I started the year off with a new crown on my tooth. Ow. So I spent most of the week feeling sorry for myself. Oh, I went to a bunch of book clubs, mostly with the books only partly read.

thinks I am currently reading 63 books, but I’m behind on marking things done. The library thinks I have 49 books checked. One is overdue, because I’ve lost it.

Books Completed January 2 - 8

Bluebird, Ciel Pierrot. I forgot to mention finishing this one last week. I liked it, although it was too long for what it did and the main character suffered from idiot responsibility syndrome, where if a bad guy does something either to blame her for making him do it or to coerce her into doing something, she feels like it’s her fault, not just in a general sense but in a very action oriented way. Her sister at the end seemed to agree with this, which didn’t help. (For the record, if anyone I know is kidnapped and I’m told they will be killed if I don’t do something, I am formally stating that I have no control over this nefarious person and while I really hope no one dies, I’m not doing any killing.) But the action was fun, the librarian and the library system were cool, and I’m always up for some damaged assssins on a redemption journey.

Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas. Another forgotten completion. She’s a lady doctor olden days, so a rare sighting, and he’s like a spy who has realized his agency has some ethical problems. Lots of fun medical and spy stuff, along with UST and assorted useful competencies. Kleypas is really fun and I should go back to reading more from her.

Haunting With the Stars, R.L. Stone. A Goosebumps book. Although the field trip is the most unbelievable part (and this book has interplanetary teleportation and bi-headed aliens) the kids weren’t mean bullies so I enjoyed it more than average. I’m not sure what the haunting part was (maybe the invisibility stuff?) but I liked the twist aimed at the adult antagonist at the end.

Pokémon Sun and Moon V. 8, Hidenori Kusaka. I’m getting a bit lost. The book does a good job catching me up on the events but the themes seem a bit disjointed. I’m super confused about how old the protagonists are. Do they have family who worry about them?

A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter Miller, Jr. Torches and Pitchforks pick. I’m sorry I didn’t finish my audio reread in time in time for book club, because I understood the Catholic priest’s viewpoint much better because I was reading Palmer’s Renaissance book. I didn’t agree with it (most of book club was just appalled) but I understood it.

Educating, LaRee Westover. I gather LaRee didn’t like her kid’s book very much and this was written as a sort of rebuttal. It’s too bad, because I lost a lot of respect for the mom hearing how she describes the same events. She seemed amazingly careless of her kids’ safety, willingly credulous, and often sorta spiteful.

Cora and the Terrible Twister, Julie Gilbert. Not one of the better Girls Survive books. Cora seems petty and spoiled (I had clocked her several years below her age before she got to the school), but also wildly inconsistent as a character, being either unrealistically heroic or crying depending on what aspect of the tornado needs to be highlighted. The medical details seem very anachronistic. It wasn’t fun.

Books Started

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. River Runs Under it book club pick.

Cora and the Terrible Twister, Julie Gilbert. A Girls Survive book.

Pokémon Sun and Moon V. 8, Hidenori Kusaka. Talbot Hill recommendation.

The Martian, Andy Weir. Foolscap book club.

The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne. Tuesday book club commences our project Gutenberg year!

Educating, LaRee Westover. Because I read her kid’s book.

Attack of the Jack-o-Lanterns, R.L. Stine. Goosebumps book.

Venetia, Georgette Heyer. Trying the audio. Wait, it’s abridged!

The Morgaine Chronicles, C.J. Cherry. Scintillation book club pick.

Bookmarks Moved

Education For Empire, Clif Stratton

The Book That Wouldnt Burn, Mark Lawrence

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

Gold Dust, Catherine Asaro

Gilded Crown, Marianne Gordon

Danger on Peaks: Poems, Gary Snyder

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

Champion of Fate, Kendare Blake

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Inventing the Renaissance, Ada Palmer

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Fanbook 7, Miya Kazuki

Fair Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

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

Bookmarks Languished

I have given up on a few of these, actually.

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

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

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

I reread the Hugo short story finalists for the traditional Foolscap bookclub December meeting, which this year took place in January.

“Three Faces of a Beheading”, Arkady Martine. This had strong opinions on social media.

“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read,” Caroline M. Yoachim. Reading this was a continuous delight.

“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole,” Isabel J. Kim. This seemed to miss the point of the original story but did some interesting things out on its own.

(More next week)

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. On to ventilation and heating! Apparently 61 degrees Fahrenheit is a good temperature for healthy adults.

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.