A Better Year: 2021 and ejj tries one more time

For everyone who survived 2020, congratulations! Time to move along . . .

1. Utopia Project: Everyone Must Die by Billy Deering. Read for work (book review). Another self-published book that desperately needs editing!

2. The Magicians by Lev Grossman. A reread for me, but one I enjoyed as much the second time as the first. This is the first in the trilogy; Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant high-school senior at the beginning, goes for what is supposed to be a college entrance interview and ends up at a hidden campus in upstate New York, taking an examination to enter Brakebills, a university to train magicians. The characters are quirky and individual; the reader cannot predict where the plot is going--although, spoiler alert, it's going to the magical land of Fillory, which Quentin grew up thinking was fictional. Highly recommended!

Enjoy your 2021 reads!

Welcome back!

Happy reading in 2021, Elizabeth!

And keep up with my friends here, Elizabeth. Have a great 2021.

Why it feels like 2020 wasn't quite so bad after all is the cause of deep disgust in me.

May this bottom be rock and may we push up from here with all our collective strength.

Thank you, all.

Richardderus, I think I'll be looking back at 2020 with the feeling of amazement that I survived it. And profound gratitude that it's over!

On to better things . . . and going to the movies again someday soon.

3. A Perfect Threat by Craig R. Smith, M.D.. Read for work, a nonfiction book about population, climate change, and diminishing resources.

4. Dawn by Octavia E. Butler. My second reading of this book, this time for my science fiction/fantasy book club. After the Earth is decimated by war and chaos, a woman named Lilith awakens in a bare room and is questioned by unseen people. Eventually one appears in her room, and she realizes she's on a ship with aliens. They tell her she is being trained to lead a group of humans back to Earth; she's been in a coma for 250 years. She is given some enhanced abilities--greater strength and rapid healing--and allowed to awaken about forty other humans. There is resistance and conflict among the humans, with some not believing they're aboard a ship and others resenting Lilith's leadership. The Oankali aliens have told Lilith that they will alter the humans' DNA so that future generations will combine human and Oankali characteristics. Lilith hates the idea of what she sees as the end of humanity, although she has come to care for the Oankali family that adopted her. Near the end of the novel, the humans are returned to Earth.

I made my January goals! I'm so pleased. It looked like this was going to be 2020 MkII for a while there. But still got all the writing I'd planned for myself done.

*whew*

How 'bout you, Author Jewell Ma'am?

Oh, Richardderus, I do not think I am doing so well as a writer--it's just a challenge at this point to keep up with reading and working (editing). But the rent is paid and the fridge is full and the car has a new battery, so I'm counting this week as a win!

>9 ejj1955: Let's call it a win, then. Food and shelter and transportation? Yep!

5. The Goliath by London Hayes. Read for work--about the (fictional) discovery of a never-before-seen work by Michelangelo.

So much reading to do . . .

6. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. For the science fiction/fantasy book group. Interesting concept of traveling between alternate Earths--the caveat being that one can only do this safely if one's doppleganger is dead on the Earth one is visiting. Cara is from the rough, ghetto-like Ashtown, but she's now living in an apartment in Wiley City, where it's clean and food is plentiful--in a few years, she figures, she'll have gained citizenship there. But trouble finds her at every turn, it seems. She maintains a teasing relationship with her handler, Dell, using that to cover her intense longing for the wealthy, upper-class woman. Among Cara's secrets is that she's not the original person recruited for her job--she's from another Earth, where the Cara sent through died, and she assumed her identity to escape her toxic relationship with the leader of Ashtown on that version of Earth. Versions of her have died on so many worlds that the mere fact of her survival makes her a valuable traverser, able to visit more than 300 worlds where other versions of her have died. But visiting them opens her eyes to personalities and relationships on "Earth One," and lead her to the death of a friend and a thirst for revenge.

Really enjoyed this one . . .Cara is a tough survivalist facing challenges on every side, as secrets unfold around her.

Onward . . . so much reading to do!

7. The Truth Is NOT What We Were Taught by Lenora Hoag. Read for work. Many, many Biblical quotations.

SOME SPOILERS!

8. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. Some writers just know how to put a story together, layer by layer, and make it all come together satisfyingly at the end. That's Becky Chambers. The core of the ship Wayfarer, from her first book, has been extracted and put into a "kit," a human-appearing (but illegal) body that chooses the name Sidra. Pepper, the mechanic, takes care of her, and introduces her to her partner, Blue, an artist. Sidra finds being in a body difficult--she's used to being able to scan every area of the ship, and feels most comfortable in corners of rooms where she can approximate that view. Being outside in crowds is overwhelming, and she's sure she's missing what's going on behind her. The story of her attempts to adjust to her new existence are juxtaposed with the story of how Pepper grew up--itself an amazing journey.

Pepper began life in a factory, where she was Jane 23, one of many Janes who sorted through discarded tech to see what could be recycled. When a piece of scrap explodes and blows a hole in the wall, she glimpses the outside world for the first time--and escapes the mechanical "Mothers" who rule the factory. In the new and scary world, populated by scrap heaps and wild dogs, she finds a ship and is urged to come inside to safety by Owl, the ship's AI. Jane lives in the ship for years, with Owl teaching her language and about the universe, while Jane finds scrap to fix the ship and kills the dogs for food, living on dog and mushrooms for the most part.

When she finally goes to steal fuel from another factory, she encounters a lonely technician watching the factory workers, and helps him escape that fate, too.

Pepper has spent years searching for the ship and Owl, and the story of what happens when she finds them involves Sidra, Blue, and Sidra's new friend, Tak.

I love this series and will be getting the third book in it shortly!

9. Never Among Equals by Fazle Chowdhury. Read to review. Desperately needs editing.

10. The Land of Vikings and Trolls by RA Anderson. The second tale of Cody the Cockatrice, read for work. Charming.

11. The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy. Harriet, a young Englishwoman, arrives in France for an internship at a fashion PR agency. She's led there, in part, by a photograph she recently discovered in a box left to her of her mother's things (her mother having committed suicide years ago). The picture shows three young women outside the same building Harriet works in and lives in (a tiny apartment on the fifth floor she shares with Simone, another employee).

The photo is of Harriet's grandmother, Claire, and her friends Mireille and Vivienne. When Harriet shows the photo to Simone, she discovers that Mireille is Simone's grandmother. Through letters from Mireille, Harriet begins to piece together the story of the three women in WWII. She discovers that they were members of the Resistance who worked in a fashion house as seamstresses.

The novel switches back and forth between the present and the war years as Harriet tries to figure out her heritage and who she really is. After her mother's suicide, she's felt distanced from most people, including her father, and she's wary of romantic relationships, even after meeting an attractive friend of Simone's, Thierry.

I'm going to avoid lots of spoilers: this was a better book than I expected at first, with surprises along the way and the devastation, horror, and loss of the war years made clear.

12. The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. My science fiction/fantasy book club is going to be so surprised when I say that I have finished the book, as it's been months since I managed that. But I did . . .read this, conveniently, on my phone. The story begins in a slightly fractured alliance of human planets, with an emperor at the top of the political order and the family of the hero, Roderick Harold, Lord Blaine, not that far below. After a ship from a star seen as a "mote" arrives with a dead alien pilot, the humans send two ships, one with Rod as commander, to investigate. The other ship is to oversee the contact but remain apart from any potential threat.

The humans are first approached by a "motie," or alien, who belongs to a group of mining engineers. She is accompanied by two small creatures who the humans observe, not knowing if these are members of the same species or pets. Eventually a ship approaches with more Moties, and all seems to go well. The one human female in the book, an anthropologist and aristocrat, Lady Sally, is thrilled at this opportunity.

The Moties enthusiastically rebuild and redesign everything in sight--firearms, coffee makers, the beds they are given. At some point, it becomes clear that the little Moties have overrun the ship; although Rod tries to get rid of them, it's not successful, and further steps need to be taken . . .

This is an older classic, and the male domination of all things (but not in the Motie civilization, interestingly) is clear, but it's a classic for a reason, with many interesting characters and gradually revealed mysteries along the way. I'd like to read the second book in the series . . .

13. Project Terminus-Destiny by Nathan Combs. Read for work.

14. For Malice and Mercy: A World War II Novel by Gary W. Toyn. Read to review. One of the good ones.

15. Sassenach: The Highland Legacy Series Book 2 by Renée Gallant. Read for work.

16. Dune by Frank Herbert. Not my first or second time reading this, but have just finished it for the book club tonight. One of my favorites, what can I say? It's a towering achievement of world-building. From the Bene Gesserit to the Fremen, Herbert creates detailed and complex societies. So many characters are individuals with their own motivations and habits. Lady Jessica and Paul Atreides are both people with many strengths, mostly good, but deviled by circumstances and choices they cannot control. I've read a number of the later books, but the first one remains the best. I'm curious to hear the other book club members' opinions on this . . . but my own opinion is fixed.

17. Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers. I had a harder time getting into this book than the previous two; I think one issue was that it went back and forth between life on the ship(s) and on a planet or two. But, as usual, Chambers creates memorable, individual characters and an ultimately unifying theme, with most characters ending up better off than they were at first--living a life more true to their talents and desires, for example. There's one notable shocker in this group, a character who unexpectedly dies in a moment's freak accident. But even that proves her point--death, too, is a part of life. Most of the characters are humans, but there's a visitor to the ship from one Harmagian, an academic studying the life of those living on the ships that went out from a dying Earth. She's charmed by the inventive self-sufficiency of the humans, and ultimately offers a few technical advantages to improve their lives--which indirectly leads to another character losing her job and deciding to move to a planet with her husband and two children.

I think there's currently only one more of Chambers' books I haven't read, but another coming out soon. I'm game to read everything this writer puts out--ultimately, it's a gentle, positive universe she sees, and I'm along for that ride.

>21 ejj1955: That one just isn't in the same class as the first two, IMO, and suffered a bit from a failure of focus. Something about the Harmagian made me feel as though she needed a deus ex machina and suddenly *poof*

But it was still a good read to me. They have all been. I have The Galaxy, and the Ground Within awaiting my attention on the Kindle. Soon, precioussss, soooooonnnnn

>22 richardderus: richardderus You are right, it really wasn't as good as the first two, but still . . . there's that warmth and humanity she brings to her characters--and I realize using the word "humanity" is a bit odd when many of them aren't human! But I'll be getting her other works--I'm hooked.

18. In a Field of Blue by Gemma Livero. I read this with some long pauses along the way--more a comment on my life lately than the book itself. It's a story set mostly in the post-World War I era. In 1922, Rudy Watts is called home from his job in London to the family's impoverished estate, where his mother lives with the two remaining staff, a cook and an elderly estate manager. When he arrives, he finds a French woman, Mariette, and a small boy, Samuel. Mariette tells them Samuel is the son of Rudy's older brother Edgar, who has been missing, presumed dead, since the war. Mariette falls ill for a time, and as she recovers, Rudy finds himself falling in love with her. But he also feels a sense of responsibility--he has to investigate her claims, as Samuel would be the rightful heir to the property if they are true (and not Laurence, the fast-living, unlikeable middle brother). Rudy's also driven to find out whatever he can about Edgar's fate, a mystery to his family for so long.

After Mariette disappears (following a visit to the estate by Laurence and some friends, not coincidentally), leaving Samuel behind, a heartsick Rudy continues his investigations. The narrative shifts to Mariette's backstory, and we learn that she grew up an orphaned gypsy with her older sister Helene; the two lived by their wits until they finally come under the protection of a farmer, Jerome Lavier. There the sisters grow up, secure at last--until the Germans occupy France. As the war rages around them, they meet British soldiers on leave or recuperating from injuries; this is how they meet Edgar. He falls in love with Helene and it is SPOILER! she who gives birth to Samuel before dying.

Rudy's investigations in 1922 take him to the wilds of Canada. Here, he finds many answers, not all of them what he would have liked. There's a denouement that closes the story with events from WWII.

Much of this book is filled with uncertainty, longing, and sadness, so I'm not sure I'd say I enjoyed it. War and its effects are certainly not romanticized. But the author has created complex, distinctive characters, and this will linger in my mind for some time, I suspect.

19. The Gacho Tribe. Read for work. Lots of issues.

20. Infinite by Brian Freeman. Interesting psychological thriller. Dylan Moran begins his odd journey after what appears to be the accidental drowning of his wife, Karly, when their car went into a river. When questioned by the police, Dylan says he didn't see anyone when he climbed out of the river, but he recalls begging a figure on the riverbank to save Karly. He doesn't mention this to the police because the figure was himself . . .

