“That‘s what we‘re going to discover again and again and again. Nothing is what we thought.”
I own this book, I don‘t know how. Was it a gift? Did I buy it for myself (unlikely but not wholly impossible)?
My therapist said some of it might be helpful. I am reluctantly facing some stuff. I want to face these things…
My friends, acquaintances, strangers: therapy is hard I hope you can stick with it and advocate when it should be different.
💜🖤

Anxious and unable to sleep, listening to the author read one of my favorites

I was intimidated by this book even though it‘s got nearly #allthethingsifellforasayoungerreader …I read some reviews and someone said they really struggled until they read the wiki article on the book. My young self would be ashamed to admit it but I‘m not: I read the wiki. I don‘t think it took away from my enjoyment (?) of the book knowing wth.
This photo is a bit irreverent for the subject matter but appropriate on a few levels.
Lots of cw‘s

“There were about a dozen watches in the window, a dozen different hours and each with the same assertive and contradictory assurance mine had, without any hands at all. Contradicting one another. I could hear mine, ticking away inside my pocket, even though nobody could see it, even though it could tell nothing if anyone could.”

An incredible human‘s birth day is just an excuse to post this photo of him being the icon he was, beautiful and not having it. So grateful he was in this world and I was able to read his writing and see videos of him speak. His work led me to read others and still teaches me.

Many reviews say this book is dry, possibly due to the detailing of the bureaucracy that was behind the forceful removal of whole communities from the land they called home. I was appreciative of that Saunt laid out the cultural and political climate and how closely tied the atrocities of slavery and the genocidal approach to native communities were, albeit different. The section about cholera was moving. I‘m glad I read it. I am good with dry.

I‘m taking advantage of a rare weekend day off to start listening to this account of my nation‘s past.

I‘ve been slow, so slow reading lately. Listened to this book on Audible and it coaxed me to sleep countless nights (which meant it took all the longer to read). I love Hardy‘s care with describing landscapes and the glimpses into the inner lives of his characters.
I stan Marty, if I had read this in my twenties, she would have been one of my many literary crushes.

I‘m late in posting…finished this for a reunion of a previous postal book club. I‘ve had this book for years but shied from reading it because I thought it might be a war book as it‘s about a veteran. There‘s much more to it and I am so glad to experience this amazing author‘s prose finally. So many of the themes are things I love thinking about. Also bonus points for challenging me re: one of my storytelling bugbears.

I‘m making progress through this book but it has been months. I‘m enjoying it but not retaining much...for me these days reading isn‘t the escaping or devouring, it‘s the company a book provides and the all too soon forgotten moments of new understanding.
This is an inventory of my bottles of ink for my fountain pens. It‘s a project I‘ve been meaning to get to and an audiobook and winter weather helped.

I‘m searching for phonetic guesses of other languages. Al Hakam (?) reaches Mehrgarh and reports to Khalif Omar:
“He got a less than enthusiastic report: ‘It is a land whose plains are mountains,...whose only fruits are poor quality dates, whose enemies are heroes, whose prosperity is little, whose evil is long-lasting. What is much there is little. What little is there is nothing. As for what lies beyond, it is even worse.‘”

I haven‘t been reading. I have been reading, just not making progress. Yesterday morning, I did something I haven‘t done in months, almost a year, I grabbed a warm beverage and a cosy blanket and learned about another time and learned about places I‘ve never seen.
I missed that feeling. I missed that intention. I feel like I haven‘t been myself for so long I was a new self who didn‘t read.
This book, I am glad to report, isn‘t just about Europe

It wasn‘t until I started listening to this did I know this book was geared toward the YA audience. So far, it‘s delightful, moving, honest, with some fun anectodotes and tales of abuse. This cover art is lovely.
I do wish his reading style didn‘t feel as rushed but I am enjoying hearing his voice.

August‘s #bookspin is How Music Works &
#doublespin is How to Be an Antiracist
I botched the Bingo sheet but I‘ll try to read the two books I transposed so it won‘t matter...
Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for organizing this!

