She's Eleven: It's My Bloggoversary!

I can't believe that time of year has arrived again. Because if it's Late July, in my book, that means it's time for yet another bloggoversary. 

That's right: the blog I started when I was sixteen, is now eleven. I'm twenty-seven, turning twenty-eight in just a loose handful of months. 

I never thought my blog would be with me this long. I also never thought my bloggoversary would be something I celebrated regularly: when I was younger, I didn't really make a point of even recognizing when it hit, late in the summer, typically when I was mid-scramble to finish off my Summer Homework before September rolled around. 

Once I reached as unavoidable a milestone as my fifth anniversary, though, I wanted to make it a big deal. 

Since then, every year, I do a couple of things to celebrate the occasion... and that typically involves buying new books. It's one of the only times of year I let myself head into Barnes and Noble, and pick out just five (or so) titles that I want, regardless of whether they're new hardcovers, or on sale, or what have you. Honestly, that first year I decided on this course of action - my fifth - was solely a personally-crafted escape hatch out of the hole I'd dug myself into, during a "no buying books" year... I was mainly getting my new releases by way of the library, and my bloggoversary became some attainable moment I could look forward to, in order to get my hands on newly-published reads. Now, every year, it's become a hallmark of the celebration. 

To ring in this particular year, one after a year-and-a-half of Covid anxiety and staying at home, I grabbed my younger brother - back from college, and good-naturedly resigned to doing my bidding - in order to go spend some money on fun things, you know, like books. I decided to travel a bit of a different route this year, as well: after more than a year without visiting thrift stores, decided to really lean into the experience, and made both my favorite Value Village and Goodwill locations an integral part of my book-buying adventure, as well. 

In total, we went thrifting at TWO different secondhand stores, swung by Barnes and Noble for what ended up being FOUR books, and I made out, in total, with FIFTEEN new reads (and that's not even counting the two cookbooks I picked up, too).

(I also didn't go to either my real secondhand fave, local indie darling King's Books, or the secondhand store I've really been meaning to visit, Tacoma Book Center. So in reality, I think I showed quite a bit of restraint!)

While my massive amount of thrifted finds seriously merit their own individual post, I still wanted to share the four - instead of five - titles I did end up picking up for myself:

Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse

I've been watching Roanhorse's star rise in the Fantasy field for the past couple of years, and couldn't wait to add this gorgeous title to my shelves.

Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Not only will it tick off one of my current Seattle Summer Book Bingo squares, but I feel like for the past couple of summers, I've enjoyed a TJR read per year. She's a reliable vacation-maker!

The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith

This title has been recommended to me by a number of friends over the past couple of years, and seems to be a favorite of the Dark Academia crowd on Instagram.

Across the Green Grass Fields (Every Heart a Doorway #6), Seanan McGuire 

The most recent installment in the Every Heart a Doorway novella series, one that I pull off my shelf sparingly so that I get to enjoy them as long as possible before their next inevitable release. The nice thing is that my brother is just as excited to read this one as I am... the not-so-nice thing is that he's so tired of me dragging my feet - to read the book series I INTRODUCED HIM TO - that he's threatening to start grabbing them from the local library, instead. (His threats aren't going to stop me from hiding these away in my shelves, though.)

how else I celebrated 

I got in some valuable snuggle time with my precious kitty, and enjoyed a bit of bread-y goodness from 85 Degree Bakery, conveniently located only about a minute from Barnes and Noble.

After all this action, I had originally planned on spending the rest of the afternoon in a full-out horizontal position, reading books in the backyard with my brother, but in the end, my mind was totally scrambled by the time I got home. I think the mix of spending so much time outside my house - not exactly something I've done a lot of in the past year - plus thinking over all of the books I was now so excited to read, had put my brain into something of a whirlpool. I literally ended up just sitting at the kitchen table, telling everyone who passed by about each of the titles I picked up. 

So, that's this year's celebrating all wrapped up. Thank you so much for sticking around for so many years, whether you're one of the only people who's been here from the beginning - hi, Dad! - or you just joined up after following my romance reviews. Whatever the case, I couldn't be happier to be sharing this corner of the Internet with you. 

To get a little better perspective on the start of my blogging journey, and read some of my past years' bloggoversary posts, check out what I wrote last year for the 10th Bloggoversary!

Here's to a great year past, and another into the future! I appreciate your participation in my random, sputtering reviews on the Internet. Hopefully I'll see y'all again next year!

What I Read While I Was Camping: Weekend #3, at Kanaskat Palmer

Alright, already. We get it. Your family loves camping to the point where you're willing to do it four times in one summer. Enough! 

