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Welcome to my weekly update for March 16, 2025!
I won’t get into my political beliefs, but I wanted to let you know that I recently used the 5 Calls app to contact my Congressman and Senators about an issue. I cannot adequately express how much I hate calling strangers but I decided that I need to speak up when I have strong feelings about politics. I researched a bit and everything I read agreed that calling is the best way to contact them. I also read that if you want to avoid speaking to an actual person (the horror!), you should call after hours and leave a voicemail. So I screwed up my courage and went to it.
The app gave me a template I could use for my voicemail. I decided to start with that and modify it to say what I wanted. I typed that up for myself because I get flustered on the phone. The app had my representatives’ names and phone numbers. I just pressed “Call” in the app and away I went! My voice was so shaky on the first voicemail, even just reading my script, that they probably couldn’t understand me! But I did better with the second and third calls. Honestly, the worst part was the dread of calling. Now that I know what to expect, I’ll be using the app to contact them again and again and again. So if you’d like to share your thoughts with your representatives, the 5 Calls app is a great resource! The link takes you to their website, which in turn has links to their Android and iPhone apps.
Posted:
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, read by Hanako Footman: Book Review–3 Stars
The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller with John DeSimone: Book Review–3 Stars
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: Book Review–4 Stars
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett: Book Review–4 Stars
Read:
All links go to my reviews on GoodReads.
Mairelon the Magician (Mairelon #1) by Patricia Wrede-3 Stars
The Bookshop on the Shore (Kirrinfief #2) by Jenny Colgan, read by Eilidh Beaton–4 Stars
River of Teeth (River of Teeth #1) by Sarah Gailey, read by Peter Berkrot–3 Stars
Currently Reading:
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, read by Kirsten Potter and Brittany Pressley
Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell’s 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon by Edward Dolnick
Up Next:
I’m not at all sure. We’ll see where my mood leads.
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
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?
