Mary (bell7) Reads Diversely and Globally in 2021 - thread #3

Hello and welcome to my third thread of the year! Whether you're new now or have been following me in the 75ers for years, you are most welcome whether you lurk or post, talk about books or life.

By way of introduction, I'm a librarian living and working in western Massachusetts. I just bought a house at the end of 2020 and I'll be using the extra budget money that dogsitting gives me to fix it up a bit - mostly it needs paint and a little cosmetic TLC. I also have a garden and will enjoy discovering what's in it this spring and summer. Reading over 100 books a year is par for the course for me, and has been since I started keeping track of my reading, though it's ranged from 106 to 156 or so. I like stories with characters that pull me in and at the very least a writing style that moves the story along and doesn't grate by sounding clunky or overwrought. I also enjoy well-written nonfiction about interesting topics, particular books about books and language. Genre-wise, I'm all over the place eclectic and the only thing I won't read is horror.

Besides reading, I knit, I watch sports, and I talk about life here. I have a large family consisting of two brothers, two sisters, one BIL, one SIL, one niece and one nephew, and my parents. I volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and see my Little a couple of times a month. They'll appear here from time to time.

My 2021 reading goals are to have at least a third of my reads be by authors of color and 12 books (avg of one a month) by an author NOT born in the US or UK - preferably in translation, but I won't absolutely require it. I'll be aiming for twelve different countries. So far this year, I'm doing well with both of those goals. Suggestions welcome.

2021 Book Club Reads
One of the fun parts of my job is facilitating one of our library book clubs. As a group, we often like historical fiction and memoirs.

January - Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate - COMPLETED
February - Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson - COMPLETED
March - Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker - COMPLETED
April - A Burning by Megha Majumdar - COMPLETED
May - The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Summer break
September - Beloved: a novel by Toni Morrison
October - The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
November - The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
December - The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Random things I'm keeping track of -

Bookish articles:
1. Best New Science Fiction Books - the ones I have read from here, I really liked

How to make pretty block quotes (directions from Richard):
{blockquote}TYPE OR PASTE QUOTED TEXT HERE{/blockquote} and replace the curly braces with pointy brackets.

Number of books read since keeping count on LT:
July - Dec 2008 - 65
2009 - 156 (plus over 70 graphic novels and manga volumes)
2010 - 135 (Note: in June, I started working a second part-time job for full-time hours)
2011 - 150
2012 - 108 (Note: accepted a full-time job in February)
2013 - 107
2014 - 126 (plus 8 Graphic Novels)
2015 - 120 (plus 6 Graphic Novels)
2016 - 141
2017 - 114
2018 - 105 (Note: my first full year as Assistant Director)
2019 - 116
2020 - 153

Countries I've visited in my reading:
It can get a little dicey to figure out if a book fits as a "global" read or not, so here's how I'm counting it -
-The country I'll identify is that which the book was published in or the author is from, rather than the setting of the book
-The author currently lives in their country of origin, which for my purposes is not the U.S. or U.K.
-If the work had to be translated into English, regardless of where the author is currently living
-If the author is an expatriate, they had to move in adulthood (as a college student, refugee, or any other reason), and I'll count the country of origin as where the book is "from"

(South) Korea - Umma's Table by Yeon-sik Hong and Uncomfortably Happily by Yeon-sik Hong
Australia - Garth Nix, author of The Left-handed Booksellers of London though the book itself is set in a sort of alternate England
Syria - The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories by Osama Alomar
Bolivia - Our Dead World by Liliana Colanzi
Italy - Like Family by Paolo Giordano
India - A Burning by Megha Majumdar
France - The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Currently Reading
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

Devotionals/Bible reading
2 Samuel, Luke
Daily in His Presence by Ellie Claire
New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp

May
53. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
52. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
51. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
50. Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta, M.D.
49. The Trouble With Poetry: And Other Poems by Billy Collins
48. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
47. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

April
46. Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly
45. Library of Small Catastrophes by Alison C. Rollins
44. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
43. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
42. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
41. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Bradbury
40. A Burning by Megha Majumdar
39. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
38. Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
37. Like Family by Paolo Giordano
36. Our Dead World by Liliana Colanzi
35. Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding by Larry Olmsted
34. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
33. When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
32. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
31. The Gilded Ones by Namina Forma
30. The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith

June

March
29. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
28. The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories by Osama Alomar
27. Creativity: a short and cheerful guide by John Cleese
26. The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams
25. Uncomfortably Happily by Yeon-Sik Hong
24. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
23. The Left-handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
22. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
21. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

February
20. Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine
19. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
18. Bloodchild and other stories by Octavia E. Butler
17. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
16. What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
15. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
14. The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay
13. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
12. The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
11. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
10. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

January
9. Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
8. An American sunrise by Joy Harjo
7. The Last Stargazers by Emily Levesque
6. This Time Together by Carol Burnett
5. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
4. Umma's Table by Yeon-Sik Hong
3. Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
1. Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine

Rough guide to my rating system:

I'm fairly generous with my star ratings - generally a four is a "like" or "would recommend" for me, while a 4.5 stars is a book I would reread. I break it down roughly like this:

1 star - Forced myself to finish it
2 stars - Dislike
2.5 stars - I really don't know if I liked it or not
3 stars - Sort of liked it; or didn't, but admired something about it despite not liking it
3.5 stars - The splitting hairs rating of less than my last 4 star book or better than my last 3
4 stars - I liked it and recommend it, but probably won't reread it except under special circumstances (ie., a book club or series reread)
4.5 stars - Excellent, ultimately a satisfying read, a title I would consider rereading
5 stars - A book that I absolutely loved, would absolutely reread, and just all-around floored me

I see it more in terms of my like or dislike of a book, rather than how good a book is. My hope is that as a reader I convey what I like or what I don't in such a way that you can still tell if you'll like a book, even if I don't. And I hope for my patrons that I can give them good recommendations for books they will like, even if it's not one I would personally choose.

And a question to start us off:
What was one reading discovery you made during the pandemic that you're happy you did? (This could be a book, a new series, an author, a topic to research...)

And here I am. Ready or not!

>7 richardderus: You found me first, Richard! Happy Saturday *smooch*

Happy new thread, Mary. Sounds like you had a full afternoon with your Little. My herb pots have also mostly sprouted with little green things in most of them. It's pretty exciting.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread!

Well I have been following you for years and I am happy to continue for many years to come!
Happy new thread, Mary. x

Happy new thread, Mary. Looking forward to hearing more about the garden as warmer temperatures approach. (And everything else, of course!)

Happy Sunday, Mary! Happy New thread! I hope you are enjoying Night Sky with Exit Wounds. I love that collection and own a copy.

>9 MickyFine: Yeah, we had a fun time together! This morning feels much more relaxed because I'm working through my to-do list at the dogsitting house at my own pace and in what order I feel like (for the most part), but it's funny as I think about the list of what I've done and am going to do, it's not really a do-nothing day either. It just feels less hectic.

>10 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>11 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>12 PaulCranswick: Always glad to have you, Paul!

>13 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte! I'm looking forward to seeing what pops up. I took some photos the last time I stopped at home, and I'll have to share them soon. So far, I have daffodils, hyacinths, and a few I had to look up on Google with an image search.

>14 msf59: Happy Sunday, Mark! It's good stuff, but hard to read. I'm also not great at "getting" poetry, but try to push myself a couple of times a year to read outside my comfort zone a little.

Today is a day off and no real commitments other than virtual church, so I've spent the morning cleaning up and catching up in general on tasks I have not had the time (or energy) to do on work days after dog walks. I tidied up some of my stuff at the dogsitting house into neater piles (?), made the bed, have the dishwasher running, and made a list of a few things to pick up from home. I have some cooking I want to do to have lunch to bring to work the next couple of days, though if I don't get to it today, I still can tomorrow (my short day). And I want to run at least one load of laundry. Virtual church is in a few minutes.

Even though I do have a long to-do list, it feels like a more relaxed day in that I'm working at my own pace and doing things in the order i feel like, for the most part (of course there are exceptions like I can't do laundry until I go home because I need detergent, and I have to feed and walk the animals on a semi-regular schedule). Next weekend will be a nice long one, though. I took Friday off from work and have one annual doctor's appointment to go to, it's a free Saturday, no plans on Sunday other than church, and Monday's a state holiday where I scheduled a massage. The dogs and cats will keep me busy, but I'm certainly planning more reading time and catching up on This Is Us over those four days. Also on Monday, I become eligible for the vaccine so I'm hoping to putter around on various sites and see if I can't score an appointment for that (along with everyone else in the state over the age of 16... no, I'm not holding my breath).

Happy new thread, Mary.

Happy new one, Mary!

Thanks, Beth and Katie!

Happy new thread, Mary!

>20 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita!

35. Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding by Larry Olmsted
Why now? Picked this one up on a lark because I'm a sports fan and it sounded fun - finally got to it over the weekend because it's due next at the library after an extra renewal (oops)

Fans get a bad rap in popular culture, as lazy, fat, stupid and just sitting around watching TV all day. But the reality is more complex - and optimistic. Fans are part of a group, those that support this team or that player, which strengthens social bonds and makes them happier. This, and other correlations to increased interest in physical activity, are part of author Olmsted's Socratic explanation to his friend, Dr. Kristie, about the benefits of following team sports.

I picked this up because I'm an avid fan, primarily of team sports such as football, but also of tennis and the Olympics. I could relate to a lot of what Olmsted discussed in the beginning and end of the book, when he talked most about the psychology of fandom and the bonding that can occur between generations. That certainly has been my experience: I went to the Super Bowl to watch the Giants play the Patriots in 2012, and it was as much to spend time with my father over something we both loved as it was to watch my team play.

There were a couple of things that kept me from outright loving the book. First, I wasn't the audience. The set up - that he's talking to his friend and explaining all the benefits of fandom - basically makes it so he's talking to non-fans wanting to understand what makes these people tick. Added to that, the middle of the book, explaining how sports makes us "more understanding" seemed to me to be portraying fans as white males. There's a chapter on Title IX and watching women's sports, as well as one on integration talking about Jackie Robinson and other Black athletes that talks about how it changes fans' views on race. All well and good - but what about women fans or Black fans? How did that impact them? What changes - like including women's clothing lines and adding bathrooms to sports complexes - have impacted women following sports? I don't think it was intentionally done to dis anyone, but was more a blind spot for Olmsted, a white male, to address those aspects from that point of view. In other places, he quoted from female fans, so it wasn't like it was a blatant, purposeful erasure by any means, just something that pulled me out of the text a little.

The book stays light and surface-y in its presentation while quoting from several other books and journal articles to prove his point, which was a downside for me - again, already a fan - but may not bother other readers. Still, I'm glad I read it and it's something I can recommend to people who look at me cross-eyed when I say I got season tickets to the NY Giants this year and am looking forward to the camaraderie that comes with enjoying it with my family and thousands of strangers to boot. And by the way, after "we" won the Super Bowl, I felt the highest euphoria I've ever experienced in my life. 3.5 stars.

>22 bell7: - That one sounds interesting, Mary. As a sports fan, I probably won't seek it out, since I'm not the intended audience, but it's nice to have one's fandom validated :)

>16 bell7: I really want a massage, but I won't schedule one until I'm "fully vaccinated." (2nd shot + 2 weeks) I'll be watching our new state library and archives' ribbon-cutting ceremony in a few minutes. Just killing a little time before I officially go on the clock at work.

