October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 19, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"This is just to say I'm sorry I kept beating and beating inside your shattered chest. Forgive me for keeping you alive so long. I knew it would kill me to let you go."

Review:
This was a devastating read. Many of Newman's poems used the personification of inanimate objects - the truck, a tree, stars, the wind, the fence, and most devastatingly, his heart - to make you feel that Matthew Shepard wasn't so alone for those 18 hours. Despite the verses, you remember again and again that he was alone. That when they found him the only part of Matthew not covered in blood were the tracks of tears down his cheeks that he cried and cried before he succumbed to his injuries. It will be 20 years this October since Matthew was brutally murdered. The progress made, so much in his memory, is great but we have so far to go. I highly suggest this quick read, though difficult, it will remind you how precious life is, how hate and fear do nothing but cause death and destruction, and that there was a 21-year-old kid from Wyoming who deserves to be remembered.

Dear World: A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace by Bana Alabed

Dear World: A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace by Bana Alabed
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 17, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"There are no children in Syria. You all were forced to become adults - to understand killing, to experience fear and starvation and pain in a way that all children should be shielded from. But that was a luxury we did not have. Something changed for me too when Yasmin died and when the siege overtook us in those brutal months after. Along with being terrified and heartbroken, I became angry - angry that we had to endure this while the world did nothing. Angry that I was helpless to protect my children. Angry that there is a world where bombing and killing children is tolerated. Angry that I taught you to be generous and fair and kind and then offered you a world that was anything but. As things became more desperate so too did your questions: Do people know this is happening to us? Does anyone care? Why do they keep bombing us? Why won't they stop? Why can't we have peace? I was angry most of all that I didn't have answers to those questions. And that you, a seven-year-old girl, had to ask them."

Review:
This is an incredibly important read about the true life experience of a girl who survived the war in Syria. I had not heard about Bana while she was tweeting about the siege and I didn't learn of her until she was safe. At the Oscars in 2018, Andra Day and Common sang Stand Up for Something. In the background spotlights came on to show 10 people. I could recognize 5 of them as my heroes, but there was a little girl that I did not know. I looked her up and it was Bana al-Abed, who tweeted through the Syrian war and had just published a book about her experiences. I bought the book that night. It's taken me several months to pick it up. It's so easy to ignore injustice, like the book I ignored on my shelf for 5 months. That's why you need to read this book. It will shake you awake to the experience that you should know about and care about. I don't pretend to understand the Syrian war. I do understand that children should be safe; that turning refugees away is evil; that I do not fight hard enough for what I know to be right. So, in order to help make Bana's wishes come true, I will act. I will write to my legislators, I will inform my peers of what is going on, I will donate to causes that do the work that I cannot, and I will not ignore the injustices that I know are happening. Thank you Bana.

Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures by Nick Pyenson

Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures by Nick Pyenson
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 16, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"We sent whalesong into interstellar space because the creatures that sing these songs are superlative beings that fill us with awe, terror, and affection. We have hunted them for thousands of years and scratched them into our mythologies and iconography. Their bones frame the archways of medieval castles. They’re so compelling that we imagine aliens might find them interesting — or perhaps understand their otherworldly, ethereal song."

Review:
First, I listened to the audio book and didn't realize that the physical book is full of drawings and diagrams. I think this book would have been easier to follow if those diagrams had been provided to audio book listeners. Second, I had a hard time with the author describing hitching a ride with a whaling fleet out of Reykjavik. He gives many justifications that end with something along the lines of "if they're killing them anyway, at least let science benefit." This is bothersome to me especially because in what I think is the very next part he discusses the horrible impact of whaling. Pyenson says he is not a "whale hugger," however, I am a "whale hugger," and I think many of the people who will pick up this book are too. I feel like describing benefitting from the culling of whales was an oversight and miscalculation by Pyenson of who (outside of the science community) was going to be reading his book.

