Meta tags:
description=My name is Leah Rachel von Essen (she/her/hers). I am a Chicago-based curvy, chronically ill book blogger, reviewer, and novelist writing about books, illness, travel, and mental health. My...;
keywords=book love,book blog,bookworm,my book reviews,bookish love;

Headings (most frequently used words):

tags, while, reading, and, walking, about, follow, me,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (90), and (76), read (24), that (19), her (17), more (16), reblog (15), jul (15), 2026 (15), notes (15), ago (14), all (12), are (11), this (11), about (10), with (10), for (10), book (9), but (9), have (8), morrison (8), she (7), they (7), was (7), week (7), what (7), books (6), around (6), most (6), into (6), weeks (6), love (6), #reading (6), back (5), home (5), christian (5), its (5), from (5), how (5), them (5), author (5), much (5), steinbeck (5), travel (4), while (4), literary (4), has (4), their (4), behind (4), hobby (4), lobby (4), powerful (4), including (4), always (4), will (4), time (4), want (4), feel (4), there (4), tired (4), very (4), person (4), didion (4), tags (3), writing (3), story (3), walking (3), day (3), nationalism (3), impact (3), also (3), our (3), way (3), use (3), out (3), family (3), when (3), done (3), even (3), beautiful (3), let (3), know (3), you (3), play (3), can (3), only (3), one (3), serpell (3), like (3), not (3), analysis (3), essay (3), those (3), novel (3), just (3), moments (3), writes (3), world (3), pro (2), theme (2), tumblr (2), chicago (2), illness (2), health (2), include (2), translation (2), fantasy (2), short (2), collections (2), nonfiction (2), ask (2), goals (2), last (2), few (2), power (2), influence (2), able (2), real (2), takes (2), moment (2), green (2), forged (2), museum (2), through (2), off (2), artifacts (2), center (2), rise (2), some (2), gets (2), gospel (2), should (2), such (2), hard (2), which (2), two (2), characters (2), random (2), chapters (2), help (2), little (2), emotion (2), keep (2), people (2), now (2), mustn (2), forget (2), alive (2), after (2), bradbury (2), dandelion (2), wine (2), together (2), getting (2), reader (2), please (2), asked (2), anonymous (2), hours (2), spain (2), big (2), see (2), messi (2), been (2), reminded (2), still (2), visit (2), seemingly (2), criticism (2), because (2), comes (2), feeling (2), self (2), deep (2), work (2), fascinating (2), career (2), many (2), don (2), signifying (2), down (2), within (2), inner (2), kernel (2), too (2), times (2), lot (2), get (2), deeply (2), toni (2), often (2), respect (2), stories (2), capturing (2), give (2), pages (2), frogs (2), well (2), your (2), place (2), corner (2), great (2), wonderful (2), mind (2), loved (2), essays (2), shopping (2), california (2), water (2), control (2), absolute (2), freeway (2), driving (2), santa (2), unexpected (2), lays (2), themelantic, copyright, 2016, rights, reserved, powered, twitter, instagram, follow, name, leah, rachel, von, essen, hers, based, curvy, chronically, ill, blogger, reviewer, novelist, mental, specialties, science, fiction, surrealism, genre, bending, strange, feminism, bias, medicine, healthcare, wherever, question, subscribe, contact, updates, site, map, 514, older, posts, revelatory, extremely, dark, look, insidiousness, modern, underappreciated, growing, republican, party, over, decades, disturbing, view, granted, corporations, society, elites, millions, persecute, evangelize, without, ever, showing, faces, revealing, thousand, reasons, boycott, once, forever, contained, inside, july, public, affairs, michael, blanding, set, scene, explaining, rose, wealth, empire, rooted, evangelizing, mission, picks, strongly, hits, went, under, reported, peaked, during, pandemic, bible, founded, greens, funded, donations, carefully, purchased, sorted, donated, then, wrote, taxes, revealed, hold, tremendous, number, stolen, trafficked, were, seized, returned, egypt, iraq, others, intensely, misleading, meanwhile, stored, yes, really, warehouse, next, crafts, inventory, damning, exposé, country, donald, trump, founders, channels, signatry, strongest, funders, alliance, defending, freedom, adf, force, supreme, court, decisions, dobbs, insidious, advertisement, campaign, project, 2025, symbol, entwined, capitalism, prosperity, idea, usa, nation, run, faith, contributed, fierce, conservatives, current, politics, according, 