It was a slow month for baking my friends, unclear why! But I did read a lot!
And there were a lot of fun stories in the making. I spent the weekend in Minnesota with my cousin Courtney for her wedding shower. I sat in the hammock with my dog and listened to a book. I became a Dutch citizen! I saw some very strange license plates, and more.
Sidebar - I do think license plates often make for interesting stories. Mine is baking related which makes a lot of sense. Others seen this month include what translates to “above average,” “pee before you go,” and “miss priss.” So I would love to hear the stories behind those.
After reading Dungeon Crawler Carl last month for book club, I am now down the rabbit hole. Or down the dungeon stairwell I guess. I am really enjoying listening to them. The narrator Jeff Hays is absolutely phenomenal and I am continuously in awe that he voices such a variety of characters. It was recently announced that he will be the voice of Princess Donut in Peacock’s live-action adaptation and thank goodness for that. After hearing him voice Donut and how fabulous it is, I could not accept anyone else. His Donut voice also makes me giggle because my family’s nickname for me is Carl (it’s a long story) and so when Donut is saying “Carl!” or texting in the chat “CARL!,” I can’t help but laugh. Right now I’m on book three and things continue to get interesting! Jeff Hays has such a wide array of references and he does a good job at bringing humor to dark moments. When I asked Ian if he was done with all the published ones, he said "regrettably so.” Wah wah. He felt like they weren’t as good as he got further into them. I’m committed now so I’ll let you know what I think when we get there. It seems unlikely that I’ll DNF them since I’m so far in and especially since Hayes is narrating them.
I didn’t make cheesecake but I did enjoy it with a friend of mine to celebrate my birthday. I’m honestly not sure if it’s worth making. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and it was so good. There’s a giant Oreo cookie on the one I had! She had the pumpkin and it was tasty too. That’s why it’s often good to go with someone else, then you can try multiple flavors.
For book club in October we read Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser. I didn’t love it. I think the concept of Cinderella from the step-mother’s perspective (in this case Ethel) is intriguing and I did find it interesting to hear more about where she is coming from. Although she’s not evil in this book. The romance reader in me also enjoyed that the step-mother finds love again. What I did not enjoy is the ending. You know from the description of the book that Prince Simeon (the Prince Charming figure) is not what he seems. But damn. I kind of felt like she went too far.
***Spoilers Ahead***
When you learn that the Prince’s sister is pregnant and he only chooses Elin (the Cinderella figure) because she looks like his sister, I was kind of surprised but I could also understand where the story was coming from. Simeon is willing to marry someone to protect the reputation of his sister. However, I could barely process it all when you learn that the sister is pregnant after being raped by Simeon, Simeon kidnaps Elin in order to marry her, and then comes after Ethel, who then kills him with the help of her bird. The scene with Ethel is pretty graphic and felt like too much. The subsequent hiding of the body and the end of the book’s sort of boring nature just didn’t work for me. Book club attendance was low this month and those who did read it agreed with me. I’m curious to hear what other people think so if you have opinions, let me know!
I also didn’t bake for this but I went to the Chicago Starbucks Reserve Roastery and the baked goods there were super cool. I know how impossible it would be, but I would love for some of those super great pastries to be available at my store! They also had them displayed in fun ways, including a rotating case. What is it about moving food that always makes it look good?!
In the podcast at some point, I talk about how I am not someone who really cries at books. But, I have to admit that I shed a tear or two finishing Meg Shaffer’s The Wishing Game. It was definitely a combination of how great the book was and what I had going on at the time. I thought the story was beautiful and some of the lessons were good reminders. Face your fears, play like a kid, wish for things, and admit when you’re struggling. I also really loved that it was centered around a fictional book series. Now I’m hoping Meg Shaffer comes out with the Clockwork Island series! She did a nice job of incorporating excerpts from the books. Part of why I loved this book is that it really speaks to the power of stories. The Clockwork Island series serves all of the characters differently. It gives them a safe space, it gives them courage, it gives them a reason to keep going, and more. The addition of the Connor character gives the book its depth. The book would still be good if he wasn’t in it, with the adults revisiting parts of their childhood and such, but as the only kid in the book, Christopher rounds it out. He can provide a kid’s perspective and we see in action how the Clockwork Island series works in his life. This is definitely going on my to-be-read-again list!