>23 katiekrug: I fear it will probably get overlooked, because the people who would probably pick it up, based on the cover/title alone, ARE fans, but then it's written to convince the non-fan. But yeah, it's good for your mental and physical health, so there's that!

>24 thornton37814: I understand that, Lori. It's been tough to make decisions about what would be safe and what wouldn't, and what calculated risks I'm willing to take and those I'm not - for example, I won't go back to in-person church services until after I'm fully vaccinated because when I'd gone in 2020, people were really lax about how they wore their masks (and in some cases just didn't at all). In this case, I know both the therapist and the owner of the physical therapy business that he works out of, and I feel very comfortable knowing how careful they've been with their clients. Hope work goes well for you today!

>25 bell7: It's interesting because as a non-sports fan, I don't really have any interest in reading it. Maybe if I lived with an intense sports fan it might have more appeal but fandoms in this house are all book/film/tv related. :P

>26 MickyFine: Heh, well I'm part of those, too. But yeah, I think that's a weakness of the book, by gearing it towards non-fans, he's giving himself a smaller potential audience. Maybe my mother could've gotten a lot out of it before she became a fan herself?

One thing he didn't explore but I'd like to learn more about is how book/film/tv fandoms are similar or completely different from sports fandom. The one thing he points out is if it encourages binge-watching, that would be correlated with a less healthy lifestyle. But I suspect that the sense of belonging with the group is similar. My experience with LT meetups has been much like what he describes of fans having sports as a topic to talk about it - books are our icebreaker, and we generally find we have a lot to talk about.

>25 bell7: I'm holding off on in-person church because people are just not wearing masks. I'll go back on Mother's Day after I'm considered fully vaccinated. I plan to wear my mask most of the time. I know the choir has been taking theirs off to sing. I'll have to decide whether I'm comfortable with that. I'm comfortable with going to choir rehearsal after then because I know I run the screens during rehearsals and sit far enough away that no one will be near me.

Happy New Thread, Mary!

Your dog and cat sitting gig sounds very challenging. It would be hard to be away from home that long even though you can stop by.

We don't yet have in person church. Our choices are Zoom, sitting in our cars in the church parking lot where we can listen to the service via the lowest level FM station, or watching it later on YouTube. I know I'm getting lazy - I had planned to do the parking lot this week, but was running late and so I zoomed it instead.

It's exciting that the next Murderbot is due out soon. I am a late starter, so I still need to read Network Effect. I just added it to my library queue; hopefully I'll get it read in time to join in with the excitement about the newest one.

Our library book club is reading The Lions of Fifth Avenue this month. It's a double time-line double mystery about rare books missing in the New York Public Library.

>28 thornton37814: That makes sense, Lori. We only have choir for Easter and Christmas, so at this rate I'm hoping to join in by the fall - if I'm vaccinated.

>29 streamsong: Thanks, Janet! This is my first long job since I bought the house, and it does come with its challenges (the biggest one being that I need to stop at home for mail every so often and make sure I don't miss any bills...), but it also means lower utilities cost, too, which is nice. My virtual church service is done via Facebook live, which I can watch even without an account. I wish parking lot were an option, but it's either Facebook or in-person, no in between. I may not get to reread all the Murderbot series before the first one comes out, but I'm glad I at least got to the early novellas, as I'd forgotten a lot about what happened over the last year since I read it. I own the first four as e-books and may have to stop home to grab Network Effect off my shelves for a reread. The Lions of Fifth Avenue sounds good! I'll look forward to your thoughts on book club. Our next is 23999992::A Burning by Megha Majumdar, and I should probably crack it open soon.

36. Our Dead World by Liliana Colanzi
Why now? I saw an interview with the author and thought it would be fun to try her short stories, especially this year as I attempt to read more globally - she's an author from Bolivia. I picked it up this weekend because it was getting due back to the library soon so I had to read it or return it.

This short story collection by Bolivian author Liliana Colanzi shows a range of genres, primarily realistic with an entry of the otherworldly, but one horror and another pure science fiction (set on Mars) thrown in. They all have a similarly dark tone, often violent, and all unsettling with endings that pack a punch. The best, in my opinion, was "Alfredito", about a group of school children learning that their friend had died and attending his funeral. Personally a little too dark for me. 3 stars.

37. Like Family by Paolo Giordano
Why now? Grabbed it on a lark from a library display, and finally reading it now because it's overdue (and short). It also fits my global reading goal - the author is Italian.

A husband and his wife, Nora, grapple with the death of their housekeeper in this elegiac novel.

Mrs. A., or Babette, as our narrator fondly calls her after the character in a movie, has been a force in the lives of the young man, a physicist, and his wife, Nora, ever since she was hired when Nora was pregnant and on bed rest. The narrator explores the relationship they had with the housekeeper through her work, her cancer treatments, and ultimately her death, as well as more ignoring than acknowledging the strain in his marriage (the original Italian title, "Black and Silver" reflects this more than the English title, more suggestive of the housekeeper's role "Like" (but unlike) family. Based in part on the author's real experiences, though names and some situations have changed, this exploration of grief will ring true for many who have lost someone who touched their lives. 3.5 stars.

The novel does exactly what it sets out to do... I just am in the mood for needing a lift rather than sadness lately. This is not a happy read.

Well, one of my co-workers knew about a local drop in clinic and... I got my first shot y'all! I'll be getting the second May 6 and fully vaccinated two weeks later 😁

>33 bell7: Yay!!!

>33 bell7: - Great news!

>33 bell7: Superb! I'm so glad there's an end to your isolation protocols in sight.

>33 bell7: Huzzah!

Thanks Natalie, Katie, Richard and Micky. I'm pretty happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel! It was Pfizer, and the actual shot didn't hurt much (I *hate* getting my flu shot), but the soreness has been increasing and it's basically feeling like I got a tetanus shot now. I'm trying to move my arm every so often to help it out. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I have the day off from work and if I have to cancel/postpone other plans, I'll be able to do that.

38. Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
Why now? It's National Poetry Month! I always try to read a collection (or more) of poetry in the month of April, if only to stretch my reading a little - this was my (first) selection this month

This award-winning collection of poetry showcases Vuong's talent for brutal imagery and evocative wordplay. Though I can't say how many, if any, are truly autobiographical, it appears that the poet draws on his own family history and experience as immigrants from Vietnam after surviving war, and his own experiences as a gay man, for much of his material. "Aubade with Burning City," for example, starts with a note that Armed Forces Radio gave the code to evacuate Saigon in 1975 by playing "White Christmas" and proceeds to intersperse lines from the song throughout in a brilliant, intense poem intertwining a man and woman in a hotel with war in the city. "Self Portrait as Exit Wounds" was another favorite of mine, using the symbolic language of a bullet's path to bring us through several intense scenes. I didn't always "get it." I had trouble with some of the more abstract language, trying to figure out what he was describing. One poem, with numbers scattered down the page and the language actually in notes at the bottom of the page, had a form that distracted me from really appreciating it. Overall, I'm glad I read it. 4 stars.

Here's a line from "Daily Bread" that I saved for my commonplace book:

I build a life & tear it apart
& the sun keeps shining.

>33 bell7: Woot!! Congrats!!

>40 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

Happy Friday!

It's... snowing. Which is in the realm of possibility for my neck of the woods (well, obviously, since it *is*), but pretty unusual, especially in the amounts we're getting here now. I'm far enough east that I'm in the "4-6 inches" territory, and I'd say it's definitely above 6 inches now and still coming down.

I'd taken today off to give myself a four-day weekend even before I had this dogsitting job, and I'd like to say that meant I didn't have to drive, but I had an annual doctor appointment today, and had a 40 minute trip on mostly highway that turned into rain when I got to a certain point west and north of here. Driving back was actually worse, as some places that I had to stop to pick up my prescription and a can opener after mine fell apart attempting to cook last night, were not really prepared for the snow and had not plowed yet.

So now having erranded and cooked and sorted some bills out, I am now happily hanging out with the dogs before I take some time to shovel and let them out for the midday walk. I have one evening commitment, but the drive is mostly on main streets and once I get a little west it should just be rain anyway. Then I've got a quiet long weekend in front of me, and now that I don't have to attempt to find a vaccine appointment I'm planning on taking full advantage of reading lots between dog walks.

39. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Why now? Rereading early books in the series in preparation for the newest one coming out this month

Here's my review from last year:

Yes, Murderbot, the grumpy AI with a soft spot that just wants to be left alone and watch her entertainment is back. Having left behind the group of humans she worked with on her last mission, she has gone rogue and jumps on a transport. Her mission? To figure out what happened in an incident she remembers as the reason she hacked her governor module, where either something malfunctioned or she was ordered to start killing everyone around her.

These are funny, sarcastic books that slip in some thought-provoking ideas along the way. I have a feeling they'll be just as rewarding to reread than to experience for the first time, and I'm really looking forward to continuing the series.

I can now say that, yes, they are very rewarding upon rereading. Has it really been a full year since I read these? It took me a week last time (one of the first four novellas a day, and then I got the novel pre-ordered), and I'm going a little slower now, so it's been good to catch details I think I missed the first time and remind myself of what was happening before the latest book comes out in a couple of weeks.

Taking a short break from Murderbot, I started the e-book/audio combo of Lost Roses early this morning, and I'm hoping to make good progress over the weekend along with my book club book, A Burning by Megha Majumdar.

Glad to hear you can mostly hermit this weekend. Hopefully your weather improves. Weather here is either fool's spring or second spring, it's hard to tell at this point.

Ooof, sorry about the April snow, but yay for having your errands done and for all that reading you get to do this weekend!

>33 bell7: Glad you got your first one!

>44 MickyFine: The snow is very nearly melted away, Micky, though I stopped by my house and picked up my winter boots which I'm still using to walk the dogs. Today is a high of 60 (15 Celsius) and by Tuesday a high of 70 (21) so it should be completely gone soon.

>45 scaifea: Yeah, it was a good thing I didn't have to go anywhere yesterday, because I was exhausted. I did care for the dogs and cats, but did the bare minimum on top of that.

>46 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori, I am too!

Welp, I think the side effects hit my hard on day 2. I woke up tired and while the arm wasn't sore, my throat was (swollen lymph nodes, I think) and I felt like I had a little bit of a chest cold. I completely lazed around, reading a little bit in my book club book but mostly watching TV - I binge-watched This Is Us to get mostly caught up since I don't have cable at home - and messing around on my phone a little bit.

I am not as tired today, which is a good sign. I have virtual church in a little less than a half hour, and I have plenty of food for lunch and dinner. I will probably step out at some point to get milk, but other than that really don't have any errands to run and will just be hanging out with the dogs and cats. I'm hoping to read more today than I did yesterday.

I'm reading A Burning for book club, and it's a fast enough read that I shouldn't have a problem wrapping it up tomorrow. I also just barely started The Elegance of the Hedgehog (I'm a little late to that one, but I remember several LTers loving it when it came out) and can't decide if I like it or not yet but I'm hoping to get a little further today. It's due back on Thursday, so either I want to make a lot of progress over the remainder of the weekend or decide it's not for me. I started reading Lost Roses as my e-book/audio combo a couple of nights ago since I loved Lilac Girls. I'm not quite sure she has Russian names just right (she doesn't seem to use the male/female endings of last names, for example), but I'll see how much that bothers me as the story progresses.

The other books I'm hoping to start soon are The House in the Cerulean Sea, Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race and Library of Small Catastrophes. I'm not ambitious or anything...

