The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

 I read through this series in less than a month and have pre-ordered the next installment. Murderbot forever! This series was a breath of fresh air. Wells introduces us to a world where corporations run the galaxy and robots are their mere servants. It's a world we can fathom but a world so unlike our own.

We begin with Murderbot on assignment with a group of humans on a remote planet. She's the Secbot for the group where she runs security and attempts to keep her humans safe...but they find another group that's been murdered and they barely survive and only with Murderbot's help. The thing that no one realizes is that Murderbot has overridden its governor module, so no one can order it to do anything. And yet it finds itself caring about these humans but does not know how to really socialize or interact with them...I can relate...

The next books take us on various missions of Murderbot as it tries to hide from the company that will take it back and scrap it for junk, as well as figure out why it became Murderbot in the first place...

Excellent series and I can't wait for more. Murderbot is anxious, moody, and depressed, yet it cares and keeps going and doing what needs to be done. Should we all be so lucky to have bots like it in our lives.

March Update...and a bit of Spring Break

 Spring is officially here but is it really here? I'm not so sure...I think the groundhog meant 8 weeks more not 6. Snow flurries were seen by me outside my window this afternoon. At least it's not sticking for very long.

We've been busy with house stuff and DH's birthday. I made beef stew and Irish soda bread for St. Patrick's Day. I hosted an Oscar-viewing party and a friend's birthday party, all-in-one! Oh and more house stuff...

I have not been able to read as much as I would've liked this month. Only two so far but I'm hoping for one or two more by months' end.

A MONTH LATER....

We have been mad people getting our house ready to go on the market! Lots of cleaning and repairing and moving junk out. We finally got our house up last week and had an open house Saturday. Nothing came of it yet but it's early yet...But we have to have our cats out when we do showings and it is so hard to figure out what to do with them! We went to the park and had them on their leashes but they were scared by all the noises and people and dogs...so it's not a permanent solution. I'm hoping our place sells quickly so we won't have to do too many...

Spring break was spent cleaning and moving and patching but we did manage to see a couple of movies together as a family and I took G bowling with a friend early in the week. Not quite how we wanted to spend it but it is what it is. 

G also got visited by the Easter bunny with some cash and jelly beans...plus we did take the time to decorate a few eggs the night before and G even made the crepes all by himself! Also...Moving is hard!

Books Read:

Dawn (Night Trilogy #2) by Elie Wiesel

Thoughts: All of Wiesel's three books are about the hard truths of living after surviving the Holocaust and how it isn't really living. There are no lessons to be learned or easy answers and silver linings. Not easy reads but very powerful.

Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz

Thoughts: I loved the way she threaded grief over the death of her loving father and the finding of the love of her life all around the same time. It's truly a beautiful book and one I'll return to again.

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

Thoughts: Mary Oliver has a way with words. You can tell she worships Nature and she writes to us because she is a disciple and has much to tell and teach us. I'd like to read one of her books of poetry as well.

A History of Fear by Luke Dumas

Thoughts: This was a fun and quick read about a man who kills a fellow classmate because he says the Devil actually made him do it. It's clever because he's very much an unreliable narrator and so everything is very ambiguous. Is it really Satan? Or is he just a severely mentally ill person who had a psychotic break? And it takes place in Scotland so another bonus.

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

Thoughts: This is the second book in his horror series. I loved the first one but had a harder time with the sequel. I listened to it and that may be why. The narrators jumped around a lot and I think it would have been easier to follow had I read the hard copy. I'm even unsure about the actual ending...I'll probably have to reread it before the final books comes out next year.

Day (Night Trilogy #3) by Elie Wiesel. See Dawn above.

Currently Reading:

The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth by Jonathan Rauch

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

The Revolt of the Public by Martin Gurri

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

TV

The Last of Us: (HBO) Fascinating look at mushrooms taking us out in their zombie apocalypse! That finale, whew!

Poker Face (Peacock): Can't wait for season two. Best show for me in a long time!

Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+): I am loving this season. Best Star Trek in a very long time.

Star Trek: TNG (rewatching. Am on season 7 now.)

Star Trek: DS9 (I am watching in tandem with TNG cuz I'm nerding out.)

Perry Mason (HBO): Started season two which is really good.

Oscars: Nothing crazy this year. Pretty nice and mellow.

NCAA men's and women's basketball aka March Madness. I didn't see every game but I saw many and I was not disappointed. 

This month is the NBA Playoffs.

