pickI like sci-fi, but especially sci-fi that wrestles with philosophical questions. Dick covers a lot of ground in this relatively short book: religion, fanaticism, empathy and its limits, what makes someone βhuman,β what constitutes βlife,β the value of life. Not a βlightβ read, but very readable and thought-provoking.
pickThere is so much to love here - time travel! moon colonies! - and yet those elements fade into the background of stories about characters who are all lost for various reasons, missing a place or a person they cannot yet return to, if ever.
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pickβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ
This was absolutely not what I expected. I‘ll admit I judged the book by its cover and guessed it to be a meet-cute rom-com heavily leaning on a chem lab setting. There is romance and a chem lab, but that is about all I had right. Fun, entertaining book.
βFriendship,β Marx said, βis kind of like having a Tamagotchi.β
pickAnother hilarious essay by Irby and completely relatable to me and my 2023 refusal to give a f*ck about resolutions or a βWord of the Year.β
pickThis is a book of interconnected stories that begin in the 2030s with an Arctic archaeological dig by scientists attempting to solve climate change problems; this leads to the discovery of an ancient child‘s corpse and the unwitting release of a virus from her body, which becomes a global pandemic. The book traces the path and consequences of the virus through various characters over time, but it is not really about the virus. (cont. in comments)
This book is equal parts bonkers and tragic. So far, I love it β telepathic pig and all.
pickBeartown is hanging its last hope for survival on the junior hockey team: if they win, the town stands a chance of not quietly disappearing into the forest. The second half of the book was worth getting through the somewhat sluggish beginning and is a discussion-worthy look at several social issues, including herd mentality: βAnd when enough people are quiet for long enough, a handful of voices can give the impression that everyone is screaming.β
Barnes & Noble book haul - 50% off hardcovers today!
Devoured A Court of Thorns and Roses and then found that the holds list at the library for the next book, digital or physical, was weeks to months long. So of course the sensible thing to do was to just buy the whole damn set.
Not me randomly finding this book in a thrift shop a couple of weekends ago, thinking my students might like it; then forgetting I bought it and having it returned to me by my daughter today; then thinking I might take a peek at the beginning but actually reading 80 pages of itβ¦
Still reading on the road. Unsure about this one β a student kept on me last year about reading it, though, so next time I see her I‘ll be able to say I did.
pickPeter Heller is a stunning writer. This book has it all: beautiful prose, but also suspense. Character development that blurs the line between light and dark in one man‘s soul. Philosophical musings on art, life, and grief. I think I‘m going to have to read anything else he writes.
pickFinished this on the road just after visiting the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest in Arizona.
βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ Cute. Funny in places. Predictable ending. Quick summer read. Reminded me of You‘ve Got Mail, but more βadultβ - some eye-rolling here with those scenes, and the writing was cringe-worthy at times, but it was entertaining otherwise.
Choosing the next book can be hard, but this one was easy β
Daughter: Why are you staring at your books?
Me: Trying to decide what to read next.
Daughter: *grabs book* You‘re reading this one because you‘ve been painting things!
Picture is the shelves I repainted. β€οΈ
pickFinished this sequel to The Golem and the Jinni last night. I hadn‘t intended to read this right after finishing Golem, but I really just wanted to stay in this world with these characters. I liked it a bit less than the first book, but nonetheless it did not disappoint! β€οΈ
I have students who think I just come home and read all day. Some days, that‘s true. But it‘s only because I literally don‘t have the energy to do anything else.
Anyway, this book is pretty good so far.
pickI had intentions yesterday to do All the Things. Instead, I spent the day unable to tear myself away from this. I know quite a few did not like the turn this took or the way it ended, but I did. I think it gives the overall story arc and the main character so much more complexity to talk about.
