This is a Good Book Thursday on Friday Because of a Freak Computer Cord Accident That Revealed Major Electrical Problems and a Destroyed Circuit Box, April 8, 2022

~ Jenny

This week I read Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts on my phone. I loved it.

What did you read?

122 thoughts on “This is a Good Book Thursday on Friday Because of a Freak Computer Cord Accident That Revealed Major Electrical Problems and a Destroyed Circuit Box, April 8, 2022”

  1. Sorry to hear of the electro-mechanical problems. Relieved to not hear that there were health or social problems. So, I’m in the middle of a Murderbot Diaries reread, and I just finished two Ring of Fire series books, The Horsewoman by the late Karen Bergstrahl and I Want to be Your Hero by Kerryn Offord, both excellent. Had I finished Uhura’s Song by Janet Kagen last week? It was excellent, too.

    Other than that, medical check-ups and follow-ups, no worries. And hydroponic gardening. After severe pruning, I’ve eliminated fully half of my tomato plants, and I’m watching the eight (8) baby tomatoes with hopes that they’ll mature in time with my 17 lettuce plants. Also that more will appear. I’m also watching seven hot pepper plants and two regular pepper plants. Killer salads are in my future.

  2. I have the new “Rivers of London” novel installed on my Kindle but this week there was no book reading for me – I just read all the text messages my son sent me from the hospital where his girlfriend delivered our first grandchild. She had to have a c-section and then there seemed to be a fire (or at least smoke development) in the ward, so they had to transport her to a different building at the last minute.

    But now the little boy is born and will go home with his mother today. Tomorrow, we’ll go to Cologne to visit – I’m very excited!

    7. Oh, CONGRATULATIONS!
      Also, you got the new Rivers book? I preordered that sucker. AMAZON, WTH?
      But really, congratulations on the new kid. That’s so wonderful.

  3. Glad to see this post.

    Freakin’ hell you have had some gremlins with your electronics over the past few months Jenny. May that be the last of them for a very long time.

    I read The Indigo Solution by Patricia Rice, thanks to Gary+Hayenga recommendation last week. A fun and quick read. Currently reading the Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer. The beginning was too convoluted for me but by chapter four the story started and I am enjoying it now.

    I listened to The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewel, which is read by Joanne Froggatt from Downton Abbey. And Reputation by Sarah Vaughan, which I really enjoyed. It is about a young woman in England who gives up her job as a teacher to become a Labour politician. She does a photo shoot with a local newspaper which leads to abuse on social media and her fearing for her own safety.

    1. I’m reading The Indigo Solution by Patricia Rice now, and enjoying it as I usually do with her books.

      There is one word in it that I’ve seen in use multiple times this year that causes me to stumble in my reading, and I’m wondering if it’s the American spelling?
      It’s mentioning a grand lady wearing an elaborate coiffeur instead of coiffure, i.e. a hairdresser rather than a hairdo. Even though I’m not French, the momentary mental glimpse of a dame wearing a barber (on her head? around her shoulders?) always knocks me out of the story, before I realise what is meant and that it’s probably just a displaced letter that has grown into a habit.

      Now I’m wondering, is this the customary American spelling, or should I try to send her a message with a warning about the error?

  5. Following a mention by JaneB here last week, I have finally read Victoria Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor. It had been recommended here before as well as on other blogs I follow as being very much in the vein of the Goblin Emperor but the final deciding factor for me was a review on Amazon comparing Cliopher to The Curse of Chalion’s Cazaril. I can see why these two are compared even though the books are very very different.

    The Hands of the Emperor is a book that doesn’t follow the rules of what a good book should be. It tells rather that shows throughout (even though that happens a lot through dialogues), all the action happens off stage, there are lots and lots of repetitions … and yet somehow it is a splendid book which I already know I will reread many times.

    1. Your review was so compelling I immediately downloaded Hands of the Emperor! Sounds delicious.

    3. I really loved it, even though yes, it breaks rules. She is having fun playing in her universe in all her books.

    4. There is a new short story just out, giving another look at the islander life and a glimpse at Cliopher, through the eyes of his great-uncle and mentor: Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander.
      For me, the feeling it evoked fit well with the feeling of The Hands of the Emperor, much more than the other short stories Victoria Goddard has written in that world.

      I do think it is better read after Hands not as an introduction; it’s concurrent with a fairly late part of that book.

