Space Station Mir

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish ! 1. Spark Joy by Marie Kondo I might let myself buy this as a reward for finishing the tidying from the first book! 2. The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron To go with my non-fiction kick and get some more tips for introverts. 3. The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley I downloaded this on my ereader awhile ago; maybe I'll get to it during my vacation this summer. 4. The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley I may or may not get to it this summer, but I believe it just came out and I do want to read it! 5. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok I enjoyed Girl in Translation . 6. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin I need to get to this already! 7. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin I got pretty addicted to The Happiness Project books; hopefully, this is similar. 8. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho I put this on an ...

19. Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress Received from Bookmooch; the best I've read from Nancy Kress since Beggars in Spain.  I still prefer the first book, but this is an intriguing sequel that ups the game on how genetic engineering can revolutionize society. The affected speech of the "livers," (people who are essentially paid not to work) though, is super annoying. 20. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon Glad I gave Chabon another chance after Wonder Boys, although I probably liked this one so much since I'm more interested in the source material. Chabon creates a convincing version of a Jewish/Yiddish society formed in a post-World War II Alaska. Highly recommended, and proud of myself that I didn't need the glossary. Also, wishing there were more books out there where I could put my vestigial Yiddish to use. 21. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain Totally convinced now that all chefs are secretly ...

I've acquired a number of free books lately and thought I would share my secrets. Feel free to share yours in the comments! 1. Bookmooch I've been a member of Bookmooch for about 8 years now, and while it's not always gratifying in the short term, it's been amazing over the long haul. Eventually, books I'm interested in come around, and in the meantime, I can send excess books to good homes that will care for them (and then perhaps pass them onto another loving home).  Recently, I've acquired Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress and Kitchen Confidential  by Anthony Bourdain, which were on my wish list for years, so it's not the fastest method but it gets results! 2. Little Free Libraries I'd vaguely heard of Little Free Libraries when I discovered one in my neighborhood. I always enjoy checking out the selection, and it changes often enough that every once in a while, I see a book of interest. I've also added a few books to th...

I'm a big fan of classics. There's a reason for that. Those were the books I read in school, parents and relatives recommended, and I read on lists, first in library pamphlets and then on the Internet. Classics are classics for a reason is an old adage, but more and more we're calling into question what that reason is. The We Need Diverse Books movement argues that books by and about women and minorities have consistently been overlooked, and that if we make a conscious effort to include them, we will find material that is just as good or better than the traditional classics. From my own research and opinion, I know that at least some of the works of 16th century women writers, who were not read or studied for centuries, is just as thoughtful and entertaining as the work of some of their male contemporaries,whose work has been closely studied and promoted for centuries. I'm not making an argument about diverse books here, necessarily, although I include those, but I am ...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish ! Books that make me laugh are not always books that make other people laugh (I think Romeo and Juliet is hilarious), but I'll try: 1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 2. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare 3. The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz 4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ... That's all I can think of. I can think of other books with funny characters (Silk from David Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon ) or funny turns of phrase (Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union) , but I don't read a lot of books just for laughs. Maybe I should.

1. I'm now reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential-- I know it says "Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" but I was not prepared for the level of drugs and criminality. With some of the stuff he talks about, I'm surprised this book didn't end up with him six feet under, even though he does change names. Wow. 2. Wedding dates--how do you choose? Do you ask your friends and family first? The rabbi? The venue? What comes first when picking a date? I'm so confused. 3. Are engagement parties really necessary? I know people have them, but I didn't realize it was, like, de rigeur. There's a budget for it in all of the wedding planning books/sites I've looked at, and it just seems really unnecessary? Especially if a bridal shower is also required/expected? Who came up with this madness? 4. I think I officially DNF'd Empress of the Night , just have to return it to the library. Next audiobook up: The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday at the Broke and the Bookish ! Disclaimer: I am not a big gamer myself, but my boyfriend is and he agrees with me on most of these (and hasn't read the rest). 1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline For anyone nostalgic for the '80s and early '90s. 2. Armada by Ernest Cline This is the only one I haven't read, but my boyfriend read and liked it, although he did say it wasn't as good as Ready Player One . 3. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card For fans of shoot 'em up games in space, like XCom. 4. You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day For WoW fans or recovering addicts, also fans of Geek & Sundry and/or Felicia Day. 5. Dune by Frank Herbert For fans of space or other colonization games, like Space Engineers or Civilization. 6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin For fans of fantasy games, like Dragon Age and the Elder Scrolls. 7. Range of Ghos...

12. Peony in Love by Lisa See  Lisa See brings another little known (at least in the Western world) phenomenon from Chinese women's history to life. Peony, the character and the book, is representative of a historical cohort of women who fell in love with a fifteenth century opera,  The Peony Pavilion , and, in imitation of the main character, wasted away from 'lovesickness.' Read my full review here.  13. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson 14. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson Like the first book, A Girl of Fire and Thorns , the second and third books in this compelling trilogy, show that author Rae Carson is not afraid to pull the hard punches. The novels continue to be strong on character development, especially for the main character Princess Elisa, and world-building, set in a mostly desert world with a fascinating religious backstory. Overall, I think the first book is my favorite, but I'm glad I continued to follow Elisa...