2016 Books 7 & 8

I got a duplicate book for my birthday but my friend was smart enough to get a gift receipt. Since I left Sunday unscheduled, Boyfriend and I went to this delightful independent bookstore. He left me unsupervised. Considering all the books I looked at and thought about, only adding 2 wasn’t that bad.

Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy
I can’t get this at my local library (I checked) and it was right there.

The Feminist Utopia Project edited by Alexandra Blonsky & Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
An anthology of text and art about women’s different ideas of what a more feminist world would look like.

If you’re wondering, I did get another book which is why these 2 count.This brings my collection for the year to:

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You’re Single by Laura Lane & Angela Spera
3. Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken & Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
5. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer
6. Sharkpunk edited by Jonathan Green
7. The Feminist Utopia Project edited by Alexandra Blonsky & Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
8. Headscarves and Hymens by Mona Eltahawy

Hodor?

Now that the mystery of Hodor's limited vocabulary has been solved, there's much depend about his free will. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go watched GoT or pick another entry because Holy SPOILERS Batman!

In Days of Future Past, they had to send Wolverine's mind back in time to his old body because he was the only one who could handle the mental trauma. I think something similar happened to Wylis/Hodor. When Bram warged into past Hodor to get present Hodor moving, it created a strange time loop Wylis's mind wasn't meant to endure. It broke him.

His fundamental personality of being warm and kind remained and he could make very small decisions but he couldn't calculate. When he was being tormented by the Night's Watch Wildling Party, he couldn't think enough to strike back. He knew to run away but not to fight back.

He knows who treats him well and, therefore, who he cares about. He wanted to protect Bram so he chose to hold the door. Had Bram not made Hodor move, Hodor would have likely been wight chow. Rather than run scared (a valid option), Hodor chose to stay and protect his friend.

The actor who played Hodor said that aside from the initial push, everything else was Hodor's choice. You can even see it in his eyes. I firmly believe that when the end came, Hodor made the difficult and brave choice to die for his friends. Now we just have to find out whether the writers will torment us by making him a wight or not.

Richer Reading Life Book 6

Poetry is brought to you by Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Hepperman is an anthology of fairy tale themed poetry and images geared toward teens. I like anything with a fairy tale motif so when I saw this at the library, it was game on.

I definitely felt a bit old for this but I appreciated the references. There are a lot of things I don’t miss and being a teenager is one of them. The eating disorder theme was very prevalent. A great deal of time is spent trying to be thinner, prettier, younger and it’s all just a media sponsored game that has us chasing our tails.

Rather than give spoilers, I’ll just say my favorites: Shape Magazine, Anorexic Eats a Salad, Vindictive Punctuation, First Semester Haiku, Ugly Stepsister, Boy Toy Villanelle, Nature Lesson, Love Red Handed, The Beast and Assassin. It’s short, sweet and fun. Definitely recommend. My only complaint is that they images lost something being printed on standard pages. 4/5 stars

Richer Reading Life Activity #6

I rarely do much of anything outside let alone read. I’m a firm believer that I’d like outside better if it had fewer bugs getting in my face. Despite that, I decided that 3 was the magic number of times I had to read outside before I could check it off my list. What was the experience like each time?

March 11

I’m enjoying the outdoor seating while I wait for Boyfriend to finish work and join me for dinner. This is a part of town that has plenty of restaurants, office buildings, parking garages, and very little nature. I can’t tell if I’m inhaling bus exhaust, car exhaust, metro fumes, or cigarette smoke.

March had just had it’s first big warm up and I’m in the midst of it’s first cool down. The temperature is either in the low 60s or high 50s which is perfect for me. I can hear people’s kids filter through the restaurant doors so I don’t mind the relative quiet of outside. I would rate this experience as middling.

April 6

I’d finished my second round at the eye doctor and the liquid nitrogen ice cream place wasn’t open for another 20 minutes. I decided to kill some time on a bench in a nice space across the street. It’s not exactly a park since it’s pretty well paved but there’s benches, a fountain, and a jungle gym in side a U of stores. I chilled on a bench while I worked toward the end of Patrick Ness’s More Than This.

It was a warm spring sun but with a cool blustery wind. Since it was the middle of a weekday, it was pretty quiet. Not too many mom’s with strollers, people with dogs, or anyone else. The only unpleasantness was a hobo who interrupted me to ask for money. She left after I told her I didn’t have anything (which, with a $45 copay, is not wholly inaccurate). It was a pleasant experience I’d have carried on for longer if I hadn’t had to get work done.

May 14

During a trip to the coast, I had several chances to read on a trip to the boardwalk. It was relaxing, sunny, gorgeous weather. Warm spring sun paired with cold front winds. Boyfriend would go off to check on something while I relaxed and read. Extremely pleasant experience. 10/10 would do again next year.

2016 Books #6

Yup. I done done it again. This time, it was inspired by something I’d previously Kickstarted. The editor sent an email with his previous publication information. There was a shark anthology.

In case you missed the leggings and tank I just bought, you may not have noticed I’ve got a bit of a thing for sharks. When I realized Sharkpunk edited by Jonathan Green was out of print but available new, for a price comparable to retail, I pounced. I want to see if they do sharks justice. While they are apex predators who are worthy of fear, they’re also living creatures who are worthy of respect. They play a critical role in the ecosystem and can be incredibly beautiful. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Richer Reading Life Book 5

My translation comes from a library haul earlier this week. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera was translated from its original Spanish. There's a chapter at the end by the translator who goes into great detail about the importance of getting it right to capture the beauty of Herrera's prose.

A native of Mexico, Herrera's story is about a young woman who crosses the border to find her brother and give him a letter from their mother. We hear about her journey and the difficulty she has finding an illegal immigrant in a land where people like her are hated and discriminated against.

It was written in a style that reminded me of Cormac McCarthy. It lacked the common punctuation that made it easy to follow dialogue. You had to read carefully to not miss anything. I wonder if something was lost in translation that made it easier to follow in Spanish or if it was similar for that audience as well.

For a small tale it was very poetic and memorable. There is a part toward the end with a poem that was very powerful. I was very surprised at the ending. When all you want is to go home, life throws you a curve ball. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Genres I Typically Avoid: Christian Books

There are three big genres I avoid and since it’s coming up on time for me to address that category, I’m going to go over why I’m not a fan of those three genres. This week? Religion, more specifically, Christian books.

I’m agnostic/spiritual. While I think there’s an order to the universe, I don’t think any one religion got it exactly right. Almost all faiths have a grain of truth residing in their core belief systems that is worth finding and exploring. However, the politics of organized religion can readily obscure that.

