Reading women Challenge 2020

If you have never heard of the Reading Women podcast you really should check them out. For the past couple years they had done a reading challenge to push you to read outside your comfort zone and to diversify your reading. I have wanted to participate and this year I have decided to do it. Here is a link to their goodreads page with the list of the challenges and a community of people who also might have suggestions for books to full fill parts of the challenge.

Here is the list of challenges!

CHALLENGES
All books read for this challenge must be by or about women. Please note that the spirit of this challenge is not to read books by men.

1) A Book by an Author from the Caribbean or India
2) A Book Translated from an Asian Language
3) A Book about the Environment
4) Picture Book Written/Illustrated by a BIPOC Author
5) A Winner of the Stella Prize or the Women’s Prize for Fiction
6) A Nonfiction Title by a Woman Historian
7) A Book Featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism
8) An Anthology by Multiple Authors
9) A Book Inspired by Folklore
10) A Book About a Woman Artist
11) Read and Watch a Book-to-Movie Adaptation
12) A Book About a Woman Who Inspires You
13) A Book by an Arab Woman
14) A Book Set in Japan or by a Japanese Author
15) A Biography
16) A Book Featuring a Woman with a Disability
17) A Book Over 500 Pages
18) A Book Under 100 Pages
19) A Book That’s Frequently Recommended to You
20) A Feel-Good or Happy Book
21) A Book about Food
22) A Book by Either a Favorite or a New-to-You Publisher
23) A Book by an LGBTQ+ Author
24) A Book from the 2019 Reading Women Award Shortlists and Honorable Mentions

BONUS
25) A Book by Toni Morrison
26) A Book by Isabel Allende

Are any of you doing any reading challenges this upcoming year? If so which ones?

The Lost Queen

I was really excited to read this book and I think I must have misunderstood what it was about. I thought it was a fantasy book that was going to be like an Arthurian legend type. It was actually historical fiction which I also like but at the same time I read it when I was in the mood for a particular type of book and it was not that.

That being said. I had not thought much about this part of history and it is actually interesting to think about the Christianization of Britan. However, the author has this story taking a very negative view of Christianity which is the author's prerogative and I don't actually mind reading critiques of Christianity but I don't particularly enjoy reading antiChristian content that is more focused on bashing. But again this could be a personal bias.

I just don't know if I enjoyed this book or not. I felt like it dragged on a bit and I also wanted to know what was happening. I didn't feel a strong connection to the main character and the story frustrated me at times as well. I also felt like relationships lacked depth which made the love triangle very hard to believe.

I haven't yet decided if I want to read the next book. If I do I think I will do it on audio book from the library if I can. It was a lot of energy to read the physical book and I would rather spend it on a book physical book that I really want to read the physical copy of.

Bug & The Internet

This is our cat Bug. She is super picky about having windows open at certain times so that she can properly sun her self. She demands that all humans are home in time for curfew and if they are not she will give them a verbal warning.

Bug also likes to complain and ask to see the manager to express her displeasure that her exact and specific requirements are not being met or followed.

Bug loves to play with string. Protect all yarn projects from her or she will come and steal the yarn ball. Bug stole one yarn ball and it has been officially been dubbed "Bug's yarn ball." She has also absconded with a hoody string and shoelaces for toys. Her favorite color is blue. She will eat and destroy plants but only the ones in the blue pots.

Bug is an amazing cat who is not afraid to say what she wants and to tell people when she wants it. She knows what she likes.

The Waking Forest

I read The Waking Forest over the summer and I am not sure what to make of it. I checked it out because I had heard of it and it had popped up in my Instagram. I had no idea what the book was about and had no expectations. I will admit that the expectations I had were very low. I am pretty sure I wanted to read it because I liked the cover so much.

I was a bit confused by the beginning of this book and eventually figured out the plot. The book seemed very flowy and loose and also very much like a fairy tale. I am not sure it was quite my cup of tea. I prefer more structure and more character development.

The romance that was also in this book felt super insta-love. They met in a dream and then he appeared in the attic later and then they were suddenly in love. I just struggled with the whole premise and how we jumped into the story and I wanted more development. The relationships also didn't feel quite genuine. Everyone was close and loved each other dearly but it felt like there was no foundation for the relationship.

