This week I read more of a series, still trying to figure out how to write more Rocky Start or Liz and Vince since we’re getting requests. I think I’m getting a tighter grip on that while my grip on everything else loosens. Oh, well.
I did have this idea: What if I went ahead and set up a couple of months of GBT so you’d always have a place to talk even if I forget what the hell day it is? If I’m on top of things I can still go and amend the post but that way, you’ve always got a chat space.
Oh, and what did you read this week?
157 Responses
Setting up some default posts sounds like a good way to lessen the demands on your time.
As for reading this week I have been going through old quilting books and magazines. I’m attempting to clean the garage/craft area by actually finishing some of the pending projects. That means “reading” this week is about deciding on a pattern for the 4th of July themed fabric I picked up when Joann’s was closing.
I argee, default posts would be good, and would reduce the pressure on you to remember, though of course you’ll have to comment and tell us what you are reading (which will also let us know you are okay)!
Setting up some default GBT sounds great, but please check in, too, so that we know you’re okay, otherwise we worry.
About series: When I’ve found a universe I like, I prefer to spend more time than the 200-300 pages of one book with characters I’ve grown to love. So please pursue the idea of spending more time with the Rocky Start folks and Liz and Vince. If there’s a mystery plot somewhere, just watching the folks we grew to love LIVE is a huge plus. For me, no huge arc necessary, I love the ordinary stuff probably more than the big passions and it’s so rare to find those (comparitively less difficult at all finding the big stuff).
Speaking of series:
Read Sam Burn’s first installment in a trilogy about PI Flynn Knight (mother is a high level vampire in LA) who kind of unvoluntarily starts an agency with an Irish vampire who can eat, breath and keep a normal life under the sun. I guess it should be read in one gulp as it doesn’t stand alone and I want to know more about the Irish guy. The big charm is the narration by Greg Tremblay/Boudreaux who does accents really well (the soft Irish and the clipper British of Flynn’s two neighbours about whom we get to learn more hopefully too).
The next two titles are downloaded (KU) – no audiobooks sadly – but I got distracted by a novella: To resuce a runaway, book 3,5 in the Goose Run series by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey.
So like the mood reader that I am, I didn’t continue with Flynn but jumped right into book 2 of that other series.
I skipped the first book because it didn’t hook me. Danny, first MC, is nice and kind and this didn’t hook me enough (yes, JaneB, I see why you were underwhelmed). I might come back to him. Or not. MC of book 2 is also nice and kind, but hotter (roofer and part-time stripper to better support his kid). Then I got distracted by the novella’s MC Chase. He’s one of the 4 guys/roommates living together (found family). At the start of book 3, he’s a horrible “barista” at the gas station who joins the team at the new bakery (also as barista, but he gets better at it). He’s got a big feral cat personality (reasonably so, see novella). Actually, he reminded me of Mike Soto in Game Misconduct by Ari Baran, but without the fighting and tattoos. I’m not a bit cat person myself (yes, shocking, as I’m currently being part of the cat distribution system, a small tricolour cat is trying – rather successfully – to adopt all 4 of us and make us do her bidding), most of the time I just don’t understand them. I guess, it’s easier to grow fond of Chase/the feral one, as we see him care for his almost non-verbal twin, who’ll be MC of the fourth installment due out in June (and who seems the most interesting one – a big reader and audiobook listener).
So, I’m currently reading two books of the same series. They might not be great literature, but like with the Bad Boyfriends Inc series by the same authors, spending time with those characters feels nice. The guys could be a lot more ambitious imo, but well, I get why they take time to find their way.
I forget to mention that on AO3 theundiagnosable has a new story in the making:
So far there’s chapter 1 of 7 to read.
Title: In the Blue.
Summary: The Leafs are haunted. This is, as of one day ago, Cooper’s problem.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83810816/chapters/220912731 or
https://tinyurl.com/4vbb4fct
Ooooohhhhh delicious. I’m going to wait until the whole thing is available though.
It’s fun. Very different tone to previous undiagnosable. I like it. Tammy, as the Leafs are central to it you will enjoy it. Also goalies!
I took a sneak peak and saw that the Leafs were central so can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve become obsessed with the Tuyo series by Rachel Neumeier, recommended by Jilly and other Arghers. I’ve read Tuyo, Tarshana and am now onto Tasmakat, because I’m following the Ryo thread, and then I’ll double back to some of the other books. One of the best fantasy series I’ve read in a long time.
Because I read and enjoyed the Ada Maria Soto His Quiet Agent books so much I also read her Tactical Submission and Triple Windsor books but…formal BDSM not really my jam. She still shows her writing chops outside the sex scenes – the submissive MC is a SWAT team officer who is coffee obsessed and can tell over roasted blonde beans at a taste and has the library of congress cataloguing protocol memorized so rearranges all the other MC’s books. I wish there were more of that kinda stuff and less sex.
I read the Tactical Submission sample but it didn’t really call me so I never got the book. Looks like i made the right choice..
I’m so glad! I really like the side stories, too, and they all add to the main series arc. Most of all though, I’m now invested in Tano. Guessing there will be two more books after HEDESA to complete his thread. Not sure how Rachel Neumeier is going to do it. Not even sure which direction I want her to choose, except that I am desperate to see everything come together for him. He’s such a great character.
I commented on Tammy’s post before seeing yours. We have exactly the same reaction to Tuyo 🙂
The description of Ada’s windsor series made me think I might not like it, so glad to have this confirmed without investing. Thanks!
I am so glad you are enjoying Tuyo. It is such a great series and all the « side » books are great too!
I agree with Dodo (and Lupe) please go ahead and set up GBT ahead if that makes it easier for you Jenny, but log in and let us know you are okay when you can because we care, and worry.
After a truly painful weekend I got in touch with the surgery and saw the Physio (gateway to getting moved up the waiting list) yesterday. I am to get another x-ray next Wednesday and stronger painkillers have been prescribed “to have in your tool kit”. Felt listened to and validated so we will see.
Felt a bit better after taking some action so did go to the movie at the library yesterday, two cushions on the chair certainly helped, as did the movie The Angel’s Share. It is a comedy, but starts off bleak. Set in Scotland with quite a lot of local colour (very sweary and some violence at the start). Have seen it before, as had several others – even though I have lived here 51 years I still was grateful for the subtitles. One of the ladies I chatted with after said she thought you had to be Scottish to enjoy it. Not sure that is true – it is about redemption, love, whisky and a clever crime.
Love the idea of more Burney stories, Liz and Vince especially.
New book read – A Bride for Marcus by Anne Gracie. Good story bringing back Marcus and the other Devil Riders without having to re-read their stories. Enjoyed the story. Someone reviewed it a few weeks ago and was right you never actually meet the others again, but Aunt Maude was there and is great as always. Know that Anne Gracie is self publishing now that her publisher is no longer doing historical romance. She has long been an auto-buy for me and so want to keep supporting authors in that position.
Other than that quite a lot of re-reads from my shelves and DF from a stash I got at the library before becoming bedbound last week.
Going to see Hail Mary Project again tonight with a friend, and hopefully book tickets for the Sheep Detective next Thursday, it comes out this weekend and several friends want to go. The seats at the nearest cinema are fully padded and reclining so it is not so hard on my hip as the hard library conference chairs.
