#good reads
In the crazy days of COVID-19- One thing I like to Do while Quarantined is Read. One of my Favorites of All Time Is “THINK & GROW RICH” By Napolean Hill. It’s filled with all types of positive affirmations and really useful skills. Give it a try :)
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Symptoms of Being Human
by Jeff Garvin
When you start any novel, what do you notice first about the narrator? I imagine concurrent to style of voice, you make immediate assumptions about gender. I, in fact, often actively search for narrators of a certain gender. I imagine there are some readers out there that actively avoid narrators of a certain gender. Actually, the old chestnut that they like to sell writers is that girls will read stories about boys and girls, but boys are only interested in stories about boys. #alternativefact
So, then, what do you do when the narrator’s answer to “boy or girl” is a simple nod?
Riley is starting at a new high school halfway through the four arduous years, a terrifying plight for any narrator, but exacerbated more acutely by the fact that Riley identifies as “gender fluid,” - as male or female or anywhere along the spectrum on any given day. Compound this situation by a congressman father running for re-election and an accidental fame-by-blog-post scenario and you’ve got the makings of a modern cyber hero - and heroine - tale.
The book came out five minutes ago and has already been recognized as a 2017 Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection by American Library Association, among Most Anticipated Debuts by Barnes & Noble, and in 5 YA Novels You Need to Read in the First Half of 2016byHuffington Post. The list of notable mentions is exhaustively long this far. And why?
Well, it’s a fun read to be sure, but what is perhaps most notable about this book is that like all good fiction, it manages to implicate the reader in its exploration. Heck, the gender-fluid narrator is even self-critical. Why are we all so eager to categorize? To label? To break down? Is a thing defined less scary? More relatable? Or is it simply habit? A result of a lifetime of pronouns we’ve been fed and regurgitated? Or, it is more insidious? Is it segregated children’s toy aisles and blue and pink cake reveals and seventy-seven cents on the dollar? Why do we see the world how we do, and why do we cling so ferociously to our arbitrary classifications?
Symptoms of Being Human is destined to join the ranks of the young modern underdog tales like Wonder, Eleanor & Park,andCurious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It’s a story we’ve never heard before from a narrator we didn’t know we needed - a narrator who invites us to see the world from a slightly less-defined perspective.
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The Dead Circle by Keith Varney
I was tricked into reading another zombie book. What’s the adage? “Trick me once, shame on you, trick me twice, shame on me for not giving zombie books a chance?” I read The Dead Circle in 48 hours and spent the next week attempting to reconcile my inability to stomach cannibalism (yes, I went there) with my desire to share the best page-turners with my fellow bibliophiles.
Of all of the books that I’ve read about supernatural post-apocalyptic infestations, this book serves as the most practical guide to how my spouse and I could survive the apocalypse. And perhaps that’s what makes it the most disturbing zombie selection: it could possibly be recategorized amidst “non-fiction” or “survival guides” sometime in the future.
Until now, I thought a layperson like myself would be among the first to fall in the zombie apocalypse, but this book gives me hope. So many times, the people that survive are strikingly attractive, never need to go to the bathroom, and are facile with a semi-automatic. I am none of these.
The Dead Circle is gruesome, quirky, familiar, and terrifying. Don’t eat while reading. That’s all I’m saying. Probably avoid drinking as well.
I’ll admit, there was a moment about two-thirds of the way through when I thought, Maybe it’d be better to turn into a zombie so I wouldn’t be eaten by one. That’s a truth I didn’t want face.
I’m not sure if Varney is planning a sequel, but based on the unconventional ending of the first, I’d pick it up tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll keep this title on my nightstand in case I need some undead tips – and I plan on stocking up on bottled water tomorrow.
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GitHub - microsoft/Web-Dev-For-Beginners: 24 Lessons, 12 Weeks, Get Started as a Web Developer
I am sharing this as it might help someone. Nothing beats free and well-written resources.Web Development for Beginners - A Curriculum. Give it a try. It is free.
Nyssa Glass and the Caper Crisis
by H. L. Burke
Orphaned cat burglar Nyssa Glass intends to outwit her rotten fate.
“Adopted” by her incarcerated uncle’s gang of thieves, she breaks into homes and picks pockets to repay her family debt and one day buy her freedom from their dark enterprise. Mechanically adept and determined, Nyssa longs to attend Miss Pratchett’s School for Mechanically Minded Maids and make an honest life she can take pride in.
She wasn’t made to steal things. She was made to create and fix them.
However, before she can make her escape, the head of the gang taps her for a new assignment, one her conscience cannot bear. Nyssa is faced with a heartrending decision: sacrifice everything or become the very thing she’s desperate to escape.
