PopSugar Reading Challenge Book 13 Your Majesty

I read Part-Time Princesses in a day while killing time between staffing agency interviews. I picked it up on my last trip to the comic shop because it seemed like fun. It was one of those impulse purchases that worked out well.

Four teenage friends are the A-list at their high school and work summer jobs at the Enchanted Forest theme park as the princesses. The girls get a reality check about the futures they had in mind for themselves and have to help save the park from a crisis that threatens to shut it down.

It was such a fun read that I didn’t even realize I’d downed most of it in an afternoon. The girls are interesting characters but suffer from the ‘I’m popular, why should I talk to you’ syndrome. I disliked the stereotype but enjoyed seeing them taken down a peg in a way that made them improve as people.

It’s another good example of how graphic novels are more than superheroes and monsters. Definitely recommend.

Music: Lux Aeterna by Two Steps from Hell

A Graphic Year Weeks 13, 14, & 15

I bet you thought I’d forgotten about my graphic novel challenge. No such thing. The Boy and I planned an impromptu trip due to his use-or-lose-vacation and current lack of employment.

I read the first two trades of the Templar, Arizona series. I thought at the end of the first trade it might still be finding its footing but I had the same feeling at the end of the second trade that I did at the end of the first trade: “What was the point of that?”

The characters are interesting but I just didn’t get the point of the series. One of the problems was probably me going in with expectations. I expected a bit of a supernatural element instead of a cast of wacky characters in an odd city. I suspect the overall theme might be closer to Friends and Seinfeld, neither of which I spoke to me.

Templar, Arizona seems like an interesting place with odd groups of people. I’m sure there are a lot of people who would love this series. I’m just not one of them.

Rover Red Charlie was less of an impulse buy. I picked it up in downtown Annapolis. There was a dog in the shop and when the guy realized I was a dog person, he told me about the book. Humanity is meeting its end and man’s best friend isn’t sure what to do about it. 

It tells the story of three dogs going across the country to try and make sense of world without people. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and a must read for dog lovers out there.

I also finished off the Deadpool Minibus with Night of the Living Deadpool. It was very close to what I’d expect Deadpool in a zombie apocalypse. It was a little light on the sass but when zombies outnumber people, you take what you can get. There were definitely moments of sadness and loss but I did not see the ending coming.

PopSugar Reading Challenge Book 12 or I Spy

I acquired Valerie Plame and Sarah Lovett’s Blowback when I went to hear Sarah Plame speak at the Spy Museum. You could definitely see her background come out when she was asked a question she wasn’t inclined to answer. She was very focused on nuclear weapons but seemed to ignore the dangers of a cyber attack. 

I appreciated the level of detail Plame was able to add. Having been there, she fully understands the mundane details that go into making these types of operations possible. Maybe it was the realism that left me a little bit underwhelmed. 

I don’t know if it was the realism that took out some of the ‘edge of your seat, pulse pounding’ element but it didn’t have the same sense of urgency other thrillers I’ve read. The writing style was almost indistinguishable from any other beach spy novel you’ll find this time of year. It was enjoyable but not as memorable as I would have hoped. I enjoyed reading it and but my world wasn’t rocked. I look forward to seeing what changes in the next book in the series, Burned.

The Glory of the Stay-at-Home Mom

I really respect the man who wrote this post. He figured out the most conservative cost for his wife to be a stay-at-home mom and it's a high annual salary than I've ever earned: $73, 960. BuzzFeed notes this is on the low end of the spectrum.

What is even more remarkable is how humble and grateful he is for his wife's hard work. He talks about how he feels guilty when he asks his wife for permission to buy something and how he feels ashamed whenever he's made his wife feel like she needs to ask for permission. I am in awe of how incredibly aware he is of everything his wife and all stay-at-home moms do.

Since I haven't found my career footing, I likely won't be earning enough money to offset childcare costs enough to keep working. I live in one of the most expensive areas in the country for this cost. It is a difficult truth I'm still adjusting to: I'll probably have to be a stay-at-home mom.

There are a variety of incentives like health insurance and retirement that offset expenses but many of the jobs I've done don't offer that incentive. As an outspoken feminist who doesn't have friends with kids, I haven't wrapped my head around what this will mean for me. Logically I know feminism is all about choice but this is not a course I think I'd choose for myself if money was not an issue.

I've got plenty of time to figure it out. I have no plans on having kids anytime soon but it's a big mental shift to come to terms with.

More Giveaways

One of the things to do when you've got nothing but time is go through the stuff you don't need any more. Who wants some free books and DVDs?

DVDs

Leap Year
Legally Blonde

Serendipity

Practical Magic
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Sucker Punch
The Importance of Being Earnest
To Catch a Thief
Pan's Labyrinth

Best of Discovery Vol 7

Books

Nonfiction

How To Talk about a Book You Haven't Read

The Modern Girl's Guide to Life

The Modern Girl's Guide to Sticky Situations

Spirit Guides & Angel Guardians - Webster

The Gift of Fear - De Becker

Narrative Nonfiction

It Looked Different on the Model - Laurie Notaro

Love Sick - Frances Kuffel

Spoon Fed - Severson

Someday My Prince Will Come - Fine

How To Get Divorced by 30 - Rothchild

Exes and Ohs - Lester

Don't Look Behind You - Allison

Never Have I Ever - Heaney

Islands Apart - McAlpine

We Bought a Zoo - Mee
Cleaving - Julie Powell

I Don't Care About Your Band - Klausner

Japan Took the JAP Out of Me - Cook

Love with a Chance of Drowning - DeRoche

Gumbo Tales - Roahen

Smile When You're Lying - Thompson

No Touch Monkey - Halliday

Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost - Friedman

Have I Got a Guy For You - Strauss

How the World Makes Love - Wisner

Fiction

Godmother - Carolyn Turgeon

The Unit - Holmquvist

Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single - McElhatton

Skeleton Creek - Carman

The Promise of Stardust - Sibley

The Secret Lives of Dresses - McKean

Miss Darcy Falls in Love - Lathan

Go Mutants - Doyle
Slumdog Millionaire - Swarump

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things - Mackler

Dog on It - Quinn

Thereby Hangs a Tail - Quinn

Last Call - Pedersen

Shine Shine Shine - Netzer

The Ninth Wife - Stolls

The Opposite of Love - Buxbaum

Genre Fiction

The Somnambulist - Jonathan Barnes

The Domino Men - Jonathan Barnes

The Vampire Shrink - Hilburn

Zombie CSU - Jonathan Maberry

Vampire Taxonomy - Woerner

Dying to Live - Paffenroth

House - Peretti
Howl - Wacks

Mammoth Book of Steampunk

Call of the Jersey Devil - Voltaire

Bitten - Armstrong

Reel Steel - Matheson

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - Jemisin

Horns of Ruin - Akers

V Is for Vampire - Castro 

Terribly Twisted Tales - Rabe & Greenberg

Enchantment Place - Little

Robert Asprin's Myth-Quoted - NYE

The Alchemist - Scott

The Magician - Scott

The Sorceress - Scott

The Compound - Bodeen

Dark Road Rising - Elrod

The Immersion Book of Steampunk

Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters

The Wild Wood - De Lint

Christmas

The Stupidest Angel - Moore

The Fat Man - Harmon

Skipping Christmas - Grisham

The North Pole Employee Handbook

Graphic Novels

American Virgin: Head 1

Wonder Woman: Blood 1 (new 52)

House of Mystery: Room and Boredom 1

Morning Glories 1

Morning Glories 2

PopSugar Reading Challenge Book 11 or Seeing the Gray

For color in the title, I read Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Don’t mistake this for the mockery of literature that came from E.L. James. I’ve loved everything Fforde has done and this was no exception.

I’d gotten used to the pacing of the Thursday Next series and it’s spin-off Nursery Crimes. In addition to creating an entirely separate world, the pacing matched what happened to the character. He didn’t go from an obedient doofus to badass in 50 pages. We experience this mystery as he does.

It was an onion of a novel; we got pieces to the puzzle one layer at a time. There were a few big reveals as the novel drew toward its end culminating in an ending that was beautifully heartbreaking. The two sequels Fforde is planning need to come out immediately so I can know what happens to these characters.

When a friend saw I was reading this, she said that when Fifty Shades of Grey first came out, this book saw a spike in its sales. A lot of people would give folks this book when they asked for the ‘shades of grey’ book. Many women bought it because they were too embarrassed to correct the clerk. I’m glad they were putting something well-written into the hands of the masses.

It’s a great story I would recommend to anyone, especially if you need a little color in your life. I’ll be here all week. Tip your servers.

Music: Super Junior

Back on the Hunt

I am very confident that I will be spending considerably less money in April than I did in March. Why am I so confident? I lost my job on Monday then got a parking ticket.

Lack of income will be a helluva motivator to not spend any money.

I had the job for 6 months and it ultimately turned out not to be a good fit. I knew it and my boss knew it. I left graciously but disappointed in the now missing income.

I’ve got a great recruiter friend helping me work my previous job into my new resume. I have several friends with their ears to the ground. I’ve got half a dozen staffing agencies I’m ready to reach out to once my resume is ready to roll. I’ve got a loving and supportive partner and family. 

I’ve pitched a few story ideas and plan on reaching out to someone regarding possible freelancing gigs. I’m not overly optimistic but I’m trying. I’m hoping to finish and polish up a short story that came to me last week. I’m hoping to possible submit that somewhere for publication when it’s ready.

I currently have no debt to my name and no plans to add to it unnecessarily. My con last con registration has been paid so I have no major expenses coming up. I’m in a better financial place than I was last time but I don’t relish being back on the hunt. It’s stressful but I can only hope it’s not for too long this time.

I’ve recently realized that I’m getting to the place where I don’t need to buy everything right away. I want to read Amy Poehler’s book and I was waiting for it in paperback but I decided that I’d rather get it from the library and buy it if/when I want to reread it. Less stuff, less spending.

I have no idea what will happen now. I learned several skills in a different industry and can hopefully apply those skills to my new search. We’ll see what happens now.