Monday, February 9, 2026

Run For Your Life

I ran a 5k! I entered the Renton Candy Cane 5k and this time I jogged the whole way! This is a huge milestone for me and I was very excited about it.

My son had volunteered to run with me but picked up an emergency shirt at work at the last minute and my niece kindly stepped into his place. She had just done a half marathon so I guess it was a doodle for her. She accidentally set me a very fast pace (fast for me) but luckily I noticed and slowed down to make it the whole way. I will treasure the commemorative sweatshirt. I mean, I have the sweatshirts from many previous years, but usually I walk a lot if it.

thinks I am currently reading 56 books. That is still under my age so I take it as a win. The library thinks I have 61 books checked. Sadly 7 of the unread ones are due in the next three days.

Books Completed December 4 - 10

Kristy and the Snobs, Ann Martin. I do prefer the originals to the graphics, because Martin is doing a lot with emotional growth and kids perception of adults while still keeping to a comfortable pattern for a long series. I’ve also started watching the Netflix show, and it was interesting to see the differences; in the TV show her mom is also intimidated.

How I Got My Shrunken Head, R.L. Stine. A goofball kid who takes a long time to grasp where and from whom shrunken heads come from learns some things the hard way. I feel very lucky that my kids were nicer to each other and that my internal monologue was not so contemptuous of my siblings even when we were bickering.

Eagle Drums, Nasugraq Rainey Hobson. I liked this retelling of an American Indian myth, although I’m writing this so late I can’t remember which tribe or even how much Hobson invented. But the tone and the hero were compelling.

Isla to Island, Alexis Castellanos. This is a graphic novel telling the story of one of the kids evacuated from Cuba to America when things went bad. The kids were allowed in before their parents and were fostered with volunteers. It’s almost wordless, told with images and color, especially after the girl arrives in America and can’t speak English. The reader is also left without language for many pages.

The Latchkey Twins: Case No. 46: The Twins Solve a Murder, Kelly Nugent. A friend lent me this, and it was amazing. Nugent has recreated the feel of old kid adventure series books (think Enid Blyton) with deftly handled dips into real humanity or lampshading a common trope, like leaving bikes behind when chasing clues (they go through a lot of bikes), or how parents who are absent enough to enable the adventures might also be emotionally unavailable for their kids.

Charlotte Spies For Justice, Nikki Shannon Smith. This was one of my favorites of the Girls Survive series. It puts a kid near an interesting historical place but doesn’t make her too modern or too much smarter than all the adults who defer to her. Instead we see spymasters at work and Charlotte doing some things that kids could realistically be doing.

Barracoon, Zara Neale Hurston. This was fascinating on several levels. First there was the story of one of the last people brought to an America as a slave, told to Hurston and transcribed by her. He remembered his childhood and youth in Africa, the march to the coast to be sold by a rival nation, d his years in America afterward. They were a smuggled cargo brought in not long before the Civil War; most of his time in America was as a free Black in the south. But also there was the story of Hurston and her relationship with the text and the program that sponsored it, which was also a rich vein of discussion. And then we had cookies because it was the holiday meeting (the meeting was the next week, but I’m writing this well into 2026 so no sense quibbling).

Tom Lake, Ann Patchett. Another lovely read. It was very slow, being the story of a mom and her adult daughters hanging out at the family orchard during the pandemic and the mom telling the story of the guy she dated before their dad who later became a famous actor. I never regret reading Patchett.

Karen’s Brothers, Ann M. Martin. This a a Babysitters Little Sister book, and although I appreciate how kind the blended family is to each other I find Karen’s second grade boyfriends/husbands very bizarre, and her mercurial swings between abusing all males and honoring them a bit disturbing.

The Pursuit of… , Courtney Milan. A novella that I think is technically part of a series I like but also one of a series from different authors set in American history. I really liked the two guys, and I was amazed that Milan managed to pull off a believable HEA for them.

Annie and the Unsinkable Ship, Amy Rubinate. The characters did not seem of their time, and the ease with which a third class kid becomes dog watcher of the rich seemed unlikely, but here’s a Girls Survibe Titanic graphic novel!

Puck and Prejudice, Lia Riley. This was a fun call back to its namesake, with a determined willingness to let her have it all. Jane Austin makes a brief appearance at the start, which is fun, then returns as a slightly bigger character which is kind of annoying, but except for that I had fun in this hockey/regency crossover.

