Life, Like Garage Doors, Goes Up and Down. Wait ---

Another week of reading and also getting just enough done to keep the roof over my head. Ah, this must be what retirement is supposed to be like.

I continued to visit a friend's house to play with her cats. The cats actually seem a bit bored with me, but I guess it's good for them. It did give me a chance to listen to my audio book while feeling charitable towards animals, because I no longer have a CD player in my house. So I needed to drive around in my car anyway.

Tuesday book club was celebrating Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by watching the BBC show together while skyping. It's a good way to feel double nerdy. We'll probably finish that up this week and then go back to gaming. It was well timed as Eve is having problems with macs and that's what most of us use. It was fun to snark at the TV show with friends. And then I actually remembered our neighborhood recycling event so I dragged a bunch of old appliances and batteries out the door.

I had another six-monthly boob exam, at which I graduated back to standard exams! Well, technically I'm not graduated but my next exam is at the same time my standard one would be scheduled, so if I pass at the one they will officially stop looking suspiciously at the grey blobs in the ultrasound. That's a huge relief. I celebrated by calling the garage door people. They came out and fixed my door and my sister's door, which had both stopped opening. Hers is still merrily going up and down but mine only worked for two days. They come back again today. I should have gone for the option of a handle on mine!

Family dinner was pleasant. My sister made a delicious soup with bacon on top and also provided dessert breads which went really well with the fresh strawberries my brother brought. I contributed the pleasure of my company, and also unloaded a bunch of stuff that my responsible sister-in-law will mail out to the college niblings. My son is turning 21, so his pile was significant. I have an irrational fear of post offices, so I really appreciate my sister-in-law enabling me like this.

My currently reading shelf is a more reasonable 18, with five books I'm just kidding myself about. This includes six I only touch in between other books, one from my shelves, a serial audio from Baen, an audio CD for the car, a KINDLE app book, a Foolscap GoH book, and two book club pick, one for last month's meeting and another I'm reading on time.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading so I'll sign up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers and I've got YAs book and the Cybils nonfiction to qualify me.

Started: 



Liaden Universe Constellation IV, Sharon Miller and Steve Lee. I like the Liaden books.

The Grief Keeper, Allesandra Villasante. I think this is for the Torches and Pitchforks book club.

Bad Boys of Fashion, Jennifer Croll. A nonfiction book aimed at fashion conscious teens, I guess.

Locked Up For Freedom, Heather E. Schwartz. A 2017 Cybils Junior High nonfiction finalist.

Isaac the Alchemist, Mary Losure. Another 2017 Cybils JH nonfiction finalist.


Completed:




Mary's Monster, Lita Judge. 2018 Cybils poetry book. I loved this book on its own -- I thought it was a powerful evocation of a lonely, creative girl making a disaster of her life, with the words and pictures blending together to show how the book Frankenstein grew out of her experience. But it didn't really seem like poetry to me, and I was unsure of how historical it was, although the afterward was very reassuring on that point.

Hither Page, Cat Sebastian. I enjoyed reading this, although as a romance it was rather understated. The main character was the village, and how the community worked to calm the demons awoken by war. The two men who were falling in love were severely damaged by the work they had done in WWII, and their regard for each other echoed the care the others in the village also took. Yes, there was violence even in this home, but there was more compassion and concern.

All the Little Liars, Charlaine Harris. Well, credibility is dropping (her little brother is kidnapped AGAIN?) but suspense and characterization is still high. In fact I drove around in circles to finish the last disk, since the car is the only place I can play a CD. I liked watching Roe and Robin build their marriage, and how the various members of their family help or weaken that, and how they interact with teenagers and children in the community, and how Roe's pregnancy affects how they view these youth.

Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Alan Burgess. I enjoyed this, especially as I had watched the movie in the middle. The movie skips all the middle except for a bit of the love story, which it shoves into the beginning, but in book form her work in the war was fascinating as she helps the wounded and even spies a bit on the Japanese until they put a huge bounty on her head and she runs to safety, bringing along one hundred orphans.

Bad Boys of Fashion, Jennifer Croll. An interesting march through history, starting with King Louis IV and moving through to the present day, looking at how powerful men used clothes and a revolutionary attitude towards fashion to construct their lives and images. Fashion is seen as a way to define oneself and take power over destiny for an individual, and a way to shape trends and see effects ripple out through a society. The pace was pleasing -- a long chapters followed by a shorter focus and then a one page highlight, so she had time for a variety of fashionistos.

