About me
I started a #bookstagram because I simply love books and have been looking for more bookish people to talk to. Since joining my #TBR has gotten a little out of control. ?⠀
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I’m a mom to a two year old and I live in Southern California with my partner, two dogs, bearded dragon, and one fish. We also harvest Monarch Butterflies to help regrow their population. I’ve been teaching fourth grade for five years, going on six.
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Recent Posts
Reflections and Resilience: A Teacher’s Journey
Well, I made it. I'm ready for this summer to heal and collect my thoughts. I am ready to reflect...
Brotherless Night
A beloved here and the winner of the Women's Prize for fiction, it is a standout in the...
This book is 650 or so pages and I absolutely savored each one
This book is 650 or so pages and I absolutely savored each one. Told through multiple point of...
Took a girls trip to Pismo Beach this past weekend
Took a #girlstrip to Pismo Beach this past weekend to celebrate the start of summer with my two...
And just like that year nine in the classroom is done
And just like that year nine in the classroom is done. I can’t believe I’ve been at this job...
Just me getting ready for summer reading
Just me getting ready for summer reading. Broke my book buying ban for Mother’s Day. Tried to get...
This book is EXHAUSTING. This can be a self help book for people who don’t know what red flags look like. I have a hard time with books about women who are being suffocated slowly in their marriage and motherhood. I had to DNF Nightbitch because I couldn’t stomach it. Nevertheless, the short paragraphs made this easier to go down. I did find the reflections beautifully written, especially the ones where she writes about her love for her son. Read it if you like stories about marriages with shitty men or give to the person in your life stuck in a crappy relationship with a narcissistic asshat.
Brief synopsis: woman falls in love with man, man proceeds to gaslight her because he understands he is not as talented as an artist as her. They marry and have a kid and she slowly finds out the truth about him and all his insecurities.
#liarsnovel #fictionbook #literaryfiction #fiction #summerbook #redflags #losangelesreader #bookstagram #bookstagrammer
Headshot is brimming with energy and is a propulsive debut. What first got my attention was the subject matter. It’s about teenaged girls competing for the championship title in a boxing league. I saw this making the rounds earlier in bookstagram. One thing I liked is how simple it was to read. Each chapter is dedicated to one fight. We start at the round of four fights between eight girls and slowly make our way to books conclusion, the final fight. Throughout you get little flashbacks of each girls life and even flash forwards. The writing was engaging and I was curious to see who would win. At times I did feel like the distinction between the girls wasn’t deep enough so some characters stood out more than others. In the end I think this is a wonderful little book about the power and tenacity of teenage girlhood. Told in quite literal terms, but I really enjoyed my time with it. It will definitely stand out due to the uniqueness of its subject matters. An impressive debut. Have you read #Headshot? What did you think? #bookerlonglist #headshot #bookstagram #headshotnovel #fiction #shortbooks #shortnovels
I don’t know. Maybe there’s something to this midwestern life.
One thing I’m noticing is all the indie bookstores here pass the vibe check. Great selection of conscientious titles. Surprising me in this little town of 4,000. Black Forty Books is an absolute delight. They have a lovely mix of used and new books. The owners were so warm and welcoming. Despite the rain we’re finding moments of joy and solitude. We visited the Iona’s beach which is famous for its pink rocks. Never seen anything like it. Now if only my youngest would sleep consistently. lol. #minnesota #lakesuperior #duluth #twoharborsmn #summerbreak #midwest #indiebookstores #supportlocalindiebookstores
#summertime and we have traveled to visit family in Minnesota. Of course I made it to visit Birchbark Books. I’m trying to only buy books I have already read and would like to reread. I’m reading Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel and it’s definitely holding my attention. It has an interesting structure and different subject matter. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about teenage girls who box. Altadena is never far from our thoughts though. And we still find ourselves on the phone every day trying to handle this or that and the other. But at least my kids are having a great time. #teacheronsummerbreak #headshotbook #summerreading #momonsummerbreak #minnesota #stpaul
I read this book a very long time ago way before I had kids, even then I absolutely loved it. It was different from any of the other sci-fi/fantasy books I have ever read, and it still defies genre.
In this novel a Fifth Season is an extended winter or a period of apocalypse after seismic events. The people of the Stillness, as the continent is called, categorize seasons and follow certain rules as guided by "stonelore" in order to survive. And that`s really just the tip of the iceberg.
I think I`m in my reread era. My brain can`t seem to focus on anything that is new, so I am reaching for old comforts. This one has stood the test of time, and rereading it as a mother of two makes this story all the more impactful as I am now closer to Essun`s age, rather than her daughter`s.
It is an apt time to read this story about oppression, trauma, and climate disasters. I am reminded that the earth has lived through several apocalypses and yet still things survive and resist in the face of it all.
#thefifthseason #nkjemisin #sciencefictionbooks #apocalypticbooks #genrebendingbooks #losangelesreaders #teacheronsummerbreak
After the last kid left and I walked up to our space in old town Pasadena I saw my principal and just lost it. My body released all the things I was holding inside of me. I am at once relieved. Sad. Ecstatic and scared. Because although this year is behind me, the road to recovery is long with no light in sight. Altadenans have lost so much and there is still so much uncertainty. A student who lost their home will not be coming back next year because the fire forced them to move far away. Her mother and I cried at pick up. We have lost so much. We have been through so much. It still feels so surreal.
