https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog daily 0.75 2022-09-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427582757578-6AEF7NZ7QG6O9IWDID3D/blog_1.gif Carlina Muglia's Blog https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2022/1/27/january-22-book-review monthly 0.5 2022-02-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/f5e49bdc-f1ee-4554-a469-10019ed6a2db/Screen+Shot+2022-02-07+at+11.00.20+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - The Tower of Swallow By: Anrzej Sapkowski Some AWESOME vignettes in this book. The story is very complex at this point but with the introduction of a few well actualized characters the plot unfolds in a very interesting way. It’s kind of crazy how many questions get raised throughout the series and that even at this stage more questions are being raised. The story runs so seamlessly from book to book I have to go back and reference what is happening in each. Likewise in each book there are really beautiful character driven moments as well as brilliant dialog and awesome fantasy-scapes. I mentioned that they dialog is good enough to be extracted in large segments for the show but I didnt linger so I’ll go back now. At times it is poignant, scary, and even gut-bustlingly funny. so. good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/f4254a60-8dbb-452e-a4a1-d228d1066d24/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+3.27.18+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Sword of Destiny By: Andrzej Sapkowski Where to begin? The Show. I’ll start with the show. Part of this book still coincide with the show but if you are following along in the visual format, this is where reading the book would really start to fill things in. Additionally, if you don’t read these shorts you miss out on details that come much deeper into play in later books. Furthermore, you miss out on vignettes from Gors Velen featuring Molnar and the dwarves are some of the best characters imo. This is on audible so I’m listening along and Peter Kenny is killing it! Y’all gotta know by now that I am a sucker for a good narrator and this man has some range! Top tier for sure. As for the book itself, the vice grip of impending war and chaos is tightening in this book. I like book Yennefer WAY, better than tv Yen although I think that will change as the tv series catches up with Yen’s character development. The theme of destiny in this book is very interesting in the way it is teased out. Does it matter? Does it not? The book is another collection of short stories which I find myself really liking. I don’t mind that time is somewhat disjointed. If you want to read the series you are just going to have to get comfortable with that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/ccc3283f-ca7c-4363-9e28-6a0f0e85af39/Screen+Shot+2022-02-07+at+10.53.14+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Wishes and Wellingtons By: Julie Berry Vor really liked this book. I liked the setting and the characters but the story felt like it could have lingered longer and explored the fantastical element a bit more. For a story that was built around having a personal genie, there was rather limited magic and adventure. I rather liked the message and how various plot points worked themselves out. There is a second installment available and I liked it enough to pick up with round 2. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/118e2d2c-5042-42e0-8002-caa025571353/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+3.09.52+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Ghastly Battle By: Winter Morgan Well I’ll be…In this installment Winter Morgan actually toys around with some character development! The mains are all still around and people are getting briefed and mobs are popping up out of nowhere and all the regular fare for your Minecraft fan-fic. But maybe, actually, some of the characters are growing a little and learning from the past. There’s another book yet to go in this series so I guess we have to wait to see if the changes stick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/e8e3b695-1a2d-4637-aacb-9e48eac23297/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+3.18.20+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Creeper Invasion I really rather enjoyed the Steve and the Diamond Sword series by Winter Morgan. But this series is banal and so repetitive! I’m trying to listen and it is HARD. Vor, still loving it. Five books in and its the same book for the 5th time. Someone, no resolution. Not a fave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/fa4286d3-92e1-4e51-baf3-244f0c246ac1/Screen+Shot+2022-01-28+at+12.33.07+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - On Color By: David Scott Kastan Random but enriching. There was a little science, a good bit of history, and a certain poetry to this book. It was written for the sake of writing about color. In a way, it feels frivolous. There was no message or meaning or over-arching theme except that maybe “we all see color differently.” Nonetheless it felt good to read it for all of those same reasons. Just shy of beautiful it still has a grace about it. Not my most favorite book of all time but I like the way my ideas of color have softened a little after reading On Color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/5608fbf0-eb0b-4018-b025-58b610863460/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+3.38.14+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Blood of Elves By Andrzej Sapkowski What I didn't address while reviewing the last book that I need to address in this review is this: the translator is a fucking boss. I keep marveling at the diction and then I realize these books have all been translated from Polish to English and my mind is fucking blown. In this book I finally got to know Ciri as more than a pawn of destiny. She is innocent enough but there is definitely some foreshadowing about her having a darker nature or at least a dark side. There is a lot going on. Really its all the same background that has been bubbling the whole time in The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny but in this book the concurrent political events are of equal importance to the more condensed story of the mains. This is one of those books where the author plays with space/time by revealing layers of meaning through a variety of POVs. If you want a straight forward answer for questions in your book, you may think twice about embarking on this journey. If you enjoy plots unraveling in slow and methodical ways then you are likely to really get into this series. The map is extensive, the video game is epic, the fandom is fully engaged. I find those all to be perks and at this third book in there series am fully committed to this series. Great high fantasy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/0c2fe096-86b1-4ec9-b107-08b7a7a9d0d1/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+3.04.19+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Propaganda By: Edward Bernays This book was a weird read. I didn’t look at when the original copyright was until after I finished and the WHOLE time I was trying to place it in history so I could think about it in the context of the day and I COULD NOT! It was written in 1928. I was shocked, honestly, that it is that old even though context clues were definitely hinting at it, I kept wanting it to be much more recent. Mr. Bernays would be absolutely shocked to see how propaganda has been applied since this book first came into print. I mean the man was thinking of it as an almost benign way of government and business interacting with its constituency but then again he had yet to see what the Nazis would do with it let alone how political parties function today. Worth the read if you’re into media, marketing, sociology, or people who have really put their foot in their mouths over time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/8eb5634e-c4fc-4951-9b91-a4b1d574ad39/Screen+Shot+2022-01-28+at+12.20.33+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - The Time of Contempt By: Andrzej Sapkowski So far this was my favorite book in the series. I love the dynamic between Ciri and Yennefer. I think rebellious but innocent Ciri is fun and cute. The interactions between Yennefer and Geralt at the sorcerer’s ball as well as Geralt’s individual charades were very funny and endearing. But I also had a sense that shit was about to go down and it really did go down in this book. Ciri has a Muad’dib moment in the Korath desert that was amazing and totally unexpected. This book played on my emotions more than the others as yet. All the aforementioned good features of the previous books continue. The very elaborate plot also thickens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/626c7709-6115-4df2-9092-1cbe7cab436d/Screen+Shot+2022-01-28+at+12.05.24+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - History of Bourbon By: Ken Albala Meh. This was definitely not a podcast but it felt almost like a podcast. I am not a fan of podcasts, generally speaking. I do like info about random things. This book satisfied some of that drive for me to pick up more information. But it also felt like more for more’s sake. This history of bourbon wasn’t contextualized to give it any historical weight or significance. This book was comprised mainly of the following three parts: facts about bourbon, the history of the bourbon market, the author’s own thoughts and feelings or experiences with bourbon. Didn’t hate it didn’t love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/ab0f6536-20af-4e5e-a4a0-c963398a5dfb/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+3.13.06+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - The Last Wish By: Andrzej Sapkowski I love the short story format. I love the dialog. I love that in the background there is a very ominous texture coagulating. I love the allusion to humans and cultural elements from our current, real universe. I love the explanation of magic. I love that so much of what is going on is a bit of a mystery. I feel an epic story brewing and I am very excited to keep reading! For those of you who have watched the show - yes this covers some of the same ground that the first season of the show does. I still recommend reading it for deeper comprehension and especially if you plan to read the other books. The books are vastly more complex than the show and you will want all the extra background info you can pick up! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/361a08f5-59ba-4967-a497-9c8e1f01c4d4/Screen+Shot+2022-01-28+at+12.43.22+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Baptism of Fire By Andrzej Sapkowski To me, things slow down a lot in this book. Whereas before the story was moving over the timeframe of weeks and months, here, we are slogging a few days at a time through various character’s POV. This is an observation not a complaint. Geralt goes through some really gnarly shit but is surrounded by awesome people that keep his story fresh and fun. Regis becomes a new favorite for me, personally. The vignette of “the bridge” was amazing and another hint at “destiny.” Meanwhile Ciri is going through some shit. At this point pretty much the only true protagonist is Geralt. Shit is kinda confusing but not so much that its annoying, but just enough to keep me on my toes. BoF and the series as a whole has taken on a bit of a LOTR feeling. There is a lot of questing and journeying going on at this stage in the story. I’m very curious where this is all going. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/99b8a286-f29d-42ff-8b8f-afea43a52993/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+2.58.58+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - January 22 Book Review - Terror on a Treasure Hunt By: Winter Morgan If one could ever go so far to say that “the plot thickens” in this series THIS would be the book. I personally, like Mr. Anarchy. Its also interesting to stop for a moment and think that in the Minecraft world many of the users are children. Thinking of these ageless-seeming characters as children changed my perspective a bit. Vor was still enthusiastically following along at this point so onward to the final couple of books in this series! https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2022/1/19/december21books monthly 0.5 2022-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/c85379d5-1db5-4f3e-9a1b-d789fdcf3983/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+11.45.04+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - The Warrior’s Apprentice By: Lois McMaster Bujold Ok this was great. This series continues to be a favorite T-Shirt, a refreshing beverage, a shady respite on a hot day. It’s rather epic, with the total number of books in the double digits. A handful in and the characters and dialog continue to be delightful and engaging. This is the kind of series you can enjoy without being so thoroughly engrossed as to lose sight of everything else. I appreciate that. As with the other books in the series I’ve read, there is a very gradual ramp up in this novel. The stakes got high but I never felt emotionally drained as I do with some of my more favorite books. That, to me, is a good thing. Not every book I read can be gripping or the best book I’ve ever read. But similarly going from mountains highs of literature to the dregs is also not enjoyable. This series has allowed the come down from The Red Rising to be gradual. They stand alone as enjoyable writing. Miles Vorkosigan is a very fun main. In The Warrior’s Apprentice we have entered into his story-line and things are already interesting but I have a feeling the best is yet to come. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/f943ffd2-58fa-412e-80da-33d5acd94350/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+12.09.39+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - Paddle-to-the-Sea By: Holling Clancy Holling I wanted Vor to read this for the nostalgia factor it brings me. I read this when I was growing up and lived in Michigan. He and I both really enjoyed it. Alert to parents - language re: Indigenous People of Canada. I think this book is to be utterly respectful to the culture of the young Canadian Indigenous boy who constructs Paddle-to-the-Sea and sets the figurine on its way. The reality is the book was written in the 60’s and language did not reflect the intention. This is a good opportunity to talk about such things with your kid. I think it is otherwise fine. Feel free to share any differing opinions or support for or against mine with sources in the comments so people can self-educate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/114cca20-d6b2-42a8-acd9-18861b9037fd/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+12.20.58+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - Implied Spaces By: Walter Jon Williams Perhaps I expect everything to suck. I mean, I only choose to read books above a certain threshold of positive reviews. But part of me is still expecting that won’t matter and what I choose to read is going to underwhelm me. Thankfully, Implied Spaces was more enjoyable than I expected it to be. It was a hodgepodge monstrosity of genres mashing up but it was still fun imo. I thought the science was good and played into the story enjoyably while softening at its edges just enough to allow for words like Zombie to be thrown around plausibly. Additional marks given for treating gender as a fluid concept and for having a super-computer sentience housed in a black cat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/4acc0f4b-b3e6-41b9-9565-7f228b7746ef/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+1.07.09+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - Leviathan Falls By: James S.A. Corey I will probably re-read The Expanse 20 more times before I die. Much like with Red Rising, these are not fictional characters to me. They are besties. They provide as much comfort to me as the flesh and blood humans I walk with, skate with, surf with, etc. That being said, this is my least favorite book of the series. I have thus far stayed away from star ratings but to give a feel - probably a 3.5 or 4 compared to the others all being 4.5 or 5 star books. Essentially, my gripes rest on a lack of willingness to break out of the mold for the final book. The “mold” is fine when you are expanding the scope but when its time to wrap it up, bold action/writing is required to pull the scope back in and get down to what this was all about. Light spoiler - while the universe is burning down around them, humans get distracted by petty bullshit. To me, instead of trying and possibly failing to explain the speculative science behind the beings that killed the gate-builders, the writing team focused, instead, on interpersonal shit between the Roci crew and the main antagonist. I did end up liking her comeuppance, however. Jim finished up in heart-wrenchingly predictable fashion. I could have done with double the amount of Teresa’s perspective. Similarly, I wanted to learn more about the gate-builders through Elvi. In the end, it felt like there was a good bit of playing the story safe. BUT that is totally speculation on my part. Had anything changed the ending could have sucked. Suck it did not. It just didn’t blow my mind to the level I was hoping it would. There I go having expectations. lol! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/04f9c8d8-8df9-4e8c-bdea-921f5515d16e/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+6.27.34+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - The Poetic Edda By: Jackson Crawford This is my second tango with The Poetic Edda. I listened to the book - narrated by the author. It was harder to follow but worthwhile. Its nice to hear the names pronounced by a scholar of the language. Additionally, something as personal as The Cowboy Edda included as an afterword are best shared directly. It was this final personal interpretation/extrapolation by the author that inspired me to look him up. A few takeaways from so-doing… 1. Apparently he is THE man when it comes to ancient Norse runes and pronunciation. So that’s cool and made me feel even better about listening/reading. 2. Jackson Crawford just gives me James Holden from The Expanse vibes but like slightly more a for-real cowboy. Probably someone I’d invite to my backyard bbq. Anyway, I look forward to circling back for a re-read, also to moving on the The Prose Edda and finally to reading The Saga of The Volsungs next…got study up on my Obsidian lore IYKYK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/50cd8c9e-6dfd-4740-bef7-c24d16423f6e/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+11.51.35+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - The Hidden Nazi By: Dean Reuter I read this book because the subject matter was interesting to me. I knew Dean Reuter was a familiar name to me but I didn’t know how. You know a person is powerful when they lead a very public life yet they have been able to stifle Wiki from having an article about them. Ironically, the only information on the internet about Dean Reuters is the information he wants you to see. The hypocrisy is not lost on me. This book, was, nonetheless fascinating. DR is the first named author but sounds like Lowery and Chester were the real driving forces being this book being written. I found myself, several times, going into deep dives to find info and pictures of players in the Nazi regime that I hadn’t heard of or had only heard of in passing. The reason is, it was really really hard for me to wrap my head around these men being “family men” at home with their wive and children then going to do what they did. I felt compelled to try to put a face with the name - to see them as humans who actively made the decisions that led to their places in history. I learned a lot by reading this book. There were moments when horrific actions were outlined but the book was tasteful in how sparingly they were used. While the book follows the trail of Hans Kammler, it is maybe more about the organization of the Nazi party and how people were able to move through the ranks, how various large-scale programs and operations were able to be enacted, and ultimately about the V2 bomb program and infrastructure. A grim but fascinating read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/d4de645a-8804-48f0-bdb7-23aa439dc4bc/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+6.50.17+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - A Monster Like Me By: Wendy S. Swore This is a middle reader book so I chose it for Vor and me. I waffled for quite some time before deciding to queue it up and even afterwards I curated others ahead. I thought it would be good but possible a bit too heavy for Vor. I think maturity-wise he ended up being on the right side of being able to comprehend the larger message of the story. The actual writing was great. The first person perspective was fresh and enjoyable for a kid’s book and the imagery was very well done. Vor and I were both able to have pretty vivid ideas in our head of what was going on. Definitely recommend. Being as the main character is a child, I doubt most adults reading for pleasure would want to engage. For those with kids, you will have to gauge your own child’s ability to handle a story that features bullying, medical issues, and possible mental health issues. Is there resolution? Yes. So if that is something you need, don’t feel afeared. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/a81573de-ca85-43d4-885f-28c64b42b7d6/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+12.57.18+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - Trapped in the Overworld By: Winter Morgan Back to the world of Minecraft. Winter Morgan knows how to stay in their lane. I like that about them. I thought the other series Vor and I read about Steve and his sword were better. But, this was still enjoyable as far as Minecraft adventure novels go. Do a bunch of kids get trapped in Minecraft? Yes. Hordes and mobs ensue. If you’ve read one you’ve read them all. If your kid likes Minecraft, quality isn’t a factor. Thankfully, Vor is not obsessed. And the kid is partaking of high-level literature left right and center so I feel obligated to lob him one on occasion. This series is that. My advice - never give them Minecraft to begin with. I joke. But I do think there are other series that are bette than this one. From the vantage point of having finished them all, they weren’t as exciting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/057734ca-9f2a-43c4-8142-3fcacfdb16f7/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+2.47.28+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - Mobs in the Mine By: Winter Morgan The first book in the series was better than this one. Whereas the first book establishes the characters and overall tension of the series, this book establishes what is to become a trope. I am going to refrain from telling you what it is, imo. The reason being, if you or your kids are into Minecraft you’re not going to care. If you’re not and you read it anyway…well that was your choice and you just have to know that these books are basic and repetitive. Sure there’s a bigger story arc being played out. But ultimately, Winter Morgan is exploring different ways to highlight fan-favorite features of the Minecraft world and the story functions as a means to that end more than to tell the story itself. You read these because you like Minecraft not because you want a good story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/6a53c1a7-edd3-4386-a21d-6fef91ed2762/Screen+Shot+2022-01-27+at+2.20.35+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - The Republican Brain By: Chris Mooney He said what he said. This is old news, but in case you didn’t know. Nothing short of a life-altering event is likely to change someone’s mind about their political affiliations or their “beliefs.” This book goes into the “why” behind that phenomenon. Does this book spend time on failures of the Democratic Brain as well? Yes. But its also not the central theme of the book. I had to read this book when it I felt like I could take it in and not be depressed by it. Many of my older family members are Republicans and fall into the predictable patterns discussed in this book. In review, this makes me have a sad. I honestly, truly, think the world would be better off without corporate Christianity and capitalism. Those two things go relatively hand in hand with American-bred Republicanism. This book covers a little of that common ground but largely sticks to social trends, examples of Republicans through time adhering to weird denials of science and reality, sociological studies, and psychological studies that support the titular statement. Its not a total lambast. Credit and positive attributes of Republicans are noted throughout but the author and yt don’t think that a few good traits make up for the headaches and problems that arise when a huge segment of society is nearly incapable of wrapping their heads around science and its implications. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/a2e650a6-01c5-4e94-abbb-865cdfb77c98/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+11.26.32+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - December Book Drop - So You Want To Talk About Race By: Ijeoma Oluo This is one of many books that falls under the intersection of self-help and sociology. As a cis-het white woman, its a genre I come back to again and again. Having read and heavily recommended The New Jim Crow, I want to circle back to those of you who took that rec. I had feedback from some saying it was good but they themselves felt a little affronted as the reader like they were being personally called out, unfairly so. I had others who thought the books was great and passed it on to people who had that same feedback. This kind of book can definitely be uncomfortable for the white reader and the more status quo conforming readers out there. Like anything, there is a bit of a learning curve. Its ok to have feelings, to recognize and examine them. Some books are way more challenging to that end than others. I think The New Jim Crow really requires either the timing to be exactly perfect that the reader is ready to be challenged OR that the person has already moved past that point and is comfortable with being challenged already. All of this is set up to say, Ijeoma Oluo covers some of the same territory and also explores other territories. She takes a more personal approach. She takes a more story-telling approach. The combination of which makes this relatable, insightful, funny, and heart-breaking all in one. If you or someone you know wanted to read The New Jim Crow and found yourself wanting to push back a lot on your emotions I would recommend circling back to it later and instead start here. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/novbookdrop monthly 0.5 2021-12-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/5caf079e-3c4a-4b17-bd50-e58be4caa577/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+9.18.23+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - Five Children and It By: E. Nesbitt For Victorian-era children’s literature this was quite good. Compared to more contemporary authors, not so much. But giving credit where credit is due, this is a very imaginative and fun story that Vor was able to follow and enjoy despite the more antiquated language-structure. Taking a moment for broader reflection, I think it’s interesting how language has changed and how it requires a concerted effort on the part of younger readers to invest into classic literature. I’m thinking to myself as we are listening: “Vor doesn’t know wtf thou means.” We have run into this language disconnect several times now. The first time was with Beatrix Potter but I thought the content of those books was weird and have passed on the rest of her repertoire. Vor and I both enjoyed The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz, The Princess and the Goblins, and to some extent The Golden Goblet - all of which are written in a more formal, dated version of English. FCandIt was above the threshold of enjoyment as well. As a parent, be ready to patiently explain if you’re reading this with a kiddo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1ebfd597-3d33-4516-a5a6-bc4c7992eaef/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+2.16.45+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - Foundation By: Isaac Asimov Better the second time around. I listened to this book about 3 years ago. My take away then was: men talking stressfully at each other. Now, everyone is going batshit about the series on iTune. Since the positive reception of the show and my take-away didn’t fully line up, I was starting to think I was losing my edge or perhaps that my listening skills were not fully developed at the time I initially read the book. But, no. I was right. This book is like 90% dialog. The difference in my reception this time is in the knowing. I was familiar with the ideas the book was attempting to convey and that was helpful. Secondarily, I am way more familiar with early Sci-Fi as a genre and its nuances and short-comings. See more on that below. All in all, I liked the ideas much better this time because I wasn’t waiting for there to be action and could just sink my teeth into the dialog. Spoiler alert - there is no action. If you want a version of the story with action, definitely just watch it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/18a66d5e-39db-4b60-ab86-eb174ae3550c/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+9.12.47+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - A Little History of Economics By: Niall Kishtainy This was everything I hoped it would be. It was informative and not boring. The narration was great and for a subject-matter book was perfectly easy to follow in audio format. My take-away is that I think we need a new theory of economics that takes into account people’s (individual and societal) time and the quality of their environment to calculate a true economic status. I was also reinforced in my belief that most economists, while probably well-meaning can really fuck off with this pseudo-science bullshit. If you’re going to make shit up, maybe try looking beyond the material. I wanted an overview and an interesting read to compliment some of the heavier reading I’ve done on the subject such as Road to Serfdom. For that, this book was wonderful. Nothing against the book, I just think most of this field of research is so terribly subjective that it’s absurd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/dd9d8fea-177d-45d1-86e2-52b7b7a81584/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+2.41.34+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - The Unfettered Mind By: Takuan Soho Not suspending disbelief or applying a critical mind - kinda stodgy. The metaphors were poetic but rigid. This was a very restrained work. Now, if we apply some perspective to the content, that same observation turns from critique to praise. I think restrained would be a compliment for the intersection of Zen and Swordsmanship! It’s a beautiful work and the narrator has a buttery baritone voice that is naturally suited for this gorgeously formal writing style. The question of whether or not you will like this book is likely going to boil down to whether or not you have enough historical basis to place the piece culturally. And, from there, whether you have an interest in Zen or Swordsmanship. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/db7d11be-0dd5-4060-87f7-9b00bddceaa1/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+9.34.30+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - The Practicing Stoic By: Ward Farnsworth I liked the book more as it progressed but, overall, would be curious to see if there is a better overview of Stoicism out there. The good: The Stoic principles are great. So, if you are a true beginner to the subject, you’ll probably get a lot out of this. The organizational structure is really well done for what Farnsworth is attempting. The practicality and nuance of the subject-matter blooms the longer your keep reading but could indeed be taken piece-meal if one so chose. The bad: The organizational structure. This is a very personal preference, but I would have liked to experience the propositions in context. I would not have known that ahead of time, though. TPS was not at all a bad book. You might like it way more than me. It didn’t light me up and ultimately, I have been a practicing Stoic for many years due to my personal integration/amalgamation of many spiritual practices. So at the end of the day, I wasn’t blown away with the book or topic but that doesn’t mean you won’t be. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/2717ce7c-8c78-4e78-9e9d-531902ca72e1/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+2.25.46+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - Netherwings By Django Wexler Well, shit. This was a good story. It was a middle-grade story but it was good enough to have me fully invested after about the 3rd chapter. Middle-grade books are really doing it for both Vor and me lately. They are dramatic enough with ample action and suspense to keep me invested while being just predictable enough that I’m not worried about sex and gore and major psychological trauma for Vor. For Vor they also hit a sweet spot. He’s not a baby so kid’s books are often too babyish for him but on the flip side, when it comes to hard copies, he could not actually read read these books yet. But that doesn’t mean he is not ready for the content. He is. So audiobooks work well for him to engage with stories that are at his maturity level if not his “reading” level. I’m really excited for him to gain mastery of reading text so he can start to choose books on his own from the library at school. In the mean time, he continues to surprise me with insightful and penetrating questions for books on this level that show me he is, very much, paying attention to relatively complex narrative structure and drama despite the medium. I hope we get more from this author in this dimension asap. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/c02e57ca-a27f-4a25-bb06-89bdbd6a6b6f/Screen+Shot+2021-12-01+at+3.49.13+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - God Emperor of Dune By: Frank Herbert I still love this book. I’ve read through the series five times and I still love this book. I am more critical of it than ever and I still love it. Its dense. Leto can be pompous. The Duncans can be obtuse. Nonetheless, the philosophical through-line is very clear and rings true even after so many years. It is an odd masterpiece. It sticks out like a sore thumb in the series as a whole, but it’s really great. Related aside: I run a Dune Stan account on Instagram. www.instagram.com/dunequotes I’m the OG Dune Quotes page on Insta since 2016. If you want to cheat and get some quote samplage, check it out. If you like what you see there, you’ll like the books. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/87891445-7d77-4342-91e3-0d8ff456d506/Screen+Shot+2021-12-01+at+4.03.42+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - The Golden Goblet By: Eloise Jarvis McGraw This was a mom-and-me read. It took a little while for Vor to get into it. I had to stop and give context quite a lot in the beginning. The first two thirds of the book were rather slow. There was a lot of repetition and a lot of setup for the ultimate resolution. However, the resolution felt very rushed and lacking in detail especially when compared to the rest of the book. I think it was worth a read but I’m glad we did it on our own terms. I think if I were one of the many kids that are forced to read this in school I would have resented the hell out of the ending and pacing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/722e56d9-b372-450d-b1dc-03b8d334199e/Screen+Shot+2021-12-01+at+4.08.16+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - Falling Free By: Lois McMaster Bujold I really enjoy this woman’s writing. It is fast-paced and funny. It is clever and imaginative. She does characterization really well, too. I randomly read the 5th book in this series first because its called The Vor Game, so duh, had to. I thought I would circle back eventually. I invited Matt to start reading the series with me and he cosigns on all of the above. This series does not ask as much of you philosophically as Dune. It does not hold your heart in its hand like Red Rising. It does not get into the mathematics of things like The Three Body Problem. But its unique with fun characters who are not your typical heroes. Highly enjoyable. Caveat: this book doesn’t fit into the series in a neat and tidy way. I am still waiting to see when it does. Supposedly it does…I guess we’ll see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/8ffb056d-2528-4bf9-aba0-fe299ab9124d/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+9.28.02+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - Shards of Honor By: Lois McMaster Bujold Another fun read by Bujold. I loved getting to know the world through this love story. Love story? Yes. But not sappy, stupid shit. In this context the love story is a fun narrative device and ultimately is just a background thread tying the other events of the book together. As mentioned above, if you are expecting any continuity between Falling Free and SOH, you will be frustrated. Consider the context of FF as informative of the larger galactic context in SOH and leave it at that. Cordelia, Arol, Bothari, etc are all interesting characters unto themselves and interact in a way that left me feeling that the psychology of the characters was consistently considered when placing them in inter-relational situations. Well done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/9b908164-2947-47ec-9f62-bfe5bcb6f449/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+2.30.26+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - Barryar By Lois McMaster Bujold I am pretty well won over at this point and am a full-fledged fan of Bujold’s writing. The first half of this book is a little slower. The second half is a full court press. If you have read any of her other books, Barryar holds true to her witty/sardonic, character-forward approach. Cordelia and Bothari shine and the set-up for Miles to enter the scene is perfect. Highest Barryaran marks! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/0550b4fb-106b-47cc-b823-6f92efb3b750/Screen+Shot+2021-12-02+at+2.47.50+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - November Book Drop - The Einstein Intersection By: Samuel R. Delany Good vintage Sci-Fi. To me, that means it was kinda weird, a little obscure, had enough detail to give you a sense of what was going on but left quite a bit up to the imagination. I wouldn’t want the same from more modern works. I’m learning to take the early stuff as a sub-genre and appreciate them in that context. This is probably one of my reading take-aways for 2021 as a whole. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/11/9/septemberbookdrop monthly 0.5 2021-11-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/f5e0bf16-ea0e-4e86-a7c6-355ad38e5f33/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+12.57.07+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man By: James Joyce Once I got used to the style of writing and felt confident that I was following along the beats of action, I really liked this book. I read both Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis by Frank McCourt many years ago. APof left me with a similar feeling. Apparently, that makes sense. Why? Joyce’s book pre-dates McCourt’s novels. According to a quick and dirty internet search using just the two author’s names, my take-away is commonplace. Additionally, there are certain scholars of Irish literature who accuse McCourt of “performative Irishness” based on wanting to adhere to how Joyce wrote about the culture. I took the author of the above critique to be a little off-the-mark, personally. Frank McCourt IS kinda a performer as well as an author. He narrated Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis for Audible and compared to reading the book, it was a transformative experience. He was, at very least, gifted in that manner of performance. So to me, to say his books were a performance is just obvious. Anyway, I liked this book a lot and have read nothing else by Joyce so perhaps upon reading some of his other work I will circle back and have more to say. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/0b92ee49-7b81-4690-8fe9-882ec3630408/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+12.51.55+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - Never Never By: Brianna Shrum :-( This book kinda made me sad. Why? It more-or-less solidified for me the idea that Peter Pan was sociopathic. Obviously we are talking about a fictional character that has been further fictionalized from canon. I get that. Peter being a total jerk doesn't make me sad though. It’s how he treats the other people in the story that, when viewed in light of him being abusive, makes me sad. Captain Hook is tragic AF in this version. He is also thoroughly likable and a wonderful character around which to re-imagine the story. As far as alternate tellings go, this was very well done. Note, Vor really liked this book but there are some marginally sexual scenes that you might want to skip over for kids. Where this work was supposed to fall in terms of age recommendation I would have a hard time saying. A bit too mature for 5 but otherwise fine for younger readers except skewing oddly YA here and there regarding Hook + Tiger Lily. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/451ed190-2503-4a46-bffc-14ac18d3dae9/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+12.49.32+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - Escape form Camp 14 By: Blaine Harden Honestly so crazy. So far I’ve read a fair amount of historical fiction about revolution-era China, one memoir about the work camps in the Gobi and I read The Girl With Seven Names. So I am not at all ignorant of what was to come in this book. Nonetheless, it was terrible in a “can’t look away” kind of way. The book ends on a positive note. I have not followed up to see where Shin is and what he is doing these days but I sincerely hope the agency he was stepping into near the end of this narrative has continued and so has his healing. Woof. The info is delivered in a way that doesn't overly sensationalize things but its still hard to face what human beings are capable of doing to one another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/eeb2fcf4-94e0-4dac-bd52-3b5f37f18a6a/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+12.53.14+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - When Women Ruled the World By: Kara Cooney A great historical book. Now, not everything presented is undisputed fact. So, don’t think of it that way. There are many things about ancient Egypt that we just don’t know with certainty so there is still a good bit of speculation from the author. That being said, she is an expert in the field of Egyptology and a good writer. It is quite easy to relax and let her spin you a tale of each of these queens with enough supporting evidence to feel historically valid and interesting as a narrative. Well done. Definitely recommend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/5d2875c5-5f43-4550-bfd9-94ef67b45c15/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+6.41.14+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - The Anatomy of Peace By: The Arbinger Institute I got drawn into the narrative of this book, not really expecting one. Then I realized as much. I think narrative works as a device here. It humanizes the concepts the writers are trying to get across. Furthermore, it is quite likely there is a good amount of truth or wholly true vignettes within the book. Either way, the information presented therein, is useful. The biggest take-away for me was a reaffirmation of a heart-at-peace and what that can do in one’s life compared to having a heart-at-war. There are free resources you can check out that will give you a summary and some visuals to work with whether or not you want to read the book. You can FIND THEM HERE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/f25e800c-d5a7-4bb2-83b0-6f7312f1e9ac/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+12.54.49+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - The Man in the Maze By: Robert Silverberg This was enjoyable antique sci-fi novel. As many of them are, this was very male-centric, so there’s that. On the other hand, there were few characters, overall. So, the paucity of women is not as egregious as say in Foundation. I thought the premise was fascinating. The world-building was definitely up to snuff. Furthermore, the various ups and downs of tension were satisfying and kept me engaged. Worth a read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/d9eca513-d7f8-428a-aa37-06dc509061b0/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+6.51.55+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - A Psalm For the Wild-Built By: Becky Chambers This came as a recommendation. In the end, I liked it. To me the last third of the book was much stronger than the first two. Am I used to excruciating detail? Yes. Am I used to tomes that are 5x longer than this book? Yes. So perhaps you can chalk it up to those things, but I thought the world-building and characterization were lacking until Dex and Mosscap meet up. Once they do, their dialog fleshes the world out much better. I like Dex as a character but found Mosscap far more relatable. Right on the cover the book is billed as “optimistic” and that is very true. I didn’t find it to be very believable but it was an enjoyable, short read that raises some good/timely questions about the nature of consciousness and AI. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/f98690d1-04a9-4043-a150-945f73526a19/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+1.00.17+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - The Face of Battle By: John Keegan I just scanned through from the top of the this book list and, yes, you are correct my selection this month was all over the place. Aquarius. Gotta keep you guessing. What possessed me to read on this topic? Secret project, so, nunya . It almost seems in vain to write anything about this book because I’m sure there is a very small readership of my blog and I can’t imagine any of you taking this book on. HOWEVER, in the event someone is interested here’s my take. Skip the first three chapters and go right into the Battle of Agincourt. I was intensely interested in the first three chapters but even still they were so dense that I will have to go back and re-read them. They are also deceptive and made me think the book was not about the topic as billed. But once you’re into the battles, the book delivers on its promises. Excellent if you’re into this kind of thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/018a912b-6447-4a69-997c-382724ec4024/Screen+Shot+2021-11-11+at+12.46.01+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - October book drop - The Freeze-Frame Revolution By: Peter Watts This book was narrated on Audible by Emily Zeller Woo and I really like her as a narrator. This was a book with a fascinating premise that didn’t really live up to how good it probably could have been. The formatting was herky-jerky. It was intentionally so as a device but for me more than anything it took me out of connecting with the characters. Critiques aside, I like the treatment of AI in this book and how its relation to the humans renders the narrators viewpoint a little unreliable. If I were to give this a grade it would be a C. From what I understand this is considered a novella and resides in a larger universe of books. But IRL its billed as a stand-alone and it was only through investigating into the author’s fandom that I discovered how it connects into other works. As a stand-alone book, there was a lot of characterization lacking. As a premise it was interesting. As a casual read, I would not encourage anyone to read this who doesn’t really love hard sci-fi. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/10/20/september21-book-drop monthly 0.5 2021-10-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634752872759-SV0XLVJ35P2RPSL2264F/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+2.00.58+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - Battle For The Nether By: Mark Cheverton NERD ALERT!!1! I had read a fair amount of Minecraft-related books now. There are several series by Winter Morgan that are not literary classics but totally enjoyable for a mom and 5-year-old to read together. Bonus fact: many of said books are narrated by Luke Daniels, a fantastic narrator, and author to boot. But this is not Winter Morgan's Minecraft. BFTN is fan fiction that reaches a little too far, imo. It strives to teach moral high ground. It manages to do as much but with little finesse. You can subtract additional points if you're listening on Audible. I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find a narrator that sounds as nerdy as the subject matter but this guy really nailed it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634752422041-1RSFBHOYQ7UMGD66UVLH/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+1.53.12+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - Dark Age By: Pierce Brown Ya know, I thought The Triumph easily trumped The Red Wedding (ASOIF). I said to myself then, “Damn. That Pierce Brown knows how to write a tragic scene and make me really feel it.” The Triumph, and The Jackal’s little box, and Ragnar, and Nerol, and, and, and… It was all a lot, but I felt like I could handle it. This book. Fuck this book. Not really. But kinda, yes. There was so much to process that some of the most profound losses did not even register. The last few hundred pages are nearly unrelenting. It was a vice from beginning to end. Just when I thought I was going to crack, indeed, I was sobbing uncontrollably, the vice loosened by a fraction of an inch. There really isn’t too much more to say. This is the best book of the series, and they have all been phenomenal. The only thing left is for me to double down on my FUCK LYSANDER stance. BUT, now that I’ve taken a hard line, PB may pull some shit out of nowhere and make me consider Lysander as redeemable all over again. I await this next book with great fear and anticipation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634752524771-P31LQ2V7QFTP5ERKV4M1/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+1.55.16+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - Amusing Ourselves to Death By: Neil Postman Wow. This is such an interesting book to read from a historical perspective. As early as the advent of TV, the author of this book, was able to forecast its negative impact on society. Fast-forward to now. The trends identified in this book have only become more exacerbated. The negative social impact of TV has only become more pronounced now that we are also contending with social media. Reading AOTD was a great exercise in extrapolation. If you have been interested in the multitude of research that has been released about Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok re: aberrant social behavior and negative self-image, this book is up your alley. Also of note, the author only lived to the early 2000’s and I suspect is currently rolling in his grave at about 10,000 revolutions per minute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634752285535-4VE97TQ9FS8UHYPGMB0U/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+1.51.01+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - Iron Gold By: Pierce Brown Everything that happens in this book sets up Dark Age. Unlike my usual, clinical, and spoiler-free reviews, this one CONTAINS SPOILERS. As I suspected, democracy does not take root too well in the soil The Society has left behind. There are hold-out factions of Golds both in the inner planets and the outer planets. As one might expect from so bellicose a people, they are not going down quietly. Additionally, there is a displacement of the populace from their customary caste pursuits. Rather than having an answer to that issue, there is general chaos for anyone who did not come from means. Reds are in refugee camps, the Obsidians are barely being held in check by Sefi, and throughout the book, tension continues to build. The democracy that The Rising built is tenuous at best, even though each of the colors now has representation. In short, no one is happy. Except for, maybe, Sophocles. That’s what is going down around the inner planets. Meanwhile, Cassius and Lysander are stumbling into folly after folly in the rim with the Moon Lords. Romulus is probably my favorite non-central character. Between his screed in Morning Star and his exit in this novel, the man is just fucking epic. Now that THAT opinion is out of the way, let’s get back to Cassius and Lysander. I hate Lysander. I hated Lysander from the moment they happen upon the distressed ship. My burning loathing for him only intensified as this and Dark Age continued. Some would argue on his behalf - that he is a product of his upbringing. Certainly, therein lies a kernel of truth. Nonetheless, if that motherfucker isn’t a textbook sociopath then I ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Given, the way PB wrote his inner monologue in Iron Gold vs. Dark Age is different. It is more subtle. His narcissism is easier to miss. He has a semblance of care for Cassius in Iron Gold. But more than his “love” of Cassius is a disdain for him, which is peppered in finely. Think about it this way, those of you who have read the book - Darrow was never fully trustworthy as a POV character throughout the whole first trilogy. He often lied to himself about his feelings or motives. Lysander is no different. When he says he “loves” someone, do not take him at his word. I want to say more, but I will refrain. The Lysander storyline features prominently throughout Iron Gold. If you endeavor to read these books, you need to go in as an unspoiled virgin to have the truest experience. I would be remiss to neglect Apollonius and his 2-kilo steak and air violin. He is magnificent, but by the end, you can add him to the long list of people ceremonially calling Darrow’s name before battle. I’ll wrap this up by saying I was the happy little frog in the slowly heating pot for this entire book. There were moments of loss ala PB. There were also fast-paced vignettes. But in hindsight, it was all a bloody damn trick to get you to read Dark Age. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634752741508-8FEUMZ40YD6ELAPJ6TH8/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+1.58.50+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - The Stand-In By: Lily Chu Lesson learned. Read the whole synopsis. The first few lines of this book’s summary are outlined as a list. Lists are a theme in the book. It makes sense. The surface-level premise of a life-changing identity mix-up sounded fun. I was in. Then I realized that it was also a bit of a romance novel. I clicked back to see if that was mentioned anywhere in the summary. Yes, if you “read more” it was there. If you are into soft-core porny romance this is not for you. In that regard, it is more YA. But I don’t really dig that genre, so all the cute flirting and thrill of the chase felt like a guilty pleasure for me even though it was innocent enough. TSI was written in 1st person. I found that to be a great way to get to know the cast of characters. I felt invested in Gracie like a friend by the end of it. I didn’t see the twist coming until it was almost upon me, too. Yes, there is a twist. Overall snappy writing, great characters, and fun. After the first two books of this month, TSI was a welcome upbeat palette cleanse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634753313274-JDTCN0R563YVOAZ44L0H/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+2.08.15+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - Consider Phlebas By: Iain M. Banks My favorite aspect of this book was the end. I don’t mean that facetiously. I was unimpressed by the novel as a whole. I thought the characters were rather bland. The world-building felt Star Warsian in the sense that it felt like some things were done for absurdity-sake. The author wields violence and crudity in a ham-handed fashion. In juxtaposition with Red Rising, where all the violence feels terrible but necessary, in CP the violence and grossness feels like it is just there to make you squirm. CP was one of the novels that upon completing, I felt like I needed to take to the internet to understand "why?" I actually found a satisfying answer from the author, himself. But the fact that he had to write the "why" out separately from the novel seems like maybe there was an opportunity to have better illustrated it within the text, itself. As I said before, the end is where the discerning reader may be able to extract the "why" in-line with the story. I couldn't quite excavate it on my own but did come away with the sense that the end was satisfactory even if the process of reading the book was not quite the experience I was hoping for. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634752627636-YUE40YKL6OWCKAX4IYXM/Screen+Shot+2021-10-20+at+1.56.48+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - September Book Drop - Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley After reading Amusing Ourselves To Death, I had to go back for a re-read of BNW. Most people probably know this; in case you don’t, the long and short of it is a society controlled through distraction. The element that jumps out at me the most is the “Feelies.” It is mind-boggling that this book remains cutting edge. With VR and wearable tech, our society is definitely on the cusp of realizing “the Feelies.” In fact, I was postulating with a friend that the only thing that will be able to unseat a 5-15s video meme in our collective attentions is a medium through which we can experience our distractions of choice as if first-hand. For its continued relevancy and character studies, I definitely am glad I circled back for a re-read. BNW is a classic for a reason. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/8/7/august-book-drop monthly 0.5 2021-09-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1630422584203-E6F2BZZT07JQQ4RD3GBW/Screen+Shot+2021-08-31+at+11.00.13+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - Stella Batts: Superstar By: Courtney Sheinmel Ok, as an older sister. I felt this. I think that’s the genius of Courtney Sheinmel - she really nails the experience of being a kid. Themes in this book are not getting what you think you want, being envious of someone else’s experience and a little insight into acting. This was fun for me to read with Vor because it talks about the BTS aspect of film-making and I felt cool because I could verify first-hand what Sheinmel was writing about. This is the last of Stella on Audible so I won’t be writing any more Stella reviews for the foreseeable future. I’m ok with that but want to underscore that this is a great children’s book series and I think your younger kids will more than likely enjoy it. Happily recommended for younger readers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1630423088775-P82VS8A0B2JZEYBUBY5Y/Screen+Shot+2021-08-31+at+10.57.13+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - Geekeralla By: Ashley Poston I honestly don’t know wtf I was thinking picking up this book. I think I was like - Sci-Fi theme! But I didn’t pay any attention to the fact that everything is couched in the archetype of Cinderella. Its a romance novel. Its cute. Its totally palatable. Its nerdy af. I didn’t hate it. I just kinda low-key hated myself for picking a romance novel. BUT! I enjoyed it. And it was honestly great timing for me. I was re-reading Red Rising at the same time as this book and that series is not good to listen to before bed oftentimes. So this was my pre-bed wind-down novel for a couple weeks. For that, it was good. Definitely a bit of young adult fiction. It was a fun take on Cinderella. I didn’t love the heroine because she was annoyingly in damsel-in-distress mode for most of the book but that IS Cinderella so there’s only so much I can say to complain. I did, however, like the Prince Charming and The Fairy Godmother and even one of the Evil Step-Sisters. It didn’t suck. Its LGBTQ-friendly despite the main story being cis-het. There are plenty of nice things to be said about it. Not my typical fare but doesn’t mean you won’t like it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1630423547478-X2Q39T68GFB5FPS2EDMW/Screen+Shot+2021-08-31+at+10.58.53+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - Morning Star By: Pierce Brown I’m going to quickly give you my take on this, solo, and then as promised in last month’s installment, I will circle back and deal with the first three books as a trilogy. I read this 2x in quick succession along with the first two books of this series. Why? They are that good. As a third book goes, this was a satisfying ending to the first trilogy in this series. The first time through, I stopped. I actually had no intention of reading any more of the series for a while but Matt is reading it with me so I have the courage to continue because I can vent to someone when needed. I’ll get into that more just below. But yeah. This book was great just like the first two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628358361326-ESX5W66DUDBYMYUEPSZ9/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+1.45.47+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - The Rise of Endymion By: Dan Simmons This is a beautiful book. There is some really powerful discourse about the nature of the universe and love that rivals my favorite passages from God Emperor of Dune. I was very impressed with this series and put it up there in my top 5 Sci-Fi of all time. Dan Simmons’ world-building is damn near unparalleled. The sheer imagination required to contrive of both creatures and “land”scapes of the magnitude covered in this book is staggering. If you love Dune you will definitely enjoy this series. But to all who venture forth into this territory; do not judge this series by the first book. I greatly enjoyed Hyperion but this is a quad of books that most certainly should be taken as a whole. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1630424051799-L10YXUA1AV4HZUIAYOSS/Screen+Shot+2021-08-31+at+10.59.41+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - Red Rising Books 1-3 By: Pierce Brown Conversion experience. Love. Best Friends. My judgement is clouded y’all. I can’t help but write this like a true Stan. But you probably knew that already from the fact that I read these and then immediately read them again. But if you will, let me please go into some more detail about why I love these so much. Let’s go into list mode: 1. The characters. I know my Aquarius is showing when I say this but…sorry real-life humans, these are my best friends. :-/ I love Darrow and Sevro and Victra and Ragnar etc as if they were flesh and blood humans. Thinking of them gives me comfort and makes me feel less alone in this fucked up pandemic world of 2021. They are right up there with the crew of The Rocinante from The Expanse. They are flawed but their strengths are shining. They are serious and brooding but funny. They are strong but vulnerable. I love them. Sorry not sorry. 2. Balance. There are male and female badasses. There is hetero and homo love. There is action and philosophy. There is humor and tension. There is local scale and solar-system scale. All of the above and more leaves me really satisfied as a discerning reader. 3. Kick-Assness. Goddamn if Darrow isn’t the come -from-nothing badass to end all badasses. His character literally inspired me to pick up and start writing my own characters. Sometimes people call me a badass. I think that’s a very kind sentiment to bestow upon a person but to me, how could I ever be called that when someone like Darrow exists. Ok, yes. Darrow is a fictional character. I don’t care. He’s real to me and he is amazing…see above where I either want to be him, fuck him or be his best friend. 4. Interesting Premise. Yes, book one is not dissimilar to The Hunger Games but the scope expands and the comparisons fall away after Red Rising. What is left is the idea of superior humans, a conquering of regular humans and a caste society. Why is this interesting to me? Because its set in space and if you don’t think Bezos and Musk et. al. are cruising right toward establishing this sort of “society” you are not paying attention. There are some fanciful leaps of sci-fi in the series but they check out well enough for those who like a grounding in “reality.” But its the cultural context of this novel that really catches my attention as a real possibility of a dystopian future. 