Spiritus Mundi

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would. I'm not gonna lie - I sincerely love reading Dan Brown's novels. His are the only suspense/mystery books I really read. I appreciate the academic puzzle style that keeps me engaged in his fast-paced stories.  That being said, I think his latest novel,  Origin , missed the mark.  What I love most about Dan Brown's serial main character, Robert Langdon, is how he uses his career as a symbologist (and professor at Harvard) to resolve the strange situations he finds himself in. As is usually the case with the first of a series, I think the first Langdon novel,  Angels and Demons , is the best example of this. The other books do a decent job of utilizing symbology and code breaking, too, which is what keeps me invested in Dan Brown.  Origin , though, feels like it could have existed without Robert Langdo...

"I hate going to the gym and seeing those overweight people wearing leggings and workout tops. If you need to wear anything bigger than a large, you should just stick to baggy t-shirts and sweatpants." An old coworker said this loudly while standing directly behind me. And I wear XL. I interacted with this person on a daily basis, and I assume the best in her. She didn't direct this statement toward me, and I'll give her the benefit of the doubt by assuming she didn't notice I was sitting right in front of her. I don't begrudge her for saying it, nor do I think the statement makes her mean or stupid or anything like that. But that doesn't negate the fact that I had to leave to go cry in the bathroom when I heard it. I didn't confront her or say anything to anyone about her statement. Maybe that's why it hurt so much. Obesity is a taboo subject for most people. We avoid talking about it because we don't want to make other people fee...

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would. Before I started reading it, I only knew two things about this book: 1. I thought the cover was absolutely stunning. 2. It seemed like everyone was talking about it. Now that I've finished it, I know one more thing: 3. Everyone should  be talking about it. Briefly,  Station Eleven  by Emily St. John Mandel is about the world before and after a devastating flu epidemic that brings civilization as we know it to an end. (As a note: Although it's about the flu, I wouldn't say this book is gory at all, so if you're squeamish like me, you'll still be okay.) As the story unfolds, we follow the lives of Arthur Leander, an actor who dies the night the pandemic starts, and those associated with him. After Arthur's death, Kirsten (a child actor who sees Arthur die on stage, then survives the flu) journeys around ...

No one said this would be easy. On the contrary, most people seemed to say that just trying would be enough because most people don't make it to the finish line. Just starting this project is something to be proud of. I don't know if you know this about me, but that's not really how I do things. [Though, if I could have that mentality about doing the laundry, I totally would.] When it comes to my passions, I don't easily give up on the things I start. So when I committed to NaNoWriMo this year, I knew that, while I may not finish on time, I would come out on the other side with a novel. In case you don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenge that takes place every year in November, when people from all over the world come together and commit to writing 50,000 words over the course of 30 days. I completed the challenge yesterday ( a day early! ), but there's still one more day of NaNovember! So let me spend it tell...

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would. Parents tend to say that they don't compare their kids. We all know that's probably not true, but it's definitely  not true of us as a society. So, when I first heard that Hank Green (of vlogbrothers, Crash Course, SciShow, Dear Hank and John, etc.) was publishing a novel, I couldn't help but mentally compare him to his brother John Green ( The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, also The Anthropocene Reviewed, vlogbrothers, Dear Hank and John, Crash Course Literature, etc.). I've read many a John Green novel. I say that it was to keep up with my students, so I could relate to them about their favorite books, but the truth is that I just love a good YA novel. The best of them bring honesty to real life problems, not only for teens, but for all of us. Turtles All the Way Down  felt that way for me. Sur...

"Spiritus Mundi" translates from Latin to literally mean "world spirit." Or maybe it's "spirit of the world." The "spirit world"? I don't know. I don't read Latin. All I do know is that I came across a more symbolic meaning for the phrase, and I was inspired: "The spirit, outlook, point of view, or social and cultural values characteristic of an era of human history." (1) Upon further investigation, I found that it came from a Yeats poem titled "Second Coming." Supposedly, "'Spiritus Mundi' was a term used by W.B. Yeats to describe the collective soul of the universe containing the memories of all time. From 'Spiritus Mundi,' Yeats believed, came all poets' inspiration." (2) The memories and inspiration of an entire era of human history? That's a pretty big ask. So, no, I'm obviously not claiming that's what this blog is.  Instead, I'd say that this bl...