Threadnsong Reads in the 21st Century

Hi everyone!

I'm finding inspiration from my friends here on this site and plunging into more options that LibraryThing offers. For the first time, I'll include pictures with posts and include my 2022 readings in these categories.

Also, in an effort to give my mind and spirit a break, I'll include more fiction, sci-fi/fantasy (SFF), and mysteries in my reading lists. These past few years have been tough and my reading has been heavy in the non-fiction category. Not that that's a bad thing, and I've processed a lot of the events of the past two years through reading thoughtful books, but I need to lighten up.

My categories for this year are:

LibraryThing Challenges (SFFKit, Mystery, History will feature prominently here)

Re-reads - old favorites, like old friends, that I miss and want to revisit. I also have to be realistic that some re-reads will not be lasting friendships and those books need to find new homes.

General reading - I've got the book on my shelf, I meant to read it a few years back, F2F book clubs, all those sorts of reasons to read a book will come here.

Stay tuned!

2022 LibraryThing Challenges



One of my favorite composers and inspiring me with the LT Challenges. He was a challenge in life, his music is challenging and inspirational on so many levels, and he fits with my view for incorporating LT and my bookshelves.

Since my interests are so wide, these Challenges may be SFF Kit, Mystery, History, World Events . . . whatever 2022 Challenges there may be!

1) January Mystery Kit Challenge: The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters (Mystery series)
2) January SFF Kit Challenge: Sleeper Protocol by Kevin Ikenberry (Morally ambiguous main character)
3) January AuthorCAT Challenge: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Indigenous Author)
4) March SFF Kit Challenge: The Door Through Washington Square by Elaine Bergstrom (Historical Fantasy), as well as a re-read.
5) April CATWoman Challenge: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Women of Colo(u)r)
6) April SFF Kit Challenge: The Wandering Unicorn by Manuel Mujica Lainez (Lifespans)
7) May CATWoman Challenge: The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (Classics written by Women)
8) June CATWoman Challenge: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict (Books Set in Cities by Women Authors)
9) June SFFKit Challenge: Weaving in the Ends by K.M. Herkes (Next book in a series not #1)
10) July SFFKit Challenge: Bard's Blade by Brian D. Anderson (Family)
11) August Mystery Kit Challenge: The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy (Techno-thrillers)
12) August CATWoman Challenge: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (Children's/YA/Graphic Novels)
13) October ScaredyKIT Challenge: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt (Witches, Evil Spirits, and Black Magic)
14) November AuthorCAT Challenge: The Hallowed Isle by Diana L. Paxson (Authors Who Have Set Their Books Against a Backdrop of Real Events)
15) November CATWoman Challenge: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (Women's Issues)
16) December SFFKit Challenge: Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter (Wish books - on last year's book wishlist and a Yuletide gift)

2022 Re-Reads



These are traditional Irish musical instruments brought to a seisun (session), where you join up with friends, a pint or two, and listen to old tunes and songs with fondness. If the session players and venue are such, there will be some old, familiar pub song sing-alongs.

In this comforting, welcoming, oft-visited presence, I'm pulling some books off my shelves to re-read them. I want to remember their stories, their characters, and re-visit the impact they had on my life once upon a time.

Musical and literary comfort, indeed!

1) Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gillman was one of those books whose views of life helped me form my own view of the world. Plus, it's a slim volume and I needed something to bring into the office to read during my lunch hour on those days when I do go in.
2) Across the Barricades by Joan Lingard is a book I read and re-read to get an understanding of "The Troubles" and it will be a re-read in March. Fittingly.
3) The Door through Washington Square by Elaine Bergstrom. Isn't it interesting when you do a bit of housecleaning, and see a book on your shelves, and decide to re-read it to see if it's good enough to keep??
4) Alphabet of Thorns by Patricia A. McKillip. I had a few days off of work and also wanted to fulfill a challenge on another thread, so I decided that this would be the book to keep my mind off fasting and the upcoming procedure. Yeah, *that* one ;)
5) The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco Also a MysteryKit challenge, but a perfect excuse to re-read this classic.
6) Magic's Silken Snare by ElizaBeth Gilligan. I remember liking it at the beginning, but the ending all seemed to happen within 24 hours, and I need to re-read it to decide if I want to keep it or send it on. And after getting to about 150 pages, I decided to send it on.
7) The Alienist by Caleb Carr. I found it on my shelf, I still have the bookmark (from Oxford Books, if anyone from the Atlanta area sheds a tear at the loss of that wonderful institution) and I cannot remember a thing about it. A former boss and I shared a love of books and he gave me gift cards to Oxford when I worked for him.
8) Down on Ponce by Fred Willard. It was right next to "Alienist" above, and I decided it needed a re-read. Plus, it's set in the seedy underbelly of Atlanta.
9) The Cardinal of the Kremlin was also a MysteryKit Challenge.
10) Black Beauty as was this lovely book, though for a CATWoman challenge. Definitely a childhood and adulthood favorite (she says gratefully!).
11) The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams. One one of the threads here there was discussion about different parts of Britain and where LT friends lived, and I thought, "Hey, I've got a book that has several different dialects as well as beautiful drawings of the Lake District." So I re-read it.
12) The Eight by Katherine Neville started as an additional August Techno-Thriller book, but really, it took a lot longer to read it than August.
13) Badger Game by Michael Bowen. It's high time to re-read this book. I met the author when he was signing it (back in the day when there were specialty bookstores) and enjoyed it then.

2022 General Reading



Here is a melange of thread. Cross stitch thread (which can be used for needlepoint, but wool is more traditionally used in that format) of different brands: Coats & Clark/Anchor, and DMC.

This will be the place where I add in just general reading I'm doing. Either a book for a F2F book club discussion, or a gift from a friend, or a mad dash into a bookstore and coming out with something because I just can't resist.

If there's something I like, I'll read it and post here.

1) Winter of the Witch is the final in this amazing series, and it doesn't fit in with this month's SFFKit challenge. But it has been sitting, waiting to be read, so it will go here. Proudly, in first place for this year.
2) Wintering by Katherine May. I've already started it, as the first in a set of gift books from a friend.
3) Pictures of an Exhibitionist by the late, great Keith Emerson. Yes, I have a copy. Go me!
4) Blood Cross by Faith Hunter. It was one of DH's Christmas books to me and it's high time I read it (February).
5) Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland edited by W. B. Yeats. On my shelves for a number of years and bears reading in the month of March.
6) The Scholar, the Sphinx, and the Shades of Nyx by A.R. Cook. I had evidently started it (the bookmark told me so!), and it's a quick lunchtime read.
7) The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow is on loan from a friend's daughter. I'll see my friend again in June, and this is a big book. It's quite intriguing, and I can't decide if it's hard to put down or I need to put it down because of the alternate reality of it.
8) Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman is a F2F bookclub book. Sure, I can read it in a few days, don't ya think?!
9) Humility Garden by Felicity Savage is the fantasy-substitute book for Magic's Silken Snare that I did not finish (above). It's definitely a book that has drawn me in, and the mingling of personal and political is well-done in this world.
10) Don't Feed the Monkey Mind by Jennifer Shannon is in the self-help genre but spoke to me so I bought it. And read it.
11) The Vixen by Francine Prose. Gift from DH last Yule and the opening sequence, about the Rosenberg trial, is a mirror into one family's real-time discussion about their execution.
12) Blood and Honor by Simon R. Green is one of those books I bought waaaay back when. It's been my goal this year (especially after reading "Wintering") to go through these old books, read them, and decide whether to keep them or not.
13) Troilus and Cressida by Geoffrey Chaucer. I did not know he had written this book until I found it in a book store. It's a nearly 100 year old copy, the translation is fantastic, and I'm just really glad I took the time to enjoy it.
14) The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. Gift last Christmas and it is really, really drawing me in.
15) Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, was also a gift last Christmas. I am surprised at how well-written this book is: Keefe goes for telling Story, with a capital "S," as a way to make the complex series of events make sense.
16) The Hallowed Isle by Diana L. Paxson. It is a unique re-telling of the Arthurian Legend with Paxson's amazing blend of historical research and bringing a story to life.

Happy reading in 2022. I will be looking for what you fill your cats with!

Thank you Tess! I will be filling them and look forward to chatting with you over the next year.

I love the musical theme! I have read almost no nonfiction since the pandemic started, and a lot more comfort reading because I just need it. So I do understand your wish to turn to old favourites and other fiction now.

Welcome back! Looking forward to many fun kitchen jam sessions in 2022 :)

>7 MissBrangwen: Thank you for confirming I'm not the only one. I hope you have a wonderful year of reading whatever it may be.

>8 rabbitprincess: Yes! Enjoy your kitchen jam sessions as well ;)

Good luck on those rereads. May some be worthy of keeping.

Great to see you all set-up and ready to get started! I think we all have been in need of comfort reads these last couple of years, but it's fun to mix up those lighter reads with some of the heavier stuff. Looking forward to following along with you in 2022!

>3 threadnsong: Love the connection with music and books. I am planning on highlighting some new-to-me albums in my thread.

>10 hailelib: Thank you so much. I think that's why I've been putting it off for so long, contemplating how they fit into my "now" life instead of my "then" life.

>11 DeltaQueen50: Yes! Thank you for all the themes over the past few years. You were definitely an inspiration for this year.

>12 markon: Thanks! I will BOLO for your thread and keep in touch with you.

Welcome to the 2022 challenge!

>14 thornton37814: Thank you so much! Glad to be here.

So 2022 has started off a bit . . . odd.

DH made pancakes this morning (which is 67 degrees, about 20 degrees higher than "normal," and rainy, so I'm inside instead of outside puttering around), I settled in to finish the knitting on a great-nibling's sweater, and then decided to catch up on some internet stuff. No email, no websites coming in, and so I said some "words" to my laptop and went in to clean its screen.

That was when I remembered a slight crash and a cat running in saying "I didn't do it! It wasn't me!" And sure enough, a calendar holder had fallen off the wall and knocked out the internet. On New Year's Day. *sheesh!* So no, kitty, you're right - you didn't do it!

Fortunately there is my phone's hot spot that can keep me connected, and a couple of books to start today/this weekend:

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters (picked up from the library Thursday, and the librarian seemed interested in it, too) and The Night Watchman. The latter is longer and I'll start it first, since it's for a F2F later this month. And I'd like to finish it before we all meet!

> I will finish tomorrow Red Land, Black Land, Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz also publishing under the name of Elizabeth Peters.

I don't have any cats but I always have to check the internet after my cleaning lady leaves as she sometimes knocks it out with her vaccuuming. Hopefully you are fully restored and the cat "who didn't do it" can rest easy.

Hope your internet woes are history . . . I picked up my dog from the groomer's today, and we are both happy he is home.

Be interested to see what you think of Night Watchman. I read it last year and enjoyed it, but it took a second look to see themes and threads that knit it together.

What a way to start the New Year! I hope nothing worse happens in the next 364 days. Happy reading!

Yes! My internet is back!! We are bundled, so we also had no cable, and couldn't watch Roku or Hulu without it going thru a hotspot on our cell. But, I changed up my routine for a bit and now I can catch up here.

>17 mnleona: Oh wow! She writes under a pseudonym? That's good to know. I'm fascinated with the Valley of the Kings and the different Pharaohs, not to mention the tomb robbers that form part of this book. It seems she has a Ph.D. in Egyptology which explains a lot.

>18 DeltaQueen50: Yes, she is now resting easy, though staring to "entice" me to leave off computering and go to a comfy chair so that she has a nice lap. I hope your cleaning lady's vaccuming doesn't knock out your internet for too long, or too often! Mine comes on Monday, and I can't wait to see her again.

>19 markon: I am . . . enthralled and disturbed by it, all at once. It reminds me of the 70's movie "Billy Jack" and how the Native Americans in that film are treated by the White townies. I'm really, really glad that I'm reading some escapist themed books to balance this one. The discussion at the book group will probably be pretty intense.

>20 MissWatson: Thank you! Me too!! How the world has changed, and how dependent are we on these wires and connections in our lives. Fingers crossed that the remainder of the year goes more smoothly.

>21 threadnsong: Two synonyms. Mertz is also Barbara Michaels.

Looks like all her books have been merged under Michaels, so you probably knew that already!

>22 pamelad: No, I had no idea! I liked her first book that she wrote as Elizabeth Peters and now that I know more about her studies as an Egyptologist, I can understand why.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
5*****
Category: 2022 Challenges - January AuthorCAT

*Note* I realized from some LT friends' threads that the AuthorCAT challenge for January was Indigenous authors, so I moved this book into a new category.

What an incredibly interesting and heartbreaking book, and one that I had a hard time putting down. The relatively modern (1950's) history of the era of "termination" between the US Government and tribes of Native Americans forms the backdrop of this book, set in the Chippewa reservation and Minneapolis.

