Monthly Archives: April 2021

Book Review: Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle, Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

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Book: Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle, Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Published March 2015 by HMH Books For Young Readers|48 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: Children’s- Picture Books

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule—until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongós. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers, Drum Dream Girl tells an inspiring true story for dreamers everywhere.

This picture book was amazing!  Seriously, it was.  I didn’t realize it was a picture book when I got the e-book from the library, but the description is what got my interest.

It would have been nice to go with the print version for this one, mostly because the illustrations are absolutely beautiful.  I apparently don’t love picture books in e-book form, because it just wasn’t the same reading it on my phone.

It didn’t stop me from loving this book, and the story it tells.  It’s about how a young girl became a drummer- after practicing in secret and dreaming of the day she can become a drummer, she has the chance to drum in public.  And because of her, all children are able to drum.  It really is a great story, and I’m going to have to read more about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, who inspired this story.

5 stars.  This book was so cute, with great illustrations and a great story.

Book Review: Beezus And Ramona by Beverly Cleary

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Book: Beezus And Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Published June 2000 (originally published June 1955) by Oxford University Press|160 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Ramona Quimby #1

Genre: Children’s Contemporary

Nine-year-old Beezus Quimby has her hands full with her little sister, Ramona. Sure, other people have little sisters that bother them sometimes, but is there anyone in the world like Ramona? Whether she’s taking one bite out of every apple in a box or secretly inviting 15 other 4-year-olds to the house for a party, Ramona is always making trouble–and getting all the attention. Every big sister can relate to the trials and tribulations Beezus must endure. Old enough to be expected to take responsibility for her little sister, yet young enough to be mortified by every embarrassing plight the precocious preschooler gets them into, Beezus is constantly struggling with her mixed-up feelings about the exasperating Ramona.

After hearing that Beverly Cleary passed away, I knew I had to re-read the Ramona books.  I really liked them as a kid and I’m glad that I picked this one.  I’ll definitely be working my way through the series, so you’ll be seeing some Ramona reviews!

I really enjoyed this one.  I can picture how frustrated Beezus was, and Ramona is definitely exasperating.  But even though this book was published decades ago, the relationships hold up.  I’m an only child, so I can’t relate to having a sibling like Ramona, and I have no idea what it’s like to have a sibling.  But I liked their relationship, and I’m definitely more of a Beezus than a Ramona.

Still, this book is pretty delightful, and I liked the trouble Ramona got herself into.  I like that they’re both just kids.  Granted, I read a lot of YA, where the characters have to deal with things like taking down the government or magic or whatever else they end up dealing with.  Children’s books are a completely different thing, of course, but Ramona and Beezus are just kids.  They’re allowed to be kids.  Their parents are not just mentioned, but we see them.  I love the everyday life that we see in this book, and it was just so nice to read.

4 stars.  I really enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait to read the next book!

2021: A Year Of Learning

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I’m not going to lie, it’s really weird to talk about my word of the year a few months into the year.  Better late than never, after all.  But here we are, four months into the year, talking about what I want to focus on.

I really hope it goes better than last year, when my plan to embrace creativity fell apart.  After everything that happened last year, it was hard to focus on anything.  I mean, a pandemic, starting school and a lot of changes at work…it’s a wonder I was able to get anything done!

But that was last year!  It’s a new year and there’s plenty of time to get things done.

This year, I just want to learn! 

Being in school really helps with learning.  How could it not?  I feel like, being in school at 34, I have a much better idea of who I am, what I’m interested in, and why I’m there, compared to when I was in college right out of high school.  I want to take all of the things, because there are a lot of classes that sound absolutely cool, so it will be quite the assortment of classes.

And I know that they all fall into graduation requirements, but there are a lot of classes that I’ll probably take because I want to, and not just because I need to.  If I could be in school forever, I would!  I’d be that vampire with a ton of degrees, probably.

On a super random note, I finished an intercultural communications class recently, and I am really glad I took it!  I learned a lot about communication, especially about communicating with people from other cultures.  There are a couple of links I wanted to share, because they were really interesting to look at and go through.

One is a white privilege check.  While I wasn’t surprised that my answers were yes all the way down, I do know that I need to act, and not just think.  On a related note, taking these hidden biases tests were also really informative.  It’s a really good starting point to see how you’re biased, even though you don’t realize how you’re biased.

