Space Station Mir

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! That Artsy Reader Girl/ The Novelry shared a description for atmospheric books: “A novel feels atmospheric when the setting and the narrative are deeply involved with one another; when characters and plot are physically embedded in their surroundings, and a near-tangible mood lifts from the pages and wraps itself around the reader.”   I certainly feel this is true of the books listed below. Happy atmospheric reading! The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón--This books and its sequels feel intimately entwined with the streets and surrealist architecture of Barcelona--highly recommend! The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern--This book is practically all atmosphere. The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley--This book is a journey through the (literal) bowels of a living planet--the book is inextricable from the setting, often feeling claustrophobic or, once beyond the planet, exposed. The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders--The story i...

 Real talk--in the world I live in, there is no job I would do for free because I have to eat and keep a roof over my head. But if we lived in some kind of utopian Federation paradise where all our material needs were met regardless of income, these are the types of careers I would enjoy (and yes, I'm lucky that some of them have been or are similar to my actual careers!).  Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Bookish Jobs I Would Do For Free In a Universe Where My Material Needs Were Already Met 1. Writer--In this universe, it wouldn't matter if I got published or not, although I'm sure I would find ways to share my writing with friends and peers. I'd spend lots of time writing, researching, taking classes, honing my craft. 2. Bookseller--Although maybe in this mystical place the role would be more like Bookgiver or Book advisor? I loved my job as a bookseller and only left because it was minimum wage. It's so much fun to see all the books and shelve them and help people find bo...

 I am well on my way or even done with some of my bookish goals for 2023  😁, while having barely completed or not even started others 😧. I would still like to complete these goals this year, so this is a good reminder to ramp up my efforts in the last quarter of 2023. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Reading Goals I Still Want to Accomplish in 2023 Read at least 36 books-- I've done this already! I just completed 36 books at the end of September. This is way less than I've read in previous years, but I wanted to go easy on myself since I started a new job in the past year and change.  Read books I already own, library, or Kindle books.-- Yup! I've gotten very good at this--I've read a lot of library books (ex. left), a few books I owned, and the only books I've bought were Kindle deals.  Read at least two books by women in translation.-- Pretty sure I did not do this at all yet... Read at least 25% books by authors of color.-- I have read some books by authors of color this...

September was a fairly good month for reads, especially since I had some opportunities to listen to an audiobook, which I don't often get anymore. I also finished the fourth book on September 30th, bumping up my stats for the month! As I have the past few months, I still have a few books that I'm reading simultaneously and partly through, including a couple of poetry books, which I find read better that way.  Books Finished This Month You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith--It takes a lot longer to finish audiobooks (which I pretty much only listen to in the car) than when I used to commute but I got this because I had a couple trips this summer. I finished it up on the way home from the last one on Labor Day weekend. This is a memoir on Smith's marriage and divorce but it also reads like a manual on how to write (or not write) a memoir. She has repeating refrains about "the question at the center of this book" and the scenes that she is deciding to k...