Little Thoughts About Books and Stuff

   Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge It was the same thing every year. I trek out to a cemetery no one else I know is buried in to pay my respects to someone I didn’t even know on New Year’s Day because someone I love asked me to, which was all fine and good when she was alive, but she’s dead now too.  Yet here I am, kind of hungover, freezing my butt off going to pay my respects to a stranger.  The ice-covered snow crunches beneath my Uggs as I maneuver my way between headstones and plots, carefully trying not to walk over someone’s resting place. The sound is muffled as if every other sound once you cross over the property line. The cars on the street not even 100 feet away aren’t as loud as you’d think they should be. It’s like the whole cemetery is under a sound-dampening dome or something.  The flock of geese flying overhead should be a racket, but yet they are entirely silent. It’s k...

    Okay so not much has changed from my last Monday post except that I finished one book.  Currently Reading: The Girls in the Stilt House  by Kelly Mustian Date Started:  September 8 Goodreads Summary:  Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father. Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she's holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio. As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must com...

This week I'm doing a 5K Your Way for Libraries to help raise money for EveryLibrary - You can donate by going to my page here - Amelia's Team Page for Lit Chicks I'm doing my 5K by writing 5 thousand words.  I was going to do a 5k word short story, but it might end up being a series of flash fiction/short stories. Sunday, September 26  - Word Count: 807 Morning in the Library It started off like any other Monday morning. I unlocked the side door to our building, disengaged the alarm, and then locked the side door.  You would think patrons wouldn’t attempt to enter the library through a staff-only door before operating hours, but you’d be wrong. I dropped my stuff in my office before making my way to the break room to start the coffee.  It’s the unofficial rule of the branch, first, one to come in in the morning starts the pot and everyone needs to make it the same way, one scoop per 1 cup water.  Coffee started; I headed out into our small brick branch of a lar...

So wasn't really thrilled with either thing I wrote last week, but at least I'm writing! Prompt: Dear Mom D o you remember that pool party you and dad were hosting when you dove into the pool, fully clothed to rescue the doll I pitched into the deep end on a whim when I was three?  I wanted to see if she could swim, you wanted to prevent a future meltdown when I no longer had her to cuddle to sleep. E very observant, I’m still not sure how you noticed I had thrown it in when you were over on the other side of the backyard talking to Mrs. Cress.  But there you came out of nowhere to leap into the pool to rescue Masiey, causing quite the stir as all the guest turned to look at the commotion.   A dmittedly, I did know better than to throw her into the pool. You had warned me not to throw my toys into the pool after the incident with the barbie, and that one time with the princess crown.  They always sink to the bottom and get stuck in the filter on the floor of the...

  So trying to get back into this blog journal thing I've got going. I always start strong at the start of the year and then mid way through I stop.  But since the title includes and things, I thought I'd start to share some of the things I do in the kitchen.  I recently started subscribed Persnickety Plates newsletter list and one of the first ones I got was for these Easy Garlic Bites . I instantly pinned it because I am always looking for easy recipes to make after work and this one fit the bill. The only thing I needed was to pick up steak at the store as I had everything else in the pantry.   I served the steak bites with Knorr Pasta Sides - Stragonoff noodles.  It made for an easy and tasty meal 5 out of 5 will make again!

  So I've started a number of books, and have yet to finish them if they haven't been an auido version. But I'm going to hunker down and finish all three of these physical books!  Currently Reading: Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen Date Started:  August 25 Goodreads Summary:  Do you feel like your life is an endless to-do list? Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram because you’re too exhausted to pick up a book? Are you mired in debt, or feel like you work all the time, or feel pressure to take whatever gives you joy and turn it into a monetizable hustle? Welcome to burnout culture.   While burnout may seem like the default setting for the modern era, in Can’t Even, BuzzFeed culture writer and former academic Anne Helen Petersen argues that burnout is a definitional condition for the millennial generation, born out of distrust in the institutions that have failed us, the unrealistic exp...

 I'm only sharing the one prompt today because I wanna work more with the other one and I'm not ready to share it yet.   Prompt: Only human He kept humming the bars of a song. The earworm was stuck firmly implanted in his brain as he tried to work on a budget report, a memo about quarterly spending, and reformatting a spreadsheet his coworker had messed up. But what was the song? He caught himself humming it while alone on the elevator at work and wondered again for the thousandth time what the song was and why it was stuck in his head. After lunch, he put his headphone in and tried to drown it out by listening to any other song on his playlist. When that didn’t work he decided maybe he should try to find out the song title. This way he could eradicate it by listening to the real song. He opened up the app on his phone to identify songs and hummed. Yea, that didn’t work. Maybe Jessica knew what song it was, he sent her a text explaining the situation and t...

 A few weeks ago I attended my first virtual write-in.  We were given a prompt, some time to write, and then volunteers could read.  The first prompt was: did I just say that out loud I freeze, did I just say that out loud? I ask myself as I notice the sound coming from my computer has stopped.  I quickly looked down to the bottom of my screen to see if I was muted or not.  The red slash is there across the microphone icon and I relax slightly at the sight.  “Amber, did you want to add anything to the discussion? I believe you are muted.” I click to unmute myself, “No, sorry I was just talking to myself as I took notes.  I will add now that I am unmuted that I really like the direction this project is headed in.” I quickly mute myself, not that I feel any better about telling everyone on the call that I talk to myself. I spend the rest of the meeting nodding along, taking notes and clearly not talking to myself. No sooner does the meeting end then...

   Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge There is something special about watching the sunrise over the ocean. I have felt this way ever since I was a child, and my mother would wake us up early in the morning to make the one-hour drive to the shore.  Barely awake, we’d trudge down the sand until we were close enough to hear the waves and feel the saltwater on our faces but far enough back not to get wet. We’d huddle together on the blanket in serious childhood debate, waiting for those first rays to change the sky from dark blue to a wild array of colors.  As we got older, the trips were few and far between, but mom always insisted on at least one group trip a year on Thanksgiving morning. Over the years, we transitioned from one car to multiple cars, from mom driving herself to a rotation of being picked up by a child and a yearly debate on if significant others and children will be invited....

The prompt was to pick captions from 2 pictures and then connect them.  These are the captions I chose: The proposed warehouse on Kuser Road The decision to include these red-eyed bugs in ice cream was a “special” one for {Gabby} and business partner {Matt} (changed names) Here's what I wrote: The proposed warehouse on Kuser Road hit a roadblock last week when crews out to survey the site released a swarm of bugs.  The workers were taking a soil sample when the bugs rose from the ground swarming out of the hole.  The swarm was rather large and now has infested the town, residents have been advised to seal up their homes and only venture out when necessary.  These rather large flying insects have already caused 2 traffic accidents, damage to one local convenience store, and caused the cancellation of various outside events. Local pest control businesses are booming as they are offering sealing services to help keep the bugs out of your homes and businesses.  Loca...

  Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge I didn't get this entry finished and while I like what I've started here, I'm stuck so if you have any imput I'm open to hear it!  * * * “I hate my job.”  He took my hand as we walked down the wet sidewalk, just the sound of my heels and the occasional car that passed by.  We turned the corner onto the busy street and merged with the flow of peditian traffic. “I used to love my job, but now I sit across a desk and deliver some of the worst news people can be getting right now.  I’m the face these people will always connect with losing their jobs. When I walk the halls, no one will meet my eyes, like I’m some sort of severance medusa and just a glance from me will mean the end of their income.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, this was a rant he’s heard before and no words were needed.  He knew how hard it was on me, it was harder on him, being one ...

 I was IT support for the first meeting of the library system's virtual writers group. I listened for most of the meeting but decided to participate in the writing prompt.  We had about 15 minutes to write. The prompt was to write something in the format of Joe Brainard's I Remember.  The prompt had me remembering a poem I had to write for something a creative writing class and I took the idea of that poem and expanded it: I remember our nights together; the taste of whiskey in your kisses and the smell of it on your breath.  I remember the feel of your hands and the soft curses we both spoke in the back room of the bar, in the kitchen of your apartment, or the bedroom of mine.  I remember how your kisses had the same effect as a shot of whiskey short-circuiting my brain.  I remember every whispered promise of love, marriage, and family.  I remember the night those promises stopped when I walked into the bar to see your hands on another woman.  I ...

  Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge I submitted this one but didn't win.  However, I had fun researching and writing this one! ***** Our job was to burn the house down. We devised a plan—a grease fire in the kitchen. The fire would catch on the curtains and spread to the cabinet tops, where there were years of dust and grease build-up. Within minutes we had planned on a flashover to spread to the rest of the house. We also made sure there were flammables in the attached garage for added combustion. “We’re all set in here. Over.” “Let it burn. Over.” I turned on the gas stove. Sloshed grease over the rim of the pan and watched as the fire started. I turned and made my way out of the back door, making sure to close it tight. I made my way to the property line and watched as smoke started to fill the house, the dancing flames filled the window over the sink, and I smiled at a job well done. I let out...

Currently Reading: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert Date Started:  April 25 Goodreads Summary:  Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she's not entirely sure how… Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right. Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to ...

  Currently Reading: Browse: The World in Bookshops by Henry Hitchings Date Started:  April 13 Goodreads Summary:  Edited and introduced by the writer and critic Henry Hitchings, these fearless, passionate, inquiring essays by award-winning international writers celebrate one of our most essential, but endangered, institutions: the bookshop. From Denmark to Egypt, from the USA to China, Browse brings together some of the world's leading authors to investigate bookshops both in general and in particular - the myriad pleasures, puzzles and possibilities they disclose.   The fifteen essays reflect their authors' own inimitable style - romantic, elegant, bold, argumentative, poetic or whimsical - as they ask probing questions about the significance, the cultural and social (even political) function as well as the physical qualities of the institution, and examine our very personal relationship to it. Little Thoughts : I'm really enjoying these short glimpse in...

Currently Reading: Reel History: The World According to the Movies by Alex von Tunzelmann Date Started:  April 1 Goodreads Summary:  From ancient Egypt to the Tudors to the Nazis, the film industry has often defined how we think of the past. But how much of what you see on the screen is true? And does it really matter if filmmakers just make it all up? Picking her way through Hollywood's version of events, acclaimed historian Alex von Tunzelmann sorts the fact from the fiction. Along the way, we meet all our favourite historical characters, on screen and in real life: from Cleopatra to Elizabeth I, from Spartacus to Abraham Lincoln, and from Attila the Hun to Nelson Mandela. Based on the long-running column in the Guardian, Reel History takes a comic look at the history of the world as told through the movies - the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly. Little Thoughts :  I was enjoying this book until she gave A Knight's Tale a C+ entertainment rating...

Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge This one is from February, I never entered it, because I never finished writing it. Something just felt off and I couldn't get it edited and submitted in time.   If you like alone time to just sit in nature and drink your tea don’t date a K-9 officer cause the moment he cannot find you he sends the dog after you and that very good boy will always find you. This happens at least once a week when I'm off in the woods that back up to our house, I’m never very far and always within cell range, but he still sends the dog. It’s good training for the dog and he does make me laugh so I guess it’s not a terrible way to be found, but sometimes you just want to be alone.  That’s what I was feeling when I stormed out of the house and headed off into the woods during a break in the snowstorm. I know better, yet in the heat of the moment off I went and in my anger I went too far ...