Locked Up For Freedom, Heather E. Schwartz. A 2017 Cybils Junior High nonfiction finalist. This children's history book looks at a specific incident where dozens of young African-American girls (11-17) were imprisoned in terrible conditions for nonviolently protesting in Americus, Georgia in 1963. The author interviewed the women to discuss their memories and also used photos taken by a white man employed by the SNCC to document events. It's a concise look at how young people risked so much in pursuit of freedom, although I felt the effect was a bit blurred by the wide focus on the entire group.

Isaac the Alchemist, Mary Losure. Another 2017 Cybils JH nonfiction finalist. This interesting biography of Newton draws heavily his private journals from his childhood and other primary documents. I liked how it exposed some of the process of writing history, showing how the author used those documents to draw conclusion about who he was but making clear what was speculation. The idea of how the world was different but who people are still people was reinforced by sidebars explaining different concepts or vocabulary.

Liaden Universe Constellation IV, Sharon Miller and Steve Lee. I liked the Liaden stories, especially the ones on Surebleak. The story of Villy, "Friend of a Friend," whose friendship with Quin brings him to unsavory attention, was my favorite. Other stories went back to Liad to give backstories of people now on Surebleak also worked for me. The later ones, with only remote connections to Liads, left me rather uninterested.


Bookmarks Moved In:




Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia. 60/? Baen's podcast serial. Still inching along, although I'm a few podcasts behind. Aurora Teagarden has been taking up all my listening time.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt. OK, I obviously can't read this in a normal manner so I'm moving it into the palate cleanser section below.

Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. 3/10 discs. Male narrator not very engaging so far.

Book Lust, Nancy Pearl. Into the B's.

One Good Dragon Deserves Another, Rachel Aaron. This is fun but I keep reading the disappearing library books.

I Am Princess X, Cherie Priest. I don't trust the boy so it's hard to engage. I'm waiting for his inevitable betrayal.

The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang. Last month's Sword and Laser pick. I'm out of the school and into the war part. Ew.

Picture Books:

After the feast, a famine! None.

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Educated Child, William Bennett.

Cookie, Jacqueline Wilson. Mum can't cook. Dad's birthday plans excite her class.

Give All to Love, Patricia Veryan.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. How to encourage pleasure reading.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2017. Working on nonfiction books.
2. Cybils 2018. Finished the Mary Shelley poetry pick.
3. Reading My Library. Nothing. It's on my shelf, waiting.
4. KCLS Ten to Try. All done!

Tigers! And Otters and Giraffes and Rhinos!

Another week with me getting out of the house a lot. Honestly this is not what I expected after releasing all my children into the wild. I had imagined long hours of me and all my books, curling up together into the bed, couch, or rocking chair. Humph.

I had two meetings of my elementary school book club. Lunches do not align for the traditional members, so we are experimenting with having two separate lunch meetings. This also means separating books, so now I have to read both The Ghost's Grave and Scared Stiff in October. I hope they are appropriately spooky!

After book club on Tuesday I picked up my friend Linda and we went to see Peanut Butter Falcon, which was heartwarming and sweet and I'm pretty sure the last scene were meant as a fantasy and really the characters are dead or imprisoned or otherwise unkindly disposed of. But that last scene was there and LALALALA I can't hear you! The music was good.

I got some extra cat time in by visiting a friend's kitties while they are on vacation. They have responsible people come by to feed them and stuff; I'm just there to play games. I put in a little effort at various pounce activities and then fell back onto my favorite game: Read while a cat sleeps on you. At home I like to switch this up with Nap while a cat sleeps on you but I wanted to be alert.

Tuesday evening was Book Club again. My desktop is still broken so I just skyped in while the men folk played Eve. We picked Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for our next book and figure we might watch some of the show while I'm getting my computer replaced. Wednesday evening was another book club Book Series at the library, which was fun and gently social. And I didn't have to cook because my brother in law took us out. I felt a bit guilty so I cooked on Thursday.

Friday was ANOTHER book club, which was social and lovely and an excuse for pizza. Also an excuse for cookies, because we were celebrating a birthday. It was very exciting when my homemade chocolate chips were approved of so highly that guests took them home, and I got to introduce someone to the sinful delights of the Oreo Peanut Butter Pie variety. And then the next day my nephew and I took advantage of his parents having a date night by staying home and watching Tomorrowland, which we enjoyed. I made popcorn and had a soda and it was just like the theater except more cosy.

This is all a distraction from my favorite part of the week -- my friend invited me along on her special Zoo Night with Martin The Zoo Guy, who let us in after the place had closed for secret meetings with the animals. After sneaking past the wedding party at the Penguin Place (somehow Jedis and lightsabers were involved) we were treated to close visits with several animals. First we got to hand some mealworms to the Short Clawed otters. Then we walked into the Tiger pens and saw where they sleep at nights and also how magnificent they are. Then we were handed branches and opened a door to the giraffe pen and took turns feeding the giraffes. And FINALLY we hiked out to the back of the rhino pen and fed them carrots and apples. Did you know Rhino noses are flexible, almost like short trunks? Their mouths are fascinating and make amazing shapes. It was really a great night. Also we went out for pizza and pie but I forgot about that because of the rhinoceroses.