**This post is a bit long so if you want the TL;DR, skip a bit**

My father wanted me to be Catholic like he was but it never stuck. He tried to take me to church but it was just a boring obligation where I couldn’t read and didn’t understand what was going on. I think he may have expected me to just inherently have the faith he did without having to do much of anything to explain it to me. Clearly, this plan did not work.

I wound up going to a Catholic high school because the public schools sucked and the nondenominational private schools were hella expensive. Obama sends his kids to one of them to paint you a picture. The only classes that were mandatory all 4 years were English, math, and religion. 10th grade was church history and Odin’s eye did that backfire on me. The crusades, the Borgias, the woman pope, and the fact that the Catholic church controlled most of Europe for the better part of 1,000 years soured me on the inherent divinity of that faith. Not long after this the priest sexual abuse scandal in Boston broke and all my respect for the Catholic faith was stone dead.

Between a Catholic high school and comparative mythology class in college, I noticed a lot of inconsistencies in the Bible. The two main narratives in Genesis don’t line up. Some of the ‘thou shalt nots’ contradict each other. Hell, the Old Testament and New Testament contradict how God behaves. Did he create Zoloft in between?

How about all the books that were left out by the massive editing committee of papal authority? Where they less true or divine or did they just not fit the correct political image necessary at the time? And can we please acknowledge, for once, ever, that someone, somewhere, may have fucked up a translation? It’s been a few thousand years so can we not rule that out?

What really sent me running from the faith and it’s literature wasn’t the history or politics but the people. Jesus was a nice guy who had a lot of important things to say. Some of the modern people might want to go back and reread them because something clearly got misinterpreted. Let’s modify What Would Jesus Do and replace the verb with Bomb, Torture, Rape, Kill, Shoot, Deport, Judge, or Hold a rally against?

**TL;DR start below**

Even on a smaller social scale, I have met so many Christians who are the most holier-than-thou, judgmental, and generally useless wastes of carbon. My mother worked with someone who would bog down everyone’s mail box with daily blessings full of bad gifs and clip art. The same woman wanted her house to be so Martha Stewart perfect her husband didn’t live there. She was so obsessed with her stuff that she had it written into her will that her kids can’t throw out any of her things until she’s be dead for a year.

A woman I used to work with would blast her gospel music all day, every day. If I asked her to turn it down, she ignored me and turned it up. It would have been less annoying if she didn’t constantly snap her fingers, tap her feet, and sing along. Did she care that it bothered me and distracted me from doing my job? Nope. Worshiping her god at work was more important than the comfort of others. She was just one of many catty ‘good Christian’ woman in that office who didn’t like me. One who stopped just short of openly hating me had a book about how to be a good Christian wife!

The only thing I did wrong to those woman was not tolerate their BS. The only reason they turned the other cheek was so they could gossip about other women who weren’t as devout/nice as they were. Other than church, gossip, and bad reality TV, I don’t think there was anything else that interested these women. I can think of several other examples but we’d be here all day.

I have known and currently socialize with several people of faith. It is a part of what makes them such high quality human beings. But no amount of awesome on their part can redeem the faith to the point where I’m jumping on board. I’ll respect it and be kind to those of faith who are kind to me but the sour taste runs deep.

I can’t get past all of the ugly history and horrible people tied to the Christian faith. I found a book that really spoke to me in Barnes & Noble once but seeing it labeled as Christian Fiction made me put it down. I eventually came back to it but I dragged my feet. Dear Mr. Knightley was a lovely book and it was mislabeled as Christian Fiction. Faith was only a small part of the story and by no means dominated.

Once again, I ask you, internet, if you know any Christian fiction that has plenty of story going on and doesn’t beat you over the head with Jesus?

Genres I Typically Avoid: Romance

There are three big genres I avoid and since it’s coming up on time for me to address that category, I’m going to go over why I’m not a fan of those three genres. This week? Romance novels.

I dislike romance novels because the characters and stories are very predictable. Two unlikely people meet, intense attraction occurs, they fight it, they give in, romance ensues, obstacle occurs, couple separated/splits, the obstacle is overcome, happily ever after. Mix and match stock characters and places as necessary.

It’s about big strong men wooing women in trouble or those men converting angry, if not bitter, women into someone likeable. Of course the woman has to soften. No self-respecting man could actually want to be with the Head Bitch in Charge as she is, right? All women are superhot and in desperate need of some good loving, right?

I have never seen the cover of a bodice ripper and thought “There’s a man who will respect her opinion” unless that’s a really creative euphemism. The man isn’t there to care about what the woman in the story thinks just as she isn’t there to do an abundance of thinking in the first place. Falling for the hot pirate/soldier of fortune/cowboy who kidnapped you isn’t love, it’s Stockholm syndrome.

Realistically, how many billionaires, tycoons, and royals think “I’d rather be with a plain teacher/librarian/secretary/student instead of a super model/lawyer/diplomat. It’s fun being with someone who doesn’t understand my life or obligations. There’s no way this is a walking PR disaster waiting to happen.”

I read most genre fiction I can get my hands on and I find a walking, talking tree and a raccoon with a gun fetish more believable than a lot of romance story lines. I like character development, depth, and a believable plot trajectory. More should be happening in the story than just the relationship between two characters. Life is more than getting laid, despite what cable TV says.

Since I’ve got to find a book that is from a genre I typically avoid, I need a good romance. I skimmed Harlequin’s latest titles and my rant appears to remain true so I turn to you, the internet, for help. I need to find a story about love and romance that won’t make me roll my eyes so hard they fall out of my head.

Previous love-centered stories I’ve enjoyed are My Name Is Memory and Water for Elephants. Any suggestions?

Genres I Typically Avoid: History

There are three big genres I avoid and since it’s coming up on time for me to address that category, I’m going to go over why I’m not a fan of those three genres. This week? Histories.

Fiction is my first love. I enjoy being told a story about what happens to someone as events play out and relationships change. I adore the fantastical element of genre fiction since it takes me out of this world and somewhere more interesting and diverse. I also enjoy memoirs because they have a similar narrative flow to fiction. There is a voice, a set of emotions, to engage me as a reader.

I’ve always found nonfiction histories to be very dry and unexciting. It’s a similar problem that I have to popular science books. It’s interesting and there’s something new to learn but the lack of narrative makes it more work for me to engage as a reader. The lack of narrative doesn’t captivate me as much.

Historical fiction? Definitely. Let’s begin this adventure. Actual history? It already happened and we know how it ended so the journey seems less exciting going in. My reasons here are simple in that I have just not enjoyed this genre of books. My reasons for the other genres are a bit more personal.

So internet, do you know any histories that have more excitement and narrative than your average tome?

