Unearthed and Keeping Corner

 "Unearthed" by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

 

     I received this as an advanced reader copy.... in 2018. Eek. My apologies to the authors. I don't read a lot of science fiction so this was a nice change from my usual reading. After the Earth has depleted many of its natural resources, a message is intercepted from an extinct alien race. The planet Gaia may hold secret technology that may help replenish Earth's resources. The news of these new technologies led many people to have the desire to study the new culture, but also the desire to scavenge the planet for profitable materials. 

     Like many books I enjoy, this is told through alternate perspectives- Amelia- a scavenger who is attempting to "buy back" her sister from her employers on Earth, and Jules- a scholar hoping to learn more about the mysterious messages sent by the Undying. There were parts of this book that were a little repetitive and predictable, but it was a new enough concept for me to like the story. I might be interested in reading the 2nd book.

 

     I got this book from our former middle school librarian, who is a good friend of mine. It tells the story of Leela, a Brahmin girl who had been engaged at 2 and married at 9. Just before her anu, where she would leave her parents' home and go to live with her husband's family, her husband is bit by a snake and dies.  The story tells of the customs of being a widow and how it affects Leela and her family in a time where society and culture was changing. I really knew nothing about a lot of these customs, or even about some differences between some of the castes in India, so this was engaging and thought provoking to me. There was a lot Hindi (? I think) words in the story, and a glossary at the end of the book that defines those words. This is a great book for people interested in other cultures or about how different generations see the same issue.

 

 

The Bluest Eye

Very rarely do I really dislike a book. This is my first disliked book of 2021. "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison. 

        I'm having a difficult time putting into words why I don't like this book. This is my first Toni Morrison book so I was disappointed that I had a hard time with is. I've heard she's such an amazing author and I was really looking forward to experiencing her writing. The subject matter was problematic to me- incest is not something I'm often reading about and I felt like Pecola's (one of the main characters) world was just hopeless. On the other hand, I have read books about serial killers and other topics that didn't make me feel as gross as this book. I read this for my book club made up of women from town. Maybe after decompressing with them I will be able to put my finger on what bothered me so much. 

       In the Afterword, Morrison writes " One problem was centering: The weight of the novel's inquiry on so delicate and vulnerable a character could smash her and lead readers into the comfort of pitying her rather than an interrogation of themselves for the smashing. My solution- break the narrative into parts that had to be reassembled by the reader- seemed to me a good idea, the execution of which does not satisfy me now. Besides, it didn't work; many readers remained touched but not moved." I'm not even 100% sure what THAT means, but the different snapshots of the lives of the characters didn't really tie things together for me. On to the next book...

Big Lies In a Small Town

     I finished my 2nd book of 2021. I read the book "Big Lies in a Small Town," by Diane Chamberlain for my Book Hive Book Club. If you're a new reader on this blog, the Book Hive Book Club is pretty different. There are 12 people in a group. We all choose a book we want to read and buy that book and a journal. We read the book, journal about it, then send the book and the journal through the mail to the next reader. I've read so many books I never would've even considered picking up and I have met some really interesting people as well. Here's a link to The Book Hive Book Club on Facebook in case you might want to check it out. So, the book....

      This story, told from alternating perspectives tells the life of 2 artists and their involvement with a mural. The first artist, Anna, is the painter of the mural. After applying for the post office mural contest across the US, Anna was initially told that she could not paint the mural she applied for, but she was given the opportunity to paint one for a small town in North Carolina. She temporarily moves to NC to get a feel for the town and quickly discovers the positive and negative aspects of being there. 

     The other artist, Morgan, is a young woman serving time in prison for a DUI charge. She is given the opportunity to be released from prison and put on parole to help restore the mural painted by Anna years before. A local artist had taken an interest in Morgan and, in his will, has given the directive that she should be given the opportunity to restore the mural for his new gallery opening.
       I have never read anything by this author, so this book was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the character development, the plot, the relationships that developed over time and the story being told through multiple perspectives. 

     Also, because I'm a total nerd, I became interested in the post office mural aspect of the story because I had seen the post office mural stamps released by the United States Post Office in 2019.  Apparently, in 1933, a friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt suggested that the government try to help artists in need of work by commissioning artwork for public buildings.  This led to the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). About 3,700 artists were hired to create work depicting American life and modern trends.   After that project, the Section of Painting and Sculpture was formed, which was later called The Section of Fine Arts.  This group commissioned over 1,000 murals to be painted in post offices across the US between 1934 and 1943. These are what the stamps look like. #GoNerds

 

    In my next post, I anticipate talking about how I'm currently tanking most of my January goals. Ugh. I've learned a lot about myself and about life in the past year.

2021 Reading Goals

 Happy New Year! New Year, new goals. My reading goals this year will be somewhat reduced from last year. I would like to read more books, but do less challenges. I wasn't going to participate in any reading challenges this year, but then a woman from my book club tagged me in this group and I thought, "Wow, that looks fun." (Except for the steamy read. Not a huge romance fan.) 

 

For my Goodreads challenge this year, I would like to read 75 books. I didn't read quite as many in 2020, but I was also emotionally and mentally exhausted at times. I'm hoping to read a lot this year. We all know we'll have some time this year when there is not much else to do.

