January Wrap-Up and February TBR

January wasn’t a phenomenal reading month but I did OK

Cautionary Fables and Fairytales: Europe edited by Kel McDonald
The first book I finished in 2017, it’s an anthology of fairytales, some more traditional and others with a fun spin. A quick read I really enjoyed.

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
A darling of 2016, it deals with family, money, and all the fun complications of life at a variety of ages.

The Day of the Donald by Andrew Shaffer
A ridiculous look at what Trump’s presidency could have looked like if it was more funny and less sad. Definitely provided some much needed laughs.

House of M by Brian Michael Bendis
A Marvel Universe classic I found to be incredibly fascinating.

Stranger Here by Jen Larsen
A weight-loss surgery memoir that skimmed over Larsen’s troubled relationship with food and self-loathing. Compelling if you’ve ever been or are fat but not earth shattering.

February TBR

Negroland
It’s black history month so I’m going to read a memoir of a black person’s history.

This Is Why We Broke Up
A graphic story about a break-up

Good Riddance
A graphic memoir about divorce

Don’t Shoot the Dog
Because weddings are really friggin’ expensive, I won’t be diving into the world of professionally working with puppers until at least April. That gives me a little extra time to do some homework. I’ve heard from an actual dog traininer what a good resource this is.

I plan on trying to check off more categories in February but I don’t know which ones they’ll be. Hopefully that will make for an interesting wrap-up in 4 weeks.

Casual Challenge Update

Since I’m casually doing 4 other challenges this year, I thought I’d check in at the end of January. How am I doing so far?

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge

• 2016 Bestseller – The Nest (Advanced section)
• A title that’s a character’s name – The Day of the Donald
• Red spine – Stranger Here
• Mythical creature – Cautionary Fables and Fairytales

A nice start to a long list. I don’t know why but The Nest had been speaking to me. It had a great deal of hype and took a while to pick up but I really enjoyed it. I didn’t click that Stranger Here had a red spine until I was skimming my casual challenges to see if it fit for any. The same with Cautionary, I thought about it for a second and realized a singing harp and lake monster are pretty mythical.

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

• Debut Novel – The Nest
• Within 100 miles of my location – The Day of the Donald

The hometown/proximity shows up quite a bit but I don’t read a lot of books about my area. It was nice to finally be able to check that one off, even if it was spectacularly ridiculous.

52 Books in a Year

• A book with at least 2 perspectives – The Nest
• A category from another challenge – The Day of the Donald
• A book by an author you’ve never read before – Stranger Here
• A collection – Cautionary Fables and Fairytales

My January book about Jen Larsen’s journey with weight loss surgery was the first thing I’ve ever read by her. I have accomplished less than she had but never hated myself quite as much as she did.

Diversity Bingo

So far, no dice on this one. Reading this diversely isn’t easy.

I think after this month I’m going to aim for a bi-monthly update unless I have an extremely productive month. It would be nice to make some headway on Diversity bingo.

Music Monday: New Bands

Bands you probably haven’t heard of with music you might like.

Hope for the Future by Jillian Aversa
Tetris with Lyrics by Brentalfloss
Warriors by Coco and the Butterfields
Lost at Sea by The Sweater Set
Back to the Future by Daniel Tidwell
He’d Better Be Dead by Stealing Angels
Dove of Mine by Eliza Rickman
Polyesterday by Good San Juan
Just Like My Heart by Fault Lines
Skeleton Key by Dessa

Nerdy 30 Book #3

I’m cutting it a bit close but I’m checking off my book for January with Jen Larsen’s Stranger Here.

I’ve always been big, overweight, larger than life, or whatever polite term you prefer for fat. I know a good chunk of it is my own fault. I enjoy foods that are bad for me and don’t exercise enough. I make no excuses. A few years ago I saw a picture of myself, didn’t like how I looked and decided to do something about it. FHubs is a bit of a junk food enabler and I lost access to a work gym so the weight I lost came back to find me. I’m trying to fix it in time for the wedding.

Despite depression and not loving my weight, I never hated myself the way Jen Larsen did. I never pushed to see how much I could eat or how big I could get. I never reached the depth of her self-loathing. The older I get, the less I tolerate things in my life that aren’t serving me. I think part of why Larsen stayed in her unfulfilling relationship as long as she did was because she didn’t think well enough of herself to decide she deserved a relationship that worked.

There were moments before and after surgery that were painful to read because they were painful for Larsen to live. She needed to face her disordered relationship with food because surgery alone couldn’t fix that. If you’ve struggled with weight or had surgery, Larsen’s story should resonate very deeply with you.

Music Monday: There Will Be Blood

Last week had a subtle menace. This week we’re not screwing around. There will be blood!

Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2
Young Blood by Whitesnake
If You Want Blood by AC/DC
Bleed It Out by Linkin Park
Blood Brothers by Iron Maiden
Where’s the Blood by Delain
Hot Blooded by Foreigner
Crimson Wave by Tacocat
Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
Young Blood by Norah Jones

Women’s March and Nerdy 30 Activity #2 and Books 1-4

Saturday I participated in the Women’s March. It was surreal to know I was a part of the largest gathering in U.S. history, the largest global protest, and the first confirmed lie from the Trump Administration. It wound up being so much bigger than the organizers anticipated that we couldn’t really march.

Trump and his lackeys can pretend his inauguration had a better turnout but photos and metro ridership don’t lie. FFS, people in Antarctica were protesting. I remember Alicia Keys, Scarlett Johannson, and Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards. The signs were amazing and the fact that a gathering of this size garnered no arrests is beautiful.

We took over the city. WMATA was so slammed FHubs and I wound up at E Street Cinema and decided to take in a movie while things calmed down. After that, we headed to DuPont because I wanted to support a local business and buy a book that was empowering for women.

I know I’m supposed to be on a ‘no buy’ right now but I have no regrets about my purchases. I’m already 30 pages into the survival guide. Despite my distaste for politics, it’s time to get involved. When the going gets ugly, the women get nasty.

Nerdy 30 Activity #1

I had a mission to dress bookishly for a week. This was more difficult than I anticipated. My book cover skirt doesn’t fit at present so I had to get a bit more creative.

Tuesday I wore my Gryffindor cardigan.

Wednesday I wore my Archie comics hair bow.

Thursday I rocked my Scarlet Witch jacket.

Friday I wore the Harry Potter house necklace I made.

Saturday I wore this punny shirt.

Sunday I got cozy with my Deadpool winter sweater.

Monday I started a new week with my Deadpool cardigan.

I got a bit more liberal with comics since I don’t have that many articles of clothing that tie directly into books. Litograph has some amazing stuff but I’m remarkably pick about adding new things to my wardrobe. Bookish things that didn’t get worn that week were my I ❤ Books leather wrist cuff, my Cthulhu necklace, and my ‘I want adventure in the great wide somewhere’ tank top.

Bookish Mix Tape: The Day of the Donald

In honor of the inauguration of our new disaster in chief, I have a playlist inspired by Andrew Shaffer’s The Day of the Donald.

American Idiot by Green Day
Jezebel by The Drones
Fuck You by Lily Allen
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue by Toby Keith
Amerika by Rammstein
Deceptacon by LeTigre
Fight the Power by Public Enemy
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett
The Trees by Rush
Sex Kills by Joni Mitchell
Neighborhood Bully by Bob Dylan
When the President Talks to God by Bright Eyes

Hypocrisy and Lala

One of my favorite BookTubers just did one of my least favorite things. Twitter has blown up with the video from behind the scenes of A Dog’s Purpose. It’s of a German Shepherd being forced into churning water. Doggo is putting up a helluva fight to stay out of the water. Toward the end, the finally get the dog in the water and it goes under. It was cruel, horrible, and unnecessary.

What was also unnecessary was BooksandLala hijacking this story for her own cause.

I tried to point out that not all slaughter animals will have a poor quality of life. Her response was to ask me if that tiny percentage made the industry worth supporting. 

If this woman ever eats meat or feeds her husband and son meat, she’s a hypocrite. Even if they only buy the good stuff, most businesses don’t solely support ethical or sustainable solutions. I doubt Subway does but I know her family eats there. Even if the only eat the veggies there, they’re talking with their dollars and supporting a company that buys the ‘bad meat.’

She also has no pets that I know of. I’ve watched her channel quite a bit in the last year and I haven’t seen anything to indicate an affinity for livestock or cute fluffy animals.  

Lala used a video of a dog needlessly suffering to hype her own cause. She didn’t care about the dog or other animals harmed on film sets. She didn’t even have solutions to combat the evil meat industry. All Lala wanted to do was shame and judge other people.

If she can waste 2 tweets commandeering animal cruelty, she can offer a fucking solution. For her holier-than-thou attitude, she’d better be a vegetarian. With the disaster in chief swearing in on Friday, I’ve got enough hypocrites to worry about.

Edit: Layla’s family is vegetarian. It’s not obvious from her internet posts but she claims they are. Her issue was the number if people upset about a dog but ambivalent to the mistreatment of meat animals. That is a reasonable thing to find irksome.
However, that still gave her no right to cast judgment on anyone. Her posts were condescending, rude, ignored the suffering of a dog, and stroked her ego. I guess when you’re that high on your own righteousness, you aren’t interested in offering solutions. 

She’s entitled to her opinion and I’m entitled to think she’s full of it.

Music Monday: A Certain Sound

There’s a certain sound to all of these songs that I adore. It’s dramatic and has an undertone of menace. They don’t make your heart pound but rather encourage a slow build.

Born to Be Wild by J2
Bones by MSMR
Heathens by twenty-one pilots
Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde
Breath of Life by Florence + the Machine
Don’t Say a Word by Ellie Goulding
Castle by Halsey
The Ruler and the Killer by Kid Cudi
Ready Aim Fire by Imagine Dragons
Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups
Full Moon by The Black Ghosts