Richer Reading Life Activity #5

On Friday, I talked books with someone I’d never talked books with before: my MRI tech. I had to have a scan done (nothing serious, I’m fine) but he asked about college and I told him I’d studied English. He asked what my favorite authors were and I said I favored genre writers like Neil Gaiman.

My tech was actually a fan of poetry. His favorites were Lewis Carroll and Edgar Alan Poe with his all time favorite being the Jabberwocky. He was impressed Carroll committed enough to make a lengthy poem about nonsense. I told him I adored Alice in Wonderland and that my favorite Poe poem was The Raven for how rhythmic it was but Masque of the Red Death was excellent as well.

After I was done I recommended Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series since it has dealings with Lewis Carroll and other classic literature. It’s relationship to Poe is very unique. He even let me in on a little secret. When I put my earplugs in wrong, he offered to do it for me since the machine is quite loud. Normally, he just leaves them but there was something about me he liked. It was a very pleasant experience, all things considered.

Richer Reading Life Book #4

For an LGBT author, I chose Patrick Ness’s More Than This. I discovered it at the National Book Festival while it was still on the National Mall. There were several copies but one had the door intact. This made it special so I took it home.

How I had to hold the book to read it eventually led to the door popping out on its own but I am so glad I acquired this book. The writing and the world is wonderful. It deals with death, family, loss, grief, love, connection, and the future of the world. Much like life, not all questions are answered and not all mysteries are solved but you are left satisfied. I think the greatest part about this book is that Ness leaves you with plenty of things to think on and ponder.

I can’t tell you too much because anything I reveal will be a spoiler. It starts with Seth, a teenage boy, drowning and dying. This is what happens after he wakes up. From there he finds more questions than answers and more mysteries that need solving. I found the ending curious but not objectionable. I highly recommend this work, especially if you have depression or feel alone because it reminds you that there is always more. 5 out of 5 stars.

Richer Reading Life Activity #4

I like doing trivia and learning new stuff. Like, did you know there were concerns about airing Bob the Builder in Japan because he's only got 4 fingers? Folks were concerned about yakuza associations since poorly behaved mobsters often lose fingers. I learned that from a book from mental_floss

Despite that fun tidbit, I have 6 books from them that I've had since 2009 and never read. While I'm sure the contents are great fun, I've had long enough to read them so I'm culling the books that have been in my TBR the longest. Finding a new home will be:

1. mental_floss Forbidden Knowledge
2. mental_floss Cocktail Party Cheat Sheet
3. mental_floss Scatterbrained
4. mental_floss What's the Difference?
5. mental_floss Genius Instruction Manual
6. mental_floss In the Beginning

Richer Reading Life Quarterly Update

Since we have finished the first 25% of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to see how I'm doing overall on having a richer reading life.

Reading

By a woman - The Bell Jar
By a POC - Bad Feminist
By a LGBT+ person
Deals with Mental Illness
Woman in Politics
Author over 65
Author from Africa
Takes place in Asia
Indie press - Pedal Zombies
Translation
Poetry
Published before 1850
Genre I typically avoid
Award Winner
Audiobook
Recommendation

I'm just shy of the 25% mark. While I could have counted The Bell Jar for Mental Illness, I didn't want to. There are other books about depression that I'm very interested to read. At the same time, finding a book by a woman on my shelves is not difficult. However, books in Asia, African authors, and authors over 65 are a bit sparse.

I've started on poetry but I've always viewed poetry as a small dose thing that has to be digested over time. You don't fully experience it if you binge. I've got a few things earmarked for some of the remaining categories but we'll just have to see what happens. I'll try to up my game in the next quarter.

Activities

Ask a local librarian for a recommendation
Ask someone I respect for a recommendation and read it right away
Read outside
Read a book that looks like it will make you uncomfortable
Read out loud to someone I love
Dog ear a page - Never Open Desert Diner quotes
Write in margins
Give away a book that's been in my TBR a long time
Cull 10 books from my collection and don't bring any home for a month
Attend a reading event near me - This Is Why You're Single sketch show and book tour
Read the book, watch the movie, debate which is better
Listen to an audio book of a physical book I DNF
Listen to a podcast about books - Dear Book Nerd and BookTube
Memorize a poem
Read one page of a holy book of faith I was not raised with

Have a conversation about books with someone you've never talked books with before
Not ideal. All of my friends are readers so it's something we talk about with some frequency although there are a few I haven't talked books with before. We've got a road trip coming up in May so it's the perfect opportunity.

I plan on accomplishing the cull by not procuring any new books in the month of April. I cull well over 10 and don't need anymore in the immediate future. I've started on reading outside but I do it pretty rarely so I want to do it a few times before I finally cross it off. It's just starting to be the time of year where I can do it.

I'm waiting on some of the others like When a Monster Calls by Patrick Ness coming to theaters this fall. Failing that, there's always the last Hunger Games movie which I haven't seen yet.

Books

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Laura Lane & Angela Spera
3. Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken & Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
5. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer

I'm at about 30% of my final 16 for the year. Staying within that limit is not looking good but my money situation is helping keep my book purchases down. Hopefully my plan for a no-buy April will give me an edge since a lot of what I want to get comes out this summer.

2016 Books #5

Yes, I bought myself another book. I blame a combination of circumstance and personal weakness.

The Long Version

I signed up to be a regifter in reddit's Color git exchange. I had several things I wanted to order off amazon for my person. Sam (not his real name) offered to place an amazon order for me through his prime account with my credit card. I brought it up to him 3 times via technology but life happened in between face-to-face meetings and neither of us mentioned it, least of all him.

I finally give up on him acknowledging he ever made the damn offer, let alone me taking him up on it, and just order the stuff. This involved a lot of fancy footwork since Amazon raised the free shipping minimum, again (bastards). Hours later I got my match for the sci-fi exchange. Had I waited 4 hours, this might not have happened. Instead, I had to make 2 orders in the same day and do the cart dance of "I'm too stubborn to get prime" to get free shipping. With a $25 order of books to get free shipping, it wasn't that difficult.

The Short Version

I was buying a reddit gift, the price was good, I've been wanting it for a while, I wanted free shipping (which was only $25 for books), and I'm weak.

Either version ends with me getting a feminist speculative fiction anthology.

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Laura Lane & Angela Spera
3. Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken & Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
5. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer

Richer Reading Life Book #3

Checking off a book written by a person of color. I finally finished Bad Feminist. It took longer than I thought because of limited time, library books, and a lot of content.