Movies

I spent one weekend watching as many of the Oscar movies as I could. The only two I didn't see for Best Picture were Avatar: Way of the Water and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Elvis: Very weird and Bazzy but that was to be expected. I actually really enjoyed it.

Triangle of Sadness: Not my cup of tea. Meh. Rolling of eyes a lot. And that sea sickness scene was just too long.

Women Talking: I enjoyed this a lot more that I expected. I had heard it was really boring or that it felt more like a play. But I didn't feel that way at all while watching. I was intrigued the whole time and it ended up being one of my favorites of the year so far.

The Fabelmans: Interesting take on a fictionalized version of Spielberg's childhood. Seth Rogan was not my favorite in it. I felt he detracted from the story, unfortunately. Overall, it was just OK for me.

Theater: I saw Scream VI with a friend, John Wick 4 with DH, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and The Super Mario Bros. Movie with G and DH last month and last week. I think that's the most I've been to a theater in the last 3 years? All were pretty entertaining and glad I saw them!

The rest of April will be pretty chaotic. Until our house sells we are on notice for a showing anytime during the day and evening...G's final weeks of school are counting down as well....Looking forward to a time when we're in our new home and we can settle down again!

Joining up with Deb from Readerbuzz and her Sunday Salon.

February! Where did you go? G's Birthday and Life...

 I kind of checked out a bit in February. Between the winter blues, health issues, life, ugh...whatever. I just didn't get on here. Anyhoo, G had his 14th birthday last month! What? It is hard to realize how much time has passed and how little there is before he starts making his way in the world in one form or another. 

I just love G and who he is and who he's becoming! We found out about a new conveyer belt sushi place nearby and G said that is where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner. We haven't been to a place like this as a family since we moved back from Japan so it was a real treat! 

The next weekend we took him and a few of his friends to a trampoline place and they went crazy for hours!

The other big stuff is the storms...wow, and we didn't even get hit like other states...we have not had this much snow since 2007?!

I also attended Sundance online and attended one movie with the family at the end of January. I am so happy they allow for the hybrid model since the pandemic.

Also got out of the house to snow shoe with my friends! Gorgeous. 


Movies at Sundance I really liked:

Going Varsity in Mariachi: This was a fantastic documentary on a specific mariachi high school band in Texas. I had no idea this was a thing and it was amazing to watch these extremely talented young adults work hard and love on their mariachi culture. If you get a chance to see it, please do it!

The Amazing Maurice: We saw this one in-person as a family and with my friend and her family. It's based off of one of the Discworld books The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. 

Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls: Was a weird gem! Kind of a horror-comedy but not scary at all. If you like weird probably soon-to-be cult-classic films this one's for you.
Fancy Dance and The Persian Version are honorable mentions.
Books Finished in February:
G agreed to do Battle of the Books with a group of his friends at school so I've been working through a few of them alongside him.

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen-
I really liked this simple yet powerful story about Hannah, a modern Jewish girl who is transported back in time during the Passover. What's to remember during the Passover? Turns out a lot. Hannah experiences first-hand what it was like to be captured brutally with her people and thrown into concentration camps. I'm truly amazed how she was able to capture full-fledged characters and the awful history of the Holocaust into such a short book for middle schoolers.

A Divided Nation by Jennifer Nielsen--
Gerta and her family live in East Berlin, controlled by Russia, in the early 60s. Her father and her brother Dominic are in West Berlin during the night that East Berlin began putting up wired fences and then eventually the Berlin Wall.
Nielsen gives us a peak into what life was like for those who were caught on the wrong side of the wall through Gerta and her brother Fitz. Neighbor turning against neighbor as the Stasi listens in and demands obedience.
It's a great introduction for kids into what that time was like and hopefully after reading it will want to learn more!

Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational by Michael Shermer--
I really enjoyed the deep-dive into the psychology of conspiracism, how it works, and which conspiracies actually turned out to be true, like the conspiracy that started World War I. He also gives a pretty detailed analysis of some of the common conspiracies of our time like JFK's assassination and 9/11. He also gives us a lesson on common cognitive biases and how we can think through them as much as possible. It's a great book to have on the reference shelf.