>48 bell7: *evil-hearted chortling over the snow from his 60°-sunshiney perch by the sea*

That second-day smackdown is a bear, innit. I'm glad it's letting go of you. Oh, I've figured out why my first shot wasn't like everyone else's second shot: I got the vaccine nine months after I had the disease! The booster will probably be nothing to me, like the first shot wasn't, when I finally get one in early October.

Read hearty! *smooch*

>49 richardderus: This was only after the first shot, and I'd felt pretty good on Friday (other than the sore arm) so it took me by surprise. I'm wondering what the weekend after shot #2 is going to be like now. I get tired after the flu shot, so I am expecting to feel like crap after that one.

I have heard from some folks who had Covid before getting the shot that they experience a LOT of side effects after shot #2. I hope you're right and the booster isn't bad for you.

It's going to be a high of 60 today and the snow is melting away, so I'm happy :) *smooch*

Glad to hear your snow is melting. We went the opposite direction. Yesterday was 19C - I was outside in shorts for a while and have sunburn on my face, chest, arms, and a bit of one leg to prove it. Today we're only getting up to a high of 5C with a mix of rain and snow likely this afternoon and overnight.

Enjoy your quiet Sunday!

>51 MickyFine: We've had April snows in East Tennessee before, but not lately.

>51 MickyFine: Brrr hope real spring shows its face for you soon, Micky!

>52 thornton37814: Really?! Wow, somehow I'd pictured Tennessee as being far enough south to not get much snow, though I suppose close to the mountains it would make sense.

Today was the weekend day I decided I needed to be more productive, so I have laundry going, I changed out the cat's litter, have washed out and refilled all the water dishes, changed the sheets, and generally caught up on things this morning. Now I'm planning on finishing my book club book before walking the dogs for their midday walk and heading to my massage and a grocery shopping on the way back.

After that, productivity is over for the day. The goal will be reading, of course, but we'll see what I really end up doing (most likely fooling around on the phone, honestly).

Sounds like a super productive start, Mary. I hope your massage is lovely!

>55 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Massage was great, though I may have undid some of the good loosening of my shoulders by promptly lifted heavy grocery bags afterwards. Oops... But now the grocery shopping is done, too, and I should be prepared for back-to-work and having food for the week.

40. A Burning by Megha Majumdar
Why now? Book club book for Wednesday

After a terrorist bombing in a train station, young Muslim Indian woman Jivan posts a criticism of the government on Facebook, and she's promptly arrested for the crime. The narrative intersperses Jivan's perspective with that of PT Sir, her former physical education teacher who begins to rise in the political scene, and Lovely, a hijra whom Jivan had been teaching English who dreams of becoming a Bollywood star.

This melancholy story explores a dog-eat-dog world where the truth matters less than what it takes to get ahead. Poverty and prejudice are two strikes against Jivan from the outset. The writing, rather than driving the plot, serves to slow it down a little and causes the reader to sit and contemplate these characters and their choices - or lack thereof - matter more than the outcome of the trial. I am probably a little at a disadvantage as a reader being unfamiliar with the Indian legal system, as well as other details about the story. Majumdar showcases a lot of talent in her debut novel, but I can't say I particularly enjoyed it. 3.5 stars.

This was a very difficult book to review, though it was a pretty fast read. I'll be interested in seeing what my book club has to say about it on Wednesday.

>56 bell7: I know exactly what you mean. My tensions lives in my shoulders and upper back and I feel bad for slamming my purse back onto my shoulder right after the therapist has loosened it. :P

>58 MickyFine: Yes! Mine is neck/shoulders, and that's exactly the problem.

Happy Tuesday!

It's back to work for me after a four-day weekend, and I guess I'm ready for it? I got a lot of relaxation in over the last few days and I'm looking forward to going back, but at the same time tonight's the Trustees' meeting where they're (again, but now with more urgency) discussing reopening plans, so depending on how that goes it's going to be a high-stress week of either dealing with patron's questions ("Why aren't you open yet? The schools are.") or co-workers' anxieties. Good thing I'll have the dogs to keep me walking and lots of good books lined up for this week.

I'm about halfway through The Elegance of the Hedgehog and still not entirely sure what I think of it, but intrigued enough to keep reading and find out what happens. I suspect my final rating will depend a lot on the ending.

Lost Roses is my e-book/audio, and I'm about a fifth of the way in and contemplating getting the book out of the library so I can move a little faster. So far I don't adore it like I did Lilac Girls, but we'll see.

As my commute is a little longer, I've got the audiobook on CD of A Promised Land and I've been listening in the car. I have about 3 CDs left, so I should finish it this week.

And finally, I started another poetry collection: Library of Small Catastrophes by Alison C. Rollins this morning. If I manage to read all the poetry I have out right now, I think this year will mark the most poetry I've ever read in a calendar year.

>60 bell7: Hope the Trustees meeting goes well, Mary.

>61 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! They were just getting started when I left (5:30 meeting, and I worked 'til 6), so I'm not sure what the outcome is, but we should find out tomorrow.

Hey all, today was a nutty day. My boss was out, so we had some desk finagling to do and I ended up on the circ desk for a couple of hours. I was only working 'til 4 because I have book club from home (well, dogsitting) tonight, so I drove back in a thunderstorm, made some supper, and have fed and walked the dogs. It's raining again now, and in about 45 minutes or so I'll log in to book club and discuss A Burning.

The short version of the outcome of last night's meeting is we're going back to normal hours and open to the public on May 24. Many of us (library workers) should be fully vaccinated by then. We'll have to figure out a few things prior to opening, but it gives us some time to get ready and adjusted to the idea, so that much is good. And while we're still following the state guidelines of 50% capacity, it's a fairly large number and one that we don't expect to hit even at our busiest, eliminating the need for someone to have to check in visitors in the lobby. We'll still be requiring masks and social distancing.

I'm making progress in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but after this I need a break from difficult and/or sad reads and I'm going to read The House in the Cerulean Sea next.

>63 bell7: They gave you enough time to create plans! Yay!

How went A Burning?

Happy Wednesday, Mary. I think you are reading some fine books, even if you didn't love them as much as I did. I adored both Night Sky with Exit Wounds & A Burning.

>64 richardderus: They did! I didn't hear the conversation, but I'm glad both they and the director were willing to put it out about a month to give us some time.

Discussing A Burning went really well. We had some technical difficulties, but talked a lot about it. There were several details that were easily missed, and one woman said she'd reread portions of it to get them all. We agreed that it was well-written, with excellently drawn characters, and sad. One of the questions was "What surprised you?" which led to some fun discussion - for me, so much of the book felt inevitable. We all had looked up the term "hijra" and discussed what we learned after a Google search. And none of us could remember who had originally suggested the book, which I think was out of all of our comfort zones, but was one we all appreciated reading all the same.

>65 msf59: Happy Wednesday, Mark! I can at least partly fault my mood for not loving them as much as you did, Mark - they are both finely written books that I could appreciate, but I think I just need something a little lighter and happier to balance out the stress of everyday life right now. I still want to read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous someday, and I'll be interested in seeing if Majumdar writes anything else. Her characters were really finely drawn, and I kept turning pages fast.

Glad to hear you've got lots of time to plan for reopening, Mary. Hope your storm has blown through by now.

>67 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky, I drove through the worst of it but thankfully was able to drive right into the garage (they left me the automatic opener, yay!) and didn't get wet until a small shower started while dog walking. It had all calmed down before virtual book club, so I was okay, but one of our attendees had some technical difficulties with a low battery and had trouble participating because her video was behind the rest of us so every time she started talking, someone else was already commenting. I tried to jump in and give her a chance a couple of times, but it was a losing battle :( We're all looking forward to being able to meet in person again. May is virtual, but we take a break for the summer and I'm hoping that in the fall we can resume in-person.

Today is appointments in the library! I'm sneaking a few moments of quiet after morning dog walks to pay some bills (my electricity bill and car insurance for the year are both lower than what I'd estimated, so yay for that!), but now it's time for me to dress up and get ready to go in. I haven't heard from my boss, but I'm hoping she'll make it in and be able to give us a more thorough run down of reopening plans at a staff meeting (postponed from yesterday). Then I'm going to run back to take care of the dogs and head out for dinner at my SIL's for my mom's birthday. Tomorrow is work followed by volunteer work at church, and Saturday is my day with my Little, so a busy few days upcoming.

Oh, and I finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog so I'm going to try to wrap my brain around that enough to give it a proper review sometime in the next few days.

>68 bell7: Sounds like a very full stretch of days, Mary. Hope you squeeze in some down time in there somewhere.

>68 bell7: Heckuva day ahead! I hope you're preparing a soft landing...nice meal, perfect read.

>69 MickyFine: Sunday, maybe? I was going to say I'd have a day not to have to talk to people, but I actually have a phone call scheduled with a friend soooo...

>70 richardderus: I don't have to cook tonight, so there's that!

41. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Why now? I've been meaning to read it for a long time, and when I was in the mood to look for books for my global reading goal this year, decided it was time to pick it up - originally published in France (2006) and translated into English (2008)

Renee is a concierge who has a secret - she's an astute autodidact who would rather read a book and enjoy art in all its forms than watch the TV all day. Keeping the secret from all at the apartment complex but her good friend, Manuela, her life is upended when someone new buys an apartment. Meanwhile, a hyper-intelligent 12-year-old girl has decided that life isn't worth living and she's killing herself on June 16, but she nonetheless keeps records of profound thoughts and more in her journals in case she discovers something that will make her rethink her philosophy.

I am usually a fan of character-driven books told in multiple perspectives, and I think if I had encountered this book when I had not been dealing with a pandemic for 13 months, I would have loved it more. As it was, it was very hard for me to get into because all of the lengthy sentences and philosophical meanderings of the two protagonists took a lot of mental capacity I didn't always have at the end of the day. Even so, I found myself won over by them both and cried at the end. 4 stars.

It's very hard to rate this book because I know my mood is a large part of my response to it, but I could appreciate the book even when I wasn't loving it (very... pessimistic views of the world expressed), and I'm not sure due to the ending and the absolutely maddening way that Renee dies that this would be a book I would rate "rereadable" at 4.5 stars - though I would recommend it to the right reader!

>72 bell7: Re spoiler: oh my heck yes!!

>73 richardderus: THANK YOU. I was so upset. Which I guess means the book was good 'cause I cared that much, right? I told my brother (who LOVED Mudbound but I stopped at page 60, if that gives you an idea of the difference in tone that we like when it comes to books) to read it

Anyway, I'm taking a break from difficult and depressing tomes now by reading The House in the Cerulean Sea.

It's Friday! I woke up tired, so I'm thinking I might have a decaf coffee when I get to work to trick my brain to a little bit of energy for the day. Work, then volunteer at church for a kids' program, then back to the dogs and sleep. Tomorrow I'm planning to take my Little to a local reservoir for a picnic, so in the morning I'm going to make some chicken salad and put together a few things so we can make sandwiches. Should be pretty low key, maybe some walking around the area depending on how energetic we feel. And I think sometime tomorrow I'm going to call someone about mowing my lawn a couple of times while I'm still dogsitting.

Anyway, better get going or I'll be late for work. Happy start to the weekend, all!

A little into my work day today, my sister A. texts me this (for reference, my 5-year-old niece Mia likes her to read the birthday cards I sent her at night and has them memorized now):

"Last night Mia had me read her the birthday card from you. After I read the very nice things it said about me, she looked at me and said 'was that fiction?'

