Little Thoughts About Books and Stuff

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 ...