Home Sweet Own Book 16

For Pop Science I read Why Men Fake It: The Totally Unexpected Truth about Men and Sex by Abraham Morgentaler, MD. I bought it because it seemed a worthwhile read since I reentered the dating world. Both men and women should give this a look.

Anyone who took sex ed knows the fundamentals of the biology but it’s really interesting to get the refresher as an adult. There was a lot more information than I got in 7^th grade. The role of the prostate for pleasure and biological function, the impact of testosterone on men’s overall wellbeing, and how men without testicles can have sex to name a few. It was exceptionally enlightening.

In addition to the biology, Morgentaler also included several anecdotes such as the twentysomething who faked it, the different effects of male menopause, or the guy who lost both testicles and wanted silicone implants. The human element really makes this book. Not only do you get inside of men’s bodies, you get inside their heads. Most men care more about satisfying their partner than themselves.

Men are just as complicated as women. A lot of their identity is tied into their penis and its functionality but men are not as emotionally shallow as the media makes them.

1) Fiction 

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery 

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist – Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science – Why Men Fake It by Abraham Morgentaler, MD

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller 

29) Themed Anthology – Red edited by Kris Goldsmith

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media  

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

Is It Something in the Air

Things are still going well with my new Boy Toy. We briefly discussed what asinine name he’d like until we feel like discussing ‘where this is going.’ He liked the ring of Boy Toy and it’s slightly more personal than New Guy. That is going really well much to my surprise. It even inspired me to wear flying pig earrings this weekend.

He joined me for lunch with my BFF and her new guy. BFF met her guy at a con a while back and they just started dating. Somehow lunch turned into brunch and my flying pig earrings were even more fitting. I’m a deeply cynical, sarcastic person. HTF did I end up on a brunch double date? I don’t even like brunch! 

One of my BFF's friends who I’ve met a few times has been with her boyfriend for around a year. He dragged his feet about making it official but since he has things have been rainbows and kittens. They’re officially in love. I’m sure she’s losing her mind.

Is there something in the air right now? It’s really weird that this much relationship happiness is going around. It’s even weirder that I’m a part of it.

Music: True Love by P!nk feat. Lily Rose Cooper

Rush Hour Revelation

I am still dating the fellow from Is It Just Us. Some of my friends have met him and like him. I like him. Things have been going well and the outlook is favorable. 

My friend said I was "in the throes of new relationship." The definition of 'being in the throes of' equates the experience with pain, suffering, and other forms of discomfort. That wasn't true until today.

Today I actually read my Groupon/Living Social emails and saw something for the Crime & Punishment museum. I bought thinking it would be something fun New Guy and I could do together. I texted him about another thing that sounded fun. Then I remembered something important.

Every Groupon/Living Social I've bought because it would be a fun date has outlived whatever relationship I was in. This has been true for the last three men I've dated. Commence the 'I just jinxed this' freak out.

Other than some standard over-thinking, I've been able to relax, have fun, and enjoy this experience. Yesterday I was fine and sending flirty texts and getting equally flirty responses. Today I'm going to get my oil changed with dread nestled comfortably in the pit of my stomach.

I knew I carried some scars but sitting in my car I thought "Wow. I am messed up." Just because you're over someone doesn't mean you're over what they did to you. I've been treated so poorly, had my heart kicked around, made to believe I wasn't special with such regularity that those cracks ran deeper than I thought.

I switched from my upbeat driving playlist to a playlist I knew would have Farther Down by Neon Trees. The song that came on right after that? The Only Exception by Paramore. This is probably my favorite love song and I don't like love songs.

Out of a 500 song playlist, that song is the one that comes on. I'm taking it as a sign that I need to not be so paranoid. This could be good for me. I'm not reading anything beyond that.

I'm sure New Guy would find it funny if I tell him this right way. He doesn't know all the crappy things various ex-boyfriends have done. I think he would be shocked to learn half of it. I'm not sure if, when, and how much he needs to know. Anything he finds out will be a little bit at a time.