My sis had to try not to laugh, because Mia gets super sensitive about that when she's being serious. I guess fiction/nonfiction was introduced at school recently, and they've been having conversations about it. But we had a good laugh over it and I said I'll be having fun the next time I take Mia to the library. A's parting thought was "Such an innocently savage comment as only a small child can make lol".

>76 bell7: Oh my gosh! How totally adorable Mia is.

Have a great time at the reservoir tomorrow!

>77 richardderus: That kid... I've always had a super special relationship with her. We GET each other at such a fundamental level, and I just love seeing how her brain works and the thought processes she works through. The thing I am most looking forward to after I'm fully vaccinated is planning a trip down to see my sisters & family in Maryland for the first time in over a year.

And thank you! I'm looking forward to tomorrow and happy we should have some nice weather for it.

>76 bell7: OMG that is adorable! I'm so glad you'll be able to visit them soon.

>72 bell7: I can empathise at least with the character, Mary!

It is on my shelves but maybe not for too much longer ignored.

Have a lovely weekend.

>79 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! Yeah, I haven't nailed down any specific plans (I'm waiting 'til a conversation with my boss to figure out what Saturdays I'm working starting in June), but I'm hoping to get down by September at the latest.

>80 PaulCranswick: I hope you like it, Paul! Seems to me it was all over LT when it was first translated in 2008. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Happy Sunday! It seems every day I think I might be able to head home to mow, the weather does not cooperate with me, so I'm going to enjoy this quiet, rainy day of virtual church, calling my friend to talk books, and hanging out with the dogs. After a few very busy days, I need it - and so do they, if the excitement they're showing by having me around right now is any indication!

The audiobook was a couple CDs longer than I'd realized (somehow I was thinking 26 instead of 28 CDs, so I kept miscounting how many I had left), but I'm now on the second-to-last track of the last CD of President Obama's memoir. I couldn't *quite* finish it on my drives yesterday, so tomorrow I should be wrap it up and be able to return it when I get to work. Then I have the audiobook of Keep Sharp ready to go (I've been listening to Fresh Air on my podcast lately and it's doing damage to my TBR pile).

I'm hoping to get some quality time with The House in the Cerulean Sea today and have just about reached the halfway point in Lost Roses. My numbers this month won't quite reach what they were this time last year (I was up to a total of 51 books read), but I'm still amazed at how much I've managed to read so far, and especially this month.

>82 bell7: A wise use of time: Doing nothing much.

Enjoy!

>83 richardderus: Thank you! I did, and I finished a book to boot. I'll try to review it this afternoon after work.

Well, yesterday was a beautifully relaxed day. I did some laundry, talked to a friend, attended virtual church, but mostly relaxed with the dogs. I finished The House in the Cerulean Sea and I'll be reviewing it soon.

Today is my short day at work, and I'm still trying to decide how to use the rest of my afternoon. I am leaning towards calling a landscaping guy to hire him to mow while I'm dogsitting and doing a quick grocery shopping to pick up a few needed items and starting planning out for next week in anticipation of getting the second Pfizer shot on May 6.

I finished The House in the Cerulean Sea last night, and I should finish A Promised Land today on my commute. I started reading The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson this morning, and am looking forward to digging into that, and the next audiobook I have ready to go is Keep Sharp by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Wish me luck working on two nonfiction books at once...

Your relaxed Sunday sounds perfect, Mary, especially knowing how busy your past week has been. Lots of good reads in the mix already and I hope both your non-fiction titles are enjoyable.

A lovely day indeed, Mary. I hope your search for a landscaper is easy and quick.

>86 MickyFine: It was just what I needed, Micky! Lots of good reads for sure, though I find myself in a slightly cranky mood ("This one was too sad. This one is too... happy?") and I'm not convinced it's the book's fault.

>87 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I had a name of a young guy just starting his business from a friend, and my hope was to have him come out once a month or so just to supplement what I can do (and not break my budget). As it turns out, he helped me put my lawn mower together today when he saw the lawn to give me a price, and he will come out as a one-time thing to mow for me sometime this week. But we mutually decided a regular set up wouldn't really work for us. He has a long drive to my place, and was upfront that he couldn't really justify coming less than twice a month. I can't afford that on my tightest months (four Fridays, no dogsitting jobs). But it's getting done this week, which was my main concern, and I'll figure out the summer when it comes. I think I could probably save up and have him come out and shape the bushes or get the garden ready for winter, for example, a pricier job making it a little more worth it for him to come all the way out.

He did seem impressed with the garden and said the lawn looked healthy though (he was surprised I hadn't put any fertilizer or anything on it), so I guess that's good, right? (I... care about keeping the plants alive, but I have to say I could not care less about the look of my lawn other than, you know, it's mowed and not completely hopelessly overgrown.)

42. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Why now? I've had it on my TBR list since before it came out, which usually means it was a work-related email or list that first brought it to my attention - I wedged it into April because I knew I was in the mood for a feel-good read

Linus Baker is a caseworker for DICOMY, a government group that manages magical children. He's done the same job for seventeen years, with precision, never wanting to move up in the ranks or wondering what happened to children after he made his recommendations. But when Extremely Upper Management gives him a top-secret case, going out to a house on an island with six extremely unusual children, and their caretaker, Arthur Parnassus, Linus is forced to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew.

This is a feel-good story that really doesn't leave you in any doubt what it's about and what it's trying to teach readers: just because someone is different doesn't mean you should react in fear or hate. In fact, for all it was about middle-aged men there was something about its pointed lesson that felt much... younger. And that is perhaps why I'm not absolutely adoring it. I enjoyed it, and it made me happy to see the story end up where I knew it was going, but subtle it isn't. The characters, however, are delightful, and I enjoyed all the kids and their antics and seeing Linus's growth. I'll be on the lookout for more from Klune. 4 stars.

I couldn't tell you exactly why I rated this exactly the same as The Elegance of the Hedgehog, as those were very different reading experiences. Hedgehog was... hard to read, but I could appreciate it after I got into the rhythm of it a bit (and didn't try to read it past 9 p.m...) and probably would've reread it if it weren't for the ending and Renee's death. On the other hand, I enjoyed every minute of reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, it was like settling into a warm comfort read knowing exactly how it was meant to turn out, but again felt like I wouldn't reread it, this time because it was so... not really preachy, but just kind of obvious? I wanted it to be a little deeper or more subtle. So now I'm not sure if I'm just in an extra picky reading mood lately or what. Oh well.

CAVEAT: I'm happy to talk about the book itself, but I want to try to steer clear from political debate or commentary on this one as it gets emotions running high and I would find it really stressful... I'm an independent and have family and friends on both sides of the political divide, and being somewhere not really aligned with either party means I often feel in these debates like everyone hates me, so. Let's not go there, and please keep it civil.

43. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Why now? A friend of mine asked me (in February) if I'd like to read it in tandem with her... she hasn't finished it yet, so I don't feel so bad about taking so long

President Barack Obama reflects on his presidential campaign and first four years of office in this first of a planned two-volume memoir.

Starting with the 2008 campaign and finishing just after Osama bin Laden's death, President Obama goes over his election and first years in office with a fine-toothed comb. I was interested in some things, and especially liked that I could remember a lot of the events he was discussing, but man, is it easy to get bogged down in detail. After reading the book for about a month, and then realizing that after a week's vacation I hadn't picked it up once, I switched to the audio for the second half. That went more smoothly, because though I know I didn't hang on every word while I was driving, I could kind of zone out over some details and still get the gist of things. Plus, Obama himself makes a great narrator and even had different voices when other people were talking. He comes across as very candid, detailed, and measured in his thinking, truly trying to do what is best for the American people in national and foreign policy. He addresses situations he was criticized for, such as his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his comments when Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested. And he is willing to acknowledge when he believes he got something wrong. He also pretty boldly calls out Republican leaders for not working with him, especially when what he wanted was similar to legislation they'd been calling shortly before office or when there was just all-out disinformation like the government "death panels" as part of Obamacare. I can't say I'd seek out volume 2 when it comes out, but I appreciated reading and listening to A Promised Land and would like to read his earlier memoirs. 3.5 stars.

Well, my afternoon felt awfully busy though I only got a little of my potential "to-do" list complete. I stopped at home to make sure my alarm system was working properly (it is, but the test signal it sends out isn't going through, so my brother may have to fix...something, idk) and get it sorted out with the company. I then came back to walk the dogs, and went back home again (it's only 10 min away, not a huge deal), and met with the landscaping guy who's gonna come out and mow my lawn for me this week. He also very kindly helped me put the mower I bought last month together. Then I went back to the dogs, we are all fed and walked again. Phew!

Grocery shopping will happen another day. I have enough food to make meals for a couple of days, anyway, and I've got to do a little meal planning first so I know what I need.

>89 bell7: I also had a liked but didn't love reaction to that one that was a combo of mood and me being contrary to hype. So you're not alone there. :)

>91 bell7: Wowzers lady. When do you sleep?

>92 MickyFine: shockingly, sleep is one of the things I don't skimp on as I need a full 8 hours (sometimes 8.5) to be really alert and functional. I've been going to bed between 10-11 and getting up at 7. Not really sure how I've managed to do all the reading I have, though, and grateful 35 hours is full-time. Plus I won't be working weekends till July.

>93 bell7: I am the same way with my sleep amounts. And congrats on not having weekend shifts for a couple more months. That's a nice reprieve as you work your way back to more normal services.

>90 bell7: My reaction was similar to HITCS: very nice, and sometimes it made me laugh, and I'd probably read a sequel, but I can't imagine bothering to reread.

I liked it even less than all y'all did...done with kids, thanks.

NOT done with Murderbot, though Author Wells probably is until 2022 earliest. *muffled sobs*

>94 MickyFine: Yeah, the brother closer in age to me is always amazed at how much sleep I need (he... doesn't have the same reaction I do), but my justification is that it's good for my brain and my overall health haha. And thanks, my boss was nice enough to take the first Saturday we're open to the public, so my first week back is actually July 14.

>95 swynn: Oh good, nice to know it's not just me, Steve. It was the kind of book I wanted to like more than I did, though I'd certainly read a sequel like you said.

>96 richardderus: Those were some of the fun parts for me - I love kids, even magical ones, apparently. But I totally get that it wouldn't be for everyone. I got the library copy of Fugitive Telemetry today and I'm going to prioritizing finishing my reread of the series. It might pad my numbers in April a bit but *shrug* It'll be a hard wait for more, but I was excited to hear how many books she's signed for. Plenty of good reading ahead, and I guess I'll catch up on another series or two while I impatiently wait.

Edited to fix the numbering.

Now that we're vaccinated, my youngest brother, SIL, and I made plans for a long weekend road trip to my sisters in the DC Metro area in early June. This'll be the first time I've seen my sisters since our brother's September wedding and my BIL, niece and nephew in a year and a half. I am SO very excited.

Work today was pretty busy, we had appointments in the building and a LOT of questions of when we'll be getting back to "normal". We're reopening to full hours at 50% capacity (which is... a big enough number we're essentially just open), no appointments needed, on May 24. The first Saturday we'll be open is June 5. It's gonna be an interesting couple of weeks after reopening, as we'll also be juggling (more limited) curbside appointments and starting self-pickup of library holds to boot. Most library staff will be fully vaccinated by then or well on their way, and we'll still of course be following guidelines about wearing masks, socially distancing, and have sneeze guards (did you know that's their official name? I learned that from the town facilities guy) up at the desk. Hardly fully normal, but more open than we've been in 13 months now, and we're all sort of bracing ourselves for the big change.

