Alrighty. I’m at 342 books on the year. If I can read another 23 between now and end of December 31st, that will put me at 365 titles, an unbelievable rate of one per day. I know, I know. About a quarter of those titles were graphic novels – but still. Impressive I think nevertheless. One of my biggest takeaways form this unreal reading year is that critical darlings, recommended reads, and award nominees/winners are often, shockingly, mediocre, sometimes downright unreadable. I look forward to giving you the rundown on what were REALLY the best books of 2018.
Five days from our Japan trip and our customary pre-travel excitement has been replaced by a simmering anxiety. Some of it has to do with the fact that we’ll be leaving our needy gal, Suji, for ten days (Lulu, on the other hand, seems to relish the time away from us), but most of it has to do with our over year long efforts to get Akemi’s permanent resident card renewed. I’ll spare you the details (These I’ll save for a dedicated blog entry on the frustrations of dealing with the shockingly inept, generally disinterested government bureaucrats) but, in short, we need her renewed PR card in order to travel and, by all indications, it may well be lost in the mail. Or maybe not mailed out at all despite their claims to the contrary. Anyway, we have two days to get the card. If it doesn’t arrive, despite a year long battle to get it renewed, it’s going to be a big issue – one that has kept Akemi up nights.
A couple of friends reached out to me with regard to some worthy causes…
Save Our Scruff is a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing dogs and finding them safe and suitable homes through adoption, advocacy, and education. They’re doing a Fundraiser for Animal Rescue & Rehoming.
Meanwhile, blog regular Deni is doing another animal-focused campaign, this one a Fundraiser for the Human Society of the United States.
Both great causes.
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