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Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. It has been a long time since I’ve written a book review. Honestly, it has been a long time since I’ve read a book. Usually by the end of the day, I just want to veg in front of the TV and play Bejeweled on my phone. Focusing on words is the last thing I want to do.…
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Book Girl Magic Reading Challenge
This post contains an affiliate link. If you make a purchase using that link, I will make a commission at no extra charge to you. Along with improving my photography skills, I want to read more this year. You’d think that I’d read a lot since I’m a librarian, but I don’t. I mean, I buy books, start them, put them down to watch This Is Us and never pick them up again. This year, I’m going to meet my goal of 12 books for the year. Baby steps, y’all. BOOK GIRL MAGIC READING CHALLENGE I discovered the Book Girl Magic Reading Challenge on Carla’s blog, Rae La Soul. The…
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Book Review: Phage by Mark Tamplin
THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS, IF YOU PURCHASE SOMETHING USING THE LINK I WILL RECEIVE A COMMISSION. THAT COMMISSION GOES TOWARDS MAINTAINING MY BLOG. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT. Title: Phage Author: Mark Tamplin Genre: Suspense Publisher: Mark Tamplin Release Date: 12 September 2015 Format: Paperback Pages: 474 ABOUT THE BOOK {from the back cover} In Phage,the first novel of a science thriller trilogy, Dr. Sam Townsend is called upon to halt the spread of a deadly pathogen in rural Alabama. But Sam isn’t allowed time to bask in his success. He faces the greatest challenge of his career, preventing Owen Potter, a deranged government scientist and…
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Book Review: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS, IF YOU PURCHASE SOMETHING USING THE LINK I WILL RECEIVE A COMMISSION. THAT COMMISSION GOES TOWARDS MAINTAINING MY BLOG. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT. BOOK DESCRIPTION {FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK} Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be. Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse… As she helps Vivian sort through…
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Book Review: War Brides by Helen Bryan
BOOK DESCRIPTION {FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK} With war threatening to spread from Europe to England, the sleepy village of Crowmarsh Priors settles into a new sort of normal: Evacuees from London are billeted in local homes. Nightly air raids become grimly mundane. The tightening vice of rationing curtails every comfort. Men leave to fight and die. And five women forge an unlikely bond of friendship that will change their lives forever. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Helen Bryan was born in Virginia, grew up in Tennessee, and is a longtime resident of London. A former barrister, she is the author of an award-winning biography of Martha Washington. She was inspired…
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Book Review: Girl at the End of the World by Elizabeth Esther
BOOK DESCRIPTION {FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK} A story of mind control, the Apocalypse, and modest attire. Elizabeth Esther grew up in love with Jesus but in fear of daily spankings {to “break her will”}. Trained in her family~run church to confess sins real and imagined, she knew her parents loved her and God probably hated her. Not until she was grown and married did she find the courage to attempt the unthinkable. To leave. In her memoir, readers will recognize questions every believer faces: When is spiritual zeal a gift, and when is it a trap? What happens when a pastor holds unchecked sway over his followers? And…
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Tip Tuesday: #NPRBlacksinTech ~ Resources to Encourage Diversity in Technology {In the Library}
A little known fact about me: when I was a kid, I loved math. I wasn’t good at it, but I loved it. I liked that it made sense and that it was stable. There was something therapeutic about fixating on an equation and running the numbers until the problem was solved. My elementary school teachers encouraged me by sitting at my desk, working over each problem until they were sure I understood. Then I went to high school. Our math teacher was a bully. He yelled. He screamed. He said I wasn’t any good. I fell out of love with numbers. That was all it took. One teacher. I…
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Tip Tuesday: 23 Mobile Things ~ Twitter {In the Library}
Twitter is a social networking platform that allows people to communicate with each other in 140 characters or less. It’s quick, it’s easy, and you wouldn’t believe how adept you become at expressing yourself with a limited amount of characters. I’ve used Twitter for a little over 5 years now and, for me, it’s probably one of the easiest ways for me to stay in contact with my bloggy buddies, librarians and other information professionals. While I don’t always participate in the conversations that are taking place, I do follow the discussions and try to keep up with topics of interest to me. Currently, I’m following #NPRBlacksinTech, which is an…
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Tip Tuesday: 23 Mobile Things {In the Library}
I’ve always considered myself a bit of a tech junkie. I think that’s part of the charm nature of librarians. We like jumping in and trying new stuff. We’re explorers. We’re questioners. Is that even a word? But we also tend to get stuck in our comfort zones. Or, at least, I do. Years ago, I participated in 23 Things, a free, self~paced course that introduced librarians {and others} to various social media and web 2.0 tools. I was at that point where I was finally comfortable turning on the computer without the hubs looking over my shoulder but not comfortable enough to do much more than read email and…
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Banned Books Week Review and Giveaway: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee {CLOSED}
I firmly believe in the right to free access to information. There are many books that I simply will not read for religious and/or personal reasons but I do not believe I have the right to ban those books from being read. If I censor your speech and your ideas, it’s just a matter of time before someone censors mine. This is not my normal book review but more of a discussion about some of the reasons why To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been challenged and/or banned over the years. SYNOPSIS OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY HARPER LEE Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird is…