Book 1:

  

"The Secret Keepers" by Trenton Lee Stewart 

     I got this book for my younger son after he loved The Mysterious Benedict Society books, written by the same author.   "The Secret Keepers" is about an eleven year old boy named Reuben, who lives with his mom in the city of New Umbra. While his mom works hard to try to support the two financially, Reuben often spends his days exploring his new neighborhood. This is not something he is really supposed to be doing, but he is curious about places around him and finds it a challenge to hide somewhat within plain sight. He is weary of a group of men called The Directions, who spend the day scanning the city and talking to business owners. He knows they answer to The Counselor, who works for The Smoke. Nothing happens in New Umbra without these men knowing about it.

     One day Reuben stumbles upon a pouch that had been hidden inside a brick wall, on a ledge, about halfway up an abandoned building. Inside the pouch, he discovers an antique watch, property of P. William Light. He brings this watch to a few people to see if they can tell him the value and quickly learns that this is a very valuable watch, and far from ordinary. There is a problem though, there have been  other people who have been searching for this watch for a very long time. 

       Throughout his journey to find out more about the watch, he meets the Meyer family, who have secrets of their own. This story is filled with adventure and was a good read. The characters were enjoyable and the book had a few good lessons about character, family, friendship. greed and honesty. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.  If you enjoy illustrations, this book has at least one quote illustrated in each chapter and an illustration for the chapter title. I liked them a lot. The illustrator is Diana Sudyka. 

 

      I'm hoping that writing reviews on one book at a time will allow me to be a little more detailed than last year and will help me keep up with my blogging.   

June Reading

The Operator by Gretchen Berg
      I read this for my Book Hive Book Club. I thought I would really like it, but was a little disappointed in the end. There were a lot of women whose roles seemed to be putting others in their place, either by trampling on them or by judging them. It all was just too petty for me. In this story, Vivian works as a telephone operator. She overhears a secret about herself that threatens to cause humiliation- and to make it worse, it was told to the gossipy "Queen Bee" type. She tries to save the situation, but that of course leads to other consequences. This book was alright but I was annoyed by the characters and I wasn't really curious about what would happen next.

 "Don't Look Behind You and Other True Cases" by Ann Rule.   I think this was the last true crime book on my bookshelf. I used it to fulfill my Keyword Reading Challenge. One of the words this month was "and," so here it is. (Sometimes I'm really surprised to see that I only have 1 or 2 titles with any of the words they've picked to be one of the keywords. Thank goodness I don't have to go buy one every month!) This book was alright. I like how the cases were told as objective stories. This book included a few cases.

Good White Racist by Kerry Connelly- Ironically, I had gotten this book from NetGalley a few months back- before George Floyd and all of the reactions to his murder. Quite a while ago, I was reading an article about something and it said something like, "If you're one of those 'I try to be colorblind people,' you're part of the problem."  It made me stop, feel a little uncomfortable, argue in my head a little bit, then go back to the article. I am a person who tries to value all people. As an educator, I try to be fair and equitable. I have always loved learning about different cultures and have not always lived in places that were culturally diverse. So, at the risk of being a little offended, I continued to read the article. It basically went on to say that when you attempt to completely ignore race, you're not really taking the whole person into perspective- their history, their culture, their learned values, perhaps some life experience. Ah, yes, I can see that and understand. I thought about it for a while and when I saw this book on NetGalley, I thought it would be healthy to check myself.
       This book was a good read for me. It basically challenged well-intentioned white people, who are against racism to try to do something about it, rather than be complicit. It tells ways of how we will unknowingly perpetuate the system through our actions and words. I will admit that there were a few things that I thought, "Eek, have I ever done that?" At the end of every chapter, there are action items, which can be a good next step. This is a good book to introduce racial injustice.

 

Never Die Alone by Lisa Jackson- I always enjoy Lisa Jackson as an author of thrillers. This book felt a little "all over the place," but I would still say I enjoyed it.
    

 

"The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George.     This is a book I'm reading for my book club in the town that I live in.  I suggested this book based on an article I read recommending more positive books during this time where there are so many heavy things going on in our world. 

      This book was just okay for me. The writing style was a little flowery for me and I felt that the plot moved a bit slow for my liking. There were some sections of the book that held my attention for longer, but I didn't feel 100% invested in the characters.  It felt like a coming of age book for a middle aged man. I know that sounds weird. "A journey of self discovery?" I think I was roped in by he word "bookshop."  I'll be curious to hear what the women in my book club say. I'm guessing 2 will like it and at least 1 will hate it. Maybe a few "did not finish."

 

     "The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters" nu Balli Kaur Jaswal.   This is my Book Hive Book Club book for July. I'm a little ahead. Oops. This book is about a Sikh woman, named Sita, who gives her 3 daughters a letter asking them to take a pilgrimage to India to complete multiple requests she has asked them to do as well as to spread her ashes. These 3 sisters are very different from one another. Raija, the oldest daughter, is dealing with some family issues with her 18 year old son. Jezmeen, the middle daughter, is a struggling actress who is dealing with some image issues. Shirina, the youngest, lives in Australia with her husband (through an arranged marriage) and his mother. Going on this trip means different sacrifices for each and learning how to live with one another, despite their different personalities and lifestyles. 

     I liked this book a lot. The woman who chose this book for the book club also came up with some interesting discussion questions for us to think about- like how we would feel about visiting a country where women's rights are different from here in the US? I'm still contemplating some of the answers to her questions before I finish journaling.

 "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr- I had heard great things about this book and apparently I acquired it at some point and stashed it on my never-ending "To Read" bookshelf.  I'm so sad that it sat on my self for so long because I loved it. The story revolves around 2 characters- Marie-Laure, daughter of a the locksmith at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Marie- Laure went blind as a child. She is living happily in Paris with her dad until WWII, when she has to flee to another city and ends up moving in with her great-uncle. 

      Werner is the second character. He is a German orphan who is growing up in a place where it is expected that he will go to work as a coal miner when he turns 15. After discovering a radio with his sister, he learns that he is a whiz at figuring out how to build and fix these devices. In fact, he is so good at it that people in the neighborhood come to find him when they need help with repairing them. Eventually, he is recruited by the Nazis and offered an elite education. 

       These two stories eventually intersect of course. This book had some heartbreaking moments for me. It reminded me of some of the best and worst traits of humanity. The ending was a bit different than what I was expecting (and maybe wanted), but it still worked.  I kept finding myself wandering back to the book and I ended up finishing it in 2 days. This was beautifully written.

     

April reading

These are the books I've read in April:

"Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child- Another Jack Reacher novel. I liked this one. It was kind of tame compared to some of the other Reacher novels I've read, but I think I needed that this month.

"A Map of Days" by Ransom Riggs- This is the 4th book of the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. It wasn't my favorite of the series. Maybe it's just been too long since I've read the other books, but it kept feeling like Jacob was too old or mature. I liked seeing his friends in his time period and how they adjusted to the current times. :)

 "One Deadly Night" by John Glatt- This is a true crime novel passed to me by my former upstairs neighbor. I don't read true crime usually, so I thought I would give it a try to see if I liked it. I don't. Ha ha. It's kind of told in a "This is the way things seem" or "From so and so's perspective..." but I don't think there's any way around that when you're writing about something like a crime. The book itself probably wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea. This book completed my Keyword Reading challenge for April with the word "Night."

"Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult-  I have only read two Picoult books but I have heard the endings can sometimes make you mad. This one did (for me). Basically, this is a story about an Amish woman who has been accused of murdering her baby. An attorney agrees to help out a relative by taking this case since the girl is a distant relative and the attorney is concerned she might not be able to handle the "English" court system.   As a condition of her client's bail, the attorney agrees to live on the Amish farm to guarantee that the girl will not flee.
     This book was interesting to me. I liked learning more about the Amish traditions, viewpoints and culture (though I'm not sure if they are all 100% accurate since I don't have much experience.) The story included history, romance, faith, friendship, ethics. In general, it was a good read.

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Nora Zeale Hurston- This was the last book of my Book Hive Book Club.   This was yet another book that I probably wouldn't have chosen on my own. It is considered a classic, and that surprised me since I had never heard of it before. I enjoyed this book, written by a black, female author in 1937. It also features a black, female protagonist, which I imagine might have been rare in the 1930s. This speech in this book is written in dialect, which some members of our group struggled with. One woman said that she listened to the audiobook and it was super helpful to her. I would recommend the book, but I know that some of my friends would consider this a tough read.

 

"The Good Neighbor" by Maxwell King       I did not know a lot about Fred Rogers, other than the fact that I watched his show as a  young child. As an educator, a child who grew up watching, a musician and a mom, I found this book very interesting. He and I actually have quite a bit in common. It seems like Fred Rogers was "the real deal." It's not often you find celebrities whose public persona are the same as their personal lives. 

 

"Braver Than You Think" by Maggie Downs-   Where do you dream of visiting if you could?  After her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis (and downward spiral due to the disease), Maggie decides to take a year traveling to all of those places she and her mother had talked about visiting, but never got the opportunity to visit. In the COVID-19 era we're living in, this book brought me places I hadn't really thought of visiting before. It definitely satiated some of my current wanderlust. This book was good. There were some chapters that I just felt were a little "this giant thing happened, now this is happening, then I did this amazing thing," but I think that that might be hard to avoid after traveling to so many new places in the span of a year. I don't know if I would be brave enough to take the trip she took, though some of the places she visited sounded fascinating. 

 

"The Good Wife" by Clint Richmond- Ironically, after complaining about the last true crime story, guess what popped up in my "to read" pile? The good news is that this wasn't as bad as the last one. I still wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, but I thought it was well written and way more impartial than the last true crime novel I wrote about. 

 

"Crossings" by Alex Landragin- I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. This book is pretty cool. It's written as 3 short stories that can be read one after the other or in an alternate order (kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure but with 1 choice of where to go) that jumps between all of the short stories. I'm going to admit that, at the moment, I've only read it in the traditional beginning -> end order, being the rule follower that I am. Each of the short stories has other stories within it. It can be a little hard to follow if you're not paying attention, but I really enjoyed it. I am NOT a re-reader at all, but I do plan to go back and re-read this in the alternate order because I can see how the stories would be interpreted very differently that way. Cool book.