  6. I read JD Robb’s Apprentice in Death.

    I followed the series until it got to the one titled New York to Dallas (book 33) and decided that was enough but it was around so i read it.

    Apprentice is the 43rd book in the series and in the book there was a line when Eve gets home and mentions it being 2 years since moving in, or something like that. So in 2 years they’ve solved 43 significant crimes, recovered from numerous injuries, and made gazillions of dollars…. I found it a very distracting line in the story.

    1. I revisit JD Robb every once in a while. Nothing I want to own, but as you say, something is always available and they are reliable. When I hit an available audio book drought I look there.

    2. The Dallas-Roarke books were an auto-buy for me for a long time, but I finally tripped over that too: it’s only been two years?? And the last one I read seemed to be hinting at ‘Eve & Roarke considering children’ which was so much of what I don’t want to see from them that I ran away. I always take a look at the new releases but a) I hate serial-killer plotlines b) I’m over militia-terrorist-prepper plotlines c) If I never again see a ‘we started construction and found bodies’ plotline it will be too soon.

      1. I guess I’m not too bothered by the number of cases because it makes sense to have a police lieutenant dealing with homicide and NYC sure has a lot. Totally with you on militia plot lines. Too close to home these days!

  7. Yay! So glad you are ok. The last couple of years followed by last month have my brain jumping to the worst conclusions.

    This week I have several new releases to choose from for my reading pleasure. There is a new installment in the Songs of the Amaranthine by Forthright, which I am saving for emergency comfort reading, and Parties by CM Nascosta, a continuation of Girls Weekend. It’s more episodal, following three friends, and mostly about nothing, which I really enjoy. There is one but where a character gets upset with a friend a for assuming her body issues are gone because she is in a relationship and I related to that. Other relationship building and slow burn character development. A lot of sex scenes, which I am mostly skipping right now.

      1. Well, there are a lot of them, and I am really really not in the mood. I want to get to the characters developing right now, so I skim. Usually she is pretty good at plot driven sex, but maybe less so this time. Or it’s me. Probably me. I will read the sexy bits sometime in the future.

  8. Echoing the other commenters, I am also relieved to see this post and know Jenny and the fur babies are all OK!

    I’m more than halfway through Matrix by Lauren Groff, finding myself transported to a twelfth-century English abbey and loving every word. Just finished French Braid by Anne Tyler, also well-written. Not sure what’s next, but I love reading about the recommendations here!

    1. I looked at the blurb, but am having a problem with the protagonist — I see NO WAY that the half-sister of Eleanor of Aquitaine (whether by father or mother) wouldn’t be a perfectly desirable marriage prospect, if just for the connections.

  9. So I finished the Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. The folks that needed a comeuppance generally got it, the folks who needed assistance got that as well, but there are lots of reasons for a sequel. I may, however, let it lie here without picking that particular sequel up. I’m not feeling an overwhelming urge to see what happens next.

    A few months ago, we got an Amazon package delivered to us. It had our address – so correctly delivered – but not our names. I contacted Amazon about it, and was told to keep, dispose or donate the items in the package, while they sent out a replacement to the correct address. Inside that package was the first book of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I’ve never read any of his books, and I know that this is a series with over 20 books (last I looked). I’m a few pages in. We’ll see how this goes.

    1. I’ll be interested to hear what you think about the Wheel of Time. I read the first four books before finally stopping. Too much plot, not enough character. The TV series is marvellous though.

      1. I stopped because the powers of both sides got ridiculous. The baddies got more powerful so the goodies had to get more powerful too. If I remember right, they had got to reincarnation by the time I gave up on it.

    2. The first one IMO can be read as a standalone, even though it sets up the world for the rest of the series – plenty of world and (much) larger conflict still to explore, but the first quest that this book sets up is also concluded in this book.
      After that, not so much.

  10. Jenny, I am so glad your difficulties are over.

    I finished reading The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe and am about to begin the sequel The Silver Branch. I am also reading Margaret Ball’s Changeweaver , it’s more a re-read, but it’s been so long since I read it that I don’t remember very much.

      1. Same here. Her books hold a special place in my heart. Started reading them when I was about 10. And they still enchant me.

  11. Jenny, that’s the best title for your Good Book Thursday blog yet. I was catastrophizing that you had fallen under a bus. I’m glad you’re good even if you are beset with technology problems.

