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My Reading Month: February
Hello! I “slowed down” this month in terms of reading, mostly meaning I listened to a few more audiobooks, and made it through fewer actual books. This was because I hit a slump with a few books that were tough to get through, and because it has just been a busy month. I have also been struggling because the political events of the past few months have left me feeling very raw, particularly as I look at who the media and the powers that be seem to want to tell stories about, and how blatant that can be and still be considered to be acceptable. I will likely have more…
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OF/BY/FOR ALL: An interesting look at diversity and representation
Recently, I watched a fascinating talk, given by the director of a museum in California, which talked about her experience bringing representation and inclusivity to her museum space, and the huge benefits that this effort brought to the organization and the surrounding community. OF/BY/FOR ALL is a movement that came from her work that seeks to help organizations find ways of doing this themselves. It is a longer video, but I encourage you all to check this out! Have a great week! If you are getting this update as an email, make sure you click the link to visit my site and you will be able to watch the video…
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My Reading Month: January
Last year, I started slow, but a stressful fall meant that I leaned into reading to keep myself sane, and I ended up finishing over 100 books in 2019. I don’t say this to brag because I do sometimes worry that the quantity of what I read can decrease the quality of my enjoyment. I feel ambivalent about it all, but the truth is, if I love a book, I love a book, no matter how quickly I read it, and that has to count for something. That reading momentum also meant that I finished the year feeling jazzed and motivated about reading, which is a wonderful feeling to have!…
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2020 Updates
Whoops, I’ve fallen off over the last few months, and for that I apologize! This year, one of my goals is to take the time to make this blog a little more regular, and to find a few ways to amplify even more voices. I wanted to update you all a little on my reading/story goals for 2020, and keep an eye out for some award updates (I’ve missed quite a few!) and book posts coming in the next few weeks Reading Goals: Every year, I participate in the Goodreads book challenge and in another challenge called 52 Books Around The Year that has a group on Goodreads. While they…
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My Reading Month: October
With the year wrapping up, I have been trying to tackle the last books on my Around the Year in 52 Books challenge, which has been difficult as many of them have be delving into the “classics”, which is a realm I dread. Sometimes these books lead to surprising and wonderful discoveries, but quite often I end up bored, and frustrated by archaic world views and writing that (at least to me) doesn’t hold up in today’s world. I feel like this is a challenging point of view, and I want to make it clear that there are classics that I absolutely LOVE, so this is not a blanket statement.…
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Book Award Round Up: Part 2: Women
Hello again! Today, I have a few book award details to wrap up, and these are some fun ones. The two awards I have to share with you today are special in that they are aimed at amplifying and supporting emerging authors through monetary grants and publicity. Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award This grant is intended to support the recipient in crime fiction writing and career development activities. She or he may choose activities that include workshops, seminars, conferences, and retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of the work. Winner: Jessica Martinez Jessica Martinez was the 2019 winner of this prize. Her novel-in-progress…
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Book Award Round Up: Part 1: Latino, Arab and Australian!
You have probably heard the buzziest book award news in the last week as Margaret Atwood and Bernadine Evaristo shared the Man Booker prize for only the 3rd time in the history of the UK’s most prestigious book award. This was fun news and I know that I personally loved seeing two female authors, including an author of color, get such a prestigious honor. However, book awards over the last few months have also highlighted the achievements of many more authors from around the world and I am excited to share them all with you – these awards are such a great way to be introduced to the best work…
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My Reading Month – September
I had one of the biggest reading months of the year this past month – albeit through a combination of short books, audiobooks and some graphic novels. I feel like the change in light helped too. It is so much easier to read in the mornings when I wake up in the dark and can read in front of a cozy fire curled up under a blanket with my morning tea. This month, I could share a lot with you, but I sort of want to just share this one really incredible and totally out of left field book that might be one of my favorites of the year. I…
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Audio-book Guilt
As a lifelong reader, I have struggled this year as I have found myself more and more drawn to audio-books. In my current lifestyle, I drive about an hour each day, and that combined with a stressful job means that I often just don’t have the energy to dedicate to reading an actual book. However, I have been spending my commute devouring hour after hour of audio-books and I have been loving them. But I struggle with what an audio-book actually “is”. I add these books to my Goodreads account, and technically they count towards my “books read”, but I don’t know if I am reading? Sure, what I am…
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Summer Genre Awards – The Hugos
This is the award I was the most excited for by far! Awarded by the World Science Fiction Society, the Hugo Awards are the Emmys of the Science Fiction and Fantasy community, with awards going to books, TV shows and more and winners being decided by members of the society, who are often readers. They were also the center of a controversy a few years ago in which a group of science fiction readers, self titled as the “Sad Puppies” hijacked the awards in an effort to promote a right-wing, anti-diversity agenda that aimed to remove the “political” and “message-fic” books by diverse authors and women that were “taking over”…
because stories are important
