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ravenlee

ravenlee

Joined March 2018

Homeschool mom trying desperately to read grown-up stuff (at least occasionally)
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ravenlee
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Recent #bookmail and I‘m so excited!

5feet.of.fury I really enjoyed Hessel‘s book! 1mo
26 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
Untitled | Unknown
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Today‘s library #bookhaul - kiddo complained because I gave her a limit (15 is a reasonable limit!) and then found all of these for myself. Two I‘ve read before but need to refresh to finish the trilogy. Everything else is new.

Bookwormjillk You only have 6! That‘s well under 15 🤣 1mo
Hooked_on_books That reminds me of when I was a kid. My mom would tell me I could only have as many books as I could carry myself. Seems reasonable now, but I‘m sure I thought this was an injustice. 😂 1mo
ravenlee @Hooked_on_books I usually give her one bag and tell her she has to be able to fit them in it AND carry it, but she‘s pushed the limits on that so much I had to go back to an actual, exact number! 1mo
Hooked_on_books I like her style! 😉 1mo
38 likes4 comments
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ravenlee
Silent Spring | Rachel Carson
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Sigh. We just can‘t move beyond this, can we?

TheBookHippie Nope. I reread this for the third time recently… man. So incredibly frustrating. 1mo
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
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ravenlee
Haunted Ever After | Jen DeLuca
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Starting this one today. We just got home from a few days at Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas (kiddo‘s been dying to go back), and #DannyBoy is so happy to be back from boarding school! He‘s been my velcro kitty most of the evening, and exceedingly vocal about my failings as a mom. Time to sit down and hold the kitty.
#catsofLitsy

TEArificbooks We loved that great wolf lodge. It is huge! 2mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
IndoorDame 🐾❤️🐾 2mo
41 likes3 comments
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ravenlee
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Ruthiella Wow! 🤯 2mo
LeahBergen How cool!! 2mo
BookmarkTavern Wow! 🤩 2mo
GingerAntics That is so cool! 2mo
Chrissyreadit wow! and Happy Birthday!🎉 2mo
29 likes5 comments
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ravenlee
NaNoWriMo Notes | Richard Marcus
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Another concern about the AI aspect.
#NaNoWriMo

PurpleyPumpkin Wow, that‘s crazy!😳 2mo
julesG Another fun thing ruined by AI. 😑 2mo
5feet.of.fury Yeah that‘s really scary 2mo
Clare-Dragonfly Yup 😑 FYI, I just learned about an app called TrackBear that looks like it will do all the fun tracking stuff that the NaNoWriMo site did, and will import directly from that site! 2mo
37 likes4 comments
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ravenlee
NaNoWriMo Notes | Richard Marcus
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GingerAntics How is that classist and ableist? It‘s humanist! Oh my god I am so over AI already. 2mo
ravenlee @GingerAntics I LOATHE AI. And I feel like science fiction has given us enough cautionary tales that we should, as a society, be way less enamored of it than we seem to be. 2mo
GingerAntics @ravenlee I feel like the funny thing is, the dividing line is political, as well as “those who read” vs “those who don‘t read” which is the problem when it comes to so many things (including AI). I saw the huge list of authors no longer supporting nano and people saying they weren‘t going to do nano anymore… I may be one of them. 2mo
GingerAntics @ravenlee I just read a timeline of all the crazy happening over at Nano that starts in late 2022 and ends with this new AI nonsense. I‘m really thinking I‘m not doing nano anymore. I‘ll find other ways to support my writing habit. We could start a writing group here on Litsy (but maybe find a way to have a chat system somewhere). 2mo
thebacklistbook I recommend using either mastodon or Blue sky for the support chat aspect. Either one is well organized for that sort of thing. 2mo
27 likes5 comments
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ravenlee
Untitled | Unknown
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This week‘s library #bookhaul and they‘re mostly for me! (The mountains of Warriors and Rainbow Magic and 13-Story Treehouse books for kiddo have taken over our hearth)

Ruthiella Warrior Cats? My niece absolutely adored those books as a child. 2mo
kspenmoll Nice stack! 2mo
ravenlee @Ruthiella yes, she‘s a huge fan! This is her…third? time through the entire universe. She actually won a trivia contest at B&N this summer. She made me read the first book last week, because she‘s dying to have someone to talk to about them. So I used it for our literature/language arts study! 😆 (edited) 2mo
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ravenlee
Untitled | Unknown
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In honor of World Folklore Day, I picked one of my many (so many, so very many, seriously I have a problem) books of folktales to dive into.

Clare-Dragonfly It‘s only a problem if you don‘t have bookshelf space for them! And then, your problem is not enough bookshelves. 2mo
37 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
Haunted Ever After | Jen DeLuca
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It‘s a good day for #bookmail!

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ravenlee
Free Will | Sam Harris
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Today‘s #bookmail - I‘m hoping to get back into #deadphilosopherssociety with this one. 🤞🏻 I have not done well with scheduled reading for the past year or so, and now I‘m especially caught up in daily Substacks about the current political nightmare…I mean situation. And that leaves less time for books, unfortunately.

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ravenlee
Sanctuary | Ilona Andrews
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I absolutely LOVE this! From “Vasylisa and Baba Yaga,” by Rossana Sasso, at the very end of this novella.

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ravenlee
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Knowing I was about to finish my current read, I threw another book in my bag today. When I pulled it out, I found three bookmarks in it. Apparently I have done the “grab a bookmark, throw it in the book, throw the book in the bag” routine a couple of times already with this one. I did start it this time, though. 🤦🏻‍♀️

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ravenlee
Sanctuary | Ilona Andrews
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Schrödinger synod ?

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ravenlee
Untitled | Unknown
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What I wish I could do today/this week.

Ruthiella Mondays are particularly difficult. ❤️ 3mo
35 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
Sanctuary | Ilona Andrews
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My BDH merch arrived! Now I can get around to reading the print edition of this book.

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ravenlee
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Man, I just cannot get away from this POS.

Clare-Dragonfly He‘s done so many shitty things! He turns up everywhere! 3mo
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ravenlee
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Ouch. And even more true in the COVID era.

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ravenlee
Untitled | Unknown
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kspenmoll 😀😻 3mo
dabbe #photocontestwinner 🖤🐾🖤 3mo
monkeygirlsmama 💙💗💚 3mo
34 likes3 comments
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ravenlee
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“…you might wish to describe Christianity as the gateway drug to supply-side capitalism.”

TheBookHippie 🎯 3mo
Tamra King has a razor sense of wit and humor! 3mo
Cuilin 💯 3mo
30 likes3 comments
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ravenlee
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Recent library #bookhaul - let‘s hope the tagged is better than the last one 🤨🙄

And one caught my attention on the new releases shelf, so let‘s give it a try then.

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ravenlee
The Iliad | Homer
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I was so excited to get this #bookmail this week! I preordered it, but it shipped before the release date, so I was completely surprised. I need to find the time to focus on it, which is hard to do at the moment. But soon, yes…soon.

TheBookHippie Oh I want this too!!! Enjoy! 3mo
dabbe The Fagles' translation is my favorite, but I can't wait to read what you think about this one! I haven't read it yet! 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
ravenlee @dabbe I have a collection of Iliad and Odyssey editions (Odyssey is my favorite). I loved Wilson‘s Odyssey, so I‘ve been very eagerly awaiting her new work in paperback. Eventually I want to read all of my copies close together and compare them. 3mo
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dabbe @ravenlee What's your favorite ODYSSEY translation? 3mo
ravenlee @dabbe I used the Fitzgerald translation in undergrad, and it‘s my gold standard. He changed spellings to try to be more true to the original (Kirke instead of Circe), but it makes it confusing in places (like the Phaiakians). But the flow overall is really good. 3mo
dabbe @ravenlee I don't know how those spellings would work for me, but I might give him a try. Thanks for your knowledge! 🤗 3mo
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ravenlee
Not in Love | Ali Hazelwood
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Pickpick

Well, I read this in two days, it was that good. The plot and basic character setup seem the same as in Love, Theoretically, but it‘s not broken so don‘t fix it. I love how Hazelwood manages to work in genuine emotional growth while she‘s writing enjoyable and steamy romance. Not my favorite by her, but not far off, either.

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ravenlee
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Bailedbailed

The author of this book has MS, RD after her name. And then she puts this “home test” in here, admits there‘s absolutely no evidence to support it, but why not? I was already skeptical from some of her other starements, but now I‘m out.

Hooked_on_books This is the kind of crap that makes me not trust dieticians. Which is too bad, since they can provide a valuable service to people. 3mo
ravenlee @Hooked_on_books exactly. I met with a nutritionist (maybe a dietician, don‘t remember) in college, and she was awful to me. She looked down her nose at me and said, “there is no place for SUGAR (say it like it‘s stuck on your shoe now) in a balanced diet.” Because in my food journal I listed two (2!) swedish fish as a treat one day. She didn‘t even know what that was. 3mo
Hooked_on_books That‘s absurd! I‘ve left medicine, but I‘m an MD and some of the stuff I‘ve read dieticians say is so divorced from fact that I‘m horrified. People who have the backing of purported knowledge should not be inserting their personal opinions instead. And yet for folks doing an elimination diet or adjusting diet for a medical reason, those folks can be a godsend. If I was a good dietician, I‘d be so mad at someone like this. 3mo
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dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
ravenlee @Hooked_on_books yes! I‘ve heard about dietitians and nutritionists pushing vegan/paleo/keto/whatever particular diet they personally follow (I‘m a 28-year vegetarian, but I still wouldn‘t want it shoved down my throat, so to speak) and ignoring the reality of their patient‘s individual life and needs. I‘m trying to learn about a new diagnosis, sort out food sensitivities, and this junk is just muddying the waters. 3mo
Hooked_on_books Ug, that‘s so frustrating! I hope you find a good source that helps you get the info you need. 3mo
ravenlee @Hooked_on_books thank you. I‘m getting there, bit by bit. 3mo
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ravenlee
Just Like Old Times | Hetty St. James
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I just got this email from the Penguin publishing house, and now I‘m feeling super old. Historical fiction?! Set during my childhood?!! Oy vey.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/books-set-in-the-1980s/

TheBookHippie Oy to the vey. One of my readers asked if cars were around in my 1970s growing up years 👀😅😵‍💫😭 4mo
dabbe I don't know whether to 😂 or 😭! 🤪 4mo
AllDebooks 😱 Wait, what? 👵😅 4mo
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Bookwormjillk My kids love to tell me I was born in the 1900‘s like I was born in the prairie or something. 4mo
Ruthiella 😂 Oh well, it had to happen sometime. When I was a teenager on the‘80s, I thought the 1950s were ancient history. 4mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thanks for sharing! This one is phenomenal 💚 4mo
LittlePixels I got the same email and thought the same thing!! But the list was interesting and I may have added another 📕 to my ever-growing TBR… 4mo
marleed 80s HF is so interesting because of the what the AIDS epidemic and so many in a generation of gay men who tragically never had the opportunity to grow old. 4mo
Avanders Now that‘s just rude…😜 (edited) 4mo
37 likes9 comments
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ravenlee
Winter Lost | Patricia Briggs
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Pickpick

It felt like it took forever to read this, but it was really just three days. I felt confused for a good bit, trying to remember the previous installment and sort out what I was supposed to know already, but it all worked eventually. I‘m looking forward to a full series (plus A&O) reread at some point.
#DannyBoy is tired of his place on my lap being taken by this big hardcover and ready to reclaim his territory.

Ruthiella 😻😻😻 4mo
33 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
Independence Day | Richard Ford
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#DannyBoy is fed up with fireworks.
Happy Independence Day, and may we be able to celebrate it again next year. #catsofLitsy

BookmarkTavern You and me both Danny. 💕 4mo
Texreader ❤️ 🐾 4mo
GingerAntics That is a legit concern! Fingers crossed. I hope Danny is calmer now. 4mo
ravenlee @GingerAntics Danny was super calm the whole night, just exceedingly annoyed. Which matched the rest of us. But we finally got kiddo to bed around 10:30, and then the jerks started another round just as she was drifting off and she fell out of bed. I hate fireworks. 4mo
40 likes5 comments
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ravenlee
Winter Lost | Patricia Briggs
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I normally wait for paperbacks, but it feels like it‘s been SO LONG since I read a Mercy book, I broke down (partially, can‘t buy a hardcover that wouldn‘t match my MMs) and it just came in at the library. My holiday weekend plans just changed!

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ravenlee
Pickpick

While listening to this audiobook, about listening, I found myself needing to rewind occasionally to hear something more clearly. But I did start to be more present for what I was hearing, too, and I‘m not sure that would have been the same with a text copy. Definitely a make-you-think book, about how and why to listen better.

LiteraryinPA Very meta! 4mo
ravenlee Nitpick: the author narrates, which is cool, but there‘s a lot of upspeak, especially early on, and she pronounced some things oddly: process-eees, not process-ehs; bias-eees, not bias-ehs; and infl-OO-ences, not IN-fluences. It was distracting. 4mo
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ravenlee
Pickpick

What a fantastic, frustrating read! I expect to revisit this in the future. It also dovetailed nicely with other recent reads, especially The Feminine Mystique, The Math of Life and Death, and Recollections of my Nonexistence. I‘ve been sharing tidbits with my mom and now she‘s interested in it, too. Highly recommended.

TheBookHippie Well, I need to read it then! 4mo
Bookwormjillk I really liked this one too 4mo
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ravenlee
Mehso-so

Meh, not a bad book, but there‘s not much point to it. The first book has anecdotes that support ideas for homeschooling and general family life. This book is heavy on anecdotes and generic aphorisms, without much in the way of substance. Pleasant enough to listen to, and I guess if one needs a pat on the back, or reassurance that it‘a all going to work out, this could work. Otherwise it‘s ok to skip.

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Mehso-so

It was pretty good, and I always like how the characters come together in these stories, but I didn‘t like this as much as the others. The first book was the best, the second was good, and this was a little lower than that. I‘m definitely going to continue the series, though, because I must know what happens next!

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ravenlee
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Pickpick

This easily readable explanation of how math affects our daily lives was really fascinating. The section on epidemics has the beginnings of COVID, which surprised me. I will revisit this one in the future, and may make it part of kiddo‘s high school math curriculum in a few years.

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ravenlee
Hope In The Dark | Rebecca Solnit

This article is not from the tagged book, but it deals in the same currency. Solnit writes about the loneliness epidemic, the rising wave of authoritarianism, and most importantly, how we can feel better about our lives. It‘s a quick but important read. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/04/trump-covid-climat...

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ravenlee
Hemlock Island: A Novel | Kelley Armstrong
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Panpan

I‘ve been hovering between so-so and pan, and I‘m coming down on the pan. I should have known, with it billed as things I don‘t like (thriller/horror/mystery) but I‘ve liked KA‘s other books…but no. It wasn‘t a solid story any way you slice it, and it feeds one of my pert peeves 👆🏼 when the author says someone says something without us actually getting the words. Deliberate obfuscation bugs me. I‘m irritated I spent good reading time on this.

TheBookHippie I swear I‘m bailing more lately for these types of reasons. 5mo
dabbe #fanofthepan! 🤩🤩🤩 5mo
Clare-Dragonfly I haaaaate that. The only way it makes sense is if the character is recounting events that the reader has already been witness to. Doesn‘t sound like that‘s the case here! (edited) 5mo
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ravenlee
Untitled | Anonymous
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Not book related in any way, but #DannyBoy in a laundry hamper needed to be shared. #catsofLitsy

RaeLovesToRead Danny 🤗🤗🤗💕 5mo
dabbe #darlingdanny I want to boop his adorable nose! 🖤🐾🖤 5mo
Eyelit Cute lil kitteh! 😻 5mo
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Texreader So so cute!!! 5mo
Amiable Awww! 🥰 5mo
kspenmoll Too cute!!! 😻 5mo
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Suet624 (Sigh) so true. 6mo
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This jumped out at me, in the context of the bear/man thought experiment going around.

bookishbitch Sadly I'm not surprised. I read a book that described the chemical changes in the brain that causes ptsd and it's ultimately triggered by your bodies thinking you might die. That kind of assault certainly qualifies. 6mo
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ravenlee
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Pickpick

I should have read this book ages ago, but better late than never! I see the drawbacks of Friedan‘s approach, how she focuses on a very narrow subset of women for her work, but I do think it‘s full of important criticism. I saw myself in these pages, much more than I‘d like. Definitely worth a read.

TheDaysGoBy It‘s on my TBR. I‘ve never read it either 6mo
GingerAntics I remember reading this for a class in grad school, but for the life of me, I remember very little of it. 6mo
Singout I‘m listening to Doppelgänger by Naomi Klein right now… she talks about this era of feminism. 6mo
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(Inset from Rollo May, “Contributions of Existential Psychotherapy)

Friedan uses this in her argument against housewives “adjusting” to their limited existence, but it really struck me how this applies to LGBTQ+

Bookwomble I want to read some Rollo May - he's often referenced in other books I've read, but I've not managed to get around to him. I see here what I'm missing! 6mo
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ravenlee
Lore Olympus: Volume Six | Rachel Smythe
Pickpick

Another great installment. My only complaint is I‘m having a hard time keeping similar-looking characters straight. I guess I‘ll have to do a full-series reread at some point while I wait for the next one this fall!

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Lore Olympus: Volume Six | Rachel Smythe
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I checked the mail on my way out to pick up kiddo from dance rehearsal, and my preorder arrived! Guess what I‘m reading while I wait. Of course, my bag now has two large books and a water bottle in it, so it weighs a ton.

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Untitled | Unknown
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I‘m reading my paternal grandmother‘s memoir, and her description of a mass food poisoning incident during her time in the WACS is making me feel sick. “Especially if they ate the ham salad” in particular…I‘m vegetarian, but I think ham salad would seem ill-advised even if I weren‘t.

I never had a great relationship with either of my grandmothers. They weren‘t good people, in my experience, but it‘s interesting to learn more about them.

Suet624 I‘m with you on the ham salad. Cool that you get to read her experiences though 6mo
Tamra As a salt lover, I love homemade ham salad, though I get why others would be turned off. 😏 You are lucky to have a first hand account to read! 6mo
Hooked_on_books What a cool thing to be able to read. It‘s always good to gain some insight into those in our families, even if the relationships aren‘t good ones. I didn‘t have a great relationship with my dad‘s mom and part of me wishes I understood her a bit better (and vice versa). 6mo
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ravenlee
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Pickpick

I mostly haven‘t cared for the stories that accompany Disney franchises (looking at you, Lost in a Book and Far from Agrabah), but this one was quite good. Set shortly before Frozen II picks up (the Epilogue leads right into the movie), we find Anna battling a nightmare as Elsa takes on a blight affecting crops and livestock around Arendelle. The sisters must work together to solve the mysteries and find a way to save their home. 👇🏻

ravenlee Kiddo found this one too spooky to read again. It is creepy, but I thought the tone worked. 6mo
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ravenlee
Pickpick

Much better than the first Rake Review, the February issue (I‘m a little behind on…everything) features Hades and Ophelia (ok, it really bothers me that Persephone is in the first couple and Hades in the second) finding each other. An accidental betrothal becomes a convenient relationship becomes a love match. All the while O is working to rescue endangered women from unsafe situations. Really enjoyed!

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ravenlee
Love on the Brain | Ali Hazelwood
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Mehso-so

A good book, but not a great one. I‘ve much preferred other AH books, but I did enjoy most of it. The climax was odd, I saw the miscommunications coming miles away; the supporting characters were mostly fun. I liked Levi‘s relationship with his friend‘s widow and daughter. My big annoyance was 👆🏼; I get that Levi‘s family is military all the way, but there isn‘t an Air Force base in Houston. Seems like that could have been fixed pretty easily.

TheBookHippie My daughter‘s friend was stationed in San Antonio I think. Lackland. But that right there is a pet peeve of mine in books 😵‍💫 6mo
ravenlee @TheBookHippie I am extremely bothered by details like this! As an AF brat/veteran/spouse it bugs me, but really it‘s these small things that could so easily be checked! I went to an air show at Lackland when I was stationed at Randolph. Tons of military based around San Antonio. Just not in Houston! 6mo
TheBookHippie @ravenlee I was east coast as an Army Brat. Harrisburg. Cumberland. 6mo
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ravenlee
Pickpick

I enjoyed this as a quick audiobook. I had real problems with a couple of the readers. The second one kept saying “exspecially” and “eggspecially” and it drove me bonkers. Also, 3/4 readers weren‘t following the rule that “the” is pronounced “thee” before words beginning with a vowel, which also bothered me greatly. But content was very good.

mjtwo My mind is absolutely blown - I have never heard it articulated before but of course that is the rule. 6mo
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