Books of 2018- Installment #9

41. Forest Bathing by Dr. Qing Lin
This book is about the benefits of spending time in nature and of a concept the Japanese call forest-bathing (or shinrin-yoku 森林浴). The best way to describe it is immersing oneself in nature. It is of course a topic I find interesting. I would have liked it if the science behind his statements had been made more explicit, but I love that the book is full of color photos of trees (the ebook is at any rate). I definitely find myself thinking about how to incorporate aspects into my daily life and I actually started taking a short walk every day at work so I could get a little better mindset. Added bonus for those who want it- tons of Japanese culture!

42. Sightwitch by Susan Dennard
This is the third book in the Witchlands series and a prequel to Truthwitch. It's a really different read from the other two in the series as it's told through journal entries. And like a real prequel it tells you all about the world before you met the world.

43. The Devil and Webster by Jean Hanff Korelitz
This book grabbed me on the first page! I loved the first part of this book. The writing is witting and beautiful and the setting is near and dear to my heart. The story is set in a New England liberal arts college and the president has to deal with some thorny issues.

44. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
I have a deluge of library books, and I haven't been able to keep my head above water. However, this book was quite enjoyable. It's a YA murder mystery though not exactly a mystery novel. I really enjoyed the characters and loved the initial Breakfast Club detention setup!

45. Sourdough by Robin Sloan
My pal, my buddy, my kindred spirit said read this book and so I did. My oven broke about a month (or more) ago, and I haven't baked any bread since then. It's been tough and reading this book made it even harder!! I've never made a sourdough bread before and now I really, really, really want to. One that is ordinary and dependable.

Who We Are Right Now

I know writing Republican Senators is futile. I'm not their constituent and I don't agree with them, but I feel I have to do something more! So I sent this letter to all the Republican Senators. Many wrote back to say that they only respond to constituents. But I had to try because this is who we are right now, and I hate it! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtdGk_brGDE]

I’m writing to you because I’m so distressed by the Republican party’s willingness to enable yet another horrific policy of the Trump administration. The list of horrifying and detrimental policies is long: antagonizing leaders with nuclear weapons, insulting our allies, creating trade wars, and abusing vulnerable children by separating them from their parents with no safeguards for reuniting them. The Trump administration clearly wants these policies, but what I don’t understand is why any member of the Republican party supports them. Donald Trump’s legacy will be that of destruction, for it is easier to destroy than to build. He can say he has accomplished so much. He has: erasing protections for the environment, decimating decades of diplomacy, and repeatedly attacking our own government. Hugging a flag does not mean he loves this country.

Congress is a check of the Executive Branch’s power. You have the duty to stand up for decency, compassion, and actually protecting our country. This is your legacy. How will you be remembered in the future? As the person who allowed our country to be destroyed or as someone who stood up for those who need protection? Do not let Trump’s policy of separating families stand and do not vote into law a path for the border wall. That border wall will only lead to more human rights violations.

Books of 2018- Installment #8

36. Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace
My husband and I watched a Korean cooking show called Oh My Ghost. It was quite good, but one thing that jumped out at me was how much everyone said, "Yes, chef." So when I was reading this book and the characters kept saying, "Yes, chef," I had some Korean flashbacks! This is the first one a series of supernatural culinary novellas. It was fast-paced and pretty funny. With that said, the only reason I read it was I got a free copy from Tor.com. Of all the ones I've gotten from Tor.com, this is the first one where I wasn't itching to read the next in the series...

37. I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land by Connie Willis 
Oh, what a luscious ode to books!!! Inhale and exhale books! The love and adventure of books!

38. The Overstory by Richard Powers
A beautiful ode to trees... A tremendous tree tome... a celebration of the splendor of trees... a tantalizing tangle of branches and roots... the beauty and the heartbreak of our arboreal world...

39. One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire
Sometimes you need someone to stop the bad guys. I need that a lot lately. Enter October Daye...
I keep seeing kindred spirits in my books- people that love trees and don't know why we kill them so thoughtlessly, so eagerly, so blithely...

40. The Swordswoman by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
It's always interesting to read older books, especially ones you might have read when it was new, because there have been so many changes in the way books are written. Lexical and syntactical changes are present but also cultural changes. One of the more subtle ways you see cultural changes in writing is subject matter or the way that a given subject is treated. This story's protagonist may or may not be suffering from some kind of mental illness. (The story opens with her in an asylum.) But she doesn't seem unwell, but she can't remember anything. And they way the author handles this (and other aspects) feels like something from the seventies (the book was published in 1982) in a way that's hard to exactly pinpoint, which is why I ascribe it to a cultural change.