One of the favorite literary things that happened in October is that I discovered the website howsadisthischapter.com. It was created by Catie Osborn, an author, podcast host, and disability advocate, after she shared on Instagram her spreadsheet of which Dungeon Crawler Carl chapters were sad. She set it up with the same type of AI that is present in the book, with things like achievements, rewards, and more. In the same way you can on The Story Graph, it allows for readers to input any books that aren’t on the site yet. So when I tried to look up Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, I got a notification that no one had put in this book yet. I’ll post the screenshot below so you can see the whole message. If you listened to the most recent episode of my podcast, Beyond The Book, you know I have some trauma about this book. So I was surprised that it wasn’t on the site yet! Not only do I think the site is funny, it’s also set up really well. You can input how you’re feeling at the time which will in turn recommend what to do. It asks you before you scroll whether or not you want spoilers. And it doesn’t give an average for how sad the chapters are without five different submissions. I don’t know that I will utilize it much but it always makes me laugh and I think it’s super clever.
In true Charlotte fashion, I made last minute Halloween cupcakes before going to hand out candy with some friends down the street from me. I love to bake a cake from scratch and try out complicated recipes, but I also know that the Duncan Hines Butter Golden box mix never disappoints. Both my mom and I have had people ask us for the recipe! It’s an easy way to make a great cake and means I could spend more time on the decorations. I do have to say that the recipe calls for seven tablespoons and I always put in eight. If you’re going to use almost a whole stick of butter, you might as well just use the whole thing! Of course I could find some other use for the butter but this makes the cake extra fluffy and delicious. I think the pumpkins ended up being much cuter than the ghosts but they still turned out cute. And it means some cupcakes with more chocolate frosting.
Other books this month included Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster: The Untold Story Of The Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win The Civil War by Gerri Willis. If you’ve been following along with the blog, you already know how much I love the lesser known stories of history. One of the coolest things I learned from this book was about the break out of Union officers from Richmond’s Libby Prison in February of 1864. The officers tunneled underground, trying more than 3 times in different areas. They ended up tunneling through to the outside of the prison fence and more than 100 Union officers escaped through a tunnel that was less than 20 inches tall.
I finally finished Neal Shusterman’s All Better Now. I first started it in July but then had to return it to the library. The book is about a global pandemic with a high mortality rate but everyone who survives becomes permanently content. It erases stress, depression, greed, anger, and more. It was an interesting concept and I liked the book. The array of characters, including some trying to find a vaccine and prevent the disease, was intriguing. Each of the characters was very distinct, with different personalities and complex motivations behind their choices. I kind of wish I started it again from the beginning because it was a little disjointed how I read it but I still got a lot out of it.
Someone recommended that Hannah and I do The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood as a topic for a podcast episode. To be determined if we actually do that but obviously I still had to read the book and see the movie. This was an unusual case because I watched the movie before reading the book. I really enjoyed the movie. I think Lili Reinhart is cute, and she brought good emotion to the role. And I absolutely loved the character of Anh. That being said, I can understand where people are coming from who don’t love it as an adaptation. There is definitely more depth in the book (as usual), but some of what was missing from the movie would have given it much more significance. The fact that Adam secretly has feelings for Olive doesn’t really come out in the movie and the sort of rushed relationship doesn’t make as much sense. I think the romance is still there, but I do think it’s kind of fast paced. One of my favorite parts is when Adam finds out that Dr. Benton harassed Olive. Obviously I don’t like that, but I love where Adam comes storming down the hall. Tom Bateman was almost a physical comedian here, the way his body puffs up and he stomps down the hall almost reminded me of a bull. A couple times when I needed a laugh recently, I just watched that clip. It gets me every time!
November is shaping up to be a good reading month and of course all things baking with pumpkin. It’s just so orange!! The holidays at Starbucks are launching this week so that will be hectic but fun. We also have our next episode of Beyond The Book coming out, covering Frank Herbert’s Dune.
I almost forgot! November 20th is the young adult apocalypse, the young adult crisis, the young adult Barbenheimer. The new season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians comes out and so does the new Hunger Games movie. Hannah suggested the names “Hungry Jackson” and ”The Percy Games.” I haven’t decided which one I like best yet. The question is how are we supposed to watch everything?! I’ll probably end up watching Percy Jackson since I can do it from my own couch haha. Both have looked good in trailers so I’m looking forward to it and super curious about the numbers after that first weekend!
This was the screen that came up when I searched for Of Mice And Men on howsadisthischapter.com. It’s clever and funny the way it’s designed like the Dungeon Crawler Carl notifications and I found myself hearing it in the voice of the book narrator Jeff Hayes.
