Roni 'ncats Relishes 2012: Books and Arts and Crafts Part 8

The view from our hotel window in Seattle!

Books read in 2012

* indicates re-read, # indicates library book, + indicates Kindle book, % indicates Book Off The Shelf (BOTS)

January
1. The Night Circus# by Erin Morgenstern (387 pp.)
2. Cannery Row# by John Steinbeck (196 pp.)
3. Darkship Thieves% by Sarah A. Hoyt (479 pp.)
4. Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair (447 pp.)
5. The Family Trade% by Charles Stross (308 pp.)
6. Maxwell's Closet+ by Steven Belskie
7. The Goose Girl# by Shannon Hale (400 pp.)
8. Salt: A World History+ by Mark Kurlansky (450 pp.)
9. A Proper Companion+ by Candice Hern
10. Organized Simplicity+ by Tsh Oxenreider (256 pp.)

February
11. The Pride of Chanur* by C. J. Cherryh (224 pp.)
12. Crochet Master Class+ by Leinhayser and Weiss (191 pp.)
13. Troubled Waters# by Sharon Shinn (391 pp.)
14. Tuesdays at the Castle# by Jessica Day George (225 pp.)
15. Chanur's Venture* by C. J. Cherryh (312 pp.)
16. The Kif Strike Back* by C. J. Cherryh (299 pp.)
17. Chanur's Homecoming* by C. J. Cherry (398 pp.)
18. The Peach Keeper# by Sarah Addison Allen (271 pp.)
19. Enna Burning# by Shannon Hale (317 pp.)
20. The Wild Ways# by Tanya Huff (295 pp.)
21. Midnight in Austenland# by Shannon Hale (272 pp.)
22. Timeless by Gail Carriger (386 pp.)
23. Oath of Fealty* by Elizabeth Moon (471 pp.)
24. Kings of the North* by Elizabeth Moon (478 pp.)
25. Echoes of Betrayal by Elizabeth Moon (451 pp.)
26. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children# by Ransom Riggs (348 pp.)
27. The Hidden Family% by Charles Stross (309 pp.)

March
28. Firebird # by Jack McDevitt (375 pp.)
29. Undone Deeds by Mark Del Franco (323 pp.)
30. Murder of a Royal Pain % by Denise Swanson (248 pp.)
31. Finding Clarity + by Kim Novak ((242 pp.)
32. Lord Pete %r by Dorothy Sayers (481 pp.)
33. River Secrets # by Shannon Hale (290 pp.)
34. A Gift of Dragons #+ by Anne McCaffrey (304 pp.)
35. Ready Player One # by Ernest Cline (372 pp.)
36. Glory in Death # by J. D. Robb (293 pp.)
37. Blood Maidens # by Barbara Hambly (244 pp.)
38. The Cruellest Month # by Louise Penny (311 pp.)
39. The Genesis of Science # by James Hannam (355 pp.)
40. Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead + by Christiana Miller (330 pp.)
41. Among Others # by Jo Walton (302 pp.)
42. A Discovery of Witches # by Deborah Harkness (579 pp.)
43. The Kingdom of Gods % by N. K. Jemisin (600 pp.)
44. Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, & Politics in the Book of Revelations by Elaine Pagels (177 pp.)
45. The Coroner's Lunch # by Colin Cotterill (257 pp.)
46. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie # by Alan Bradley (373 pp.)
47. Petty Treason # by Madeleine Robins (316 pp.)
48. Entangled + by Barbara Ellen Brink (340 pp.)

Books read in 2012--2nd Quarter

* indicates re-read, # indicates library book, + indicates Kindle book, % indicates Book Off The Shelf (BOTS)

April
49. The Screwtape Letters* by C. S. Lewis
50. Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers (511 pp.)
51. James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon# by Julie Phillips (405 pp.)
52. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (151 pp)
53. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever# by James Tiptree, Jr. (520 pp.)
54. Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire (344 pp.)
55. Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (389 pp.)
56. Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip (278 pp.)

May
57. A Princess of Mars* by Edgar Rice Burroughs (146 pp.)
58. The Closing of the Western Mind by Charles Freeman (403 pp.)
59. Tea With the Black Dragon* by R. A. MacEvoy (166 pp.)
60. Jesus, Interrupted# by Bart Ehrman (292 pp.)
61. A Sensible Lady+ by Judith Lown (187 pp.)
62. The Curse of Chalion* by Lois McMaster Bujold (442 pp.)
63. The Hallowed Hunt* by Lois McMaster Bujold (470 pp.)
64. Paladin of Souls* by Lois McMaster Bujold (456 pp.)
65. House of Many Ways* by Diana Wynne Jones (404 pp.)
66. Magic Under Glass# by Jaclyn Dolamore (225 pp.)
67. Who Fears Death% by Nnedi Okorafor (386 pp.)
68. Illegal Magic+ by Arlene Blakely (227 pp.)
69. Religion Explained# by Pascal Boyer (330 pp.)
70. Thirty-Three Teeth# by Colin Cotteril (256 pp.)
71. The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett (718 pp.)

June
72. Changes# by Mercedes Lackey (326 pp.)
73. Daughter of Smoke and Fire# by Laini Taylor (418 pp.)
74. An Undeniable Rogue+ by Amanda Blair (320 pp.)
75. Dandelion Wine* by Ray Bradbury (184 pp.)
76. The Marriage Bargain+ by Sandra Edwards (190 pp.)
77. Curricle & Chaise+ by Lizzie Church (251 pp.)
78. Od Magic* by Patricia McKillip (315 pp.)
79. 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman (227 pp.)
80. Ridiculous+ by D. L. Carter (325 pp.)
81. oh. my. gods.# by Tera Lynn Childs (264 pp.)
82. Hell: A final Word by Edward William Fudge (173 pp.)
83. Make-Believe# by Elizabeth Goudge (267 pp.)
84. The Scent of Water* by Elizabeth Goudge (222 pp.)
85. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance+ by Lois McMaster Bujold (400 pp.)
86. The Bible Repairman and other Stories# by Tim Powers (170 pp.)
87. A Breath of Eyre# by Eve Marie Mont (331 pp.)
88. Disco for the Departed# by Colin Cotteril (247 pp.)
89. One Dog and His Boy# by Eva Ibbotson (282 pp.)
90. White Cat# by Holly Black (310 pp.)

