Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Audiobook Review: Clanlands


By Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish

Narrated by the authors

Duration: 10 hours, 40 minutes

From their faithful camper van to boats, kayaks, bicycles, and motorbikes, join stars of Outlander Sam and Graham on a road trip with a difference, as two Scotsmen explore a land of raw beauty, poetry, feuding, music, history, and warfare.

Unlikely friends Sam and Graham begin their journey in the heart of Scotland at Glencoe and travel from there all the way to Inverness and Culloden battlefield, where along the way they experience adventure and a cast of highland characters. In this story of friendship, finding themselves, and whisky, they discover the complexity, rich history and culture of their native country.

Friday, June 18, 2021

Mini Reviews: June 18th

 


Here are two mini reviews of books that I read a couple of months ago:



The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I read this book for a book club and heard many great things about it. I was intrigued at the beginning of the book: Nora encounters a library filled with books with alternate lives after attempting suicide. I enjoyed the beginning of Nora's journeys to discover herself but I quickly found myself bored. I found Nora dull and it felt more of a self-help book in the second half (I'm not a big fan of self-help books). After her encounter with the polar bear, I could not help but skim through most of the chapters since I could not relate to Nora nor cared about the alternate reality. However, I did enjoy the last few chapters of the book. They were predictable but it was cute. Overall, I gave it 3 stars. 

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Review: A Woman is No Man


(Way overdue for this review...)

By Etaf Rum
*TBR book

In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her community.


Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Little Free Library Adventures #14

 


Here are some various LFL's I encountered earlier this year in California:


La Mirada/La Habra:

Monday, June 7, 2021

Update: June 7th

 



I'm on summer break!!! Woo hoo!
And wow, what a school year!

This school year was the toughest school year so far for me. Not only did we start the year with distance learning, but I was split between two schools: my home elementary school and a middle school. My school district decided before the school year started to not hire a replacement for the RSP teacher at the middle school. They thought it wise to split the caseload between two teachers. What could go wrong? Aye...

And things got super interesting once we went from distance learning to hybrid in April, plus we went forward with state testing. *double sigh*