All of that said, I learned a lot about the animals that I go out to see in Stellwagen Bank 4 or 5 times per year. Though this book does tend towards the science-minded (make no mistake, this book is about the paleontology of whales, written by a paleontologist), it was packed full of information about the past, present, and future of whales that was very interesting to me (not a paleontologist... I'm a special ed math teacher). My favorite thing that I learned had to do with how we live in the age of giants now, a time that I thought we were long past. The part about the right whale with the stone harpoon was pretty incredible as well. Overall, it is an well written book if you know what you are getting into.

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 13, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"There's this golden moment when the sun licks through the gauze fluttering at my window warming my eyes to open this golden moment when I'm not yet awake enough to remember that there are things I would rather forget."

Review:
While I thought I would relate to this story more due to my younger sister being hospitalized while we were younger, I wasn't disappointed despite my high expectations. It was a well done novel-in-verse that was a quick read about an important topic. I especially liked the references to places that I have been (tracing the steps of the ducklings in the public gardens and eating on Revere Beach after getting dinner at Kelly's). I was not expecting the author to be a local.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 12, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"Basketball Rule #5 When you stop playing your game you've already lost."

"Basketball Rule #8 Sometimes you have to lean back a little and fade away to get the best shot."

Review:
Books make me cry all the time because I am a giant baby. However, the ugly cry that this book produced was a new experience. I read it incredibly quickly and had difficulty putting it down to sleep last night. If all of Kwame Alexander's books are like this I will be reading them all. Phenomenal!

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 12, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"What does it say about our culture that the desire for weight loss is considered a default feature of womanhood?"

"In yet another commercial, Oprah somberly says, 'Inside every overweight woman is a woman she knows she can be.' This is a popular notion, the idea that the fat among us are carrying a thin woman inside. Each time I see this particular commercial, I think, I ate that thin woman and she was delicious but unsatisfying. And then I think about how fucked up it is to promote this idea that our truest selves are thin women hiding in our fat bodies like impostors, usurpers, illegitimates."

"Fat shaming is real, constant, and rather pointed. There are a shocking number of people who believe they can simply torment fat people into weight loss and disciplining their bodies or disappearing their bodies from the public sphere. They believe they are medical experts, listing a litany of health problems associated with fatness as personal affronts. These tormentors bind themselves in righteousness when they point out the obvious - that our bodies are unruly, defiant, fat. When people try to shame me for being fat, I feel rage. I get stubborn. I want to make myself fatter to spite the shamers..."

"I am stronger than I am broken."

"As a woman, as a fat woman, I am not supposed to take up space. And yet, as a feminist, I am encouraged to believe I can take up space. I live in a contradictory space where I should try to take up space but not too much of it, and not in the wrong way, where the wrong way is any way where my body is concerned."

Review:
This book was raw and honest in a way that I could never dream to be. Reading this book was a deeply personal experience for me and I'm not certain that I'm fully ready to review it yet. I do want to say thank you so much for writing this book Dr. Gay!

everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by Jomny Sun

everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by Jomny Sun
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 11, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"Hmm... Well I guess everybody tells me i am too small and too slow to make a diference in this world but i am makimg a diference in my own world and i hope that is enough"

"we will always be with u. we internalize traits we observe in others as a way to honor and remeber them. we are all living memorials"

Review:
Flipping adorable. Also incredibly deep. Also timely. Everything happens for a raisin.

Will come back to for inspiration again and again.

Hacking Mathematics: 10 Problems That Need Solving by Denis Sheeran

Hacking Mathematics: 10 Problems That Need Solving by Denis Sheeran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 11, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"Often we put off blogging because the idea we have isn't perfect, or isn't fully worked out, or the lesson isn't finished, or our post is just not as well-written as we'd hoped. Those are the exact reasons TO blog. You need to put out imperfect ideas, because we're all imperfect and learning together. You need to blog about lessons as they happen, unfinished and in progress. Those reflections and perspectives matter."