Glad you may get surgery moved up. It’s stunning to me how hips can go from “fine, do that gardening and work out “ to “you need a cane” in weeks.
Debbie, I’ve gone from using a cane to trying elbow crutches on my bad days. But you are right, I’ve only been on the waiting list a year but the deterioration seems to come out of no where.
Good luck with the surgery, Christine!
Finished up RJ Barker’s Forsaken trilogy with “Heart of the Wyrdwood” (2025). The middle book was mixed, although I liked a lot of the new characters and they get an even bigger role in the finale. Really nicely wrapped up, and I really want a spoilerific author interview but haven’t found one yet.
Also very good was a re-read of “Devil’s Bride” by Stephanie Laurens (1998): m/f regency romance with a formidable FMC. I think the best of Laurens’ work.
“Just for the Summer” by Abby Jimenz (2024) was also pretty good, m/f contemporary with people who meet online. I liked “The Am I the Asshole” hook; I liked both MCs, and I thought the FMC’s foster sister was an absolute hero.
Best of the short fiction this week was “We Cast Our Eyes to the Unknowable Now” by Lynn D. Jung (2025) about sisters and guerilla gardening. Free at https://grist.org/climate-fiction/imagine2200-we-cast-our-eyes-to-the-unknowable-now/
Plus fanfic for Teen Wolf, Untamed (aka Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) and I just finished re-watching the fantasy/horror show “Haven” so have loaded my e-reader …
What is guerilla gardening ?
Gardening without permission. So quite often you see people taking over sidewalks or empty blocks.
Or the grassy space on the median between roads.
Or the dusty not-grassy space. Someone I used to know in Raleigh is doing that with each side of the sidewalk around a bar they favor. Vegetables for the taking as well as lots of glorious flowers. The bar recently moved so he’s starting another patch. (The pictures are an excellent reason for me to keep up with Facebook.)
I live in a condo and my neighbor and I took over the barren clay hell strip next to the parking lot. We planted about 80′ with perennials a couple of years ago, and it is looking just great. We had tons of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds last year. It’s hugely over-planted, but I’m rather fond of the Monty Don style of covering every inch available.
I love the term guerilla gardening.
Oh, well done! That sounds a brilliant contribution.
Great idea. I suppose my cutting of grape vines in the creek in front of the house doesn’t quite make it . And this year my own garden is all I can manage.
Correction: 80 square feet. 20×4
Is there such a thing as guerilla yard cleanup? Can we sneak onto our neighbours’ front yards in the middle of the night and clean up all the crap they leave/store there? Asking for a friend.
Loved Devil’s Bride too Yuri and agree it is her best work.
What I read…
The Word Opera. In his blog at StoriesOnline.net, Grey Wolf said he would start posting Book 7 in “April.” As a running gag, I have been posting a countdown to today, the last day of April, and telling fellow readers there not to panic if GW didn’t say anything before today, which I designated as Panic Button Thursday.
GW didn’t start posting Book 7, nor update his blog to explain, so…
That said, I am rereading book 6, just started Chapter 103 (of 163 – it’s Word Opera! Word Count: 781,358)
What about some slice of life novellas/short stories for Rocky Start if whole books are too intimidating. Small business stuff is my catnip so I would love to see how the shop is running. Maybe it leads to some non-murderous mystery kicked off by a fun object? How is the car parts business going? Maybe something hinky gets found in a vehicle?
Or a girls trip to New York? Like Dodo says, it doesn’t have to be big stuff. Actually, I kinda prefer it isn’t after the main characters find their head or hfn.
KJ Charles saved me from myself this week. I’m minutes away from finishing How to Fake it in Society and it was really good. My only critique is that I could have done without the upset scene at the end. No shade to the author but they seem almost cliche now? I would have loved a less dramatic talk where they figured some things out together and we could still have had the exciting slight of hand scene after that, imo. Still, I enjoyed it throughout, thereby restoring my faith that I can still finish a book. Only problem is now I have to find a new one.
Lupe, good to know that you liked Charles’ new one. It should drop to my audible account today. My phone gave up the ghost on Tuesday, so I’m currently unvoluntarily digital detoxing as I am soooo unfamiliar with my emergency refurtbished-iPhone that I so don’t like.
Sooo tempted to get a Fairphone…
However, detoxing from my digital addiction sounds quite fine (well, as soon as I’m off the big computer). Provided I can still use my e-reader.
Ooh I really like non-murderous mysteries. Because really isn’t that most of life?!
I am glad to hear the new KJ Charles is good!
For myself, I don’t think any work of less than at least novella length is likely to work well as a followup to a novel or series of them. Look at Sayers’s Wimsey short stories or the Boucher novella (or novelette) I reviewed today. (Although Bob’s Rocky Road novella worked very well.) I find the spinoff short stories that various current authors are offering as freebies on their websites to be consistently meh. (Some of the freebies not part of a series work better.)
I think it really depends on the author, and also the series. I like Josh Lanyon’s shorts that she puts up at Christmas. I also rather like Seanan McGuire’s shorts which tend to focus on side characters or back story – mind you sometimes she just decides to write 60k and call it a “short”.
I don’t think mystery shorts work as well, and writing a short story is a different skill set to writing a novel. I think Sayers just wasn’t good at the short length – mostly she just tended to write logic puzzles in fictional clothes.
Writing a short story is definitely a different skill set from writing a novel and not everyone can pull both off. But I have really liked all of Jenny’s short works as well as Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs. I think it depends on how much story there is to tell.
Pretty near all of the series spinoff stories that I have found to be meh on author websites or as freebies with newsletters are non-mysteries, mostly fantasy. I think mysteries work pretty well as short stories of the puzzle type, but they’re disappointing when the protagonist is someone I’ve known from a novel series. There are some characters developed precisely for this kind of puzzle story, possibly starting with Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner, and with those, the reader knows what they’re getting and has never seen the protagonist in a less constrained context.
Jo Bourne only wrote three short stories that I know of and I do love them .
I only think I know two – “My True Love hath My Heart”, which I really liked, and “Intrigue and Mistletoe”. What’s the third?
I miss Joanna Bourne.
I will go look for it. It’s got Adrian before he’s a spy. Google isn’t picking it up. It wasn’t as good as the others but it is still good.
I miss her too.
Found it—it’s in an anthology called Gambled Away published in 2016 by Smexy Books.
Or rather I found references to it online. I don’t see it in Barnes and Noble or Amazon or Alibris.
I can’t recall if I read it online somewhere or it’s in my basement. It also has stories by Rose Lerner and Molly O’Keefe.
Joanna’s was the best thing in it by far.
I remember reading a review of that but I don’t think I found it for sale any where at the time.
I just read Bob Mayer’s novella Rocky Road. He has some characters in the story who seemed like they would end up in Rocky Start. That seemed to open the possibilities of more stories. When I finished, I thought that I really want to know more about these women’s stories going forward.
I’m going to wait until the new K. J. Charles comes out in paperback & the ebook price lowers. £10.99 is too expensive. She seems to be with Tor now, and they tend to be expensive.
Yes, I looked at the price too and decided to wait.
I took the chance to pre-order the new Charles on audible during their sale. Strangely enough they had two versions of her book – one for less than 4 Euro, one for iirc much more. Same length. No idea what the difference might be.