I Survived the Wellington Avalanche, 1910, Lauren Tarshis. Hey, this isn’t that far from me and I never heard about it! I like how Tarshis has her characters living a life that the catastrophe they have to survive interrupts, instead of just dropping kids into the event so they can show us around history. This kid was a real Oliver Twist type.

Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter, A Graphic Novel, Ann M Martin & Ellen T. Crenshaw. Jessi is awesome, cute animals are fun to draw, so this was a winner.

Audrey and the Big Top, Jessica Gunderson. Does what it says on the tin. I didn’t like the prophecy though.

Books Started

Charlotte Spies For Justice, Nikki Shannon Smith. A Girls Survive story set in the Civil War.

Eagle Drums, Nasugraq Rainey Hobson. I can’t remember why this was on my For Later shelf,

Isla to Island, Alexis Castellanos. Another book from my For Later library list.

The Latchkey Twins: Case No. 46: The Twins Solve a Murder, Kelly Nugent. This is a fun take on old fashioned serial stories for kids.

Barracoon, Zara Neale Hurston. River Runs Under It pick.

Puck and Prejudice, Lia Riley.

I Survived the Wellington Avalanche, 1910, Lauren Tarshis. I’ve never heard of this disaster.

Karen’s Brothers, Ann M. Martin. Babysitter Little Sister book.

Annie and the Unsinkable Ship, Amy Rubinate. Girls Survive graphic novel.

Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter, A Graphic Novel, Ann M Martin & Ellen T. Crenshaw. This came out after I started reading through the list, so it feels special.

Sherlock Society, James Ponti. Friday book club pick.

Audrey and the Big Top, Jessica Gunderson. A Girls Survive book.

Careful What You Wish For, R. L. Stine. I’ve been challenged to read all the Goosebumps books.

Bookmarks Moved

Tacoma Narrows, Perry Mitchell.

The Maid and the Crocodile, Jordan Ifueko

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Fanbook 7, Miya Kazuki

Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro

Alex Wise Vs the Cosmic Shift, Terry J Benton-Walker

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Arabella of Venus, David Levine

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

This Is Our Rainbow, Katherine Locke

Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

Bookmarks Languished

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

True Colors, Abby Cooper

South Riding, Winifred Holtby

Calypso, Oliver K Langmead

The Hunger and the Dusk, G. Willow Wilson

Speculative Whiteness, Jordan S. Carroll

Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum

Death in the Spires, K.J. Charles

Read Dangerously, Azar Nifisi

The Last Witchfinder, James K. Morrow. Scintillation book club.

An Exchange of Hostages, Susan R. Matthews

So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole

Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

The Library of Borrowed Hearts, Lucy Gilmore

3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years, John Scalzi

The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer. I seem to have misplaced this.

Blood at the Root, LaDarrion Williams.

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

Little Red and the Big Bad Editor, Rebecca Kraft Rector. The wolf is defeated (or is it?) by its grammarian nature and some cunningly preferred sweets, I do love a picture book about writing and want that pokes at grammar nerds is especially tasty.

The Most Boring Book Ever, Brandon Sanderson. The illustrations are by Kazu Kabuishi, who did the Amulet series, and the whole book is a text vs illustrations masterpiece. A kid sits in a chair, until he gets up from the chair, but the text doesn’t mention the dragons, the falling, or any other bit that the illustrations are excitedly showing. Lots of fun.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Organizing one’s laundry is the current topic.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. Mail bribe. Emily Dickinson is cool.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. Mail bribe.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. The ending moves back to the personal.

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. My gaming is not on this level.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. Good chapters about things to do after and while reading the books.

Books Acquired

I only notice when I’m caught up.

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: Fair Trade
Library Book: A Pho Love Story
Friend Book Club: Lasagna Means I Love You
Foolscap Book Club Book: The Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping
Sword and Laser Club Book: Someplace to be Flying
Talbot Hill School: Picture books and adventure stories
Scintillation Book Club: The Enchanted April
Cloudy Book Club: Love in Color
Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: Self Love Poetry
Romance Book Club: Art of Love
River Runs Under It Book Club: The God of the Woods

Monday, February 2, 2026

You Can Now Say Merry Christmas

Most of the week after Thanksgiving was spent wallowing in self-pity about having to limit my carbs. I made my traditional tetrazzini after a few days of leftovers, but could only eat a reasonable amount at a time. The Thanksgiving holiday is not about, reasonable amounts! I also had to watch the family chow down on appropriately gluttonous amounts of leftovers while I used a tiny plate to have my morsels. Thank goodness for my liverwurst pate, which was low carb if not what I would describe as “healthy.”