Some of her personal stories made me laugh, like competing in competitive Scrabble tournaments or being Team Peeta. Some of her more analytical pieces struck my feminist chord like when she talks about eating disorders, sexual violence, and rape culture, or the still on-going battle to preserve our reproductive rights. I wanted to nod vigorously and shout "All the yes!" when I read her essays about Chris Brown, Robin Thicke and FSOG.

Gay also opened my eyes to the scarcity of black stories being told by black voices in modern media. It made me truly rethink my feelings about The Help and made me want to revisit with fresh eyes. I need to integrate more literature, both feminist and not, about people of color into my reading. It made me appreciate how insulated I've become since more to a more affluent suburb surrounded by white people and "good" minorities. I'll never be able to understand it but my world will be better for hearing about it. 4 out of 5 stars.

Putting a number on how many challenge books I've is making me appreciate how far little I've done. Several activities require reading books as well so it looks like I've got to step up my game and pick up the pace.

2016 Books #4 and Book Wish List

I was weak and getting a little twitchy. I was altering my Amazon lists after by birthday and saw this one book was out of print. I clicked on it and saw hardbacks were going pretty cheap used. I decided to look at what condition they were in. I now have a like new hardcover copy of The Green Man edited by Ellen Datlow coming my way.

I feel guilty since there were a lot of books I was excited about this year but it's also out of print. There is a finite about of copies in excellent condition floating around. I'm also consoling myself that I get to return a book and swap it for something else on my wish list for the year.

Books Purchased in 2016

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Lauran Lane & Angela Spera
3. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson & The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
4. The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest edited by Ellen Datlow

For those of you wondering what's on my 2016 book wish list:

Book Wish List for 2016

1. Archie Vol 1 by Mark Waid (3/29/16)
2. Deadpool Vol 1 by Gerry Duggan (5/3/16)
3. Deadpool & Cable: Split Second (5/3/16)
4. Shrill by Lindy West (5/17/19)
5. Sex Object by Jessica Valenti (6/7/16)
6. Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley (6/14/16)
7. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (7/5/16)
8. Deadpool & the Mercs for Money (8/30/16)
9. Shades of Blue edited by Amy Ferris
10. Something New by Lucy Knisley
11. Here at Hogwarts by Lucy Knisley
12. Fables: Wolf Among Us Vol 2 (6/28/16)
13. Spiderman/Deadpool Vol 0 (5/24/16)
14. Spiderman/Deadpool Vol 1 (8/23/16)
15. Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars
16. Guardians Team Up 1
17. Guardians Team Up 2
18. Octavia's Brood edited by Walidah Imarisha
19. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer
20. Deadpool Firsts
21. Deadpool Flashbacks
22. Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon
23. Michael Muller: Sharks, face-to-face
24. Sandman Slipcase

Yes, I am aware I've only got 12 more books before I hit 16 and well above that on my list. Some will likely make it to my Christmas list while others I might just have to sit on until I either get gift cards or it's 2016. I'm going to make an honest effort to stick to 16 books but I'm starting to think I might not be able to pull it off after all.

First Quarterly Cull of 2016

Part of having a Richer Reading Life is doing quarterly culls. If I wasn't excited about it, won't be rereading it, couldn't remember why I bought it, or what it was about it, it was going.

I will absolutely keep things I’ve read and loved. I take a while to reread my favorites because I have a long memory but I’m fierce about the books I love. Armada went to a guy I saw in my building. The Fault in Our Stars, We’re Just Like You Only Prettier, and one other book went to my building’s lounge. Simon’s Cat, The Atrocity Archives, and one other title went to the little free library in the organic market behind our building. Everything else went to the library.

Books that found a new home were…

1. Friendship by Emily Gould
2. Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen
3. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
4. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
5. Spent: Memoirs of a Shopping Addict by Avis Cardella
6. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
7. The Body Book by Cameron Diaz
8. Blowback by Valerie Plame
9. Rat Catcher by Andy Diggle
10. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
11. Radical Simplicty by Dan Price
12. Too Many Katherines by John Green
13. I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse and All I Got Was This Podcast by Andrew Magnum
14. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
15. Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
16. Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin
17. CelebraTORI by Tori Spelling (it was a phase, don’t judge me)
18. Blood Lite edited by Kevin Anderson
19. Blood Lite 2 edited by Kevin Anderson
20. Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow
21. Agents of Treachery edited by Otto Penzler
22. More by Robert Engelman
23. Napoleon’s Private’s by Tony Perrottet
24. All By My Selves by Jeff Dunham
25. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf
26. The Stepsister Scheme by Jim Hines
27. The Rejection Collection edited by Matthew Diffee
28. Spent: Memoirs of a Shopping Addicet by Avis Cardella
29. Four Kitchens by Lauren Shockey
30. Screaming Science Fiction by Brian Lumley
31. Walking Shadows by Neil Bousfield
32. Dirty Sexy Politics by Meghan McCain
33. Plenty by Alisa Smith
34. Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield
35. The Power of Half by Kevin Salwen
36. The Pirate Handbook by Pat Croce
37. White People by Allen Gurganus
38. Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology edited by Althea Kontis
39. How’d You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
40. Turning the Tables by Rita Rudner
41. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
42. Looking for Alaska by John Green
43. Going to See the Elephant by Rodes Fishburne
44. The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
45. Hot & Steamy edited by Jean Rabe & Martin Greenberg
46. To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn
47. Suddenly Frugal by Leah Ingram
48. People of the Book edited by Rachel Swirsky & Sean Wallace
49. A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting by Guy Delisle
50. Zombie Tales: This Bites by Krizan
51. Zombie Apocalypse by Stephen Jones
52. The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway
53. Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne
54. The Clockwork Man by William Jablonsky
55. Running of the Bride by Rachel Eddey
56. Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists edited by Courtney Martin
57. Howard’s End Is on the Landing by Susan Hill
58. Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson
59. Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod
60. MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche
61. Dead Inside: Do Not Enter
62. No Cheating, No Dying by Elizabeth Weil
63. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Zombies by Matt Morg
64. A Guided Tour of the Museum of Communism by Slavenka Drakulić
65. Cowboys and Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
66. The Unwritten Vol. 1 by Mike Carey
67. Armada by Ernest Cline
68. Marvel 1602: Fantastic Four by Peter David
69. The Blumhouse Book of Nightmares: The Haunted City edited by Jason Blum
70. We’re Just Like You, Only Prettier by Celia Rivenbark
71. Bless Your Heart Tramp by Celia Rivenbark
72. Belle Weather by Celia Rivenbark
73. You Can’t Drink All Day if You Don’t Start in the Morning by Celia Rivenbark
74. Never Suck a Dead Man’s Hand by Dana Killmann
75. It Sucked and then I Cried by Heather Armstrong

The Bachelor Book Tag

With The Bachelor winding down, I thought I'd borrow a book tag from BookTube

First Impression Rose –A book you bought because of the cover

Charm by Sarah Pinborough. I saw this when I was in B&N and the cover caught my eye. I loved the texture and detail. Then I realized it was a fairy tale retelling and I was all about it.