Needless to say I chose the cheaper one.
But now my smartphone is toast and so is my chance to listen to any audiobook until I find a way to transfer the contents on a new one.
My emergency iPhone makes me want to hurl it across the living room. Kiddo used it before (see emergency device), so it’s configured according to her likes. They are not my likes.
I like my old phone. I like to have my audible library available. I like my ebook libraries available. I am experiencing a version of phone cold turkey. It’s not fun. But I managed basically without a phone for two days now. I can go longer.
Sorry, I didn’t want to growl so much.
I definitely have to keep on doing digital detox.
Someone here mentioned Comet Weather, and I have enjoyed it a LOT – I found there are three (!!) more afterwards, although none of the following books have the heft (over 1000 pages) of the first, or the almost leisurely feel to that first book. I find I’m really liking the weather that happens through these books – clouds scud and rain patters and then skies clear with a gusty wind, and branches toss in the sky. The author’s descriptions of countryside (and all the intersecting fairyland countryside) is just delicious.
and yes, definitely automate some of the posting if would make your life easier. that is what computers are ~supposed~ to be for.
Oh, hooray! I’m sure there are other fans here too, but I really love Liz Williams’s Fallow Sisters series. I’m glad you tried it! And yeah, they have such a great sense of place.
Again not too much from me, still reading the marathon AO3 Regalus (Harry Potter) fanfic ‘Choices’. MM hockey lovers I also read and AO3 Original MC hockey which I enjoyed a lot. ‘Holding’ by MesserMoon (who also wrote Choices) is currently 90k but I think it will be considerably longer in the end (it is not complete and won’t be for a long time, I’d say, in case that puts you off). About two contrasting teammates in competition with each other. I enjoyed it, well written, good characters, lots of hockey and I am looking forward to future instalments. Story starts just before World Juniors and has currently just passed the CHL Memorial cup. Somewhat angsty, deals with some serious issues. Will link below.
On audio I listened to Josh Laynon’s ‘Dark Horse and White Knight’ two novellas with the same MCs, about an actor and cop assigned to protect him. Dark Horse is more of a murder/stalker mystery and White Knight takes the story after Dark Horse but also fills in earlier events and includes some crime elements. I liked it, early Lanyon, so a little different to her usual stuff.
Holding https://archiveofourown.org/works/68027701
•Anthony Boucher, Vacancy with Corpse, 1946). (Originally published as by H.H. Holmes.)
I knew that crimesolver Sister Ursula had appeared in two novels (Nine Times Nine, 1940; Rocket to the Morgue, 1942) but I either had never known or had forgotten that she also figured in several shorter works, evidently totalling this one (of a length probably counting as a novella), plus two short stories. (I think all originally appeared under the author’s H.H. Holmes pseudonym, but have been reprinted as by Boucher.)
We open late in World War II, seemingly at a point between VE Day and VJ Day. As an act of very belated patriotism, rich and flighty matron Vicky Cain had recently offered a spare room in her San Francisco mansion as housing for a war worker, and then forgotten all about it until a man shows up with ID as a worker in a shipbuilding plant and a referral from the City Housing Bureau. He interrupts a gathering of extended family members plus Sister Ursula, who is escorting Sherry Cain, Vicky Cain’s niece and now a postulant in Sister Ursula’s (fictional) order, the Sisters of Martha of Bethany. (Evidently, before my time nuns always traveled in pairs. In the novels, Sister Ursula was Los Angeles based. Presumably Sherry had moved to LA for her postulancy, but has returned north to visit her dying grandfather.) Within minutes of being settled in his room, the new lodger is discovered murdered. There may be a small chance of an intruder who somehow sneaked in and out, escaped notice, and somehow had a motive, but more likely the murderer has to be one of the family (or, improbably, Sister Ursula). Even the cook had just quit.
In a subplot, for explained reasons, the lead investigator turns out to be Detective Lieutenant Ben Latimer, who is engaged to Vicky Cain’s daughter Liz. Liz has been furthering the war effort by ferrying military aircraft, but is currently sidelined by a broken arm. She is painfully aware that she acquired Ben on the rebound when his former girlfriend Sherry, Liz’s cousin, decided to enter religious life. As only a postulant, Sherry could still back out of joining the order at any time, and now she is again face to face with Ben. (Liz would feel even less secure if she knew that, as established in Rocket to the Morgue, members of Ursula’s order, unusually, take their vows for only a year at a time—although Ursula had insisted that in fact no sister ever fails to renew them.)
Further complications ensue. Along the way, the modern reader picks up information about war on the home front that was presented only as background in 1946 when the memory was still fresh, but is now the stuff of historical novels. I think I had been vaguely aware that in the oil-rich US, the purpose of gasoline rationing had been to save tire rubber rather than petroleum (the Japanese had taken the Asian rubber plantations that had supplied the US), but I had not known that most of the country had a 35 mph speed limit, even on highways, in order to reduce tire wear, nor that San Francisco was still under blackout in 1945, although the regulations seem less severe than in the UK, and although inland parts of the US were blackout-free.
I found the novella readable but not nearly as good as the earlier novels. The solution to the murder left too much obscure, the characterization is merely adequate, and the constrained word length does not allow for the fascinating discussions, as in the novels, about various obscure topics known to an author with famously broad interests. Although she solves the case, Sister Ursula remains only an onlooker for much of the story, and we gain no new insights into her character. Still, anything that Boucher wrote has value. Mildly recommended.
•Andrew Wareham, Intermission, book 2 of ‘Twas on the China Station, 2026.
I discussed book 1 here on January 1, 2026. George Mayhew continues to set up a business in 1850s Shanghai. This first requires coming to an arrangement with local organized crime, which is the de facto ruler of both the Chinese portion of Shanghai (in those days a fairly insignificant town) and the new foreign concession. Wareham calls this crime group the Great River Triad. (I can’t offhand find such a gang recorded in the real world and some sources suggest the English term “triad” should not even be applied to gangland in Shanghai, only to some cities in the south of China.) Mayhew is obliged to offer a kowtow to the triad boss, although it is explained to him that this is merely a demonstration of deep respect, not the humiliating grovel that many Westerners take it to be. With the triad satisfied, Mayhew, a relatively small player in the foreign concession, is also eager to reassure the other foreign merchants, especially the British ones, that he represents no threat to their interests.
After this diplomacy, dealing with formal governments is almost trivial. The Qing (the established Chinese government) and the Taiping rebels both generally regard the foreign merchants as neutrals, particularly after Mayhew demonstrates that his steam-powered gunboat can force its way up the Yangtse to Nanking and back and he has assured both sides that he is willing to trade with them impartially. This will assure them of an overseas market and a source of Western manufactures. Developments in arms technology and the drastic price reductions from industrialization have finally made the Chinese desire Western trade goods, after centuries of requiring payment in silver or (although illegal in Chinese law) in opium. Next, an overeager British Naval sloop captain attempts to assert control of the foreign concession of Shanghai to keep it from the Russians, now that the Crimean War has started. Mayhew is able to pursuade him that this would violate the treaty establishing the concession, and that in any case the concession can defend itself far better than the undergunned sail-powered sloop could.
