“But with a glimmer of willingness, language can do so much to squash independent thinking, obscure truths, encourage confirmation bias, & emotionally charge experiences such that no other way of life seems possible.” I really never thought a lot about how language can be used as a tool to manipulate people. I really liked this book & found it totally fascinating. #bookspin #nonfinction2022: I‘m an escapee, #booked2022: about a cult

I started reading this for #shesaid but life got busy & I didn‘t keep up with the conversations. But I finally finished & loves this book. It brought up lots of interesting points. Every day in the US it feels like women have a reason to be angry, looking at you the Supreme Court. This book was the perfect book for me to finish right now as I am about to go back into the working world. I feel things have changed a lot over the last 11 years since

Conversations with myself: You really need to start to narrow down what books you are going to take for the move, you don‘t need any more books……oh that looks like a good book, oh that one sounds interesting…..a few weeks later, how did I add all these books when I already had a huge pile. Well at least I (hopefully) officially finish grad school next week. Plus moving cross country means I‘ll need lots to read.

May 2022 #bookspinbingo board, I‘m hoping to get the tagged book read this month. It was my double spin book for last month & now my #bookspin book for this month. I guess it‘s a sign to get it read.

Such an incredible story, I‘m so happy that Ruth Coker Burks was able to share her story. She took on the care & assistance to many young men that contracted HIV in Arkansas when everyone else (doctors, families, communities) turned their backs. She found such amazing strength to do what she did & how many people she helped. She said that no one else was helping & so she taught herself as much as she could about HIV. She helped people find

May #bookspin bingo list, looking forward to reading more (3 weeks till grad school is all done).

I started this last week while we were in Hawaii. Foo Fighters & Nirvana are 2 of my favorite bands plus I love Dave Grohl. It was a good story & interesting to learn about his journey as a musician (plus is reflections on Kurt Cobain). My only quip is that there was some chronological order but then he would go back & forth (which I appreciate that he‘s incorporating experiences into his journey). #bookspin book

It was so lovely to finally get the mail this week (still have to pick up mail from the post office from the vacation mail hold) & to see all the #Litsylove mail. It was so nice to sit & read/hear from everyone. I‘m going to plan on doing some writing in the next few weeks. But then I‘ll have to be on hold since we leave for Boston in less than 8 weeks. Still lots to do & finding a new place to live, it‘s exciting. Thank you all!❤️

We leave for Hawaii bright & early Saturday morning (I can‘t post on any other social media that we‘re going away since my MIL posted my address online 🙄). I think I‘ve narrowed my book selection down for the week. I‘m trying to not overpack & being realistic about how much I‘ll be able to read between kids & the few fun activities we‘ve planned. I‘m looking forward to some relaxation for the week.

March #bookspin bingo board, remembering to post my one lonely book I read for the month of March. It was a good book, just a busy month….I really don‘t know where my March went to

I love the series Victoria on PBS & became a little obsessed with learning more about her. This was a really short read, interesting, but was very small samples of her letters & journals. I need to read more detailed books but with the business of life right it was the perfect book. #bookspin book, #booked2022 #bookedreadingchallenge About a real Royal

April is Autism Acceptance month. I plan on reading the tagged book this month. My mom sent the top book to my son but we still haven‘t read it. Neurotribes is the only one I haven‘t read (because grad school, ie no time). I need to find more stories & narratives from Autistic authors.

April #bookspin list, April is also #AutismAcceptance month (this is a shift from Autism Awareness because the majority of people in the Autism community are trying to move away from Autism being seen as a deficit or something that needs to be changed). A friend recommended the tagged book, which I‘m really hoping to read next month. I‘d love to participate in #DisabilityReadathon but not sure how much time I‘ll have.

