April Hailstorms Bring May Lawn Problems

Spring is bursting out all over -- my daffodils are already done but now my bushes are budding and the sky is alternating dreary rain and lovely blue vistas. Of course it looks backwards two; hail fell on us a few times this week. 

Sunday was Orthodox Easter but we mostly celebrated my younger son turning twenty one. His half-sisters came over for a while and then we served a favorite meal and made him a cake. He's a great guy.

The library Romance Series met and we discussed what makes Romantic Suspense work and where the parameters between suspense and romance lie. As always I got some good recommendations. We're still virtual but I know the library is planning to resume in-person programming soon, so who knows what will happen. But it could happen in my home library, in downtown Renton, because it's reopened! It's been closed for months after a pipe burst, but now it's back. Yay!

I'm still plugging through Deep Space Nine, and am on the last episode of Bridgerton. Heartstopper is on but I don't want to get ahead of the books so I haven't finished it. I did enjoy watching the first episode while my nephew was at school; he was shocked I got ahead of him but managed to finish the whole thing before I made it to the second. I'm still starting more than I finish but I've slowed down how many I'm adding. 

I am still second on my list of all the Cybils finalists. But I'm still working on the categories (as you see, middle grade SF is showing up), so I have hopes of regaining the top spot. Look out, Shaye! I only need like thirty thirty-five more books to catch up! (Shaye continues to read the rest faster than me. I'm doomed but happy about it.)

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" and I think I'm in time this week! Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers.

Started

Ikenga, Nnedi Okorafor. Saw at the library.

Ascendance of a Book Worm (Part 1, Vol 3) Manga, Miya Kazuki. The next chapter of the manga. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm (Part 1, Vol 1), Miya Kazuki. The light novel of the manga I read earlier. (I learned about light novels!)

Heartstopper Vol 2, Alice Osman. The next page in the story!

Mr. and Mr. Smith, HelenKay Dimon. For the Romantic Suspense discussion at the Romance bookclub.

The Curse of the Mummy, Candace Fleming. Cybils finalist. 

Manna From Hades, Carola Dunn. Because there are no more Daisy Dalrymples.

Risk, Dick Francis. Since the other one got too tense for me. 

Monsters In Our Midst, Wen Spencer. Time to reread Harbinger soon!

Being Seen, Elsa Sjunneson. A Hugo finalist.

Completed

Foundation, Isaac Asimov. For my Tuesday book club. Actually, I was supposed to finish it two weeks ago, but I'm slow. It's a very idea book -- the chapters are each centered around a cool idea about how society would push the tiny island of technology as the galaxy-wide civilization crashed around them. It's also very old in its technology and treatment of women, which makes it seem rather archaic in different ways. Reading it was a fun visit with younger me -- I remember seeing the ideas for the first time and enjoying the sense of wonder and appreciation of brilliance -- the smart people would figure out how to save the day!

Ascendance of a Book Worm (Part 1, Vol 3) Manga, Miya Kazuki. Little kids shouldn't work harder -- they should work smarter! By which I mean they should make other people do the work. But paying back starts dragging our bookworm into more complicated areas of society. She wants to do her friend a good deed, but then finds both of them in a bargain with a merchant.

Ascendance of a Bookworm (Part 1, Vol 1), Miya Kazuki. Wow, there was a lot more going on than I realized, and I don't know whether that's because it was hard to put in a graphic novel or because I'm just that bad at reading them. I see how some stuff was hinted at but I was mostly ignoring it; in the text version the information about mana is spelled out, as are more details about the motives of all the characters and the plans within plans. I think I'll keep reading both. It looks like it's about 3 volumes of manga to each novel; I hope that stays consistent. 

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls, Kaela Rivera. 2021 Cybils Elementary / Middle Grade Speculative Fiction finalist. I liked the meaty ethical problems Cece has to deal with, as well as recognizing that her society is making some unjust calls. She's willing to risk herself to save her sister, but also understands that a good end does not justify all means. The magic system is cool, with the different kinds of supernatural beings and the way the people work to control them. This is a great introduction to a character, and I liked how the ending didn't fix everything for her but left her in a strong position to deal with what will come next. I think there are more books coming, but this stands alone.

Mr. and Mr. Smith, HelenKay Dimon. I was in this for the frothy, so sometimes I got impatient when Dimon was taking the emotional stuff seriously for too long. It's a play on the movie you think, with two guys who haven't told each other about their real jobs (both are secret agents -- spies!). I found the team's reaction of Mr Smith telling him about his big secret (he's gay) amusing -- all of them had known for years, as this guy is terrible at keeping personal secrets. But none had realized he had a steady boyfriend -- that was news. And definitely none had realized that the boyfriend was a cooler spy than our guy. Together they will fight crime!

Heartstopper Vol 2, Alice Osman. These guys are so cute! I was actually stressed while reading this, because they decide that Nick doesn't have to rush to come out; he's just realizing that he's not straight, but he's not sure what he should call himself and he doesn't want engage with all their rather homophobic peers. Charlie and all the other nice kids rush to assure him that he should come out on his own time. BUT, he and Charlie are snogging all over the place; these two goofs are head over heels for each other and have no concept of discretion or secrecy. So this could have gotten very scary for our lads, but luckily this isn't that kind of book so far. They just get to be cute together. 

Manna From Hades, Carola Dunn. I was feeling like I was in a bit of a reading slump. I was starting lots of books but finding it hard to really sink into them; I had to force myself to read for more than a few minutes at a time. So I just picked something I really wanted to read, not something I was enjoying but was reading for a book club or from a list or anything, and I really enjoyed just sitting and hanging out with some interesting characters in a village a little bit different from mine. It was really refreshing and just what I wanted when I started the book.

Monsters In Our Midst, Wen Spencer. I was reading all the short stories Baen has on their web page by Spencer and I saw they have this one, which apparently is a novella, so I promoted it out of the short story page. It's a peek into what was happening among regular people while Tinker got herself mixed up with the Viceroy, and also a look at how many plans are coming to a crisis. Also, Jane is in love and welcoming a guy into her family with all the resettling that will entail. 

-- Book from the blogging gap -- 

A Princess For Christmas, Jenny Holiday. Way back in December the library Romance Club had its Holiday special, so I read this even though I ended up on an airplane for the meeting. It was charming and delightful -- a fake country had a princess, and the cab driver guy gets her where she needs to be and then they fall in love. He builds cabins, she manages a business, and together they can raise his sister. Sweet, a bit spicy, and only a wee bit too long for its story. I immediately gobbled up the next one too. 

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. Or at least actually pick it up and think about reading it. This week I made some progress in:

A Master of Djinn, P. Djeli Clark. Sword and Laser pick. 

The World's Most Pointless Animals, Peter Bunting. Cybils finalist.

Heat, Mike Lupica. Cybils finalist.

Vampire Trinity, Joey Hill. The ratio of plot to awkward sex is a bit dauntingly small.

Medicus, Ruth Downie. Book to keep at the table so I can read while eating. The guy does think a lot about food. 

Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear. I'm listening while I clean the kitchen at night. So ten minutes a night, except when I'm slacking off. This week ended at a pivotal moment; maybe I will sneak in some extra cleaning!

Red Hood, Elana K. Arnold. Cybils finalist. The only way to make me, an adult, more uncomfortable reading about how much the kids are enjoying the sex they are having, is to tell me about it in second person. Yikes. 

Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Disaster, Serhii Plokhy. My shared read with my brother-in-law.

Sweep of the Heart, Ilona Andrews. Another Innkeeper story! Paused for a week due to a cat emergency.

Pandora's Star, Peter F. Hamilton. March Sword & Laser pick. They did warn us to start reading it a few months ago, as is is close to a thousand pages long. Oops. 

Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emrys. When I'm not playing Spaceward Ho! on my ipad, I'm reading this. Did I mention that I'm climbing the Champions List? It's actually a sign of depression when I avoid doing things I like for things that scratch my ADHD. But I can't worry about that now, because I'm busy CONQUERING THE GALAXY. Ho!

Forging a Nightmare, Patricia A. Jackson. Trouble in Hell!

Three Keys, Kelly Yang. From my shelves. Sequel to Front Desk.

Phoenix Extravagant, Yoon Ha Lee. For local Sword and Laser group.

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy. These are getting shaky in terms of whether they should stay on the list. 

Terra Nullius, Clare G. Colman. These are getting shaky in terms of whether they should stay on the list. 

Forfeit, Dick Francis. These are getting shaky in terms of whether they should stay on the list. 

Picture Books / Short Stories:

The Birthday Queen, Audrey Wood. Reading My Library Quest book. I didn't find the illustrations very attractive; I've never been a huge fan of the Woods' books (although my kids liked them). It did make sense that the true queen was the mom all along. 

Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots, Rebecca Janni. Reading My Library Quest book. A story about making friends, and also about how a kid can decorate for a party all by herself. I do like kids with self reliance.

My Rainy Day Rocket Ship, Markette Sheppard. The illustrations were appealing, and the rhyming text was all right -- not amazing but not distracting. I like the conceit of the boy spending the day building a rocket ship and then the launch, but I was a bit boggled at the idea that he would be happy zooming straight to bed from take-off. I think most kids would take a few detours on the way. But maybe it's aimed at being a good bed-time story. 

"Away in a Manger," Wen Spencer. A good twist on a Christmas story that I read on the Baen website. 

"Does a Bear Shoot in the Woods," Wen Spencer. This has some good examples of the classic Spencer exposition, where we find out where the character's assumptions are coming from and learn a lot about what makes them tick. Also from the Baen website. 

"The Many Media Hypothesis," Marissa Lingen. This gave me a new perspective on my Facebook timeline. 

"The Troll (A Tale Told Collectively)", Marissa Lingen. This is both a warm story about how a family jointly holds its history and a chilling story of what can be wrong in a family. 

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. I've been ignoring my mail.

The Educated Child, William Bennett.

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others. Moving into the last story.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. 

Stinger, Nancy Kress. I have rescued this from the bottom of my "no, really, I'm reading this" and moved it in here to make progress on it. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. OK, I'm doing the day's song, and then jumping back to where I fell behind. So I'm catching some of April and working my way through December.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021: Finished Cece. Reading Weird Animals and Mummies.
2. Early Cybils: Working on Red Hood again. I'm not liking it much, so I also have Heat on hand. 
3. Reading My Library. The library reopened! I got the next book. But maybe I'll keep working at the back-up library, because picture books are fun.
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Nowhere new.
5. Libraries: 33/55 for the Tacoma Extreme Challenge. I'm booking!

Future Plans

I'm putting this at the end because I suspect it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: Chernobyl Next: Forging a Nightmare
• Library Book: A Master of Djinn  Next: Ikenga
• Ebook I own:  Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Being Seen  Next: Raise the Titanic
• Book Club Book: A Master of Djinn
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Strange Love
• Hugo Book: A Master of Djinn
• Review Book: Back Home  Next: 
• Rereading: Risk. Or Maybe Heidi.
• Meal Companion: Medicus
• Audio:  Ancestral Night