After some years, the Mayhew interests in Shanghai seem sufficiently secure that George can safely head off to England for six months or so to check on the Mayhew family interests there and to find himself a properly British wife. (George has not yet decided whether he will pension off the Chinese concubine that the triad has supplied him with, or instead keep her on, but in a separate establishment.) En route to England, he visits his father, who is establishing the Mayhew business in Hong Kong. By this time (late 1850s) enough coaling stations have been set up that portions of the route to London can be covered by steam power alone (although extended ocean stretches still require sail), and there is now a passenger railroad across Suez, although not yet a canal. Similarly, the connecting ship from Suez conveys its passengers along the the Mediterranean to Marseille, where a railroad across France connects to a steam ferry at Calais. With a bit of luck in making connections, the trip to London now takes only sixty days from Hong Kong, a marvel of new technology.
I am not quite sure of the significance of the title ‘Intermission.” Quite a few things happen in this volume, and it’s not clear what in the future would make this activity seem a mere intermission. True, George has been thinking about moving on to Australia if things go badly in Shanghai, and the Taiping Rebellion is scheduled to heat up again before being defeated. But in the real world the rebels never took Shanghai, and considering the series title, I would not expect a move to Australia until the close of the final series volume, if at all. Anyway, I enjoyed this volume for its insights into a time and place that I knew little about and I appreciate Wareham’s attention to the effects of technological progress. George displays more moral flaws than most Wareham protagonists, but not enough to turn him into a true antihero. Also, as ever, I am not convinced of Wareham’s complete historical accuracy, but his record is fairly good. Cautiously recommended.
•Lawrence Principe, Science and Religion, Great Courses audio, 2006.
Principe quickly narrows his topic. He explains that since most of his students will be North American, and North American culture, as well as science itself, principally derives from Western Europe, “religion” principally means Christianity in its Catholic and Protestant forms, with, owing to a lack of space, only a few nods to Judaism and Islam, and a very few to Classical paganism. Furthermore, “religion” here means theology, with only a few nods to other religious factors such as institutions or way of life. More by my induction than Principe’s statement, I conclude that “science” means principally physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, and biology (or their less distinct ancestors in natural philosophy), with little attention paid to even a rigorous field such as experimental psychology, much less to the social sciences that only loosely adhere to the Scientific Method.
Two recent models of the relation between science and religion that both treat them as distinct are the conflict model and the separate-realms model, but as a historian of science, Principe contends that a clear distinction between religion and science is a relatively recent development and is not completely valid even now. Until at least well into the 19th century most scientists were practicing Christians (often clergymen) or, in some cases, deists, and they often either posited an active role for God in their models of the natural world (the notorious “God of the gaps”) or attempted to find sure proof of the existence of God in the natural order. Principe finds both of these latter approaches mistaken, as is acknowledged today by most Christian theologians but disputed by a vocal minority. There is much more to the course than I have the space to summarize here. I have now relistened to the lectures three times, with years between the listenings, and new points have struck me each time.
By now, the course is showing its age a bit. In 2006, the New Atheism and Intelligent Design figured much in the news and Principe addresses them. Those issues seem to have calmed down considerably, and more would probably have to be said in 2026 about medical science, biology, psychology, climate science, and artificial intelligence. Those topics might be trickier to approach, since there often is less disagreement, at least among the educated, about the scientific facts, and more about their ethical implications. (Here the theologians are divided among themselves, but the same was true of even mainstream theologians during the controversies of the 19th century.)
For whatever reason, aside from a few short videos on YouTube showing his views to be basically unaltered, Principe seems not to have pursued the “science and religion” topic. He has lectures in the Great Courses series on the general history of science, and most of his recent academic work seems to be on the history of alchemy. (I reviewed his The Secrets of Alchemy for GBTh on October 9, 2025.). In any case, this course is strongly recommended.
Still reading off the comfort/keeper shelf despite my teetering TBR pile. Also reading my own book, Rescuing the Lawman. Please note I did NOT choose the title! A downside to trad publishing is giving up control over certain things. Anyway, the next time I see it, it will be a book so this is my final input.
I’d read that book. Implies a woman doing the rescuing which I always like 🙂
Jennie, you should do what works for you, but like the others I worry when you don’t post. And I note we keep talking anyway.
I am still reading the Fabric of Civilization and I think the folks here especially the crafters would find it fascinating . I did not know that a piece of fabric used to be standardized enough to serve as currency or that the first schools for practical use of mathematics were about how to calculate trading with fabric.
I haven’t read many books partly because of three days of searching through emails to try to find more useful info for Protective Services in NY . I have a medical report as part of the divorce that I can’t share with them, I think, ( because our friend with dementia can’t absorb what he reads we got access to confidential info to explain it verbally to him ) but it was interesting to note that it actually seemed to have been prepared for another court proceeding in a different county to remove the daughter from the mom and I’m hoping they can get it more quickly through the court system. It takes time to get medical records. I’m really scared that they will release her from the hospital before Protective Services has the info to act. And then the mom will take the daughter and flee. Also 10 years of emails about how these three kids grew up living in car ports or moving to a new hotel every day because the mom believed they developed a reaction to staying in a room after a single night —in her college essays (she got into good colleges but then her health deteriorated and she never got to go) the daughter called them homeless with lots of money—is hard. And I keep remembering all the times we tried to persuade the dad to intervene and he just kept saying “I have to believe”. DH and I were talking yesterday about how we wish we had done something many years before but honestly we didn’t have the information about what she was doing, or the addresses to send Protective Services to. DH thinks we should have done an intervention with the dad but we really tried — I honestly don’t think it would have worked.
The other reason I didn’t read much was we were in NYC with DD and had a great time. I know I said it before but Operation Mincemeat is wonderful . Funny and fast paced and moving and incredibly well acted and sung and choreographed. We saw the new American cast not the original British cast and they were really excellent (but not much in the way of British accents). I will post the tour link in a separate post; it’s so good that I plan to go a third time when it comes to DC next year. There are people who go every week. I hope they film the show (not turn it into a movie—there were already two serious movies) so they capture the great vaudeville type movement and amazing character changes. Each actor plays several roles, often with minimal costume changes and sometimes changing character on stage, and yet you always know exactly who they are.
So I am rereading the book by Ben MacIntyre which is also well done and being amazed also by how meticulous they were and how closely the musical sticks to the facts.
Operation Mincemeat tour: https://operationmincemeat.com/tour/us/
And the detective just set up a call with me for tomorrow. So that’s progress (before it was the social workers in protective services. This guy works with the attorneys office that would bring the case.)
Plus he is going to see if he can find out if she is still in hospital for me.
Debbie, I hope your intervention is successful. That poor daughter has had a fraught life!
Debbie, I could not agree with you more re Operation Mincemeat. We saw it in NYC with the original British cast and when it was over I wanted to walk right back into the theater and see it again. It is brilliant and moving and totally memorable. We are going to see it when we next go back up to NYC.
I read somewhere that the creators felt they had to stick to the facts closely because family of the people are still alive and when the family came to see it they said it was a loving reflection of who they were. Which is a little stunning given how crazy the plot seems. It really is worth reading the book too.
And after the book came out some of the fans researched and wrote a history of Hester Leggatt, the one character that the book didn’t have much background on, and now there is a plaque to her in the British theater. It inspires that kind of devotion. I’m planning to order it —Finding Hester.