It is pretty vague, though.  A few months into the year, and I’m still not completely sure what it is I want to learn, and how I’m going to do it.  On the one hand, it’s going to be hard to focus on specific things because I can’t completely pinpoint what it is I want to learn.  I feel like not having some specific things to focus on will mean that I won’t have some starting points.  But I also like that it’s vague, because it leaves it open-ended.  If I find a rabbit-hole I want to go down, I will go down that rabbit-hole.

I don’t want to stress out over it, though.  I want it to be fun, not stressful.  I like learning!  It makes me happy to learn something new, and I get really excited when I learn something new.  So fun and natural, not forced and stressful.

There are a couple of things I specifically wanted to focus on this year:

  1. I plan on reading at least one non-fiction book each month, and so far, I’m doing pretty good with that.  It’s a good starting point, and maybe I’ll actually read more than one non-fiction book a month.  I’m not ruling it out, but one is definitely manageable!  I have a ton of books to choose from too, so picking something new won’t be hard at all!
  2. I also want to learn a new craft.  A few months into the year, and I still haven’t decided what that will be.  I could learn how to embroider, do cross-stitch, draw, paint, sew or knit.  The possibilities are endless, but a new craft would be fun, even if it’s not a permanent part of my life the way crochet is.  It could be, and I won’t know until I try.  I actually have to do, though, instead of thinking about it.

I’m excited about all of the possibilities- whether it’s from a book, from school, or something else entirely, it will be really nice to focus on something I really love.  The last year has really got me thinking about making learning a priority.

That’s all for today!

I’ll see you next time,

Book Review: Admission by Julie Buxbaum

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Book: Admission by Julie Buxbaum

Published December 2020 by Delacorte Press|352 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

It’s good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer. She’s headed off to the college of her dreams. She’s going to prom with the boy she’s had a crush on since middle school. Her best friend always has her back, and her mom, a B-list Hollywood celebrity, may finally be on her way to the B+ list. It’s good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer–at least, it was, until the FBI came knocking on her front door, guns at the ready, and her future went up in smoke. Now her mother is under arrest in a massive college admissions bribery scandal. Chloe, too, might be facing charges, and even time behind bars. The public is furious, the press is rabid, and the US attorney is out for blood.

As she loses everything she’s long taken for granted, Chloe must reckon not only with the truth of what happened, but also with the examination of her own guilt. Why did her parents think the only way for her to succeed was to cheat for her? What did she know, and when did she know it? And perhaps most importantly, what does it mean to be complicit?

This was an interesting book!  I wasn’t sure about it, but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

So, this book is a take on the whole college admissions scandal from a couple of years ago.  It focuses on Chloe, who has to deal with the fall-out of what her parents did.  That part was interesting to me, seeing the aftermath of what happened.  Seeing what she knew and when she knew it…the pieces were there, but it took her opening the door to the FBI to put everything together.

This book has two different timelines- before her mom was arrested and after she was arrested.  The dual timeline was done okay.  I didn’t love it, but I think it’s the best way to tell the story.  You see Chloe struggle with what her parents want, even though it doesn’t necessarily match up with what she wants.  There was so much pressure on her, and it makes me grateful that I didn’t have that kind of pressure to deal with.

What her parents did was pretty horrible.  I know they want the best for her, and wanted things to be easy for her.  Easier for her than things were for them.  But it really was like they thought she couldn’t do it on her own, and had to bribe their way into a college acceptance letter.  Their lack of confidence and pressure…I feel like that’s part of why she’s insecure.  I hate that they got time accommodations, even though she didn’t need them.  It was infuriating to read in this book, the way it was infuriating to hear about it in real life.

Then there’s the fact that they didn’t even tell her they knew an arrest was coming for her mom.  She ends up talking to some of the other kids who were wrapped up in the scandal, and they all knew what was going to happen.  I don’t know, maybe they thought they were protecting her.  It doesn’t make it okay, and I’m curious about how they thought they were going to explain what was going on.

She’s pretty privileged, obviously, and I remember being so angry after the real-life scandal broke.  It didn’t seem like college was a good fit for Chloe, at least right away, because she was so unsure about what she wanted to do.  But because of this pressure to go to college right out of high school, she winds up finding out what her parents did to get her there.  She does figure it out, and I really hope that this is a turning point for her in recognizing how privileged she is, and how she has a lot of opportunities that others, like her friend Shola, don’t have.

