The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Trish4 Comments

Oh noooO!!!  Too many feelings.  This review is going to be less intelligent and more an emotional outpouring of OH MY GOSH THIS BOOK.

I mean, the premise is fantastic.  Harry August lives his life, dies, and…is reborn.  As himself, same parents, same place, same situation.  But he remembers everything of his life before.  It turns out there are other people like him, and this is the story of how these men and women influence the world and each other.

It’s super cool and fascinating, and the structure allows for some amazing questions.  There’s the run of the mill immortal quandary:  What do you do to keep life interesting if you’ll never die?  Harry becomes a scientist, doctor, engineer, world traveler, etc.  He learns everything, he meets everyone, he gets married a few times in different lives to different women.  He is captured, tortured, and dies in a whole bunch of different ways.   Continue reading →

Living in a Muslim Country

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The other day, I told a stranger about my plans to move to Greece to work at a safe house.  “You be careful,” he said.  I get this a lot, so I hummed in appreciation/agreement without getting into why it’s dangerous to live anywhere.  But then he continued, “You’re brave to live in a Muslim country.”

“Oh.  Well.  Greece is a Christian country.  Greek Orthodox?  Christian,” I explained.  I was totally thrown by his assumption that Greece was an Islamic country.  He was equally thrown that it wasn’t.  “Well….good luck,” and he was gone.

What I didn’t say, partly because my brain was shutting down in confusion, and partly because it wasn’t 100% relevant, is that I’ve already lived in a Muslim country, and I don’t think I was particularly brave for doing so.  Never once did I fear for my life while I spent five months in Senegal, except maybe when I took a moto taxi with a twelve-year-old driver.  But what do I know?   Continue reading →

The Reader Problems Book Tag

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My Tiny Obsessions did The Reader Problems Book Tag and said anyone could consider themselves tagged, so….consider myself tagged!

1. YOU HAVE 20,000 BOOKS ON YOUR TBR. HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO READ NEXT?

It depends.  I usually vacillate between fiction and non-fiction, and if I get stuck in one genre for too long, I usually switch to something else.  HOWEVER, it doesn’t matter how long my TBR pile is, if a new book I’ve been waiting for comes out, that immediately takes precedence (even if I’m in the middle of another book).

2. YOU’RE HALFWAY THROUGH A BOOK AND YOU’RE JUST NOT LOVING IT. DO YOU QUIT OR ARE YOU COMMITTED?

I used to be really bad at just letting books go.  It’s the perfectionist in me.  So I had to actually make a conscious effort to talk myself through the decision: “Tricia, you don’t like this book.  You can put it down.  Read something you enjoy!  No one is testing you on this!!”  Anyway, I’ve gotten better at quitting, but it is still a mental struggle.

Continue reading →

StumbleUpon Sunday (17)

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StumbleUpon is a great way to lose hours of your life.  Luckily, I braved the Internet vortex so you don’t have to.  This week I found these especially interesting websites:

  1. 15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee
    For a person who drinks so much coffee, I know surprisingly little about it.  Until I read this funny infographic, anyway!
  2. 25 Genius Hacks That Make Having a Dog So Much Easier
    These are so simple and, like the title boasts, genius!  I especially like the tip to play fetch downhill so your dog will get tired faster.
  3. 15 Amazing Places You Can Tour on Google Maps
    Don’t have the money to travel?  Staring wistfully at your computer screen is the next best thing!  I toured the Coliseum, and it was pretty cool.
  4. The 11 People to Unfollow on Facebook
    Hahahaha, yesssss.
  5. 15 Super Cute Hand-Sized Baby Animals
    Everything is cute when it’s tiny!  They snuck three baby foxes into the list, and I am so okay with that.
  6. 22 of the Most Secluded Hotels in the World
    A traveling introvert’s DREAM.
  7. 3 Leadership Lessons Learned from Jon Stewart
    Good TV host, great leader.
  8. 100 Disposable Cameras Were Given to Homeless People
    This is a really cool art project!
  9. 20 Great Escapes that Will Make You Feel Small
    Beautiful photography.
  10. My DIY Coffee Pot Terrarium
    I don’t usually like Pinterest-y craft projects, but I think this coffee pot terrarium is super cute.