Goodreads Reading Challenge:29/60

Keyword Reading Challenge: 4/12

The Book Hive Book Club

Hello!  I thought I'd just write a quick post about a nice aspect of last year. I have been writing a longer blog post about all the books that I've been reading in January, but I've scheduled that to come out at the end of the month instead of putting each book in its own post.  What I thought I'd write about today is still reading related though... The Book Hive Book Club.
      Last spring, May maybe, I learned that a woman had an idea to share the love of reading in a unique book club.  She wrote this on their Facebook page:

 

"Description

The Book Hive Book Club is a unique opportunity that encourages members to share their love of reading with others across the United States. Essentially, each member is part of a 12-member team. Each member journals their thoughts in a notebook while reading a book and then mails the book and journal to the next member on their team at the end of the month. At the end of 12 months, each member's original book and thought-filled journal are mailed back to them." 

       All of the group names are Bee themed. I'm in W's group, so I assume I'm the 23rd group! I think we started in August? The members of my group are from MA, OK, PA, TX, NJ, MN, WA, CA and WV. I send to OK and receive from WV. So far it's been pretty cool. I've gotten to know some of the members of my group through their journals and through our private Facebook group. I've read a lot of books I may not have picked up on my own, like "Have You Seen Luis Velez" and "Meet Me in Monaco."  The book I chose for the group was "The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs."  I have 5 books left- 1 romance (not something I'd pick for sure, but I'll give it a chance.), 2 suspenseful fiction, 1 classic and 1 non-fiction. 
      I even bought a Book Hive shirt that they designed: Now you'll know what it is if you ever see me in it. It has generated some conversation.

      Yesterday I took part in a 6 hour readathon with members of all the Book Hive groups. Rarely have I given myself permission to just hang our for 6 hours and do nothing but read. It was glorious. David and the cats joined me for a while. We had online check-ins and it was nice to meet some new folks.
       I know a lot of my friends are readers. I've mentioned this club to my other book club and 2 members also joined. I recently met another person in town who is part of the club too. If you might be interested, check out The Book Hive Book Club on Facebook. If you'd like to join, PM the owner of the page. It has been different and interesting.

Happy New Year 2020!

Happy New Year!

     I was at Christmas this year and one of my sister-in-laws, Sarah, asked where I've been since my blog has been neglected for a long time. I laughed and told her that I haven't been updating because I think only 2 or 3 people actually look at my blog, but then I figured that if someone was asking about it, I should get back into being more disciplined about writing. Also, looking back on the blog, I'm seeing a ton of broken links with my pictures. I need to figure out why that is like that. New year, new start, right?
      So, there's a ton of news since I last wrote.  So, right after my last post, I got a call from my landlord to ask how my summer was going. In reality, he was calling to tell us that he sold the house our apartment was in. After some discussion, it became obvious that he had no idea what the new owner planned with the house and if we'd be able to stay. He didn't seem to care either. The good news is that we'd probably find out when they passed papers, 3 days after his phone call to us. Matt and I decided that we needed to take immediate action about the whole situation. The good news is that anybody who knows me well would know that I've been dreaming of being a home owner forever. Massachusetts is a pretty expensive state to live in so it seemed pretty unachievable to me- and it was until this year. We started looking for a house at the end of August and moved into our new home, in the same town we lived in before, on October 25th. 
      I've gotten dismally behind on my writing and reading (though reading had a huge increase over my Christmas break.) We're in good shape with being moved in and we love it here. It's so nice to live in a neighborhood, rather than surrounded by businesses. We've loved having friends and family come visit and hope to have many more visitors.

2020 Goals

      I was thinking of my goal setting over the past week and then realized I had lost track of my 2019 goals. I thought that I had written a blog post about it but, looking back, I think I was just so grateful to have survived 2018 that I didn't even care. I failed my Goodreads goal by a few books. I read 54 out of 60. I didn't do any reading challenges. I FINALLY BOUGHT A HOUSE! That's been on my goal list for about 20 years.  I also lost 20 pounds. 
      After some thought, these are my goals:

One Word- Some people like to choose a word to focus on for the year. I think I'd like my word to be "CONNECT" this year. I think I'm becoming a little more introverted in my old age (of 42), but I think I'm just sick of shallow. I want to establish better relationships and give myself freedom to walk away from people who seemingly suck the life out of me. Now, I know some of you are laughing and thinking, "Are you serious? You talk to so many people!" I'm okay with that. I like people. I like meeting new people and even sometimes being uncomfortable being surrounded by people that are really different from me. I just want to increase the quality of my relationships. In 2019 I made a few friends at the gym and in my book clubs. I took some risks and become closer to some families at the school where I work and even got to know some colleagues on a deeper level. I want more of this and now that we have a place I feel comfortable hosting, I'd like to connect more.  I have a few ideas on how to connect more. Some of these ideas I'm keeping to myself. One of my ideas is to host a monthly "thing" at my house and just inviting anyone who wants to come. I think January will be a game night. 

Letter writing- Letter writing is one of the nicest ways for me to connect with the world and my friends. I've actually started writing to all of my nieces and nephews last year and really enjoyed just sending them a little love through the mail. They all probably think I'm weird but I know at least 2 or 3 appreciated it. :)  Like the first year I did the blog, my goal is to send at least 1 piece of personal mail per day. That's 366 pieces of mail this year! I'll keep track of a lot of my incoming mail here on the blog so that will help me be disciplined.

Spiritual Goals- I tried to have a devotional with a friend once a week but it was inconsistent so I'm going to try to be more intentional with daily prayer and devotions. I'm keeping a prayer journal where I'm going to write down prayer requests and pray over them daily. I'm not a big "journal" person usual. I think this will help me to remember what friends and family have brought to me and helps me to be less selfish in my prayer life. It will also be great to read back and be reminded of God's faithfulness.  

