Babbitt‘s logic:

“No one ought to be forced to join a labor union. All labor agitators who try to force men to join a union should be hanged. ... every business man ought to belong to an employers‘ association. In union there is strength. Any selfish hog who doesn‘t join the Chamber of Commerce ought to be forced to!”

One more week to vote on my summer reading for #MakeMeReadIt. The current totals are shown!
Home Fire 31%
The Passage 23%
Not My Father‘s Son 18%
Equal Rites 15%
An Artist of the Floating World 10%
The Violinists Thumb 3%

I‘ll read the top 3 vote getters in July, the bottom 3 probably in August. Vote for up to 3 choices in the comments.

Reposting to get some more votes. So far Home Fire and The Passage are tied for first place, Equal Rites is 3rd and the others are tied for last.

Which one do YOU think I should read first? Vote in a comment! #MakeMeReadIt

#makemereadit

Summer reading y‘all! Which one should I start with?

The Passage
Equal Rites
An Artist of the Floating World
The Violinist‘s Thumb
Home Fire
Not My Father‘s Son

VOTE NOW!

It‘s June 1 - short story month is now over. I wasn‘t able to host the short story swap this year 😢 but I want to hear what stories you‘re reading. Share your favorite short stories you read this month & tag me. #shortstorymonth

I‘ve read the tagged collection, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, and some of Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant.

Quick vacation trip is the perfect time to start a new #chunkster

My husband‘s favorite series! Isn‘t it about time I read it? Yes, yes it is.

1. No homework
2. Cleaning the bathroom
3. Performing in marching band
4. Lab tech
5. You can‘t always control what happens, but you can control how you react to it

#helloThursday

Which one should I read? Does it matter which one comes first? Are they related?

#Grishaverse

I just found out Amazon is producing a Wheel of Time show! I think that means I really need to get started reading them. I‘ve been meaning to read them for 20 years but I‘m always too daunted by the sheer volume to launch in #wheeloftime #chunkster

#LMPBC GroupW

Mailed this today to @arubabookwoman ! Expected to arrive Tuesday.

This was an incredible book. I initially wasn‘t sure about the journal style format of short vignettes, but for the story that was being told, it worked very well and I got into it easily. The language was gorgeous and vivid without overshadowing the characters and the situations. Excellent choice, @lele1432 !

#LMPBC Group W
Starting this one today.
@lele1432 @Jee_HookedOnBookz @arubabookwoman

Still meandering through my #NewYearWhoDis selections. This book was engaging and entertaining. It operates in a similar vein to Percy Jackson but a little older, a little more west coast, and a little more ... in your face, I guess? Creative, hilarious, action-packed, and even occasionally surprising. Thanks @ads0123 for recommending! I‘ll probably even read the next one.

Job posting in my LinkedIn this morning: studio is looking for a Book Reader.

“Role details:
Read books (and sometimes pilots) and provide feedback and analysis for the Original Series team

Focused on female forward programming material OR genre & thriller material (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, crime, thriller, etc.)”

Yes, please! Where do I sign up?

#blitsyhistorymonth #BHMSwap

Ann! Thank you!!! I cant wait to see myself sipping cappuccino, eating shortbread, and partaking of chocolate truffles while settling in with one of my new books! I have been wanting to read both of these, you made great choices! TEWWG is one of those missed classics that I haven‘t managed to swing back and pick up yet. And Beale Street I bumped up my TBR since they‘re making the new movie. The bookmark is beautiful!

“The irony was beautiful. I was a victim of racism by virtue of my failing to acknowledge racial difference and by failing to have my art be defined as an exercise in racial self-expression.”
#blitsy

Day 2 of Audible‘s Choose Your Own Adventure Instagram story.

Turn back? Seriously?

#audible

So many quotable lines in this book, but I had to share this one. Parenting never changes...

#serialreader

Solid entry in the franchise, and a fun read, but this one just didn‘t engage me as much as Bloodline or Lost Stars. I‘m a thoroughly 80s kid, and I had trouble fitting the Leia in this book with the Leia I grew up with. I appreciated the portrayal of her prior interactions with Tarkin, and in the legislature.

