Author name: Skiffy Fanty

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We Have a #Booktube Show!

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Yes, we’re terribly late in letting you know about this, so we figured that we’d catch you up real quick and, from this day forward, we’ll be posting each of our YouTube videos here so that you don’t miss anything! Our BookTube is a weekly show that will include book reviews, updates, conversations, and whatever else we feel like putting on it! Three shows that we definitely have are: A main episode that will generally include a couple of reviews from different hosts; a mid-month episode we’re calling “Escape from Speculative Fiction Mountain” which is us letting you know what we’ve been reading, what we’re planning on reading, upcoming releases, and the like; Jen will be hosting “Loopdilou’s Retro Reviews” where she’ll be reviewing older fiction that she probably has never, ever read before; and then, gods willing, Shaun will be hosting something sexy and classy at the end of each month. Shout out to our former intern and now BookTube producer – Trang Ngo! She’s the best! For now, commence the viewing! And don’t forget to click the subscribe button so you don’t miss our adorable faces!!

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Month of Joy: Old Things by Betsy Dornbusch

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My father died this past spring. I made no announcements, attended no funerals, and cried no tears over his passing. Though Dad lived an hour away I hadn’t seen him for about fifteen years. Estranged is the proper word, but as a wordie (like some people are foodies) “estranged” always conjures up notions of arguments and betrayal, of tearful decisions, of heart-rendering loss. This was a more logical decision, a choice based on my emotional, familial bandwidth: I have a wonderful husband, two amazing kids, a mother I adore, brothers I admire, FIVE sisters-in-law and their extended families, two sets of great in-laws, seven first cousins… er. You get the picture. We have an abundance of family.

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Month of Joy: Top 5 Kids’ TV Shows by Catherine Hill

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My son is almost 2 years old and has started enjoying TV, so I find myself—for the first time in over two decades—watching TV for little kids. The main channel I watch is CBeebies, the BBC channel specifically for under 7s. As with any broadcast channel I watch at certain times, so I certainly haven’t seen all the available shows. There are some I don’t like much, and a few I mostly ignore, but there’s some good stuff for small people. Below are the five little kids’ shows that I most enjoy and feel good about watching with my son. Also, he’s currently really interested in octopuses and 2 of the shows below cause him to shout out “Oc-pus!” while we’re watching, which is pretty cute.

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Month of Joy: Summertime in Sydney by Thoraiya Dyer

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December in Sydney is summertime. Some of my greatest joys this time of year: My animal patients, the creativity of winter decorations in Sahara-like heat, the sound of cellos and the taste of chocolate. It’s a privilege being a veterinarian, and my patients come in two varieties – domesticated and wild. The sadness of their short lives, being there to see them sicken, staying stoic while they succumb to age or injury, as you shepherd them through their decline, are all balanced by the beauty, the brilliance, the miracle, that we get to share our time on the earth with them.

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Month of Joy: Patterns by Dave Robison

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“What brings you joy?” Such a simple question, right? WRONG! You’ve fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia,’ but only slightly less well known is this: ‘Never ask a wordy over-thinker a simple question when… well… ANYTHING is on the line.’ Definitions So first… what IS Joy? The dictionary says it’s “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness,” so that narrows the field a bit. Ice cream, warm sheets on a cold night, sunsets, and the purring of a cat all evoke feelings of pleasure but I wouldn’t qualify them as a “great” pleasure.

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Month of Joy: Collaborative Creativity and the Joy of the Great British Bake-Off by Vlad Barash and Lorraine Fryer

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1. The Great British Bake-Off It feels like joy is a precious commodity today. It can be hard to remember good things when our TV screens and social media feeds are so overwhelmingly full of bad news. As a way of keeping ourselves from despair, we have tried cultivate a collection of things that give us joy. One of the most undiluted experiences of joy for both of us is sitting down on the couch, warm drinks in our hands, and hearing the upbeat strings of the opening to the Great British Bake-Off. We’ve watched nearly every episode that we can find; we’re just a few tantalizing episodes from the finale of Collection 6 on Netflix (Vlad has not been spoiled for the ending; for the moment, neither has Lorraine).

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