Currently Reading: The Awakening by Nora Roberts Date Started:  March 25 Goodreads Summary:  In the realm of Talamh, a teenage warrior named Keegan emerges from a lake holding a sword—representing both power and the terrifying responsibility to protect the Fey. In another realm known as Philadelphia, a young woman has just discovered she possesses a treasure of her own… When Breen Kelly was a girl, her father would tell her stories of magical places. Now she’s an anxious twentysomething mired in student debt and working a job she hates. But one day she stumbles upon a shocking discovery: her mother has been hiding an investment account in her name. It has been funded by her long-lost father—and it’s worth nearly four million dollars. This newfound fortune would be life-changing for anyone. But little does Breen know that when she uses some of the money to journey to Ireland, it will unlock mysteries she couldn’t have imagined. Here, she will begin to understand why ...

Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge Marilyn was standing at her sink washing her lunch dishes when she saw the bear amble through her back yard. It wasn’t a completely uncommon occurrence, but it wasn’t something she saw every day, so she paused and enjoyed the site. It was the next day when she saw yet another bear, or was it the same bear, walk through her yard she got concerned. Then she realized both bears were coming from her neighbor’s property.  Marilyn huffed as she slipped on her boots, she’d have to go over and clean up their mess, again. They were barely down here overnight; she couldn’t even guess what they could have left behind that a bear would visit 2 days in a row. As she rounded the corner of their house, she saw that he had tipped over the trash can and had torn into one of the black trash bags.  All the years she lived out here she never had problems with her neighbor’s and that prop...

  Currently Reading: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor Date Started:  March 8 Goodreads Summary:  No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren't found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically tes...

I won the Flash Fiction Popular Vote! Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. It was my first trip to New Mexico and my uncle promised me an easy hike as part of my vacation. Knowing his normal hikes, I was certain his definition of easy and mine were vastly different, but I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to spend time with one of my dad’s brothers. Being with them was like being with him, something I sorely missed.   I had the early morning news on in my hotel room as I packed my bag for the day. The drone of the reporter the perfect background noise as I struggled to keep my eyes open. It was early but my uncle said we had a drive before we reached the National Park. He wanted to be there for when the park opened, which meant an early morning. I tossed my National Park Stamp Book into my bag and zipped it closed.   Picking up my tablet I sat down at the little table in my room to read and drink my weak hotel room coffee. I had done m...

Currently Reading: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor Date Started:  March 8, 2021 Goodreads Summary:  No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren't found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifi...

Currently Reading: Sansei and Sensibility  by Karen Tei Yamashita Date Started:  March 5 Goodreads Summary:  In these buoyant and inventive stories, Yamashita transfers classic tales across boundaries and questions what an inheritance―familial, cultural, emotional, artistic―really means. In a California of the ’60s and ’70s, characters examine the contents of deceased relatives’ freezers, tape-record high-school locker-room chatter, or collect a community’s gossip while cleaning the teeth of its inhabitants. Mr. Darcy is the captain of the football team, Mansfield Park materializes in a suburb of L.A., bake sales replace balls, and station wagons, not horse-drawn carriages, are the preferred mode of transit. The stories of traversing class, race, and gender leap into our modern world with wit and humor. Little Thoughts :  This is this month's book discussion selection for JASNA NJ's book discussion group.  It's divided into 2 parts, part 1 ...

  Currently Reading: Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas Date Started:  Feb. 21 Goodreads Summary:  International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood. If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison. Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control. Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father. Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to am...

 I wrote this for this week's IU Flash Fiction Challenge and forgot to submit it...but you get to read it here! Photo copyright K.S. Brooks.  Do not use without attribution. “Ah, there you are.” She said looking up from the book she was reading. “Where have you been?” She got up, picking up her iced  teacup  and sliding into her flip-flops.  “I thought something happened to y ou.”   She walked into the house as Old Rufus made his way up onto the porch. He had been coming here to sun himself for as long as he could remember.  He used to be carried out from the house and placed on a chair, then he got too big for the chair and laid on the floor.  Then he moved to the lake and would still make his way up the back yard to lay in his favorite spot.    He wouldn’t come every day, but she was right, a week was longer than he normally stayed away.  He didn’t do it on purpose, the days had gotten away from him and he suddenly got the cravin...