The Native peoples are doing their best to live on the land that is left to them on their reservations, after the best farmland has been taken by White farmers. There are still skills to hunt, trap, and gather what foods the land provides. In addition, there is a jewel factory that employs mostly women tribal members; their work is to attach jewel slices to watch mechanisms. The title character of the night watchman is based on the author's own grandfather, who is the night watchman at the factory. He is also the main force in gathering together the people and signatures and money for the tribe to plead their case in Washington, DC, to keep their land and avoid termination.

In addition to Thomas, the title character, there is Pixie, a worker at the jewel factory who journeys to Minneapolis to try to find her sister, Vera, who has disappeared. Pixie finds the low-life scum who are able to guide her to her sister's baby, and also help her make a few hundred dollars in a dive bar's underwater tank. Wood Mountain is a boxer being trained by Stack Barnes, and both of them are kinda sorta in love with Pixie.

And yet, Erdrich makes it all work with her poetic language, her inclusion of Chippewa religion and rituals, and her storytelling gifts that help the tales of these widely different people all resonate for a long, long while.

And in other news . . .

Yes, there *is* snow in Atlanta! I woke up to rain, that nasty, cold, wet stuff coming out of a snow sky, but around noon it turned to snow. The big wet flakes that coated the ground, our cars, tree branches, all that. It's mostly gone off the ground now but the birds were happy to visit my feeder.

With colder temps, though, comes the difficulties of icy roads. We live next to a busy one and I hope there are no accidents.

Bubbling in the steamer pot are some yellow beets, soon to be joined by potatoes and a sweet potato. They will accompany some locally-farmed pork chops on this winter's eve.

>25 threadnsong: Wow, snow in Atlanta! The forecast for my neck of the woods (eastern Ontario) is 30 to 40 cm, probably more like 40.

I saw the predictions for this winter storm on the Weather Channel. It looks to be hitting the South East part of the continent and moving upwards. Lots of snow and ice predicted - stay safe!

>24 threadnsong: - Erdrich is becoming one of those authors that I want to devour her books now that I've found her. I haven't read this one yet but I do have this one on my TBR pile.

>25 threadnsong: It was pretty while it lasted. Glad you enjoyed Night watchman.

>26 rabbitprincess: *sigh* Enjoy your big snowdrifts! Ours only lasted till shortly after sunset, when it started raining.

>27 DeltaQueen50: Yes! Stayed indoors all day yesterday (except to take our dog out). DH even tried to take her for a walk but her little doggy paws were just too cold. Friends in Asheville saw 8-10" - close to what rabbitprincess was seeing in Ontario (if my conversion works!).

>28 dudes22: There's just something about the poetry of her writing, her clarity of observations, that is just remarkable. I can see why you want to devour her books. Speaking of which, I saw a MasterClass come across my feed from Joy Harjo, Native American Poet Laureate, on Poetic Thinking. I'm intrigued by it because of this book.

>29 markon: Absolutely, markon! Yeah, it was a great book to start off the new year.

I read in the News this morning that there were even snow flurries in the Florida Panhandle. Here in Upstate South Carolina we had at least four inches at our house and most of it is still there even though the temperature is above freezing now with bright sunshine.

>31 hailelib: Yes, Flurries here in the Panhandle! We had snow about 10 or 15 years ago. Granted an inch or so and it was gone when the sun came up, but still.

We had a real mix of precipitation in East Tennessee. We ended up with about 3 inches of the white stuff where I live, but it would have been much more if we had not had rain and sleet in the mix.

>31 hailelib: Four inches is a lot. Are you also now dealing with the next storm coming through? I had hopes for ATL but no, it passed us to the east.

>32 majkia: Yes! I remember! I think it was 2011? when there was snowfall in *all 50 states*. Cuz I guess we forget that Hawaii gets snow. I'm so glad you had some overnight.

>33 thornton37814: That's what happened to ours last weekend. The day started with rain, then it snowed, and it all got washed away when the snow turned to rain. I think that's the ending of Dan Fogelberg's "Another Auld Lang Syne" song, too!

I finished 2 books this week: Elizabeth Peters' The Curse of the Pharaohs and Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

While I was reading "Curse," I was appalled then intrigued when I read the exchanges between Emerson and Amelia. Appalled at the way that Emerson talked to his wife, and intrigued that Peters chose to have Amelia talk back to him in such strong language. The story is set in Victorian times, so the authenticity of how husbands talked to her wives was there. Yet Peters chose to have her main characters be her very own woman and not be cowed or disheartened by his disapproval.

She wrote it in 1981, so there would still have been a lot of re-discovery of earlier feminist writings (see below), as well as news about women's gains in the workplace, in social settings, and in the arts. I am glad she incorporated these then-modern changes into her protagonist as did her editor. Very important to have an editor on the same wavelength as the author.

She was not as successful with the descriptions of the inhabitants in and around the digs in Luxor, including the servants, but we have progressed since then to feel that frisson of "really??" when reading these descriptions.

"Herland" is a small book that fit into my travel bag when I started going back into the office in July. My bag has lots of pockets-ses, which is why I bought it, and I was looking for something small and light to carry along to read at lunch. I take the train to and from work, plus walking, so my bag contains lots of things, including my notebook and shoes, and "Herland" was one I had been meaning to re-read for a long, long time.

It formed many of my ideas that have held true for me since my mid-20's, and I wanted to see how it held up over time. Yes, it still does.

Reviews of both books will follow, either this afternoon or by next weekend!

>34 threadnsong: That next storm just missed us and hit further east. We just had a little rain which was fine with us.

I like the whole Amelia Peabody series but for all that Amelia was determined to be her own woman she was a product of Victorian England.

>36 hailelib: Yes, that's true. I found that, at least in this one (which is the first one where she's married), she does give as good as she gets. But sometimes reading the way Emerson talks to her . . . yech.

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters
4****
Category: 2022 Challenges - January MysteryKit

Another lively adventure with a memorable cast of characters, and our dear heroine Amelia Peabody at their head. By now, she and Emerson have had a son who is a bit of a scoundrel? Holy terror? Gifted?? His name, appropriately, is Ramses, and we meet him as a teething baby at the beginning of this book.

When another dig in Egypt a few years later meets with a murder of its leader, the prominent archeologist Sir Baskerville (from a different branch of the family), Emerson is naturally asked to finish the work, and naturally Amelia comes along. And Ramses is left with his Auntie so that the two archeologists can safely complete their work.

A curse, a half-completed dig in Luxor, and a group of rather eccentric characters all join forces to discover what's in the tomb, fend off the grave robbers, and solve the mystery that also explains the curse. Highly entertaining fun.

>28 dudes22: >30 threadnsong: I am currently reading Tracks by Louise Erdrich and I feel the same. The writing mesmerizes me even though I don't understand everything.

So the plan for today was to do some more shredding of old paperwork, bake bread since it's butt-ass cold here, and catch up with LT. And it looks like I have achieved all those goals!

A friend-of-friends has come into town so we'll be meeting him in a couple of hours for dinner. So yay - I don't even have to cook! Of course, now I'm on a deadline so I may not get everything caught up on LT that I wanted to, but that's what the other day in the weekend is for.

Oh, and I finished Sleeper Protocol and absolutely loved it. Read the first few chapters of Wintering to see if I would like it and I do. The part that I finished reading is where Katherine May is talking with her friend from Finland, who explains that they begin getting ready for winter long before winter comes. Once it comes, it is not possible to prepare because it is so intense in Finland. Which somehow resonates with me and is the reason I'm baking bread today. As though it's a preparation for something, or a way to pay homage to the cold. Not quite sure, but boy does the house smell good!

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gillman
3 1/2 ***
Category: Re-Reads

A classic of early feminist literature which pits late-Victorian-era men against a land full of women. These women have their own 2,000 year old history through parthenogenesis and seem to have solved all of society's problems.

The basic premise is a team of three "buddies" intentionally crash-land their bi-plane near an undiscovered country, and each is a typical male: Terry the philanderer who sees all women as passive conquests; Jeff the anthropologist who worships all women; and the narrator who, well, is a narrator.

The women they encounter are strong, agile, and full of questions about the culture and customs of the world outside Herland. What are the Mothers like in their world? How are children brought up? What are pets, and why are animals kept in the first place? How is food grown and distributed?

Each man is given a teacher, whom he eventually marries in a ceremony that is more for the men's benefit than for the women's. Alima chooses to marry Terry, Ellador the narrator, and Celis for Jeff. Which I suppose is an inevitable plotline of this book.

The impact that this book had on my worldview during my mid-20s is still ongoing. The idea that some women are better at raising children than a mother, a woman's body being strong along with her mind being inquisitive, and marriage being a bond between two equals are part of my adult foundations.

>41 threadnsong: This has been on my Kindle forever. Time to move it up!

>42 beebeereads: Fantastic! I do look forward to your thoughts upon reading it.

SQUEEEE!!!!!

This could be put into "the best laid plans" category, or it can be the "OMG I can't believe this really happened!" category. I'll let you decide.

See, my plans were to finish catching up on LT and my friends' threads this afternoon into the evening, after a day spent gardening. Then finishing more in Winter of the Witch to make it under the January 31 deadline of the end of the month.

But then something arrived in my mailbox . . .

I don't often buy from Amazon. It's me, and my love of independent bookshops. My aunt and late uncle bought me Amazon gift cards for years and I kept stockpiling them till I decided on something. I'm a Libra - deciding is not in my nature.

Finally, over the Thanksgiving holiday, 2017, I came across a listing for Keith Emerson's biography, Pictures of an Exhibitionist at the same time I saw the listing for Lucky Man by his late bandmate, Greg Lake. Those of you who know late 60's - early 70's rock know that they both died in 2016. Greg's autobiography was not yet finished, and I was too upset by both of their deaths to even *think* about buying either book in 2016.

But, fast-forward to the above mentioned holiday and year, and I realized it was time to buy Greg's book for myself, rather than ask someone to buy it for me for Christmas. My local bookstore couldn't get it. I *had* to buy it on Amazon. So I did. They provided me absolution when they realized they couldn't get it directly, just so you know.

And Amazon said, "See all these gift cards? Wouldn't you like to use one? Oh, and here are other things by ELP. And books on Progressive Rock. And maybe you'd like . . . " as it does. I bought "Lucky Man" and some solo CD's of Emerson's, and saw the huge price of "Pictures" and decided $45 was too much to spend. I can remember my musical hero through his music, thought I.

Still, I was intrigued. So I kept checking over the years, and saw the price go up to $200. Then double. Then nearly $1,000. I also started combing the shelves of several local used book stores, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I could a) find it and b) get it for a more reasonable price.

Nope.

But then ELP came out with a commemorative book last year, and it contains excerpts from "Pictures." And yes, I bought myself the commemorative book and treat myself to a few pages, learning and remembering the history and seeing the photos of those times and concerts and the musicians who made such great music that kept me whole and sane and playing music.

And then I thought I'd take a look on Amazon a few weeks ago to see what the price for "Pictures" was. Yup, it had come down. Significantly. To less than $150. And Amazon said, "Hey, yeah, so, you've got some credit and some extra gift cards, and yeah, we can sell you this book. You only have to shell out $50 or so." So I did.

And yes! My book arrived this afternoon!! I can finally read the words of this musical genius and one of my true, all-time heroes, with all his thoughts and faults and moments of triumph and tragedy.

So, it'll be a while before I come back up for air! See everyone then!!

Enjoy your book and the time you are spending with Keith Emerson!

>44 threadnsong: Woo hoo! Sounds like it was meant to be :)

>44 threadnsong: Sometimes it pays to stockpile gift cards. Enjoy your gift!

>45 DeltaQueen50: >46 rabbitprincess: >47 VivienneR: Yes! Enjoying this time with Keith Emerson, for sure. And in fact, I looked yesterday, and the cheapest book was $250. I am so, so glad I picked the right time to buy it!

I gotta say, too, that I'm glad I took a few years to decide to read it. A lot has changed in the time between the 1960's rock era and now as it relates to women. A LOT. Several of the reviewers mentioned the ridiculous number of sexual exploits and innuendos, and they were not kidding. I realize our heroes are humans and come from a time and a place (quote intended) that makes them who they are, and they are not perfect beings.

And neither are we, and that's part of living in the world. With heroes. Who changed the face of rock in their own way and gave the rest of us inspiration to become who we are.

Sleeper Protocol by Kevin Ikenberry
4 1/2 ****
Category: 2022 Challenges - January SFF Kit

*Note* I realized shortly after starting this book that it's not the main character who is morally ambiguous, it's everyone else! I still entered it in the Kit challenge because I thought it gave a nice little twist. The morally ambiguous characters were the background ones who held all the power, so in a sense, they were "main" as well. And had their own narrations in the plot.

What a really good book! The premise was straight-up sci-fi, full of futuristic flying machines and neural implants, space wars and human cloning. But in the best (to me) science fiction there emerges the human story: a recently awakened clone who must discover his identity, with no help on this quest but his own emerging memories.

Also added in is the human race whose interstellar colonies have been devastated by aliens, but who themselves no longer believe in active warfare. And throw in a chain-smoking politician headquartered in Paris named Neige diplomizing with a wizened general who understands the need to continue raising re-awakening soldiers, and you have the makings of a great read. I also was intrigued by the professor of cybernetics who chose to meet the re-awakened soldier, though her ability to trace and re-program code was a bit too "pat." I did admire the ambiguity of the key players and also of the world-building. Seems that humans still don't have all the answers even 300 years in the future.

Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
5*****

Category: General Reading (January)

What a way to end this series! It starts in the days after Vasya has called down the Phoenix and then the snow, on the City of Moscow. Many have died and many buildings have burned. Vasya sets out on her handsome stallion Solovey's back to escape, but the evil priest Konstantin sets his eye and the crowd on her, and she is instead taken to the pyre to be burned as a witch.

While it is not a spoiler to say she escapes, the method of her escape sets the stage for the rest of the plot of the book and her growth into her own power. She has always been a bit of an oddball, since girlhood, with her ability to see the Chyerti (the household divinities of the Russian people) and her fascination with Morozko, the Winter King. In this book she grows both within her own magical powers and with the deeper understanding that is always necessary in the magick.

The glossary and historical notes at the end of this book were much appreciated, especially for someone schooled in Western European languages and not those of the East. And it was fun to see where reality met up with this author's imagination.

I will also say, because it broke my heart (and Vasya's as well), there is a tragedy at the beginning that is fully resolved by the end.

>50 threadnsong: The trilogy that this is from looks promising.

>50 threadnsong: >51 hailelib: I loved this trilogy as well!

>51 hailelib: It's definitely worth a shot! I took my time reading it because Rus' (as it's called in the trilogy) = winter and the descriptions of the snow and the cold and how humans live with and despite it make me inclined to not read it in, say, June.

>52 christina_reads: Yay! Glad to hear it. I was both glad and sorry to finish it. Guess that means I'll have to go back and re-read the trilogy someday ;)

So I'm winding my way through three books right now, and that seems to be the best description for these long winter nights:

Wintering by Kate Moses is a lovely, slow-paced, inclusive book about what to do during the times of rest and preparation for winter. I've even begun to look at my home through this lens: take a room, on a weekend, and clean a part of it. Yes, the whole ____ room looks messy, so just dust the top 2 shelves of the book case and look through the "stuff" on a table, and suddenly the enormous task of "I gotta clean!" becomes much more manageable.

Pictures of an Exhibitionist is one I am glad I waited to read. Our heroes are all too human, and Keith Emerson was no exception. Reading about his creation of his music is fascinating and has me still in awe of his genius. I found many records of The Nice back in the day, tho' it's been years since I listened to them; no record player on my stereo!

Blood Cross by Faith Hunter is just a good excursion into a different reality. But how I wish cover artists would get their pictures looking like what really goes on in the story! I like that it's not a "shoot-'em-up only" novel, and that the worlds of witches and vampires are beginning to intersect.

Well this has been a productive month, short though it may be!

I finished Wintering and Blood Cross over the weekend, and there could not be two more dissimilar books on my shelf.

After I finished "Wintering" I found myself taking in the ideas and message, and spent time this weekend preparing. Not for winter, but for spring. And the inevitable time when I will move out of this house. De-cluttering, cleaning the front porch (including washing the railings). Just a bit, not the whole thing, but enough.

And while I do enjoy Faith Hunter's creative take on vampires and the darker underbelly of urban fantasy, I did not find myself on a Harley Davidson or getting vamp killer stakes loaded up! Nope, just enjoyed vicariously the spinning of a tale.

Reviews coming.

Wintering by Katherine May
5*****
Category: General Reading (February)

A lyrical, kind, insightful book on taking a step back to re-group. But it's more than that - it shows the path that Katherine May took when she had to stop her own life in the face of illness. The biggest strength is her way of giving validation to those times in our lives when we, too, are faced with the challenges life throws at us, and the rightness of retreating from the world to emerge whole on the other side. Her observations of her native English seaside and towns add a grounding to this slim volume.

She speaks with a friend from Finland, who talks about the steps the Finns have to take each year to prepare for the winter. Because it always comes. She speaks with a Druid and joins a group celebrating the Midwinter sunrise at Stonehenge. She discusses dormice, those quintessential English sleepers who spend so much time fattening up before slipping into their annual hibernation.

I found myself taking heart from her examples and the underlying message: winter will always come around again. The challenge is how we prepare for and nurture ourselves during those times.

Blood Cross by Faith Hunter
4****
Category: General Reading (February)

A fast-paced, full of action combination mystery thriller and supernatural exploration of the New Orleans vampires and witches. And boy do I wish the cover artists would paint their heroines more like the book and less like . . . their fantasies.

Anyway, Jane Yellowrock is still in New Orleans and invited to a party of all of the clans of vamps. There is a great deal of detail and history discussed during the party, and then the inevitable action happens to start this novel off quickly.

Also part of this book, in kind of a character-building way, is her best friend Molly, Molly's two kids, and a bayou ceremony with a pair of Eastern Cherokee women shamans. This latter creates a depth of understanding and calm for Jane during these turbulent times, as Molly's children are kidnapped by rogue vampire/witch siblings as part of a long history of their attempting to use witch children in a blood ritual to minimize the madness of vampires when they are first turned. In this world, the "dovoveo" is a decade long event. And witches have a gene that makes them witches.

All in all, an eventful book in the urban fantasy genre, where police files contain case histories of vampires and witch children kidnapping, and former Marines who live in public housing and help in the action.

My quibbles with this book are slight: I would like to see less of the "Jane Yellowrock stays awake for 3 days and nights straight and manages to function", which seems to be a fault of publishing houses and police procedurals. I do like how the has both Rick and Bruiser as her love interests, and still has not bedded either one.

Pictures of an Exhibitionist by Keith Emerson
4****
Category: General Reading (February)

Yes, I really, really finished it! Didn't give it the full 5***** and a heart, like I would his music, and the review follows to explain a bit why:

Keith Emerson is one of my musical heroes and his music became part of my life in so very many ways: from studying for college exams listening to the Live Works album (with the symphony orchestra), to playing "Pictures at an Exhibition" starting in college, to meeting him at the 1986 Emerson, Lake & Powell tour. His ability to re-conceive of music in so many styles was a magnet, and his audacity to bring keyboards front and center in rock and roll fit with my love of the piano.

This book is fun and quirky, much like I'm sure he was on his good days. His descriptions and turns of phrase kept me on my reading toes and pointed out that he was more than a dull rock star. Other reviewers have pointed out how detailed the events are with his first band, The Nice, and I really have to agree. He puts a lot of detail into his early years, childhood, school exploits, and the like, which is expected in an autobiography. But. While his career started with The Nice, they had nowhere near the impact of ELP on the world of music.

And glossing over the part of the book that ELP fans want to know about (how did he develop the Fugue in Endless Enigma? Where did the inspiration for Karn Eval 9 come from, and how did that music develop?) might have been because so much more of ELP was documented than The Nice was. Maybe also the constant fighting in the band was still troubling and he wanted to just dash off the bare minimum about the band and their history. Or maybe he just wound down from the first part of the book and couldn't continue the momentum.

Another troubling aspect was the constant reference and relaying of his and bandmates' sexual exploits. Unnecessary, and makes me wonder who he was trying to impress. Loved ya for your music, Keith.

But. I'm glad I found this book at a halfway reasonable price and read it. He was a friggin' musical genius, and I grieve for his death by suicide.

So here's my opportunity to rant on real life (not reading life):

Why in the world, when gasoline is priced at nearly $5 a gallon, are employers deciding that workers have to return to in-person work? Are they thinking that after 2 years, everybody has to up-end their lives *again* so that they can see warm bodies?

I don't get it. I just don't get it.

And I sympathize now, more than ever, since I'm faced with going back into an office, with the plight of the lower-level "essential workers." It's why I put a mask on when a server comes by to check on my order, or thank the (mostly) women standing behind the plastic dividers at the local grocery store. And I realize it's a bit elitist and hypocritical to be complaining that I have to go back when others have not had that choice due to their jobs. I get that. I'm frustrated by that dichotomy, too.

But on my job search, I'm looking for "remote" first, "hybrid" second, and not even considering "on-site." Cuz the kind of work I do, I really don't need to be in an office.

Wouldn't it be cool if the unused office spaces in downtown areas got converted into, say, apartments? Where real people could live and pay a decent rent, and still have access to the local tobacconist or sandwich shop?

OK, rant over. Thank you for listening to my whining!

Across the Barricades by Joan Lingard
5***** and a Heart
Category: Re-reads (March)
Fitting that I have Irish musical instruments for this category!

"All they want to do is take walks, hold hands . . . but Sadie is Protestant and Kevin is Catholic, and in Northern Ireland those two don't mix" was the tag line to the Scholastic Book Club (or a similar one) in the late 70's. It captures the essence of this book, as it is not just the threat of bombings and the British Army that puts barriers in their way, but their families and gossipy neighbors. "Did you see your Sadie recently?" is one conversation that begins, and involves parents, siblings, and neighbors into the lives of this young couple. Also described are the propaganda that parents learn in their Lodge or in their pubs about the other side, then throw back at their children or at one another in a fit of anger.

And the bombings and threats become very personal in this book, as do the instances of young boys running around practicing shooting one another. It's very chilling, and all not so long ago. And still relevant in so many instances. While it is considered a "young adult" novel, it is geared towards the "adult" in that phrase and presents a young reader with realities that others of their age have had to confront on a daily basis.

I read this book over, and over, and over again. Hint: there was a boy band in the mid- to late 70's that included an Irish member . . . and he was the one I had the crush on! If you know who the band is, you'll know their names and songs, and I've heard a few on Sirius XM recently. They were pretty darn good, too.

So this book gave me insight into young love and family pressure and what The Troubles were all about. Except I didn't totally get it, I was more into the young love, until this re-read. And I gotta hand it to Joan Lingard: she does not hold back on details. Family pressure, bombings, the constant looking over one's shoulder, all weave together effortlessly.

>59 threadnsong: I feel your pain! And >60 threadnsong: I'm taking a hit!

>59 threadnsong: Yeah, the bums-in-seats approach to management is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous if their argument is "but we need to be in person to collaborate!" but you spend most of your time collaborating with employees in other offices, cities, or countries, so you're on Zoom all the time anyway.

>60 threadnsong: Have you watched Derry Girls?

Great rant and I am agree with what you are saying. Luckily, I am among the retired so don't need to do any unnecessary driving.

I also give a big thumbs up to Derry Girls!

>59 threadnsong: >62 rabbitprincess: thumbs up to your pov.
>63 DeltaQueen50: I am retired as well, but so many in my life circle are facing these challenges.
For me, I am digging in my heels on my volunteer work which is so much more effective and efficient done remotely, rather than wasting commuting time and suffering no-shows, etc. OK mini rant...sorry.

>61 Tess_W: Thank you on both counts! I am really, really glad it stood up to the test of time.

>62 rabbitprincess: After my first time back to a "collaborative" office environment now, all I can say is "Who needs to collaborate with whom?" It was chaotic and loud and so hard to get any work done. *grumble*

No, I have not watched Derry Girls. Is it a movie or streaming thingie?

>63 DeltaQueen50: Thank you for your sympathy and understanding. And for your recommendation of Derry Girls!

>64 beebeereads: Whew. I have had those crazy self-doubts since I posted this rant, that I'd get slammed for being hypocritical or elitist, and I'm soooo glad that I'm writing with kindred spirits. And yes - volunteer work can be such a soul-wringing job with no-shows, unmotivated volunteers, and the price of gas. No worries on the mini-rant here ;)

The Door Through Washington Square by Elaine Bergstrom
4****
Category: Challenges (March) and Re-Read (March)

A really fascinating book about a young woman's journey through herself and time and her ancestral family. Young Deirdre MacCallum is called to the bedside of her aging great-grandmother and given the keys to her Washington Square home. While incorporating these sudden events into her life, thinking it would only be a short vacation, she instead finds herself walking through a door into the past.

This book is part time travel and part historical fiction as it deals with the real-life Aleister Crowley and one of his Scarlet Women. In the Washington Square home live the family of the great grandmother, Bridget, who fall apart by tragedy until Crowley joins the story. At which point, in this setting, the ritual magick for which he is known becomes a central theme, involving Bridget, Crowley, and the Scarlet Woman who is a close friend and confidante of Bridget.

It is a well-written combination of historical fiction, alternate realities, time travel, and a young woman's self-discovery in the midst of her life upending itself. I enjoyed its depth and venturing into strange and different stories.

>65 threadnsong: I watch Derry Girls on Netflix, but it may be available elsewhere.

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
5*****
Category: Re-Read (March)

What is it about March and this book?! Below is my original review, and additional notes afterwards:

OK, so this one was an extraordinary adventure. No matter what Patricia A. McKillip writes, it seems as though I am in her enjoyment of the world/subject with her. This book is no exception.

It takes place in the library of a castle, buried so deep in the caverns beneath this castle (and the castle is on a cliffside, so dark and cold are two active words here), with a scribe who is part of the library staff. When the new Queen is crowned, she begins the translation of a book of fishes, but surprise! a new book, this one of thorns, is surreptitiously given to her. Just the idea of alphabets written in thorns, in fishes, is pure creative genius. And the interweaving of the story of Axis and his beloved Kane, including the mystery of their kingdom, is an extraordinary mark of genius.