Review:
This book was 10 easy "hacks" to implement in class to help students enjoy and understand math better. These are not math tricks. There are no shortcuts found here. All of the hacks are classroom procedures or resources to help you and your students get through the year successfully. I particularly liked hacks 1, 3, 5, and 10. Hack 3: Join the MTBoS led to me to finally create a math blog. I've been creeping on #MTBoS for years but have not often participated. This chapter made me realize that I have ideas worth sharing and that the Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere is not full of untouchable experts, but full of regular teachers, like me, who are trying new things out in their classrooms too. I really appreciated this.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 9, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"However, just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with."

"But deep down inside me, I wanted . . . I needed it. I couldn’t help but act on it. The urge was so strong that it was mathematical."

Review:
While I loved that the main character was Himba and that math was the tool her people used to create technology, I struggled with the writing at the beginning. I felt like things happened in the story and then they were explained, which is difficult to read because I had imagined what I thought was happening just to have the pictures changed by the explanation. Later in the story I had a pretty good grasp of what to imagine and didn't feel like this was such an issue anymore. I really liked the role of the otjize in the story, but had difficulty understanding the technology and it's use. Though it was a quick story, I had difficulty with the quick progression of (view spoiler)[genocide to friendship (hide spoiler)] that occurred in such a short time. Overall, I liked the story, but haven't decided if I will read the sequels. It should be noted that I'm not much a sci-fi fan, and that could be part of my difficulty with the story.

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture by Roxane Gay

** Trigger Warning: SA **

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture by Roxane Gay
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 9, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"Their work gave me survival and writing. From them, I learned the blazing insight that rape was not an act between an individual, hidden in a dark room - that was what my rapist wanted me to think. Rape was and is a cultural and political act: it attempts to remove a person with agency, autonomy, and belonging from their community, to secrete them and separate them, to depoliticize their body by rendering it detachable, violable, nothing." - So Mayer

"There is an impossible paradox when you are victimized by sexual assault. You want to - you have t- convince yourself that it wasn't 'that bad' in order to have any hope of healing. If it really is as bad as you feel like it is, how will you ever get out from under it? How will you ever get 'better'? On the other hand, you need to convince others it was 'bad enough' to get the help and support you need to do that healing. To get out from under it. To get an appointment at the clinic. To get friends to come over with Styrofoam food containers when you can't feed yourself." - Stacey May Fowles

"When I raised this in counseling, she told me: 'The survivor who was raped at knifepoint feels guilty she has taken up space of a survivor who was raped at gunpoint. Everyone believes there is suffering worse than her own, that they should be strong enough to cope without me.'" - Stacey May Fowles

Review:
This book's message is revelatory, not in that sexual violence happens to so many of us; all women and many men know this. It's revelatory in the way that "He's Just Not That Into You" blew your mind by being so obvious and so hard to believe at the same time. Not That Bad, compiled by Roxane Gay, is a book of essays about sexual violence and most importantly the feeling that what was experienced was "not that bad." We all know someone who has gone through much worse than we have. I will repeat that: we ALL know someone who has had it worse (even that person you are thinking of thinks this). That's not even possible unless pain is relative and though it's probably self-preservation (trying desperately to gain any bit of our stolen power back) it's complete nonsense. It was that bad. IT IS THAT BAD. From the "little" stuff that makes us uncomfortable to the life-altering (-ruining?) stuff that kills off who we once were. It is bad. Period.

Someone asked recently in a travel group that I am in if the #metoo movement has impacted women's travel behaviors. "No!" was the response over and over again, not at all, because the #metoo movement didn't reveal anything that women didn't already know about how unsafe we are. It has empowered us to reveal our experiences, but the only people who have learned anything new are men. That's why they need to read this book. Women, you need to read this too, but not because you will learn about anything you didn't already know but because reading the common theme of it not being so bad laid down at your feet in the most obvious way that you might even feel a bit silly for never realizing it before... while you read each story you will compare them to your own and be horrified to realize that you find yourself thinking that what you went through, as little or big as it is, was that bad and you deserve to cope with it in whatever way helps you to survive it.

