Space Station Mir

Received recently from Bookmooch: Already finished hypocrite in a pouffy white dress and halfway through I Capture the Castle !

On April 1, I put two books in my bag: Lightwall by Liliana Ursu and Dispatch from the Future by Leigh Stein. Then, the April Fool's joke was on me because I realized that my random decision to read poetry fortuitously coincided with National Poetry Month. And I told myself that I was going to finish those books. Completely. In April. And. I. did. I've been telling myself for years that I need to read more poetry. I've been trying it, and hating it, and giving it up quickly. But, finally, this time, it stuck. I'm sure it had to do with the particular poems, but I think it also has to do with how I'm growing into myself. A few years ago, I would never have willingly entered an art museum, but this year I took a trip to NYC almost exclusively to spend time at the Met. Something about the passing of years renders me more compassionate and more aware. And the more that I feel, the deeper grows my appreciation for all forms of art. Has anyone else experienced this p

So, I read a lot of books in the past couple months, and I'm in a bit over my head. But I'm going to try to break it down with this chronological list, and some six word reviews. 20. The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall Brings (polygamous) Mormons mainstream; hilariously appropriate. 21. On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First Century Struggle Against Resegregation by Carol Corbett Burris Tracking is evil: get on board. 25. The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen Renaissance woman artist serves queen: awesome. 26. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Surprise, she's a half-dragon! Not. 28. Kindred by Octavia Butler Grueling reflection on slavery: must-read. 29. Course Correction by Ginny Gilder Rowing, divorce, Olympics, and LGBT memoir. 30. Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory Gardening and enclosure in Jacobean England. 31. Brazen by Katherine Longshore YA done right in Tudor England. 32. Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Last year, I reviewed Rhett Bruno's space opera The Circuit: Executor Rising and I'm still looking forward to the sequel! Read my review here . Bruno contacted me recently to let me know the book is being re-released, and I agreed to spread the word! Release date is this coming Tuesday, May 19. Synopsis from Publisher/Author: Centuries after Earth was rendered an uninhabitable wasteland, humanity was forced from its homeworld and founded the Kepler Circuit, a string of colonies throughout the solar system. These settlements provide resources to the remnants of humankind, the most important resource being the newly discovered element—Gravitum—found only in the Earth’s unstable mantle. But a powerful religious faction known as the New Earth Tribunal has risen to preside over most of the Circuit. Though there is barely a faction left to challenge them, a string of attacks on the Tribunal’s freighters causes them to suspect their mortal enemies, the Ceresians, of foul play.

Spent some time in Barnes & Noble this past weekend, and finally got a chance to see the gorgeous books everyone's been drooling over on Instagrams like @blueyedbiblio . When I saw these books, it was like a child seeing these: (Image: tophdart.com) But when I crack the covers, I'm disappointed. Don't get me wrong. I think today's YA is fabulous and diverse and tackles some really tough issues, but. The prose in a lot of YA slides off me somehow; it's slick. Words are terse, characters suspiciously likable, plots, no matter how dark they get (and they get dark), end with a predictable beacon of hope. I'm sure I will read more YA in my life: heck, reviews for Seraphina and The 100 are coming up. But I guess, for all the tackling of bigger issues and diversity and imagination, YA for the most part is focused on being easy and enjoyable to read. This is not true of all YA, for example, Kristin Cashore's books have plenty of character complex

Today is my 500th blog post. And it seems a good time to reflect on the state of the blog: where I've come from, where I am, and where I'm going. Unlike many other bloggers, I haven't traditionally marked blog anniversaries or milestones. Lately, I've seen posts from people who can't believe they've been blogging for five years--I've been blogging for almost seven now, and rarely stopped to contemplate that! When I started blogging, I really didn't think about audience at all. Or rather, it was for an audience of one. Me. I started writing because I wanted a record of all the books I'd read over the years and what I thought of them. It was that simple. Sure, I thought a few of my friends might read my ramblings, but I didn't really think anyone else would be interested. When I started blogging, I had no idea that there was a whole book blogging community already out there. The first book blog I remember coming across was Boston Bibliophile

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! I feel like we did something like this before, but that was books I'll never read. So here are ten books I'll probably never read. 1. John Updike's Rabbit books 2. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie 3. Any more books by John Grisham (I read The Rainmaker ). 4. Any more books by Jodi Piccoult (I read My Sister's Keeper ). 5. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee 6. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 7. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 8. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton 9. Murder, She Wrote by J.B. Fletcher 10. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston The main difference between these and books I'll never read is that I don't hate the work of the authors I listed, or expect to hate or inordinately struggle with these books. I just don't really have a burning desire to read them, so I'll probably skip them. However, if one of these crosses my path, it's not totally impossible

19. Digging to America by Anne Tyler Anne Tyler is perhaps the best-known living author from my hometown of Baltimore, but this is the first time I've read her. Her novel tapped into the diversity of the area, and the deep humanity of complicated family and friend relationships. I related to her characters, and I would read her again. Yet, perhaps it's not surprising that I've not read her before. After all, I'm a relatively young reader, and Tyler seems very invested in being an Adult Fiction writer. This is a boon when it comes to her calm, clear prose, and to the presentation of her adult characters, but I think a loss also, as I will explain below. The tale is one of two families who have adopted little girls from Korea, Susan and Jin-ho, respectively. The Iranian-American Yazdans adopt Susan, and the "all-American" Donaldsons adopt Jin-ho. Tyler lets us in on the perspectives of all the adult characters, especially the Yazdan grandmother Mariam, w