Curioussquared takes on 75+ in 2022, part 5

Hello everyone! I'm Natalie. I have participated in the challenge on and off over the years, and consistently over the past few years.

I'm located in Seattle, where I live with my husband and dogs. I do most of my reading curled up on the couch with my retired racing greyhounds, Skelly, Otter, and Kermit, or listening to audiobooks while doing chores and walking the dogs. Since my last thread began, I've started a new job, and this whole "working" thing is really cutting into my reading time. Boo!

One of my non-reading goals for 2022 is to finish the manuscript I started writing for NaNoWriMo 2021 -- I hit 50k but the story's not over! Not sure that'll happen with the whole job thing, but we'll see. As of October... this goal is not looking good, lol.

I read mostly fiction, with a heavy emphasis on fantasy and sci-fi, YA fiction, general fiction/literature, a scattered mystery here and there, and the occasional non-fiction title. In 2021 I read a ton of romance novels, which have not been my traditional bill of fare, but I've been enjoying easier reads (and listens) in these strange times, so I expect that trend to continue in 2022.

I've been keeping track of my books read since 2008, and I have traditionally aimed for 100, but I think these days I'm usually hoping to hit 150. I managed it in 2020, but only got to 135 in 2021, mostly because a lot of my time was spent planning my wedding to my new husband, Tim :)

Another typical reading goal for me is to prioritize books off my shelves. A little more than half of the books I read in 2021 were off my shelves, and I'd like it to keep it that way or even higher in 2022. I have a separate thread I maintain in the ROOTs group, and in addition, I have a selection of books off my shelves I'd like to get to this year, which you can see in a post below.

I'm doing something a little different with this thread -- I think I'm finally out of good professional photos of all three dogs, so here's a selection of them all being goofy:



Skelly enjoying his current favorite backyard hole (he dug it himself and regularly makes architectural improvements).



Otter in one of his favorite resting positions...



Kermit, having lost control of his tongue once again.



Skelly looking very handsome!



Otter doing his very best to fit between Kermit and Hamish the Irish Wolfhound on the couch.



And Kermit and Otter being too cute for their own good (the lobster toy wanted to cuddle too, lol).

Here are my top books of 2021! I didn't trim down to a nice even number or anything because I don't feel like it ;)

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
Hollow Chest by Brita Sandstrom
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

Books read in 2022:

January
1. The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall (library)
2. The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan (library)
3. The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen (off my shelf)
4. Front Desk by Kelly Yang (library)
5. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins (off my shelf)
6. Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix (off my shelf)
7. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (off my shelf)
8. You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria (off my shelf)
9. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (reread)
10. Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell (off my shelf)
11. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (off my shelf)
12. The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (reread)
13. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (off my shelf)
14. The Faithless Hawk by Margaret Owen
15. Halt's Peril by John Flanagan

February
16. The Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith
17. Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon (off my shelf)
18. Fire by Kristin Cashore (reread)
19. A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper (off my shelf)
20. Shielded by KayLynn Flanders
21. Knight's Castle by Edward Eager (off my shelf)
22. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
23. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (off my shelf)
24. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (off my shelf)
25. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (off my shelf)
26. The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White
27. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (reread)
28. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
29. Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (off my shelf)
30. Faithful Place by Tana French (off my shelf)
31. The FitzOsbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper

March
32. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
33. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)
34. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske (off my shelf)
35. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
36. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
37. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
38. Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (off my shelf)
39. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian
40. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (off my shelf)
41. Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
42. The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
43. Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)
44. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (off my shelf)
45. Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (off my shelf)
46. Woes of the True Policeman by Roberto Bolano (off my shelf)
47. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore (off my shelf)
48. The Night Ride by J. Anderson Coats

Books read in 2022:

April
49. Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore
50. Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw (off my shelf)
51. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (off my shelf)
52. Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (off my shelf)
53. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (off my shelf)
54. House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)
55. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
56. Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
57. A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger
58. The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu
59. An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
60. Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama (off my shelf)
61. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (reread)
62. The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle (off my shelf)
63. Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
64. Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood
65. Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (off my shelf)

May
66. Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
67. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (off my shelf)
68. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (off my shelf)
69. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
70. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (off my shelf)
71. A Rush of Wings by Laura E. Weymouth
72. The No-Show by Beth O'Leary
73. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (off my shelf)
74. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (off my shelf)
75. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (off my shelf)
76. A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (off my shelf)
77. Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood
78. Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe
79. Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian
80. Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
81. The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (off my shelf)

June
82. Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood
83. Queen of Scots by John Guy (off my shelf)
84. Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne Valente
85. Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (off my shelf)
86. A Spot of Trouble by Teri Wilson
87. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
88. Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)
89. Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
90. Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (off my shelf)
91. Lit Stitch by BookRiot
92. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende (off my shelf)
93. Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
94. A Pale Light in the Black by K. B. Wagers (off my shelf)
95. Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko

Books read in 2022:

July
96. The Girls by Emma Cline (off my shelf)
97. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (off my shelf)
98. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (off my shelf)
99. Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli
100. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (off my shelf)
101. By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
102. Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega
103. To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
104. Isn't It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams
105. One for All by Lillie Lainoff (off my shelf)

August
106. Angel Mage by Garth Nix (off my shelf)
107. Flight to Arras by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (off my shelf)
108. The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman
109. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
110. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (off my shelf)
111. Heartstone by Elle Katharine White (off my shelf)
112. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (off my shelf)
113. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (off my shelf)
114. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
115. Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
116. Beloved by Toni Morrison (off my shelf)
117. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

September
118. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (off my shelf)
119. The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant
120. Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz (off my shelf)
121. A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
122. Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham
123. A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria
124. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (off my shelf)
125. The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert
126. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (off my shelf)
127. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (off my shelf)
128. Defekt by Nino Cipri
129. A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
130. Saving Savannah by Tonya Bolden (off my shelf)
131. Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
132. Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall
133. Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
134. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (off my shelf)
135. In Deeper Waters by F. T. Lukens (off my shelf)
136. Summerland by Michael Chabon (off my shelf)
137. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (off my shelf)
138. The One True Me and You by Remi K. England
139. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (off my shelf)

Books read in 2022:

October
140. The Mapmakers by Tamzin Merchant
141. Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey
142. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (off my shelf)
143. The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell (off my shelf)
144. Heartstopper, vol. 1 by Alice Oseman
145. Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish (off my shelf)
146. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (off my shelf)
147. Falling Man by Don DeLillo (off my shelf)
148. The Body Artist by Don DeLillo (off my shelf)
149. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread)
150. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (off my shelf)
151. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (reread)
152. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (reread?)
153. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
154. Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
155. Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo
156. The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (off my shelf)
157. Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper
158. Tartuffe by Moliere (off my shelf)
159. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (off my shelf)
160. Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts by Erika Lewis
161. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (off my shelf)

November
162. Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
163. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (off my shelf)
164. The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K. J. Charles
165. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
166. Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
167. Dracula by Bram Stoker
168. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
169. Blackout by Connie Willis (off my shelf)
170. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (off my shelf)
171. The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian
172. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
173. All Clear by Connie Willis (off my shelf)

December

As mentioned above, I have a pool of books I've pulled off my shelves that I want to try to get through this year. It's a mix of newer titles I'm excited about, stuff I've had unread on my shelf forever, and everything in between. It's really, truly random -- I just ran around pulling stuff off the shelves that caught my eye!

We're going aggressive with numbers this year, folks! Last year I chose 42 and got to 37; I'm carrying over the five I didn't get to, as I'd still like to read them soon, and added a whole bunch more:



Here's the list if you can't read them all!

Done: 49/61

1. Angel Mage by Garth Nix
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
3. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
4. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
5. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
6. The Greenstone Grail by Amanda Hemingway
7. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
8. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
9. Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
10. Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix
11. The White Company by Alexander Conan Doyle
12. Flight to Arras by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
13. Breathe by Cliff McNish
14. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
15. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
16. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
17. Queen of Scots by John Guy
18. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
19. Beloved by Toni Morrison
20. The Girls by Emma Cline
21. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
22. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
23. City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty
24. A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper
25. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
26. Heartstone by Elle Katharine White
27. In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
28. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
29. Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik
30. Knight's Castle by Edward Eager
31. Faithful Place by Tana French
32. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
33. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
34. The Jewel Thief by Jeannie Mobley
35. Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
36. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
37. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
38. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
39. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
40. The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
41. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
42. You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria
43. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
44. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
45. Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
46. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
47. Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
48. The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
49. The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
50. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
51. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
52. Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston
53. The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle
54. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
55. Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
56. Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
57. Blackout by Connie Willis
58. Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov
59. Saving Savannah by Tonya Bolden
60. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
61. Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz

Welcome to thread #5 -- it's safe to post!

Hi everyone! I'm procrastinating by starting my new thread :) I have a few work items that really need to get done today and I just... don't want to do them, so here I am.

I think my friend is coming over later tonight to hang out. Apparently it's National Noodle Day (a holiday I just found out about, but one that is already close to my heart) so we may order some kind of noodles for dinner.

Currently reading:

- Wrapped up Small Gods in print last night (review to come), and am about 60 pages into Breathe. I think I'm also going to start Harrow the Ninth as that seems like an appropriate pick from my list of books to read for spooky season.

- Finished Fix Her Up on audio (review to come for this one, too) and moved on to The Road to Wigan Pier, which I'm enjoying way, way more than I thought I would, to the point I've almost listened to it in less than a day.

- Still working on The Ten Thousand Doors of January; I did not do the elliptical workout I wanted to on Monday and have not done any other elliptical workouts this week, AND I've been sleeping well enough to not need to read in the night, so no progress has been made :(

141 books read: Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Georgie is the youngest in her family and has never been taken seriously a day in her life... so she ran with that and became a clown. Her party business is actually doing really well, but her family doesn't seem to notice. Meanwhile, her older brother's friend Travis is back in town after flunking out of the MLB with a persistent injury. Travis hasn't seen Georgie in years, and he's struck by how she's changed -- she's not the annoying little girl he used to tease anymore. But he's also struck by how her family still treats her like a child, and he's determined to change that. The two strike a bargain: they'll pretend to date so Georgie's family and the whole town start thinking of her differently, and so Travis can rehab his bad boy image and be seriously considered for the commentating job he's up for. But they both might be in for more than they bargained for...

This was fine, nothing special. I enjoyed listening but there was nothing remarkable and I almost got a little bored. I was turned toward dislike by one line at the end where Bailey says something like, "Georgie knew Travis wasn't in the audience because she didn't feel the prickling she always felt when he was around," which I hate as a non-fantasy trope -- like ma'am, that's not a real thing. 2.5 stars.

142 books read: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

The Great God Om has been secure in his domain for many years -- but somehow, people have mostly stopped believing in him, which is why when he tried to come to the world in the shape of a giant bull, he somehow showed up as a tiny, impotent tortoise instead. Luckily he is discovered by the only person who can hear his voice: his last true believer, the Omnian novice Brutha, a seemingly simple boy who can neither read nor write but has a powerful memory. Well, he's not the prophet Om would have chosen, but he's all he's got.

Pratchett takes on religion and philosophy with his trademark wit and satire in this entry in the Discworld series. I read 99% of this series in middle and high school and pretty much devoured them, but bounced off this one, and I can definitely see why as neither religion nor philosophy are part of my preferred reading topics. Even as an adult I found the first 100 pages of this book a little dry and boring to get through. The story picked up once we traveled to Ephebe and I could appreciate the book for what it was at that point. This feels like a Pratchett for the folks who are reading for his philosophical hot takes and don't care so much for the characters. 4 stars.

>11 curioussquared: Oh, blech. You do not, in fact, have a spidey sense, unless you have been bitten by a radioactive spider and turned into a nerdy, reluctant superhero. In which case, you have some villains to stop, not boyfriends to stalk.

Happy new thread, Natalie! Love the pictures of your puppers.

>13 libraryperilous: Right? These are humans, not elves or spidermen, lol.

>14 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I had fun choosing them :)

OK, I know you guys are probably the worst people to keep me accountable, but I think I'm going to try to not buy anymore books for the rest of the year (excluding books I've already preordered, lol). I want to see if I can make a dent in my TBR!

Happy new one!

Good luck with not buying any more books this year :)

Happy new thread, Natalie.

It is great, although not entirely surprising to see your threads so busy this year. xx

>16 curioussquared: LOL. rofl. lmfao. Just let us know when we can elect you Mayor of Failure.

>17 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita!

>18 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

>19 libraryperilous: LOL. Your confidence in me is truly inspiring.

Happy new thread Natalie! Loving the photos of your boys, as always.

I'm ducking book bullets for now by skimming over your lists.

>16 curioussquared: You're one to talk. Because of you I have to keep borrowing library books instead of reading one of the reams of books (unread and re-reads) on my own shelves.

>21 humouress: Thanks Nina! Sorry not sorry :)

Happy new thread, Natalie!

>2 curioussquared: I love the new photo's of your three.
Skelly's hole in the garden would not be tolerated over here, I love my plants. So I am glad for him he is living with you ;-)
Indeed, Kermit and Otter on the couch are very cute!

>16 curioussquared: Wishing you good luck!

>20 curioussquared: "Every accusation a confession," I mutter, as I order another pile of books despite being out of shelf space and money.

Maybe you could do a TBR jar or a TBR bingo card for the titles you want to read as a way to stick to your plan. I find sticking to TBRs super hard, but I know a lot of people like reading challenges as a way to be accountable.

>24 libraryperilous: Tut, tut. (Meanwhile, I'm going through my wish list at various sites because a- it's my birthday, so birthday vouchers and b- my husband has just left for the States with an extra suitcase so he can bring back stuff for me without having to shell out hefty amounts for international shipping) (because of course I wouldn't order books otherwise when money and shelf space are at a premium)

>23 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! Sometimes I try to stop Skelly's digging, but he loves it SO much and is so happy digging a hole that I usually feel too bad to make him stop 😂

>24 libraryperilous: Lol. See, I knew this was the wrong place to find accountability ;) I'm actually pretty good at sticking to my TBR -- I've read almost 70 books off my shelves this year, and I think I'm pretty close to on track for the year with my list I want to get to at the top of this thread. It's just that I ALSO have purchased over 100 books this year 😬

>25 humouress: Clearly a birthday and a trip to the States mean it's extenuating circumstances, Nina! It's only logical.

