Space Station Mir

 There may be nearly a hundred of these formative books in my life, but below I've thought of some that were my childhood doorways into genres, others that led to niche fascinations, some of them continuing, and a few that fostered more recent obsessions, who knows where they will lead! I'm here for the journey and looking forward to the wonderful fresh content being published every day, plus all of the lost and hidden gems still circulating.  1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle This was my first memorable foray into science fiction (even though it's now sometimes shelved as "science fantasy"). My dad had mentioned it being one of his favorites as a kid, I found it at the library, and it was my absolute favorite book from ages 9-11--until I read LOTR. Years later, I realized there were MORE, and I read all of the Time Quartet, plus almost all of the later O'Keefe family books, Austin family books, and a bunch of L'Engle's stand-alones.  2. Th

It was quite a month for reading, especially comfort reading, as you'll see by my list. I'd been meaning to get to the Grishaverse for a while, but it was on the backburner until it came out on Netflix. After I parceled out the TV show, which I definitely enjoyed, I binged all five of the books the series is/will be based on. The creators of the show made an interesting choice to combine the casts and overlap the plots of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows, which are separate in the books.   It will be interesting to see where that goes. The first trilogy is a much more traditional good hero versus evil villain epic fantasy with some Russian-esque words thrown in for flavor (don't get me wrong, this is the epitome of a comfort read for me!), while the Crows duology is grittier, picaresque heroes coming up in the big bad city. Bardugo is great at characterization, especially biting dialogue, and plays well with the implications of the magical Grisha powers in the universe she

 Happy Top Ten Tuesday! I had to go through my Goodreads list, but I did find at least ten books I've read with complete sentences for titles! It's certainly an intriguing collection. One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross by Harry Kemelman Don't Overthink It by Anne Bogel My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Mr. Rogers by Tim Madigan Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Again, honestly, I read more than I would have predicted with how busy I've been at work and with my doggo's surgery. She is done and a few days into her recovery, she's already standing on her leg a bit! There's a lot of care and work between now and projected full recovery but at least it feels like we're on our way. I've been coping with immersive reading when I can! Books Read This Month Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell (would not recommend) Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline ( a fun ride, v reminiscent of the first) Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders (see below) The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich (book club read, really enjoyed, adding more Erdrich to my list) The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline (potential book club read, historical fiction about an aboriginal girl taken from her family and two convict women transported from England to Australia, specifically Tasmania) Favorite Book This Month I mean, it was always going to be Victories G

I'm back for Top Ten Tuesday this week! Since I missed last week, I'm going to do a few from last week's list (Places in Books I'd Love to Live) and a few from this week's (Books I'd Gladly Throw into the Ocean). I think the latter has probably been well-documented on this blog, but I'll try to come up with some new ones.  Books I'd Gladly Throw into the Ocean 1. Pamela by Samuel Richardson--Yeah, this might be my most hated book ever. It remains the only book I have literally thrown across a room. There were no oceans handy. The main character marries her employer-rapist. And this is supposed to be a good thing. Yeah. 18th century British values were NOT the best. 2. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner--Yeah, I just can't with Faulkner. Not only do I not understand him, but I just have no desire to. 3. Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and the Sublime by Immanuel Kant--I read this for a literary theory class in college, and it'

I'm swamped with work, and not much relief in sight till May. Honestly, I'm surprised I got as much reading done as I did. Plus, it looks like one of my doggos is going to need surgery and I'm pretty upset, and between making appointments for her, me, and my husband...phew. Good news is I'm now half-vaccinated, as a teacher, and so is my husband, who also works in education. I get my second vaccine next week!   Books I Read This Month Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (reread) Thoughts I'm so, so grateful that I got to read  Winterkeep,  the latest in the Graceling series that I've been following since 2012. I definitely tried to read slowly and savor as much as I could! I know I'll read it again too. I love Kristin Cashore so much and will read anything she writes for the rest of my life.  Reading  Winterkeep was  even more of a treat than I dared to dream.  Bitterblue 

 Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! This week's topic is a Spring Cleaning freebie, so I decided to go with cleaning-themed books I'm either interested in or have enjoyed. I'm not going to do any spring cleaning anytime soon since this is a busy time of year for me (as a teacher, I'm more likely to attempt big cleaning projects in January or June), but it's sometimes fun to read about it. Also to watch on Netflix re: Kondo and The Home Edit. Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore by Patric Richardson Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness by Suellen Hoy The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (still sparks joy!) The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness by Gretchen Rubin The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals by Clea Sh