    I’ve had such a stressful week that all I’m doing is reading my favourite comfort books: Peter Cabot Gets Lost (Cat Sebastian), Season’s Trade (Cait Nary), A Consort for a King and His Husband (RJ Cooper), Power Play (Avon Gale). Oh and yes, I’m still dabbling with Lesli Richardson and her endless canon.

  12. I jumped on the bandwagon and am 3 books deep in the Court of Thorns and Roses series.
    Farie p*** or not, they are a fun ride.

  13. I guess a broken cord is good if it reveals big problems before they destroy everything?

    I read a couple of random thrillers from a little free library (written late 90s/early 2000s) – don’t remember the names, they weren’t terrible but they both went immediately back. Not a helpful comment, but there it is. And I re-read Fast Women.

  14. I finished my quilt and went to a wedding. Listened to A Racing Murder on the plane and then The Snack Thief. I liked the snack thief by Andrea Camilleri even though it was written in the 90s. A Racing Murder by Frances Evesham was less pleasing. One of the protagonists obsesses about the same thing over and over. It was pretty slow-moving.

    Here is the quilt: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb84ck6sbSV/

    1. That’s a beautiful quilt. Your niece will treasure it, I’m sure. Three of my sisters have made quilts; I have 1 from two of them and two from the other. I treasure each one of them.

    4. The quilt is amazing! Not only is it beautiful, but the amount of love that went into the construction should guarantee sweet dreams for generations. I’m so glad you and your quilting buddies were able to finish it on time.

    5. The Inspector Montalbano tv series (in Italian, with English subtitles) is excellent. Just don’t watch the final episode. It is a betrayal of everything that happens before. The young Montalbano tv series is even better, in my opinion.

  15. OH GOSH JENNY! Whenever I see a Home Improvement show on TV, it always seems to start with a home that has many problems and deficiencies, which then get all fixed and improved within the space of an hour by competent & mostly savings-minded home improvement stars. It never shows the ordinary day-to-day crises for the people who were formerly in the home, having their lives disrupted by each problem cascading down onto all the rest of the problems.

    We spent the morning tracking down the possible source of some electrical glitch that suddenly turned off both lights in a bedroom. Ended up we think it’s in a wall socket that both lamps share(d), so we rigged up an alternative extension cord, but at the moment, can’t quite get to the wall socket. This is the kind of daily frustration you are dealing with in your old house, but I hope you know that meanwhile you are making hundreds of people happy every day, through your books and your blog and your extremely fine Blog Day titles. I just wish we could do the same for you some of these days. 🙁

    1. Are you kidding. You guys do. I always have a place to come and whine (g).
      And the good news is, I now have a great electrician who is coming back in two months to upgrade the whole megillah. Nothing but good times.

      1. You are not having a cheap year: kitchen fire (kitchen dies), computer dies, car dies electrical system dies. My checking account whimpers in sympathy just thinking about it

  16. Whuf. That is quite the post title!

    I recently finished Legends and Lattes (Travis Baldree), about a retired adventurer who settles down to open a coffee shop, and very much enjoyed it; it was just the right weight of thing for my brain right now.

    Currently reading another humorous fantasy called This Quest Is Bullshit (J.P. Valentine) and enjoying it so far. It belongs to the “LitRPG” fantasy subgenre, which means that the characters are aware of their character classes, experience points, abilities, etc. and talk to each other about them or lament the abilities they’ve been assigned.

    Was thinking about maybe doing a re-read of The Goblin Emperor after that.

  17. I’m finishing up Legends and Lattes as well, and absolutely loved it. As you said, exactly the right weight for my brain. Also quite clever and original, which I always appreciate.

  18. You have my sympathies for your electrical box woes, Jenny. I had my electrician in about a month ago because I had to replace my 20 year old gas stove and was considering switching to electric instead. (I prefer to cook on gas, but apparently it causes inside air pollution.) The plug behind the stove wasn’t a 220, so I got him in to look at the box to see if we could convert something.

    Short answer–yes, maybe.
    Long answer–he found so many issues within the box itself (things not wired correctly that will be expensive and a pain to redo and “probably” aren’t that dangerous since the house hasn’t burned down yet…) that I bought a gas stove and am just going to have him fix the box. Argh.