Persuasion by Jane Austen--
This is a reread for me...third time! It's my favorite Austen. It was her last book before she died and it shows. I really feel it's her most mature novel. Harvard Press has released big annotated hardbacks for each of her books over the last few years and I am working my way through them! Pride & Prejudice was last year and this year Persuasion started me off.
Lots of interesting details about archaic English words and phrases. Info on what the different carriages were and looked like. And analysis by various people on why Austen said what she said or what things might mean. A whole new worlds opened up to me about the aristocracy and the Navy. They also talked about her more religious side coming out in particular in this novel...maybe due to her declining health? All stuff I would have had no idea about otherwise.
It's time to re-watch all the Persuasion BBC versions....

Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi (Aru Shah #4)--
I read this one aloud to G. We're now on the final book 5!!!!
This is my favorite series. Great character development. Wacky fantasy plots and hijinks. Kids who don't know what they're doing but trying to pretend they do and are so anxious about every choice and action and yet they still get up and try and forgive and laugh and cry. I love it!
Currently Reading:

I'm listening to Don't Fear the Reaper (The Lake Witch Trilogy #2) by Stephen Graham Jones. I didn't realize this was going to be a trilogy after I read the first one My Heart Is a Chainsaw. It was so good. So I am lapping this one up. It's an all-star cast! Different voice for each character. It's a slasher series so not for the faint of heart...
Upstream by Mary Oliver. I read her memoir/essays in the mornings to give me a good boost. Can she write or can she write? I can't even imagine having a brain like hers and absorbing all that information and spitting it back out. Wow. This is my first dive into Oliver and it's not going to be my last!
Fourteen Talks by Fourteen: The Essential Conversations You Need to Have with Your Kids Before They Start High School by Michelle Icard. G isn't out of middle school yet so I have time....
The Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman. I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. The Nineties were my formative years and it's time for the walking of the memory lane...
Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz. I'm over halfway now and I'm really enjoying her framing of the death of her beloved father and finding the love of her life, and now her wife.
Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality (Aruh Shah #5) by Roshani Chokshi. Final book, which is awesome and  also sad...
TV
DH and I have jumped on the bandwagon for The Last of Us. Never played the video game nor DH but everyone says it's pretty true to storyline. I'm loving it!
Picard is in its final season but everybody from TNG is back! Well, except for Wesley...I am loving every second of it. I'm also working my way through TNG. I'm on season six and halfway through the season the first season of DS9 premiered so I've challenged myself to rewatch that series alongside TNG. 

Poker Face (Peacock)--Natasha Lyonne is so good in this. Murder/mystery solve each week. New locales each week. New people she grows to care about...it's so different and yet familiar. I can't rave enough about this one.
Those are the highlights...whew.
March look ahead...
DH's birthday is this month. It's the big 5-0 and he is not looking forward to it but we're celebrating with friends anyway! There's St. Patrick's Day. And let's not forget it's the start of spring!!!! I am so excited to be done with this winter. It'll be miserable and cold for another month or so but still...
Also...we are planning to move in the next few months or so. We're frantically getting our house ready to put on the market. We're moving up in the world. We've been wanting a house for awhile now and even though we should've done it last year for the best bang for our buck with interest rates and all that...it is what it is. A lot of our time is going towards this goal. No crazy out of state move, thank goodness but we are excited to find something a bit closer to DH's work.
Bookwise...I hope to read a book or two by an Irish author like maybe Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan or a murder mystery by Dervla McTiernan...

October and the Spooky Season

 I say this every month...but what happened to September?

Lots of spooky fun plans this month. We just did our annual Fall hike (check). The soup season is in high-gear. Fall break is next week and we are actually heading out-of-state to meet up with our friends who moved out-of-state a few years ago. Outdoors, friends we haven't seen for awhile, and relaxation! The Haunted Forest is our annual "haunted" house we go to as a family...we'll be heading there soon too.

G has picked out his costume. This is the first year where he plans to trick-or-treat on his own! DH and I are planning on getting out the firepit and enjoying the evening with some yummy cocktails and spooky snacks with some neighbors. Hopefully the weather holds up!

Also, I'm so grateful my friend and her family are safe after Hurricane Ian hit. They were further inland but they were directly north of where it landed. They lost power and just got it back yesterday. Their fences are ruined and some plants did not make it. But other than that they fared well. All the neighbors came together and offered each other what they had. Just so grateful they're OK.

I've been full-tilt on reading and watching all the horror. I just have not been great at getting up my reviews...

Where's G? This one makes me chuckle...

I just love the fall colors so I'm sharing a few from our hike!