#StarWarsBuddyRead
@callielafleur @alicia @bookandcat @DivaDiane @ElyssaReads @NovelGirl82 @wtimblin @trioxin_sematary @Shadowfat

Go to #audible on Instagram and check out their Choose Your Own Adventure!
#80skid #nostalgia

Annoyed with myself that it took SO LONG to get my #BHMSwap goodies to the post office, but finally the box is en route to @Wannabe_Quijote ! Should arrive early next week. Also - expect a second (small) parcel shipping to you directly from Etsy seller TheTriniGee.

#BlitsyHistoryMonth

#NewYearWhoDis
I forgot to post a review when I finished this one! Overall: I enjoyed it. But I have a mixed review. It was intellectually engaging, which I greatly appreciate. Heavily plot driven, and the plot was superb. The writing, unfortunately, was not great. It started out frankly annoying, in that “but why would he DO that?” way. At some point I started listening to the audiobook, which helped me gloss over some of the stylistic crimes.

#BlitsyHistoryMonth #BHMSwap #blitsy

Thank you @Annl the package arrived today! Woot! Now ... to wait patiently ...

I plan to send mine out by Friday at the latest. Should easily arrive by 2/28! Thank you @Chelleo for organizing. I‘m excited!

1. Mystery short stories: Miss Marple, Ellery Queen, Sherlock - love them
2. Color Guard competition with my daughter
3. 🎣🦆🕵️‍♂️
4. I can fit my whole hand inside a Pringles can
5. 👋🏻👏🏻
#friyayintro

Just found out about the #nonfiction2019 challenge. Yeah baby! That‘s my kind of challenge. So far I‘ve got:
O-1: Educated, by Tara Westover
B-4: The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson
G-5: Rigor Mortis, by Richard Harris

Still catching up ...
#blitsyhistorymonth #BHMswap

1. Condoleezza Rice. Ruby Bridges. Nelson Mandela. Emmett Smith. Will Smith. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
2. Percival Everett. Thomas Sowell. Langston Hughes. James Baldwin. N.K. Jemisin.
3. Yes
4. Nonfiction, literary fiction, mystery, science fiction
5. The Harlem Renaissance; Toni Morrison; the African immigrant experience; lots of things

28 issues = perfect February read!
#serialreader

Mailed my #justabookswap package today so I opened my book from @collegecatlady - WOOHOO! Thank you so much! I am definitely excited to read this one. Plus I love the cover art! Gorgeous!
Thanks for the nice note. I enjoyed being in the #LMPBC with you too. I was sad when the books got stuck, and I never received the last two. But Purple Hibiscus was a great read, so glad you chose it.

Well January flew by! I‘m finally starting my first book for #NewYearWhoDis. (To give you some idea, I haven‘t sent my Christmas cards yet.) I don‘t care what the calendar says ... I‘m still playing! I have Six of Crows and The Epic Crush of Genie Lo on hold at the library. I‘m working today, but I should be able to read some later!

Turns out mice are actually a really unreliable model for human studies.

Realized I‘ve fallen way behind on reviews!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was good, a quick read, funny, poignant, and entertaining. A very Jewish aesthetic, I felt, with the layering of existential sadness over everything. Strong themes of how families communicate, how people live up (or down) to their familial roles, and a heaping helping of what-might-have-beens. As an ex-northeasterner, I enjoyed all the comic characters that dropped in.

Congratulations @Nessavamusic on your 20,000 Litfluence and 1,000 followers! Thanks for hosting a fun giveaway. A book I‘ve been wanting to read but don‘t own is Beartown. I‘ve heard nothing but good things about it. I loved A Man Called Ove way more than I expected to so I‘m looking forward to this one. #20k1kgiveaway

#Justabookswap package arrived today! Thanks @collegecatlady - such a cute envelope. To open, or not to open? I‘m thinking I ought to wait until I mail mine ... only seems fair.

Nice and simple! No shopping required. Just. A. Book. I love this.

Hosted by @TheBookKeepers
#JustaBookSwap
Here‘s the form to sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiIZLER9hmh178Hz_5OV80X8OnEZkVINfu3a_f...

