Luggage and Literature

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

Friday Five 9-14-2018

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After quite a LONG hiatus, this is the thirty-sixth installment in my sorta weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five random things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever. So without further ado, 9-14-2018’s Friday Five!

1–Key West. Mike and I are going to Key West in November, so I was quite pleased to see this guide to frugal activities in Key West. I’m sure we’ll take part in a few of these when we visit.

2–Florida Scuba Diving. And for the trip to Key West, as well as for future trips to Florida, I might find this post from Alex in Wanderland helpful.

3–A gospel choir. This video from the Proclamation Gospel Choir at Olivet Nazarene University gave me goosebumps, and I’ve watched it several times. I hope you’ll give it a watch/listen.

4–The moon. I’m an astronomy buff, and have been since childhood. I found this video of the full rotation of the moon to be riveting. And unless my travel dreams come true and I get to go into space, this is the closest that I’ll ever come to seeing the moon from anywhere but terra firma.

5–Skating on Thin Ice. I wish it weren’t true, but fall is here and winter is around the corner. This video from National Geographic is beautiful, and shows that winter isn’t all bad.

Tampa Florida Reading List

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When I travel, I always find time to get a bit of reading time in. Car trips, flights, and relaxing by a pool or on a beach afford ample time to read fantastic books. Here is my Tampa Florida Reading List. And because I’m participating in the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge, this reading list includes which books fulfill particular categories of the reading challenge.

Books Finished:

The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper

2018 PopSugar Challenge: A novel based on a real person

I really enjoyed this fictional account of the real May Alcott, lesser known artist sister of author Louisa May Alcott. It was lovely, but with enough realism to keep me engaged. I recommend it, and will look for more from Elise Hooper in the future.

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

I’m a big fan of Jon Krakauer, and am steadily working my way through everything he’s written. This one wasn’t my favorite because of the huge amount of politics invoked in the book. It was clear to me where Krakauer falls on the political spectrum, which I felt colored his telling of the story. That being said, I learned so much about Pat Tillman and his death that I’d previously not known. And the storytelling and writing was classic Krakauer. So although it’s not my favorite from Krakauer, I still enjoyed reading it.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

2018 PopSugar Challenge: A book about death or grief

Although I’d never heard of this book before, I picked it up at a library book sale for $0.50 because it looked interesting. And it was handy while packing for my trip to Tampa, so I threw it into my bag. It was so good that I just couldn’t stop reading…even while crying and on an airplane. The book really was good enough that I didn’t care how silly I probably looked. It’s the autobiographical story of a neurosurgery resident who learns that he has terminal cancer. I really loved this book and wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

 

Books Abandoned:

None.

Friday Five 12-8-2017

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Birthday Baby
My niece, Callie’s first birthday party recently.

This is the thirty-fourth installment in my weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five random things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever. So without further ado, 12-8-2017’s Friday Five!

1–Teammates. In my spare time, I mentor an 8th grade girl with the Teammates program. It takes one hour of time per week, either before school or at lunchtime. My mentee and I do craft projects, bake muffins, eat lunch together, play in the gym, play games, and talk a lot. We also have some fun group activities periodically, including a movie night last week. It’s really a lot of fun, and I recommend checking out the program if you think this might be something for you.

2–Corgi merchandise. I love Corgis, and funky Corgi merchandise. I own not one, but two pairs of Corgi socks. I’m really thinking seriously about purchasing this Corgi sweater for Christmas.

3–Florida Caves. Okay, so I’m not going to start cave diving. But Mike’s really into it. And we’re headed to Florida next month for him to finish his full cave diving certification. So I was really interested in this virtual 360 tour of an underwater cave in Florida.

4–White Christmas. I just adore this movie, and watch it every year. It’s simply the best.

5–South Dakota. Amanda from A Dangerous Business Travel Blog wrote 6 Reasons You Should Visit South Dakota about my home state. Great stuff!

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