Fiction with older female protagonists (a theme which gives me life)

• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid - on aging and still pushing yourself to win, but also accept loss with grace
• All Adults Here by Emma Straub - older mom sees friend die, goes through past parenting mistakes, has girlfriend now
• The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - a pirate who’s also an older woman and a mom! work/life balance and wanting to be who we are aside from parents and adventures and magic!
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto - Old chinese woman runs a tea shop, bullies strangers into becoming family, solves a murder mystery
• The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff - I struggle to describe this one, because you should really go in without spoilers. Worth noting that for the first 2/3-ish of the book, I found it way too heavy-handed at times, but then there’s some big reveal stuff that pulls it all together quite well. There’s a lot of imperfect knowledge and slowly revealed clarity here.
• The Change by Kirsten Miller - post-menopausal women get special powers and use them to protect younger women, hells yeah

Books related to parenting and/or child abuse

• Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez - Forced sterilization, themes of hurting people with good intentions, lots of echoing around who gets to be a mother but shouldn’t or doesn’t get to or chooses not to.
• Carmen and Grace by Melissa Coss Aquino - Really striking novel about women dealing drugs, mothering each other and themselves as motherless daughters, bio mothers and adoptive mothers, grooming, responsibility, failure
• Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen - Actually just really great non-fiction parenting advice
• Frostflower and Thorn by Phyllis Ann Karr - A sorceress adopts the baby a fighter wanted to abort, then they travel/adventure together
• Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - Scifi, child abuse, the lies our parents and governments tell us, the terror of and resistance to the possibility of truth
• When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar - Gender, orphan girls, abusive uncle, how they relate to each other
• Thread Needle by Cari Thomas - Reminded me a bit of Midnight Bargain, with a protagonist whose magic will soon be bound. But here there’s also childhood abuse with lingering effects

Some fun romance novels

• Bear With Me Now by Katie Shepard - FL is an aspiring wildlife conservator with dyslexia who saves ML from a bear attack, ML is a parentified workaholic with serious anxiety
• Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood - Scientist FL has to work on project with academic nemesis ML, it’s just kinda cutely nerdy
• Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood - FL is an experimental physicist who moonlights as a fake girlfriend and oh hijinks with a hot applied physicist
• The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham - feminist regency romance, with a sex-positive FL and single father ML
• The Portrait of a Duchess by Scarlett Peckham - another wonderfully feminist regency romance, with an activist painter FL
• The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews - ML has a secret identity and two kids, FL has abusive parents and medical stuff and proposes herself in order to escape

Other fiction

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan - About a girl in Sri Lanka who grows up to become a doctor while her brothers all join and fall victim to the Tamil Tigers &c, really intense, stuck with me
• The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton - extremely upsetting climate disaster novel that I keep thinking about a lot, months later
• The Expanse #9: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey - I’m so sad this is the last!
• Even Greater Mistakes: Stories by Charlie Jane Anders - contains one of my favorite short stories of all time (Six Months, Three Days)
• Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - prison abolition now (prisoners performing dramatic death matches - a ludicrous plot that works astonishingly well and rings very true and real)
• The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell
• Milk Fed by Melissa Broder - judaism, eating disorder, sapphic, pretty messed up and upsetting
• The Overstory by Richard Powers - trees trees trees
• Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens - Entertainingly tropey wild Western with a sapphic protagonist working in a bordello
• Happy Snak by Nicole Kimberling - A space station needs a fast food joint (I love sf/f with normal people working normal jobs)
• Bea Wolf by Weinersmith and Boulet

Other non-fiction

• The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine: How I Spent a Year in the American Wild to Re-create a Feast from the Classic Recipes of French Master Chef Auguste Escoffier by Steven Rinella
• Hurts So Good: The Science & Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart
• Educated by Tara Westover
• Ducks by Kate Beaton
• Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho - memoir about author’s discovery of her mom’s schizophrenia and the cultural structures that fed into it (the mother was a korean bar hostess who married a white merchant marine and came to the US)
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
• How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
• Beyond Bodybuilding: Muscle and Strength Training Secrets for the Renaissance Man by Pavel
• Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe

Honorable Mentions

• Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan - lots of interesting bits but I found the ending unsatisfying
• Well Behaved Wives by Amy Sue Nathan - Jewish young woman gets married, feels pressured and trapped, gets more support from MIL than expected
• Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha - just a rather charming fantasy poly bi romance
• A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee - romance with orthodox jewish and trans characters
• Role Playing by Cathy Yardley - cute romance between middle-aged gamers, how could I not love an older woman who goes by Bogwitch
• Going Infinite by Michael Lewis - Not sure I’d actually recommend this, but I certainly personally got a kick out of it
• aye, and gomorrah by Samuel R. Delany
• The Mind-Body Problem by Rebecca Goldstein
• Chocky by John Wyndham - charming possession? of little boy by curious alien
• Gerald’s Game by Stephen King (reread)
• You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi - I liked the way grief was portrayed, and the casual bisexuality in passing, but overall was underwhelmed

Total number of books read in 2023: 164

I read a lot of books in 2022, and a high percentage of them were truly excellent! What a great year for reading!

Books related to trauma and abuse

• Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott - This gutted me. A Baba Yaga inspired fantasy novel about 3G pogrom survivors.
• Before All The World by Moriel Rothman-Zecher - This too. A brutal pogrom/diaspora book, the language is stunning, the stories are stark.
• The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow - Made me cry. And I loved it so much that I read it twice in one year! If you have old pain, siblings, and a baby, it might clench hard in your chest and throat too. A tiny bit reminiscent of The Power and maybe Wicked, but much better
• Night by Elie Wiesel - yeah this was a correct holocaust book
• In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado - Memoir of domestic abuse. The image of the abuser just shouting poison into the narrator, ooft.
• Carrie by Stephen King - Reread, for the first time since I was an adolescent. It holds up.
• What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Woo
• A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee - the gentleness that hides horrors, conveyed with great delicacy
• Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - (hey Mollie, this is another entrails-hanging-from-chandeliers one!)

Other books that related to Judaism

• The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar
• Shmutz by Felicia Berliner - ending was unsatisfying, but there was a lot of yiddish filth I got a huge kick out of along the way
• People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn - Non-fiction, lots of truth.
• More Stories From My Father’s Court by Isaac Bashevis Singer - there’s something just soothing about this sort of old-fashioned Jewish storytelling for me
• My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen - Romance with a cooking competition and a secretly Jewish love interest
• People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy edited by Rachel Swirsky & Sean Wallace - I particularly loved Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel by Peter S. Beagle

Other books that related to colonialism (obvs this overlaps with trauma)

• Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez - Puerto Rican / Nuyorican history, colonialism, complicity. The different ways we try to fight the system, from inside and out, hurt each other while fighting just fights and help each other while abetting harmful systems, try to repair and survive and thrive. Lots of fairly heavy-handed symbolism and a rushed ending, but overall I really liked the ethical nuance explored. What’s selfish, earning money but also helping family or neighbors? Ditching kids to fight for freedom? Getting fame and being able to help some, but at the cost of secrets and compromises?
• Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li - Heist novel where Chinese American grad students steal back stolen Chinese art from western museums
• Babel by R.F. Kuang - Academic fantasy, linguistics and colonialism
• The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (reread)

Other scifi/fantasy

• The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik - Last book in the Scholomance trilogy, so good I wish I was a slower reader so I could’ve spent more time in this world
• Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - trans violinist, teacher who needs to trade souls to the devil to save her own, space alien mom love interest selling donuts, older women queer love story
• The Dark is Rising (series) by Susan Cooper - Reread from my youth, which really held up. The only Christmassy books I can tolerate.
• KL Noir: Magic edited by Deric Ee
• Someone in Time: Tales of Time Crossed Romance edited by Jonathan Strahan - Lots of good stories, but my fav was The Difference Between Love and Time by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente - Post-climate-disaster but in a kinda happy way?

