Space Station Mir

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Top Ten Characters That Remind Me of Myself This is kind of the ultimate in book reading, right? At least for me, especially when I was a kid, books were a place I could go to find people like me, the people I really related to. And there were and are a lot! 1. Jo from Little Women Jo March is a writer, she's strong, she's brave, she's a tomboy. She's everything I wanted to be. I've never been quite as angry as Jo, but I've always felt like she and I get each other on a deeper level. 2. Meg from A Wrinkle In Time Like Jo, and unlike me, Meg is also a really angry character. I didn't quite relate to that, but I related to her as an outsider, a rebel, and someone who hated being told what to do by interfering grownups (ok, maybe I'm a little angry). Meg is also really good at math, and while I didn't identify that way, I understood being ostracized by other kids when I couldn't turn...

Books Read This Month Born a Crime by Trevor Noah The Dinner Party by Brenda Janowitz Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #8) Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan Off the Sidelines by Kirsten Gillibrand Stoned by Aja Raden The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman No Country for Old Gnomes by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne Favorite Books This Month 1. Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden "Real jewels," Raden concludes, "are formed in the human mind." Raden's journey through the histories of diamonds, emeralds, pearls, and watches coalesce around the themes of "want," "take," and "have." Her assertions that jewels have changed the history of the world ring truer in some cases than others (while she makes a strong case for the influence of jewelry-centered events, I believe the French Revolution and Spanish Armada defeat would...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl ! 1. "Some worlds are built on a fault line of pain, held up by nightmares. Don't lament when those worlds fall. Rage that they were built doomed in the first place." -The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin 2. "He had strabismus, a quality Lulay used to spout about as a feature shared by mystics, geniuses, thieves, imaginative children, and those possessed by kapres. One eye looked the world in the face. The other eye needed a break and wandered off." -America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo 3. “I half-wondered if I should return to the bathroom and climb through the mirror, then send out the other girl, the one who was sixteen. She could handle this, I thought. She would not be afraid, like I was. She could not be hurt, like I was. She was a thing of stone, with no fleshy tenderness. I did not yet understand that is was this fact of being tender—of having lived some years of a life that allowed tenderness—that wo...

Books Read 1. Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons 2. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 3. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden 4. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden 5. Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri 6. Yes Please by Amy Poehler 7. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan 8. The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris 9. Outer Order Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin Favorite Book(s) This Month 1. Ruin of Kings:  I LOVED the footnotes and the message about how slavery infects society. Incredibly well done fantasy. 2. The Bear and the Nightingale: Beautiful, Russian fairy-tale atmosphere--I don't know why twists on Russian fairy tales are so popular in fantasy right now, but I'm here for it! 3. Empire of Sand: Incredibly unique system where dance is a conduit for magic and only some people can do it. I also like the straight from frying pan into the fire type plot. Places Traveled in Germany  1. Tubingen 2. Stuttgart 3. Baden-Bad...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl ! I prefer last week's topic, so I'll do that one since I missed it. I'm taking "rainy day reads" to mean a number of things, namely a combination of books in which rainy weather features and yet a cozy and comfortable atmosphere ultimately prevails. 1. The Small Rain by Madeleine L'Engle Besides an apropos title, The Small Rain has the melancholy but ultimately cozy atmosphere to match. 2. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik Enthralling enough to take your attention off the rain, plus it's the first in a nine-book series. 3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The quintessential cozy read, and I always think about that scene where Elizabeth walks through all the rain and mud just to get to Jane. That's sisterly devotion! 4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis The Narnia Chronicles are definitely a comfort read for me and many others, and this one involves plenty of g...

Just Finished: This is the last of the presidential candidate memoirs I had selected to read. I'm glad I did it because I feel like I have a better sense of the context and personality of these candidates. Gillibrand in particular is very feminism-oriented and is a strong voice for women to "get off the sidelines." Currently Reading: I am loving this...it's like a combination of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Freakonomics for jewelry. Also, if everybody read this (which they should!), I'm pretty sure it would crash the diamond market. My favorite fact that I've learned so far though is that apparently looking at the color green (e.g. emeralds, but also plants) can lower your blood pressure. Makes sense to me! I'm listening to this right now. I'm kind of eh on it, but I'm having trouble finding audiobooks I like at the library. Any recommendations? Next Up: Snagged this new release on hold at the library! Spani...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl ! Top Five Audiobooks I Loved I love this topic! For me, audio works best with clear chronological and geographical settings, such as in fantasy and historical fiction. Memoirs read by the author can also add a lot of personality with the right narrator. Audio can even work well with multiple viewpoint characters if the distinction in voice is clear enough. Below are some of my favorite audiobooks; especially the first three really seem written to be read aloud! 1. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield 2. The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss 3. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem 4. Song Yet Sung by James McBride 5. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Library holds are a magical, magical thing. The backseat of my car is filled with heavy hardcover books. I have no regrets. 1. Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons (Already finished! First book read in March. I don't care what anyone says: I LOVE the footnotes.) 2. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon I'm going to be really honest here: I fell in love with the cover and I almost fell over when I saw how big this book is. At 804 pages, it may be the longest book I've read since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (Apparently The Cider House Rules was 973 pages but that wasn't a hardcover). 3. Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik The elusive 8th book in the Temeraire series...it took so long to get this one in that I'd already finished City in the Middle of the Night and started Ruin of Kings, and I'm reading Priory before this one because other people are waiting for that. 4. Off the Sidelines by Kirsten Gillibrand I decided to read as many boo...