Books read in 2012--3rd Quarter

* indicates re-read, # indicates library book, + indicates Kindle book, % indicates Book Off The Shelf (BOTS)

July
91. Tooth and Claw# by Jo Walton (253 pp.)
92. Our Mutual Friend+ by Charles Dickens (880 pp.)

August
93. A Confusion of Princes+ by Garth Nix (352 pp.)
94. Redshirts by John Scalzi (314 pp.)
95. Across the Great Divide+ by Patricia Wrede (352 pp.)
96. The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow (317 pp.)
97. The Ill-bred Wife by Rosemary Edghill (248 pp.)
98. Deathless# by Catherynne Valente (349 pp.)
99. The House of Wisdom# by Jim al-Khalili (289 pp.)
100. Colin Firth: The Man who would be King+ by Sandro Monetti (304 pp.)
101. The Blue Sword* by Robin McKinley (248 pp.)
102. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (336 pp.)
103. Ink and Steel# by Elizabeth Bear (427 pp.)
104. Hell and Earth# by Elizabeth Bear (419 pp.)

September
105. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (298 pp.)
106. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling# by Maryrose Wood (267 pp.)
107. Po's Story% by Peter Dickinson (208 pp.)
108. Mana's Story% by Peter Dickinson (211 pp.)
109. Wolf Wing% by Tanith Lee (229 pp.)
110. Wanderlust% by Ann Aguirre (312 pp.)
111. Anarchy and Old Dogs# by Colin Cotterill (272 pp.)
112. Flora's Fury# by Ysabeau Wilce (517 pp.)
113. Clemency Pogue, Fairy Killer by J. T. Petty (120 pp.)
114. A Rule Against Murder% by Louise Penny (365 pp.)
115. Blood and Iron* by Elizabeth Bear (430 pp.)
116. Wrapped# by Jennifer Bradbury (309 pp.)
117. World Soul by Liz Williams (311 pp.)
118. Whiskey and Water# by Elizabeth Bear (431 pp.)
119. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag# by Alan Bradley (384 pp.)
120. Immortal in Death# by J. D. Robb (320 pp.)
121. Birth of the Firebringer* by Meredith Ann Pierce (202 pp.)
122. Dark Moon% by Meredith Ann Pierce (238 pp.)
123. The Son of Summer Stars% by Meredith Ann Pierce (250 pp.)

Books read in 2012--4th Quarter

* indicates re-read, # indicates library book, + indicates Kindle book, % indicates Book Off The Shelf (BOTS)

October
124. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman# by Robert Massie (574 pp.)
125. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde (401 pp.)
126. Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (373 pp.)
127. The Face in the Frost* by John Bellairs (174 pp.)
128. Oath of Fealty* by Elizabeth Moon (471 pp.)
129. Constantine the Emperor by David Potter (309 pp.)
130. Kings of the North* by Elizabeth Moon (478 pp.)
131. Echoes of Betrayal* by Elizabeth Moon (451 pp.)
132. 1Q84+ by Haruki Murikami (946 pp.)
133. Dracula+ by Bram Stoker (408 pp.)
134. New Amsterdam+ by Elizabeth Bear (272 pp.)
135. Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire (353 pp.)
136. Illuminations+ by Mary Sharratt (288 pp.)
137. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (288 pp.)
138. The Inconvenient Duchess+ by Christine Merrill (380 pp.)
139. Family Magic+ by Patti Larsen (466 pp.)
140. Opal Fire+ by Barbara Annino (313 pp.)
141. The Bewitching Season by Lynn Collum etal. (254 pp.)
142. The White City by Elizabeth Bear (182 pp.)

November
143. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (247 pp.)
144. A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber (352 pp.)
145. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (422 pp.)
146. The Disappearance by Philip Wylie (405 pp.)
147. Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold (237 pp.)
148. The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech (320 pp.)
149. The Ginger Star by Leigh Brackett (186 pp.)
150. The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (182 pp.)
151. The Reavers of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (208 pp.)
152. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (410 pp.)
153. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck (246 pp.)
154. Needle by Hal Clement (207 pp.)
155. The Christmas Rat by Avi (133 pp.)
156. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (754 pp.)

December
157. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima (506 pp.)
158. Dodger by Terry Pratchett (360 pp.)
159. Through the Eye of a Needle by Hal Clement (195 pp.)

Books acquired in 2012

This will be only dead tree books and books for which I actually paid money on my Kindle. All the free Kindle books don't count.

January
1. The Shadow of Saganami by David Weber (PaperBackSwap) (replace)
2. Disappearing Act by Margaret Ball (PaperBackSwap) (replace)
3. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (Kindle-Amazon) $14.99
4. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Kindle-Amazon) $.99 READ
5. Impossible Things by Connie Willis (PaperBackSwap)
6. Ashes of Victory by David Weber (paperbackswap) (replace)
7. War of Honor by David Weber (PaperBackSwap) (replace)
8. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penney (library sale) $1.00

February
9. Crochet Master Class by Leinhayser and Weiss (Amazon-Kindle) $15.99 READ
10. Undone Deeds by Mark del Franco (Amazon) $7.99 READ
11. Timeless by Gail Carriger (Amazon) $7.99 READ
12. Echoes of Betrayal by Elizabeth Moon (Amazon) $16.58 READ
13. Reading the Old Testament by Lawrence Boadt (PBS)
14. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (PBS)

March
15. Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey (BookMooch) (replace)
16. Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers (ER) READ
17. Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip (PBS) READ
18. Buddha by Karen Armstrong (PBS)
19. Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, & Politics in the Book of Revelation by Elaine Pagels (Amazon) READ

April
20. The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett (B&N) READ
21. Green Belt Kakuro (B&N)
22. Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (Mysterious Galaxy) READ
23. Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire (Mysterious Galaxy) READ
24. 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman (gift) READ
25. The Bird Catcher by Laura Jacobs (gift)

May
26. The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin (ER)

June
27. Dead Cold by Louise Penney (BM)
28. The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (PBS)
29. The Reivers of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (PBS)
30. The Ginger Star by Leigh Brackett (PBS)
31. Hell: A final Word by Edward William Fudge (ER) READ
32. Crafting with Cat Hair by Kaori Tsutaya (Amazon)
33. A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix (Amazon Kindle) READ
34. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Amazon Kindle) READ