#bookspin #doublespin quick & dirty list for August...posting before I look up the numbers and Bingo layout

This book comes from Taylor‘s experience, so it has the limits that come with that but there is no denying this an ambitious work with a surprisingly simple and unifying premise. Very self-help-y but impressive with its intentent. I don‘t think I‘ve ever read a book so self-help-y with the tangible goal of empowering people to love themselves as well as others.
I have a great deal of respect for how this woman thinks and the future she imagines.

A tightly focused collection of interviews & speeches connecting intersectionality, the militarization of police, the prison system, the education system, and making change while recognizing the work of the past, this is my introduction to this amazing woman. She is commits to challenging ideas (we are catching up to her) &delights praising the hard work of others, I am looking forward to reading more by Davis
#bookspin bingo🖤

This is a Sedaris book. There was one story that had me laughing aloud but, by and large, it was more of a chuckle-inducer. Still, he seems somewhat magical to me, that he has the life he has.
#doublespin book complete, now let‘s see if I can get a bingo. @TheAromaofBooks

This is a whirling, gripping, vulnerable, and powerful collection of essays (of which some felt more like short stories).
There‘s a broad range of writing from a openly feeling human, talking about his pain and owning the pain he caused others.
Kiese Laymon‘s reading is engaging and his work is moving and amazing. I‘m grateful for this and looking forward to reading more of his work.
#bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

#bookspin & #doublespin bingo
@TheAromaofBooks thank you for organizing this! As a mood reader, I‘m excited to see where this leads me

#bookspin and #doublebookspin for July
I didn‘t participate in June, it took me all month to finish two books which were from the craziness of May. Updating this list helped me feel a bit better since I had read a number of books in May, I just didn‘t spend much time social-media-ing.

#bookspinbonanza
welp, I thought this was book. It was more of a miniseries that followed up (?) on the tagged book, which I think I might read. Interesting but quick to draw sweeping conclusions for an audience who likely does not need convincing, I got this free from Audible and it‘s short so I guess I can‘t be mad about it. 🤷🏻‍♂️
It‘s fine and it‘s also finished. Continued leap-frogging bookspin for the audio/paper combo I usually maintain

I found out about this book from a podcast I was listening to while my roommate drove us across Wyoming. I knew it would be interesting but I was not looking forward to how depressing it would have to be. It‘s a balanced book of portraits of beekeepers, some light science, some light history. It reads like a long magazine article. The book sheds light in an accessible way on many of the assorted reasons for the imported honey bee‘s challenges.

“He was tired of wearing sombreros, he told me, and suggested that we trade places. I‘ve never been one to say no to a complication, so I put on the sombrero, and he put on the headband with the feather. The producers didn‘t notice or didn‘t care. ‘Just stand among the appliances‘ they told us, ‘and wish everyone a merry Christmas. In your own language.‘”
It‘s a beautiful day and this book is a great read so far
May‘s #doublespin is a joy.

I enjoyed this #bookspin which is part memoirish, part historical ponderings, part commentary. I was hoping for something drier, more academic, I guess, 🤷🏻‍♂️ but it was an enjoyable read. This is one of those times when I wished I had read a book before another because I‘m always chasing the books I already love but different. The behind the scenes historical farm anecdotes were delightful.

On haymaking:
“...in an act of mock knowingness, testing its sweetness between my teeth.”
As I have posted before, I love the BBC historic farm shows and so I am acquainted with Alex‘s delight in imagining and supposing and theorizing. Some criticism of this book has come to bear (ableist, limited view, romanticizing the past) but I knew what I was in for when I opened this book. It‘s not what I hoped for but it‘s 💯 Alex. #bookspin underway!

I am a fan of the BBC Historical Farm programs. I also like trains with a childlike enthusiasm and similar knowledge base. So this book was bound to be a winner with me. Enjoying Peter and Ruth‘s reading voices (in character but also a bit different from their tv presenting) was a bonus. This book offers fun history, some repetition, clearly explained developments and relationships between technology and the lives of individuals.