Dylan works as a hotel events manager, and a speaker at the hotel is Eve Brier, who has written a book and speaks about her theory of "many worlds." He makes an appointment to see her and agrees to be injected with a drug that will allow him to travel between the alternate worlds. He sees many different version of himself and follows one, finding himself in another world in which he's married to a different woman (a coworker) and in which he encounters a version of himself who is a killer--bent on killing women who look very much like Karly. Dylan travels through several worlds, finding his double dead in one and watching Karly die in another, before finally confronting his murderous twin.

Eventually, the reader finds out who is dead, who is alive, and what Dylan has been doing throughout the whole surreal experience . . .

This was well written and suspenseful, with the always welcome quality that I did not know what was going to happen next.

>25 ejj1955: Got me with that one…

21. Amidst the Sails by Nikayah Wilkes. Read for work.

SPOILERS AHEAD
22. Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein. Why did it take me so long to read this? Still don't know the answer . . . it's a cracking good tale, really, despite a fair amount of sexism. Still--E. C. "Easy" Gordon is a young man with a plan. He'll get an engineering degree and avoid the draft. But he doesn't have the funds for his education, so he finally asks to be drafted, hoping to be a clerk, perhaps. But no, he's sent straight to southeast Asia and the Vietnam War. When he gets out and finds that it's still classified as being a "military advisor" and he's not eligible for education benefits, he wanders around Europe for a bit, encountering a beautiful woman on a beach where clothing is mostly optional. Star and her assistant, Rufo, tell Gordon that he's being hired to find the Egg of the Phoenix. Star gives him the name of Oscar, and the three set out through a gate to other planets. They vanquish any number of adversaries, including something like a dragon, and enter a maze, where Gordon fights a swordsman to recover the egg.

The three travel to the Center, where Gordon--already married to Star--finds that she's the Empress of many worlds, and that she's living an extending life, so that Rufo, who appears to be in his fifties, is actually her grandson. She arranges for Gordon to have the life-extending treatments without his knowledge. For a while he enjoys the lavish lifestyle, but eventually he realizes that he has no real purpose, no job to do. Star tells him he must leave, despite the love they feel for each other, and he goes back to earth, carrying wealth with him. He takes a job and goes to school, but eventually it all palls on him, and he longs again for the "glory road." He finally makes contact with Rufo, who is visiting Earth, and the two resolve to embark again on adventures together

There's the usual Heinlein embrace of men being men in terms of sexual partners--multiple is good, right? despite Gordon's deep love for Star. And, of course, in creating alternate planets and cultures, Heinlein is able to install whatever marriage customs occur to him.

This is kind of petty quibbling on my part, though, as the book is great fun overall, and Gordon is a hero who keeps the reader's interest all along his road.

21. Amidst the Sails by Nikayah Wilkes. Read for work.

SPOILERS AHEAD
22. Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein. Why did it take me so long to read this? Still don't know the answer . . . it's a cracking good tale, really, despite a fair amount of sexism. Still--E. C. "Easy" Gordon is a young man with a plan. He'll get an engineering degree and avoid the draft. But he doesn't have the funds for his education, so he finally asks to be drafted, hoping to be a clerk, perhaps. But no, he's sent straight to southeast Asia and the Vietnam War. When he gets out and finds that it's still classified as being a "military advisor" and he's not eligible for education benefits, he wanders around Europe for a bit, encountering a beautiful woman on a beach where clothing is mostly optional. Star and her assistant, Rufo, tell Gordon that he's being hired to find the Egg of the Phoenix. Star gives him the name of Oscar, and the three set out through a gate to other planets. They vanquish any number of adversaries, including something like a dragon, and enter a maze, where Gordon fights a swordsman to recover the egg.

The three travel to the Center, where Gordon--already married to Star--finds that she's the Empress of many worlds, and that she's living an extending life, so that Rufo, who appears to be in his fifties, is actually her grandson. She arranges for Gordon to have the life-extending treatments without his knowledge. For a while he enjoys the lavish lifestyle, but eventually he realizes that he has no real purpose, no job to do. Star tells him he must leave, despite the love they feel for each other, and he goes back to earth, carrying wealth with him. He takes a job and goes to school, but eventually it all palls on him, and he longs again for the "glory road." He finally makes contact with Rufo, who is visiting Earth, and the two resolve to embark again on adventures together

There's the usual Heinlein embrace of men being men in terms of sexual partners--multiple is good, right? despite Gordon's deep love for Star. And, of course, in creating alternate planets and cultures, Heinlein is able to install whatever marriage customs occur to him.

