Notes
📚 Read Even Books Have Ancestors or That Time I Was a Fourth Grade Publishing Mogul by Louise Hung (Teen Librarian Toolbox).
I’m reading Louise’s debut novel Hungry Bones right now. I love this piece.
I spent almost 4 hours each weekend day sitting at the hospital with my mom, who has colitis of mysterious origin. Today, I had tea with a friend and then crawled inside my little crab shell. I wore pajamas in public and spent a lot of the day playing Disney Dreamlight Valley.
📚 The ebook of Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love Them by Jillian Venters is on sale at Amazon and B&N! I love this book and have it in both print and e. Highly recommend.
Confession time: when I started the new job, I uninstalled Inoreader from my phone and I haven’t been keeping up with my RSS feeds since. My brain is so full these days that I find the reader overwhelming. When I read, it’s mostly books. Sorry bloggers!
Three years ago I named my aesthetic “witchy sparkle romantigothabilly academia” which still holds but I’d like to add “children’s librarian” to the mix.
Finished reading: Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean 📚
Whoo. This is a hot 🔥🔥🔥🔥 on the romance.io scale. Romance is unmatched and so is Sarah MacLean.
📚💬 “…the deeply rooted culture of the Jews of Eastern Europe was utterly destroyed between 1939 and 1945.” Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews by Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel
🎭 Just saw Clue and found it delightful. If it’s coming to where you are, definitely check it out.
Today: a cascade of tough stuff. My hypothyroid symptoms are still mysterious, I forgot my work key, my work plans got waylaid, I cleaned up a nasty literal mess, my mom is in extra poor health, and children were extra wild. My resilience is low right now. But I have a good migraine treatment plan.
Finished reading: Bombshell by Sarah MacLean 📚
Sarah MacLean is just so good. This is like… A 3.5 on the romance.io scale? The language is slightly (but only slightly) euphemistic; it’s pretty clear exactly what’s happening where.
Listen I don’t repost a lot from or on social, but Muppet History is out here doing good work and making me feel seen.
Apparently my mid-life crisis is mostly watching Derry Girls and thinking, “Yes! That’s exactly what it felt like to be a teen girl in the mid-to-late 90s” while wishing everyone understood that a combination of En Vogue and Enya is the perfect soundtrack. 📺🎵
Finished reading: Love, Come to Me by Lisa Kleypas 📚
This has a steam rating of 🔥🔥🔥.
A very early Kleypas. Be warned: the hero is a Confederate veteran. Apparently, he opposed slavery but fought for the Confederacy anyway.
Yay, my doctor ordered antibody tests and a thyroid ultrasound. It’s such a treasure to have a doctor who trusts you when you describe your symptoms.
Finished reading: When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary by Alice Hoffman 📚
Full review forthcoming.
Got lab results today, my thyroid numbers look great but I feel very specifically like a Kimberly whose thyroid is not functioning properly & my other labs look like those of same Kimberly so maybe hashitoxicosis? Talking to my doctor Monday.
🔖 Read The Comfort of Drawing Batman by Austin Kleon.
Austin Kleon’s newsletter is the one that I let come to my inbox even after I’ve switched all the rest to RSS. You should read the preview of this and if you like it, do the 7-day trial so you can read the whole thing.
Finished reading: When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein 📚
Super cute, very hot. 🔥🔥🔥🔥 on the romance.io scale.
I just feel like we need to be more specific than saying things like “In the 1900s” or “In the mid-1900s.” Could we not give a decade? If I see “mid-1900s” I’m all, “1905? 1906” not “1966.”
Finished reading: This Will Be Fun by E B Asher 📚
Full review forthcoming.