    I just finished reading The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, on the recommendation of my agent. It started off a little slowly, but by the end it had completely won me over. Also, if my agent thinks I can write that well, she’s high. Bless her.

    1. Those of us who thoroughly enjoy your writing agree with your agent!

    2. If your gas flame is burning a beautiful blue and is properly vented TO THE OUTDOORS, the products of combustion SHOULD be water vapor and carbon dioxide. Other components should be fully consumed. The installers should be fully aware of all this.

      1. It’s normally blue, except in the winter when I have the humidifiers running. For some reason that makes it more yellow. But supposedly it’s normal. It’s the “properly vented to the outdoors” that I worry about. The gas line itself is fine, but there is no outside ventilation. The stove hood just moves air around in the kitchen.

  19. I’m so sorry you have had such trauma, but glad you came through it safely. I hope this is the last of it!!!!

    I have been reading the YA books of Emma Mills, and just finished Foolish Hearts. Her books start slowly and leave me wondering where she is going with them, but they end up being very heartfelt and surprising, with redemptive changes to the characters, plus some humor. I have one more to read.

  20. Sympathies for the neverending clusterf*ck of ‘fix this’ that is home ownership. My parents got an 81-page inspection report on the house they’d hoped to live in while supervising their new build and they are panicking, considering backing out of the contract. 🙁

    Work has been especially worky the past two weeks and today promises to be a nightmare and the forecast says 94 degrees. Argh.

    Since the last GBT I’ve read 8 books (one of which was a sale book and was so not good I didn’t even rate it, though I did at least finish it) and one novella; DNFd another novel at 25% (my second and final, thank-the-gods-both-were-on-sale try at a popular writer. Riddled with spelling, word-choice, grammar, and punctuation errors; rife with ethnic stereotyping, shallow characterization, & stupid behavior; and a loudly-telegraphed Big Problem that was so obvious and unnecessary I couldn’t stand to see it happen).

    Second-favorite book of the week: ‘Scrap Metal’ by Harper Fox. ALL THE ANGST.

    Favorite book of the week: ‘Proper Scoundrels’ by Allie Therin. Features a pair of fiendish villains who come to satisfyingly bad ends, a daring rescue or two, and a pair of battered veterans finding comfort in each other.

    Also good this week: re-read ‘The Art of Detection’ by Laurie R. King and read ‘Escaping Dreamland’ by Charlie Lovett.

  21. Thank you, just downloaded it.
    I read The Paper Magician, quite decent YA magical apprentice quest, although 19 year old female apprentice is crushing on her 30-ish mentor.

    1. Yeah, I read the Paper Magician a few years ago and thought it was fun, but also noticed a few underdeveloped plot choices that probably would have flown over my head if I read it as a teen.

  22. Yikes! I’m glad you’re okay, even if the electrical system isn’t. Hope you found a good electrician!

    I’m still not in much of a reading mood (other than Murderbot rereads), so most of my new reading this past week was of peer-reviewer comments (and comments on the comments) for a medical journal article I’m a co-author on, which also counts as a Working Wednesday update. Fingers crossed the revisions are acceptable, and it gets published.

    Oh, and other reading was of expiration dates on my seed collection. I ended up tossing everything (into the compost bin, so I may have some surprises this summer) that was pre-pandemic. Some seeds are viable for decades, but most aren’t, and I’m on a decluttering rampage, so everything except cats, quilts, and myself has to go.

  23. If you read Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes, I recommend Again, Rachel. Though the book deals with some heavy subject matter, I savored it—Keyes is such a good writer. Love Rachel and Luke and the Walsh family.

  24. Hi Jenny, I am very glad you are. In good health, I was worried about you even though we have ever met. Many years ago I was a CB and I was cleaning out my bookshelves when I found a short story (obviously not a prequel) as to what happened before Wild Ride I printed out at the time, I was glad to find it again.
    Good wishes going your way.

  25. Jenny, glad you’re okay (all of us here have powerful imaginations) and hope the electrical mess is resolved soon.

    “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry,” by Fredrik Backman, is a slooow book with too much fantasy world for my taste, yet I stuck with it for the characters and am glad I did. Caution: Kleenex required.