Reading- I love crazy busy schedules, being surrounded by people and being mentally active. One of my problems is that I can sometimes be too mentally active. I need to unwind if I ever want a chance to sleep. Reading is one of my activities that give me peace. I have a few reading challenges I'd like to do.
       My Goodreads challenge is to read 60 books this year. I'll do it, especially since I failed this year. 
      I'll also be participating in the Keyword Reading Challenge. Every month of this challenge you need to read a book that has one of the keywords (or a variation of that word) in the title. I've done this challenge before when it was hosted by other people, but this year the original host, GirlXOXO is hosting. Thanks! I am looking forward to it! Here are the keywords this year. 
   There's one more challenge I'm kind of considering, but I might be going a little crazy.Ok, there are actually 2.  Maybe I'll update if I decide to do those too.

Physical- I've joined a gym and have been in the process of getting more healthy. Frankly, I have a ton of weight to lose- not literally, but sometimes it feels like it. So, to save you from passing out I'll spare you the amount of weight (just typed "weird" by accident but that fits too) that I'd like to lose, but it's quite a bit. Either way, even if the numbers are not as low as I'd like, I've lowered my blood sugar considerably, I'm stronger and I have more muscle. I'm committed to this gym until at least August so I'm already on the right track.  Feel free to leave me healthy recipes that actually taste like food :)

      Those are the main goals I've had. I was happy that this year made think a lot about what I can do to make myself a better person or to enjoy life a little more rather than feeling like I had to fix a lot of things that were wrong with myself.  

      Ok, I think that's it for tonight. Feel free to say hello or introduce yourself if you're dropping by for the first time. If you're in the Keyword Reading Challenge, feel free to share your blog so I can follow along with you too! Happy 2020!

     

July 3

    I have a goal to read a lot this month and a lot of free time, if I don't get sucked in to genealogy research.  Today I finished a book I received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

  

     This book is about a man named William Woolf. He is an aspiring author who takes a job working at the Dead Letter Depot. The Dead Letter Depot is the place where lost mail is sent to. If an address label gets torn off or becomes unreadable, this is the place that tries to get your mail delivered. Of course, this aspect of the story piqued my interest immediately because I'm a snail mail nerd. William has a specific interest in letters that have been written to people they can never be delivered to- like God or Santa. 

      One day, William discovers a letter addressed to "My Great Love," written by a woman named Winter. The letter tells about how Winter is hoping to find her soulmate and, after finding a few of the letters at the Dead Letter Depot, William starts to wonder if he could be "the one."  Unfortunately, William is unhappily married. The other side of the story tells about William's relationship with his wife Clare- how the relationship felt when it started, where it was now and where he hoped for it to be in the future.

       In general, I liked the book, but wasn't really satisfied with the ending. There was one section of the book where Winter was writing about how communicating by letter, and how that is sometimes different than the way we communicate face to face. That really resonated with me. Although I try to be myself in all situations, there may be times where I am a little less reserved in my writing or times when I have the opportunity to think more before deciding what to write. I find that my letters are less shallow than chit chat I might have with people I don't know well. I also feel that I have come in contact with people that I might not have normally connected with through my letter writing.

       One of the struggles that both William and Clare seem to have is wondering "what if" or wishing things were different. They wonder if it worth just giving up their marriage or working hard to fix their issues. Sometimes the call of "what could be" pulls them in direction to end things, but other times receiving what they thought they wanted has a negative impact on them.  

       I'm not sorry that I read the book, but I was hoping for more importance on the dead letters William was working with. Do you know of any snail mail related books? I've read a few that I like. 

 

 The Guernsey Literary& Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Anne Barrows. I still haven't seen the movie version of this. I always want to read the book first. 

 

     The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D by Nichole Bernier- a woman inherits a trunk from a friend who dies unexpectedly. In that trunk, there are journals written by her friend.  Not going to lie, when I write, my letters are specifically written to that 1 person. I found a bunch of letters from sailors in WWII, written to their family. (They were 3 brothers.) Although there was nothing secretive in there, I questioned if it was wrong to read them. 

     This one is actually not really about letters, but it just came out so I thought I'd put it here. I got this from Netgalley too. It's about a woman named Maddie who owns a community bookshop. She dies and her niece, Madeline, inherits the shop. It was a quick read and I enjoyed the characters a lot. If you like to read, this book has a lot of references to literature and the value of reading.

     I really liked this one too, as I do anything by Nina Sankovitch. (We've exchanged a few letters.) 

  

Next up: The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni. I've heard great things.

Netgalley books from January

I might try something new this year. I read books for NetGalley all the time and I thought I might feature some of the books I read every month. I always request a weird blend, so bear with me throughout the year. The first 2 are books that you could normally find in my "to read" pile.

The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz

     

     I have loved Dean Koontz since I was in about 8th grade (with a small break for a few years.) The Forbidden Door is the 4th book in The Jane Hawk series. Jane Hawk is an FBI agent who has gone rogue after some troubling events in her personal life (like the suicide of her husband) and discovering a powerful group who seem to think they're beyond the law. This particular book addresses that Jane has been set up as a villain who is being searched for by the media and law enforcement. The whole thing is a rouse set up by the people trying to infect society with mind control technology. Jane is also trying to reunite with her 5 year old son, whom she has left with trusted friends. I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the variety of the characters I hadn't read before and the familiarity of those I had.This book was published in October. Go pick up a copy!