Music: Break In by Halestorm

Home Sweet Own Book 15

For Themed Anthology I read Red. Red was a discovery at Awesome Con, DC’s first comic convention. A friend of the editor who lived in Middle of Nowhere Pennsylvania found a red scarf on some back road and wondered how it got there. This anthology poses different answers to that question.

One of my favorite things for an anthology is giving different writers the same premise and seeing what they can do with it. People go in so many different directions and I loved it. As always I liked some stories more than others but I think my favorite was Superhero by Justin McLachlan.

A lot of the writers were local to the DC, MD, VA AREA so it was really neat to read stories and think “I know that neighborhood” or “I am familiar with those metro problems.” Having the stories take place in your own backyard added another layer I really enjoyed

1) Fiction 

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery 

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist – Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science 

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller 

29) Themed Anthology – Red edited by Kris Goldsmith

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media  

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

Music: Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

Home Sweet Own Book 14

For Feminist I reread Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan. It was her first book and I really enjoyed it the first time and read it and this time. It follows four women who become close friends while at Smith College and how they deal with real life and their own brands of feminism.

Most ‘women’s fiction’ is just a slightly smarter version of chick lit like The Devil Wears Prada. Sullivan’s characters gave life and depth to many things that are part of the feminist dialogue: date rape, the privilege of white feminism, prostitution and sex trade in the U.S., and transgender causes. The characters also deal with the same issues as most twenty-something women: dating, marriage, pregnancy, death, and the weight of choice.

The feminism never felt preachy to me. One of the characters is a bit extreme and devoted to the cause but that’s integral to her. Some of the other characters think about feminism as it pertains to their own life. One barely thinks on it at all. Each was a well developed and interesting character.

They agonized over some of their choices and made mistakes and over analyzed things like most of my friends. These weren’t women who were concerned with shoes, fashion, and finding prince charming. They have depth and think about feminism, literature, friendship, and marriage as something other than an end game. I wish more writers had characters like these.

1) Fiction 

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery 

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist – Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science 

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller 

29) Themed Anthology 

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media  

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

Music: Analog or Digital by Wildlife Control

I’ve Got a Songza for You

My friend told me about this great new site/app for music. I’d been using Pandora but Songza is structured in a totally different way.

The app opens with It’s [Friday] [late morning] and offer you six activities with theme music like Doing Housework, Working Out, Working to a Beat and Brand New Music. From there you can select a playlist related to the activity.

If you’re reading in a coffee shop you can listen to From the Book (music based on literature) or Literate Indie (music inspired by books or about writing. If you’re Coding you can listen to Code Your Face Off or Math Rock. Other activities include Shopping at a Vintage Store, Waking Up on the Right Side of the Bed, Walking Through a City, Gaming, and Curing Road Rage.

If you have a specific mood you’re going for they can help you there as well. If you’re feeling Campy, Introspective, Raw, Cold, Sprightly, Atmospheric, Trashy, Aggressive, or Gloomy they have some music for you.

One feature I did like about Pandora was that you could make a playlist based on a band and it saved it. I searched Halestorm and it took me to Today’s Rock Hits with a Halestorm song whereas Pandora constructed and saved a playlist. Six of one, half dozen of the other I suppose.

It has no ads which I really like but it does have a skip limit. I think because Pandora has ads it’s more generous with its skip limit. I listened to the Rebirth of Alt-Pop most of the morning and accidentally switched to a super-mellow Indie playlist while I was scrolling around. When I tried to switch to a third playlist it stopped me. I was able to go back to the first playlist.

I need to figure out the parameters of the skip limit. It may be on their website. I’ve only got the app so we’ll see. With 100 Worst Songs Ever, Songs from Animated Movies, Rude Girls, Fall Out Boys, and Superhero Soundtracks, why should I only choose a couple of themes.

Right now I really like this app but the skip limit is annoying the Cthulhu out of me. I guess you'd better know what you want to listen to starting out. I’ve only had it for a couple of days so we’ll see if anything else happens.

Music: I Am the D.J. by Neon Trees