These stories fall into a few big categories: (a) they narrate an off-screen event that necessarily happened during the movie, in exactly the way you probably imagined it happening; (b) they fill in plot holes or elaborate on fans‘ in-jokes, or (c) they take a known quantity from the movie and tell its story in such a creative, original way that your perception completely flips. Nnedi Okarafor‘s story on the dianaga is one of these. 👇

I can‘t find the post now, but thank you to the Litten who shared the photo of this puzzle the other day! I ordered one for my husband for Christmas, and we all had a fun time assembling it. #StarWars

Oh, joy! Oh, delight! @Texreader your Norwegian Hardanger ornament is exquisite! Thank you!! And I think you handmade the lovely greeting card as well! I love pecan pralines, and I‘ve been wanting those Staedtler pens 😊 - can‘t wait to do some lettering and meditate with the mandala journal over break. Finally: the book!! Remains of the Day was one of my best books of 2018, so I‘m eager to read this one. Thank you! So thoughtful 😇

#xmasxstitchexchange
Getting ready to open my cross stitch gifts! Such festive wrapping, I love the tartan! And I don‘t know if you can see the amazing Texas ornaments but I 😍 them! I actually used to live in Texas and these ornaments are adorable!

Now I get to open the packages...

#StarWarsBuddyRead
How is everyone enjoying the stories so far? I love how differently they each read. Some are really good while others of course are less so. I quite liked the Mos Eisley Kloo Horn Caper.

Ok @Avanders you hit a home run on this! I have never read anything by Justin Cronin and I‘m looking forward to diving into the trilogy. I also haven‘t read Connie Willis, and my husband has enjoyed several of her books so I‘ve been meaning to try her out. Thank you! The coasters are my favorite. The socks are adorable, I used to collect holiday socks and I was thinking of getting some more this year! And the tote! Thank you so much!

Good morning from the west coast! Look how cutely @Avanders wrapped my #blinddatebookswap goodies! I feel absolutely decadent opening them before Christmas! And heaps of yummy chocolate, yes!

Wow! I‘ve never had this happen before. I already got the book from another library and finished it, but I‘m still pleased that they bought it. #lovemylibrary

#SundayFunday

Rigor Mortis by Richard Harris
She Has Her Mother‘s Laugh by Carl Zimmer
From Here to Eternity by Caitlyn Doughty
The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff

#nonfiction

#blinddatebookswap and #xmasxstitchexchange packages MAILED!

Expected delivery Monday. Sorry I forgot as always to photograph the packages in the hubbub at the post office.

#in2018 @RealLifeReading

Been a fun year, Litsy. Who‘s ready to do it again?

#BlindDateBookSwap

My package arrived! Wow! I‘m standing here making dinner and I hear my daughter at the front door ... “Mom you got a package, and it‘s really heavy!” It feels like dozens of books! I can‘t wait to see what you picked out @Avanders Thank you 😍 🎄

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series
Agatha Christie mysteries
Discworld (specifically the City Watch)
Collections of mystery short stories, like “50 Years of Ellery Queen” or “100 Years of Crime Stories by Women” etc.
#sundayfunday

Hey littens, my middle school daughter is looking for a middle school pen pal/swap partner from another part of the country. Anybody interested?
#middlegrade
#MG #tweens
#litsyswaps

I‘m seeing everyone‘s #blinddatebookswap posts, and every day I panic a little more, because I have no idea what to send to my match! She asked for Romance, which I never read, and she also said “no nonfiction” - which most of my favorite books are.

So ... romance peeps ... send me your recommendations!! What would you send to someone looking to try out the romance genre (“not erotica and not overly goofy”)?

#romantsy

Great read! I am not a bird lover by any stretch, but I found this review of the research on bird cognition utterly riveting. Each chapter explores a different aspect of mental ability, from problem solving to social behavior to song to navigation. Though it‘s clear Ackerman has great respect for her avian subjects, she never oversells the evidence, always presenting the “killjoy” explanation when tempted to anthropomorphize.
#nonfiction #science