    2. Oh, I love My Grandmother… It was also my intro to Backman’s books. He’s a comfort read for me.

  26. I have really struggled to find a good book lately, but I did a reread of Lani’s A Little Ray of Sunshine and fell in love with her stories again. Now, I’m rereading Megan Bryce’s Reluctant Bride box set that’s free on Amazon now. The first in the series is To Catch A Spinster. This is one of my all-time favorite books. Yippee! Back to books I love.

  27. So glad to see this post. I was afraid the problem was much worse, and medical.
    On the reading front, A.J. Demas new story, Honey & Pepper, was a quiet m/m romance, set in the imaginary world resembling the ancient Greece of Earth. The author has a few other books set in the same world. Not quite historicals. Not quite a fantasy. Something in between.
    This short and gently charming novel explored a heavy theme – slavery. Both protagonists are former slaves, and that one fact altered the ambience of the entire tale from a banal m/m love story with erotic undertones to the grim contemplation of the evils of slavery. The protagonists’ former slavery still affects all aspects of their lives. Even though they are both free men now, the slavery trails behind them like an ugly shadow, a disease of a sort. It is not a perfect book, but it made an impression.
    My project of re-reading all Peter Wimsey novels chronologically is proceeding apace. I just finished Five Red Herrings. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous novels. What I find off-putting about this book is that Peter doesn’t talk so much nonsense anymore, nothing like your would expect from all his previous novels. It feels as if he had shed all his literary baloney when he left London (the action takes place in Scotland). But there is a language-related snag here: all the local people talk with such a broad Scottish dialect, I could hardly understand them. That brought down my level of reading enjoyment a great deal. I ended up skimming the locals’ speeches (almost half the book) and only picking up the key words here and there to have an inkling what they were saying. I didn’t understand most of it anyway.
    Another fact contributing to my relative dislike of this novel: it has too many POVs. Every police officer seemed to have his own chapters, so Peter Wimsey doesn’t appear to be the main character. Just one of the cast. Really disappointing. But of course, I’ll keep on reading the series.

    1. I’m pretty sure you won’t have the same problems with the stories that follow Five Red Herrings. I’d forgotten the dialect in it: must have been very frustrating. It wasn’t a favourite of mine, either.

    2. I think a lot of people feel that way about that book. Isn’t it widely considered her worst?

        1. There’s a different Sayers that seemed like the most forgettable to me — all I remember is that a nurse had killed her patient. The book didn’t even have a memorable title.

    3. I enjoyed Honey & Pepper, but didn’t LOVE it, the way I love Sword Dance. In the latter, the tension and the danger all the way through made it a much more interesting book for my tastes. In Honey & Pepper, the danger really only appears at the last minute, so it’s more of a cosy imo. Plus the deus ex machina at the end…

      Her writing is lovely, though.

  28. DNF’d a regency last week, because one factor the plot hung on was the heroine attending a big party RIGHT after her brother died. There had been a few other things I thought were wrong, but that was a deal breaker. Don’t these people read Georgette????? That’s how I know you couldn’t.

    Otherwise just re-reads or not memorable.

    1. This brought to mind an incidence in Proust of someone trying to speak to the Duchess and the duke would not give them a chance to speak because a relative was in the process of dying and they were about to leave for a major social engagement. And if they knew this relative had died they would have to remain home. And this was 70 years after the Regency.

  29. I’m rereading The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville. People with psychometric talents about things, and a young woman, and older woman, and various other people they run into. Set in Vancouver. I haven’t ever visited a Night Market but I think I should one of these days. Slightly dark but also hopeful.

  30. I saw this in the Financial Times this week. I won’t link because I think it’s behind a pay wall.

    “And finally, a note for your diaries: the end of April sees the release of 40 brand-new recordings of the late Terry Pratchett’s beloved “Discworld” novels, with narrators including Andy Serkis, Indira Varma, Sian Clifford and Peter Serafinowicz, and a bonus appearance from Bill Nighy, who reads Pratchett’s own footnotes. Marking 50 years since the publication of Pratchett’s first book, the series includes specially composed music from James Hannigan and runs to over 420 hours of audio — enough to keep even the most enthusiastic of listeners occupied until Christmas.”

    From Genre round-up – the best new audio books, by Alex Clark, Financial Times, April 5, 2022.

    1. I have mixed feelings about this. I’m glad to see TP get some love, but I am a big fan of Stephen Briggs’ reading of the books.

