Introverted Reader

Weekly Update for November 22, 2020

Welcome to my weekly update for November 22, 2020! We've been cautiously exploring the San Diego area now for a few weeks. San Diego County was returned to the most restrictive coronavirus tier last weekend so our options are a bit limited. Luckily, my husband's cousin and his wife are nearby so we've been spending time with them. Everyone needs a circle, right? We're all comfortable with the precautions each of us is taking. We visited the San Diego Botanic Garden and Cabrillo National Monument last weekend. Masks on, of course. We haven't made firm Thanksgiving plans yet because my husband is on call the whole weekend. I hope the rest of you who celebrate have a wonderful, healthy holiday! Posted: Review: Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch with Mireya Soriana, translated by Jennie Erikson--3 Stars Review: Hiking Oregon's History by William L. Sullivan--4 Stars For Nonfiction November, I asked for recommendations for exciting nonfiction titles about geographical explorers and their expeditions. Ten Characters I Would Name a Pet After--I made myself laugh a few times with this topic! Read: Turn Coat (The Dresden Files #11) by Jim Butcher Viva Jacquelina! Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Over the Hills and Far Away (Bloody Jack #10) by L. A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren Currently Reading: Hounded by Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne No Country for Old Gnomes (The Tales of Pell #2) by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne, read by Luke Daniels True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis Don't ask me how I ended up reading two books by the same author (Kevin Hearne) at the same time. That's normally something I wouldn't even consider doing. It just slipped…

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November 21, 2020

Hiking Oregon’s History by William L. Sullivan: Book Review

4 stars. I know this book probably won't have much appeal to a broad audience but it was so engaging, I felt that I needed to review it. When my husband and I first arrived in Oregon in April of 2020 for his work assignment at a hospital outside Portland, my aunt put me in touch with one of her friends who owns a summer home on [...]

Out of the Silence by Eduardo Strauch: Book Review

3 Stars. I didn't know much about this event other than the bare minimum prior to reading this book: a plane crashed in South America in the '70s; the passengers survived by cannibalism; and the movie Alive, which I haven't seen, is based on it. So I expected to get more of a straightforward recounting of the facts. What I got [...]

Bookish Miscellany

Characters I Would Name a Pet After

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl prompts us to share "The Top Ten Characters I Would Name a Pet After" this week. This is a fun topic but could be difficult so we'll see how I do. Dogs Zaphod Beeblebrox (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams)--Zaphod would be one of those completely insane but loveable mutts who makes weird expressions and who is internet gold! This is my brother-in-law's idea but the idea is so funny to me that I had to mention it. Slartibartfast and Ford Prefect would also make excellent names. We were howling with laughter as we talked about this a couple of years ago! He and his wife have cats named Reepicheep, Aslan, and Smeagol, so they get huge points for this particular topic. Sherlock would be a bloodhound. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) Flavia would be a scruffy, intelligent, stubborn terrier of some sort (Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley) Cats Nahri is definitely a cat. I looked at an Egyptian Mau but an Abyssinian looks more appropriate. (The Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty) Dobby would be a hairless cat (The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling) Mrs. Whatsit would be a curious tabby cat (A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle) Elphaba has to be a black cat with emerald green eyes (Wicked by Gregory Maguire) The Phouka is a fae little cat who comes and goes as he pleases and always stares at something no one else can see (War for the Oaks by Emma Bull) Others Artemis Fowl is a pet rooster. Get it? I know, I know! 😆 I can't be the only person with half a dozen chicken fanatics among my family and friends (Artemis Fowl series…

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November 16, 2020

Bookish Miscellany

Ask the Expert: Nonfiction November

For this week's Nonfiction November prompt, Rennie at What's Nonfiction invites us to Be the Expert, Ask the Expert, or Become the Expert. Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert). Ask the expert I read In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides about five years ago and loved it. It's about George de Long's effort to sail through the Bering Strait and all the way up to the North Pole in 1879. The optimism and confidence as the ship set sail and then the unimaginable hardship as things inevitably went wrong riveted me to the pages. I've been looking for more books about explorers, either famous or mostly lost to history, ever since. I even created a list on GoodReads, Nonfiction Geographical Exploration and Discovery, and hoped people would add new books to it. There have only been a few additions so I'm still searching for recommendations. For reference, I'll mention that I've also read Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose and found it slow going. Can you recommend any exciting nonfiction books about geographical explorers and their expeditions? Be sure to stop by What's Nonfiction to read other answers and link your own post! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no…

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November 16, 2020

Bookish Miscellany

Weekly Update for November 15, 2020

Welcome to my weekly update for November 15, 2020! Posted: Book Review: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (2018 edition) by James W. Loewen--4 Stars Book Review: The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained by Colin Dickey--4 Stars Book Review: Hole in the Sky by William Kittredge--2 Stars Nonfiction and Fiction Book Pairings for Nonfiction November Top 10 Book Titles as Song Titles Read: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik The Last Astronaut by David Wellington, read by Megan Tusing The October Country by Ray Bradbury Currently Reading: Turn Coat (The Dresden Files #11) by Jim Butcher Viva Jacquelina! Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Over the Hills and Far Away (Bloody Jack #10) by L. A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis Up Next: My hold for Hounded by Kevin Hearne became available at the library yesterday so I just downloaded it. Hopefully it isn't too similar to The Dresden Files. What did your week look like? Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.

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November 15, 2020

Hole in the Sky by William Kittredge: Book Review

2 Stars. I just couldn't click with this book. Kittredge does write beautifully and he writes of a way of life that seems to be disappearing. He writes fondly of the hands who worked the ranch, some of them for years and years for little more than room and board. He describes the difficult land in the salt flats of eastern [...]

The Unidentified by Colin Dickey: Book Review

4 Stars. I'm not quite sure what I expected when I downloaded this book from the library but it's not exactly what I got. Not that I'm complaining; this book is absorbing. My review keeps turning into a book report because I want to discuss so many of the ideas I just read! I knew this was nonfiction about the worlds of [...]

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen

Hmmm.... Where to start? I mostly found this book fascinating and the inaccurate history we are taught infuriating but I also had problems with the tone. I'll start with the positives.... Loewen's main complaint is that our American history textbooks invariably teach from the point of view of White males of European descent. The [...]

Bookish Miscellany

Top Book Titles as Song Titles

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our top ten book titles that would make great song titles this week. This is such a fun topic! Country Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash--Every title in the Domestic Equalizer series by the sister writing duo known as Dixie Cash sounds like a title of an old-school country song. They crack me up! This one would be something like "My Give a Damn's Busted" by Jo Dee Messina Pop Songs The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker--This sounds like a slow love song that gets played at every wedding in a given year The History of Love by Nicole Krauss--A slow ballad Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok--A girl power anthem Rock Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb--This just makes me think of "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde--I can hear an '80s hair band singing this. In my head, it sounds something like "I'll Never Let You Go" by Steelheart Christmas The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore--One of those silly Christmas songs like "Leroy the Redneck Reindeer" by Joe Diffie Gospel I was on the phone with my mom talking about my aunt's church while I was looking through my reviews for this post. These book titles jumped out at me as sounding like the gospel songs I grew up singing, songs like "Amazing Grace" and "I'll Fly Away." This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash The Bright Forever by Lee Martin Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones That's my list! Have you read any of these? Do you think they belong in a different music genre? Which book titles did/would you choose? Link up every Tuesday at That Artsy…

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November 9, 2020