Other romance

• A Lady For A Duke by Alexis Hall - regency romance with trans protagonist, absolutely beautifully written
• The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley - autistic love interest (romance novels with autistic characters have a special place in my heart)
• The Warlord’s Wife by Sandra Lake - the love interest initially falls in love with being a good dad to the protagonist’s daughter from her first lover
• The Switch by Beth O’Leary - protagonist swaps lives with her grandmother, super cute
• Paris Daillencourt Is About To Crumble by Alexis Hall - m/m baking show romance, but the actually great heart of the story is the way the protagonist has anxiety that gets diagnosed during the book, plus there’s a delightful female dom roommate side character

Other fiction

• Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn - Older female retired professional assassins, reunion tour / last job story
• The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante - maternal ambivalence
• The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey - husband leaves her for her clone that he built and trained to be more docile &c
• All My Mother’s Lovers by Ilana Masad - what struck me here was that the mother, after her abusive first marriage, managed to really find a bunch of caring gentle guys and allow herself to be loved. It’s an astonishing story of recovery from trauma, under the hood. Also yay Jewish.
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - reminds me just the tiniest bit of Last Samurai, largely in that there’s an intelligent troubled angry single mother
• Would I Lie To You? by Aliya Ali-Afzal - Harrowing. It gets across the awful stress and terror of lying and hiding and desperation very effectively, which made it a very uncomfortable read. Plus racism, and the difficulties of motherhood.
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - lots of twists and missing knowledge and queerness and betrayal
• X by Davey Davis - hottest book ever
• Boy Parts by Eliza Clark - what really struck me was how hard the protagonist worked at trying to be seen as as dangerous as she was
• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (reread)

Other non-fiction

• I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
• Fuzz by Mary Roach - all Mary Roach is sublime
• The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef
• Lying For Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of Our World by Dan Davies

Short stories available online

• Lena by qntm
• The Difference Between Love and Time by Catherynne M. Valente
• Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders - Reread (for the zillionth time), still one of my favorite short stories of all time
• Review for: Izakaya Tanuki by J. L. Akagi - Cozy queer undead nostalgia and love
• untitled story about a daycare worker at the end of the world by bixbythemartian - I don’t even know which year I first read this, but it makes me sob and sob and sob every time I come across it and read it again

Honorable Mentions

• Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean - Honestly can’t tell if this was a great book, or just resonated with some intense personal memories for me - perhaps if you’ve ever lost touch with someone you loved as a child, it’ll hit you hard too
• An Unorthodox Match by Naomi Ragen - Romance novel between a baal t’shuvah and a frum guy and his family, confronting hypocrisy with a lot of love
• Toyols R Us by Terence Toh
• When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo - Trini magical realism love story!
• Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon - Romance, fine, but what I really liked was how the protagonist is depressed but coping okay and there’s totally background humdrum Judaism
• The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews - Romance. Excellent horsewoman protagonist, Indian tailor love interest makes her riding habits
• Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai - Romance with heist hijinks (apparently this year I was into heist-movie-ish novels)
• Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell - Queer psi romance
• Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - Game developers, growing up. All characters bad at opening up to each other. I liked it more than I usually like vibes-based fiction.
• The School For Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan - too many loose threads, unsatisfying ending, but along the way it was intense and painful and good
• The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb - Race and music and violin theft and family and getting out while both honoring and discarding the past
• The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum - On the edge of being too vibesy for me, but with some Talmud so I overall liked it
• Honor by Thrity Umrigar - Indian American journalist goes back to India, investigates honor killing. I didn’t like the protagonist’s love story, but a lot else was fairly striking
• Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel - Indian street kid grows up, learns to take care of herself instead of relying resentfully on unreliable caretaking from others
• The Last Flight by Julie Clark - a woman escapes her abusive husband, another woman tries to escape the trap of drug dealer life
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - Most of her stuff is way too slow and vibes-driven for me, but this was a soothing guide for enjoying things as they’re ending
• The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher - Too long and dull at times, marvelously cozy and comforting at others. Very character-driven. The plot was about small, domestic issues. A war novel, but fundamentally it was about how to live in small ways while the world goes on.
• A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys - Jewish scifi! Reminds me a bit of the Species Imperative books, with some of the more modern gender-focused and cozy vibes-based touches, and a bit of old Heinlein creative family building

