The Sunday Post #376

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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

On The Blog Recently

• The Challenges Of Book Blogging & How To Conquer Them
• The End Of The Year Book Tag
• I'm Not Dead. I Just Feel Like I Am.
• Best Books Of 2024
• Best January - June 2025 Book Releases

In My Reading Life

My first book of 2025 was Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt For The Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson. I liked it very much. It's nonfiction, and it's exactly what the title says. In 1845, Sir John Franklin and 129 men went to the Arctic on two ships to search for the Northwest Passage. The trip went poorly. None of the men made it home. The two ships were missing until 2014. This book is the story of all the people throughout history who attempted to find Franklin's lost ships and discover what happened to the men.

I think the book needs editing because it meanders and feels a bit disorganized, but I was still completely fascinated by the attempts to locate Franklin. His wife never gave up on him. It's sad that she died from old age without leaning what happened to her husband. The families of Franklin's crew also had to live with the mystery. I don't think I could have done that. It would have made me insane.

It's interesting that whole generations of people let their racism get in the way of their goals. Pretty much nobody talked to the Inuit people about the lost ships. For an Inuit person in the early 1800s, seeing two massive ships get crushed by ice would be like seeing a UFO crash. It's news that they spread to their neighbors and passed down to their children. Franklin's ships were found in 2014. They were found exactly where the Inuit said they sank. It seems like this mystery could have been solved a lot faster if we used our words.

It's also interesting that governments (even modern ones!) used the search for Franklin as a publicity stunt. That feels icky. If I'm putting myself in danger to find a missing person, I want to do it for the person's family. I don't want to do it for Stephen Harper's approval rating. That's gross.

The information in this book could have been better organized. Sometimes it was difficult to keep up with all the names and dates. Don't let that stop you from reading the book. I learned a lot.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. I passed the National Registry EMT test! It sucked. I'm happy I passed on the first try. I think the only thing I have left on my to-do list is to get fingerprinted. Then I'll be done with EMT stuff. I passed all my classes and skills tests. I did all my clinical hours on the ambulance. I did all my training at the fire station. I need a nap.
2. I have a break from textbooks! If I get to do more training, it wouldn't start until August. I can read whatever I want between now and August. There are so many possibilities.
3. It was my sister's birthday. We ordered burritos and cake. They were delicious.
4. I posted my Best Books of 2024 list. My reading stats with all the graphs will be posted on Tuesday. I enjoy making those.
5. I looked at social media for the first time in about 6 months. I'm learning how to use Bluesky. TikTok finally figured out that I'm not interested in romance or smutty books, so it's serving me creepy nonfiction now. I approve. I checked on how my Pinterest pins are preforming and saw the trending bookish topics. People on Pinterest are having way too much fun. Also, my pin is relevant to none of those growing trends.

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