July
35. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (MG) READ
36. REdshirts by John Scalzi (MG) READ
37. How Reading Changed my Life by Anna Quindlen (Abilene yard sale)
38. Timothy's Quest by Kate Douglas Wiggins (Abilene antique store)
39. Turquoise Unearthed by Joe Lowry (Abilene Indian Arts Center)
40. Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie (Abilene Indian Arts Center)

August
41. The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow (ER) READ
42. The Aware by Glenda Larke (PBS)
43. World Soul by Liz Williams (MG)
44. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (MG) READ
45. The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper (MG)
46. The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris (PBS)
47. Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen (PBS)

September
48. The Becoming by Jeanne Stein (PBS)
49. Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer by J. T. Petty (PBS)
50. A Bewitching Season by Lynn Collum etal (PBS)
51. The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech ((PBS)
52. Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths by Karen Armstrong (PBS)
53. The Exile and the Sorcerer by Jane Fletcher (PBS)
54. The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder (PBS)
55. Nancy Drey and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (PBS)
56. Constantine the Emperor by David Potter (ER)
57. No Quarter by Tanya Huff (Adams Avenue Bookstore)
58. The Quartered Sea by Tanya Huff (Adams Avenue Bookstore)
59. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde (Amazon)
60. Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Amazon)
61. Dodger by Terry Pratchett (Amazon)
62. Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire (Amazon)
63. Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (Victoria)
64. To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts (PBS)
65. Once on a Time by A. A. Milne (PBS)
66. The Warlock's Curse by M. K. Hobson (gift)
67. The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson (MG)
68. Uncharted Territory by Connie Willis (BM)
69. Murder Most Crafty by Maggie Bruce etal. (gift)

This should do it. I'll fill in those first four with a new picture, my tickers, and my lists when I'm feeling a little more up to it, and simply bring my reading up to date here.



Book #135 Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire (353 pp.)

This sixth book in the Toby Daye urban fantasy series continues to hold my interest, although much of the action is peripheral to some of the major issues within the books. Toby gets back on track after the tragedy of the last book.



Book #136 Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt (288 pp.)

I picked up this book after Suzanne (chatterbox) read it, as I had always been interested in this nun with mystical visions. It was a novelized account of her life and was a quick and easy read. Although I would have liked to know more about Hildegard, I suspect there is limited source data of her life, and the author evidently felt her story served more by giving the flavor of her visions rather than more detail.



Book #137 Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (288 pp.)

The second book in this urban fantasy series set in London is okay, but redeemed for me mostly by all the jazz riffs involved in the plot.



Book #138 The Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill (380 pp.)

Okay I admit by this time I was just looking for something easy and escapist, and this Harlequin Historical picked up for free on my Kindle certainly fit that bill. No egregious errors for the time period, and a fairly straightforward plot with tolerable characters.



Book #139 Family Magic: The Hayle Coven Series by Patti Larsen (466 pp.)

Not recommended unless you are 16 and/or love loads of angst. Urban fantasy, high school girl doesn't want to accept her magic, constant fights with mom, bullying at school, boys, and treachery in the coven.



Book #140 Opal Fire: A Reluctant Witch Series by Barbara Annino (313 pp.)

Are you beginning to see a pattern? At least this is straightforward urban fantasy chicklit, without all the angst--mostly. An adult protagonist fights accepting her magic in the family, as she investigates who burned down her cousin's bar, who is the corpse found behind the cellar wall, and who is now trying to kill her. This one at least is more intrinsically interesting than the previous book.

I couldn't continue with Invasion: The Secret World Chronicle by Mercedes Lackey and 3 male authors. Based on a RPG game and with each writing a different point of view, it couldn't hold my interest long enough to get into it.

Heh. The Evil Influence hath arrived.

Aw, bugger, I wanted to be first!

Okay, pouting aside, I'm looking forward to your picture, Roni!

found you ~

Hope you are feeling better now Roni with the start of a brand new thread. :)

Just dropping in, sorry I've not visited for a while...

Oh I like a shiny new thread and enjoyed perusing your October reading list.

Welcome home! Hope the warm weather gets your cold done with in a hurry. Looks like you got a lot of good reading done -- one of the best parts of cruises imho.

Hi Roni - hope you're starting to feel better now. Glad the cold didn't turn up till the second part of the trip!

Happy Thingaversary!

Welcome home!

We were just talking about St Hildergard, whom I hadn't heard of before (or couldn't remember). Other cast members really admire her. She came up because people were discussing which saint they would pick, in keeping with the theme and closing song of our play. Obviously a sign ...

Welcome, kind visitors! Richard, Eris, Kath, Valerie, Genny, Lucy, Reba, Cushla, and humouress, thank you for your good wishes. Unfortunately, Reba, the lack of humidity along with the 89 degree temps tends to aggravate the cough! But it felt very good to crawl into my own bed tonight, and I was asleep before 8 tonight. I'm up now, to take some cough medicine and liquids, and hopefully will be able to fall back asleep now. But before I fell asleep, I was able to finish one last book.



Book #141 Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman (288 pp.)

From Amazon: "Award-winning biographer Claire Harman traces the growth of Jane Austen’s fame, the changing status of her work and what it has stood for - or has been made to stand for in English culture - in a wide-ranging study aimed at the general reader. This is a story of personal struggle, family intrigue, accident, advocacy and sometimes surprising neglect as well as a history of changing public tastes and critical practices. Starting with Austen’s own experience as a beginning author (and addressing her difficulties getting published and her determination to succeed), Harman unfolds the history of how her estate was handled by her brother, sister, nieces and nephews, and goes on to explore the eruption of public interest in Austen in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the making of her into a classic English author in the twentieth century, the critical wars that erupted as a result and, lastly, her powerful influence on contemporary phenomena such as chick-lit, romantic comedy, the heritage industry and film."

Interesting reading, this made a nice change from the mindless entertainment above!

That's a fascinating coincidence about Hildegard, humouress!

I've a couple of cd's of Hildegard's music and care for it a great deal, but I don't know much about her - I think this book will have to go on the wishlist!

get lots of rest and hope you feel better soon -- don't know how long this Santa Ana is supposed to last but not long I hope

Happy Thingaversary! And glad the trip was still enjoyable despite the cold. I always seem to get sick on holiday, I guess it is the combination of finally relaxing and being away from home (and regular food/sleep/environment)...