I'll admit, even we get sick of all of the trappings and trimmings of what a camping experience typically entails. The tents, with their confusing, interconnected pole placement. The tarps, which have to be spread out underneath the tent. The camp stove and it's mini propane hookups, the meal planning and its various picky-eater hangups. It's a lot to handle, especially back-to-back-to-BACK across the course of one summer.

Which is why for this particular adventure, we decided to forgo some of that particular baggage, and proceed with as minimal effort and maximum trunk space as possible. 

Oh yeah. I'm talking yurt camping. 

Where we went: Kanaskat Palmer State Park

Kanaskat Palmer State Park is located only about an hour from Tacoma, traveling the route along Highway 18 towards Covington and Enumclaw. It's not too far of a distance during the less crowded times of day - for instance, about a half an hour - but when things get a little stuffier, like during rush hour, the drive shakes out more towards about fifty to sixty minutes. 

The park itself is pretty far out from much by way of civilization. Sure, there's about a fifteen minute drive towards Four Corners Plaza in Covington - with a much-recommended assortment of restaurants, including a Farelli's Pizza - but the park is only located past a few sparse ranch-style houses. Most importantly of all: this is the first camping trip we've gone on so far this year which has yielded absolute zero cell reception... we're talking no 5G, no bars, no nothing. 

Which is a fair trade off for what you get: spacious, well-shaded campsites, decent coverage from the road, and a selection of well-constructed, well-maintained yurts, as well as regular campsites. 

I truly can't tell you enough about the yurts... they each come complete with a bunk bed (twin on top, double on bottom), and a futon that easily collapses out into another double bed, sleeping a total of five guests. They also have their own radiant heaters, ready for your use, overhead lighting by way of electrical outputs as well as a skylight, and a series of outlets to charge your electronic devices on. Again, the phone coverage isn't going to leave you much to do with your smartphone, but as a big fan of podcasts and picture taking, I definitely got my use out of them. While my brother and I conspired to spend at least an hour watching The Vampire Diaries on his tablet, we never got around to it... but it was nice to know that the option was there.

So if glamping's your game, this is certainly the campsite for you! 

What I packed: 

I've got a confession to make: remember how in my last two installments, I kept talking about how I was going to eventually read Emperor Mage? I decided what I really wanted to do, was spend time with it at home... and then proceeded to not bother picking up ANY BOOKS AT ALL for two weeks straight. Seriously, the last book I read was Disability Visability, which I talked about in my last installment! I know, I know... I'm pathetic (and remember when I said that I wanted to read TEN books this month? Puh-lease). 

So, I decided to put that book away altogether, and focus in on something different. More specifically, I mean other boxes on my Summer Book Bingo sheet: "Essays," "Cli-Fi," and "AAPI Author," more specifically. 

I Miss You When I Blink: Essays, Mary Laura Philpott

The Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi (on Kindle) 

The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo 

What I actually ended up reading: 

I spent the better part of a day working through The Water Knife. 

So, not only were we taking it easy glamping, but as it turns out, my parents were planning on having an even easier time of it: after arriving Friday evening, they bailed early Saturday morning to go home and shower. It was for a good cause - two events, both a wedding reception, and a memorial service - and they arrived back shortly before dinner on Saturday... which left me plenty of time to read through The Water Knife that afternoon. 

It's definitely not a new favorite genre, or style of writing, and it inspired some pretty tense campfire talk with other members of the family about certain habits and tropes of male writers in Science Fiction I find morally repugnant. But even with the difficult subject matter, difficult conversation, and honestly, me just banging my head against a wall trying to simply make it through to the end,  I ended up clocking in with more than enough time for lunch, an hour-long river walk, and a few rounds of crossword puzzles with my brother. Which, after this particular novel, was sorely needed. 

I got about a third of the way into I Miss You When I Blink.

Which is pretty impressive, when you consider that I only spent a little over an hour working my way into it, on Saturday night while making best use of our yurt's overhead lighting. 

Easy to get into, conversational, and friendly, this book is so funny and cleverly written that I probably would have managed to get even further into it, had I not been pausing quite so often to read a certain selection or paragraph for my brother. 

It's enjoyable, and engaging, and I know for certain that I could have finished it in even half the amount of time that The Water Knife took, had I used it. Instead, we decided that on Sunday morning - with a checkout time of 11am - to enjoy some oatmeal and conversation, practice some Words of Affirmation, and roll on out of there, in the hopes of getting unpacked and showered before noon. 

Trip Highlights: 

I think the major draw for Kanaskat Palmer - as a State Park - is absolutely its access to a gorgeous water system; more specifically, a series of various rapids systems through which you can sail a kayak, raft, or more. Unfortunately, this summer's heat snap has made things a little more difficult for anyone who enjoys the rivers and lakes of Washington, as the water levels have gotten more shallow. 

