Space Station Mir

For the first time in many years, it looks like I will not hit my annual reading goal (52)--and that's okay. It has been a rough year at times, and I've turned more to television shows and movies than to books. That's okay. Maybe next year I will turn more to books or maybe I can start writing more about the TV I've been watching (Netflix's Wednesday was everything I could have hoped for). I have still read some truly excellent books this year, which I will post about soon, and I've spent some time reading and savoring books of poetry, nonfiction, or literary magazines over longer periods of time. I'll update this list if I do manage to finish anything else before the new year. Books Read This Month Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins--I enjoy Collins' poetry, which tends to be accessible and also center on a lot of wordplay, although a few of these did not age well. Collins is an older poet whose gender essentialism makes it to the forefront ...

Since I've been teaching Hebrew school this year, I've been preparing for Hanukkah since November. That's when I learned the apparently indispensable "I Am a Latke" song (my students were shocked I never learned it), as well as helped them learn some of my more traditional favorites like Maoz Tsur and the blessings over the candles. The first night of Hanukkah is fortuitously timed for next Sunday night, so my students will showcase their songs at the Hanukkah extravaganza at Hebrew school that day and get to show off their prayer skills for their families that night. Then, one night during the week, we'll go and sing at a nearby senior center. We already sent Hanukkah cards to Jewish soldiers overseas too. So, it is looking to be a very special Hanukkah indeed, but here are a few books and other items that could make my Hanukkah even brighter. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! I'm switching up the topic today for obvious reasons.  Paper Brigade, Vol. 6 --This is th...

 I'm doing winter books this week, since I will be sharing my Hannukah wish list next week. Hannukah starts relatively late, on Dec. 18 this year, but ends on Dec. 25.  I haven't really been keeping up with my TBR list much lately, and now I have a bunch of books (ok, two) to review (whyyy do I look at all the LibraryThing and Goodreads giveaways whyyy), but here's the aspirational list. Books on My Winter TBR List I Bought My Husband's Mistress Lingerie by Stacey Freeman--I tend to find memoirs easy to read these days, and this one looked interesting despite the, er, provocative title. (LibraryThing review) Caribbean Competitors by Poppy Minnix--Childhood friends in the Caribbean--it made me click. (LibraryThing review) Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater--Saving this up for a rainy (snowy?) day. Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein (Book club read) And, maybe I'll just stop there so I can catch up. What are you all reading?

I only read two books in October (one was a literary magazine but I still think that counts), so I decided to just put these together. Reluctant Genius  I've actually been reading with one of my students for months, and we finished the beginning of November. It was a great choice, and I would highly recommend it for anyone 12 and up interested in Alexander Graham Bell.    Books Read in October and November Wanderlost by Natalie Toon Patton--Received for LibraryThing review; the odyssey of an evangelical Christian woman from Arkansas who travels the world and learns a lot in the process. Ploughshares, Spring 2022, edited by Ilya Kaminsky--So glad I subscribed when I saw Kaminsky was editing; I loved every single poem--unfortunately, all their other issues seem to be prose, and I tend not to love the litmag short story genre :-/ Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell by Charlotte Gray Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin--Love...