This is kind of petty quibbling on my part, though, as the book is great fun overall, and Gordon is a hero who keeps the reader's interest all along his road.

23. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. One of the nice things for me about Christie's novels is that it doesn't matter if I've read them before--I almost never remember who "dun it," so it's sort of a new experience every time. So, too, with this book, her first novel. Hastings is visiting some friends when the matriarch of the family is murdered. He runs into his old friend Poirot, living retired in the village in a house with other Belgian emigres. Poirot agrees to investigate, and there follows the amusing spectacle of Hastings occasionally doubting his old friend's powers, and Poirot marching toward his inevitably correct conclusion. The more I think about this being her first novel, the more impressive it is. So many of the Christie elements are perfectly in place--the cast of diverse characters, the red herrings, the side of a romance or two, and the feeling that murder is horribly, horribly wrong. This is part of a collection, so there's more Christie to come.

SPOILERS!

24. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. My book club is tonight and I have just finished this book. Amazing that I finished it and amazing as a work of literature. Wow. Celie is a young teen when her mother dies and her father begins raping her. She has two children by him and thinks he has abandoned them to die in the woods. When a man starts showing interest in her younger sister Nettie, their father refuses to let him court Nettie but offers Celie as a wife. As he needs someone to take care of his four children, he accepts her. In town one day, Celie sees a woman with a daughter she is sure is her own child. The woman appears fairly well-off, married to a minister. Celie sends Nettie to them as hired help; they include her when they leave as missionaries bound for Africa.

Celie finds that her husband is in love with a singer named Shug Avery, but when Celie meets her, and a sick Shug comes to stay at her home, Celie falls in love with her, too. After many years, Celie finds that Nettie has been sending her letters that her husband has kept from her. The novel has taken the form of Celie's letters addressed to God, but then she starts writing to Nettie, and Nettie's letters to her describe her life in Africa with the two children of the missionaries--Celie's two children. When the wife of the missionary is on her deathbed, Nettie realizes that she thinks the children are Nettie's and her own husband's, and Nettie finally tells her the truth about whose children they are. After some time, Nettie and the widower marry. She describes how the tribe with which they have been living has its way of life destroyed by the owners of a rubber plantation that overtakes the village, destroying native crops and forcing a road through the center of the village.

Celie leaves her husband and moves to Memphis with Shug; she sews as a hobby and begins making pants, which turns into a business for her. She also finds, eventually, that the man she thought was her father (who raped her) was not--he married her mother after her real father was lynched. After he dies, she learns that she and Nettie inherited the house from their parents, although they didn't know it during the life of her stepfather.

Celie receives word that Nettie, her husband, and Celie's two children were on a ship that was sunk, although Celie isn't sure she believes this, as she continues getting letters from Nettie.

Celie begins a friendship with her husband, who has changed quite a bit over the years, and, after a brief relationship with a young man, Shug returns, to Celie's joy. One afternoon the three are sitting on the porch when a car drops off an older couple, a young man, and two young women. It's Nettie and her husband, with Celie's two children and her son's African-born wife. They plan a Fourth of July barbecue, and Celie reflects that although she knows her children think she and Nettie are old, she's never felt so young.

Few book endings have felt so completely satisfying!

25. Carolina Comforts by Susan Schild. Read for work. Enjoyed!

26. {Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. This was my second reading of this book, about forty years after the first. Time does make a difference! I know the first time I read it, I was impatient with "poor Fanny," the main character. Upon reflection, there was little better she could have done when put upon (mostly by her Aunt Norris, though also by her female cousins), given her status in the household. Taken in as a poor relation and apparently willingly parted with by her parents, she was also shy and not terribly robust physically. Being meek and useful, and grateful to the one cousin who seemed to care about her well-being, was only natural. That her affection for him--Edmund--became love as she grew up is not surprising.

For much of the book, Edmund is taken by Mary Crawford, a bright, pretty, vivacious, willful woman who comes to visit her sister, the wife of the parson. Fanny estimates her character, and that of her charming brother Henry, pretty well from the start: she doesn't like them and doesn't believe them worthy of her cousins' affection. Her cousins Maria and Julia both like Henry, though Maria is engaged by then to Mr. Rushworth, a wealthy though vapid man.