143 books read: The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell

In the first half, Orwell writes of his experiences living among England's poorest inhabitants, including miners earning preposterously low wages and the unemployed and houseless, using his concise, witty prose to examine and condemn the working and living conditions of these people. In the second half, Orwell considers socialism and the general attitude toward it, coming out in favor of it himself but also playing devil's advocate to explain why those who might need socialism the most might be most opposed to it.

I will admit that I picked this up expecting to find it mildly interesting at best. Nonfiction written 80+ years ago examining class economics is not really my sweet spot in terms of reading. Imagine my surprise when I was hooked -- Orwell is an excellent writer, even 80+ years later, and his writing makes these topics shine. I found myself almost moved to tears by some of the descriptions of the mine conditions, and I was even texting funny excerpts to a friend. Yes, it was written 80 years ago, but a lot of what Orwell has to say is still relevant in this day and age. The second half was less up my alley but still compelling, if a little more circular. 4.5 stars.

A few favorite lines:

- "He was one of those people who could chew his grievances like a cud"
- In reference to W. H. Auden, whose poetry I rather enjoy: "A sort of gutless Kipling"
- And in conclusion to why the more posh British classes should really consider socialism: "We have nothing to lose but our aitches."

>29 curioussquared: I really need to get to this, but I will say that's a misreading of Auden. He didn't turn into a gutless Kipling until after the war. (Auden is one of my favorite poets. His legacy as a leftist poet is complicated.)

>28 curioussquared: You've convinced me!

ETA: >32 libraryperilous: And that's cinched it :0)

>25 humouress: Really, what are suitcases and international travel for, if not buying books. Happy birthday!

>27 curioussquared: That is a lot of books!

I'm happy to actually provide accountability if you need it. While I read a lot, I don't buy that many books in a year as my rule for purchasing is that a title has to be something I know I'll want to re-read. Otherwise, my reads come from the library. :)

>30 libraryperilous: I don't know much about Auden aside from the poems I've read, which I enjoyed, so that's good to know!

>31 humouress: Somehow I don't think you needed TOO much convincing...

>32 libraryperilous: Right? I think I started buying a lot more books as a quick pick-me-up during the early days of the pandemic (books arriving in the mail? What could be better?) and then just didn't stop the acquiring. Time for a brief pause, I think.

>33 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I derive too much satisfaction out of acquiring and organizing my home library to stop myself entirely. I do try to get rid of books I disliked enough to know I'll never reread them.

Happy new one, Natalie!

>35 drneutron: Thanks, Jim :D

144 books read: Heartstopper, volume 1 by Alice Oseman

Charlie is in year 10 and has been out for about a year, and the bullying has mostly stopped at this point. Nick is in year 11 and is a popular rugby player. They don't really know each other, but when the two are sat next to each other in homeroom, a friendship starts to blossom... and could it be something more?

I loved loved loved the Netflix adaptation and decided to pick this up as well. The adaptation is shockingly faithful so far so this didn't really have much new content, but both the book and show are just lovely to consume, heartwarming and sweet and practically confectionary. I loved it and have already placed a hold on the second volume, but I will say I'm glad I didn't buy it because it took me less than an hour to read :) Oh, and I love the art style! 5 stars.

>37 curioussquared: That does look a good one, Natalie.

Certainly not a gross one for the gross (144) read of the year!

Happy new thread Natalie.

I loved the Netflix adaptation of Heartstopper too. I should get around to reading them soon.

A little late, but happy new thread Natalie!
>37 curioussquared: These are great little heartwarming and quick reads, I think you liked the books more than I did, but I am still looking forward to the final installment of the series and the second season of the show.

>37 curioussquared: Yay for Heartstopper! I need to get to the show soon!

>33 MickyFine: This is how I always conceptualize my personal library: one filled with my favorite books. And then I fall off the wagon—again.

>38 PaulCranswick: It was a lot of fun, Paul. And ooh, a milestone I hadn't considered!

>39 fairywings: I'm sure you'll enjoy them, Adrienne! They feel like a warm hug.

>40 WhiteRaven.17: Thanks, Kro! I've only read the first volume so far, and I'm sure I could find something to criticize if I thought about it, but it was just such a light, heartwarming, quick read that I had a smile the whole time I was reading it, and certainly that must deserve 5 stars :)

>41 scaifea: I think you'll love it, Amber.

>42 libraryperilous: I like that way of conceptualizing the library! I think I'm less good at not acquiring and keeping things that I feel like I SHOULD have. I do get rid of books when I 1. actively disliked it or was just meh enough about it to know I'll never touch it again and 2. I manage to admit to myself that I'm really never going to read it. I have a pile I'm planning to get rid of right now that includes an abridged copy of Don Quixote (I don't really want to read Don Quixote, but if I did, I'd read the whole thing) and a copy of The Sound and the Fury that I must have purchased from a library book sale before I actually read any Faulkner and discovered I hate him.

145 books read: Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish

Jack and his mother move into an old farmhouse after his father's death in the hopes of starting afresh. Jack is a strange child; he has severe asthma and is often lonely because of its limitations, as well as some of his other affectations, which include a love of old items and houses, as he believes he can get a sense of an object's previous owners by touching it. So the old farmhouse is right up Jack's alley. What Jack and his mother don't know is that their new home is actually already inhabited -- by ghosts! Four ghost children, specifically... and one older ghost, the ghost mother. When Jack discovers he can see the ghosts, he's initially excited... but things take a turn when the ghost mother starts to take a very special interest in Jack.

Meh, I was expecting a little more spooky from something billed as "a ghost story." Yes, it's a book for kids, but any child of the 90s can remember being totally traumatized by the story of The Green Ribbon in In a Dark Dark Room, and that was a damn I Can Read book! I also have very fond memories of Jade Green, which was written for about this same age level, and also messed me up, lol. Anyway, I love a good ghost story, and this was not that. It took half the book for there to be any tension. I didn't care about the ghost children's fates. Needed more spooky. 3 stars.

146 books read: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Gwyneth comes from a family of time travelers. There's one in each generation, each of whose birth date was predicted by none other than Isaac Newton himself, and in her generation, it's her cousin Charlotte. Charlotte is 17 now, just a day older than Gwyneth, has been training for her role her whole life, and is due to start time traveling any minute now. But then... one day, on her way to the shops, it's Gwyneth who finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the past. Suddenly, Gwyneth's whole life changes, and she must grapple not only with her new status, but with the fact that for some reason, her mother has lied to her her whole life.

I don't remember what prompted me to buy this on Kindle -- I knew pretty much nothing about it going in and expected something entirely different based on the cover. But I loved it! Sort of your classic YA chosen one story, but the plot felt unique and well-imagined. I'm excited to continue the series! 4 stars.

>6 curioussquared: apart from Death of a Salesman and The English Patient, I haven't heard of any of your September reads!

>45 curioussquared: This sounds fun! The cover is pretty.

>43 curioussquared: Favorite = ? is a struggle. Do I keep this middle grave adventure story I won't reread because it's part of a collection? Do I have lots of classics on my shelf, even the ones I don't really want to read soon, because classics = a favorite genre? &c. Weeding is so difficult!

>44 curioussquared: I'm really in the mood for spooky books this month, and I keep failing. I'm hopeful that the Hester Fox novel I downloaded will deliver.

>45 curioussquared: Perfect timing for this book, since it all hinges on October birthdays!

>42 libraryperilous:

>46 LovingLit: Hi Megan! I did have a few obscure ones for September :) Thanks for stopping by!

>47 libraryperilous: The cover on my Kindle edition is much more "generic girl in ballgown that is absolutely not period appropriate for any of the time periods she might be going back in time to." I like this one better :)

Yes, I struggle with those same things, and I'm something of a completionist. Like, I own 99% of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books, excluding some of the newer ones. I know there are at least 3-4 miniseries within that series that I will reread, but equally, I know there are probably at least 2-3 miniseries within that series that I'll never reread. But I want to have them all!

Yeah, I was very let down by the spook factor. You can't have "A Ghost Story" in the title and have it be boring. I'm off to make myself feel better about that read by scaring myself silly reading entries in this year's Jezebel scary story contest!

>48 humouress: Oh, I didn't even think about that! If I'd finished it a few days earlier I could have actually finished it on the all-important October 7th date.

>49 curioussquared: It's just one day off my own birthday, so I sort of noticed :0)

>50 humouress: Happy belated!!

Good morning!

Today is a struggle. Otter had some kind of upset stomach last night and wanted to be outside between 1:30 and 2:30 AM eating whatever vegetation he could find. I had to fight to get him inside (I don't know what plants he was eating and do not trust him to pick non-poisonous ones, plus the dog urge to eat grass when they feel sick can often just make them feel sicker). He finally calmed down after whining at me to go back out for half an hour after I gave him a Gas-X and an anti-nausea pill and sat with him in bed stroking him for another half an hour.

Just when I was about to go back to sleep around 3 AM, Skelly decided it was his turn to go outside. He always takes ten minutes or so doing his business and has been taking longer lately because he has developed a fear of our deck stairs at night and now takes an extra minute or two to psych himself up to actually go up the stairs.

I finally was about to go to sleep when I heard a mosquito buzzing around my ear and had to get up and kill it or risk being eaten alive in the night. This is one reason I am ready for our strange long Seattle summer to finally end -- I want fall weather and no bugs, darn it!

Finally settled down again around 3:30, but Skelly decided he wanted to sleep in the human bed, but then kept snapping or growling at Otter (also in the human bed) when he got too close. I am not feeling too kindly toward the dogs this morning.

Anyway, here's what I'm currently reading:

- Harrow the Ninth in print; I might also start Blackout soon
- Falling Man on audio
- Still The Ten Thousand Doors of January on Kindle. I'm over halfway through now and loving it despite how slowly I'm consuming it.

Aside from last night's disastrous sleep, I had a lovely weekend. Tim and I started watching Welcome to Wrexham on Friday and we're loving it. On Saturday I helped my mom update her wedding planning business website, then went with my friend to the local theater that has full dinner service during the movie and saw Bros. I thought it was funny and fun, and I appreciate seeing an LGBTQ rom-com that feels just like your average romcom with gay people, not a romance with a side of LGBTQ trauma (cough, Happiest Season, cough).

On Sunday my friend and I went to visit our other friends and their kids: an almost 3-year-old and their new 2-month-old, who I was meeting for the first time. It was nice to catch up and the 3-year-old is finally opening up to me, which makes visiting more fun -- she is a naturally introverted child of two introverted parents who grew up initially very isolated during the pandemic (she was born late 2019 and her parents were extra careful because she had some health issues when she was born), so it's only to be expected that she has a heightened sense of stranger danger!

>53 curioussquared: I really need to make seeing Bros in the theater a priority. It's not doing well at the box office, and one of the reasons is that Eichner insisted on casting LGBTQ actors, instead of big names, over the studio heads' objections. Good Twitter thread here from one of the costars.

>54 libraryperilous: I saw that thread! I wanted to see the movie before that, but that definitely made me want to see it more. This is the first movie I've seen in theaters since pre-pandemic, so I have no idea what average theater attendance looks like these days. Our theater was by no means full on a Saturday night, but was probably a little less than half full? Definitely didn't feel empty. I do live in a very blue state and city, though.

>51 curioussquared: Thank you!

>52 curioussquared: I can empathise. I always sleep late (as Paul can attest) but the other night I'd just got into bed (after which I cannot be moved) when Jasper started calling because there was thunder in the air. Usually he doesn't bark at night since he's safely inside but he's been a bit pampered recently, with everyone at home. I yelled down some comforting noises but then my older son went down. He told me he didn't get to bed until after 6 but he was probably watching videos. He often goes down and potters around in the middle of the night.

And I hear you on the mossies; but, as my success rate at catching them is pretty low, my solution is to burrow down into the duvet and tuck it around me so there are no air gaps that the little monsters can sneak in and reach me through.

>56 humouress: These dogs! My problem is that I inevitably stick my feet and legs out of the blanket and get bitten. I bought one of these things to make catching them easier and it's honestly one of my favorite possessions: https://a.co/d/5dKasKy

>57 curioussquared: We have something like that but a different brand. I shall have to get it out, polish it up and give it a proper go; I was assuming it's just one of those gimmicky gadgets but if it works, it shall have pride of place.

>52 curioussquared: Sounds like a rough night indeed, gotta love pets but sometimes they really know how to wear on the nerves. Also what I would give for a little extra summer, the temperatures dropped quick here in Minnesota and there's already been frost on the car windows - I am not ready for the cold.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January has been on my cousin and I's list since we started reading together and we just keep pushing it back and putting it off for some reason, so I'll be curious to see what you think of it overall.

>53 curioussquared: I'm so used to seeing "a side of LGBTQ+ trauma" in any LGBTQ+ movie I watch, so that is nice to hear and I did not know about the casting >54 libraryperilous:, it's been awhile since I've gone to theaters but might need to make the effort for this one.

>58 humouress: Yes, get it out! I swear by mine and would almost go so far as to say it has changed my life, lol. I'm a lucky combination of somebody mosquitoes love to bite and somebody who reacts horribly to the bites -- mine always swell up and itch to the point they drive me crazy and prevent me from sleeping for about a week until they fade, so arming myself appropriately was imperative once I discovered that mosquitoes somehow keep getting into the bedroom in this house.

>59 WhiteRaven.17: Yep, I love my dogs, but sometimes they're the worse! Ok, ok, I should probably stop complaining about the warm weather here, although I will say the warmth has led to some local forest fires burning longer than expected and pretty bad smoke in our area for almost a month at this point, so we could definitely use some extended rain. I saw a stat on Twitter that said Seattle hasn't had an October this warm with such a long stretch of no rain literally since the year I was born, so no wonder it feels abnormal!

I hope you enjoy Bros if you get out to see it!

