justchris settles in with books and walks in 2024

Wow! I was even more absent in 2023 than 2022, but all-time record in reading thanks to lots and lots of novellas and smaller novels via Libby. My great relocation has happened, and I am just beginning to unpack my books in my new home.

BOOKS READ IN 2024:

January

1. I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas by Molly Harper (e)
2. Nice Werewolves Don't Bite Vampires by Molly Harper (e)
3. One Fine Fae by Molly Harper (e)
4. Shifters in the Night by Molly Harper (e)
5. Where the Wild Things Bite by Molly Harper (e)
6. A Farewell to Charms by Molly Harper (e)
7. Always Be My Banshee by Molly Harper (e)
8. How to Date Your Dragon by Molly Harper (e)*
9. Love and Other Wild Things by Molly Harper (e)
10. The Secret of the Lost Pearls by Darcie Wilde (a)
11. Fangs for the Memories by Molly Harper (e
12. How to Run with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper (e)
13. Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper (e)
14. Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men by Molly Harper (e)
15. Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper (e)
16. Peachy Flippin' Keen by Molly Harper (e)
17. Ain't She a Peach by Molly Harper (e)
18. A Few Pecans Short of a Pie by Molly Harper (e)
19. Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors by Molly Harper (e)
20. Served Hot by Marie Harte (e)
21. Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian (a)
22. Addicted by Nicole Edwards (a)
23. An Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles* (e)
Captivated by Nicole Edwards (a) DNF
24. Soulless by Gail Carriger (a)
25. The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn't by Gail Carriger (a)
26. Marine Biology by Gail Carriger (a)
27. Meat Cute by Gail Carriger (a)
28. Changeless by Gail Carriger (e)
29. Blameless by Gail Carriger (e)
30. Heartless by Gail Carriger (e)
31. Timeless by Gail Carriger (e)
32. Prudence by Gail Carriger (a)
33. Imprudence by Gail Carriger (a)
34. Competence by Gail Carriger (a)
35. Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire* (e)
36. Served Sweet by Marie Harte (e)
37. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (e)
38. Romancing the Werewolf by Gail Carriger (e)
39. The Enforcer Enigma by G.L. Carriger (e)
40. The Omega Objection by G.L. Carriger (e)
41. Reticence by Gail Carriger (a)
42. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (a)
43. Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (a)
44. Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger (a)
45. Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire (e)
46. Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger (a)
47. Ambush or Adore by Gail Carriger (a)
48. Defy or Defend by Gail Carriger (a)
49. The Sumage Solution by G.L. Carriger (e)
50. Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger (e)
51. How To Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger (e)
52. Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire* (e)
53. Magic Below Stairs by Caroline Stevermer (e)
54. Rachel's Totem by Marie Harte (e)
55. Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger (e)
Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell (a) DNF
56. Midsummer Baker by Megan Derr (e)
Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman (e) DNF
The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield (e) DNF
57. From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper (e)
58. That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire* (e)
59. Back in a Spell by Lana Harper (e)
60. In Charm's Way by Lana Harper (e)
61. The Single Undead Moms Club by Molly Harper (e)
62. Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper (e)
63. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (e) (LT group read)

February

64. All or Nothing by Rose Lerner (e)
65. Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch (a)
66. The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire by Molly Harper (e)
67. Inflamed by Mari Carr (e)
68. Peace, Blood, and Understanding by Molly Harper (e)
69. System Collapse by Martha Wells (e)
70. When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare (e)
71. Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper (e)
72. A Wicked Bargain for the Duke by Megan Frampton (e)
73. Tall, Duke and Dangerous by Megan Frampton (e)
74. When Good Earls Go Bad by Megan Frampton (e)
75. Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa (book club)
76. Waiting for It by Allyson Lindt (e)
77. The Layover by Allyson Lindt (e)
78. Charm the Geeks by Allyson Lindt (e)
79. The Roommates by Allyson Lindt (e)
80. Matchmaking in Progress by Allyson Lindt (e)
81. Achievement Unlocked by Allyson Lindt (e)
82. Asking for It by Allyson Lindt (e)
83. The Agreement by Allyson Lindt (e)
84. Random Encounter by Allyson Lindt (e)
85. Looking for It by Allyson Lindt (e)
86. Christmas and Other Things I Hate by Elizabeth McGivern (e)
87. The Visitor: A Friendly MMF Menage Tale by KD West (e)
88. Changeling Encounter: Menage a Tree by Emily Carrington (e)
89. The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert (e)
90. Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert (e)
91. The Duke's Guide to Correct Behavior by Megan Frampton (e)
92. Defiance by C.J. Cherryh (e)
93. Running for It by Allyson Lindt (e)
94. Control Games by Allyson Lindt (e)
95. Seduction Games by Allyson Lindt (e)
96. Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert (a)
Savage Possession by Moira Rogers (a) DNF
97. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (a)
She's the One by Riley Ashford (a) DNF
98. Flight Risk by Cherie Priest (e)
99. Nice Girls Don't Live Forever by Molly Harper (e)
100. Baked Fresh by Annabeth Albert (e)
101. Sorceror to the Crown by Zen Cho (e)
102. Danced Close by Annabeth Albert (e)
103. Delivered Fast by Annabeth Albert (e)
104. Knit Tight by Annabeth Albert (e)
105. Winter's Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch (a)
106. To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters (e)
107. Served Cold by Marie Harte (e)
108. Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper (e)
109. Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch (e)
110. Band Sinister by KJ Charles* (a)
111. It's Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch (a)
112. Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles* (e)

