance. I’ve tried with her books but have yet to finish one. Nine Perfect Strangers filled me with the same sense of impending dread as I had this week. I’m sure they’re brilliant and she deserves to be as successful as she is, the books just aren’t for me, and that’s absolutely okay.

In saying that, I’m about to start Trent Dalton’s Lola In The Mirror, even though I was unable to finish his Boy Swallows Universe. Even though my daughter (who has read and enjoyed both) is sceptical, I’m going in with an open mind.

Reading

Speaking of reading, I’ve recently finished:

• How to Age Disgracefully, by Claire Pooley (library book)

• The Ghost Fields, by Elly Griffiths (library book) and

• have reluctantly returned to the library Tom Kerridge’s brilliant Pub Kitchen (which I would make space on my cookbook shelf for).

and am currently reading:

• Murder in the Marais, by Cara Black (library book)

• Nights Out at Home - Recipes and Stories from 25 Years as a Restaurant Critic, by Jay Rayner (purchased)

• Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (for book club on Kindle)

You’ll find my September book post here.

Writing

I haven’t written as much as I had planned over the last week, but I haven’t been idle - the past week has been about getting some bookish admin out of the way.

After completing another read-through of Christmas at Fountains Hall, it will be heading off to my early-reading team in the next few days. The cover is still to come, but preorders for this one will be announced by the end of the week.

I’ve also signed off on the new covers for the two existing Philly Barker mysteries. Unfortunately the cost per cover has blown out with the existing designer, so my choice was to continue to pay this or bite the bullet and change. As I have at least another three (maybe more) Philly Barker mysteries to write, it was a no-brainer to take the short-term pain for the long-term gain.

I’ll give newsletter subscribers a peek at these later this week.

Antiquing

While on the subject of Philly Barker and all things antique, these two vintage “portable” typewriters came into the op shop during the week.

Still with their original cases, they give off Ernest Hemingway with a glass of whisky sort of vibes and I hope they go to a home that appreciates them.

Oh, and this week’s snack for the op shop crew was orange choc-chip shortbread. You’ll find the recipe in Time For Tea (see the section headings in the menu bar).

The hand-coloured vintage plate in the pic is by J&G Meakin and dates back to the 1930s or 40s.

This week’s recipe, however, is a savoury one, so without further ado …

Nigel Slater’s Roast Carrot with Garlic and Orzo

(serves 2 as a meal or more as a side)

Screenshot from The Guardian

Ingredients

• 450g young carrots, trimmed. Cut them in half lengthwise - or quarters if your carrots are older and larger (no judgement, it happens to most of us…), so they look like young carrots

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

• 5 spring onions, finely chopped

• 1l chicken or vegetable stock (powdered stock is fine) … in fact, water is fine

• 200g orzo or risoni (depending on where you live)

• 150 feta

• basil leaves (about 12), mint leaves (about 20), chopped

• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds for scattering (toasted pine nuts or cashews also work)

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan)

Put the carrots and the garlic in a roasting tray, pour over the olive oil, season with salt and black pepper and roast for about 20 minutes. Add the spring onions, turn the carrots over, and cook for another 10 minutes. They should be nicely toasted on both sides.

In the meantime, bring 1 litre of stock (or water) to the boil, add the risoni and let it cook for about 10 minutes until soft and silky. Drain the pasta, with the exception of 3 tbsp of liquid, then stir into the roast carrots and garlic (I like to squash the garlic down so it goes through it all) together with the cooking liquid.

In a small bowl combine the herbs, crumbled feta, and seeds or nuts. Scatter this over the carrots and orzo and serve.

My pic which isn’t nearly as photogenic