readinglife

The Last Bookstore

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Hello All,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying a restful weekend. As you know, one of my reading goals for the year is to support more local bookshops over large retailers like B&N and Amazon. And, this February, I was given just the opportunity!

I am most thankful to my friends for supporting my book habit, and for accompanying me to Downtown LA’s very own “The Last Bookstore”. This was only our second time ever exploring LA (and tackling it’s own unique kind of traffic), so we did hit a few bumps along the road – and a farmer’s market – before locating the establishment on the corner of South Spring Street.

I’d been wanting to visit this place for a long time and it did not disappoint! Not only did it have two huge floors, but it also housed several themed rooms, art installations, and shops!

I took in the magic of each section one step at a time, starting off with Fiction, Classics, and Young Adults. I allowed books to jump out, letting them choose me instead of me choosing them. (I eventually walked away with P. Schonstein’s A Time of Angels: A Novel, M. Tokuda-Hall’s The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, and an annotated copy of Frankenstein geared toward scientists and creatives of all types.)

On the second floor, I discovered not only a lovely Carroll-esque art installation (among several others) but also a wonderfully witchy little shop selling tarot cards, crystals, jewelry, and art by Liz Huston. I bought a few postcards to use as bookmarks there before heading out to find the book labyrinth. (Yes, they have a book labyrinth!)

It’s really an all-day kind of visit, but we were strapped for time as the drive back to the Central Valley was long. Before “re-entering the real world”, however, I made sure to leave well stocked in books and, of course, a hoodie.

Do you guys know of any bookshops in Northern California that I should visit?

Thoughts: Everina Maxwell’s “Winter’s Orbit” 

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Hello All!  

The first book of 2023 was Everina Maxwell’s “Winter’s Orbit”, a fun romp through an intergalactic society filled with political intrigue and colorful characters, all framed within an icy alien landscape. It was a fun read, to say the least, though a bit more political than I usually like. There were a few parts where the pace was slow – roughly, the first third of the novel as we got to know Kiem and Jainan – the prince on royal probation and his Thean emissary husband. This isn’t a bad thing of course, especially if you prefer deeper character development over a fast-paced plot.

I originally went into it thinking it was a young adult book, but, by the halfway point I realized it’s more for adults. Some of the heavier themes included domestic abuse, trauma, and duty to one’s nation. Throw in a few assassination attempts, a done-with-your-shit emperor, a spunky assistant running from her space pirate past, and you’ve got a crazy ride. Also, both Kiem and Jainan grow throughout the story, overcoming their misconceptions about each other and themselves, and so became one of the most stable power couples in their mutual societies.  

Overall, Winter’s Orbit surprised me by presenting some very mature themes amongst a colorful, imaginative landscape, as well as two main characters who struggle with real-life anxieties and fears.  And, as space opera’s go, this one was a pretty quick read.

Let me know if you pick it up!

2023 Reading Goals

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Photo by Anthony : ) on Pexels.com

Dear Reader,  

I am trying out a new format. Mainly, because I love writing letters and I thought it would be fun to incorporate that hobby into my online posts. Doesn’t it feel a lot less stuffy?  

Anyway, happy holiday weekend! I hope this finds you well and enjoying a peaceful February overall. Even though the month’s almost over, I still find it hard to believe at times that we’re already in 2023! We’ll probably be in 2025 if I blink fast enough, ha!  

I started the year with a few more manageable reading goals in mind. Five, to be exact. Last year felt like such a hot mess that I barely got any reading done and, in part, I wonder if it was because of my unrealistic expectations. I was trying to read 2-3 books a month, which is hard to do when you’re juggling full-time work and a bunch of other side projects. (And dealing with seasonal depression, where all you want to do is sleep and/or play nostalgia inducing video games – I discovered the cloud version of Kingdom Hearts for Nintendo Switch. Game over! Pun intended.)  

So, this year I decided to take it easier and challenge myself at the same time by:  

  • Reading at least 12 books in 2023.  
  • Reading at least 2 of those 12 books in Spanish.  
  • Reading at least 1 classic.  
  • Supporting more local book shops over larger franchises. (Here’s looking at you B&N and Amazon.)  
  • Making sure that at least 4 of the 12 books I read come from my kindle library, which grew over the previous year but never lessened. (Damn those kindle book deals.) 

Pretty attainable goals, right? And, in fact, I’ve already read two books and even got to support an amazing local bookshop in LA, The Last Bookstore (post on this coming soon). So, I’m off to a great start.  

How about you, friend? Did you enter the new year with any reading goals?