End of the Year Booklist

 

Books can take us out of ourselves into new and interesting

situations. This didn’t happen as much as I wanted it to this

year. The stress of the pandemic often made it hard to

concentrate. I managed to finish that masters degree too -

which kept me from some of the fiction I like to devour.

I also did one hand painted comic for each day of the year.

I’m enormously pleased with myself for that. For those of

you who make it to the end of the following annotated list

of the things I did read, you’ll find another list of some of

the podcasts that kept me company along the way.

Enjoy!

1. The Russian Five - Keith Gave. What better way to start the new year than a book on hockey and the cold war? Overall though the plotline was missing. The writing was fine, just disconnected.
2. Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life - Stephen Hayes. A stupid title. Some good exercises.
   
3. Justice Is Beauty - Michael Murphy & Alan Ricks. A look at architectural case studies that combine beautiful design and social justice.
4. Library of the Unwritten - A.J.Hackworth. The first in the Hell’s Library series. An AWESOME adventure.
5. Breaking Ground: Architecture by Women - Jane Hall. A book I bought for the library with pretty pictures and brief snippets about 50 (mostly still living and practicing) architects. Money well spent.

Book Reviews on Toast #6 and my Yearly Book List

Welcome to 2020! Below you'll find the annotated list of books and articles I read in 2019. I am pleased I got through as many as I did considering I headed back to school in January (again). I do enjoy learning new things.

1. What Goes Around - Emily Chappell. A London cycle courier's story. I don’t know London, so the distances often meant nothing to me. Very accessible all the same.
2. Ghosts in the Asylum - Roger Alford. The Black Spectre origins volume 1. Eh. Won’t read the rest of the series. 
3. Biketopia - Elly Blue ed. Feminist bicycle science fiction stories. 
4. Turn or Burn - Boo Walker. Some ebook I downloaded, most likely for free. Pretty bad.
5. The Norma Gene - M.E. Roufa. Super goofy clone fun. Good vacation fluff.
6. Parasite - Mira Grant. Really good, if a little creepy.
7. Mastering ArcGIS, 7th Edition - Maribeth H. Price. Learning a new skill, woo-hoo!
8. Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders - Kevin Sylvester. A teen chef with an incredible sense of smell helps solve murders. Fun!
9. Fast Company Dec 18/Jan 19 issue. One of the journals we get at work. Article on Janelle Monae pulled me in.
10. What School Could Be - Ted Dintersmith. Insights and inspiration from teachers across America. Read most of it before I finished cataloging it for the library.