meemish

Now, Go. See. Do.

Summertime Reading

It’s officially summertime and with it comes summer reading programs. I was the kind of kid that loved getting the libraries summer reading program and checking off how many books I read. Now, I live through my kids and make them do it.

Read All Day: June

1. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman ????????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

People were… exhausting. They made her anxious. Leaving her apartment every morning was the turning over of a giant hourglass, the mental energy she’d stored up overnight eroding grain by grain. She refueled during the day by grabbing moments of solitude and sometimes felt her life was a long-distance swim between islands of silence.

2. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano ????????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Humans need community, for our emotional health. We need connection, a sense of belonging. We are not built to thrive in isolation

3. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite ??????

Genre: Fictional Thriller

I know better than to take life directions from someone without a moral compass.

4. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin ????????

Genre: Young Adult

It’s peculiar how no-words can be better than words. Silence can say more than noise, in the same way that a person’s absence can occupy even more space than their presence did.

5. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson ????

Genre: Historical Nonfiction

The speech set a pattern that he would follow throughout the war, offering a sober appraisal of facts, tempered with reason for optimism. “It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour,” he said. “It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.

6. Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore ????????

Genre: Fiction

Stop micromanaging your life and just live it; joy and meaning will follow. Find the happy medium between being daring and responsible. Cultivate that balance. Do your best. Be good to yourself, even when—especially when—life isn’t being good to you.

7. Finding Chika: A Little Girl, An Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom ??????????

Genre: Autobiography

The most precious thing you can give someone is your time, Chika, because you can never get it back. When you don’t think about getting it back, you’ve given it in love.

8. The Whisper Man by Alex North ??????

Genre: Thriller

If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.

If you play outside alone, soon you won’t be going home.

If your window’s left unlatched, you’ll hear him tapping at the glass.

If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.

9. The Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler ??????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

A big surprise that was no surprise at all. If you are a black person in the United States, you live each day with the knowledge that this scene or one very much like it may be in your future. You needn’t have done anything illegal or have broken any rule.

10. Vampires in the Temple by Mette Ivie Harrison ??

Genre: Fiction

There had been vampires her in the salt lake valley when Brigham Young and the pioneers first arrived, but they’d been corralled onto the island after the the Vampire War. They’re not humans who have died and come back to life. They’re homo vampirus, related to us on the same family tree as Neanderthals, a relic of evolution that had died out around other inland salt lakes centuries ago according to the archeologists. The ones here survived for reasons still being studied.

11. The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward ??????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Did all siblings revert to their childhood selves when they were together, or was there a way to transition to functional adulthood even while being in one another’s lives?

12. Less by Andrew Sean Greer ??????

Genre: Fiction

Boredom is the only real tragedy for a writer; everything else is material.

13. Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes ????????

Genre: Fiction, Short Stories

…tell me…the best thing that has ever happened to you.’

‘The best? Oh, I’m kind of hoping it hasn’t happened yet.

14. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks ??????

Genre: Thriller

People are motivated to break their moral compasses for a variety of primal reasons: survival, hate, love, envy, passion. And money.

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Canyonlands National Park

Must Do Day Hikes in Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park contains three districts; Island in the Sky, The Needles and The Maze. The Maze district is more rugged and contains multi-day excursions. Each district has separate entrances, so for day hiking, plan your trip for either Island in the Sky or The Needles.

Island In The Sky

1. Whale Rock: 1 mile

Whale Rock

If you like to scramble up slick rock, then this is the hike for you.  Whale rock somewhat looks a whale, but what it lacks in resemblance it makes up for in unique hiking and grand views.

2. Mesa Arch: .5 miles

Whale Rock Sign

This is a hike for all ages.  It is a short hike to a beautiful arch, framing spectacular views.

3. Upheaval Dome: 1st overlook .8 miles, second overlook 1.8 miles

upheaval_dome

A short but steep hike to view the mysterious crater lined with jagged spires.

4. Aztec Butte: 2 miles

aztec_butte

Meander through a sandy wash until you come to a fork in the trail.  The eastern fork leads to spectacular views, the western fork leads to 800 year old Puebloan granaries. Both forks contain scrambling over slickrock  and ledges.

5. Grandview Point: 2 miles

grandview_point

Plan to start this hike an hour before sunset and enjoy the last light of the day saying goodnight to the spectacular panoramic view of the land. Make sure you have a flashlight for the hike back.