Also blended in is Nepenthe's love interest, a student at the magic school that seems to hover or be invisible, depending on the tasks set out for the students; a new Queen who does not seem equal to the task; twelve Crowns who may go to war for the chance to overthrow this new Queen; and a loving pair of older wizards just to remind us that wisdom is earned and adventures don't only come to the young.

Re-read 2022: I enjoyed it as much as I did before, and with it being a quick read this time I think I understood the plot even more. McKillip's language is still as rich and varied and powerful as it ever was.

Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland ed. by W. B. Yeats
4****
Category: General Reading (March)

A worthy collection of tales, short stories, snippets, and even a few poems covering all manner of magickal types from Ireland: Trooping Fairies and Solitary Fairies, Ghosts, Tir n'an Og, and Saints and Priests. Some are told in the Irish dialect, others in a more straightforward language, and all have a different flavor to them. They're not so much morality tales, unless the moral is "Do good unto the faeries, for they will know if you wish them ill. And by all the saints, keep your wits about you when you encounter them!"

Somehow, my plans for getting all caught up last weekend with everybody's threads went the way of the Wee Folk! Yard work followed by conversations with neighbors ended in beer, and we were the better for it.

The way I figure it, i can always add in my book reviews; friends and yardwork are the fleeting things that make life richer.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
4****

Category: 2022 Challenges - April CATWoman

This is the only book of Toni Morrison's that I have been able to read all the way through and it was powerful. It tells the story of young Pecola by telling the stories of the people around her. Morrison's descriptions and insights were nuanced and well-told.

What also makes this book effective is the generational nature of abuse, not just from one generation to the next but also the ways in which abuse happens within a generation. Pecola's parents subject one another to abuse as their lives together break down. She witnesses the abuse and rather than run away like her brother she retreats into herself. She has nowhere else to turn for guidance or comfort.

And I was struck by the insight into how compassion and empathy are luxuries that few of the characters can afford. Generations of African-American families have gone through sexual humiliation and degrees of violence, and the scars become visible as harsh words or actions directed towards another. To understand and be forgiven is not an automatic response, and I saw that emptiness as another, larger tragedy for the characters and their tales.

>71 threadnsong: What a great review! I've read several Morrison's and liked them all--this one is now on my WL.

>59 threadnsong: Hi, I just joined the group and am stopping by your topic. I've enjoyed reading your reviews here. Also, (in my humble opinion) I very much understand your rant about some work conditions and misguided expectations by management. The pandemic is not over and employee safety should still be a top priority. Plus, I would think that saving fuel and energy should be another consideration. (The same thought goes to volunteer work, which I will no longer participate in.)

Anyway, I wish you some good reading for your 2022 challenges, in the coming months. Good luck with your remote job search, too. :-)

>71 threadnsong: The Bluest Eye was the first Toni Morrison that I have read and it encouraged me to try some more of hers. So far I have read and liked Sula, and read and not really cared for Beloved.

>72 Tess_W: Excellent! I look forward to hearing what your insights are for it.

>73 Ann_R: Welcome to the group, and thank you for stopping by to drop me a line and read my reviews. Isn't it interesting how it's we book nerds who understand how pandemics work? Thankfully, since my rant, I have found a new job that is in the healthcare industry. So yeah, vaccines are mandatory prior to employment. While I do have to be in the office while I train, it's with other fully-vaxxed folks *and* I will be able to be 100% remote when I'm permanent.

>74 DeltaQueen50: Glad to know you also read it and were inspired! I liked the movie version of Beloved and started to read it, but try as I might I couldn't find enough threads (!) of the story to follow it through.

You know how there are some books that just kind of make an impact on your life in a lot of different ways? Well, Wintering has been the one for me this year. I've been preparing for winter in my home, or in this case, getting rid of the clutter and tending to making it attractive to future buyers. Because our "winter" is that someday we will not live here.

I discovered a handyman on social media and decided to ask him to do a couple of projects. The little ones, that you always learn to live with and never quite get around to doing. Like the paint in the ceiling of the kitchen, the inevitable mildew that's starting to appear in the master bath ceiling (even using Kilz pre-painting), and hanging a new ceiling fan in the bedroom. And each of these things has had their wintering feel for me.

For the bathroom, last weekend I cleaned out the shelves in the closet. Yes, *those* shelves. With the extra containers of hair stuff. And how many boxes of band-aids do we really need? And how gross is the top of the plastic containers where we have all the first aid stuff stored? That sort of thing. A bucket of soapy water, new shelf paper, and a Saturday afternoon and done!! I feel less embarrassed having a workman come into my bathroom and clean off the ceiling paint to get rid of the mildew.

Over this past week we went to both Big Box Stores to find a new ceiling fan and holy cow! The drabness of ceiling fans these days! Ours is so decorative and detailed, and what there is to buy now is just blah. Minimal artistry at the metal part where the blades join, no filigree work or pretty decorative details, just throw some blades onto some lights and move onto the next one. We did finally find a style that looked pretty and tasteful. I just hope it will not be too heavy for our old ceiling! Oh, and we're replacing the ceiling fan that came with the house when we bought it, 25+ years ago. So, it's time.

Finally, today was to prep the kitchen for the ceiling work. We have those kitchen shelves that have space at the top where you can display/store vases and serving bowls and decorative things, and then forget about them until moments like this. A few boxes from the liquor store, some extra bubble wrap, and a whole lotta soap and water to get all the dust and grease off, and everything is safely packed into boxes for this repair work.

Just feeling so clean and cleared out with these projects, and using the message I got from "Wintering" of not feeling pressured to prepare for eventualities, but knowing that they will come and the better prepared you are, the easier the transition will be.

>76 threadnsong: Taking a BB for this one. I feel like I could use some Wintering myself.

>76 threadnsong: Have not read Wintering and do not really know the definition of the term, but from what you have described, I'm doing some of these same things. We have lived in our house since 1979. It's on 5 acres with a pool. It is becoming too much work to maintain, or at least more than we now wish to expend. We know that in 2-5 years we will probably down-size. It's a shame, because our house is not too big (3 beds 2 baths), but the land, pool, mowing/trimming, is the stickler and we don't want to spend our retirement funds to pay somebody to care for the yard/lawn for about 7 months of the year. It does feel good to accomplish what most people would feel are small jobs, doesn't it? My next "job" is to take everything out of the vanity in the owner's bathroom, put down new shelf paper and clean the bottles of soap, etc., that I want to save. I know that some have been down there for 10+ years. I'm in agreement with you about the fans--they are just to plain and unattractive these days as compared to even 20 years ago! Good luck with your "wintering."

>78 Tess_W: Yes, to those little jobs, and I cannot imagine having to maintain 5 acres and a pool. Either one of those would be a week's worth during good weather and I totally agree that spending one's retirement to maintain is not what your retirement funds were intended. I do hope you get a great sense of satisfaction with throwing and disposing and cleaning all those dusty bottles and soap and getting rid of stuff!

I checked back for my reference with "wintering," and the author begins her description of it as part of Finnish culture. Every year, winter comes and it is long and dark. And to prepare, in the spring and summer, the Finns gather berries and vegetables, prepare and can, clean and repair homes, all those things that will keep them warm and safe and fed during the long months of winter. It is part of their life cycle, their yearly calendar, in the way that US culture has summer vacations that everyone prepares for (whether they actively have school-aged children or not) or spring break, or Labor Day weekend. Just part of the Finnish calendar, and used to prepare for the inevitable. Even self-care, since she talks at the beginning of the book of her over-worked and -stressed body that falls ill and forces her to take a break.

The Wandering Unicorn by Manuel Mujica Lainez, trans. Mary Fitton
3 1/2 ***

Category: 2022 General Reading (May)

This is a spectacular book about the Middle Ages and the Crusades, and love denied and the Lusignan family of Poitiers and their resident fairy, Melusine. She appears, even now, on the carvings on the Chateau (and she tells how she transported the stones to build it, being a fairy and all). Mujica Lainez breathes beautiful life into her story and into the world she inhabited, down to her vengeful mother and conniving sisters, and brings the time period to life.

The story then continues through the Crusades and the fight for Jerusalem through one of her descendants with whom she falls desperately in love centuries later. All of the panorama of knights on horseback, chivalry, hermits, living conditions, and lives filled with regret are covered here through Melusine's voice. It is eloquent, funny, biting, and insightful, especially as she is "writing" in modern times and has gained insight into her story through reading Proust and Freud.

What gave this story a lower star rating than I would have hoped is the amount of detail Mujica Lainez gets bogged down in place of Story. I know he did his research and was quite the scholar. But we do not need every single rippling of cloth to know that it was multi-hued. Or every single battle in the Crusades during the fall of Jerusalem. Or the list of cloth in the tapestries that were destroyed by soldiers. Those parts, while lovely and well-researched, seemed more a self-accolade about the research he had done and an author in need of reinforcement of his prowess.. And the ending seemed too contrived and sudden and with little invested in Melusine's story into the Now.

>79 threadnsong: Thanks for the Finnish definition of wintering. We do these things, also, 6 cords of wood split and stacked to heat with in the winter, I can about 200 pints/quart of garden veggies, etc. Our "wintering" starts in about June (strawberry season) and runs until it gets cold. We set our goal of this winter preparation for about 20 minutes per day (times 2) and we usually get it accomplished. (Although 1 load in the pressure canner is 30 minutes of prep-or more, and then usually 75-90 minutes for processing). I try to can when I have 7 empty jars, so the job doesn't become so overwhelming.

And now I will post about why I am glad I spent the time to clean shelves in Wintering-type preparation for some home repairs: the clean-up afterwards, and the knowledge that the guys are not done yet, would be overwhelming if I didn't have some sort of ownership of my space.

We are still living with things in boxes, in different rooms, in piles, and after the first round of repairs there was dust *everywhere.* That fine, white, construction dust was on sooo many surfaces. Plus, because the areas being fixed were the bathroom and kitchen, shower curtains and towels and the normal clutter on kitchen shelves were up, down, back up, then back down.

So in a sense, having the prep work done and organized has made the chaos much more manageable. Knowing that finding a handyman is difficult these days has brought my level of aggravation with the miscommunication down as well. I know it may seem a bit of a stretch to equate wintertime preparation with home repair preparation, but I'm feeling a sense of control in the midst of chaos. "This project is done, this larger project is chaotic and unfinished, but it, too, will be complete" is kinda the mantra I'm feeling echo in my brain.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
4****

Category: 2022 Challenges - May CATWoman

Re-read as well and oh my what fun! Ten strangers marooned on an island, each knowing their host more or less, treated to hospitality . . . and honesty! From early, early on we meet the strangers as they make their way to their holiday setting the stage for their character in a very innovative way.

And after supper we find out why they have been invited to this coastal island: a recording played on a gramophone lists each guest and what death they caused. So then we are taken into the mind of each guest, the denial, the shrug, followed by each meeting his or her fate by someone on the island.

Warning: An era-specific nursery rhyme and figurines of "Indians" that are interconnected are cringeworthy in their descriptions.

The Scholar, the Sphinx and the Shades of Nyx by A.R. Cook
3***

Category: 2022 General Reading

A young man's journey from his home in Spain to his apprenticeship in Paris is strangely interrupted by a series of adventures in an inn that includes a band of travelers. Most are Rom (formerly Gypsies) and they are led by a Sphynx. Young David does his best to escape from her (and their) clutches, until some conversations with a Scottish juggler helps him see the worth of his new traveling companions.

Events transpire, David is transported into the darkness of the mythical world as well as into its healing. There is a dark aspect that has taken over this Sphinx along with other mythical beings, and David is drawn to finding and helping his new friends.

While YA is not my chosen genre, I found much to be satisfying with this book: David goes through his inner growth, central characters are women, and many world myths are explored. That said, there was a bit too much in the way of journeying and exploring, and the inner voyaging was often lost in the new locale.

>82 threadnsong: Sounds like you are a great organizer!

>85 Tess_W: Thank you! And I definitely needed all my organizing Super Powers for this project.

But it's done! And my ceilings look fantastic. Which is such a homeowner thing to say, isn't it?

And yes, the tiny construction project is done, and I now understand the chaos my friends have encountered when they have redone kitchens or expanded houses or whatever. And that was all in the Before Times so amplify the communication, cost, and timing by a lot. But I'm glad we got started.

I found this company on social media where they post pictures of the work they've done. They specialize in older homes, and since mine was built in the 1950's with plaster-and-lathe walls, I felt very confident in their abilities. And we're "inviting" them back for another project, this one outside.

An interesting conversation happened while the guys were wrapping up for the project: the main worker stated his mother's birth year and I realized I was his mother's age. *GULP!* AND that he was born the year we moved into the house. I so easily think back to when we first moved in, the changes we saw and went through (like, the advent of the internet and use of websites instead of phone books), that for him are his entire life.