Roni - congrats on your latest thread and a happy Thingaversary. I like the telecom/observation towers and remember in the Kuala Lumpur version there is a model of all the other members of the tower club, Seattle and Toronto included.

Happy Thingaversary, Roni and welcome home.

Good review of Jane's Fame. I already have that in my obese wish list, otherwise, our review would have me adding it to the pile.

So has your vacation inspired you with new jewelry and pottery ideas?

Are you paticipating in the San Diego Pottery Guild's event that I heard about on KPBS today?

Thanks again to my visitors. Amber, I've never heard any of Hildegard's music and would love to. Reba, at least the nights are cooling down! Sara, thank you. I think it is easy to get ill traveling, especially on planes.

Paul, I'd love to compare the KL tower to the space needle! Thanks, Caro. Not really--I'd planned to go to the studio on Saturday, but was still feeling so ill I didn't even get by to pick up the pieces that are finished. I have a hard time being creative with a stuffed head.

Reba, no, that's artists in the Pottery Studio at Spanish Village. Although I will have pieces for sale at the Plum Pottery studio's student sale during the South Park walkabout in December.



Book #141 A Bewitching Season by Lynn Collum, Debbie Raleigh, Jeanne Savery (254 pp.)

This book is three novellas with the theme of magic in Regency England romances. I read the first two for light reading just before we left on our trip, and finished the last one today. I didn't write down who recommended this on LT, but I got it through PaperBackSwap.com recently after putting it on my wishlist back when. Very light. Very, very light. And not all that clever. What you might expect. Only for the most mindless of reading moods.

Hi Roni and welcome home! So sorry that you were under the weather for so much of your trip, I guess you will just have to plan to do it again one day!

Congratulations on your fifth Thingaversary.

Too bad. I was thinkin about stopping by and saying an in-person "hi" if you were going to be there. I'd also love to see some of that beautiful pottery in person too.

Initial reaction to your shiny new thread: huh? wrong city! Now I see I've missed your vacation.

Roni, I hope your head gets unstuffed soon so you can get your creativity back! At least your reading hasn't suffered too much. You got me with Illuminations: A Novel and Jane's Fame.

Welcome back Roni - hoping stuffy head and cough go away soon. Also a happy thingaversary as I can't remember whether I said this on your old thread or not...

I enjoyed Jane's Fame too - very readable as I recall.

Another day, another cough! I had a little less stuffiness and draining today, and it's a bit more humid, but the cough is hanging on. I did get a massage today, and finished another book.



Book #142 The White City by Elizabeth Bear (182 pp.)

This is the sequel to New Amsterdam, both recommended by our dear Richard (who currently is sitting powerless on Long Island, may he and Stella lack for nothing!). When he reemerges to civilization, I shall strongly recommend to him Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night as the only other vampire series that has the same sort of gravitas, both with vampires very true to the spirit of Stoker's original. I still think I liked the first book best--it spent more time on the character development. But this was very enjoyable as well.

Interesting article!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121030161416.htm

So there's a reason Sherlock Holmes is so emotionally distant?

>28 ronincats:: I added New Amsterdam to the Someday Swamp on Richard's recommendation, and Those Who Hunt the Night has been swimming in there forever. Oh, for a few additional lifetimes to get to all these recommendations ...

>29 ronincats: Maybe so, Roni. But Sherlock wouldn't get taken in by a con, right? Maybe he was an aberration, or maybe he cycled back and forth, at least enough to suss out the truth of the situation.

I need to read something by Elizabeth Bear soon. :)

I have Those Who Hunt the Night on my wishlist as well, now I will add New Amsterdam and The White City.

Well, Steve and Judy, don't forget to add the sequels to Those Who Hunt the Night, Traveling with the Dead and Blood Maidens, to your wishlist as well! Actually, the Hamblys edge out the Bear books in my opinion, but they are all good.

Joe, I thought the thing on Holmes was he never cycled into the empathic side of things but stayed solely on the analytic side.

Valerie, you could do far, far worse!

No reading yet today, but I took five books down to my old school and donated them to the library there. The librarian is almost tearfully grateful whenever I show up with books, as with the budget cuts they haven't been able to buy new books for nearly 5 years. So that's 5 books off my shelves, bringing to 65 the number of books I have physically deaccessioned this year!

I also found out there is another Elizabeth Bear in the New Amsterdam series, Seven for a Secret, also on Kindle for $2.99, so I just picked it up.

Dangerous to wander around Amazon. I found out that M. K. Hobson has a new book out, so put that on my wishlist. I also found a new Steampunk series next to the new Gail Carriger book due out in February (pre-order), the first book of which is Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina. Patricia McKillip has a new book of short stories out. And there is a new collection of essays by Diana Wynne Jones with a foreword by Neil Gaiman. I am torn between getting this one in hardback or for the Kindle at half the price.

October Summary

19 books read
7381 pages
average book length 388 pages

7 male authors
12 female authors
1 female/male partnership

2 nonfiction
1 biographical fiction
2 romance
1 science fiction
13 fantasies (I counted Dracula here even though it is also classic fiction)

1 group read: 1Q84

NO books off the shelf (oldest was 1Q84 bought 1/22/12)

Bought and read right away 6
Library 1 (reflects being gone for 10 days on a trip out of town)
Kindle 9 (also reflects the trip)
Rereads 4
Ditched 1 (NOT Pearl-ruled--I didn't even get close to 50 pages)

124. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman# by Robert Massie (574 pp.)
125. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde (401 pp.)
126. Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (373 pp.)
127. The Face in the Frost* by John Bellairs (174 pp.)
128. Oath of Fealty* by Elizabeth Moon (471 pp.)
129. Constantine the Emperor by David Potter (309 pp.)
130. Kings of the North* by Elizabeth Moon (478 pp.)
131. Echoes of Betrayal* by Elizabeth Moon (451 pp.)
132. 1Q84+ by Haruki Murikami (946 pp.)
133. Dracula+ by Bram Stoker (408 pp.)
134. New Amsterdam+ by Elizabeth Bear (272 pp.)
135. Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire (353 pp.)
136. Illuminations+ by Mary Sharratt (288 pp.)
137. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (288 pp.)
138. The Inconvenient Duchess+ by Christine Merrill (380 pp.)
139. Family Magic+ by Patti Larsen (466 pp.)
140. Opal Fire+ by Barbara Annino (313 pp.)
141. The Bewitching Season by Lynn Collum etal. (254 pp.)
142. The White City by Elizabeth Bear (182 pp.)

