So many of these books have been influenced by you lovely people.

It took me years to finally finish this one. I would start it. Then stop. Just knowing I was not in the right head space. In all I’ve read it in bits and spurts over the course of the last seven months. Nature writing cannot be consumed quickly, at least not for me. I always have to slow down. I absolutely loved this one and I’m so glad I took my time with it. I loved the writing. It almost felt like you were there with her, bending down and REALLY looking at nature. Observing slowly. Not rushing.

I’m afraid we still have not heeded Kimmerers message. In one essay she writes how she was evacuated for one night due to a gas explosion at a nearby factory. Her warning loud and clear. And one I’m sadly too familiar with. There are no words that can quite encapsulate what it’s like to leave home suddenly, and never return because it’s reduced to ash. My story is not unique and in the coming years and decades it’ll become more common than we all think. It’s never too late to slow down and listen to the world around us. How can I participate in the Honorable Harvest? How can I express my gratitude to the Earth?

Thank you for this gift Robin Wall Kimmerer. I will return to it always. Favorite essays include: a Mother’s Work, The Three Sisters, The Honorable Harvest, Old Growth Children, The Sacred and the Superfund, Collateral Damage, and Defeating the Windigo.

#nonfiction #essays #naturewriting #braidingsweetgrass ...

I finally got around to taking this off my TBR and I have to say it completely lived up to my expectations. It’s hard not to draw parallels to what happens to Kathy and company to what happens to others in a society that are viewed as less than. As I always say the best science fiction books hold a mirror to current times as if to say “gotcha!” And although it is easy to read a book like this, about how clones are simply created (or more than likely farmed) to be used by other humans as they age or fall apart, and gasp and say how horrific! One does not need to step outside the door too far and realize these nightmares live on our streets. Haunt our nightmares. How does one cling to hope amongst such darkness? I guess sometimes just putting your feet out on your doorstep and moving forward with the promise to help your neighbor has to be enough. This book is so sad. But strangely filled with such warmth. I guess that’s life most days it seems. #kazuoishiguro #neverletmego #sciencefiction ...

Dear ones,

About ten months ago when my life was completely turned upside down you showed me the power of the community. And ten months later they are breaking ground on my house. In about 12 months I can finally come home.

It has not been an easy journey. And it is strange to think that although I should consider myself one of the “lucky ones” the road has felt impossible to traverse. But of course I trudge through the mud because at least I can. I know many others forced to make impossible choices because they can’t.

This would not be possible without you bookstagram. The world is dark but many of you have provided my family and I with a light in our darkest moment. So I hope this weekend when you tip a glass or watch the sky you think of our little family in Altadena. And for just a second you feel something like hope.#eatonfire #altadena #bookstagram ...

Finally a slow Sunday morning. Will I actually get to read Frankenstein this morning though with two kids? Probably not. But really hoping I can finish this in time for @thestackspod book club this month! I’ve never read it and I was able to rope in a colleague to join me as well so we can prepare for the movie coming out. I love that Guillermo Del Toro directed it and used practical effects. #frankenstein #maryshelleysfrankenstein #booksandcoffee☕️ ...

So I read this because I saw it saw it was being made into a movie with Ryan Gosling. Science fiction is my first love but I’ll admit I’m prettttty picky about it now. While sure I do love “fun science fiction” I feel myself gravitating more toward the cerebral these days. I want my sci fi dark, moody and weird.

All that to say that this one did not scratch that itch. It is sort of my fault. I read The Martian because I thought the movie was fun. And of course if you’re a book snob like me (which be real most of you are) you read the book to compare to movies and loudly proclaim “the book was better.” But I disagreed with that statement with The Martian. The movie was better. I feel like this movie will be better too. Ryan Gosling is probably going to nail it as the lead. Maybe Andy Weird writes novel to make them into movies? Whatever. There was way too much science talk I DID NOT care about. At all. Just get to the point already. We get it gravity isn’t normal in this ship. Why did it take two pages of math explanation I don’t get. Are you just showing off how smart you are. YAWN. But overall I guess it was……cute? I don’t know. I don’t hate it. But I wouldn’t exactly recommend it. I feel like Ready, Player One is better paced if I’m thinking of “popcorn sci fi”. That being said. I will not read another Weir book ever again. But should you? Sure. I know I’m definitely going to see the movie. #projecthailmary #sciencefictionbooks #spacebooks #funreads #bookstagram #sff #sciencefiction ...