#nonfiction2020 #womensrights this was a fascinating topic - that women‘s XX chromosomes give us a powerful survival advantage, that having 2 x‘s to choose from means we don‘t get as many x-linked disease/illness as men. Yet a lot of scientific research and studies have ignored women. The book itself didn‘t have as much substance as I‘d hoped, a lot of anecdotal and didn‘t hold my interest as much as I wanted it to, but I'm glad i read it.

#nonfiction2020 #education This was really inspiring and insightful, and authors voice is calm yet energizing at the same time. She includes her thoughts on fine arts (writing) MBA‘s - that they‘re not worth the $, you‘re better off just continuing to create, create, create, and finding your own peeps to inspire creating with.

#nonfiction2020 #health Bill Bryson is a natural storyteller, so this was interesting and enjoyable . Author finds just the right balance of medical knowledge vs anecdotal highlights that keeps the book fresh all the way through.

#nonfiction2020 #economics The author took on entry jobs at Amazon, Convergys, and McDonalds, and wrote about her experiences. It was shocking to learn how much 'micro-managing' down to every second of the workers day, and how dehumanizing the practices are. Felt relevant to read right now, as it's been so difficult for low-wage workers during covid, with companies not protecting their workers well enough!

The story of China‘s most radical experiment. #nonfiction2020 #othercountry A through look at the one child policy in China over a long timespan. it was really interesting to see the impact now and into the future, even after the policy ended. The author is an award winning journalist with more than a decade of reporting in Asia. I thought this was fascinating!

#booked2020 #LiveandLearn This was a fascinating book about AI today and in the future. It focused on the need for philosophical discussion on how to keep AI beneficial. There‘s a great prologue with a fictionalized story showing just how AI could literally rule the world, and it seemed totally plausible! Both fascinating and terrifying at the same time! Some high level thinking here, but presented with the average reader in mind.

#booked2020 #finishinaday Listened to The Sisters - a short audio prequel to Irish mystery/detective series Cormac Reilly. Tagged book The Ruin is #1 in series. I‘m really enjoying this series, the storyline is fresh and smart and audio narration by Irish actress Aoife McMahon is very well done.

I didn‘t think I was going to like this one but i actually did!!‘ By mid book I was drawn into the angst of the MC‘s and wanted to find out what would happen to their relationship. I loved the audio narration by Aoife McMahon, I don‘t think I would have been as engaged otherwise! #booked2020 #MillenialAuthor

#wintergames #merryReaders #winterReadsBingo #newpet Chelsea Handler gets two new pets Bert and Bernice! This book touched on deeper more serious parts in her life, but still with plenty of humor! A solid listen with lots of emotion!

#readingUSA2019 - 7 more added, now at 32 states. Will carry these over to #readtheUSA2020 to finish the remaining 18 states. Tagged book was for Nevada, the desert town setting dripped with desolation and desperation. Loved it!

#booked2019 all wrapped up now! Tagged book was my final read, for diverse middle grade task 18. Enjoyed the challenge, now on to planning for 2020 challenge

#wintergames #merryReaders #winterReadsBingo #whitecover I‘m so happy to have finally listened to this book 1 in the Walt Longmire series - it‘s got great characters and humor that had me laughing out loud. The audio narrator was George Guidall and he did an amazing job with all the character voices. Loved it! Ready to read more in the series!

#merryreaders #wintergames #winterReadsBingo #scrooge Easy listening to a holiday classic that never gets old - bah, humbug Ebenezer Scrooge

#booked2019 fall is all wrapped up now with these six read:) I have two books left for summer to complete the full challenge..

Finally wrapped up #nonfiction2019 with tagged book as #somethingpersonal — My info was part of Equifax breach, and someone has tried using my SSN. But I didn‘t find this book very helpful though, I knew the basic stuff already, and the rest seemed overly complex. I didn‘t feel like there was a lot of “low hanging fruit” that would be easy to implement.

Thank You Melissa for the awesome challenge!!!

#booked2019 Summer! Tagged book was a fun read - a genre mashup of urban fantasy, mystery, paranormal, science fiction. It‘s now a STARZ tv series too - need to watch!

@mrsmarch I‘m so sorry but I‘ve had a ridiculously busy month and am behind on my reading! I‘ve started this and it‘s so cute, I just need things to calm down in my life so I can enjoy finishing it! So it will be late coming back to you, but hopefully not too too late ! #LMPBC #round5 #groupQ

#readingUSA2019 adding 12 more books to my tally! Tagged book is a western set in Oregon. It was quirky, dark humor, I enjoyed it!

Wrapped up #booked2019 Spring with these 3 books. Tagged book was a cute children‘s picture book with wonderful illustrations of tree animal sculptures. Previously completed:
🔹clifi : The Dry
🔹 food/bev: Whiskey in a teacup
🔹 musician: The Most Beautiful: My life with Prince

#nonfiction2019 #yourpick an insightful and interesting look at the degree to which digital devices suck up our leisure time. Its important conversation to have with ourselves, and Newport offers practical tips for making deliberate tech choices to minimize the intrusion and reclaim our leisure time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#nonfiction2019 #turnedoutunexpectedly. A crazy true story of a criminal genius who made hundreds of millions in an online scheme w/ painkiller med supply, and then he graduated to darker criminal schemes in the underworld of drugs and arms and more. It‘s a complex story with many characters and events, but it‘s a wild ride. There‘s plenty of surprising unexpected things that occur in this one! No spoilers - read it and see!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#nonfiction2019 #POC A deeply poignant and powerful memoir of a black man in Alabama convicted of murders he didn‘t commit, spending 30 years on death row before being exonerated and released. He is a remarkable person full of compassion, forgiveness, and humor. So many emotions from sadness to frustration, but it leaves you with immense inspiration and appreciation for a beautiful soul! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok so I‘m way slower reading when I‘m thinking about what sentences to mark-up! 5 days to go and 200 pages to read - time to power read! @mrsmarch I will be sure to mail with fastest service! #lmpbc #round5 #groupQ 👿 😇 it‘s a very funny book!

#nonfiction2019 #sawonlitsy thanks to @megabooks for posting about this book! Yes, this sure was a crazy good listen! True crime story of the rise and fall of some “larger than life” characters who built up a “mobster-like” pill-mill operation in Florida, earning millions through distribution of massive quantities of legal opioid pain meds to addicted patients. It had a major influence on the rising opioid epidemic in the nation. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#nonfiction2019 #madeyoulaugh This was so refreshing and down to earth, with many comedic moments. The silly side of Drew shines through! Rather than a linear telling, this was snippets of experiences from Drew‘s life, that illustrate her coming of age into a beautiful grounded centered woman , wife, mother. I didn‘t realize her youth had been so difficult, she‘s come a long way, and tells her story with heart and humor! ❤️🌸 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#SFFS @MommyOfTwo Wow! Thank you so much, you were so generous and thoughtful, I adore everything!!! I love that you included handmade items, and I love that we each sent a book in the same series HA!

#nonfiction2019 #inspirational . A short book 102 pages, an extended Ted Talk. It‘s a reminder of the power of gratitude in improving mood , generosity, and connectedness. In this book the author thanks every single person involved in his morning cup of coffee. A reminder of how a simple item in your life connects you with others. I lost interest a bit as story progressed, there‘s only so much “thanking” you can listen to at one time! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#booked2019 I happily discovered two books I read for nonfiction bingo also work for this challenge! 😀. And then I read the tagged book for climate fiction task. The storyline is a California community suddenly with no water supply- and how their behaviors go downhill as things become dire! It had good pacing and felt realistic , but the dialogue was very teen, and I struggled to engage with the characters. 3 stars.

#nonfiction2019 #unlikeablecharacter for the smuggler Jesus Lopez-Ramos who led 26 Mexicans over the border and through Arizona‘s remote Devil‘s Highway, through a heatwave of temps and lacking water... 14 died.

This author is an incredible writer , and does a superb audio narration too. I can see how this was nominated for Pulitzer Prize! The story is riveting, and harrowing, and great insight to all the sides of this tragedy.

#nonfiction2019 #somethingwithpictures the pictures in this book were stunning!! This book is a bit of everything: memoir, recipes, and southern lifestyle guide! I liked the memoir bits a lot! The lifestyle advice felt a bit superficial/aristocratic, but Reese is so genuine, caring, gives back, so she can pull this off in a sweet way. This is a lovely warm and friendly ode to the south! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#nonfiction2019 #science It is calming to hear words of someone who spent his life thinking the big picture! We get so easily distracted by daily woes of economy, environment etc, but Hawking reminds us, in a few hundred years super-humans will be zipping around the cosmos, settling on Mars, etc. Life will be unimaginable to ours today! I loved listening to audio, with snippets of Hawkings speaking, and a lovely afterward by his daughter!

What an awesome book/series this was! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I‘m using this as my #booked2019 #happyplace because I just love a great YA fantasy series like this, with awesome world building, characters, action, magic, light romance! And the audio with multiple narrators was top notch! So I was definitely in my happyplace listening to this! That‘s a wrap for Winter, now on to Spring.

#lmpbc #round5 #groupQ Received and ready to read, if only I could find my teal pen😂. I think I‘ll be in good hands with sirs Pratchett and Gaiman! And as a bonus this book fits a challenge task to read a book with multiple authors! 🙌

#nonfiction2019 #SomethingYouWerentLookingFor | This was an Audible daily deal last week and I grabbed it without knowing anything about it! Wow! It was great! Goldfarb is a journalist who did a ton of research for this, but it‘s written like a great story, totally engaging! Superb on audio with Will Damron narrating! The book just won 🏅2019 PEN/E.O Wilson prize for literary science writing!

@mrsmarch Mailed the tagged book to you today! You might want to stock up on some tissues! 😭 LOL! #LMPBC Group Q

#nonfiction2019 #music What a beautiful memoir this was! Tender, honest, heartbreaking, poignant. By Prince‘s first wife Mayte Garcia - who seems like such a kind and good person inside and out. 💜💜💜💜💜

#nonfiction2019 #travel This is a poignant memoir about a Syrian family‘s struggle to escape the violence of war in Syria. The author‘s young nephew became an emblem for the plight of the refugees, when the picture of his lifeless body on the beach went viral on 2015, after his family attempted to travel(flee) across the sea from Turkey to Kos, Greece and the boat capsized, with multiple drownings. A sad story but really insightful.

#readingUSA2019 my tally for year to date... I haven‘t been choosing books specifically for this, but it‘s been fun to go back and see what books I read would fit! I had a lot of books with California setting/author!

#nonfiction2019 #survival The nomadic life can seem appealing but this book takes a hard look at the reality of a growing group of older adults in retirement years, who are living nomadically in vans/rvs and taking low paying seasonal type jobs to get by. No fixed address, no insurance.. and companies like Amazon taking advantage of them by hiring them into ‘slave labor‘ like job conditions in their warehouses. Insightful book - #reality

Mmmmmmm this came in just in time for the weekend. The pictures are gorgeous in this book. Gonna bake some biscuits and drink some...

#nonfiction2019 #anotherpointofview an alternate peek into the life of Steve Jobs, this time through his daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs , who wrote this memoir of her early life. Lisa‘s mother and Steve Jobs had separated before she was born, and it took years for Steve to accept Lisa as his child - he finally did but in a very distant and limited way than you would expect from a parent. This is an unusual story and it‘s well written and thoughtful.

Boo has given his final approval of my book for #LMBPC #Round5 #groupQ - and he might just add his own comments inside too! #catsofLitsy #BooCat

#LMPBC #round5 #groupQ I‘m thinking one of these... Thoughts? Any read already or feel strongly for or against? I tried to include a mix with contemporary, historical fiction, chicklit, and children‘s. I tagged books in the comments. @mrsmarch @Meaw_catlady @CindyRene

#nonfiction2019 #femaleauthor Celebrating my first Bingo in column I 🥳 This was an interesting exploration of shifts in parenting, and impacts on happiness. Yup, parenting is hard, damn hard! I laughed when the author wrote how children are now “economically useless, but emotionally priceless” to the family! LOL .... True d‘at!

I learned so much with this deeply researched and detailed book on The Great Famine of the 1840s. There were a lot of factors that created the perfect storm for a natural disaster(potato blight) to turn into an epic tragedy with millions of deaths. The political ideology/decisions of the British governance over Ireland exacerbated the devastation and led to much human suffering. #nonfiction2019 #politics

And THIS is what happens when I tell myself to keep to just ONE overflow TBR stack 🤣📚🤪 Starting tagged book today! One by one....

#nonfiction2019 #amovement A message from Dalai Lama, written in 2017 for the youth of today, rallying for a revolution of compassion as the way foreword in the world! Quick read (120pgs), hopeful. There‘s a charter of universal responsibility at the end of the book that is really inspirational , I wrote it out for my teens!

Listened to this for #booked2019 #irishauthor This was a really solid debut, I enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the setting of Galway, Ireland. This mystery was engaging from start to finish, and I‘m excited for book two! Audio narrator had a nice Irish accent and did well portraying the many different characters.

@Crazeedi #20kgiveaway This book is the one I most remember from my earliest reading! I would read it over and over and over! I had it memorized which country came next as I turned the page! I still have the book and it‘s falling apart but it‘s so special to me! Thanks for the trip down memory lane 📚❤️ and congrats on your Litsy milestone! ✨

#fridaynightbookclub A sloths pace is just about right for my Friday night! Adorable illustrations, and a sweet message about slowing down to enjoy the little things!