Hello friends. I had a good, busy (relatively speaking) weekend, which meant I didn’t write anything up yesterday!
Friday was Juneteenth and there were ALL kinds of activities in the CHOP, as well as marches around town. For our part, the boyfriend and I participated by reading books, having discussions, and finally getting around to watching 13th, which was GREAT, but very sad, as I was expecting. Many tears were shed.
On Saturday I played a whole bunch of Pokemon Shield on my Switch, raiding with my friend KJ who is a fanatic. I finally beat all the gyms, so I’m on the last part of the storyline! After, I enjoyed some hammock time with the berry kombucha from last week + a small addition of some local raspberry flavored vodka my Dad got me last Christmas 😄
On Sunday, myself and the boyfriend went hiking with my Dad (and his girlfriend) for Father’s Day. We went for a lovely stroll to Cherry Creek Falls, hoping to avoid some crowds at a less well-known, smaller hike. It was still a little busy, but not too bad. Overall, a nice, super easy afternoon hike!
I finally finished my Rain Wilds tank top! Doing the straps was NOT FUN. Sadly, they ended up slightly different lengths, but by the time I noticed, I didn’t have any more motivation to go back and fix it. Maybe some day if it’s still bothering me!
No buch updates this week. We’ve got the buch on pause while we try to finish up last week’s GIANT batch.
[finished] The Subtle Knife on audiobook. Finally finished this one as well! It felt very… middle book of the trilogy-y. I had really fallen in love with Lyra, and now I have to deal with a whole new main character?? I’ve heard that the last book gets very anti-religious (which honestly, maybe I’ll enjoy?) so I’m excited to move on to the final book.
[finished] The War for Kindness on audiobook. I thought this book was honestly just okay. It started out really strong, but fell apart in the second half. The first sections that discussed former members of hate groups and how they’ve reformed were fantastic. It’s inspiring to be reminded of how much we can change our own brains if we try. The book lost some steam when discussing workers in empathy-heavy roles like therapists and doctors. It discussed how we can turn up/down empathy and use different forms of empathy, but somehow didn’t connect that discussion to the idea of compassion burnout. Big miss. The next section was about the Seattle Police Department (painfully relevant) and how they’ve implemented reforms in training to increase empathy. The book itself admits that the reforms don’t seem to have worked fully, but I certainly didn’t like hearing about how the SPD is a shining example for empathetic policing.
[finished] A Conspiracy in Belgravia. This was a great followup to the previous book in the series! I did get a little confused at the end of the book. I had come up with my own crackpot theory of what was going on (I was totally wrong) and got so caught up in trying to find evidence for my own theory that I couldn’t keep up with the complicated actual plot unfolding.
[in-progress] Macbeth. I decided to pick this up when I paused Ulysses. A quick, fun reread.
[in-progress] A Game of Thrones. Not much progress on this front with the boyfriend, but we’re still enjoying it!
[in-progress] Into the Wild. I’ve been looking forward to reading this for quite a while and it finally came in through the library! I picked up Into Thin Air on a whim a couple months ago and I literally could not put it down. I’m not usually the type to finish a book all in one sitting, but that’s what I did with Into Thin Air. I could not stop talking about it with everyone close to me. So, naturally, I’ve been really excited to read more Jon Krakauer. So far, I’m enjoying Into the Wild, but it hasn’t had the same can’t-put-it-down-ness, probably because it’s not written from Jon’s personal experience.
[in-progress] The Hollow of Fear. I will probably pick this up really once I’m done with Into the Wild.
[in-progress] The Amber Spyglass on audiobook. I’ve just started reading this on my daily walks around the neighborhood, will offer some thoughts once I’m a little deeper in.
[paused] Ulysses. Okay, I’m embarassed that I put this on hold so fast. I just wasn’t enjoying it, and right now I want my books to either be culturally relevant (honestly, Ulysses isn’t for my life), educational, or plain fun. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to pick this up again soon!
The End of the Girlboss is Here > “The white girlboss, and so many of them were white, sat at the unique intersection of oppression and privilege. She saw gender inequity everywhere she looked; this gave her something to wage war against. Racial inequity was never really on her radar. That was someone else’s problem to solve.”
“But the women who leaned into their ambition and founded their own companies were not necessarily any more virtuous, ethical, or respectful than their male counterparts. Though unlikely to be serial sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein, girlbosses could abuse their power in the workplace, too.”