There you are! Whatcha Been Doing?

Greetings loyal readers!

Where has the summer gone? I looked back at various drafts I wrote intending to get a letter out to you all and see a visual of my distractibility. I started with a summer solstice greeting, moved on in the next draft to the 4th of July hello, then to relief over election events, and I mentioned my August birthday and now I am saluting fall by reading Autumn Journal, a glorious book-length poem by Louis McNeice published in England 1938-39 which I reread each year (well, started to last year!).

Lately, I don't care to write. I just want to read. I'm consumed with reading lists (The Atlantic, New York Times, The Guardian) and titles.

I finished The Library Book by Susan Orleans (yes, the Orchid Thief author and it came out a few years ago), brilliant and chock full of tidbits about libraries and full of suspense as to who started the fire which burned 700,000 books in the Los Angeles City Library in 1986. Our own library in Seattle has been felled by ransomware attack and offline for almost three months while they struggle to restore access and security. Not that Featherbooks lacks for reading matter.

Let me remind you that most every book I read is on my reading blog: featherbooks.net I also note them on Goodreads under featherbooks.

But I'm a piker compared to some: here's Steven Soderbergh's list of movies & TV seen and books read for 2023 https://thefilmstage.com/everything-steven-soderbergh-watched-and-read-in-2023/

Authors with books out this fall of 2024 are Sally Rooney, Louise Erdrich, Rachel Kushner, Garth Greenwell, Alan Hollinghurst, Richard Osman, Louise Penny, Elizabeth Strout, Olga Tokarczuk, Liane Moriarty, Haruki Murakami, André Aciman, Ta-Nihisi Coates, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Cher, Connie Chung, and even a cookbook from Steven Colbert and his wife.

We went to Portland, OR for the book launch of Broken Open, by our friend, writing teacher and travel leader Martha Gies who writes a spellbinding tale of experiences in her itinerant life plus stories of the equally fascinating souls she met along the way. Whether assisting Great Kramien the Magician in his act, studying with Raymond Carver, interviewing graveyard shift workers when driving cab (see her first book Up All Night), or talking to an ex-Black Panther father or a devout nuclear physicist, she speaks wisely and compassionately and interviews her subjects with a bit of humor for herself. No humdrum moments in Gies' life tales and exquisite writing--I highly recommend this collection.

Booktubers have consumed our viewing attention of late. These are people on YouTube who babble about books, prize nominees, lists galore (best this or that, recommendations for biography, history, literary fiction, genre fiction, occasionally movies as well). I sit there scribbling titles like a reader possessed and then check Betterworldbooks.com for cheap copies. Some of my favorites are opinionated history & biography buff, Steve Donoghue http://www.youtube.com/@saintdonoghue who reads a phenomenal number of books and requires only ninety minutes of sleep a night--if you only watch one, try him; and the popular Benjamin McEvoy https://www.youtube.com/@BenjaminMcEvoyhttps://www.youtube.com/@BenjaminMcEvoy who is oh-so-Oxbridgy (posh accent) and reads mainly classics; charming Britta Boehler's Second Shelf https://www.youtube.com/c/BrittaB%C3%B6hlerTheSecondShelf reviews all kinds of books, but only by women authors; Sean of Sean Breathes Books https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXFFuV_loS97oL-UTCazcXA for literary reading especially gay stories and Canadian authors; Marianna Neal, https://www.youtube.com/@ImpressionBlend, a precise and poised young woman of Russian heritage who reads Dostoevsky in Russian plus recommends all genres of film; and https://www.youtube.com/@doomantidote. I wonder if the rest of the world would find these as interesting as we do, or are we too obsessed with lists and heavy TBRs--To Be Read). The world must be into them; these sites have thousands of followers! And almost as many book titles. Would you watch them? Or is this a personal obsession? They are a boon when the pace of Slow Horses' releases defeats us.

Of course, urban farming continues: we have been bootying our apples to counter the dreaded coddling moth, and that was no small task. 700 booties or Ped socks applied to our various heirloom apple trees

The fruit is just starting to ripen. I wrote a poem on this very topic and read it at an open mic Poetry Reading at the fantastic Auntmama's in Kingston: https://www.auntmamastage3.com/ These are Akane apples, developed by the Morika Experimental Station of Japan sometime between in the first half of the 20th Century by crossing a Jonathan apple with a Worcester Pearmain, and was introduced to the United States in 1937. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akane_(apple)

Polenta Recipe, the perfect compliment to our veggie black bean chili:

https://anewsletter.alisoneroman.com/p/i-cook-the-same-thing-all-summer?triedRedirect=true Serves 6—8 Has there ever been a more pleasing phrase than “corn on corn?” Close your eyes and you can see it now: a bowl of perfectly tender, creamy polenta with plenty of black pepper and just the right amount of Parmesan, topped with some buttery, lightly spiced, just-cooked corn. It’s a starch, it’s a carb, it’s a vegetable, it’s celebrating both peak summer produce and reliable pantry staples, it’s everything! A summer dream if there ever was one (though have been known to make this deep into the cooler season).

However you get to 2 cups of corn kernels (shucking and cutting the kernels off fresh cobs yourself, or using a bag of frozen corn kernels) is fine. Kind of the ideal “make ahead side” for any meat or other vegetables you’re searing or grilling this summer. Both the polenta and the sizzled corn kernels can be made a few hours ahead—just know you may need to loosen up the polenta with a bit of water if it gets too stiff, no big deal.

2 cups coarsely ground polenta Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 3–4 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed (or about 2 cups corn kernels, however you get there) ¼ – ½ cup Parmesan or pecorino, plus more ¼ teaspoon hot paprika Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes 1. Bring 8 cups of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Reduce heat to low and whisk in polenta. Cook, whisking occasionally to prevent clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pot, until cooked through, 15–20 minutes. Once polenta is fully cooked, remove from heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons butter, ¼ cup Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Season with more salt, pepper and Parmesan as you like.

1. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add corn kernels and season with kosher salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. Add paprika and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, just to take the raw edge off and bring out the sweetness, 2-3 minutes.

2. Spoon polenta into a large serving bowl and top with corn, more black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes and Parmesan.

I would love to hear from you if you are still out there.