Surprise!  I am very wordy today.  I am blazing through my reading list, and yes I'm sure it's gotten old how much I talk about it.  But I love it and this is my blog, so deal with it or skip over it.

I am currently reading A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle, and I feel like this is the first paper back I've read in months.  I didn't realize how often I find hardback copies at the library.  So being a lightweight, I decided to pack it in my bag for the Shaky Knees festival.  Both friend groups didn't have plans to show up until later in the day, so after I watched the sets I wanted, if I wasn't sure about what to listen to next, I would go to my next stage, set up my blanket in the shade, hydrate, read, enjoy the breeze and listen to the music from neighboring stages.  It is not so awful to do things by yourself.

The book is great, the weather is great, the music is great.  It definitely beats standing around in a crowd, sweating, waiting for a band you like to come on stage.  It really beats standing in a crowd with nothing to say, sweating profusely, waiting for a band you don't really care about to come on stage.  I met a lot more nice people hanging out by themselves than I ever did in groups in crowds.  A real sweet girl offered me her spray SPF when she saw me trying to work in my thick white SPF 50 Baby and not get any on my brace*. (Ha!) A few nice ladies asked me where I bought my blanket.  (From a Thirty-one party, cotton/fleece on one side, water resistant nylon on the other, folds up and closes with velcro, has a handle and a pocket!)  I just felt a lot more kindness from others when I was by myself than I ever felt in a large group or as part of a couple.

A lot of older folks at this festival.  It feels like some strange societal reversal when the younger generation is the majority and more dominant, and the older generation is so sparsely represented and submissive to a younger generation.

*On a side note, I need advice on how to clean my brace.  Dirt is everywhere at the festival, coating shoes, feet, ankles, bags, phones, and yes, braces (but not the type in your mouth).  My brace is coated in sweat, dirt, sunscreen lotion, and a little garlic aioli sauce from my tots.

Labels: be positive, be present, be the good, books, find the good, library books, live shows, reading, reading challenge, reading list, Shaky Knees

On my quest to read more, grow more, I have come across several articles on the next to read books coming out in 2018.  One that I am looking forward to is Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles.  I found out about it and marked MUST READ on January 5th, but realized later in the month that it wouldn't come out until March.

Well that has not stopped me from stalking my library system's website for news on this book.  And I am so glad it didn't.  Tonight I found the book listed as ON ORDER!!!!!!! So I placed a hold for it, expecting to see that I was the 17th-25th person reserving it and I would get a chance to read it by the summer.  But, ALAS, my position in the queue is NUMBER ONE!!!!! I am going to be the first library patron to read this book!  I've never been a first like this before.  I've looked up the book details on a few books to see how many check-outs it's had when it feels too new to be read even once (8 or 11 check-outs, but I don't think they even cracked the spine, who are these so called readers??!?).

It won't be easy reading this book, but it's premise is too common in our country.  I've struggled over  the shootings and killings of young black men in our country.  It seems like it shouldn't keep happening, that there should be a system in place to prevent it, and yet people are still dying.  Young people.  Old people. Innocent people.  This book stands out for many reasons and so does it's author.  Jay is only 22.  I am obviously jealous of this accomplishment, but also really excited to see someone so young excel in literature.  It's such an inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, I just finished Practical Magic.  I loved the movie and struggled therefore with the book since it went in a few different directions. Also I hate when books don't have real chapters, but have 100+ page "sections."  One thing I loved though were all the passages at the beginning of the sections.  Here is my favorite from the end:

Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder.  Keep rosemary by your garden gate.  Add pepper to your mashed potatoes.  Plant roses and lavender, for luck.  Fall in love whenever you can. (Hoffman 1995)

Labels: inspiration, Jay Coles, library books, new books, read more, reading list, Tyler Johnson Was Here

I know I said 50 books in a year was ridiculous, but some of my favorite parts of this past year were discovering new authors and books.  So I kept my reading challenge at 50 books for new year.

I thought about what I said about being more social and lowering it to like 40 books, but I figured I would get upset with myself when I pass 40 for not believing in myself.  So I am believing in myself....and my obsession with books.

I have not picked up my newest book on tape yet, but I am reading three books this week.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  A really short book that really makes you think.  A very slow read because it is so thought provoking.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.  YA Fantasy about a book loving guy in another world (?)  (to be determined) that goes after a lost city.  It's pretty thick, hoping it's a good page turner for the weekend!

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter.  I like her as an actress so I want to see how her mind works creating characters in print.  Girl has to face past when she returns home. Has potential but I put it down after the first or second page because I wasn't connecting with the language.  I just don't think it's best after a long work day.  If I have any more trouble I might just check out the book on tape.

Labels: be positive, books, books on tape, Krysten Ritter, Laini Taylor, reading, reading challenge, reading list, Ta-Nehisi Coates

I was never the biggest George Harrison fan before my late twenties. Looking back I can see how underexposed I was to most of his tracks.  There is something that pulls me to Only a Northern Song in a much different way than While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something.  I'm not big on psychedelic music, and admittedly the song isn't very beautiful, but it is a beacon of well channeled righteous rage.

Apparently George loved gardening and goes on about it in his autobiography.  Seems like something my library system should have.  A nice start to my 2018 Reading Challenge.  I'm thinking about going down to 40 books for this challenge.  It's closer to 3 books a month instead of 50 and would make it easier for me to travel more and do more next year without getting behind on my progress.  The competitive part of me wants to keep it at 50.  Reading feeds my brain.  Books are little pots of gold.  Occasionally, coal.

Back to The Beatles, because apparently I am turning Libby into a Beatles blog.  Maybe "The Month of Beatlemania."  Except I am obsessed and on a theme so it will be more like The Fab Four Months of Beatles Posts.

Sirius.fm has a little ol' website where you can submit your favorite four songs.  My Fab Four.  They don't go into the specifics, but they are choosing entries from celebrities and normal folk and playing them during a segment they call My Fab Four. Each person has an introduction to their list and at least one or two other clips about the songs they've chosen.

myfabfour.net which takes you to:

http://blog.siriusxm.com/tell-us-your-my-fab-four-songs-and-you-might-get-heard-on-the-beatles-channel/

I am going to compile a hundred playlists before I can figue out what my fab four are.  I am just so indecisive.  What are yours?

Labels: gardening, George Harrison, MY Fab Four, ramblings, reading challenge, reading list, The Beatles, The Beatles Channel on Sirius FM

Found a gem in a YA book to ponder over. The book is called The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon.

"Human beings are not reasonable creatures. Instead of being ruled by logic, we are ruled by emotions. The world would be a happier place if the opposite were true," (Yoon 47).

Like logically I would have gone to bed early, had my dad drive me to work so that I would be early & catch up on my work there. Instead I stayed up organizing my email & creating a host packet and wound up tired as hell this morning. And yes, my parents are driving me to and from work while I'm in the cast. I can't turn my wrist and so my reaction time with my left hand is too slow to keep up with the aggressive drivers on my commute.

Anyway, I am all emotion. Even my memory is emotion based rather than fact based. Would logic all the way make me happier though? If logic incites happiness, an emotion, can it really be said it rules without it?

Labels: books, emotions, literary quotes, logic, Nicola Yoon, reading, reading challenge, reading list, The Sun is Also a Star