Forgot to mention, when I was walking the dogs this morning I happened upon the barred owl I'd been hearing the last few nights. It cooperatively hung out in the trees and let me watch it for quite awhile and take a few photos. Here's the best, with him looking straight at me:

>90 bell7: I really need to get to this one. I quite enjoyed his other novel Dreams from my father.

>99 bell7: Wow! What a wonderful picture.

>99 bell7: Wow! Beautiful picture.

The planned road trip sounds great - not seen my siblings for so long, will be so lovely to have a proper Xmas this year.

>100 figsfromthistle: Anita, I'm glad to know Dreams from my father was good - that's probably the next one I would read. And thank you! I was super excited the owl cooperated.

>101 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte! Yeah, I was really excited when we set it up yesterday. It's been so long. I'm glad to hear you can look forward to get together at Christmas!

Today went by quickly. I had a short night's sleep and am surprised I am still functional, honestly, as I ended up reading an e-book on my Kindle and listening to an audiobook for probably about 2 hours combined before actually falling asleep, and even then having dreams that would reawaken me with a start. But I got up awake enough, walked the dogs and got to work. The work day went by fast: we had a staff meeting and I had a few projects to plug away at including adding some historical information on buildings on a walking tour that intersects in part with a private school campus near the library. The archivist sent me some info on the history of the buildings that I added this afternoon and I've got a couple of things to follow up on (double checking that someone had been a selectman in the 60s, though I'm 80% sure I have it right, and asking her if the trust set up on this man's death still pays for the keeping of the clocks in a particular building - what fun facts I learn at random while working on these projects!).

So much for the work day. I came home to the dogs, they are fed and walked. I caught up on some volunteer stuff for Friday night, so that's all set, and I have eaten dinner myself. Now for some relaxation with Murderbot, the book of poems I've been reading (four left! almost there!) and perhaps Lost Roses if I still have time. I expect I'll be finishing up all three books by Saturday at the latest, so my April numbers will be quite high again this year, if not quite the level of the 2020 shutdown.

Tomorrow is back to appointments in the library again, followed by a "Meet the Candidates" night that my boss is hosting/facilitating and has been a cesspool of drama (I... might have told her on Friday that after tomorrow night she'll need a good stiff drink, and everything this week has only confirmed that opinion). I'm debating whether or not to sign in to the virtual meeting after the evening dog walks just to see what happens, though I don't live in the town and can't vote for any of them.

44. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Why now? Continuing my reread of the four novellas before diving into Fugitive Telemetry

My review from last year:

Murderbot, still on the run, decides to help out Dr. Mensah from the first adventure by investigating GrayCris, the company that attacked their research team. So, Murderbot travels to Milu and a failed terraforming location to see what it can dig up on the company.

Each novella continues just as fun as the last, and each giving us just a little bit more about the ships, bots, and humans that inhabit the universe. Murderbot, sarcastic as ever, turns out to care a lot more than it thinks about doing the right thing, making for an endearing and humorous narrative voice in stories that are just plain fun to read.

I forgot a lot about what happened here, so I'm glad I reread it. I like Miki-the-robot a lot and its interactions with Murderbot made for some lighter moments in a pretty intense novella. Looking forward to starting Exit Strategy soon.

45. Library of Small Catastrophes by Alison C. Rollins
Why now? I picked a couple of promising-looking books from our new poetry shelf to read for National Poetry Month, and this was one of them.

This first collection from librarian Alison C. Rollins contains a variety of poems, many of which meditate on what it means to be a Black woman in America, sexuality, abortion, and grief. The language of libraries - and, in the case of the final poem, "Object Permanence", punctuation - become metaphors for all sorts of human experience.

I struggle a lot with symbolism and metaphorical language in poetry, so I'd guess I understood about half of the poems, and could probably get more out of it on a slower reread after finishing a poem (it took me awhile, but I finally did wrap my hand around "Object Permanence" for example). So my favorite poems were the more direct ones, such as "Self-Portrait of Librarian with T.S. Eliot's Papers" to which I could understand allusions to archival practices and Eliot's own poetry, and which ends with the arresting lines "only those who are forgotten go undisturbed, only things / kept in the dark know the true weight of light." I also really enjoyed "A Valid Archive" which is a MARC record of a book that really exists, though a real cataloger may notice more details than I did. I would read more of her collections. Perhaps its not that surprising that, as a librarian, these were the ones that stood out to me in a collection that shows a wide variety of styles and topics. 4 stars.

Oh and Joe, there's also "Portrait of a Pack Horse Librarian". I think you might enjoy some of these.

>103 bell7: Oof that sounds like a crazy full day, Mary. Your comments about the "Meet the Candidate" event cracked me up. I do not miss the days in a previous job where I had to help coordinate a candidate debate for a provincial election.

We've got municipal elections here in October but haven't seen much in the way of candidates or campaigning yet. My suburban town is much more chill than the city we used to live in (and where I still work). City campaigns have already kicked off and it'll be an interesting year as half of council and the mayor have all announced that they're not running again this year.

>99 bell7: A beautiful beast indeed, Mary. What a fabulous neighbor to have...you're largely mouse-free when there are owls about.

>104 bell7: I'd forgotten Miki! How terrible of me.

Have a great Thursday.

>106 MickyFine: The event itself went perfectly amicably, and one of the candidates mentioned it was the best attended he'd been a part of (97 was the highest number I remember seeing during the 2-hr time period), so maybe there was goodwill in the end. So much drama leading up though... I'm starting to find local politics fascinating in a "I will watch the meetings from home but I never want to be actually involved in any elected capacity". Our town meeting is coming up in a couple weeks and town elections are May 15. I know a lot more about the town I work in than the town I live in - I had to ask somebody about town meeting, and it turns out they don't have it. The council meetings are on public access, but I don't get cable so I haven't been able to sit in there.

>107 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. Between the owls and the two cats that live in the house where I'm staying, I expect they're pretty mouse free. Maybe I can coax an owl to come live near me? Ahhh, Miki. I'd forgotten till I started reading and then I went "Oh dang, it dies and it's heartbreaking but I'm still gonna love it all over again, aren't I?" And then I braced myself for the moment all book.

46. Lost Roses by Martha Kelly
Why now? I really liked Lilac Girls and with her newest book, Sunflower Sisters, recently being released, I decided it was time to read this one

The year is 1914, and for Eliza Ferriday the war hits home while she worries about her friend, Sofya Streshnayva, a Russian woman who is cousin to the tsar and whose family is in danger because of the unrest. Varinka, a young peasant girl, lives with her mother and a young caretaker named Taras, struggling with events out of her control and longing for escape from her situation.

The narrative switches from Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka through most of the story, with a few appearances by Sofya's sister, Luba, much like Kelly had done to very good effect in Lilac Girls. Here it felt a little more forced, and I got annoyed when chapters ended on a cliffhanger and I had to go back to remember what was going on in that narrative when events started abruptly again three chapters later. The historical element fell to the background while the focus of the narrative was on Sofya's attempt to escape and be reunited with friends and family. I was frustrated by this, finding Varinka's choices inexplicable at times and only serving to prolong the narrative, while at the same time chance encounters brought characters together suddenly to keep things moving. It ended up falling in that uncomfortable middle ground where I was enjoying it enough to continue reading and wanting to know what happened, but nitpicking all the while. 3.5 stars.

Okay, so the nitpicking thing started early, and then I just started questioning all the author's decisions: she calls Sofya's family "the Streshnayvas" (oh and also, Sofya's married so she's sometimes called Mrs. Stepanov), but not once in the historical note does she mention Russian name conventions. I'm not an expert, but the names I've seen tend to have -a as a feminine ending, so wouldn't Sofya be Sofya Stepanova? It brought me out of the narrative repeatedly (and probably made me hyper-alert for the smallest flaws), where an explanation of names would've settled me, even if it was, "this is the convention, but I chose to ignore it because ____" or "this is the convention now but in 1914, names would have been ____________". Basically I just like denser historical fiction than this was. Lilac Girls was a much better book all around.

Hi Mary. I'm stopping by to see what recent projects you plan, or accomplished.

All good wishes.

Hi Mary!

The Barred Owl is beautiful. I have several GHO's on my place but have never been lucky enough to see a Barred Owl. Cats and owls can make a bit of a challenge, as the GHO's will sometimes take smaller cats. :(

I'm currently reading Network Effect. I'll be caught up for the new one which seems to be getting great reviews from Joe and Richard. Murderbot has mentioned Miki a time or two in NE - Miki definitely got under the synthetic skin.

>110 Whisper1: Thanks for stopping by, Linda! No new projects to report on, as I'll be dogsitting through May 16 and have only been stopping at home to pick up my mail. I'm hoping to have some more painting done over the summer and will certainly update you all :D

>111 streamsong: I haven't seen any GHO's, so that's pretty cool, Janet! Good to know about them and cats - the ones I'm watching are indoor-only, but others I've had are indoor/outdoor. Network Effect was a lot of fun when I read it last year, and I'm hoping to reread it in May. I started Exit Strategy last night.

>108 bell7: I'm glad you got my article/interview link on Twitter! Here it is for our fellow Murderbotters: https://transfer-orbit.ghost.io/murderbot-martha-wells-network-effect-fugitive-t...

>113 richardderus: Thanks for sharing, Richard. That was a fascinating read.

>113 richardderus: Thanks for the article, Richard! It was fun to read more about her writing process. I've got to look up some of her earlier books to read as well.

April in review
46. Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly
45. Library of Small Catastrophes by Alison C. Rollins
44. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
43. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
42. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
41. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Bradbury
40. A Burning by Megha Majumdar
39. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
38. Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
37. Like Family by Paolo Giordano
36. Our Dead World by Liliana Colanzi
35. Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding by Larry Olmsted
34. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
33. When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
32. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
31. The Gilded Ones by Namina Forma
30. The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith

Books read: 17
Rereads: 3
Children's/Teen/Adult: 2/1/14
Fiction/Nonfiction/Plays/Poetry: 13/2/0/2

Because I want to awards:
Murderbot Diaries for being just as fun on a reread as the first time around
The Archive of the Forgotten which seems like forever ago, but was probably my most favorite of the month that wasn't a reread

YTD stats -
Pages read: 14,125
Avg pages a day: 117
POC authors: 24

Thoughts: Sometime mid-month I remember looking at my stats and thinking that I would not have as many books read this April as I did last year. Well, I was right but it turned out to be closer than I expected. At this time last year, I had read 51 books and 19 of those were in April. I read 17 this month, and I'm really not that far behind last year's numbers with a book finished today, May 1, bringing me up to 47. I am pleased with the wide variety of books read this month, including this year's Newbery Award winner, another year's Newbery Honor book, rereading a series of novellas, continuing a fantasy series, a book for book club, two books of poetry. Three were translated and represent an additional 3 countries, while a fourth was in English but the author is originally from India, putting me ahead of pace to read 12 books from 12 different countries outside of the US/UK this year. As for my other 2021 goal, I'm also higher than my hoped for baseline of 33% authors of color, sitting at just about 50%. I would have liked to see higher ratings of books this month (other than the rereads, which are automatically a 4.5 or higher in my book), but I was also in kind of a weird mood towards the end of the month and I'm not sure it's the books' fault. I also read a little more outside my comfort zone than usual. I suspect May will find me reading a little more fantasy and gravitating towards more "comfort read" selections to make up for it.

47. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Why now? Rereading the series in preparation for Fugitive Telemetry

Last year's review:

Murderbot's story comes full circle, as she goes back with the information from Milu to attempt to help Dr. Mensah with information about GrayCris. Upon it's arrival, however, Murderbot learns that Dr. Mensah is gone, possibly taken captive, and goes out to save her.