March

113. Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch (a)
114. Hit Me with Your Best Scot by Suzanne Enoch (a)
115. Wrapped Together by Annabeth Albert (e)
A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian (e) DNF
The Handbook to Handling His Lordship by Suzanne Enoch (a) DNF
116. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by KJ Charles* (a)
117. Something in the Heir by Suzanne Enoch (a)
118. The Duke Who Loved Me by Jane Ashford (e)
119. Earl on the Run by Jane Ashford (e)
120. A Gentleman Ought to Know by Jane Ashford (e)
121. The Duke's Best Friend by Jane Ashford (e)
122. Blame It on the Earl by Jane Ashford (e)
123. Wetwork by Marie Harte (e)
124. How We Named the Stars by Andres N. Ordorica (book club)
125. The Secret of the Lady's Maid by Darcie Wild (e)
126. How We Named the Stars by Andres N. Odorica (book club)
127. Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by CJ Archer (a)
128. Murder in the Drawing Room by CJ Archer (a)
129. Murder at the Dressmaker's Salon by CJ Archer (a)
130. Murder at the Debutante Ball by CJ Archer (a)
131. Murder at the Crown and Anchor by CJ Archer (a)
132. The Watchmaker's Daughter by CJ Archer (a)
133. The Mapmaker's Apprentice by CJ Archer (a)
134. Organizing for the Rest of Us by Dana K. White (e) NF
135. Season of Love by Helena Greer (e)
136. The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (e)
137. Hero in the Highlands by Suzanne Enoch (a)
138. My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch (a)
139. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (a)
140. The Devil Wears Kilts by Suzanne Enoch (a)
141. Rogue with a Brogue by Suzanne Enoch (a)
142. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous in Plaid by Suzanne Enoch (a)
143. Boss Level by Allyson Lindt (e)
144. Snowed Inn by Allyson Lindt (e)
145. The Sugared Game by KJ Charles* (e)
The Apothecary's Poison by CJ Archer (a) DNF
146. If Found, Return to Hell by Em X Liu (e)
147. The Stand-In by Lily Chu (e)
148. The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles* (e)
149. The Bride of the Blue Wind by Victoria Goddard (e)
150. A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow (a)
151. A Devil in Scotland by Suzanne Enoch (a)
152. Think of England by KJ Charles* (e)
153. Come Monday by Mari Carr (e)
154. The Librarian of Crooked Lane by CJ Archer (a)
155. Dungeon Crawl by Allyson Lindt (e)
156. Dual Wielding by Allyson Lindt (e)
157. Roll Against Trust by Allyson Lindt (e)

April

158. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (e) (LT group read)
159. A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity and a Shared Earth by Chris Smaje (book club)
160. A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry* (a)
161. Running with the Pack edited by Ekaterina Sedia (e)
162. Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker (e)
163. For Never and Always by Helena Greer (e)
164. How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana K. White NF (e)
165. Defend and Betray by Anne Perry* (a)
166. The Warrior of the Third Veil by Victoria Goddard (e)
167. A Sudden, Fearful Death by Anne Perry* (a)
168. Murder at the Polo Club by CJ Archer (a)
169. The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (e)
170. Subtle Blood by KJ Charles* (e)
171. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki G (e)
172. Bloom by Kevin Panetta G (e)
173. Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs* (e)
174. Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs* (e)
175. Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs* (e)
176. Lone Women by Victor LaValle (e)
177. Sorcery and Cecilia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermere*
178. Bride by Ali Hazelwood (e)
179. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (e)
180. Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood (e)
181. Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood (e)
182. Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood (e)
183. Redshirts by John Scalzi
184. Fall of Angels by Barbara Cleverly (e)
185. Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood (e)
186. Invitation to Die by Barbara Cleverly (e)
187. Dominated by Two by Kenzie Haven (e)
188. Buying the Virgin by Simone Leigh (e)
189. Head On by John Scalzi (e)
190. The Cougar's Mate by Holley Trent (e)
191. Dominated by Two by Kenzie Haven (e)
192. Buying the Virgin Box Set by Simone Leigh
193. Their Runaway Bride by Vanessa Vale
The Muse: Prequel by Alex Anders (e)
194. Menage for Money by Honey Dover (e)
195. Murder at the Piccadilly Playhouse by CJ Archer (a)
196. Changeling by Sam Starbuck (e)
197. Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood* (e)
198. Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood* (e)
199. Devil's Food by Kerry Greenwood* (e)
200. Didn't See That Coming by Jessie Q. Sutanto (e)
201. Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood* (e)
202. Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood (e)
203. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (e)
204. The Bride Test Helen Hoang (a)
205. The Heart Principle Helen Hoang (a)
206. The Tower at the Edge of the World by Victoria Goddard (e)
207. Fancy Meeting You Here by Julie Tieu (e)
208. Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard NF (book club)