The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan

The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: July 29, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Favorite Quote(s):

"Now I know the secrets of the dark, sweet liquid in my cup. The smell washes over me again, and this time I gag on it. It's no longer the smell of a loving bedtime routine, but the smell of pain, and working for no pay, and not being able to go home."

Review:
Read this book. It will not ruin chocolate for you, but it will change how you buy it.

I knew about the origins of chocolate already, but the story of Amadou, Seydou, and Khadija have thoroughly shamed me out of my inaction. I have the privilege (so so so many privileges) of living in the next town from the Equal Exchange headquarters and that is where I will exclusively shop for the products they sell. Among so many other privileges that I have, I have the privilege of being able to vote with my money. I will keep their story in the forefront of my brain and make purchases that reflect the world that I want to live in to the best of my ability.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: July 11, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"I can't understand why dark northern soldiers and light ones are separated into different brigades. The dead are all buried together in hasty mass graves, bones touching."

Review:
I'll be arriving in Havana, Cuba tomorrow and wanted to read something about Cuba before arriving. I, sadly, know very little about Cuban history and what I do know was told to me through American history books. In the historical note, Engle quotes William Randolph Hearst to one of his journalists covering the Third War for Independence (known in the US as the Spanish-American War): "You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war." I'm afraid too much of the history that I have learned is through this lens.

The Surrender Tree is a story written in verse from the perspective of 5 characters (all but one are based on real people). It details the actions of a healer during the three wars for Cuban independence from Spain. For so few words, the story of Rosa was powerful. I was brought to tears twice in the short 2 hours it took the read the book. I recommend this book, not only for the history lesson, but for Rosa and the lessons in humility, kindness, and selflessness she teaches readers.

Salt by Nayyirah Waheed

Salt by Nayyirah Waheed
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: June 22, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"listen to my poems. but do not look for me. look for you. - you"

"i bleed every month. but do not die. how am i not magic. - the lie"

"you see your face. you see a flaw. how. if you are the only one who has this face. - the beauty construct"

"you not wanting me. was the beginning of me wanting myself. thank you. - the hurt"

Review:
What else to say, but to quote this book. Wow.

"If I write what you may feel but cannot say, it does not make me a poet. It makes me a bridge. And I am humbled and I am grateful to assist your heart in speaking."

"Some people when they hear your story. Contract. Others upon hearing your story. Expand. And this is how you know."

Thank you Ms. Waheed for being a bridge and helping me expand.

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: June 25, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Favorite Quote(s):

"My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs."

"'You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,' she says now. 'You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.'" 

Review:
I think I might need to sit with this for a bit longer to write a worthy review. For now, I'm questioning so many things... like public education and my role in it. Are we providing students with the tools they need to for higher education or are we draining the curiosity out of them? 3/7ths of the Westovers have PhDs. I think there is something there to at least discuss. I'm also thinking about my interactions with my sister. We are very different people and have never experienced or interpreted a mutual event in our lives the same way. It's an incredibly lonely experience to be denied your own perspective, but it feels a bit like Tara has validated me on her journey to validate herself.

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: June 20, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"I hear them say go home, I hear them say f---ing immigrants, f---ng refugees. Are they really this arrogant? Do they not know that stability is like a lover with a sweet mouth upon your body one second; the next you are a tremor lying on the floor covered in rubble and old currency waiting for its return. All I can say is, I was once like you, the apathy, the pity, the ungrateful placement and now my home is the mouth of a shark, now my home is the barrel of a gun."