Good morning! I am sorry to report that it turns out exercise DOES make you sleep better. I know, I was offended, too.

Not much planned for today aside from work. I just got the email from my local indie bookstore that my preorder of The Spare Man is ready for pickup so I might make a trip over there after work, along with a stop at the library to pick up my hold on Ducks. Probably baked salmon with broccolini and brussels sprouts and rice or quinoa for dinner tonight.

Still reading the same things, with bits of progress made in each of them. I did end up starting Blackout yesterday during lunch and I'm already super into it just two chapters in. I'm on the verge of DNFing Falling Man and probably would if it wasn't pretty short and I wasn't already over halfway through. I have another DeLillo checked out on audio as well right now; that one is short, only 3 hours, so we'll see if I decide to give DeLillo another chance or if I hate Falling Man enough that I blacklist him entirely, lol.

>62 curioussquared: I know. It sucks. Exercise also helps with radiation fatigue, and I was like, ayfkm?!, I can barely move rn. But yep: It worked. Alas. Truly obnoxious.

I have The Spare Man on my 2022 list because The Thin Man is one of my favorite films. I don't love the Hammett novel, which is quite different from the film. The film is more iconic, I think, so I'm eager to see if Kowal drew on it for inspiration.

>63 libraryperilous: Just rude of all these medical professionals to be right!!!

I believe Kowal acknowledged the film's influence on Twitter, but I could be wrong. I've never actually seen The Thin Man (I should probably fix that!) but have enjoyed all of Kowal's books and love a good space mystery, so it was an easy preorder for me.

Natale, after a long break from walking, I made a commitment to walk with a neighbor who has a spunky little white dog. Our neighborhood has many people who have dogs. When some walk past, and do not know of Lilly's passing, they ask where she is. This leaves me with a sad feeling. I'm not ready or able to commit to a full-time pet. But, one of the neighbors struck up a conversation when I was working in the flower beds at the front of the house.

He works a lot, and I like his dog, so I volunteered to walk the small little girl 2-3 times a week. It serves two purposes -- getting out of the house, and being with a little fur ball that is a good dog.
It feels like a new adventure!

Congratulations on reading so many books thus far this year.

>45 curioussquared: That's a great series. The movies are good as well.

>65 Whisper1: That somewhat wistful post made me happy and sad at the same time, Linda. x

(Hi Natalie!)

*sigh* I'm planning to turn over a new leaf and start walking, swimming etc again. I do take Jasper out now and then but I want to start walking him every morning again. You're right, Linda, walking with a dog is a whole new adventure. Jasper, though not large for a retriever, is larger than the majority of dogs in land-scarce Singapore so seeing him interact with other dogs is interesting.

Today, for instance, I heard a couple telling their miniature poodle to come back to them because 'that dog will bite you' but (since it didn't listen to them) Jasper just had a good sniff - while the little dog ignored him for a couple of minutes until it turned around and came face to face with him. Plus Singapore (especially our area) seems to have had an explosion of chickens in the last couple of years, so Jasper will suddenly get that intensely interested look and dive into the bushes. I'm still trying to train him to go off-leash so (so far) I just have to hold tight and not let him take off, since I only trust him not to go haring off in semi-enclosed areas. Although there was that incident with the monitor lizard that has taught me to still be vigilant even then.

>65 Whisper1: Linda, I'm so glad you will have an opportunity to walk your neighbor's dog! It sounds like a perfect arrangement. I know what you mean about people asking about your dog. When Skelly was in the hospital and we didn't know what was going to happen, lots of neighbors asked where our third dog was, and it was difficult explaining what was going on each time.

>66 figsfromthistle: Glad to hear you enjoyed the whole series and I didn't even know there were movies! I'll have to hunt those down. I just checked book 2 out from the library but not sure when I'll get to it as I have 13 other audiobooks checked out as well 😂

>67 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul!

>68 humouress: Dog walking is my only consistent form of exercise, Nina :) If I'm doing nothing else, at least I walk the dogs at least once a day. A friend and I were doing really well at consistently getting together to do dance workouts in my living room earlier this year, but we sort of fell off the wagon over the summer. Hopefully we'll get back into it soon -- we did dance on Monday! And I'm trying to be better about consistently using my elliptical machine, too. That is so funny that people in Singapore are wary of Golden Retrievers. I feel like Goldens are the only dog nobody is afraid of here in the US. Most of the time you'll only see people actively avoid pitbulls and other similar breeds, but sometimes I do have people give me a startled look and cross the street when I come around a corner with three tall greyhounds.

147 books read: Falling Man by Don DeLillo

In the aftermath of 9/11, Keith, an office worker who escaped the towers, manages to make his way back to his estranged wife, and his family attempts to put together the pieces of their relationships and themselves.

This just felt... pretentious, to me. There's a ton of jumping around in POV in a way that is intentionally unclear and jarring so that it's really, really hard to tell whose brain you're in at any given time. I think DeLillo was trying to say something about the effects of the attacks with this fractured writing style, but it didn't really work for me. I didn't care about any of the characters and found them to be flat and uninteresting, too. I suppose there's also something DeLillo could have been doing there with examining the lives of "normal" people but again, didn't work for me. There were brief glimpses of brilliant writing (particularly the last few chapters, which fictionalize both the POV of a terrorist on one of the planes flying into the tower and the POV of people in the tower) but overall, I was just meh. 2.5 stars.

>70 curioussquared: I've read very little by DeLillo, and what I did read was pretentious + sexist. I didn't like enough about his writing style or his stories to overlook either the sexism or the 'grad school debate' writing style.

I hope your next read is less meh!

>71 libraryperilous: I'm giving him one more chance and listening to The Body Artist, which I already had checked out from the library. It's only 3 hours and I listen on 1.7x speed, so I figure if I hate it, at least I didn't give him much more time out of my life, lol.

Happy Wednesday! I did make it to the bookstore last night and got my copy of The Spare Man. I also picked up a travel guide for Costa Rica, which I'm not counting as breaking my book buying ban, since it's not something just for me, but for me and Tim as we plan a trip :) Ended up baking the salmon with a sesame glaze last night and making ALL the veggies (curried roasted broccolini and brussels sprouts, and sauteed kale with sesame oil and oyster sauce) and quinoa. One of my favorite super healthy and super quick meals.

Today is more work! Surprise. The library was closed last night when I tried to go so I'll pick up Ducks at some point today -- they altered their hours when they reopened post-COVID and I didn't realize. Not sure what dinner will be today -- we have some chicken thighs, so maybe something with that.

Tomorrow I have to go into the office for the first time since starting this job for a mandatory 3-hour in-person training. Blech. Not a huge deal, but I'm not looking forward to all the mundane, annoying details of it -- is there parking? is there a specific entrance I'm supposed to use? I never got a badge since I'm remote -- will I have trouble accessing anything, or will I need to get a badge while I'm there? Etc.

>72 curioussquared: Hmm, this one sounds intriguing. I'm a sucker for lonely coastlines. I await your review.

I'm planning on going to Costa Rica soon. It's such a great place for surfers, and I'd love to do some rainforest hiking as well. Enjoy your trip planning!

I keep guidebooks as souvenirs of places I've gone and as inspiration for places I want to go. I catalog them on LT, but I definitely view them as separate from other book purchases.

>74 libraryperilous: Thanks! We're hoping to go early next year :) I'm looking forward to the hiking and wildlife -- I will definitely need to see some sloths. I went through a period where I kind of scorned guidebooks (why would I use a book when there's so much content available on the internet?) but lately I feel like there's a huge oversaturation of internet travel content, to the point where it's impossible to know whether any of the authors know what they're talking about. So I'm back to guide books :)

>52 curioussquared: Our dog Angela has been having some kind of digestive issues that result in her repeatedly waking up in the middle of the night and barking to be let out. We don't trust her to come in on her own - she loves playing catch-me-if-you-can, sometimes while enthusiastically barking - so my long suffering housemate, who is the less sound sleeper, gets up, puts a leash on Angela, and goes out in her nightwear to supervise the production of especially awful feces. I tend to finally wake up when they get back in, if I wake up at all.

>76 ArlieS: The things we do for our pets! Kermit came to us with hookworms, which are awful and pervasive in racing greyhounds and terrible to get rid of. They spread into the ground from the dog's poop and the other dogs can get them from stepping on infected ground, so during the 8 months or so of treatment we had to go through until Kermit was deemed worm-free, we had to pick up every single poop immediately, which meant a lot of middle of the night, rainy poop supervising sessions because the worms also cause digestion problems and can make them need to go more often. All this to say, I've been there and I hope Angela feels better soon!

Happy Thursday! I'm back from my in-office training, which was both better than expected content-wise and less stressful than expected mundane details-wise. The office was a lot dinkier than I thought it would be -- it's not company headquarters, just a regional office, so I guess that makes sense, and most people there were also remote-only or field employees, so nobody was a regular office goer.

Back home now and getting caught up with everything I missed this morning. Ended up doing an instant pot chicken curry last night with those chicken thighs, so it'll probably be leftovers for dinner. I think I'm going to try to get a workout in this evening -- putting on office clothes I haven't really worn for 2 years was not a super fun experience and definitely rekindled an interest in exercise!

Currently reading: Still Harrow the Ninth and Blackout in print, Ten Thousand Doors of January on Kindle, and moved on to The Goose Girl on audio.

148 books read: The Body Artist by Don DeLillo

Lauren is the performance artist known as the Body Artist, and she sculpts her body through motion, contortion, and physical alteration to become other people in her performance art pieces. In the aftermath of her husband Rey's unexpected suicide, she retreats to a cabin on the coast where they had spent time together. There, she meets Mr. Tuttle, a developmentally delayed man who is a brilliant mimic and can somehow recreate her dead husband's voice even though she has no idea when he heard it. Lauren continues to develop her new art piece while taking Mr. Tuttle under her care -- and concealing his existence from the rest of the world.

DeLillo actually managed to mostly redeem himself to me with this short novella. I don't know that I'll seek out more of his work, but this was a weird, unsettling story that kept me hooked. 3.5 stars.

149 books read: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Do you ever accidentally reread Murderbot? I feel like this happens to me at least once a year. I pick it up, just intending to flip through or read a few pages, and boom, I'm done with book 1. I'll probably keep rereading these over the next few weeks; they just bring me so much joy. Wells announced the title of the next book (I believe it's System Collapse) but I also don't think it's expected until late next year :( Oh well, 5 stars.

I'm finally checking out your new digs, Natalie. Love the photo toppers of your goofy dogs! Don DeLillo is more my brother's jam than mine (a little too... postmodern experimental for my taste), but YAY for a new Murderbot book!

>81 bell7: Thanks Mary! I don't know why I had Don DeLillo on my shelves; I think I had some idea that he was important in a literary context (which I suppose he is) and just snagged a few of his books when I saw them for cheap at library book sales. I don't think I'll seek out more of his books unless someone highly recommends one for a specific reason. And I know, I'm eager for more Murderbot content :)

150 books read: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller lives with Mr. Locke, her father's employer, while her father travels the world searching for rare and valuable items to add to Mr. Locke's collection. January has always been a strange, willful child, but Mr. Locke seems determined to squash her rebelliousness and make a lady of her. And for the most part, January complies, trying to be good for her father's sake. But when news comes of her father's death, January can't accept the confines Mr. Locke imposes anymore. When she finds a strange book called The Ten Thousand Doors, January discovers abilities she never dreamed of -- but Mr. Locke might be hiding sinister power she never dreamed of as well.

I've heard pretty much nothing but praise for this book and it lived up to my expectations. A beautiful, lyrical book about words and stories, with narratives within narratives. My favorite character was Bad the dog and I maintain he is the true hero of this book. 4 stars; I thought about giving it more, but there's something about the book that held me at a bit of a distance and prevented me from falling in love with it, despite really enjoying it and finding the concept to be perfectly executed.

151 books read: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Oops, continuing to reread Murderbot. As always, I love ART, and its relationship (ew) with Murderbot. I've never thought before about how weird the cover is for this entry; I don't think Murderbot wears armor at all in this one. Just work clothes. I guess it wouldn't want its face on the cover of a book. 5 stars.

Happy Saturday!

Yesterday at work was chaos with a big announcement that my company is most likely being acquired. (It was kind of big news; if you saw any news stories about a merger/acquisition, you can probably guess who I work for.) Lots of activity around that combined with the fact that we're in the busiest time of year for benefits plus Skelly having an appointment in the afternoon made for a really busy day and I didn't sign off until well into the evening. But then Tim and I walked the dogs and ordered Vietnamese food, and I squeezed in a workout before my friend came over to watch the Amazon adaptation of Catherine, Called Birdy, which was so much fun. I don't think it was 100% faithful to the book (although I can't remember too much, not having read it since elementary school), but they made it into a really enjoyable film.

Today I slept in and cuddled in bed with the dogs, wrapped up a book, walked the dogs, and got myself to exercise again (woo!). Probably going to putter around the house tidying up a bit while listening to my audiobook before Tim and I are going out to dinner with a friend. Tomorrow we're helping my uncle and his family move into their new house and otherwise relaxing; we might do some Costa Rica planning and I might have to do a little work, unfortunately.

Currently reading:

- Still Harrow the Ninth and Blackout in print. Harrow is very confusing and I think before bed is not the time to read it -- I'd like the opportunity to sink my teeth into it over a few hours.

- Still The Goose Girl on audio. I THINK I read this in elementary school (although I guess it didn't come out until I was in middle school, hmmm) but it's honestly not ringing any bells for me and I'm starting to wonder if I confused it with Goose Chase? In any case, I'm loving it.

- About a third of the way through Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts on Kindle and I don't know how I feel about it so far. I love a magic school but this one isn't capturing me yet. Kelcie is kind of a weird, offputting protagonist and so far I am disappointed at the lack of whimsy. Will give it some more time.

Sorry to hear about the stressful Friday but it sounds like today has been chill and really made up for it.

I've seen a lot of positive reviews of The Ten Thousand Doors of January but all of them are a little qualifying about liking it so it has yet to jump on The List. Glad it was a good reading experience for you though.

