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ravenlee
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blurb
ravenlee
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One of my goals this year is to educate myself as much as I‘m able to stomach about what‘s going on. So far this year, I‘ve read a few books (currently listening to Stacey Abrams Our Time Is Now and reading Angela Davis‘ Freedom Is a Constant Struggle) and these are all on my agenda. Right stack is most directly involved, left is supplemental. Also following some great thinkers on fbook and Substack that I‘ll share below. Let‘s be bricks/mortar!

ravenlee I follow Heather Cox Richardson, Jay Kuo, Robert Hubbell, Joyce Vance, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Lucian Truscott, and Rebecca Solnit. It can get overwhelming with all the daily updates, but I‘m doing my best to keep afloat. 4d
ravenlee Recent helpful reads: Eric Hoffer‘s The True Believer (definitely read this! It‘s eye-opening; about mass movements and who joins them), Caroline Frederickson‘s The Democracy Fix (about the right-wing long game to dominate the federal judiciary and gerrymander their way to power); and Rachel Carson‘s classic Silent Spring (which reminds me why we must remain in this fight) 4d
TiredLibrarian I read The True Believer in college and still have a copy; it might be an apt time for a re-read. 3d
See All 7 Comments
Deblovestoread Thank you for this post. 💙 3d
HeyT I'd also recommend Sarah Kendzior's work. She has been pretty spot on with her predictions about how things were/are headed. She also has a pretty good substack. 3d
ravenlee @HeyT thanks for the recommendation; I went to stack some of her books and found I already had at least one stacked. I‘ll look for her substack, too. 3d
Christine What a great goal and excellent stacks and shared resources. I really appreciate the reminder re: the Hoffer book – just had to run to my shelves to confirm that I‘d bought it last year (and then promptly forgot to read). 3d
35 likes7 comments
blurb
ravenlee
Hope In The Dark | Rebecca Solnit
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Not from the tagged, but on Solnit‘s facebook page today:
“You don‘t need to be the whole wall against fascism yourself; you can just be a brick and if you can‘t be a brick, you can be a dab of mortar…”

@kspenmoll and all of us who need it right now.

GingerAntics I like the idea of being a dab of mortar. I‘d be awesome at that! 4d
Hooked_on_books It‘s reassuring to be reminded that there are a whole lot of people who are not on board with this agenda, and that many of them are poised to actively fight against it. 4d
dabbe We need to keep fighting and make our voices heard--even the dabs of mortar. I'm with ya on that one, @GingerAntics! 🩶🖤🩶 4d
40 likes3 comments
quote
ravenlee
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Today, this hits harder.

kspenmoll Thank you! 🩵 5d
TheBookHippie ♥️✊🏼 5d
Suet624 Thank you. 5d
47 likes3 comments
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ravenlee
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I mean, really, how was I supposed to resist this? This is 75% of why I bought this book.
#bookhaul

Branwen I am right there with you, friend! 😂 I am 100% more likely to buy a book if it has pretty page edges! 😍 7d
41 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
This Will Be Fun | E B Asher
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And I spent the last of my gift card (and then a little more) on these beauties. I know nothing about any of them, but it‘s been a while since I blindly browsed. 🤞🏻 they‘re good! #bookhaul

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ravenlee
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My Christmas present to myself was joining Haymarket Press‘ monthly book club. I get my choice of one new print title every month, plus all the new ebooks. And I paid for the whole year, which gets one month free. I haven‘t dived in yet, but I‘m really excited about these. #bookhaul

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ravenlee
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I got the tagged book for Christmas (my sister is awesome) and used some of my Christmas gift card on the other three (my dad is also awesome). I‘ve been waiting forever to get this Riordan but now I have to wait on the new Percy books to come out in paperback 😢 and I decided to bite the bullet on Bride. I‘ve liked everything else I‘ve read by AH (which is everything but Check & Mate, which I‘m currently reading) so we‘ll see. #bookhaul

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ravenlee
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“…the propaganda effect of infallibility: the trick of appearing omnipotent by prophesying a future that you then make happen.”
#adventuresinphilosophy #resistance #HannahArendt

Cuilin Oh shoving people over the border to make a migrant crisis? Watch what will happen soon. 7d
kspenmoll @Cuilin Its going to be challenge to be hopeful with this “regime.” 5d
ravenlee @Cuilin @kspenmoll I just shared a quote from Angela Davis in Freedom Is a Constant Struggle about optimism of the will despite pessimism of the intellect. It feels very apt today. 5d
kspenmoll @ravenlee Thank you! I just saw it & photographed for a “picture book” I am starting to go to when i feel the need! 5d
32 likes4 comments
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ravenlee
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Eichmann sounds a lit like somebody else in today‘s news, doesn‘t he? I mean, like a lot of somebodys, really.
#adventuresinphilosophy #HannahArendt