BOOKS ACQUIRED

5 physical books/4 read (63 for the year, 31 read)
4 fantasy
1 science fiction

but I also acquired 8 Kindle books for which I paid money, and a bundle of 8 more Kindle books for a donation of $15. These are not reflected in the total above, but I have read 4 of them already, two in the bundle I already owned and read in paperback, and one was ditched.

Book #143 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (247 pp.)

I meant to read this with the group joining Morphy in September in her monthly fantasy reads, but had forgotten about it until someone pushed the thread up the list at the end of the month. But I still wanted to read it so ordered it from the library. Vintage Douglas Adams, gently completely out of here, very enjoyable, and I'm glad I finally read it.

You are doing so much better than me in the acquisition and reading department..... something to aspire to.

>34 ronincats: Becca (seasonsoflove) could probably answer better about Sherlock and empathy than I could, Roni, but I've always felt he had to have it to figure out so much of what he figures out. I thought this was a fun article that touches on that, based on the Benedict Bumbershoot BBC Sherlock (apologies to Benedict's fans about that last name): http://globalcomment.com/bbcs-sherlock-asperger%E2%80%99s-syndrome-and-sociopath...

In it the author says, "While Sherlock rarely shows strong outward emotion, his appalled reaction to Mycroft’s contemptuous “Oh, shut up, Mrs. Hudson” demonstrates that he can respond in an emotionally empathic way when someone he cares for is treated badly. Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand what others are thinking—to “read” from their words and behavior what they really mean as opposed to what they explicitly say, and to truly understand how they think and feel about a situation." That fits my thinking about him, but I'm not enough of a Sherlockophile to back it up very well.

19 books in a month is beyond impressive to me! :)

I don't think I'd feel nearly as guilty about my book acquisitions if I could read at a pace like that. Way to go Roni.

You all do realize that I was on vacation and away from my computer for a third of the month, don't you? And I don't have a teen-age daughter or a long commute to get her to school or a music avocation or a baby dog, Lucy, nor a small monkey to absorb my time, Valerie!

Joe, my work with children with Asperger Syndrome tends to steer me away from those hypotheses I have heard of AS for Holmes. He is not rigid about rules or others following them, and I don't see signs of sensory overload (although the laudanum could be self-medication for that, I suppose). I've always thought of Holmes as using pure deduction to develop his hypotheses, with rather a contemptuous sneer at using "intuition" or "emotion", but agree that it's been long enough since I've read the stories to be definitive in any way!

That is a very interesting article indeed. But I see it applies specifically to the Sherlock portrayed in the tv show, not the books, and I have not seen the show. But the author's remarks are quite accurate in distinguishing the two conditions, and it sounds like the way Holmes is portrayed in the show could well be ascribed to AS.

What a great article. My daughter is very keen on the TV Sherlock - and I hope the folks making the show get things sorted out because it's important. We're fans of "Bones" and Temperance too - She's quite well portrayed. Anyhow I'm forwarding the link to her.

Glad you enjoyed Dirk Gently, Roni. I read those some years after the HHGG books - I don't like them as much as Hitchhiker, but they have the same inventive humour.

Paul's thread was discussing stats, and Genny has been going a bit deeper in her thread. Checking out my Talk and Group Statistics, I found out the following:

Total messages: 10,549
Total words: 622,439
Words/message: 59

And this is interesting, and shows how the group has grown. Note that although I've been on LT exactly 5 years, I didn't join the 75ers until the end of June, 2008l This is total messages per group.

75 Book Challenge for 2008: 245
75 Book Challenge for 2009: 1256
75 Book Challenge for 2010:2047
75 Book Challenge for 2011: 2535
75 Book Challenge for 2012: 2519 with two months to go

And my most posts in a month? 438 in January of 2012!

AND my total posts for 75 book challenge groups are 8602, 81.5% of all my posts ever. Do I love you guys or what?

Following in the footsteps of Morphy and Donna, I am going to try to post one thing I am grateful for each day this month.

Nov. 1: I am grateful for my health. Yes, as I cough, cough! from this cold, I am so grateful that in general, despite being overweight and underexercised, my allergies are under control and my body parts are working properly and I can get where I want to when I want to.

Nov. 2: I am grateful for my family. I am grateful that I am on good and loving terms with my mom, my sister and my brother, my nephews and their wives, and those wonderful great nephews and great nieces. So many families, including that of my husband, are alienated or actively hostile, that this is something not to be taken for granted.

What a lovely idea, Roni. Thanks for sharing such warm and positive thoughts. I often think how grateful I am for all of the wonderful things in my life but have never made a regular listing of them. Perhaps I'll make that a New Year's resolution.

Hi Roni, wow, those messages per group certainly tell the story of the ever growing popularity of both the 75er's and yourself!

One of my daughters gave me a journal a few years ago for the purpose of listing what I was thankful for and positive thoughts. It was an amazingly therapeutic. I'm looking forward to following your "thankful" thoughts.

Thanks, Reba and Judy.

Day 3: I am thankful for the support and companionship of my husband. For 36 years we have shared both blessings and frustrations. He is not the easiest person in the world to live with, but he shows in innumerable ways that he loves me and is committed to me. Plus he cooks, does laundry, and shares the cleaning!

Ugh, sorry the cough has been so persistent!
I love the thankful-a-day idea.
And I hope your visit to Seattle was wonderful. I love the picture of the view from your hotel, of course. I see that Space Needle from my office window and it makes me smile even when I'm feeling completely overwhelmed at work (which is far too often).

Love the daily thoughts and, unsurprisingly also the statistics. It is certainly interesting how activity has grown. Have a lovely weekend.

Roni, for comparison sake. In my case I hae only been posting since May 2011.

Total topics: 835
Topics started: 46
Total messages: 8,332
Word count: 604,880
Words/message: 72.6
Groups messaged: 15
Longest message (2,329 words)
Most messages in a month - 855 (also January 2012)

Roni, I would be thankful for a husband like that too. Don't get me wrong, my DH of 44 years has many good points, but cooking and laundry are not among them!

Hi Roni. Dropping in to wish your cough on its way.

