Tag: reading roundup

It’s Monday! And I’m doing a monthly reading wrap-up!

What does everyone think of the little prompts that WordPress has been so generously giving when you open the editor to write a new blog post? Today’s for me is “What’s your favorite cartoon?”

I had a good weekend which made this a good week. On Friday, I went to a for your consideration screening of Abbott Elementary with a friend of mine that included a Q&A with the cast and crew and that was followed up by a reception that turned into a dance party. On Saturday, I won the lottery so got two $25 tickets to see the touring production of The Book of Mormon, which was amazing. I didn’t know much about the show so didn’t know what to expect (except that it would include irreverent humor), and I loved it so much. Lots of great social commentary and it made fun of systems without making fun of people, if that makes any sense.

Anywheedle, as the blog post title says, it is Monday and instead of what I read last week, I’m telling you about what I read this past month since, you know, I only read three books and also posted the review of the book I finished this week in the underrated books post.

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It’s Monday! What are you reading?: Halfway Point Reading Wrap-Up

Hi.

I cannot believe I have not updated my blog since February. FEBRUARY. I thought for sure the last time had been in April. Clearly, I was very, very wrong. Also: this has been the longest year ever. I know because when prepping to write this post I came across a book I read in April of this year, and I could have sworn I read it last year. That’s all I’m saying.

A brief overview of things that happened since February:

  • I went to a taping of Ellen’s show (guest host)
  • I went to Mexico
  • I went to the LA Times Festival of Books
  • I went to Florida
  • I met one of my cousins for the first time
  • My daughter graduated from college
  • My daughter’s friend gave us COVID (mild cases; everyone was fine)
  • I went to Universal Studios Orlando
  • My chronic eye fatigue came back with a vengeance and brought its friend cybersickness along to play

The latter, as I’m sure you can imagine, contributed to me not updating my blog since I’ve been limiting my screen time.

I hope to talk more abut those later (especially Universal Studios, COVID, and chronic eye fatigue), but for this post, I want to highlight the five-star books I’ve read so far this year.

Onto the books!

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2021 End of Year Book Survey #AMonthofFaves

Prompts, as always, by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. 

Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 38
Number of Audiobooks: 9
Number of Rereads: 1
Number Unfinished/Abandoned: 1

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read This Year?

Daisy Jones & The SixDaisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Believe the hype. This book is phenomenal.

Fun fact: I started this as an audiobook but couldn’t stand the Daisy Jones narration but ultimately that’s what I heard every time Daisy Jones spoke in the book. So what I’m saying is: the voice Jennifer Beals picked absolutely fit the narrative (and is exactly how Daisy’s voice is described); I just couldn’t get into it even though I love a full-cast audio.

So anyway, yes, I loved this mostly because it’s a great character study and I love character studies. My favorite character is probably Pete (who doesn’t even do any narration)–(view spoiler)–and my second favorite is Warren because they are legit the only ones that are all, “I mean, I’m just here to play music.”

I had so much to say when I first read this, but I don’t want to say too much to ruin the experience of reading it for anyone else. I will say, though, that this is a very different kind of love story, and I really liked the exploration of what love can look like and that it is not always a fairytale. I also am super into oral histories and since this is in the style of an oral history, it 100% worked for me. Also also also, I love the cover because it looks like an album cover and perfectly captures the mood of the entire story.

I also love Karen, but you knew that already. And Camila was also awesome. Okay, I loved all the female characters except Daisy–except that’s not even true. Daisy is a great character. I just wouldn’t want to be her friend is all. (I also wouldn’t want to be any of the guys’ friends except maybe Warren.)

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2020 End of Year Book Survey

Hosted, as always, by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. 

(Also, I cannot believe I did not post this last year! I may have to do last year’s anyway. I started it but never finished, which ruined my streak. AND ALSO I DON’T KNOW HOW I FELT ABOUT BOOKS. What a tragedy.)

I’m trying something new this year, which is not repeating answers. So even if a book fit more than one category, I put it in the one I felt it best fit.

Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 48
Number of Audiobooks: 6
Number of Rereads: 4
Number Unfinished/Abandoned: 6 (2 of these were audiobooks)

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2020?

The Vanishing HalfThe Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, this was just awesome. I loved the narrative voice, the seamless transitions from past to present, and the characterization. That Stella is something else, but I think Bennett deftly shows how though her world seems larger, it’s actually just as small–if not smaller–than Desiree’s. I also appreciated the skewering of moderate racist White people.

