Posh

I spend a lot of time on Poshmark as a seller and a shopper.

So many people include useless information like what to pair it with or what season it’s good for. The only thing more useless is including links to websites. Those don’t work and have never worked. It’s just a waste of characters.

If you want to make a little passive income, here’s my take on my side hustle.

Measurements

Put measurements in the description. If it’s a top, measure the chest. If it’s a skirt, length from the waist. Dresses measure from shoulder to hem. The question with pants is always the inseam.

Fabric

What’s the material? Does it have stretch? Jersey or poplin style? Wicking or just polyester?

Relevant details

What are the care instructions? Dry clean, line dry, etc. Does it have pockets? Are they functional? Buttons, zips, or hooks? Elastic anywhere? Stains, rips, or other flaws? How much have you worn it? Does anyone in the house smoke? Any animals in the house?

Irrelevant Details

I don’t care how you styled it. I don’t care if you got compliments on it. I don’t care if you think it’s cute, trendy, or a ‘must-have.’ I don’t need your suggestions or opinions. Include relevant details or STFU.

‘Think About Me’

I’ve seen way too many people talk about the cut Poshmark takes and their profits. We’re all on here. We know how it works. Your cash flow is not anyone else’s concern.

Links

They don’t work. They have never worked and probably never will. They’re a waste of characters. Give enough details for people to use their Google-fu and move on.

Halloween Reads I’ve Read

Behold, my recommended reading for Halloween!

All of these are spooky stories specific to Halloween. There’s something extra special about Halloween scares and horror is great any time of year.

These are only books I’ve read and liked. Don’t see your favorite? Mention it in the comments.

Read

The Gates by John Connolly

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow

Halloween edited by Paula Guran

Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

These are Halloween reads I’d like to read but haven’t had the pleasure.

TBR

Doorbells at Dusk edited by Josh Malerman

Doctor Who: Forever Autumn by Mark Morris

Doctor Who: Tales of Terror

October Dreams edited by Richard Chizmar

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Halloween Party by Agatha Christie

Stay spooky friends.

Breaking Up with Josh Malerman

TMALSS, his books aren’t for me. I’ve tried several and I have only enjoyed one. He has solidified his writing into one I genuinely don’t enjoy.

Bird Box

So creepy, so spooky, so good. The only book of his I’ve genuinely liked.

Black Mad Wheel

I liked the concept but was meh about the execution. It didn’t leave a lasting impression so I can’t give you details.

Unbury Carol

This book lied to me. ‘It’s a retelling of sleep beauty but only her husband knows about her periodic comas. He wants her dead and plans to bury her alive.’ Great premise.

That gets undone immediately when we find out someone else knows about her affliction. Will he get there in time to save the day? Doesn’t matter. A deus ex machina renders all of the tension moot anyway.

Inspection

I was so. Fucking. Bored. Another one where I loved the concept but nothing really happened for the longest time. Cut out all of the mediocre, unnecessary waxing poetic and the action is nonexistent. I hit a point where I just skimmed to see what happened.

Malorie

Returning to the terrifying world that started it all. This was my last shot for him. If this couldn’t make it work for us, nothing would.

Let’s interrupt the action by prattling on about the past and feelings and a bunch of other crap that is wholly irrelevant to the action happening right the hell now. I think this book would lose 100 pages if that nonsense got trimmed down. It also distracts you from how not good the dialogue is so I guess it has a purpose.

I was bored and genuinely hated reading this book. Just tell me what’s fucking happening. We do not need to waste text pretending to do a deep dive about feelings every third paragraph. Let the action happen then let people be introspective later. Malerman doesn’t have the talent to make his characters genuinely introspective so he just repeats himself a lot and hope it works.

I got about halfway through then decided to see if I could find spoilers on the internet. I did. I can safely say this was a better use if my time.

Casual Challenge Update

Progress has been made! I think it helps that I have an infant, not a toddler. He can’t get very far and is easy to anchor in one place. This fact is rapidly changing so expect some drop off.

2020 Challenge

• Author is a POC – The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
• Book in a city that hosted the Olympics – The Hate U Give
• Author is LGBT+ – Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
• Celebrity memoir – Open Book by Jessica Simpson
• Library book – The Return by Rachel Harrison
• Graphic novel – Leaves on the Wind by Zack Whedon

The graphic novel picks up where the movie Serenity ended. An excellent continuation of the story. I don’t recall if Hate explicitly says it’s in L.A. but you know it is meant to be.

PopSugar

• Book about a book club – The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
• Book with a map – The City We Became
• Same title as unrealted movie – Pale Rider
• Robot, cyborg, or A. I. – Summer Frost
• Three word title – Midnight in Chernobyl
• By a woman of color – Emergency Skin
• Pink cover – The Return
• Book in a series with 20+ books – Imitation in Death
• Protagonist in their 20s – Home before Dark

I listened to the audiobook of City but saw in the physical copy, there’s a map in the end pages. I’m using N. K. Jemisin twice but she’s a fantastic writer and fits for multiple categories.

Book Riot

• Sci-fi/fantasy novella – Every Heart a Doorway
• Romance with a single parent – One to Watch

I’m reaching for the romance one but the protagonist dates a single dad so I’m counting it.

Professional Book Nerds

• LGBT+ author – Every Heart a Doorway
• No traditional formatting – One to Watch

Watch was a mix of typical fiction with relevant social media posts like podcast transcriptions, tweets, etc. More rule bending but I’m a new mom and the world is on fire so #sorrynotsorry

Modern Mrs. Darcy

• Outside Genre Comfort Zone – Midnight in Chernobyl
• 3 books by the same author – Purity, Imitation, and Portrait in Death

Chernobyl is out of my comfort zone in that it was an audiobook about science in Russia. Fascinating tale though. I could also argue for The Boy Next Story since I’m not usually into romance or PG stories but the classic literature aspect really speaks to me.

Reading Glasses

• Romance – The Boy Next Story
• Author is a woman of color – The City We Became
• Review a book on GoodReads, Amazon, etc. – Several
• Donate a book – Prison project

For the reviews, if I gave it a full review here, I basically copied and pasted it to GoodReads. I was inspired by Mallory and sent 2 boxes of paperbacks to my regional prison book project.