This week's topic for Nonfiction November, hosted by Liz at Adventures in reading, running, and working from home, is to pair a nonfiction book with a fiction title. I just finished Natalie Haynes’ Pandora’s Jar and I loved it. It’s a deep dive into the central female characters in Greek mythology.  Haynes focuses on two premises: first, that there are many more versions of the Greek myths than most people realize, and second, that the female characters are much more complex and dynamic in some of those versions than in the versions we most commonly hear.

I reviewed Mary Vensel White's first book, The Qualities of Wood, back in 2012, in my early days of blogging. I loved it, so I was happy when she reached out to me about reviewing her latest release, a book of short stories. Resonant Blue is about families and relationships of all shapes and sizes. These short stories are a look at people struggling with aging, relationships, and the acceptance (or forgiveness) of family.

Happy November, readers! October was fairly uneventful, which is fine with me. I mostly focused on work, volunteering in my library's Fall Book Sale, and going to Washington Spirit games (our women's soccer team - go Spirit!). It was my father's birthday this month, which was sad, and I thought about him during the Jewish holidays. November will be a busy month, as I participate in one of my favorite events, …

I always love participating in Nonfiction November, because I get so many good book recommendations from the other bloggers.  The first week's topic is "celebrate your year of nonfiction" and is hosted by Based on a True Story. What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more?

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is a Halloween freebie. Today I'm writing about some of my favorite horror/paranormal stories that you may not have heard about. I'm always been a big fan of Stephen King, but these days I lean more towards fantasy and horror that are more eerie than violent, and stories that combine unique places, history, and diverse perspectives to create a chilling story.

Working with high school English classes, I’ve become much more interested in young adult fiction, particularly books that will engage our students. We encourage students to pick their own books during silent reading time, and they have free access to a wide range of digital and paper books. Graphic novels are especially popular, but we're studying poetry right now and I'm finding a lot of great books written in verse, like the work of Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, and Elizabeth Acevedo.

Working with high school English classes, I’ve become much more interested in young adult fiction, particularly books that will engage our students. We encourage students to pick their own books during silent reading time, and they have free access to a wide range of digital and paper books. Graphic novels are especially popular, but we're studying poetry right now and I'm finding a lot of great books written in verse, like the work of Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, and Elizabeth Acevedo.

I received advanced review copies (ARCs) of two historical romance novels this summer, The Gilded Heiress by Joanna Shupe and Gabriela and His Grace by Liana de la Rosa.  Of the two, I enjoyed Gilded Heiress more. The Gilded Heiress is about a young con man who’s made his living on the streets so he can take care of his family. 

We're in the home stretch on reading challenges, so here's an update on where I am. I still have a lot to read in three months, but I would like to close these out. If you're working on any of these challenges, I'd love to hear what you have left or what you're struggling with. Two of these challenges have Goodreads groups if you're looking for ideas.

I really wanted to like this one. I've enjoyed Sherry Thomas' romances, but this was the exact opposite of steamy. Neither the romances nor the mystery worked for me, though it might for others. Set in Austin, the book revolves around four people working in a library. Jonathan is a former football player who's in love with a friend but he's afraid to do anything about it.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is about our favorite series, especially those series that are consistently good throughout. These are all series of at least three books (no duologies) and while I haven't completed all these series, I've read most of them. I'm not great at finishing long series, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy them.

September was a pretty good month, all things considered. I went on vacation, taking 10 days off to visit California with Mr. CG. We had a fantastic time with family and did a lot of touristy things in LA. We also went wine tasting in Los Olivos, one of my favorite areas of California (the area in the movie…

This book came along at just the right time for me, and was exactly what I needed. I've been struggling with my Jewish identity since the events of October 7, 2023 and since my father's passing in December 2024. I hate what Israel is doing in Gaza, but I'm terrified of the growing antisemitism towards Jews and Israel, and the ways in which the Trump administration are using and aggravating those biases.

I wasn't able to write much this week, because we came back from a trip to Los Angeles, and then things have been busy. This week I went to a retirement party for two of my former co-workers, and it was wonderful to catch up with good friends. School is great, I'm getting to know my students a little better every day, and some are getting more comfortable with me.

The topic of this week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is our fall To Be Read (TBR) list. I've gotten away from TBR lists, outside of challenges, because I want some flexibility in how I read. But I keep eyeing the books sitting on my shelves, which are increasing rather than decreasing. I decided to rank the books on my shelves by Goodreads and The StoryGraph ratings, to come up with a list of 20 that I'll prioritize.

Angeline Boulley has done it again. She's written a story that's hard to put down, but is also steeped in Native American issues and history, with characters that are emotionally complex. And if you're looking for a book that picks up the lives of the main characters in Firekeeper's Daughter, you won't be disappointed. This is a standalone book, but if you haven't read the previous two, I recommend reading them first.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is about books with occupations in the title. This was harder to find than I thought -- but I chose not to include nonfiction, which would have made things easier. I also chose not to include criminal "occupations" like thief, bandit, etc. Here are ten highly-recommended books with ocupations in the titles.

Happy September, readers! I went back to work in August. It all happened very suddenly. I sent an email to a local principal, and he didn't have an open teaching position but offered to bring me in as an instructional assistant. This would give me experience and a foot in the door when a teaching position opens up. So over a two week period I got fingerprinted, cleared, badged and oriented, bought a used car, and started on the first day of school, August 18.

As I've had time off, I've been doing a lot of journaling, or freewriting and I've decided to start up a "Friday Freewriting" feature about topics outside of reading. This isn't really free-writing in that I'm of course reviewing and editing before I post it. And I don't think it will be every Friday, but maybe every other. If you're interested in this at all, please like or let me know in a comment.

I loved Anders' previous book, All the Birds in the Sky, so I was happy to receive an ARC of her newest book. This was a book with many layers, and one that was much more about relationships than about magic. In fact, this book explores quite a few relationships: between Jamie and both of her mothers, between Jamie and her partner, and even some true historical relationships between queer women in the 18th century.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is about books with high page counts. I feel like as I've gotten older I gravitate away from really long books, but when I was in college they were my favorite. Maybe I had more concentration when I was younger, but now it just seems like time is limited and there are so many books I want to read.

This book hit disturbingly close to home, as people in the U.S. are being rounded up in airports, courthouses and on the streets. In this dystopian novel, Lalami describes a near future where people are assigned risk scores that indicate their likelihood of committing a crime. These scores are based on social media interactions, criminal records, family issues, health records, and even dreams.

This was my first book by Eddings, and it won't be my last! I enjoyed everything about this snarky but thoughtful romance. It was especially nice to read a story that felt original, to me at least, though it relies on some standard romance tropes (second chance, enemies to lovers). Eva Kitt is struggling to make it in journalism, currently stuck interviewing B (and C and D) list celebrities on a low-budget show called Sausage Talk, where she and her guests eat hot dogs and swap innuendo.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is a "genre freebie" so I decided to write about books featuring families who move to the United States. I realize that isn't a genre - I'm stretching a bit because it feels important. This is a devastating time for anyone in the U.S. who is an immigrant, with ICE raiding and deporting people with little or no evidence, tearing apart families, communities and businesses.

This summer is going fast! The weather has been brutal but the reading's been good. I'm still job-searching and exploring what I want to do with my time and my career. But I'm feeling a little more optimistic even though the job market is horrible and people are being laid off by the thousands. Ugh. Please support your federal workers and contractors!