The fun we had: Summer 2019
October 14, 2019
***FYI: I will be collecting donations for our Lakota families until Nov 17th. Details in the Giving paragraph. Half of any proceeds from the blog during this time (see sidebar) will also be added to those donations.***
Summer! June 21st through September 23 2019
What I read
This reading summer started off strong with some fantastic writers:
Samantha Shannon
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Rebecca Roanhorse
Storm of Locusts
I can barely handle apocalyptic fiction these days since it feels too much like real life but Rebecca’s books are just too good to skip until this mess is over. There are gods and the world we made for ourselves, and really, you just have to read it.
Seanan McGuire
That ain’t Witchcraft
I adore this entire series and would like many more stories of the Price family. Many many many, please.
Michelle Obama
Becoming
I could have screenshotted the entire biography to text to PiC with my thoughts … I refrained when I realized that it would not end.
Connie Willis
Crosstalk – I picked this up after Nicole and Maggie mentioned it and it was really fast-paced which was stressful for me but it was quite well written and worth reading.
Blackout (All Clear Book 1)
All Clear: A Novel
Ursula Vernon
Castle Hangnail – I picked this up because a friend connected the dots for me: @UrsulaV on Twitter is actually the author of children’s books I’ve heard good things about. JB isn’t ready for this yet but I loved it and want more Castle Hangnail stories. I also carried on reading Ursula’s children’s books for fun. And research. Mostly for fun, though:
Hamster Princess; Of Mice and Magic; Whiskerella
I’ve gifted two copies of Hamster Princess already, and as the kids get older, will be gifting quite a few more. Thinking I should load up on used copies from Powell’s, maybe.
Dragonbreath Very cute books, also giftworthy for little ones.
Fonda Lee
Jade City; Jade War
I don’t think my words could possibly do this pair of beautiful books justice, the summary certainly didn’t. I will say that I didn’t get any sleep the nights that they were checked out from the library. The main characters are flawed, complex, strong, loving. They live in a world they understand and embrace or understand and reject. In either case, they have to find a way to live in the society they were raised in, and maybe even find a way to change it.
Aliette de Boudard
The House of Shattered Wings
Angels living side by side with humans, Lucifer Morningstar gone missing, a mysterious hunter in the walls of Silverspires. What could possibly go wrong?
Paul Krueger
Steel Crow Saga – coming out September 24. This was a free ARC from Comic-Con and Paul was sweet enough to have a chat with JB about zir SDCC recommendations when we had it signed. Ze sagely recommended that he eat his lunches outside on the mezzanine.
Kate Elliott
Spiritwalker Trilogy: Cold Magic; Cold Fire; Cold Steel
I’m going to need more of the Spiritwalker stories – I reread these five times.
Shannon Hale
Princess Academy; Palace of Stone; The Forgotten Sisters
I can’t tell what age this is entirely appropriate for but it’s well written and on the list to be gifted to niblings when their reading proficiency is up!
Alexander McCall Smith
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party; The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon; The Good Husband of Zebra Drive; The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection; The Miracle at Speedy Motors; Tea Time for the Traditionally Built; The Colors of All the Cattle
A friend lent these books to me a few years ago and they’re quite enjoyable.
Ilona Andrews
Diamond Fire
Meh books
Melanie Dickerson
The Merchant’s Daughter
The Healer’s Apprentice
Daniel Kahneman
Thinking Fast and Slow. I wanted to read this book. Then I wanted to want to read this book. But it was so pedantic and boringly written I would have had to force myself. And there are too many well written books out there for me to devour to waste time and effort on a book that plods.
Where we went
Cal Academy! We are trying to go there at least 6 times a year to make our membership worth it. We ran into some of JB’s former classmates there and in a shockingly social move, we set up a group text to plan meeting up there again on future Member Hours.
Lake Tahoe. My very first time! It was perfect. It was warm, sunny, clear, and just picture perfect. JB wasn’t (perfect) but we managed to have a whole lot of good times during our very short stay there. I don’t particularly like the idea of making that drive (ugh) in winter but I’m very willing to do more regular summer trips there. Though I hated that 103 degree pit stop in Sacramento, both dogs were visibly wincing in the few seconds their feet had to touch the pavement when getting in and out of the car.
What I watched
Brave. From JB’s perspective, there were entirely too many bears. From our perspective, Mordu got a raw deal.
Jane the Virgin. This was a fun watch but I thought the Mom-guilt was a bit overdone. At least in comparison to my own lack of Mom guilt over things that were basic for everyone’s well-being like getting through sleep regressions! Also, seasons 4 and 5 – I have a LOT of questions (not surprisingly, on a money angle). SPOILER ALERT, if you haven’t seen it, you might not want to read the rest of this….
Do people really fake their deaths for insurance fraud? Ok that part I can believe but what if you actually had amnesia? How do you know if amnesia is legitimate? Also, what happens if someone does turn up after insurance has been paid out, do you owe that money back?
Also, you may enjoy this NPR story about the Narrator if you’ve seen it.
Wu Assassins. A nice review of it.
Ponyo. Recommended by a cousin, it was really cute.
My Neighbor Totoro. I’ve never sat down to watch this all the way through until now and it’s just as amazing as all the short snippets I enjoy have suggested it would be. Also I noticed a thing about the catbus that I never noticed before.
What I did
Courtesy of Maggie, I learned how to design small journals (see the sidebar for some of them) and it’s been a great way to stretch my brain.
I loooove Jane the Virgin. I catch Mom up whenever she’s here. We’re partway through the last season. (I watched it myself when it was airing, so don’t worry no spoilers for me.) And I don’t know actual insurance policy rules, but I’d imagine they’d want their money back if you ended up not actually being dead.
I really enjoyed Crosstalk when I read it. I’ve read a few of her other books, though I mainly avoided the WWII stuff because pop culture just has me burned out on that entire subject.
Seriously, how do you find so much time to read when you have so much else going on and a chronic illness? It’s astounding to me, who doesn’t read nearly enough despite a large amount of free time on my hands.
I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed Jane the Virgin. But what about the amnesia part?? I need an actual insurance person to talk to me about this š
INSOMNIA. I’m not making time to read, I’m reading to force my brain to agree to sleep. And since it’s a jerk, well, lots of reading.
I can’t believe you read so many books! I think I just read two! Very impressive.
I have always wanted to got to Lake Tahoe, it sounds so nice.
I watched Working Moms (binged watched it). Pretty funny but a bit crass at times.
Like I told Abby, it’s because of insomnia š
Tahoe was really worth it! I think you’d enjoy it.