This is another book I picked up through my NetGalley membership. I’d thoroughly enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series (and reviewed Soulless, Timeless, Heartless, Changeless, and Blameless on my blog), so even though this new series falls into the YA genre, it carries over enough of the steampunk world-building and even a few of the … Book Review: Etiquette & Espionage
I’m sure my friends in Boston have said this already (and earned it!) but all the overload of the past few months finally tipped me over into … doing nothing. The quote from Zen to Zany seems appropriate, because this week my brain shut down. It forced me to act on having had enough already. … Enough Already
My author friend Jane Isaac nominated me for a Lovely Blog Award earlier this week. Since I need a writing exercise that keeps my keyboard fingers limber, I figure seven facts you (may or may not) know about me should constitute a simple challenge in my brain-dead state. (The rules indicate listing 7 facts and … Lovely Blog Award
I’m beginning to wonder exactly when the pile-on of obligations will subside… Somehow I had imagined I’d have all this extra time left over now that I’ve completed my MBA. Instead, I feel like I’m in a dead sprint that has no end. We’re just about to start work on a new account this week … Brain Mush
I got this title through my membership at NetGalley because I was intrigued by the cross-cultural perspective of a second-generation South Asian young woman facing the summer before her senior year. I hoped the immersion in the Indian-American point of view would take me past the very young voice the author imbued in her protagonist, … Book Review: Born Confused
The problem with seeing tragedy down the road is that you must nonetheless experience the full fruition of that pain. Mom lost her 7-year-old girl just three weeks after she’d been the picture of health to the extent that she’d taken her to be bred. We were expecting puppies, not death. And yet, Lara passed … Loving Animals
I’m sick of emergencies and bad news. This week we learned a cousin has stage 4, inoperable, metastasized cancer, and one of mom’s dogs had to be hospitalized with extremely enlarged lymph nodes that were resulting in explosions from both ends–initially also diagnosed as cancer. So there have been more, long family phone conversations, and … Yearning for Simplicity
I’ve always loved this quote from Heraclitus for its clever play on words to expose a profound truth. And it seems this week has been a reminder of the need to retain the bigger picture while understanding that sometimes, there’s just no way around the adjustments life is forcing you to make. It’s just slightly … Constant Change
When I set my goals last week, I worried whether I’d manage the 500-word bar but didn’t think I’d have a problem with the walking or the at-home date night. It’s interesting to see that even with the major headache of nightly course work and weekly papers off my plate, life still has a way … Working Hard
This week I realized I’ve been fighting a heavier or lighter version of this &*%^$! cold/flu bug for the past five weeks. I’ve had enough of it. I’ve been dosing myself with every appropriate kind of Chinese herb and nutraceutical in our home pharmacy, as well as asked hubs for acupuncture (and gotten a treatment!), … House Blend: Introvert
