April 17, 2020

An update (of a sort)

Hello friends. I had thought that it would be the perfect time to catch up on all of the unwritten reviews from 2019 while being isolated at home. In reality, it has been incredibly difficult for me to think coherently much less write anything approaching comprehension. That being said, I have continued to read and write down my thoughts on the books that I've read during this time with the idea of posting them eventually. I've even started making notes like "Read during the second week of self-isolation on a Monday." and "Finished in two days during the 4th week of self-isolation." You get the idea. As of today, I've read 9 books not counting a reread (The Neverending Story helped get me over the slump at the start) during this time. Seven of these books were nonfiction because it seems my brain could more easily absorb facts than the building of characters and fictional worlds.

Increasingly, I've felt guilty for not updating and doing more 'work' on the blog. I didn't want to seem 'unproductive' or 'lazy' while at home. I guess a lot of us feel that way right now. I do intend on getting back into the swing of things as it were but I also felt it was right and proper to give this little update so you know where I've been both literally and figuratively. (Not sure if figurative is used correctly there but my brain isn't willing to linger too heavily. I just mean to say I've literally been at home and figuratively my mind has been all over the place. Hope this translates and the over-explanation isn't make it worse. Now you can kinda see into my crazy brain for a bit.)

So that's where I'm at. Are you interested in what I've read so far during this time?

  • The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge and illustrated by Chris Riddell (bought for the cover)
  • Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
  • Stuffed Animals & Pickled Heads: The Culture of Natural History Museums by Stephen T. Asma
  • Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel by Michio Kaku
  • In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and illustrated by Jen Wang
  • So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
  • How to be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life by Ruth Goodman
  • The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock by Lucy Worsley
  • Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert
And I'm currently reading The Complete Mapp & Lucia: Volume One by E.F. Benson.

If you're feeling so inclined, please drop a comment below with some of the books you've read and what you're currently reading. :-)