All the characters here are sympathetic, and this just further proves my point that fiction can be a better entry point into anti-racist teaching than nonfiction. Also, as always, all Black lives matter and the reminder that “unimportant men were killed to make the point that they were unimportant–that they were not even men” (179) was as true in the 1960s as it is now.

The title works on ~levels~ and I am here for it.

View all my reviews

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The Teacher Becomes the Student Who Be Clubbin’: January Wrap-Up

1. I went to a club with my friend last week because it was 90s’ night. First of all, the start time for the event was 10 p.m. AT NIGHT. And yes, I said that like the old person that I am.

Her: Did you nap?

Me: Of course! I have to take a nap just to make it to bedtime.

Anyway, we had fun, but the music was not great. We found at when we got there that it was a mix of 90s/00s, and at the end of the night, we both thought of songs that should have been played.

Continue reading “The Teacher Becomes the Student Who Be Clubbin’: January Wrap-Up” →

2018 End of Year Book Survey

Hosted, as always, by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. I am also cross-posting this with the #AMonthofFaves blog event. Today’s prompt is squee worthy reads, and I think I more than cover that in this post!

Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 75
Number of Audiobooks: 10
Number of Rereads: 4
Number Unfinished/Abandoned: 12 (3 of these were audiobooks)

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

The Mother of Black Hollywood: A MemoirThe Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir by Jenifer Lewis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I listened to the audio version of this, which I highly recommend. It’s like sitting in a room with her while she tells you her story. Plus, she sings! So that’s fun.

I appreciated Lewis’s honesty here, especially as she spoke of her sex addiction and bipolar disorder. I *loved* all the stuff about how she came to terms with her childhood and how she learned to forgive her mother. The story about the white man coming to the door and insulting her mother? WHEW.

Lewis makes liberal use of the f-word and isn’t shy about detailing her sexual history (there’s a chapter called “Dick Diva,” for example). If these are things that may offend you, probably don’t read this. But if you want a brutally honest account of working in show business while learning to accept and manage a mental illness, then definitely check it out.

Also, I totally want to hang out with Jenifer Lewis and Brandy. How do I make this happen?

Read Harder 2018, Task 12: A celebrity memoir

View all my reviews
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#AMonthofFaves This Is How I Read & Blog

amonthoffaves2

#AMonthofFaves This Is How We Read and Blogged This Year – eg. Number of books read so far, genre you read the most from, picture of favorite (or most often used) reading location, most read author, % eBooks, hardcovers, paperbacks and/or audiobooks, hint at what your favorite read of the year is (let us guess), types of books you wish you read more of, month you read the most and least). Plus tell us how you blogged – most popular blog posts, you faves, did you try anything new on your blog this year, did you make blogging goals – how did you do, essential programs, apps, plugins, websites and / or your blogging routine, blogs on blogging that you follow, blog tips you learned and used this year.

Okay, this year I kept better track of how many books I read per month so here are those totals:

  • January – 8
  • February – 10
  • March – 7
  • April – 3
  • May – 2
  • June – 5
  • July – 8
  • August – 6
  • September – 5
  • October – 5
  • November – 5
  • December – 9 (so far–I plan to finish at least one more)

I started but didn’t finish 12 throughout the year. Some of them I got farther into than others, of course.

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#MustReadin2018 Year End Check In

It’s time for the final Must Read check in!

Since my last check in, I have attempted no new books from the list, which means my total is 14/20 attempted.

Here are the books on my list:

must read 2018

Continue reading “#MustReadin2018 Year End Check In” →

#MustReadin2018 Fall Check In

It’s time for the fall Must Read check in!

Since my last check in, I have read five books, which brings my total up to 14/20 attempted.

Here are the books on my list:

must read 2018

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#ReverseReadathon Wrap Up

This weekend, I participated in my first ever readathon, Dewey’s reverse read-a-thon. As a wrap up, I’m going to answer the questions from the Hour 24 Closing Survey.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

I have a regularly scheduled appointment on Saturdays from 10-11:30 a.m., which is fine, but after that, instead of going straight home, I decided to run some errands which both ate into my reading time (though I did listen to an audiobook in the car) and also exhausted me, which led to me falling asleep for the last three hours of the read-a-thon when I intended to take a 10-minute nap.

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!

Okay, as a reminder, I planned to read the following books:

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