I really liked this one, it was an interesting perspective on fairytales & the link to disabilities. The author herself is disabled & ties in her experiences to fairytales. In fairytales the person that needs saving or is the villain is disabled or disfigured. The premise is that people that are disabled need to change to fit society, not that society needs to adjust for disabled people. Which is a bigger systems issue in the US, where the

What I‘d rather be reading on my left but what I need to get done on my right/computer. 10 weeks till graduation & so much to do: finish/defend/submit my thesis, finish hours & project for graduate training program (LEND: Leadership, Education in Neurodiversity & other Developmental Disabilities), help a professor w/data analysis from a project we worked on this last summer. Oh & my husband accepted a job in Boston, now to plan a move from CA->MA

March #bookspin & #doublespin books

#bookspinbingo board for March 2022. I have started reading the tagged book the other day & it has been very interesting. I‘m hoping I can get some reading done for the month but I feel that everything else going on in life is going to take precedence. March is also #womenshistory month and #developmentalfisabilitiesawareness month, so my book choices have reflected these two topics.

February #bookspin bingo board, no bingos for the month….not as much time as I wanted to be able to read. Although I did read my #bookspin book- The Hate U Give. No particular favorites for the month, they were all great reads

I forgot to post yesterday because life has been beyond busy. Thank you @Readergrrl for the package. I haven‘t read either book. The larger book looks interesting but will have to wait till summer when there is more time to read. Thank you again! @Chelleo thank you again for organizing such a great swap #bhms #blisty2022

It took me a little while to get into this book (or maybe it‘s because I haven‘t had as much downtime to focus on a book). I eventually found my stride & raced through the rest. It was an interesting story about a possible outcome of a small southern town post the Civil War. Each character provides a richness to the story & you feel connected to their struggles & their plight. It was a beautifully written story about difficult subject matter.

#bookspin list for March 2022: March is Women‘s History month as well as Developmental Disability Awareness month so I have put books with these areas in mind on my list. Not sure how much time there will be to read as grad school is wrapping up & a professor I‘m helping got accepted to present our research study from this past summer at INSAR (International Society for Autism Research). Exciting but we have a lot of coding to do by April.

Heartbreaking story about drug addiction, grandparents raising grandkids, inter generational trauma, racism, and how the past can still affect so much of your present. Such a well written book especially dealing with such difficult subjects. I definitely need to read more of Ward‘s books. #bookspin book #booked2022 #bookedreadingchallenge title that repeats itself

My #blitsy package arrived today. @Readergrrl I think this is from you, at least I‘m hoping I‘m matching the right name with what‘s on the outside of the package. Thank you & looking forward to opening day.

Mailed my #blitsy package off today, should arrive on Tuesday.

We‘ve had this book sitting on the bookshelves for a while & I finally picked it up. It‘s such a great story as well as heartbreaking & provocative. Starr witnessed one of her childhood friends‘ shot by a policeman after he was pulled over. The story revolves around the perceptions that our society has towards young Black men that live in the inner city. It was a highly relatable book to discuss several difficult subjects. #bookspin book

This was a short but powerful story about a young male realizing that he is gay but his conservative, strict Nigerian parents are not accepting. Niru struggles with his feelings & having no one to talk to. His older brother is in med school, he had a falling out with his best friend. He meets someone but he‘s so paralyzed by his parents overbearing pressure to be perfect & not be gay that he really struggles. The writing is beautiful even dealing

February #bookspinbingo board, I started reading the tagged book & halfway done. #Bookspin book is The Hate U Give & my #doublespin book is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Looking forward to some interesting reads this month for #blackhistorymonth

My daughter loves this series of books & finally got the new one, Aaron Slater, Illustrator. I just wanted to say how much I love seeing children with disabilities being represented in books. This story is about a young boy that has dyslexia, again so great to see representation. The author & illustrator also note about Dyslexia & ADD/ADHD. They note about the positive sides of these diagnoses (creativity, intelligence, & awesomeness).

January #bookspinbingo board, read 5 books for the month. One bingo for the month

Finished this #LMBPC book today during lunch. It was such a sweet story with many adventures along the way. I forget how much change was happening in the US during the 1930s. I loved the connection between the giraffes with the people they trusted as they traveled to the San Diego zoo. We love the SD zoo & all their work & conservation of so many animals. It‘s definitely a wonderful place to visit & you forget you are in downtown SD.

Trying to finish the tagged book so I can get it mailed out next week for #LMBPC. As you can see we love giraffes, this was at the San Diego zoo. On the weekends if you get there at just the right time you can buy biscuits & get to feed the giraffes. My son loved it, one of the best experiences. We have been zoo pass holder on & off over the last 10 years we‘ve lived in San Diego. We‘ve been lucky to live so close to such a great zoo &safari park.