Overall 2.5/5 stars.

Close Friendship

A close friend is so very dear and important. The connection and relationship can feed a soul. I have found friendship to be incredibly meaningful and something that has kept me going. I have found support and also someone who will listen to me and tell me when I need to chill out.

I always wanted a really close friend that I would talk to every day and feel deeply connected with. I had it for a little when I was a young child but then that friend and I went our separate ways. I didn't meet my now close friend until I was a first-year in college. We both are a bit unclear as to what exactly is the moment we connected but at one point we started talking very frequently. We then also became inseparable and were always doing things together.

I also have found that my closest friends are diverse in terms of religion. Some are atheists and non-Christians or a different Christian. I have deeply valued these differences of faith as a way for me to grow and as opportunities to learn but I also knew I wanted a close friend who shared my faith. Then my best friend became an Orthodox Christian and is now also my godsister and that has been an immense blessing. It is incredibly wonderful to share my faith with someone so close to me. We have been able to have theological discussions and share ideas. We also have both been in choir.  As Anne of Green Gables put it she is my "bosom friend".

I have deeply enjoyed our close friendship both in a spiritual and physical sense. But now things are changing, my dear friend has had to move 2 hours away for a new job. It isn't horribly far away but we can no longer see each other every day if we wish too. Visits will require a bit more planning and preparation. I am so very thankful though to live in this modern day and age where we have the technology. We are able to call and text each other every day to stay in contact. This is a new phase for our 7th year of friendship and while I mourn the change I also am looking forward to what is to come.

Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

I was skeptical of this book at first even though I kept hearing so many wonderful things about it. I listened to it on audiobook and at first I hated the main character. I found him very difficult to relate to and pretty much a lot of things I don't like, but as the book progressed he grew on me and grew as a character and now I quite like him.

The main character is a bisexual young man in Europe in the 17th century. He is also in love with his best friend. There were so many themes of talking about sexuality, race, and gender and how they all intersect and oppression. There is even some discussion around ableism. Those were fantastic to read about. There is a trigger warning for some strong homophobia and abuse.

The story itself required a bit of a suspension of disbelief there is an also sci-fi-like element and a big mystery and the characters are running around Europe causing all kinds of havoc. I did find myself laughing out loud in my car while listening as the book was so funny. I recommended this book to many of my friends as a wonderful story.

I do wish there had been more talk about substance abuse and addiction and the intersection of those with trauma. Those elements were all there but just not discussed or explored as thoroughly as they could have been in this book. overall this was a solid 4/5 stars for me. I look forward to reading the spin-off sequel A lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.

Enjoying Work

With summer I have had a break from my job working as a one-on-one para in a special ed classroom. I originally took this job as it was recommended that I be a para since they were so often needed. I didn't know if I would enjoy it and had some reservations in the beginning.

Now after having completed a year on the job and about to start another school year. I fell in love and enjoyed it in an unexpected way that surprised me. Being a para challenged me and I found new skills and strengths because of it. I found that I was much more capable in the special ed classroom than I originally thought. I was taught patience and thinking on my feet. I also learned much more about how the school district worked with students and families. Being a para I unexpectedly learned that I am passionate about working with families who have children with disabilities. I found an area that I can really specialize in for social work. I might even want to do graduate-level research in my grad program.

Being a para I had some wonderfully sweet moments, surprising ones, and many gross ones. My student sometimes would hit me but once when I needed an inc pack she kept insisting that I keep it on and saying sorry after. I will say I never expected to say "please don't put your shoes in the toilet" or "please don't lick your ipad" but I find that I am able to laugh about it later. I also learned how to create activities surrounding learning for my student that were at her level.

Overall, while being a para wasn't my plan at all it has worked out be amazing and I have learned so much from it. I am so grateful for the experience.

Review: The Grisha Trilogy

I finally got around to reading the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. I am torn on how to rate this. I enjoyed it but it didn't wow me the way Six of Crows duology did. I think this is Bardugo's first series or at least one of her earlier writings but and I think you can tell. I will say that if you want to read King of Scars you do need to read this series or else Kind of Scars will make no sense.