In truth, we didn't see anyone making use of any kind of watercraft, but they found plenty of other ways to enjoy it: fishing, sunbathing, and splashing were all frequent activities by families we spotted along the water as we took a river walk trail past some of the public areas for day use. 

 Hands down, one of my favorite takeaways from this camping trip, was playing a hotly competitive game of Trivial Pursuit, well until after it got dark.

What I'll finish off before the last trip: 

I'm absolutely stoked that I finished a square I was dreading quite as much as Climate Fiction, and am excited to quickly put that particular read out of my mind. 

Also, I'm really enjoying making my way through I Miss You When I Blink, so when I get a free afternoon, I'm really just planning on queueing up some ambient pop music, pouring some cold rose in a glass, and taking some time to read. 

Of course, eventually, I'm eventually going to make my way through Emperor Mage. Hopefully sooner rather than later, right? 

Have you gone camping yet so far this summer? Where are your favorite places to go? Let me know, in the comments below!

What I Read While I Was Camping: Weekend #2, at Deception Pass

So, quick query for you: when I mentioned that I was going camping two weekends in a row, did you believe me? Well, here I am, back in Tacoma and all the better for half-an-hour's worth of scrubbing off dirt and grime in the shower, following the promised three days spent out in the middle of the forest in a campground in North Whidbey. 

While we originally were planning on making it a four-day trip, we made the impulsive decision on Sunday, July 4th, that we might as well be home for Independence Day: at least that way, I wouldn't have to worry about my poor cat being spooked by all the fireworks! Granted, we made this decision at like 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so it's not like we were deprived of a beautiful, full day of hanging out in nature... and of course, getting another book in. 

Here's where we went, what we did, and how much I managed to read along the way! 

Where we went: Deception Pass State Park

Located on the northern half of Whidbey Island, WA, Deception Pass State Park is easily accessible by bridge, which means that despite my best attempts, I was once again deprived of a summer day ferry ride. Boo! 

But while the island itself is fairly easy to find, the state park itself was a little more difficult. Recommendation: follow your Google maps directions to the best of your ability, but once you start getting closer, keep your eyes peeled for some of the brown signs that designate the natural area. Your final turnout will be thanks to a nondescript brown street sign, at a random busy intersection. Make sure you don't miss it... and furthermore, make sure you're not trying to find your campground at night! 

This state park is equipped with towering old growth trees, several sprawling beach areas, a rentable ampitheater area, and great views of the waters around Whidbey. The campsites we stayed at were great, with a lot of room and tree cover, but not all of them are built the same way, so make sure you do a little Internet (or in-person) reconnaissance before you reserve your spot! 

Across the Fourth of July weekend there were a LOT of families present, with a lot of rambunctious kiddos, and a lot of noisy dogs. If you're looking for a quiet, tucked away campground, this probably isn't the fit for you, but if you're looking for a fun environment to take the family, it's a good match!  

What I packed:

Emperor Mage (The Immortals / Daine #3), Tamora Pierce

Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas

Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twentieth Century, ed. Alice Wong 

You might recognize Emperor Mage from my camping list last weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read it over the course of the week, like I had originally intended, so I packed it along for the ride again this time! Here for It and Disability Visibility are - as you could have probably guessed - two more titles I plan on using to fulfill some squares on the Seattle Public Library Summer Book Bingo ("Black Joy" and "Activism / Social Justice," respectively), and I was absolutely in the mood for some memoir action, so those made the journey too. 

What I actually ended up reading:

I completely finished Here for It, by R. Eric Thomas, in less than 24 hours!

 It was only about 10pm on Friday night, and my parents were ready to go to bed. Thanks to the debilitating heat wave that closed out June, and what we were told by the rangers was a regional shortage of firehouse workers, there's a full burn ban in effect on state park lands through September, so any hopes we had of s'mores and campfire stories was absolutely shot; plus, with the relatively cold nights out there next to the water, they were looking to head to bed early to escape the cold. But for someone whose brain is hardwired to get tired sometime after or around 2am, that wasn't going to be in the cards for me. Instead, I decided to do a little bit of reading, in the hopes that my horizontal body position and limited access to my phone would trigger the insomnia-ravaged parts of my brain to say it was sleepy-time mode. 

Did it work? Absolutely not. I am a notoriously poor sleeper on camping trips, and for all my efforts, I received what I realized after the fact was an intense 3:30am panic attack in my sleeping bag, instead. But at least I got about four chapters into my book! 

I finished it all the next day, shortly after lunch, and in spite of the fact that one of my younger siblings drove in to join us for a day of hiking, beach walks, and camping hummus. 

