Monday check-in, now with more bike riding

1. So, the great thing about biking to work is that I get there and home so much faster than I did when walking (obvious statement is obvious). The downsides are that (a) I am now losing to my friend re: steps on Fitbit and (b) I can no longer listen to audiobooks during my commute. One of these is more upsetting than the other, though obviously I hate losing so am not pleased by that AT ALL. Oh well. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I will get to listen to my audiobook on my way to work tomorrow, though, since I have a doctor’s appointment immediately after work that I’ll need to take a Lyft to so will not be riding my bike.

2. What audiobook is that? I’m so glad you asked.

I’m still making my way through And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Today, I realized (remembered) that I can listen to audiobooks while doing things around the house so I should be making much quicker progress now.

3. I also finally started Warcross by Marie Lu.

I am in love with the cover. Though there’s action right away, I still felt it was a little slow to start but it’s picking up now. That’s mostly because I wanted to get into the game, but I guess it’s good that I know something about the main character and her real world first.

4. So the fact that I’ve started Warcross means that I finished The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It actually gave me a lot of feelings, and I’ve been thinking about it pretty much since I finished reading. But still, here’s my review from when I first finished it:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hey, so, I was very reluctant to read this book because the topic is pretty triggering, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it. And while, yes, the book starts with Khalil’s murder and the topic is serious, there’s a lot of humor and heart to this book. It’s not a problem novel (Google it), but Thomas offers real and nuanced characters who have real and nuanced reactions to real things.

As an actual black person on the internet who grew up hood adjacent (hood adjacent = not quite gangland, but close enough) in the ’90s, I may have related to Starr’s parents just a little too much. I mean, at one point, Starr’s mom tells Starr not to act brand new and that is an actual thing I have said to my daughter before. Also, it makes total sense that Starr and her friends would know 2Pac because that’s the music their parents listen to. (Also, I have had “Thug Love” stuck in my head for the past week because of this book. Fact: I only ever listen to that song through 2Pac’s verse.)

I am getting away from the story here. I liked it. My favorite part of the novel was the focus on the complex family relationships and, of course, the emphasis on different ways of fighting and using your voice. And I also appreciate when books like this one point out that terrible things happen yet teenagers still have to deal with the mundane of going to school and homework on top of that. Life, man.

I will probably find the movie much more upsetting than I found the book, tbh.

View all my reviews

5. And, yes, I recognize how much I have used “upsetting” in this post to refer to my emotions/feelings.

6. NaBloPoMo is still a thing that’s happening, and I am still posting every day during it. So here are my posts from the past week:

• It’s Monday. I’m Reading.
• Feelings: I have them
• Following directions is magic!
• Thursday night melancholy
• I love English majors!
• Today was a good day
• A small change plus a TV rec

7. I left Starbucks because I was finished grading even though I wasn’t finished prepping for class. I then washed the dishes and sat on the couch. And then checked FB and Twitter. And then wrote this post. I AM EXHAUSTED. And I have to walk to work tomorrow. But I also really need to prep for class. So that is what I’m going to do now.

Have a good week, everyone!