I think the thing that made me the most confused about this book is the religion. I felt like Leigh Bardugo tried to base the religion of Ravka on the Russian Orthodox Church without actually understanding the Russian Orthodox Church or its connection with Russian culture. I cannot don't expect things to match exactly when you are parodying but there were things like the roles of saints and the Apparate that confused me and I was unclear how they related to the church. Maybe it is because I am Orthodox that it didn't make sense and wouldn't bother someone who isn't Orthodox.

I struggled to related to Alina and spoiler I do not agree with Alina and Mal being the final couple. I totally wanted Alina to be with Nicolai because Nicolai was the best character in this whole series. Honestly, the series would be 10 times better if there was more Nicolai. I read through these books pretty quickly so I might need to reread to have a more clear picture of what wasn't quite clicking for me about these books.

Side note: I specifically bought these covers because I wanted the onion domes. I am really disappointed that the new covers do not have onion domes.

Meal Prep

I am working a job, going to grad school, and also vegetarian/pescetarian. Make ahead meals are a good plan. Having frozen dinners and then saving leftovers for lunches is important. I struggle to make sure I eat healthy and nutritional food. But I shied away from doing make-ahead meals for one. It felt weird. But I was wrong.

I will admit that I have no idea how to cook for just one person. Also, it is just way easier to make a bunch of food at once. It makes a few dinners and some lunches for work.

If you are going to be getting into make-ahead meals you need to look into pyrex. They have great sized pans for smaller portions when you are making meals for just one or two people. The glassware is also perfect for the microwave at work or to pop stuff in the oven. It is just convenient and versatile. I also created a recipe for bean taco filling which is so delicious I would eat it all the time. My other favorite is a 3 bean chili I made that was just delicious and froze well to have for lunches later. I need to find a lot more recipes for vegetarian or vegan meals.  Vegetarian for most of the year and vegan meals to have during Lent.

Currently, my only struggle is to figure out how to do dinners when I have class from 6:30pm-9pm. It is just a weird time and I am trying to not eat out or eat as much junk food.

Do you meal prep?

Classism, Unions, And North & South

I love North & South. I first watched the 2005 miniseries and then I read the book. I love both versions and think the miniseries conveyed the essence of the novel very well. What most intrigued though when I first watched the show wasn't the romance. Not that the romance didn't interest me or wasn't good, but it wasn't what made North & South just top notch. What made me love North & South was the discussion of labor unions and conversations about class.

If you are unfamiliar with North & South it is set in Milton during the industrial revolution. Specifically, Milton is a town that is made up of multiple cotton mills that are run by a few rich men and then most of the lower classes work for them. The conflict that happens in the book is that mill workers go on strike specifically facilitated by the union leader Nicolas Higgins. The strike is eventually broken but the mill owners are wary of those involved in the union and specifically the leaders. Eventually, Nicolas Higgins and Mr. Thornton (main male protagonist) come to see eye to eye and understand each other. Mr. Thornton is made to better understand the plight of the workers and Higgins becomes less of a radical union leader.

That Higgins seems to compromise his beliefs about workers rights in favor of supporting "masters" more irks me. I can theorize that Elizabeth Gaskell wouldn't want to incite any strong communist leanings and could probably be understood and more of a centrist. She wanted "masters" to treat laborers better but laborers should know their place in society.

As a young teenager, I didn't particularly understand the labor movement or the purpose but reading this book helped me to understand the labor movement and the need for workers rights. That the "masters" lived in luxury and style while their workers struggled to survive in cesspits of filth is abominable. That the "masters" also willfully ignore their worker's struggles and don't listen to the idea that well-fed and well-treated workers make for an overall better profit is frustrating. The themes and ideas from this novel are still relevant today in a society that is more and more anti-union and anti-workers rights.

Review: To Kill A Kingdom

This book originally caught my eye because it was described as a Little Mermaid retelling. I love the Little Mermaid and have loved it since I was a little girl, so of course, I was interested in this book. I will say that the resemblance to the little mermaid is very slight and I would say that the Little Mermaid was more a jumping off point for the story because it is completely its own story and I LOVED it.

