Spring!
When spring comes to the Midwest, everything seems to change. People are happier, the air smells different, and everything seems possible. It also draws us outside again, no longer bundled up in layers of thick wool and polar fleece. You can tell, from a distance, that we're human. Experiencing the great outdoors also means that reading usually takes a backseat to frolicking in flowers, eating fresh spring veggies, and doing other warm weather activities. That definitely happened to me this spring. I hardly read anything!
April:
The Lady Elizabeth--Alison Weir (Why can I not get over my obsession with English history, particularly Tudor history? Why?)
Water for Elephants--Sara Gruen
When You Reach Me--Rebecca Stead (So unexpectedly poignant.)
May:
I'd Know You Anywhere--Laura Lippman
Bossypants--Tina Fey (my girl yo!)
Call Me Irresistable--Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Golden Compass--Phillip Pullman (a Mark Reads selection and OMG I WANT A DAEMON)
Vision in White--Nora Roberts (I read this series because my coworkers wouldn't stop talking about it. The characters are stereotypes, but it was kind of fun fluff for a spring that had a lot of wedding stuff going on in my real life.)
Between Shades of Gray--Ruta Sepetys (I finished this book just before a really bad storm that included the tornado sirens going off. It was very appropriate.)
Bed of Roses--Nora Roberts
Savor the Moment--Nora Roberts
June:
The Tiger's Wife--Tea Obreht (I liked it but couldn't help but be irritated that the author is younger than me and yet so incredibly talented and successful.)
Happily Ever After--Nora Roberts
Allison Hewitt is Trapped--Madeline Roux (Kind of a Madison style Shaun of the Dead in novel form. If they make the movie I should play Allison. Not joking.)
In the Garden of Beasts--Erik Larson
The Snowman--Jo Nesbo (LOVE)
Don't Tempt Me--Loretta Chase (Terrible.)
Reflections on my 24th year of reading coming soon!
August 8, 2011
July 31, 2011
Winter Reading, or How I Learned to Love TV on DVD and Downton Abbey
Okay, not gonna lie: in winter 2011 I watched a LOT of TV. I got really sick in January (and again in February, and again in March) and each time I watched a lot of TV on DVD. Plus, you know, Downton Abbey premiered, so I was a bit preoccupied on Sunday evenings.
Either way, here are my winter reads--now with commentary!:
December 2010
The Kitchen House--Kathleen Grissom
The Heir--Grace Burrowes (this was supposed to be for romance novel book club, but we still haven't met to discuss this book. We did, however, read aloud during whoopie pie baking. So, maybe that was more appropriate. Also: all the reviews said it was clever, witty, etc. It was not.)
At Home--Bill Bryson
The Committment--Dan Savage
January 2011
Remarkable Creatures--Tracy Chevalier
The Help--Kathryn Stockett
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins
Ransom--Julie Garwood
The Sherlockian--Graham Moore
Barely a Lady-- Eileen Dryer
February 2011:
Finger Lickin' Fifteen--Janet Evanovich
The Witness House--Christiane Kohl
The Romanov Bride--Robert Alexander (this actually inspired me to learn more about Russia! Woo historical fiction!)
Three Fates--Nora Roberts (ugh. Stop taking book recs from coworkers.)
March 2011:
Sizzling Sixteen--Janet Evanovich
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer--Novella Carpenter
The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir--Josh Kilmer-Purcell
The Book Thief--Marcus Zusak (AMAZING.)
Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from Consumer Culture--Shannon Hayes
Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness--Lisa K. Hamilton
Either way, here are my winter reads--now with commentary!:
December 2010
The Kitchen House--Kathleen Grissom
The Heir--Grace Burrowes (this was supposed to be for romance novel book club, but we still haven't met to discuss this book. We did, however, read aloud during whoopie pie baking. So, maybe that was more appropriate. Also: all the reviews said it was clever, witty, etc. It was not.)
At Home--Bill Bryson
The Committment--Dan Savage
January 2011
Remarkable Creatures--Tracy Chevalier
The Help--Kathryn Stockett
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins
Ransom--Julie Garwood
The Sherlockian--Graham Moore
Barely a Lady-- Eileen Dryer
February 2011:
Finger Lickin' Fifteen--Janet Evanovich
The Witness House--Christiane Kohl
The Romanov Bride--Robert Alexander (this actually inspired me to learn more about Russia! Woo historical fiction!)
Three Fates--Nora Roberts (ugh. Stop taking book recs from coworkers.)
March 2011:
Sizzling Sixteen--Janet Evanovich
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer--Novella Carpenter
The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir--Josh Kilmer-Purcell
The Book Thief--Marcus Zusak (AMAZING.)
Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from Consumer Culture--Shannon Hayes
Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness--Lisa K. Hamilton
June 18, 2011
Fall Books
Continuing the list of books I read when I was 24:
September:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack--Rebecca Skloot
Your Scandalous Ways--Loretta Chase
Mockingjay--Suzanne Collins
Dead in the Family--Charlaine Harris
Twelve Sharp--Janet Evanovich
October:
Made by Hand--Mark Frauen
Lean Mean Thirteen--Janet Evanovich
The Devil Wears Plaid--Teresa Medeiros
The Great Typo Hunt: Jeff Deck & Ben Herson
Not Quite a Lady--Loretta Chase
Half the Sky--Nicholas Kristoff
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows*
Fearless Fourteen--Janet Evanovich
November:
The Convenient Marriage--Georgette Heyer
Lady Vernon and her Daughter--Jane Rubino and Caitlyn Rubino-Bradway
Austenland--Shannon Hale
The Pursuit of Alice Thrift--Eliner Lipman
Indiscretion--Jude Morgan
Hundred Dollar Holiday--Bill McKibbon
The Town That Food Saved--Ben Hewitt
*I do re-read books, but I will only list them here and denote them with an asterisk if I read the entire thing, cover to cover. I often read my favorite passages of books over and over again, but I'm not counting that in this year long record of reading.
September:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack--Rebecca Skloot
Your Scandalous Ways--Loretta Chase
Mockingjay--Suzanne Collins
Dead in the Family--Charlaine Harris
Twelve Sharp--Janet Evanovich
October:
Made by Hand--Mark Frauen
Lean Mean Thirteen--Janet Evanovich
The Devil Wears Plaid--Teresa Medeiros
The Great Typo Hunt: Jeff Deck & Ben Herson
Not Quite a Lady--Loretta Chase
Half the Sky--Nicholas Kristoff
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows*
Fearless Fourteen--Janet Evanovich
November:
The Convenient Marriage--Georgette Heyer
Lady Vernon and her Daughter--Jane Rubino and Caitlyn Rubino-Bradway
Austenland--Shannon Hale
The Pursuit of Alice Thrift--Eliner Lipman
Indiscretion--Jude Morgan
Hundred Dollar Holiday--Bill McKibbon
The Town That Food Saved--Ben Hewitt
*I do re-read books, but I will only list them here and denote them with an asterisk if I read the entire thing, cover to cover. I often read my favorite passages of books over and over again, but I'm not counting that in this year long record of reading.
June 17, 2011
Results! Results! Results!
Hello! I have returned.
A year ago, I started recording every book I read. In that 24th year of life, I also endured some bad shit. So...I read a lot of fluff. Like. A lot. I'm almost ashamed. But then I think about it, and those were hilarious books, and there is nothing like watching your friend read love scenes aloud while you make over 100 whoopie pies with your dearest friends and her boyfriend squirms. And then dancing drunkenly with nutcrackers. And then frightening your boyfriend's brother by drunkenly doing impressions of his adorable Southern mother. Or reading books because your middle aged coworkers won't shut up about them. Or reading books because a blog tells you to, and finding that you love all the suggestions.
SO, with no further ado: here are the first 3 months of my 24th year of life, in books:
June:
Wolf Hall--Hilary Mantel
Seven Up--Janet Evanovich
Hard Eight--Janet Evanovich
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest--Siegg Larsson
To the Nines--Janet Evanovich
Pets and the Planet: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Pet Care--Carol Frischmann
July:
The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins
Not Quite a Husband--Sherry Thomas
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming--Paul Hawken
The White Queen--Phillipa Gregory*
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins
August:
The Hedgehog's Dilemma--Phil Warwick
Something Wonderful--Judith McNaught
Girl in the Arena--Lise Haines
Ten Big Ones--Janet Evanovich
Eleven on Top--Janet Evanovich
His at Night--Sherry Thomas
Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life--John Conroy
Almost Heaven--Judith McNaught
The Red Queen--Phillipa Gregory
Gosh, I read a lot of trash. Summer, you know? Depression, you know?
Next up: Fall, and a return to some more serious subject matter.
*I'm sorry, but every time I see the name Phillipa after this I will only think of this hottie.
