I have to be honest that I really struggled to find writing inspiration to be here this month. I would say that this is a great time to hunker down and read, but really, it's just a great time to hunker down and do whatever entertains you from the safety of your couch. If it …
Category: Arts
Books, February 2020
Spring forward. Land on a pile of books. Read them all. Book of the month: Beloved, Toni Morrison * One of the great benefits of book club is that it pushes me to read books I wouldn't have chosen for myself (or, in this case, pushes a book to the top of my absurdly long …
Books, January 2020
It has rained. 29 days. In January. (No, I do not want to curl up all cozy with a book. I want to sit outside with a book.) Book of the month: Bad Blood, John Carreyrou If this was a movie, I'd say the plot was too outlandish and the writers should go back and …
Halloween Science 2019: Witches of Macbeth
I brewed up a video, just for you. Missed my Halloween science talk in October, or just want to watch it again? Here is my talk and selected questions. Thanks for joining me at Pacific Science Center for the last four years! https://youtu.be/r3GGCkXgh-o
A year in books, 2019
It's been another great year in books. Thanks for coming along with me! It's been a big year in reading and I have some updates to share before I make the awards you're here for. Or jump to the award winners. Happy bookiversary to me! It's been five great years in reading by the numbers, …
Books, December 2019
Finally, the solstice has passed and the days of reading outside are no longer getting further away! Book of the month: The Ghurka and the Lord of Tuesday, Saad Z. Hossain * The Lord of Tuesday is a djinn who has just awoken from a thousand year cursed sleep to find most other djinn have …
Books, November 2019
It's too cold and dark to do anything outside. NO TIME FOR RAIN. ONLY BOOKS. Book of the month: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic, Emily Croy Barker What a terrible title for a wonderful book! Nora, a graduate student in English, accidentally falls through a portal to another world where she is enthralled …
Books, October 2019
Stay tuned for a very special book surprise coming in December! (If I say it out loud, then I'll get it done. Right?) Book of the month: The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson Hill House is THE ghost story of the 20th century and a perfect atmospheric Halloween read (despite the fact that it …
Books, September 2019
September's book bounty leads to October's challenge: review all these books in just two sentences each. I hoped brevity would be the soul of wit, but instead, just exacerbated my tendency to misuse parentheses. Book of the month: The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller * When I say that The Song of Achilles was nearly …
Books, August 2019
Seattle Public Library's summer book bingo 2019 is ended at Labor Day... and I got blackout! It's not just about reading the 24 books (actually 23 this year) to complete the board: since most books could count for multiple squares, it's about working out the best placement for each title. I had to fill it …