Total number of books read in 2022: 219

Scifi/Fantasy I loved reading in 2021

• The Scholomance (series) by Naomi Novik - Magical boarding school books, but extra horrifying and dark and well done.
• Uhura’s Song by Janet Kagan - Easily the best Star Trek novel I’ve ever read (and I’ve read plenty), with lots of interesting linguistics/cultural nuance.
• Black Water Sister by Zen Cho - My favorite novel of hers so far. Queer Malay Chinese girl moves back to Malaysia and gets possessed by the ghost of her grandmother.
• Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho - Mostly a reread but this edition has a few new stories, still brilliant
• Legendborn by Tracy Deonn - An actually clever, non-boring Arthur novel!
• The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk - Bit on the nose but really well done. When a female sorceress marries, she is literally locked in a collar that seals away her magic (because a fetus could otherwise get possessed)
• The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - Another very dark one, lots of burning people to death (including children), but excellent world-building.
• An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - Generation ship, major class abuse issues, autistic-seeming doctor-ish protagonist. Very violent. The end a bit weak, but I really liked it until then.
• Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - I put off reading this for ages, and then liked it so much more than I thought I would! Not precisely an unreliable protagonist, but one whose perspective makes trying to understand the plot like looking through a cracked, cloudy window from a distance. Plus queer and funny!

Romance novels I loved reading in 2021

• The Devil Comes Courting by Courtney Milan - Touches on colonialism and cross-racial adoption and brilliant female engineering
• The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan - British Chinese regency romance, with a culinary theme and a list-making protagonist
• Cotillion by Georgette Heyer - The doofy dandy love interest is hilariously great, not the hero we’d expect but a hero nonetheless
• The Chai Factor by Farah Heron - Engineer protagonist, love interest is a member of the annoying barbershop quartet that moved into her family’s basement
• Book of Love by Erin Satie - Pranks and politics
• The Brown Sisters (series) by Talia Hibbert - Protagonists with fibromyalgia, autism
• Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch - m/m selkie mystery romance!
• The Lady Hellion by Joanna Shupe - Protagonist poses as a man to solve crimes, love interest grapples with agoraphobia and some sort of other panic attacks
• How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole - Latest book in a great series full of great poc characters, this one is f/f and protagonist is somehow neurodivergent
• The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley - Lesbian romance, heists, cryptography

Other fiction I loved reading in 2021

• What did you eat yesterday? (series) by Fumi Yoshinaga - manga mostly about cooking with bits and pieces of cozy m/m romance in between the recipes
• Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto - Protagonist accidentally kills her handsy date, then her mother and 3 aunts help her hide the body while running a massive indo-chinese wedding. Cute funny hijinks ensue.
• The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf - Reread. Still really brilliant, about a girl dealing ocd or perhaps a djinn during malaysian race riots

Honorable mentions

• A Charm of Magpies (series) by KJ Charles - Particularly charming m/m fantasy romance.
• Saint of Steel (series) by T. Kingfisher - Solid comfort food fantasy trilogy for me this past month
• Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid - mostly here for some really upsetting bits that stick in my head, about the importance of someone helping a child feel most loved
• Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stezt-Waters - cute artsy f/f romance, odd couple trope
• The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty - last book in an enjoyable fantasy series
• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
• Born in Fire by Nora Roberts - Romance. The love interest annoyed me, but I really liked that the protagonist is a glassblower and how lovingly her art is described

Total number of books read in 2021: 184

For easy reference, a recipe index for the manga What did you eat yesterday?

Volume 1

• salmon burdock rice (11)
• bamboo zha cai scrambled eggs (12)
• cold vermicelli with tuna and tomatoes (43)
• boiled bamboo shoots and broccoli rabe (58)
• strawberry jam (66)
• sardines simmered with pickled plums (94)
• tomato salad
• stewed bacon and cabbage
• miso soup with string beans and potatoes
• stir-fried asparagus (97)
• chinese-style spicy pork with eggplant and tomato (111)
• finely chopped blanched okra with fresh ginger and minced bonito flakes (112)
• tofu salad with mustard greens, shiso, cucumber, shrimp, ponzu (112)
• salt-grilled mackerel pike (133)
• chestnut rice
• sesame-dressed spinach
• nameko and trefoil miso soup
• mackerel pike rice (137)
• oven-roasted chicken (153)
• german potatoes with leeks
• tosa-style sesame-dressed broccoli
• tofu and wakame miso soup
• tosa-style cabbage and onions (155)

