Librocubicularist March 2017

For whatever reason, it feels like this month has just flown by. I know part of the reason is that so much of the beginning part was filled with preparations for the big Pi Day party but it still seems crazy how fast it has gone. Not a lot of crafting has been going on although did buy supplies for a few new things, including finally getting an album for scrapbooking (even though I posted about making my first pocket page over a year ago). The husband bear and I have also been keeping ourselves entertained by discussing a pair of married Dungeons and Dragons character who have a follower that acts as a nanny for their children. I'm still not involved in a game right now but we are attempting to negotiate something. At the moment I'm just amused to think about ways that DnD skills could be used to entertain children. Currently, the nanny is a bard with perform- storytelling and singing for lullabies. I've also been working hard to gather Magikarp candy during the special water event this past week in the hopes that I can evolve a Gyarados without keeping a Magikarp buddy for forever.



How to Celebrate Everything: Recipes and Rituals for Birthdays, Holidays, Family Dinners, and Every Day In Between by Jenny Rosenstrach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


How to Celebrate Everything is about creating your own rituals for everything from widely recognized holidays, to birthdays, to celebrations that are completely made up and unique to your family. As it is mainly a cookbook it focuses on making connections and memories through food. There is an entire chapter devoted to ways to make regular everyday dinners more meaningful. Also included is a birthday chapter, with suggestions for birthday breakfasts, cakes, and special dinners. There's even a short section about hosting kids birthday parties complete with game and craft ideas. Every ritual and recipe has a description of how it came to be a part of their family's story so that you can get ideas of where to create rituals for your own family. While I understand that technically my husband and I count as a 'family' and can and should have our own rituals, this book makes me really wish that we had kids.


Soup Swap: Comforting Recipes to Make and Share by Kathy Gunst

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The premise of this book is really interesting. It offers tips and suggestions for hosting regular soup swap parties. It sounds like a great way to share food with friends and try new soups. The basics are that everyone brings a soup to share and ends up with leftovers for later, a great way to have a variety of warm winter soups without so much cooking. The fact that I already own several cookbooks focused on soup means that I already had recipes for most of the types of soup. However, the tips for toppings, sides, and transporting the soups are pretty cool. Grilled cheese croutons sound particularly tasty and awesome.

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck by Thug Kitchen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first thing that you need to know about this book should be obvious from the title, there is going to be cursing. In order to enjoy this book, you need to be alright with it, or at least able to overlook it and get on with your life. Once you are able to either embrace it or look past it there is a ton of great stuff in here. Thug Kitchen is all about how to eat healthier and the recipes in this book are completely vegan. It includes basic information about how to cook a variety of grains and tofu. We are most definitely not vegan but certainly could use some healthier recipes. Some of the recipes just aren't going to make it into our rotation, there's just something off to me about enchiladas without meat and no way I can convince my husband to switch to biscuits and lentil gravy for breakfast. Other things, like the soups and spinach mushroom lasagna sound really good. Several of the breakfast or dessert recipes only change from regular milk to non-dairy milk. If that's all it takes to make a start eating healthier than that seems like a good idea. One final thing here, this book is funny. It is filled with little things to make you laugh such as calling salads, plant nachos. I need more plant nachos in my life.

Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls by Kristi Carlson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you are a fan of the Gilmore Girls series and food, then this is the cookbook you've been waiting for. It provides recipes to recreate your favorite recipes from the show. Each recipe is marked with an icon showing where it is served, most are either made by Sukie for the inn or Luke's dinner. Between the two there are a generous amount of delicious sounding breakfast options. Also included are meals from Sunday night dinners at Emily's and around the town. The recipe that I'm most interested in is the chocolate chocolate chocolate ice cream from Taylor's ice cream shop.

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked: All New Home Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods by Todd Wilbur

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not as many recipes I was interested in this volume. There are quite a few Starbucks copycat recipes if you're interested in that but I'm not a big fan. Also lots of burgers which I rarely feel like I need a recipe to re-create.


While I was putting this post together I realized that the books I had done extensive reviews for made it seem like all I read this month was cookbooks and that's really not the case. Here are some other things I've finished this month.


Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a story about hunting for hidden books and secret codes. The characters are fans of an imaginary game called Book Scavenger and discover a new game. Book Scavenger sounds like it would be super fun to play if it existed in real life. Players hide books for others to find using clues. There are references to many codes and codebreaking methods mentioned in the book and it would be a great starting point for a kid who wants to learn about creating their very own secret code.



Make Your Own Ideabook with Arne & Carlos: Create Handmade Art Journals and Bound Keepsakes to Store Inspiration and Memories by Arne Nerjordet

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book has instructions for how to make very simple scrapbooks or journals. It includes a variety of ideas for how to use the books such as garden journals, records for family tree research.


Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars





Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: Wild Card by Jim Butcher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars






The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe by Ryan North

My rating: 5 of 5 stars






Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






Apparently, I feel like I've been in a bit of a food rut, hopefully, we are heading into warmer weather and can change things up a bit. I do have some ideas for my next project in the works and plan to be more productive over the next few months. Wish me luck in sticking to that resolution.