Past Tense by Lee Child

 

     The Jack Reacher series is another one I like. This is book #23 and it was published in November. This book is mostly set in Laconia, NH, which is fairly close to me so it kind of sparked my interest. At the beginning of the book, I felt it was a little slower than some of the other Jack Reacher books I've read but then it delved into some "family mystery" stuff and got more interesting to me. I always tend to like books that start as separate story lines and then join together somewhere in the book. Unfortunately, that added to the "just one more chapter" problem that I have before bed sometimes. I think I accidentally read 16 chapters in one sitting when I had originally planned to read 3 before getting some work done. Oops.

Other things I've read in January:
Am I Alone Here? by Peter Orner

Next up for book club: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

 

What are you currently reading? Have you read any of the books above?

The Hangman's Secret

  

      This is my first Laura Joh Rowland book, but it will not be my last. Photographer Sarah Bain is awoken by a tap on her window by a source that sends her to photograph a crime scene. When she arrives at the scene with her friends Mick and Hugh, she finds a gory scene that is thought to be a suicide. However, there are signs that foul play might be present. First of all, the victim, Harry Warbrick is hung, but ended up decapitated in the process. He is the owner of a pub, but also serves as a hangman at the local prison. Furthermore, it is discovered that there is something missing from his pub that has to do with his latest hanging.  This execution was the hanging of Amelia Carlisle, who was known as the "Baby-Butcher."  She had been convicted of baby farming- taking in babies to send to new homes, but killing them instead. 

      Sarah's boss, Sir Gerald- head of the Daily World, assigns her to investigate this murder and basically challenges the police to a contest of who can solve the mystery first. Investigation of the murder mainly focus on the people present at Amelia's hanging. Conveniently, they are all bound by The Official Secrets Act- which prevents the 7 people from divulging anything that happened at the execution. 

    In addition to the mystery of who killed Warbrick, there are many subplots- Sarah's relationship with one of the police investigating the murder, a fame hungry reporter, Sarah's missing father and other family secrets. This book is set in Victorian London. 

      I received this book from NetGalley. (Thank you!) It is published by Crooked Lane Books and  will be published in January of next year.

Something in the Water

 

      I had heard lots of good things about this book so I was excited to get an e-galley from NetGalley. This is the debut book from authot Catherine Steadman, who is also an actress from Downton Abby.  This book was just okay for me. I didn't dislike the whole book but I read a lot of thrillers and found this one to be slightly predictable. 

     The book is about a couple, Erin and Mark, who discover something life-changing on their honeymoon. From reading the cover, I assumed they would find that "something" in the water. I was a little frustrated that the book starts with the main character, Erin, burying a body. I just wanted to get to what they discovered I guess. Coming back to that burial later in the book, I see why she may have put it first, but I think that's what gave most of the book away for me. There were parts of the story I would've liked to go more in depth with. I found myself a little aggravated with the personalities of the couple a few times. 

      This book fulfills my Keyword Reading Challenge for July. (Water)

    Next up. another James Patterson hand me down from my neighbor.

Summer!

        Ah, summer! I'm not going to lie, this was a really hard school year for me and I am desperately in need of a mental break. I've been off since last Thursday and still don't quite feel like myself. My children get out of school tomorrow, so I'm hoping to feel like a human again by then. ;) Despite the fact that MANY people seem to think that teachers do nothing over the summer, I have quite a few things to do to wrap up this year and prepare for the next year. I plan to gradually do both of those over the course of the summer- except clean my classroom. I really need to get into school to do that this week.

       Here are some good things going on:

1. Timmy made the All-Star team again. He's been working hard during 2 hour practices every day. He has scrimmaged 3 teams and their team has won all of them. The reason that this year is so important is that if they win, they can possibly compete in the Little League World Series in PA. That would be quite an accomplishment. He's worked hard for years to make this team.  In addition to this, it's his last year of little league. There is an award given out for good sportsmanship. His first year of baseball he told me that he really wanted that award. He has mentioned it every year since. I hope he's considered for it. Honestly, I know that winning that award would mean more to him than even getting chosen for the All-Star team.

2. David and I got to spend some time at school together. Normally, as a teacher, I lose out on the opportunities to chaperone field trips, volunteer in class and sometimes I even miss important school events since I'm teaching at the same time. On Friday we went to the Boston Tea Party museum. Maybe I will add a post about the museum another day this week. Monday I helped with a clean water presentation. My job was to show the kids a map of our watershed and help them to see where our water that is not processed ends up flowing. In other news, I was not designed to teach 4th grade. lol.

3.   I'm slowly catching up on life. I spent a little time this morning getting some chores done.  I still have lots of stuff to do, but I see progress and that feels great. I've sent a few Postcrossing cards. I am 2 pages into a letter. I have read a few books!I'm currently 6 books behind on my Goodreads challenge. I'm hoping to break even by August!  My last book was:

 

 This is the 3rd book in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. Based on the Goodreads reviews, I wasn't sure that I would. This book follows Jacob Portman on his quest to free the peculiars who had been captured in the second book. I will say that, if it is possible, reading the third book shortly after the second book probably would've been helpful to me. It took me a little time to remember exactly what had happened in the last story. I was not as excited about some of the photographs in this book as I was in the past two, but I think that's just because they aren't as "new and different" as they seemed when the first book came out. I was excited to hear that Ransom Riggs will be coming out with a fourth book, Map of Days. I will definitely check it out. Does anybody know when Map of Days is coming out?

        Next on my to read schedule is: 

 

 I have heard lots of buzz about this book. Luckily, I scored an e-galley on NetGalley. Have any of you read it yet? 
         I also read a lot with the kids over the summer. David plans on reading some of the Massachusetts Children's Book Award Books. This is a list of the nominees. I'll be curious to see which ones David picks. I haven't heard anything about most of these books. Hopefully they are as enjoyable as last year's books. Timothy would like to read Les Miserables. Seriously. Our high school will be performing a "school appropriate version" of the musical in the fall. The directors sent someone to the middle school explaining that there were a few parts for younger kids. Tim immediately decided that he wanted to try out. As soon as he told me, I secretly geeked out because I love that musical and Tim could make a perfect Gavroche. He has never acted before so who knows if he will even get a part but... cool. Little did he know, Les Miserables is also my favorite book. Although Tim is an incredibly smart kid and an avid reader, I don't think he's ready for Les Miserables without a little bit of adult supervision. We're pretty strict about what kind of media our kids "consume" so there will be a lot of things in this book he hasn't really been exposed to before. I will not let him read it on his own but if he wants to read it together, I'm all in. It will be interesting. 

         What are you currently reading?

Chengli and the Silk Road Caravan

Our state has school vacation this week. So, what do I do? Finish the book I'm reading on the first free night. Finish my next book the next morning. I love having time to read. I've also gotten 1 letter written. I have a goal to write 2 more tonight.

       I received this book from NetGalley so I was a little surprised to see that it had been published in 2011. It won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Children (2012). It is about a boy who lives in Chang'An China but decides that he'd like to join a caravan on the Silk Road in an effort to learn more about his father, who had been killed by bandits before his birth. Along the way, he helps take care of the animals in the caravan and is charged to help care for a princess that the caravan has been assigned to deliver to her new husband. 

     To be 100% honest, I don't have a lot of experience with Asia or Asian culture. I really enjoyed learning more about the silk road, different cultures and nomadic life. I am definitely passing this book to both of my sons to read. I will also ask our school librarian if she knows this book yet. I would highly recommend it.  Thanks to NetGalley.

     I am using this book as my Keyword Reading Challenge for February. The keyword I used for this book is "and." I'm going to go search my tbr pile to see if I have any other ones that might fulfill the February keywords.

        

Dr. Mutter's Marvels

 

     I have always enjoyed reading about other people's lives and when I heard of this book about a man I had only known for his odd medical museum (which I had never been to), I was curious to read it. After reading Quakery, which was about medical practices in the past, I have become even more interested in this history of medicine. I really enjoyed Aptowicz's writing style and I found myself pretty engrossed in the book. I had no idea about Mutter's life (sorry, I don't know how to type an umlaut, if anyone is annoyed by that)- the loss of his parents, his eccentricities, his medical practice or his own health problems. I enjoyed this book a lot, though found myself slowing down in my reading a bit after a busy month.

Reading Challenges 2018

     I finished all of my reading goals in 2017! Unfortunately, I got absolutely no input on my reading challenges for 2018. So, I'm playing it safe and just going with what I enjoyed. I have other goals for myself in 2018 but might take it month by month instead of making crazy year long lists for myself. Here are the 3 reading challenges I would like to complete in 2018.

Mount TBR Challenge:


   Last year, I challenged myself to get to the top of Mount Blanc- reading 24 books from my TBR pile. This year I will attempt to climb Vancouver, which has 36 books.

The Monthly Keyword Challenge:

   You may remember that I attempted this challenge last year, but the person who hosted the challenge gave up her blog. (Thank Claudia for all the hard work you did if you are reading this.) Luckily, Bev at My Reader's Block decided to host this challenge this year. So, I'm in again. Here's the list of words I have to work around.
 
You'd be surprised how difficult this is sometimes, especially if I'm trying to pick from my TBR pile.

I'm upping my Goodreads challenge by 10 books this year. So, in 2018, I'd like to read a minimum of 60 books. I would also love to make some new friends on Goodreads, so if you are a member and would like to meet some new people, send me a message and I will add you as a friend.

   How did you do on your 2017 goals? Do you have any books that you've recently read that you are excited about? How about any book releases coming up that you can't wait for? 

The Key to Rondo

 

I had high hopes for this book.  It is about 2 children who discover that the painting on a music box that they inherited from their aunt is a real world that they can enter. The book itself wasn't bad, but compared to all of the other books I've read lately, it was just okay. It would be good for a younger child who is just starting to read fantasy.

Mount TBR update

    I recently took a screen free week and got some reading done too! I've been chipping away at my to be read pile for the Mount TBR challenge. My original goal was 24 books. I'm at 15. So, I'm well on my way. I am planning on telling you about 2 books- The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver H.C. Chester and  Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke.