It was hard to like Chloe and her mom.  Her mom, especially, because she thinks she can fight the charges against, and can’t accept that there are consequences for her actions.  She was definitely in denial for most of the book.  It was a little hard to like her dad, though I don’t feel like we got enough of him for me to have stronger feelings either way.

The one I felt really bad for was her sister.  I have to say, she was right when she talked about how hard it was going to be for her because of what her parents did for Chloe.  I hope college isn’t horrible for her but I feel like people are going to question her place there now.  Her parents were so busy trying to buy Chloe’s way into college that they didn’t think about how it would affect Isla.

Honestly, it felt like they didn’t care about Isla at all.  At least, not the way they thought about Chloe.  The comments about Chloe were horrible, and while I don’t know what kind of comments were directed towards Isla, I can imagine what Isla got was only a fraction of what Chloe dealt with.  Still, it won’t be easy for her after all of this.

3 stars.  I liked it, and though most of Chloe’s family was frustrating, it was an interesting read.

Currently Obsessed With: March 2021

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I can’t believe we’re in April already!  I also can’t believe we’ve been dealing with COVID for a year now.  Where has the time gone?  It’s been the longest but fastest year.

Here’s what March 2021 looked like.  I have to say, it was a pretty good month.  Busy, but good!

Inspired by:

  • Discussion posts.  It’s random, but I’ve learned a lot from some of the discussion posts in my classes.  Particularly my communications class, because we were encouraged to do interactive posters, slide shows and portfolios.  I particularly liked Canva, and I’ve been playing around with it for random Instagram posts and blog graphics.

Watching:

  • The Unlisted.  This show was creepy but in a good way.  The government is trying to control all of the kids, some of whom are hiding, trying to stop different governments from controlling all of them.
  • Invisible City.  This was different!  A murder investigation turns into a discovery that there’s this whole mythical world that we don’t notice.  It
  • Ginny & Georgia.  If you like Gilmore Girls, this is the show for you!  It has an interesting mother-daughter relationship, and I’d like to see what’s in store for both of them.  I don’t know if there’s going to be a 2nd season, but I hope so!
  • Zero Chill.  There’s a lot of drama, but I really liked this one!  I actually felt for Kayla, because her brother’s hockey career was way more important to the family, and it seemed like her ice-skating wasn’t as important.
  • iZombie.  I haven’t watched the final season, and decided to re-watch the show from the beginning as a refresher.  It’s a fun show and it’s pretty entertaining.

Reading: 

  • Audio books.  I’ve been re-listening to some audio books.  It’s nice, because I don’t have the energy to engage with something new, but I still want someone talking at me.  It’s nice that I can have them on in the background and come into the story at random times.

Thinking About:

  • Quotes/Quote Notebook.  Months and months ago, I started writing down quotes that I really liked in some of the books I was reading.  I haven’t done it ages, mostly because I haven’t been reading a lot, but also because I haven’t really come across anything that I really wanted to write down.  But I have pulled out this notebook for the first time in a while, and it’s nice to do it again!
  • Organizing my desk at work.  I moved to a different office at work a couple months ago, and then switched to the other desk when that opened up.  I really need to get it organized because of the papers and forms I have.  I know where stuff is, but I’d like it to be a little more organized.

Dream Life:

  • Making tea.  That’s all I remember from this particular dream.
  • Going to Disneyland.  I’m really glad I went to Disneyland before it closed last year.  Maybe I’ll make it back up there one day!

Listening To:

  • In Defense Of Plants.  I’ve heard the host on This Podcast Will Kill You a few times, but never listened to his podcast until recently.  I’m glad I did.  I’m not a gardener, but plants are cool, and I get to learn about them through this podcast!
  • Periodic Talks.  This is a new podcast, and I’m glad I listen!  The hosts talk about different topics in the science world, like space and virtual reality.
  • Conspirituality.  It’s when right-wing conspiracy theories collide with the wellness world.  The episodes are pretty long, usually about an hour and a half to two hours, so I tend to listen to a segment or two at a time.  It’s different from what I usually listen to, but another one I’m glad I’m listening to.

Researching:

  • Gelada Monkeys.  Admittedly, this is for a report I have to do for biological anthropology.  But it was fun to research them, and I even made a trip to the zoo to see them.