So thirty minutes after I finished A Good Girl‘s Guide to Murder, I ran to the bookstore and bought the other two in the series, plus two more books. π Daughter is 100 pages into Good Girl, Bad Bloodβ¦ I‘m gonna catch up. π #motherdaughterbookclub
pickHustled through this as fast as I could at the prodding of my impatient teen daughter, who *needed* me to read it so she‘d have someone to talk about it with. I don‘t tend to gravitate to mysteries, but I loved this one. #motherdaughterbookclub
Sunday vibes while reading my first Grisham book β a Christmas gift from a friend. 200 pages in and pleasantly surprised so far.
Thanksgiving break, Day One! I was honestly a little afraid to start this book right now because of its length and knowing that this is a really busy time of year β I don‘t need to spend a month on one book right now. But so far, I don‘t think that‘s going to happen. It‘s lovely, and I‘m hooked.
I know it‘s early, but I had to try out this cute Christmas cup we found last weekend!
A student borrowed this book from the library & then told me I *have* to read it. So I am. After the distance-learning debacle of last year, I‘ve found it more difficult this year to get students invested in reading, so moments like this are less common than usual. Once I‘m done with it, this copy will go on my classroom shelves for other students to enjoy.
Picked these up at a library sale yesterday even though I have eleventy billion unread books at home. Why am I like this?
Report at 9:00. Wait for 30 minutes. Get told to come back in an hour. Welcome to jury duty, Day 2. π€¦ββοΈ
Not home today to make anything better than a note on my phone for my August list π
#bookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
pickAnother July #bookspinbingo book - this one is my #doublespin .
Finished this a couple of days ago. While reading this book, I was reminded at varying points of Harry Potter, City of Bones, and Twilight. β¬οΈ
pickMy #bookspin book for #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
I was supposed to have read this years ago when I was working on my masters‘s degree in Comparative Lit. Unfortunately, there was not enough time in any day to both read all the books I was assigned and write all the papers, and I had to skip a couple. This was one of those, and it has been glaring at me from a shelf ever since. π
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pickProbably the fastest I‘ve ever read a book of this length. Compared to my usual speed, I basically inhaled it. Yay, summer and free time and most of all, David Mitchell! Still one of my favorites.
So good. What an adventure. π
Different book, same difficulty with reading. π
Halfway through, still loving it.
What better time than summer vacation to read a 600+ page book? π 100 pages in and loving it so far.
β¦and my July bingo card. Took ages to get it right. π€¦ββοΈπ #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
I‘d never heard of #bookspinbingo until today, (a day late π€·ββοΈ) but I‘ll give it a try! @TheAromaofBooks
panIf you loved or even liked RP1 β don‘t mess it up by reading the sequel. I don‘t understand how the same person wrote both of these. I made myself finish RP2 because we got it for Christmas. Santa must hate me... I hope he‘ll forgive me now that I‘ve done my penance. (continued in comments)
pickRandomly grabbed this from a shelf. Couldn‘t remember why I bought it, or who I heard about it from. Loved it.
We bought a Roomba at a discount, and then it sat there for two years because I didn‘t want to take it apart to clean it, and nobody else was willing to do it, either. Then I finally just did it.
Will I sit on my butt and read this book about happiness while I sip wine and a machine vacuums for me? Yes, I think I will.
so-soI feel like I‘ve been in a reading slump since the pandemic started, and given the rave reviews, I was hoping this one would pull me out of it. Nope. I do like O‘Farrell‘s writing, and I wouldn‘t say I didn‘t enjoy the book at all, but it was hard for me to feel anything much about the plot or characters. It just fell flat for me, overall.
I don‘t know if it‘s the book or me, but I was struggling to begin with... though I am enjoying this more now.
Made a #bookbento as an example for my students. This was fun - I might do it more often. Can‘t wait to see what they come up with next week!
Saturday. I‘m 24 pages in and not sure if I‘m going to like this one...
I LOVE this new podcast by Marlon James and Jake Morrisey. If you are after some erudite book banter... check it out. It‘s not stuffy by any means β they curse and everything. π Super fun.
Listened to four hours of this while cleaning today... so far, so good.
I have had this trilogy in my TBR FOREVER.
Happy Saturday!