My currently reading back up to 21 (16 active), because I started three books on Sunday night. This includes six I only touch in between other books, five that have bookmarks but I'm not really reading, two from my shelves, a serial audio from Baen, an audio CD for the car, a library audio book, a KINDLE app book, a Foolscap GoH book, a book club pick (for last month's meeting!), a fast romance and a Cybils poetry book.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading so I'll sign up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers and I've got a YA book and the Cybils poetry to qualify me.

Started: 





Arabella, Georgette Heyer. For the Renton Romance Series.

One Grave Too Many, Diane Fallon. For my 2nd Friday book club.

The Restaurant At the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams. For my Tuesday book club.

Season of the Witch, Sarah Rees Brennan. For my book team.

I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai. For my book team.

The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang. Last month's Sword and Laser pick.

All the Little Liars, Charlaine Harris. The next Aurora Teagarden audio.

Hither Page, Cat Sebastian. Because Sebastian writes cool books.

Completed:




Arabella, Georgette Heyer. Turnout at the Renton Library Romance Series was small but engaging. For most people this was their first Heyer, although the librarian and I were old fans; the other were now new fans. We talked about how Heyer defined a genre, the historical details and slang, the tone and audience expectations. I realized that the reason the subplot about the brother's disastrous experiments with gambling and fashion was so stressful this time probably relates to my new empty nesting. A fun meeting!

One Grave Too Many, Diane Fallon. Another fun book for a fun book club. Again we were a mix of new readers and previous readers (this time I was new). I enjoyed the main characters various issues and ways of dealing with them, as well as her fierce determination not to let the bad guys triumph. It did seem like it tried to do a bit too much in the space available, and left too many threads lying around in the hope of sequels. I ordered almost exactly enough pizza, so no leftovers for me (deliberately -- my fridge is full of leftovers! I'm still adjusting to cooking for non-teenagers). And I put out some cookies to celebrate a member's birthday, and they were all gobbled up, which made me feel like a good cook.

The Restaurant At the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams. Actually I was supposed to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but as the group picked this to match my book team square "Book from the 1980s" I jumped from that 1979 option to its sequel. I enjoyed it as much as I did forty years ago, although I noticed that this time I leaned more to grim smiles at humanity's futility and meaninglessness and less towards giggles at the slapstick. I'll see if the other guys are as jaded as me.

Season of the Witch, Sarah Rees Brennan. I'm a huge Brennan fan (if you ever read YA, try out In Other Lands) so even though I've never watched the series I grabbed this. Honestly, the first person Sabrina parts were just OK; maybe they relied a bit on knowledge of the show. But the alternating chapters that delved into many other POV's were fascinating and gave both insights into characters and history and were tons of fun to read.

I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai. I expected mostly a school girl's autobiography but found a much richer, deeper discussion of the history and culture of Malala's native Swat, and an understanding of how Islamic militarism uses and exploits that culture and economic stresses. Perhaps some of this is from the adult co-writer, but much of it seems authentic to Malala, whose father gave her a wider view of the world from her infancy when he was struggling to establish a school. It's heartbreaking how cruel men are using religion to suppress women's education and freedom, and how the rest of the world is aiding them, either directly or by helping make the situation bad enough through bombs and mismanagement that sacrificing half the population begins to make sense.

Founding Martyr, Christian di Spigna.  Well, this was one of the best book presents I've ever gotten. When I was a tiny Beth (in elementary school) I was a fan of the Newbery medal winning book Johnny Tremain. One of Johnny's mentors was the super-cool Patriot Dr. Joseph Warren, so when we were assigned a history report on a Revolutionary War hero I picked Dr Warren. As you may not know, he died in the Battle of Bunker Hill at the very start of the war, and there is little or no information on him in the resources available to me at the time (even award-winning fiction does not count as a source). This was my first experience is stretching a tiny bit of data into a several page report, and it left a scar. So my brother-in-law, who is an amazingly talented gift-giver, gave me this biography of Warren, which not only confirms him as a Revolutionary Hero, thank you very much, but also discusses how and why knowledge of him has vanished from our national psyche (it involves several fires, politics and popularity of Masons, and a sentimental view of his death which overshadowed his contributions while living and then became unfashionable). So I learned a lot and also vindicated my former self. The book itself is expanded from a senior thesis, and it shows a bit, but the writing is earnest and clear and the details well documented. The author is clearly a huge fan of both Warren and history.

