After Christmas Utah noticed that it was winter and snow fell down. Luckily I didn’t have to drive to our family trip to give platelets. Apparently I have no veins in my right arm so I got the coveted single arm set-up, and sat around watching a Jason Statham movie while bits of my blood were siphoned off. It was the one where he shoots a bunch of people and we think he’s dead but he isn’t and the bad guys lose.
Anyway, then I got my new shirt as a reward and went home to feel virtuous. To celebrate the family spirit we went out to do some group painting, along with the crucial bottles of wine to help our creative juices flow. Mine was the best, of course (that is a lie).
Time to head home, with a nice easy drive. Easy for me, at any rate; I think Kevin did about 90% of the driving. New Years was a dinner with a book club, and I got to bring a partner - my sister read our extra book and joined us. More fun and we headed home before scary people took to the roads.
And then I celebrated the New Year by donating whole blood. Renton blood people gave me socks.
Goodreads thinks I am currently reading 63 books. Oops! The library thinks I have 45 books checked. One is overdue, because the missing one hasn’t turned up yet.
Books Completed December 26 - January 1
Anne Fights for Freedom: an Underground Railroad Survival Story, Nikki Shannon Smith. Again, better at facts and vibes than characterization. It was fun that Ann had to take over from her mom for planning and gumption, although it made her mom seem a bit of a loser.
The Sailor Cipher, Trudi Trueit. I jumped from one series to the following one, but I like the science kids even if there’s some psychic magic sprinkled in with the science. That’s kinda old school SF so I accept it. I like the kids doing real stuff both in science and the plot, and the school bits are fun.
Greta and the Night Fire, Julie Gilbert. A Girls Survive graphic novel. This is an interesting take on the bombing of Dresden, where we see the effects on deliberately innocent victims: one of the last remaining Jews in Dresden and a German girl whose family has been trying to support her family. So the destruction and loss are shown but Nazis are absent from the page.
Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch. Audio book for drive home. These are a lot of fun, although the deep bass voice used for one of the characters kept matching and disappearing into the tire noise.
Millie and the Great Drought, Natasha Deen. A Girls Survive book. This hit a lot of beats around the Dust Bowl and treatment of the refugees. But I found the young girl who was sure she understood the ecological, financial, and societal situation better than either of her parents both ahistorical and frequently disproved by the actual facts.
I Survived the Galveston Hurricane, 1900, Lauren Tarshis. I liked this historical fiction much better. The kid had both an adventure and a believable arc, and the results of the disaster seemed realistic.
Books Started
Greta and the Night Fire, Julie Gilbert. A Girls Survive graphic novel.
Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch. Audio book for drive home.
Danger on Peaks: Poems, Gary Snyder. Poetry book.
Millie and the Great Drought, Natasha Deen. A Girls Survive book.
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter Miller, Jr. Torches and Pitchforks pick.
Gilded Crown, Marianne Gordon. cloudy pick.
Haunting With the Stars, R.L. Stone. A Goosebumps book.
The Book That Wouldnt Burn, Mark Lawrence. Sword and Laser pick.
Bookmarks Moved
Education For Empire, Clif Stratton
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
Ascendance of a Bookworm, Fanbook 7, Miya Kazuki
Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro
Fair Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton
Champion of Fate, Kendare Blake
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot
Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer
Alex Wise Vs the Cosmic Shift, Terry J Benton-Walker
Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy
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
Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford
One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name
Ghosted, Amanda Quain
Blood at the Root, LaDarrion Williams
Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories
None.
Books on Slow Mode
Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Laundry problems that have not been an issue for me.
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: Clean Getaway
- Friend Book Club: Riddlemaster of Hed
- Foolscap Book Club Book: Fevered Star
- Sword and Laser Club Book: Automatic Noodle
- Talbot Hill School: Graphic Novels and poetry
- Scintillation Book Club: Malafrena
- Cloudy Book Club: Direct Descendant
- Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: Remarkably Bright Creatures
- Romance Book Club: Old people love! Old being fifteen years younger than me, and up.
- River Runs Under It Book Club: The Grey Wolf