May

209. Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood (e)
210. Dial A for Aunties by Jessie Q. Sutanto (a)
211. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang (e) (book club)
212. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (a)
213. Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood (e)
214. The Spotted Dog by Kerry Greenwood (e)
215. To Woo and To Wed by Martha Waters (e)
216. Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (e)
217. Roll Against Regret by Allyson Lindt (e)
218. Well, That Was Unexpected by Jessie Q. Sutanto (a)
219. Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard (e)
220. Bee Sting Cake by Victoria Goddard (e)
221. Whiskeyjack by Victoria Goddard (e)
222. Derring-Do for Beginners by Victoria Goddard (e)
Good Fortune by C. K. Chau DNF
223. The Exception by Allyson Lindt (e)
224. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer*
225. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs* (e)
226. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (e)
227. Bound by Deception by Ava March (e)
Bound to Him by Ava March (e) DNF
228. A Reluctant Bride by Jess Michaels (e)
229. A Reckless Runaway by Jess Michaels (e)
230. A Counterfeit Courtesan by Jess Michaels (e)
231. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (e)
232. Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire* (e)
233. Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs* (e)
234. The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard (e)
235. Honey and Pepper by A. J. Demas (e)
236. Sword Dance by A. J. Demas (e)
237. Saffron Alley by A. J. Demas (e)
238. Strong Wine by A. J. Demas (e)
239. One Night in Boukos by A. J. Demas (e)
240. Grumpy Fake Boyfriend by Jackie Lau (e)
241. Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau (e)
242. The Sins of the Wolf by Anne Perry(*) (a)
243. A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee (e)
244. Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers (e)
245. Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas by Joanna Chambers (e)
246. Blackcurrant Fool by Victoria Goddard (e)
247. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman G (e)
248. Clary Sage by Victoria Goddard (e)
249. Traveller's Joy by Victoria Goddard (e)
250. Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau (e)
Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop by Darci Hannah (a) DNF
251. The Saint of the Bookstore by Victoria Goddard (e)
252. A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles* (e)
253. A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau (e)
254. A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas by Jackie Lau (e)
255. A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau (e)
256. Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jessoe Q. Sutanto (a)
257. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
258. Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard (e)
259. Eleventh Hour by elin gregory (e)
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson (a) DNF
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! by Yuu Toyota G (e) DNF
260. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (e)
261. Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall (e)
262. A Big Surprise for Valentine's Day by Jackie Lau (e)
263. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (e)
264. The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles* (e)
265. My Alphas: Part One by Emily Cantore (e)
266. Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall (e)
267. The Lady's Guide to Scandal by Emmanuelle de Maupassant (a)
268. Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca (e)
269. Immortal Ops Books 1-4 by Mary M. Roth (e)
270. Separation Zone by Mary M. Roth (e)

June

271. Tactical Magik by Many M. Roth (e)
272. Well Played by Jen DeLuca (a)

In progress:
Blood Justice ) (e)
Witches Abroad (e)
Air Logic
All About Love: New Visions (book club)

key:
* reread
(*) I know it's a reread, but I don't really remember it
G graphic novel/comic
NF nonfiction
P poetry
~P text contains significant chunks of poetry
(e) e-book
(a) audiobook
DNF did not finish
DNK did not keep

The order of finished books may be approximate because I often do not update my records in a timely fashion.

My previous 75 Book Challenge threads:

2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009

So the last quarter of 2023 was very busy with me buying a condo, selling a condo, downsizing, packing, and relocating from the Midwest to the West Coast. I now have a fantastic view and look forward to getting out and hiking and biking and kayaking, but I no longer live in a cohousing community with the support of many neighbors. And I now work 100% remote.

Plus, I ended up with a medical emergency upon arrival in my new city and was hospitalized the night before the movers arrived with all my stuff. It's taken a bit to get boxes sorted to their correct destinations, particularly since access to my storage unit requires traversing multiple partial stairways around the building or taking a cart around the block to get from my third-floor unit at the back to the first floor facing the street.

I've now unpacked almost everything except the books and the TV and DVDs. But I have opened all of the remaining boxes and organized them accordingly. I haven't found the CDs and have a sinking feeling that one or more boxes may not have reached their destination. Complications!

>2 justchris: That does rather explain why we have seen much less of you than we would like!

Welcome back to the group for 2024 and I will do my very best to keep you company.

>2 justchris: That was a lot you went through, Chris, how unconvenient to be hospitalised the night before moving! I hope more quiet time lies ahead.
Happy reading in 2024, you already started well ;-)

Welcome back!

>3 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! You did a valiant job last year of continuing to check in with me.
>4 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! It's been very quiet since, though I've been kept busy with cell/internet service drama after the medical drama. But all of the drama has settled down finally, and I'm starting to arrange some outings.
>5 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! Always happy to be here and thanks for keeping the group moving forward!

And now it's snowing! How exciting! I might get to use my skis without having to go to the mountains. I was worried my winter gear might be mostly retired after leaving the Upper Midwest.

Acquired my first book in 2024: The Way Spring Arrives. I scouted the 2 independent bookstores in my neighborhood and found stuff I liked, but I've been restricting my recreational spending. But today I met up with friends at the Powell's on Hawthorne and found this lovely anthology well below list price. Gotta say, the store at this location is vastly different from the last time I was here (back when it was just a food-related specialty branch). It reminded me that I discarded some pretty damaged books that I would like to replace, so maybe I'll get lucky during the LT meetup in a couple weeks...

I unpacked my fiction yesterday. Took all day as I updated my catalog, including tags.

Hey there! Found you. I can't believe you have already read 45 books! OMG! Nice job unpacking your fiction. Looking forward to meeting you in person tomorrow. : )

Hi, it was great to meet you, Chris, and hope you had good luck at Powell's.

Great to meet you today! Nice to expand our relatively local groip. Hope you had a successful shopping adventure at Powell’s.

From one Chris to another - glad to meet you!

>9 Berly: Good to see you, Kim (both here and in person today)! It's mostly audiobooks and ebooks, which mostly feel like the small end of the novel range, or even actual novellas. Plus, it's overwhelmingly fluff, easy to eat a lot of mental popcorn that way. And I do love popcorn.

>10 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda! I enjoyed meeting everyone. I managed to find a bunch of items on my shopping list without being distracted by new shiny books. Have to keep the budget contained...

>11 SuziQoregon: Thanks, Juli! It was lovely to meet everyone over tasty food. It was a bit of an adventure in Powell's given the crowds. And so i begin the process of refamiliarizing myself with the layout of the store. It'll take a few more trips, I'm sure.