>86 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! It's weird, because I'd wholeheartedly recommend Ten Thousand Doors and it was a really solid 4 stars with lovely writing. I just don't think it's one I would ever reread.

>83 curioussquared: Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Natalie!

>85 curioussquared: Happy new thread and deeply sorry about the busy time of things. I very much know how it feels to get caught in the IRL current.Glad you at least got some time to cuddle with the doggos.

Gosh, twice 75 already? Congratulations Natalie!

>88 FAMeulstee: Thank you Anita!

>89 Ravenwoodwitch: Hi Angela! I got more doggo cuddle time this morning and even convinced the husband to bring me a latte in bed so I could extend the cuddles, so all-in-all an excellent morning. It's going to be another wild week at work so I'm just trying to prepare myself!

>90 humouress: Thanks Nina! I'm surprising myself, too -- I seem to be reading more as I get busier which is not usually what happens. I'm harboring secret hopes that I could reach 200 by the end of the year, a feat I've never achieved -- I think it's unlikely but JUST within reach, and so far I'm keeping up the pace I need to maintain if I want to do it...

152 books read: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Princess Ani is on her way to fulfill her duty to her country by marrying the crown prince of nearby Bayern... but on the way, half of her escort revolt against her, pledging their faith to her lady in waiting, who plans to impersonate Ani when they arrive in Bayern. Ani flees for her life into the forest, managing to barely escape and luckily stumbling upon help. Ani plans to plead her case to the king of Bayern, but when she arrives, the traitors have already installed themselves in the palace. She can't let them see her -- so instead of trying to convince the king, she accepts when he offers her a job as palace goose girl. As Ani settles into her new life, making friends and developing a plan, she also furthers her magical connection to the animals and the world around her, determined to set things right.

Such a fun book; I'd probably call it middle grade, but it should appeal to YA fantasy readers as well. I still can't remember if I've read it before or not, lol. Just an enjoyable fantasy adventure executed well. I'm looking forward to continuing the series. 4.5 stars.

>91 curioussquared: Well, best of luck. I doubt I'll get to 75 this year.

>93 humouress: Thanks! Setting unreasonable goals is apparently how I cope with getting busy ;)

Good morning! Another busy Monday. Today's plan is just work and hopefully some form of exercise. I played some Ring Fit Adventure over the weekend and my body is still sore from that; I did a lot of planks because it's currently my highest attack value exercise that targets more than one monster at once 😂 If you are someone who owns a Switch and would like your exercise gamified, I recommend it.

Currently reading: Still working on Harrow the Ninth and Blackout in print and Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts on Kindle, and about 75% through A Court of Frost and Starlight on audio.

ETA: Not sure about dinner today. I bought ingredients to make baked ziti but it's a little labor intensive so we'll see if that comes together or not :)

Ooh Blackout! I hope you're enjoying it and that you have All Clear handy.

>92 curioussquared: Natalie. Young Adult books tug at my heart. When I first joined the 75 challenge group, I discovered YA books. There is wisdom in these pages!

>96 MickyFine: Yes, loving it so far! All Clear is waiting on my shelf :)

>92 curioussquared: Me too, Linda. I love a good YA story.

153 books read: A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Several months after the events of ACOWAR, Feyre and the gang are preparing to celebrate the winter solstice.

It's weird reading these books as someone who like, lightly enjoys them instead of making them my whole personality like a lot of BookTok. I've actually seen a lot of hate for this novella entry in the series, presumably because, well, nothing much happens, and compared to the other action-packed entries in the series, it could be kind of boring. But I actually loved this. It felt like Sarah J. Maas writing fanfic for herself, or something. Cozy!ACOTAR. This low-stakes entry gave the characters space to move around and gave me space to enjoy them for their personalities. I loved that the biggest questions were what will Feyre get for Rhys for Solstice!! And will Nesta deign to show her face at the party? Anyway, I thought this was a lot of fun. 4 stars.

>99 curioussquared: The author seems to be doing well with her books. I only tried A Throne of Glass and was sufficiently unimpressed that I've not read her books since. Think it's worth giving it another go?

>100 humouress: I do think the A Court of Thorns and Roses books are better written than the Throne of Glass books, but honestly, if you didn't like TOG, you can probably skip Maas in general. I plan to finish the TOG and ACOTAR series just because I'm invested now, but I don't think they're great books. She's an OK writer who's really good at writing tropes in a way that turns teen girls feral.

Happy Tuesday! Another busy day at work. I didn't end up making the baked ziti last night; my friend came over and we exercised and then watched an episode of Call the Midwife and ordered teriyaki. So baked ziti tonight it is! My goal is to get it in the oven and then do a workout while it's in there. I'm not usually so good at keeping an exercise streak going, but I've been noticing a marked improvement in my sleep when I do workout, so I'm trying to prioritize it.

Still reading all the same stuff in print plus Over My Dead Body, a GN that's due back to the library in a few days. Still Kelcie Murphy on Kindle. Moved on to Waiting for the Flood on audio and will probably finish it up today as it's more of a novella. I'm starting to get frustrated with how long Harrow the Ninth is taking me to get through as I just haven't had time to sit down and really make progress in it. Tim is out of town this weekend, so I'll probably try to set aside some hours for it then.

>99 curioussquared: This sounds cozy and fun. I don't think Maas' longer books are for me, but I enjoy a good winter solstice story.

>103 libraryperilous: It's definitely steeped in the context of the previous books, but I think potentially still enjoyable as a standalone.

>102 curioussquared: I feel you on the exercise bit; It can feel real hard to work it into the schedule sometimes. But I notice, too, that I sleep better on the nights when I've worked out.
Not to sound Basic, but, have you considered Yoga? There's a variety that can be done from office chairs that could work for a quick ten to fifteen minutes. I use it when my lunch break is over to get the stiffness out of my limbs and wake myself out of the food coma (lol.)

>105 Ravenwoodwitch: Lol, yoga isn't basic! I do some yoga-style exercises sometimes, but I find that I get the most sleep benefit from cardio and body-weight/strength exercises rather than yoga/stretching style exercises. I also have really bad tendonitis in both wrists so while I can usually do a 10-15 minute yoga routine, anything longer usually puts me in a wrist brace for a week because of all the strain from downward dog and other wrist-heavy poses.

>106 curioussquared: Ouch :o Yeah, that makes sense. And lol, good to know. I'll still brandish my pumpkin-spice latte proudly.

>107 Ravenwoodwitch: If pumpkin spice is basic, then I want to be basic! I've been loving the Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew this year.

154 books read: Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall

Edwin and Marius bought their house together -- but then Marius left Edwin and his life shattered to pieces. Now, as a flood warning threatens Oxford, is Edwin ready to let somebody new into his life?

My friend really likes this Spires series by Alexis Hall so I decided to jump in with this novella entry, and I can see why she likes them. This was a cozy, gentle, sweet read, with lyrical prose. I'm planning to try Pansies next. 4 stars.

Happy Wednesday! Last night I did all the things I wanted to do (walked the dogs, then made the ziti, then exercised while it was baking) which was satisfying. Tim and I watched an episode of Welcome to Wrexham which is still really fun and then I tried very hard to reach page 100 of Harrow the Ninth but fell asleep around 85.

Today at work is the final day of testing for a tool we're rolling out to our employees to help them choose the health plans that will work best for them. So far the plan premiums are not showing correctly so that's not promising as we're launching this to employees on Tuesday 😬 Lots more testing to go and that should be the majority of my workday before taking Skelly to a laser appointment in the afternoon.

Still reading all the same things except I've moved on to The White Company on audio.

>110 curioussquared: Yay for doing all the things you wanted to do.

Much luck with getting the new work tool working properly!

>111 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky. Unfortunately I ended up testing until midnight last night but I'm hoping we're in better shape now for the launch on Tuesday.

Today is rough, folks. Like I noted above, I ended up testing our new work tool late into the night and I'm pretty tired today. Combine that with the fact that Seattle has the worst air quality of any major city in the world right now and things are bleak. (Thanks, wildfires and climate change!) I hate when going outside makes me feel bad! It's feeling pretty post-apocalyptic right now.

Not a ton of reading done; listened to more of The White Company which is meh so far, but I want to get through it because the physical copy I own was a gift from my grandfather, I think because he enjoyed it as a kid. Read some more of Harrow the Ninth while waiting at Skelly's laser appointment yesterday afternoon and I'm definitely right that I just can't read this book before bed because I enjoyed it way more in the daylight :) Muir's prose is twisty and brain-challenging and I like it, but my sleepy brain does not.

Oof, sorry to hear about the late night. Hopefully you won't have to do any more of those this week.

>114 MickyFine: Theoretically yesterday was the last day of testing which is why I did as much as I could; we'll see if that's actually true!

>113 curioussquared: Ugh. Even temporarily bad air quality is terrible for health outcomes. Air pollution kills so many people worldwide each year, and it's only going to get worse as the climate warms. I don't understand why it isn't an international scandal, the way acid rain was in the 80s.

>116 libraryperilous: Yep, it's awful. It was also 80 degrees here on Sunday when we should be in the 50s with constant rain at this point; we've had barely a drop of rain for something like 150 days at this point. This is not normal. The whole city is holding its breath (literally and figuratively, lol) until it's supposed to start raining tonight.

Good morning! It's RAINING and our air quality is now back to normal :) So grateful.

Had another late-ish night finishing up reviewing the tool we're launching followed by a poor night of sleep, so I'm dragging this morning. I did manage to finish a graphic novel before bed.

Very excited for the weekend. Tim will be out of town and my best friend and I have grand plans for a girls' weekend including a readathon, Love Is Blind marathon, and sleepover.

155 books read: Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo

Abigail is a senior at Younwity Institute of Magic. When her mentee, Noreen, just suddenly... disappears in the days leading up to Samhain, Abby can't stop thinking about it -- the woods around Younwity are dangerous, after all. She convinces friends Goldie and Enver to try to find a spell to help her find Noreen. But their efforts bring them to the attention of the Coven, who tell them firmly to leave the situation alone and that they are handling the search for Noreen. But Abby can't let it go... and as she digs deeper into Noreen's disappearance, she starts to unravel a mystery that has been long buried at Younwity.

This was a perfect graphic novel to read for spooky season. Witchy dark academia vibes, gorgeous illustrations, talking familiars, and a magical mystery. 4 stars.

>118 curioussquared: Yay for rain! And extra yay for a girly weekend! Your plans sound utterly delightful and I hope you get a bunch of sleep in there.

>119 curioussquared:. Over My Dead Body is now on my tbr list. Thanks for the excellent review!

>120 MickyFine: A lovely weekend with not much sleep, unfortunately, and I'm worried I might be coming down with something this morning :(

>121 Whisper1: I hope you enjoy it, Linda! It was a lovely, atmospheric Autumn read.

156 books read: The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle

Alleyne Edrickson is a young clerk who was raised at a local monastery during the 100 years war. He is content with his life, but his family insists that before he settles down, he leave the monastery for a time and travel in order to learn more of life. Along the way, Alleyne becomes a squire to Sir Nigel Loring and joins the knights of the White Company, traveling to France to fight the Spanish foe.

This started out "meh" and just got worse for me. Apparently this was Arthur Conan Doyle's favorite of his own works, which just goes to show that we're not always the best judge of ourselves. Chivalrous knights ride around getting into scrapes and wrestling matches and jousts and it's all very boring and blends together. In the end they defeat their dastardly foes bringing honor to England and Alleyne gets the girl right before she's about to become a nun because she thinks he's dead (a bit of an overreaction IMO but I guess it was the 1300s). I can see why my almost 80-year-old grandfather who grew up to love military history may have enjoyed this as a kid but it wasn't for me. 2 stars.

Good morning! I am very much not ready for the week. Started feeling like I was coming down with something last night and I'm still feeling that way this morning. Going to order pho for lunch and stay bundled up and hope that I fight it off. I'd take a sick day and rest if it weren't one of my busiest work weeks of the year.

On the bright side, my friend and I had a lovely girls' weekend. The anticipated readathon didn't come to fruition, but there was a little reading. I'm almost halfway through Harrow the Ninth now and still deeply confused but loving it. We did watch all current episodes available of Love Is Blind season 3 and Do Revenge; we also watched Nacho Libre, which is a favorite movie in my extended family that we quote all the time and my friend had never seen it.

Still reading all the same things except that my audio is now Payback's a Witch. Hoping to finish up Harrow the Ninth this week along with Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. If I finish Harrow sooner than expected, I might shift my focus to The Dead Romantics, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, or The Witch Haven to try to cram a little more spooky witchy reading into the month.

Oh, I also took the dogs on a lovely walk in our local park yesterday. It was a perfect fall day -- cool and crisp and sunny for the first half. Here's a photo of our walk:

Oh no. I'm sorry to hear you might be coming down with one of the various bugs circulating right now. Fingers crossed you stay healthy through this week at least. :)

Gorgeous photo of the day and the puppers.

>125 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! I'm feeling somewhat better this morning so fingers crossed that continues to be true.

Good morning! Crazy workday today. We launched a few work tools (the one I was testing last week, and one to help HR folks find the correct benefits costs for a given employee group) and my morning has been totally sucked up by people with questions.

I am so close to finishing a few books -- 80% through Payback's a Witch, 70% through Harrow the Ninth, 75% through Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. Hopefully I'll finish all these up in the next day or two. I still have no idea what's happening in Harrow but I can see the pieces starting to come together and it's starting to blow my mind a little.

>127 curioussquared: Huzzah for having such a big project (mostly) off your desk. Hopefully the questions taper off over the next little while.

>128 MickyFine: Thanks! There are still a few tweaks to be made but so far so good overall. This is sort of launch phase 1 of my biggest project of each year (communications for benefits open enrollment) so I'm holding my breath until November 11 when open enrollment actually ends.

