Anne Riley

I’ve been haunted by Madeleine L’Engle this week. She started tapping me on the shoulder sometime on Monday, and when I turned around, she would point at my dust-covered laptop and tilt her head as if to say, “What’s the holdup, sweetie? Why aren’t you writing? Didn’t you once send me a letter about how much you wanted to be a writer one day?”

And I would reply, “Yes, Madeleine, but things are busy right now. Very busy. And I’m tired. I’ll get around to it, I promise.”

Okay, so maybe none of that actually happened. (I’m sort of relieved that it didn’t happen. That would be super weird.) But I have been thinking about her a lot this week.

Madeleine L’Engle was the first author whose books became a part of me. I read A Wrinkle in Time at such a young age that I can’t remember a time when I hadn’t read it yet. And then I begged my mom or dad to take me to the bookstore so I could buy all her books. Many Waters, The Arm of the Starfish, A Swiftly Tilting Planet… I consumed them. Or maybe they consumed me.

I remember the first time I read A Swiftly Tilting Planet, in which the youngest Murry brother has to stop a crazy dictator from nuking the whole world. I finished it at my grandmother’s house while the rest of my family was still talking around the dinner table. As I closed the book, my heart racing, I wondered how they could all just sit there and chat like everything was normal. I mean, Mad Dog Branzillo was trying to start a nuclear war, people! And Calvin was in London! And Meg was pregnant!

Yesterday I checked out that book and another of my favorites, Troubling a Star, from the library. I am already about 50 pages in to A Swiftly Tilting Planet and I love it just as much as I loved it the other 6,000 times I’ve read it. There is something about her characters that – at the risk of sounding super cheesy – speaks to my soul. I was Meg Murry when I was younger - braces, glasses, and all. Meg and I understood each other. We still do.

This haunting by Ms. L’Engle has got me started thinking about a project I started and abandoned a long time ago – a story that I think would be enjoyed by the same kids that loved her books. Will I pick up that project again? I don’t know, but I bet if Madeleine has anything to do with it, I won’t be able to resist.

So, I keep seeing things around the blogosphere about how people “never read book reviews on blogs.” Why not? You can find some great reads that way. People ca-raaazy. Read some reviews, y’all. You’ll be surprised at the cool books you find.

Speaking of which, here is my review of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher!

Plot Summary (taken from author website)

Imagine a living prison so vast that it contains corridors and forests, cities and seas. Imagine a prisoner with no memory, who is sure he came from Outside, even though the prison has been sealed for centuries and only one man, half real, half legend, has ever escaped.

Imagine a girl in a manor house in a society where time has been forbidden, where everyone is held in a seventeenth century world run by computers, doomed to an arranged marriage that appalls her, tangled in an assassination plot she both dreads and desires.

One inside, one outside, but both imprisoned.

Imagine a war that has hollowed the moon, seven skull rings that contain souls, a flying ship and a wall at the world’s end.

Imagine the unimaginable.

Imagine Incarceron.

My Take

Go get this book right now. Go. Yes, now. I’ll wait.

Okay, maybe not right this second. But you should go soon, because seriously? This book is AMAZING. I mean, really? A giant, ancient prison that no one has ever escaped from – except one man who no one is even sure is real?

There were so many awesome things about this story. The characters are expertly developed, the two settings – which are so opposite – are so vividly drawn in your mind that it’s almost, dare I say, Rowling-esque.

And the twist towards the end? YES. That is all I have to say about that.

Incarceron is, without a doubt, one of the most genius plots I’ve ever read. The prison was seriously freaky and the two societies – one inside the prison, one outside – were just so perfectly creepy. A genuinely fantastic read!

Book rating: PG for some violence and tense situations

Recommended for: Prisoners looking for a way out, jaded girls trying to get out of an arranged marriage, and people who totally dig plot twists.

Not recommended for: Evil prison wardens attempting to thwart the efforts of said prisoners or jaded girls.

Overall book rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

Have y’all been watching Jamie Oliver as much as we have? And do you love the idea of his Food Revolution? Me too! The problem is – and if you read my last post, you already know this – I’ve been really slacking on the whole “being healthy” thing. (Taco Bell, anyone?) And let me tell you something. It’s taking a serious toll on me. For real.

So, for at least the twentieth time since we’ve been married, the Rileys are starting our own Food Revolution. (We do this every once in a while, then fall back off the wagon (or is it get on the wagon?) and start feeling all gross, and then we throw out all our fried chicken and Oreos and go buy a bunch of real food at the store.

And friends, tonight we made our first “real” dinner in a long time, and I almost cried from the deliciousness of it. So I thought I would share it with you in case anyone else is suffering from a serious case of the Fake Food Syndrome. Enjoy!

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Anne and Rob’s Quick Wraps

1 can black beans

1 avocado

Salsa

Sprinkle cheese

Salt, cumin, and chili powder

Whole wheat or other healthy-ish wraps

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Open the beans and pour the whole can in a microwave-safe bowl. Add some cumin and chili powder (I probably put in about a teaspoon of each, but who knows), stir it into the beans, cover with a paper towel, and microwave for one minute. When the minute is up, give them a good stir and microwave them for another minute.

While the beans are cooking, cut your avocado into slices. Spread some salsa on one half of the inside of each wrap, as much as you want. Drain the beans and divide them between the wraps (you will probably not use all of them – we didn’t). Layer the avocado on top of the beans and sprinkle a little cheese on top. If you want, you can add a little salt to the whole thing once you’ve got it assembled. Wrap it all up, cut it in half, and eat it!

(Side note: You may know “sprinkle cheese” by it’s more common name, “grated cheese.” We call it sprinkle cheese because one time we were watching this Britney Spears special and the Spears household was out of grated cheese. Britney spent a good ten minutes yelling about how they needed SPRINKLE CHEESE! DADDY, WE’RE OUT OF SPRINKLE CHEESE! WHO’S GONNA GO GET MORE SPRINKLE CHEESE?)