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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #306

On The Blog Recently

• I talked about childhood books that will never leave my book collection.
• I attempted to write one-word book reviews.
• I shared the exciting new releases that are coming out in May.

On The Blog Eventually (I Swear I'm Working On These)

• I share my favorite quotes from the YOU book series.
• I list fun books to read if you want to be happy.

In My Reading Life

I haven't been reading much because I've been busy! I've recently become a frequent passenger on life's struggle bus.

I managed to finish The Familiars by Stacey Halls. It's historical fiction about a couple who is desperate to have a child and turns to a potential witch for help. As you'd expect, things go wrong.

I'm honestly not sure what to think about this book. Is it well-written? Yes. Is it atmospheric? Yes. Was I entertained? Heck, yeah. I think my issue is that I've read too many historical fiction books that are similar to this one. Woman-accused-of-something-ridiculous is a common theme in historical fiction. As soon as I finished this book, it faded from my mind and blended with all the others I've read. That sucks because it's a thought-provoking novel! I would have adored it if I hadn't read so many others.

I love that the story focuses on female friendship. The main character and her midwife slowly learn to trust each other and build a relationship that goes deeper than employer/employee. It shows that teamwork is the only way to defeat oppression. You won't get far in life if you try to beat an unfair system by yourself.

If you're new to historical fiction, then this is an excellent place to start. The plot is entertaining and not too dense or bogged down in boring historical details. If you love historical fiction as much as I do, then you might feel a bit "meh" about this book. It gets lost in the crowd.

In The Rest Of My Life

This section is going to be honest, self-indulgent, and completely lacking in books. Feel free to skip it. I know you're here for the books! You won't find any down below. I'm warning you now.

In this section, I normally list 5 things that made me happy last week. I thought I'd go with something different today because I've spent the last few weeks training to be a park ranger. I've gotten tons of questions from strangers online. It seems like people want to know more than "I saw wild turkeys and petted a dog!" (Both those things happened and were excellent, btw.) So, let's talk about being a park ranger in vague terms that hopefully won't get me fired because there are rules about what I can put online.

I spent my first two weeks doing job shadowing. I rode along with "real" rangers to learn what they do all day. This was terrifying because you realize how alone you are and how much responsibility you have. Parks have a lot of space, a lot of visitors, and a lot of deadly crap that can suddenly hit the fan. Riding with a coworker was also amazing because I didn't have to do anything except learn. It was like being a tourist with an all-access backstage pass. I felt like I won the job lottery or something.

Then came 4 days of ranger school. Ranger school was . . . intense and humiliating. School is a mixture of classroom training and scenarios. In the scenarios, there are actors who are preforming a potentially deadly wilderness situation. I'm tossed blindly into the situation and have to fix it while my instructors silently judge me from the sidelines. The scenarios went terrible. Not terrible enough to get me fired, but still terrible.

One of the reasons I applied to be a ranger is because I thought I had my anxiety disorder under control for the first time in my life. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a lie. I was a sweaty, nauseous dumpster fire for most of ranger school. I had panic attacks all night and whenever they gave us breaks. My problems came roaring back with a vengeance. This was completely devastating because I've spent several years and thousands of dollars doing the therapy/medication/self-improvement thing. Yeah . . . all that came crashing down in 4 days. I really thought I was better! I don't know what to do anymore to fix it.

I think I underestimated how morally difficult this job could be. I knew that park ranger is partially a law enforcement job. I knew I was signing up to be a mini cop. I knew I would be given a set of laws and taught how to enforce them. I also knew that I have concerns about the law enforcement and criminal justice systems in the US. I don't feel comfortable talking about my concerns on the blog because this is the internet! It's not a place for nuance and honest questions! I'm sure you've all seen videos of American cops making dubious decisions. I was hoping that park ranger school would take my concerns away. It didn't. Right now, a giant source of anxiety is making sure I can do this job in a way that aligns with my morals, or making sure I have the courage to quit if I can't.

Jobs are temporary, but you have to live with yourself forever, right?

The finale of ranger school was getting pepper sprayed in the face. That was actually the least painful part of the 4 days. My advice for getting pepper sprayed in the face is . . . don't. It sucks. Most of the spray hit my left eyebrow and hands. It burns everything it touches. As soon as it trickled into my eye, my vision broke. I could see the ground in the bottom corner of my eye, but the rest of my eye was just white light. Then I had to do an obstacle course. Luckily, the obstacles weren't too challenging. I had to radio a description of the person who sprayed me, convince the person to drop his weapon, read a sign, unlock a gate, and step over a log. Then my eye swelled shut and my spit tasted like lighter fluid for two days.

Fun times.

Do you want to talk about my after-work shower? Pepper spray is an oil. It doesn't dissolve in water. It just runs everywhere.

I know that some book reviewers on TikTok enjoy a spicy shower scene, but they probably don't mean that kind of spice!

I just spent 8 paragraphs whining about being a ranger, but there honestly have been great moments. My coworker and I drove our patrol truck in a creek to find a herd of elk in a remote-ish area of the park. We found the elk! It was a cool experience that park visitors would never get to do (legally).

Lately, my mood has been swinging between extreme depression and extreme excitement. I'm really hoping it levels out to "mostly sane." I feel like I'm losing my mind.

If you're visiting a park this summer, be nice to the rangers and don't do stupid stuff. You don't want my incompetent ass coming to save your life. Trust me.

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!