DH is cooking dinner tonight, leaving me plenty of time to write and post book reviews of the *3* additional books I finished this month.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
5*****

Category: 2022 General Reading

What a terrific book! It is a reason that I join in my book club reads, as it is modern fiction, well-written, and leads to so many interesting discussions. The premise is that of young-ish Eleanor Oliphant who has a very measured and predictable life; her habits are almost obsessive-compulsive. Almost. The bottles of vodka every weekend point to a different sort of compulsion.

Add to Eleanor's life an IT geek from her office who smokes and wears athletic shores instead of a tie, an elderly man who falls near them, mutual families who are welcoming or abusive, and you have a story that operates on a number of different levels. I started it one night and finished it a couple of nights later in time for book club night.

Really appreciate the discussion of wintering earlier -- coming to it now, and the message resonates with me as well. I'm glad the little project is done. :)

>88 threadnsong: I haven't actually ever read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Somehow I had thought it was a series written by Elizabeth Strout -- I must have it mixed up in my head with Olive Kitteridge. The fact that you enjoyed this one so much makes me think I should find/suggest it for book club too!

>89 pammab: It is . . . intense. But I did read it in 2 1/2 evenings of intense reading (there's that word again!), and it is the author's first book. There is lots and lots of opportunity for discussion, though trigger warnings are also relevant.

Let me know how your book club suggestion pans out!

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
5***** and a favorite

Category: 2022 Re-reads

Where do I begin? This book is dense and multi-faceted, and worth every hour and brain cell and glimpse into post-Templar monastic life. The mystery is more relevant in the film adaptation, while the mystery of the Labyrinth and the conflicts between the different Orders are the main part of the book.

Set "somewhere" in Italy in 1327 and written by the aged Adso, he recounts his journeys as a young man with his master, William of Baskerville, to solve a suicide (later two, later three murders) within a Franciscan monastery. William must also argue for a monk, Michael, who is shortly to journey to the Pope in Avignon to argue for the sanctity of the poverty of Christ. Arguments against the Benedictines, who hold that the Church should be rich in material things.

I don't profess to understand, or sometimes even follow, the various power-plays between the sects of Franciscans, Benedictines, Cluniacs, Minorites, and other monastic orders, except in the broadest possible scope. What I did find fascinating was the animosity between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emporer and how each side vied to gain the upper hand. And how, sadly, the ruthless Inquisitor Bernard Gui wins the unconscionable arguments.

While re-reading this I found my original pen drawing of the labyrinth, with its towers and openings and polygon sides. The search that William and Adso make of the labyrinth-library is meticulous and leads me to wonder if such a building ever existed. Just like the Library of Alexandria, all of the forever-lost learning is a central tragedy. As is the treatment of the poor, illiterate peasant girl and condemnation of so-called heretics.

A brilliant work by a brilliant mind.

The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
3***

Category: 2022 Challenges - May CATWoman

Better than a 3 1/2 star read? Not as good as a 4? I struggled with how I felt about this book throughout my time reading it. It has been a ground-breaker in feminist literature and I really held high hopes for it.

Much of its insight into women's conditioning still holds true: recent social media revelations about how young women view their bodies in a negative light are as relevant as when the tweens saw "perfect women" on the color glossy pages of 60's magazines. And hated their own bodies as a result. Women earning significantly less than men. Still. Women struggling in the arts and sports to achieve what their male counterparts have achieved (see: US Women's Soccer). Greer's references to studies of rural women in post-Elizabethan England, who married their husbands for love and were equal with him in running the household; we were right there, until the demands of family forced so many Western women to resign their jobs (see: 2020).

The cringe-worthiness of dated references to African-Americans or members of the LGBTQ community are on full display here. The publications and studies are now mostly obscure, though she does pull out good historical quotes by and about women.

But. The contempt with which Greer writes about and to housewives, her denigrations about their abilities, including her own mother, are revealing. By the end of the book I had to wonder: What was she trying to achieve? Her paternalism, her lack of compassion, and her general "snark" meant that. I. Just. Couldn't. Praise her more than as an ardent second wave feminist whose work did not stand the test of time.

>88 threadnsong: I must get to this one on my TBR for so long!

Oh yay! Yes, it is a quick read (at least it was for me), in part because I had less than a week to read it in time for my F2F book group. I do hope to read your review when your do finally move it from "TBR" to "Read!"

A little bit of ruminating here. About books. Before I catch up on everyone else's threads and postings and stuff.

Some books are like a good rich wine. Or a fine piece of chocolate cake (and if chocolate's not your thing, then feel free to insert "hazelnut coffee" or "caramel cheesecake" or "peach cobbler" instead). And i know I've said this sort of thing before on other posts over the years but like old family tales, it bears repeating.

I'm in the middle of one book that I thought I would finish, despite its size, in a month to 6 weeks. But I really, really have to savor it. There's just something about picking it up, getting into the story, and then putting it down in order to delay its tale. And its writing style. And all the subtleties that are its undercurrent.

All that said, I'm relieving myself of the onus of paying attention to the month in which I "scheduled" this book above, and am instead celebrating the uniqueness and vision of this author's.

The book is The Once and Future Witches. And I'll be interested to see what my friends and purveyors of this thread and this year's Challenges group say about it, too.

As a side note, I'm also savoring the reading of The Personal Librarian for many of the same reasons. I'm in no hurry to finish it. In a few days or even a week, I'll be able to pick it up again and follow Belle's journey a little more.

Here is a time when choosing to clean one's bookshelves is a good thing.

I had read Magic's Silken Snare a while back and thought it was a good enough story to keep for a re-read. Not enough to find the sequel no matter what, but good. It had all the elements that pique my interest: a heroine who can think for herself, who is on the outside looking in, and who solves the mystery. So I picked it up to read it this month to see if I should keep or give away.

And what a difference a few years makes. It was. Not finishable. As in, the first few pages in were painful, and I stuck with it until 150 or so pages, and just decided someone else would like it more than me. So it went to the Little Free Library in hopes that it will be loved.

I took another book down from the shelves, one that has stared me in the face for years, called Humility Garden. I've seen in used bookstores off and on, which is either the mark of a popular-in-its-time book or one that was over-published, and decided to give it a go.

The difference in the two books was astounding. "Humility" grabbed me from page one and I can't wait to return to its world. It is just as descriptive but with much more compact writing that leads the action along. A heroine who thinks for herself, is on the outside looking in, deals with death early on, and is so much more readable than "Silken Snare."

So, sharing with everyone that I made the right decision and cleaning out the bookshelves can bring such great hidden gems to the pile.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Virginia Christopher Murray
5*****

Category: 2022 Challenges - June CATWoman

What an absolutely fantastic, wonderful, heartbreaking book. The vision of the so-powerful J.P. Morgan to want to use his wealth to collect the written word and the books that contain beauty so that they would be preserved in one place for all time. And this smart, driven woman, with a love for beauty and art was there as his agent and personal librarian at its inception.

I had heard of "passing" all my life, whether in low tones from classmates or in literary reference when discussing lives of African Americans in the post-slavery era. But this was the first time that passing was discussed as a heart-wrenching decision that affected not just the person who wishes to pass but also family, friends, and social graces. How Belle could never look a "colored" servant in the eye lest s/he see the truth.

The Morgan Library holds a special place in my heart as well: the exhibit "Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth" was one I went to and it was absolutely amazing. The artistic ability of such a favorite author was not something I had expected, and the many different languages spoken by other visitors at the exhibit brought to light the importance of Tolkien's work. And was a real-life example of the vision Morgan and Belle had of the importance of literature to all the world.

I'm happy that you are finding some hidden gems on your book shelves. I am having the same reaction, some of the books I have held onto for years are going straight to the second-hand bookstore and others are finding a place in my heart.

Hidden gems are serendipitous!

>92 threadnsong: Fifty years ago Greer's attitude to housewives had a point. She was young, and determined to jolt women out of the way they'd seen their future. She's still out to cause controversy, and good luck to her!

>98 DeltaQueen50: Yes! It is a great experience to make these choices with books and find new places in one's heart.

>99 Tess_W: Aren't they, though? Finding the gems where you least expect it.

>100 pamelad: Thank you! Your words and perspective help soooo much. I knew I was looking at it with 50 years difference in life, and today is the anniversary of Title IX which didn't even exist when Greer wrote. "Jolting women" into a new way of seeing their future is exactly it: sort of like tough love, showing housewives the futility and their lack of a future with no excuses in her approach. It is the polar opposite of Betty Freidan, who wrote with a different tone towards her audience and the same message.

I was reminded through your words of the movie starring Julia Roberts and Julia Stiles, where Roberts played the teacher in a girls' high school in the 50's or early 60's. Stiles was her star student, and only wanted to get married. The despair Roberts felt when she could not get through to her and wanted her to have more; Greer would have been the "character" in the movie that jolted Stiles into discomfort with that role and then achieving something more with her life.

Weaving in the Ends by K.J. Herkes
4****

Category: 2022 Challenges - June SFFKit

I had no idea what to expect from this book except for the knitting on the front cover. It is part of a series that seems to take place when humanity is seeking to restore a sense of normalcy after some sort of cataclysm, and it takes place in San Francisco, the wilds of Oregon, and Nebraska.

The first story, "Turning the Work," describes the unlikely trio of Carl Jenson, his brother Parker, and Felicity Chen, knit shop owner. Seems Parker has to learn knitting to help with recovery from injuries, per his physical therapist Naomi.

Much of the action involves the interaction between the characters that hints at a backstory but is not imperative to understanding this or the companion story. Definitely futuristic, definitely has a romance angle, kudos for looking for healing of all kinds.

The second book, "Joining in the Round," has an intro that points to events in between the two that impact the characters' movements and relationship. And builds out the characters, most notably Naomi and Serena and Justin. Seems Justin is a brilliant technogeek who has been pretty badly damaged psychologically. Serena is his partner and is a wonderful hoot of a character who lives in her own little world. Naomi and Carl and Felicity bring one another back from the brink and provide the gumption Felicity needs to stare down her family and claim her self-hood.

A fine romp, not too techno-geek, and more of a romance/police procedural with some high tech gadgets but they're not the focus.

Don't Feed the Monkey Mind by Jennifer Shannon
4****

Category: 2022 General Reading

All in all, a good self-exploration book about that thing that drives me crazy about myself. The term "monkey mind" describes the constant internal chatter, the never being able to let go of a worry, negative outcome, or self-doubt that builds and builds and builds on itself.

Shannon picks three composite patients (overworked boss who cannot manage, mom of an addicted son, and an illness-obsessed internet researcher) plus herself as touchpoints. She then describes the way the monkey mind hijacks our daily lives, our thoughts, and even our sense of well-being.

Since I tend to worry about work situations too much, or bring *those* conversations home with me, the alerts and plans of action in this book were quite relevant. She provided step-by-step guides, including internet links to her pages, where one can go for personalized charts that she uses.

A quick read, a helpful read, and one I could pick up and put down as needed.

Humility Garden by Felicity Savage
3 1/2 ***

Category: 2022 General Reading

A fascinating, well-written, colorful book that paints a vivid picture of another world with other customs and then, sadly, gets bogged down in its own world-building. The events start with young Humility Garden and her small village near the salt-filled center of her island, named throughout as Salt. Each of the island nations features a center landmass made of salt, with arable land near the coast. The culture has evolved to include the blinding nature of the Salt: the mystics (flamens) are self-initiated by living in this interior until they are blinded, and then are led by their proteges (lemans) throughout their lives.

Humility's story is interwoven with the custom of ghosts, the most beautiful young people of both genders who are destined to become non-living statues in the homes and palaces of the wealthy and the gods. And yet their lives continue as fish-like beings in a giant pool, while more are added by the ghostiers and their apprentices.

The very audacity of the culture of ghostiers, lemans, and gods drew me into this world, as did the transformations which Humility's culture was undergoing. But the convoluted nature of the court and political intrigue became unfathomable the more the book progressed. And then the story would take a fascinating turn and went into unexpected territory that kept me intrigued. Still, balancing the bogged-downedness with fascinating storyline kept my star level at 3 1/2.

And now, with the year half over and the winter and spring showing me the value of Wintering, preparing my home for its eventual sale and going through the piles of clutter, I'm beginning to see the value of these actions.

Clearing out the old and un-needed has led to some better choices in books, finding old friends and letting others go into the wild to better homes. And while I cleaned the items on top of the cabinets ahead of some ceiling repair in my kitchen, unnecessary glass jars went to recycling, unused wooden bowls got labeled and sent to second-hand store, and all this made room for some new stuff.

Crate and Barrel happened to be near a mattress store (guess what I did for the 4th of July weekend? Yep, mattress shopping! Long overdue) and since DH has encouraged me all year to find replacements for the kitchen cannisters I figured this was the perfect excuse. These new ones are cool, too - they have tablespoons on the side which will make measuring oh-so-much easier. The lids are different and require two hands, instead of flipping a metal thingie so that they pop open (which is handy when your hands are covered in flour or cooking stuff) but that will simply require planning and new ways of Doing Cooking.