I did keep up my running and my book clubs, in between all the moping.

thinks I am currently reading 53 books. Such progress! The library thinks I have 69 books checked out. I feel like I’m being so restrained and yet that number keeps creeping up. Maybe I better check the definition of restraint again.

Books Completed November 28 - December 4

Moon Of the Crusted Snow, Waubgeshig Rice. For Torches and Pitchforks. This was an interesting apocalypse book, set on a reservation in Canada where the power goes out and supplies stop coming.at first it seems like a local problem, but as supplies also stop coming the community gradually realizes something has happened. People react differently, and the question of how to handle refugees becomes important. We all liked it although finding out there was a sequel led me to realize I had misunderstood some parts.

Claudia and Mean Janine Graphic Novel, Ann Martin & Raina Telgemeier. I agree it’s a better start for Claudia’s book in the series. The hospital scenes give the artist some good scenery to work with.

The Frozen Menace, Ursula Vernon. I missed this one! I liked how Danny’s friends rallied to help him. And how the author manages to make his parents completely useless without becoming baddies.

Silver Lady, Mary Jo Putney. Another magical regency romance, with a loving found family and earnest lovers and cool horses and smuggling on the beach.

Bailey and the Blaze, Delores Andrul. A Girls Survive graphic novel about the burning of Atlanta in the American Civil War that somehow forgets to mention slavery.

Stitch in Snow, Anne McCaffrey. I loved revisiting this for the snowed in topic at Romance Book Club. It’s definitely got some dated elements (modern authors wouldn’t use “rape” to describe consensual sex used to avoid thinking) but the knitting stuff, the swimming pool, and the kids book author stuff a

Was all as much fun as I remembered. As was the travel systems, where airlines work to keep passengers happy.

Moonstruck Vol 1, Grace Ellis. This is a love letter to queer baristas everywhere, but it was a meh read for me. I found the centaur confusing visually and didn’t get why the werewolf main character was so worried about being “normal” when as far as I could tell humans were a fairly small minority, at least on these pages. I wasn’t sure why she considered them the standard.

Wildfire, Breena Bard. This came off as a little preachy to me, but it still worked as a story. The protagonist is not happy about her house burning down and her family having to relocate to a city, and when the boy who carelessly started the fire turns up in her neighborhood she has understandably negative feelings. Her journey is interestingly complex even as we learn a lot about systemic problems affecting disasters as well as individual mistakes, trauma and activism, and goat pen requirements.

Poor Mallory, Ann Martin. I admit my favorite part was the passel of kids working on ways to raise money while their dad is between jobs after being layed off. Mallory babysitting bratty rich kids was fine and gave her a chance to struggle with envy, but her younger sister’s beauty consultant gig was even more entertaining.

Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis. I liked this Sword and Laser pick; seeing the passengers and crew on basically an interstellar cruise ship was fun. And I enjoyed seeing how the different viewpoints were adding up to an overall plot involving spying and counterspying and resistance to the monarchy. But I felt the end didn’t really pull all the pieces together in a satisfying way. The sum was less than the parts, but I liked the parts.

Ice Cold, Tess Gerritsen. Next book in my Renton Library quest. I’m only vaguely aware of the series dynamics, but this one separates the main duo for most of the book so I didn’t need to know much about their partnership. It was fine but I’m not seeking out more Rizzoli and Ives stuff. On to the next shelf!

This Tender Land, William Kent Kruger. I’m a month or so late for this River Runs Under It pick, but I was out of town for the meeting so no hurry. I didn’t like the magical elements, which I felt lessened the tension of the historical stuff.

All the Beauty in the World, Patrick Brinkley. I think I forgot to mention finishing this last week. It was a librarian recommended book that took a while to arrive. It’s a memoir of a few years in the life of a guy who takes a job as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of art after his brother dies, and he charts his grief as he stands around looking at art. Slowly his life moves on and after his second kid he changes jobs, but I liked how he talked about those years of learning about himself and life through a job that literally surrounded him with beauty. And a union card.

Books Started

Blood at the Root, LaDarrion Williams. Cybils finalist.

Silver Lady, Mary Jo Putney. I like her magical Regency romances.

Tom Lake, Ann Parchett. I like this author.