>12 ChrisG1: Ditto! Always good to see another Chris. The number of us in my current work environment is a new record. I hope you're enjoying LT and the 75ers in particular.

And here's what I picked up at the Powell's sale:

Replacement nonfiction:
Birds of North America
Medieval Islam
White Fragility
and a large Spanish-English dictionary to replace the failing Cassell's that I took from my mom back in the day

Plus, one spontaneous purchase:
T'ai Chi Combat
I always like to browse the taiji books.

Replace fiction:
Dread Companion
Ice Crown
Night of Masks
Ordeal in Otherwhere
Shadowhawk
Victory on Janus
(all Andre Norton)
plus Sister Light, Sister Dark

And another extra purchase The Book of Andre Norton, which includes one short story I already have in another collection, but the rest is new to me.

So nice to meet you yesterday-- I wish you happy reading ahead (looks like you took care of that at Powell's!)

Posted pics on my thread. : )

>14 justchris: Another Tai Chi practitioner?

Came to it very late in life, but I love it -- though I'm not particularly interested in the combat aspect at my age! I will admit it was funny watching the fight scenes in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and saying "Oh, that was a brush knee! Look - a single whip!" Of course, when I do them, there's no opponent on the other end and if there was, he certainly wouldn't be propelled across the room!

>14 justchris: Andre Norton! Discovering the Heinlein and Norton "juveniles" in my Jr. High library hooked me on sci fi. Been a long time since I've read Norton now...

>14 justchris: Looks like you did really well at Powells :) Welcome to greater Portland. It was nice meet and hope there will be many more meet-up opportunities.

>15 Berly: Thanks! Though to be fair, much of what I picked up wasn't for immediate consumption so much as refurbishing my Norton collection.

I met up with friends a couple weeks ago to watch American Fiction, and the post-movie discussion was interesting. We also discussed trade paperbacks vs mass market paperbacks. My friend Daniel hates the latter because of their intrinsically inferior, ephemeral quality. I totally get it! And yet, that's what I grew up with, carried around with me, and bought shelves for. Those shelves will not accommodate most trade paperbacks. Thus, it's put a real moratorium on my continuing to stock up on speculative fiction books. But plenty of the old ones are falling apart, hence yesterday's haul. It's especially exciting when I find a replacement copy that is the same edition.

>16 LyndaInOregon: I learned taiji was a martial art when I was a teenager and became instantly enamored, though my first forays were disappointing with all of the focus on the woo meditative aspects. I didn't actually start attending taiji classes regularly until I got my first decent-paying job and could finally afford the class fees in my 30s. Been involved in it ever since and steadily building the associated personal library and DVD collection. However, I continue to struggle with actually practicing on my own outside the classroom, and my practice doesn't deepen because I am even worse about developing the meditative aspects.

And now I really must see Everything Everywhere All at Once. The last movie I saw specifically for the taiji cameo was The Intern with Robert DeNiro. The taiji class in the park scene was led by Tiffany Chen, the daughter of Grandmaster William C.C. Chen, which is the lineage I follow. For all the negatives of the pandemic, he started offering weekly zoom classes, which is what has kept me going after falling out with my instructor in Madison and now moving to Portland, where taiji apparently doesn't exist on the northside.

>17 ChrisG1: In my case, it was my mom's box of Norton in the closet that got me hooked. She got so mad at me when I lost her copy of the Sea Siege / Eye of the Monster Ace Double in the third grade. I was tickled to see that exact edition at Powell's yesterday. I didn't encounter Heinlein until I was a teenager, and none of the other Golden Age authors until well into adulthood. I did not follow the standard speculative fiction trajectory at all.

>18 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks! Still plenty more on my shopping list, but patience and persistence lead to finding great prizes...

>19 justchris: I've only done Yang style, which is (as you note) more "meditative", and I tend to take the woo-woo stuff with a grain of salt. At my age, I'm looking for that core strength and maintenance of flexibility, but struggle with the balance forms because of the wonky hip.

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, is probably not for everyone, but I loved it. It's a wild ride once you get into it.

>20 LyndaInOregon: William C.C. Chen's lineage is Yang style--I guess the relative emphasis of the uses and benefits depends very much on the instructor. Tricia Yu has done interesting things with the Yang form to emphasize core strength and flexibility especially for seniors--it's called something like Tai Chi Essentials.

I heard plenty of buzz about the movie. I look forward to watching it at some point. Someday. When my tv is set up and I have access to new (to me) movies.

Updating my reading list shows that my Libby habit is totally out of control. And this is why I stayed away from e-readers for so many years. I've been binging my way through paranormal romance, erotica, fantasy, etc.

I enjoyed Molly Harper's stories set in Mystic Bayou and Half Moon Hollow, plus a couple of the werewolves in Alaska books. She's introduced me to some new supernatural possibilities from folklore and has some interesting takes on more familiar creatures and generally entertaining humor.

I also got into Darcie Wilde's historical mysteries in 2023 and am just about caught up, on hold for the most recent publication (The Secret of the Lady's Maid). It's an interesting approach to the Regency era. I am far more accustomed to the romance angle in many iterations.

I ploughed through most of Marie Harte's romances/erotica in 2023, mostly centered in Seattle with another set in Georgia. I was intrigued with how she built cross-connections among characters in different story sets in the Seattle collection. Often, the closing scene in one book was the kickoff to the next romance in the set, plus plenty of cameos between different sets of stories, and the dialogue was generally fun. The Georgia books were a little ridiculous but fun. And this year I am trying odds and ends, like the revenge set of stories. Again, ridiculous overall, but endearing characters. But really didn't like Rachel's Totem and won't be pursuing that long series of shapechanger romances. Overall, Marie Harte has a fixation on Marines, reinforces the love at first site/pheromones trope, and has plenty of stereotypes in her books. I was willing to wade through that because fun characters and dialogue and the occasional truly ridiculous scene, plus touching on both healthy supportive families and really dysfunctional abusive families and laying it all out for people to see.

