Thursday, May 8, 2025
Sunday, December 29, 2024
More books
I accomplished my goal of reading 24 books this year and read a 25th one just to celebrate the accomplishment. Bun and I read 8 (*) together, some were for school and others with the ARC, Include Me's Disability Acceptance Through Literature book studies. After signing up for the book study, ARC sends us the book and, we all meet virtually once a week to talk about it. It's been fun.
My favorite books on this list have been authored by Black women: Angela Tucker, Uche Blackstock, Sharon Draper, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Their discussions on racial disparities in America are really eye-opening.
Bun Bun's required reading for school have WWII themes - Echo and Code Talker. I've been reading some other fictions and non-fictions works and watching war movies and TV shows set in those time periods.
American Prometheus, Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
*Song for a Whale, Lynne Kelly
How High We Go in the Dark, Sequoia Nagamatsu
Democracy Awakening, Heather Cox Richardson
Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
Lessons from Plants, Beronda Montgomery (corn, beans, squash)
The Worlds I See, Fei Fei Li
*Good Different, Meg Eden Kuyatt
*Unfriended, Rachel Vail
You Should Be Grateful, Angela Tucker
Legacy, Uche Blackstock
Class, Stephanie Land
*A Blind Guide to Stinkville, Beth Vrabel
Tell Me When It’s Over, Paul Offit
Uncommon Types: Some Stories, Tom Hanks
*Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan
The Boy with the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne
*Code Talker, Joseph Bruchac
*Blended, Sharon Draper
On Call, Anthony Fauci
All the Broken Places, John Boyne
*Better with Butter, Victoria Piontek
Lovely One, Ketanji Brown Jackson
The Sirens of Mars, Sarah Stewart Johnson
Making a Scene, Constance Wu
Happy New Year, Readers!
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Books
Last year, I was able to read 21 books.
How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims
Spare, Prince Harry
All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot
If I Survive You, Jonathan Escoffery
All Things Bright and Beautiful, James Herriot
All Things Wise and Wonderful, James Herriot
Out of My Heart*, Sharon Draper
Poverty, by America, Matthew Desmond
American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
Sink, Joseph Earl Thomas
Song of the Cell, Siddhartha Mukherjee
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon*, Grace Lin
Year off the Tiger, Alice Wong
It Wasn’t Me*, Dana Alison Levy
Chasing My Cure, David Fajgenbaum
Born a Crime, Trevor Noah
I Know Who You Are, Barbara Rae-Venter
Ghost*, Jason Reynolds
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen*, Sarah Kapit
The Conversation, Robert Livingston
Eve, Cat Bohannon
Bun Bun and I read a few of them together either for school or for her virtual book club (*). I really like reading the James Herriot series and think I would have became a vet if I had read them when I was in high school. The memoirs by Prince Harry, Joseph Earl Thomas, David Fajgenbaum, and Trevor Noah were really fascinating. I think my favorite was "I Know Who You Are" about using genetic ancestry tests to solve crimes.
Goal this year is to read at least one more than last.
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
It's been a while
Quick updates:
Bun Bun is in the 7th grade, in the middle school. She still loves to read and obsesses over really cute babies.
We had our first snow (~5 inches) in over 2 years. The backyard has enough of a slope for some sledding. We had to take down a bunch of large trees which opens up the yard a lot more. If you're wondering, those trees were infested by emerald green borers. These beetles lay eggs into the tree bark which the larvae eat as they crawl their way out. Over time, the tree slowly dies. As those sick trees were removed, we started planting new one, hence the wiring cage you see.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Summer
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Winter 2021
Friday, January 15, 2021
Finger People
When Bun Bun was a toddler, she was shown how to pretend and use her little fingers as legs of a person. I'd call them her finger people. She walked them up and down hand rails or when she wanted to stall time. She'd use them in doll houses or any tiny architecture structures fit for finger people. When we doubted her imaginary play, we would remember her finger people.
Today, her finger person got a pair of shoes. These shoes belonged to Ken of Ken and Barbie. Bun Bun inherited a set of Bride Barbie and Groom Ken dolls recently. Ken's shoes were lost and recovered a couple of days ago. So, there you have it...
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Books
Adding these to my book list since April:
- Educated, Tara Westover (Memoir of a scholar, homeschooled in rural Idaho with her survivalist family, bullied by her brother, but determined to seek higher education)
- Yellow House, Sarah M Broom (Memoir of a writer growing up in urban New Orleans)
- Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson (Excellent account of the justice system favoring those who are guilty and rich over those who are poor and innocent)
- Maid, Stephanie Land (Single mom making ends meet as a maid to support herself and her daughter)
- Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama
- A Promised Land, Barack Obama (Account of the former president's first term)
- Endurance, Scott Kelly (Astronaut's year-long expedition aboard the ISS)
- Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake (The wood wide web of fungi connecting root systems of trees and plants)
New Year
Happy New Year...
Yes, it is a happy new year. Proceed with caution.
I think we can all agree that 2020 was a horrible year: SARS-CoV2 pandemic, the world shut down/put on pause, protests, BLM protests, counter-protests, angry voters, angry politicians, defiant politicians...
Are there silver linings? There are always silver linings. It's not hard to see them.
I got to spend a lot of quality time with family, watching TV shows & movies, strolling through parks, throwing rocks in the creek at the park, savoring every second of Bun Bun blossoming into a young girl, and baking a lot of bread.
Yes, bread. Some loaves have been more successful than others. My latest trials and tribulations have been with sourdough bread. I'm still getting large air pockets and will need to figure out ways to make airy bubbles more even throughout. It's tasty nonetheless. Bun Bun and I smear sweet Nutella on it for breakfast. Daddy puts his own spin with cream cheese.
Since late spring, people in the US and around the world are starting to reckon with the ugliness of racial and social inequalities, amplified by police brutalities, compounded by irate people already edgy from the pandemic, and the racist rhetorics of the outgoing DC administration. None of this is new, although I never fully understood it until recently. Dare I be hopeful that people gaining awareness, speaking out, participating in marches will lead to change for the better.
Barely one week into 2021, the most horrific event in recent American history unveils before the whole world. Egged on by a defiant president who did not win re-election, his angry followers who believe his lies stormed the Capitol building as Senators and Representations certify the electoral votes and formally name the next President. What a sad and embarrassing site captured by journalists and rioters' own mobile devices. Now, there's a call for a second impeachment. So, for those who have chosen to see, hear, and speak no evil over the last FIVE years, this is the final straw?