The 2-on-1 Date – Pick a series and your favorite and least favorite within it

I'm choosing the Fables series by Bill Willingham. My favorite is probably The Good Prince because that tells us so much about Ambrose. It's a really beautiful and powerful story in the series. My least favorite comes from an off-shoot of the original with Jack of Fables with The End. Everyone dies. It felt like a disservice to some of the characters of this universe to be killed off out of convenience.

The Wrong Reasons – The book started off amazing but the ending was terrible

In the Woods by Tana French. This like would have been a 3 star book from me regardless but there was a lot of potential to do interesting things and then SPOILER ALERT the main character never remembers what happens to his friends and completely fucks up his life. I refuse to touch another of her books to this day because I hated the ending so much.

Bachelor in Paradise – You're favorite light, fluffy read

Love and Capes by Thomas Zahler, the entire series. It's only 4 trades long so any and all of them. It's a very sweet series about a normal girl falling in love with a superhero. The focus is on their relationship and life. It's more like a sitcom than heavy comic book series.

The Most Dramatic Season Ever – A book that was a total roller coaster ride

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. A friend of mine recommended it and I feel in love instantly. The first line is "Dear You, The body you're wearing used to be mine," and it doesn't really slow down from there. It was a smart, engaging, thrill ride.

The Fantasy Suite – The most amazing romantic build up and release

I was leaning toward Jane Austen but I'm going to be a little different and say The Parasol Protectorate series. In that world, vampires and werewolves shouldn't be able to reproduce so the fact that Alexia is pregnant causes quite a fuss. While her werewolf husband drinks himself stupid, Alexia must busy herself saving the day until he comes to his senses. It was a very fun watching them come together, break apart, then come back together again.

The Final Rose – Your favorite book from the last 6 months

I've heard a year or a month for this category so I decided to land in the middle. That's a decent average for how long these couples last anyway. My pick is Through the Woods by Emily Carroll. It's illustrated creepy stories that I absolutely adore. My favorite was the short one at the very end because I have a thing for the Little Red Riding Hood tale.

Indie Makeup

It wasn't until recently I considered myself a makeup geek. It started to dawn on me when I ran out of room for lipstick and decided I couldn't buy anymore until I'd used up what I have. Then I realized I know at least one major technique. I can cash in a 500 point reward at Sephora.

I can name more than 3 indie brands. In fact, when a friend asked, I named several. How many?

Shiro

Colourpop

LA Splash

Fyrinnae

Makeup Geek

LimeCrime

Sugar Pill

I had snark for a BuzzFeed article that left off a few of my favorites. I can only testify to the first two. Shiro's shadow is amazing but the lip stuff doesn't have the staying power I'd hoped for. Colourpop's liquid lips live up to the name but so drying. The shadows are good but holy glitter Batman.

LA Splash gained some fame in 2015 with Harry Potter and Disney Princess lipstick lines. I haven't purchased any yet based on my above reason but they look fun. Fyrinnae has some gorgeous stuff. I can't wait to try their shadow and color changing lips. I've heard good things about the final 3 but haven't seen anything I got pumped for. I've heard good things about all of them.

So there you have it. I'm a bit of a makeup geek and here's a few indie brands you can try.

Richer Reading Life Activity #3

I am a huge bookmark user. I used to use the cute, fancy bookmarks from stores and what have you until  I was in a bind and had to use a ticket. A tradition was born. Most of my fancier bookmarks found new homes and tickets from different events I attended became my favored bookmarks.

The card stock they were printed on was durable but fit nicely within the page. I never had to worry about a tassel getting the ticket yanked out. Best of all, I got to remember the event where I got the ticket. I still use them to this day although my primary method has changed. I started getting $2 bills out in the world (as change mostly) and use those. The ink doesn't fade if my hand gets sweaty and each one has a story, much like the tickets.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I haven't dogeared a page since I devoured most of the Fear Street series in the 90s. I can be a bit precious about my books. I put them in B&N bags so they don't get beat up in my backpack. I write or underline in pencil. I want to brandish someone about the head if I see them fold a cover over on a paperback so the back and front meet.

I did dogear pages on The Never Open Desert Diner because my best reading time is my commute. I have no chores, cell service, or other distractions pulling at me. There were several quotes I wanted to remember and put on GoodReads so what did I do?

A really little dog ear on the bottom of quote pages. It doesn't mess up the book and I can still find what I was looking for. I can un-dogear it if I want the book back to normal. Everybody wins. I say this counts so my Richer Reading Life Activity #3 has been accomplished: Dogear a page.

2016 Book #3

In February I posted about partaking in the Reddit books gift exchange. My person got some great stuff and early next week I’ll be matched with someone who got stiffed. Fortunately, my person was very thoughtful.

I was debating on how best to count this for my 16 books for 2016. While it’s technically a gift, it was one I chose to participate in. I also opted to be someone’s backup Santa so I think that buys me karma points. Ergo, I decided to balance the scales with 1-2 books counting as 1 and anything beyond that counting as 2. How did I make out?

It came with my address in lovely script and closed with Hello Kitty duct tape. Each book was wrapped with yellow tissue paper like a present (also with Hello Kitty). I own several hundred books so I linked my GoodReads account to make life easier. My very thoughtful Santa used that to give me 2 books from my TBR list.

The Darkest Minds and Steelheart were books I found out about from BookTube and sounded fun. I’m impressed she got me a signed copy. She also included a bacon bookmark and thoughtful card. I get the sense she’s a bit younger but I’ve very happy with my haul.

My 2016 book acquisition totals are:

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You’re Single by Laura Lane and Angela Spera
3. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson & The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Richer Reading Life Book #2

Book #2 will be from the ultimate Indie Press. I had the chance to get in on the Kickstarter for Pedal Zombies but I didn't. It was published by Elly Blue Publishing, an imprint of Microcosm Publishing, that is fully managed by its namesake (and Pedal Zombie's editor) Elly Blue. An indie within an indie. Somewhere, a hipster is feeling a bit of pride about this.

I own Pedal Zombies for a couple of reasons. I didn't kickstart it when I had the chance then saw it in B&N. I bought it out of respect for how far it came. I also like owning it because of glorious irony. I don't know how to ride a bike. At least 3 hipsters feel off their fixies but aren't quite sure why.

I think that revelation means my glowing review means even more. This book is perfect for what it is. Usually the zombies are the undead as we've always known them but some are zombie cars or sentient bikes or bike riding zombies. The core themes of bikes, zombies, and strong women are strong and go in so many great directions.

These stories are short, sweet, and rife with possibility. There wasn't a story I disliked. They were all gems. You can feel the magic and size of these worlds despite the small number of pages. I'd love to see some of these explored more deeply. Overall, 5 out of 5 stars.

Why Ya Gotta Let Me Down?

Watching loads of BookTube has turned me on to the reality that stories can often disappoint us. Here are some books I found to be deeply disappointing.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
I loved the movie when I was a teenager. It was interesting, magical, and about different forms of love. When I realized it was based on a book, I sought it out and was promptly let down. The book had no magic and no action.

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher
This story had a fantastic premise. Superheroes we've never heard of, an average schmoe suddenly gets powers, can they defeat the big bad? The only reason I finished this was because I wanted to see how Christopher tried to tie the train wreck together. Spoiler alert: not well.

Friendship by Emily Gould
Self-absorbed millennials fuck up their lives and relationships. If I wanted that combined with a vague non-ending, I can just watch Girls.

Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale
I expected a fun fish-out-of-water story when a former Manhattan business woman moves to a working farm in Virginia. Instead it was a nonstop bitchfest that left me wondering if this woman actually liked her husband, kids, or life. Oscar the Grouch and Grumpy Cat are more uplifting than McCorkindale.

Armada by Ernest Cline
This book is OK but what depresses me about is that I can see the book it could have been. It's premise is marvelous but the execution is forgettable, unoriginal, and rampant with tropes. It just felt like a long piece of fanboy fanfic. You're better than this Cline. Ready Player One says so.

In the Woods by Tana French
We get two mysteries: the disappearance and probable murder of two local children and the sole survivor who remembers nothing and the little girl who turns up dead at an archaeological dig in the same woods many years later. One of the mysteries doesn't get solved. No. A thousand times no. Do not delve deep and leave me with nothing. I refuse to touch anything she's written to this day because of this. Just no.

Anything by Nicholas Sparks
I went through a phase where I read a lot of him in high school and I eventually realized the SOB just recycles the same story over and over again. Occasionally he allows a happy ending but more often than not, death and misery. I want some of those hours of my life back.

Book Update: Limits and BookTube Influences

I've realized that 16 books is not many. Despite having a birthday in a few weeks and a wishlist of mostly books, I've got a respectable to-obtain list for the year.

No Baggage: A Minimalist Tale of Love and Wandering by Clara Bensen
Sex Object by Jessica Valenti
Shrill by Lindy West
The Geek Feminist Revolution edited by Kameron Hurley
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling
Afterlife with Archie Vol 2 by Robert Aguirre-Sacasa
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Vol 1 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Fortunately, only two of those are available right now and I'm abiding by my rule to buy nothing before my birthday. I have no idea what is taking the Archie trades so long. tIt will have been over 2 years since the first trade came out when they finally released the second. It's like they're trying to get people to lose interest in the series.

I think it's possible to abide by my 16 book limit but my 2 thus far plus a potential 2 from the reddit exchange (if my Santa is good) plus the list above gives me a grand total of 11. Thank gods for libraries. Speaking of libraries...

I've been watching a ton of BookTube with my favorites being BooksandLala, BooksandQuills, and Books and Pieces. A lot of BookTubers are either young or really into young adult (PeruseProject, Ariel Bissett, ABookUtopia etc.). So I've been seeing a lot of YA flash by and I want to see what the buzz is all about. I won't have a chance to hit the library before the 27th but I plan on checking out at least 2 or 3 of the following:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
The Future of Us by Jay Asher
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

These are all titles that sparked my interest so we'll see what someone who is thisclose to 29 thinks about reading stuff for teenagers.

Richer Reading Life Book #1

I'm opening the books section with The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, a book by a woman. I've dealt with depression for many years but I've done it pretty quietly since very few people I know understand the complexity of what that means. I wanted to dive into a book that was written by someone who understood that struggle. Despite dying several decades before I was born, Sylvia Plath gets it.

The struggle for Esther (the protagonist) is that there is nothing particularly wrong in her life but she can't read or sleep. She's deeply unhappy and no one around her appreciates what her ailment means. This was back in the days of shock treatment and a suicide attempt meant being institutionalized. While I squirmed hearing Esther talk about slashing her wrists, I'm glad there is something out there for ordinary folks to understand what this all means.

I love the quote explaining the title: "If Mrs. Guinea had given me a ticket to Europe, or a round-the-world cruise, it wouldn't have made one scrap of difference to me, because wherever I sat—on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok—I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air." Put us in the most perfect place in the world with the best people and our brain chemicals will prevent us from enjoying it.

She also nails the fear every person with a mental illness struggles with: "How did I know that someday—at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere—the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again?" We live our lives knowing that if the medication changes or a big life event happens, we can go back to that dark place. We don't live in fear but can never forget that is an ever lurking possibility in our lives.

Plath died tragically young, by suicide, leaving this as her only novel. I have her collection of journal entries and her collected poetry on my birthday wish list so we'll see what happens. I want to explore more of her work because there's something beautiful in someone's words reaching across space, time, and death to make someone else feel understood.

Downsizing

I love the tiny house movement. I spent my adolescence watching nothing but McMansions get built. I spent time wondering why nobody was building houses like the ones from my childhood. Houses that were 1,200-2,000 square feet. Families are getting smaller so how much space do we need?

I subscribe to Tiny House Talk's email and often realize how easy it could be to live tiny. I saw this video of a couple who converted a bus into a tiny mobile home and it's absolutely lovely. (Although I do wonder how they have 'adult time' with minimal curtains.) It made me realize how simple it would be. In theory, I could do this.

I'd just have to give up a few different hobbies I really enjoy.

I like to cosplay. Nothing too intense but if you like to wear costumes, it requires stuff. The costume itself, accessories, possibly makeup. Makeup is another thing I enjoy. Even if I parsed down my collection, not that much would go. I enjoy being able to experiment with this lipstick, that eye shadow, this eyeliner and maybe this blush. I've maxed out on lipstick storage. It's too the point where I own enough stuff that I feel bad not wearing makeup some of the time. I want to be able to wear out some of.

I love to read and after my birthday, I will be doing a culling of my collection again but I can't imagine life without physical books. I stopped buying ebooks because I realized I rarely read them. I enjoy holding the story, feeling the pages, seeing the typeface, maybe catching a new/old book smell.

