Space Station Mir

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! I'm not usually big on covers or illustrations,  but I've attempted to find some books on my TBR with covers that evoke fall to me!Book Covers with Fall Vibes1. Etrog by David Z. MosterSince it's currently the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, this book on the etrog, a citrus fruit that's become a symbol of the holiday, has major fall vibes.









2. A Curse So Dark and Lonely 









3. Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee









4. The Lost Queen by Signe Pike









5. The Ethereal Squadron by Shami Stovall

I finished two books this week...but in two different months! I finished The Bookshop of Yesterdays before Oct. 1, and spent the rest of the week reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, which definitely has me on the Fredrik Backman train, even though I just found out he's only a few years older than me, which is intimidating considering the number of books he's had published. Then again, I should have suspected with all the Harry Potter and X-Men references in these books. Finished Reading The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy MeyersonMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik BackmanWatchingI finally finished watching all of "The West Wing," for the first time. So astonishingly naive in 2020 hindsight, but I hope we move toward that (still flawed) picture of who we wished we were!I'm currently watching "The  Good Place," season 4. I'm so glad "Sister, Sister" is on Netflix now. Such a comforting '…

I didn't initially think this would be a big reading month since I've been so busy with returning to work, which really cut down on my reading in August. It's still maybe nothing to brag about, but not only did I read more than last month, but I'm currently in the middle of a book I'm really enjoying, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman, and that's the best gift this month could give me!I finished FOUR book club reads this month, two for my clubs this month and two for next. The Bookshop of Yesterdays was my own suggestion, since I loved the author's more recent The Imperfects. The latter book was definitely better as, you know, one would hope for a second book, but The Bookshop of Yesterdays was a fun read. I found the mystery element so predictable that it spoilt my enjoyment of the book, but in the end, who can't love a book with a protagonist Miranda, a Prospero Books, and endless circle of literary references to s…

Since I missed last week's Top Ten Tuesday, I'm doing a combo edition today. Five bookish quotes for this week's prompt and five books I'm looking forward to reading this fall from last week's. Five Favorite Bookish Quotes1. "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R. R. TolkienThis has been one of my favorite quotes for a long, long time, but fortunately or unfortunately, it's especially poignant in these pandemically and politically tumultuous times.2. "Some worlds are built on a fault line of pain, held up by nightmares. Don't lament when those worlds fall. Rage that they were built doomed in the first place." -Hoa, The Stone Sky, by N.K. JemisinSo true of our world. We shouldn't lament what is falling. We should be thinking about building anew.3.“This is the trouble with history. You can't see what's not there. You can look at an empty space and see th…

Since I don't commute anymore, my life has been largely sans audiobooks for the past seven months. Really, before that, since I switched jobs to be much closer to home. I got into audiobooks when I had a long, at least 45-minute commute, each way (sometimes one, or on a couple memorable occasions, two hours, if I was unlucky). I'd never been much into them before, but I loved them for driving. Sometimes, I'd even stay in the car for a few minutes after I got home. But I don't read audiobooks much at home. I've tried a few over the past several months, usually because that's all I could get from the library digitally when there were long waits for ebooks, before my library started offering contactless pickup. Even now, I prefer borrowing ebooks when I can. But with all the audiobooks I tried, because I needed to get the read in before a book club meeting, I would keep following asleep. And missing things. And having a hell of a time finding out where I was suppo…

This week, I finally finished a couple of books I'd been reading for a while, and finally watched something other than The West Wing!
 Finished ReadingA Bend in the Stars by Rachel BarenbaumThe Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson"Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler (short story)-glad she finally made the bestseller list but seriously can't believe she hadn't already/while she was still alive. Real Simple magazine-I'm loving this new subscription. it's the oerfect antidote to the world right now, focusing on what we can control.Hadassah magazine--reflections on getting ready for Rosh Hashanah and lots of book recs!WatchedLove, Guaranteed Netflix movie--This one was cute though unrealistic (suing a dating site). <3 Damon Wayans Jr. Seasons 5 and half season 6 of The West WingOther Things Socially distanced walks with friends are fun, and I'm taking advantage while the weather is nice. I had a great walk with a friend yesterday, and m…

I didn't finish many books in August, but the two I did were excellent. I also spent plenty of time prepping for my online courses, and starting them at the end of the month!

Books Read This MonthThe Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda PetrusThe Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
Shows Watched This Month A lot, a lot, a lot of The West Wing...I'm in season 5 now. It's such a (necessary) jarring dissonance with today's political landscape. Things were bad then but there were still boundaries. Concerns about not catering to campaign donors. Worrying about lying to the public. Scruples about separation of church and state. Even if they didn't always get it right, they at least tried to do what was right, and that is what is lacking right now. And yes, I know it's a TV show, but it reflected the moral values of the time. Less than 20 years ago.Other Things I'm back at work, so that's why you're seeing less of me here. I'm enjoying teaching onl…