What I’ve been reading and mochi

I realize I haven’t updated the books I have read in a while.  I have been reading still.  I have the goal of 30 books this year.  There are no links with these books, fyi.

There was New Orleans Noir edited by Julie Smith

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This was a very good collection of short stories about New Orleans. The book is in 2 parts – the first part contains short stories pre-Katrina and the second contains stories post-Katrina. Of course, being noir, they all involved crime of some sort. Some on the humorous side, some very dark. A couple made me angry. Noir really fits New Orleans, too. There are other cities in this series, but I think the noir format suits New Orleans best.  Recommended.

On the short story train, here was a very short book. I didn’t realize how short it was with only 6 stories in it.

Among The Mermaids by Varla Ventura.

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This was a collection of short stories about mermaids (male and female), but they were all classic short stories from I believe the early 1900s  and, therefore, very charming.

Think and Grow Thin by Charles D’Angelo

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This book actually has good solid advice in it.  It’s based on the principles of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (also a good read). The testimonials really got on my nerves, though, as they were just fawning over the author for the most part.

I do like that half of the book deals with the emotional and mental aspects of losing weight, which is 90% of the battle.

His food program is designed to take choice out of the equation and if you want to follow a very limited menu, then it would work for you.  It stays exactly the same for 2 week intervals. I think I would get bored with it, but I have used the concept myself in the past (and it worked when I needed it).

I just finished Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen

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This was a really powerful book about slavery. It’s a novella and the underlying theme in it is the importance of literacy.  Maybe that hit home for me being a literacy tutor.  I know there is a sequel to this and I want to read it and find out what happens to the characters.  It is not for the squeamish. Some very hard to read stuff about slavery, but that was reality at the time.

So, some pretty good stuff here.

Now on to the mochi.  Sometime when John goes away for the weekend, he will bring back a little present for me of some sort.  He stopped at a Japanese bakery and brought home a couple things that sounded interesting.  One was a mochi something or other.   Kind of looked like a snowball from the outside. It was a pretty purple color

MOCHI

Turns out, this was a glutenous rice filled with a red bean paste.  It had a very gelatinous outer coating and a softer middle.  I have decided it was not my cup of tea.  I ate some of the inside and threw out the outside.  I don’t do gummy LOL!  Have you ever had a mochi dessert?

12 thoughts on “What I’ve been reading and mochi

  1. Ali @ Peaches and Football

    My parents used to have some college renters that were from Japan and they would bring all kinds of fancy desserts over to my parents when they dropped off their rent. They all looked so pretty and super fancy but none of them tasted very good – I think a lot of the sweeteners and consistency preferences are different between the Japanese and American culture – not too surprising though!

  2. debby

    Mochi–I think I tried it one time at work, and had to throw it out like you did. Definitely an acquired taste. They have it all the time at the froyo places.

    Thanks for the book reviews! I might check a couple of them out.

  3. Shelley B

    Jeff likes the little mochi that they have at all the frozen yogurt stores, but I do not. Give me chocolate if I’m going to have something sweet and caloric! 😉

  4. Kaki

    Unless it tastes like a Sno-ball, I probably wouldn’t like it 🙂 Gummy is not my cup of tea, either. I agree with Shelley, if I’m going to have sugar, it needs to be chocolate!

  5. Satu

    I’m sure I’ve never even heard of mochi, but the word is great. Mochi mochi. You should mochi Pixie for me. 🙂

    And yet another book that promises you can change your life in 90 days with a twist (i.e. 88 days). Great marketing!

  6. Cammy@TippyToeDiet

    Thanks for the book reviews! I’ll have to see if New Orleans Noir is available at my library. I liked Julie Smith’s Talba Wallis series, also set in New Orleans.

  7. Lisa

    That thin book sounds like it would irritate me, but I requested it from the library to read the emotional parts. I found that there weren’t very many books out there that dealt with the emotional aspects of weight loss.

  8. Roz@weightingfor50

    You are a prolific reader Lori!!! WOW! Not a fan of mochi here. For me, they look much tastier prettier and appealing than they are when you bite into them. Sweet that John bought you a present though! He’s a keeper. Have a great day!

  9. Biz

    My daughter LOVES mochi balls – there is a food truck in Chicago that she gets those with bubble tea – its a texture thing for me, I think they are gross!

  10. Tami@nutmegnotebook

    Really good reading goals Lori! I have never had mocha balls but I don’t think I would like it either. It’s always fun to try new foods though and that’s how we find new favorites.

  11. Fran

    First time I see a mochi 🙂 so no, never had it before.

    You have been going steady with your reading. I don’t read much these days but then again I don’t do much of anything at the moment. It will come back though. As soon as the weather is good and I can sit outside I will read more too.

  12. Marion

    Hi Lori! Oh yes, my husband is Asian so we’ve often had the rice cakes with bean paste. My husband at them as a child in Korea. My kids grew up with them in our house after we went to the Asian grocery store, so they like them. They like the green tea ones and just plain ones. I personally have never gotten too excited about them. They always taste unbaked to me. 😀

    🙂 Marion

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