      This book tells about the lives of 4 orphans growing up in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks. They are the only children as part of his show. Pippa is sort of a mind reader, but she sometimes can only tell what is in your pockets. Thomas can squeeze into small spaces. Sam is a strong man and Max is a knife thrower. Dumfrey's museum is struggling so he brings in a new exhibit- an Amazonian shrunken head. Unfortunately, at the first show that exhibits the head, a woman in the audience dies. A reporter in the audience writes an article and suggests that the shrunken head might carry a curse with it.
        This story was just "ok" to me. (Tim too) We both felt that the story had potential and that the characters were kind of fun, but the amount of deaths in the story seemed extraneous. Don't get me wrong, this is not filled with people killing each other, but we think the story could've been told without some of the deaths.  Neither one of us are interested in reading the rest of the stories in the series.



     This book has been sitting on my to read shelf forever! I don't even remember where I got it. My guess is that I picked it up somewhere for Tim a few years ago, but wanted to read it first to see if there is anything inappropriate that he shouldn't be reading. (There isn't)
      I don't often say that I love a book, but I might have loved this one- or at the very least, liked it a lot. Who knew I'd spend my summer enjoying middle grade fantasy? I love the premise of this whole book. There is a bookbinder- called Mo by his daughter and nicknamed Silvertongue by some other characters- who has the ability to read characters out of the books that they are written in. Unfortunately, when a character is transported out of their story, someone from Mo's word is transported in. His 12 year old daughter, Meggie, knows nothing about this ability since her father has always told her that he is not good at/doesn't like reading aloud. One night, Meggie is sitting in her room when she hears a noise outside. She looks out her window to see a man, Dustfinger, in their yard. She informs her father and it becomes obvious to Meggie that her dad knows this man.The 2 men talk privately and soon we learn that a man named Capricorn has been seeking Silvertongue and a book that he is in possession of.
     I don't want to give away too much of this book (even though it's from early 2000s so you may have read it!) so I'm not going to write more about the plot. Here's a few things that I loved:
1) The story in general. It's full of love for books and reading. It captures that books can take you to far away places and fill you with wonder, or scare you while you're reading alone in your room. I just felt that everything was really imaginative.
2) The characters- There is one character, Elinor, who I grew to like more within the story. She is Meggie's great aunt. She seems kind of like a bitter, old woman who is obsessed with books. Her books are kept in pristine condition in her massive house full of bookshelves and a special library. (Kind of like how my books are kept in wonderful condition within my messy apartment..lol) Elinor sees her books almost like her friends or her children and they are precious to her. Although I am not a person who is easily attached to material things, I get being attached to books.
3) The beginning of each chapter starts with quotations from other great books. I have always loved that. Is it Dean Koontz that does that in most of his books?

Read this book.

The Last Namsara

    July seems to be my month to get a lot of reading done :) I cannot stop!  I would normally have no problem with this but my mental traveling into different worlds has slowed down my writing so I'd like a little more balance.   I'm looking forward to telling you about this next book, which I just received as a digital copy from NetGalley and Orion Publishing last week. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli will be released in the US on October 3 and in the UK on October 5. It is a YA fantasy.

   

     The Last Namsara was great. I devoured it. I usually don't read a ton of fantasy but this one drew me in right from the beginning. It is about a girl named Asha, who is the daughter of the king of Firgaard. When she was a child, Asha told dragons old stories that had been forbidden by her people. One night, this almost cost her her life. The first dragon, Kozu, burned her badly and destroyed her city. Lives were lost and Asha was feared. She was thought to be the Iskari- a death bringer, created by the Old One to establish balance with the Namsara, who carried love and laughter.  In atonement for her deeds, Asha becomes a fierce dragon slayer and is promised in marriage to Jarek, the boy who saved her life and whose parents were killed by Kozu, Jarek is powerful and cruel and he serves as the commandant under Asha's father. When the king offers Asha an opportunity to avoid being married to Jarek, she is happy to oblige; her freedom from marriage in exchange for the head of Kozu. 

       If that story line doesn't sound exciting enough for you, there is way more. Dragons. (Cait, I put that first for you) Forbidden love. People coming together for an uprising against wrongs that have been done to them. Old stories telling the history of Asha's family,   It's all here.  

     I'm excited that this is going to be part of a 3 book series. I will definitely check out the other books!

      

On Edge- a Journey Through Anxiety review

  

   Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book  in exchange for an honest review.     As you can guess by the cover of this book, this book deals with living with anxiety. The author, Andrea Petersen, shares her experiences with her lifelong struggle with anxiety and how it has affected her relationships, work, and ability to live life.  "It (anxiety) is a chronic sense of uneasiness about a vague future, a gnawing worry about what may or may not happen."  I appreciated the mix of personal reflections with the scientific research that she presented.  Peterson tells about research regarding heredity and anxiety,  possible links between anxiety and other medical issues, and strategies for dealing with anxiety- both non-drug therapies and medications. Although I really enjoyed the research aspect, I might caution you if you're not interested in reading research or information about neuroscience. 

    I appreciated the author's vulnerability in telling her story. I have often wondered if I would be diagnosed with anxiety if I ever had an evaluation. (The answer is probably yes.) My thoughts are constantly racing, I often obsess about the possibilities in any situation- even though I understand that there is usually only 1 outcome. I have often shared some of the questions that she has- "Is this normal?" "What if I end up like this relative?" "Am I just worrying, or is there something actually wrong?"   If you would like to learn more about anxiety- or work with people who may be dealing with anxiety, I think this is a great read.