- A huge thank you to all our Show Us Your Books participants!! Next one is March 8 which, incidentally, is also the day my and Steph’s podcast, The Armchair Librarians, launches. Get prepared for lots of book talk. And swearing.
- I am straight up shitting the bed on Erin’s book challenge. I cannot get it together despite having many of the books already in my house. My personal reading challenge is going well, though, as I’m currently reading the second book for that (I have it spread out for one book a month on that), The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes. It’s total and complete chick lit but it’s a necessary break from the heaviness of what I read last month and what’s on tap for the rest of this one.
- Picked up The Flood Girls, Glass, Fallout, and Beasts and Children to read after my current two, The Woman Who Stole My Life and Skippy Dies.
- Not enough book talk yet? Too bad and we’re going to get a bit ranty up in here. So, as you guys might or might not remember, I volunteer twice a month in my daughter’s school library. I was there this week and learned that once the kids move into fourth grade, they no longer have book checkout during their weekly library time. Rather, they get 40 minutes of supplemental English and Language Arts instruction. Now, let me be clear. I am not opposed to the extra instruction. But what the fuck with not giving them time to browse and check out books? Sure, the fourth and fifth graders can go during open library time but “only if their schedule allows”. HUH? What if their schedule doesn’t allow? They get no book that week? How is that helpful, especially when they’ve been given reading homework each and every night. THEY NEED ACCESS TO BOOKS IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. Not every parent has the resources or time or desire or whatever to take their kids to the public library or buy books from Amazon. You can’t require kids to read and not afford them the opportunity to pick out books to read. Not only that, now there’s a situation where kids are reading books in class, for classwork or homework, and now they’re thinking reading is a chore. Which it is not. I can’t handle the thought of raising a generation of kids who hate reading. However well-intentioned the decision to remove book checkout from these kids was, it’s a fucking stupid decision and really needs to be rethought. /rant
- You know what I didn’t want to do this week? Spend an exorbitant amount of money having a clogged drain unclogged by a professional plumber because what we had in the house to do it just wasn’t working and my kitchen was flooding. But I got to do that anyway. Which kind of sucked.
- I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day but it’s recently come to my attention that it’s on Sunday. I should probably do something for the child. Any suggestions?
- Started watching The Affair. Ordinarily I don’t watch anything that has infidelity as a premise but McNulty from The Wire is in this one and I thought I’d give it a try. Glad I did. I still hate the premise but I can look past it because it’s a really well done show.
- Girl Scout cookie order came in. Tagalongs and Thin Mints, I’ve missed your sweet, sweet goodness. Samaos, you’re basically poison but your purple box is pretty.
- Internet reads. This really cool gif about the evolution of the modern desk. This fascinating tale of a dispute between a publisher and an independent artist. I will confess that I am not on the Beyonce bandwagon and I’m tired of the whole world kissing her ass and thinking she’s infallible; Rolling Stone has some thoughts on that, too (for the record, I watched her Formation video. It’s a shit song but I do respect the point she was making with it). And the whole site Introvert Doodles.
- Funnies
This weekend is supposed to be cold as fuck and we have no cheerleading so I’ll be inside, on the couch, reading, watching TV, and working on some podcasting and book stuff. Maybe clean if I get bored.
Hope you guys have a great weekend!
