Bees, You Don’t Know Earth’s Crazy Pollinators
The Bees by Laline Paull
I used to think I knew what bees were about. Little buzzy insects whose life purpose is to gather pollen, make honey, and protect their queen who keeps pumping out replacement bees. While all of this is true, I had no idea the socio-implications that brew under the surface of every bee hive. The Bees by Laline Paull does a fantastic job of bringing you into the world of bees and for the first time you see just what the world is actually like for them.
A Smart Re-imagined Fairytale
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
My previous encounter with a retelling of a fairytale left me feeling as though molten anger was seeping from every pore. I honestly thought it would be a while before I trusted myself to try another. Thankfully, I listen to The Overdue Podcast and they were able to convince me that Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik was not only a great retelling but just a great story overall. Because of this it was one of my first selections for my BoTM subscription.
When The Third Policeman Tells You About a Bicycle
The Third Policeman: A Novel by Flann O’Brien
There are books that exist to confuse and bemuse and I find it a treat whenever I encounter just such a book. The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien was not at all what I had expected and I mean that in a good way…I think.
February BoTM & Gallifrey One Haul (Book Mail #4)
It is such a cliche to say that it’s been a rough two weeks, but for me it has been a rough two weeks.
Two weeks ago I attended the Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One in Los Angeles and if you are a Doctor Who fan and have never been to this amazing experience I would suggest re-evaluating your priorities and try to attend next year. It truly is the place to be for all American fans of the beloved BBC show.
Following that terrific weekend I was put out with a hard case of Con Crud (the cold that proceeds a non-stop nerd convention). To be honest I am still not completely over it, coughs linger. This is the main reason that the last two weeks have been rough, that and other personal reasons that I won’t go into here.
The point I am trying to make is that during this two week time period I have acquired a stack of books and I now have the energy to post and share them with you.
January Book of the Month! (Book mail #3)
It was at the end of the Month of December that I finally decided that I was going to join a book subscription service, just to see what I would get out of it besides a pile of books. This was of course before the Marie Kondo “30 books” controversy, but I don’t think I’ll let this get too out of hand…I hope.
The premise of Book of the Month is, each month they give you a selection of books and each month you get 1 credit towards any of the books you want. You then can add on additional books either from the current month’s selection or from previous months. They then pack those beauties in a box and ship them to you! It’s like my dream service to be honest.
One of the best things though is that they give you a selection of books that are about to be released. It’s like you get dibs on books before everyone else (though I think the difference in receiving them is roughly a couple of days).
I had been going to their website for a while, but never was quite ready to take that next step and sign up for the service. That changed in January when I had to announce my GoodReads reading goal and decided in order to meet and potentially surpass that goal, I needed many books to choose from. (This is a straight up excuse, I have unread books currently on my shelf, just waiting for me).
Out Of The Woods: A Book Mail Special
I wasn’t intending to have book mail so quickly into the new year, but some times special things happen. My SO a few months prior had backed a project on Kickstarter with the intention of gifting it to me for our anniversary. Needless to say, as with all things Kickstarter,things did not go according to plan.
This is how I ended up receiving my anniversary gift over 6 months later…
The Alehouse at the End of the World by Stevan Allred
**A thank you to Net Galley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review**
WARNING: Sexual imagery that can potentially leave you, the reader, baffled.
In a long ago era a book such as The Alehouse at the End of the World by Stevan Allred would be one to marvel at. We would pick through its interesting nuisances and hidden comedic breath, hoping to come out the other end with something we could take away from the experience. This, however, is the year 2018 and all I can say is, why oh why was this book written now?
Allow me a brief moment of generalization as I say that this book at its heart is misogynistic, sexist, and unnecessarily crude to the point of ridiculousness. Underneath the fable lies the need to tell meaningless cock, fart, and poop jokes like a caveman who just discovered civilization. I did not take anything intellectual away from this, instead feeling as one does after watching all the movies in the American Pie catalog; dirty and brain dead.
Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones
There isn’t much to the formula of a decently read biography or autobiography. For me, the main thing is to not take yourself or the person so seriously and please please please do not gloss over the dramatic or possibly not so great things they have done, if you do you won’t have a very interesting story left. We all know no one is perfect and to try to write a story about a person like they are can drag very quickly regardless of who the person was. I grew up with all things Jim Henson and up until I picked up The Biography by Brian Jay Jones there was a lot I didn’t realize about his career and his personal life.
I should have enjoyed this book more than I did and all I can say is, the author should have simply let Jim Henson be human.
Malian Kinkeliba Chai by Oya Tea
It’s no secret that my favorite time of year is coming up and while most would probably call me basic for loving the autumn season I have always been an autumn child. In my 30 years of living this has been a true constant and I don’t see it ever changing. One of my dreams is to move to a place with actual changing leaves as my current home provides not even a tri-colored fallen leaf to keep me sated. All I can do is look out my window hoping for gray skies, orange trees, and a crisp wind as I cuddle with a warm cup of tea.
Last night I was ready for a warm cup partly for the satisfaction it brings me and also because I wanted something to help me sleep as that has been an issue as of late. I dug through some of my boxes and right after I proclaimed aloud that “I need one BIG tea box to organize these,” I pulled a caffeine free tea out from my May Sipsby box.
August Sipsby Box Reveal!
Another month has come and gone and with it a new Sipsby box has arrived on my doorstep. Now I know that I am tragically behind in tasting/pairing these teas off, but I can’t help but be overjoyed at adding even more teas to my collection. Though this month will tragically only add 3 versus the standard 4 due to a recall that the great people at Sipsby were kind enough to inform me of. Despite that I will however still list the entirety of the box for fun.