The main characters are Lyra who is the daughter of the Siren queen and Elyan who is a prince but also a pirate/siren hunter. Through a series of events, Lyra is punished by her mother and turned into a human and ends up on Elyan's ship with his crew. I don't want to spoil too much of the book but that is the basic framework of the story.

I listened to this book on Audible and I have to say that that also impacted my experience of the book because it was read by two different people for the two different perspectives. The woman who read for Lyra was just amazing. When she read the title of the chapters which was always the name of the character it set the tone of the chapter. When toward the end her reading of the name conveyed urgency and emotion.

The story was quick paced and also explores what it means to be human and also what love is. The is a lot of political drama happening as well. The romance that is in the story is important and part of the plot but I wasn't put off by that. I think it actually added to the richness of the story.

Overall this book was amazing and I would highly recommend picking it up and the audiobook version from Audible is wonderful.

Make Up & Feminism

I know that sometimes there can be anti-makeup feelings in feminism which I understand. Women being expected to wear makeup to be beautiful for men and to conform to western beauty standards. In some areas of the world, women need to wear makeup in order to be considered dressed "professional" for the workplace. The makeup and beauty industry thrives on the insecurity of women and can create competition and rivalry. It is all a problem and all are issues feminism should address.

However, feminism is much more complicated than just not doing something because it isn't feminist or what have you. wearing makeup is a choice and feminism is about choices. If a woman wants to wear makeup then that is her choice. She makes that choice for her own desire not because she feels she has to or is expected to. The choice is key.

On a different side of the coin, I found that in certain fundamentalist groups makeup was frowned upon. It was seen as a way to lead men into sin. It is something that is vain and a truly godly woman would never wear makeup. I have been in a long term detox from this movement since my family left it and became Orthodox. First I started wearing pants, then shifting my fashion sense and becoming feminist. Now recently in the last year, I started wearing makeup. It is a choice and for me, the choice is a feminist choice. I am making a choice that goes against the patriarchal movement I grew up in.

I will say that I don't do a particularly dramatic makeup look. I favor a more French philosophy and go for a more natural look. I keep it simple, with lipstick, mascara, and brows. Maybe some eyeliner. I like being able to do it quickly and it makes me happy.

What are your thoughts on makeup?

An Open Book

I have anxiety. I struggled with it for a while before finally going to my doctor and talking about it. She was wonderful and prescribed meds and referred me to a therapist. I was a bit nervous about taking medication but I have to say that it has greatly improved my quality of life.

I am a big advocate for medication if you want to do it for your mental health and as long as you work with your health care provider. Someone asked me why I decided to do meds when I was such a hippie kind of person. The answer is this. If I could have knocked my anxiety out with lavender oil and meditation and all the other hippie and homeopathic remedies for anxiety I would have. But they were not working. Some of the use to work as a coping skill but they stopped because my anxiety got to a point when I could no longer self-manage it.

I was averaging 3-4 panic attacks a week and one day had 4 in one day just one after the other. It was exhausting. I was anxious all the time and if I wasn't anxious I was exhausted from being anxious. I also had a lot of fears about things some more irrational than others and it was much harder to reason with my brain that my thinking was irrational when I was so anxious about everything.

I also don't like the particular faith groups who say that you should just pray and it will all be better. If that were true I would be able to teach on how to pray away a panic attack but it doesn't work like that. Yes, I find prayer to be soothing and can help to calm me down now, but I am not already highly wired on anxiety. It is helpful as a way to cope but not as a solution or cure.

Now on medication, I have been able to do things and function in life in ways I didn't even realize were possible. I didn't know that not everyone felt on the verge of a panic attack looking at a syllabus for the class. I didn't know that most people didn't experience anxiety when going through a drive-through. It is a whole new world.

Favorite Reads

I read several books last year but I have to say that my top three favorites were The Savior's Champion, Crooked Kingdom, and Blood Water Paint.

The reason these three I have chosen as my top three favorites from the last year are how they have stood out and how I still think about them.

Crooked Kingdom stood out to be because spoiler it made me cry. I was upset. I still haven't quite got over the ending. It also stood out to me because of the ideas around prejudice and changing one's perspective and ideas about another group of people. The diverse cast of characters is also something I think about a lot. I hold it up as an example of books should be diverse. I hope to read more books with just as many diverse and wonderful characters.

The Savior's Champion stands out to me because mainly that fantastic concent scene. I am still not over it. It just blew me away. It is hard to not be spoiled for any other book and how other author's write about consent. I also really enjoyed the plot of the story and am very excited for the next book the Jenna is writing.

Where to even begin with Blood Water Paint? It is just so unapologetically feminist in every page that I still think about individual quotes. I think about the feminist retellings of Judith and Susanna. I also loved reading Artemesia's voice as she tells her story and the challenges she faced. I loved how the author moved between telling the story in prose and poetry.

What have been your top 3 favorite books from the past year?

Tea, Coffee, & Jesus

I have a wonderful friend who gave me this mug that is probably a perfect expression of who I am. I love Jesus and I also love coffee. However, in the picture, I am drinking a spiced citrus tea. I love all kinds of hot drinks.

My faith means a lot to me and I strive to follow it. I often feel like I fall very short in that aspect. I know I do not pray nearly as much as I should. I want to read more scripture or theological books but again I struggle to make those goals. There are so many ways I want to be better in my faith. I am afraid though that perhaps if I do start to pray better or read devotionals more that I will become proud and puffed up which I won't say I don't struggle with pride now.

I love being an Orthodox Christian and going to confession. I don't have to struggle alone. I can first of all find healing in the sacrament of confession and through a priest, I can find advice and spiritual support. Most of all I love the whole community of being an Orthodox Christian. We do liturgy together. We cannot do services as individuals they are meant to be done and have to be done as a community. We all participate in Eucharist together in community.

No....Sorry Not a Feminist Story

I don't remember where I heard about this story but I was interested in fairytale retellings and this story is a Red Ridinghood retelling. I thought it would be great, there were werewolves which harkens back to some of the oldest versions of the fairytale. It also popped up as being mentioned as a possible feminist read. Honestly, I have never been so disappointed in my life over a book.

Where do I start?

First, let's start with the older sister and her friendship with the 18 almost 20 something-year-old dude. They seemed close it seemed like a logical romantic pairing. But The older sister is disfigured from a werewolf attack as a child. I thought this would be great let's show how disability or conventional beauty doesn't matter. Wrong. Instead at the end of the story, the older sister goes off to happily hunt werewolves by her lonesome. Supposedly this is best for her. I just was so disappointed. Rather than the older sister learning to open up to others and to allow herself to be open to love from another she is just sent off and shooed out of the story to make way for the "real" romantic pairing.

Now we get to the part I really hate. The younger sister. She is around 13 I think in the book and so hyper-sexualized. She also has a crush on the older boy. I say boy but really he is a man a full grown adult. I at first thought okay harmless crush happens. I also as a 13-year-old had crushes on much older dudes but knew nothing would ever happen and that any actual relationship would be wildly inappropriate. Not in this story. Nope. In fact, the two actually "fall in love" with each other. There is no mention whatsoever of the huge age gap or the fact that their relationship is actually illegal in some states. I just could not believe what I was reading.

This book disappointed me on so many levels. It had the opportunity to explore so many much more appropriate and different ideas. I also felt lied to that this would be a feminist read. It was really the opposite.

Review: Furyborn

I keep going back and forth on whether to continue with this series or not. I have to admit it was the hardest book for me to finish. Currently, my plan is to try and continue on audiobook but if the next books never make it to audiobook I don't think I will continue otherwise.

First off, the worldbuilding is fantastic, and the whole concept is really very original. The idea of it was what made me fascinated and want to read it in the first place. Blood Queen and Sun Queen, angels and saints, magic, and all that jazz. It is a well-constructed world. The characters not so much.

I didn't like Elyana. I have no patience for her. I think what frustrated me was that we are told she killed people and did the terrible things she did to survive but I wasn't really shown that. It made it hard for me to believe. Also if she had that kind of talent why not use it to fight the empire in a gorilla warfare kind of way? It wasn't clear to me why she made the choices she did. We were also told that at heart she is a good person but all I ever saw was a selfish person who was willing to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of people who were fighting for a cause of justice just because she couldn't deal with facing the suffering of people and selfishly wanted to just do her own thing. I just have not patience for that kind of character.

As for Rielle, I actually related to her way more. She seemed like a much more complicated and interesting character and I actually felt like her actions told me more about her as a person. Where we are told things with Elyana but never shown all of Rielle is shown through her actions. I want to like this book so bad but I disliked one of the main characters so much that it makes it hard for me to want to continue reading.

Another thing that irritated me is Elyana not believing the "big reveal" when it is revealed to her. Honestly, I knew it by chapter 3. So for a character to not believe and willfully not is just irritating as a reader. It is so obvious to literally the reader and every other character but Elyana didn't want the believe it and flat out refused.

Have you read Furyborn? What did you think?

Healthy Relationships Please

I don't understand this fad to have toxic, abusive, and manipulative relationships in books? I think they are supposed to be so romantic and such but really they are incredibly problematic. I am very tired of reading about them and would very much like to read about a healthy relationship between adults who respect each other.

If what you want is conflict in a relationship you don't have to make it toxic to create conflict. Even healthy relationships have conflict, it is the nature of being in a relationship with another human being. What we need are examples of healthy couples working through conflict with each other. Do I expect partners to treat each other perfectly all the time? No. But do I expect them to own up to their faults and ask forgiveness and work through the issues like adults in a healthy relationship would? Yes.

There are so many examples of unhealthy, toxic, and abusive relationships in media that girls read about and see, and they are told that this is romantic and how they should expect to be treated. I am tired of this. I want to see women in books who stand up to men who are horrible to them and treat them like sh*t. I want them to say that they are better than that and will find better. Girls need examples of women setting boundaries and speaking up for themselves. Boys need to see that treating women horribly isn't acceptable and won't be tolerated.

I mostly want to see examples of healthy relationships in action. How partners would actually treat each other. No emotional manipulation, no controlling behavior, and mutual respect. Is this really to much to ask from writers?

Sisters and Berets

During the winter I became obsessed with crocheting berets. I think they are super cute and fashionable. I love this particular pattern I found because it creates a braided look. I did end up modifying it to look more the way I wanted it too.

I ended up making a hat for my little sister as well. I had to drastically change the pattern to fit her head size since her head is smaller. I am not sure it turned out quite as well as I wanted it to but she loves it and that is what matters.

Sometimes as sisters we do not always get along. We get frustrated with each other but in the end, we love each other very much. She is the one I watch Merlin and Pride and Prejudice with. She is always excited about the little things with me.

She is also my sister with disabilities. This makes things hard sometimes. When I want to take her out and do sister things with her I notice if there is an accessibility issue. She uses a wheelchair and I have to make sure she can move through space. We recently took a sister trip to Ulta and I don't know if it is just the Ulta I was at or all Ulta's but there wasn't a push button to open the door. I also noticed that the spacing in the isles makes it hard for a wheelchair to move. My sister is in a small child size wheelchair but a full-sized adult one or some of the motorized wheelchairs would have a lot of difficulties moving through the store. It made me think about who our society deems worthy to be considered beautiful and who is allowed to access the beauty products and industry.

Review: Middlemarch

I first watched the BBC production of Middlemarch and was fascinated by the story. It intrigued me enough that I knew I would want to read the book eventually. However, I found the size of the book and that it was a classic to be a bit of a problem. I struggle with really long classical books (see Charles Dickens).

As I have said before I started and Audiobook journey and this was one of the books I picked up to listen too. It did not disappoint. I greatly enjoyed the plot.

I will say that it is a 35-hour long book. It takes a lot of time to read through and listen. The plot takes a while to take shape and there are many characters to follow with many different stories. I will admit that I got lost a few times and had to remind myself who was who and who was in love with whom.

Dorothea was an interesting character and the introduction of the book was in fact quite feminist. In the discussion of how women were expected to behave and what was expected of them. I got annoyed with a few characters who I thought were ridiculous and had no clue about how the real world worked. Just out of touch with reality.

I am going to look for more books by George Eliot in the future.