September Mishmash
Spooky season is upon us!!! 🦇👻🎃
Hi friends! There's a chill in the air, I hung up my cute skeleton on the front door, and pumpkin spice is back at Starbucks! Sorry not sorry. This month feels like it was really busy and I'm sending this late because I completely didn't realize it was already October! Oops!!
Food!
I’ve probably shared this before, but who cares. Here is my favorite chili recipe! I recently decided to make a double batch. I cooked two full pounds of dried beans. I’m such a genius, I thought. When making the actual chili, before I even added the beans, my biggest Dutch oven was FULL to the brim. Oops. I was able to get out another pot and split the veggie mixture between the two pots and then mix the beans into both pots! Phew, crisis averted, and then I had TWO very full pots of chili!! Needless to say, my freezer is now fully stocked with Chili to last all winter, which makes my now very lazy cooking heart very happy.
no such thing as too much chili?
Books
You can shop all my recent reads here: https://bookshop.org/shop/michelleflook (Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)
I have one non-fiction and six fiction books to talk about this month! I'm actually shocked because I feel like it was a busy month! The first three fiction listed I read via Kindle, the rest were audiobooks. Check the link above to get any of these through bookshop.org!
Non-fiction:
First in the Family by Jessica Hoppe. A story of addiction and recovery, a Latinx family and generational trauma. The audiobook was well-read by the author. A perspective of AA and recovery that I hadn’t heard before.
Fiction:
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker. This is my fave of the bunch this month, but the one just below is a very close second. I couldn't put this book down. It's not exactly a mystery, but has an anxiety-filled, fast pace that makes it feel a bit like one. Clove is living a lovely normal life built on lies, and a letter she receives sends her into an anxiety spiral, convinced her life is about to explode. She's reliving (mostly) traumatic memories that she has avoided for years as her current life marches onward unaware of all Clove is hiding, and it's a wild ride being in Clove's head. The way the past and present collide is so satisfying and the ending is perfect.
A Reason to See You Again by Jami Attenberg. I loved this book. It’s more of a story of characters than plot, so if you need some big action, maybe this isn’t the book for you. But the characters felt so real to me. Real and messy and relatable and following them through 40 years I felt very connected with them! I was very sad when this book ended.
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper. The first book in a trilogy, I read this for the Toad Circle book club. The Wolf Den is a brothel in ancient Pompeii. The story follows Amara, who was sold into slavery by her mother following her father’s death. Amara has a lot of grit and determination and while this book wasn’t my favorite, I did enjoy it and will keep reading the series.
The Searcher by Tana French. The first book in a new series. A slow story set in a small Irish town. A retired American cop fixing up an old house gets drawn into looking into a missing person by their younger sibling. It’s really slow, but I liked it. The audiobook was well read and I will be reading the next book in the series.
Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker. This is a fun book, I listened to the audiobook and it is quite short. The setting is a reality show about fixing up haunted houses, like Fixer Upper with some hokey production tricks. Guess what though, there is an actual ghost in this story! Definitely wasn’t scary though.
Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones. This is the second book in a series, a fun and bloody modern slasher, great for classic horror movie lovers. The audiobook was great with a full cast.
TV/Movies!
I feel like we have already watched everything!!! The writer’s strike is hitting us hard! We did watch two really disturbing documentaries, if you like true crime:
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (Netflix) is a crazy and upsetting story about missing/abused girls. A story with more than a few twists and turns, and a very upsetting reveal.
Lost Women of Highway 20 (Hulu) tells the story of a string of missing/murdered girls/women along highway 20 in Oregon. A little close to home, and really sad.
Projects!
My Second quilt pattern, Sightline, was released on 9-19! If you are interested in making one, you can get the pattern over here: MichFlookMakes.com. I also have a couple of finished quilts for sale on the site! Use code BFFS for 15% off handmade quilts, because I love you!! Here are the two versions of Sightline that I made, a throw size in fall colors including a couple of beautiful ice-dyed fabrics from Dust & Waves Textile, and a baby-size in high contrast nearly black & nearly white, with a lime green binding. I am obsessed with both of these! The baby-size B&W one is for sale on my website!
Miscellaneous!
I went on a very quick weekend trip to Las Vegas for my friend Mari’s 45th birthday! It was VERY hot, slightly chaotic, and a really good time!
Fremont Street!
Remi!
Remi came with us to a winery on a lovely day this month to celebrate Matthew’s sister's 40th birthday. It was really fun & we got some cute family photos thanks to a friend of my SIL!
Goodbye, until next month!
xoM