I'm guessing now that I've read four novellas in four days, you don't really need me to explain why this one worked? Good story, great character/sarcastic narrator, and clever worldbuilding make this a winner. Now I can join the legions of fans waiting with bated breath for the novel, which comes out next week.

I'm jumping right into Fugitive Telemetry tomorrow, and will probably reread Network Effect later this month.

Busy day today, I started off getting stuff organized/cleaned at the dogsitting job: changing sheets, doing all my laundry, cleaning out the kitty litter, etc. Then I hightailed it out for the afternoon to see my brother's band play at an outdoor venue for a few hours. There was a pretty good group of our mutual friends out there, and it was fun to see everybody for nearly the first time since Covid began.

Tomorrow will be a little bit quieter. Virtual church in the morning. I want to get out to do a grocery shopping to save myself the trouble of doing so Monday. I'm hoping to stop at home and drop off some clothes I no longer need (part of the reason for laundry today, though I ran out of time to actually go home), plus water my plants. But all that shouldn't take me too long, I think, and other than that I'm planning on sinking into Fugitive Telemetry.

I've been hovering around 15 books checked out from the library and have been running into tight due dates, so over the next couple of weeks I'm going to try to read and return (possibly without reading) a bunch. Exact order to be determined, and I've checked out a couple of e-books and audio that overlap my paper books to help me speed it up a little. I'm still reading about four books at a time (a book of poetry, audiobook in the car, paper book, audio/e-book before bed). Right now that's:

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
Keep Sharp by Sanjay Gupta, M.D.
The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems by Billy Collins
and (as of when I go to bed tonight) The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Fugitive Telemetry will be a fifth book tomorrow, but I fully expect to read it in a day and then concentrate on the others during the week.

On Monday, I took the day off and I'm going to Boston to pick up an OED that a library was offering for free, because I'm weird that way.

Oooh. Compact OED? Full 20 volumes? #dictionarynerd

>119 MickyFine: Full 20 volumes

I already have a compact OED and the older 13-volume edition of the OED. (And I'm glad there's someone out there who can appreciate the full nerdiness of this venture.)

>118 bell7: >119 MickyFine: Oh, yes, details please! *prepares to faint if it's the full set*

>120 bell7: *FAINTS*

>121 scaifea: :D

Is this where I admit I have a Webster's Third unabridged too?

>120 bell7: ...I...hate...you...

>122 bell7: ...a...real...lot...

>123 richardderus: #sorrynotsorry

The only major English language dictionary I have left to collect is the American Heritage dictionary. I'd love to get my hands on a very early Webster's but unfortunately I've only ever spotted one at the Brimfield Flea Market and they were (fairly) asking something like $175 for it. I've managed to get mine... very cheaply, usually library discards, and at the time I just couldn't justify the purchase. Maybe someday.

48. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Why now? It's the latest in the Murderbot series, so I was excited to get my hands on it ASAP. Read this weekend, knowing it would be a quick turnaround and I could knock out a library book to return off the humongous stack as well.

Soon after returning to Preservation with Dr. Mensah safe and sound, Murderbot (okay, that's it's private name, so SecUnit) is reluctantly accepted onto the planet and Dr. Mensah's team is nervously waiting to see if there's any backlash from GrayCris. When a man is found murdered, Mensah convinces SecUnit to work with a team to uncover what happened, and whether or not their nemesis, GrayCris, is involved.

This series has been a delight from start to finish, and this entry is no exception. I was pleasantly surprised to have a nice genreblend of mystery and science fiction, as well as return to Murderbot's sarcasm, anxiety, and discovering more about the world now that it's free to roam. The only disappointment is the wait I'll have for the next one. 4.5 stars.

At least there's still a reread of Network Effect to look forward to. And I guess I have Wells' backlist titles to look up too.

>125 bell7: You liked it! Yay!

Actually, I'd be a lot more surprised if you hadn't liked it. She was in good form here. Though I felt a bit of a thud as she dropped the Underground Railroad-y plot's origins, and how the heck they've escaped notice for so long plot threads.

>126 richardderus: I would agree with your spoiler, but it didn't bother me enough to mar the book much. I was too busy enjoying the fact that Murderbot was basically on one of those serials that it loves so much lol.

>127 bell7: Heh...there was a sort of Sanctuary Moon-ish feel to it, wasn't there?

>128 richardderus: Yes, I think so!

Yay! Glad to see you enjoyed the newest Murderbot.

Dang 20 volumes of the OED is impressive! Hope your car's suspension is up to the task. ;)

>130 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Ha, yes, I managed the drive back just fine. They're now sitting in my front entryway waiting for me to... bring them up to the spare bedroom floor? Unless I can manage to get more bookshelves in the living room first.

Ooohhh Mary, I just saw these:

Plenty of strange corners in the house could use them....

49. The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems by Billy Collins
Why now? I took a few poetry books out from the library for National Poetry Month in April, and this was one of them - obviously, finishing it a little late, but that's okay. Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets, and this was a collection I hadn't read yet.

Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets for playfully constructing evocative but easy-to-understand imagery in his poetry. He writes about everyday experiences, putting a fresh spin on them, and doesn't take himself too seriously. He is in fine form in this collection, which may be my favorite of those I've read so far. 4.5 stars.

Did someone else in the 75ers read this recently? I can't remember what prompted me to put this one in particular on hold, though a couple of the poems seemed familiar, particularly the first "You, Reader" and - my favorite of the collection - "Lanyard."

>132 richardderus: Hmmm, I might be able to wedged that into a few corners. I was pondering a corner shelf in the entryway.

I thought I'd better make sure I had found your thread, and sure enough, I hadn't. I'm starting from here. Thanks for visiting my thread!

>135 foggidawn: Good to see you, foggi - thanks for visiting back!

Hi, Mary. I am finally back and slowly making the rounds. It is going to take awhile. You caught me with a BB with The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems. I am also a fan of Collins, but missed this one.

>137 msf59: Oh excellent, hope you like it as much as I did, Mark!

Back to work today after a busy day yesterday with errands. Besides getting the dictionaries and bringing them home, I stopped at the bank, at the church to pick up a workbook for a summer Bible study, and paid someone to mow my grass because it had gotten ridiculous while I was away dogsitting. I came back to the dogs, cooked myself dinner, and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Antiques Roadshow has a celebrity edition, and Nancy Kerrigan and Jason Reynolds were among the 4 featured last night, so that was an entertaining watch, bookended by the Bruins game, where they clinched the playoffs.

Today is a 10-6 day (I go back to 12-8 on May 25), with in-library appointments. That usually leaves me the morning to get my behind-the-scenes work done while the director checks in, followed by afternoons checking people in and a dead-quiet last hour before heading home super hungry. But the good news is, last night's cooking made enough leftovers that I don't have to cook at all tonight. Just feed/walk dogs, feed and medicate the cats (one needs thyroid meds, the other an inhaler), eat and relax.

Billy Collins went to Holy Cross, my alma mater, and they just named a Classics scholarship after him. I posted somewhere that he is my favorite fellow HC alum, after Dr. Fauci :) I agree with you about his poetry.

We have a regular mowing service, and they came a few weeks ago and I haven't seen them since. Our lawn is getting embarrassing. I finally texted the owner yesterday and they are supposed to come this week. I'm just waiting for a neighbor to complain :-P

>134 bell7: I love it, especially that teal color, but most important to me is that it's a company that hires veterans and makes independent life for them possible.

Good lawsy me...well! So I TRIPLE posted, huh?

Anyway, it's May the Fourth and my fanboy heart got a kickstart with Project Hail Mary's publication. Review on my thread!

>140 katiekrug: Oh how cool! I didn't realize he was a Holy Cross alum - I went there years ago for a ASL day that was a bunch of fun. It's a beautiful campus. Unfortunately I can't afford a regular mowing service, but I did pay a guy as a one-time deal because it was just too much for me to do on top of the dogsitting job (he had a rider mower, so even though I was there while he worked it was a much quicker trip than if I attempted to push mow by myself). What I'd really love is to finagle a way someone does yard work - mowing and gardening - once a month or so to supplement what I can manage on my own. The lawn had grown tall enough it would have been back-breaking to deal with myself, though, so I'm glad he came and will have to stay on top of it the next few months :(

>141 richardderus: That is pretty cool!

>142 richardderus: and >143 richardderus: LT must be really wonky today - you TRIPLE posted!

50. Keep Sharp by Sanjay Gupta, M.D.
Why now? Heard an interview on Fresh Air (NPR) and decided to check it out

Want to keep your brain working well? There are a few key things you can do now to optimize memory and resilience as you age, and Dr. Gupta uses the latest science to lay out exactly how.

I was expecting a more technical, scientifically-driven book and this is, instead, a general sort of self-help book. While it has good information (and a twelve-week plan designed for you to make the info work for you), there's nothing really groundbreaking here. Exercise, eat well, get enough sleep, spend time with friends, learn new things: turns out what's good for our physical and mental health is good for our brains, too. The book was fairly short and a little repetitive, but worth a quick read if it interests you. The final section is about what to do if you or a loved one gets an Alzheimer's diagnosis, which didn't exactly fit with the title, but had some good information for patients and caregivers. 3.5 stars.

Listened to as an audiobook on my commute to work this week. I'm debating what to listen to next, but am thinking of trying out using the aux cable to connect my phone and play something off the Libby app.

>143 richardderus: I'm not spoiler-averse to books I'm not reading, but when it's something I definitely want to read I tend to avoid learning much of anything about it so I can be totally surprised when I pick it up, so I'm afraid I'm just skimming your review for now. Good to know that the character is better than Jazz!

Happy hump day, all! My work schedule changed to 10-6 for the day, as my boss is out and she would normally work that shift, plus someone else has a program so she needed someone to cover the desk. I don't mind, that last hour on Wednesday is usually very quiet, and it gives me a little extra time to care for the dogs and not rush out the door after. I emptied the dishwasher and replaced the cat litter for good measure. My lunch is packed (a fish & rice dish and a salad), and I put out the fixings for dinner to be ready when I get home (caprese pizza). Now I can sit and read for a spell before heading out to work, and the evening after dinner and dog walks should be fairly quiet as well.

I'm currently reading The Code Breaker by William Isaacson, which is long and detailed, so I renewed it the other day to give myself a little longer to finish it. I'm rereading The Goblin Emperor in preparation for the sequel coming out shortly. And I've started Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude as my latest poetry book. I'm... shockingly, kind of getting used to and enjoying reading a couple of poems every morning with breakfast and a couple more in the evening. I have this and a Mary Oliver poem/essay book left from my National Poetry Month binge library borrow.

>147 bell7: A pleasantly busy day, Mary, so have fun with it.

"The Lanyard" is such a great poem about mothers.

>148 richardderus: Thanks, Richard, it's the good kind of busy day, and now I'm relaxing with a book and the dogs.

>149 BLBera: Isn't it, Beth? I liked it a lot.

Hi, Mary. Did I miss it? Have you had your second shot? Debbi and I felt a big weight come off our shoulders after the second one.

i'm glad you liked Ocean Vuong's collection. That was one heck of a debut, wasn't it. Very affecting.

I'm another fan of "The Lanyard".

time relaxing with a book and the dogs sounds great. Enjoy.

>151 jnwelch: you're right on time, Joe, I just got my second and I'm sitting waiting for my fifteen minutes to be up before I head back to work for the rest of the day. I'm feeling good so far, and very excited for full immunity in a couple of weeks.