A Prequel Short for the Nyssa Glass Steampunk Series.
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Five Public Cases on Intelligence
Occasionally, our correspondent Anthony Madrid composes a set of quasi-koans; these are his latest.
Public Case 1: Anxieties
Our teacher said: “Anxieties about one’s intelligence are never anxieties about one’s intelligence. What’s actually at issue is whether we inspire envy in others (very acceptable), or whether we are ourselves obliged to feel envy (unacceptable). Those are the actual stakes. No one frets about whether her brain is adequate to the tasks of her life.”
Comment. An old trick. Teacher boldly admits he is mean and vain; therefore he may call you mean and vain. But how much does he really want to enlighten his students, if his method for combating vanity is to humiliate it? He says, in effect: “You are conning yourself. You pretend to worry about how smart you are, so you may seem—to yourself—to be honest and humble. You know for a fact people think you’re smart, but that’s not good enough; you want ’em to suffer…” Upshot: Everyone walks away having exempted themselves from the criticism, and firmly identifying with the authority figure. In short, meaner and vainer than ever.
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As a black woman, I don’t often find brilliant works of fiction with black protagonists. They are especially rare in the romance novel genre. But every once in a while, I’ll find an amazing work that takes my breath away. Queen Move is one of those books. I love Kennedy Ryan because her characters are amazing and her romances are epic. Queen Move was brilliant and I enjoyed EVERY SECOND of reading it!! Please check this one out!!
Reading Is Magical!!
All The King’s Men Series by Kennedy Ryan
This is such a great romance duet. The characters are flawed, smart, and enthralling. I could not put the books down. I kept going back to them for weeks after I had finished reading them. These are truly worth the read. Check them out and ENJOY!!!
Curse Of The Gods By Jane Washington and Jaymin Eve
I love this book series. It’s a reverse harem book series set in an alternate fantasy universe. It’s a funny, crazy, and amazing series. I love the main character Willa and her absolutely ridiculous thoughts and actions. The later books do have sex scenes in them, but they totally add to the whole story line. I would recommend this series to everyone over 15.
“After seven years of experiments, it was clear to us that the remarkable attribute of resilience in the face of defeat need not remain a mystery. It was not an inborn trait; it could be acquired.”
Martin Seligman, “Learned Optimism: How To Change Your Mind And Your Life”
I don’t see the connection but okay
Fandom: The Originals
Paring: Reader x Mikaelons, Reader x Trevor and Rose
Words: 721
Warnings: typical Mikealson violence
Author’s note: I hope you’ll enjoy this short one shot.
Imagine: you are Klaus’s eighteen-year-old hybrid daughter, but he doesn’t know about you until you get kidnapped.
‘Klaus you have until the sunrise before I kill your daughter. Bring me the bloodstone, and she’ll live.’
‘He’s bluffing. Hope is with Hayley.’ Said Rebekah, dark veins forming underneath her eyes.
‘Oh, I’m not talking about Hope, I would never hurt a child. I am not a monster,’ he smirked, ‘an eighteen-year-old, well, that’s a different kind of story.’
Klaus and Elijah exchanged looks. Then Elijah asked, ‘how do we know it is not a trick?’
‘I’ll give you the proof.’ He smiled deviously, ‘just remember you asked for it.’ Trevor took out his phone and dialled a number, ‘they want proof.’ When a video conversation was on, he passed the phone to the originals.
On the screen, they saw a girl whose hands were chained up loosely to the floor behind her and so were her legs. Her face was stained with tears. ‘Please, I do whatever you want just make it stop. Please.’ The girl cried. ‘I’m sorry sweetheart,’ sounded a woman’s cold voice, ‘don’t try to fight it.’ A horrible scream of the girl sounded as if someone was tearing her skin off. Her body shifted, and dark veins appeared under her now golden eyes. ‘Please!’ she screamed and cried, and the women laughed in a sicking pleasure.
‘Rose, I think that enough.’ Said Trevor, the screams were replaced by sobs. Trevor took the phone and hung up. ‘So, what about that stone?’
Klaus breathed heavily, a murderous look in his eyes accompanied by dark veins, ‘you will have it when you bring the girl.’
‘Niklaus, think about it.’
‘Elijah I know what I am doing.’
‘Well then if you excuse me,’ Trevor smirked, ‘I have a girl to escort.’
‘Trevor, you’re back.’ Rose threw herself into his embrace.
‘Of course honey.’ He stared into her eyes and then kissed her. ‘Alright, let’s get the girl.’