Bookmarks Moved In:




Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia. 58-59/? Baen's podcast serial. And we check back in with some other characters. The podcast has been running long so all the serial installments are about ten minutes. I think we have some months to go.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt. Still inching along. This kid is looking for emotional pain and it's not that hard to find.

Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. 2/10 discs. The second kid is born, and things are going much better. And now we've switched back to the other narrator!

Book Lust, Nancy Pearl. Into the B's.

One Good Dragon Deserves Another, Rachel Aaron. This is fun but I keep reading the disappearing library books.

I Am Princess X, Cherie Priest. I can start looking at this harder now that I finished the history book.

Mary's Monster, Lita Judge. The next 2018 Cybils poetry book. I'm a little uncomfortable with the style; it's a history book written in poems and I want to know if I can trust the history. If so, then I'm enjoying getting a more balanced view of Mary Shelley other than "cool proto-goth girl."


Picture Books (lots!):



Pig the Fibber, Aaron Blabey. Two sibling-ish dogs have shenanigans in an engaging and eventually morally satisfying way. Dogs make everything more fun.

Red Again, Barbara Lehman. A wordless, self-referential book that would be a delight to read with an imaginative child.

Harry and Clare's Amazing Staycation, Ted Staunton. I'm a huge staycation fan, so I grabbed this off the shelves. It's as much about negotiating with your siblings (especially younger to older) as about a vacation, but I really liked the way the illustrations combined their imagination with their surroundings.



Night At the Fair, Donald Crews. Although not as immediately amazing as his Freight Train book, this would be fun to read with a young kid, and especially one who has stayed up super late to go to a state fair recently. And here in Washington, I mean super late, because it doesn't get dark until WAY past bedtime.

Papa Put a Man on the Moon, Kristy Dempsey. I really liked the concept -- expanding the accomplishment of the moon landing to everyone who helped with the project, including the people who build the materials. But I was disappointed at the generic setting; I barely had a sense of time or place from the pictures and text, which is odd for something set so specifically around the 1969 event.

A Dog With Nice Ears: Featuring Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child. The tone of interactions between Charlie and Lola is great (as usual); I really like their pattern of older and younger siblings. I found the ending a bit unrealistic; I mean, that's exactly what parents would do but I don't believe Lola would be so accommodating.

Monkey, Not Ready For the Baby, Marc Brown. A standard getting-ready-for-a-new-baby book, with Monkey as the current youngest not quite ready to give up that status. Of course he comes around and is a great big brother from day one. That was not my experience so these books usually don't work for me.




King For a Day, Rukhsana Khan. A boy celebrates the Lahore tradition of a kite flying day, capturing all challengers. This was an interesting peek into a different culture, one I don't know much about. I liked that Malik's use of a wheelchair isn't commented on; that's just what he looks like. I wish the bully next door wasn't so evil, but I guess there's only so much complexity you can fit in a kid's book.

How To Be On the Moon, Viviane Schwartz. I have a weakness for crocodiles. And I loved the partnership between between the exuberant girl and the practical crocodile, and the matter of fact approach to both space exploration and emotions. This would be fun to read with kids.

Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure, Camille Andros. Does what it says on the tin quite pleasantly. I like how it covers aspects of the scientific process, from observation to hypothesis to testing correlations for connections. There was a slam against adult scientists scorning the obvious genius of the young but I guess that adds to the kid appeal. The grown-ups did all appear to be morons so it was a good thing Charlotte was there with some rational thought.


Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George. Bad cops run around protecting themselves and threatening people, some of whom may have committed a crime. Or at least been annoying to a cop. Meanwhile musicians are doomed.

Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Alan Burgess. Now we are in the march with the children to safety, which was a huge chunk of the movie.

The Educated Child, William Bennett. More English and reading lists. Their recommended skills seem commonsensical, if a little over reliant on diagramming sentences, which is fun but I don't think has data supporting the idea that it's useful. They have long lists of books, which are heavily skewed towards guys.

Cookie, Jacqueline Wilson. Cookie's dad has business worries, so he yells at his family. Cookie wants a teddy bear and a new name (Cookie!).

Give All to Love, Patricia Veryan. She's got boyfriends too! And some have births as confused as hers, probably. All they have to recommend themselves are their good looks, brains, skills, and wealth.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Reading journals and reading groups. I actually have a reading group, so I'm looking for ideas.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2017. Nothing.
2. Cybils 2018. Working on the Mary Shelley poetry pick.
3. Reading My Library. Nothing. It's on my shelf, waiting.
4. KCLS Ten to Try. All done!