Add It to My List: January 2017

ANOTHER LINK-UP! Because blogging is more fun with friends, let's just be real.

Link-up creators are Lauren from Eat, Drink, & Be Lauren and Bre from Bre Writes. Basically, they are always recommending things to each other- podcasts, television shows, music, blah blah blah. And they figured- why not share even further?

I always need recommendations, and I love link-ups where bloggers interact with each other. So this appeals to me immensely! I hope you will link-up also!

One note- I won't be discussing books very much, because I love the Show Us Your Books link-up and want to save it for that (which Lauren encourages this because she is a SUYB-er too).

Anyway, here's what I've been enjoying this month:

• Dear Booknerd Podcast
• of course they cancel right around the time I started listening, but I finished all 70+ episodes and enjoyed it
• How to Stay Outraged Without Loosing Your Mind
•  I know everyone has been sharing this- because it's important. Many of us are unhappy with the election results. And even if you have conservative values- Trump is openly silencing people who does not agree with him. If you believe in the Bill of Rights in any way, that is terrifying. Please don't ignore very serious red flags out of loyalty to a specific party.
• Haven
• This is the show Hubs & I are currently binging on. I started watching it because I thought it was based on the books in the Bishop/SCU series by Kay Hooper, but it's actually based on the book The Colorado Kid by Steven King. Either way, cool sci-fi series based on a novel. 
• French Dip Sliders
• OM NOM NOM
• I made these for my church group (we trade off making dinner each week when we meet) and it was SO GOOD! I can't wait to make them again
• Ask Me Another Podcast
• Because it's random trivia and funny and I need something to zone out of the sorry mess of current politics.

What are you enjoying? 

Link-up so we can all add-it to our list! 

The World Today...

I haven't been posting lately.

I haven't known what to say.

I'm disappointment regarding our President and the choices he is making.

I'm supremely disappointed in people who are backing him in ways that make me feel disrespectful and alone.

I'm sad at the truth of signs from women of color pointing out that feeling that way since 2016 is a privilege.

Anyway. Lots of crappy things happening.

Also lots of amazing things happening. People are stepping up.

There's some hope.

I don't want to ignore these by writing out trivial topics.

I also don't feel qualified to write about it sensitively and with respect (because while some people don't deserve it, quite frankly...I want to encourage communication and respect so I have to demonstrate it, and I haven't necessarily been).

So I've said nothing. At least on the blog. I've been retweeting a lot of smart and thoughtful and yes, sometimes snarky things on Twitter.

Facebook...oh boy, Facebook. I have...Trump supporters on FB. And they are pissing me off. I am trying to share basic facts there rather than snark. Go high when they go low, right?

Anyway. That's where I am. I hope you are doing something. I hope you are signing petitions, marching, tweeting, CALLING YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. 

Even if you disagree with me, I hope you are exercising your rights- because I am truly concerned that they will be taken away. Temporarily, I hope, because humanity is resilient. But I am fearful it will happen. And I don't want that.

It's really, really easy to take something from someone when they don't believe it is important.

2016 Reading Review

Looking back at my Reading Goals for 2016, I did pretty well overall.

I did finish everything on my IRL TBR, although that is a goal I will not be completing again. Sometimes I pick up a book that sounds interesting at the moment, but later I just go "Um, no this is not interesting." So I've slowly come to the Kondo theory when it comes to books- if it doesn't bring me joy, it goes.* Once I completed this goal and had more freedom with my choices, my reading life became much more enjoyable.

*Eh joy is kind of simplistic- but if it doesn't make me want to read it, I'm not gonna force it. It doesn't have to make me happy- there are fantastic books about dark subjects. It just has to feel like I am not wasting my time with something I get nothing out of. 

I also completed my Diversity Ready Challenge, which I am so thankful for because it lead me to some wonderful books I may not have found without it. I don't have a strict list this year, but I definitely want to continue to read about experiences that are different than my own.

I did not even start John & Hank Green's Reading Lists...but oh well. Lots of them just didn't appeal much (see above about Kondo theory...).

I surpassed my overall goal of 30 books and actually read 55! That is huge for me and I'm kinda proud of myself. It helps that I finally came around to audio & ebooks ;)

Statistics: 





Genre:
I was pretty surprised by this, actually. I didn't think I had read so much Nonfiction (probably partly thanks to my diversity focus) or so much YA (also heavily influenced by diversity, as it's often more willing to tackle difficult subjects IMO).

Diversity:
This one is a little tricky. I count diversity if it includes any race or sexual orientation other than mine. I also included it if involved mental or physical difficulties (for example, Delirium looks at love as mental illness and "vaccinates" against it...I think that speaks to mental health and emotions and the reliance on medication and genetics). I could have included more if I included feminist books, but since I am one that's not diverse. Basically if any of the characters would come with and adjective (black, mentally ill, gay, etc) instead of the standard "man/woman"- which our society does ALL THE TIME, I counted it as diverse. But I don't want to seem like I'm pushing for diversity points...I am happy with these numbers, especially since I continued naturally after finishing my specific diversity challenge.

 Overall I am pretty happy with my 2016 reading experience. Reading everything on IRL TBR definitely lead to some time on the struggle bus, since I didn't end up enjoying several of them. However, it made me really focus more on how I choose books. Thanks to the Show Us Your Books link-up and watching a few BookTubers, I've been more open to trying new genres and giving myself less guilt about DNFing and making reading an enjoyable experience.