6. Murphy Point: 3.6 miles

murphy_point

This longer hike leads to unforgettable views of Candlestick Tower, Green River and White Rim Road.

Needles

1. Roadside Ruins: .3 miles

roadside_ruins

A short trail educating about how the Indians used the native plants. The trail ends with an ancient Puebloan granary, where their bounty was stored.

2. Cave Spring: .6 miles

cave_spring

This short loop includes a historic cowboy camp, prehistoric rock paintings, a rare year-round spring, and two ladders to climb.

3. Pothole Point Trail: .6 miles

pothole_point

Potholes along this slickrock trail, fill with rainwater and creates a perfect environment for microlife such as horsehair worms, snails, tadpoles and fairy shrimp. Who doesn’t want to see fairy shrimp?

4. Slickrock Trail: 2.4 miles

slickrock_trail

360 degree views of the park, need I say more?

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Spring is For Reading

We are heading in to my favorite seasons, spring and summer. I love the sun as much as I love books. Give me both and I’m in heaven. My perfect reading spot is on the beach, but give me a book, a hammock and sunshine anywhere and I’m one happy lizard.

Read All Day: May

1. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins ????????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Someone once told me that the only good advice for grief is to stay hydrated. Because everything else is just chingaderas.

2. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver ????????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

I found the old me, still in here, and the new me sitting right alongside her. We made friends.

3. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren ????????

Genre: Contemporary Romance

That’s the whole point of luck, isn’t it? You have to trust that it’s not fleeting.

4. The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth ????????

Genre: Mystery

I worked hard for everything I ever cared about, and nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.

5. The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James, Rachel McCarthy James ????

Genre: True Crime

This book is almost entirely about people who lived in small towns a hundred years ago. As much about how they died as about how they lived. But the flash of death illuminated the lifes the victims have lived.

6. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare ????????

Genre: Historical Fiction

It is the hate that is the enemy. Not men. Hate does not die with killing. It only springs up a hundredfold. The only thing stronger than hate is love.

7. The Breakdown by B.A. Paris ??????

Genre: Thriller

I never really remember doing any of it, which should worry me more than it does…

8. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center ??????

Genre: Romance

It’s amazing how brave you can be when you feel safe.

9. The Library Book by Susan Orlean ??????????

Genre: Nonfiction

All the things that are wrong in the world seem conquered by a library’s simple unspoken promise: Here I am, please tell me your story; here is my story, please listen.

10. Restart by Gordon Korman ????????

Genre: Fiction, Middle Grade

What was so wrong about the old me that now I have to be somebody else?

11. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston ????

Genre: Romance

He’s not afraid of anything he feels. He’s not afraid of saying it. He’s only afraid of what will happen when he does.

12. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett ????????

Genre: Historical Fiction

Thinking about the past impeded my efforts to be decent in the present.

13. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid ??????

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

I don’t need you to be mad that it happened. I need you to be mad that it just like… happens.

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

My Favorite Podcasts

When I’m not listening to an audio book, I’m listening to a podcast. My favorites vary from true crime to diseases to presidents. With so many good ones to choose from, here are my top picks. What are your favorites?

1. My Favorite Murder-Lifelong fans of true crime stories Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark tell each other their favorite tales of murder and hear hometown crime stories from friends and fans.

2. This Podcast Will Kill You-This podcast might not actually kill you, but it covers so many things that can. Each episode tackles a different disease, from its history, to its biology, and finally, how scared you need to be. Ecologists and epidemiologists Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke make infectious diseases acceptable fodder for dinner party conversation and provide the perfect cocktail recipe to match.

3. Criminal-Criminal is a podcast about crime. Not so much the “if it bleeds, it leads,” kind of crime. Something a little more complex. Stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, and/or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. 

4. This American Life-From WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, This American Life podcast gives listeners touching, humorous and often unexpected vignettes of life in America. Hosted by Ira Glass, these weekly short stories are an on demand version of the popular radio show and available in Stitcher’s Society & Culture station. 

5. Ted Radio Hour-Exploring the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world’s greatest thinkers. Host Manoush Zomorodi inspires us to learn more about the world, our communities, and most importantly, ourselves.

6. Revisionist History-Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell’s journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.

7. Sincerely Fortune-Comedians are known for their jokes, but in this podcast comedian/actress, Fortune Feimster, goes behind the curtain to discuss a new topic every week in a more real, sincere way.