Congrats on your second shot! Fingers crossed the side effects skip you!

Adding my congrats on your second shot, Mary!

Here's to hoping you're side-effect free.

Thanks, Natalie, Micky and Richard!

Well, today was another busily productive one. I walked the dogs quickly this morning and headed out early to an oil change before work, which I left and took sick time to get shot #2, came back and checked in the afternoon appointments. It was actually a pretty quiet work day, which was good. Came home to take care of the dogs and reheat yesterday's pizza for dinner. I've been reading and watching the Bruins all evening.

So far so good with my second jab. I wasn't sore as quickly (read: immediately) as shot #1, and it feels like the dull throb of a tetanus shot right now. I'll take some painkillers before I go to bed tonight to hopefully get a good night's sleep, and we'll see what tomorrow brings.

I'd forgotten a lot of The Goblin Emperor and am really enjoying my reread. It's been awhile since I felt like I was totally sucked in to a longer read like this one.

Yeah, I really enjoyed that one. Didn’t realize a sequel’s coming out!

>158 drneutron: It's good on a reread too, though it's been six years and I didn't remember much. I guess the second book is being called a "standalone sequel" whatever that means - I'm pretty sure it's more about the detective work that Celehar (the Witness of the Dead that Maia had look into his father's death) is doing in the background while events of The Goblin Emperor are happening, but I'll find out for certain in a little bit. The Witness for the Dead is due to come out June 22. I still haven't read anything else by Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette and really should do something about that.

Work today, I was tired and achy and not at my best, but I made it through the day, then went to church for volunteering. We do sort of a club with kids ages 3 through 6th grade where they go through books and finish "sections" by memorizing verses and such. My job (starting last year) is to check in for attendance at the beginning of the night keep track of all the sections passed for grades 3-6, and mark them complete, basically doing some admin work behind the scenes. This year check in was a little different, since we made the classes smaller and encouraged parents to use an app to check in, I wasn't needed as much for that, so I'd do it at the beginning of the night, hand all the kids their name stickers, and helped out with the girls' group after. Tonight was the celebration, handing out awards, and it was really fun to see all the kids and some parents excited about how much they'd managed to do in a really weird year (they were split into two teams and came every other week). I'm also kind of happy to have my Friday nights back for the summer, even if it only means a good book and a cup of tea.

I'm now back with the doggies, who were VERY happy to see me (so were the cats, who got a late dinner), and hopefully I'll finish up The Goblin Emperor before heading to bed.

Tomorrow's plan will depend entirely on how tired I feel when I get up. Either way, I'm making a lemon pie (not meringue) for Mother's Day dessert to bring to dinner at my brother and SIL's, but whether I do anything else is anyone's guess.

51. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Why now? Reread because a new book set in the same world is coming out in June

Here's what I said when I read the book about six years ago:

An airship explosion suddenly leaves Maia the emperor of the elves. This fact might not be so bad except that he is the half-goblin youngest son of the old emperor, shoved away in a back corner of the kingdom and never trained to rule. But his older brothers have also died, which means it's either Maia or his young nephew ruled by regents, a situation that's never turned out great. Thrust into this position, Maia needs all his wits to learn to rule, deal with the politicking of various factions, and survive a court where no one really wants him.

This is a really inventive political fantasy with a sympathetic main character in Maia. Because he doesn't really know what's going on, you learn the politics of the realm slowly as he comes to grasp the intricacies and details in language and how people are addressed give a real depth to the world. A glossary at the end helps you keep track of the many people and places, and I'd also recommend briefly looking at the "Handbook for Travellers in the Elflands" too, as it explains the honorifics.

Nothing much to add, except that it was just as much fun to read as the first time. I still remember the librarian friend who recommended it to me - I think on the day we met? at a conference - so I guess that means we've known each other for six years plus. Time flies!

I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for next, but here's what I have out from the library roughly in the order they're due (I'm adding on time for renewals if a book has one):

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (this probably will be the next fiction I pick up)
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (book club book, I should start soon so I don't rush through essays)
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
The World of Plymouth Plantation by Carla Gardina Pestana
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Long Life and Other Essays by Mary Oliver (it has two renewals so it's low priority; I'll probably start it after the Baldwin book, reading an essay or two at a time over several weeks)

And of course I'm currently reading The Code Breaker and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which means I'm at ten library books out. Not counting e-books - other than different formats of the same books, I also have A Girl from Yamhill and Leonard and Hungry Paul out in e-format, but it's a crap shoot if I'll get to them at all.

I have a few holds unsuspending on May 10, so I better get reading this weekend :D

>162 bell7: I saw similar problems of library "over-indulgence" at Susan"s (quondame) thread. I bought The Midnight Library early in the year meaning to quickly read it and I still haven't gotten round to it.

I would just love to have the option of spending hours browsing a decent library's shelves.

Have a lovely weekend, Mary, and I do hope that the tired and achy blues get dispatched whilst reading!

>163 PaulCranswick: Yeah, Paul, working there makes it tough to ignore the siren song of all the new books. I also order all our adult fiction titles, so I'm hyperaware of what's coming out and what I want to read next. Thank you for the weekend wishes - I woke up feeling if not 100% at least much better than I did yesterday, and I should have the energy for all I need to get done today (and still time for plenty of reading). Hope you have a wonderful weekend yourself!

Good Saturday morning!

I'm feeling more rested today and am hoping that means the worst of the vaccine side effects are behind me. This is good, because I have a few things to catch up on here at the dogsitting house. The animals have been fed and walked, the plants watered, and there's a load of towels in the dryer.

One of the dogs had a tummy upset last night - I had expected the dog walker to feed them, but the owner forgot to remind him, he forgot to do it, and the upshot was they didn't get supper 'til 10 p.m. last night when we realized what had happened. Poor things :( But they're good this morning and happy to hang out with me since I'm not planning on going anywhere.

What's left for the day? Little puttering cleaning up to do, organizing my stuff so it doesn't get out of control and become a nightmare to pack in about a week. I need to clean out the cats' litter box. One of my co-workers gave me a bunch of clothes to go through and I'm going to try them on and give her back anything that doesn't fit to donate. We're having Mother's Day dinner at my brother and SIL's tomorrow, and I've been given the dessert to make. I found a recipe for lemon pie that I *believe* is allergen-free for my mother (this is very hard to do) and it's a no-bake, but I need to make it today to leave it to set in the fridge overnight. To attempt to keep it allergen-free, I'm making the graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, and whipped cream from scratch. BUT all those can wait for a bit. I started The Midnight Library last night just before bed and it's a promising start, so I'm going to spend a little time reading first, and then tackle the clothes project next, I think. The dogs are happily dozing in the same room with me and glad I'm home for the day.

Sounds like a great plan for the day, Mary. Hope the pie turns out!

>165 bell7: ...it has literally never occurred to me to make my own sweetened condensed milk...wow, your mother's allergies must be horrible.

I did make graham crackers a few times. Until I'd used the graham flour, since it's not good for anything else.

I hope the Haig read goes well.

Hi Mary!

>113 richardderus: I love author interviews, so, Yay! Richard! for sharing this one.

Fugitive Telemetry isn't available in my library system. Although it's a linked system of 30+ libraries, libraries can designate their new and popular books for their library only, and my library doesn't have a copy of their own. Perhaps I need to talk to our librarian about whether I can purchase copies of popular books I want to read that they don't have and then donate them to the library ... Sort of an 'adopt a book' program.

It sounds like you have a great weekend planned. That pie sounds amazing!

>166 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! The pie looks good this morning. Before I leave, I'm going to make up some whipped cream and top it with that and a little lemon zest, and it will be done :)

>167 richardderus: So the one thing I didn't make was the graham crackers themselves, I just had to make sure I bought ones that did not have soy. I wasn't sure about the sweetened condensed milk (though I used maple syrup to make it and it came out really good), but figured it wouldn't hurt to have all-natural ingredients and know that there was no food coloring. And yes, her allergies ARE horrible. She's allergic to so many foods I can't really keep track anymore (eggs, melons, soy, bananas, seafood, peanuts, tree nuts, soy among them - often set off just by the smell). She has both oral allergy syndrome (where she's allergic to something, but a related pollen sets it off so she needs to cook apples before eating them) and mast cell disorder. She can't be in a room with tires or latex balloons, latex OR epoxy resin flooring, or be too near a turf field. She's so allergic to allergy shots that she can't take them. So yeah... even though I'm pretty sure she can have what I made, I took photos of everything I used that had ingredients so she can double check.

>168 streamsong: Oh yes, I could see how that would take awhile to get then, Janet. Ours allows libraries to designate new/popular titles as for a pickup at their own library only for 2, 4, or 6 weeks. We have ours set to 6 weeks, which is why Fugitive Telemetry is sitting on our shelf right now instead of filling a hold somewhere else. I buy our adult fiction and while my town is much more of a thriller/mystery bunch (literally half of our collection), I occasionally add a few fantasy and science fiction titles that I want to read. I figure I can occasionally manage to recommend them to adventurous readers I know. I like your "adopt a book" idea. If I were your librarian, I'd be happy to take you up on it (and if I knew you were looking for a book, I might buy it for the library too!).

My day yesterday went just slightly differently than planned. I remembered around 10 in the morning that my friend's business had a sports yoga class that day, and I hadn't signed up ahead of time because I wasn't sure how I'd feel after the vaccination. Feeling pretty good, I saw there was still space and signed up. Afterwards, we get a free drink at a local bar that'll open early just for the class, so we socialize afterwards. It's been nice to slowly get into seeing folks and hanging out again.

Other than that, I did indeed make the pie and I managed to read the rest of The Midnight Library, so a review to come there. Today is virtual church, taking care of the animals, and going over my brother and SIL's with said pie for Mother's Day dinner with my parents and other brother.

52. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Why now? I first put this on my TBR list last year with I heard about it at Library Journal's Day of Dialog - it's been a bestsellers for awhile now, and popular at my library, so I decided to read it now

CW: suicide attempt, depression

What if you could go back and see what your life would be like if you had made different choices? That's what Nora Seed gets to do when she attempts suicide and finds herself in a library filled with books showing her the outcome those choices would have had in her life. A guide, in the form of her former school librarian Mrs. Elm, tells her that when she finds the right life she can choose to stay there, so Nora gamely decides to see if she could have had a better life.

I was intrigued by the sort of reverse of "It's a Wonderful Life": instead of seeing what life would have been like without her, Nora gets to see what would have happened. The idea plays with the theory of overlapping infinite universes, giving it just a hint of science fiction, and quotes from Thoreau and philosophers abound as Nora learns to let go of regrets. The story arc was predictable and the point as subtle as an elephant, making this a less than stellar read for me. 3.5 stars.

Have a great visit with the fam today, Mary!

I tried one of Matt Haig's other books last year and found it too bleak for me so I haven't picked up Midnight Library as I have a feeling it would be too much the same. Wishing you a much happier next read.

>170 bell7: It's never a lighthearted romp when one visits the Haigverse, is it.

>169 bell7: Egads!! What a horrible, miserable affliction. I am so sad for the frustrations your mom has to deal with.

>168 streamsong: I live to serve, Miss Janet ma'am.

>172 MickyFine: This one wasn't really bleak, just... surprises me that it's a best seller? He's not saying or doing anything new, and I'm already the kind of person who looks on the bright side of things and looks back and some of my decisions and knows what the *bad* consequences would've been in some cases, so while I won't say I don't have regrets, they don't paralyze me.