5. Beautiful writing. Brown is a fucking great writer. Someone compared his prose to Shakespeare. They aren’t wrong to do so. The philosophy in these books is presented as the musings of the narrator both aloud and as internal monologue. Brown covers a surprise amount of ground that way. Furthermore, the way he is able to overlay the philosophy onto the actions of the characters in a way that only serves to underscore their humanity is masterful. These are best-sellers for a reason. Pierce Brown bodied the fuck out of these. I’m as much a fan of the man as a writer as I am of his characters. If you ever read this my Goodman, thank you. 6. Fandom. The Fandom for this series only makes reading the books that much more enjoyable. Its a bloodydamn culture. The initiated know, you can steep yourself as fully into the culture of a Gold, a Howler, an Obsidian as you can with any of the cultures of being a real life human. The genius is of course there is enough borrowed from real-life human culture to take what is given to you in the books and expand upon it as much as you want. Its fun. Its the reason I had to press-gang Matt into reading these books, too. They are even better when you can share them with others. Ok \list. Why did I stop at Book 3? Darrow is a hero, a god of war, a very interesting human, not without flaw. His flaws deepen as his decisions get ethically murky. No blame from me, here. I am, however, apprehensive to see him fall from glory. Not saying that is what will happen but the next trilogy in the series is ten years hence from when these books ended. Virginia, Darrow and retinue have built up a Republic in place of The Society and shit is not going smoothly. That seems rife with the potential of Darrow being sullied as one of my all time favorites. Second and no less importantly, this is were Brown undertakes to solve the political issues that have plagued humanity since we first got our silly little consciousnesses bent on the idea of organizing and governing one another. At this point in the series (and irl) autocracy, fascism, socialism, democracy etc have all been given a go and not quite panned out. I just have a feeling that much of the tension and turmoil as yet to come in the series is going to be a mirror of humanity in its current state and I needed a break before tackling that in there literally realm since its ubiquitous on social and in face-to-face convos. Y’all. I wasn’t expecting this level of falling in love when I picked these books up. It was a whim. It was me being anal retentive about telling someone 5 years ago that I would read them and finally following through. I take my promises to read things very seriously. I’ve been rewarded time and again but never before like this. Shannon, thanks a million for the recommendation. Allow me to pass the rec onward a million times into the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628358425359-IC85400ZKFRVJT8BUFAJ/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+1.46.51+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - Direct Descent By: Frank Herbert Well this was interesting. I didn’t enjoy this book very much. I will use this as an opportunity to share with you some encouraging thoughts. I have now read extensively in Frank Herbert’s non-Dune work. I have found it absolutely shocking that he is the author of Dune and the other stuff. Works like Direct Descent feel adolescent. They feel unrealized. Dune, is of course, a magnum opus. Foreshadowing of Dune is present in many of the books Herbert wrote before Dune. Direct Descent is no exception. The reason I want to share is because I write. If you’re on my blog maybe you do, too. I think its important to know that your first book, your first short story, maybe even your 50th maybe won’t be that great. But that doesn't mean you don’t have a masterpiece inside of your mind. That goes for any artistic endeavor. Keep putting in the work. I didn’t love this book as far as the story or the writing go. But I’m grateful it exists. Its an inspiration in a completely different way than the most beloved of Herbert’s books and it serves a purpose in the grand scheme of things. Thematically, that sentiment ties perfectly into the story so I’ll leave you right there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628358289208-99ULTZHZOBQFB9HJK7RF/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+1.44.29+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - August Book Drop - Stella Batts: None of Your Beeswax By: Courtney Sheinmel These are honestly great kids books. This particular installment doesn’t break from the mold. The main character, Stella is spunky and fun without feeling annoying for an adult to follow. Book 7 deals with themes of keeping secrets, group projects and friend dynamics. Worthwhile. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/8/7/july-book-drop monthly 0.5 2021-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628358055133-WG7ITFUQT7CLMAYV07O5/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+1.40.30+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Stella Batts #4: A Case of The Meanies By: Courtney Sheinmel Ok, there’s three more of this series this month and more next month so let’s condense, yeah? Themes in this book are: being left out and being a team player even if you’re not in the spotlight. You get all the mains you have come to know and love. You get to hang out with Stella in Batt’s Confections and at school. If you liked the first three, you will like this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354072277-WGLOOHQOBO93XG3XMXZ0/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.34.19+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Iran: A Modern History By: Abbas Amanat Holy Tomes Batman! This was a fuuuuuuuucking long ass book. So long, in fact, I earned a special badge for finishing it on Audible. I learned a lot. I also missed a lot that went over my head because this is a book that was not well-suited for audio consumption at times. There were long segments that were Old Testament in style - long diatribes of names and lineages that were difficult to invest in as a listener. The format of the book is interesting and threw me off at first. Later, I found it useful. The author covers timeframes from the POV of one ruling family or significant historical figure and will often times circle back and cover the same territory from the perspective of someone else significant. Once I realized that was happening it was useful because you get more than one exposure to important events and ideas. Iran has a rich history. That should be a “duh” for anyone who may be interested in picking this book up. I definitely think the time investment is worthwhile. For me, personally, I enjoyed learning about the religious history of the country. I also learned about some of the cultural elements that have been used in some of the fictional works I enjoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354294430-GZWPIH8M602TND4PPWJC/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.37.57+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Utopia By: Thomas More Its good to read the classics. The concepts from this work are ubiquitous in the higher falootin’ works I read. Case in point: the Red Rising series. I have read so many quotes and excerpts from this book over the years that my familiarity with those quotes kinda stole the bluster of the original. My thoughts are that this is a very creative work; especially considering when it was written. If you don’t mind reading an older and more formal version of the English language, this is an interesting read. I think its a good framework for playing around with the philosophical underpinnings of socialism and government critique/satire. I’ll put it this way, I don’t discourage you from reading this book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354624538-PBAZ2B3NZAH6TS1EHL6H/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.42.50+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Stella Batts #1: Needs a New Name By: Courtney Sheinmel OMG, this was surprisingly enjoyable. I have grown accustom to serialized children’s works being either - blah, gross, annoying OR HOLY SHIT YES! This, however, resides right in the sweet spot of something that is age appropriate and sweet without being overly heady or adult. YET, its not at all saccharine or annoying. Well, done Courtney Sheimel. RIYL Judy Blume books. Vor was immediately invested and learned a lot about going to public elementary school by listening. More below. We read a lot of this series in July. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628358182140-8PJVJYMDCYP0H2NA1BNY/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+1.42.48+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Stella Batts #6: Something Blue By: Courtney Sheinmel Themes of blending a family, traditions and superstitions, getting into a pickle from bad decision-making. I’m not a wedding person and was anticipating this book being more annoying than it turned out to be. I liked the resolutions to the tension points of this book. For a Book Six, it was also nice to change both the pacing and the setting for the mains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628357973481-4ZTMU3BK7TTGK3PWLLFC/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.50.38+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Endymion: Cantos #3 By: Dan Simmons I mean, damn. Not since Dune has a series expanded in a way that blew my mind quite like this. In Books One and Two you get that time is going to get a little wonky but damn. Shit gets cray. In Books One and Two you get some really awesome character building. In Book Three you get that and amazing world-building. This feels more like the middle book of the series. What I mean by that is, it is 100% an alley-oop to Book Four. Additionally, there are call backs and important plot-points you need to have read the first two installments to fully appreciate Endymion. In Endymion you get a sense of what’s to come. Meaning, when you’re done with this book you know you are about to get the philosophical hammer. From the get-go Simmons has been preparing you for that fact but by Book Three its imminent. At this point, the only series this compares to is Dune. Yes. That is correct. I did just draw a comparison between this series and my all-time heavy-hitting favorite. Aside from Herbert I can think of no other author that so seamlessly, thoroughly and masterfully interweaves science fiction with philosophy and poetry. :: un-ironic slow clap:: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354192216-W9PK9BHXS2H4AQT2NJT1/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.36.14+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Arlo Finch: In The Lake of the Moon By: John August Fantastic. The danger and suspense increase appropriately between this and the first book. The setting shifts and is almost fully outside at camp which allows for some great themes to be played out. For parents who love magic and supernatural/sci-fi, this is a great intro to some mind and time-bending that ups the ante from book one. To me, there is no way these won’t be made into a screen adaptation. John August IS a screen-writer. These are going to kick ass as video works just as much as books. I’m a huge fan. I’m honestly super glad I have a kid so that I get to discover these books along with him. Oh yeah, my 5-year-old approves of this one, too. The mains in this book are great role models for kids upward of their tweens. Highest recommendation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354418154-BJHZ5P7Q4CXK72FV7XWS/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.40.09+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Golden Son By: Pierce Brown OK… I loved this series so much that I begged Matt to read it. He acquiesced and immediately fell in love with it as hard as me. As a result, immediately upon finishing the first three books, I turned around started reading them again. I will therefor, address these books in my August book review. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354816004-S8BS27FC4QBD0Z71KY9X/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.44.35+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Stella Batts #2: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow By: Courtney Sheinmel Valuable lesson territory. The writing between books one and two is consistent. The tone is really conversational. This is a nice way of drawing younger readers in. It feels conspiratorial. Sheinmel is clearly building a readership as the series progresses. Age recommendation would fall from about 5-years-old up to about 8 or 9. I think interest would probably fall off pretty quickly once the age of the reader surpasses the age of the kids in the book - they’re in third grade. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628358121753-TV8VY9UZ36JUFBVF2WY0/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+1.41.45+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Stella Batts #5: Who’s In Charge By: Courtney Sheinmel Stella’s mom is not a dog person. She clearly doesn’t get it. I honestly don’t like her very much. This was actually interesting as a jump off point to talk about animal ownership and responsibility with Vor because I thought Stella was actually more appropriately invested in her role than her parents were. Of the whole series, this provided some interesting food for thought and discussion points. As far as the writing goes, its more of the same. Sheinmel is a remarkably consistent writer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354511192-E40WSQTWL7QCMH529TPG/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.41.27+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Arlo Finch: In The Kingdom of Shadows By: John August A natural ending to the trilogy. There are some really intense moments in this book! Thoroughly enjoyable for mom and son, alike. In addition to the magic and dimension bending themes of the previous two books, you get a heavy dose of real-world suspense as well as Arlo takes on the FBI here and there. Four thumbs up - two from me and two from Vor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354968689-4A30APM8BI8H2KMKXO7E/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.49.01+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - The Fall of Hyperion: Cantos #2 By: Dan Simmons Prepare for a major perspective shift! Ok, so Book One you have seven different POV characters. Book Two you have two. BUT, one of the two characters can voyeuristically engage with the perspective of the characters from Book One. Its pretty wild and creative. As someone who writes, this is a very cool work around in terms of the “voice of the narrator.” The scope of this book jumps pretty drastically. In Book One you are more or less locked into retrospectives from the main characters. You get a glimpse into the universe as a whole, as a result but understanding the culture of the time doesn’t isn’t the point. You get a much better sense of the cultural context of the characters from Book One, here in Book Two. You do also get a sense of resolution from Book One to Book Two. That being said, its short-lived if you pick up Book Three and not FULLY resolved if you don’t follow to the end of the series. You really have to read all four books to get a clear understanding of what’s at play throughout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1628354876151-QIPK7DBOU00WYJXDH2Z9/Screen+Shot+2021-08-07+at+12.47.42+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - July Book Drop - Stella Batts #3: Pardon Me By: Courtney Sheinmel Another cute story. There is a perfect amount of tension for a young reader to manage this book on their own without a parent supervising the read. I don’t really believe in gendering things for my son. He seems perfectly into these books regardless of the female mains. At the end of the day, though Stella is a little girl and sometimes skews toward “girly” things, mostly she’s just an 8-year-old kid with a 5-year-old sister. Her personality doesn’t center her femaleness which makes these fun for my 5-year-old son. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/7/7/june-book-drop monthly 0.5 2021-08-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625671090174-S02UCHN8MRHNTPOX4R0S/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+11.17.33+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire By: John August YEEEEEEES!!! Vor and I both LOVED this book. What great world building! This guy is a screen-writer and it shows. This book could easily be converted to screen. It is so easy to get wrapped up in this story. Arlo and the scouts are the perfect vehicle to teach life lessons to kids. I think Vor may be a little ahead of the game as far as listening comprehension goes since we have been doing reading and audiobooks in tandem for so long already but I would say the sweet spot is going to be readers/listeners from ages 7-10. And also 36-year-olds. You get: encouragement to love nature, a push to find wonder in nature, guidelines for being a decent human being that are easy to discuss with young children, action, danger, magic and mystery. A perfect kids’ adventure novel! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625671267756-6YE0LI9P3PM3PZ3NB136/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+11.20.22+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Hyperion: Cantos #1 By: Dan Simmons Fun fact: I get it from my mama! Yes, my mom has been reading sci-fi since the early 70s. She’s the first person to put a sci-fi book in my hand. She and I still regularly share book recs and reading lists. This be one of them! I can remember being freaked out by the cover of this book my entire childhood! I probably would never have read it for that fact but Matt picked it out and I love sharing reads with him so I went for it. It was likened by one reviewer to the Canterbury Tales. Its not an obvious comparison but its there. Unsettling at times, the diversity of characterization that you get from one story-line to the next is impressive. The book is a vice, tightening slowly toward the inevitability of The Shrike. Not my favorite by a long-shot but a worthwhile and well-written read. The story is not at all wrapped-up in the first book so I will refrain from further commentary until reading onward! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625668640361-916DT52O7Q2V0NEZI5DF/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+10.36.38+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Temple Grandin By: Sy Montgomery I learned some things about Temple Grandin. Her story is definitely interesting. I wanted to dig a little deeper into books exploring neurodiversity. I’m not sure I loved that this book was written by someone else about Temple. Temple has written books of her own so I think, in the future, if I decide to read about her in greater detail I will choose one of those. This book was a good jump off point for getting the basic understanding of who TG is and what she has done in her life to make her stand out. Not a waste of time but I wasn’t super pumped about it by the time I was done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625668403109-8L3LINZTPU56UQVLE00Q/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+10.26.33+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Jakes Quest For The Five Stones By: Hanit Benbassat This was not a great book. The thought behind the book was nice enough. The world-building was meager. The characterization was lacking. The sound design was distracting. There was absolutely NO nuance to the subject matter. I will have a little grace and say, it is a book meant for children so perhaps there is some benefit to being blunt. It felt terribly rushed. And that was all before I listened to the epilogue wherein the author tries to pass Atlantis off as having been a real place where people could manipulate energy and matter with the use of crystals . I would recommend skipping this book entirely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625670575771-PER7SLS896M8926MLAST/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+11.08.55+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Unspoken: A Memoir By: Luke Daniels I knew this book was going to rip my heart out. But I also fully trusted the author. Luke Daniels is the narrator of many of Vor and my favorite books. You can tell from the way he handles characterization and the subject matter he gravitates toward that he is a man that knows his way around a story - even a tragic and personal story like the loss of a small child. I wasn’t wrong to trust him. I also wasn’t wrong about how heart-breaking this story is. Despite the utter tragedy of this story, Luke guides you through steadily and knowingly. He provides levity without making light. He takes pause for breath in the way only a consummate professional knows how to do. I don’t even know the man personally but I’m proud of him. We need to share our humanity with one another. This book is a triumph to that end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625669662801-ZOGODQ4NNMHUSZGEEU7K/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+10.53.57+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - The Mystickwick School of Musicraft By: Jessica Koury This was a good one! In fact, this is the second time Vor and I read this book. It definitely is giving Harry Potter vibes as far as the magical school is concerned but its it’s own book for sure. The characters deal with loss, failure and social dynamics. There are satisfying obstacles the main characters have to overcome. There’s an implied diversity to the cast of characters. There’s enough drama and resolution to be satisfying but there are some mysteries as yet unsolved so Vor and I both want another installment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625670098212-QYJ226S3TTA6DW1JR1KZ/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+10.57.55+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Camp Cacophony By: Jessica Khoury This book was released this month in the “included” catalog for Audible which is why we re-read The Mysticwick School of Musicraft. In the process of writing these reviews I discovered the sequel Vor and I were hoping for has been released as well. This is a prequel. It is a perfect little snack of a book. It is nice and consistent with the vibe of the original and is a nice way to get some more details on the life of our heroine. If you read and enjoy the first Mystwick book I recommend you check this out as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625670802922-ZK8W2K5C71O5I5K6A02U/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+11.12.42+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - Red Rising By: Pierce Brown My Gawd. I loved this. Not too long ago but before I started writing reviews, I read The Owner Trilogy by Neil Asher. I’m going to draw a couple similarities. Here they are: lots of action, sci-fi, space, very-masculine main character, a grudge against the ruling caste. One can also draw some similarities between this book and The Hunger Games. There are those on the internet that would have me feel basic for liking this book. I dunno, man. First of all, I’m listening to it and Tim Gerard Reynolds is a fucking boss of a narrator. He bodies the fuck out of this. Darrow veritably jumps out of the headphones and into real life the way this guy reads. For that alone, its a masterpiece. But I will take a moment to give some credit to Pierce Brown, too. Hyper-masculine, though he is, Darrow is a complex character. Furthermore, the way in which his perspective his shared through Brown’s writing is nuanced. This is a first person narration but at times Darrow is unreliable. He is honest with himself in layers and thus, as the reader, you don’t get all of his intention up front. This style of writing keeps things interesting. I’ll also take a moment to acknowledge that I am an Aries moon and rising sign. I identify with Darrow - with his quick temper and aggression. I’ve tempered these traits of mine over the years and learned nuance but I would most certainly be in House Mars if I were in this book. So, there’s that. Shout out to Shannon who recommended these books to me in 2017. I finally got around to them. This book is not without major losses from start to finish but the end was very satisfying. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. I have more thoughts that veer away from review and more toward speculation and philosophy. I love when a book sends my mind on tangents that get incorporated into my worldview. RIYL the two series listed above and ASOIF but without the pomposity and 1000 POVs. SIDENOTE: I almost always read things people recommend to me. Put them in the comments if you want to be my reading bestie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625669793071-1Q4BP0NK8WZBIUTRT7IA/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+10.56.15+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - The Doors of Eden By: Adrian Tchaikovsky This book started as a mystery/disappearance novel. The scope then started to expand and bloom. The past ramped up significantly from the beginning to the middle. And before I knew it I was careening toward the end. There were no dull moments for me. I was happy to gain some insight into the author’s worldview. He incorporates vibrant and convincing LGBTQ main characters and takes some time to skewer bigotry in a way that is clearly pointed at real-world archetypes. If you enjoy Tchaikovsky’s other works of biological sci-fi or like the lore of cryptid-hunting and want a mind-bending twist, you will enjoy this book for sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625670934928-CQ8DJSGP3ZRE21PQIJDL/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+11.15.21+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - The Other Animals By: Rachel Hamburg The purpose behind this book is very cool. Again, this heads into the territory of mental health and neurodivergence. If you don’t like short-stories you might want to skip this one. That is not my preferred genre but this looked like one of the better offerings in the Audible “included” catalog so I decided to give it a go. Some of the stories were better than others but they were all enjoyable to me. I will admit that the slightly morbid thread and animal themes tying all the stories together reminded me heavily of one of my friends (also a writer), Seth Meeks. Seth is one of the few people who revels in diction and will discuss word-choice with me ad nauseam. Something that reminds me of Seth is going to get high marks by default. With Seth as my guiding beacon for this book the two stories that I liked the most are: Death and Company about a trio of vultures and Rectangles the story of a crow attempting to decipher the human ritual of burying rectangles in the ground. If you enjoy breaking from run-of-the-mill perspectives you will likely find this book worth your time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1625670339462-PM4O5F99OIQ22C5NFLAI/Screen+Shot+2021-07-07+at+11.05.17+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - June Book Drop - The World’s Strongest Librarian By: Josh Hanagarne I liked this dude immediately. He is your ever-sensible, metal-loving, always-sardonic, frequently-irreverent dude-friend from high school or college. If you didn’t have one of those, I suggest you find the nearest middle-aged dude in a Black Flag shirt and interview them for the position immediately. Your life will be improved with laughs and refreshingly non-toxic masculinity. I think we sometimes shy away from listening to neurodivergent or disabled people because of how painful it is to imagine ourselves on the receiving end of the social bullshit they often have to wade through. Furthermore, empathizing with the physicality of such things is not the easiest thing for able-bodied people in our culture. It takes a will to self-teach in order to gain the perspective and compassion to not suck at empathy in general and specifically for the aforementioned communities. Books like this are important because they allow readers from all communities insights that, one hopes, will engender the kind of empathy discussed above. Its easy to follow Josh from a child to an adult. Its easy to envision him as your friend or brother. It is therefor less difficult to imagine the terror of feeling no control of your body. It is easy to envision yourself, as a parent, worried for the well-being your child who may have inherited one of your less-desirable traits. This is a great, approachable and relatable read. File it under memoirs and definitely check it out at some point. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/stabilityspectrumpt2 monthly 0.5 2021-06-11 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/maybookdrop monthly 0.5 2021-06-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623178332604-N9M3RS6NE17X1A0Q736T/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.52.03+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - Gulliver’s Travels By: Jonathan Swift More of the same as The Princess and The Goblin, really. Also, it’s not written for children. I totally read it as a kid - probably at eight or so years old, Re-reading along with a child, it’s clear that the voice is as an adult to an adult even though the subject matter is fun and imaginative. Le sigh. Good ol’ Vor hung in there nonetheless. Poor thing. Those two older stories really stretched his listening skills. Neither kept his attention very well. Read them if you like, probably skip them for the beginning readers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623176391532-WFF2W2RNGI0VSLAMHMRM/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.18.15+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - What If? By: Randall Munroe This was interesting but due to the nature of the content and its original format, it felt more like podcast material to me than book material. I appreciate the spirit of this book, however, and did find a lot of the information interesting, if not particularly useful. There were sections, based on my level of interest in the subject, that were less interesting than others. Overall it was entertaining. I read a great many books that are heavy-hitters and for that particular reason, I chose this entertaining read to break up the tone and pace of my reading list. I would not re-read this book but I am not mad that I invested my time to give a once-through. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623176807793-VO79949T6T4WT8Z4CCOB/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.26.24+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - Dance Dance Dance By: Haruki Murakami WARNING: some spoilers if you have read or watched Burning. My love affair with Murakami’s works remains unbroken. Dance Dance Dance was weird. It was uncanny. It was just the right amount of eery. It reminded me A LOT of a long-format Burning. The characters were rich. The pacing was steady, methodical, detailed. I find Murakami’s writing extremely inspiring. It shows you don’t have to have a story with fantastical leap after leap to create something unique, interesting and beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623176972459-AX6RMEBV17BEV80DUTR6/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.29.15+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - Cthulu Casebooks #1 By: James Lovegrove This was a really cool twist on Sherlock Holmes. But first, let’s deal with some unsavoriness. From wiki: “Reviewers have praised Lovegrove's use of Doyle's characters within a Lovecraftian conceit.” Due discussion is given, in the book’s intro, to the racist worldview of H.P. Lovecraft. I didn’t realize that was the literary style in which this book would be written. What I mean by that is, the author draws heavily from the occult themes popularized by Lovecraft in a re-telling of an otherwise classic Holmesian story. This is what I would consider to be an attempt to NOT throw out the baby with the bathwater, to NOT partake of cancel culture if you will. I just think you should know that ahead of time if you decide to read this book. I thought it was super fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the mysticism interwoven into the narrative style of Sherlock Holmes. Also some useful reviews on GoodReads. Hit the summary button below for more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623178930525-EHC86Z1RLY9WMDTENBKQ/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+3.01.49+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - The Claw By: Patrick Carman And-a-strike. I managed to pick three books in a row for Vor that just weren’t it. This books was fun for me but a little too scary/suspenseful for him. At the point of choosing this book, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel of children’s books included in my Audible subscription. Thankfully, they have updated offerings for June. Anyhow, RIYL RL Stine’s Goosebumps. This is a serialized offering. It read like a collection of short Goosebumps stories. Fast and fun with a spoooooky narrator and sidekick. It could also be compared to Tales from the Crypt! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623178482705-VONXC613860VZ3LUJSR2/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.53.56+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - The Vor Game By: Lois McMaster Bujold Fun! From what I can tell there’s a whole series. Choosing not to get mired down in it currently but I look forward to doing so in the future. Yes, you read the name correctly and yes they are a woman! A woman Sci-Fi author. But Carlina what about Le Guin or Jemisen etc? Great authors, misgenred imo. Those works are Fantasy with a sprinkling of or thread or two of science. McMaster-Bujold’s entire universe hinges on knowing enough about space that you can create an entire universe that abides by its rules. Now, before I get ahead of myself, she demonstrates that she knows enough but this is still not hard sci-if. It’s more like an underdog story inside of an empire-building story with a solid coat of sci-fi paint. Also, if you’re looking for a feminine touch, look elsewhere. My closest comparison here would be John Scalzi. If you like his Collapsing Empire books these will be right up your alley. Returning now to the things I liked: great characters and character development, so many twists and turns, a believable Universe, quick-witted and sometimes acerbic dialog. Thoroughly enjoyable as should anything be that bears my son’s name. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623177658552-0OYH8U6CAZUC7THZE7B5/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.36.36+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - My Grandmother’s Hands By: Resmaa Menakem A great book overall. In short, its about race and trauma with equal emphasis placed on both. I have specific categories of people I think this would be best suited for if I had to prioritize. IMO this book should be a priority for white people who are stepping into social justice and who find themselves uncomfortable with other writer’s tone toward white people (perceived or real). This is the first book I’ve read that does a good job at kindly walking white people through their own historical trauma. Resmaa lays out how simply being white perpetuates systemic racism but he does so in a way that feels devoid of judgement. It also coaches the reader (white) on how to recognize and de-escalate the sometimes knee-jerk push-back to being confronted about white-body privilege. For example, I requested a family member read The New Jim Crow. They made it through and gained a lot from the read but felt very attacked throughout. Had they read this book first, I think they would have been much better equipped for The New Jim Crow. IMO this book is a less academic (on purpose) handling of the same info metered out by The Body Keeps The Score. There are fewer (at least for white readers) anecdotes that are the same level of triggering as TBKTS. There is also immediate incorporation of the body-work into the writing so you have tools to use while reading. I will say, there is one moment where the author used a hypothetical to elicit a response from the reader and he totally freaking got me. As a reader, you are warned, goaded, cajoled, coached and implored time and again to stop and do the practices laid out by Resmaa. And about 3/4 of the way through he put a scenario out there so infuriating and personally significant to me, that I had a very strong visceral reaction. Immediately after he writes - now stop and do the practices we have been talking about. And I did. Almost immediately after settling myself down, I realized how brilliantly he got me to do the work. I was deeply impressed. This book covers a lot of the same ground as TBKTS but in a totally different way. There are whole chunks of this book intended to deal with trauma for Black and POC people as well as whole portions devoted to “The Police” as a body and the trauma they endure. I found both of those sections unique and insight-giving. While there are some people who I think would gain more from bumping this up the reading list before other reads, this book is a must for pretty much everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623178179410-QWE4PRD9CSRIXRH1OUT5/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.49.24+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - The Princess and the Goblin By: George MacDonald High falootin language. This was not a modern re-telling so the English was a bit difficult for Vor to follow. It wasn’t impossible nor did he completely miss the narrative arc, it just required more stopping and making sure that he was paying attention, asking questions and explaining than what we are used to. I remember reading this as a kid but I’m not sure at what age. It is definitely good - whimsical, sweet, suspenseful - it did the work. I would recommend finding a modernized version for young readers. For the slightly older crowd, I suggest undertaking a hard-copy read so as to facilitate the absorption of narrative, vocabulary and formal linguistic stylings. Also, I knew this was an old book but damn, it was written in 1872. Does put some perspective on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623177118308-GMK64M9QSD0LRXW3585P/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.31.43+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - The Fairies of Sunflower Grove By: PJ Ryan Ugh. I hate everything that PJ Ryan writes. They are, however, the perfect level for my 5 year old. He is such a champ and listens to and reads things far beyond his five years so I have to throw him a bone every once in a while. I cannot stand Gwedolyn Druyor’s narration. She choose the most infantile sounding voices and she is wildly inconsistent in her assumed accents. Its trite and annoying but for a kid its fun, I suppose. In fact it has almost a 5 star rating everywhere. Of Ryan’s catalog, we have listened to this, Rebecca Girl Detective, RJ Boy Detective and the one where everyone teams up. Anyway, they’re all pretty bad as an adult though they are great for emerging readers. RJ is the best. Rebecca was insufferable. The Faires are totally saccharine. You were forewarned. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623177321649-H50DSUEJBPHQ0HXV74KE/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.35.01+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down By: Haemin Sunim While the content of this book was valuable, I didn't particularly enjoy the format. Does this mean I’m a picky bitch about books? Yes. I definitely have my opinions. This is a book that was created by transferring tweets to page. Some of the longer tweets that spiraled into narrative were good for listening. The shorter ones were a little disjointed feeling. I do think that a written version of this work would be good for those who like a mindful jump-off point for journaling. I chose this book as a “book to listen to while dozing off.” For that purpose, it really was perfect. Since there wasn’t a narrative, it was easy to double back and re-listen to parts I fell asleep to. It took a little longer to make it through than a fully wakeful listening but as far as subject matter and narration go, it filled its role in my library well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623177922204-OFTBPHWQ7YBSMSHUVNLP/Screen+Shot+2021-06-08+at+2.44.24+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - May Book Drop - My Dyslexia By: Philip Schultz Insightful, poignant, beautifully written once it gets going. This is not my first read about Dyslexia. It probably won’t be my last. What I’ve read in the last was at the intersection of clinical and anecdotal. This book is narrative, poetic and personal. I have quite a few neurodivergent people in my life. You probably do too, it’s not uncommon just not talked about enough. Books like this feel important to me for the sake of learning to be compassionate. If you want to be able to rise above being an asshole to people accidentally, you have to self-teach. We do not live in a society where “non-normative” experiences are culturally mainstreamed let alone championed. Additionally, My Dyslexia functions as a historical primer on Dyslexia and its clinical arc over the last 70 or so years. The author, Phillip Schultz, came up in the 50s and 60s. Some of what he experienced hasn’t changed much, some things are very different. Again, not information you’re likely to know about unless it touches you directly or unless you go out of your way to seek it out. A good, short read. Noteworthy: This book is only rated a 3.75 on GoodReads. I would rate it higher, a hair over 4. It seems like most of the negative reviews are from people wanting instructions to follow for how Schultz overcame his dyslexia. That seems unfair to me. Everyone’s path is different and this book never claims to be self-help. Its self reflexive and poetic. Insights are there for those who can pick up on nuance. I don’t think this is a book to read if you have an agenda. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/stabilityspectrumpt1 monthly 0.5 2022-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1621885288413-5NOWEHG9LE52NVKISQVP/Strong-3.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Stability Spectrum Pt.1 Classical injuries/ailments experienced by “strong” or “tight” people, classical injuries/ailments experienced by “flexible” or “hypermobile” people and areas of overlap. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1622133425807-BSJCKC14KYLJLMF3GJB9/Strong-4.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Stability Spectrum Pt.1 0, .5 and -.5 on the Bell Curve with our variables applied. Notice how the Bell Curve is a spectrum with a big bump in the middle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1621533032534-6AKWZZLBN26CJ5K3ZZB2/Strong-2.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Stability Spectrum Pt.1 On the left sample “strong” bodies from a basic Instagram search #strong and on the right an Instagram search for #flexible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1621531937538-Y6WT73Y6V5VGSUNT379S/Strong.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Stability Spectrum Pt.1 Static and Motion based characteristics of “strong” and “flexible” people with some examples of overlap. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1622154283035-3TI1QJIFPZEL5V97OQIS/Strong-2.jpg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Stability Spectrum Pt.1 The further you move away from center on the Bell Curve the further you get from the statistical average. Here is 1+, using our model of mobility. At this point, the manifestations begin to look extreme compared to the middle of the pack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1621964018830-NLWMOP7Q21H4AQ1KLE3J/454-4548871_svg-bell-curve-vector-hd-png-download.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Stability Spectrum Pt.1 - The Bell Curve The term "bell curve" is used to describe a graphical depiction of a normal probability distribution, whose underlying standard deviations from the mean create the curved bell shape. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/aprilbooks monthly 0.5 2021-05-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620323781101-3IWQ90G93KS0ZMSEEQU6/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+1.56.09+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - Midsummer’s Mayhem By: Rajani LaRocca The woman POC author I was looking for when I was duped by SA Chakraborty. JK, kinda. This was GREAT! I chose this book as a Mama-Vor book and it didn’t disappoint. The constant calls to A Midsummer Night’s Dream are of course lost on a 5-year-old but as I was hoping, the story was alive and substantive without any Shakespearian background. There’s magic, fae and BAKING! The author clearly knows her stuff. I think I can safely say, if you enjoy The Great British Baking Show you will enjoy this book. There are even recipes at the end! I enjoyed every bit of this scrumptious story (read it to get the inside joke). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620325166391-L9Y24QTOEMJ69QMZSAV0/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+2.19.17+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - The Kingdom of Copper By: SA Chakraborty Wow. The last quarter of the book is teeeeeeense. And there is no resolution. It ends in the middle of a huge cliff. Thankfully, I was able to go right on to the next one. As middle books in a trilogy goes, this was well done. Enough happened to feel like the action warranted dividing into three parts - this is being written from the perspective of having also finished the third book just a few weeks later. I’ll expand my review of the series in that break-down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620324728931-FZYJC1BKFOTE4XCFE58Z/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+2.10.30+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - Peter Pan By: JM Barrie This was an Audible Original adaptation. It was very engaging for Vor but a far cry from staying true to canon. I feel like the title is misleading and should have been billed as being “based-on.” You know the story of Peter Pan. No need to elaborate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620324101266-DZPIQL592AI9T3RFW0FP/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+2.01.25+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - Coyote America By: Dan Flores An unexpectedly interesting book. There was a depth and nuance to the information offered so that I never felt bored despite the deep dive into a specific subject matter. Narrative works well as a literary device to help the reader/listener stay invested in the overall arc of the book. Another free offering for Audible subscribers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620323650153-FWY1WPYX7G94MXIJA6ZV/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+1.53.56+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - Who We Are and How We Got Here By: David Reich A book about genetics. I found the first part of this book SOOOO boring. There was a lot of science info unanchored by meaningful real-world discussion or narrative. I think that was its failing. I was not in the right mindset to take it all in. Its one of those books I wish I had a hard copy of and would read slowly making annotations on the side. But in all honesty, I doubt I would have had the patience to make it to the last third. The last third of this book was great. It was everything it promised to be and didn’t deliver on in the first 2/3. The last bit of the book really dives into the current sociological and philosophical war that is going on in the field of genetics. I will let the author speak for himself on this as I found his writing to be profound. “It is now undeniable that there are non-trivial average genetic differences across populations in multiple traits and the “race” vocabulary is too ill defined and too loaded with historical baggage to be helpful. If we continue to use it, we will not be able to escape the current debate which is mired in an argument between two indefensible positions. On the one side, there are beliefs about the nature of the differences that are grounded in bigotry and have little basis in reality. On the other side, there is the idea that any biological differences between populations are so modest that, as a matter of social policy, they can be ignored and papered over. It is time to move on from this paralyzing false dichotomy and to figure out what the genome is actually telling us.” I’m impressed with Reich’s boldness and willingness to put himself in an unwinnable position. He is making friends on neither side of the aisle here and instead seems to really hold his idealistic ground. I find that admirable and impressive. Aside from the style/pacing of the book, my other critique is that author somewhat minces words on the topic of male genetic dominance. when one society takes over another men sexually assault and rape women, a fact that is never stated forthcomingly. I found that he was being realistic but way too kind in the way he was painting the picture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620323504637-322C4GCVH4OCVBV25EM8/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+1.49.44+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - The Empire of Gold By: SA Chakraborty SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Ok, now that is out of the way. This is your last chance. I’m going in and I’m not holding back. You were warned. GAAAAH. They did Dara so dirty!!! There is a little redemption for him at the end but the whole time I was just gritting my teeth at Ali and Nahri’s hypocrisy. Did Ali grow on me? Yes. Did I overall really like Nahri? Yes. But they still both pissed me TF off. Dara is hands down a tragic figure for the ages. By the way, I’m not structuring my thoughts on this trilogy because most of it is just me emoting and there’s no reason behind it. Jamshid and Muntadir! Love. Would have really liked to have more Zaynb in the series. She was amazing. Queen Hatset also amazing. Sobek - such a cool concept. End of the day I want so much more from this world. I want to follow Dara to the ends of the Earth. I want to circle back to Ali and Nahri’s descendants and see how they interface with Dara and the slave rings. I want to know more about the Peri. There’s endless material here. Surprises that made me happy: Nahri’s grandpa. I straight up did not see that coming. It was a great way to end on a positive note where so much else was tinged with sadness. Speaking of - Dara riding off into the sunset to gather slave rings and free the enslaved Djinn. It was the mature thing to do and so I begrudging accept it. Did I want he and Nahri to end up together? 100,000%. But in all honesty, they are both damaged goods and their love, though real, was also a tangle of trauma bonds. And he needed to go heal and she didn’t need to save him. Its a RuPaul moment. If Dara can’t love himself… Final thoughts. Still angry the author is white. It means some POC writer somewhere who also could have written and published this story was displaced. I’m obsessed with this world and excited to see it come to screen on Netflix. There is SOOOO much room to cast this with actors who cover a wide range of skin tones and ethnicities. I’m am hoping desperately that they don’t white-wash everyone. Ugh. pleeeeease let them get it right!! I want more books. I would love to see Chakraborty team up with an actual author of color to flesh out some of the stories that are begging to be told. Overall I fell in love with this trilogy. And was happy to spend the 60+ hours of listening to see it through to the end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620325044143-RAAJSTON8YIP1OLSEHWX/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+2.17.11+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - Tales of Beatrix Potter By: Beatrix Potter I find it a little off-putting to anthropomorphize animals and then to have them eating each other. For that reason these stories never really sit well with me. It feels like low-key cannibalism. For such well-beloved children’s stories I found them really rather grotesque. Just me? Vor seemed to enjoy them. Maybe there just weren’t that many books/children’s books back in the day and that is how this book gained such reknown but I didn’t find them endearing or loveable or really at all valuable in terms of teaching lessons even. Pass. Note: The works in this book are presented in a lot of other books with similar names. This is the exact version I read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620324824787-HH4PHY1IKYOI36UUUY8D/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+2.13.28+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - The Goose Girl By: Shannon Hale I started listening to this with Vor and it was clear there was an impending dark turn. He wasn’t fully into the story anyway, so we paused and I finished on my own. My intuition was correct, there is a dark turn. It was not as insidious as I had feared, however. In the end this has a big character arc for the heroine and feels like a good read for the tween group. There are sequels. I probably will end up reading them eventually. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620323877773-EP4PU2CKMR5A07BMZVNQ/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+1.57.40+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running By: Haruki Murakami How does he do it? How did he write a book about a hobby/sport I have next to no interest/involvement in and make it interesting? He has a way about examining the minutae that gives his writing a perpetually fresh, familiar feeling. I just finished another Murakami book and it was no less detailed about no less mundane things yet it was still engrossing. This book is not quite so standard in the author’s style in that, there is always some central crux-point for his narrative works. And around that point Murakami weaves exquisite insights into mundanity/the human experience. Here its just - running. Running and life. Life and Running. A beautiful meander through the mind of a truly gifted writer and apparent multi-sport athlete. I Stan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620323976334-5MTC5M60E632X6YW7NLY/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+1.59.25+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too By Christopher Emdin Damn. This book delivered. I think one of the biggest pitfalls of the social justice genre is that they are essentially self-help books for white people. It gets pretty repetitive. Especially, if you have read Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, James Baldwin, etc etc to whom newcomers writing in this genre often can’t hold a candle. Their contributions are welcome but often come off as basic for people who have been invested in “doing the work,” for a long time. This however, phew. Is it narrative? Yes. Is it pointed? Yes. Is it also broadly applicable? Yup! Not only is this a critique of and solutions for white teachers entering into POC spaces, it is a brutal commentary on the epic failings of our education system. BUT! The thing is solutions exist. They are also deftly laid out in this book. Highly recommend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1620324918576-BFMZ16XM2ZAEL8R0TAH3/Screen+Shot+2021-05-06+at+2.14.54+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - April book drop - Goodbye, Things By: Fumio Sasaki I really loved it. I’ve been minimal for years yet I still found this book both inspiring and useful. An ironic note, the list of tips for going minimal is NOT a minimal list. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/bonnenouvelle monthly 0.5 2021-04-17 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/touchingin monthly 0.5 2021-04-09 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/march21books monthly 0.5 2021-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616770908306-FEOMM8GLHVSG0Z6XEGW1/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+11.01.20+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Taming The Tiger Within: Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions By: Thich Nhat Hanh A short read, this is a nice intro to shadow work in no such specific terms. Definitely recommend if you are dealing with difficult emotions or the echoes of such. Shadow-work is an important concept to be able to apply to oneself for personal growth. This book is a really approachable explanation and guide to beginning to integrate memories and emotions that maybe don’t feel so great to suppress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616772342509-IYZIQ5QOUDM4LLMO3D6O/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+11.25.17+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon By: Chris Bradford This is the 1st of 2 books Vor and I started reading together that I decided are not a good fit for him. But I have a thing. If I put the book in my library I read it unless it is extremely offensive or terribly written. This book has excellent reviews but I find it to be middling. It did however grow on me as time went along. The reason I immediately didn’t love it for Vor was the subject matter was a little too mature for him. Then I realized the main character is a white person in 18th century Japan and he’s the “hero” of the story. A white savior book is never going to sit well with me. That being said, some of the cultural issues I thought were going to be mismanaged turned around significantly as the book continued. Definitely not appropriate for little kids. It turns out there is a lot of violence and I also don’t like to condition my son toward heteronormative romance at this stage of his life. This book makes overtures in that direction as well. All complaints aside it was an adventurous story and not terrible at least as I sit as a white person who thinks they like Japanese history but is also white and has a limited perspective on such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616782180663-LL5DFZU0FSJPD7LE706J/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+2.09.12+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - The City of Brass By: S.A. Chakraborty BUYER BEWARE!! I thought this book was written by a woman POC. It is not. In that regard I feel like I got fleeced. I’m a little salty tbh. I have forgiven it as much as possible because damn if this isn’t a fucking interesting and fun world with great characters and so many layers of intrigue. I listened to a podcast with the author. It seems as though the Arabic world-building is done from a place of reverence and respect - she’s Muslim by conversion as well as being married into the culture she’s writing about. That this is not a POC author is challenging for me. UGH! Judging from the reviews people of all backgrounds seem to love this series (its a trilogy). Despite my moral dilemma the story is really damn good so now I’m hooked. It’s also being Netflix’ed as we speak. The negative reviews largely center around the “slow” pace of the book. That was laughable to me, a person who regularly reads sci-fi with an entire encyclopedia of specialized terms and with series that have 10+ books. I don’t even know what these people are reading to consider this book slow. Some reviews do call Chakraborty out for cultural appropriation. I don’t even know. This is a topic I’m regularly examining - appropriation vs appreciation/reverence because as a white yoga teacher its baked into my very existence. I do know the story is great, the author is Muslim and a Middle Eastern scholar. I’m going to assume she gets most of it right with some significant oversights that being white are unavoidable. RIYL vast empire-building, castle intrigue, mythical creatures and stories that don’t blow their load in the first 100 pages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616771922476-WSPLCZYNF13HN2CN9WQZ/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+11.18.26+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Roots: The Saga of An American Family By: Alex Haley Stellar. Probably many of you have seen at least one of the TV adaptations but as a work of art, the story is so powerfully told via the written word that this is 100% worth the time and emotional energy it takes to read. In the parts of the story that are easy-going, the characters are so real its easy to become invested. That of course makes the tragedies so much harder to bear. I think this book will hit even harder for readers with an understanding of trauma and epigenetics. For a primer on both, scroll down a bit and consider reading The Body Keeps The Score in tandem with Roots. For the internet version here is the Wiki on Trauma and the Wiki on Epigenetics. No human with empathy could possibly be unmoved by this book. It is truly remarkable. Can’t recommend enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616772024646-8YL4L1PF52RRRY43SONZ/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+11.20.05+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Stargazer By: Dan Wells This is the 3rd installment in this trilogy. Of the three it was my least favorite but also that’s like ranking cookies, ice cream, pizza, etc. You can only go so wrong here. All three books are quite fun and well done. This is a series intended for kids and as an adult I was delighted by the application of science to the world-building. If you love sci-fi and want to pass that on to the younger generation this trilogy does the work for you. If you are a person who loves sci-fi and occasionally needs to cleanse your palate of empire, killer AI, intergalactic battles etc, this would be a fun and fresh break. Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed all three books and would rank them 1, 2, 3 in their chronological order. I could totally stand an expansion of the series beyond 3 books. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615820122878-7821T0QX798QAKN4RCC2/Screen+Shot+2021-03-15+at+10.54.48+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - The Body Keeps The Score By: Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. Wow. And when I say wow I mean…the term masterpiece is used on the cover and I can 100% endorse this book as such, personally. That being said, Neuropsychology was/is my area of interest almost over-archinginly so. It’s what I studied in college. I considered pursuing it for Ph.D. work. Hell, I still consider going back to pursue it. But this book is so much more than an overview of brain structure and function. The anecdotes are heart-wrenching and as a trauma survivor, myself, this was a very difficult read. A book of this size would normally take me a couple of days to get through. This book took me 2.5 weeks with lots of breaks for walks and being in my feels as well as unexpectedly being triggered into panic attacks. The thing is, as much as I know about the various methodologies that are covered in the second half and even with 13 years of actively working to reset my brain from childhood trauma, it still was impactful. Everyone has been touched by trauma because its either you who experienced it or its impacted someone you know. This book is important for everyone to read. Period. Underscore. If you have also experienced trauma, personally I recommend you plan a lot of self-care while reading. But please do not shy away. We are on the edge of huge break-throughs in how we work with the brain + mind-body connection. You can be on the front lines of that with the right knowledge, much of which is covered in this book. For further reading and inspo (and less painful anecdotes) I also recommend The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615819963364-SAUBDTWZLHD3VKPL4Z2I/Screen+Shot+2021-03-15+at+10.52.17+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Twain’s Feast By: Andrew Beahrs & Nick Offerman In its written format, this is a solo work by Andrew Beahrs. The audio version is narrated (in part) by Nick Offerman. In his own right, Nick Offerman is an entertaining author. I very much enjoyed Paddle Your Own Canoe and Gumption. Furthermore, he is really easy to listen to as a wind-down before bed. Not every narrator is. I also am familiar enough with N.O. to know him as highly progressive and thus to be mightily curious about him attaching his name to a book about Twain, who I’ve always viewed as racially problematic. My take-away and what I will share is this: I wouldn’t run out and get it nor would I read the actual book vs. listening. I wouldn’t however recommend against it. Controversial topics are not glossed over. They are also not covered exhaustibly as this book is about something specific. I think if you have a special interest in Twain, early American literature or Offerman you will find it enjoyable. To me and probably everyone else - palatable. Given the book’s subject matter that seems fair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615820352803-CAAG4MSJD4GJKCFM986O/Screen+Shot+2021-03-15+at+10.57.20+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Astrophysics For Young People In A Hurry By: Neil deGrasse Tyson This was a cute book and BONUS, if you listen to it on Audible its narrated by Lavar Burton!!! I Stan. Anyway, I read this with Vor who is 5. He liked it. We will listen again when he is older. Comparing this to Tyson’s book on the same subject for adults I am still wanting something in the middle between the two! But for kids this is great and for a really fun refresher on the basics this is also great for adults reading along with their kids. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616771022169-V5XSIC15UD9278ZJFR3Q/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+11.03.27+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn A Foreign Language By: Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz This book was a fun trip down memory lane for me. It is a great pick-me-up for adult learners in general. Furthermore, it is a 101 on the Psychology of Learning and teaches some of the best tools I remember studying in undergrad in a concise and clear way. You will come away with methods to apply to all you endeavor to learn, not just language. I felt like the authors did omit one worthwhile tidbit I use to this day if I have to cram facts into my brain for recall - primacy and recency. So here again, I present to you a Wiki on Primacy and Recency Effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1616772136267-YRXKJWUN1BTDHF4ZVNQR/Screen+Shot+2021-03-26+at+11.21.59+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - The Double Drastic Time Capsule Caper By: Van Temple This is one for the kids. It was structured enough to be enjoyable as an adult but we aren’t moving mountains or changing the game with the story. It is good-natured and appropriate enough for very young kids. The protagonists are quirky and fun for the little ones. I think it would be a little boring past the age of 8-10 depending on how advanced your kid’s reading skills are. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615820439397-1ZCT2NNJ9ZUPSXLFEMCA/Screen+Shot+2021-03-15+at+11.00.14+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - March Books - Super Mario - How Nintendo Conquered America By: Jeff Ryan Fun AF!! I can’t praise this enough for a fun read. It was welcome amidst the heavier hitting reads this month. You get a deep-dive into Nintendo. I had NO idea what a powerhouse they are. The nostalgia factor is through the roof and inspired me to download MarioKart on my phone just to dip my toe back into that world. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed Nintendo games growing up. I feel like this book is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face if you had any affinity for Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Pokémon, etc. The writing is punchy and fast-paced. This is another one of those books where the real-life people seem larger-than-life. Enjoy!! https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/backinthebooth monthly 0.5 2021-03-22 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/lovezone monthly 0.5 2021-03-15 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/3/5/feb-books monthly 0.5 2021-03-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614968721816-F57AI8OE5AKJD9DN3WUI/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+1.25.10+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Ender’s Game By: Orson Scott Card I know a lot of people love this book/series. I thought some of the tension points and the plot twist were engaging but I tire very quickly of books written with a seemingly unaware male perspective. The overall chauvinism and gendering of every character is off-putting. Seems like the author is known for holding views I just don’t fuck with so this will be the last book of his I read. Didn’t hate it. There are others that are better that are similarly militaristic including one I read recently called “The Last Sword Maker” by Brian Nelson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614970958508-JF35OLFAPG44WRIUFBS7/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+1.53.53+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Into The Magic Shop By: James R. Doty MD It was so easy to lose sight of the fact that this book is autobiographical. It reads like pure narrative in most places. The whole time I found myself dreaming about writing this into a screenplay and filming it. For those who would like a narrative vehicle for exploring mindfulness and/or neuroplasticity this is a great book. This book was suggested to my by my therapist. At the time it was for-purchase on Audible. It has since been added to the free library available to Audible subscribers (as are most books on this list). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615300845290-KY7R4SR4QV7M2T0O15RQ/Screen+Shot+2021-03-09+at+9.40.08+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - The Queen’s Gambit By: Walter Tevis An enjoyable read all the way around. This was a refreshing take on the 50’s period novel. The show follows the novel pretty closely so if you enjoyed the show and want a deeper dive I think the book is worth the time. Again, free on Audible for subscribers. This title is ubiquitous at this point so I don’t feel much more is needed by way of describing it. I will share that the criticism that Jolene comes of as “the magical negro” is valid imo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615302759330-PRQHPAFZ6V7RAFV6X7AD/Screen+Shot+2021-03-09+at+10.01.37+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Mugabe, My Dad & Me By: Tonderai Munyevu Not quite a book but an interesting listen. This is one of those, as a white person and a person interested in recent history, I read to expand my understanding of things a bit. Furthermore, as a US citizen, I was curious about the experience of Blackness both in the UK and in Africa. Thought-provoking, humorous, serious…as far as helping me have perspective - a great success. I would wager just about everyone I know would gain some perspective from listening to this honestly. Highly recommend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614970322521-NKUOE24WRKJYU15L2Y6B/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+1.51.43+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Evil Eye By: Madhuri Shekar The formatting is brilliant. The twists are thrilling and very fun. The narration for audible listeners is superb. Highly recommend. I found this book because I love Bahni Turpin as a narrator. This was on her short list of books she recently enjoyed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614971424930-PSJYFOKY7H6D5AFKX2NP/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+2.10.07+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Black Rednecks & White Liberals By: Thomas Sowell There were some interesting tidbits in here. Some of what is presented aligns with prevailing social justice theory/historical understanding of U.S. culture pre-Civil War. But a lot of this sounds like someone who hasn’t worked through their cultural self-loathing and I didn’t really like this book TBH. To me it felt like Sowell was patterning himself after the likes of Booker T. Washington who was known for a more conservative approach to Black liberation. However, Washington was also known to say more conservative things publicly and privately to hold much more liberal views. At the end of the day I think this book says the most about Sowell’s own relationship to race while providing some less commonly examined historical fact to ponder. As a treatise on Blackness in America I think there is some weird judginess coming through that I’m not at all here for. ALL THAT to be said, its important to me to step outside of my comfort zone and Sowell definitely pushed my boundaries in that way without totally violating them so I stand by this as a book that was worth my time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614969473485-Y97LKX83Z1YNP19I6H0U/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+1.08.04+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - An Unkindness of Ghosts By: Rivers Solomon This was an intriguing read. There is a deeply felt disquiet throughout as well as a genuine sense of mystery as the tension builds. All of the main characters are neurodivergent or queer as well as POC. There is a sci-fi lite/steam punk quality to description of clothing and environment that stems from the scrappiness necessary to survive in space on what is ultimately a generation ship. The story wraps but without a hard stop that leaves an opening for future related works. I would like to see that, personally. The writing style is not unlike N.K. Jemison so for fans of that particular author, I would highly recommend this book and would give it a general recommendation as well, given the overall paucity of works available authored by people who identify as a fairy… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614972570911-L7NRJE3MP2I3ER8VXG7Q/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-05%2Bat%2B2.28.45%2BPM.jpg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - The Secret Garden By: Frances Hodgson Burnett OMG this was so good!! I had only seen the movie previously. It is a beautiful meditation on nature. The characters are funny and convincingly child-like or curmudgeonly as called for. The descriptions of the animals and plants are scenery are so lovely. I could go on and on. It was truly a delight to find how well-written a book this is. This was one I chose for Vorian and we consumed it together. CAVEAT: there is some very colonial shit in this book. I mean, it was literally at the height of British colonialism. So the POC people who are referenced and portrayed are done so in language that does not fly today (not the N word ICYWW). It is, however, innocent *enough* in that nothing was inherently derogatory. The linguistic stylings of the author are such that a (white) child of 5 or under is almost certainly going to miss the references and have no context for understanding the occasionally fucked up vantage point of the protagonist. I won’t pretend to think children of color would miss it. Hopefully so, but not for certain. I want to reiterate that nothing was derogatory and the references comprised less than a fraction of a percent of the entire book but do proceed with caution or at least a willingness to stop and dissect with young readers when appropriate. *enough meaning, the whole kit and caboodle of colonialism is dark and terrible so that can’t be ignored by an aware adult imo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614973197161-DND4Q2SSKP1OFL4Y3MXG/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-05%2Bat%2B2.39.17%2BPM.jpg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Interview With The Robot By: Lee Bacon This was a fun one for Vorian and me. It was a really good way to broach the topic of AI and what’s in our very near future with a child. Vor stayed interested the whole time despite it being entirely conceptual for a four-year-old. The characters were dynamic and the story-arc was well developed for a short read. This contends with themes of sovereignty, AI, technology and family dynamics. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615301225529-C19XYJYSU6R0AWSJV3GU/Screen+Shot+2021-03-09+at+9.46.33+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Destination Void By: Frank Herbert Old Frankie, over here writing about the drugs and the space. This is my least favorite work of FH’s I’ve read outside the Dune series (the others being Godmakers and Heaven Makers). What is cool with Frank’s non-Dune work is you can see him building and solidifying the philosophy that eventually becomes Dune. This particular book was slow. It does squeeze like a vice though and if you wait around for the ending there is a pay off. If you’ve ready the Dune series and are a fan, I would recommend this for the novelty of seeing FH’s process. If you haven’t ready Dune, what are you doing? Go now. Do that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1615301777901-1IUB8UOCFUNDTCS9DT32/Screen+Shot+2021-03-09+at+9.55.51+AM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - The Metamorphosis By: Franz Kafka I enjoyed this. This was much more like Russian literature than I was expecting. It felt tongue-in-cheek and makes me want to draw comparisons to Bulgakov. What I liked the most was the handling of a rather grotesque topic in a matter-of-fact way. The social ramifications are there for dissection if one wants to go there. Being that there are far more qualified people than myself who make a living doing literary deep-dives on just Kafka, I’ll abstain. I definitely recommend this book. Its a short read and imo worthwhile for the purpose of understanding historical perspectives on bureaucracy and social order ala 1984, a book that is known to have been inspired by Kafka’s work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614969263877-F32RTY44RRKAIJKECQIK/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+1.34.12+PM.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Feb Book Round Up - Origins By: Neil deGrasse Tyson & Donald Goldsmith I think I would sum by saying - its denser than its billed to be. Even being familiar with all of the terminology and interested in astrophysics I will need to re-read. Think of it this way…choose anything you’re really into and imagine someone describing it down to the sub-atomic level. It might still be interesting but that kind of deep dive requires space and time for the brain to process the bits and pieces of info its given. Only some information is retained after the first pass. This book is very much that. update: I’m currently reading Astrophysics For Young People… also by deGrasse Tyson with Vor and we are both enjoying it. Thing is, its a little below my level where this was a little above. I’m assuming this means I’m in a weird intermediate zone which makes sense. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/3/4/playlist-drop monthly 0.5 2021-03-04 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2021/3/4/skatevideobiaskate monthly 0.5 2021-03-04 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2020/12/2/what-is-the-intersection-of-yoga-and-film-making monthly 0.5 2021-03-04 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2018/2/27/diary-of-a-depressed-and-anxious-yogi-meditation-on-all-the-things monthly 0.5 2018-02-27 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2018/2/7/the-imaginary-studio-permission-to-belong-to-yourself monthly 0.5 2018-02-15 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/emotionalbender monthly 0.5 2022-08-18 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/observations-and-light monthly 0.5 2018-01-21 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/pooraf monthly 0.5 2018-01-20 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/diary1 monthly 0.5 2018-01-19 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/samskara monthly 0.5 2015-11-04 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/ahimsa monthly 0.5 2015-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1446662900734-1TZHMS2YRHKJJGC6SS5S/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Ahimsa - A {Sacred} Thread Writing Prompt https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/apregnantyogi monthly 0.5 2015-08-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1440262981870-LGIZ5PJQV1PQCN6QUOPY/IMG_4123.JPG Carlina Muglia's Blog - Once and Again, a Pregnant Yogi... I mean, kinda. Only because that's normally super flat...9wks+3days https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1440258604568-PMZNW7LFLM9N81PJ1MLC/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Once and Again, a Pregnant Yogi... August 20, 2015: 9wks1day - Baby has a heartbeat and the urge to dance apparently. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1440260151283-YXOPME7U6G8K42OT5LZG/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Once and Again, a Pregnant Yogi... May 19th: 4-5 weeks pregnant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1440262954947-YHT9T8N48PNRTOKPHSOP/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Once and Again, a Pregnant Yogi... This is my skeptical face https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1440261698333-U6Z4EM16PNV9WB9FXVLP/image-asset.png Carlina Muglia's Blog - Once and Again, a Pregnant Yogi...       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1440262312699-8ZZHKSPEJP513ZHG8BJF/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Once and Again, a Pregnant Yogi... https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/transformationtuesday monthly 0.5 2015-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438114323095-JALTUFJ2LPP31NVQ6NXZ/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday So intensely obsessed with my body that I had slipped into full-on bulimia even though I was Crossfitting 5-6 days per week and otherwise very active. Alcohol did not help, dieting made things worse. I lived alone and hid my behaviors, knowing they needed to change. From here things got worse though. My weight fluctuated up and down by roughly 10 or so pounds depending on how well I could get a handle on gorging myself and puking. I loved Athens but was hoping that a move to Tx would help me. Things in fact got worse until I started yoga in 2012. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438113689136-90HP5WKABB0GZGLB6JEL/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Still hoping at this point that boys would like me and that my family-life would be ok...soon to have that bubble burst. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438114664161-2QMYFJQY2KNGPI2R1NAE/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Poorer than I've ever been in material possessions but very full of confidence in my drive to do things out of love. Full of love for my body. Full of gratitude for how far I've come. Still clean from bulimia. Still growing every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438113547934-ABCZTN7SHDKB6P8EKHVW/IMG_2423.JPG Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Really REALLY uncomfortable in my body. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438113784471-6K86N2KOLUT6W761W50R/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Very angsty. Trying to own my body in a way that felt empowering but still overall uncomfortable and not fully understanding why or what to do to get to the other side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438113928679-SM53ZCY98DGTQSIYGV7G/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Still without a boyfriend (ever), still uncomfortable, coping with drinking, puking a lot due to alcohol. The beginning of bulimia? More than likely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438114142409-RTMYO2ZV460KKVKGL78C/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Halloween costume (Christie Monteiro from Tekken) - Crossfitting, zone diet, bulimic, very lonely but not for lack of wonderful friends. This is where I began to be more or less the size I have maintained to this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1438114644568-L34KZFLMQC9B5UNLEYWY/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - 8 pics for #TransformationTuesday Two years clean of bulimia, no more Crossfit, fixing my range of motion issues, body readjusting to adequate amounts of relaxation coupled with strength training through vigorous vinyasa. Very happy. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2015/4/1/my-5-favorite-pictures-from-jry-and-hot-yoga-downtown monthly 0.5 2015-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427922093920-XHF514ZK6NZYIQ4QOW1U/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - My 5 Favorite Pictures from JRY and Hot Yoga Downtown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427923054816-D1I8XEHYERWPX688FBQT/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - My 5 Favorite Pictures from JRY and Hot Yoga Downtown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427923178275-KRPQBKYZU7HMTEVM5WSL/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - My 5 Favorite Pictures from JRY and Hot Yoga Downtown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427923249921-NIJ0H97JCGI2ZP6YYF0Y/_O3A4347.jpg Carlina Muglia's Blog - My 5 Favorite Pictures from JRY and Hot Yoga Downtown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427923019421-10AQ7OPE9RJFVKPFS0YU/_O3A3651.jpg Carlina Muglia's Blog - My 5 Favorite Pictures from JRY and Hot Yoga Downtown https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2014/9/21/remaining-vulnerable-through-adversity monthly 0.5 2014-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1412078885623-9O9YHPRIAX0S0RWNMKX9/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Remaining Vulnerable Through Adversity Circa 2007 - I still wore make-up and clearly had a 'tude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1412078948670-EN25ETIPQE9I23G3YFG0/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Remaining Vulnerable Through Adversity One of my earliest attempts at self-expression. I had just purchased my first macbook and spent a long time editing this picture to reflect the sense of other-worldliness I was experiencing as I began my journey inward. Somewhere around 2009. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1412079032653-BU45K4YBCD1EOHT1HKIB/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Remaining Vulnerable Through Adversity My sisters and me - adults and happy. Those are real smiles. Photocred: Foster&Asher // August 2014 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2014/9/9/140908-yogi-time-lapse-this-is-how-you-lotus monthly 0.5 2014-09-24 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2014/8/29/ann-spencer-garden-yin-yoga-in-a-beautiful-space monthly 0.5 2014-08-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1409344991810-OKJJ3HO0QUB2W5GDDVOQ/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Ann Spencer Garden - Yin Yoga in a beautiful space https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1409344796260-4GZ2XEMWHZKQZ9HLOPYT/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Ann Spencer Garden - Yin Yoga in a beautiful space https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2014/7/16/the-part-time-job-times-lessons-learned monthly 0.5 2014-07-28 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2014/6/30/losing-the-yoga-studio monthly 0.5 2014-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1404153533710-U77DC29A4SPDWL7KI1XW/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - Losing the Yoga Studio and Moving: The Effects on My Practice and Yours https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/2014/3/28/all-long-term-plans-are-short-term-in-comparison-to-infinity monthly 0.5 2014-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1396233983101-DLK4HWXIUZDVJ93E7F2N/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - "In the view of infinity any defined long-term is short-term" Here I am, in the gym again and ready to start demo down in the yoga-studio-to-be. Zero articles of clothing pictured here remained unscathed by paint, tears and utter desecration through three months of demolition and construction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1396234679303-AU0UBT25UXR2BO1ZC5VW/image-asset.jpeg Carlina Muglia's Blog - "In the view of infinity any defined long-term is short-term" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1396232973900-ZNDVSMIIUNF34FE6BOC8/IMG_0864.JPG Carlina Muglia's Blog - "In the view of infinity any defined long-term is short-term" The morning sun in the gym at Keep Colony is as comforting to me as the embrace of friend or lover https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/vinyasa monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/ayurveda monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/holistic monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/reading monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/radio monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/Sport monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/georgia monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/Exercise monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/music monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/meditation monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/review monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/Yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/virginia monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/lynchburg monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/Books monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/atlanta monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/Fitness monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/yin monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/category/Richmond monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/critical+race+theory monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/power+vinyasa monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/rehab monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/junior+senior monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/instagram monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/relationships monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/music monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/poor monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/review monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/goodreads monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Vinyasa monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/mattiel monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/poverty monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/scifi monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/trauma monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/ehlersdanlos monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/memoir monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/self+help monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/frskate monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/richmond monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/iran monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/book+review monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/philosophy monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/weightlifting monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/books monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/mystery monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/hyperion monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/book+nerd monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/physicaltherapy monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/wilderness monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/mark+twain monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/endymion monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/atlanta monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/yogi monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/love monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/study monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/coyote+america monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/mobility monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/red+rising monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/introspection monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/nintendo monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/bibliophile monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/avid+reader monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/exercise monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/filmmaking monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Atlana+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/sa+chakraborty monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/rock monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/literature monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/minimalism monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/lynchburg+va monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/lynchb monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/high+fantasy monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/identity monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/writing monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/middle+grade+fiction monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/chika monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/pitbull monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/the+witcher monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Books monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/crossfit monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/substances monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/vinyasa monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/change monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/spotify monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/fanstasy monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/ahimsa monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/film-making monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/transformation monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/tencuidado monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/the+peace+practice monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/opinion monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/eating+disorder monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/meditation monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/world+music monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/ylabamba monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/witcher monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/power+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/body+image monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/lynchburg monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/movement monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/novel monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/yoga+music monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/fiction monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/major+lazer monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/dj monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/congruenceyoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Richmond+va monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/hypermobility monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/blog monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/richmond+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/lynchburg+virgina monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/atlanta+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/arlo+finch monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/lynchburgva monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/audible monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/yoga+for+beginners monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/atl monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/rva monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/toolry monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/lynchburg+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/stability monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/piercebrown monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/historical+fiction monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/good+reads monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/image monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/emotions monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/fantasy monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/read monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/athlete monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/workshop monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Congruenceyoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/doja+cat monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Stella+batts monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/roots monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/history monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/cavill monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/mother+and+son monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/filmmaker monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/anxiety monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/core monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/sapkowski monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/inline+skating monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/name monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/gucci monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/virginia monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/skate monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/trust monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/minecraft monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/daevabad monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/sven+wunder monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/book monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/critique monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Lynchburg monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/best+atlanta+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/self+care monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/hair monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/redrising monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/depressions monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/genetics monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/bellcurve monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/playlist monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/psychology monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/science+fiction monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Yogaeverydamnday monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/the+yoga+dojo monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/wellness monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/hip+hop monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/pooh+shiesty monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/bulimia monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/tight+hips monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/bookist monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/transformationtuesday monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/womeninfilm monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/shay+lia monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/yoga+playlist monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/children%27s+books monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/sports monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/race monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/bren%C3%A9+brown monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/vinyasa+yoga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/reading monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/retrospective monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/permission monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/italian monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/keep+colony monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/rollerblade monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/the+body+keeps+the+score monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/theyogadojo monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/atlanta+ga monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/subaru monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/Lynchburgva monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/growth monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/yoga+philosophy monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/depression monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/bia monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/blog/tag/pincha monthly 0.5 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/video-work daily 0.75 2021-04-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1617908764907-TXYRA2ROUSBH6GZD1A9A/image-asset.jpeg video work - 2021 Reel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1617908764907-TXYRA2ROUSBH6GZD1A9A/image-asset.jpeg video work - 2021 Reel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1613586573327-MRMMK58SVNZI04RHBGPI/image-asset.jpeg video work - Carlina Muglia 2020 Reel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1613586660312-B20CA0J3OYUJP18GER9B/image-asset.jpeg video work - I Want It All https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1613586701463-GDTKXXLEWF87KLZO71DH/image-asset.jpeg video work - La Marche https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1613586573310-LSL00DN0EUA27CO3GY89/image-asset.octet-stream video work https://www.carlinamuglia.com/music-horizon daily 0.75 2025-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1409943633950-REAQUWXA6JY0QR9FY0RB/nebula.jpg Music https://www.carlinamuglia.com/new-cover-page-1 daily 0.75 2025-03-08 https://www.carlinamuglia.com/neuralcode daily 0.75 2025-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273870584-W5H650SZ286H81S48DX4/_O3A3524.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273869405-IZUF7A7ZAQB3HCMWBKM3/_O3A3547.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273875280-AJ2064XJ0I1WV3ZYXZLD/_O3A3551.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273876648-I7KCUUD8I4VERT2I4NCU/_O3A3555.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273882497-NXESVMNV5G5U84PQ3669/_O3A3598.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273883257-14L53LXXG8P9Q6PSOPY6/_O3A3605.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273890067-5IX8LWFLV9ZATUQ9QOJ6/_O3A3651.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273889873-58QLUYUR0URZ3W0P6D1Q/_O3A3681.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273895487-V5E5TIJJKRG1RGQ83YA6/_O3A3730.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273896786-CFMCZ0TMU1IX4IIBTTEQ/_O3A3760.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273904668-ZP4NDAEVAQZZCQA5MTTL/_O3A3762.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273905981-4G5ZO00HNAR41VKFMM2U/_O3A3765.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273910970-NM7YXY82I3TZ0PMNOHBE/_O3A3853.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273912710-I3GVO86D2U50EUC7RP6L/_O3A3866.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273917372-UJS54KWN1JPAH2T3D5BR/_O3A3886.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273920036-URPUXWR2W0J23W617NM0/_O3A3897.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273925852-Z3K1O3AHUJESDOYT0YJR/_O3A4231.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273928074-44TFGP5TO3A8N43RHLRH/_O3A4258.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273931205-MF1TR3UNUIS4FPOFP6CS/_O3A4265.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273937381-UZIE5JMTAMCWXIMM4T5I/_O3A4291.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273938857-NMAN78EET7QMDG64C4OM/_O3A4307.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273947979-PP4JE86RBSMR8WNS5EVB/_O3A4310.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273948710-UXZUCZMD9KIP4ZH68SH7/_O3A4347.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273950623-AEGA0HD2BNSPWWJKJAH8/_O3A7935.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273956306-H8TZIVG87XQ5BBN186SE/IMG_0416.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273957044-5HUR65GMUXKVR0236GU0/IMG_0434.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273964207-948JQSUXZ62BMP89T3BI/IMG_0435.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273963824-P51EDS1AQNGWY9A9CEEO/IMG_0438.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273969966-4HQP5A3LY9KZUEG9D723/IMG_0439.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273971393-ZJKCCKK57ZQ2I6GZL9B0/IMG_0463.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273976519-BDM34KADTGW43KHYJ4VG/IMG_0474.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273978179-ZNNNABFCC5MP5474YG73/IMG_0524.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273983744-VFODQRSF7YIFHXNGTYUN/IMG_0533.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511273983836-JV5R7GZNXY5LCIF3LYS8/IMG_0538.jpg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274735673-1XYPJ64VRB2K8PQAQBJM/20170718-DSC03816.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274735928-T2AU48XSR82PISHOK25Q/20170718-DSC03820.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274742044-37WCSJI54VH8P7YYGUE2/20170718-DSC03823.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274742151-EJWLQNL1R3WB5BKXMP5J/20170718-DSC03826.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274744167-HC5VXUS0O7A0WJ1IMD9J/20170718-DSC03828.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274744232-KCI5OJARMHSRGVX13VQ1/20170718-DSC03829.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274745839-Q5R2BTVK1EBD6GOS4ST5/20170718-DSC03833.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274745901-16MEUYHAMFMV842WFIZN/20170718-DSC03836.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274747984-CPP7TGBXBIDJQE1YCXF1/20170718-DSC03838.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274748279-BRP0R92NSJEIH7PQUZ90/20170718-DSC03839.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274751147-INCU10F0NEEUFMWX0EML/20170718-DSC03844.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274751059-9JKL68VJORGWFKUQS961/20170718-DSC03846.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274753649-1UFHQGF1D3LOF1KCQ40O/20170718-DSC03848.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274754069-U4MT8K25KU0V133E0MIR/20170718-DSC03850.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274755525-31FA7IO5TQT31WXZ02IW/20170718-DSC03851.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274755881-PQKGCXJW75E73DQEOXII/20170718-DSC03854.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511274757044-ITMLEFTQID9NILRDFEA0/20170718-DSC03859.jpg.jpeg randompagetoassess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1428875586591-HLNTAD6AP3OB8Q0RWQPE/events.gif randompagetoassess https://www.carlinamuglia.com/secretplaypage daily 0.75 2025-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153072874-NZFKG5XRL3LCUK4SYRTR/classesnav.png SecretPlayPage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153075464-X760BQI9W4A7J6ADLLT4/studiosnav.png SecretPlayPage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153071790-T114OA6BPI8CXMIK0BP2/buyyoga.png SecretPlayPage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153071555-2WPUN6GYIOE2QT1B5EBT/blognav.png SecretPlayPage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153073616-R2DQO6BKOA9PU7G0Q4W1/eventsnav.png SecretPlayPage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153074857-T335KUHCLJNWUVJXC45Z/homepracticenav.png SecretPlayPage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1429153074023-7UTI4ARNLLQIQ7K2FZQP/contact.png SecretPlayPage https://www.carlinamuglia.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1506801366122-2UJIE8FXX303JGTC7YMI/IMG_7551.JPG Bio & Contact https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1506801343180-AEEJ9JBEF6HGEB05YN2D/IMG_7766.JPG Bio & Contact https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1427744356642-TKBFVWL1R25NL2P8VZE5/IMG_0437.jpg Bio & Contact https://www.carlinamuglia.com/practice daily 0.75 2017-11-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1428097775800-QVPG28IKYOXXOBOFPM6N/_O3A8387.jpg Yoga w Carlina https://www.carlinamuglia.com/home daily 1.0 2022-09-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1613576526094-MSG94CEGX87QEPQIP0CS/853777004810-R1-045-21.jpg Home - I Am 1 of 1: In my element - surrounded by creatives during the Atlanta summer. Pic by Matthew Addington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1614616291586-YWTVSJFKOUXJC4OUAIS0/beach%2Bfold Home https://www.carlinamuglia.com/cp-pricing daily 0.75 2017-12-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1512522639937-KYVVBI2MT0UGTHF93LQF/1458504592016.jpeg Production Pricing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1512486430347-2536PS8T7N37KC7YJTFG/IMG_9553.jpg Production Pricing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511460342774-DR5KH40TBXIS5B6UZP92/20170718-DSC03840.jpg.jpeg Production Pricing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1511460368145-6PAZO6EHXLPEIFNGFHKF/20170718-DSC03839.jpg.jpeg Production Pricing https://www.carlinamuglia.com/video daily 0.75 2021-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1606849398416-1I1V55QEBJBF77EHOK92/Orange+NO+FILL.PNG Video https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1606849714331-CV4N9MYRS5LS2YLW4ZH7/earfun-logo-1779%EF%BC%8C449px.png Video https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1623424069268-YZALU4X20MQKW76MTTCA/5fbd487d346ed718dc62faf7_cellSnapp%21_splat.png Video - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1606849889127-Q69I4G3AH8RAO44F6KLH/Aret%C3%A9_Opening.jpg Video https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1606851273632-ZLUP7EQBPE1SAXLFMRR5/palmate_black_200x.png Video https://www.carlinamuglia.com/contactme daily 0.75 2021-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/1634140154968-6CLKHB6MMV0J3I4FMNRS/856640007381-R1-006-1A.jpg Contact - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/qrcodes daily 0.75 2023-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/0f592d0c-0062-43dc-a2af-0fb3a281db94/tempImagetkvnjQ.jpg QRCodes - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/39bef2fd-81b9-4277-8f89-aa62334b68ca/tempImageBs9MAg.jpg QRCodes - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52ed9217e4b0c02e5a396c30/0ee0363c-8ddb-4522-a721-ff4fb4c22f81/tempImagefMJSr9.jpg QRCodes - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.carlinamuglia.com/intro-horizon daily 0.75 2025-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1412370553660-JGJWF6DPBVRXOV6TF8RD/EbruYildiz_325_edit.jpg Home https://www.carlinamuglia.com/band-horizon daily 0.75 2025-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1410274433797-72A136KIEQM1THNPMZVA/EbruYildiz_646_3.jpg Band https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1410274433212-8JTAJ5JLN9YPNQUFTXXH/EbruYildiz_602_3.jpg Band https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1410274434672-QOTVKNM1TXWO5CUOOM1K/EbruYildiz_693_2.jpg Band https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1410274435231-87CAYRRRATKXQ6GSXTKD/EbruYildiz_735_2.jpg Band https://www.carlinamuglia.com/tour-horizon daily 0.75 2025-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53fe025fe4b09b99036bcf87/1410274480694-3J1MSUR7YH7S5WTPGZ9W/EbruYildiz_372.jpg Tour https://www.carlinamuglia.com/news-horizon daily 0.75 2025-04-22