The Weekly Recap #83

Recipe: Simple Salad Dressing

Jan 09, 2022

Circling back to resolutions/goals before we get too far into January. I rarely sit down and read books. Occasionally I wish I read more books but I have just accepted it’s not something I really enjoy. My attention span is short and my brain processes words *differently* causing me to have to reread things two or three times before I fully retain what I just read.

If I am going to read something from start to finish it has to be in short format. Newsletters, essays, or short articles. Cookbooks with short excerpts I am into. Books of poems even! On a weekly basis, I actually read a lot, just never from long traditional books.

Along with a few cookbooks, I received Crying In H Mart for Christmas. I listened to Michelle Zauner on podcasts, watched everyone rave about it on social media this year, and I want to read it! Last Sunday I read the first (very short) chapter and then dozed off on the couch. When I went to place it in my nightstand, to revisit later in bed, I had nowhere to put it…because there were three half-read books in there. Then when I went to move those half-read books out of the way and onto the bookshelf, I found more half-read books. A number so ridiculously high I’m not going to share it.

Apparently, this is a thing I do. I start books, get into them, and then abandon them and never return to finish them.

So here is another goal I’m setting for 2021: finish all of the books I have started that are waiting for me on the bookshelf. Then I will read, and finish, Crying In H Mart.

I am happy to share I already finished one book this week! It only had 50 pages left and I finished it in one quick sitting but it was nice to finish it.

The other thing I have been doing, and want to continue doing, is reading cookbooks. Really reading the writing in addition to the recipes. As someone who wants to write a cookbook, I have become fascinated with the structure of them, the different types of cookbooks, and of course the recipes. It’s really interesting when you study how a cookbook is put together. I have quickly learned what style I like and what I definitely do not like. You can feel when there is a lot of personality in a cookbook and when it is more of a simple manual for cooking. Try it out! Read a cookbook from start to finish instead of just making a recipe. I think you will enjoy it too.