War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells

The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells
Narrated by Greg Wagland

Spoiler alert!

When a pod crashes just outside London, our intrepid observer (unnamed protagonist) is at first curious. He watches as a lid slowly unscrews itself, and an alien crawls out. He only makes a run for it when green lightening chases down the watching crowd, scorching them all to death. He runs home, takes his wife to an out-of-the-way town, and for some idiotic reason heads back home. The rest of the book is his adventures on the way back to his wife. It also contains a short couple of chapters about the adventures of his brother in London - just to add some greater perspective of the story. 

In which Rachel wraps up January 2016

Well, it's been an eventful month for me. I started my EMT class and training for a new volunteer opportunity. And I put in my 2-weeks' notice at work (next week will be my last). I didn't set out to make the New Year a mini-rebirth, but I feel like a lot of good changes are coming for me soon.

Devil in the Grove, by Gilbert King

Devil in the Grove:
Thurgood Marshall, The Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
by Gilbert King, narrated by Peter Francis James

In this 2013 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, Devil in the Grove is about Thurgood Marshall's ("Mr Civil Rights" and arguably one of the best lawyers of the 20th century) work to save three black men accused of gang raping a 17 year old girl.

Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is the first story of Larua as a 4-year old in a log cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. I've never read any of these books before, and honestly I can't even say whether I ever watched the TV show. So I didn't know quite what to expect. Whatever I expected, this wasn't it. This book is written with a slice-of-life narrative with no plot and very little dialog - it was kind of a passive story...or perhaps a string of memories/anecdotes that are connected in approximate chronological order. 

In which Rachel gets the stomach flu

5 year throwback.
I miss you Grandma!

This week wasn't as eventful as last week. I started working with my boss to have a smooth transition out - though I'm leaving him in a tight spot, so the transition won't be much easier than if I strolled out in the middle of the day and never came back. I caught the stomach flu from my sister and was sick a couple of days. Spent a nice Olive Garden dinner with a friend, and that's about it!

Reluctant Romantic Challenge

Katie at Doing Dewey is hosting the Reluctant Romantic Challenge in February. 

Is there a genre you’d like to read more of in 2016? Or a genre that you’ve never given a chance? The Reluctant Romantic event this February is the time to do something about it! Lasting all of February,  there will be optional discussion topics and check-ins every Saturday and a twitter chat at the end of the month. To join in, just post a sign-up wherever your online home is and share what genre you’ll be getting to know this month.

The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells

The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells
Narrated by Greg Wagland

This review contains spoilers

Using a time machine of his own making, a man travels to the year 802,701 to discover a world where humans have diverged into two separate species. The first species he meets are the Eloi. They are an indulgent people living in what the time traveler calls a communist society. It appears to be a utopian society in which everyone shares living spaces and food. But our time traveler soon discovers that this society isn't as perfect as it seems. The Eloi are an uncaring race. When one of their own is drowning, they glance uncaringly in her direction and then move on with their own entertainments as if such an event were normal and uninteresting. There is a complete decline of intellect.