Review:
I picked up this book because I had read part of an included poem that had been circulating around social media. The poem is "Conversations About Home (at the Deportation Centre)." It turned out to be my favorite poem in the book. Though slightly misquoted (or perhaps it was paraphrased) on social media, the lines that get me the most read: "I hear them say go home, I hear them say f---ing immigrants, f---ng refugees. Are they really this arrogant? Do they not know that stability is like a lover with a sweet mouth upon your body one second; the next you are a tremor lying on the floor covered in rubble and old currency waiting for its return. All I can say is, I was once like you, the apathy, the pity, the ungrateful placement and now my home is the mouth of a shark, now my home is the barrel of a gun." This quote is incredibly timely for where we are as a country (the US). I think we use immigrants as scapegoats and spread hateful propaganda about who these people are and why they are coming to our country. I am particularly bothered by the hateful rhetoric directed at refugees who literally have no where else to go. I believe it's shameful and evil. However, I think this particular quote in this particular poem helps to shift the perspective of the privileged people who happened to be born here. At least I hope it does.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: April 20, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark."

"Burn it! Burn it. This is where the poems are,” I say, thumping a fist against my chest. “Will you burn me? Will you burn me, too?"

"And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them."

Review:
Easy 5 stars. I've read ancient and modern books written in verse before, but I think all of them have been epic (like the whole book is one long poem). But not here. Acevedo writes a series of individual poems that all come together into one beautiful story. This was epic in a different way. Some of her poems are for tying the story together, but most are the beautiful kind with triple meanings and gorgeous metaphors and deep "wait-I-need-to-read-that-again" meaning. I was able to connect with it even though I'm not a teen or the child of immigrants or a poet. This is going in the "will reread over and over again" pile. Highly recommended.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: April 18, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are."

Review:
The copy I have is the 25th anniversary edition and in the introduction Ms. Cisneros talks about her intentions for the book. She said she wanted you to be able to pick it up and read a story without feeling like you missed anything. Each chapter a being able to stand alone. Normally, I very much like this. I love short stories, but at first I felt it was too disconnected and I had difficulty imagining Esperanza's world. The more I read, the more there was to imagine and by the end I was surprised that she only lived on Mango street for one year because I had imagined an entire childhood there. Some of the chapters were short but left me with such a vivid image that I didn't need any more words. Others left me wondering and wishing there was more to it. Overall, I really liked the book, especially towards the end. I have favorite chapters that I will come back to again and again but I don't think I will ever reread the entire book.

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
My Rating: 1 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: April 15, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

“Books may be temporary; dicks are forever.”

Review:
Quick read, weird premise, didn't like it. I'm a Gillian Flynn fan, but I am disappointed by this book. I thought it was going somewhere interesting and then it didn't. I was also expecting a clever twist, like Flynn's other books, but the end on this one was a let down. The only thing I liked about it was that it was really short. Don't bother.

Origin by Dan Brown

Origin by Dan Brown
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: April 3, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Favorite Quote(s):

"Historically, the most dangerous men on earth were men of God . . . especially when their gods became threatened. And I am about to hurl a flaming spear into a hornets’ nest."

Review:
I love Robert Langdon and have read all his adventures. They are my guilty pleasure. I like the short chapters, the pace, the puzzles, the surprise at the end. This was no different than the 4 before. I'm not sure where I would rank this one among the 5. It certainly had less puzzles for me to sort out as the story went on and I found the end to be predictable, but I liked it as much as I've liked the others. I worried at the beginning that it would be too much like the DaVinci Code, but besides the similarities found in all of Brown's Langdon books (Langdon, lady companions, religion, puzzles, science) it stands on its own. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get lost in a mystery for a while and who doesn't mind waiting out the conclusion even if you are pretty sure you know where it's going. Really, more than anything, it made me want to travel to Barcelona and see the work of Gaudi and for this traveler's heart, that's enough.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: March 10, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"Gender as it functions today is a grave injustice. I am angry. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about postive change."

Review:
Incredibly quick read about feminism in Nigerian and the United States and the remarkable similarities. My favorite part was when she discussed how men are blind to the privileges they have, questioning why a woman would identify herself as a woman instead of a human being while at the same time men identify themselves with race or socioeconomic status. She also touches on "emasculation" and how women are expected to stroke the fragile egos of men. Good read, super quick.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: March 10, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Favorite Quote(s):

"Each one of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."
"The opposite of poverty is not wealth, the opposite of poverty is justice."

