Toss Me That Book

So, I guess this isn't really a book blog-style post, but real life creeps in sometimes.  I was laid off from my job of nearly 6 years on January 31.  And, it came as a complete shock.  Now, I consider myself as pretty good at reading people and situations, I shouldn't have been, and on some level, I wasn't surprised.  Without breaking my confidentiality agreement which would render my severance agreement null, the duties of my position were moved to an office overseas.  Which makes sense, because why pay US wages when you could pay developing nation wages to someone already on staff. If no one has ever referred to you as "redundant," and then told you that you are "eliminated," consider yourself fortunate.  Especially if that someone had, within the last 2 weeks, assured you that you would not lose your job when operations because to transfer overseas.  Because that would sting most of all.  Until that person tells you that your health insura...

Straight off the bat, I am rounding up to 3 Goodreads Stars. I was incredibly excited when I read the blurb for this book because the idea of learning about a life that's so radically different from my own was incredibly appealing. And while, Ms. Feldman absolutely did provide me with an education about Hasidic Jewish history, cultures, customs, and traditions, I don't feel like it was a very full picture of the author's life -- either in the Hasidic community or out of it. I think this could be because - as other reviews have mentioned - the author wrote this book almost as soon as she left her marriage and the Hasidic community. This leads me to believe that this left little time for editing because a lot of the narrative is the author telling us that she feels like she doesn't fit in but not actually explaining or showing why. I think, too, it left little time for reflection by the author. The end of the book is practically euphoric with fre...

The latest title in the author's Inspector Gamache series follows Armand, his colleagues, friends and family as they hunt for a killer while dealing with large scale flooding that threatens the province and beloved village of Three Pines.  Despite the tension in the communities and lives of our characters, the book also felt surprisingly calming, reassuring us that where abrupt change happens, there is also room for new growth.  Because, quite literally, the Gamache Squad is growing.  Growing in numbers.  Growing in distance.  Growing in emotional awareness.  And lastly (and worst of all when in happens to me in real life) personal growth.  In this case, I'm not altogether certain that our characters' personal growth is necessarily good.  Gamache himself even plumbs the darker depths of his soul while grappling with that all-too-terrible-yet-wonderful parental emotion of letting go.  It is the worst and the best. Louise Penny is abso...

To be honest, poetry isn't the first genre I reach for. But, I find that the current state of global affairs makes me want to reach out beyond what I know and yearn to learn about people who aren't like me. I don't want to escape into fantasy, I want to know how other people lived/are living/handled/are handling life. After several high profile recommendations (Thank you, Mrs. Obama), I selected the audio book version of Jacqueline Woodson's incredibly beautiful autobiography. I know, I know -- almost all of the positive reviews use the word 'beautiful.' Because it is. It is beautiful and dreamy, evocative of particular places and times in her life. She captures the sudden and often mysterious ways in which a child's life changes with the language available to her at that age. What made it a special treat for me is that the author narrates the audio book which means her inflection, pauses, and pronunciation cause the story to come to life ...

My favorite part about this story was how central reading was to their inner lives and the ways in which each of the characters used reading. One read for dreaming and imagining how her life would be. One read as an act of defiance and a way to learn as much as she could about lives other than hers. And, one read to escape from her life in the only way available to her. I love books about readers because I immediately feel a kinship to the characters. Sort of like an instant recognition - I see you, Isra, Sarah & Deya because I have read for all of those reasons, too. I did feel like the author did a lot of verbal reinforcement of the insular nature of the Palestinian community that the characters lived in. Rather than consistently having her characters say that they are Arab,not American, I would have liked to see the tiny actions that reinforced that idea. Describing the food did some of this, but were there gestures or furniture that could have furthered the point?

These are the books that kept me company from August through December of 2019.  Personal favorites are in bold.  The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware The Daughters of Temperence Hobbs (The Physick Book #2) by Katherine Howe  Steak and Cake: More Than 100 Recipes to Make Any Meal a Smash Hit by Elizabeth Karmel Educated by Tara Westover Lost Restaurants of Houston by Paul Galvani The Casserole Queens Cookbook: Put Some Lovin' in Your Oven with 100 Easy One-Dish Recipes by Crystal Cook & Sandy Pollock When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton Happiness is Baking by Maida Heatter  Whisper Network by Chandler Baker In A House of Lies (Inspector Rebus #22) by Ian Rankin Furious House: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind,...