157 books read: Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

When Emmy Harlow left her hometown of Thistle Grove to pursue a life of her own away from her magical family and community, she was choosing more than just where she lived -- she was choosing a normal life and career over her innate magic, which fades as she spends longer and longer away from Thistle Grove. But now, she's coming home for a month to fulfill her hereditary role as arbiter for the tournament between the three founding magical families of Thistle Grove. Not only will she have to face her family and heritage, but she'll also have to face Gareth Blackmoore, snotty heir to the most powerful family -- and her ex. But when Emmy arrives in Thistle Grove, she discovers that her best friend, Linden Thorn, and Talia Avramov, heir to the Avramov family, have been recently scorned by Gareth. Gareth's family might be the most powerful, and they might control most of Thistle Grove... but Emmy, Lin, and Talia are determined to make him pay.

This was a fun, witchy romp -- more cozy than spooky. I liked the small town Salem vibes of Thistle Grove, and the magic being tied to the town was an interesting device. I also liked that it was a revenge story instead of Emmy coming home and reconnecting with Gareth Hallmark-style. I don't think the magic system was the most well thought-out system I've ever read, but I didn't question it too much and just enjoyed the ride. 3.75 stars -- wholly enjoyable but not memorable. Not sure if I'll check out the sequels.

158 books read: Tartuffe by Moliere

Moliere's classic story of Tartuffe, the religious hypocrite, who's all god-fearing and holy on the outside but scheming to steal your wife and home on the inside.

This is my second Moliere; I read Le Misanthrope in a college French course but it was with my least favorite professor and I didn't get much out of it. I can again vouch for LA Theatre Works, however, because this production of Tartuffe was excellent to listen to and I enjoyed it much more than expected. 4 stars.

Happy Wednesday! Still super busy with work over here. No energy to cook yesterday so we got takeout Thai, which I'm not opposed to :) Finished the Halloween episode of the Great British Bakeoff (are they trolling Americans this year with Mexican week and these s'mores?) and read more of Harrow the Ninth -- I FINALLY know what's going on and omg. I just want to sit and finish this book. Darn job getting in the way!

Finished an audiobook yesterday while walking dogs and another this morning while walking dogs :) Next on audio will probably be Super Sad True Love Story or Sapphire Blue.

Happy Thursday! Still work work work. Worked late yesterday, then Tim and I finished Welcome to Wrexham before bed. Still working through Harrow the Ninth and desperately want to finish soon! I have fallen off the workout train because I have felt on the edge of getting sick all week, so hopefully I can get back to that once I'm feeling 100% again.

More work today. Hoping to make lentil soup in the instant pot tonight and hopefully finish Harrow, although Tim has really been wanting to watch more Andor, so we might do that. Started Super Sad True Love Story on audio yesterday and it's... interesting but unpleasant so far, I would say.

>133 curioussquared: You have more patience than I. These days interesting but unpleasant would be Pearl ruled right away. Hopefully you start enjoying it more soon. :)

>134 MickyFine: I definitely have more patience for it on audio, lol. I can't say I'm enjoying it but I still want to know more about what's going on, so I'll keep listening for now.

Good morning and happy Friday!

Last night I cooked peanut noodles, which is one of my favorite easy dinners -- take whatever veggies and protein you want, cook them up and boil some rice noodles, then combine them and slather them with a delicious peanut-y sauce. Then we watched a couple episodes of Last Week Tonight before bed.

Today I've already walked the dogs and completed a webinar presentation, so can I be done with Friday yet? Skelly has a vet appointment this afternoon and I'm hoping to get some good reading done in Harrow while he's inside. Leftover peanut noodles for lunch and I think Tim and I might go out for dinner. I'm a little over halfway through Super Sad True Love Story and starting to enjoy it more -- the writing style is kind of harsh and crass up front, but I'm used to it now and starting to care for the characters.

Weekend plans include a combo Halloween/engagement party for some friends of ours (we are going as Ash Ketchum and Pikachu.... Tim is Pikachu, lol) and hopefully nailing down some bookings for our Costa Rica trip.

Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels box set are available for Kindle for just $4.99 today -- I would be tempted if I didn't already own them!

>136 curioussquared: I love your couple's costume! I hope the party is a good time.

When are you looking at going to Costa Rica?

>138 MickyFine: Thanks! And I think we're targeting February :)

>124 curioussquared: What a wonderful photo. Your dogs are quite stunning!

Happy weekend.

>140 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita! I agree, but I'm biased :)

Happy Monday and happy Halloween! I had a nice weekend with a good balance of relaxation and socialization. Tim and I got dinner with some friends on Friday, then went to the engagement party on Saturday which was a good time. In between I finished a bunch of books and on Sunday we did some Costa Rica planning. We ended up getting pretty overwhelmed with all the options and some of the safety concerns, so we decided to reach out to a well-reviewed travel agency for help planning our trip. Looking forward to seeing the itinerary they create for us!

Here's our Halloween look:

>142 curioussquared: Omg that's *adorable*!!

>143 scaifea: Thanks Amber! We had a lot of fun with it :) I think Tim is planning to wear his Pikachu onesie on some of his work calls today, lol.

159 books read: Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

In this sequel to Gideon the Ninth, Harrowhark Nonegemisis has joined the Emperor's ranks as a lyctor and begins her training alongside Ianthe Tridentarius. The two new lyctors learn about the Emperor's ongoing fight against the resurrection beasts, the souls of dead planets the Emperor destroyed in his quest for power, and their role in fighting the beasts. But it soon becomes clear that Harrow's lyctoral powers are incomplete. Meanwhile, alternating chapters flash back to the events at the previous book at Canaan House... but these flashbacks seem different from what actually happened in the book. Harrow knows something is off, but she doesn't know why... and meanwhile, someone on the Emperor's Mithraeum is trying to kill her.

This was probably the most difficult book I've ever had to summarize, and it's definitely the most unreliable narrator I've ever encountered in a novel. The first 100 pages were difficult to get through just because it is purposefully devilishly confusing. Harrow doesn't know what's going on, so neither does the reader, and the reader can't even rely on what happened in the previous book. But as the different parts of this book start to coalesce and the plot becomes clear... it is so, so, SO satisfying. I don't know the last time I read a plot quite so complicated and brilliantly executed. Muir's writing is razor sharp, and not one word is misplaced or extra. I almost want to reread the first half now that I know how it ends, just to see what I inevitably missed or misunderstood. I definitely read a synopsis when I finished just to make sure I really had a handle on it. The heaviness and complexity of the plot are lightened by some ridiculous meme references throughout (I laughed out loud at the None Pizza, Left Beef callout). I know I said I'm not buying any more books this year... but I need Nona the Ninth now!! 5 stars.

>145 curioussquared: Ah. Sounds fab! I think I keep bouncing off this series because I keep trying to read it on my Paperwhite. Def will try the print version of Gideon instead.

>146 libraryperilous: I think it's definitely a series where you want to be able to flip back a few pages easily and make sure you read something right. I don't think these books are for everyone (and I'm actually surprised by how popular they are), but I find them fascinating and unlike anything else I've ever read.

160 books read: Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts by Erika Lewis

Kelcie is an orphan who grew up in the greater Boston area. She doesn't know who her parents are -- the first thing she remembers is being pulled out of Boston Harbor as a young girl. Since then, she's been passed from group home to horrible group home. Until one day on a museum field trip, Kelcie is accosted by a couple of ice fairies, who say something about how she's the heir, then disappear into a tree in a nearby park. Kelcie doesn't know what just happened, but when she tries to follow the fairies into the tree, something works and she is transported to a totally different land. There, she's befriended by Niall, a boy who drags her along to tryouts for the Academy of Unbreakable Arts. Kelcie makes it into the school and it soon becomes clear that she might be more powerful than anyone expected -- but it also becomes clear that her parents might be more sinister than she knows.

I really wanted to like this middle grade magic school adventure inspired by Celtic mythology, but something was off for me the whole time. I didn't really like any of the characters, and had trouble understanding Kelcie's actions and motivations. Every time the book touched on an interesting aspect of the world Lewis created, I felt like we bounced off and then never talked about it again. This series seems generally well-reviewed so I'm not sure why it didn't gel for me, and I really did want to enjoy the Celtic aspect, but there was just something missing. 2.5 stars, will not be continuing the series.

161 books read: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

In a near-future dystopia where society is obsessed with youth, credit, and retail, 39-year-old Lenny Abramov works in life extension services, helping rich, healthy clients live longer. While selling services in Italy, he meets Eunice Park, a young, beautiful woman he instantly falls in love with. When Lenny returns to New York, he can't stop writing to Eunice and urging her to come live with him. Eunice, who is young and beautiful but otherwise directionless and worried about her immigrant parents and the failure of her podiatrist father's business, eventually agrees to visit and stay with him. Lenny is ecstatic, even as the US continues to fail in international trade, the dollar continues to fall, and the war with Venezuela rages on. As the political situation comes to a head, Lenny and Eunice cling to each other, but Eunice never stops looking for opportunities to improve her and her family's social standing.

This was a rather offputting book to read -- the world Shteyngart creates is harsh, crass, and unpleasant, but it's also easy to see it as a distorted reflection of our current society. It took me a while to work up any sympathy for the characters, but once I got to that point it was a more captivating read. Not a fun read, but one that certainly inspires a lot of thought, whether you want to think about it or not. 3.5 stars.

>142 curioussquared: Their gonna be, the very best, like no one ever was....
Inner 90's kid approves. *Thumbs up*

>150 Ravenwoodwitch: Thanks Angela! Yep, we're both 90s kids with fond memories of waking up early to watch the series before school, trading cards, and playing the GameBoy color games.

>151 curioussquared: What was your first one? Mine was Pokemon Gold. I got mighty confused, having only seen the TV show before then, lol.

>152 Ravenwoodwitch: I think the first one I really played was Blue? But I didn't get super into it until I was a little older. I also LOVED Pokemon Snap on N64.

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's the first day of Open Enrollment at my company so this is sort of my team's Superbowl. Things are a little crazy but manageable at the moment.

Yesterday I ran to the store during work to grab some candy and by the time I got there they were totally out of Halloween stuff and restocking the shelves for Christmas! So kids who came to our house got red, green, and silver Reese's cups and mint dark chocolate KitKats, lol. We just put a bowl out since we don't get many kids for the most part anyway with our long driveway, and I was going to pub trivia with a few friends.

Currently reading The Dead Romantics in print and Loveboat Taipei on audio. Amari and the Night Brothers will be next on Kindle.

>142 curioussquared: Love it!!

>154 curioussquared: I've been so disappointed with the Halloween candy economy the last few years. You used to so reliably be able to get discounted candy on November 1! After the past few years of zero halloween candy for sale on Nov 1, this year I went to the store on Oct 30 ... and they had nothing!

I'm going back a bit, but your thoughts on The Ten Thousand Doors of January mesh with mine quite a bit.

I think I like Sarah J. Maas *slightly* better than you do - I'm not completely teenage fangirl and acknowledge that they are not well written, but she can still write a plot twist that surprises me, so I respect that. I liked the calm before the storm feeling of A Court of Frost and Starlight.

Your Halloween costumes are fantastic!

And you make me want to read Harrow the Ninth. I've been unsure about it because I'm not sure I can take the body horror.

>156 bell7: I'm attracted to the neon covers on Maas' series. In fact, I'm thinking of starting the series on Election Day night as a way to avoid obsessing over returns. (I had planned to read Heart of the Sun Warrior, but it releases a week later than I thought.)

>155 norabelle414: Thanks Nora! Yeah, what's that about? I'm sure stores will blame supply chain issues (which could totally be playing a part) but it seems like after a few years of this happening they should be ready by now. I did appreciate how feverishly the workers at my store were stocking the Christmas candy -- they knew there were still plenty of people shopping for Halloween and that they needed to get something on shelves, and a bunch of them were laughing at the idea of all these kids in costume ending up with Christmas-themed treats :)

>156 bell7: Hi Mary! Yeah, I plan to read more Harrow but so far I really liked but not quite loved Ten Thousand Doors. I can be a little harsh on SJM, I think. I really did like the first two ACOTAR books, but I got frustrated with book 3 because it felt really, really unnecessarily long to me. But I am glad I read ACOFAS and I am planning to listen to ACOSF -- I am more tolerant of unnecessary length in a book when I'm listening rather than physically reading. Plus, I spend a lot of time on BookTok, and the number of people who make ACOTAR their whole personality... it starts to grate on me, lol. I do still plan to finish the TOG and ACOTAR series, but I haven't felt the need to start Crescent City and probably won't. Have you read Gideon the Ninth? Honestly, these books are sort of objectively horror just because of all the necromancy and bones, but I don't find them spooky, scary, or unpleasant to read at all. Muir's writing is super unique and dense, in a way that has the effect of removing you from the intensity of what's happening. There are a few gross descriptions of things that some of the necromancers do but they're so beautifully and technically written (lots of names of bones I've never heard before) that I've never been squicked by them.

>157 libraryperilous: ACOTAR is definitely an excellent distraction series!!

162 books read: Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

Everett "Ever" Wong has grown up under her Chinese immigrant parents' thumbs. She's been told ever since she was a child that she will be a doctor -- even though she gets faint at the sight of blood. Resigned to her fate and admitted at Northwestern's prestigious straight-to-med-school BS program, Ever just wants to spend her last summer before college doing what she REALLY loves -- dancing. But then, her parents drop the bombshell that she's not spending the summer in Ohio. Instead, they've enrolled her in a prestigious summer program in Taipei with a bunch of other high-achieving Chinese students from around the world, and she's going to be there practicing her mandarin and getting ready for college for WEEKS. Ever is devastated but resigned -- after all, her mom sold her prized black pearl necklace to pay for the program, the ultimate guilt trip. But when she arrives, the program is much different than she expects. Most of the other kids know it as "Loveboat" -- less of a school camp, more of a fast-paced chance to find your hyper-intelligent future husband or wife. Security is minimal, and good-girl Ever soon finds herself making friends with boys and girls alike and doing things she never dreamed of, like getting drunk and going clubbing. But Ever also finds herself drawn to two boys at the program -- stand-up Rick, who has a girlfriend at home, and mysterious bad boy Xavier, who Ever's roommate Sophie is obsessed with. Can Ever stay true to herself while following her heart and trying new things?