Review:
Bryan Stevenson is a human rights hero and more people should know his name.
This book alternates between telling the true story of wrongfully convicted death row inmate Walter McMillian and discussing real-life death row and life imprisonment stories from Mr. Stevenson's years as an attorney at his organization the Equal Justice Initiative. The chapters that Mr. Stevenson wraps around Mr. McMillian's story include those focusing on children being tried and sentenced as adults (despite being as young as 10 years old), women being imprisoned for life for giving birth to still-born babies, and those with intellectual disabilities who were not capable of defending themselves at trial. He writes about his treatment as a black lawyer in the south, the treatment of people who have served their time by society upon release (even when they didn't actually commit a crime), and the trauma and violation inmates are exposed to while in prison (particularly children sent to adult prisons). Please consider reading this book and making a monthly donation to EJI.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: January 9, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Favorite Quote(s):

"The truth casts a shadow over the kitchen - people like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice."

Review:
Phenomenal! Should be assigned to all high school students and I'll recommend it at my high school. This is an important read that will broaden perspectives that sorely need to be broadened (white folks, I'm thinking of you). Starr is funny, relatable, and genuine. I'm especially a fan of her regular Harry Potter references. This is the first book of the 36 I'm going to read this year. I'm glad I chose such a powerful story to start with. I will reread for years.

The Magic of Beginnings

"And suddenly you know: it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings." - Meister Eckhart

In January of 2018, I decided to read 36 books for the year. This was a massive undertaking as I am often frustrated by reading, lose interest fast, and keep adding half-read books to my shelves. This year I am determined to change that! With a mix of reading and listening to audiobooks I am determined to meet my goal. The initial idea was to read three books per month. That did not last long.

I read one book in January and two in March, putting me behind my goal substantially. During April vacation something weird happened. Instead of binging TV shows, like is customary for me, I read... and read and read. I knocked out three books in one week. This was the first time I had EVER done anything like this. It was shocking and empowering. I read three books in June once school was out and two in July. Then came August.

Today is August 22, 2018. As of today, I have read ten books (nine read and one listened). Who I am and what have I done with myself? I've learned so much this month (so far):

1. I always thought you had to read and finish one book before starting the next. Ignoring this "rule" has made reading so much more enjoyable to me.
2. I like to finish books.
3. I like to know new things.
4. I prefer non-fiction and contemporary Young Adult fiction (even though I really really want to like fantasy and sci-fi... I just don't read it with the vigor that I read the others).
5. I like writing reviews for books that I like.
6. I'd rather read than binge on TV* (I don't entirely believe this yet).
7. Goodreads is my favorite social media.
8. I'm proud of my bookshelves.
9. That thing about creating habits is true. The more I read, the more I want to read. I need to try to apply this to exercise.
10. I break the cardinal rules of reading: I break the spine of my books and I dog-ear the pages and I don't care what you think! (I would never do these things with a borrowed book, but I am also unlikely to borrow a book for this reasons, except from the library.)

I think Lesson #1 has been the most important thing that I've learned. I can follow several different TV shows over several months. I can follow multiple podcasts. Why not read several books at once? Once I began doing this, the distraction that led to so many unfinished books ("ooh, look at this new one") disappeared. This way I can read a book as slow as I want (and need to) and speed through a book I find particularly enthralling. No need to wait. I also find myself reading two chapters of a book, becoming bored with it, then reading a chapter of another, than going back to the original or even picking up a third. Reading has gone from a labor of necessity (a means to an end) to a labor of love. This was so important and I wish I had figured it out sooner.

All of that said, this blog, named for the cardinal rules of book-reading that I love to break (literally and figuratively), is where I will post my reviews, lists, and any other book-related posts I feel like writing. I'm excited to use this blog to help me stay excited about reading. I'm going to review the books I've read starting in January 2018. This is not an exhaustive list (as I did read prior to this year), but I think the year I fell in love with reading is a good place to start.