Henry eventually pursues Fanny, at first as a challenge, but he seems to fall in love with her. Everyone around her is shocked when she refuses his offer of marriage, and all assume that, given enough time, she'll accept him. But she continues to refuse him, and during her visit to her former home and boisterous family, Henry again encounters Maria, who leaves her husband to run off with him.

Edmund's conversation with Mary about her brother's connection to his sister finally opens his eyes to her character flaws, and after his disappointment, some time passes--the author refuses to say how much--before he realizes he loves Fanny and wants to marry her.

There are a few things in this tale that are difficult for a twenty-first century American to accept--that Fanny loves her cousin, with whom she has lived since she was ten years old, on terms frequently noted to be like those of a brother and sister. And the bulk of the book covers her torment as she watches Edmund desire Mary Crawford--his turn toward Fanny at the end makes this less satisfactory a romance than Austen's other works, I think.

And yet . . . I'll be thinking of this book for some time to come. I'm very much looking forward to the Zoom discussion of it tomorrow with the Jane Austen Society.

27. Rocky Love by Delaney Lynn. Read for work.

28. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. This was my second reading of this book, and I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it as much or more than the first time. It begins with Rosemary Harper arriving for her new job on the Wayfayer, a tunneling ship. The crew consists of Ashby, the captain; Sissix, the pilot; Corbin, who takes care of the algae that serves as fuel; Kizzy and Jenks, the engineers; Doctor Chef, who does both those jobs; Ohan, the navigator; and Lovey, the AI who monitors the ship and all its crew. Sissix is a feathered reptilian; Ohan is from a species that joins with a symbiotic substance to enhance his consciousness--and is then known as "they"; Doctor Chef is from a dying species. But, ultimately, they are a family, bound as much by affection as by their work. As the crew takes on a long haul to a distant system so they can set up a tunnel back into their own area of space (in support of a new treaty), each character's history and personality are explored. Unexpectedly, the ship is fired on, and one crewmember is lost.

I love this book, and I have another by Chambers here waiting to be read. Ah, the joy!

29. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. Interesting alternate history of the space program. Elma York and her husband Nathanial are in a mountain cabin when a meteor hits the eastern United States, destroying Washington, DC, and causing widespread damage and death. Elma, a mathematician, soon figures out the size of the meteor and concludes that the Earth will first undergo a few years of cold and clouds before warming to levels that will render it unlivable. Because of this, the push to get into space and establish a colony on Mars is galvanized. Nathanial is an engineer, so both he and Elma are deeply involved in the program. Alma is also a pilot, a former WASP who delivered planes during WWII. She passionately wants to get into the program as an astronaut, but, of course, all the initial astronauts are white men. As she and Nathanial are staying with a black couple, she also become aware that people of color are excluded. Elma, despite almost paralyzing fright at being in public as the center of attention, becomes the face of the women who act as "calculators" for the program. She becomes known as the Lady Astronaut, despite knowing that the name does not describe her actual status.

Eventually, though, women are chosen for the program, although she soon realizes it's more of a publicity stunt than actual inclusion in the program. Still, she persists, and I reached the end of the book only to discover that there's another one in this story . .. . oh, my. Have already requested it from the library. Have two other books due tomorrow . . . I have a feeling they will be a bit late.

30. The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. I almost want to weep when I realize that this is the last book in this series. But the author ends her comments by writing "I can't wait to show you what's next," and I am assuredly along for whatever ride she wants to take me on.

On a planet (Gora) with nothing to recommend it other than its convenient location as a nexus point to reach other places, Ouloo runs the Five-Hop One-Stop. She lives with her offspring, Tupo (gender not yet determined). On what seems like a typical business day, Ouloo welcomes three travelers: Speaker, an Akarak, a species that lives in methane, who thus exits her shuttle encased in a mechanical suit; Roveg, a wealthy Quelin, exiled from his home planet for his radical ideas; and Pei, the beautiful Aeluon cargo pilot introduced in previous books as the human Ashby's lover.

Shortly after these guests arrive, there's a catastrophic failure of the satellites that surround Gora and allow the careful orchestration of ships traveling through the system. For several days, the travelers are stranded, and each of these five individuals gets to know the others much better than expected. Speaker is consumed with concern for her twin, left on their ship above the planet but unreachable by comms; Roveg is frantic that he might be late to an appointment (which turns out to be for a permit to visit his home planet for a coming-of-age ceremony for his four sons); and Pei is on her way for a long vacation with Ashby on his ship, although she's surprised and embarrassed when she realizes she's in the midst of shimmering, a state preliminary to parenthood.