Cuilin I thought that too. And history repeats itself. 2w
Tamra There is so much history on repeat. 2w
Larkken This articulates my feelings about sooo many people that have sat next to me and used me as a set piece to pontificate to lately! I think theres an epidemic of them 😝 2w
kspenmoll Yes, so much is repeating itself right now- it‘s a challenge to not be afraid of our future. 2w
33 likes4 comments
blurb
ravenlee
Happy New Year! | Clara Coleman
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#DannyBoy wishes everyone a happy new year, and reminds us all to choose love. Thanks to Penzeys Spices for his new bandana, which required a collar, so kiddo and I went shopping yesterday. Danny‘s thrilled about it, really.
#catsofLitsy

JamieArc Love Penzey‘s ❤️ 4w
Texreader What a sweetie pie! 4w
Ruthiella Happy New Year to you and Danny Boy! 🍾🥂🥳 (edited) 4w
See All 7 Comments
Tamra Cute! 4w
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 4w
BookmarkTavern Happy New Year! 🎉🍾🎊 4w
Deblovestoread Happy New Year 🎆🎇🎆 4w
41 likes7 comments
blurb
ravenlee
Untitled | Unknown
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#DannyBoy is all Christmased out. Feline Navidad!

dabbe #darlingdanny 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
Ruthiella 😻😻😻 1mo
Darklunarose Danny looks like he needs a really long nap. 1mo
BookmarkTavern Oh boy I sympathize Danny! ❤️ 1mo
40 likes4 comments
review
ravenlee
Free Will | Sam Harris
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Panpan

Late for the readalong but figured I‘d finish it, and wish I‘d just chucked it. Repetitive but never particularly clear or convincing, Harris just seems to spitballing about something he kinda believes but can‘t convey. Not a great one, and if he were anybody else I don‘t think this would have gotten published at all.
#deadphilosopherssociety #adventuresinphilosophy

kspenmoll I would have bailed if not that we discussed it. Most times not sure how to respond! (edited) 1mo
GingerAntics 100% agree… I‘m sorry we picked it, honestly. 1mo
31 likes2 comments
review
ravenlee
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Pickpick

A library impulse pick that turned out to be really good. She‘s adrift after an unwanted proposal and heads to the lake she spent childhood summers on. He‘s trying to find his way as a single dad of two, one with ASD, after a messy divorce. He‘s also her brother‘s best friend. A lot of good stuff about finding yourself, finding your family, taking care of each other how it needs to be done (not how you want to do it). Surprisingly enjoyable.

33 likes1 stack add
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ravenlee
Untitled | Untitled
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So it would appear that our spelling book is out of date.

Texreader Oops 2mo
Ruthiella Only a few decades…🙊 2mo
Dilara 🙄 😂 Well, pupils will be prepared for their history class... 2mo
dabbe Time for a new spelling book adoption. If your district is like mine, that'll take a while. #oy 2mo
ravenlee @Texreader @Ruthiella @Dilara @dabbe the thing is, we homeschool, so this is entirely on me. The series is actually really good, just this one little thing. Weirdly, the copyright date is 2002. 🤷🏻‍♀️ At least she‘s not trying to learn Czechoslovakia, I guess. 2mo
26 likes5 comments
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ravenlee
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Meowy Catmas from #DannyBoy!

kspenmoll He is beautiful! Merry Christmas from Poe & Em! 🐈🐈 2mo
Ruthiella 😻😻😻 2mo
Suet624 So pretty. 2mo
38 likes3 comments
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ravenlee
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Today‘s #bookmail came with my vitamin/supplement package. Gotta get to that free shipping threshold, right?

Tamra I‘m currently reading this one. 👍🏾 2mo
thegirlwiththelibrarybag Free postage for the win!! 2mo
35 likes2 comments
review
ravenlee
One House Left | Vincent Ralph
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Panpan

Do you ever think you have a book figured out, then it doesn‘t work out that way and you‘re disappointed because your twist was better? That was this. I had an idea that would make this actually thrilling and mysterious, but it was just not good.

Clare-Dragonfly So disappointing! 2mo
27 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
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Today‘s bookmail part 3/3 is the general purpose portion. A little for school and a little for my own education.

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ravenlee
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Today‘s #bookmail 2/3 is for the book advent calendar for kiddo.