Volume 2

• spinach lasagne (17)
• sour cream and cod roe dip with baguette
• baked herb-crusted chicken
• tuna salad
• miso pork, leeks, cabbage, and thick fried tofu (29)
• yuzu-dressed napa cabbage
• wakame soup
• stewed yellowtail and daikon (37)
• fried tofu stuffed with miso scallion
• egg drop soup with mitsuba
• miso-marinated cherry salmon (54)
• mustard and mayo dressed asparagus
• simmered dried daikon strips
• scrambled eggs with stir-fried veggies
• onion and new potato miso soup
• beef and celery oyster sauce stir-fry (75)
• potato salad
• natto
• egg drop soup with tomato and okra
• Miso pork, eggplant, and bell pepper stir-fry (92)
• crispy baby sardines, carrot and celery salad
• cold tofu with onions, myoga ginger, and soy-sauce flavored bonito flakes
• shredded kelp soup
• pork and pumpkin curry udon (112)
• chikuwa and green been salad
• milky agar with brown sugar syrup
• foil-baked miso salmon (129)
• bacon and turnip greens garlic stir-fry
• vinegared turnips
• country-style vegetable chowder
• nikujaga (meat and potatoes) (139)
• ohitashi spinach
• scallop and daikon salad
• tofu and wakame miso soup
• mixed seasoned rice with salmon, burdock, and maitake mushrooms

Volume 3

• fried rice with miso pork sauce (17)
• sweet and sour soup
• chicken and broccoli in oyster sauce
• sapporo ichiban miso ramen (napa, carrot, bean sprout, pork, leek, wakame, egg) (33)
• mochi and veggie-laden toppingful soup (51)
• chicken wings hot pot (75)
• lotus root kinpira
• seasoned rice cooked with vegetables (92)
• pork and tofu
• steam-cooked clams, cabbage, and bacon
• sesame-seasoned sprouts and leeks
• salty chicken and asparagus stir-fry (113)
• stewed hijiki with soybeans
• spring onions dressed in bonito flakes and baby sardines
• potato and wakame miso soup
• seasoned rice with eel, takana, and eggs (130)
• fried eggplant and tomato salad
• german potatoes with asparagus
• tofu and myoga soup
• side-dish crepes (ham and egg, tuna salad, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, &c) (145)
• snack-dish crepes (banana, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, yogurt, honey, &c)

Volume 4

• stewed hamburgers in mushroom sauce (17)
• stir-fried mustard greens and bean sprouts
• lightly-pickled daikon, cucumbers, and carrots
• eggplant, thin fried tofu, and ginger bud miso soup
• salmon, egg, and cucumber sushi rice (33)
• stewed chicken and veggies
• stir-fried eggplants and bell peppers
• plum and mayo dressed broccoli
• shrimp and turnips in rich sauce
• rice porridge with chicken, egg, and mitsuba (55)
• rolled omelet
• spinach shiraae
• hot soba with shrimp, mitsuba, and onion fritters (69)
• vegetable tempura
• stewed chicken wings and daikon (89)
• leek consomme (includes the leeks, and mustard)
• chives with natto
• sweet potato and fried tofu miso soup
• caramel-simmered apples on toast (107)
• ginger pork with heaps of onions (126)
• carrot namul
• cold tofu with scallions and zha cai
• bamboo shoots and wakame miso soup
• spaghetti napolitan (140)
• stewed dried daikon strips with carrots
• tea over rice with pickled plum (146)

Volume 5

• coleslaw (4)
• bean rice (actually peas, not beans) (19)
• tomato stewed chicken
• stewed string beans and potatoes
• horse mackerel tataki (32)
• stewed cabbage and fried tofu
• kinpira of green peppers and dried baby sardines
• miso soup with tomatoes and chinese yam
• summer veggie curry (49)
• wasabi soy sauce flavored avocado and tomatoes
• pork soup (74)
• dried mackerel
• corn fried in soy sauce and butter
• spicy tofu with okra
• japanese-style pasta with mushrooms, tuna, and turnip leaves (93)
• minestrone
• turnip salad with wasabi dressing
• banana pound cake (114)
• tonkatsu (128)
• stewed dried daikon
• spaghetti salad
• miso soup with spinach and fried tofu
• pork and chikuwa chop suey (149)
• spicy daikon and ham and scallion salad
• corn and egg soup