#doublespin
Welp, I guess I am glad I‘ve read this book, although I am overwhelmingly ambivalent about it. I loved Middlesex but I haven‘t read anything else by him until now. There were moments when the writing snuck up on me.
I felt something deeply but it was usually anxiety or shame. (Whether the writing is responsible for this, I cannot know.) That‘s all of April #bookspin read just in time.
Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for organizing it!

Making my way through #doublespin book for April...I am not yet sure how I feel about this collection of short stories. I got distracted by the last slice of Flaugnarde I made earlier this week with fresh blueberries. (I like to make the traditional version with cherries with pits but my roommate doesn‘t like having to eat around the pits and, besides, it‘s too early for cherries.) @TheAromaofBooks

#bookspinbonanza list!
I admit there are no chunksters in this list. This month is a mix of audio books and paper-based books since this month‘s a little different.
Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for organizing this! Now back to my #doublespin for April...

If you‘re familiar with PG W, you know what to expect. Predictable, clever adventures of peerage and the “upper crust” in Edwardian England. Lighthearted and palatable in times of stress, and lovely borrow from Overdrive, this book was just what I needed. I‘ve only read some of the Jeeves books so it‘s nice to branch out a bit but looking forward to reading more of those soon, possibly.

Dune is a favorite, I marvel at how well-crafted it is each reread. Like the first book, there‘s a mix of philosophy, political and religious commentary, strong character-development (albeit male-centric) that I find engaging. Messiah deepens our knowledge of political forces in interesting ways. Otherworldliness is the landscape and character and the outliers, while seen as freaks within the world, are the most compelling for the reader.

You‘re told early on not to read straight through but I did. 🤷🏻‍♂️
An alphabetical collection of quips, sneaky one-liners, puns, uncomfortable farce, sad truths, and even some insights, it‘s an odd film book with an uncommon premise.
Having familiarity with Ayoade‘s work on Dark Place & Ayoade On Top helps make this sentence salad rewarding. On Top rewards the reader with Ayoade‘s humanity while Grip is his searing cleverness and critique.

It‘s a snowy day so here‘s a picture from days ago...that‘s Colorado weather for you.
I loved this book. It‘s a book for young‘ns which was good for me as there was just love and companionship and respect, no crushes or love triangles. (Do I need to save myself some heartache and not read the sequel?)
I loved how compassionately the author dealt with children who are not well-mannered and the feelings of adults who are hurting.
Beautiful & sweet

Started my #bookspin yesterday before work. I realized I didn‘t read all of Wednesday because I thought I should be reading this book but didn‘t want to take it to work. Had a little extra time before work to start it Thursday and I‘m enjoying it so far.
Also, keeping up with the meditating for #BFC only missing three days so far.

#audioyardwork Well I am enjoying this book more than I thought and parts of the story are coming back to me.
Today‘s a day off for me and I am grateful for it. I‘m clearing leaves and some old, dead growth from last year (should have done it already but last fall into winter was dominated by health stuff) and putting peas in pots on the deck. Peas are one of my favorite things to grow; it‘s a lovely day, getting those in.💚

I don‘t know what I‘m doing. I think I loved this book when I was a kid but I also didn‘t reread it...I have a weird feeling about it, like, by reading it as an adult I‘m going to stumble upon some trauma I‘ve forgotten. I don‘t know but, what the heck, eh?
Stopped reading one book because of end of the world vibe and, through indecision, jumped into this one with serious illness as a part of the setting. So... 🤷🏻‍♂️

While the workday wasn‘t AS terrible as ones earlier this week and I am tired but not ragged, I can‘t let go of the worry and anxiety about not doing my job well enough. The meditate today was good, though, and I have a little energy now to find some Wodehouse or something fun to get lost in after a DNF (for now) today.
#BFC

Welp, I think I might enjoy this but now is not the time. I need reading to be an escape since everything at work is so anxious-making. I loved Last Confessions so much, she‘s such an enigmatic writer but hiding in a house with the world going sideways in a terrifying way isn‘t feeling like escape right now.
Also, the Overdrive app annoys me because I can‘t tell how long I have been listening and how much I have left...so bye-bail for now!