The Frozen Menace, Ursula Vernon. Apparently I missed the last one.

Bailey and the Blaze, Delores Andrul. A Girls Survive graphic novel.

Stitch in Snow, Anne McCaffrey. Romance club is doing snowed-in stories.

This Is Our Rainbow, Katherine Locke. Short stories about queer kids.

Kristy and the Snobs, Ann Martin. More babysitter’s club.

Moonstruck Vol 1, Grace Ellis. A graphic novel.

Tacoma Narrows, Perry Mitchell. Poetry book.

Wildfire, Breena Bard. Exciting looking middle grade graphic novel.

Poor Mallory, Ann Martin. Hey, the library has even more Babysitter’s Club as ebooks.

Bookmarks Moved

The Pursuit of… , Courtney Milan

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Fanbook 7, Miya Kazuki

Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro

Alex Wise Vs the Cosmic Shift, Terry J Benton-Walker

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Arabella of Venus, David Levine

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

How I Got My Shrunken Head, R.L. Stine

The Maid and the Crocodile, Jordan Ifueko. I started this back when I was reading all the Hugo finalists.

Bookmarks Languished

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

True Colors, Abby Cooper

South Riding, Winifred Holtby

Calypso, Oliver K Langmead

The Hunger and the Dusk, G. Willow Wilson

Speculative Whiteness, Jordan S. Carroll

Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum

Death in the Spires, K.J. Charles

Read Dangerously, Azar Nifisi

The Last Witchfinder, James K. Morrow. Scintillation book club.

An Exchange of Hostages, Susan R. Matthews

So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole

Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

The Library of Borrowed Hearts, Lucy Gilmore

Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot

3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years, John Scalzi

The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer. I seem to have misplaced this.

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

None.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Organizing one’s laundry is the current topic.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. Mail bribe. Emily Dickinson is cool.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. Mail bribe.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. The ending moves back to the personal.

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. My gaming is not on this level.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. Good chapters about things to do after and while reading the books.

Books Acquired

I only notice when I’m caught up.

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: Fair Trade
Library Book: Set On You
Friend Book Club: Lasagna Means I Love You
Foolscap Book Club Book: The Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping
Sword and Laser Club Book: Someplace to be Flying
Scintillation Book Club: Kiss Myself Goodbye
Cloudy Book Club: Love in Color
Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: Self Love Poetry
Romance Book Club: Art of Love
River Runs Under It Book Club: The God of the Woods

Sunday, January 25, 2026

Super Bad Timing

So, last year, on Friday before Thanksgiving, I had my meeting with a dietician to discuss my pre-diabetic blood sugar readings. Wow, what bad timing. Apparently it’s not just a matter of the right fractions on a plate but a need to maintain a low total of carbs per meal. Even if that meal is Thanksgiving dinner.

Two bookclubs in the weekend cheered me up a bit, and I managed to make the sides assigned to me (pinwheels, pumpkin pie, and a last minute liverwurst thing that appears to have no carbs). And on Thanksgiving itself my family supported me by never passing the rolls and stealing all the pie.

thinks I am currently reading 61 books. That’s creeping back down. The library thinks I have 65 books checked out, which is way too many and many of them are approaching their due dates. But, a few more are picture books so I’ll finish them on time.

Books Completed November 21 - 27

Semiotics, Sue Burke. This was full of cool ideas, with a band of idealists trying to colonize a new planet and their struggles to survive over generations as technology fails and their understanding of the environment evolves. The human relationships are complex and often difficult, although we don’t spend much time with anyone as the book moves over five or so generations. The relationships across species introduce questions about what it means to be a person, to be exploited, to be intelligent. The conversation with book club went over literary, intellectual and scientific questions and was really engaging.

Diary of an 8 Bit Warrior: Shadow Over Aetheria, Cube Kid. Yeah, this is aimed squarely at the early reader market and missed me by a mile. Starting with book 8 didn’t help. Some jokes went under my feet and others over my head because of my limited Minecraft nous.

I’m Nobody, Who Are You?, Emily Dickinson. I like how some poems are moments in nature, some are facets of humanity, and some are ice cold understandings of death.

Please Pay Attention, Jamie Sumner. Eh, I hadn’t realized this was a free verse book. It mostly read like a lot of hitting return on the typewriter. But I like seeing the world from a wheelchair view.

Framed in Death, J.D. Robb. Bad guy was bad, Eve is good, torture scenes not super graphic. So a fun one.