Eating + Drinking:

  • Tea.  I love having a Sips By box, because of all of the teas I get to try!
  • Coffee.  Would you expect anything else from a blog called Reading Books With Coffee?  I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee that I got from Bones Coffee Company.  I don’t normally go for flavored coffee, but that’s a good portion of their selection.  It is really good coffee, and I’m glad I gave them a try!
  • Red beans and rice.  It’s always a good choice, and I haven’t had it in a while.
  • Oatmeal.  I’ve been trying to be better about eating breakfast, and oatmeal was something I ate quite a bit last month.

Grateful For:

  • Getting through the time change.  It was really hard this year, and I was exhausted for a week, no matter when I went to bed.
  • Podcasts!  I was in my office by myself for a couple of weeks and podcasts kept me company.

Good things:

  • I finished my communications class!  It was an 8 week class, so it was short and fast-paced but also a lot of work.  I did really well, though, and ended up with an A!
  • I went to the zoo!  Mostly to look at the gelada monkeys, since I wanted to see them in person.  And I have a membership, so I thought I’d use it, especially because the zoo has been closed for a while.  I was sore for two days, because of the hills, but I was glad I went.  I felt pretty safe, since everyone was wearing masks, social distanced, and got screened before coming in.  And I’m vaccinated, so that helped a lot.
  • I did yoga!  Not as much as I did in January and February, but it averaged out to a couple of times a week, so I’m at least sticking with my goal of doing yoga once a week.
  • I received the Botanica Tarot!  This was a Tarot deck I kick-started sometime last year, and it finally came.  It’s really pretty, and all of the other things that came with it are really pretty as well.  I would have been happy with just the deck, but it’s nice they were able to add in some nice extras!

That wraps up my monthly recap for March.

Stay safe,

Audio Book Review: Alpha by Rachel Vincent, Narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck

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Book: Alpha by Rachel Vincent, Narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck

Published October 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A.|Length: 12 hours, 37 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Shifters #6

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

The unscrupulous new Council chair has charged Jace, Marc and me with trespassing, kidnapping, murder and treason. Yeah, we’ve been busy. But now it’s time to take justice into our own hands. We must avenge my brother’s death and carve out the rot at the heart of the Council.

It’s not going to be easy, and loss seems unavoidable, but I have promised to protect my Pride, no matter what. With a target on my back and Marc at my side, I’m heading for a final showdown that can, that will change everything forever. A showdown I’m not sure I’m ready for.

But life never waits until you’re ready.

I really liked this one!  I’m sad to see this series end, but I’m also glad that I got to see how everything ended.

Faith has been through a lot in this series!  She’s lost some people, and unfortunately, this book had a loss I wasn’t expecting or was remotely prepared for.

She had a lot to deal with after everything that happened with her dad, and she really had to fight for her pride.  She did it, of course, though there were a lot of obstacles along the way.  I wasn’t surprised, and I hope things get at least a little better for her.  She needs things to go her way, in addition to having support from her friends and family.  She needs things to be normal.  Well, as normal as they’re going to get, which isn’t very normal, considering we’re talking about Faith.  But it seems like things will (hopefully) settle down enough for her.

The war wasn’t what I thought it would be.  There was action, of course, and I’m not completely sure what I was expecting, but I think it was something different than what we got.  At least things with certain council members got taken care of, and I think things are headed in a good direction.  A lot of changes are in store, but I think it’ll be good changes.  At least, I hope they’re good.  Things can’t keep going the way they are.

We finally got the Mark-Jace-Faith love triangle resolved, and I wasn’t surprised by who she ended up with.  I’m not enthused with it, though I’m not sure who I’d want for Faith.  It took her a while to figure out what she wanted, and it wasn’t an easy decision to make.  That, with everything else…I don’t know how she managed to take care of everything but she did.

Honestly, I would have been disappointed if the love triangle hadn’t been resolved.  Even though I didn’t love Faith and Mark, or Faith and Jace, I’m still glad we know where that stands.  Honestly, they both deserve better, but it’s not like we’re going to get a third, random choice thrown in.  It was always going to be one of them.

I’ve really liked Jennifer Van Dyck’s narration.  She did a great job giving Faith a voice, and she was a really good choice for this series.  I’m really glad I went with the audio, and it’s because of her!

4 stars.  This was a pretty good end to the series, and it was a great book (and series) to listen to!