#bookspin for April is Dune Messiah (it‘s slightly unbelievable I haven‘t read this, given how much love I have for Dune)
#doublespin is Fresh Complaint. (An impulse buy... Middlesex is a favorite book of mine, I thought, “ooo short stories!!!”)
& what the heck, why not
#triplespin is The Grip of Film (I have long loved Ayoade and only this year discovered he‘s an author!)
A good mix, I am excited!
Thank you for organizing this @TheAromaofBooks 👏

#bookspin #doublespin
This looks like a fun idea...here are my books for April
I‘m looking forward to reading any of these, but sometimes timing‘s a real jerkface.

I am fine with the series ending...I think I was looking for what I wanted instead of what these books had. If you‘re not in love with the preceding books and not a completist, I recommend just not reading this one. Patrick Stewart read the audio and did a ton of voices so that was interesting.
Book 2/6 for #BFC
Still doing okay with the meditate, having napped one day instead. Giving myself some time outside before facing work today.

Welp, I got only about fifteen minutes of reading in today...work is really exhausting. I am glad to have Sunday off, at least. The meditate today for #BFC was tricky, I might‘ve fallen asleep for a minute or three. This book starts in a super unappealing way. Not into the mean-ape-picking-on-the-donkey show. It‘s too much, Clive Staples Lewis.

@Bibliogeekery I hope you recover quickly! I also hope this link works. They are on the west coast, so the video‘ll be better when it‘s not nighttime there! https://www.vanaqua.org/visit/live-cams-jelly-cam

#BFC 1st book finished. Out of 6, I forgot?
I realize I‘m calling all of these as picks even though I just really like parts of each these books. But I‘m reading and that‘s something when I feel like all I am doing is working, cleaning, and cooking while being tired and anxious. So, for an unchallenging read, these are fine as long as I don‘t think about the elitist nonsense in the books.
I skipped the meditate yesterday and took a nap instead.

Ah! Day 2: audiocooked & audioplanted after journaling after first phone appt with my therapist in this time of social distancing. I‘m about to do a meditate before I shower before bed.
Day 1: forgot to post yesterday, I was so tired from my extra shift. Sat outside and meditated on the wind and cold after work. Enjoyed some of Linda Hogan‘s writing before work. It‘s a struggle at work (I am grateful but tired) and the meditating is much needed

@24in48 A decent showing for the day, with cleaning and cooking and journalling. I‘ve been called in to work tomorrow, which was to be a day off, so I‘m not going to make it 24 hours... it‘s all right, though, as I read a grip yesterday as well. When I was thinking I‘d read these books this year, I thought it would take months...

I am a silly person and thought #24in48 started today. Did a bit of audiocleaning then audiopuzzling this morning because I mislaid the book I meant to read.
I enjoyed Prince Caspian, even if a bit more violent and many of the characters of Narnia felt a bit more flat (but w/ excellent names!). I really enjoyed the Lemony Snicket meets Mr Rogersness of TLTW&TW and there was less of it in this book, clearly written for slightly older children.

Earlier this year I was thinking about ole Lewis. I couldn‘t remember how many of these books I read as a kid. I thought I might read them all this year. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I‘m not a big fantasy fan, but I do love fantasy adjacent stuff.
This book was a jaunt, compared to LOTR & I wonder why it hasn‘t taken off like the potterverse maybe I‘ll find out.
This picture I took while getting carts from the parking lot at work, this is some sloppy winter weather

Morgan Jerkins is strong and vulnerable in this work, transparent in her self-reflection and direct and honest. I hadn‘t read anything by her before listening to this. I admire her. It took a bit for me to get into her reading style, as it feels almost as though she‘s racing to the end. Admittedly not for everyone, explicit sexual content. I am glad this book exists.