Volume 6

• boiled pork and cabbage dumplings (18)
• sesame-dressed bok choy
• chilled tofu with baby sardines, natto, and kimchi
• bamboo shoot rice (38)
• babyneck clam miso soup
• sashimi salad
• green asparagus dressed in white sauce
• baby sardine and burdock root seasoned rice balls (47)
• rolled eggs as seen on public television
• roasted and dunked green peppers
• tomato-stewed hijiki and tuna
• corned beef and onion toast (70)
• worcestershire fried cabbage
• banana yogurt
• kenji au lait
• curry udon (75)
• miso-fried squid and konnyaku (89)
• vermicelli, egg, and cucumber salad
• mustard-dressed bok choy
• clear soup with green onions and chicken
• chinjao rosu (beef and green pepper stir-fry) (107)
• tingly pickled cucumber
• grilled eggplant
• miso soup with kabocha and japanese ginger
• sirloin steak with sauteed string beans and tender potatoes (129)
• easy pickles
• cabbage and bacon soup
• miso-stewed mackerel (144)
• white stewed taro
• spinach and shimeji mushroom with grated daikon
• chives and egg soup

Volume 7

• peperoncino-style broccoli and littleneck clams (10)
• milk tea granita (14)
• fried chicken (35)
• stir-fried turnip greens with baby sardines
• lightly pickled turnips and carrots (41)
• sukiyaki-style udon hot pot (lightly salted cod, chicken thighs, oysters, blue crabs, scallops, littleneck clams, napa cabbage, mizuna, shiitakes, scallions, parboiled udon) (53)
• stir-fried carrots and konjac with sesame and miso
• mapo-style cellophane noodles with cabbage and spinach (69)
• new onions and wakame dressed in ponzu soy sauce
• turnip and bacon soy milk soup
• chili shrimp with eggs and asparagus (91)
• namul-style carrots and bean sprouts
• plum-wasabi cold tofu
• potato and wakame miso soup
• kimchi stew, gilbert style (with littleneck clams and tofu) (107)
• salt-grilled horse mackerel with ponzu (129)
• pork stewed with eggplant and string beans
• okra natto
• cabbage, onion, and fried miso tofu soup
• omelette over chicken rice with demi-glace (149)

Volume 8

• fried oysters (16)
• plum-dressed boiled spinach
• thunder konjac
• miso soup with tofu and nameko mushrooms
• oden stew (34)
• boiled chrysanthemum
• brownies (79)
• pan-fried chicken with salted rice malt and leeks (97)
• boiled broccoli
• kinpira burdock
• daikon miso soup
• nagasaki-style plate udon noodles (115)
• tuna and avocado with wasabi, soy sauce, and rice malt
• cabbage dressed with plum and baby sardines
• egg drop soup with mitsuba and baby sardines (133)
• firefly squid, welsh onion, and wakame salad
• boiled field mustard dressed with wasabi
• sawani-style vegetable soup
• mapo-style bean sprouts (150)
• carrot salad
• boiled snap peas with yuzu pepper dressing
• miso soup with new potatoes, cabbage, and onions

Volume 9

• salmon ,euniere with japanese-style ginger sauce (14)
• ratatouille
• simple green salad
• okra and tofu clear soup
• faux roast beef (38)
• acqua pazza
• gorgeous green salad
• chicken wings in garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce (56)
• mizuna and onion salad
• potato gratin
• napa cabbage and bacon soup
• squid with daikon (70)
• kabocha salad
• cabbage sauteed in butter and soy sauce with dried bonito
• komatsuna and thin fried tofu miso soup
• shiruko (91)
• black beans (93)
• carbonara with broccoli (108)
• yellowtail teriyaki (127)
• broccoli and shrimp in thick sauce
• julienned daikon with natto dressing
• enoki mushroom miso soup
• ume bonito onigiri (145)
• meatballs
• spanish omelet
• komatsuna and seaweed salad
• shredded potato, cheese, and ham pancake (151)

