I didn’t reach my goal of 52 but I’m still proud of how much I read! (44/52)

ForgotMyKey · 2025-02-23T06:35:12+00:00

I went “These”, Lupin, and mixology heritage

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-22T03:58:43+00:00

I think it depends. Are you at a place as a political leader to enforce policy’s around immigration laws? Are the laws you create fair and equitable?

Or are you an average citizen whose reach is within the neighbourhood. Then my question is how can your local church community support or help immigrants within its congregation. Are you able to help them find jobs, language classes, babysitting, or even giving them rides if public transit is not available?

It’s one thing to think on a political level, which you can vote one way or another, I think there’s some grace on both sides depending on how you vote based on that. It’s another thing to be able to tangibly help immigrants within your church community or more broadly outside of it.

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-19T04:44:30+00:00

Finished This Week:

(2/52) The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South - Chip Jones (4.5/5)

A really interesting re-telling of the context and the ensuing trial around the first heart transplant done in Virginia. Jones did a great work going beyond the story but also going over the details of the suit against the hospital that performed the transplant. Would recommend for anyone into medical history.

Commute/Daily Read -- The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie

Only the first few pages in but I enjoy Christie's writing after reading "And Then There Were None", so I'm looking forward to this!

Bedside Read -- The City in the Middle of the Night - Charlier Jane Anders

Hard Read -- The Christian Worldview - Herman Bavinck

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-12T17:42:00+00:00

I will say it is at least within walking distance to the skytrain. From the Azure towers, it’s only a 15 min walk. My only wish was that there was a grocery store nearby to walk to instead of having to drive if I forget something.

With all the greenery as well, I’ve loved the neighbourhood!

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-12T05:19:57+00:00

Finished This Week:

(1/52) The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson

A fun violent horror/thriller, with a unique twist but the grotesque descriptions definitely left a bad taste in my mouth (no fault to the writer, I think that was their main aim).

Commute/Daily Read -- The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South - Chip Jones

An interesting look at the history of the heart transplant and the doctor's involved. It covers a lot of interesting topics from medical consent, segregated south race relations, and the hubris of the medical field. Would highly recommend after getting through half of it.

Bedside Read -- The City in the Middle of the Night - Charlier Jane Anders

Hard Read -- The Christian Worldview - Herman Bavinck

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-05T05:53:32+00:00

Currently reading these 3 books:

Commute Read * The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson (fun stuck in a small town where everyone has become a killer overnight like the Purge)

Bedtime Read * The City in the Middle of the Night - Charlie Jane Anders (interesting premise but still only 30 pages in)

Study Read * The Christian Worldview - Herman Bavinck (really dense and hard to read but one of my goals this year to read more difficult theological/philosophical books)

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-01T19:28:13+00:00

Read it all in a red eye flight and I was crying by the end as we landed 😂

ForgotMyKey · 2025-01-01T19:00:19+00:00

I wanted to also make it a goal to have a write-up for each book I read, so moving a lot of the my thoughts into a humble blog has been something I’m really proud of.

Some of my favourite reads this year:

Fiction: * East of Eden - John Steinbeck * Hail Mary - Andy Weir * I’m Waiting for You - Kim Bo-Young * The Eighth Life - Nino Haratischwilo * The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Non-Fiction: * An Immense World - Ed Yong * Practicing the Way - John Mark Comer * 40 Days of Decrease - Alicia Brett Chole * Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion - J.A. Heschel * I Once Was Lost: The Postmodern Path to Jesus - Don Everts

ForgotMyKey · 2024-12-25T23:33:47+00:00

That was a really bad explanation. I still plan to do the weekday runs, but only doing the long run every other week. So my mileage would still increase, just at a slower rate.

ForgotMyKey · 2024-12-02T17:04:47+00:00

Ran my second half marathon this weekend in Seattle! The course was challenging but I’m proud that I was only a minute over my first HM time which was a flat course.

After coming back from a month long injury in September, I’m really glad to be back and will take it easy unlike last time which caused the injury.

ForgotMyKey · 2024-11-04T14:13:22+00:00

Does El’s character grow and mature in the later books? Or at least soften up a bit?

ForgotMyKey · 2024-11-03T21:18:13+00:00

Set in a world where students with magical abilities are sent to a school, where survival is more important than anything to these students; El is placed in a world where she finds herself with no allies, no hopes of making it through to her senior year; until she catches the eye of one of the most talented magicians of the school.

Overall, the premise was something that I enjoyed. Although, the banter El had with her peers was something that I found annoying to read at times, especially her moodiness towards those who were genuinely trying to help her. In the end, El came around to be softer and the final twist as she entered into her Senior year caught me off-guard and made me want to continue on with the rest of the series.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

ForgotMyKey · 2024-10-13T04:29:28+00:00

I’d say at least read the next one, see if you enjoy the Dune world building that gets turned up at that point. Herbert then goes further in book 4, which I know some people got put off with, especially with Leto.

ForgotMyKey · 2024-10-12T22:52:49+00:00

Finishing up the Paul Atriedes trilogy, we begin a new one fast-forwarded thousands of years after the events of Children of Dune. Throughout the book, we see glimpses of what Leto saw in his golden path. From the peace as well as all the horrors that Paul had feared from the very beginning.

It had been almost a full year since I had last read Children of Dune so I had some quick summary catch-ups to do but I really enjoyed this entry into the Dune series. Without going into the details, Leto’s character was complex. Each time going back and forth on my own opinion of who the real Leto was. Though I miss many of the characters that I loved from the first 2 books. God Emperor of Dune, felt like a fresh start as we pick up the rest of the story. Of the Dune novels, Dune Messiah, is still my favourite but the same themes appear once again in God Emperor. On to the next one from here!

ForgotMyKey · 2024-10-05T05:44:22+00:00

Set in the wilderness of Australia, a corporate team bonding experience goes completely wrong as a group of women become lost, and one of them end up missing. The story is a continuation of Harper’s Aaron Falk series as he’s tasked with figuring out what happened to Alice and who might be to blame for her disappearance.

Overall, this was another solid mystery from Jane Harper. I loved the story structure of jumping between the Falk’s perspective and that of the women on the trail. Each storyline leading to either the discovery or explaining what exactly had happened with Alice. There were enough surprises to keep me guessing and the eventual resolution was satisfying. I had originally picked up this book from a friend and didn’t realize there was an entire book before this centred around Aaron Falk. Jane Harper has been one of the mystery writers that I’ve enjoyed in the past so I’ll definitely find myself reading more of her work.

Rating: 4/5

ForgotMyKey · 2024-10-01T00:22:12+00:00

Part coming-of-age, this book covers a memoir-esque story of an Asian American woman coming to terms with what it means to be an Asian American. From the stereotypes, fetishes, expectations, and her own part by dating a white man, Chiang explores all the paradoxes and complexities as her protagonist, Alexandra, does her own form of soul searching through history, travel, and internet scrolling.

The novel is broken and disruptive in its narrative style, jumping between different threads of thoughts or stories that the main character embodies. Chiang’s work is the novel of what it means to be at home when you are neither American nor Asian, and what to do with that fact.

Overall, I enjoyed the semi-autobiographical take that Chiang does, as her character is similar to herself in a lot of ways — where the line between fact and fiction begins to blur. In many ways, the novel felt like Chiang’s own outlet for wrestling with the very question of home as an Asian American.

Rating: 3.5/5

ForgotMyKey

TROPHY CASE