115, bring, treasure, say, reread, remember, mother, daughter, pairs, different, having, divorces, seeming, order, doesn, gorgeous, connections, richness, authentic, honest, raw, both, daughters, mothers, stark, good, gift, sentences, genuine, chart, straight, amy, tan, joy, luck, club, thought, tonight, tomorrow, ray, jersey, shore, calling, meet, fives, fun, put, perfect, activity, wednesday, dental, surgery, solid, introduction, haven, tell, anything, jonny, garza, villa, hozier, long, become, flowers, lay, here, years, part, dream, trip, visiting, camp, nou, barça, fan, since, saw, him, live, favorite, striker, marta, argentina, pray, lets, small, critique, support, expertise, sometimes, dives, example, own, nothing, against, does, rarely, jarring, digression, risks, centering, rich, educational, dive, who, yet, somehow, enough, right, minute, letter, treated, studied, analyzed, throughout, methods, techniques, complex, learned, terms, didn, negation, defining, things, aren, someone, insulting, viewpoint, community, decontextualization, where, requiring, constantly, questions, rather, than, providing, clear, answers, possession, displaced, ourselves, something, definitely, academic, felt, opaque, pausing, between, try, process, fans, interested, close, tar, baby, beloved, song, solomon, bluest, eye, annoying, every, single, simply, infuriating, argues, texts, difficult, deserve, reduced, representative, historical, intricately, modernist, novels, working, levels, require, multiple, rereads, truly, comprehend, namwali, content, warnings, racist, language, sinophobia, suicide, ableism, institutionalization, miraculously, talented, utter, skill, bittersweet, sketched, scenes, pinpoint, richly, optimistic, painful, particularly, disability, violence, wollops, ultimately, warming, sentimental, slackers, palace, flophouse, grill, antics, god, hearts, stick, readers, would, seen, grimy, shifty, folk, makes, knowing, wallet, might, gone, end, night, less, plot, trying, bottle, energy, monterey, 1940s, himself, knew, funny, earnest, heartbreak, serious, quiet, doc, local, group, slacker, con, men, stern, shop, owner, lee, chong, john, cannery, row, thriller, absolutely, collection, sci, jewel, box, sure, first, immediately, goal, making, reads, music, exciting, genius, jazz, any, whose, titles, start, chronic, diaries, entry, bit, rant, especially, summer, continues, gather, however, banal, turns, obsessed, infrastructure, found, delightful, listen, wax, poetic, specific, interest, utterly, awed, inspired, hoover, dam, calming, certainly, malls, secret, wish, mall, designer, visits, state, stands, fascination, connecting, western, reverence, need, exhilarated, sake, nod, access, ramps, monica, side, pleasure, spent, past, themes, disillusionment, breaking, come, define, 1960s, era, hollywood, cultural, interesting, personal, full, wry, irony, metaphor, thoughts, cruel, ana, winds, tries, capture, mood, hidden, hometown, sacramento, new, york, city, hawaii, white, album, slouching, towards, bethlehem, joan, days, office, vibes, cozy, wasn, neighborhood, send, email, top,

Text of the page (random words):
while reading and walking back to top home about pages send email while reading and walking tags around the neighborhood and around the world 20 hours ago when the home office vibes are this cozy how can i not be getting work done i wasn t i m tired jul 30 2026 7 39 pm 18 notes read more reblog 2 days ago i spent most of the past week or so reading joan didion including her novel play it as it lays and her two essay collections slouching towards bethlehem and the white album her themes of disillusionment the feeling of the world breaking down around her have come to define much of the 1960s era of california and hollywood her cultural criticism and nonfiction is interesting but i most loved her personal essays full of wry irony and unexpected metaphor including her thoughts on self respect or the cruel santa ana winds and those in which she tries to capture the mood of a place the hidden one from her hometown of sacramento to new york city to hawaii most of all however i loved her essays about the seemingly banal didion it turns out is obsessed with infrastructure in a way i found delightful just how it s always wonderful to listen to a person wax poetic about a random very specific interest didion is utterly awed and inspired by the hoover dam she writes of the calming certainly of shopping malls and her secret wish to be a shopping mall designer she visits the california state water control center and stands there all day in absolute fascination connecting the western reverence for water with a person s need for control she is exhilarated by the freeway writing