Was July "Men Are Trash" Month or is it just me?

I’m having a hard time tolerating (fictional) trash men, right now. And either I'm surrounded by them or I'm a little too intuned to potential trash behavior. I'm willing to recognize that maybe it's at least partially me.

Catching Up - What I Read in April and May (Outbox)

Here's a random post just with stuff I read in April and May, since I didn't post then. 

What I read in April

I loved the Porcupine of Truth, which was about two teens who steal one of their mother's car to drive all the way to California, looking for answers to their lives. Or something. You know how teens are always looking for answers and what not. 

I also loved Orphan Mother, about an old Black woman telling the story of loss and love.

What I read in May

Long Way Down is a book of poetry that tells the story of a young boy on his way to seek revenge against the boy he thinks shot his brother. 

Far From the Tree was an amazing story of 3 siblings who grew up with different families. I ugly sobbed, y'all. It wasn't pretty. Hence why it's called "ugly sobbing." Duh.

Dread Nation is an ass-kicking lady story set in a world where the zombie apocalypse interrupted the Civil War. Interesting idea, right!?

June Book Club Reads

I joined two new book clubs recently, through two separate local libraries. They both meet monthly.So, June was a lot of reading about White women who were mostly boring. Not that I didn’t enjoy the books, mind you. I love boring white women.

Pints and Prose is through Greece Library. We meet at Blue Barn Cidery, which is a great space for hanging out and eating buffalo chicken dip but isn't the best for book discussion. I plan to go a few more times to see if it gets better.

Read Women is through Gates Library and focused on, yes, reading women authors. It's a group of about 7 people right now. 

What I've Been Reading, June

It was a pretty good reading month! I joined two new book clubs recently, through two separate local libraries. I went to writing group which I haven't gone to in over a year. I also started a summer tap dance class. 

Obviously, I'm not in a show right now. It's amazing how much time it takes to be involved in a show! Rehearsals for yet another remount for Charlotte's Web start Sunday. 

Anyhoodles: The Highlights of the Month are....

Read Harder (Rochester)

Each year, Book Riot releases a book challenge list consisting of 24 categories. The Mission, if you choose to accept it, is to read one book for each category through the year. Books can count for multiple categories.

In Rochester, SarahSaysRead and I facilitate an unofficial group of readers who get together once a month to talk about the books we are reading for the challenge. We split the categories up into pairs so that we all have some idea about where we are and where we are headed. This (2018) is our second year of meeting. We've got about 4 or 5 folks who are regulars and then a few who come sometimes.

We typically meet on a Sunday but the location varies, as we’ve decided this is a good way to also try different foodie spots. If you are interested in joining us, please email me (Kenya) at kacophani at gmail dot com. Put Read Harder Roc in the subject line or risk that circular file. 

Read Harder 2018
January	First book in a new to you YA or middle grade series	Essay anthology
February	Book published posthumously	Romance by or about a POC
March	Book of Social Science	One sitting book
April	About Nature	Cover you hate
May	Comic written and illustrated by the same person	A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa).
June	Sci-fi with a female protag by a female author	An assigned book you hated
July	Children’s classic published before 1980	Genre fiction in translation
August	Book of Colonial or postcolonial lit	Comin that isn’t Marvel, DC, or Image
September	Western	Oprah Book Club selection
October	Book of true crime	Comic written or illustrated by a person of color
November	Celebrity Memoir	Mystery by a POC or LGBTQ+ author
December	Classic of genre fiction	Female protag over the age of 60