This was a fun YA romance. Apparently these "Loveboat" programs are sort of a thing in Chinese culture so it was interesting to read one author's perspective. Ever was immature in a way one would expect a sheltered teen to be, which can be a little annoying to read, but it was rewarding to see her grow throughout the story. I had fun with the love triangle drama and there were moments of surprising depth as well. There were a few moments that took me out of the story (the book came out in 2020 but there were a bunch of teens still using iPod shuffles??) but overall it was a fun listen. 3.75 stars.

Good morning! Things are still crazy-pants at work so I'll keep this brief. Still reading The Dead Romantics -- about halfway through now -- and started Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, which is excellent so far. The Dead Romantics has some things I like but there have been repeated weird things in the writing that remove me from the story -- the latest one was a reference to a possum having rabies when excuse me, doesn't everyone know possums can't get rabies due to their low body temperature? Finished up Loveboat Taipei on audio (review above) and moved on to The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting.

Not sure what we will do for dinner tonight. I am contemplating going to Costco after work to get some necessities and Skelly's meds so if I do that, it'll probably be a meal kit. If I don't, we'll probably get takeout.

In other news, I'm celebrating because today is, I believe, my LAST webinar I have to do this year. Knock on wood. Thank God. I've done close to 30, I think, since August and I am so very very done.

ETA: The travel agency we reached out to got back to us with a suggested itinerary yesterday which was exciting! We reviewed it last night over dinner and then asked them to make a few tweaks, but I think we're close. I'm excited! It's nice to have someone else plan a trip for you and there are definitely some things in there we never would have planned ourselves.

>158 curioussquared: I think it's just standard late-capitalism unfortunately. I definitely noticed it starting before COVID. When the Halloween candy starts running low people will panic-buy it for full price and then also panic-buy Christmas stuff at full-price in case that runs out too. See also, the "get these Black Friday items before they're gone!" emails I got from Target two weeks ago.
The kids should probably be thankful they didn't have to get Valentine's Day candy!

>160 curioussquared: Omg I hate it when a book has weird factual inaccuracies, it totally takes me out of the story.

>161 norabelle414: You're probably right about the candy. Gotta love a false sense of scarcity! I got an email yesterday or today about the "start of Cyber-MONTH!" and just, blech. I do like the recent trend of big retailers announcing they'll be shut on Thanksgiving, though.

Good morning and happy Thursday!

I did end up going to Costco yesterday so Skelly has meds and we are well-stocked with food, but that ate in to any free time last night and I passed out without doing any reading. I did get some good listening in in the car and am over halfway through The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting. We had teriyaki last night and I was also very excited to discover that my Costco has started carrying pre-made sushi, so I picked up a small platter and it was both delicious and an excellent value. I also stopped at my local indie and picked up my three preorders that came in this week: A Restless Truth, Ocean's Echo, and Seasparrow (which ended up being a signed copy! Yay).

More work today; focusing on trying to make progress in a few different projects now that most of the communications for Open Enrollment are done, including a couple of change management projects for some upcoming organizational changes and a few smaller benefits projects. Tonight we're getting dinner with Tim's family at a local Turkish restaurant to celebrate some Autumn birthdays.

>160 curioussquared: I did not know that about possums - although, to be fair, I've never met any in person. They've been known to keep my sister awake at nights, though, running all over her roof in workbooks (she claims that it sounds like).

>164 humouress: It's not something I would expect non-Americans to know (and just to clarify, American possums and Australian possums are very very different creatures) or even all Americans, but it's definitely a fact that I am aware of that immediately took me out of the story, lol.

There was a viral tweet a few weeks ago, something to the effect that being an adult means having niche hobbies and knowing how to flirt. We can also add knowing trivia that takes you out of a story. :)

>166 libraryperilous: Lolll. I do have a brain that just latches on to trivial facts.

163 books read: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Florence Day has a couple secrets. First, she can see ghosts. She's always been able to; sure, it's cliche for the daughter of morticians, but she can't help it -- and it's the reason she hasn't been home in ten years, since the people in her small town bullied her after she solved a murder with the help of a ghost at the age of 13. Second, she's the ghostwriter for Ann Nichols, one of the biggest names in romance. But she's in trouble. The deadline for Ann's latest book is fast approaching, and Florence... hasn't been able to write the ending. In fact, she hasn't been able to write at all for a year, ever since her ex Lee broke her heart and stole the stories she told him in confidence of the ghosts she'd met and her childhood in the funeral home for his own novel. Florence thinks her biggest problem will be meeting her new editor, Benji Andor, and convincing him to give her an extension on the manuscript. But then the unthinkable happens, and Florence rushes home for the first time in years to be with her family and mourn. But while she's there, she sees a new ghost... and it looks suspiciously like her editor, Benji.

I loved this concept and for the most part, I enjoyed this book. I noted above a moment that took me out of the story when there was an anecdote about a possum having rabies and unfortunately, there were just a LOT of moments like that in this book. I don't know if Poston just needs a better editor or what, but I felt like I could have whipped this book into shape myself. There was a weird amount of namedropping of other books and authors that came really fast and furious at the beginning of the book and just felt awkward, and there were just some strange language choices and inconsistencies that maybe I was more sensitive to just because I had already been a little burned earlier in the book. For example, there's ANOTHER possum anecdote, except this time it's spelled opossum -- same animal, both spellings acceptable, but be consistent in your book, please? There's another bit that bugged me when she described "a voice with the syrupy sweetness of third-shelf vodka" and I was just totally taken aback; maybe it's just me, but my immediate reaction was "uh, has Poston ever had vodka?" Anyway, when I could get past some of the weirdness of the writing and get into the story, I enjoyed this. 3.5 stars.

Happy Friday! I'm very ready for the weekend. Going to try to get through a lot of smaller work projects today that have been on hold while I tackled larger Open Enrollment-related projects and a proposal that I finished and reviewed with a larger team yesterday. Feedback for the proposal was great and presenting it went really well, so that was a weight off. We had dinner with Tim's family (parents, sister, and sister's boyfriend) at a new-to-me Turkish restaurant that was delicious. They were participating in Seattle restaurant week, so they had a prix-fixe menu option with a few options for appetizer, entree, and dessert and it was fun to try some new foods.

Finished The Dead Romantics yesterday while waiting for Skelly at the vet. I should finish up The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting today while walking the dogs. I'll probably finish Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands today or tomorrow at the latest (it's due back to the library so the sooner the better!). I also started Amari and the Night Brothers in the middle of the night when I was tossing and turning and couldn't get back to sleep. After I finish my current audio and print reads, I'm planning to get back to Blackout in print (which was temporarily shelved in favor of some spooky season reads) and to start Paladin's Grace on audio.

>167 curioussquared: Always useful to have a brain.

>168 curioussquared: And yet another thing I didn't know about possums/ opossums. I always assumed they were different animals. Looks like my knowledge about them lands in the same ball park as Poston's?

>170 humouress: I do enjoy mine!

Lolll. Here is the extent of my possum knowledge, which seems to be vastly superior to Poston's:



This is the animal we know in the USA as a possum or opossum. I believe the term is used interchangeably. Rather unfortunate-looking, but generally safe to have around (they very rarely carry any diseases (including rabies!) because their body temperatures are so low) and they eat lots of bugs and pests. This is where "playing possum" comes from: they are almost prehistoric animals who haven't evolved for years and years and their main form of defense is to just go limp and play dead. I got to witness this a few years ago when I went out in my yard to figure out WHAT Otter was barking at and found him furiously yelling at a baby possum in an attempt to get it to move.



And here's the Australian possum! I don't know much about them except they definitely win in the looks department.

I guess both species are marsupials, which is interesting.

164 books read: The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K. J. Charles

Robin and Marianne Loxleigh are fortune hunter siblings -- low-born impostors infiltrating the Ton on the hunt for rich, titled people to marry. Everything is going well -- beautiful Marianne has caught the eye of a super-rich Marquess, and Robin has his eyes set on a sweet, secretly wealthy heiress who mostly just wants to be allowed to study mathematics. Everything is going well, until Robin's heiress's uncle, Lord Hartlebury (or Hart to his friends), gets wind of Robin's plans for his niece and decides it's time to intervene. With Robin at his mercy, Hart must decide whether to ruin him outright -- but Robin suggests a mutually satisfactory agreement between the two of them. As the two navigate their new relationship and get to know each other, the tables start to turn, and both realize they may have initially misjudged the other.

I really enjoyed this! Bridgerton-esque, but make it super gay. I've been hearing good things about Charles for a while and this didn't disappoint. Looking forward to reading more from this author. 4 stars.

>168 curioussquared: Life has been busy since I started this so I'm only 30 pages in. However, I agree about the name dropping early on. Do you have to list every publication that reviews books? Also, noticed the first copy editing goof. However the possum goof would have flown over my head. I know absolutely nothing about them. However, I picked up some fun facts about beavers this week. LOL.

>173 MickyFine: Yeah, there were just some weird choices with the writing! I hope you're able to enjoy it as you get farther into it despite some of the weirdness :)

I would love to hear some beaver facts if you care to share! Lol.

>174 curioussquared: They have 4 separate glands that put off scent oils, which makes them particularly... pungent. Learned as a result of having a chat about why my co-worker's dog goes extra nutty when they're near a beaver dam in a local ravine.

>175 MickyFine: Fascinating!

Y'all, my possum facts are in high demand lately. I had brunch with a friend this morning who was recently back from her honeymoon in New Zealand, and she was wearing a merino and possum sweater she had purchased there, and I was able to explain that no, it was not made from the scraggly fur of the possums she was thinking of, but of the Australian/New Zealand possum fur.

Aside from brunch, which was lovely, I did a bunch of cleaning today (my kitchen is sparklier than it's been in a while), and Tim and I sent a few final requests to change the itinerary to the travel agent we're working with for Costa Rica, and then went two houses over to the open houses for the SIX houses they've been building on the next lot over for the past year plus. We like looking at houses, and figured we might as well take a look at the results of the construction we've been listening to for way too long. I also dropped off our ballots so our civic duty is complete.

I finished Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands yesterday and read a little more of Blackout last night and Amari and the Night Brothers this morning. I made a lot of progress in Paladin's Grace on audio while walking dogs and cleaning, and I am absolutely loving it. Tim and his friend are watching the League of Legends championship tonight (nerds) so I'm going to settle in and read for the rest of the evening.

165 books read: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Fresh out of college, young Nova Scotian Katie Beaton was at a loss for how she was going to pay off her student loans. So she followed everyone else to the Alberta oil sands, where the jobs and money were supposedly plentiful. There, she got a job in a tool crib -- and slowly adjusted to a very different, very isolated life, where men outnumbered women 50 to 1, deaths on the highway to work were par for the course, and drugs and alcohol ran rampant. Over the course of her two years in the oil sands, Kate watches men around her become stripped down versions of themselves, and witnesses the horrible things they do. At the same time, as much as she becomes used to the oil sands, she starts to comprehend the realities of the effects on the environment.

This was a tour de force of a graphic memoir; I couldn't put it down. Beaton's drawings are still the same cartoonish style readers know from her Hark a Vagrant comic, but here, they tell a grim story where Beaton doesn't pull punches. Highly recommended; 5 stars.

>178 curioussquared: Yay for 5 stars!

>179 MickyFine: :D

It's still morning here for three minutes, so good morning all!

I had a super productive Sunday and did a lot of chores, cooked, exercised, and read, so all-in-all a good weekend.

Today is work, and then I'm dipping out a little early to get my flu shot. After that, I'll walk the dogs, and then my friend is coming over and we'll probably watch either Call the Midwife or Rosaline.

I started listening to an LA TheatreWorks production of Romeo and Juliet; I never read this one in high school or my college Shakespeare class, so this is actually my first exposure. So far it's... not my favorite Shakespeare, lol. But if we do watch Rosaline tonight, I'm going to try to finish listening to this one first 😂

I'm still reading Blackout and loving it, although I'm finding it rather stressful. So many things going wrong all the time!!

Haven't made any progress on Amari and the Night Brothers since Saturday morning.

>174 curioussquared: , >175 MickyFine: My favorite beaver fact is that they are triggered to build dams by the sound of running water, so if you play a recording of the sound of running water for a beaver (e.g. in a zoo) they will start frantically trying to build a dam. You can also prevent beavers from damming up a waterway by building drainage that is fully underwater (e.g. an underwater pipe) and so doesn't make any noise

166 books read: Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

Stephen was a Paladin to the God of Steel... until one day three years ago, his God died, sending himself and his fellow paladins into their blood rage and on a killing spree until they could be subdued or destroyed. Broken and godless, Stephen and his fellow remaining paladins found refuge at the Temple of the White Rat. Stephen performs his guard duties and whatever else the Bishop asks of him, but it has been a long time since he woke up in the morning and actually wanted to live. To make matters worse, the former paladins of the God of Steel are still subject to occasional fits of blood rage, and Stephen is too scared of what he might do in that state to get close to anybody around him. For the most part, he keeps to himself, keeps the company of his brothers, and knits socks -- soldiers always need socks. But one day, Stephen encounters a young lady running from the nosy, harsh priests of the Motherhood, and he is able to protect her from possible arrest. And for some reason, he can't stop thinking about the encounter. As the two broken souls become friends and begin to blossom, things are looking good -- if only they could figure out who or what is leaving severed heads all over the city.

I LOVED this book. Stephen reminded me of a fantasy, human version of Murderbot -- a powerful warrior with a dark past who's really actually kind of a fluffball on the inside. Kingfisher's world is interesting and layered, and I'm excited to read more about it. This was just a perfect blend of fantasy, mystery, and romance, and I've already checked out the second book in the series. 5 stars.

>182 norabelle414: OK, that's kind of hilarious!

167 books read: Dracula by Bram Stoker

The classic tale of horror -- starting with Jonathan Harker's visit to Transylvania and the horrible things he sees there, and transitioning into Dracula's journey and terrorizing of England and subsequent flight from Van Helsing and his vampire-slaying crew.