‘Please, let me go.’ Y/n cried, her whole body ached. She was confused what did all mean. Yesterday she was a student and a bartender, and now she was mixed up in some supernatural world. To say she was scared would be an understatement.
Trevor came up to her, his face an inch away, ‘you’re going to meet your daddy, aren’t you happy.’ He smiled.
‘Please,’ she whispered.
‘I am tired of this,’ said Rose walking up to them and broke Y/n’s neck.
Travis walked into the Mikaelson compound holding Y/n’ body bridal style, Rose right on his feet. They were greeted by the Mikaelson siblings: Klaus, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah and Freya; they all looked at the unconscious girl.
‘I said I would bring her, I never said she’ll be unharmed.’ Trevor’s eyes shine in madness and his teeth fully exposed. ‘Rose, be so kind and take the stone.’
Klaus walked towards Rose and Trevor, ‘first you will give me my daughter.’
‘You really don’t know how this works,’ Rose mocked, ‘stone first, then you can have the girl.’
‘Fine,’ Klaus smirked, ‘Elijah, give them the stone.’ Klaus looked deep into Trevor’s eyes, ‘give me her.’
The minute Y/n was is Klaus’s arms Elijah ripped Rose’s heart out, ‘to me seems like you don’t know how this works.’
‘Nooo!’ Trevor shouted and launched himself onto Klaus but Kol was faster and dipped his hand into the chest of the vampire, ‘you could have lived, mate,’ then he pulled the heart out.
Later that day.
Y/n gasped and lifted herself into sitting position grabbing her neck. Small tears streamed down her face. Klaus who sat next to the bed she was lying on reached his hand to her, but she moved away as if he was made of fire.
Their eyes locked in one another, ‘where am I?’ she sobbed.
‘You are safe now.’ He stood up and lead in to hug her this time she didn’t move away. Instead, she hugged him back. Klaus closed his eyes and gently run his hand through her hair. ‘I am sorry you had to go through all this.’ He said pulling away.
‘They killed her,’ she cried, ‘my mum, she gone.’
‘I am sorry.’
They hugged again. Klaus let her cry on his shoulder until she fell asleep, even then he stayed. He wanted to protect her, to be her shield. He swore to himself that no one will lay a hand his daughter.
Let me know if you enjoyed it.
How I talked myself into not getting a job…
It’s no secret that it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything significant. For the past few months, I’ve been completely in flux. I was working two jobs. I was barely eating and sleep was nonexistent most nights. I was irritated 95% of the time and I was not myself. I found myself coming out of character quite often with just about anyone who annoyed me. Each job came with its own set of…
There was time where I really wanted to be normal. There are times where I catch myself making conflicting statements such as “I just want to be like a normal 24 year old” and “I’m not trying to be average”. Those two statements could not be any more contradicting of another. I had to sit and check myself. I had to sit myself down and spell out what was real and what was not. I realized and…
I took a few weeks of hiatus, almost a month because I had writers block. The worst thing to do when you have writers block is to force it. People can tell when content is forced and is less than genuine. I always want to be able to write about things that resonate with me. Since my last post, I have been doing a lot of spiritual work on myself. I realize that that may have also contributed a big…
There may have been times where you’ve had no idea what we are doing and where we you going. Not just with our physical destinations but with our futures and fate there have and will be times where we are completely unsure. All those moments we sit and search for a sign to let us know what happens next or what we should do. Signs come in all shapes and sizes, whether it be a literal sign or a…
Success: n. 1. the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. 2. the attainment of popularity or profit. 3. a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity. 4. the outcome of an undertaking, specified as achieved or failing to achieve its aims. Success, the one thing we all aim for in multiple areas in our lives. And to each of us, success and what it means to us personally has…
Human sexuality is the expression of sexual sensation and related intimacy between beings. It is something that ranges a variety of categories. Human sexuality occurs on all planes which include the physical, the mental and the spiritual. Because of this, the act of sex is considered highly sacred. With recent generations, sex has become less for love and commitment and has become for purely…
I had tears in my eyes… This series* has to be one of the best I have ever read. Alcott took me through the lives of three* women; Meg, Jo and Amy, from childhood to adulthood and showed how they faced problems and certainly in Jo’s case - showed how to help others.
For me, Jo’s Boys was my favourite (admittedly I cried most in this, but only at the end in one big gush) because I knew the characters and had gained the affection that a lot of readers find wells up in their heart (even though the characters are fictional…). I was physically pleased that so many of them succeeded in life; Emil survived, Nat became an accomplished violinist*, Dan found an honest reason to live*, Tommy finds the right ‘little woman’ & profession and both Rob & Teddy (and Professor Bhaer) support Jo so much - the blood family within the college family just give you more and more reasons to smile and laugh.
