December 18th-December 24th, 2022

  The Sunday Post

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

#12. Just Because You Know One Person With Autism...

I promised myself not to write or post sad posts because honestly, people have limited tolerance for sad posts, yet here I am writing and posting it. When I was in college, it was thought that I had Asperger's disorder (Long story short, I don't feel Asperger's is the right diagnosis for me, but I think it was very undiagnosed ADHD.) and quite often I ended up hearing this mantra: Just because you know one person with autism, it means you only know one person with autism. I feel that for holiday season and beyond, this is a perfect remembrance that we are all human, that one person doesn't represent the whole race or religion, and its not fair to judge or place expectations on that single person to be representative of everyone in their group. In other words, be kind and be emphatic, and don't judge on skin color or appearance. 

Week wasn't very special; Friday wasn't a fun day, especially receiving a phone call and being told that my six year old said something horrible to another boy.  School semester is over and lets hope that the holidays will contain fun memories. 

Last Week On The Blog: 

N/a

This Week On The Blog: This Week On The Blog: The Autodidacts By Thomas Kendall, The Bronze Drum By Phong Nguyen,Margot By Wendell Steavenson (Coming In January) One Dark Window By Rachel Gillig, The Oleander Sword By Tasha Suri The Ghost season by fatin abbas (January 2023)

New Arrivals At svetlana's reads and views:

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 

(From The Book Date)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

Its the end of the year, and I have six books to review, or four rather, because two of them will be published in January 2023. For the next few weeks, I will attempt to review the books I need to. Let's hope I can do it. I finished and enjoyed reading Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas and gaining more knowledge about Africa. Looking forward to my next few reads! 

Reading:

  
   121/634                                    132/392

Plans: 

 

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

How it works:

I assign each Tuesday a topic and then post my top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join me and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

You’ll find the schedule of upcoming TTT topics below so you can plan ahead. I’ll post a Linky here on the blog each week so you can link up your post (if you want). If you don’t have a blog, post your picks in the comment section below! Have tons of fun talking books and getting to know your fellow bloggers!

NOTE: If a weekly topic is listed as a “freebie”, you are invited to come up with your own topic. Sometimes I will give your topic a theme, such as “love”, a season, or an upcoming holiday. That just means that you can come up with any topic you want that fits under that umbrella.

You’re more than welcome to use the Top Ten Tuesday image I designed above (or any of my older/seasonal ones), or make your own that fits your site’s theme.

December 20: Jewish Experience Through Fiction

Because this is a Chanukkah week and I don't celebrate christmas, I feel it would be more fitting if I focus this week's reads on Jewish historical fiction, aside from the usual prefiltration of WWII/Holocaust novels, although next week I can recommend quite a few I enjoyed. Without further adieu, here we go! 

1. Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum: I honestly enjoyed it a lot because the author definitely has strong talent for combining science fiction and history into a beautiful and readable novel that asks difficult questions. 

2. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker: A Jewish fantasy novel that is incredibly detailed and beautifully written exploring a big myriad of topics. 

3. The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker: Sequel to The Golem and the Jinni, and like its predecessor it explores the passage of time and the effect time has on our two favorite outcasts. 

4. A Bend in the Stars by Rachel Barenbaum: Focuses on Russian Jewish lives in 1914 and just like Atomic Anna its very detailed and very heartbreaking. 

5. The Third Daughter by Talia Carner: This was something I never knew, but apparently desperate Jewish women were tricked into marrying and becoming prostitutes in Argentina. Definitely a worthwhile read. 

6. Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner: Around the time the novel takes place, I  was still in Russia and this felt a lot like home. But this focuses on Russian lives during 1990s, and the casual Jewish hatred they experienced. 

7. The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner: Another Jewish fantasy, a beautiful retelling of the goblin market and of the common foe between the Jews and christians. 

8. The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma Kaulfield by Anna Fishbeyn: Although I arrived to America ten years after the main character (she came in 1980s and I came in 1994) I definitely felt at home and validated when I was reading this tale. For exploring Russian-Jewish culture in USA, I would highly recommend reading this book. 

9. Apprentice  by Maggie Anton: With a ton of novels taking place in WWII, its easy to forget that Judaism is 5,700+ years. This takes place in late 3rd (200s) century and discusses what life must have been like for the Jews before christianity came to power. 

10.  Enchantress by Maggie Anton: Sequel to Apprentice and takes place in early 4th century (300s) like its predecessor it focuses on life of Jews during those periods before christianity came to power. 

Shelf Control

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title:  Summer of the Storm 

Author: Catherine George 

Published:  1994

Length: 186

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads): 

Summer Of The Storm by Catherine George released on Nov 24, 1994 is available now for purchase.

How and when I got it: I think I got it through a second cousin a long time ago. 

Why I want to read it: I think simply because its there. 

What do you think? Would you read this book? And if you’ve read it, do you recommend it?

Please share your thoughts!

Books from Backlog

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.

If you would like to join in, please feel free to enter your link, link back to this post, and then spend some time visiting some of the other posts.

This week’s neglected book 

Book Title: Nectar in a Sieve 

Series: None

Publisher: Signet Classic 

Genres: India, Classics, School, women, family, contemporary, farming, Indian version of A Good Earth? Prostitution 

Pages: 186

Format: Print

Source: I bought it at a library sale on August 9th, 2014. 

Summary:

Married as a child bride to a tenant farmer she never met, Rukmani works side by side in the field with her husband to wrest a living from a land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. With remarkable fortitude and courage, she meets changing times and fights poverty and disaster.

This beautiful and eloquent story tells of a simple peasant woman in a primitive village in India whose whole life is a gallant and persistent battle to care for those she loves—an unforgettable novel that "will wring your heart out" (The Associated Press).

Named Notable Book of 1955 by the American Library Association.

Why did I add Nectar Sieve to my bookshelf? I loved reading A Good Earth by Pearl Buck and this one sounds just as good. 

What are your thoughts? Have you read this book?  Would you recommend it?

Let's Talk Bookish 

December 23: Holiday Books (Aria ~ me)

Prompts: Christmas books and movies dominate the media during the winter season, but Christmas isn’t the only holiday being celebrated. 

Do you like reading holiday books at all? 

To be honest no and not really. I am a Soviet Union ethnic religious minority. Most of the books are about christmas, and although from Soviet Union I gained New Years which we celebrate like christmas, its not the same. 

Have you ever read a holiday book about another religion? 

Perhaps celebratory christmas novel or two long ago, but yeah, it felt foreign for me. Would children's books count? I read a ton of different holiday books to my six year old. 

What about a holiday book not set during the winter season? 

Only childrfen's books if I'm honest. Considering that holiday books are often romances or comedic or both, they're not my forte. 

If you’re religious but don’t celebrate Christmas, do you feel represented in the holiday media?

Not really and barely to be honest. While there has been a tiny increase of religious representations, they hadn't been appealing for me. 

Stacking the Shelves 

Book Titles I got this week: (if available)

Planned Reviews: (If available. Use pictures)