I was able to tackle Disability Visibility, by Alice Wong, in about two sittings. 

Because Saturday had been such a successful day of reading for me, I was excited to jump into my next book right away. But, I ultimately decided to save the rest of the day for hanging out with my sister and enjoying a little bit of family time, especially when it came to spending some time by the water. 

So, Sunday dawned bright and early - because, again, I did not sleep, and the sun woke me up at my usually ungodly hours of 7am - and I got to reading as soon as my brain had decided to boot itself up again. 

What I didn't realize when packing these two books, was that I had inadvertently chosen two different, difficult kinds of personal testimony: Here for It details Thomas' personal journeys of being black in white spaces, and being gay in religious spaces, while Disability Visibility is a collection of firsthand accounts of various forms of abledness, and the ways they intersect with personal reflections on heteronormativity, cisgenderness, race, politics, and more. 

While both were engaging for different reasons, I tore through Disability Visbility with fairly singular-minded focus. With only a short break in the middle for a hike around the campgrounds, scouting out other enviable campsites with my mom, I quickly returned for the finish. In total, I read this in about two sittings. 

Trip Highlights:

There's never going to be a point in my life where my primary direction doesn't point towards the dinner table, and this trip had some of my favorites: hummus plates have rapidly become a part of my family's camping staples - because of their low amount of cooking time and exceptionally delicious payoff - and while we didn't take a lot of time for patriotic reflections during the weekend (because we banned our mom from packing a surplus of American flags with which to ring the campsites) I did make some Rice Krispies treats with colorful sprinkles on top. 

Something else to note: the campgrounds for this state park are absolutely crawling with various kinds of wildlife. During our stay we saw repeat instances of robins and crows, chipmunks, and as you can see in the picture below, plenty of rabbits! They were relatively avoidable campground buddies, and didn't cause much commotion around the tents, but it might be worth noting to cover up food that you have on the table, lest some particularly adventurous birds seek some sustenance of their own. 

Hands down one of the funniest animal interactions I had during this trip, involved a very unusual noise: while awake around 5am during one of the mornings on our trip - again, I am not a good sleeper - I heard what I thought was a large pig grunting. I couldn't believe that there would just be wild hogs venturing through an area that's as well-populated as Whidbey Island, state park or not, so I shot up in my sleeping bag and immediately zipped down the window. I couldn't see anything! But I knew what I had heard... so in the light of morning, after breakfast, I decided to do a little internet sleuthing, and found out that apparently, the Brandt's Cormorant - which are native to waterways and islands around the PNW - has a unique birdcall that sounds like an oinking pig! Sure enough, while down at the water around sunset that day, we saw a huge group of them clustered together around a partially-submerged rock a little ways out from shore. Not quite as fun to look at as baby rabbits - again, look at the tiny thing! - but still a very cool animal interaction. 

 Another camping trip, another state park... another beachfront sunset! This one was about as well-attended as Camano Island's, but had the distinct benefit of having a substantial amount more coastline from which to take in the view. My favorite places to watch weren't even along the rocky-sand coastline - the position most of the other observers took - but actually from some of the rocky cliffside trails afforded by the park. 

This was actually a fairly routine activity during our first camping trip, as well, but was much more often put into practice during our time on Deception Pass: what do you do when you deprive a lot of trivia-loving nerds a television and internet access across a weekend of camping? Get massively competitive about tackling crosswords. Handwriting be damned, my brother and I battled over who would serve as scribe during morning, afternoon, and bedtime bouts of crossword clues, and overall the experience has done perfectly well to put us back into practice after about a year of not doing any crosswords at all. 

What I'll finish off before the next trip:

I'm so happy that for the second weekend in a row, I was able to cross two more books off of my Summer Bingo sheet! After a less-than-auspicious start in June, I was glad to check off two titles before the fifth of the month... especially because - don't tell anyone - but I'm actually trying to see if I can get through TEN titles total in July. I know it sounds like a crazy attempt, but if I manage to keep up my track record for the next couple of weeks, with two books a week, I might just get it done, or at the very least, put myself in a decent position for August. 

Thankfully for my personal sanity and sleeping habits, we've got a bye-week from camping for next weekend, which I'm planning on using to spend time NOT confined to a tent with my parents and younger brother in the middle of nowhere. Instead, I'll try to do my best to not only tackle the much put-off Emperor Mage, but also tackle the fourth book in its series, Realm of the Gods, as well! 

That way, maybe I'll be able to pack a Romance or Fantasy or two for my next bout of camping, just to keep myself on a good schedule. After all, I'll need something engrossing to read during all that time I'm not sleeping. 

Any camping trips planned for your summer vacation? What have you been reading so far this summer? Let me know, in the comments below!