Archives - Weekly Update

I love to cook, though Thanksgiving dinner is not my favorite to prepare as I prefer meals where there are not “should have” items on the menu, like turkey. Therefore, I was really happy to get my hands on SIMPLY NIGELLA for some cookbook reading; I can read cookbooks like novels for inspiration. Immediately I made the Brocamole that you see above, which is made with broccoli and avocado as ingredients. I know --- not a combo that you would consider, but trust me, it’s really terrific! I also marked the Porcini Mushroom Parsnips for the Thanksgiving feast.

This week moved at warp speed with very special moments that all super-charged me.

On Wednesday night, Shara Zaval, our Teenreads and Kidsreads Editorial Manager, and I attended the National Book Awards, which is the book industry’s version of the Oscars. It was a brilliant evening where one acceptance speech was more poignant than the next. Andy Borowitz was the perfect humorous and irreverent host. James Patterson was awarded the Literarian Award by Carmen Farina, the Chancellor of NYC Department of Education, for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community for his work with reaching young people and his contributions to increase literacy and support of books and reading. Don DeLillo was presented with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters by Jennifer Egan.

As new ways to communicate constantly evolve, I am getting pretty grouchy about communication roadblocks that are popping up. Last Friday night, I decided to watch the pilot of "Z", based on the book by Therese Anne Fowler, on Amazon Prime. I grabbed the Logitech box I use to connect to the TV and learned that it would not work with Amazon Prime; seems it is a Google product and Prime cannot be reached via Google products. They listed a whole series of devices I could use, none of which I a) had or b) was interested in buying. Instead I watched --- and enjoyed --- the show on my laptop. Check it out if you have not done so already --- if you have Prime and a way to watch without using a Google device!

The clocks changed last weekend, and all week I felt like my body clock has been out of whack. The sun sets outside my office window at 4:47 and plunges the world into darkness shortly afterward. Our office closes at 6, but by 5:20 my head is feeling like I should be heading home. I have decided that life in two different hemispheres would be lovely --- I would always have extended periods of sunlight. The summer-like temperatures this week have my body even more confused, but ah, it was nice to wear summer shoes for a few more days.