Review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

A square crop of the front cover of The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah.

Family. That was the word that came to mind as Loulie took in the domestic scene. It gripped her heart like a vise, made it difficult to breathe. She had become accustomed to–preferred–living a solitary life, but it was easier to forget what she had lost in the cities where the families were scattered and hidden. Sitting around this campfire, she could see the interconnectedness of the lives around her–and she could see herself sitting in the heart of the web, adrift.

page 253, The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
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Review: Hades II

Official key art for Hades II showing the main character Melinoe with the twin blades Lim & Oros.

Moonlight guide us home tonight
In shadow
All are one
Take shelter from the world above
In safety and in solitude
The Sisters wait

lyrics of Moonlight Guide Us by Darren Korb featuring Ashley Barrett and Judy Alice Lee from the Hades II Original Soundtrack
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November Remembrances and the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Photo from the Montreal Botanical gardens showing the roots of a large tree with leaves strewn about.
While I was in Montreal this year, I visited the botanical gardens there and I saw a great many kinds of plants. I am fascinated by the various textures plants have and I love how older large trees spread their roots into the ground surrounding them over time. I found this picture appropriate for the state of my life right now and as such appropriate for this blog post.

Content Warning – I briefly talk about the death of one of my parents. No graphic details or anything like that but if that is something you do not wish to read about – skip this post.

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Review: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

A square crop of the front cover of Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. Subheading is - The history and persistence of our deadliest infection.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that tuberculosis became a form of racialized violence. In Canada and the United States, for example, many Indigenous children were removed from their homes and forced to attend residential schools. As early as 1907, experts were sounding the alarm that this project seemed “almost as if the prime conditions for the outbreak of epidemics had been deliberately caused.” The death rate from TB in Canada’s residential schools appears genuinely unprecedented in human history.

page 85, Chapter 9: Not a Person, Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
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