It's been hard to find the time as much as I'd like for my spooky reviews. My mom has been in and out of the hospital this last month, once with Covid and the second time with a severe bladder infection. So yeah, life gets crazy. 

So...onto the good stuff!

Books...I finished 7 books in September! Granted, I didn't start all seven in September but I'll take it.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. Lots of body horror in this one. I loved the creep factor and yet how funny it was. She does a good combo of both.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Question by Michael Schur. I read...well, listened to this one, with my friend for our philosophy club. And I highly recommend listening to it. Schur is the creator of The Good Place and he gets the whole cast to help him read it. It's a hoot. And he really dove into moral and ethical philosophy for the show and he gives us a rundown in his book. One of the most funny and concise lay-person philosophy book I've ever read. While, I didn't necessarily draw every conclusion he did, he sure got me thinking. Which is the actual point of philosophy and thinking about ethics and values is the actual point of moral philosophy. So go listen and be entertained and edified!

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab. I am really enjoying this fantasy series. I'm taking a break this month but I will finish off the final book in November! Very excited to see how she wraps it all up.

Last of the Sandwalkers by Jay Hosler. This is a middle-grade graphic novel that follows a group of beetles (who are scientists) who are on an expedition to find out what the world's like outside their tiny city. It's funny, heart-warming, and full of science. This guy loves his beetles. There's even an endnotes section for all your extra beetle and/or bug facts. Love these little gems.

Gallows Hill by Darcey Coates. This book felt like a movie in book form. There was non-stop creepy action. I had to keep reading in order to get away from super creep factor. I am now a fan! Coates is a prolific author and I can see why! She knows how to keep the terror amped up. This book has curses, ghosts, and zombies, plus a haunted house. What's not to love?

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden. This is a young adult graphic novel with lots of heavy stuff to deal with. I love what she tries to do here...she blends the fantastical with grief and trauma. I had a hard time following some of it. And it's definitely not for everyone but very interesting.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. I really enjoyed the premise of this murder mystery. An author is sending her preliminary chapters to an online acquaintance. We only see his emails to her and then the next chapter of the author's story. So there are two layers here, the fictional author and her fictional story...well, I guess three if you count Gentill as the original author of all! It's one of those meta-mysteries that Anthony Horowitz has made so famous recently. It did feel a bit rushed towards the end. But overall, it's a very quick and fun mystery.

Not bad for my first month of horror!

With Interview with the Vampire TV series coming out, I decided to finally read the original book. It's pretty interesting so far. And I am loving the updates to the plot the TV series has done! 

I am currently reading: The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle, Ghost Story by Peter Straub, Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films by Nina Nesseth. And I am listening to The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling.

TV...DH and I are watching Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. We both are really enjoying it. It's funny and beautiful. 

We also binge-watched One of Us Is Lying on Peacock a couple of weeks ago when we were recovering from our Covid booster jabs...silly but addicting. He said he would NOT be watching season two with me when it drops later this month...ha ha!

I finally finished Shining Girls on Apple TV+. That was a difficult one to get through. It's very dark with really no light until the actual final episode and not much is revealed but why or how with the fantastical elements. So while a quality series, I don't think I'd actually recommend it.

I've started Yellowjackets (Showtime), Dexter: New Blood (Showtime), and Interview with the Vampire (AMC+).

And of course all my cooking shows for Halloween are back on...Halloween Wars, The Great British Baking Show (Netflix), etc.

I'm also looking forward to The Midnight Club which drops later this month on Netflix. It's by Mike Flanagan who did The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, and Hush. He also did Oculus...which scared me silly when I first watched it. Love everything he does.

Movies...The Northman: Watched with DH. I really liked this one. A lot more than I thought I would. Great storytelling, acting, action. Very impressive.

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel and Hell House III: Lake of Fire. The original Hell House went kind of viral and that was one creepy movie! I had a few nightmares from that one. Two was terrible and the third one wrapped it all up in nice paper bow. But it had some good scares. Watched the whole series with G. He really liked them!

The Boy Behind the Door (Shudder). This was a fun surprise. Two tween boys are kidnapped. And it's up to one to rescue his friend and outsmart the kidnappers. Very intense but it ends well!

Nope. I was really looking forward to watching this after loving Jordan Peele's first two horror movies. But meh. I wasn't overly impressed. It was pretty. The cinematography is amazing. But the story was all over the place, messy. And only one cheap jump scare...