Sarah Journeys West, Nikki Shannon Smith. I liked this one. It’s an African American’s family view of the Oregon trail, which is an angle I haven’t seen. The kid is still ahistorical and I found it annoying how often she was right and her family was wrong and how well they ok that, but there were lots of factual details which are the strengths of this series so the ungrounded characters didn’t ruin things for me.

What Feasts At Night, T. Kingfisher. On this reread I noticed how much I like the relationship with the batman and how much horror I had managed to forget. The dream horse stuff will hopefully disappear from my nightmares again.

The Farwalker’s Quest, John Sensel. A really cool Cybils fantasy from 2008. I like these kids books that don’t stop to explain the child’s emotional state and problems, instead focusing on action that lets me see that stuff for myself. There was real risk and trauma, which was a problem for squeamish adult me but should be fine for kids.

Books Started

How I Got My Shrunken Head, R.L. Stine. Goosebumps book.

Sarah Journeys West, Nikki Shannon Smith. A Girls Survive book.

Diary of an 8 Bit Warrior: Shadow Over Aetheria, Cube Kid. A MineCraft book.

Alex Wise Vs the Cosmic Shift, Terry J Benton-Walker. Sequel.

Please Pay Attention, Jamie Sumner. Grabbed on sight while library sampling.

The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer. Wanted more from this author.

What Feasts At Night, T. Kingfisher. Reread for Cloudy book club.

Moon Of the Crusted Snow, Waubgeshig Rice. For Torches and Pitchforks.

Claudia and Mean Janine Graphic Novel, Ann Martin & Raina Telgemeier. Comparing to the text one.

Bookmarks Moved

The Pursuit of… , Courtney Milan

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Fanbook 7, Miya Kazuki

Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

Ice Cold, Tess Gerritsen.

All the Beauty in the World, Patrick Brinkley

This Tender Land, William Kent Kruger

Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer

Arabella of Venus, David Levine

Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis

Bookmarks Languished

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

True Colors, Abby Cooper

South Riding, Winifred Holtby

Calypso, Oliver K Langmead

The Hunger and the Dusk, G. Willow Wilson

Speculative Whiteness, Jordan S. Carroll

Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum

Death in the Spires, K.J. Charles

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Read Dangerously, Azar Nifisi

The Last Witchfinder, James K. Morrow. Scintillation book club.

An Exchange of Hostages, Susan R. Matthews

So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole

Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

The Library of Borrowed Hearts, Lucy Gilmore

Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot

3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years, John Scalzi

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

None.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Organizing one’s laundry is the current topic.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. Mail bribe. Emily Dickinson is cool.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. Mail bribe.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. The ending moves back to the personal.

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. My gaming is not on this level.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. I’m getting some good ideas for kid management.

Books Acquired

I only notice when I’m caught up.

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: Fair Trade
Library Book: Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea
Friend Book Club: Ladagna Means I Love You
Foolscap Book Club Book: The Witch’s Guide to Innkeeping
Sword and Laser Club Book: I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
Scintillation Book Club: Aunt Munda
Cloudy Book Club: Wooing the Witch Queen
Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: How to Fall in Love With Questions
Romance Book Club: Art of Love
River Runs Under It Book Club: The God of the Woods

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Days Getting Dark

Hmm. Back in November my sister, my son, and I volunteered again at the CERT graduation exercise, playing very annoying victims. We always show up early to get some wounds painted on. It’s a good review of my CERT skills as well. I’m also getting back into running, with an emphasis on not falling down. And I snuck into the local school’s book fair and got some books and some book adjacent toys, mainly notebooks.

thinks I am currently reading 67 books (I’m actually writing this on New Years Day). That’s creeping up again but I’m falling behind on marking things done so not as badly as it appears. The library thinks I have 65 books checked out, which is way too many and many of them are approaching their due dates.

Books Completed November 14 - 20

Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao. This Lodestar (not a Hugo) nominee took me a few tries to get through. I couldn’t get immersed in the protagonist’s voice, partly because I’m old and she’s definitely a very passionate teen, and partly because she kept angrily circling the same emotional paths. But I like the worldbuilding and the questions it raises. I like how revolution is messy and demands compromises as well as determination, and how decisions can be reevaluated after seeing how things are working.

North Woods, Daniel Mason. I enjoyed this biography of an apple orchard, but I felt the pieces were stronger than the sum of its parts. I didn’t like the occasional dips into ghosts and mysticism, which grew stronger at the end, leaving me with a feeling of emptiness. But it was an interesting read and the library book group had some good things to say.

