Read 30 Books - #5 Our Husband

After my very long and slow read of The Lotus Eaters I needed something light, quick and predictable. That's exactly what I found in Stephanie Bond's Our Husband about three women who upon their husband's death discover they were married to the same man. I have to admit, I bought this book because it was $0.99 in the kindle store and even though I knew it wouldn't be a literary masterpiece I still enjoyed reading it. Sometimes I just want to read something funny, romantic, or predictable, and in this case, all three.

The story centers around three women - Beatrix the first wife in her 50s with family wealth, Natalie the second wife and doctor in her mid-30s, and Ruby the barely legal most recent wife and exotic dancer. Upon hearing their husband was in a car accident they rush to his side only to find out there are two other Mrs. in their husband's life. When their husband dies in the hospital it is discovered he was murdered and the wives become the main suspects.

Although the wives are shocked and hurt by their husband's bigamy, angry at each other, facing murder charges and grieving for their loss, they work together to clear their names and uncover more of their husband's lies along the way. I'm sure you can tell where this humorous romantic mystery is going, but if you're looking for a quick easy read you've found it!

Bill Paxton gives this book a thumbs up because he knows how to handle three wives.

One New Vegetarian Dish a Month - Red Lentil Dal with Rice

Oopsie, looks like I forgot to make a vegetarian dinner in September! To my credit, I did actually have a couple memorable vegetarian lunches using portobello mushrooms that could easily be made for dinner -- 1. I topped two tostadas with smashed black beans, sautéed portobello mushrooms, lettuce and hot sauce and 2. I filled a flour tortilla with black beans, cheese, sautéed portobello mushrooms, jalapenos, lettuce, and hot sauce for a similar, but much more filling version.

For our vegetarian dinner this month I made lentils and rice, which I have been craving for weeks. With the cold weather and rain we've had in London lately, something about a steamy bowl of lentils and rice is so comforting and satisfying despite the lack of meat. I absolutely love cooked spinach - on it's own, in soups, stews, dips, and in this case, in lentils. I would usually accompany the lentils and rice with some sliced cucumber and tomato, but I didn't have any on hand. Instead you can try the full recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, which serves it with coriander flatbread and carrot salad. That recipe is HERE.

I only followed the actual Red Lentil Dal recipe below because I didn't want to bother with the extra carbs from flatbread (plus I don't think it's needed) and I was just wasn't feeling the carrot salad at the time.

Red Lentil Dal with Rice

Ingredients:

5 cups water, divided
3/4 cup dried small red lentils
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 serrano chiles, minced - I can't get serranos here so I used red chiles which are popular in the UK
2 ounces spinach (about 4 cups loosely packed) - I used even more than this because I love it!
Hot cooked rice (brown or white)

Instructions:

Combine 3 cups water and lentils in a bowl. Let stand 20 minutes; drain. After lentils have soaked now is a good time to cook your rice then proceed with making the lentils. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add the chopped onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add ginger and next 6 ingredients (through serranos/red chiles); sauté for 30 seconds. Add lentils and remaining 2 cups water to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 23 minutes. Stir occasionally  Stir in spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Read 30 Books - #4 The Lotus Eaters

So, I'm obviously lagging behind on my reading list, but this book took me forever to get through! The weird thing is that I enjoyed it, but it just seemed to go on and on and on.....

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli spans the last 10 years of the Vietnam War and follows Helen, an American female photographer who escapes her comfortable Southern California lifestyle to fill the hole her brother left when he died in the war. She struggles to break the gender barrier of the war being the only female photographer, while simultaneously adjusting to the cultural differences in Saigon. We never know if she supports the war or not, she just continues to focus on capturing the gruesome, terrifying, and sometimes humane and beautiful aspects of this long war.

During her 10 years she has two lovers - her American photographer mentor and her Vietnamese assistant who she ends up marrying. Through the latter relationship she experiences the real Vietnam, even learning the language. I found myself enjoying the love story most and reading the detailed descriptions of landscape, culture, people and food.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to get through this book. I loved Vietnam when I visited last December so the setting was easy to get lost in. The love stories were interesting, but amidst a war it was not as lovey dovey as typical romantic novels would considering the circumstances; although the relationships are a sort of escape for Helen. Helen herself is one bad-ass mother - she threw herself in combat missions just to capture the real moments of the war. She immersed herself in the Vietnamese culture, battled sexist colleagues and military, endured injury, lost a lover, went home and then returned soon after, then stayed even after the war was over with the risk of never being able to return...all for another amazing shot.

Again, I have no idea why I wasn't hooked on this book until it was finished. I think the actual war parts dragged on and maybe I just wasn't as interested in that subject matter. It's a war that was before my time whereas others who were alive during that time are probably very passionate about it one way or another. I think I would have loved to see some pictures. I know that sounds weird, but the descriptions of the shots she was taking were amazing in my imagination and I would have loved to actually see them. I think this would actually translate into a good film, but probably wouldn't be my top book recommendation right now.

I'm going to give this one Tiger thumbs up because it was good, but also kinda disappointing!