Anyway, yeah, on to the next read! I think I'll pick up The Code Breaker for a bit before walking the dogs and heading out.

Here is the finished pie:



Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks! The early taste of the filling is quite good, with a zing from the lemon. I used maple syrup to make the sweetened condensed milk, which gives a nice subtle sweet flavor too. The whipped cream may have needed to go a little longer in the mixer, but it was dense enough to stay on top of the filling, so I'm happy.

>173 richardderus: Yeah, like I said in my message to Micky it wasn't really bleak just wasn't... all that important? It was like It's a Wonderful Life without the chemistry of the characters. And yeah, Mom's allergies are really tough. My SIL is AWESOME about making meals that she can (or mostly can) eat, and I tried my best with the dessert as long as there isn't any weird ingredient that I don't know about, thus why I took photos of the ingredients of everything.

Dinner (and dessert) was delicious and a lot of fun to get us all together - it obviously hasn't been happening much over the last year. I'll be very happy in a bit when more folks in my family are fully vaccinated and it can happen more frequently. And my mom WAS able to have the pie, and she went back for seconds :)

>176 bell7: Going back for seconds is the best cooking compliment. Glad to hear you had a great gathering.

>177 MickyFine: Also I have just a little more left, so I'm looking forward to a little dessert tonight and tomorrow ;)

Happy almost-Tuesday, I have worked my short day, grocery shopped, and walked the dogs for the afternoon. I have a little bit of time to read and relax before feeding/walking, and going to online Bible study.

>176 bell7: Seconds! Yep, you done good, and Mom should know. *smooch*

>180 richardderus: *smooch* back, Richard.

Hi, Mary. I hope the work week is off to a good start. I picked up The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems and plan on starting it soon. My daughter and SIL recently read and enjoyed The Midnight Library but I think I will take a pass. I trust my LT buddies more. Grins...

>182 msf59: I ingeniously have a schedule in which I work only 5 hours on Monday, so I can ease into the work week :D The Midnight Library has received mixed reviews on LT, though I haven't seen many 75ers talking about it. I will say, though, that it's a very quick read (I read the bulk of it in a day) if you decide to test it out.

Appointment day at the library today - only two more weeks of Tuesday/Thursday check ins before we just let people in the door (we'll still be at 50% capacity but don't really expect to reach it) and go back to full hours. I'm not sure how many appointments we have, so we'll see how busy it is. My boss takes the morning appointments and I get the last two of the day. Before checking in, I'm hoping to watch a couple of panels from the Library Journal Day of Dialog that a co-worker went to and sent me the info to watch the recordings. And I'm also working on a set of questions for a preservation assessment grant we received, so I'll hope to make some headway on that.

When I get "home" tonight, I'll walk and feed the dogs, feed the cats, feed myself. I'm planning on making tater tot hotdish to have some comfort food and good leftovers for lunch the next couple of days.

>184 bell7: I saw "hotdish" and decoded it as "horseradish" for some weird reason. I admit it did give me a start! I don't think of you as a horseradish kind of a gal. Not to mention the oddness of tater tots with some form of horseradish on/in them...?

Have good appointments!

>185 richardderus: Bahaha, well, I suppose in my neck of the woods it would be more likely to serve up horseradish than hotdish. A friend of might mine from Minnesota gave me the recipe several years ago.

Appointments went well today, we were pretty busy all day and because of the desk schedule I didn't really have time to accomplish anything I'd planned. But I spent the final hour uploaded documents to a Google Drive that I'll need to share for the Preservation Assessment, so at least I got that much done.

The children's department had some ideas for making a fun library video, and we're going to start shooting tomorrow. Should be a blast!

>186 bell7: A friend of might from Minnesota...

...so what's their superpower? I do so love autocorrect (when it's not my message).

>188 richardderus: Hahahaha I'm pretty sure I typed that on the laptop so I can't even blame the phone keyboard/autocorrect

Happy hump day! I got a message from my boss that the mastermind of our staff video is not coming in today, so I don't know what the plan is for today. The same projects I mentioned yesterday apply today, and we don't have people in the building so they might actually happen.

Dinner tonight is grilled cheese and tomato soup. My parents are calling sometime tonight after the American football schedule comes out to plan which games each of us will be "claiming" for our season tickets. Other than that, I'm hanging out with the dogs and reading.

53. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
Why now? I read his essay collection The book of delights earlier this year, and had this on my list to try - borrowed it during National Poetry Month, and I'm getting to it now that it's nearly due at the library

The subjects of Ross Gay's poetry reminds me of Billy Collins: it's the everyday joys and sorrows, that of working in the garden or walking down the street. But Gay has a rhythm and style all his own. Many of the poems have almost no punctuation, giving them a breathless quality. He breaks the fourth wall often, calling the reader "friend" and talking to you directly, or a tongue-in-cheek statement that poetry doesn't talk about what he's writing. My favorite was the title poem "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude," surprising me with its deep emotion of both gratitude and pain, all that is life. 4.5 stars.

Hi, Mary.

I loved that Ross Gay poetry collection. Upbeat poetry is not that common or easy to do well; this was a pleasure to read, wasn't it.

>190 bell7: Ah yes, the freedom that comes from being able to focus on your work when you don't have to also manage library users at the same time. ;)

>192 jnwelch: I thought it was really excellent, Joe. You might like his essay collection as well, if you haven't read it yet.

>193 MickyFine: We won't have many more days of that, Micky, so I'm taking advantage while I can! I managed to watch one session, a panel of authors who wrote historical fiction (including Sandra Brown, and her book sounds... really interesting?), and I did a lot of question-answering in the form I'm filling out. I had hoped to watch more video content, but that didn't happen, between desk scheduling, a staff meeting, and taking the curbside phone when most of the circ folks went to lunch. I'd say I'll watch more Friday, but I have a growing list of things for that day so the likelihood is not high.

Today was a weird work day, somehow it felt like Friday in how punchy the staff was and my own scatterbrained-ness. Anyway, I got a lot done, some planned and some not, and the day went by fast. The dogs and cats are taken care of for the evening, and I called my parents and we very quickly determined how we're divvying up the NY Giants season tickets. That was actually surprisingly easy. I got my first two picks easily, and the third is a little up in the air, but I'm equally happy with the two potential games and will find out for certain in a few days.

I read a bit more in The Code Breaker, and now I'm going to settle in with Black Sun for awhile.

>195 bell7: Oof. Never good when Wednesdays feel like Fridays. Too much of the week left at that point. Here's hoping it's a good Thursday for you.

>196 MickyFine: "Too much of the week left at that point" was exactly my thought too! Fortunately today was a good day and went by fast, though tomorrow being actual Friday is welcome.

Today was appointments-in-the-library day, and while much of the day was actually quiet, the 4:00 appointments were very busy. I managed to make progress in the questionnaire I'm working on (largely because our town facilities manager got back to me with answers about the heating system, so I knocked a bunch off by copying and pasting), and I watched a couple of videos from the Library Journal Day of Dialog, one featuring a panel of authors in the "history and culture" topic and another an interview with Anthony Doerr. His new book out in the fall, Cloud Cuckoo Land, sounds very good.

My dad, now retired and apparently completely not thinking about time for us working mortals, called me at ten to five with a few questions until my mother reminded him I'm at work (I literally had answered his initial "What's up?" with "finishing up work"), to which he responded, "She's not at work" and I had to chime in, "Yes, I am." He'll be calling back tonight :)

Dogs and cats are taken care of for the night, and I'll be reading a bit before heading to bed. Over the next few days I need to repack. If I get organized enough, I want to stop home on Saturday and drop some stuff off early so I don't have as much to pack up the car on Sunday when I actually leave. That'll be 40 nights away from home, and I'd say I'm looking forward to my own bed but at this point I'm probably going to need a few days to readjust!

>198 bell7: Even your "quiet" days sound busy enough to me, Mary.
Your dad's call made me laugh. My dad can't get the hang of working from home. As far as he's concerned, if I'm not in the office, I'm not working...

>199 charl08: Well, quiet in terms of not a lot of patrons in the building or needing my help, so I was able to get a lot of other things done :D In my dad's defense, he told me when he called back that he misheard me and thought I'd said "finished" not "finishing", but yeah, it made me laugh that he basically had no clue what time it was. This from a man who gets annoyed if you call before/after 9!

Today's plan, get what I can done at work and go from there. I must be getting back to old habits, because part of what I did yesterday at work was organizing my desk so it wasn't a mess of papers of the projects I'm in the middle of, and I wrote out a to-do list for the next few days in the first time since March 2020. I want to check the stats for some of our YouTube how-to videos, and I need to take a couple down because we no longer have access to some of the resources I was promoting in the videos (screencasts). And before I leave work today, I'm putting every single tax form outside to give people the chance to pick them up over the weekend.

>201 bell7: Hope your Friday is productive and goes by fast so you can enjoy your weekend.

>201 bell7: *whew*

what >202 MickyFine: said

Forty nights! That's a misdemeanor jail term! Sleeping in your own bed will feel weird, won't it. Adjust well!

>202 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I was pleased with what I accomplished, and discovered that the videos will be up for 3 months, not 3 weeks, so I can not feel so pressed for time to watch the rest of them now.

>203 richardderus: It probably took me longer to type it out than it did to take the videos down, honestly. RBDigital (through which we offered AcornTV, Qello, and The Great Courses) was bought by Overdrive, and their content won't be accessible anymore after May 15, so I had to delete the how-to videos to avoid making people annoyed that they couldn't get it anymore. And yeah, it's going to feel weird but I'll also be happy to be home. I need to buy over-priced gas for the mower and mow my lawn on Monday after work, but other than that I'll be thrilled to be home again for another *checks calendar* week and a half, but not another dogsitting gig until late June. It's helping pay the bills, so I can't complain.

I did indeed have a productive Friday. A co-worker and I work on a monthly book newsletter for patrons (we're up to 45 subscribers!) and we finalized it today and scheduled it to send out tomorrow morning. I took down the videos I needed to, got the tax forms put outside for the weekend, and even managed to watch another video from LJDOD. This one was an interview with Colson Whitehead about his upcoming book Harlem Shuffle. It was very engaging, I now want to read the book, and one of my co-workers hadn't realized he'd written more than The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys and went searching out his backlist. So that was fun.

I've been kinda lazy tonight after feeding the dogs and cats, I've mostly been messing around on my phone. Tomorrow I have some cleaning up and packing I want to do to drop some things off at home early, and then I'm spending time with my Little. I need to start reading a couple of books, one for Bible study, and one for book club, so that'll take up much of my weekend as well. We're discussing The Fire Next Time on May 19. I thought it was a bunch of essays, but it's really just two sections, so I decided to read it all in one chunk after all.

>205 bell7: Are you going to be switching Qello and Great Courses over to Overdrive? We just had AcornTV in RB and we've got quite a few customers sad about its departure. Some of the shows are in Hoopla and of course we've got most of them on physical disc too. If it gets added to Overdrive we might get it again but the access model is less than ideal and leads to a fair amount of troubleshooting so we'll see.

Have a lovely Saturday!

>206 MickyFine: I think so for Qello and Great Courses, yes. I'm not 100% sure how it works because I don't do the Overdrive purchasing, and I'll have to relearn how to do it all (though honestly can it be much worse than setting up RBDigital every 7 days?). We found the same thing, that Hoopla has a lot of the AcornTV shows, and our director is also offering to buy DVD series if patrons are asking for a show we don't have. We had a lot of usage during Covid, so I hope we don't have too many calls next week from disappointed patrons.