A year ago, I started recording every book I read. In that 24th year of life, I also endured some bad shit. So...I read a lot of fluff. Like. A lot. I'm almost ashamed. But then I think about it, and those were hilarious books, and there is nothing like watching your friend read love scenes aloud while you make over 100 whoopie pies with your dearest friends and her boyfriend squirms. And then dancing drunkenly with nutcrackers. And then frightening your boyfriend's brother by drunkenly doing impressions of his adorable Southern mother. Or reading books because your middle aged coworkers won't shut up about them. Or reading books because a blog tells you to, and finding that you love all the suggestions.
SO, with no further ado: here are the first 3 months of my 24th year of life, in books:
June:
Wolf Hall--Hilary Mantel
Seven Up--Janet Evanovich
Hard Eight--Janet Evanovich
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest--Siegg Larsson
To the Nines--Janet Evanovich
Pets and the Planet: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Pet Care--Carol Frischmann
July:
The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins
Not Quite a Husband--Sherry Thomas
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming--Paul Hawken
The White Queen--Phillipa Gregory*
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins
August:
The Hedgehog's Dilemma--Phil Warwick
Something Wonderful--Judith McNaught
Girl in the Arena--Lise Haines
Ten Big Ones--Janet Evanovich
Eleven on Top--Janet Evanovich
His at Night--Sherry Thomas
Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life--John Conroy
Almost Heaven--Judith McNaught
The Red Queen--Phillipa Gregory
Gosh, I read a lot of trash. Summer, you know? Depression, you know?
Next up: Fall, and a return to some more serious subject matter.
*I'm sorry, but every time I see the name Phillipa after this I will only think of this hottie.
April 15, 2011
Young Professional
This happened awhile ago, but I decided to share it with you all. I was featured as the Fond du Lac Reporter's Young Professional of the Week on Sunday, April 3.
It was kind of terrifying to realize that I would be in the paper, mostly because I knew patrons would see it. That said, it was also a huge honor to be recognized after only living and working in Fond du Lac for 10 months. The people at the Reporter were really nice and I got to have my picture taken in a studio and everything.
So far, only one patron has talked to me about it, and he was really cool! He was really pumped about me wanting to hike the Inca Trail and asked how I got interested in that. He is planning to hike the Appalachian Trail, and is starting to train now that the weather is a bit better. Since he is retired and in good physical condition, he figured he might as well try. How cool!
It was kind of terrifying to realize that I would be in the paper, mostly because I knew patrons would see it. That said, it was also a huge honor to be recognized after only living and working in Fond du Lac for 10 months. The people at the Reporter were really nice and I got to have my picture taken in a studio and everything.
So far, only one patron has talked to me about it, and he was really cool! He was really pumped about me wanting to hike the Inca Trail and asked how I got interested in that. He is planning to hike the Appalachian Trail, and is starting to train now that the weather is a bit better. Since he is retired and in good physical condition, he figured he might as well try. How cool!
March 28, 2011
That's so radical.
Can you believe it is only two short months (and some change) until my 25th birthday? It blows me away. So much has happened in the past ten months. I won't lie, they were pretty awful months. Hopefully spring will show up soon and things will stop being so lonely and cold.
On my 24th birthday, I decided to start recording every book I read while I was 24. It has been really fun and a lesson in humility. Guess what? I don't read that much! It is shocking how few books I'm reading a month. Some months are heavier than others, of course, but it looks like I'm averaging a book a week. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, especially considering how bored I am in FDL. TV on DVD has certainly been a contributing factor to this. Whoops.
In June I'll be sharing the results of my year of reading record keeping, but until then, I had to share this book with you. It is called "Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture" by Shannon Hayes. It looks at the "movement" of people deciding to take themselves out of the rat race and live in ways that honor four basic tenets:
1) ecological sustainability
2) social justice
3)community engagement
4) family well-being
The book goes into a ton of detail (obvi) but what I appreciated most was that Hayes explores both the historical background/evolution of homemaking and profiles real people making these choices. There are areas in which I disagree with her, quite strongly.
Hayes profiles many homeschoolers and people who do not have health insurance, some by choice. The "negatives" of homeschooling are not, in my opinion, adequately explored, nor are the advantages of attending school. Of course, not all people have access to amazing public schools or can afford a good private school. I truly believe there are solutions to making our schools better and that parents can make a huge difference, regardless of the quality of a school.
After watching several family members endure serious illness and disease, I believe that while the health insurance industry is totally screwing us, I won't be without health insurance by choice. I also think that school, even regular ole public school, has some benefits. And, of course, I love me some academia.