The big binge at the start of 2024 has been the Parasolverse. I heard the buzz when Soulless was first released but had never really explored any steampunk. I was under the mistaken impression that her books were seminal to the genre, but reading up it appears not. Regardless, I enjoyed all of them: the original series featuring Alexia the preternatural, the next-generation series featuring her metanatural daughter Prudence, and the prequel series featuring the assassin/espionage finishing school for girls plus their later-in-life conclusions, as well as the jump-off into the modern queer werewolf pack. Again, I was fascinated with her take on werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and how it all hung together, which is to say, her worldbuilding. I loved all of her characters, and the narrator's voice from the audiobooks lingers on for me.

Browsing my local bookstore, I saw From Bad to Cursed, and it looked charming enough that I went home and found it in Libby. Indeed, very charming, along with the other books in the series set in Thistle Grove, home of four witch lineages with different magical specialties. I'm still waiting for the first book of the series to become available.

I also very much enjoyed Talia Hibbert's Brown sisters contemporary romances. Again, waiting for the first of the series to become available. Charming and fun.

Some one-offs were pretty disappointing but perhaps to be expected: Mari Carr's Inflamed (ugh! though I have enjoyed some of her other stuff), Rose Lerner's Regency erotica (couldn't really suspend my disbelief in terms of her character's choices and lack of consequences), couldn't even get into Lillian Fishman's Acts of Service, though what I read was well written, or Paul Cornell's Witches of Lychford. I was enjoying The Diary of a Provincial Lady and would like to try again in the future, but it just wasn't holding my attention now. The erotica short stories from Nicole Edwards--I got through the first, but I just couldn't with the second. His stormy gray eyes whirled? It made me picture a guy with a chameleon's conical eyes. The writing was bad enough I had to stop.

The other phrasing that really got to me was "shifting his gaze between her eyes"--how does that work exactly? Doesn't someone usually look at the whole face and both eyes at the same time? That comes from Lana Harper's books. Shows up in each one so far, along with "drawing his lips through the teeth," which is not something I've seen before though I have a better sense of what that looks like. Yet I did enjoy her stories despite the occasional pauses at her prose.

So that's the closest I've come to book reviews in at least a year!

>22 justchris: Congratulations on a mega-reporting, Chris! Good job.

If you want something slightly different than romance-oriented werewolf/vampire tales, you might take a look at a series from newbie author Wayne Turmel: Johnny Lycan & the Anubis Disk and Johnny Lycan and the Vegas Berserker. He's moshing together noir detective and supernatural genres in something that seems to be unique.

There are some rough spots, as might be expected from a beginning author, but he's definitely given some thought to lycanthropy, noting that

“it’s not like you’re perfectly normal, minding your own business and then ‘Oh, crap, it’s the moon. Aaaaooooo’.”

According to Lupul, it’s a cycle with mental and behavioral transformations as well as physical ones, and it’s not done casually or without cost. Turmel deals with practicality as well (like what happens to ones clothes when one transforms), whether the wolf-form (Lupul calls him “Shaggy) retains any consciousness of being human (and vice versa) when one physical form is in ascendance. It’s an interesting look at a fantasy trope that too often goes straight for the shock value and doesn’t linger over details.

Full review of Anubis Disk is here, and of Vegas Berserker is here. There's a third novel in the series, which I've just requested through LTER.

>23 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks!

>24 LyndaInOregon: Ooh! I will look for those! I'm always interested in different takes on the usual suspects. And I do love genre mash-ups.

Gail Carriger's werewolves during the steampunk era had to be locked up in silver cages during the full moon because they turned into mindless, slavering beasts, and yet her modern werewolves went on a full-moon hunt and then hosted a venison barbecue for the neighborhood. She went with the concept of tethers for the steampunk supernaturals: vampires tethered to a locale (unless the queen is provoked into swarming), ghosts tethered to their mortal remains, and werewolves tethered to the pack itself, led by the Alpha--who would ultimately go insane and need to be put down, unlike the others who could go on indefinitely? And ghosts began to disintegrate and go insane as the physical bodies decomposed, becoming poltergeists. Only the vampires seemed to have a real chance at immortality, even though all of them were called immortals by regular folks.

I would love to see some iterations of werewolves without the whole Alpha/Beta/Omega bullshit that has become the accepted convention and kinda feeds into ongoing toxic masculinity tropes. Sigh. I've enjoyed Seanan McGuire's therianthrope cryptids of so many different varieties that werewolves hardly enter into it.

I went to the bookstore to see about picking up a copy of Most Ardently for the queer book club but couldn't make myself buy hardcover fiction. Instead, I came home with something completely different: Masa and Healthy Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook. Then I came home, got online, and downloaded the ebook version on Kobo. The hold on Libby was looking to take months, and I only have a week to read the trans take on Pride and Prejudice.

Hello Chris, how are you doing today?

>27 Owltherian: Hello, Lily! I'm doing well today, though very distracted from work...

>28 justchris: Its good your day is going well. Im doing pretty well too, although i am in pain and now i almost cried due to my friend having to leave LT for who knows how long.

>29 Owltherian: Sorry you've lost your friend here, but hopefully they'll come back. Pain is no fun, and I hope that gets better too. My headaches went way down once I found a new home and actually relocated, so I haven't had as much chronic pain lately.