Some Sunny Day, Adam Baron. Great luck with this pick from the next shelf at the Renton Highlands library. Cam was a fun kid with an interesting family and an exotic life (he’s English). I liked his intense way of dealing with the world and his loyalty to the people who make him food.

Dad Rock Dragon Quest, Joan Reardon. I liked the character development in these books, which felt necessary but not very didactic. Seeing the protagonist learn to understand her dad’s flaws as well as his good points was fun, especially when there are dragons. I kinda hope she learns to do that with her mom and the mom’s boyfriend, because they kinda seemed to be using dad’s more flamboyant flaws to get away with taking their own shortcuts.

The Babysitters’ Summer Vacation, Ann M. Martin. Kid summer camps are always a fun fantasy for me, and now I’m enjoying seeing how different the TV show take on this is.

Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny, Rebekah Witherspoon. This felt a little odd to me, because it was half a sensitive story of two adults working out good boundaries for a loving relationship and half those same adults having very raunchy sex along the way. Witherspoon was good at both, but for me those are different reading experiences so not knowing what the page would bring me kept me on my toes.

The Gentleman’s Book of Vices, Jess Everlee. I’m glad I finished this; it was sweet.

Thirst, Mary Oliver. Very good bedtime reading. Some poems that knock the top of your head off.

Books Started

The Pursuit of… , Courtney Milan. A trusty and trusted writer of historical romance.

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Fanbook 7, Miya Kazuki. I’m still addicted.

Framed in Death, J. D. Robb. I’m here for another one.

3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years, John Scalzi. I’m getting a kindle for Xmas (shh, don’t tell me what I got me) and it comes with Kindle Unlimited so this fell into my electronic hands).

Dad Rock Dragon Quest, Joan Reardon. Fun fantasy I saw while visiting libraries.

Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny, Rebekah Witherspoon. For Doctor month at our romance club.

The Gentleman’s Book of Vices, Jess Everlee. Huh, this was a dnf (did not finish) that I meant to get back to.

Ice Cold, Tess Gerritsen. I’m jumping into the Rizzoli & Isles series at #8, but I’ve seen at least ten minutes of the tv show so I grabbed this from the G shelf for my Renton Reading My Library Quest.

Bookmarks Moved

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro

Semiotics, Sue Burke

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

All the Beauty in the World, Patrick Brinkley

This Tender Land, William Kent Kruger

Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer

Arabella of Venus, David Levine

The Farwalker’s Quest, John Sensel

Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis

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

Bookmarks Languished

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

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

South Riding, Winifred Holtby

Calypso, Oliver K Langmead

The Hunger and the Dusk, G. Willow Wilson

Speculative Whiteness, Jordan S. Carroll

Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum

Death in the Spires, K.J. Charles

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Read Dangerously, Azar Nifisi

The Last Witchfinder, James K. Morrow. Scintillation book club.

An Exchange of Hostages, Susan R. Matthews

So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole

Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

The Library of Borrowed Hearts, Lucy Gilmore

Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

Iggy Peck, Architect, Andrea Beaty. This series is great it all its formats. I liked the concept, the illustrations and the rhymes.

Do You Want to Be My Friend?, Eric Carle. This book is very proud of how it is teaching all these pre reading skills, but I think it is so fun that even the parents won’t notice.

The Princess and the Pony, Kate Beaton. Ugly pony, polite Princess, and a good example of thinking outside the box. I read this a few years ago and enjoyed it again.

Still a Family: a Story About Homelessness, Breanna Reeves Sturgis. Does what it says on the tin.

SumoKitty, David Beidrzycki. Excellent life lessons from an excellent kitty.

Robobaby, David Weisner. Excellent book about the importance of older siblings when getting a new robobaby.

The World Needs More Purple People, Kristen Bell. Kinda preachy but I liked it. I think one of my kids would have resented the didacticism and the other would have only heard a suggestion to dye himself purple.

Yes You Can, Cow!, Rashmi Sirdeshpandi. Recommended by the Even the Trunchbull podcast, this was as good as I expected. I think stage families would appreciate it.

Dim Sum Palace, X. Fang. Another winner from the Even the Trunchbull podcast. It’s a bedtime story, a love story to dumplings, a cosy story, and now I’m hungry.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Organizing one’s laundry days is the current topic.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. Mail bribe. Emily Dickinson is cool.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. Mail bribe.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. The ending moves back to the personal.