I agree that I don’t think an intervention with the friend would have worked. Unfortunately he seems like he was fully enmeshed in the madness. One of the books I listened to said you can’t have an abusive parent without a permissive one and that echoes in my head.
That’s a really insightful and helpful comment. Thank you.
I’ve been doing a maybe reread of the Vor Game by Bujold. I didn’t have a copy on my shelves, so I picked it up when I found it at the used book store. I could have sworn I read this back in the day, but it hasn’t been familiar as I’m going through it. So, maybe I was just interpolating from context in the other books. Either way, I’m enjoying being back in Miles’s world.
What a cool coincidence! I’ve been on a streak of rereading (audiobooks) all the Crusie/Mayer work! I’m re-listening to Vince and Liz right now (currently at the end of Rest in Pink) and just before starting that I listened to Don’t Look Down, and Agnes and the Hitman, and before that, all the Rocky Start series in order to read Rocky Road for the first time! All that’s left is Wild Ride.
I’ve re-read the Crusie books so often, but hadn’t done the Crusie/Mayer books as much, so it has been fun to rediscover them.
Any additional Liz/Vince or Rose/Max stuff you’d be interested in writing would be very welcome, but only if it doesn’t stress you out too much. I’ve heard that reader’s expectations make writing harder.
❤️ Thanks again for all the books you’ve given the world!
Do whatever you need to do, Jenny, but please do check in occasionally. As others have said, we worry.
I’m reading Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett. I’m not sure where I came across it, since I wasn’t familiar with the author. Maybe someone here recommended it? It’s a cozy fantasy set in 1920’s Montreal, which isn’t usually my kind of thing…but well, cat shelter.
Jenny,
Setting up GBTs would take a load off your back.
So that’s why you want to write loong series. I’m the anti series member of Argh. For instance, I dumped Gentleman Joel & the Red Queen in paper recycling. YET, I would class Ethan of Athos and Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance as other Bujold books that both standalone amd complement the entire series. I can see a bunch of possibilities in Rocky Start and Liz Danger.
If you’re serious, I can see donating a book to a thrift store or a Little Free Library, but recycling is an extreme measure that I don’t think Joel deserves, although I think it’s far from the best Vorkosiverse book. I think the only nondamaged book that I ever dumped in recycling was a religious book that I thought was perniciously wrong. (And that was so long ago that I don’t remember details. )
Patrick, Thank you for responding. Aral’s behavior — sexually seeking out a subordinate and hiding the relationship from his wife — disgusted me , knowing how Miles and others were risking their lives for Aral’s sake. Cordelia’s disregard for both public servants and the general public appalled me. The Vorkosigan universe disintegrated into pettiness. I didn’t want anyone else to read the book.
I don’t think he hid it from Cordelia. At times they were a three some. I do think it made no sense that everyone around them knew except Miles. Especially given Cordelia’s Betan beliefs.
I found the book internally inconsistent with Jole thinking he was gay when he had been involved with Cordelia with Aral watching. It’s not up to the rest of the series by any means.
And agree re subordinate.
Elizabeth, Some of what you say differs from what I vaguely recall of the plot (for instance that Aral was hiding the affair from Cordelia), but it was not a book that I particularly enjoyed and someone else here may remember it better than I. I can see your point if it was as you say. I never owned a physical copy of the book and I think I only read it from the library.
Really feel the need to re-read “Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen” now as that is not the book I remember. My recollection is that Jole was a third in Aral and Cordelia’s marriage and that there was never any hint of misconduct or consent issues. I thoroughly enjoyed it both times I read it and I found Jole and Cordelia’s interactions delightful. Definitely feeling the need for a re-read now to make sure I’m across all the details.
Elizabeth, just wanted to say that if you hated the book, you hated the book and goodness knows there are books I hated that other people love. I’m just glad there are a wide variety of books available for the infinite variety of readers that we are.
I finished a ridiculous number of books this week.
1. [re-read] my own novellas ‘Mating Dance,’ ‘Vintage,’ and ‘Overboard.’
2. ‘The Social Life of Books: Reading Together in the Eighteenth-Century Home’ by Abigail Williams. Focus is on English homes. A terrific resource, very readable, fascinating. Looks huge but don’t be scared, 35% is notes.
2.5 ‘Jay Moriarty Ruins Everybody’s Childhood’ by Kit Walker, in which Moriarty & Moran stitch up a transphobic fantasy author who’s made it easy by fiddling her finances.
3. ‘Companions Without Vows: Relationships Among Eighteenth-Century British Women’ by Betty Rizzo. Giving myself full credit even though I skimmed most of it. Depressing and dry, these were not the relationships I was looking for. Acquired many years ago as a source for my thesis on Frances Burney.
4. ‘Bedside Manner’ by C.G. Macington, a new-to-me author. MM set in an urban hospital. MC1 is Chief of Cardiac Surgery and repressed, anxious son of the hospital’s biggest donor, a chaotic but funny asshole; MC2 is Chief of Trauma, former Army. Opposites attract, complementary natures & skills, some graphic surgical stuff, smart grown-ups negotiating a complex affair. 5 stars.
5. ‘The Flower Shop Arrangement’ by R. Cayden, MM set in Buffalo NY, was heading for a solid 4 stars but the last 20% really dug into the feels and character development, so this also got 5 stars. MC1 is a carpenter, MC2 runs a flower shop in the building MC1 has just inherited from a grandpa he never knew. Renovations, business strategies, competence porn, good friends & allies, just enough sexy sex, just a damn nice book.
5.5 ‘Blade Through the Heart’ by Carrie Vaughn, a SF adventure short story, enjoyable but would advise reading the other Graff stories first as this very much plunges you into relationships/context.
6. ‘Plague Years: A Doctor’s Journey Through the AIDS Crisis’ by Ross A. Slotten, strongly recommended for those interested in medicine, public health policy, memoirs, and/or LGBTQ+ issues. Well written, very personal, occasionally harrowing.
7. ‘How to Fake It in Society’ by KJ Charles. Well, of course I loved it. Would have loved it even more given an extra chapter to see them enjoying their happy ending (much as with ‘Copper Script’). No Francis Cheviot avatar here … maybe someone like him will turn up in a future book.
8. ‘FOMO: Fear of Missing Out’ by Hal Katkov. Gay lit set in Palm Springs. Mixed feelings about this one. Some persistent layout and editing issues. Starts off looking like either a “midlife breakup leading to reconciliation second chance” or a “midlife breakup leading to new love” romance. And it’s a love story, and there’s a second chance, but I wouldn’t call it a romance even though it’s a more satisfying resolution for the 2 men we start the book with than it could have been. Lots of POVs, intertwining stories, much to say about intergenerational and intersectional trauma, entertaining and often funny but, in all, I had to round up to 4 stars.
8.5 ‘Finding His Heart Again at Christmas’ by Dominick Cummings, which turned up in also-looked-at when I was getting something else. MM novelette with some very writerly writing, which I particularly appreciated because the POV character is a writer. Spoiler: it’s a ghost story, with a very nice new-beginning epilogue. 5 stars for real feels even after I saw the twist coming.
9. ‘Conflict of Interest’ by C.G. Macington. 2nd in St. Jude Medical trilogy, MM feat. the younger brother of the rich MC of the first book, who is now a resident. The love interest is the Chief Resident. Some different conflicts but once again none of them are bullshit, some really good medical action scenes, plenty of nice relationship development, 5 stars.
Frances Burney from a literature or a history perspective ? More please!
I downloaded a sample of
Plague years but will wait to read it. I served a number of clients with aids in legal services in NYC during that time and will need to be in the right mood to read this.
On a brighter note I will say I was co-president of the legal
Services Union when we went on strike in 1991 for what I believe is still the longest strike by legal services lawyers in Us history —4 months. A number of our members were also members of Act Up and they were great at leading demonstrations. Favorite memory: we were denied a permit to march down Broadway (no surprise) but did it anyway. Police on motorcycles set up a V formation to block us but we just walked around them and kept going. Per advice of ActUp members. So they raced off to City Hall thinking we were headed to the Mayor but we stopped a few blocks short at the Legal Services main office.
I think there are histories of ActUp. I think a book set in their activism would be great.
I was getting an MA in history so a thesis on Burney was a stretch, but thanks to 1990s flexibility about social and cultural history, I sneaked through. 🙂 My thesis was actually the second thing I ever self-published, it’s up on AMZ in paperback.
I am seeing a whole lot of new gaylit and MM romance written by gay men and I’m sure the Act UP days will become someone’s setting very soon, if not already. Lambda Literary is a good place to look for topical own-voices gay love stories.
Somewhere in my tbr is Sarah Schulman’s “Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT-UP New York” so there are definitely relevant histories!
The preview of Bedside Manner is good. Thanks for the ref, Chacha1.
I listened to the new KJ Charles book and really enjoyed it. (Some if the French pronunciation was off, but otherwise the narrator was good).
I was in B&N for my book group on Monday and diverted to the sci-fi section to pick up a book for my son and…
The new Murderbot was already on the shelf! It was expensive, but it’s almost my birthday. Happy birthday to me! I really enjoyed it. It didn’t cover a lot of me ground (except in the literal new location, I guess) but had new and old characters and a good adventure.
I am waiting for my pre-ordered ebook to appear….
Sounds like an excellent birthday present to self.
Default posts sound excellent. It might be good to have an indicator that it’s default, for various reasons.
I had Monday night off, so I went to see the Hail Mary Project again, still a very satisfying cinematic experience.
I’ve started watching the show “The Closer” on Netflix. I hadn’t watched it during its run, 2005-2012(?). It’s a pretty satisfying procedural with a female protagonist who is in charge. I notice the tech, mostly pre-smart phones, but since I had a phone like that myself it’s not distracting.
I woke up around 4:30 full of angst and anger. I couldn’t get back to sleep until a I put on a comfort listen, which in this case turned out to be Heyer’s “The Reluctant Widow.”
Aside from that I’m up into Book 9 of The Brothers Karamazov with my book group. We meet maybe every 3 weeks.
I can’t settle on much other lighter reading although I see some good suggestions here I’ll try.
Second the suggestion about indicating they are defaults so we know when it was just done and you are ok.
We are a bunch of worriers here.
I would think that it would be easy enough for Jenny to either add a personal comment on Thursday or (if she’s distracted all day or something) soon thereafter to reassure us. The advantage of having an automatic GBTh post would be that it would always be there on Thursday morning, not whenever in the day Jenny remembers, making it easier for us to unburden ourselves of a week’s worth of reading recommendations.
The Closer is one of my all-time favourite shows. Have watched the whole thing three times. Keira Sedgewick is so flawed and fierce.
I’m apparently reading all of TM Baumgartner/Tess Baytree’s backlist. I still have a few to go, but then I’ll be all caught up and sad until the next one comes out!
I thought of another long running series where the MC evolves: the Daisy Gumm mysteries by Alice Duncan. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned them here before as part of a different conversation, but it’s a really solid series with a slowly developing romantic arc (and in fact the MC is married to someone else in the first few books). Daisy is VERY young at the beginning (not underage young, though!) and matures into an interesting adult as she navigates some really difficult situations. I don’t think I’ve read all the books yet, but I’ve read around a dozen, and I don’t think there’s a stinker in the bunch.
This week, I read and re-read my new book — Marika and the Auction. It’s an amusing picture book especially for people living with dementia, to entertain them and help their visitors sustain conversations with them.
I couldn’t find a place to request one of those shoutouts you sometimes do for Argh authors, Jenny, so I hope you don’t mind me including the info here. As of this week, it’s available in the U.S., too, on Amazon.
http://www.StorybooksForSeniors.com
Congratulations, Helen! (And she’s way behind on the Argh author posts, so it’s just as well you took matters into your own hands.)
Thank you, Deborah! I appreciate all of that!
Looks like a great idea, Helen – good luck with it!
Thank you! I hope it helps many people.
I’ve recommended this to my business partner whose father has dementia.
Thank you! Your support is very much appreciated, as this is a micro-project in publishing with a small hybrid publisher.
What a wonderful concept, Helen. I wish there had been something like that when my mom had Alzheimer’s.
Exactly, Beth! I have been reading my 86-year-old mom children’s books and realized there had to be a better solution — and that I could construct it!
Yeah, when my Mom stopped reading due to her memory problems, it was as though someone had ripped out a big part of her personality.
I feel this so much. My mother was an avid storyteller, reader and supporter of writers. Hugs to you.
I think I forgot to tell you all about a book I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago: The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C. M. Waggoner. Has anyone else read it? It’s a fractured fairytale with a cozy/practical fantasy tone, but from the point of view of the old witch in the woods who raised a foundling baby and has to stop him from messing everything up for the kingdom he’s just found himself ruling.
I always really enjoy how Waggoner handles gender roles and relationships in fantasy, and this had great characters that reminded me a bit of Granny Weatherwax (or Morgan from Dealing with Dragons) and Colonel Carrot—tropes, sure, but much more interesting when they’re people. It felt a bit like some of T. Kingfisher’s non-horror, non-romance stories.
I downloaded and read the kindle sample. I’m still undecided about buying the full book ($12.99), but your review makes me lean more toward it.
They’re different, but I loved Waggoner’s earlier books Unnatural Magic and A Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry too! Maybe your library would have them?
That sounds like something I’d like.
I am now number 7 hold on 1 copy. We will find out.
I hope so! Curious to find out!
Putting it on my list.
The previous GBT on series reminded me that there were several Sebastian St. Cyr books (by CS Harris) that I hadn’t read, and it’s been so long since I read the early ones that I decided to do a re-read, starting at the beginning. Just finished the second book.
They’re dark, and I’m not sure I need any more darkness in my life, but they’re also really compelling, so at least for now, I’ll keep going. The next Murderbot arrives next week, so I’ll take a break from the bleak to read that.
I read Full Moon Coffee Shop and it was pleasant, but mildly so. I did finish it, though, in a sea of DNFs.
I’m still plowing through 12 Seconds of Silence, skimming the parts I know something about and paying attention to the parts I don’t, because his writing is really clunky, but I might actually get to the end.
In the series line, I just reread Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold’s two mysteries Death by Silver and Death at the Dionysus Club, and am hoping for more soon. They are both fascinating urban magic murders, in an alternate London, where the two detectives have a developing relationship, but aren’t quite at HEA yet. I loved them the first time, and after this time reading them back to back I want more in that world. Lots more!
Perhaps let them change with the changes? I’ve lately binged on Emma Lathens Thatcher series, and originally tried to read them in order, but there’s no reason to do that as the characters don’t change – at all. That a man in his sixties must be in his eighties twenty years later, is one thing, but zero character development in that long a series?
Settling down in a relationship does change people, new interests does change people. Rocky Start is in a new situation, so why not let people change and adjust?
And on the subject of changes: I’ve just finished The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon. It’s a good mosaic story with a different POV for each chapter, and how they change and are changed by interacting with the main character.
This community talks amongst itself enough that an automatic weekly place to do it will probably work well (though I’ve often been only a lurker here, so grain of salt to go with this opinion is in order). To the extent that people are here for you (it is your blog) an automated weekly post is a little … mechanical. Short term, I wouldn’t worry about that at all if you’re primarily looking to maintain the community (not that I’m an expert, just my feeling) because the community is very non-mechanical already.
At the same time, you do set the tone, so… I mean, you should do what works for you, but if you’re worried about that, you might find it helps to show up (in a top level) often enough to maintain this as what it is. But that is very much just my instinctive feeling.
Thanks to all of you who recommended The Hand of the Emperor. I just finished it, half listening, have reading.
Ooooh. Last I looked, years ago, this wasn’t available in audiobook and I was put off by how long it was as I am a slow reader.
The audiobook just came out a couple of weeks ago. I mentioned it here in a Good Book Thursday post
Missed that. Was is a good narration? I have been wanting to try this one since it is so highly recommended.
Yes, a very good narration [response to Lupe]. And apparently the second one in the series (at the Feet of the Sun?] will be out soon…
For those who haven’t read Victoria Goddard’s books, The Hand of the Emperor, is long, slow, and satisfying. She herself sounds fascinating. I’m told she lives in rural Nova Scotia and is a sexton in a local church. Has a PhD in Medieval History from UofT, and is also well grounded in anthropology. As I said, thank you all for introducing me to her.
I have friends who live in rural Nova Scotia. I think it makes someone automatically interesting.
Wow! 31,5 hours.
I’ve been picturing her on Vancouver Island, for some reason. Obviously got my Canadian geography back to front.
I read, and really enjoyed, THE WITCH ROADS & THE NAMELESS LAND, a fantasy duology by Kate Elliott.
El, the local Deputy Courier in a backwater town, is commandeered to guide an arrogant prince and his retainers on foot across unprotected country in a secretive, urgent mission to a border outpost. With dangerous adversaries in hot pursuit, the prince wilfully disregards El’s expert advice, reaps the magical consequences, and greatly complicates her task.
The worldbuilding is excellent. The adventure is brimful of conspiracy, treason, snobbery, magic, and monsters—but also community, humor, camaraderie, found family and a most unlikely romance. I loved El, who was stubborn and defiantly upbeat in the face of heart-breaking adversity. There are other strong female characters, too. Most of the cast—even the obnoxious prince—arc in interesting or surprising ways.
Some way past the midpoint of the second book, I still couldn’t figure out how the author was going to wrap up the various plot strands, but I really like the way she closed out the story. She answered the questions that mattered, and concluded the most important character arcs, without changing the fundamentals of the world.
She’s such a talented writer!
Okay Jilly, since you’re my new reco queen given the success of the Tuyo series as reco…how would you compare this one to that in terms of enjoyability?
The Kate Elliott duology is very good and I enjoyed it a lot. I have never read any of her books before but will definitely try others.
That said, for me Rachel Neumeier is exceptional. She gives her characters so much emotional depth and a lot of it is in the subtext, so there’s room for the reader to make an investment. Plus the world-building is so complete and so consistent—culture, family, politics, language, food, landscape, geology, flora and fauna…no part of the world rings false to me. These are books I’ll re-read often.
If TUYO is 10/10 I’d probably give WITCH ROADS a solid 8. I think it’s a matter of how well the author’s choices match the reader’s personal preferences (have heard this called an id list). The TUYO books hit all the highlights on my id list.
Fortunately I can read far faster than even a prolific (human) author can write, so I have plenty of time to explore Kate Elliott and other authors while waiting for the next Neumeier 🙂
I’ll put her on my someday maybe list. Her books are quite expensive versus the Tuyo series which is on KU so free for me. There’s rarely a correlation between amount paid and reading enjoyment.
Quite often I like indie books, which tend to be cheaper, better than trad. I think it’s because there is more scope to break the ‘rules’. Like TUYO, which has all kinds of side stories and back stories. MARAG is Book 8, but it’s Ryo’s parents’ love story. BEREKET is Book 12, but it’s the backstory of a secondary character from RIHASI, which is Book 9.
There are currently twelve TUYO books. I also like Neumeier’s INVICTUS (duology, with another novella and novel due by the summer) even though I don’t normally read space opera. And her DEATH’S LADY, five books, portal fantasy. There’s also BLACK DOG, urban fantasy, doesn’t hit my id list in the same way but your mileage may vary. I think they’re all in KU, so lots of free reading if you continue to enjoy her books.
The only new book I read this week (among several rereads) was Bujold’s newest Penric novella, Darksight Dare. It was wonderful. There are no villains in this story, just a complex situation with no simple outcome for any of the characters. But as always, Penric rises to the challenge and applies his original thinking to discover a unique solution to the knotty problem. The logic of the plot is impeccable, the characters’ actions inevitable according to their varied personalities, and the narrative superb. It is #16 in the series, but unlike many other series, this one keeps developing and changing, as the author delves deeper into her world and her hero. Loved it.
So funny, we must have been writing at the same time, see my post below 🙂
Gotta get it! I thought it was on pre order.
Exactly. I was going “It’s out already? So where is it?”
Coming late to the party, I am super surprised nobody has mentioned the latest Penric, « Darksight Dare », which is a complete delight. At one point, I laughed aloud which is something I very rarely do with books. I usually just do in inwardly but there is this completely irresistible moment. I defy anybody not to laugh aloud at it 🙂
King of Torts by John Grisham.
Also read the new Penric, Darksight Dare. Pretty good. I enjoyed it more than The Adventure of the Demonic Ox.
I also read The Great Big Bear and other stories by Kevin Hearne. A collection of short stories featuring Atticus, Owen, Granuile and Gladys, Who Has Seen Some Shite. And Oberon waxes rhapsodic about Sausage Theory.
I was not aware of DARKSIGHT DARE before this post. I’m reading it now, thank you!
…and finished. While excellent, I can’t say it’s the best of the Penric & Desdemona stories. Still, it does not disappoint. Two thumbs up. Five stars.
I just got Spencer Quinn’s (Peter Abraham) new Chet and Bernie mystery, Cat on a Hot Tin Woof, Chet being the canine narrator of the 16 book series with Bernie the human detective. Sounds awfully twee, I know, BUT they are Stephen King’s favorite books, and he has fulsome praise for them (easily found on the internet). They are wonderful and I agree with SK!!
Thanks Penelope, the first one is in the library so I shall give it a try.
Ditto
I’ve got the first of the Quinn series downloaded in audio, but I want to finish off the Andy Carpenter that I’m working on. I also discovered that one of my libraries has a lot of the Penric series in audio, altho not the just-published one. I was unhappy to find that the narrator is Grover Gardner, though. He sort of handles the Carpenter books, but I think he is FAR from the best choice for Bujold books. (Granted, he’s doing better than I would have expected of him. )
I have been having a Cat Sebastian week. First, a reread of Hither, Page and The Missing Page, which are two of my favourites. I rather wish she had written more in this series, rather than just the two books. Then a reread of Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue, which is sweet and funny.
Now I’m working my way through a reread of the Adrien English series, which isn’t my favourite because it’s hard to see the relationship with the self-loathing Jake as anything but toxic, at least for the first three books. But I do get sucked into the long arc of it, so I’m enjoying it regardless.
Adrien English isn’t my favourite either. It feels a bit dated to me compared to Lanyon’s other works but I know a lot of people love it.
I finished reading the book “The Power of Beliefs” by Shawn Achor to be published on May 5th. It was excellent! I struggle with what he calls the “Four Horsemen of the Modern World” – depression, anxiety, burnout, and loneliness. He uses scientific studies in a fun and accessible way to impress upon us how much our beliefs matter. He spends time on 7 core power beliefs and how they impact our lives and future.
– My behavior matters
– I am grateful
– I matter
– I have something to give
– I am not alone
– This work is meaningful
– There is something greater than me
Then he spends time on how we can change our beliefs for the better. Of these six methods, the ones that really stuck with me include the “Disaster Elevator” – when spiraling downward, take time to write out from 10 – the worst thing that could happen, down to 1 – the least worst thing that could happen. Doing this will engage your prefrontal cortex and help break the spiraling. I also appreciate the chapter on getting rid of negative self-talk. Apparently, just saying “I’m old” or “I’m getting old” will convince the brain that you are, and since we all have built-in ageism, we will start walking and thinking more slowly.
The second book I finished was an audiobook of “The Hopeful Hearts Bookshop” by Debbie Johnson. It was a cute and predictable romance. It was set in Bonnie Bay, Scotland. The setting is so delightful that I want to go and live there. The couple arrives there after each finds and accepts an invitation from the bookstore owner, Moria, to visit. She sent the invitations out 4 years earlier in 10 different books. The two who come, Kate and Brody, are both broken and grieving souls. They find healing in restoring the bookstore and in each other. It’s light and fun and a bit sad.
Going to check out the somewhat wicked witch. I’ve been on a cottage core binge. Reread Sarah Beth Durst.’s the spell shop and the magical greenhouse after reading her new one, the far away B&B.
Yay! It’s definitely being marketed in the same genre, though I enjoyed that this one wasn’t a romance. (I love romance too, but it isn’t the only kind of relationship I enjoy reading abiut!)
Has Jan Kindwoman reported on her house closing yet ? I am hoping she is just celebrating and moving.
Hi, Debbie. I appreciate your thinking of me. I was going to post on this site that I have been reading legal documents related to the house. I received a call from the title officer that I would need to get a wire sent to her company for the down payment and closing costs the next day. I finagled a ride with my teenage granddaughter to the bank. Luckily it is Bank of Oklahoma and they have offices here as well. I heard about this request at 2:45. We got to the bank by 4:45. and were told that the deadline for wires is 3 PM. And it would not be sent until the next morning. This whole process has been a series of Snafus! I received a call the next morning from the teller, saying that, even though he had looked at my drivers license, he had not taken a photo of it because he saw that they had one on file. Unfortunately, it was from several years ago, and that license expired so I had to figure out how to send him a photo on my new iPad, which seems to enjoy stifling my attempts at communication. They did send a notary public to the house, which was great! The closing process has changed so much since 10 years ago. It all finally got worked out, and I own the house. However, the seller did not close or move her Internet account, and the Internet company refuses to set up another account at that address since there is already an account there. They seem to have an monopoly on the Internet in this part of town.Grrrr
The pods arrived in good order. I will be getting an Uber over to the house soon to direct the unloading by hired movers. My son and daughter-in-law hired a cleaner, and paid her to clean the house thoroughly. I had taken to calling it, Sticky Floor, Manor, because both times I went to see it recently, the floors were very sticky, and there was a mop, sitting out the first time, and the second time the seller’s mother was cleaning the whole house, supposedly.
Tomorrow, my new appliances will arrive. And my son will pick up the U-Haul box and bring it over. Then I can just stay in the house, and order groceries for pick up, and my granddaughter or daughter-in-law will bring them to me after they get home at night. One of my joys is going to Trader Joe’s, and my daughter-in-law is promising to take me there now and then. She and my granddaughter are also readers, so they will take me and my boxes of books to sell to the Bookman‘s here.
My appointment with the ophthalmologist surgeon is a few weeks away, and I also have an appointment with my new PCP/NP. The assistant at the ophthalmologist’s office told me which Medicare advantage plan was the most cooperative with them. I am now signed up for that.
Jenny, you are brilliant! That is a great idea to plan ahead that way. I do like hearing from you, and knowing that you are well, and Johnny is doing well, though.
Jan, this is fantastic news to read. Congratulations. So very happy to hear that everything is finally wrapped up and now you get to unpack and enjoy your new home.
Jan it sounds like you are still handling a number of logistics but that it will all work out. So sorry for the logistics but so glad it’s working out !
Sending pocket hugs to get you through it all.
And has anyone seen a post by Jennifer? I’m worried about her.
Me, too, Debbie!
Dropping in to mention … a Big Idea at Scalzi’s site featured a book I wanted (“Off the Screen” by Brenda Clough) with a link to BookViewCafe.com, which I’d never heard of. It’s billing itself as a cooperative publisher. I only scanned the BVC author list, but it includes Vonda McIntyre and Ursula Le Guin.
Super easy account setup, super easy payment (PayPal), and you immediately get a link to download an ePub which you can then send to whatever reading device you use. 🙂
I’ve been aware of them for years. I think I once mentioned here Clough’s Revise the World at a time when BookViwCafe was the only source and I said so. (It’s back on Kindle now. )
When I look at BVC I usually can’t find anything I both want and can afford, but I have gotten a few things there over the years.
I buy all my Patricia Rice and Sherwood Smith books there. You can usually buy the new releases on Amazon or Apple, but at BVC the author gets almost all the money.
Update:
Protective Services says daughter is in a safe place and they will be proceeding with a court order next week and can we get them the names and contacts of people willing to be witnesses. Getting to safety!
Also we talked to a detective for a hour and a half today who wouldn’t say it but seems to be considering criminal charges.
Feeling less stressed than before but not completely calm yet.
That’s amazing!
This is wonderful news, Debbie, and a great payoff for all your work and worry.
Thanks!
Debbie, What Lian said!
The more DH and I ponder it the more we think she may be charged with attempted murder since in NY assisted suicide is a crime (and the law coming into effect in August that would change it only applies to people who are terminally ill.)
This is what two lawyers talk about while decompressing at a a baseball game.
I am having great fun with “finding Hester”, the first crowdsourced biography I have ever read. I will note they actually include little bios on many of the play’s characters. And they got Hester’s indirect descendants to see the musical.
It all started with a hashtag.