Lou (Netflix). This was a fun one! Allison Janney kicks booty and the story has layers. Pretty tight pacing. It was dark, though. Kind of hard to see what was going on half the time. Why can she kick booty? Who's the prey and who's the hunter?

Sissy (Shudder). Yes, to this movie. Bloody and twisted. Great new horror. An influencer runs into her old friend at the drug store and is invited to her bachelorette party weekend...is she an old friend cuz she was also her tormenter? 

Yes, most of my movies are of the horror variety! Tis the season!

I hope to see Barbarian and Smile this month!

Book Reviews: Sundial, A Darker Shade of Magic

Sundial by Catriona Ward

I loved her previous book The Last House on Needless Street! Such a twist and had no clue what was coming for so long. It's truly hard to create a book like that again...I liked Sundial. But I did not love it. It took a really long time to get into it and while there were plenty of surprises towards the end, it wasn't enough for me. It was really hard to sympathize with any of the characters and I felt like the characters were serving the plot instead of having some real motivation. But yeah, it's still a horrific and tragic story but not one I'd recommend whole-heartedly like I did her other book.

Rob has a past. Her husband is abusive and now her youngest daughter is sick and maybe her oldest daughter is to blame? She must take her oldest daughter Callie back to her childhood home of Sundial. She must face what's truly real and what happened to her before Sundial so she can save her family.

Catriona Ward is creative. The way she can plot out these stories is just remarkable. While this one was not my favorite I will still be looking forward eagerly to her next book!

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

I had a great time with this one! It reads fast and I loved the world building and the characters. Sometimes you get one or the other and I really felt like she did a great job building both up without being a really long high-fantasy series.

There are four Londons. Yes a multiverse. And only antari can pass through the worlds. Black London has been lost to magic for long time now. White London sucks magic dry, Red London is blooming and booming with magic, and Grey London...well, that's our world. Magic has been long-gone and we make do with our guns and industry rather than magic.

Cue in Kell who is the antari of the Red London world. He takes messages between each London. White London is plotting. And Kell is saddled with a forbidden bit of Black London. He is unexpectedly saved and then subsequently robbed by a woman named Lila in Grey London. They eventually team up eventually, cuz of course they do! This forbidden stone from Black London must be destroyed and kept out of those hands that would use it to conquer and destroy the other Londons.

The plot gets a bit muddy but overall it's funny and the worlds of the different Londons are intriguing. She uses the greats to draw from but makes the magical and fantastical worlds her own.

This is the first of three.

Book Review: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey

 Leviathan Falls (Expanse #9) by James S.A. Corey

Publisher's Summary:

The Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again.

In the dead system of Adro, Elvi Okoye leads a desperate scientific mission to understand what the gate builders were and what destroyed them, even if it means compromising herself and the half-alien children who bear the weight of her investigation. Through the wide-flung systems of humanity, Colonel Aliana Tanaka hunts for Duarte’s missing daughter. . . and the shattered emperor himself. And on the Rocinante, James Holden and his crew struggle to build a future for humanity out of the shards and ruins of all that has come before.

As nearly unimaginable forces prepare to annihilate all human life, Holden and a group of unlikely allies discover a last, desperate chance to unite all of humanity, with the promise of a vast galactic civilization free from wars, factions, lies, and secrets if they win.

But the price of victory may be worse than the cost of defeat.

My Thoughts:

I did it! The final installment of this incredible series is finished. It's sad but satisfying. I have grown to love these characters so much. I'm sad to see them go but I am happy with the ending and where the characters went by the end.

The authors really took their time to understand a future that isn't completely utopian for humanity with each (like Star Trek) but one that still has hope and faith in humanity to keep plugging along and trying do its best with the ups and downs along the way.

Holden with his eternal optimism and hope, Naomi learning how to lead and accept herself and her life choices, Alex and finding his family, and Amos? well...Amos stays Amos.

I am really sad that Amazon cancelled the show before the last three books were finished. It's a travesty.

Week-in-Review: Van Gogh Art Experience, Snow, DH Birthday, and Happy Saint Patrick's Day...

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised at how busy we've been this month. A couple of weeks ago we visited the Van Gogh Art Experience at our local museum and it was amazing! I could sit through multiple experiences of various artists. It really transforms their art and their lives into something beautiful. I had no idea the different types of art Van Gogh produced. And having them tell us about where he was living and what life was like for him through his letters and then showing his art was, yes, definitely an experience. I highly recommend these art experiences. I think more are being produced so I'm excited to come back for other artists.