A trip to Seattle -- how wonderful! A lingering cough -- not so wonderful. Hope you are feeling better.

Love those stats - I'll have to go and research my own now...... I suspect I've been quite steady right from the get-go (Jan 2010).

Hope your cough is ebbing.

Ah, Paul, you are definitely wordier than I, but I am broader in scope! There are four of these stats that I am clearly ahead in. Still, despite more groups messaged, remember that 85% of my messages are to this group in its various yearly incarnations. And the growth of messages per year to this group accurately reflects the exponential growth in membership over those years. I wonder if there is anywhere the history of groups stats?

Total topics: 2,244

Topics started: 82

Total messages: 10,574

Word count: 623,351

Words/message: 58.95

Groups messaged: 56

Longest message (2,642 words)

Donna, I had to train him. We started in the mid-70s with him convinced that all of that was woman's work, and why wasn't I ironing his shirts? Uh-uh, ain't going to have no long-term relationship on those grounds!! And he does love to cook, has always done that part.

Thank you, Heather and Anne and Lucy--coughs have been known to linger for months, so we'll hope for a speedier conclusion this time! And Lucy, I'd love to see your stats as well.

Sunday morning, 10:00 on Pacific Standard Time, and off to cook the one meal my husband really does appreciate having cooked for him, Sunday breakfast (because he doesn't do pancakes or waffles).

I'm grateful for my much better half, who warned me before we got married that she wouldn't be ironing anything of mine. She had a terrible time with that, apparently, in her first marriage. No problem, from my POV. But she otherwise won't let me near the laundry, feeling my expertise is wanting.

Well, Joe, I have to confess, I don't let him wash my clothes, since he feels anything is improved by hot water and lots of soap and fabric softener. But he does all his own clothes and household laundry. And I strongly feel the beginning of a relationship is the time to clarify this sort of thing! Good for your better half. Now I rarely iron anything, and if I do, it is immediately before I wear it, as it would just get wrinkled in the closet or drawer anyhow.

Here's what I brought home from the pottery studio yesterday.



These are cereal bowl size. I spent the whole time at the studio glazing pieces, so next week will have lots to show--hope the glazes turn out well!

Today's thankfulness is for the Plum Pottery and Annie, and having my weekly studio time there. She is so full right now that she is not accepting anyone new, and so I am thankful to be established and to have the opportunity to play with mud weekly there.

Roni, those beautiful bowls make me want to eat cereal! (Even though I don't, usually.) I'm loving your detailed stats.

Hi Roni, Just catching up. Sorry to hear your holiday was marred by illness, hope you are much recovered now.
Your pottery always looks so perfectly formed as well as gorgeously decorated. How long was it between your very first attempt and not making things that looked like the leaning tower of Pisa after an earthquake?

Sorry you have had a lingering cough - I've been suffering from the same, since the end of Sept: over a month now, so I managed to see a doctor on Friday because while I hope my holiday next week will allow me to rest and to recover, I'd rather be on the mend as soon as possible and not be ill while I'm away. Doc thinks mine is being triggered by asthma, or the cough is setting off the asthma - or maybe it's a vicious circle. I've been getting very wheezy, but it appears not to be a chest infection. I now have a short course of steroids to chase off the symptoms, and have to use my preventive inhaler for a couple of months to keep it at bay. (I usually only use the inhaler when staying with people who have cats, to whom I'm allergic although I love them).

Lovely colors on those bowls and great question from HanGeg. How long did it take you to get so good?

It took throwing about 20 to 30 pots to get reasonably consistent, although there are still days when I can't throw worth a damn, and others when it just flows. I still consider myself a beginner, though, because I have to work to throw anything bigger than a mug or cereal bowl, with inconsistent results, and I still cannot make the clay do exactly what I want. Tad's work, in his thread, is far beyond what I am doing. On the other hand, I do have a lot of fun with it.

Genny, I know. It's terrible how these coughs linger on, isn't it? I'm hoping mine will taper off soon without having to take those extra measures, and hope you can lose yours completely over vacation.

Just finished supper here. I made pumpkin soup from a pink pumpkin I picked up at the store last week, and added pumpkin greens my husband picked up at the farmers' market yesterday, and he cooked fresh beets and lamb chops. Yum, a good fall meal despite the fact that it was in the high 80s here today, and is 81 degrees right now.

I've finished chapter 2 of Team of Rivals and need to get started on an older science fiction, Disappearance by Philip Wylie, both for group reads. I also need to read Leigh Brackett's The Ginger Star by the 20th for an online discussion group. I've got Travels With Charley on the way to my local library branch for the Steinbeckathon this month as well. Other books that should show up there for me this month include A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber (a prequel to the Honor Harrington series about treecats and her home planet history), The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (sequel to The Girl of Fire and Thorns), and Redoubt by Mercedes Lackey, fourth in the Collegium series. I will wait to re-read The Hobbit until December, as the movie doesn't come out until the 14th. I have the deluxe boxed 25th anniversary edition, which I bought at the time. Hard to believe it is now the 50th anniversary.

Hi Roni, I'm quite late to wish you a Happy New Thread, but will do so anyway!

Sorry about the cough, what a drag. I'm still not completely over the cold I got some 3 weeks ago now, mostly feeling run down, but luckily for me I get all the time I need to get plenty of rest. Hope you get all better soon.

I ordered the audio version of The Hobbit narrated by Rob Inglis from the library just over a week ago. It should come in sometime this week. I didn't even realize there was a movie coming out! Guess I'll have to get to that audio soon then!

eta: love your bowls. I'd love to learn to throw and do pottery too, but there's only so many art classes I can take (and afford!). Maybe someday...

Playing catch up:
-So sorry about your cough. Hope it's clearing up & you get rid of it before winter kicks in. Thankfully, we're all clear, at the moment. (I think)

-Love the results of your mud-playing. I don't think my kids' efforts would be in the same league. Field, even.

- I am so very thankful for my kids. Really. Even when they won't do what I've asked, for the umpteenth time in half an hour.

>48 ronincats:: I see your husband is similar to mine, and I'm similarly grateful

>57 jnwelch:, 58: but I do wish he'd stop doing the laundry. He seems to have a pathological need to empty the laundry baskets, even though (having declared our then-preschool boy would never wear pink) he's ... transformed ... at least 3 batches of wash from white to pink. Including, may I add, one of my favourite cream and gold tops, which is now various shades of pink. It was a couple of years ago, but I'm still upset. I don't go in for designers much, but that was one of my rare ones - a DKNY. :-((

- Hope the glazes turn out well. Looking forward to the pictures.

