It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? - 04/29/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.



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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and not so bookish bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise.




1. The condo is officially as ready as its going to be! We passed the keys on to a real estate agent this past weekend and expect multiple open houses this coming weekend. Hopefully by next week it will be in escrow and moving on to its next happy owner. Sad...it is where my husband proposed. But glad...one last item on our plate to worry about and a little more cushion in the retirement account.

2. You know when you start reading a book and are really enjoying it...and then you go, "Huh...this sounds vaguely familiar. Did I already read this?!" And, in fact, you did. But you are enjoying the read so much its like, "Eh, whatever!" and you keep reading? Yeah, that!

3. Remember that comment about my phone being a friend?! Well, sometimes friends are...

a challenge. 

I decided that I wanted to upgrade my SD micro storage card. Well, over a week later, I gave up! The files would upload to the card and then just mysteriously disappear. Seriously. Here one day, gone the next!  Hours of wasted time. Calls to customer service were unsuccessful. There are some comments about it on the web, but no resolutions (none that worked for me). I returned to my smaller card and am sifting through the music on there, cleaning up and ridding of what is not listened to, doubled, etc. Disappointing, to say the least.

4. Carpal tunnel update...my doc is sending me to a hand surgeon. Boo! They will likely have to start with cortisone injections, rather than just jump right to hand surgery, for insurance purposes (try the cheaper option first). But I think I am bordering on permanent damage, so...gotta do what ya gotta do. I begin my journey May 10th.

5. This Sunday, April 23rd, is the 5th annual Independent Bookstore Day. Be sure to get out there and support those awesome folks who love books as much as you do!

Also, http://www.indiebookstoreday.com/ is hosting a Twitter party Thursday, April 25, at 10 a.m Pacific; join them in using the hashtag #BookstoreDay.

6. Easter was a relatively low key event on my end. Brunch with family. No young children, so no big effort but always good food and laughs. Hope your day was just as enjoyable, whether you celebrate Easter or not.

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Trauma Cleaner

Title: The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster

Author: Sarah Krasnostein

Genre: Non-fictioin

Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library

What Its About:  
Sarah Krasnostein offers a look into the life of Sandra Pankhurst, a transgender woman who was adopted at an early age, named Peter, and then systematically abused and mistreated until he was old enough to run away.

Pankhurst struggled to find her place in the world, marrying and having children, spending time as a drag queen, and trying to fulfill her role as a responsible father and husband. Eventually, Pankhurst needed to accept herself and underwent gender reassignment surgery, spending years as a sex worker to support herself during her mental and physical transition.

Pankhurst married again later in life and established herself as a well-known and respected businesswoman in her home town. However, after the family business failed and Pankhurst's husband died, she found herself focusing on her strengths. She opened a cleaning business, which segued to fill a noticeable gap in her area, trauma clean-up.

Krasnostein alternates between chapters about Pankhurst's life and stories of the homes they enter to assist in cleaning, either due to hoarding, death, or other catastrophes. She speaks lovingly of Sandra Pankhurst, displaying a deep friendship and a respect for the life that Pankhurst has survived. And acknowledging the kindness and caring that Pankhurst shares could only have come from experiencing a life such as hers.

The Bottom Line: 
This was a good read. I was a bit disappointed in the limited discussion of the clients and their situations. The majority of the book, and truly the story, is Pankhurst's history which is extremely interesting. She is a strong, amazing woman. I found a YouTube video of an interview with her and you are left really respecting and liking her. But, I really was hoping for more info about the trauma side of the business. I just can't return to those trauma YouTube videos!

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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and not so bookish bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise.

Not our actual condo!

1. Scraping and sanding and painting, oh my! Hubby and I are several months into fixing up his old condo with the hopes of selling it this spring. It's been...a process. It will be really nice to say goodbye to hubby's bachelor's pad and to the responsibility of landlording.

2. Have you heard about Catherine Price's new title, How to Break Up With Your Phone? Why, in God's name, would I want to break up with my best friend ever? I love this thing! It provides me with email, telephones calls and texts, books to read, all of my music (via Pandora and an SD card), games to play, a photo album, daily news, an alarm to wake me up in the morning, etc., etc. If the thing cooked I wouldn't need my husband! (JK of course!) But give it up, never! 

Now if someone would just write a book about giving up your iPad...that thing is a time-suck!  

😏

But seriously, the book looks interesting. I have to add it to my TBR list.


3. I've got some serious carpel tunnel issues friends. I developed it in college packing books for the University press, but it's been getting progressively worse at my current job. Whoever decided that a countertop sitting on a filing cabinet is "desk height" was an idiot! I have a doctor's appointment this weekend. Hopefully she has some suggestions other than surgery or cortisone injections.

4. Our taxes are finally ready and... 

 

We went from getting a generous check back annually to owing almost $10k! To be fair, there were extenuating circumstances this year. But even without that, the difference was hugely substantial!

The next elections cannot come soon enough!