    2. Are they multiple narrators per book or is that across several books? Because I really dislike multiple narrators per book. Or have with the ones I’ve tried. Not sure why, but they just irritate me.

      1. It’s across several books from what I read. I also find multiple narrators annoying and I really don’t like the “dramatic “ readings with sound effects and such, which is funny because I love radio plays. I’ve given up on figuring out my brain.

    3. OMG. I mean, I’m not a fan of audio books, but Bill Nighy reading footnotes? I am so THERE.

  31. OMG electrical problems are the worst. Glad you’re okay and your house didn’t burn down. Also yay I hope you love Tuesday and Dex and Next Dorry and Archie as much as I did, what a fun book.

    This week I read Shannon Stacey’s Unexpected Cowboy (Sutton’s Place #2) and Katee Robert’s Dragon’s Bride (who doesn’t love a dragon with a book hoard) but the read of the week is Nadia Lee’s Baby for the Bosshole which is a freaking delight. The characters are smart and funny and it’s pretty much Seven Brides for Seven Brothers but in the present and with 7 half-brothers who share a Hollywood father. This is great because it means 6 more books with this group of people, and they’re people you want to spend that much time with.

    1. I’m seeing a lot of recommended books today that don’t have kindle previews, which I find so frustrating. I just can’t quite bring myself to buy a book if I can’t read the first few pages!

      1. Me, too. What’s up with that? If they won’t preview the book, I won’t buy it.

        1. A couple of years ago Amazon also stopped giving previews on CDs. How are you supposed to know if you want to buy an entire album if you can’t listen to samples of any of the songs? Argh.

  32. Glad to know it was only electrical problems and that they weren’t discovered by the cottage burning down. After watching many home improvement shows my assumption is that most old houses need to be rewired completely. There is knob-and-tube and other bad wiring everywhere!

    This wee I read the Invisible Library, which I liked well enough but do not feel at all compelled to read the next one. It seems like a perfect setting for a book I would love, but I just didn’t. I didn’t dislike it either… just meh.

    I’m almost done with the second Thursday Murder Club book, which is faring much better. I am invested in these characters. I found the first one confusing to listen to at first because it (and the second) switch between POVs, but once I got used to it and figured out who everyone was I didn’t mind. I think it was probably clearer in the print version.

    At some point I downloaded a collection of E Nesbit stories. It was probably free or 99 cents. Her books, along with the Chronicles of Narnia and the Edward Eager books, are the foundation of my love of reading. It’s fun to dip in and out of them. So far I have not winced much, even though she’s a Victorian/Edwardian era writer. And I love that she assumes that the children reading her books have read a lot of other books. I’m guessing that many a reader was born of reading her books and then reading the books and stories she mentions.

    I also read a terrible book that was the next in a terrible series. At least it was a fast read. Cotton candy.

    1. I had the same experience of Invisible Library! Thought I would like it, should like it, just my kind of book and …it kind of bored me. I couldn’t even finish it.

    2. I loved all of those as a kid – especially Half Magic by Eager. My first literary endeavor borrowed heavily from Eager (I was 8 so I forgive myself for the semi-plagiarism).

  33. Currently reading “This is How You Lose the Time War,” a f/f enemies to lovers, partially epistolatory novel sci-fi novel. Still making up my mind about it. I love the letters best, but I think maybe you need the regular chapters too to get the world building in. But I’ve heard good things, so I’m optimistic.

  34. Ditched the romance, sci-fi, WW2 novels for Dick Francis’s “Break In’. It really suits my current frame of mind. I nee to read more of his.

  35. Work is too demanding still, so I re-read “The Mrs MacKinnons”. Again I simply loved the kindness and level headedness of the two protagonists. I treasured the low key sexiness where a glimpse of skin has so much more power than a hot tumble among the sheets. It’s my favourite setting when two decent people (not excessice in beauty or anything else) first get to know and respect each other and then this turns into more. A very satisfying re-read.

  36. I read “Crowbones”, Anne Bishop’s latest book in The Others series. This one felt a little formulaic to me; I think I was expecting something a little different from what I got. But, no, this followed the standard human female in trouble, cue up the Inuit, the Sanguinati, and the scary, scary Others to rally around and rescue her. Oh well. It was still readable.

