Books
Finished reading: The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel 📚
Well, hm. So I love how Auel describes the landscape, the scenery, the seasons, the slow but inevitable huge shifts happening in nature. And I enjoy the detail of “bushcraft” provided (even with the unbelievable coincidences that happen with finding just the right thing at just the right time). Beyond that, the characters are okay, the dialogue is so-so at best and absolutely awful at worst. And then there are the sexy times. Look, I don’t mind a little spicy action in a book, but I can only read “his manhood” so many times in one book.
Currently reading: If We Burn by Vincent Bevins 📚
“…they very quickly learned that mainstream journalism, embedded within a certain ideological framework and driven by the logic of capital accumulation, could rapidly reframe reality in deeply misleading ways.”
No kidding.
DNF: Neom by Lavie Tidhar 📚
Interesting world but just not the feel/mood for me right now. Couldn’t get into it. The writing is great. I might revisit this one at some point.
Finished reading: Be Not Far from Me by Mindy McGinnis 📚
Easy read, YA, teen girl main character. Set-up for our protag’s experience is annoying only because I myself am not a teenager. The survival parts (what I went for) are detailed and gritty, which I liked. Great? No. Enjoyable? Yes.
Finished reading: The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin 📚
Meh.
DNF: The Evolving Self by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 📚
A classic case of “This book could have been a blog post.” Or a series of articles, to be fair. Good points, but kind of basic and overworked. For me, not enough thought-provoking stuff to spend more time on it.
DNF: The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders 📚
The writing is fine and the world-building is interesting. It just didn’t grip me. Moving on.
Finished reading: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 📚
Finished reading: The Long Way Home by Louise Penny 📚
Finished reading: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny 📚
Finished reading: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny 📚
Finished reading: Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler 📚
Finished reading: How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny 📚
Finished reading: Clay’s Ark by Octavia E. Butler 📚
Finished reading: Mind of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler 📚
Finished reading: A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny 📚
The only issue I have with the lovely, well-plotted, thoughtful Inspector Gamache books is how hungry I get. They’re always eating and drinking delicious things.
Currently reading: The Evolving Self by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 📚
“Truly creative individuals are those who succeed, against all pressures of instinct and wordly wisdom, in visualizing a way of life that will make the lot of others freer and happier. …The idea of free will is a self-fulfilling prophecy; those who abide by it are liberated from the absolute determinism of external forces.”
👉 Currently reading: The Evolving Self by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 📚
While striving to change the course of history we cannot wish away the constraints that the past has burdened us with; to do so would lead only to frustration and disillusion. Knowledge of these forces that determine consciousness and action, however, can make it possible for us to become liberated from them: to become free to decide what to think, what to feel, and how to act.
Currently reading: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 📚
It’s scary to confront the truth that almost everything worth doing… depends on cooperating with others, and therefore on exposing yourself to the emotional uncertainties of relationship. …The more individual sovereignty you achieve over your time, the lonelier you get.