Plus, the old jars from marinara sauce (or whatever) that formed a hodgepodge of containers for dried beans and lentils are now recycled, and in their place are attractive sets of containers. I feel like I've followed my young adult beliefs in re-using and not being an over-consumer, and now it is time to create beauty in the space where I've cleared out the clutter. Feeling pride in one's living space is something to celebrate.

Congratulations on clearing your clutter and bringing beauty into your home. Wish I was in headspace to clear, but I'm not at this point.

>105 threadnsong: Feels good, doesn't it! I did the same thing when I retired in 2020 and it took about a year to go through each room, get rid of stuff, replace a few things etc, but so love my "new" spaces! Keep up the good work!

>106 markon: It's taken me a long time to get to this point so no judging from me. Or from yourself, either ;)

>107 Tess_W: Oh my yes!! I even found a copy of The Alienist that I am re-reading (though I don't remember the plot even though my bookmark was in its place, unmoved for years). I am *so* loving this book, though I have no idea if it is the tie-in to the series. I was in NYC 3 years ago and unlike my first time reading it, the places have some resonance now that they didn't then.

The Bard's Blade by Brian D. Anderson
5*****

Category: 2022 Challenges - July SFFKit

This was a really good, well-crafted book about two young lovers (well, 20-somethings anyway) and the perils they face when they leave their magically-protected homeland to respond to a stranger's last gasp.

Mariyah runs the business side of her parents' vineyard and Lem is her most-beloved and a long-haired musician to boot. His parents having died, Lem lives with his uncle, Shemi. Shemi is a renowned hunter who makes his way through the realm of Vylari till one day the stranger makes it through the veiled barrier and speaks his last words in front of uncle and nephew.

Lem takes this all as a sign and sets off to find the Thaumas in the wider world. And of course, Mariyah and Shemi follow a little while later and on totally different paths. And while there are tropes of both romance and fantasy, such as a traveling acting troupe, what makes this book unique is the story's treatment: who would guess that musicians' egos would cause conflict in the acting troupe? Or that the so-called worship of Kylor also involves a wife's betrayal of her husband?

The writing is down-to-earth, the characters are well-drawn, and the world that Brian D. Anderson has created includes a touch of magic but also a whole lot more humanity.

The Vixen by Francine Prose
4 1/2 ****

Category: 2022 General Reading

That cover photo? That one that looks so familiar? That is the final kiss of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg before they are led to their execution. It is as iconic a photo as President Kennedy in his motorcade or pictures of the Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks.

Told from the point of view of Simon Putnam, a recent Harvard grad with a degree in Old Norse (both important points in the novel), it starts with the night the Rosenberg's are executed. It is an especially poignant night since Simon's mother grew up with Ethel and defended her even at the end. The Putnams are a Jewish family who live near Coney Island at a time when being Jewish was sometimes akin to being a Communist.

Set in the 1950's during the McCarthy hearings, young Simon, through his father, is able to secure a job at a publishing house. His job is to read the rejected manuscripts and respond kindly to the authors. Of course he longs for something better and finally receives a manuscript on his desk about the Rosenberg case, re-written to make "Ester" a seductive housewife with no conscience or morals, and her husband a dupe.

How do you edit a book that is a re-write of your beloved mother's girlhood friend? And how do you navigate the world of publishing, with the multi-martini lunches and fragile authors? And what do you do when this manuscript is supposed to save the struggling publishing house?

A fine look at conscience and coming of age and gaining knowledge and the perils of the adult world. I could have done with less of questioning and angst that occupies a good portion of the book, hence the half star for the rating. But when the enormity of the plot was finally presented it took my breath away.

>110 threadnsong: You keep hitting me with BB's! The Rosenbergs are a topic contained within my 1950's unit when I teach US History II--love to teach that era! I teach McCarthy using political cartoons and my students groan--they have to THINK!

>111 Tess_W: Oh gosh golly gee whiz! I'm so glad I can send some BB your way!

I am fascinated that you include the Rosenbergs in your 1950's unit, and how I would love to be in the classroom when you teach it. And what a great idea to use political cartoons as your teaching basis - are they current ones or contemporary ones? And what happened to the cartoonists who were *not* fans of McCarthy??

Kudos to you for making your students think. They will thank you for it, even if they only groan at the time of the assignments.

>112 threadnsong: I used the cartoons of the time. No idea about cartoonists who did not favor McCarthy! (but I should look them up). I also include "dueling telegrams" between McCarthy and Harry S. Truman and the students are astounded that Truman was so brutal! Lesson learned from the telegrams: media might be different, but there is nothing new under the sun!

As far as students and their groans, most tell me (later) that my class was their favorite, but they didn't know it at the time! In fact, I had a student, Kevin, who went into the Army. During basic training they had to take a history course and they had a sergeant who was very brutal and was "yelling" the facts at them and then asking them questions. Kevin was the only student who knew every answer. The sergeant asked him "how" and he said Mrs. W., his history teacher. He told Kevin that I was responsible for him getting a week off of some special duty that the others were assigned to for being so "dumb."!

What a fascinating story and such a great impact you had. I'm glad your students have come back to you and told you how you influenced their lives.

i find it interesting that Truman, usually portrayed as so mild-mannered, was so brutal. Nothing new under the sun is so very true!

It has been a busy time in my life! My LT time is weekends, and in August I had 3 gigs, only one of which I planned around. So, 3 weeks spent rehearsing songs, 3 weekends playing for folks (which is a lovely thing), and little time on-line.

The good news is, I finished 4 books this month! One of them, Black Beauty, I read in only 4 days. What a great book - I had forgotten how it influenced my life as a child. And from reading Anna Sewell's bio on Wikipedia, history shows that it influenced how people used the checkrein on their carriage horses.

It's nearly midnight, work starts tomorrow morning, so I'll update this page this week with reviews and accolades and I wish all of you a good week!

>115 threadnsong: From your name, I should have guessed you were somehow involved in music. How very interesting! What types of music do you play and sing?

>115 threadnsong: I think Black Beauty will have to be my next Serial Reader read! Hope you have a good week :)

>116 Tess_W: Yes, it seemed a fitting stage name, Tess! I play Irish music and don't sing except during the occasional Irish pub singalong. I was trained in classical piano, as were many of us women "of a certain age" and dabbled in electronic keyboards and jazz. Somehow, the simplicity of Irish tunes that allows for embellishments just really clicks with me.

>117 rabbitprincess: Glad to hear it! I was surprised at what a quick read it was and I hope you enjoy it, too.

Down on Ponce by Fred Willard
4****

Category: 2022 Re-reads

A hard-boiled action novel that takes place on the seedy side of Ponce de Leon Avenue (pronounced "Ponss" or "Pon-cey" by Atlanta natives) during the late 1990's. The diner on the front cover is the (in)famous Majestic Diner which, until 2022 or so, bragged "We Never Close" and was a great site for after-bar-hopping food. It's open during daylight hours these days; hoping it can return to its seedy greatness.

Told from the POV of Sam Fuller, an ex-con living in a trailer on Lake Lanier, there is biting commentary and sardonic wit on Fuller's history and those he meets. He's approached early on by a slick lawyer who wants his wife killed, at which point Fuller goes and warns the wife. Then decides to take a long vacation only to find that events have skyrocketed past what would be a normal murder-for-hire situation.

Joined at a Single-Room-Occupancy hotel on Ponce by a double-amputee, a giant man with limited speech, and a driver for a mortuary service, Fuller decides to look into who is trying to kill him and why. And while some of the wry humor and sardonic wit work, there's also a whole lotta detail of one group tied into another tied into a third that makes it almost but not quite work. It reminds me a lot of the Burke novels by Andrew Vachss, and it is wonderfully refreshing to see modern Atlanta as a setting for novels of all genres.

>119 threadnsong: I had missed the fact that the Majestic is no longer open 24-7! When I first came to the Atlanta area I lived a couple blocks from the Majestic. I'm now outside the perimeter (barely) and don't get by that direction nearly as often.

Down on Ponce sounds interesting too. Trying to think what else has been set in Atlanta . . . There is Gone with the wind and A man in full. Tayari Jones has several that were set here, and I think there is at least one fantasy/supernatural series set in the area.

Something I enjoyed in the late 1990s was Where Peachtree meets Sweet Auburn a non fiction history of Atlanta told through the families of Ivan Allen and John Wesley Dobbs. It covers the recovery from the Civil War through the mid-90s when the Olympics were held here.

And I see there is a more recent history of the city, City on the verge, that I may need to look at; according to Amazon Mark Prendergast uses "the BeltLine saga to explore issues of race, education, public health, transportation, business, philanthropy, urban planning, religion, politics, and community." (The BeltLine is at least a decade long project of redeveloping abandoned rail encircling the city into parks, trails, and shopping/dining areas.)

ETA touchstones don't seem to be working.

>120 markon: Yes! The Majestic never closed, even during Atlanta's infamous ice storms and Snowmageddons.

Thank you for these great book suggestions - I had seen "Where Peachtree . . . " on shelves and didn't know exactly what it was about. I'll have to check it out now that such a dialogue is happening. The latter parts of Slavery By Another Name discussed the monied interested in post-Civil War Atlanta and northern Georgia.

The author Kathy Hogan Trochek sets her mysteries in and around L5P and Candler Park. They're a lot of fun. And Karin Slaughter sets her mysteries in the South: Piedmont Park/Midtown, Macon, and Alabama. They're a bit more hard-bitten, though, with some of her characters working for the Police.

I also lucked into a trio of books written by a former APD officer, Trudy Nan Boyce, starting with Out of the Blues.

Will definitely have to check out City on the Verge! I've been on the Beltline a couple of times and saw some new businesses opening up. If you're ever able to make it down this way, Ponce City Market is worth the trip. Though parking can be a hassle. Oh, and Manuel's just celebrated a birthday last month. The large parking lot is now townhouses (which is how they paid for their renovations a while back) but it's in many ways the same ol' Manuel's ;)

The Alienist by Caleb Carr
5*****

Category: 2022 Re-Reads

Note: I have not seen the mini-series based on this book, so I will be interested in seeing it now that I've read the source material.

What a fantastic book and well worth pulling off the shelves for a re-read (I know it was a re-read because the bookmark was still in place!). Told with all the grime and opulence and change that was 1896 New York City, it also describes the work of an early psychologist or Alienist, as the title was at the time.

The book opens (after a chapter giving the details of their lives told over dinner decades later) with John Schuyler Moore, a police beat reporter, and his friend, Laszlo Kreizler, investigating what becomes a string of murders of young boy prostitutes. The burgeoning idea of speaking to the insane without the use of drugs and recognizing the effects of abuse on children has influenced Kreizler to use his methods to find this killer.

Woven into this story is the new Commissioner of Police, Theodore Roosevelt, and a woman who wants nothing more than to investigate crimes with the police department. On her own terms. A pair of brothers rounds out the investigative team and their methods that are commonplace today: finding an isolated room for their research, writing ideas onto chalkboards to find commonalities, and knocking on door after door to find and track down possible clues. Each new set of ideas brings different aspects of New York's City life to the growing investigation.

Putting together the pieces of this murderer, what motivates him to choose his victims, what his childhood was like, and when he might strike next are brilliantly done. I have not seen the TV series based on this book so there were no spoilers for me. Just good, gritty, historical story-telling at its finest.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy
3***

Category - August MysteryKIT, Re-Reads

For all its detailed research into the weapons and technology of the time, this book did not hold up well for me. To read about the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 2022, and all the events that are going on just in the past year, is interesting from a historical perspective. Yet there is also the patina of the "noble savage" motivated by a Holy War that is jarring in a post-9/11 world. And confusing the authoritarian rule of the USSR with the economic thought of Marxism is just bad scholarship.

That said, the insights into Soviet machinations and a quest for absolute power for its own sake are fascinating. The passing of secrets, tiny little film cartridges and the great detail that Clancy put into every single hand-off are great. What the spies do to maintain their cover and how they are found out are also brilliant. But Clancy constantly trots out the "Marxist-Leninist doctrine" as motivation for the non-US characters in ways that don't fit either the characters or the overall story arch. The women who are mentioned by name at least have some depth or motivation: the good ones are mothers and are US citizens; the bad ones are single and Soviet citizens.

Unlike "A Perfect Spy," this book has just not held up well over the decades when it was written and the events that take place in it.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
5****

Category - August CATWoman - Children's/YA/Graphic Novels

One of my all-time favorite books as a horse-mad girl, even though my riding days were cut short by family dynamics. I loved getting into the mind of a horse as best one can, and to see what good treatment vs. unkind treatment yields. I often thought of Ginger and her views on humans, and how many adventures Black Beauty had throughout his long years.

As an adult reading this book I was struck by many things that I didn't notice at the time: the cause of Black Beauty's accident that ruined his knees being caused by the evils of drink. And there were many instances of lectures against alcohol, what was called in the US "Prohibition," together with many instances of an effort for more humane treatment of animals.

The story of Old Captain in what was probably the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War is now something I have historical reference to; then, it was just simply a horse charging into battle. The care of horses' injuries being warm bran mash points out the strides in veterinary medicine since this book was written. But I was glad to read the many instances both animal and human characters advocated for the better treatment of the horse. I just wish there were more of them around!