#bookspinbingo for February & #Blackhistorymonth

Good mail week, #LMPBC book arrived (I‘m hopeful that I can get it done by the end of the month). @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks your lovely gift arrived, thank you! 😊

Very well written & throughly researched book about poverty & evictions. The author/researcher focused his work around the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee. I used to do home visiting when I worked in early intervention & have spent a lot of time in low income homes & section 8 housing. It was always hard to see what they were living through (mold, bugs crawling on walls, guns going off outside their doors-yes I‘ve been in homes at those times,

I liked this #lmbpc pick, although it took me a while to get into it & took me a lot longer than usual to get through a book. It was an interesting story that was very detailed about an expedition to explore the Alaskan territory. The story slightly touched upon the current struggle that many families must feel about preserving a culture (that many were taught for years was not acceptable) & navigating the modern world. #bookspin book

I finished this the other day but this week has been extra busy. As I am finishing grad school & preparing to work again I am working to find a balance between home/kids, work, & everything else. I really appreciated the author‘s perspective & getting through difficult times. I enjoyed the information about how other countries, cultures, & animals try to prepare for restful periods. We live in a culture of go, go, go and the pandemic slowed us

Good primer on disabilities with current & up to date information. There was a chapter on intersectionality and disabilities which I really thought was great. There was also the discussion of first person or identity first language when discussing disabilities. There is a big shift in the disability community on the use of this language and lots of changes happening. When in doubt ask the person or parent (of a disabled child) how they identify.

@shortsarahrose thank you so much for the #littlechristmasswap package. I‘m so excited that you picked this book because I have had a hard time trying to find it recently. I can definitely use the chocolate as I am finishing my last semester of grad school. Thank you @bookish_wookish for hosting.

Almost forgot to post my #bingoboard for January 2022. I‘m excited about the books for this month, just not sure where to start (other than the LMBPC books I need to read). Although I have now realized that I inadvertently have chosen a lot of books surrounding loss (maybe it‘s from being stuck in this never ending pandemic).

#bingo board for January 2022, still weird to think we‘re in a new year. I‘m behind on LMBPC so I‘ll have two books to read this month to catch up. The hard part is there are way too many books I want to read this month but I‘ll know realistically I‘ll be lucky if I read 4. #bookspinbingo

@Bookwormjillk thank you for the #bestof2021swap package. I haven‘t read either book & looking forward to trying the chocolate. Thank you for the thoughtful package. @candority thank you for hosting!

This book gives me #bookspinbingo for the month & also gave me my 50th book for the year. I liked this one a lot, the author does meticulous research for her books. The story of women convicts being brought from England to Australia for basically slave labor is something that Australia is only starting to recognize & come to grips with. It‘s always frustrating to read stories of how women were treated in the 1840s. Overall great & quick read

Couldn‘t resist going back to B&N for a few more. I had to go to 2 different stores to find the tagged book, didn‘t realize social science books were in such demand. I haven‘t read many books on WWII in the last few years but “The Light of Days” intrigued me (my grandmother is from Poland & her family emigrated to the US right before WWII, so I always want to understand more about what was happening in Poland at the time).

Again not much of a romance reader but I liked this one. It was a fun story & interesting twist with the Groundhog Day concept. I realized the picture I took was when I was in the middle of helping to edit my oldest child‘s college admission essays. #wintergames2021 #mistletoemaniacs 51 points for team read. #bookspin

Not that I need any more books (& still have 2 more swap packages to open). But could not resist 50% off hard cover books since I was near a B&N. Probably could have bought more but I already have a pile of books that I need to get through.

Happy Holidays to all! We spent the day playing, reading, & watching Harry Potter (perfect time to use my Luna mug) since it is an unusually rainy day in Southern CA.

@staci.reads thank you for the wonderful #jolabokaflodswap package. I loved the wrapping & excited about the book. I will have to hide the chocolates and my kids will love the taffy. Thank you again & Happy Holidays!

This would have been my kids when they were younger. 6 points #wintergames2021 #mistletoe maniacs

My favorite every year: Happy Christmas Eve Eve!
6 points #christmaswintergames2021 #mistletoemaniacs