e-books

National Read an Ebook Day

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Any excuse to read!

I almost always have my Kindle with me, and it often has a half dozen or so books on it, available or in some form of partially read and currently reading. The most used app on my Kindle is probably the Libby app and the Kindle app itself. Of the books in the above photo, a screenshot of my Kindle home page, three books are finished, one is not started, and the sample of Fr. James Martin’s newest book is still in the deciding stage of buying or borrowing.

A little bit about some of the books currently pictured:

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to The Hunger Games. It falls between Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds and The Hunger Games, and follows the story of Haymitch Abernathy. Well worth the read, it gives some background and really shows how Haymitch became the man we see when he meets Katniss and Peeta.

The second book pictured, Jesuit Relations, edited by Allan Greer, et al, is a book I bought for research for my own book about St. Kateri Tekakwitha. I am writing a chapter on the Jesuit influence and work in New France that Kateri was exposed to since childhood and certainly contributed to her conversion.

Skipping to the seventh book, How We Learn to Be Brave by Bishop Mariann Budde Edgar was one I had started to read, but then was assigned as a group reading at work, so I’ve re-read the first three chapters and will continue as the group continues. It’s really a good view of Bishop Edgar’s memoir as well as how she put herself out there, to be brave, and to move forward in her life and her career. It offers advice and direction.

Lieutenant Nun: The True Story of a Cross-Dressing, Transatlantic Adventurer Who Escaped From a Spanish Convent in 1599 and Lived was a Man by Catalina De Erauso, the third book pictured tells almost the whole story in the title, which is what attracted me to it in the first place. It’s a wild ride!

Three to Recommend:

  • The Writer: A Thriller by James Patterson & J.D. Barker
  • A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay
  • Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officers Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th by Harry Dunn

Three on My Next Up List:

  • Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary by Joe Jackson
  • Mark Twain by Ron Chernow
  • Patriot: A Memoir by Alexi Navalny

What’s on your e-reader?

Put your recommendations in the comments!

March. Inspire?

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The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.

Coco Chanel

One thing about dates on the calendar is that the days change. I’ve been thinking that today is the National Day of Unplugging, but it turns out that it was this past Friday. Rather than being set on March 6th, it seems to be actually on the first Friday in March. It doesn’t really change the topic for today for me since my whole point in bringing up this National Day of Unplugging is to disavow it and suggest that perhaps unplugging isn’t right for everyone.

There is no firm one thing that works for everyone. We are all different and we handle our stresses differently. We use different tools to work through the stresses of our days and go about our work and play. Sometimes, that means unplugging for an extended period of time, but being plugged in isn’t necessarily a bad thing for everyone.

I do certainly agree that screen time should be limited for children, but I also think that if older kids and adults of any age get their entertainment from being plugged in, then don’t shame them for it.

During the pandemic, we were told to stay offline since we were spending so much time online with our work and school being on screens constantly. For me, this was not tenable to my contentment or mental health. I use an e-reader for about 90% of my reading. I get my news from Twitter (and now from Spoutible). How is checking Twitter news different from turning on the television and watching the news on that screen? I would rather play Solitaire on my Kindle than with the cards on my table (which by the way has no room for the cards to be laid out). How are podcasts worse than listening to an audiobook? Music videos vs. music audio?

The rule of thumb should definitely be everything in moderation, but guilting someone for enjoying themselves is not okay in my book.

Some of us are also neurodivergent and need the stimulation that comes from the online world and the very real friendships we’ve forged and fostered there.

Today alone, I’ve used either my Kindle of my laptop for the following, and it’s not even noon yet:

  • Checked and answered email – both personal and professional
  • Zoom meeting for Cursillo grouping
  • Rechecked my church website for the date of the Lenten Penance Service to add to my calendar
  • Set up tomorrow’s Zoom for the Scripture Study for the Month of March
  • Balanced my checkbook
  • Read a chapter in Lady Justice by Dahlia Lithwick
  • Posted to Instagram for Bring Your Action Figure To Work Day – go check it out – link’s on the sidebar
  • Did a bit of the research for Friday Food which will publish at the end of this week

I couldn’t have done half of these things without plugging in. No guilt trips welcome here.

Purple chair and ottoman by window, in hotel room, striped throw pillow on seat, side table on the right, dresser with lamp on the left.
My plans to be once I publish this piece.
(c)2023