I've been reading Circe by Madeline Miller. I had it on a to-read list for a long time and finally started it. I've really been enjoying it so far.

I'm on book 5 right now. It's kept my interest so far. The repetitive bits are usually comforting. It's encouraging to know that the series does end.

Salisbury steak was the king of TV dinners when I was a kid.

7 total.

Eh, I think you're oversimplifying a bit there. I've made baguettes before with mixed success. It's more than just eyeballing ingredients and guessing on time. There are ways to fold the dough to improve the texture and other techniques to improve the outcome. It's definitely worth doing, though.

I'd probably recommend starting with an actual recipe. Here's one that looks decent.