This was a very pleasant week. Not the past week, the one before that. I’m behind again.

I went walking in the Bellevue Botanical gardens with my friend, and the flowers and the company were both enriching. I had a nice drive with my son that included a raid of the chocolate store’s clearance section. I took myself to see the new Karate Kid movie, the one with the previous guy coming back to help train, and it hit all the right notes and had bonus pizza training.

I enjoyed two book clubs plus my standing Tuesday night Murderbot reread. Romance book club had fun looking at the Vacation Romance genre, which I had not realized was a thing but of course can work perfectly, and my library club had our “classics” month and discussed The Sun Also Rises. Few people liked it, so we also talked about whether we wanted to keep an annual classic (yes) and how to find more pleasing ones. Also whether it’s important to like the people in the books we read.

Goodreads thinks I am reading 59 books. I’m going to try to get it below 50 but I’m pleased to keep it at three pages on GR. I did succeed this week in finishing more books than I started! Wait, that was only because I finished one last week and forgot to record it.

Books Completed June 13 - 19

The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed. Hugo novella finalist. Great imagery, and the way it worked with the internal grief and guilt as well as the external power dynamics was really interesting. I’m not satisfied with the ending; somehow the costs and rewards don’t balance with the rest of the text for me.

Beauty Like the Night, Joanna Bourne. It’s been so long since I read this that all the plot was new and the French accent was the main nostalgic pleasure. It’s a fun historical romance with great plot and fun characters. It’s more pleasure fantasy than emotional realism but the tone supports that entirely.

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway. This was not popular with the book club. The characters are all unsympathetic, the drinking stunned us, and the promiscuity and antisemitism made most people uncomfortable. But there was also a consensus about the power of the setting and how evocative scenes such as the bullfight and the fishing trip were. We agreed it was a good length. I remember reading this as a kid and being confused about Jake’s war wound and this time I was also confused but from the opposite direction. Like, the rest of his body seemed to work so why was his relationship with Brett so doomed?

The Lives of Tao, Wesley Chu. Sword and Laser pick. This was a fun adventure with a rather hapless protagonist and the alien who infests him. It was a smooth read but not enough to make me go on. For one thing, the final battle scene really damseled the girlfriend in a way that left a bad taste in my mouth, so I wasn’t given that urge to grab the next book. But this one was fine.

I Escaped the Salem Witch Trials, Juliet Fry. Short and did what it said on the tin. This really leaned into the idea that the Salem girls were just petty kids having fun accusing people and the authorities were idiots and kinda evil, and I’m under the impression that things were more complicated than that, but this gave us a nice orphaned protagonist who is plucky and courageous and does the right thing.

Tales From Watership Down, Richard Adams. I enjoyed these stories which fill in some more areas of rabbit life. It was a good audio to clean the kitchen with.

The Baby-sitter’s Winter Vacation, Ann M. Martin. Another fun super special! The week at the fabulous lodge with unlimited winter sports sounded awesome, and I liked how the girls stepped up to help with the elementary kids. Mary Anne seems to have gone off the deep end with her crush but Kristy’s crazy competitive streak was amusing. Very much a blast from the past even though I skipped these in my youth.

Tusks of Extinction, Ray Naylor. Hey I finished this ages ago. I liked the parallels between mammoth adolescents and the boy with the hunters and the complicated romantic relationship and the unexpected but coherent decisions off the elephant loving lady.

Books Started

I Escaped the Salem Witch Trials, Juliet Fry. I got this book by accident (I meant to get an I Survived book) but I read it anyway.

Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Hugo novel finalist.

The Lives of Tao, Wesley Chu. Sword and Laser pick.

The Wild Iris, Louise Glück. Poetry. This is great.

Her Aussie Holiday, Stephanie London. For the romance club: Vacations

The Wood at Midwinter, Susanna Clark. This book is really a short story.

I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944, Lauren Tarshis. Still reading these.

Bookmarks Moved

Alibi, Sharon Shinn

Hannelore’s Fifth Year at the Royal Academy, Miya Kazuki

Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement, Steven K. Kapp (editor)

Lyorn, Steven Brust

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, Chen (editor)

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison

System Collapse, Martha Wells

Watership Down:the Graphic Novel, James Sturm

I Survived the Battle of D-Day 1944 Graphic Novel, Lauren Tarshis, Georgia Ball, Brian Churilla

Eva Evergreen and the Cursed Witch, Julie Abe

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann.

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

South Riding, Winifred Holtby.

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver

Threads That Bind, Kika Hatzopoulo

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

I’m Nobody, Who Are You?, Emily Dickinson

Picture Books and Short Stories

The Wood at Midwinter, Susanna Clark. It’s evocative and sorta seasonal for the dead of winter, but I think it’s borrowing the atmosphere of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell to work so I’m not sure it would read as well to someone who hasn’t read that. It interacted in an interesting way with the book about the autistic political movement and the social definition of disability, because the protagonist is pursuing their life and fulfillment in a way that society (even the members that love her) think is incorrect but that makes sense to her.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Except currently I’m reading in the Bookworm book instead. Priorities.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. Kip meets another hero, and again it doesn’t go to plan.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. Robert Browning is great. And Walt Whitman is a good one to follow with.

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

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe.

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. We are into actual books!

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe. Made it to December!

Books Acquired

So long ago! I dunno.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so weeks beyond the books in this post. It is also probably wrong.

I am reading:

Book I own: Poppy and Marigold
Library Book: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Ebook I own: Hannelore’s Fifth Year at the Royal Academy
Foolscap Book Club Book: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Sword and Laser Club Book: The Devils
Scintillation Book Club: Tribute, Wolf Hall
Cloudy Book Club: Honey Witch
Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: Hell Followed With Us
River Runs Under It Book Club: None of This Is True
Talbot Hill Book: Summer Time! No Book. I need to start on the recommendations though.
Friday Book Club: A Sorceress Comes to Call (I've read it)
Romance Book Club: A month off