- Ah; I see you're reading David Weber, too. I snagged Redoubt from the library, so (backlog permitting) I should be reading that soon. Hmm - The Hobbit. I re-read it before the LoTR films, and it was pretty much as I remembered it. Could go on the TBR list, though.

What did you think of Crown of Embers? I began it last night and I am so far enjoying it just as much as the first one. Which is a lot. :)

My dad does the cooking sometimes in our house, when he doesn't work late. He was actually the one to teach my mom how to cook! Before she met my dad, all she liked to do was get a meal in a box or eat out. Now we hardly ever eat out and we eat extremely healthily. All thanks to my dad. He's not very good at laundry, though. Probably just as well - he works hard as it is, so there are some things he shouldn't have to do.

And I love those bowls! I'm sorry it took so much work to make them, but they came out gorgeous.

I don't wash my husband's wool socks - he is unbelievably fussy about them. I also will not turn his t-shirts inside out to put them in the washer (to save the pictures) nor do I fold for anyone but myself anymore. Whoever cooks can loll about after dinner, while the other does the dishes. I do weekly bills, he does taxes. We both think we have the better deal!

Those are very very nice bowls, I like everything about them.

20 to 30 times sounds like you're a very quick learner to me. I can't imagine how long it would take me -- hate to think.

My hubby does toilets and for that I'm VERY thankful. Cleaning washrooms is not my cup of tea, but everything else, I'm pretty much game for. :)

Lovely pottery, Roni. Makes me crave some cereal...hehe!

Hi, Ilana, and welcome! Hope your cold is getting better too. It's just a long old process. I wish I could produce paintings like you do--you are so talented.

Humouress, that's why he doesn't wash MY clothes. It's easier with no kids around, too.

Eris, I haven't received Crown of Embers yet, but am on the hold list at the library waiting for it.

Lucy, the one thing my husband won't do is clean up in the kitchen. He still has stubbornly refused to learn to load a dishwasher, even though I tell him any 8-year-old can do it!

Reba, my teacher said that 30 throws was pretty typical. It's getting the clay centered that is the big deal.

Valerie, my husband does HIS toilet, and for that I also am thankful!

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments on the pottery. I missed posting my thankfulness yesterday, and so I will choose to be thankful for my marvelous friends on LT, who are willing to read my ramblings and comment on my pictures so kindly. I love our community and all of you--you light up my life!

For today, I am thankful for government. I am thankful I live in a country where there are roads and sewer systems and plumbing and electricity and transportation. Where there is some support for the poor and elderly, where there is protection for workers and the environment and the general public. I am thankful that even though I am sick of election ads and phone calls, I DO have some say in that government. My government is not perfect, and it can and should be improved, but it is vital to my daily existence and I am grateful for what it does.

you light up my life!

*blush*

Roni -- your "thankfuls" are lighting up my life and reminding me of things I'm not always thankful enough for.

*smooch* for your delightful thankfulness mantra.

*Sigh* Had a bit of a relapse, up from 1 to 5 this morning with incessant coughing, and feeling more faint and dizzy today. I did get some decent sleep between 5 and 10, so I don't think it's lack of sleep. What's more, now the husband feels like he is coming down with something.

However, both The Crown of Embers and A Beautiful Friendship came in at the library for me, and so I have something light to read in between my two heavy reads that are ongoing.

So, today I am thankful for my library. I am thankful not only for the San Diego Library system, which lets me order online from every branch in the system and have it delivered to my neighborhood library, two blocks from my house at no cost other than my taxes, but also for the library systems in the US at large, dedicated to the idea of accessibility of books and magazines and computer access for our entire population, supported by the taxes of all. Hurrah for libraries!

Cosigned! Absolutely delightful idea, the free public circulating liberry!

Ooh, I hope you enjoy The Crown of Embers!

Feel better...

With rain on the way, hope you have your books picked up and a house full of food so you can stay inside, cozy up and read this weekend. Feel better!!

Amen on the library-thankfulness front - absolutely worth every tax penny!

beautiful bowls!

Such helpful hubbies.. that's one thing to be thankful for....

Yay, Richard and Amber--libraries rock! I use mine so much more since the electronic catalog online became available.

Mary and Reba, I had a much better night last night (after I finally fell asleep at one) and the moist air (lovely rain during the night, only our second measurable precip since last April) is helping subdue my cough. Reba, I want to go to the Seasons of the Heart craft show up at Del Mar this weekend if I can possibly manage it (all local and handmade) and my pottery class, but otherwise will stay cozy.

Kath, wish I could graft some helpfulness onto Dan for you!

My copy of Lois McMaster Bujold's newest book arrived a few days ago. I've already read the e-ARC but am looking forward to reading the actual physical book and catching all the stuff I missed the first time through. Jo Walton has an interesting blog about it here:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/11/something-else-like-lois-mcmaster-bujolds-vorko...

*smooch* no special reason

Seasons of the Heart sounds great. At the fairgrounds? Hope you feel like going and have a great time.

The library has saved me so much money over the last 2 years. Besides the occasional late fee, due to my forgetfulness with due dates, all the money I would have spent on YA books are now being spent elsewhere. :)

What a great blog post that is -- worth copying and saving for reference. Man, what a reader that Jo is.

Ummmm, a Richard smooch! Lucky me.

Reba, yes at the fairgrounds. I'm feeling better today and so if it isn't pouring rain, I'll probably go.

Valerie, me too. I've cut WAY back on book buying since Borders closed, and the library has been my friend.

Lucy, glad you enjoyed it. The readers had some great suggestions, too. First up were the Miller and Lee Liaden books and then later on someone recommended both the P. C. Hodgell series and the Steven Brust Dragaera series.



Book #144 A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber (352 pp.)

What I suspected from the description, the first half of this book is basically a novella that was included in an earlier Honor Harrington collection of stories that Weber wrote about the first contact between humans and tree cats on Sphinx. The second half deals with the cultural complications of discovering a sentient species on a planet that humans are colonizing, from a fairly personal perspective. Definitely YA--the protagonist is 12, but if you like sentient animal/human bonds, it's entertaining despite a few of Weber's trademark info dumps.

