Saturday in the Garden | My TBR Hits New Heights of Ridiculousness

OUTSIDE

My bountiful harvest this week: a handful of Green Beans and a tiny pile of adorably minuscule Blueberries.  Awww....

I've suspected for some time that at least one thing eating my Kale so thoroughly was Cabbage White butterfly caterpillars.  This was pretty much confirmed today.  I feel bad that it makes me feel such rage towards them as one of the focuses of my job is butterfly conservation but Cabbage Whites are originally non-native - introduced from Europe. So Screw 'em.

Speaking of butterflies, my field work lately has been looking for Monarch Butterfly caterpillars on milkweed plants.  I only found two Monarch eggs this week (on about 175 examined plants at 4 sites) but I did find a couple of other cool critters:

Milkweed Tussock Moths (I think) - They feed gregariously at least during early larval stages.

A Grey Tree Frog  - These frogs can change their color based on the color of the background they are sitting on, hence why this fellow looks green instead of grey!

WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

Watching 

I've been making my way through some K Dramas, so far Oh My Ghostess (very good!) and then a couple of mini-dramas; Splash, Splash, Love (despite the ridiculous name, very good!) and Noble, My Love (hmmm... jury's still out).  Watching these dramas (it also happened with Coffee Prince) has made me very curious about Korea and its culture which as portrayed in the Dramas is still steeped in its own traditions but with heavy influences by Western, particularly American culture.  America's influence is not surprising considering the Korean War and the North and South Korea situation which America heavily butts into because of the Communism and such.  Anyway, it makes for a fascinating dynamic and it is part of the reason why I like the Dramas as more than just silly fluffy romance.

My overall relationship with television still feels very broken.  Besides the K Dramas I can't really get into anything, and even my enthusiasm for the K Dramas is somewhat muted.  It would be a good time to explore other hobbies and break my TV addiction, right?  Nahhhh..... Hopefully this slump ends soon.  Thankfully, I've been reading some good books of late.


Reading

Finished Last Week:

• Broken Homes (Peter Grant #4) by Ben Aaronovitch:  I LOVE this series so much.  The ending of this one may have broken my heart though.
• In a House Made of Bones and Teeth (Lovegrove Legacy #3) by Alyxandra Harvey: A short self-published conclusion to Harvey's Lovegrove Legacy trilogy.  It was less than satisfying of course, being only 55 pages in length but at least she provided something after the publishers dropped the series.  
• A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1)by Brittany Cavallaro: A YA novel that takes place at a modern day boarding school focused on a team up between the female descendant of Sherlock Holmes and the male descendant of John Watson.  LOVED this book.  So much fun and then some.

Currently Reading:

• One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein: A gardening book about maximizing food production in a small space.  An ARC from Netgalley (though I think it's an older title).  
• The Passage (The Passage #1) by Justin Cronin:  This literary novel about a vampiric plague has been recommended to me a thousand times in a thousand ways.  My first thoughts: 1) I am 13 chapters in to the whopping 75 total chapters and already feel like I've been reading it for AGES, and 2) I sometimes think literary fiction authors' whole goal in life is to imagine up new levels of misery they can put their characters through.  Despite the fact that those two comments are kind of negative, I am sucked into it.  
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith: I will try almost any take on Jane Austen's novels, even (especially?) ones involving zombies. 

Added to the TBR:

This is a list of books that I have added to my Goodreads TBR list this week.  It helps to burn the books I want to read a little more firmly into my mind, maybe get them on some other folks TBRs and gives me a chance to recognize a lot of the awesome bloggers that add stuff to my TBR!

The Top Ten Tuesday topic this week (see below) was killer on my TBR as were some podcasts....

• Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins:  A romance set on the American frontier featuring people of color.  It sounds amazing!
• Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie:  I'm not really a contemporary romance or "chick-lit" fan but the premise of this book sounds so good.  Guy takes a bet to ask a girl out, girl knows this is why he's asking her out but stays mum about it and there is apparently some great scenes with donuts. 
• HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt:  A modern day town is home to a creepy old witch who placed a curse on it 100 years prior.  
• The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz:  A really interesting sounding mystery. About Bourbon and Thievery.
• The Voyage of the Basset by James C. Christensen: 18th Century folks go sailing into the ancient myths.  Sign. Me. Up.
• A Cat Called Dog by Jem Vanston: A cat who acts like a dog and the proper cats that take on his re-education.
• The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko (Volume 1) by Ririko Tsujita:  I am flummoxed by but drawn to manga so am always on the look out for recs.  
• Daughter of Xanadu (#1) by Dori Jones Yang:  Historical fiction about the grand-daughter of Kubilai Khan.  
• The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal: Fairy Tale-esque political intrigue set in a Scandinavian royal court.
• Above World (#1) by Jenn Reese: People living under the sea.  
• The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff:  I've not read any thing by Rosemary Sutcliff and need to fix that I think.  This looks like a good one featuring retired Gladiators and mistaken identities.
• Peaceweaver by Rebecca Barnhouse: Looks like a very fun YA epic fantasy with a female protagonist.  
• The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Albino's Treasures by Stuart Douglas: I am always on the look out for good "professional" Holmes fan fiction. 
• The Spirit Chaser by K.M. Montemayor:  Ghost hunters.
• A Two Reel Murder (Maisy Malone #1) by Larry Names:  Mystery featuring stars from the golden age of silent cinema.  
• Claymore, Vol. 1: A Silver-eyed Slayer by Norihiro Yagi:  See above note about Manga.
• Rivers of London: Body Work #1 by Ben Aaronovitch:  A graphic novel version of one of if not my very favorite Urban Fantasy series!

The next few were inspired by my recent K Drama watching and desire to learn more about Korea.

• Drifting House by Krys Lee:  Short story collection.
• Without Me There is No Us by Suki Kim: Non-fiction about a Korean-American's stint as a teacher in North Korea.
• Korea and Her Neighbors by Isabella Bird: A classic non-fiction book about the region circa 1890s.
• The Memoirs of Lady Hyegong by Lady Hyegong: Another classic which is the diary of a member of the royal household during a particularly dramatic and brutal time period - her husband, the Crown Prince, was murdered terribly by his father.
• Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick:  A look at every day life of every day people in North Korea.
• Nation Building in South Korea: Koreans, Americans and the Making of Democracy by Gregg Brazinsky: I think the title is pretty self-explanatory and is a big part of my interest - the Western influence on this Eastern Culture.   

I TOLD you my TBR exploded this week!  My TBR has hit the milestone of outnumbering my "Have read" list on Goodreads.

Blogging 

On the BLOG LAST WEEK:

TUESDAY:  Top Ten Tuesday | Underrated Books
THURSDAY: REVIEW | The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Never be Afraid to Look Unintentionally Silly. And have a good week!- Jasper