Space Station Mir

I recently finished The Airbnb Story , which is highly unlike most of what I read. In the past, I haven't read a lot of (or any) nonfiction and while that's changing, the nonfiction I read is still mostly memoirs and some life improvement/motivational reads. But this topical, business, technology read caught my eye, recommended on LinkedIn, and I checked it out of the library. And read it in three days. It took me longer than a fantasy novel of the same length might have, but a few years ago, I probably wouldn't have gotten through this book at all. It covers the founding, development, and current state of the company Airbnb, which, interestingly, boasts three founders who have all stayed together and only one of whom is an engineer, and which is still not yet a public company. Like the author notes, it's still just the beginning for this controversial company that's been around since 2008. I think what made a difference for me now is I have something to grab on t...

Hosted at Bookishly Boisterous ! 1. I like dresses! This is not a sentence I would ever have imagined writing as a child or even a few years ago. I still believe that wearing or liking dresses has nothing inherently to do with being a woman, and the reason I like dresses now has nothing to do with gender identity (except, I'll admit, that it's socially acceptable for me to wear them). Instead, I like dresses now because 1) it's summer and they're cooler and 2) they're more flattering on the weight I've gained as an adult. 2. When I opened my Stitchfix, I was thrilled to see an A-line dress in a polka-dot pattern on top. Hence, dress-liking revelation. Also, specifically, I like A-line dresses with short sleeves, quirky patterns, and, most importantly, pockets! 3. I'm rereading Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before and Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I'm reading them slowly this time, and writing in my journal along the w...

1. A Practical Wedding Planner by Meg Keene I read this first in 2016, but it was incredibly helpful planning my wedding, especially in the last couple days! 2. The Magician King by Lev Grossman I appreciate so much more the riffing on and respect for some of my favorite children's fantasy novels, and the Magicians series are fantasy novels in their own right too. Currently finishing up the trilogy with The Magician's Land . 3. The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer Insightful about who your audience really is, when it really is okay to ask (something I've struggled with most of my life), and plenty of wild, heartwarming stories from Amanda's life. 4. Wedding Stories, Ed. Diana Secker Tesdell Thematic and timely for me, and also a thorough range of classic and contemporary American authors, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Edwidge Danticat. Also starts off with an entertaining story from English author A. A. Milne. 5. The Winner's...

Top Ten Tuesdays are over at the Broke and the Bookish . I feel like I used to have a lot of these, but I'll give it a go... Top Ten Series I've Been Meaning to Start But Haven't 1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 2. Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling 3. Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde 4. The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin 5. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir 6. The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin 7. Defy by Sara B. Larson 8. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan 9. 10. I'll see if I can remember more later!

Meme over at Bookishly Boisterous ! 1. Especially towards the end of wedding planning, looking at wedding magazines made me sick and wedding advice columns made me sick with dread. It didn't stop me from reading, but what's surprising is that I've continued reading after the wedding--and I'm enjoying it! Ideas for weddings make me smile, conundrums inspire sympathy. The Practical Wedding column where the sister wears the white dress still leaves me flabbergasted--my sister/MOH wore an awesome gold jacket. 2. I have much more interest in wedding planning than I did before. Prior to mine, it was something I'd never thought about. Though it was stressful, afterward, it was kind of cool.  I'm not interested in planning a wedding or large party again, but I appreciate the experience because I have sympathy for my friends and relatives who are about to or may at some point go through it, and I like feeling like I could be of help to them 3. We got incredibly l...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish! Top Ten Fantasy Books I Recently Added to My TBR I haven't read any of these yet, but they're all books I've added to my TBR in the past six months or so. Most are recommendations from other bloggers. 1. Mangoverse series by Shira Glassman 2. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton 3. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton 4. All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders 5. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman 6. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel 7. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi 8. Everfair by Nisi Shawl 9. The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim 10. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julia C. Dao

Post-wedding, I've been on a reading roll. Finished The Scar and The Magician King from Bookmooch, took out a ton of library books, and made some purchases at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. I enjoyed The Magician King and look forward to finishing the trilogy with The Magician's Land . I better appreciate now Lev Grossman's  transmutation of fantasy tropes, not to mention his D&D references--he casually refers to characters using "cantrips" and "Magic Missile." The protagonist Quentin, a snarky teenager for most of the first book,  is truly becoming the hero he felt entitled to be. It was also interesting to see Julia's story, although the essence of it was given away in the first season of the TV show. There were some differences, and I wonder if the show will go where this book does with her story. We haven't finished the second season yet, so don't tell me! I found some longtime TBR books at the library and have finished two alr...

1. We got married! It was beautiful and perfect and it's over :-) 2. We went on our honeymoon to Colonial Williamsburg, which was also pretty perfect, and I picked up Everlasting Syllabub and the Art of Carving by Hannah Glasse, an 18th century cookbook intended to be for the servants and thus not written in the "high polite style." Although I don't think I'll be attempting any of her recipes, it is a fascinating read. 3. While I was gone, a pair of books arrived from Bookmooch, The Magician King by Lev Grossman and The Scar by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko. I gave up on the former at the library, so now I've got two handsome hardcovers to call my own. I read The Scar first, and enjoyed it immensely. It's a fleshed out fairytale about an arrogant man from a militaristic culture, who receives a scar that turns him into a coward. It has strains of Beauty and the Beast, now that I think about it, and I liked it much better than A Court of Thorns and Roses...