Category Archives: Miscellaneous

In the ebb and flow of a year and within that a school year, there are days, weeks, and months that are chill and others that you wish you had an additional few hours or few hands. The balance of personal and professional living is necessary. So is adequate sleep. Yet, my identity is a reader. So reading is always in the background.

Here are some titles that I’ve been reading in that background…

• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
  • A fabulous narrative nonfiction to teach the average citizen about the community of fungi that sustain our world.
• The Leak by Kate Reed Petty
  • This middle grade graphic novel is an adorable mashup of Goldie Vance with the power of Erin Brockovich.
• Smashed by Junji Ito
  • Horror manga? I was scared reading it in broad daylight eating lunch in the school library.
• Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter
  • A hopeful middle grade graphic novel that allows those with allergies to be seen.
• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
  • As I mentioned in my Goodreads review– I’m already a subscriber to the importance of sleeping well, but this still provided plenty of thought-provoking elements about the evolution of sleep and changes that need to be made in our screen-loving new age.
• Switch by A.S. King
  • The queen of the indirect, King’s new YA novel feels so 2020 it’s scary.
• Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen
  • When I read this, it was what I needed as a mental break because of the humor it possesses, yet it still taught me about the science of getting better, warts and all…
• Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
  • The hype is spot-on. Get ye to the store to buy this new magical middle grade series.
• Having and Being Had by Eula Biss
  • I like a good essay collection and this one had plenty of ponder.

Book Riot question: What colors did you find on your bookshelves? Any surprises?

My answer: Blues, yellows, and some greens. Was I surprised? Not really. Based on the descriptions that reds typically represent romance, I’m not surprised that I don’t see a lot of red on my bookshelves. And I take it as a compliment if it’s true that blues tend to be cerebral fiction and nonfiction.

What about you?

It’s so much harder to pick a book of the month when you read so many more than thirty because you enjoyed the Dewey’s Readathon just last weekend that definitely added to the read pile. I even toyed with cutting myself some slack and picking a middle grade, YA, and adult outstanding book of the month– but I’m going to stick to it and just pick one. For this bibliophile, this is a tough decision. 

But here it is, even though I thought maybe I’d pick Alexis Coe’s You Never Forget Your First or Kate Murphy’s You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters. 

I picked Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker, a former math teacher who uses his comedic skills and keen interest in math to share with laypeople the craziness of math. 

I picked it for several reasons. First, math gets a bad rap as being unreadable in literature and this is just not the case with Parker’s 2020 book. I was fascinated by each section he focused on whether it was finance and taxes to Excel spreadsheets or time. And it left an impression when he said 

“Mathematicians aren’t people who find math easy; they’re people who enjoy how hard it is”

And I can appreciate that. I spend time on hard tasks because I like the accomplishment of overcoming it. For some, it’s math. Likewise, he also includes a statement that we can’t stop pushing the boundaries of math just because mistakes happen and sometimes end lives. 

The infusion of humor and math made it readable. But I also wanted to share the tidbits out loud with whoever was close by. I spent many days following finishing the book adding something into the conversation “about this book I read recently”. And that definitely makes for a good book. It’s useful in conversation. I continue to think about it days after I’ve finished it. I want to read more that Parker has written. And I feel confident in the smallest of mathematical abilities I do have. 

I look forward to what November brings for sure while also recognizing that there were a handful of captivating books from October that also included Poisoned Water by Cooper and Mobituaries by Rocca. 

Wow, that went quick.

1. How would you assess your reading overall? Strong! I picked some real winners and the audiobooks were spot-on to get me from book to book or moving instead of sitting on my butt the entire time.
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it? Yes, I usually have a huge stack that fit most of the criteria for the BINGO board (because that’s my jam EVERY readathon) but still pick by mood. And guess what? Blackout!
3. What was your favorite snack? My apple cinnamon scones to kick it off yesterday. It’s a keeper!
4. Wanna volunteer for our next event? Stay tuned for the recap post! I volunteered this readathon including hosting a few questions on Goodreads, one hour on Twitter, and doing two guest posts on the main Dewey Readathon blog page (What are you wearing? and Inspiring Readers)