Space Station Mir

Some dude on Twitter recently bemoaned the "canceling" of the "best woman author in 100 years," referring to J.K. Rowling. I haven't talked much about this publicly, since this is a grief that's been hard for me to deal with--many of my friends are still Harry Potter fans and I still have a nostalgic attachment, but I can't in good conscience continue to support anything that would monetarily benefit Rowling after her hurtful and damaging comments and actions against trans women. That said, this dude's comment is objectively laughable. Harry Potter had a huge influence on my millenial generation for sure, but there are so many women authors of more acclaim in the past 100 years; many of whom are better writers than JKR. So, if you are per chance looking for a list, here you go-- and as I suspect, if many of you have some to add, please do so in the comments! 21 Woman Authors From The Past 100 Years That Are Better Than JKR Toni Morrison--Like have yo

  Happy Top Ten Tuesday! My parents made all my Hanukkah dreams come true--plus I got some great deals from Amazon and a free ebook from Tor to round out my latest adds, which I've been tearing through with some speed!  Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer (ebook--Got a $1.99 deal on Kindle) Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (ebook--free from Tor) The Babysitters' Coven by Kate M. Williams (ebook--also a Kindle deal, don't remember the exact amount) Dogs on the Trail: A Year in the Life by Blair Braverman and Quince Mountain (Hanukkah) The Rabbi Who Prayed With Fire by Rachel Sharona Lewis (Hanukkah) The Corgi Chronicles by Laura Madsen (Hanukkah) What to Miss When by Leigh Stein (Hanukkah) And before that, it had been a while--I've done pretty well sticking to my current collection and the library, with the occasional ebook deal, during the pandemic. I think staying at home so much makes me extra aware of how many books I alre

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! I'm a little late on this one, and in the past few years, I've been more focused on reading or rereading what I want instead of trying to catch up with all the NEWNEW stuff, but there are a few books coming out this year that I am excited for! Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2022 The Kings of Nowhere by C.G. Drews--one of my favorite bloggers is Paper Fury (a.k.a. C.G. Drews), and I loved her book The Boy Who Steals Houses  when it came out a few years ago. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find a traditional publisher for the sequel, The Kings of Nowhere , but she just started publishing it in January (a.k.a. now!!) on her Patreon . Super excited to read all the chapters as they unfold! Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore-I mean, honestly, I am just so smitten by the title, and also this sounds like a queer, F/F linguistically-focused Ready Player One, so I'm definitely all kinds of intrigued. The unnamed third book in the Dreamers

  Here we are firmly ensconced in the 2020s, and I have to say, I thought the '20s were going to be much more fun, instead of just exciting in the way that you're always on edge and not sure what to expect. One thing I've always been able to count on, however, is books, and so I will look back over my cautious goals from 2021 and proceed to continue with the hope that, whatever else, the books will go on. 2021-Bookish Goal 1. Read 52 books. As always, I'll intentionally include books by BIPOC and Jewish authors, but I want to leave room for rereads, reading lulls, and whatever happens.-- I read 57 books (59 if we count the Grishaverse trilogy as three instead of one).  2021-Non-Bookish Goal 2. Intentionally practice self-care.-- I definitely did this, but could always do more. Although I do practice self-care most days, I don't have any consistent routines. I like that for now, but may want to change or at least have a dedicated time for self-care options in future.

  It's down to the wire, and I still don't know if I will finish another book this year or not 😀. However, I've finished 57 books so far, and so I'm completing my customary annual survey with those in mind. 2021 Reading Stats (As usual, borrowed and modified from the sadly now discontinued blog, Boston Bibliophile.) How many books read? 57 Fiction/nonfiction? 48 fiction (including 2 mixed collections),  9 nonfiction Female/male/nonbinary author ratio? 41 female, 13 male, and 3 collections with mixed genders  Writers of Color/Minority Writers? 10 books by writers of color,  13 books by Jewish authors, which also includes some writers of color and LGBTQ writers Favorite book? The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers--three very different aliens temporarily stranded at a waystation in space, plus their host alien and her child--a thoughtful depiction of alien cultures and a masterpiece of character interaction Longest and shortest books? Longest:  The Secret Co

At last, the semester comes to an end. As I write this, I'm still very much in the thick of it, but by the time this has posted, it (hopefully) will feel long over. I turned my calendar over to December recently, and at the end of this calendar of Zen sayings, it says "You cannot teach people anything; you can only help them find it within themselves." Such an appropriate ending to the year for a teacher (I adjusted the saying here for gender inclusivity). I've also decided to post on Dec. 30, to get ahead of New Year's, but I'll post in January if I finished up any books last minute.   Books I've Read This Month The Latke in the Library & Other Mystery Stories for Chanukah by Libi Astaire Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Sex Wars by Marge Piercy Dogs on the Trail: A Year in the Life by Blair Braverman and Quince Mountain

Happy Top Ten Tuesday!  These are my favorite books that I read in 2021, i.e. not necessarily published this year, anything that I may have read and enjoyed in this past year! It wasn't one of my best reading years, unfortunately, mostly in that I did not discover any new authors that I particularly love, with the exception of Leigh Bardugo (but I burned through almost all of them, though, yay! there are more). I did however read some exquisite sequels and new books by some of my all-time favorite authors--I was especially excited to get new books from Kristin Cashore and Becky Chambers, but I also read new books by Charlie Jane Anders, Maggie Stiefvater, and more, and a new-to-me book by Marge Piercy.  Best Books I Read in 2021 The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers Sex Wars by Marge Piercy Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore The Secret Commonwealth by Ph