about driving for the sake of driving in play it as it lays but takes a moment in her essay about them to give a nod to the most beautiful access ramps in the world on the santa monica freeway this side of didion was unexpected and an absolute pleasure jul 29 2026 3 36 pm 5 notes read more reblog 1 week ago this chronic illness diaries entry is a bit of a rant but especially as summer continues to gather us all together please keep this in the back of your mind jul 23 2026 11 04 am 20 notes read more reblog 1 week ago have you read any great books whose titles start with j asked by anonymous i sure have the first that immediately comes to mind is jazz by toni morrison she writes with the goal of making a novel that reads like music and it s beautiful and exciting and genius just like home is a great thriller and jewel box is an absolutely wonderful collection of sci fi and fantasy short stories jul 21 2026 9 44 am 8 notes read more reblog 1 week ago cannery row by john steinbeck reminded me of bradbury s dandelion wine it is a book less about a plot and more about capturing a place and time in trying to bottle the energy of a corner of monterey in the 1940s a corner that steinbeck himself knew well it is funny earnest with moments of heartbreak its characters include the serious quiet doc a local group of slacker con men and stern shop owner lee chong steinbeck is a miraculously talented author with utter skill for capturing the bittersweet inner kernel of a person with just a few sketched scenes and a pinpoint of emotion this book is richly optimistic even as it has some deeply painful moments particularly around disability and violence only steinbeck is able to give those wollops within the pages of what s ultimately a very warming and sentimental book the slackers of the palace flophouse and grill and their antics the frogs my god the frogs as well as the moments of their big hearts will stick with me steinbeck writes people that so many readers of the time would have seen as hard grimy shifty folk and makes you want to visit them even knowing that your wallet might be gone at the end of the night content warnings for racist language sinophobia suicide ableism and institutionalization jul 20 2026 9 06 pm 14 notes read more reblog 1 week ago on morrison was a deeply annoying read because now i want to read every single toni morrison novel and i simply do not have the time infuriating namwali serpell argues that morrison s texts are difficult that they often don t get the respect that they deserve and that much of what are too often reduced to representative and historical stories are intricately modernist novels working on levels that require multiple rereads to truly comprehend serpell s analysis of morrison s career literary goals and methods and techniques is deep and complex i learned many literary terms i didn t know from the use of negation in the bluest eye defining things by what they aren t what they don t do can t be to signifying reading as in reading someone down insulting them from a viewpoint within the community signifying on them in a way that has an inner kernel of love in song of solomon to decontextualization where are we what is real requiring the reader to constantly ask questions rather than providing clear answers and possession what is displaced in ourselves when we love something too much in beloved the analysis is fascinating it s definitely academic at times the essay on tar baby felt at times opaque and there was a lot of pausing between chapters to try and process but fans of morrison and those interested in literary close reading will get a lot out of this one very small critique is that seemingly to help support her expertise serpell sometimes dives into an example from one of her own books i have nothing against the use of the i in criticism but because she only does it rarely it comes off as jarring and like a digression and risks feeling self centering still the book is rich educational and a deep dive into an author who gets so much love and yet somehow also not enough i want to read all the morrison right this minute what a love letter to this author and her work and also a fascinating analysis of how morrison has been treated studied and analyzed throughout her career jul 19 2026 9 43 am 17 notes read more reblog 1 week ago y all know i love spain but a big part of my dream trip there was always visiting camp nou to see fc barça to see messi i ve been a messi fan since i was 14 and saw him play live and he reminded me of my favorite striker marta let s go