coping

Though I am working, and riding, these times are still unsettling.

To keep my brain occupied I’ve done crafts, and house projects, and I never turn on the TV (and very little social media). But when I feel overwhelmed I turn to the one activity I can always lose myself in…reading.

my reading corner, winter/spring 2020

My entire family reads voraciously, and always have. After chores for the weekend were done you could find each of us in a favorite spot with a book. Many discussions were had over the merits of characters or places in books that we all read. I have never left that behind, and the last two months have found me in my corner “library” chair, devouring many books. I’ve been reading new-to-me books, that I usually buy at the used book store or thrift store. But with all being closed I’m now digging into the old favorites too. I like the feel of actual books, no electronic books for me. I recently purged my library, and left myself with just ones I’ll read again, but luckily that is a lot!

I keep a running list on my phone with title, author and letter grade of everything I read (helps me when buying new books!). Here is what I’ve read in the last two months with very brief description/opinion. Have you read any of these, love or hate them? Anything sound interesting?

3/16/20: Heaven's Fall, David Goyer and Michael Cassutt, B
Final book in this decent sci-fi trilogy, not amazing but easy read.

3/18/20: The Enceladus Mission, Brandon Morris, C+
Concept and science good, but hated all the characters

3/19/20: Isaac’s Storm, Erik Larson, B
True story of a horrible natural disaster (1905 Galveston Texas hurricane), and the meteorologist who made some bad decisions

3/19/20: Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt, A
Classic of children’s literature, I still love it.

3/20/20: Orphan Train, Christina baker Kline, A-
An interesting fictional look into a true story I’d never heard of (orphans, many Irish, from cities being distributed throughout the midwest and adopted into servitude)

3/21/20: Alaskan Laundry, Brendan Jones, B-
Standard fiction, predicable plot, dumb predictable ending

3/22/20: A Million Open Doors, John Barnes, A
Love most of John Barnes sci-fi, this is different but very good.

3/24/20: Earth Made of Glass, John Barnes, B+
Sequel to the above, not as good, but pretty decent

3/27/20: Midworld, Alan dean Foster, A (re-read)
My all-time favorite light sci-fi book. If you’ve seen Avatar, this is where the ideas came from (and this is way better).

3/29/20: Seeds of Earth, Michael Cobley (first in humanity’s fire trilogy), C
I liked the premise of this sci-fi book better than the execution, don’t think I’ll read the rest of the series.

4/1/20: Robopocalypse, Daniel Wilson, B
Quick read and entertaining

4/5/29: Drowning Towers, George Turner, A
Loved this alternative future, seems scarily realistic

4/7/20: Tides of Light, Gregory Benford, B
Sci-fi, 4th in a series, interesting ideas, didn’t like it as well as the previous books.

4/10/20: The Nebula Awards 28, B
Mostly good, solid short stories

4/13/20: Insane City, Dave Barry, B
Silly as only Dave Barry can be, entertaining

4/17/20: The Lost City of Z, David Grann, A-
Amazing true story of crazy south American/Amazon adventuring (don’t watch the movie, not half as good as the book)

4/18/20: Eternity Road, Jack McDevitt, B+ (re-read)
Apocalyptic future, entertaining, needed a horse person to help him, as one horse is described as a "chestnut gray."

4/19/20: The Last Policeman, Ben Winters, A (re-read)
4/20/20: Countdown City, Ben Winters, A (re-read)
4/22/20: World of Trouble, Ben Winters, A (re-read)
World-is-ending mystery trilogy, great read, Edgar-winning, but maybe not the best for right now, a bit depressing

4/24/20: The Stars My Destination, Alfred bester, B
Vintage sci-fi, a bit weird

well worn and well loved favorites

4/26–now, on the last book:  (re-read)
Farseer Trilogy: Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin’s Quest
Tawny Man trilogy: Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, Fool’s Fate
Fitz and Fool trilogy: Fool’s Assassin, Fool’s Quest, Assassin’s Fate
Robin Robb, A
This is my favorite fantasy series, I re-read this every few years. Great characters, world-building, and animals too. (There are 7 other books in the series, which you have to read before the final trilogy, but I've read them all enough to just read my favorites!)

What are you reading? Or how are you coping?

Jack keeps me company in the other library chair