Writings, Wanderings

Hard to believe June is almost over! I've been enjoying my time off by reading more than I have in some time. I added a few more children's books to this year's list--and I even had an audience for one! I babysat my not-quite-two-month-old niece earlier in the month and in between holding and walking her around, I got to read my first story with her :) Mamasaurus by Stephan Lomp was a fun, quick read--this is the first book I got to read to my baby niece! I loved the simplicity behind the illustrations but also that it did not shy away from using the long names of the dinosaurs. There was one moment that hinted at danger, but even that was glossed over. I think this would be a fun read-aloud to preschool-aged kids starting to get interested in dinosaurs. Miguel and Amazing Alebrijes by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford and Aaron Rivera-Ashford is a follow-up to the Disney movie Coco. I love this movie and was excited to see more its culture. While I enjoyed the book overall...

How did your November reading go? I finished four novels (one as an audiobook). My favorite one was the audiobook and happened to my book club's choice for the month which means I never would have picked this one up on my own. It is my favorite because the author did such a good job with her research but the book itself was gut-wrenching. Placed in the 1920's and 30's, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women  by Kate Moore traces the struggle faced by the women who worked for the radium companies to have their health problems diagnosed and then compensated as the ugly truth surfaced that they had become sick through their jobs. I was amazed to learn how radium had been considered healthy enough to add to their water, paint on their faces, and put in sandboxes. With this public perception, it was not surprising that it took doctors so long to pinpoint the source of the women's problems, but the companies' avoidance of their responsibility an...

September has been a rough reading month for me. I've struggled to make time to read to start with, work, coaching, and marathon training eating up most of my energy. Adding to my low book count is the fact that I had not one but two books that went into my DNF pile. I try very hard to finish any book I start (there was one that took me two years but I finally finished it over this past summer). *My reviews may include spoilers.* I began the month by finishing Dark, Witch & Creamy, the first book in the Bewiched by Chocolate Series by H.Y. Hanna. This had been a free download to my Kindle and falls into the fluffy read category. I loved the chocolate connections and appreciated the overall clean feeling to the book. For some reason I expected more romance even though the blurb does not lean that direction. I would pick up the next book in the series if I saw it was available at the library. However, I could not get into my book club this month: Answer as a Man by Ta...