I'd never read Dracula before and decided to try reading it via Dracula Daily (https://draculadaily.substack.com/about) earlier this year. Today was the last entry! I'm glad I read it, and it was definitely more digestible this way, but I feel like there were pros and cons to this reading method. Pros: easy-to-digest, you don't get overwhelmed (except for the week or so of super long daily entries). Cons: It felt uneven -- there were parts near the climax where we didn't get an update for days because the characters were all just waiting around for Dracula to show up again, which I guess is sort of the point -- to experience it in real time with the characters. But it doesn't necessarily work in terms of pacing a novel. Anyway, I most enjoyed seeing just how much of modern vampire lore came directly from this work. Glad I read it, don't need to do it again. 3.5 stars.

>185 curioussquared: Pretty fair reaction to Dracula.

>185 curioussquared: I'm a few days behind but generally I agree. I'm glad to have finally read it but I don't really get the obsession and I'm less likely to read it again than some of its contemporaries (Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, etc.)

>187 norabelle414: Agreed about the contemporaries! The most compelling part for me was the beginning when Jonathan was actually trapped in Dracula's castle. The middle portion with Lucy under attack was OK, and then the vampire hunting portion felt... almost mundane and a little boring? Lots of project management and organization of tasks and less horror at that point, lol. (Although I suppose project management is its own kind of horror.)

>188 curioussquared: The best part of the later sections was when Mina used logic to figure out what route he was most likely to take back to his castle

>189 norabelle414: Lol, agreed.

>183 curioussquared: Need to read this one!

>185 curioussquared: I liked the first half of Dracula. Once Van Helsing shows up, it turns into evangelical nonsense in places, lol. I really like Theodora Goss' spin on Mina Harker and other female Victorian characters in the Athena Club trilogy.

>191 libraryperilous: I think you'll really enjoy the Kingfisher! Ooh, I'll have to look into that trilogy.

>183 curioussquared: I will definitely add this one, sounds interesting and while I've been avoiding series I absolutely loved the other book by Kingfisher that I read recently and want to read more by them.
>185 curioussquared: and all the responses. I remember having the same general thoughts on this book. I was recently looking through classics that I read back in middle school - Dracula being one of them - and trying to decide if I should reread them now since I read them so young, but I think I'm safe not revisiting this one.

>183 curioussquared: Adding that one to the ever-growing TBR.

Hope you're having a good day, Natalie!

>193 WhiteRaven.17: I hope you enjoy! Yeah, I think you can skip revisiting Dracula. That's an interesting project, looking back at classics you read when you were young. I think for the most part I was lucky enough to revisit most of those in a college setting later -- the perfect way to figure out what you missed when you were 13 😂 I definitely reread Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and The Importance of Being Earnest in college. The thing I remember most from studying Jane Eyre was my absolute shock upon learning that St John was pronounced as "Sinjin".

>194 bell7: Thanks, Mary! Pretty good so far; just trying to avoid fretting over election results for the most part.

Happy Tuesday! I'm stressed about election stuff and I imagine concentration will be difficult to come by today. Last night was uneventful; my friend and I postponed hanging out until Thursday, so instead I just walked the dogs and tidied a little bit before eating leftover chicken wild rice soup for dinner and watching an episode of Buying Beverly Hills. (It's very bad, but I have discovered my brain sometimes craves the mindlessness of reality TV.) Tim is super busy this week in the office Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday (normally he only goes in one day per month or so) and then has a big project he has to finish and present to execs on Wednesday, so he was working late last night. I intended to read some more of Blackout, but I think my flu shot must have gotten to me a little and I passed out early instead.

Didn't crack a physical or digital book yesterday, so still reading Blackout and Amari and the Night Brothers, but I did finish Romeo and Juliet and move on to Reading Lolita in Tehran on audio.

168 books read: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The classic tale of love and tragedy. Not much else to add, except, UGH, teenagers. This was mostly fun to experience just because I had my own ideas and understanding of how the story went and while most of it was accurate, there were some new things I learned, too. I was particularly surprised by the timeline -- I didn't realize quite how quickly everything (from the meeting to love at first sight to the wedding to the tragic double suicide) went down. I repeat, ugh, teenagers. The LA Theatre Works production I listened to was excellent as always. 4 stars.

>185 curioussquared: If you're off reading it again completely I understand. BUT if you find yourself in the spooky mood for it again, there's a Manga version I found very digestible with some fantastic art.
Manga Classics: Dracula specifically.

>198 Ravenwoodwitch: I'm not big into manga and don't feel the need to revisit Dracula anytime soon, but that does look fun!

>197 curioussquared: Ah, I have fondness for Shakespearean teen angst although I totally get why it bugged you. I will never stop loving the film version with Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes though. #geriatricmillenial

Curiously, today is Bram Stoker's birthday. Born in 1847. Oh my.

I have a persistent memory of having read Dracula when I was in high school, and of finding it sloooooow and boring. I have copies of it, but no particular interest in revisiting it. (I thought Interview with a Vampire was boring too; never finished it.) Met a guy at a Halloween Trick 'r' Treat Night wearing a Transylvania University sweatshirt (I think it's in Kentucky). Asked him what his major was. Answer I was hoping for was "Phlebotomy", but the answer I got was not memorable.

>183 curioussquared: What a wonderful cover that is Natalie. Interesting because your enthusiastic review bemused me as you ended it:

checked out book 2. 5 stars.

My first reaction was if you love a book why give it 2.5 stars? I read it carefully back and then realised you had given it the Full House!

I also noted that you thought Dracula was ok and that it's author according to Bill is celebrating today his 175th birthday. I wonder if he learnt anything in researching the book that explains his longevity?!

>200 MickyFine: I don't know that I would say it "bugged" me because I can get behind some good teen angst, but I had the thought a few times that this play would never have worked with older protagonists because only teenagers are this dramatic 😂

>201 weird_O: I noticed that too, Bill! Happy birthday to Stoker, I suppose. I'm not the biggest vampire fan -- I can appreciate a good, unique take on it (The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is my favorite in recent memory) but I was in high school during the height of the Twilight frenzy and never understood any of the hype.

>202 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Lol, I'll have to edit that review -- it is confusing when you look at it quickly! Hmm, we may need to investigate whether Stoker is involved in any funny business.

>196 curioussquared: I worked the polls so I wouldn't doomscroll all day. All in all, it was a really good election for Dems. Instead of a red wave, we ended up with a Dem firewall that blocked some R pickups and a Dem overperformance with independent voters. A couple of right-wing, anti-immigrant sheriffs lost in Massachusetts, among other pleasant surprises. Plus, Gen Z showed up big time. Florida and Ohio are red states now, so we can invest in flipping Georgia, North Carolina, and maybe even Texas over the next several cycles. Also, lol, we should see a reboot of the Democratic Party's Cuba policy soon. See above re: Florida.

Also, I never want to hear again that abortion is not a salient issue, and I think I'm just about done with "Everybody hates Biden" talking points too. The Democrats to hate are the New York state Dem party's Dear Leaders. They suck and may have cost us the House.

Anyway, I found this funny and wise: Read books, not election forecasts.

>197 curioussquared: Right, the tragedy of R&J is that they're teenagers. They're too young to know you can wait for things to sort out! I like this play much more as an adult. In high school, I just rolled my eyes at their melodrama.

>204 libraryperilous: Yes, things went much better than I expected yesterday. I like that Twitter thread! My favorite indie bookstore tweeted something similar along the lines of "Two things to do today! 1. Vote 2. Get around to reading that book you've been thinking about forever." I almost wish I had read R&J as a teenager so I could compare my current thoughts.

>197 curioussquared: We did R&J in school (my English class voted to do it for O levels though our teacher wanted to do another play) so I'd have been about their age. I vaguely remember that events went rather quickly. Though they are teenagers, in relative terms - given the life expectancy of the time - they are a bit older. Did you get that 'old' Lady Capulet must be about 28 years old?

I also remember that most of my quotes were from Act II Scene II; that was probably the balcony scene but also had Nurse and Lady Capulet (my son did it the other month).

Happy Wednesday! I thought I might read a little yesterday, but it was bold of me to assume I would do anything except stare at election results. I did at least cook -- teriyaki salmon and roasted butternut squash and broccoli.

Aside from work, plans today include taking Skelly to laser therapy and sending deposit info to confirm our Costa Rica trip. I'm also starting to research what I need to do some painting in our basement. I HATE the colors of the bedrooms down here and my office -- it feels like the old owners went to the store and purchased the ugliest colors on sale, then applied them in the most inexpert manner possible. So I think I'm going to make that my DIY project for this winter. I also want to put a cute wallpaper wall up in my office.

Still reading all the same stuff. I'm about 25% through Reading Lolita in Tehran now and really enjoying it.

>206 humouress: Lol, I didn't catch that about Lady Capulet. I don't know that there were any quotes that particularly struck me as I was listening; I already knew many of the most famous ones.

>208 curioussquared: We had to memorise quotes for the exams for English Lit. which of course have to illustrate various points; my kids don't seem to have to these days. (Mind you, I'm getting my information from them and that source isn't exactly reliable.)

>207 curioussquared: I was watching the race with Dr. Oz and our current governor election most of yesterday. I'm going to thank whichever deity anybody wants me to thank that the Snake Oil Salesman preying on the medically vulnerable will, in fact, not be in office.

>210 Ravenwoodwitch: Same here, Angela! It's hard to look away for sure.

Happy Thursday! I don't have much to report today. I made chicken burrito bowls last night and then Tim and I watched an episode of John Oliver on bail reform. Today I'm a little grumpy because Tim turned on the heat much earlier than usual and woke me and the dogs up much earlier than I wanted to be awake. I'm working, then I think my friend is coming to hang out in the evening.

Still reading all the same stuff. Made a little progress in Blackout at Skelly's laser appointment, read a chapter of Amari and the Night Brothers when I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, and am now up to 54% of Reading Lolita in Tehran.

Happy Friday! Definitely ready for the week to be over. My friend came over last night and we ordered Chinese food and watched Lindsay Lohan's new Netflix holiday movie, Falling for Christmas, which was cheesy but fun. Disney Channel vibes in a fun, nostalgic way. Tonight Tim and I are invited to a game night with some of his friends, but I may just send him and stay home with the dogs and finish season 3 of Love Is Blind, lol. With Skelly's complicated eating schedule it's difficult for us both to out for a looong evening out, plus Otter has a vet appointment at 3:45 north of Seattle, the friend who is hosting the game night lives in south Seattle... it all just seems to be telling me to stay home, lol.

Made more progress in Blackout and it's getting stressssful but good. Didn't want to put it down to sleep last night. Otherwise still reading the same stuff; I'll get through more of Reading Lolita in Tehran today when I drive Otter to the vet and walk the dogs this evening.

Blackout is so compellingly readable, I totally get your desire to stay up late and read. You're kind of making me want to reread it (don't tell my library books).

>214 MickyFine: Your secret is safe with me! I was planning to read Blackout and then maybe get to All Clear in January so I can keep focusing on my list of stuff off my shelf I want to get to this year (that I have fallen behind on), but I can see what you mean now about needing to have All Clear handy if it's still going at this pace with no resolution at the end of Blackout, lol.

Best of luck with Skelly and hurray for fun Disney vibes!!

>216 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Skelly is feeling good and his twice-weekly laser therapy seems to keep him in good spirits. This weekend Otter was the one feeling not great -- he had a vet appointment on Friday to look at an ear infection and then he got three vaccines. On Saturday morning he was limping and had a swollen lump on his shoulder at one of the vaccine injection sites. Luckily we talked to the vet (they're open until 1 on Saturdays), got him some pain meds and he was better the next day.

Phew! That's a lot, but I am glad it is all moving in the right direction. : )

Good morning! I slept badly last night and am still trying to get myself to a 100% awake state. Work today should be trying to complete a few tasks that have been pushed to the side while Open Enrollment was going on. Taking Skelly to laser therapy in the late afternoon.

I finished Blackout and Reading Lolita in Tehran over the weekend. Everyone who told me I needed All Clear on hand for when I finished Blackout was right, and that's my current print book. My list above will have to wait! Started The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes on audio this morning. Still working on Amari and the Night Brothers on Kindle. Going to try to get back to fitting in some exercise on the elliptical this week. I've been pretty good at keeping up with Ring Fit Adventure lately, which is good for body weight strengthening exercise, but not good for cardio, so that should help me get through my Kindle read if I can commit :)

169 books read: Blackout by Connie Willis

Three time traveling historians from Oxford in 2060 -- Merope, Michael, and Polly -- are going on assignment to various points in 1940 during World War II. Merope, known as Eileen in the past, has been in the English countryside for months, on assignment studying child evacuees; Michael is going to Dover to study the heroism of soldiers rescuing others from Dukirk; and Polly is headed to London during the Blitz to pose as a shop girl. Things in Oxford seem particularly chaotic -- Mr. Dunworthy, who is in charge of scheduling the drops into the past and finding places where it can be done without the time travelers being seen, has been impossible to get ahold of, and many historians are frustrated at sudden changes in the order or timing of their planned assignments. While Eileen is already settled in the past, Michael and Polly are just glad to finally get to their assignments -- although there's an unusual amount of slippage when they arrive, meaning they arrive days off from when they were intended to. While both are excited to be there, they -- and Eileen, too -- quickly realize that something is off when their scheduled drops to report back to Oxford don't open as intended. Faced with the unsettling realization that something is wrong, all three historians try to figure out a way to get in contact with the future, as well as how they can find each other in the midst of a war.

Blackout is a stunning, deeply researched, fast-paced, unputdownable piece of writing. Willis puts each of her protagonists through the wringer, and you celebrate their successes and failures along with them. My biggest problem with the book was just that it felt so real that I found it to be incredibly stressful! Willis somehow manages to end every chapter on a cliffhanger. I really was thinking of waiting a little to read All Clear, but I don't think I realized before that they are essentially one novel, so I would be essentially only reading half the book if I stopped with Blackout. I'm already 100 pages into All Clear :) 4.5 stars.