Without giving too much away, these are some of the best books I’ve ever read. They are wonderful reads and are full of morals, taught through every day situations - or one off, life threatening situations. If I didn’t have such a long 'to read’ list, I’d read them all again.
*SPOILERS
- I refer to it as a series because 'Good Wives’ is actually a separate book, however it is often put as a sort of 'part 2’ in Little Women, which would make it a trilogy. I see them as four books - some see them as three - each to their own.
- There were four sisters to begin with, but little Beth dies, it’s incredibly upsetting. :(
- Nat also married Daisy - his accomplishments and willingness to wait while abroad for two years convinced Daisy’s mother (Meg) that he was right for her daughter.
- Dan had been in prison and the only thing to keep him alive and sane was a little picture of Bess (AKA Princess - she was incredibly pretty, sweet, quiet, kind and everyone loved her), Amy’s daughter. This little affection gave him a reason to live for others, not for himself. We discover at the end he was shot and killed defending his friends, the Indians.
- Also, Nan stays in medicine, Demi marries Alice and gets an honest job in publishing and John dies. A lot die. Be prepared.
The Burning Maze, the third installment of The Trials of Apollo, is worth the wait and to me the best among the three. There was not a single dull moment in the book. It is the definition of a page turner, and it is packed with actions, humor, friendship, puzzles, realization, and much, much more (there’re so many things I want to say, but no spoilers!). If you’ve read the first 10 books of the Olympian demigods plus the first 2 Apollo books, this one is not going to disappoint you (lots of allusions to the previous books). … And now I have to wait for more than a year for the 4th book! My husband says I should hibernate until then!
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VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! If you’re a fantasy-book addict like me (whose most precious items in her closet are a Hogwarts robe and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, and who gets super ridiculously picky when it comes to fantasy books), Nevermoor is an amazing story you won’t want to put down until the last page. Ms. Townsend is an amazing story-teller. Grabbed me from the very first sentence! The book is well-paced and the characters are convincing and endearing. I am definitely waiting for the second book, Wundersmith, coming later this year.
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For all who are interested in keeping the planet safe and healthy, I recommend reading nonfiction (and a lot of it!). As a young person (who may not be immediately taken seriously) it will help you educate people on important topics in a way that is factual and sophisticated!
Here are some of my all time favorite nonfiction booksabout our planet, where the future is heading, and what we as a collective can do to take action!
- The Ends of The World by Peter Brannen (10/10!!)
- This is a FANTASTIC, funny, and highly informative book that came out this year about the historic effects of global warming, and where we might be heading as a result. It reads like a narrative, and gives a really interesting perspective on global warming from a historical, geological and biological perspective! In the words of Michael Pye “This is a book about rocks: a vivid, fascinating, sometimes horrifying book about rocks and the story they tell about all the past and future lives of our planet”.
- Things you’ll learn about: climate change, global warming, geology, the past 5 mass extinctions, paleontology, gigantic boney fishes, climate change, dinosaurs, and coral bleaching!
- Spineless by Juli Berwald (8/10)
- Spineless is an informative, beautifully written book about jellyfish and their effects on the oceans and ourselves. Berwald tells her personal journey studying jellyfish from start to finish in a way that is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes infuriating, and always incredibly interesting!
- Things you’ll learn about: jellyfish (literally everything about them, how to catch them, how to eat them, how to raise them, the big, the small, how they broke a nuclear reactor, eating habits, mating, EVERYTHING), global warming, the scientific community, japan, etc. etc.
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (10/10)
- A classic. Just a classic cornerstone environmentalism book. Everyone should read it sometime in their lives. Rachel Carson is a badass environmentalist who paved the way for female scientists and wrote a startling, unflinchingly honest book about the effects of DDT on wildlife (in the 1960s no less!). I love this book to pieces, please read!
- Things you’ll learn about: effects of pesticides on the environment, history, and the effects of widespread human ignorance
- the LOST species by Christopher Kemp (7/10)
- This book is incredibly unique! It focuses on the importance of natural history museums and collections, and how many species are discovered in the musty boxes and crates of huge natural history collections. The book is broken into small sections, each talking about a different species found in this way. Its full of surprises and narratives!
- Things you’ll learn about: endangered species, how natural history collections are built, how said collections are incredibly important and are falling into disrepair because no one cares about them, mass frog extinctions, and 30 ft. parasites that live in the stomachs of sperm whales!