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. My gaming is not on this level.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. I’m getting some good ideas for kid management.

Books Acquired

I only notice when I’m caught up.

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: Fair Trade
Library Book: The Memory Thieves
Friend Book Club: Movie month!
Foolscap Book Club Book: The Martian
Sword and Laser Club Book: I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
Scintillation Book Club: Morgaine Chronicles
Cloudy Book Club: Wooing the Witch Queen
Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: How to Fall in Love With Questions
Romance Book Club: Snowed in together: Stitch in Snow
River Runs Under It Book Club: Orbital

Thursday, January 1, 2026

Funny Faces

In early November I slowly started getting back into running, with not falling my highest priority. I hiked and walked as well. The numbness on my face has receded to mostly a small part of my lip which somehow I mostly notice while driving. Not while talking or eating really, just while driving.

So I guess I make a lot of funny faces and contorting my mouth as part of my driving process? No wonder I’m such an excellent driver!

thinks I am currently reading 61 books (I’m actually writing this on New Years Day). That’s accurate as I worked at cleaning up the list yesterday.

Books Completed November 7 - 13

What Stalks the Deep, T. Kingfisher. A reread that I was looking forward to; I like the sworn-soldier idea and its implementation. I had managed to forget how far into horror this got; the whole sequence with the horses shedding and stuff was very vivid.

Boy-Crazy Stacey, Ann M. Martin. I liked how the kids would talk to the babysitters and how they dealt with some fears that way. The TV adaption changed that to a crush on the babysitters. Humph.

I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871, Lauren Tarshis. Although the illustrations of the fire were great, I still prefer the written version because of the greater character development and period details.

Faye and the Dangerous Journey, Kim Sigafus. This one is good at period details, although once again the kid seems modern. Good history but duller stories.

Pokémon Sun and Moon 7, Hidenori Kusaka. I am definitely losing track of the sub plots, but I’m all in on the million dollar quest and also better pharmaceuticals.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. I loved falling into this book and hanging out with the characters.

Hearts Still Beating, Brooke Archer. I’m too old for teen romance. Even with zombies. But I see why it was a Cybils finalist.

Books Started

What Stalks the Deep, T. Kingfisher. Cloudy pick.

Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis. Sword and Laser pick.

Faye and the Dangerous Journey, Kim Sigafus. A Girl Survives book.

Thirst, Mary Oliver. Next poetry book and I’m here for it.

Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro. More about Bhaaj and her Dust Knights.

Pokémon Sun and Moon 7, Hidenori Kusaka. Gotta get the whole series!

Semiotics, Sue Burke. Scintillation book club pick.

The Babysitters’ Summer Vacation, Ann M. Martin. It’s a super special! (That means all the girls get to narrate.)

Bookmarks Moved

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

Arabella of Venus, David Levine

The Farwalker’s Quest, John Sensel

Some Sunny Day, Adam Baron

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

This Tender Land, William Kent Kruger

Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer

All the Beauty in the World, Patrick Brinkley.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts, Lucy Gilmore

North Woods, Daniel Mason

Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot

Heavenly Tyrants, Xiran Jay Zhao

Bookmarks Languished

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

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

South Riding, Winifred Holtby

Calypso, Oliver K Langmead

The Hunger and the Dusk, G. Willow Wilson

Speculative Whiteness, Jordan S. Carroll

Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum

Death in the Spires, K.J. Charles

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Read Dangerously, Azar Nifisi

The Last Witchfinder, James K. Morrow. Scintillation book club.

An Exchange of Hostages, Susan R. Matthews

So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole

Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas

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

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

I’m Sorry You Got Mad, Kyle Lukoff. A shade too didactic, but I still enjoyed it. It’s a kid forced to rewrite an apology until it has the actual shape of an apology, with illustrations showing the context of the kid’s emotions and his relationship with the one he harmed as well as other classmates. I like it when picture books use illustrations and text separately to build a bigger story.

The Book That Kibo Wrote, Mariana Ruiz Johnson. Kind of funky illustrations but a neat idea of how a book affects different people. It’s the teacher saying of doors and windows, but shown in how each animals relates to Kibo’s book - as an exotic other world or as nostalgia or whatever.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Shopping for towels.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. Mail bribe.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. Mail bribe.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. The ending moves back to the personal.

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. My gaming is not on this level.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. I’m getting some good ideas for kid management.