I want to own fewer things and cut back on my consumption but I'm not ready to give everything up yet. Living tiny is an extreme choice that reminds us we need to swing back to a happy medium between McMansion and micro-home. I love and admire the tiny lifestyle but it's not what's best for me right now.

The Gift of Giving

I signed up for the reddit gift exchange for books and eagerly awaited my match. I like to think I'm above average in finding a good book for someone. Today I got my match and I was reminded that I'm not like the rest of the world.

I got a Nicholas Sparks fan. WHY??????

I hate Nicholas Sparks. He's arrogant, unoriginal, and smug. He reuses the same basic story line over and over again. Person (usually a woman) meets someone. For some reason, this is not the greatest idea. Dramatic tension as they fight it then fall in love anyway. Cue huge dramatic reason they can't be together. Something brings them back together and they decide to make a go of it. 9 times out of 10, it ends with one of them dead.

However, my match also likes Harry Potter and is slightly younger than I am. I may have to stretch myself a bit but there was stuff there for me to work with. She likes stories where people fall in love and you get swept away by the story. Move aside Sparks. It's time for writers with more than one idea to work some magic.

I hit up BookOutlet.com (tread carefully, those deals are addictive) and cross-checked their inventory against books I've enjoyed, personal favorites, and what the deals were. Since it's President's Day and I use ebates, I got some extra savings.

There's Cake in My Future by Kim Gruenenfelder
Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
A Million Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton
My Big, Fat, Supernatural, Honeymoon edited by P. N. Elrod

Cake is smart, funny, and engaging chick lit. Elephants is a beautiful and captivating love story. Mistakes let's you play 'what-if' by choosing your own adventure with your lottery winnings. Honeymoon will give her the love story with some more exposure to genre fiction and what it has to offer.

She is also getting a mini-bookmark with young Hermione on it, Just Married MadLibs, and 4 gorgeous blank cards from society6: Cliffhanger, A Quiet Spot, Never a Quiet Year at Hogwarts, and The World Belongs to Those Who Read. Those cards come in sets of 3 so 1 of each for my first match, 1 for my rematch person, and 1 for me.

I could just shove a book in an envelope and call it a day but that's not nearly as much fun. My first reddit exchange I wasn't sure what to expect but my Santa went above and beyond what I anticipated. My second was a rematch and they were incredibly considerate of what I said I liked. They even printed me homemade stickers of Jane Austen and the deathly hallows symbol. The Nicholas Sparks fan got stiffed on her last gift exchange so I think my creativity will help make up for that Secret Krampus.

Richer Reading Life Activity #2 and 2016 Book #2

My second activity that I'm checking off is attending a book event. This Is Why You're Single had a book event last Tuesday and yours truly was in attendance. I'm not sure how everyone else heard about it but I listen to the podcast. When they had people from the podcast clap, there was a second where I wondered "Really? Just me?"

Despite that, Boyfriend and I had a great time. We did activities for our V-Day this year. He's listened to a few episodes of the podcast with me and has enjoyed it so he was excited for the show. Since the writers, Laura Lane and Angela Spera, are performers, they did comedy sketches of the different reasons along with 3 guys.

My favorite reason was "You Travel in Packs" where Spera, Lane, and a dude in drag were actively keeping one guy away from each other. The final guy was narrating it Crocodile Hunter-style. It was phenomenal. My second favorite was "You Want a Good How-We-Met Story" where the grandparents are explaining how they met to their grandkids. The written word can't do justice to trying to make swiping right sound romantic or 'getting poke' sound quaint. I wish there'd been more silliness.

They did a few Q&As with a local Post columnist and then signed books. A surprising number of folks weren't interested in getting their book signed so I was able to go right up and tell both of them why Boyfriend and I were there. We got hugs and Laura took our picture! It was a very fun night and we made it home in time to catch most of the hockey game.

I want to check off a few challenge books before I read theirs but I'm looking forward to see Lane and Spera's wit in print. Did I also mention that it was only $4 extra to get the book? Yup. We've got book #2 of 2016 on our hands.

Would You Rather

Borrowed from Books and Lala, I bring you a bookish Would You Rather.

Only read trilogies or only read standalones?

I like a lot of trilogies and series but I feel like the trilogy is becoming so overdone. Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, City of Bones, etc. I’ll opt for standalones. It allows for more variety and more options. You don’t see many memoirs coming out as trilogies.

Only read female or male authors?

This question is slightly evil. I love anything by Neil Gaiman or Jasper Fforde. I love the John Connolly series with Samuel and Bosworth along with his short stories. There are a ton of talented men out there. That said, I’d have to pick women. Women are the lesser heard voice and they have a lot more to say. I’m more drawn to memoirs by women, most feminist nonfiction is by women. There is a lot of unexplored talent there that I’m actively trying to dive into this year.

Only shop at B&N or Amazon?

I think the either/or here is online or brick and mortar. While online is cheaper and convenient as hell, nothing can erase the comfortable hominess of a bookstore. Brick and mortar baby!

All books become TV shows or movies?

TV shows. Hands down. While movies are a fun way to enjoy a book, not all books can be condensed into 2 hours. Some need a miniseries to really tease out all the things the author laid out. With more streaming services offering less filtered content, I’d vote for TV series.

5 pages a day or 5 books a week?

I know ever BookTuber will have the same answer. However, I have an active social life, a podcast addiction, and a day job. I am currently incapable of reading 5 books a month. For the sake of my sanity and sleep, 5 pages. It would suck to only be able to read 150 pages a month but I suspect I’d get really into novellas.

Professional author or reviewer?

Author. I’ve got a lot of creative ideas floating around in my head I think could be something but haven’t devoted a ton of time to turning that into anything. Why? Busy life, other priorities, unsatisfying excuse here. I want to write more fiction and hopefully, you’ll see some soon.

Only the same favorite 20 or only new books?

New books. I’ve got a very long memory. There’s one book I want to reread by the end of 2016 but I still remember most of the plot. I can still spout off a ton of details of things I read and enjoyed 2 years ago. I read Tana French’s In the Woods around 4 years ago and can still give a detailed rant about why I hated it. I don’t reread because I need to let things fade so I can fully enjoy them again so this one wouldn’t hurt too much. At least, not right away.

Be a librarian or a bookseller?

Librarian. If this was a career that paid better, I’d be all about it. I’d love to be able to make a decent wage and help people find good books. Libraries are integral to the community and it would bring me so much joy to be able to be a part of that.

Only read your favorite genre or only read every genre but your favorite?

Favorite genre. It would pain me to know I couldn’t read anymore essays or memoirs or feminist nonfiction but my favorite genre is, well, genre. Fantasy/sci-fi is such a crappy catchall for things like monsters, magic, space, fair folk, ghosts, dystopia, post-apocalypse, zombie, steampunk, cyberpunk, urban fantasy, high fantasy, and many aspects of horror.

