Time is 'March'-ing on

 Oh goodness me, where is the time going?  I cannot believe it is a month since my last blog post.  Seems it is true that as you get older, time passes more quickly.  Yes, I have had a birthday since we last met.  Sixty eight sounds suspiciously close to seventy doesn't it?!!

We had a really nice family lunch at Pizza Express with all the family.  I hadn't been there for years and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed their goats cheese and caramelised onion pizza!  We chose somewhere casual that caters well for children and everyone had a good time.

For Christmas our son and daughter in law gave us a 'voucher' for a restaurant in Cambridge.  I say voucher, but in fact it was five gold coins to use against the cost of the meal.  Each coin is worth £10. 

It's such an original idea isn't it?  Our bill came to £53.50 so we didn't have to contribute much towards it at all.  It was a lovely meal too, Indian inspired but not your traditional curry and rice.  

For every meal they sell, they donate one to a children via two charities.  So if you come across a Dishoom Permit Room restaurant, give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

So this month I have read three books.  The first was the book club choice

What a lovely story!  Jenny Quinn is keeping a rather large secret from her friends and family - she has been accepted as a contestant on Britain's most popular cooking show.  As the show progresses, Jenny's backstory is gradually revealed and it turns out, this is not the first secret she had kept from her husband.  

If you want a nice, easy to read story, along with inspiration for delicious bakes, this is the book for you!

Next is a book that my son gave me as part of my birthday present.

I like it when other people suggest books for me, as it takes me away from those titles I would automatically gravitate towards.  This book was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.  It is set in the Netherlands in 1961.  Isabel lives alone in the house where she has lived since childhood.  She has become almost a recluse and lives a very ordered life, exactly as she has since her mother died.  Her brother Louis asks that she allows his girlfriend Eva to stay with her while he goes away for work.  Isabel is not happy at any disruption to her routine so is initially not very welcoming and treats Eva with much suspicion.  In an unexpected twist Isabel and Eva form a romantic relationship.  But Eva is not who Isabel believed her to be.  The themes of obsession and revenge ensure that there is quite a twist to the tale.

So onto something quite different again!  

The internet is full of podcasts nowadays and this story introduces us to Joy and Benny, the hosts of a comedy podcast where they lightheartedly discuss near death situations and how you may survive them.  All is going well, they are at the top of the charts and taking the podcast on the road to sell out audiences, but then Joy and her husband Xander disappear and Benny is accused of her murder.  

I really enjoyed this book.  Things were definitely not as they seemed and all characters were under my suspicion as I read further into the book! The evidence against Benny is not looking good but then the next chapter will delve into Joy's memoirs and you realise that her life is not as happy and easy as her husband would want you to think.  

This has a good storyline and I wasn't able to guess the complexity of what really happened at all.  I really enjoyed it.

It sounds as if I have spent the month either eating or reading, let's check it out 1 Second Everyday.