Wow! Here it is October already! Deciding that my usual LT time (weekends) are just too booked up, so it's a nice fall evening with a fire going in one of those chimenee things (sp?) and my laptop open.

My big news (besides finishing two books last month!) is that I had my first solo public performance since the Before Times. There was a street festival at the end of last month and I was spending several weeks preparing for it. I had not realized how much busking made me perfect tunes for public performance, in a way that even sessions or playing with classmates doesn't prepare.

So that, and birthday weekend, and a concert last Saturday followed by visiting friends, and here we are!

I hope all of you are doing well and thank you for sticking with my little thread this year. Please stay in touch and drop by from time to time! Would love to know how you're doing.

I was a huge fan of Black Beauty when I was a child and have read it to both my daughters. It seems to have stood the test of time nicely.

It has, hasn't it? I mean, even though we don't rely on horses like we used to, I think the ties humans have with them still resonate. And seeing how the world was when they were our only means of transportation for generations is eye-opening.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
5*****

Category: 2022 General Reading

What an extraordinary book. It was gifted/loaned by a friend, who had read it along with her daughter. Which gives me hope for the future!

This book takes the past of the Inquisition and focuses it on witch burnings. And how, in the created world, the result was a complete elimination of Women's Ways and magick. An example is the stories collected called "The Sisters Grimm" that contain variations on the familiar stories of childhood that are more instructional in magic and in this world's different history. That history includes the malevolence of spirit that ruthlessly hunts down and kills women throughout many generations. It also includes magick of thread and feather and chanted words, recognizing the overlooked items women keep in their pockets. A central focus is on the (in)famous town of Salem and asks, What if the Salem Witch Trials had culminated in burning all the inhabitants of that town? And what happens when the lust for power and the desire to punish combine to create a malevolent Spirit made of shadows?

The result is a well-crafted, deeply written, full book of three sisters who grow up without a mother, with an abusive father, and how his tearing them apart when they are young women preys on their minds and hearts. And yet, they find themselves drawn together at long last with the thread that binds them together. And because their grandmother continued to teach them spells and rhymes, they are able to track down the ways in which Witchcraft and Healing and Women's Ways have survived in stories and samplers and symbols carved on gateposts.

It is sometimes not an easy read, but it is timely and well worth the effort.

Blood and Honor by Simon R. Green
4****

Category: 2022 General Reading

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book, its characters, its plot, and even the middle part that almost got bogged down in "what strange beings are going to show up now?" managed to resolve itself well. It is a book that has been on my shelf for decades, staring at me, saying variously, "Bring me for your lunchtime reading." "Think of me for coffee shops." "Hey there, you bought me, read me!" So I did.

The main character is Jordan, a traveling actor who retells the days of glory and heroes, wars well fought by noble leaders, and good special effects courtesy of fire pellets and other things hidden in pockets in his sleeves. Things are so-so for him, and then he is "invited' to personify a long-banished prince who has returned to the castle of his birth upon the death of the king.

So far, standard fantasy plot material. Until we get to the meat of the story, which is the magick shared by the noble bloodlines, a castle full of the Unreal (not just ghosts here), and three brothers who are noble only in their descending from the king and not through altruism. Jordan learns that they are each horrible men who use their power and standing to do whatever they want; how long does he want to continue his new act?

Add in a kick-a** steward named Catriona who has the power to keep the Unreal at bay, machinations and geas and the whodunit of who killed the King, and you've got a really good storyline that needs to be re-read a time or two.

The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams
4 1/2 ****

Category: 2022 Re-Reads

What do I begin with reviewing this book? It is more than just a book about two dogs who escape their cages in an animal research facility. It is about humanity, and the bond between domesticated dogs and humanity, and thoughtlessness and politics, and really just everything.

**Trigger Warning - animal experimentation**

The book begins with the larger of the two dogs, a large black Lab mix named Rowf, almost ready to finish his time in the tank. This is an experiment that documents how long he is able to maintain consciousness in a large metal tank full of water, until he finally sinks from exhaustion. When he is revived, he returns to his pen where his neighbor, Snitter, is finding a possible way out. And Snitter has undergone brain surgery to test who knows what. While humans can't see it, he has now a gift of the Sight without fully understanding how or why.

The two dogs make their way through the animal experimentation building till they are able to escape into the Lake District fells and thence away. Snitter, a fox terrier who had been a good man's pet until a horrible traffic accident, can't understand where all the houses and roads and men are. Rowf, who has never known anything but trouble from humans, is a little less confused but equally savvy that they have to learn to hunt. They are helped in this endeavor by a canny tod (fox for us Yanks) who teaches them how to kill sheep and raid a chicken coop. Naturally, these activities don't make them popular with the inhabitants of Coniston and Dunnerdale.

The storyline moves simultaneously between the dogs and tod, the sheep farmers, the men who run the animal research station (acronym A.R.S.E.), newspaperman Digby Driver, and various supporting characters. Richard Adams makes it clear in his preface that all the good people are real (though not necessarily alive at the same time) and all the bad people are made up. As an added bonus, this edition has marvelous drawings and maps of the extraordinary Lake District, and the local dialects are written as they would have been spoken.

Not an easy book to get through (see "Triggers" above), but definitely worth the effort.

I gotta say, I am totally, totally loving Daughters of Witching Hill. I am completely sucked into the world that Mary Sharatt creates. And it gives a very vivid picture of the world that Thomas Cromwell created as he tore down the monasteries, as Hillary Mantel so vividly describes in his rise to power as the right hand of Henry VIII.

>130 threadnsong: a tough book, I could never read it. Hit me with a BB with The Daughters of Witching Hill, though.

>132 Tess_W: Yeah, it took some steeling of myself to read it. Adams does not hold back on the experiments that go on, and the life that the dogs lead with the Tod is a very difficult one.

And I'm so glad I could provide you with an excuse for a BB for Daughters of Witching Hill. Would love to read your review!

The Eight by Katherine Neville
3 1/2 ***

Category: 2022 Re-Reads

A very dense book, traveling between the French Revolution and its aftermath, and during the early 70's in the nascent OPEC coalition. The basis for the mystery is a chess set, the Montglane Service, given to Charlemagne by Moorish allies, that contained a formula and a power of raising and destroying great kingdoms. The Service is hidden for a thousand years in the Montglane Abbey until events leading up to the French Revolution cause it to be scattered throughout France, Algeria, Russia, and England.

The book opens with two young novices at Montglane Abbey, Valentine and Mireille, who are called upon to be a conduit for the pieces as the Abbey is broken up and the pieces are scattered in 1792. These two young women are sent to live with the painter David as his wards and are later to get caught up in the September Massacres. Notable figures who have an interest in this chess set include the Bishop d'Autun (Charles-Maurice Talleyrand), Maras, Charlotte Corday, and Catherine the Great of Russia.

Fast forward to early 1970's New York, where a young computer programmer is given the task of creating a program to chart the oil output of the Middle Eastern countries that are becoming OPEC. Catherine (the narrator) is brought into events, all unwittingly, through the chess prowess of the Russian chess master Solarin, her cousin Lily and Lily's wealthy family, a mysterious friend named Nim who seems to have an understanding of the forces at work, and her contacts in Algeria, Dr. Kamel and Sharrif.

Both time periods have action that takes them from their native countries to Algeria with trusted guides, and both Mireille and Catherine grow to realize the burden of the tasks they are called upon: to find and guard the chessboard, its embroidered cover, and the fantastically wrought chess pieces. Because hidden within the formula carved on the pieces, the board, and embroidered in the cloth is the secret to their use and their power. The burden lies in discovering what piece they themselves represent on the board and how to keep the pieces from falling into the wrong hands.

It's been compared to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and I tend to agree: once the reader suspends belief and becomes involved in the story, it becomes a rousing adventure. But the denseness of the narrative and the meandering nature of the events cause the readability to be difficult and its non-linear writing at times distracting.

>134 threadnsong: I read that last year and rated it a 4. I especially liked the Revolutionary France segments with the real-life characters. The non-linear format was annoying to me as well as the plethora of characters.

>135 Tess_W: Yeah, I almost made it a 4, it is a good book. Maybe it was the more modern voyage through Algeria that annoyed me? I also found the Revolutionary France segments better: plots, characters, and writing.

Troilus and Cressida by Geoffrey Chaucer
5*****

Category: 2022 General Reading

Words fail to describe how wonderful this book is. I bought it on a whim and just fell in love with the English language all over again. George Krapp did a re-translation of Chaucer's English, keeping the stanzas and rhyme scheme like the original, and bringing out the beauty and the ancient-ness of English. He also provides a history in the Prologue of how Chaucer's tale came about, what his sources were, and how he delved into Homer's small mention of Troilus to create this tale. And Eric Gill has pen-and-ink drawings in the margins, repeated throughout, that are quite lovely. And more than a little racy.

The story is one of Troilus, a younger son of Priam, who falls in love with the fair Cressida. Her uncle, Pandar, sees the emotions between the two, realizes the possibilities, and arranges a dinner party for them to meet. And encourages Troilus to arise from his couch in a swoon and declare his love to Cressida. All proceeds apace, the lovers are oft-united, she loves him, he loves her,

Until the parliaments of Troy decide that Cressida should be sent to the Greeks in exchange for Antanor. And despite the wails and tears (it is a bit on the swooning side of melodrama) of the two lovers in private, they realize their duty is to Troy and since they are not betrothed, nor likely to be, Cressida is sent to the enemy to be a carefully guarded prize.

Betrayal ensues, death ensues, and there Chaucer leaves it. Krapp gives an additional ending by a Scottish poet, Robert Henryson, to Cressida's fate after Troilus is killed in battle.

And if there are any authors out there who are looking for re-tellings of ancient women's lives, this would be a marvelous tale to re-tell.

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt
5*****

Category: October ScaredyKIT Challenge

What an amazing book. It is gripping in its style, its language, its subject matter, and just kept drawing me in. And it had to, given that the trials of the "Witches of Pendle Hill" were a tragic, actual event in Lancashire in 1612. Given how much I've read about Thomas Cromwell and the Wives of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, this volume shows the tragedy that the dissolution of the Abbeys under Cromwell brought about. And is a good balance to the lives of the rich and royal.

It is written in two voices, Bess Southern ("Demdike") and her granddaughter, Alizon. Bess remembers the Old Ways, when life was still hard for the poor but there was Whalley Abbey and its monks to provide food and alms, and the Feast Days and the Saints to provide some joy and beauty in life. What we now call "work-life balance." The juxtaposition between Bess' earliest girlhood memories and the life under Puritans is stark. And harsh.

Bess recounts those years and goes on to describe how she met her familiar, Tibb, and how he brought her joy and light in the dark years after her girlhood. This information was recorded at her trial, so the historical record is accurate in its description. Once she meets him and is able to understand how he can help her, she begins to use her new-found powers for healing and comfort.

Her girlhood friend is Anne ("Chattox") whose personality is quite different. Both women are single (Bess abandoned, Anne widowed twice over) and they struggle to raise their daughters on their meager begging. Anne's daughter attracts the eye of a nobleman's son, and Bess teaches her how a clay figure could be used to balance the scales in her favor. Which draws Anne into Bess' work with charms and potent magic, and Anne's personality is more given to redressing grievances.

The second part of the book is the growing up of Alizon, Bess' granddaughter, who is raised in a much different household. The effects of Puritanism are all around her, familiars and healing work are seen as bad things, even though her grandmother heals, and Alizon's "Mam" wants nothing to do with these little magicks. So Alizon tries to be good and does not learn from her Gran, and realizes too late what such learning could have meant for her life.

Written in the cadence of what Bess and Alizon and their neighbors might have spoken, all of which furthers the drawing into the events. And the tragedy is not the final entrapment, imprisonment, and trial; it is also the ending of ways that the changing of the Church brings about, due to one man's lust for power and a new wife.

>138 threadnsong: Sounds absolutely lovely! I've been reading up on 17th century "witches' in preparation for teaching about the witch trials in Salem. When I'm done going through those books (YA), I will definitely pick this one up!

>139 Tess_W: That's great to hear! Thank you for teaching this part of history. It is sad to see how tropes, such as old, bent-up women, are archetypes for witches and therefore evil. I've read about the Salem witch trials, too, and learned how much of the trials came down to land grabs by Those in Power.

So this weekend was my first Celtic-themed festival in quite some time. It was great to see old friends (some from the Before Times) and also listen to a wide variety of live music. I had not realized how much I took live performances for granted until they went away for a couple of years. And the financial side of things has eased a bit, too, this year with both of us having new jobs early in the year.

Getting back in touch with people is becoming so very, very important. I feel much more comfortable in cyberspace than I used to, and so setting up opportunities or sending an email to say "hey, do you wanna?" is more the norm. Plus, having places to meet like coffee shops or neighborhood pubs provides a good backdrop to ease into one another's company.