>30 justchris: Yeah, my back constantly hurts, although I'm quite young, 14 almost 15 to be exact.

>31 Owltherian: Pain makes it hard to actually enjoy your youth! That sucks!

>32 justchris: yeah, although it only helps when i lay down which is like a few hours of my time.

>25 justchris: I thought Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal was a great take.

So I finished Most Ardently last night for the queer book club I'll be checking out next week. I really wanted to like and found the premise interesting. But it read as a contemporary romance cosplaying as a historical romance.

I tend to really restrict the authors of historical romances that I read because when they get the era so wrong it just bothers me too much to enjoy the story. Unmarried girls were so constrained and accompanied in the Regency era that one going off on walks alone, or even visiting a friend unescorted, just wasn't done in London. And primogeniture wasn't simply a matter of Mr Bennett writing a will and deciding who would inherit the estate. Plus, life with servants and what that means in terms of family privacy, gossip and the like, versus not having servants at all, which isn't reflective of the social class of the Bennett family. Or even what a typical English breakfast menu for a well-born family consists of. More than crumpets and jam, believe you me.

And then you take a classic work, which happens to be my favorite Austen, and do something different--I'm not averse to the concept, but the story had nothing actually involving either pride or prejudice between Mr Darcy and Lizzy Bennett (or Oliver, rather, in this story). It was very much about the interiority of a trans boy (everyone was a boy or girl in this story) in the closet yearning to come out. Which is a good story to tell, just not sure an Austen novel was the way to go.

The remix part of the story involved the family home being in London, Wickham being a friend of Mr Collins and apparently not in the military, no daughter of Lady de Bourgh (instead Wickham's cousin), the other Bennett sisters besides Charlotte hardly appearing in the story, Mr Collins concerned about losing his inheritance if Oliver is acknowledged as a son, and only the minimum of dialog to hit the key points of the original story.

Hi Chris! How art thou?

>36 Owltherian: Distracted. Gotta get work done, not motivated, just wanna read the latest ebook. Not good. Got deadlines and stuff. Making some tea to perk me up.

>37 justchris: Sorry for the late response but I hate deadlines, that's probably why i have somewhat bad grades for now.

>38 Owltherian: Yep. Deadlines usually have consequences. I think in my entire academic career I turned in exactly one paper early. Everything else was barely on time or late, too often done the night before. I got through high school mostly by doing homework in the next class and minimizing what I had to bring home. I really struggled in college and grad school. Found out long after school I have adhd and there are reasons why I procrastinate and struggle with executive function and freefall without some sort of structure.

I am extraordinarily lucky that I have a lot of flexibility in my job and a very understanding manager, but I can't keep coasting like this. I think I got all of the essential emails sent out on Friday, and I can only hope that I get lots of replies before the big meeting Tuesday morning. The challenge is that I need to create my own structure to get things done--lack of accountability can create all sorts of problems that build up.

>39 justchris: I am VERY bad at getting stuff done by their deadline, it always slips my mind and now my parents will be even more on my case about it, more than they already are.

>40 Owltherian: Much later in life and with more technology available, I have become very dependent on alarms and reminders to get things done by deadline. Still fail, but less often. It's about setting up structures to help me along.

>41 justchris: Yeah, i got a bunch of stuff done but i don't think it was enough

Hi! Hope the big Tuesday morning meeting went well?

>42 Owltherian: Well, we do what we can and keep plugging away.

>43 Berly: Thanks! It actually went very well. And now I've managed to put in close to 12 hours today because I missed yesterday's deadline for a manuscript and couldn't be any later than today. Sigh. After months of writing groups being stalled for months, I'm now getting slammed with multiple manuscripts that need attention. Plus, my past weeks of slacking are catching up with me.

>44 justchris: Phew! Long day, but good job. Hang in there!

>45 Berly: Thanks! This week has been a slog. I want to keep crashing but instead I've been taking lots of breaks to get me through the week. Took care of tasks for second ms yesterday, and hope to handle tasks for third and fourth today. Plus start polling for 3 meetings in the coming weeks. And of course, continue reading through all of this but trying not to completely derail work in favor of ebooks.

>45 Berly: Bro my friends are trying to force me to get them more food- ughhhh

>46 justchris: Sorry you're having a tough week, Chris. Hope you get caught up and can have a little down time.

>47 Owltherian: Well, food is always good. But being the delivery person for the group not always fun.
>48 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! I'm taking down time as I go along but then have to chivvy myself back to work. Once again feel ready for a nap but getting ready to listen to a presentation while formatting a conference schedule and doing final checks before sending it out.

>49 justchris: Yeah- it was chicken alfredo in which i HATE and the school ones make it worse

>49 justchris: Ooh, I used to love chicken alfredo but now can't do it at all. I sympathize. Terrible of friends to demand food that you can't share with them.

>49 justchris: The presentation is actually an author: Taylor Brorby talking about his book Boys and Oil.

>35 justchris: And the book club discussion of Most Ardently was last night, apparently the inaugural session of the local queer book club, and the host knows the author. And I was the only one who was lukewarm rather than thumbs up about the book, so the host had me talk first. The opposite of my plan to sit back and talk less. I usually fail in that plan, no matter how many times I formulate it. The funny thing was that the host and I were the only ones familiar with the source material, none of the others had every read Pride and Prejudice (or even seen any of the film adaptations for a couple of them).

>51 justchris: I didnt even get the lunch and they kept saying they would do things for me but i literally have someone to help me with all my stuff already

Hope life is being kind to you, Chris.

Have a restful Sunday my friend.

>52 Owltherian: Sounds like a disappointing and frustrating encounter with friends. Hopefully, it's not always like that.