AuthorDeniseTurney I'm grown and I still love reading books for young readers. Those stories are real page-turners (smile) 2mo
39 likes1 comment
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ravenlee
Sir, I Have a Problem | R. Lofton Hudson
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Today‘s #bookmail part 1/3 - I may have gone a little overboard with new cookbooks…

slategreyskies Okay, I laughed at “Sir, I Have A Problem.” 🤣 2mo
ravenlee @Bookwormjillk that‘s the one I‘m probably most eager to read! 2mo
ravenlee @Clare-Dragonfly I‘ve had an InstantPot for years, almost exclusively collecting dust. I‘m hoping to find inspiration. 2mo
38 likes5 comments
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ravenlee
Sir, I Have a Problem | R. Lofton Hudson
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Why did I do this? I‘ve been scattered for the past month, between weird health stuff (nothing major) and the election, other personal junk; can‘t concentrate to read or get other stuff done. So, clearly, I needed to order a huge box of books. And half of them are cookbooks (serious problem). The justification of needing books for the advent calendar is negated by yesterday‘s Amazon order for just that purpose…

ravenlee Plus BookOutlet always takes forever to ship anything…I have a problem. 2mo
Ruthiella Join the club! 2mo
33 likes2 comments
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ravenlee
Love You a Latke | Amanda Elliot
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Today‘s library #bookhaul is entirely impulse grabs from the new books displays. I‘ve had a lot of trouble focusing on…anything…in the past month. We‘ll see if any of these help. Or hurt. 🤷🏻‍♀️

thegirlwiththelibrarybag 🤞🏼 for helping 2mo
MeganAnn I recently loved this one. It gave me all the sweet heartwarming holiday vibes while also learning more about Hanukkah at the same time. Definitely recommend! 2mo
37 likes2 comments
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ravenlee
Hope In The Dark | Rebecca Solnit
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Haymarket Books is offering a library of ten anti-fascist books for free for a limited time (one week, I think). Run, don‘t walk.

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/517-ten-free-ebooks-for-getting-free

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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! 4mo
27 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 🤣 4mo
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. 😂 4mo
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! 4mo
Hooked_on_books I like her style! 😉 4mo
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. 4mo
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! 4mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 4mo
IndoorDame 🐾❤️🐾 4mo
41 likes3 comments
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ravenlee
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Ruthiella Wow! 🤯 5mo
LeahBergen How cool!! 5mo
BookmarkTavern Wow! 🤩 5mo
GingerAntics That is so cool! 5mo
Chrissyreadit wow! and Happy Birthday!🎉 5mo
29 likes5 comments
blurb
ravenlee
NaNoWriMo Notes | Richard Marcus
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Another concern about the AI aspect.
#NaNoWriMo

PurpleyPumpkin Wow, that‘s crazy!😳 5mo
julesG Another fun thing ruined by AI. 😑 5mo
5feet.of.fury Yeah that‘s really scary 5mo
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! 5mo
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. 5mo
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. 5mo
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. 5mo
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). 5mo
thebacklistbook I recommend using either mastodon or Blue sky for the support chat aspect. Either one is well organized for that sort of thing. 5mo
27 likes5 comments
blurb
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. 5mo
kspenmoll Nice stack! 5mo
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) 5mo
33 likes3 comments
quote
ravenlee
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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. 5mo
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. ❤️ 5mo
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! 6mo
27 likes1 comment
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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 😀😻 6mo
dabbe #photocontestwinner 🖤🐾🖤 6mo
monkeygirlsmama 💙💗💚 6mo
34 likes3 comments
quote
ravenlee
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“…you might wish to describe Christianity as the gateway drug to supply-side capitalism.”

TheBookHippie 🎯 6mo
Tamra King has a razor sense of wit and humor! 6mo
Cuilin 💯 6mo
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! 6mo
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! 🤩🤩🤩 6mo
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. 6mo
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dabbe @ravenlee What's your favorite ODYSSEY translation? 6mo
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. 6mo
dabbe @ravenlee I don't know how those spellings would work for me, but I might give him a try. Thanks for your knowledge! 🤗 6mo
25 likes1 stack add6 comments
quote
ravenlee
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review
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.

review
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. 6mo
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. 6mo
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. 6mo
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dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 6mo
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. 6mo
Hooked_on_books Ug, that‘s so frustrating! I hope you find a good source that helps you get the info you need. 6mo
ravenlee @Hooked_on_books thank you. I‘m getting there, bit by bit. 6mo
26 likes7 comments