argentina i can only pray that spain still lets me visit jul 18 2026 8 33 pm 10 notes read more reblog 1 week ago we lay here for years or for hours so long we become the flowers hozier jul 17 2026 6 23 pm 40 notes read more reblog 2 weeks ago have you read anything by the author jonny garza villa asked by anonymous i haven t should i please tell jul 15 2026 2 53 pm 2 notes read more reblog meet me in fives this was so fun to put together a perfect activity for a tired wednesday after getting dental surgery done all around a solid introduction to me as a person and reader jul 15 2026 2 53 pm 20 notes read more reblog 2 weeks ago i love chicago very much but the jersey shore will always be calling me home jul 13 2026 12 10 pm 14 notes read more reblog 2 weeks ago i want to feel all there is to feel he thought let me feel tired now let me feel tired i mustn t forget i m alive i know i m alive i mustn t forget it tonight or tomorrow or the day after that dandelion wine by ray bradbury jul 12 2026 10 49 am 37 notes read more reblog 2 weeks ago the joy luck club is such a treasure i will say even on reread it s hard to remember which are the mother daughter pairs two different characters having divorces and the random seeming order of chapters doesn t help but the book is gorgeous the little connections the richness of the story and the emotion authentic honest raw behind both the daughters and mothers are stark and beautiful amy tan is such a good author and her gift for last sentences is genuine with my little chart to keep people straight an all time read jul 10 2026 7 45 pm 31 notes read more reblog 3 weeks ago always bring a book ️ jul 8 2026 6 15 pm 115 notes read more reblog 3 weeks ago the gospel according to hobby lobby is a damning exposé of the powerful green family and all that they ve done in our country to power christian nationalism and the rise of donald trump this family the founders of hobby lobby are through channels including signatry some of the strongest funders behind the powerful alliance defending freedom or adf a powerful force behind supreme court decisions including dobbs the insidious he gets us advertisement campaign and project 2025 they are a powerful symbol of how entwined capitalism the prosperity gospel and the idea that the usa is and should be a christian nation run by christian faith have all contributed to the fierce rise of conservatives in our current politics while the book takes a moment to set its scene explaining how the green family rose into its wealth and forged an empire rooted in an evangelizing mission it picks up strongly most of all when it hits a story that went under reported as it peaked during the pandemic the museum of the bible founded by the greens and funded by them through donations that they carefully purchased sorted donated and then wrote off on their taxes was revealed to hold a tremendous number of stolen trafficked and forged artifacts that were seized and returned to egypt iraq and others this museum is intensely misleading and a center for christian nationalism and meanwhile its artifacts are stored yes really in a hobby lobby warehouse next to the crafts inventory michael blanding s revelatory book is an extremely dark look into the insidiousness of modern day christian nationalism and its underappreciated growing impact on the republican party over the last few decades it s also a disturbing view into the impact of the power the us has granted corporations to influence our society and into the way elites are able to use their millions to influence persecute and evangelize without ever showing the real faces behind the impact a revealing read with a thousand reasons to boycott hobby lobby once and forever contained inside out july 14 from public affairs books jul 6 2026 11 13 am 30 notes read more reblog older posts 1 of 514 back home about me literary travel books in translation my writing site map goals updates contact subscribe ask me a question tags back about my name is leah rachel von essen she her hers i am a chicago based curvy chronically ill book blogger reviewer and novelist writing about books illness travel and mental health my specialties include books in translation science fiction fantasy surrealism and genre bending strange short story collections and nonfiction around health feminism and bias in medicine and healthcare i read wherever i go but i read the most while walking follow me instagram twitter back tags copyright 2016 travel pro tumblr theme all rights reserved powered by tumblr travel pro theme by themelantic