DH had his 49th birthday last weekend! Whew. Next year is the big 5-0. We kept it pretty simple. We ate out as a family and he wanted Coldstone ice cream cake. This weekend we're keeping the celebration going with friends.

We even made it up into the mountains for a quick overnighter for another friends birthday. Lots of snow up there as well.

A happy post Saint Patrick's Day. We don't do much but I do like to make bangers and mash and soda bread and to wash it all down with some stout! 

This last weekend was a goodbye to our neighbors and good friends who are moving on to Florida. I am so, oh so sad but very excited for their new adventure.

We also enjoyed a nice outing with some good friends to a new wine bar. We took the train up and enjoyed a nice relaxing evening trying new wines and enjoying gelato before heading back to our kids. These friends will also be moving in a few months out-of-state 😭

We are looking forward to Spring break in two weeks. It’ll be a stay-cation but looking forward to a few hikes and seeing some local things that we haven’t done because of the pandemic.

G helped make family-style crème brulee

And happy Spring 🌷🌺 Our crocuses and tulips are sprouting!

Currently Reading 

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media by Jacob Mchangama

Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sean Kean

Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse #6) by James S.A. Corey

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Read

Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth by Rochelle Strauss / 2004 / 40 Pages / Paperback / Science

My Thoughts: This is a lovely nonfiction book for kids. Great illustrations and easy-to-understand definitions and descriptions and ways to help the earth locally.

Black Heroes of the Wild West by James Otis Smith / 2020/ 60 Pages / Paperback / History

My Thoughts:

Three stories in a graphic novel format about black historical figures in Old West. Great stories and lots of extra information to put the stories into context. 

Drive (The Expanse #2.6) by James S.A. Corey / 2012/ 30 Pages / Kindle / Sci-fi

My Thoughts:

Great short story that talks about the origins of the Epstein drive and the man who invented it in The Expanse universe.

Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter / 2021 /  224 Pages / Hardcover / Nonfiction

My Thoughts:

Interesting thoughts from John McWhorter. I've always enjoyed his books on language as a fellow language nerd. Not his best but still worth the read.

Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5) by James S.A. Corey / 2015 / 536 Pages / Paperback / Sci-fi

My Thoughts:

Another great book in the Expanse series. Really enjoyed diving into the Roci's crew this time around instead of adding new characters and perspectives.

Serafina and the Seven Stars by Robert Beatty / 2019 / 352 Pages / Paperback / Library / Fantasy

My Thoughts:

This is book four of the Serafina series. I read them all with G. Don't know if there will be another in the series. This one did not disappoint.

Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman / 1986 / 159 Pages / Paperback / Graphic Novel / History

My Thoughts:

I've been meaning to read this one for years. So glad I finally got to it. It's a devastating story but also brilliantly told about his father's experience of World War II and surviving the Holocaust. He also draws and writes about grief and trauma and how it continues to influence generations after. Just absolutely brilliant. Please read!

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff / 2011 / 320 Pages / Paperback / Psychology / Self-Help

My Thoughts:

This one took me about 2 1/2 months to read because of how much learning and exercises there are to do! It's a powerful book and one I'll be referencing often. Highly recommended!

Movies Watched:

Witness the bloody origin

The King's Man (2021) (HBO Max and Hulu) Directed and written by Matthew Vaughn. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, and Gemma Arterton.

My Thoughts:

I really liked the first one except for the ending...the second was still interesting...this one was even less so. Meh.

Fresh (2022) (Hulu) Directed by Mimi Cave. Written by Lauryn Kahn. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan.

My Thoughts:

This one premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and I can see why. It's a horrific story which I thought was going to be a bit more comical than horrific. But I still really really enjoyed it even though I doubt I'll ever watch that again. Watch if you are into Indie Horror!

Growing up is a beast

Turning Red (2022) (Disney+) Directed by Domee Shi. Written by Domee Shi, Julia Cho, and Sarah Streicher. Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh

My Thoughts:

We watched this as a family! It was wonderful. We all really enjoyed it. Funny and heartfelt. This one digs into puberty and all the changes that come with it, including what that means for parental relationships and even friendships. Brilliant as always.

TV Watched:

I finished off Star Trek: Discovery. Still catching up on The Expanse. But mainly I've been watching basketball, both NCAA and NBA.

I hope to get a better handle on my updates come April!

Joining up with Deb from Readerbuzz and her Sunday Salon.