170 books read: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Through the lens of books and her teaching of English literature, Nafisi examines the Iranian revolution and its effect on the country and particularly its women. The book begins with the group of women, all former students, who began to gather at Nafisi's home 2 years before she would leave the country in 1997 to discuss literature. At this point, Nafisi had stopped teaching at the university dur to its strict rules and regulations for how female professors should act, dress, and teach. The book then flashes back to Nafisi's past, to her first marriage, her time in the USA, her journey to becoming a professor, and her early days of teaching, spending time with various students and recounting some of the horrifying things they experience.

This is an important memoir and I was excited to read it through the lens of the book club pitched as the center of the story. Nafisi's writings are still timely today, almost 20 years after the book was written. I do have some problems with the narrative, mostly the same problems I always have with memoirs which by definition will not perfectly align with a standard storyline. The narrative here felt uneven and jumpy -- I was fully bought in when I thought the book would be based on the book club at Nafisi's home, and loved the first quarter, but the flashbacks felt a little clumsy to me and the narrative never really recovered IMO. Still very good, but not always easy to read or follow. 3.5 stars.

Happy Tuesday! Not much going on over here. I went to pub trivia last night with a few friends and even though we trailed most of the night (the three of us who were there are all awful at music trivia which doesn't help) we redeemed ourselves near the end and at least managed to finish in the top half of teams. I also managed to squeeze in an elliptical workout before going which felt good and also let me read a little more of Amari and the Night Brothers.

Today has been a steady workday, and I threw some soup in the slow cooker this afternoon so dinner will be taken care of, so this evening I can walk the dogs and do a Ring Fit Adventure workout. I think I've been neglecting my fitness for most of the pandemic and I still don't feel like I'm ready to go back to my favorite dance fitness classes (a jam-packed room full of people breathing extremely hard), so it's interesting trying to find home options that motivate me instead.

Still reading all the same stuff -- over halfway through The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes now.

Oh yay, I'm glad you enjoyed Blackout so much and happy you had All Clear on hand. Such a solid duology.

LOL, light yoga

>223 MickyFine: So good! I stayed up too late reading All Clear again last night :)

>224 libraryperilous: Ugh, why is this world so cruel 😤 I will say I have exercised the last three days and it didn't actually make me sleep better (I slept WORSE than usual, really) and I felt very cheated, lol.

>225 curioussquared: I am not a doctor, but I think I may have spotted at least one of the problems:

I stayed up too late reading All Clear again last night

V. relatable symptom, tbh :)

>226 libraryperilous: I feel attacked 😂 Honestly I think finishing All Clear will be good for my health, I am constantly tense while reading it!

171 books read: The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

After the events of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, Marian is on the run to where her father is staying in Kent. But Rob, her former blackmailer and Kit's friend, can see she's in shock, and he's not about to let her go alone. The two head off together, with Marian disguised as a man, learning more about each other along the way -- Marian is different from how Rob expected a Duchess to act, and Rob is quite unlike any highwayman Marian has ever encountered, appearing entirely soft-hearted and giving his money away left and right. As the two begin to develop feelings for each other, they also know their situations prevent anything from ever coming from it... but Rob's secret might mean otherwise.

Such a fun historical romance -- I liked this even better than the previous entry. Sebastian explores themes of past trauma and consent really well in a way that is meaningful and adds to the novel without making it heavy or difficult to read. My one complaint might be that this is very much a narrative with only two characters -- Rob and Marian are really it for most of the book until the last 80% or so when we start to see a few of the characters from the previous novel. The end is really cozy with a fun little found family wish fulfillment epilogue. 4 stars.

>227 curioussquared: I need to read this duology soon!

>226 libraryperilous: 😂😅

>228 curioussquared: *sigh* Go on then. (Possible BB. Let's see what Overdrive has.)
ETA: no luck there.

Natalie, you are reading at quite a fast pace -- congratulations for reading so many good books!

>225 curioussquared: One of the best signs of a good read.

>229 libraryperilous: I think you'll like it!

>230 humouress: Sorry you had no luck on Overdrive! It's fairly new so maybe it'll make its way there eventually.

>231 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! I've already passed my all-time most books read in a year number. At this rate I can't resist shooting for 200.

>232 MickyFine: Absolutely. I did it again last night! Paying for it with a headache this morning, though.

Happy Thursday! I have a relatively unscheduled workday until Skelly's laser appointment in the afternoon, so I'm hoping to make some progress on some projects that require more concentration. I'm feeling very good about the fact that I've been keeping up with exercising this week and hope to do another elliptical cardio workout tonight.

Still reading All Clear (about 2/3 through at this point) and Amari and the Night Brothers (I think I'm about 1/3 through this one? I'll probably read more on the elliptical tonight). Started Twice in a Blue Moon on audio yesterday and I'm already halfway through and enjoying it -- Thanks Micky for the recommendation!

>234 curioussquared: Oh yay! I know Christina Lauren are more hit and miss for you so I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Natalie, Good luck on obtaining your goal of 200 books this year. That will be quite a wonderful accomplishment!

>235 MickyFine: Finished last night and had a lot of fun with it. Honestly, at this point Christina Lauren are more hit than miss with me -- it's really only The Unhoneymooners that I really genuinely disliked.

>236 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! I think I'll be a little pressed for time with the holidays coming up, but I believe in myself :)

Yay, it's Friday!

Lots of small things to tackle at work today that should keep me busy. Yesterday was a struggle -- I had a persistent headache that lingered until late afternoon despite meds and my stretching regimen that usually gets rid of headaches for me, so I took it easy and did the minimum amount of work required while also taking frequent breaks to read chapters of All Clear before taking Skelly to his laser therapy at 3:45. By that time my head was feeling better at least. I popped by my local indie bookstore on the way home to pick up my preorder of Scattered Showers. By the time I got back I was still feeling iffy from the headachey day and tired and Tim had also had a long day, so I skipped both exercise and cooking and we ordered pho and watched an episode of John Oliver and then I finished All Clear before bed.

Today I'm hoping to get a workout in during the day, and I'll either roast pork tenderloins for dinner, or we might go out. I was considering downloading the new Pokemon game on Switch, but apparently it's having horrible performance issues so I might wait until they patch some of that before starting it. Started Swordspoint as my next print book last night, and read some more Amari and the Night Brothers when I was awake in the middle of the night. I think Barrayar will be next on audio.

Oof, sorry to hear about the headache yesterday. I can definitely sympathize.

Look at you knocking out a bunch of books this week. Looking forward to your reviews! :)

>239 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! Headache was not fun, but I'm glad it was on a day where I had no meetings and could kind of work (or read) at my own pace :) Reviews coming soon!

172 books read: Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

Fourteen years ago, Tate and Sam met when they were 18 and 21 on a trip to London -- and quickly fell in love. So quickly and so thoroughly, that Tate decided to share her deepest secret with Sam: She's actually Tate Butler, the daughter of Hollywood megastar Ian Butler, and she and her mother have been hiding from the press and living in a tiny town with her grandmother since they dropped out of the spotlight after her father's affairs 10 years ago. And having put all her trust in Sam, she feels lighter than she has in ages -- until one morning, Sam and his grandfather have checked out of the hotel, and Tate and her grandfather walk outside only to be bombarded with paparazzi delighted to have finally found the long lost Tate Butler. Fast forward fourteen years, and Tate has mostly put Sam's betrayal behind her. While she's never really been able to trust and love in a romantic relationship again, she's succeeding in every other part of her life -- since her re-entry to the public eye, her acting career has taken off, and after a successful starring stint on a CW show, she's now doing her 8th feature film -- the first one where she's co-starring with her father, which whom her relationship has improved, but still isn't easy. Stressed about all the father/daughter time, Tate is already tense when she shows up at the farm where they're filming the new movie -- and then she goes from stressed to distressed when she suddenly runs into Sam, who turns out to be the screenwriter. Tate doesn't want anything to do with him -- but she does kind of want closure. And what if Sam had a good reason for what he did?

This was fun! I enjoyed Tate and Sam's story and while I predicted most of the plot points/reveals, it was still an enjoyable ride. Another point for Christina Lauren, although I didn't like it quite as much as their newest book, Something Wilder. 3.5 stars.

173 books read: All Clear by Connie Willis

In the second half of Blackout, Polly, Mike, and Eileen continue to try to get back to Oxford in 2060. As their foreknowledge of WWII and the Blitz starts to run out and Polly's deadline approaches, the past grows more and more dangerous, and the historians begin to lose hope that they will ever see the future again.

I couldn't put this down! What a book. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and while I had a few guesses about what would happen, some were right, some were wrong, and I truly didn't know what was coming until the very end. Loved it. 5 stars.

Dropping in to wish you a wonderful weekend.

good luck with your reading goal. You are quite close to the 200 book mark!

Excellent reviews for both books. You definitely have me eyeing a reread of the Willis duology more seriously.

>243 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita! I'm not feeling certain that I'll get there, but I'm going to try :)

>244 MickyFine: The Willis books are dense enough that I think they would stand up well to a reread, Micky :) they made me want to reread To Say Nothing of the Dog and get to Doomsday Book for the first time!

>245 curioussquared: Be warned that Doomsday Book involves a lot of plague related stuff and was a stressful read for me over a decade ago. It's the only book of the series I won't re-read, especially after living through a pandemic. But your mileage may vary.

Heartily in favour of To Say Nothing of the Dog though. ❤️

>238 curioussquared: Natalie, I too suffer from migraines. Lately, they are sapping my energy. Usually if I take fiorcet four times a day, it puts a blanket on the pain. I am saddened that you suffer from this as well.

I added Twice in a Blue Moon to the list of books I want to read over the holidays. I enjoyed your review!

I hope you are feeling better and that the headaches are at bay in time for the holidays.

>241 curioussquared: Hmm; I might give Something Wilder a try, if I can find it. I liked their In a Holidaze better than The Unhoneymooners, so let's see.

>246 MickyFine: Yeah, that was definitely putting me off Doomsday Book. I didn't read any of the books in this series until after the pandemic had started, unfortunately, and I wasn't feeling ready to read anything plague-related for a long time. (Very glad I read Station Eleven in 2019!) But I'm starting to feel like I might be open to tackling it in the next year or so.

>247 Whisper1: I'm sorry to hear that, Linda! My headaches aren't usually migraine pain level and usually some ibuprofen is enough to help me. I think my headaches are generally tension-related as I hold a lot of tension in my upper back, shoulders, and neck muscles, and usually a headache means I've been neglecting stretching my body enough.

>248 humouress: I really liked In a Holidaze too! That one and Something Wilder are probably my top two from them. Twice in a Blue Moon is probably third, then Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, then Roomies, then The Unhoneymooners very much down at the bottom of the list. I've... read a lot of their books for not being sure if I really love their writing, lol. They're definitely easy to consume. I think I like them better when they deviate from the normal romcom script -- like the wacky time loop in In a Holidaze and the full-on adventure story aspect of Something Wilder.

Happy Monday!

Today started off with some bad news. Tim learned that a coworker whose home he visited on Thursday tested positive for COVID. Tim doesn't feel sick, but current CDC guidelines say you develop COVID up to 10 days from exposure. We were planning to go to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving, but she is immunocompromised due to ongoing cancer treatments and weak from other health issues so I don't think it's worth the risk even if we got negative PCR tests beforehand. Two of Tim's cousins are also in remission from cancer and immunocompromised, so his family's gathering isn't an option either. Thanksgiving will probably look pretty glum at our house this year :(

Oh I'm sorry to hear you'll have to miss out on all the family gatherings this year. Crossing my fingers that neither you nor Tim get sick on top of it. :(

Hi Natalie, I'm sorry about covid ruining your Thanksgiving plans. I don't suppose it's possible to delay Thanksgiving? That's on the table for us, as Callia and I have been so sick late. However, we both work in schools and have the week off, so there's that.

I've enjoyed catching up here. Your greyhound photos are a family affair for us - all of us goo-goo over them. Then there are the books. Yikes! You got me with Heartstopper (is it a GN?), The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, and the two Connie Willis books.

Interesting to see >44 curioussquared: Breathe here - it's been in the library for as long as I've been there (probably time to weed as it doesn't check out much and doesn't seem to be all that scary).

>62 curioussquared: Exercise makes you sleep better? Humph.

>75 curioussquared: It's probably a good call to go through a travel agent, but I a one of those who is a dedicated guide book user - usually I start in the library (why yes, I do need 12 books about New Mexico...) I do my fair share of internet searching but I do love the guidbooks.

>80 curioussquared: Do you ever accidentally reread Murderbot? YES!!!!

>251 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky. I'm hoping so too! My one bout with COVID was enough, thank you.

>252 AMQS: Thanks, Anne! Good to see you here :) No, not super possible as my grandma's Thanksgiving will still have about 30 attendees even missing me and Tim, Tim's parents (they'll go to his cousin's house instead since we won't be there), and one of my uncles, his wife, and their daughter. If you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, that's basically my family but Bolivian, and we all live in or near Seattle, so family gatherings are always packed. But provided we don't actually get sick, we should be cleared to go get a Christmas tree with the family the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I'm glad you enjoy the hound photos! Enjoy the book bullets :) Yes, Heartstopper is a GN; I think there are four volumes total and I'm patiently awaiting my turn for the next three. While I always have ten or so ebooks and audiobooks checked out, GNs are about the only thing I check out physically from the library anymore.

Re: Breathe -- I think I got it when I volunteered at the library in high school. At the time the teen librarian there was serving on the ALA Best Books for Young Adults committee, so he was sent all these books for consideration and he gave away all the ARCs to us, his loyal teen volunteers. He also brought us along to that year's ALA Midwinter conference, which was another chance to acquire tons of ARCs. (I think this was 2007?) I was in heaven, and I still have a few books from that windfall that I haven't read yet or given away, and Breathe was one of them. But yes, I think you can safely weed it :)

I'm not normally a travel agency person, but Tim was a little concerned about some of the safety warnings about Costa Rica and I was also worried about inaccurate information online due to changes from COVID, so we decided to try this way for this trip :) I did buy a guidebook, too!

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who occasionally accidentally reads Murderbot 😂