Reading this right now. Love the dollhouse descriptions and the history of forensics. My interest flags when it's just about Glessner's young life of wealth. But things are picking up now because of George Burgess Magrath. Man should have a miniseries or crime show about him. Fascinating.

OK. I LOVED this. I'm starting over and this was serendipitous.
Part two: makeover is what I'm doing right now. I hit most of her exercises in that one. Signature look, song, scent. I don't have a song.
Part one is fill your senses. Joy comes in paying attention to your senses.
Part three is social...things. Forgotten how to do that.
Part four is flirting. *sigh*
I got this through my library's hoopla and I think I may buy this one.

I didn't read the blurb carefully enough: it's about non-fiction books and self-publishing. The advice and tips are good for any kind of writing. It doesn't really have to be for women, just anyone whose care-giving duties swallow up their time.

Now, there wasn't anything ground-breaking, still it was eminently practical, which I appreciated. Good for people who want to write, but feel that their time and energy is being siphoned off.

Marjorie had a wartime wedding to a man who was shipped out immediately. She is dreading his return because she doesn't know him. But she feels pressured by society to be happy about it.

The second part is Marjorie adjusts to his home. I love people figuring out how to live and work in completely new circumstances. It's not as good as Rose Garden Husband, but it's good.

My favorite bit was “find like-hearted people instead of like-minded people.“ I thought that was an excellent piece of advice and elegantly worded. It was all about encouraging people to be creative even in bad times.

Short and pithy book. I really enjoyed it.

Very restful discussion of reading and all its aspects. I was particularly charmed by the chapter on making a golden treasury of the best reading. And I liked the chapter on comfort reading and reading like a child.

Cons - she kept talking about reading in a tree. This is not really an option for me so frustration there.

At the beginning, this is book for people who like true crime podcasts or documentaries. Very true. I have not listened to their podcast, “The Last Podcast on the Left.“

Pros - As for the book, it is a serviceable retelling of infamous USA serial killers. I read most of it. The illustrations reminded me of the Tales of the Crypt art.

Cons - The asides scattered throughout did not add much. But then not a fan of the podcast.

Exactly what it promises. It's funny and quick, although it helps if you've read the book before. I would read something else by Lisa Brown, for sure.

Makes me want to read Hark, A Vagrant though.

STAR STAR STAR
Oh, this is a good book. It's short and easy to read and there is so much on each page. It's more about how to think like an artist rather than about techniques of art.
Two of my favorite bits were “Art is a Flatworm“ and “Make Art is for Now, Not the Future.“ They are about finding what is true about yourself and being in the moment.

I may have to buy it, instead of check it out from the library. It completely delighted me.

I was pleasantly surprised. Bender's book does have samples of a lot of writers: poets, fiction, nonfiction and how they write a journal and what they do with it afterwards. She also had some interesting suggestions for making your entries more meaty and meaningful like using metaphors and similes or writing journal entries as letters.

I bailed on this one because it was all about studies done on daydreams. It made me wonder about studies done more recently and studies with different populations. I may return to it, but for now, I have laid it aside. I am actually more interested in paracosms like the Bronte's worlds or Boxen by C. S. Lewis and his brother.

My sister got me hooked on these ambience videos while I'm reading. I like the study rooms: shorturl.at/hjFRS; bakeries: shorturl.at/nryHR and tea parties: shorturl.at/HIRX9. There are busy ones with lots of background noise and dramatic ones like all the Halloween ones. They can be good if it's loud outside because of construction or traffic.

Cameron talks about creativity and how to be an artist.

I have have been feeling dull-headed lately and Cameron supports adult playfulness like nobody else. There were some good ideas. For example, if you couldn't fail what would you do? Or, find small achievements to celebrate. And the rest was a kind of a soothing recounting of a year in Taos and in New York. I'm glad I read it.

It was depressing in bits because of how clearly Mussell lays out how women's main purpose in society is to be nurturing to spouse and children. I keep reminding myself that society has changed a lot since the 1980s. However, I think it's still true that the quality of nurturing is said to be important but in practice it is not.

Covers the historical of romantic fiction from the ancient Greeks through the 1970s.

I was looking for pre-20th century women authors of popular fiction. Not only are there some very helpful overviews but there is a section of biographies of the older authors

Wallace covers historical fiction both popular and literary written by women in British.

Give a very good overview of how writers have approached the past, their methods and aims. I am giving it a so-so only because I would have liked a little more about the use of language. Did they use modern words and style or go full out gadzooksy? But her focus was more on how the authors related contemporary events to the past.

#4thofjuly #independenceday,

Perfect day for tea and reading on this rainy day.
#rain #tea #reading

Loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself

Rupi Kaur

#poetry

Love is not cruel
We are cruel
Love is not a game
We have made a game
Out of love

Rupi Kaur

#poetry

Super easy one-person meals that you heat in a microwave. I've started to try the recipes, they taste better than frozen dinners!
#cookbook

Nothing is safer
Than the sound of you
Reading out loud to me

-the perfect date

Rupi Kaur

Will Pattern does great job narrating NEON RAIN. I knew instantly which of the several characters were speaking. I had a strong feel for who they were just through his voice work.
#audiobook

How is it so easy for you
To be kind to people he asked

Milk and honey dripped
From my lips as i answered

Cause people have not
Been kind to me

#poem

People have been telling me that they either read fiction or nonfiction, like being right-handed or left-facing-handed. Not both usually. At least in my neighborhood.

I used to read mostly fiction for fun but over time I have been reading more nonfiction for pleasure. Maybe I can get a balance some day, who knows?
#readerquestion

Other reviewers have complained that not a lot happens in the book but I found it a surprisingly easy read. I do warn any potential reader that she makes it clear that Herland has no people of color.

Despite its flaws, it did have two good points: women still need real pockets and our children are still not safe.

And it made me ask questions and think about society. Now I want to find more modern utopias.
#classic

After I finished Herland, I found out that it is part of a series. #1 Moving the Mountain #2 Herland #3 With Her in Ourland. #classic #til

It seems like an ideal place for kids. They can go anywhere in a kind of giant park because there's nothing to hurt them. Everyone they meet is either a caretaker or a teacher.
#utopia

Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was always being scolded for daydreaming in school. And so I identified with Sarah's imagination helping her escape her situation.

#readerquestion

A sweet, gentle Christmas read. The World of Warcraft subplot was cute. I gave it so-so because the ending felt a little rushed.

Mary Roach has a fearless curiosity. She goes to the kind of places and asks the kind of questions that I just couldn't. The early chapters on dissection, decomposition, and crash analysis were the most fascinating in a forensics way. She's really funny and her footnotes made me stop and look up the whole story.