In trademark Chambers style, the reader comes to know each individual's story and to care about each of them, even when they do not always agree among themselves (Speaker and Pei, notably). In the mostly pleasant interactions between the members of four different species (none of them human, I just realized!), Chambers explores topics from parenthood to hospitality to war. And I want to live in the universe she's created.

31. Sweet Carolina Girls by Susan Schild, read for work.

32. Wit and Prattles by Nancy Martin-Young. Written by a fellow member of the Jane Austen Society. The book is about two minor characters from Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Charlotte and Thomas Palmer, who seem a rather odd couple. He's quiet and witty in his disdain for others, while Charlotte is friendly and talkative, but somewhat silly. In this book, we learn that Thomas was originally attracted by her sister Mary, who married the older, wealthy Sir John who offers a cottage to the Dashwood widow and her three daughters. Charlotte was taken by the tall, handsome man from the first, and she sets out to gain his attention and affection.

Despite his plan to seek a modest, quiet, biddable wife, Thomas is unwillingly attracted to Charlotte, and, giving into his desire to kiss her, is discovered doing so and forced to propose. Charlotte accepts him eagerly, and the day after her wedding realizes that his feelings are not the same as hers. She considers returning to her mother's home, but her mother visits briefly and talks her into giving her marriage a try.

The author does a delicate balancing act between writing a Regency, respecting the time, and infusing the story with elements not normally found in novels of that time--sexual scenes, an interest in politics, and a lesbian character.

33. A Soidier's Quartet by Colin Powell. Read to review.

Happy Birthday!

Many happy returns of the day.

Aren't you nice!! Thank you . . . I want a piece of that cake.

34. The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal. This is the second novel in the "Lady Astronaut" series, in which Elma York, pilot and mathematician, goes from flying back and forth to the moon base that's been established to working toward the Mars mission that's planned. Despite her issues with Stetson Parker, he's the commander of the ship she's assigned to, one of three (the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria). Elma leaves her beloved husband Nathanial behind (he's the lead engineer at NASA, after all) and heads into space on what will be a three-year round trip journey. While there's plenty of technical jargon thrown in, it's the relationships among the travelers that are ultimately most important in this tale, with the gradual dawning of respect and something akin to affection between Elma and Parker.

35. The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. This is the first Miss Marple book and the choice for my classics book club this month. I may have read it before--can't remember for sure--but I have downloaded the complete Miss Marple collection, yay, so will read every single one. I love Miss Marple. The story is told from the viewpoint of the vicar, who is slightly embarrassed to find himself married to a lovely, younger wife. His teenaged nephew is also staying with the couple.

Early one evening, Colonel Protheroe, a much disliked local squire, is shot dead in the study of the vicarage. There's plenty of confusion over the time of the murder, the incorrect clock in the study, whether the shot was heard by various village residents, and so on. There are plenty of suspects . . . and I will, of course, say no more! no spoilers here.

36. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. The body of a young blonde woman is discovered in the library of Miss Marple's friends, Dolly and Arthur Bantry. She's identified as Ruby, a dancer at a nearby hotel, by her relative, Josie, who also works at the hotel. Dolly asks Jane for help, knowing how clever her friend is and afraid that gossip will link Arthur with the dead girl. The two ladies go for a stay at the hotel and get to know Mr. Jefferson, an older crippled man who had been intending to adopt Ruby and leave her a considerable sum of money. Jefferson is accompanied by his son-in-law and daughter-in-law; his two children, the spouses of these in-laws, were both killed in the accident that left him without legs. After Dolly and Miss Jane Marple arrive at the hotel, they hear of a missing girl guide, a sixteen-year-old girl, whose burned body is presumably soon discovered in burned car. When Jane figures out the mystery, she explains gently to others that her instinct is not to believe anyone about anything. Smart Jane!

I'll be on to the next Miss Marple mystery in the series, although there are a few other books in my pile as well.

37. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie. This is a somewhat odd Miss Marple mystery in that Miss Marple doesn't appear until well into the book--half-way at least, very possibly two-thirds or three-quarters of the way through. The story is told by Jerry Burton, who, with his sister Joanna, has come to the village of Lymstock to regain his health after a flying accident. After a very short time there, he receives an anonymous letter suggesting that Joanna isn't really his sister. He tosses the letter, then finds that nearly everyone in the village has received something similar--letters with typewritten envelopes and messages made from words cut from a book. Before too long, a local wife and mother is apparently driven to suicide by one of the anonymous letters. Soon after that, her housemaid is killed--unquestionably murdered. The police try to narrow down the list of suspects, but one of the local women finally becomes impatient and invites her friend Jane Marple to visit and solve the crime. As she does! Not quite incidentally, Jerry and Joanna both find their future mates in the village and decide to settle there permanently.

38. A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie. The next in the Miss Marple series. A notice is put in a local paper in another small English village, stating that a murder will occur at 6:30 p.m. at Little Paddocks, a home owned by Leticia Blacklock. Living with her is a dear friend, the scatty Dora Bunner; Leticia's two distant cousins, Patrick and Julia Simmons; Phillipa Haymes, a war widow; and Mitzi, an excitable European cook.

Half the town seems to come by the house that evening, and a cast of locals is gathered when the clock strikes six-thirty, the lights go out, and a masked stranger appears, demanding they put their hands up. Shots are fired and when the lights come on, Leticia is bleeding from a nicked ear and the young man is dead in the hallway (shot).

The police are called, of course, but as inquiries get underway, one of them realizes that the elderly woman visiting the local minister and his wife is none other than Jane Marple, whose abilities he's aware of. Jane soon gets involved in ferreting out the mystery, although two more murders occur before the solution is revealed.

There are twelve Miss Marple novels in all, plus a collection of short stories, so plenty more enjoyment ahead.

39. They Do It with Murders by Agatha Christie. Yep, supposed to be working, and reading Miss Marple instead. She's asked by a rather glamorous old friend, Ruth, to go visit her sister, Carrie Louise, and see what's wrong--Ruth has a feeling, but can't define what the problem is. Jane is invited as a poor old friend (she plays up this part a bit) to visit the sprawling estate, Stonygates, where Carrie Louise lives with her third husband, Lewis Serrocold, who runs a facility for delinquent teenage boys. Along with various psychiatrists and other doctors, the estate is home to Carrie Louise's daughter, Mildred, and Carrie Louise's granddaughter, Gina, the daughter of the dead Pippa, Carrie Louise's adoptive daughter. Gina's American husband lives at the estate, unhappily, while Gina is busily flirting with the brothers Alex and Stephen, Carrie Louise's stepsons from a previous marriage. Carrie Louise is looked after by a devoted servant, Miss Bellever.

Another stepson, Christian Gulbrandson, arrives unexpectedly to discuss some concern--presumably about financial matters--with Lewis Serrocold, but the evening of his arrival, when the entire group is gathered in the house listening raptly to a conversation behind the locked door of Serrocold's study, where a young offender, Edgar Lawson, is threatening Serrocold with a gun, there's another shot heard among the ones Lawson has fired. Serrocold is okay, but Christian Gulbrandson is found shot to death in his own room.

This is a tricky mystery with plenty of misdirection, but, of course, our Jane figures it out handily by the end.

40. The Talismans of Teregin by K. L. Metzger. Read for work.

41. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie. Isn't it wonderful how quickly one can read a delicious mystery? Improves my numbers for the year a bit! Well, Rex Fortescue, a not-entirely-savory businessman, collapses at his office one morning teatime, and dies later in the hospital. He has at home a young second wife who is presumably cheating on him; two sons, each married (one son and his wife just returned from Africa); a daughter who is not very attractive but is in love with an earnest academic; an elderly woman in a separate apartment upstairs who was the sister of his first wife; and a household that includes a butler, his wife the cook, a maid, and a housekeeper/manager. In short order there are two more murders, and one of the murder victims was known to Miss Jane Marple, who arrives to contribute her own knowledge and superior mystery-solving abilities to the case. As usual, she figures out who has done and how it was done and why, and at the very end, she returns home and finds a letter from the victim she knew with a photo inside that confirms her version of the case. Ah ha!

I suspect I shall get one more book in before midnight tomorrow.

>46 ejj1955: You can't beat a good Agatha Christie.

Meanderer, no, you can't! I've been very much enjoying my quick march through the Miss Marple collection. What a treat!