5. So, as a higher education professional (and a middle-lower class kid who worked hard for what I got) this college cheating scandal is on everyone's minds and hearts. So many hardworking students who potentially lost out on life-changing opportunities while rich families bought their way in. Nothing surprising or new, I realize. But no less heartbreaking just the same. I am proud of my organization's stance on this issue and the efforts they make to ensure that admissions is fair and impartial.

6. Good people in the world...for sure!

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/teacher-reads-bedtime-stories-to-students-on-live-stream/

7. Looking forward to a long weekend. How about you?

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Scratch Beginnings - Shepard

Title: Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream

Author: Adam Shepard

Genre: Memoir

Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library

What Its About:  
After Adam Shephard graduated from Merrimack College, he decided to challenge himself to a social experiment. Leaving home with $25, the clothes on his back, a sleeping bag (complete with air pillow) and not much more, Shephard set off for warm and sunny Charleston, South Carolina to prove that anyone can overcome poverty and homelessness. He set five goals for himself and gave himself a one-year timeline to complete them:

1. Obtain a steady job.
2. Live in a furnished apartment.
3. Purchase a vehicle. 
4. Establish $2,500 in savings. 
5. Be in a position to continue to improve himself.

Further, he opted not to utilize his past history (college degree, work experience or references) to obtain jobs. He left his past behind. 

After a rocky start, Shephard found himself at Crisis Ministries, a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, and support network. He used the tools and opportunities offered to focus on achieving his goals. Over the next weeks, Shephard took on temp work until he was able to secure a permanent position with a moving company. He saved his paltry paychecks until he could afford a car, an apartment and until he me this savings goal.

After only 10 months, Shephard had achieved his goals, made some friends, and put himself in a position to continue to improve himself. Ultimately, his experiment was cut short as he found himself needing to return to his birth home to care for ailing parents. But, having met his goals, he felt successful in his experiment.

The Bottom Line: 

So, white-male-college-graduate-hipster slums it for a while. Hmm...inventive, not so much. 

More interestingly, though, has he really proven anything? Has he created a pathway for his fellow homeless to follow toward success and prosperity? In my opinion, no. Shephard doesn't face the struggles that many homeless do: mental illness, physical and mental deficiencies (perhaps from limited nutrition growing up), the knowledge that there is no cushion to fall back on (ie - returning  to family if times get tough - this makes you more willing to go out on a limb) or the knowledge that this life will eventually come to and end (this must make sleeping on the floor of a shelter much more acceptable), truly being alone in the world, racism, little or no role models from whom to develop things such as determination and being able to stand up for oneself, and perhaps the most important issue limited/poor education.

Can a college-educated white man from a strong family with experience using computers and a strong sense of self (as one would have to have to attempt such an experiment) succeed? Of course. And so could some of the other men he met at the shelter. But some of them could not. Yet, he feels that their situations are similar, if not equal. He offers a one-size-fits-all, "Work hard. Sacrifice cell phones and eating out and all will work out." answer. In reality, however, there are a great many disparities that he fails to address that renders this experiment questionable.

That said, the book is entertaining. It is interesting look into what he learned about others in that situation and the friends he made. One can only hope that he took some of the money he made from the book publishing to pay Crisis Ministries back for the cost of housing and feeding him for months, while other truly needy men may have gone without. Just my two cents.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading - 04/8/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.



Currently Reading:

Just Finished:

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So screwed!

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO FINISH YOUR TBR PILE?

How Long Will It Take You to Finish Your TBR Pile? calculator from Read It Forward.

Thanks ReaderBuzz for sharing!

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Yea or Nay: Rereading Books

Do you reread books? Do your return to a few loved titles every once in a while to remind yourself why you loved them so?

Advantages

• You can revisit oldies but goodies. You can relive childhood favorites. 
• You can possibly recapture not just the feelings from the story, but you might get the feels from where you were when you read the book (like listening to an old song from prom night, type of thing).
• You might better understand something that you didn't fully catch the first time around. 
• You might read something new into the text, given you are a different more mature person with different, newer experiences. You might learn something about yourself in the new reading.
• It's free, if you already own the book. And reading books you already have slows the roll on your growing book piles.
• If your family sees you reading that book that's been sitting around for years, they may stop asking why you keep "so many books if you aren't going to read them?!?!"

Disadvantages

• Four letters, T I M E. Who's got time for a repeat, when there are sooooo many on your TBR pile?
• And frankly, you already know the ending...boring.
• You might be disappointed the second time around. You may not love it as much as you did the first time. Again, you are a different person now.

I'm on the fence on this one. I don't tend to reread. But I can see why some folks do. I have kept some books with the thought that I might. But then I look over at the TBR list and do the math...~13,000 books by 1-2 books a week by 52 weeks a year...eek! I'll never get through them all! There just isn't enough time!!

What is that quote, "God put me on earth to read a certain number of books. At this rate, I'll never die!"?

Of course, you should feel like rereading isn't worth it because there clearly are benefits. But personally, the benefits don't outweigh the pleasures of discovering new books.

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