Space Station Mir

Reading Retrospective on Tara Westover's Educated and Judy Blume's In the Unlikely Event : Life is Not a Thing Unalterable “Life is not a thing unalterable.” –Tara Westover, Educated: A Memoir “Life is a series of unlikely events.” –Judy Blume, In the Unlikely Event *Note: Spoilers for both books ahead* I read Tara Westover’s memoir Educated simultaneously with Judy Blume’s semi-autobiographical novel In the Unlikely Event . Both books, especially the latter, surprised me, thrilled me, and filled me with an unexpected medley of emotions. Educated , although it took place in the time I grew up in, could have happened on a different planet. Westover’s childhood in rural Idaho, where she grew up with six older siblings and essentially no school (she was technically homeschooled, but other than learning to read, this doesn’t seem to have figured hugely for her), learning to make herbal medicine and work in a scrapyard, was worlds away from my suburban, Maryland public-schoo...

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl ! Top Ten Books With Sensory Reading Memories What a great idea! I hope this one comes up again! 1. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton Outside, on the way to a pep rally, nose buried in the book my teacher just gave me. Don't remember a second of the pep rally, just the bleachers underneath me, the smell of grass, and my eyes on the page. 2. Matilda by Roald Dahl Sitting at the kitchen table with my dad, going over the math problem that Matilda's dad poses to his son, and Matilda answers immediately (Spoiler alert: Matilda had the right answer). 3. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan Purchased at Tattered Cover in downtown Denver, and dug into on the hotel bed, between explorations of the city and the mountains outside. 4. Dawn by Octavia Butler Pulled off the shelf in my dad's office, I remember sitting in one of his office chairs, my feet up on his extra desk, staring up at th...

Usually hosted at Bookishly Boisterous , who is vacationing this week instead! Janeway and Picard, Space Station Mir 1. Insurance forms are such a pain, and it annoys the hell out of me because I'm pretty sure it's on purpose. But, really,why shouldn't you want me to pay you for something I will probably not need or at least not anytime soon? Seriously. Also, I resent that our society has created this need. 2. On a happier note, we adopted another dog! His name is Picard, and he and Janeway are already best friends. 3. For the Fourth of July, I made apple and apricot hand pies with the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.   I was pleased with how they turned out, especially the crust, and I will definitely be using the crust again for full-size pies! 4. I recently finished reading Tara Westover's memoir,  Educated, about growing up in rural Idaho with a survivalist Mormon family,   and--Wow. The writing is phenomenal, and her childhood is fascinating. ...

Currently Reading: My sister gave me this book some years ago, but it's been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while. However, I just moved and there's now some doubt as to where the books/bookshelves will end up, so all my books are sitting in boxes AND I don't have Internet, so I reached in and pulled a book out of the TBR box, and almost haven't put it down since! I found this audiobook in the library, and it's been on my TBR, so I went for it. Very glad I did since I DNFed the last couple audiobooks I started. Even though it's got multiple perspectives and a little bit of multiple time periods (so far, just a preface in a different time), which drive me crazy in general and especially with audiobooks, I am LOVING it. Also, I love the voice(s) of the narrator Kathleen McInerney. You guys...it's Judy Blume for adults! Recently Finished: : This was a powerful conclusion to a powerful trilogy. While describing it to my dad, he asked if it...

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts are hosted at Bookishly Boisterous ! 1. We bought a house! Taking care of the paperwork and scheduling and now packing has been a second job, although, imo, not as stressful as planning a wedding! So glad we waited a year after the wedding to do this. 2. Packing my books is an ongoing saga. I reduced my collection from approximately 700 to approximately 400 three years ago, and yet, it seems they've been reproducing! So far, I'm at 17 boxes with two and a third bookcases (of four) packed... 3. I'm not even counting my cookbooks, which got packed (generously, by my parents) with kitchen stuff. 4. Let me know if anybody wants these! I found the Dummies book helpful for understanding basics; I think the 100 Questions book would be useful for anyone who hasn't bought a home in several years, although of course, each market is individual, so for example, the negotiating advice isn't very helpful in a sellers' market! ...

I've had some wonderful bookish adventures lately! A family friend was downsizing her collection... I browsed the aisles at Barnes & Noble with birthday gift cards... and I absconded to the library for a lunch hour or two this week.

Just Finished: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour The cover art perfectly encapsulates the claustrophobic college dorm room, gradually overlooking the lonely seascape of the life Marin left behind. This poetic gem of a YA book lives up to all the hype though it reads more like The Writing Life by Annie Dillard than The Hunger Games , and its raw emotions are all the more poignant for being gentle. America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo Although set mostly in the United States, the Philippines are the heart of this novel, and how the Filipino-American characters relate to each other, their homeland, and other Filipinos in America. It's refreshing to read an "immigrant" novel that showcases the immigrants' cultures and isn't about fitting in with Americans at all. There are Pangasinese, Ilocanos, manilenos, not to mention religious and ideological differences. At least this book mentions enough ethnic dishes, from pancit to pinakbet to sisig, to feed t...

Just Finished: FINALLY finished the audiobook. And...I'm still conflicted. There is so much here that's intellectually interesting. But also, the narrator and all the characters except maybe one are terrible people. I mean, straight up murderers and torturers terrible. And characters are usually what I care about most. Instead, what's compelling about this book is the worldbuilding, the politics, economics, religion (or lack thereof), professed gender neutrality, philosophy, and obsession with the 18th century. However, even though the central concept of their societies are being future versions of the 18th century Enlightenment, what stood out to me most were the clever similarities to Thomas More's Utopia , perhaps because I'm a student of the 16th century Renaissance. Anyway, still deciding if I want to read the next book or not. I finally read it! I have no excuses. It was just as good as everyone said.  Jemisin did some interesting experimenting with t...