>53 PaulCranswick: Thanks for stopping by, Paul! Sadly, not so restful. I slept very poorly last night in 1-2 hour snatches. Had my first boxing class today, then errands (walking around the neighborhood with an increasingly heavy bag): bakery (baguette and sandwich loaf), music store (CDs), coffeeshop (snack), pet store (cat food), hardware store (miscellaneous items), grocery store (same), back to boxing gym to retrieve the shoes I forgot there, then home. I decided to skip the second grocery store for the remaining items on my list. Now I'm ready to crawl into bed but so hungry, even after bread and butter snack. So time to whip up some fresh salmon cakes and see how they turn out in air fryer.

>54 justchris: Enjoy them Chris. I really like salmon cakes.

>54 justchris: Yeah, it usually is though sadly.

>55 PaulCranswick: Salmon cakes were lovely! I'm looking forward to the rest of them for lunch tomorrow.

>56 Owltherian: Well, then you need to reevaluate these relationships. I recommend some time checking out Captain Awkward's blog and what she has to say about friendship and relationships in general. Is there reciprocity? Do you typically leave a meetup feeling better or worse? Are any of your needs being met in this relationship, or not so much? *end unsolicited advice*

>57 justchris: They even tell me I look like one of their ex-girlfriends when me and her look quite different and to be honest I'm quite ready to drop them as friends.

>58 Owltherian: Well then I hope you're able to follow up on the intention to spend less (no) time with such unsupportive folks.

>58 Owltherian: Don't waste time on toxicity, Lily.

>59 justchris: Sadly i spend basically all my classes with one of them but I'm sure i can figure out how to not talk to them.

>61 Owltherian: It's possible to engage without giving yourself away--not going beyond small talk, being pleasant and boring, etc.

>62 justchris: Yeah, luckily they havent talked to me yet today

The problem with an out of control Libby habit is keeping up with listing the items I've read. Not to mention, it makes my reading history look quite impressive, but so many of the items are novellas.

heh, that sounds fun.

>65 Owltherian: Fun but distracting. Sometimes adulting is hard.

>66 justchris: Seems like it, you have to go to work and all that still.

>67 Owltherian: Yep. Work is always there. But then went to see a band and drink cider tonight, so tradeoffs.

I finally created an online account for my local library and put holds on future book club selections. Print copies have fewer holds than ebooks, not surprisingly. Had so much fun tonight, I looked up live music in my neighborhood and am looking forward to some shows, including an Easter Drag Brunch.

>68 justchris: Where are you going for the Easter Drag Brunch? Sounds fun!

>69 Berly: The Fixin To in my neighborhood. Friends are joining me here. Last weekend, I went to Havalina to drink cocktails and listen to a cumbia DJ and watch the dancers. I am just starting to explore the entertainment options in my area. I love live music and dancing, though it's been decades since I've actually gone out dancing.

Have fun exploring!! And it's never too late to dance again. ; )

>71 Berly: Thanks! The drag show was fun. It lasted longer than I expected, but that's on me. I do hope to dance again, but haven't been moved to do so yet. Right now I'm trying to work my back into jogging with hot music to accompany me.

Hey Chris! How are ya?

>73 Owltherian: I'm doing pretty good. Really showed up for work in March, restarted my 0-5k training program, felt a moment of joy out walking in the neighborhood on Friday (can't remember the last time I experienced that feeling), no longer feeling overwhelmed all the time. So life is good in general. Thanks for asking!

>74 justchris: You're welcome, and im glad your day is going great!

>75 Owltherian: And how are you doing? Out of curiosity, I checked stats, and you've posted an order of magnitude more on LT in the months you've been here than I have in my decade-plus in this space. So you clearly live online way more than me and are far more social!

>76 justchris: Im doing pretty good, pretty much the same. Although I got yelled at for apparently 'not listening' to my mother when i had my headphones on yesterday, my day today has been pretty good, also thinking of a few pranks I could do on my siblings.

>77 Owltherian: Sounds like a good day. I hope the sibling fun times are fun. I did pranks in college not so much while growing up.

>78 justchris: I hope so as well, i know my lil bro is terrified of spiders, so i may do a prank with a fake one.

I think I have more DNFs than ever before. Perhaps commensurate with the sheer volume of ebooks I'm gulping down. Some of them I really tried to make it to the end, but I just couldn't, even when I was 95% done. Such is The Handbook to Handling His Lordship. The premise was entertaining enough: part of a series featuring Tantalus Girls working at an exclusive London club making marriages into the aristocracy, and this one features a girl hiding from a dangerous past and a former spy hired to find her. But I just couldn't deal with her "woe is me, I'm not worthy!" whinging for one second longer.

And CJ Archer's Glass and Steele series was promising, starting with The Watchmaker's Daughter, an interesting take on magic: practitioners inherit their abilities and each lineage specializes in one material--maps, watches, gold, silver, paper, ink, rubber, paint, etc--through which they channel their magic, and their magic spells are of limited duration, though magically created objects are more beautiful than made through more usual means. I got through the first two books but had to quit the third because I couldn't deal with the romantic leads, India Steel and Matthew Glass, constantly pining for each other and not communicating. I wanted to at least get to the point where they manage to kiss but just couldn't with all the misunderstanding and failures to fill in the pregnant silences. Not to mention the American caricatures as sidekicks. Hard to believe this series lasted into 14 books. The Librarian of Crooked Lane is the start of the next generation, featuring the son of India and Matthew as the male romantic lead and Sylvia Ashe as the female lead. Some of the supporting characters from the first series show up here, along with their offspring.

And after bringing up the Crimean War and thus Anne Perry's William Monk series, I've decided to listen to the audiobooks after a hiatus of 20 years. It'll be interesting to see how much I remember of the stories, and of course, to continue on to books published after my previous stopping point.

Plus, queer book club meets next week, so I better go pick up a copy of An Education in Malice at the bookstore. I had hoped to read a library copy, but my holds on both the print and ebook editions are still weeks out.

I saw a lot of buzz around Bride, and it sounded interesting so I put a hold on it in February. It arrived last week, and I enjoyed it enough to binge through all of Ali Hazelwood's stuff. Women in STEM romances as a theme has an innate appeal. I started with Love, Theoretically, and it was charming enough I kept going. Unfortunately, it was a steep downhill slide from there. I'm still waiting for The Love Hypothesis, which I hope will be closer in quality to the novels than the novellas, which weren't that good.

Essentially, Ali Hazelwood is a one-trick pony: perceived enemies to lovers trope, open with the key confrontation between the couple, and then go back to the start of the story and proceed from there. Perceived enemies to lovers because without fail, the romantic hero falls instantly in love with the heroine to the point of dysfunction, but she misreads it as dislike/antagonism/hate and proceeds to interpret everything from him through that filter until eventually they sort it out. The key confrontation could be anywhere from the beginning, middle, or end of the story arc, so sometimes we catch up to the prologue scene quickly and then continue on,a nd sometimes the whole story takes us up to the prologue. I don't love plots that are carried by misunderstandings and poor communication, but sometimes the characters and dialogue are sufficient compensation to get through it.

Also, Bride had some features that I've seen crop up in some stories I've encountered in the last year that have kinda baffled me, and I have now learned about omegaverse, which explains those elements that were so puzzling to me.

>82 justchris: Having read Bride, I know which features you mean.

I thought overall it was ok. I liked the main character's focus on her best friend; I dislike misunderstandings caused by adults not using their words. Interesting family dynamics.

>83 reconditereader: I liked the BFF plotline too. Of course, it's because families and the world are so messed up that it's 2 girls against the universe. Talk about severe attachment disorder. I found the contrast between the twins interesting: she's not invested in life at all because her life has never been hers to live, while her brother has a mission in life, which is to give hers back to her (or at least her agency) and make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. Overall, the snarky dialogue was fun. Especially confronting the supervillain.

But yeah, stories driven by profound misunderstandings and not actually talking to each other about shit, meh. Characters and dialogue compensated for it. I guess it would be more of a novella if the characters actually got their shit together, talked to each other, etc.

And the world-building was a little interesting to me. I'm always intrigued by how different authors spin fantasy standards of werewolves and vampires. In this case, the vampires were more interesting, maybe because I haven't delved into vampire genre much. I find the whole werewolf one-true-mate thing even worse than standard romance One True Love trope. Vampire tooth necklaces and vials of vampire blood as jewelry, calling the famous massacre The Aster, interesting details to me.

I found Ali Hazelwood's contemporary romance novels charming, and the novellas not very good at all. I'm still waiting for The Love Hypothesis.

Jessie Q. Sutanto's YA romance Didn't See That Coming was very topical, dealing with online misogyny and bullying both online and in person, along with online friendship turning into in-person romance. And Dial A for Aunties was very much the screwball comedy mashup of Weekend at Bernie's, an Indo-Chinese version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and bumping into an old flame from college (the one who got away), along with the power of family love.

Helen Hoang's Vietnamese American trilogy of romances (The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test, and The Heart Principle) feature autistic protagonists, whether male or female. I enjoyed all of them. They mostly relied on one form of forced intimacy trope or another (fake dating, arranged marriage/courtship, and online dating do-over dates).

After starting to revisit the William Monk mysteries, I decided to go back to the Corinna Chapman mysteries too, which a friend introduced me to a bunch of years ago. I read the first three or four, really enjoyed them, and have had fun rereading them and then progressing through the rest of the series. Sadly, it topped out at seven, last published in 2019. I guess with the wild success of the Phryne Fisher mysteries, the author decided to stop pursuing the contemporary cozy mysteries featuring an Australian baker and her close-knit building neighbors with their Roman-themed apartments and rooftop garden. The recipes at the end of each book tempt me to pick up paper editions, but none to be found. Sadness.

Finally, I decided to finally start the Thursday Next series. It was way stranger than I was expecting. British absurdist humor in the vein of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or To Say Nothing of the Dog crossed with 1984-style dystopian future of ongoing Crimean War rather than war with Eurasia/Eastasia and Goliath Corporation rather than Big Brother, plus a panoply of British literature as primary cultural and economic drivers. Certainly, Rochester never looked so good in the original source material (Jane Eyre), IMHO. I'm looking forward to the next installment (now on hold).

Camp Damascus is my first Chuck Tingle. He's got a good grasp of horror. I'm sure it's very different from his tinglers, but the library doesn't carry any of them.

Oops -- commented on what I thought was on your most recent thread and now I discover this one. Thanks for helping to keep mine warm while I was away.

Heh. I'm not very prolific. Easy to confuse them. Thanks for stopping by!

I thought Camp Damascus was really great. Hope you enjoy it.

>88 reconditereader: I did enjoy Camp Damascus. Very well done. I can easily see it being turned into a movie in the near future.

Delurking to say Hi!

>90 Berly: Hi! Thanks for stopping by! I'm doing better commenting a little in others' threads than updating my own.

Yup. I am seeing you around. ; )

>92 Berly: Thanks! I hope today's meetup was a lot of fun and lots of fantastic finds at the warehouse. I was busy with farmers market and replacing my entry door handle etc, including a trip to the hardware store and various other domestic tasks.

You were missed, but I hope your day was productive. The brunch was lots of fun. Powell's was a crowded mess! LOL