Volume 10

• beef/pork/potato croquette sandwiches (15)
• okra with spicy miso
• tomato soup
• thai curry (32)
• beef and zucchini stir-fry
• shrimp and glass noodle salad
• homemade yakiniku (beef, bean sprouts, cabbage, green peppers, carrots, onion, eggplants, potatoes, kabocha, grated daikon, ponzu soy sauce) (53)
• ricotta pancakes (74)
• sole with sweet and sour sauce (94)
• bok choy ohitashi
• sardines over grated daikon
• kabocha and bacon miso soup
• miso marinated grilled pork (112)
• napa cabbage and scallop cream soup
• savory komatsuna with tofu sesame dressing
• yam with plum dressing
• pork belly, cabbage, chives, and glass noodles hot-pot stew (131)
• tuna with grated yam (150)
• miso-stewed turnip and chicken
• bean sprout namul
• nori soup

Volume 11

• steamed cod with ponzu (16)
• steamed egg custard
• chrysanthemum greens and carrot salad with sesame miso dressing
• taro and leek miso soup
• sardine and sesame seed inari sushi (35)
• carrot and scallion pork rolls
• salmon nanbanzuke
• savory rolled omelet
• asparagus with bonito flakes
• wasabi chicken (54)
• fried eggplant and shishito peppers
• carrot and tuna salad
• potato and wakame miso soup
• stir-fried liver and chives (75)
• steamed eggplant with baby sardine marinade
• salted cucumber and cabbage
• egg drop soup
• stewed flounder (93)
• fried okra with bonito flakes
• potato salad
• tofu, wakame, and leek miso soup
• kansai-style okonomiyaki with pork (110)
• clam chowder (128)
• avocado, shrimp, and broccoli salad
• corn and butter rice
• chiffon cake (151)

Volume 12

• sukiyaki (14)
• apple muffins (36)
• squid, natto, and avocado rice bowl (53)
• gochujang-dressed broccoli
• miso soup with lettuce
• stir-fried chicken and turnips (68)
• tofu-dressed hijiki
• mitsuba ohitashi boiled greens
• potato and snow pea miso soup
• sardine, cabbage, and cod roe pasta (92)
• yanagawa-style eggplant and pork belly (cooked with burdock root, eggs, and dashi)
• broiled salted mackerel (110)
• kabocha and chicken stew
• coleslaw
• okra and myoga ginger miso soup
• zucchini omelet (119)
• stir-fried pork, tomatoes, and eggs (132)
• edamame
• spicy cucumber pickles
• garlic chives miso soup
• smelt (152)
• sweet potato rice
• chinese-style fried tofu and mushroom stew
• fried eggplant with grated daikon and ponzu
• komatsuna and tofu miso soup

Volume 13

• tantan udon (16)
• nameko-dressed tofu
• spring rolls (33)
• potato salad with egg and bacon
• chinese komaysuna soup
• okayu rice porridge with daikon, egg, and miso (49)
• simmered broccoli with crab
• sweet potato and apple simmered in lemon juice (52)
• upgraded boiled chicken (bone-in chicken thighs/wings/meatballs, atsuage tofu, green cabbage, leeks, shiitakes, pea sprouts) (65)
• carrot shirishiri
• chicken meatballs (73)
• edomae-style barachirashi sushi (88)
• chicken and avocado tempura
• sesame-dressed rapini
• clear clam soup
• tasty boiled shrimp (93)
• singaporean chicken rice (105)
• stir-fried bok choy
• vegetable and consomme egg drop soup
• stewed horse mackerel (127)
• octopus and scallion butter-ponzu stir-fry
• dressed asparagus
• potato, onion, and bacon miso soup
• boiled pork and okra (with spicy scallion sesame sauce) (149)
• stewed kabocha and eggplant
• egg, tomato, and tofu chinese-style soup

Volume 14

• white rice porridge (15)
• soft-boiled eggs
• atsuage ketchup stir-fry
• umeboshi-dressed garlic chives
• dried sardines
• shiitake with kelp
• mackerel tatsua’age (33)
• green pepper and tuna miso stir-fry
• stewed cabbage with ginger
• tomato natto
• mushroom soup
• mapo tofu with garlic chives and tomato (52)
• lightly-pickled zucchini
• wakame and onion soup
• financiers baked in pound cake pans (73)
• kakuni cubed pork belly (86)
• chinese okowa rice (93)
• pork cutlet over rice (104)
• butter cod teriyaki with chinese yam and shimeji (125)
• chrysanthemum greens salad
• turnip and aburaage miso soup
• japanese-style pasta with green bell pepper and sardines (144)
• chicken and avocado salad
• bok choy and egg soup

Volume 15

• yurinchi chicken (with green beans and kabocha) (38)
• salted perilla and cucumber tofu
• king oyster mushroom and onion miso soup
• fried gyoza (plain and perilla) (54)
• stewed fiddleheads
• bean sprout namul
• daikon sprout miso soup
• yuan-zuke salmon (77)
• chinese-style pork belly and veg kinpira
• spinach with plum and enoki
• fried tofu and sweet potato miso soup
• ginger soy fried eggplant (97)
• tsukune meat patties with lotus root
• bok choy with sesame
• stewed daikon and tofu
• raisin marmalade cookies (116)
• beef stew (134)
• caesar salad
• cod roe and sour cream with baguette
• tokoyanabe hotpot (thinly sliced pork belly, spinach, shimeji mushrooms, fried tofu) (147)
• cod roe and hijiki seaweed

Books I loved reading in 2020 which had a strong sense of place

• Meddling and Murder: an Aunty Lee Mystery by Ovidia Yu - Murder mystery solved by a Singaporean aunty who runs a restaurant. Very foodie, very cute. Latest book in a series I love.
• Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap - Thai short stories. Reading these made me feel ridiculous about my tourism. Excellent.
• The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin - A love song to the real NYC where I live. She gets it. (The plot is almost beside the point with this one, for me.)
• If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha - Young women in Seoul, beauty standards and plastic surgery, what we do to survive.

Romance novels I loved reading in 2020

• The Bride Test by Helen Hoang - Autistic love interest. Protagonist was chosen by the mom to be the bride (mom went back to Vietnam to find a candidate), agrees because she wants citizenship, and is brought to the US as a housekeeper to try to win him over. It’s all loving and respectful and sweet.
• The Truitts: Appetites & Vices by Felicia Grossman - Historical romance (1800s Philly) with a Jewish protagonist who came across to me as probably on the spectrum. Not accepted because of her religion, but also she’s always just too loud and direct and confident and blunt. I love her.
• Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - Adorable romance between the UK prince and the son of the US president. Light and warm and fuzzy and just solidly comforting.
• The Worth Saga: Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan - Queer old women, one rich one poor, falling in love. I live for stories of old ladies having fun!

Scifi/Fantasy I loved reading in 2020

• Strange the Dreamer (series) by Laini Taylor - Dark, creepy, awful, sickening. (First book was a reread, but I finally read the sequal this year.)
• Species Imperative (series) by Julie E. Czerneda - This was a reread, I love it so much. Evolutionary biology scifi! Written by a scientist, and it shows!
• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle - Reread, of course. Lives up to the memories.
• Docile by K.M. Szpara - Feels like this should’ve been sexy but in fact it was creepy and depressing. I wouldn’t actually say I loved it, or even liked it, but it certainly stayed with me.
• The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke - What this one really gets right is the feeling of being a teenage girl - all sharp and gross and ridiculous and dangerous and desperate and confused and powerful. Really excited for the rest of the series to come out!

Books I loved reading in 2020 that related to parenting

• How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber and Julie King
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies
• Go To Sleep / I Miss You: cartoons from the fog of new parenthood by Lucy Knisley

Other non-fiction I loved reading in 2020

• The Sting of the Wild by Justin O. Schmidt - By the Schmidt Sting Pain Index guy! Fun anecdotes (though at least one rather horrifying one, too)
• An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management by Will Larson
• Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet
• Making Comics by Lynda Barry

Other fiction I loved reading in 2020

• Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz - Sherlock and Watson as two middle school girls solving kid problems. Exactly the wholesome content I needed this year.
• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
• The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

Total number of books read in 2020: 159