I miss Jane Austen? Find an applicable period piece. I want a spy adventure series? Time for The Laundry Files. I miss nonfiction? Just read a fictionalized history or memoir. How about a play or classic? You’d be hard pressed to find something that hasn’t been touched by the supernatural. Genre fiction is so diverse and far-reaching that I would never run out of options.

Only read physical books or only read ebooks?

I completely respect ebooks. I actually have a new Kindle on my wish list so I can appreciate some of the new ebooks I’ve been getting. It’s great when you travel because you have hundreds of books to choose from. It’s little and light weight.

However, I have been on a plane in almost 3 years. I don’t have a kid and I’m not that pressed for space. Our brains retain information better when we read a physical book. No one knows why but we do. I can’t live my life without new book or old book smell, deckled edges, embossed covers, or feeling the paper. Physical books, 100%.

Richer Reading Life Activity #1

I pulled double-duty because not only have I listened to a podcast about books, I also discovered BookTubers! What rock have I been living under that I missed all of the cool women vlogging about books? I'm going to give you guys the break down.

Dear Book Nerd podcast

Brought to you by the ever fantastic Book Riot, this podcast deals with quandries that face many a book lover. I've dabbled in this podcast before but not since 2014. I decided to restart it from the beginning. It turns out the dilemmas facing book nerds haven't changed much in the last 2 years.

Despite over 50 podcasts, Rita Meade keeps finding something to talk about. I'm less than 10 episodes in but it doesn't look like there's a lot of repeated content. The guests routinely rotate and offer a different perspective on whatever issue they're facing like reading the classics, lending books, defending your taste, ebooks versus physical books, and if audio books is really reading.

It's a calm podcast so it keeps me mellow rather than winding me up like The Black Tapes podcast. I'm excited to keep listening.

BookTubers

I just discovered the tip of this iceberg. I think I clicked a link from Book Riot and saw several different videos in the related column. I started clicking and fell down that rabbit hole that YouTube can be.

I really enjoyed BooksandLala because she has a perspective closer to mine. She's a bit older, married with a kid, and deals with grown up stuff like bills and taxes. A lot of BookTubers are rather young. Ariel Bissett is definitely young but she has a surprising amount of insight and wisdom for someone her age. Her videos about timing and her book purge were excellent.

Some others I've discovered that I'm curious to explore more are PadfootandProngs, PeruseProject, BooksandPieces, EpicReads, and TheStillPoint. Does anyone know any other BookTubers I should be watching?

Podcasts and videos about things I love. I'm enthused. Ariel Bissett said she only read 25 books in 2015 because she was so busy traveling and experiencing the book community. (Side note: Can I have that problem?) It really shows that loving books is about more than just reading. 

Where There's Smoke...

I made meatballs in the oven a couple of days ago. Some grease spilled on to the oven and when I heated it up for garlic bread, smoke everywhere. I couldn't even stand to be in the kitchen because my eyes were watering.

I didn't notice how bad it got until the smoke alarm went off. I reacted by turning everything off, opening every window, opening the door to create a vacuum and fanning the stupid detector until it shut up. I made sure there were no flames. Everything was under control inside of 10 minutes.

Did you know venting into your hallway means all your neighbors can smell it? I do! I can finally breathe in the kitchen when I see flashing lights outside. Fire trucks and emergency vehicles were outside and lining the block. I'm standing there thinking, "No. No way. Please tell me I'm just being self-centered."

I'm watching people go in and out with axes feeling pretty damn paranoid. I finally get the courage to poke my head out and a lovely women asks me if I've been cooking. Yup. This display of tax dollars at work is my fault. One of the neighbors smelled it and called it in.

They see how embarrassed I am (yes, it is possible) and realize there is no danger and everyone rolls out. I had a sandwich for dinner.

Saving Race

I just received some disheartening news. The company I'm temping/on a contract for just laid off 50 people. I was told when I was offered this position that it could lead to something permanent but if 50 people, including 3 from this office, just lost their jobs, it doesn't look good for me. 

My contract is good through April. At that point a number of things could happen. They budget could come through and they could bring on one of the temporary people. However, if they can only bring on one of us, I don't think it will be me. There's another contractor who started the week before me that would be the first choice if they could only bring on one of us. They could simply extend our contract again (which I wouldn't love but certainly wouldn't mind). 

My future is very up in the air after a couple more months. If I can't stay where I am for whatever reason, I am well liked by many staffing agencies and their clients in the area. I should be able to land on my feet but there's on guarantee of finding anything stable. What I do know is I have more credit card debt than I'd like and rent to pay. 

To help deal with that issue, no makeup, books, jewelry, or clothes will be purchased in February. My things are selling reasonably well on Poshmark for the moment and I'll be returning something to Amazon soon. I'll crank up the use of Ibotta and Viggle and try to save that way. I won't make myself crazy but I need to be prepared for what could happen and lugging around more debt than I need because of things I don't is not the ideal way to handle it. Time to adult and fix it.

The Bachelor Workout

It's that time again! The Bachelor started this week and I'm brought it in with a bang.

I run a tally of everything that happens and then do the exercises during the commercials. After the first week, Fake Job Title will be changed to "connection." Rejected categories were 

-When the claws come out

-"Proposal"

-Welcome back (we see someone we've seen before)

-"...felt like this before"

It will get my fat butt off the couch and help me mindfully consume my media. Everyone goes on here talking about finding a spouse. One person choosing from 28 people on romantic dates only a billionaire could pull off. That's very typical.

Let's not forget, the contestants don't get books, radio, TV, internet, phones, cameras, crossword puzzles, board games, podcasts, movies, music, or any form of entertainment other than exercise and each other. Stockholm Syndrome anyone?

It's always good to mindfully consume your media. Now I'm doing that and exercising.

New 16 Books #1

January isn't even into double digits and I've bought the first of my new 16 books. Before you judge me, I was OK with this being one of my 16 from day 1.

It started when I was making an Amazon list for my birthday in a few months. A friend requested it. When I went to add the illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, it wasn't available. I got a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas and I knew I'd seen it in stores so I added that to the day's errands. First store didn't have it. Second store had it and held it for me. I also got to take advantage of the fact that I'm a member and saved an additional 10% for what remains of my gift card. 

While it's pretty early for me to have already made a dent in my 16, the day of errands also included trips to 2 library branches. I've got a pretty respectable library haul to burn through before the 24th. I'll keep you posted.


New 16 for 2016

1) Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone