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Exbrarian

Exbrarian

Joined December 2018

Primary reading goal for 2021 - read what I already own. I have 3 disparate themes emerging: Russian classics, Afro futurism, and odd atlases.
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Exbrarian
The Poppy War | R.F. Kuang
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Hello! I have a Virtual Book Club via Zoom. We've decided to recruit a few new folks. For the next year, we'll be reading selections from:

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/18/1027159166/best-books-science-fiction-fantasy-pas...

All current members are radical leftists, you need to cool with that.
We're currently reading The Poppy War.
My wife drew the picture. It will soon be a sticker for members.
I'm happy to provide details in the comments.

SamAnne Oh, I am interested! I read this npr story recently, noting the ones on my TBR and those I was not aware of. 3y
Eyelit I‘d possibly be interested - do you meet monthly/quarterly? How large are meetings in general? If it doesn‘t coincide with one of my other book groups, I‘m in. I‘ve been meaning to read more sci-fi/fantasy 🙂 3y
Exbrarian @Eyelit @SamAnne We meet every Tuesday at 8pm Central. There is weekly assigned reading, but you could easily just show up for the last meeting of each book and just discuss it as a whole. We have 9 members, but have never had more than 7 show up at once. 4-5 people is pretty typical attendance. 3y
LazyOwl I would be interested but unfortunately being across the other side of the world that time would be 9.30am whilst I'm at work. 3y
Eyelit That sounds so great doing regular weekly meetings with assigned reading! Unfortunately I‘ve already got an outstanding meeting on Tuesday evenings so I can‘t join at this time. Please do post about the books you‘re reading cause I‘d love to read along as best I can. And that cat sticker is divine! 😃 3y
33 likes5 comments
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Exbrarian
Earthlings | Sayaka Murata
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Pickpick

I loved Convenience Store Woman, so I knew I would get here eventually. Why didn't anyone warn me?!

TW: uh, if it's taboo or triggering, it's in here, I promise. Incest, child abuse, cannibalism to list the big ones.

It's honestly a sweet book that examines societal pressures and bodily autonomy. I was relating pretty well right up until that unexpected ending. Recommended reading for the right audience.

RaeLovesToRead I'll read this in the future when I'm feeling less delicate! 😂 3y
41 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

Murderbot #4

Solid read. Murderbot is the best. On to book 5.

35 likes2 stack adds
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Exbrarian
The City We Became | N.K. Jemisin
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Pickpick

Wow! Just, wow. 5stars. Urban fantasy meets Lovecraftian horror. N.K. Jemisin spanks H.P. Lovecraft with his own genre. Such a smart, and often funny, mind bending adventure.

45 likes4 stack adds
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Exbrarian
Oryx and Crake | Margaret Atwood
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Pickpick

Fantastic book! I have some other stuff to finish first, but I will definitely continue the series. Well written, well crafted, funny and awful! So much to love about Atwood's creation. I wanted more Oryx, and the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, but it's still great.

Lcsmcat I love the whole trilogy - you have some great reading ahead of you! 4y
45 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
Kindred | Octavia Butler
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Pickpick

I finished this a couple of weeks ago. It was very good. Historical fiction lightly disguised as science fiction. Written in the 70's but doesn't really feel dated.

55 likes1 stack add
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Exbrarian
Rogue Protocol | Martha Wells
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Pickpick

Murderbot Diaries: book 3.
More good fun with SecUnit/Murderbot, but this was my least favorite this far. I plan to keep reading the series, though.

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Pickpick

A departure from the previous books in the series, but no less enjoyable.

monalyisha 😱 I have this waiting for me! I do this thing where, when I REALLY want to read something, I almost get nervous about it? And I put it off? But it‘s on my nightstand! I didn‘t realize it was a departure. Don‘t tell me why but...now I‘m even more intrigued/nervous! 😅 4y
Exbrarian @monalyisha Well, a Wayward child goes through a door, so that's all still expected. But, it's a new child and a new world. 4y
monalyisha @Exbrarian Oh, okay! That, I can handle. 😉 4y
45 likes3 comments
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

My least favorite of The Hunger Games books. There are still stories from this world that I would like to read, but this one never moved me.

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Exbrarian
The Stand | Stephen King
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Pickpick

Pick! I, unlike most people, don't typically enjoy Stephen King. I also don't like audiobooks. However, back at the beginning of the pandemic I bought several thinking I would take up audio walking. Turns out I much prefer to listen to my surroundings. Anyhow, I finally got around to this one and I enjoyed it more than I had expected.

LoverOfLearning Glad you enjoyed the audio! I agree I need to be in the mood to listen to an audiobook or even a podcast. 4y
47 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
Tender Is the Flesh | Agustina Bazterrica
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Pickpick

Wow! That was one hell of a book. I don't recommend it. Disgusting, gut wrenching, sad, bleak. Made The Road feel like a visit to Chuck E Cheese. Do not read while eating.

It that didn't scare you off, then get this book, and get to reading.

BarbaraBB It‘ll be my next read! 4y
Soubhiville Huh, I‘m just intrigued. I may try it. 4y
Exbrarian @Soubhiville @BarbaraBB It's very well written and well translated. It feels viable, and it's pretty short. It really is a great book, IMO but I had to detach and read it in small bits. 4y
See All 6 Comments
stretchkev This book elicits such a reaction in people, can't wait to get to it! 4y
BarbaraBB Super review. I loved the book. What‘s does that say about me 😉?! 4y
Exbrarian @BarbaraBB It's a great book. My bookclub read it and every member finished it and found it really powerful. It's just hard to recommend widely. 4y
40 likes6 comments
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

I read this charming cookbook more like a travel guide or geography book. Interviews with and recipes from several grandmother's from 8 different East African nations that border the indian ocean.

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Exbrarian
Come Tumbling Down | Seanan McGuire
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Pickpick

Back to The Moors in this installment. Jack is absolutely my favorite character in the series, but this was not the best book. I'm still along for the ride, though. I know the next book comes out soon, but I may not get to it for a bit.

stretchkev I thought this was the weaker of the bunch, even if the moors is my favorite world so far. Felt more like an episode in Jack's story than a chapter. 4y
41 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
In an Absent Dream | Seanan McGuire
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Pickpick

This one was great! 4th book in the series and it might be my favorite.

Enchanted_Bibliophile This is also my favourite in the series 4y
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Exbrarian
Artificial Condition | Martha Wells
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Pickpick

Good, not great. I'll keep going with the series. I really like the premise and the novella size. My anxiety has been unbearable lately and chunkier books are on hold.

jpmcwisemorgan I couldn‘t read much of last year because there was just too much of everything. To finish up my Goodreads goal I read novellas and graphic novels because that‘s all I could focus on. I‘m starting this year the same way in hopes that shorter books will be enough distraction and not an added weight. I hope you‘re able to find books that work with anxiety, I know that not everything is something you can read if anxiety is high. (edited) 4y
41 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
The Factory | Hiroko Oyamada
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Mehso-so

What a strange little book. I have a hard time recommending it because I'm certain I don't understand some of it. 3 different individuals find themselves employed at different jobs within the same enormous place called the factory. Time has little meaning within the book, nobody does much work, and the factory may or may not produce anything.

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Exbrarian
Beneath the Sugar Sky | Seanan McGuire
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Pickpick

The third book in the Wayward Children series is still a "pick" but it's my least favorite so far. The characters introduced in this one just didn't grab me as much. I also preferred the traditional horror of the Moors to the Nonsense drama of Confection.

SkeletonKey I was disappointed by this one also, the series has been really up and down for me! 4y
Soubhiville Agreed! It‘s my least favorite, but I did still like it, and I think it was time for us to see one of the nonsense worlds. 4y
37 likes2 comments
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Exbrarian
The Historian | Elizabeth Kostova
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1) The Historian
2) Let the Right One In
3) Either of the above. I also really liked 30 Days of Night.
#SpookySaturday

29 likes1 stack add
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

2nd book in the Wayward Children series and I must say it is better than the first. Jack and Jill reimagined as a horrific fantasy. Portal-story meets vampires. On to the next book in the series.

monalyisha This was my favorite so far. And number 4. ✨ 4y
47 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
Every Heart a Doorway | Seanan McGuire
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Pickpick

This novella is a fantasy / murder mystery hybrid at a school for portal-story survivers. This is my first Seanan Mcguire book. TOR gave away the series on e-book last month and I grabbed them all because I have read (and loved) most of Mira Grant's books ( Grant is Mcguire's other pen name).

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Exbrarian
Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata
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Pickpick

A short, but substantive, novel about an autistic, asexual (though neither of those terms are ever mentioned) woman who finds meaning in here job at a convenience store. My only 5* read this year.

britt_brooke Loved this one! 4y
erzascarletbookgasm Very good read 👍. Have you read her new novel? 4y
Exbrarian @erzascarletbookgasm It's on my radar, but it may take me several months to get there. 4y
46 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

Fun read. More of the same, which is what I had hoped for. Won't make Ernie any new fans, but shouldn't cost him many either.

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Exbrarian
Black Nowhere | Reece Hirsch
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Pickpick

Pretty good. Far from great. An easy predictable cybercrime thriller. I've been played up in bed with a one-two punch of debilitating anxiety and back pain. This book was really good for passing the time without taxing my mind

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Exbrarian
Black Nowhere | Reece Hirsch
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It's always fun when the book and the real calendar sync up.

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Exbrarian
All Systems Red | Martha Wells
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Pickpick

Murderbot likes entertainment content. Murderbot does not like people. I relate to Murderbot.

Darkly comedic, sci-fi, adventure novella. First in a series.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa I was just thinking about re-reading this series. 4y
34 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
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It's been awhile since I was excited about a cookbook, but I can't wait to get into this one.

29 likes1 stack add
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Exbrarian
State Tectonics | Malka Older
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Pickpick

Big finish for this unique trilogy. I hope the author's next work feels this fresh.

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Exbrarian
Null States: A Novel | Malka Older
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Pickpick

Not as good as Infomacracy - the first book in he series - but still a good read. It did what the second book is supposed to do. It made me buy the third book. Near-future geopolitical intrigue that is highly imaginative and completely plausible. Pick!

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Exbrarian
The Dispossessed | Ursula K. LeGuin
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Pickpick

Barely a pick. Just finished this one for a virtual book club that I host for some IRL friends. This book has won ALL the awards and I am very well versed in anarchist philosophy but the book barely moved my interest meter. Plenty worth discussing for a book club so that's a win, but it's just a very lukewarm entertainment experience.

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Tender Is the Flesh | Agustina Bazterrica
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It's been awhile.
Today's e-book haul. I had some birthday gift cards burning a hole in my pocket.

Lauram Welcome back 4y
Tanisha_A 👏 4y
33 likes3 comments
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Exbrarian
The Stranger | Albert Camus
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"Maman died today."

#bookhunt #round1
@ShyBookOwl

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Exbrarian
Immunity | Erin Bowman
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I'm not quite finished with this book, but I did just finish #40miles20hours. Yay!

40 likes1 stack add
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Exbrarian
Days of war, nights of love | CrimethInc, CrimethInc. Workers' Collective
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#7days7books Day 5. Books that changed me or left an impact.

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#7books7days Day 4. Books that changed me or left an impression.

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#7books7days Day 3. Books That changed me or made an impact.

cariashley Wow. I haven‘t seen this book referenced in AGES and it‘s one of my favorites. 5y
Addison_Reads I need to read this. I've owned it for years. 5y
BarbaraBB Great choice! Like @cariashley I almost forgot about it while I really loved it at the time. 5y
35 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Started this one today. Very much a sc-fi survival-horror vibe. Not what I was expecting, but it's holding my interest.

Also, I'm at 10miles 6 hours on #40miles20hours

Exbrarian 11.5 and 6.5 5y
41 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Exbrarian
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#7books7days Day 2. Books that changed me or left an impression.

SamAnne Oh my goodness yes. I had forgotten about this one. 5y
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Recipe NOT from tagged book, sorry.

I made a galette! Swiss chard and chevre.

Not exactly book related. Sorry, not sorry
#keeplitsypositive

GingerAntics That does look amazing. 5y
ChasingOm I‘m not sorry either! 🤤 5y
Soubhiville That looks so good! 5y
PurpleTulipGirl Never apologize for sharing pictures of amazing food! 5y
53 likes5 comments
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Exbrarian
Hiroshima | John Hersey
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Pickpick

#7days7books that changed me or left a strong impression. Day 1

GingerAntics Oh, I‘d use this book, too. It‘s so intense. I‘m not sure I could say I liked it, but it broke my heart. 5y
Exbrarian @GingerAntics Tag, you are invited to play! 5y
GingerAntics I‘m going to have to do some thinking now. 5y
KarouBlue Excellent choice! 5y
42 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Exbrarian
Paper Girls Vol. 6 | Brian K. Vaughan
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Pickpick

Wonderful ending to my favorite graphic novel series in ages.

LauraJ Truth! 5y
46 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
This Vicious Cure | Emily Suvada
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Mehso-so

It's not that the last book of this YA trilogy was bad. I was just tired of the characters by the end of this book. No reason not to finish them if you have read the first two, and everything wraps up nice and neat with just the right amount of twists. I think I'm just burned out on YA tropes.

For good measure, I am at 7.5 miles and 5 hours on #40miles20hours

KristenDuck That‘s awesome! 5y
47 likes1 comment
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Exbrarian
The Stand | Stephen King
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#40miles20hours
About to get started on this challenge. Lots of new stuff for me. I don't really do audiobooks. I prefer to walk in silence and think. Also, Stephen King isn't really my jam, but I have been reading plague novels and this just seemed like the right chunkster for this challenge. I tend to walk 3 miles per hour and Audible puts this at 47hours and 40 minutes soooo, The Stand = 143 miles.

Exbrarian I walked 2.5 miles earlier today with my wife, and, of course, steps accumulate throughout the day, but I have decided to only count the miles and time that I devote to doing both simultaneously. So, I just walked 1 mile and listened to 20 minutes of The Stand. For easy accounting, I am going to keep that ratio for the entire challenge and work in 5minutes = quarter- mile increments. 5y
wanderinglynn Great job! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Snd wow, The Stand audiobook is like a whole summer of walking. 😳 5y
Exbrarian I'm gonna need to rethink my approach to this challenge. Turns out I don't like audiowalking at all. So, I walked 2.5 miles today, but only listened to 20 minutes of my audiobook. I did read for 2.5 hours though. So, counting all if my walking and reading from yesterday and today... 5 miles 4hours. 5y
46 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Exbrarian
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I have lost 10lbs since this whole thing started. Today, I lost my beard.

BlameJennyJane Looks good on ya! My husband started growing a beard and stole your ten pounds! 🤣 5y
sprainedbrain Look at you go! 🙌🏻 5y
BookwormAHN 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 5y
dylanisreading Way to go! 5y
48 likes5 comments
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

I liked this one better than the first book, which rarely happens to me for a second book. Off to borrow the third book in the series.

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Today we built a keyhole garden. My wife is planting herbs. She would not approve of her appearing in the photo.

Tanisha_A Lovely! 5y
51 likes2 comments
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https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief?QYsyXN2P_siHCAhbR...

Not book related. I don't know who can benefit from this, but I wanted to share just in case. For me, Litsy's secondary purpose is good mental hygiene.

TheKidUpstairs Thanks for sharing. 5y
GingerAntics I just read this article. I really enjoyed it. I hadn‘t thought to call it grief, but it really is. Thanks for posting this. 5y
38 likes2 comments
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Exbrarian
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#manicmonday @JoScho

@TheKidUpstairs
1. Novelist
2. Library
3. Dedication
4. Burn

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#isolationinteractions #socialdistancingselfies
@TheKidUpstairs

Taking my morning walk in my small backyard. 51 laps = 3000 steps
Making sure my neighbors chickens stay 6 feet away from me.

ljuliel Funny ( about the chickens 🐓 🐓 🐓 ). 😊 5y
BookishMe Hehehe... Fowl distancing! 5y
54 likes3 comments
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Exbrarian
Fridays | Andrew Johns
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@wanderinglynn @TheKidUpstairs
1. I like disasters, post apocalyptic, and pandemic reads for fiction.
2. I don't really like comedies, unless they are very dark. I like adventure movies for escapism.
3. I'm still watching the Walking Dead and it's most if the way through 10 seasons - I have also read the entire TWD comic run.
4. Cooking, and drums are my main hobbies besides reading.

wanderinglynn So what are some of your fave adventure movies? 5y
Exbrarian @wanderinglynn The Neverending Story is a lifelong favorite. Goonies, Jumanji, Indiana Jones movies...stuff like that. 5y
wanderinglynn All great movie choices! “Goonies never say die!” ❤️🙌🏻 Thanks for playing 😀 5y
35 likes3 comments
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Exbrarian
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Pickpick

This was a fun YA post& pandemic novel. Heavy on the science and little gruesome in places. Perfect for me! I didn't even mind the obligatory love triangle that much. I didn't realize it was the first in a series (aren't they all) but the second book was available on Libby, so I let another couple of holds slide so that I could keep following this adventure.

LauraJ Science and gruesome?! Stacked. 5y
51 likes1 stack add1 comment