And in other news, I've started practicing (gulp) Christmas carols for a gig in early December. Yep, it's that time of the year! The Halloween decorations were newly up, and I'm in my room practicing "Gloucester Wassail" to get it in my brain. My goal this year is to learn more early Christmas tunes, ones that are not on the radio as frequently, that will bring a smile to faces and a remembrance to their hearts when I perform.

>140 threadnsong: I have not yet read that land grab was an excuse for the witch trials. However, I did just read an article by a historical pathologist and she believes that the seizures the young ladies had was actually caused by a fungal agent, rye ergot, which acts as a hallucinogen. The smaller the person, the more this blight causes them to be sick. I suppose I will have to go further down that rabbit hole!

I'm glad you feel good about getting out again. When I think of "older" Christmas tunes, I think of Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella, and I Saw Three Ships.

>141 threadnsong: Getting back together with people in person has been fun but also overwhelming. I'm not used to interacting with people occupying the same 3D space as me instead of just being on my screen. I really have to pick my occasions and gear up for them.

>142 Tess_W: I've heard that theory as well, about the rye ergot. Convulsions and hallucinations, and in a Puritan setting as well. They really must have grasped at anything to save themselves.

And yes! Those are good tunes to learn. I had completely forgotten about "I Saw Three Ships" and "Jeanette Isabella" is one of my absolute favorites. I even learned it in high school French class.

>143 rabbitprincess: Thanks, rabbitprincess. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's different when I'm in line at my local grocery store: there, the conversation is quick and automatic. But with friends, even good friends, it's a little harder than it used to be. I salute your steps that you're taking and hope it is not overwhelming.

Well, off to have a vacation ahead of the Thanksgiving crowds! We're heading to Savannah and looking forward to getting out of home. The list is made, the dishwasher is going strong, and the dog is about ready for doggie day care.

This week I finished The Giver of Stars and what an incredible book it was. The book for this journey is Diana Paxson's The Book of the Sword. It fits the challenge on this site of the AuthorCAT, authors setting their books against historical events. I admired The Serpent's Tooth for its more-historical-realism than fantasy themes and writing, and I'm hoping for good things from this book.

Will check in as vacay plans permit! Have a great pre-Thanksgiving week to my US friends, and happy Harvesting to non-US friends as well.

Have a lovely vacation!

Have a great time!

Enjoy your time away!

Enjoy!

>146 DeltaQueen50:, >147 rabbitprincess:, >148 MissWatson:, and >149 Tess_W: Thank you!

It ended up being a bit of a "working vacation" this time around. As in, I knew work was gonna be a bit busy, but I had no idea I'd be putting in 4 - 6 hours on Thursday and Friday! Still, being in a hotel room with junk food and no distractions (DH went walking on the beach and saw some sights on his own) was a great way to get things done. Plus, I get to charge for the time I worked *and* I got a +1 from colleagues who knew I was technically on vacation but still putting in some time.

And it wasn't all bad! There were vacation after-work drinks (as in, "I think I'll have the froofy vodka drink, thank you very much") and fresh Savannah seafood all weekend. Mmmmm!!

And we came home with a couple of pounds of shrimp which I tried my hand at with a Low Country Boil. Not as good as what I had in the restaurants, nor what my Savannah ancestresses could have cooked up, but still quite tasty.

Plus, Savannah during off-season, and the beach in winter is a beautiful, stark, lovely place. And darn cold, too - there were freeze warnings throughout the area. Glad I brought some wool sweaters :)

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Meyes
5*****

Category: November CATWoman Challenge: Women's Issues

This was an extraordinary book based on real events, and told with compassion and realism both. It takes place during the Depression when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had the brilliant idea to bring books to people who might not otherwise have access to them. In this setting, it is the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, a region that is still facing difficulty with basic access to books.

It starts from the point of view of newlywed Alice Van Cleve, a British woman who did not quite fit in to her parents' view of what a young woman should be and instead marries the son of a Kentucky mining boss. She finds that married life with her new husband in his family home, with his father's bedroom across from hers, is not quite what she had hoped for. And so when an opportunity presents itself to escape for a few days each week on a worthwhile endeavor, she takes it.

The growth and acclimation Alice goes through are as much a part of her learning her route through the mountains on horseback as the households she serves. Some she meets through the crack of a doorway, some greet her with sadness and sickness in their midst. And she is not the only member of this group who is changed by her work: each of the other riders on this route learn what they are bringing to the mountain homes is more than just words on the page.

Thankfully, it is not sappy nor maudlin nor paternalistic. It is a relatively accurate telling of this time and effort in American history, made all the more realistic by the author's time spent in these same Kentucky mountains.

>142 Tess_W: I've added both "Jeanette Isabella" and "I Saw Three Ships" to my set list for next weekend. The first is near the top since I've played it before and will be a good one to ease into playing. And the second is part of a trio of sea-faring tunes and songs. It's the perfect ending to that trio - thank you for the suggestion!

>152 threadnsong: You are very welcome! I have the Meyes book on my WL--hope to get to it in 2023!

>159 Tess_W: Glad you had a good time in Savannah in spite of work.

>152 threadnsong: It is definitely one where I found myself just sinking into the story.

>154 markon: Yeah, me too. It's nice to have evenings of relaxing, and taking a break by walking on the beach. And then there was Thanksgiving, and *sigh* back to work last week! Which has not always been the case some years, so I'm happy to put in the hours.

And while I was there, we went to visit the Maritime Museum in Savannah. I highly recommend it - the model ships are incredibly detailed, and the model builders are given credit on the tags.

After a while, I decided I'd leave DH to continue to look at ships while I visited the gift store. Some books were there, so what could I do? A couple are going to some great-niblings, and two came home with me:

Pleasure and Pain by Emily Bowen because I think a contemporary account of the South during this period is extremely important to read. It will not be pretty, that's for sure.

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly, because, well, Pirates! I think I've seen it mentioned on reading lists and/or among my friends so I'd like to check it out.

Badger Game by Michael Bowen
2 1/2 **

Category: November Re-Reads

I wish I could have given this historical mystery-thriller a higher star rating, but I just couldn't. The premise was brilliant but became bogged down with details that added nothing to the action.

The mystery revolved around a conflict/clash/professional battle between artists in 1962 New York and a law firm that knew how to deal with questionable characters. That much was cleared up at the beginning. But how they tracked down the killer? What was the artistic drama/conflict really about? All these things became lost in endless observations by whichever narrator/POV happened to be telling that part of the story.

The Hallowed Isle by Diana L. Paxson
5 *****

Category: 2022 General Reading

This is a terrific and daring take on the re-telling of the Arthurian legend. It starts with Vortigern and the after-effects of the Romans leaving Britain, where a good number of families live on their Roman estates. They are trying to cope with the infighting of the clans and the invasions of the Anglo Saxons. Two Priestesses of the Isle of Women, Maderun and Argantel, occupy many of the events of the early chapters of Book 1, including the sanctifying of the sword and the alliances and warring clans.

By Merlin's birth, the POV changes and we see Vortigern's alliances to the Anglo Saxon chieftains through his eyes, with his gifts in full flower. Merlin's difference from his fellows, both physical and his Gift, are troubling to him. He witnesses the Night of the Long Knives and does what he can to honor the dead. Arthur is fostered, and we then move to Book 2.

Where the action is seen from the view of the Saxons: their lands are flooding, their people are leaving, greener shores are elsewhere, and yet the kinds are beholden to their land. And Book 2 does not deviate from this POV: that's what makes this set? series? so unique and deserving of 5 stars. Paxson brings in the culture of the Anglo Saxons as something other than The Enemy of the Britons.

Neither culture is fully Christianized, save for the one of Lesser Britain (per one of the young noblemen at young Arthur's court), so the shifting is well-drawn. And the dilemma of young Oesc, the Saxon noble, who is a hostage at Arthur's court and yet finds himself growing to respect this young king, is a good storyline woven into the overall tapestry.

DH went out and bought a gazillion GB backup for our family computer system and also an additional HDD for my little MacBook Pro. Which is 10 years old almost and needs to be replaced, but that's another discussion thread.

I will say he did a great job going through what was taking up so much space on my laptop - seems that the "Sharing" on pictures makes duplicates, and really, after I've seen the photos from far away relatives, I'm good. Honest. Don't need to keep those. So that's cleared up. And lots of the Documents I don't need on my laptop. Keep the health and vet invoices close by, maybe some contractor invoices in case we need to revisit them, that's all good.

He also, unbeknownst to me, move all of my CD's of music to the HDD. And he told me after the fact in case I freaked out (which I kind of did), until he explained how I can go get them. And when I download a new CD because CD's, well, then I can just transfer the CD to my HDD. It's a two-step process now, and I can live with that.

The fun part was this afternoon when I needed to re-load my Nanopod for walks and stuff (hint: I don't use my phone, I clip a device to my coat and have my hands free). I decided I needed to add some tunes to my playlist, and I figured out with very little hesitation how to upload them to my device. He was sitting there helping with other tech questions, and he was amazed that I could "grab and copy" as neatly as I needed to.

Chalk up one for the Super End User and Her Hi-Tech Hubby!

Nice to have everything straightened!

How lovely that your husband is "tech smart" - both my husband and I are totally at sea when it comes to computers. Thanks heavens for the grandchildren!

>159 Tess_W: Yes, yes it really is. Starting with a clean slate, as one says.

>160 DeltaQueen50: I really did luck out on that score. I've worked on computers for 40 years and know a lot of systems. But cleaning up hard drives? Nope, not my thing.

I will say, I can guide DH when he needs to order something or interact with a website. His programming evaluates the website he's looking at, and I am able to locate the "Next" button or the "Enter Shipping Here" dialogue box.

One of my salutes of gratitude to LT (and earlier book site families) is the way in which they help me stay focused on finishing a book. I noticed it this month when I took a pause from Empire of Pain to do a quick "I'm finally off work early today!" book read of Faith Hunter's Mercy Blade.

I could conceivably start a third book that I pulled out of my bookshelf and put on my stack, Warrior Queens, but thanks to lists and groups on LT I am instead going to finish the two I started.

This week.

I have a feeling I'll finish Faith Hunter's book first ;)

Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter
4****

Category - December SFFKit Challenge: Wishes

I really liked this third book in the series; it seemed to be pared down and back to a straight ahead whodunit mystery. Of course, Jane Yellowrock is still a kick-butt kind of detective (well, vamp-killer to be specific), and in this installment she is trying to figure out how the werewolves got back into New Orleans and why there is hatred between vampires and werewolves. She's also started a romance with an undercover cop, Rick, who helped her move from her North Carolina cabin once and for all.

She's now sharing her home with Evangelina, a witch and older sister of Jane's best friend, Molly, who is transforming from being a short-tempered workaholic to a more dreamy, dance-y domestic type. Jane can't quite figure out why, or why Evangelina seems to have a pink glow suddenly.

The action begins at Leo Pellissier's home, a.k.a. Vamp HQ, and Leo is now the Master of Clans (MOC) for New Orleans since the events of the last book. Seems that the last book existed to winnow down which clans were going to exist in New Orleans going forward, and this book does not spend so much time on clan politics. Instead, it is about inter-species politics, including a shape shifting black leopard from Africa. With his televised transformation on the news, and his arrival at Leo's headquarters for an inter-species meeting of the red carpet variety, the event is turned into chaos with the arrival of the were-wolves.

More vampire and blood servant history is explored with compassion and insight, and the action is pretty straightforward. We don't get bogged down into Jane's multiple vamp killers or firearms with every single fight she gets into, and we also get a chance to jump into Beast's mind for some adventures.

2022 Year End Summary

I've seen some of my LT friends with year-end summaries. I've read about 40 books this year, and some have been good, some meh, some will forever rattle around in my brain.

I think what I'll do here is simply express, again, my gratitude for LibraryThing for continuing to present a platform for book enthusiasts. And thank you to my followers on this thread for continuing to post comments, even when it was weeks before I got back to you!

For my accomplishments for this year, please see above (40 books), which means I've pulled 40 books off of my shelves or from their bags when I brought them home and read them. With addiction running from both sides of my family (alcoholism and hoarding), I've worked hard through my adult life to find a happy medium. I do drink (a horn of local mead is over my right shoulder), and have participated in 12-Step groups for Adult Children of Alcoholics where I learned that not all drinking leads to alcoholism. And I have triggers, which I think all of us have around something traumatic in our lives.

For hoarding, yeah, it's books. And in years past I would have just started a book, maybe read it, maybe not, maybe just let it sit there with a bookmark in it. For years. Until I got new books and did the same thing. With LibraryThing, I have a goal or several with the various Challenges, and in coming up with the themes in this thread, I can now look at a book and wonder which Challenge it will fit into. Or look at a Challenge and dive to a pile of books to finally, finally read the one that fits that Challenge. And I have a month in which to do it which provides boundaries and guidelines that are so incredibly helpful.

So, now, it's 2023, and I'm on to continued threads and Challenges and reading adventures! My new thread for 2023 is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/346833

I'm glad LT has proven to be a helpful space for you and your relationship to your books!

>165 christina_reads: Thank you Christina! It's definitely a good space.