I have never been more proud of myself than I am in this moment. Because although I lost so much I found the strength and will to come and be there at a time when my community needed me the most. And so I will return. And little do these fourth graders know that a surprise awaits them next year. As I will continue to be there for them as a fifth grade teacher.
The world is full of uncertainty but of one thing I am sure, my place in this fight is right here. In Altadena. I’m not going anywhere. At least I hope…. Bc although we find ourselves at an end of sorts it is also a time to imagine something new. Something better. Thanks bookstagram for all your support this year. This community has given me so much. May your summer be filled with resistance and strength. I am here. With you. In community. #iteachfifth #summerbreak #altadena #teacheronbreak
It is strange to have such deep feelings of gratitude and at the same time a boundless rage.
My kids laughter on the swings brings a smile that covers my face. My students and I sit at a table sharing funny stories about our families and our muffled laughter fills our tiny space in the corner of the office. I celebrate ten years of marriage and marvel at how much my partner and I have allowed each other to grow and change and yet we still walk the same path sharing the same values. We go on a family vacation and I take my eldest on the ocean at night and we see an octopus hiding in the sea grass. And yet. And yet…
I look around the classroom and know the number of students whose homes have burned, how many are displaced and I know deep in my belly what keeps their families up at night. I search for a hat I could’ve sworn I had and then remember I don’t have it. It is dust now. I drive past the Eaton Canyon mountains and my chest tightens. I sit in this new place that is at once home and not home. I get in my car and google tells me to go home and I refuse to change it because all I want to do is go fucking home.
It is so maddening to be in two worlds at once. To hold so many opposing emotions. There are days I just want to slip into the oblivion of it all and say enough. I’m done. I give up. But still. I put one foot in front of the other. Because I just can’t imagine any other way. If you’re having trouble doing that I don’t blame you. The world is a cruel place. And today I have no words of comfort. But we are both here. And right now that has to be enough.
Spring break you have been good to me as always. I got around to reading Oathbound by Tracy Deonn and while I enjoyed it I was pretty confused the last 100 pages. So much magic and lineage was explained at the end I sort of got lost in it. I can’t say too much without spoilers but DM me if you want to chat. I still enjoy the series a lot and just let the plot wash over me, but would appreciate cliff notes on the magic system, ha. And of course thanks to the ever wonderful @becksisreading for being my buddy read for this series. I’ll be waiting not so patiently for book four. #bookstagram #oathbound #yafantasybooks #alwaysreading #springbreak
March was a whirlwind. I went to visit a best friends and celebrated a friend’s fortieth birthday in New Orleans. I made a stop at the famous Baldwin and Co. bookshop of course. I picked up The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin and A Fortune for Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib. It was a lovely trip but coming home felt like receiving whiplash. The adrenaline is gone. And the sadness is still overwhelming. Last night my son cried because he misses his old school. He wants to go back. But his school is gone. It’s such a horrible thing to have remind your kid that their favorite place is burned down. We drive up often to check on our property. I hate it. It’s like visiting a graveyard. It is a graveyard. All those homes. All those people. It’s all so bizarre. And with the current political climate things feel so unsure. Unstable. There is no clear path forward. Should we rebuild? Should we not? Are we crazy for even trying? There are no answers. Only questions and loss. So I write shitty poetry to try and cope and just get something out. My brain is at once too crowded and a fog.
I am still reading. Delightfully Samantha Shannon has revised her famous Bone Season Series and it has given me comfort in these fraught times. I can relax my brain and escape for a little bit.
Take care my #bookstagram friends. I am holding yall close. Instagram fucking sucks but I do love all of you.
A love letter to you Los Angeles. And a huge thank you to everyone who donated to me. The kindness of this community is so staggering I can’t wrap my head around it. Only we will save each other. I am so scared about what the future will bring. But weirdly. Your kindness has given me so much hope for such an uncertain future. We’re truly all we’ve got. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Also please excuse typos. I didn’t have the energy to edit.
I have retyped this caption a hundred times. And I got nothing. 2024 was…hard. And gave me a greater appreciation for the little things. The older I get the more I relish in life’s more humble delights, a delicious cup of coffee, the tiny thrill I get when I get to bike to the farmers market after work with fresh fruit and a baguette strapped to my back pack, holding my kids close, laughing with my partner, randomly breaking out into song with my entire class..it goes on. I go into 2025 again remembering that nothing is promised and all I can do is my best to leave this world better for those who come after me, as impossible as that feels to accomplish it’s the only thing that feels right. Cheers everyone. May you find peace and safety in the years to come. #bestbooksof2024 #bestoflist #happynewyear #readmorebooks #books #middlegradebooks #bookstagram #bookstagrammer
A beloved here and the winner of the Women’s Prize for fiction, it is a standout in the historical fiction genre and one I highly recommend to readers everywhere.
Following Sashi, a sister with four brothers, as she embarks on becoming a doctor during the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War, this novel blurs the line between nonfiction and fiction. Told in sharp and matter of fact prose, I was completely invested in this one. I read page after page on the internet about the Civil War in Sri Lanka. The author told this story so well. In war there are no winners, no saints, no “good guys.” There are just people doing everything they can to survive. Everyone loses. It asks the reader to bear witness because really what else can I do as the reader. There is so much more I can say about this but really just go read it. A sharp book I am so glad I got around to reading. And I hope you get to it soon too.
#brotherlessnight #historicalfictionbooks #historicalfiction #knowhistory #bearingwitness #prizewinners #greatbooks #recommendedreading #teacherswhoread #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks