Christmas With the Family

Hi again! At this rate I’ll be in the year 2025 before the end of January!

This was the week my brother, my sons and I drove to California, taking it easy and resting in a hotel overnight, and then spent the night with my uncle (who had just finished building a table) and my aunt (who was about to finish cooking a delicious dinner - I love tetrazzini). Then we woke up and headed over to the big house we had rented so we would have a head start wrangling with the other siblings and cousins for the best beds.

Just kidding! I had made a spreadsheet assigning all that stuff. Everyone else arrived via their preferred combination of cars and planes and we spread out. Kevin and I went out for an emergency run of supplies before the cooks told us what was needed and were viciously mocked for our choices for the rest of the holiday. There was a party at the cousins, Christmas Eve at the big house, a game from Aunt Ellen that I finagled even the second cousins into playing, Christmas Day, a few prezzies, a few axes thrown, a lovely wine bar visited, and then the exciting people went dancing and got to see new cousin Matt on the drums. I got the best aunt and her guy to drive me home early. 

It was a good Christmas with family, lots of love and laughter.

.

 

Books Completed

Kwame Crashes the Underworld, Craig Kofi Farmer. Cybils nominee. This is definitely a Rick Riordan genre book, although I don’t think he’s involved at all. But it’s a good example of that; Kwame has his own problems before getting caught up in an adventure with his cultural myths made real. His companions  are well chosen; his best friend is prickly and strong and brings her own skills, and the twist of having the grandmother he is grieving be their third is a great addition. The details of the Ghanaian afterlife are fresh to me, and Kwame’s mixed appreciation rings true. Also the humor really worked for me.

Soma and the Golden Beasts, Rajanni LaRocca. Cybils nominee. This one shone for its language and themes, yet still provided approachable characters and relationships. The two kids had a lot of conflict to work out, each having secrets amd agendas they were unwilling to share. I liked how the gems made the adventure more fun but also worked (for me, an adult) as symbols of the price of colonialism. And the complexity of the characters meant that things weren’t black and white and the kids had to navigate physical, emotional and moral hazards on their quest to save their grandmother. It’s a great example of layers of story that let the reader engage wherever they chose.

Books Started

A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, Jasmine Warga. Cybils nominee.

Kingdom of Dust, Lisa Stringfellow. Cybils nominee.

Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell. Cybils nominee.

Bookmarks Moved

Puzzleheart, Jenn Reese. Cybils nominee.

Heroes of Havensong: the Last Ice Phoenix, Megan Reyes. Cybils nominee.

Citizen of the Galaxy, Robert Heinlein. Audio reread.

Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño. Cybils nominee.

Ash and Splinter, Marieke Nijkamp. Cybils nominee.

Bookmarks Languished

Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Nomad, William Alexander. Sequel to a book I liked.

Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler.

Deal With the Devil, Kit Rocha.

Grimspace, Ann Aguirre. Reread.

True Colors, Abby Cooper. Cybils nominee.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

None.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Currently she is talking about what meals are and why your family should have them. 

Renegade Love, Ann Aguirre. Another section a day book. There is alien sex in this book. 

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. I read the next bit every morning before starting my day. It reminds me why I love books. 

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. I’m near the end.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe.

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe.

Pre-Christmas

Hi again! 

So, I’m still behind. This is the week I had my Renton library book club party, which I brought oatmeal lace cookies to. Paulos helped make them so they turned out well. He has a good sense of timing. I also talked to my lawyer about my will, and then talked to everyone in the will about my will. And then I packed for our Christmas trip. Spoiler, I had a great Christmas, but that post should follow shortly. I hope. 

Books Completed

Love Bites, Sienna Mercer. 6th Sister the Vampire book. If you want a cheerful, low tension, predictable middle grade series, this one is great! Here the kids are off to visit their aristocratic vampire relations, and their boyfriends are sweet, the misunderstandings amusing, and their sisterly devotion stronger. Add in some vampire princes and cross-class romance and everything is awesome! Except that the sequels seem to have fallen off my Libby so I can’t keep going in this decades old series.

Rocky Start, Jennifer Cruise and Bob Meyer. I liked the dialogue and the interior thoughts and found the whole town of retired wet workers interesting, but I didn’t really buy the insta-love between the two leads. re was enough of the good character work going on that I didn’t really care.

The Last Rhee Witch, Jenna Lee-Yun. Great story of a girl at camp, struggling to hold onto her best friend and worried that her dad is getting frustrated with her issues, including an unnerving habit of uncontrollable rhyming. But it soon appears that the rhyming, the camp, and some of her new friends are all related the the dangerous forces that killed her mom, and unless she uncovers the secrets of her past she will be next. Lots of cool Korean mythology and different ways of being biracial and also what it takes to have and be a friend.

Embodied: an Intersectional Comics Poetry Anthology.Wendy Chin-Tanner (Ed). I enjoyed this, especially seeing how the artists interpreted the poems and how that deepened my understanding of them as well.

Books Started

Embodied: an Intersectional Comics Poetry Anthology.Wendy Chin-Tanner (Ed). For Cloudy book clubs.

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendelsohn. A book on housekeeping that will go in the Slow Reads section.

Love Bites, Sienna Mercer. 6th Sister the Vampire book.

Kwame Crashes the Underworld, Craig Kofi Farmer. Cybils nominee.

Nomad, William Alexander. Sequel to a book I liked.

Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño. Cybils nominee.

Ash and Splinter, Marieke Nijkamp. Cybils nominee.

True Colors, Abby Cooper. Cybils nominee.

Bookmarks Moved

Soma and the Golden Beasts, Rajanni LaRocca.

Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler.

Deal With the Devil, Kit Rocha.

Grimspace, Ann Aguirre. Reread.

Citizen of the Galaxy, Robert Heinlein. Audio reread.

Bookmarks Languished

Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

I was preparing for the Foolscap Hugo Short Stories December meeting.📆 

 “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer. Reread, but I still like it. Hopeful, sf-nal, and with good people.

“Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend. I’m not sure if I misunderstood the point or if I just found the point pointless.

“The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones. Grim, current, and twisty enough to be powerful.

美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu. This one was fun! Sf-nal andughtful.

“On the Water Its Crystal Teeth,” Marissa Lingen. Quiet look at the urge towards parenthood.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section, report on it to the family discord, and so improve our understanding of our home and its routine.

Renegade Love, Ann Aguirre. Another section a day book. There is alien sex in this book. 

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. I read the next bit every morning before starting my day. 

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. I’m near the end.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe.

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe.

Rainy and Dark and Reading

Hi! 

So, I’m behind, This is the week before my Christmas vacation. I had several book clubs, worked on Cybils, and my doctor wants me to bring my blood pressure down. Sounds like a call for a New Years Resolution. 

Books Completed

Rhinos at Recess, Magic Treehouse 37, Mary Pope Osborne. For my 3-4 grade book club. I’m interested in how kids classify informative fiction and tried to get the kids to talk about how they knew where the line was. They didn’t bite though; it was again a huge group and I had trouble getting them all pointed in the same direction.  Or maybe it was too meta a question, since these books make an effort to keep the distinction clear. I did like the solution to the science project in this one though.

Pokémon Journeys, Machine Gomi. My 5th grade book club was doing Pokémon books, so I wanted to read recent and older ones. Ash was very familiar and hasn’t grown or evolved much (ha!) since I last read these about twenty years ago, but he was fun to hang out with and so was Goh, the new guy. I was glad when Goh changed his mind about holding out for Mew for his first Pokémon, and I was also impressed with my inability to parse any action scene, which made the Pokémon battles rather confusing. But the text always told me who won so I was okay.

Dinosaurs Before Dark Graphic Novel, Jenny Laird (adaptation), Mary Pope Osborne. The very first Treehouse book but in a graphic novel form sets out the theory but spends more time on the set up since the kids are learning how and what the Treehouse does. I liked the sibling relationship and the dinosaur descriptions.

Prepare For Trouble,  Tracey West (adaptor). This was one of the old chapter books I remember from my kids’ read-aloud days, but I had much more fun with it than I did back then. Team Rocket are such screw ups and it was fun to see their plotting and memories of former failed plots. And the bit where they are frantically covering for a friend was delicious.

Battle For the Z-Ring, no author. Poke,on battles with extra silly moves to invoke Z power! Pure goofy delight for me. Baffling.

Five Children on the Western Front, Kate Saunders. This worked really well for me. I liked the way the five kids aged and how they showed different aspects of the war effort.The stuff with the Psammead was clunkier but I went along with it. I thought Saunders did a good job of echoing the feel of Nesbit’s story without getting cloying.

Hilo 10: Rise of the Cat, Judd Winick. This series continues to appeal; by now I know there will be twists and I can feel the beats but I’m having so much fun with the characters and story that I am completely distracted and so always surprised. I like the shifts between real emotion and burp jokes.  I like the art and I like the families.

The Thief of Time, Vivi Barnes, Christina Farley, Amy Christine Parker (Cybils nominee). Three writer friends joined together to write a book in the “three friends at magic boarding school” genre. Here all three are the special outsiders and the magic is librarianship! They each specialize in different branches: combat, storytelling, cataloging and make friends with a hereditary librarian who is in the research branch. (I wish more library schools emphasized the combat aspects.) There is school drama, complete with bully, good and bad teachers, and only our kids can save the day against the baddie! 

It was odd how the kids didn’t blink at insta-starting magic school without even saying goodbye to their families. This made a few beats lands oddly, like when one kid is tempted by the idea of changing history to bring back his dead mom, whom he has never thought about before on page. 

Beyond the Wand, Tom Felton. A celebrity autobiography from the viewpoint of a guy who was more fame adjacent that super famous. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. There is a “went to seed in LA” where his circle staged an intervention in a rather hamfisted way and his escape from it helped clarify things enough that he found a more compatible form of rehab. Mostly I was here to see if it was really him in the Easter movie with the centurion, and yep, he has some stories about how he couldn’t control his horse.

It Happens to Anna, Tehlor Kay Majia. This worked to give me a real sense of horror. Anna is the friend who died because of the jealous ghost haunting Lola, and at the new school Lola desperately tries not to bond with any kids while kind girls, her dad, and the school counselor sees this reluctance as cause for intervention. When a strange, independent girl befriends her without angering the ghost Lola has a real chance at friendship. But things get worse, and the way the ghost horror builds on real fears is chilling. There aren’t any real chapters beyond Lola and the ghosts (I mean, the ghost would kill them) so the nice friend is more a good idea than a real person.

Jaguar of Sweet Laughter, Diane Ackerman. I started reading a few poems before falling asleep, and this one was perfect. Strong images and words matched with physicality and sly science references.

Books Started

The Last Rhee Witch, Jenna Lee-Yun. Cybils nominee.

Hilo 10: Rise of the Cat, Judd Winick. Good series.

Lepunia: the Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford. Cybils nominee.

The Thief of Time, Vivi Barnes, Christina Farley, Amy Christine Parker. Cybils nominee.

Brooms, Jasmine Walls. Cybils finalist.

Samantha Smee: a Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman. Cybils nominee,

Pokémon Adventures XY Vol 4, Hidnori Kusaka. Talbot Hill book club.

The Four Star Challenge, Howard Dewin (adapter). Talbot Hill book club.

Bookmarks Moved

Soma and the Golden Beasts, Rajanni LaRocca.

Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler.

Rocky Start, Jennifer Cruise and Bob Meyer.

Deal With the Devil, Kit Rocha.

Picture Books and Short Stories

  

I was preparing for the Foolscap Hugo Short Stories December meeting.

“How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub,” P. Djeli Clark. Sometimes colonialism and misplaced confidence doesn’t work out.

“The Mausoleum’s Children,” Aliette de Boudard. Sometimes when you turn to face your dragons they are still dangerous. But you are stronger for the pivot.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section, report on it to the family discord, and so improve our understanding of our home and its routine.

Renegade Love, Ann Aguirre. Another section a day book.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. I read the next bit every morning before starting my day.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe.

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe.

Book Update

Hi! I'm determined to be here, so this post might stop abruptly. This was a nice week for me -- lots of adulting, lots of social stuff, tasty food, even some reading.

There were a bunch of medical appointments: vision check, which I passed, dentist check, which I also passed, and a blood donation, where I was super speedy and confirmed that I now prefer the molasses cookies to the chocolate chip. They even had new stickers, so I modestly grabbed one that proclaimed that I had saved lives that day. 

Last weekend was Orycon, an SF convention down in Portland. Since this is my Year of Vacations, I booked myself some train tickets and went off. It was a lot of fun, I saw lots of people I knew, talked about books I liked, and wandered off to see bookstores or read my Cybils books whenever I wanted. Very relaxing and I had nice conversations on the train both there and back again, once with a stranger and once with an old Foolscap friend. And this week a beloved old friend for my Oct98 group was in town so we had a lovely brunch with three Oct98 moms, two spouses, and eventually the Pike Place Market pig. We've been friends for almost thirty years now!

My sister and I continue to hit the gym hard, even when it hits back. And Paulos took the two recipes I gave him and really elevated them, so we had a delicious pasta with Brie and red peppers one night and a broccoli cheese soup on Friday, which was made better by the bread I baked that day. So a very pleasant week in many directions.

Books Completed

Children of the Phoenix Book 1: Eye of the Storm, Oskar Källner. (Cybils nominee). I enjoyed the sibling relationship and the plot twists, but felt the prose and structure needed a bit of polishing. The tone of the book didn't really fit the jeopardy of the father or the marriage problems signaled, and the secret of the lullaby wasn't kept very well. Also, the introductory chapter did a good job of showing the different personalities of the children and how the younger tended to follow the elder's leadership, but since it involved them trying to cheat on a 7th grade math test it also left me disliking them. 

A Bite Above the Rest, Christine Virnig. (Cybils nominee). This kept me amused, and the cover was very attractive to kids at book club last week. I liked the idea of the Halloween-themed town, and how the grief over the father was there in the background but running the plot. I liked the goofy schemes the kids came up with and how they were just within the possibilities for kids, I liked their complementary personalities and how they both helped each other, and I liked the silly costumes Col kept coming up with. The middle school seemed more like an elementary idea of junior high than the real thing, and I'm not sure why so many kids in books this year have a dead parent. 

Island of Whispers, Frances Hardinge. (Cybils nominee). I liked the format and the illustrations, both made for a lovely reading experience. However, I didn't think the illustrations and the text worked perfectly together; the tones on the page often seemed slightly askew. I felt like I was taking the death of the boy's father harder than he was at times. But that was part of the fairy tale atmosphere, where more attention was paid to the magician tricks than to the interiority of the characters.

Jasmine Is Haunted, Mark Oshiro. (Cybils nominee). This really worked for me, despite how earnestly modern it is with how the kids respectfully ask about each other's pronouns and stuff. (I mean, I know many kids who do that, but it's not so carefully done, it's just how they do things.) But Jasmine's grief over her father's death (yep, another dead parent) is woven into the issues she's having at school in a seamless way; in this case many of the problems are caused by the ghosts but it's also the grief, and metaphor and plot work well together. The conclusion addresses both the emotional and action plot in a lovely way. 

* Passions in Death, J. D. Robb. This is number 59, so you either like 'em or you don't. This wasn't too gross and I liked Eve's musings on why she likes being married. 

Re-Vamped and Vampalicious, Sienna Mercer. The kids last week really liked the first Vampire Sister books, and I had as well. So I went ahead and read books 3 and 4 since I had them checked out. Lots of fun, good nostalgia (my son was reading these lo! those many years ago) and I'm not going to try hard to find the next ten but if I see them I'll pick them up. Ivy and Olivia are awesome!

Temple of Secrets, Christina Soontornvat. I've been enjoying the Legends of Lotus Island books so I grabbed the last one. I like how the kids work together and the nifty magic system. Nothing really ground breaking, but fun reads. 

Hot Money, Dick Francis. Was it responsible to reread this when I'm so far behind on finishing anything? No. Do I regret it? Also no. It's the one with all the half-siblings who want money from their rich dad.

Future Plans

This week I also started many books and moved bookmarks along in many others. I'm falling behind on marking things done on goodreads, but I'm still juggling a lot of books. So future plans are even more fictional than usual. 

I am reading: 

• Library Book: Alchemy of Letting Go
• Ebook I own: The Down Deep, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Myth, Metaphor and Morality
• Foolscap Book Club Book: Jumper
• Sword and Laser Club Book: Night in the Lonesome October 
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Permutation City

Happy St Patrick's Day

Last week was my birthday! I took the family out to eat at The Whistle Stop Cafe because they were celebrating their 25 anniversary by bringing back my favorite dish. (Chicken gorgonzola pasta, if you were wondering). Afterward I drove to a booze store to pick up some whiskey -- Writer's Tears. 

My sister and her family gave me many great presents, including a Murderbot T-shirt, pencils, and bookmarks. My kids were super nice all day. Also they saved me the last slice of my cake. 

It was also the one-year anniversary of my mom's death. We went out to a new restaurant in her honor, and then came home to drink my new whiskey. I was glad my brother came out to spend the evening with us. I miss my mom, but I'm glad to have the family she left behind. With all these emotions, good and bad, I never really settled down to read. I started some books but didn't make progress in anything. 

Lots of book clubs, most of which I hadn't read the books for. But I'm in better shape for next week's clubs. 

I'm still at 3 pages of currently-reading on goodreads. I'm back up to 37 physical books checked out, including music CDs. And it doesn't count the digital books. 

I will be posting at The Bookdate's It's Monday, What Are You Reading headquarters as well as the kidlit version at Unleashing Readers. 

Completed

Cobra, Timothy Zahn. It's finally over! This is not to disparage a book -- listening to a few minutes a week on the weekly Baen podcast means any book will take about a year. But it's an odd feeling not knowing how many pages or percentage is left in a book, especially as this one was modular; each section had an arc and when it finished I'd expect the book to end. Although this is apparently the start of a trilogy, which made me even more off. Oh well, the next book is Tinker, which I know really well so that should be fun. 

Bride's Story, Vol 14, Kaoru Mori. I read this because I wanted to finish something! Lots of lovely pictures, and a fun story of a courtship done as literally as a horse race. I think I'm caught up with the the library for this manga, so I'll have to wait a while. 

Started

This is actually a lot of books to start during a low-reading week.   

A River of Golden Bones, A.K. Mulford. Cloudy pick for February. I didn't finish this in time for book club, but I made enough progress that I guessed how things would go. We agreed that it was a book that stuck fairly closely to genre expectations, but that kids reading these things for the first time would have a good time. Also we liked some of the choices made around how to resolve the not-like-other-girls thing. I picked it up on Chirp as an ebook so I'll finish it while doing the dishes. 

What's Your Grief, Eleanor Haley. A book of lists around the topic of grief. I love lists, and this was the year anniversary of my mom's death, so this seems perfect for me. 

Knight Moves, Walter Jon Williams. For Scintillation book club. 

Sir Callie and the Knights of Helston, Esme Symes-Smith. Cybils nominee.

Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan. For my River Runs Under It Renton Library book club.

Bride's Story 14, Kaoru Mori. I really like this exquisitely drawn manga. 

Picture Books & Short Stories

I picked up some children's Graphic Novels on a library run, but I'm not sure if I'll count them as picture books or short kidlit. Hmm.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki. Abandoning my reread of Part 3 now since the new one just dropped. I'll get back to it, don't worry!

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Part 5 Volume 8, Miya Kazuki. I've slowed back down to one tiny section a day. There's a long final chapter so we can see all the battles.

The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne. This is the Sword & Laser pick, which I ended up not finishing. But I got far enough to take part in the discussion. It wasn't really our cup of tea, but this was a good chance to dip into something outside our usual fare. The librarian member was glad to get a peek into a different reading community, and the Norse stuff was fun. One person is planning to read on so they promised to tell us what happens. 

Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer. For Torches and Pitchforks club, free topic: Red Flags in Relationships. I cheated and read all the best bits for Red Flags so I could have something to discuss. 

No Place Like Home, James Bird. Cybils finalist. This is kinda grim! Homeless, and a wild big brother. But the hope and gumption of the boy and his mom are really powerful. 

Bad Luck and Trouble, Lee Child. This is the one Season 2 of the Amazon series is based on. I'm really enjoying seeing the differences between the screen and page version. (The book is on the West Coast, while the show took place on the East Coast, for example.)

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir. I turned in the overdue paper version and got out the ebook. But then I saw the paper version at the library and grabbed it. I'm liking it but not seeking out excuses to read it.

Outskirter's Secret, Rosemary Kirstein. Didn't touch it. 

Palate Cleansers

I'm slowly marching through these books.

 

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture).

Dragon's Breath, E.D. Baker. 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). More poetry. 

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. 

The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. Now looking at how fanfiction and other transformative works allow people to insert their own images into media.

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Well, I'm in March. 

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2023: Working on middle grade fiction. Didn't finish anything.
2. Early Cybils:  Nothing. 
3. Reading My Library. I got a new one from Renton; working on music and children's graphic novels at Renton Highlands. 
4. Looking at Tacoma's Monster challenge for this year. 

Future Plans

I'm putting this at the end because it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure. Actually, I've started listing all the bookclubs I'm in, so I hope some actually happens. 

I am reading: 

• Book I own: Into the Broken Lands
• Library Book: Nona the Ninth
• Ebook I own: The Wine Dark Sea
• Library Ebook: Bad Luck and Trouble
• Book Club Book: (Spear -- I've read this!)
• Cloudy Book: Last Tale of the Flower Bride
• Foolscap Book Club Book: Mr Penumbra's Bookstore
• Renton Book Club Book: Mad Honey 
• Scintillation Book Club Book: Always Coming Home
• Sword and Laser Club Book: (Iron Widow -- I've read this!)
• Torch and Pitchfork Book:  Trust the Plan
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Snow Child
• Review Book: Back Home 
• Rereading: Outskirter's Secret
• Audio: River of Golden Bones
  

Good Vacations Make Things Better

So, last week I was schedule to cat sit for some friends as they made a trip to Arizona for Spring Training. This is a lovely time for me as they have a beautiful house in Seaside Oregon which is cozy in the winter no matter how bad the weather gets.

Unfortunately, one of my friend's health meant the trip was no longer possible. And they asked if I'd like to replace him on the trip instead of catsitting! So I got to spend almost a week in sunny Phoenix, going to baseball games and eating delicious food, lounging in the comfortable house they had rented, and hanging out with a good friend. Wow, what a boon, especially as the weather back home included snow, hail, and misery. I mean, holing up in a lovely house with adorable house and exploring the joys of DoorDash would have been fine, but this was spectacular!

Right before we left I had gone on a tour of the Seattle Chocolate Factory, where they mentioned that they had an arrangement with Alaskan airlines so there was always a supply of chocolate on the planes. On the flight to Arizona I was told that these goodies were only for Fancy People up front, but on the ride home a friendly flight attendant checked the back and gave me a delicious JCoco bar. What a great treat!

We got home and after a bit of excitement on the way home (we were rear ended on the freeway, but there we no injuries thanks to some excellent driving) I was ready to settle in to my pre-birthday celebration. My kids made me a cake, I went to my triple book club where we all gave the founders a wedding present (they met at the first meeting), and I celebrated my trip around the sun with a dinner at a nice restaurant, some amazing gifts from friends near and far (a Funco! a bookmark! a t-shirt!). And some whiskey, but I bought that for myself. 

Sorry, no pictures. Not that much reading either (I didn't finish the book club books) but I have no regrets!

I'm still at 3 pages of currently-reading on goodreads. I'm down to 25 physical books checked out, although I don't have many picture books left so that's not as good as it looks. And it doesn't count the digital books. 

I will be posting at The Bookdate's It's Monday, What Are You Reading headquarters as well as the kidlit version at Unleashing Readers. 

Completed

The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula Le Guin. Audio. For Scintillation book club. This was a really interesting reread. All I remembered from reading this as a young adult was the emotional sense of being trapped and seeing doom circling around, which I once again experienced. We talked about the roles of the scientist and the protagonist as different aspects of relating to reality, the taoist principles behind the themes, how gender roles and race relations have aged and changed, and what we think happened in the edge cases. I really like this thoughtful book club even if I can't always keep up with the books. 

Hild, Nicola Griffith. Foolscap pick. Another great discussion of a deep and powerful book. We looked at how it works as genre vs history, and compared it a bit to Spear, and talked about the deep connection to nature and the sense and how this we weaved into the power of the protagonist, and also how it's an amazing depiction of a super smart character. 

The Wild Robot, Peter Brown. For elementary book club - 4th grade. A fun pick, and apparently well timed, as a I just saw a preview for a movie. We talked about robots we have now and how far Roz is from them, we talked about family and loss, and about robotic gender. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling. Elementary book club - 5th grade. This was fun because of the different levels of familiarity -- we had a few kids who hadn't finished the book, others who had seem the movie, some who had finished their first round, and other kids who had practically memorized the text. So we talked about what made it fun, and then I challenged them to think about the book from other points of view, and they decided that the first chapter example of abandoning Harry on the doorstep was perhaps child endangerment. 

Bigfoot Crossing, Gail Anderson-Dargatz. I liked the relationship between the older brother and his preschool sister, and how that was reflected in the Bigfoots they encounter, and how the kids realize the danger of adults finding out their secrets. A fun adventure. 

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The Olympian Affair, Jim Butcher. For my Tuesday gaming book club. Smoother than his son's writing, but more predictable.

The Affair, Lee Child. For my Tuesday gaming book club. Reacher is very competent. Perhaps not a stickler for the law. Like, he definitely considers himself above it; who really needs a judicial branch when Reacher is there to do it all?

Final Acts, ed by Martin Edwards. Moving through the E's in the Renton Library fiction section. I liked the old-timey detective stories bound together by some connection to a stage performance. I would have hated to live in that time of servants and dressing for dinner but I do enjoy watching detectives navigate the upper reaches of society there. 

After Atlas, Emma Newman. This was a good book to have read, although I didn't enjoy it for big stretches. Newman makes demands of the reader that sometimes I whine about, and her idea of a happy ending is definitely a case of "it could have been worse." But we had a good discussion and looked at the picture of future humanity and how it worked with the detective plot and the childhood stuff intersecting. I'm glad I have such different book clubs to entertain me. 

Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Kobes DuMez. I'm not sure the Christ I've heard about in church and read about in the Bible really believed in "hitting them first and really hard" as a philosophy, but apparently many evangelicals disagree with me there. This book taught me alot about where the religious right in America is coming from and explains a lot that confused me about their theology and assumptions. I feel like maybe we need different names for these branches of Christianity because they have drifted rather far apart. And also as a woman I'm very nervous about their plans for my social and political rights and responsiblities. 

Started

Definitely a normal amount (two weeks worth).  

No Place Like Home, James Bird. Cybils finalist. 

The Wild Robot, Peter Brown. Elementary school book club pick. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling. Elementary school book club pick.

Bigfoot Crossing, Gail Anderson-Dargatz. Cybils nominee. 

The Affair, Lee Child. For Tuesday book club, following on The Olympian AFFAIR

After Atlas, Emma Newman. For Book Club. 

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Final Acts, ed by Martin Edwards. My next Reading My Library Quest book, downtown Renton Library edition. 

Bad Luck and Trouble, Lee Child. More Reacher! This is the one Season 2 of the Amazon series is based on. 

The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne. This is the Sword & Laser pick, which I was meant to be reading during my quiet vacation of cat-sitting. Oops!

Picture Books & Short Stories

Rubio and the Three Osos, Susan Middleton Elya. I'm proud to say that my Spanish was up to the task! Also, there's a glossary in the back and there's only one or two Spanish words per page. I appreciated Goldilocks' redemption arc.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki. Abandoning my reread of Part 3 now since the new one just dropped. I'll get back to it, don't worry!

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Part 5 Volume 8, Miya Kazuki. I'm trying to savor this but it's a perfect vacation book. Myne is my hero.

Cobra, Timothy Zahn. I keep thinking it's done, but then there's another spurt. I'm on the last episode! 

Outskirter's Secret, Rosemary Kirstein. Learning the Outskirter culture with Rowan is delightful. 

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir. So far I like it! I think I always felt that portraying Harrow as a super-mastermind didn't work for me, so having her be rather simple is more fun and believable. I managed to read a bit of this in Arizona.

Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer. For Torches and Pitchforks club, free topic: Red Flags in Relationships. This is actually a fun way to see how the romantic ideas of "he's terrible to everyone but he'll be good for ME" and "only I know how to manage this dangerous man-child" make for good books but would be terrible in real life. 

The Wine Dark Sea, Patrick O'Brien. Didn't touch it. 

Palate Cleansers

I'm slowly marching through these books.

 

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture).

Dragon's Breath, E.D. Baker. 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). More poetry. 

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. 

The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. On to the Hermione issue, which starts with some look at fandom's race issues and the author's use of fiction in fanfiction. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I fell behind during my vacation.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2023: Working on middle grade fiction. 
2. Early Cybils:  Nothing. 
3. Reading My Library. I got a new one from Renton; working on music at Renton Highlands. 
4. Looking at Tacoma's Monster challenge for this year. 

Future Plans

I'm putting this at the end because it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure. Actually, I've started listing all the bookclubs I'm in, so I hope some actually happens. 

I am reading: 

• Book I own: Into the Broken Lands
• Library Book: The Bride's Story
• Ebook I own: The Wine Dark Sea
• Library Ebook: Bad Luck and Trouble
• Book Club Book: (Spear -- I've read this!)
• Cloudy Book: Last Tale of the Flower Bride
• Foolscap Book Club Book: Mr Penumbra's Bookstore
• Renton Book Club Book: Mad Honey 
• Scintillation Book Club Book: Knight Moves 
• Sword and Laser Club Book: (Iron Widow -- I've read this!)
• Torch and Pitchfork Book:  Trust the Plan
• Tuesday Book Club Book: The Affair, Snow Child
• Review Book: Back Home 
• Rereading: Outskirter's Secret
• Audio: River of Golden Bones