Space Station Mir

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl!

I'm in a terrible reading slump right now, so I'm actually having a hard time imagining five-star reads, although I would love to start one right about now! Here are some books I'm hoping will end the slump:

1. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

2. The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

3. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

4. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

5. The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

6. The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa

7. Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen

8. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

9. Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

10. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

I'm banking on some of my favorite authors to lift me out of this slump!

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl!

I'm not that into cover art, so I'm using today's Top Ten Tuesday for a topic I've been meaning to talk about..my favorite books from the past decade!

My Favorite Books of the 2010s


The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, 2013The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin (2015, 2016, 2017)How Long 'Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin, 2018The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016)The Good Lord Bird by James McBride, 2013The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty, 2017The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and Smitten Kitchen Everyday by Deb Perelman (2012, 2017)American Cake and American Cookie by Anne Byrne (2016, 2018)Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, 2014The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders, 2019Educated by Tara Westover, 2018The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, 2014Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2015Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on love and life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl S…

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl!

The Top Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

1. Touched With Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle Against Racial and Religious Discrimination  by David E. Lowe

So excited to read this! The author is my former neighbor and good friend's dad, so I'm biased, but he gave an incredible, well-attended talk at Politics & Prose bookstore in D.C. and just won the National Jewish Book Award for Biography!

My parents made sure that I got much of my Hanukkah wishlist:

2. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

3. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

4. Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman

My parents actually found a signed copy of this at Barnes & Noble!

5. The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

My other latest additions were some thrift store finds:

6. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster

She always makes me laugh!

7. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

Found this in the thrift store just in time for my reread--perfect since I a…

2020-Bookish Goals

1. Read at least 60 books

Last year, I read 89 books, the most I've read in a year in my entire adult life, but I had an unusual year job-wise, and I'm not sure what this year holds for me in that direction, so I want to keep my reading manageable and fun.

2. Reread old favorites and books I have more to learn from

Towards the end of 2019/beginning of 2020, I reread Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and enjoyed it so much. It's probably been at least fifteen years since I read it in full and it was still compelling and thoughtful as an adult. The past few years, I've been focusing a lot on new releases and chugging through new-to-me books, but I'm feeling it's time to go back and reread those books that are really meaningful to me. I don't have particular titles in mind, but I want to make more deliberate space for rereading this year.

3. Continue participating in book clubs

Last year, I joined a book club for the first time…

Happy Top Ten Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl!

Top Ten Five Most Anticipated Books Arriving in the First Half of 2020


1. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel-Mar. 2020

I loved Station Eleven, and this one intrigues me. Also, everyone seems to have an ARC of it, and I'm so jealous!

2. The Empire of Dreams by Rae Carson-April 2020

I loved the Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy and I'm excited for another novel set in that universe!

3. We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry-Mar. 2020

A girls' field hockey team turns into witches? I need to read this.

4. The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin-Mar. 2020

Everything N.K. Jemisin writes gets better and better. Plus. I've already read the shirt story I'm pretty sure this is based on.

5. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins-May 2020

HUNGER GAMES. 'Nuff said.

Annnd that's it, because I want to focus on rereads and old TBRs and books I already own or can readily get at the library this year, but can't hel…

2019 Reading Stats As usual, borrowed and modified from the sadly now discontinued Boston Bibliophile.
How many books read in 2019? 89, which is the most I've read in a year in my entire adult life, and totally busted last year's previous record of 73! How many fiction and nonfiction? 69 fiction, 19 nonfiction, and 1 poetry  Male/female author ratio? 79 books by women and 10 by men Writers of Color/Minority Writers? At least 10 books by writers of color, an additional 18 by Jewish writers (how fortuitous!), and at least two by LGBTQ writers that I know of Favorite book of 2019? Wow, I don't know. I feel like this was at least three different years in my reading life. I loved the first book I read in 2019, How Long Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin. I loved Man Fast by Natasha Scripture, which I read in August, and feels like a million years ago. Most recently, I loved Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day. Longest and shortest books? Longest:The Priory of the Orange Tree by Sam…