    I also read “Party Crasher” by Sophie Kinsella. Thanks to whoever mentioned this book in a previous Good Book Thursday. I forgot to check for the new Kinsella. I enjoyed the heck out of this book – it was hilarious, made a mockery of my expectations, and made me realize that I haven’t matured as much as I would have liked.

    I re-read “The Emperor’s Wolves” by Michelle Sagara in preparation for her latest book “Sword and Shadow”. I absolutely love Michelle Sagara West and I love reading more about Severn, the hero of this series – which is a spin-off of her “Cast in . . . .” series. In fact, I would love it if she continued the Severn series to catch up to the “Cast in . . .” series, just to get Severn’s take on the various shenanigans that Kaylin got up to.

  37. I read a book that should have been a cute, easy read but became really preachy and annoying. Also, the love interest said that he wanted to protect the MC from the moment he met her and that just struck me as creepy and stalker-ish because he was ignorant and rude to her in their first meeting.

    Now I’m reading Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore and listening to Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by TL Huchu, both lovely acerbic palate cleansers.

    Glad you are ok, Jenny. Electrical issues are scary.

  38. I echo the happy – you’re – okay sentiments. Why are we so determined to own homes? I just got the laundry shed floor fixed and the new washing machine in. Now someone backed into the center pole of my carport and pushed it out of it’s moorings.
    It’s always something.
    I spent 99cents on Tom Robbins: the Kindle Singles Interview by Mara Altman. I loved it! I am picking up his Tibetan Peach Pie from the library drive through tomorrow. He won’t call it a memoir or an autobiography. It isn’t linear. It is true stories of his life. He’s 81 years old now.
    I am still working through Bob Mayer’s Novel Writer’s Toolkit and finding it very helpful.
    Thinking about the Clarice Clif documentary that we can’t get here in the USA led me to a reread of Fast Women. What a great book!

  39. And also – here in the USA we have our FIRST EVER BLACK FEMALE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE!!! Yay KBJ!

  40. Glad you’re OK.

    I read A. J. Demas’s Honey and Pepper, but felt it was a bit of a dud compared to her other stories. So I reread Strong Wine, the last in her previous trilogy, which I enjoyed much more. I’m currently rereading a vintage Jayne Ann Krentz: Wildest Hearts.

  41. This week I’m reading Lavender’s Blue, the first act, which is a lot more fun these days because there’s new stuff in there about Vince since Bob is writing his PoV. (I do NOT do male first person PoV.). It’s also fun because we’re talking about the story and it’s like gossiping without guilt.

    The electrical thing really was freaky. I was recharging my iPad and didn’t notice that the plug had pulled about a quarter inch out of the surge protector. I picked up my laptop cord which has a MagSafe end, and the magnet got close enough to the exposed prongs of the iPad charger and latched on, and there was a flash of yellow light and a bang and there went my electricity. So I went down to the circuit box (basement, only reached by going outside) and flipped the switches and the lights came back on and there was a loud bang and the lights went out again.

    But we are up and running again, and after I wade through several things that should have been done Monday, I’m going to set the iPad up so I can post to WordPress from there, since the laptop had run out of charge and I didn’t have a charge cord because I fried it in the power outage . . .

    It has not been a good week. But nothing but good times ahead now. Argh.

    1. We live with electricity all the time, and forget how dangerous it can be. A bit like having a dragon in the basement to keep the house warm! I’m glad you’re okay, Jenny.

  42. I am still reading Ruth Reichel’s various food/memoirs. For anyone wanting to write food porn, she is really good at it and would be a great role model. I like her earlier ones best.

  43. I DNF a best seller where the main character was clearly supposed to be on the spectrum, but was very unconvincing about it. Going by GoodReads, I’m in the minority here; most people seem to love it. Another DNF bestseller where the story began at least three chapters before any actually happened, and I couldn’t be bothered with it.

    But The Overdue Life of Amy Byler was very good, and didn’t go where I expected it to go, which was a bonus.

    Now I’m reading Crowbones – not feeling very excited about it so far – and The Salt Path, which is intensely moving and very beautiful.

      1. I think it’s kind of that author’s thing. Quirky beginnings that take a lifetime to get to the actual story. I kept waiting for something to happen, then gave up.

      2. Then why doesn’t Nita’s first chapter work for some Arghers?

        I’m asking on a larger level than Nita. What makes The Day Things Changed a good way to start a story?

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