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!

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.

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.