How to Party Like an Introvert

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  1. Invite two of your closest friends over.  A week in advance, obviously.
  2. The day of, text everyone to make sure they are coming.
  3. Feel both happy and disappointed when they say yes.
  4. Greet them at the door with awkward small talk.
  5. Watch that indie movie on Netflix.
  6. Talk about how the movie reminded you of the inevitability of death and how earlier that week you thought your mole was cancerous until it turned out to be a bit of chocolate.
  7. Start obnoxiously yawning around 9:45.
  8. Say, “Well, I’ve got an early day tomorrow, so…” at 10:00.
  9. Respond “So?” when someone points out that tomorrow is Saturday.
  10. Wave from the doorway as they leave.
  11. Sprint to your room to change into comfy pajamas.
  12. Make hot chocolate and pop a bowl of popcorn.
  13. Turn on the side lamps in your room and turn off the overhead light.
  14. Pat the bed until your cat curls up beside you.
  15. Get out that 500-page book you were dying to read the whole time your friends were over.
  16. Sip your hot chocolate, eat your popcorn, pet your cat, and get lost in someone else’s life.

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(Image from Grammarly)

Oh Hey, Friday! #1

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I decided to try something new, so I’m jumping on the blogging bandwagon and trying out the Oh Hey, Friday! link-up from September Farm.

1 | grab this here snazzy summer-themed button and link back to Sept. Farm.
2 | link up your post at the bottom of this post.
3 | tell all your friends + have a fantastic friday.

Today’s Five:

1. Dungeon Boss App
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I am ADDICTED to this app that I found laying around the Apple Store for free.  They somehow made the worst part of an RPG fun – I literally sat for hours, finding heroes, leveling them up, adding hidden treasure….on repeat, for, like I said, hours.  I have a feeling I will eventually reach that app plateau where they expect you to work for more than five seconds to reach a reward, and then the magic will be gone.  No thanks, instant gratification only, please!   Continue reading →

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

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I have mixed feelings about this book.  On the one hand, I really liked the juxtaposition between physical and mental disorders.  I liked that both were treated with respect and acknowledged the unfair stigmas attached to each.  And I liked that the romance felt genuine and earned–it’s tricky to have a relationship develop between an able-bodied person and a disabled person and never once think there is a power imbalance.

On the other hand, the pace of the book felt very strange.  Sometimes we got to see all day, every day.  Other times we skipped months at a time.  Sometimes the scenes evenly alternated between Amy and Matthew, and sometimes they skewed toward one more than the other.  The plot seemed to be following a particular route, but then there was a twist.  Which is cool!  But the last third of the book felt uneven and disjointed.  Subplots were tacked on without the development they might have been given earlier in the book.

Still, I’m glad this book exists.  It’s always good to read about the stories of people that, sad to say, I often ignore.  It’s a good reminder that people have so much more going on inside of them than we can ever know from the outside.  And–this is so basic, but so important–it’s great to have books that loudly and confidently remind readers that nonverbal men and women in wheelchairs are people too.  I mean, of course they are.  But how often do we get to read about their story?   Continue reading →

Internet Rec: Book Blogs

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You know you’re a fanatical reader when you read blogs about reading in your spare time (from reading).  In all honesty, though, reading is such a weird phenomenon.  You get intimately involved in a story…by yourself.  It can be incredibly comforting to find book soul mates who share a passion for the written word.  And if you read a lot, like I do, it can be hard to find people in your sphere of friends who read the same amount of the same type of book.  With all things, when real life doesn’t meet your needs…go online!  Below are seven of my favorite book blogs:   Continue reading →

God’s Will For Your Life

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We’ve all been there.  A decision looms ahead, one that could take our life in one of two (or three!) very different directions.  The excitement of having options transforms into anxiety that we will choose incorrectly.  And if you are a person who believes in a good and powerful God, at some point you will probably pray, “What should I do!?”

Usually those questions are met with supernatural silence.

Does God not care about our future and his silence is therefore a giant celestial shrug?  Or perhaps the problem is me: I’m not listening hard enough or trusting deeply enough.

John Ortberg suggests an alternative view, one that reframes our concerns about God’s will for our lives from actions and events to persons and character.   Continue reading →

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

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I heard this was a good biography, and I like Apple products, so I gave it a chance.  Actually, I got it at the library with three other massive books (this one clocks in at 570 pages) and I chose to read it first because I assumed I wouldn’t get past the first page.  I WAS SO WRONG.  I loved Jobs’ biography, for two main reasons.

Steve Jobs was a fascinating man.  Isaacson makes sure to let the readers know Jobs’ passion often turned into screaming fights and insulting appraisals of people’s work.  And yet…despite his frequent moments as a jerk, I wound up loving the man.  He was intense, brilliant, and focused.  When he saw something inadequate, in himself or in others, he did everything in his power to improve it.  Although this cost him some relational intimacy, those exact same qualities led him to revolutionize technology, not once or twice, but in every major technological division: personal computers, music, tablets, storefronts, phones, entertainment.  He was hard to work for, but 90% of his employees were proud to be on his team because he brought out excellence they never knew they had.   Continue reading →