That said, this book took a lot of things I've been pondering and summed them up. It gave me a nice background, a construct, to understand some of the choices I'm contemplating. At this point in my life, there seem to be nothing but choices. For how long do you put career first? Do I feel comfortable putting my career aside for a partner's career? Do I go full on vegetarian, even though food is such an important way for me to connect with others and meat is a part of those people's lives/cultures/traditions*? How do I contribute to the well being of a community that seems hostile to so many of my beliefs? Ah! Even as this book challenged me, it reassured me. "Radical Homemakers" is highly recommended for anyone trying to decide how to create a fulfilling, socially responsible life. It won't give answers, but it does give ideas. And who doesn't need some inspiration now and then?
*To answer this, I guess what I've decided is that I'm not going to go vegetarian. I believe we're animals, and animals do eat other animals. Fact. Watch the Discovery Channel. However, I am disgusted by the policies of industrial agriculture and the way it disregards the souls and well-being of animals. (Yes, I believe animals have souls.) So, I will only be purchasing meat from small farms where it has been raised humanely. As for dairy, I'm WI born and bred, and there's no way I'm giving up cheese. As far as eggs, I plan to source them from locals who have a flock in the yard. This is a lot easier given that I live in Hicksville and that my aunt has chickens. In the end, my diet will be largely meat free, as I cannot afford humanely raised meat very often. This seems like a reasonable choice for me and I hope that my vegetarian and vegan friends can respect it.
On my 24th birthday, I decided to start recording every book I read while I was 24. It has been really fun and a lesson in humility. Guess what? I don't read that much! It is shocking how few books I'm reading a month. Some months are heavier than others, of course, but it looks like I'm averaging a book a week. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, especially considering how bored I am in FDL. TV on DVD has certainly been a contributing factor to this. Whoops.
In June I'll be sharing the results of my year of reading record keeping, but until then, I had to share this book with you. It is called "Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture" by Shannon Hayes. It looks at the "movement" of people deciding to take themselves out of the rat race and live in ways that honor four basic tenets:
1) ecological sustainability
2) social justice
3)community engagement
4) family well-being
The book goes into a ton of detail (obvi) but what I appreciated most was that Hayes explores both the historical background/evolution of homemaking and profiles real people making these choices. There are areas in which I disagree with her, quite strongly.
Hayes profiles many homeschoolers and people who do not have health insurance, some by choice. The "negatives" of homeschooling are not, in my opinion, adequately explored, nor are the advantages of attending school. Of course, not all people have access to amazing public schools or can afford a good private school. I truly believe there are solutions to making our schools better and that parents can make a huge difference, regardless of the quality of a school.
After watching several family members endure serious illness and disease, I believe that while the health insurance industry is totally screwing us, I won't be without health insurance by choice. I also think that school, even regular ole public school, has some benefits. And, of course, I love me some academia.
That said, this book took a lot of things I've been pondering and summed them up. It gave me a nice background, a construct, to understand some of the choices I'm contemplating. At this point in my life, there seem to be nothing but choices. For how long do you put career first? Do I feel comfortable putting my career aside for a partner's career? Do I go full on vegetarian, even though food is such an important way for me to connect with others and meat is a part of those people's lives/cultures/traditions*? How do I contribute to the well being of a community that seems hostile to so many of my beliefs? Ah! Even as this book challenged me, it reassured me. "Radical Homemakers" is highly recommended for anyone trying to decide how to create a fulfilling, socially responsible life. It won't give answers, but it does give ideas. And who doesn't need some inspiration now and then?
*To answer this, I guess what I've decided is that I'm not going to go vegetarian. I believe we're animals, and animals do eat other animals. Fact. Watch the Discovery Channel. However, I am disgusted by the policies of industrial agriculture and the way it disregards the souls and well-being of animals. (Yes, I believe animals have souls.) So, I will only be purchasing meat from small farms where it has been raised humanely. As for dairy, I'm WI born and bred, and there's no way I'm giving up cheese. As far as eggs, I plan to source them from locals who have a flock in the yard. This is a lot easier given that I live in Hicksville and that my aunt has chickens. In the end, my diet will be largely meat free, as I cannot afford humanely raised meat very often. This seems like a reasonable choice for me and I hope that my vegetarian and vegan friends can respect it.
February 10, 2011
This has nothing to do with libraries.
Parkers at Purple Stride Chicago 2010I know I said I was going to stop posting non-library stuff here. But. I'm not. Because I'm posting this.
Come and be a part of Purple Stride Milwaukee with us! It is June 4, 2011, and we are so excited to celebrate with all of you and remember my dad. We are so so excited. Please join us. Donate or join the team by going here.
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