8. Cold-Susan Powell vanished on Dec. 7, 2009. Her body has never been found. From the beginning, West Valley City, Utah police suspected Susan’s husband, Josh Powell, had murdered her. They never arrested him. COLD dives deep into the case files, uncovering never-before-heard details. You’ll learn why Susan stayed with an abusive husband, why Josh did what he did and how the justice system failed Susan and her two boys.

9. This is Your Book Club-A podcast devoted to talking about books. Along with a monthly book club, Jayme and Sarah will be talking about what’s on their shelves and which ones need to be on your TBR.

10. Better Than Happy-This podcast provides practical tools and real life application for taking your life from where ever it is to the next level. We cover relationships, health, emotions, mindset, confidence, entrepreneurship, money and all other parts of being a human. Did you know there is something better than happiness? It’s the life you were meant to live.

11. Atlanta Monster-From the producers of Up and Vanished, Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks present, ‘Atlanta Monster.’ This true crime podcast tells the story of one of the city’s darkest secrets, The Atlanta Child Murders. Nearly 40 years after these horrific crimes, many questions still remain. Host Payne Lindsey aims to find truth and provide closure, reexamining the disappearance and murder of over 25 African American children and young adults.

12. Dirty John-Debra Newell is a successful interior designer. She meets John Meehan, a handsome man who seems to check all the boxes: attentive, available, just back from a year in Iraq with Doctors Without Borders. But her family doesn’t like John, and they get entangled in an increasingly complex web of love, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival. Reported and hosted by Christopher Goffard from the L.A. Times.

13. Do You Need A Ride?-Comedians Chris Fairbanks and Karen Kilgariff shuttle their guests to or from the airport, somewhat dangerously, in a mobile sound studio (a car).

14. Monster: DC Sniper-From iHeartRadio and TenderfootTV, ‘Monster: DC Sniper’ reinvestigates the beltway sniper attacks. This true crime podcast places the listener in Montgomery County, Maryland on October 2nd, 2002 when an unidentified sniper began randomly killing people going about their daily lives. Host Tony Harris traces what investigators, journalists and the public learned from the first shot until the last and ultimately asks the question: Does the person convicted of these crimes ever deserve a

15. Presidential-The Washington Post’s Presidential podcast explores how each former American president reached office, made decisions, handled crises and redefined the role of commander-in-chief. It was released leading up to up to Election Day 2016, starting with George Washington in week one and ending on week 44 with the president-elect. Hosted by Lillian Cunningham, the series features Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers like David McCullough and Washington Post journalists like Bob Woodward.

16. The Moth-The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Moth shows are renowned for the great range of human & social experiences they showcase. Each week, The Moth podcast features the best of the stories told live from Moth stages across the country and delivers them in this beautiful radio program, available on demand in Stitcher’s Society & Culture station.

10 Signs You May Be Suffering From Depression

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It is way more common than you think. You are not alone. If you find you have some of these signs, open your mouth and ask for help. It gets better. I promise.

  • Persistent feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness, or hopelessness
  • Irritability or frustration, even over small matters
  • Loss of interest and/or pleasure in normal activities
  • Feelings of guilt, restlessness, or worthlessness
  • Decreased energy or fatigue
  • Slowed thinking, moving, or talking
  • Decreased appetite and weight loss, or increased cravings and weight gain
  • Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions, or remembering things
  • Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
  • Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause and/or that do not ease even with treatment

For more information go to www.nimh.nih.gov or call their hotline @ 1-866-615-6464

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Still Quarantine Reading

Month two of quarantine and I’m still reading. In between reading, I’m doing puzzles and listening to podcasts (oh, and homeschooling my kids). The outside world may be scary and unsure, but in my house is a library of adventure. I choose adventure.

Read All Day: April

1. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo ??????

Genre: Historical Fiction

We were a chocolate-box family, I thought. Brightly wrapped on the outside and oozing sticky darkness within.

2. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs: Big Questions by Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty ????????

Genre: Nonfiction

We can’t make death fun, but we can make learning about it fun. Death is science and history, art and literature. It bridges every culture and unites the whole of humanity!

3. Normal People by Sally Rooney ????????

Genre: Fiction

I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I cared what people thought of me.

4. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys ????????

Genre: Historical Fiction

Your shoes are carrying your most valuable possession—your life. Do not delay. Everything else can be replaced.

5. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger ????????

Genre: Fiction

Insatiable, impatient, impossible.

6. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia ????????

Genre: Young Adult

There is a small monster in my brain that controls my doubt.

7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ??????????

Genre: Young Adult

Try to be a filter, not a sponge.

8. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum ????????

Genre: Fiction

Where I come from, voicelessness is the condition of my gender, as normal as the bosoms on a woman’s chest, as necessary as the next generation growing inside her belly.

9. The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed by Jessica Lahey ??????

Genre: Parenting

In order to help children make the most of their education, parents must begin to relinquish control and focus on three goals: embracing opportunities to fail, finding ways to learn from that failure, and creating positive home-school relationships.

10. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides ??????

Genre: Mystery

Choosing a lover is a lot like choosing a therapist. We need to ask ourselves, is this someone who will be honest with me, listen to criticism, admit making mistakes, and not promise the impossible?

11. The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis ????????

Genre: Historial Fiction

I learned about getting saved. I learned how someone could come to you when you were feeling real, real bad and could take all of your problems away and make you feel better. I learned that the person who saved you, your personal saver, was sent by God to protect you and to help you out.

12. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella ??????

Genre: Fiction

My phone’s my life. I can’t exist without it. It’s a vital organ.

13. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes ????????

Genre: Fiction

Your head is the house you live in, so you have to do the maintenance.

14. Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong ????????

Genre: Autobiography

The answers to making it, to me, are a lot more universal than anyone’s race or gender, and center on having a tolerance for delayed gratification, a passion for the craft, and a willingness to fail.

15. Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright ??????

Genre: Nonfiction Science

Diseases don’t ruin lives just because they rot off noses. They destroy people if the rest of society isolates them and treats them as undeserving of help and respect.

16. The Second Sister by Claire Kendal ??????

Genre: Mystery

Why are so many fairytales about sisters saving their brothers? All the ones you told me last week were.

He is right. Hansel and Gretel. The Seven Ravens. The Twelve Brothers. Our mother seemed to know hundreds of them.

We should write a different story. I want one with a sister who saves her sister.

17. When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger ??????

Genre: Fiction

I feel like we just stepped into an episode of Housewives.

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Pandemic Reading List

I have always loved reading about diseases and their effects on communities. Even though I knew the reality of living through one, I never really imagined I would. Well, here we are. So, here’s a short list of the books I’ve read in the past, never imagining I could possibly be a character in a similar story in the future.

Oh, and my favorite podcast:)

1. Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic-and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

From Steven Johnson, the dynamic thinker routinely compared to James Gleick, Dava Sobel, and Malcolm Gladwell, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner about a real-life historical hero, Dr. John Snow. It’s the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure—garbage removal, clean water, sewers—necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action—and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time. In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories and inter-connectedness of the spread of disease, contagion theory, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.

2. In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil W. White III

The emotional, incredible true story of Neil White, a man who discovers the secret to happiness, leading a fulfilling life, and the importance of fatherhood in the most unlikely of places—the last leper colony in the continental United States.

3. The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston

A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic “hot” virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their “crashes” into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.

4. Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History by Catharine Arnold

In January 1918, as World War I raged on, a new and terrifying virus began to spread across the globe. In three successive waves, from 1918 to 1919, influenza killed more than 50 million people. German soldiers termed it Blitzkatarrh, British soldiers referred to it as Flanders Grippe, but world-wide, the pandemic gained the notorious title of “Spanish Flu.” Nowhere on earth escaped: the United States recorded 550,000 deaths (five times its total military fatalities in the war), while European deaths totaled more than two million.

Amid the war, some governments suppressed news of the outbreak. Even as entire battalions were decimated, with both the Allies and the Germans suffering massive casualties, the details of many servicemen’s deaths were hidden to protect public morale. Meanwhile, civilian families were being struck down in their homes. Philadelphia ran out of gravediggers and coffins, and mass burial trenches had to be excavated with steam shovels. Spanish flu conjured up the specter of the Black Death of 1348 and the great plague of 1665, while the medical profession, shattered after five terrible years of conflict, lacked the resources to contain and defeat this new enemy. Through primary and archival sources, historian Catharine Arnold gives readers the first truly global account of this terrible epidemic.

5. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

It’s late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn’t get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family’s coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie’s concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family’s small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie’s struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight—the fight to stay alive.

6. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

This Podcast Will Kill You

Grad students studying disease ecology, Erin and Erin found themselves disenchanted with the insular world of academia. They wanted a way to share their love of epidemics and weird medical mysteries with the world, not just colleagues. Plus, who doesn’t love an excuse to have a cocktail while chatting about pus and poop?

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Reading All Day

Welcome to quarantine reading. What else is there to do? Honestly, I could be cleaning out a closet (or two) but that’s not going to take my mind off the reality of what’s going on in the world. I’ve never been more grateful for my “Want to Read” list on Goodreads.

Read All Day: March

1. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan ????

Genre: Fiction

You know, I’m really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules.

2. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson ????

Genre: YA Mystery

The people you love weren’t algebra: to be calculated, subtracted, or held at arm’s length across a decimal point.

3. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward ????????

Genre: Fiction

There’s too much blank sky where a tree once stood.

4. The Dry by Jane Harper ??????

Genre: Mystery

Hidden somewhere in the dark, the cicadas screeched.

5. Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean by Richard Logan, Tere Duperrault ??????

Genre: True Crime

She really was a female Moses in the bulrushes, a waif cast adrift on the waters who would begin her life all over again, almost from scratch.

6. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates ??????????

Genre: Nonfiction

That is why we women have to lift each other up—not to replace men at the top of the hierarchy, but to become partners with men in ending hierarchy.

7. The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer ??????

Genre: Nonfiction

I wear my mistakes like badges of honor, and I celebrate them.

8. Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand ????????

Genre: Historical Fiction

Telling the truth when you’ve done something wrong is the most terrifying thing in the world.

9. Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls ????????

Genre: Autobiography

Sometimes something catastrophic can occur in a split second that changes a person’s life forever; other times one minor incident can lead to another and then another and another, eventually setting off just as big a change in a body’s life.

10. Son (The Giver Quartet, #4) by Lois Lowry ??????????

Genre: YA Fiction

Evil can do anything, for a price.

11. Lost and Found by Orson Scott Card ??????

Genre: YA Fiction

If everybody says something, it’s almost always wrong.

12. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh ??????????

Genre: Fiction

Hate can be passionate or disengaged; it can come from dislike but also from fear.

13. No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us By Rachel Louise Snyder ??????????

Genre: True Crime

…for every woman killed in the United States from domestic violence homicide, nearly nine are almost killed.

14. Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedians Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary ??????

Genre: Autobiography

I was diagnosed with autism at the age of five. I wasn’t diagnosed as a comedian until much later, though I always loved to perform and make people laugh. When I started doing stand-up in my teens, I realized that I could use comedy to help demystify autism and break down stereotypes. 

15. The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova ????????

Genre: Nonfiction

It was the beginning of that long bifurcation that became my life: Obey and hate yourself, survive. Disobey, redeem yourself, perish. I thought later how simply and quickly they had introduced that concept to me, as easily as breaking a little finger.

16. Recursion by Blake Crouch ????????

Genre: Science Fiction

Is déjà vu actually the specter of false timelines that never happened but did, casting their shadows upon reality?

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Best Card Games

In an effort to pull my kids out of the virtual world, I bought a lot of card games for Christmas this year. It worked! These are our favorites.

1. The Game

2. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

3. Avocado Smash

4. Sushi Go

5. Word A Round

6. Five Crowns

7. Dos

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

Let’s Talk Books

It’s cold here and getting through the tail end of winter would be hard for me if I didn’t have some good books to read. A few of my choices were in honor of Black History Month.

Read All Day: February

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ??????????

Genre: Classic

They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions… but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.

2. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane ????????

Genre: Fiction

We repeat what we don’t repair.

3. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb ????????

Genre: Nonfiction

Don’t judge your feelings; notice them. Use them as your map. Don’t be afraid of the truth.

4. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward ????????

Genre: Fiction

And I get up because it is the only thing I can do.

5. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell ??????

Genre: Mystery

I’d subliminally determined at this point that the only way to really know what was going on in the world was to listen to women talk. Anyone who ignores the chatter of women is poorer by any measure.

6. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare ??????????

Genre: Fiction

I feel a free that I didn’t feel in long time and when I smile, it climb from inside my stomach and spread itself on my teeths.

7. The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley ??????

Genre: Mystery

I have learned that under certain circumstances, a fib is not only permissible, but can even be an act of perfect grace.

8. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel ??????

Genre: Fiction

What I mean to say is, the more you remember, the more you’ve lost.

Now, Go. See. Do.

~meemish

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