I finished planting the majority of my garden today, peas and lettuce, beets and carrots, my husband's Baltic tomato plants, kale and mustard, getting ready for the rain coming up. Today I am thankful for the experience of gardens, for digging one's hands into loamy clean-smelling soil and having the experience of watching seeds germinate and grow into FOOD. And especially for that marvelous benefit of having year-round gardening here in San Diego.

81: Yikes. Jo Walton adds another decade of reading to Among Others...

86: Garden envy! Colorful photos in January would be lovely. I am thankful that the temperature will be in the 50s this weekend so I can finish fall cleanup.

Roni, Today I am thankful for your illuminating and warm thread. Have a lovely weekend!

Thanks, Katherine and Paul. I will do garden pictures when there is more to show.

I didn't get here yesterday--a friend and I went to a craft show yesterday, all handmade by local people, and had loads of fun plus buying bunches. Such creative people! I got Christmas gifts for others and luscious peanut brittle for us, and was tired by the time I got home. But yesterday's thankfulness is for the creativity in people, all these people whose joy is in creating beautiful things for us to appreciate.

The rain held off all the time we were out, and came back just a little last night, and now it is gone and it is crisp and cool (58 degrees) this morning with loads of sunshine and the garden looks good. Oh, heck, we'll go out and take pictures now.



Herbs, arugula, and some pea plants in the right bed, tomatoes to the left of that, and greens, peas, and seeds of beets and carrots in the left bed. These beds are 3' X 8'.



This bed on the side of the house is 9' by 5'. I only plant the left half of it in winter, as the rest doesn't get any sun because of the neighbor's house and fence. So far, kale and mustard, and sweet pea seeds. The lettuce, beets, and carrots get planted in 2 week intervals to keep the food coming in, so there is lots of room in both for future plantings.

I've enjoyed his Honor Harrington books in the past, Roni, but stepped off the train and got lost at some point. Have you found them good throughout the series?

Like the garden pics, and want some kale now. *potters off to open a can*

>86 ronincats:: I ran out of steam on the Weber books. I'd have to check my library to see how far I got, but I just stopped having fun and couldn't ignore the "trademark info dumps" and long descriptions.

Speaking as a public librarian - it makes me so happy when people say awesome things about their libraries.

I'm loving the garden photos and might post some of my own. Our vege garden is like a 3rd child for my husband!! What are Baltic tomatoes?

Joe, like Tad, I also have stepped off the train on the Honor Harrington books. I own and have read:

On Basilisk Station
The Honor of the Queen
The Short Victorious War
Field of Dishonor
Honor Among Enemies
Flag in Exile
In Enemy Hands
Echoes of Honor

The first five were good, the sixth so-so. I liked In Enemy Hands but Echoes of Honor was predominantly political.

I own and have not yet read:
Ashes of Victory
Shadow of Saganami which follows a related character.

I have three of the anthologies, most of which are not really worth it.

There are evidently three more now:

Mission of Honor, where Weber is supposed to have found an editor and tightened his storyline
A Rising Thunder
Shadow of Freedom coming out next March.

Richard, hope you got your kale fix. Mine is too immature to satisfy it.

Dee, libraries are definitely awesome!

Cushla, there is actually a garden thread populated mostly by 75ers here:
http://www.librarything.com/groups/gardensbooks

but I'd love to see pictures of your garden in your thread here!

Roni, it looks like you have a very nice garden.
And I just love the works of art you bring home from the pottery studio. Your glazes are just the sort I like. Lovely colors.

HI Roni! I love all the photos that you post here! Your pottery continues to amaze me and your garden looks so great!

Hi Roni, very nice to see such a thriving garden. Ours is pretty much covered by falling leaves and won't be getting any attention now until next spring.

Nice garden photos. Unfortunately, I don't have much of a green thumb, so I'll just admire from a distance.

I've just got on the Honor Harrington train, and (on Roni's recommendation), have bought the first six books. There's a teaser for Shadow of Saganami at the end of On Basilisk Station; the short amount that's in there looks good.

Thank you, Ellen and Hannah! Here's what I brought home yesterday.

Did anyone really think that I could receive the physical copy last week of the new Bujold book and NOT immediately reread it? Good, because of course I did.



Book #145 Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (422 pp.)

Lois has said this will be the last book featuring the Vorkosigans and Barrayar, and she wraps up her fans' most urgent loose end here, namely how does Miles' cousin Ivan end up. And this tongue in cheek romp answers that and a host of other questions. We see very little of Miles and Ekaterin, but lots of Lady Alys and Simon and Gregor and, of course, Ivan. Not the place to enter the Vorkosigan saga for the first time, but a great place to end up.

Now, back to regularly scheduled reading...

I haven't re-read Ethan of Athos in a while. Good reminder.

>101 ronincats:: Oh, no! Is that the absolute last? I thought I read somewhere that she was going to end Miles's series, but start a new one following (that idiot) Ivan.

Glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to get it soon, and fill in the other gaps in my series.

I ADORE that little blue pot. Me wants!

I'm 29th in line for the Bujold and there are 20 copies at the library. It shouldn't be much longer.

Pretty pretty pots and plants, as always :)

Forgot to say, love the pots and the colours of the glazes. It's hard to believe that you just make them for a hobby.

I'll arm wrestle you for the blue one, Butterfly :-)

They're lovely Roni.

>101 ronincats: I'm reading Captain Vorpatril's Alliance right now, Roni, and really enjoying it. What a nice addition Tej is, and Rish, too. I hope this isn't really the last, though. These are too much fun.

I am so so so so hoarding Vorpatril for some day when it will be the best medicine ever.

Hi Roni. Checking in.

Roni - understood barely a word of your review of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance but it is obviously a hit with you lovers of sci-fi. I notice that it has tags from others under the genre "Space Opera" - is there any singing? Have a lovely week.

Judy and Humuouress, I just realized I missed your messages while posting my pottery pictures. One of the best things about San Diego is the opportunity to garden year-round. I hope you enjoy the Honor Harrington books, humouress. I still need to read Shadow of Saganami--it veers off around a minor character in the Honor books and so I'm hoping will have more of a succinct story--but it is huge.

Richard, I will be rereading Ethan of Athos as soon as I finish my next book--it's been quite a while since I have read it.

Humouress, that is what she has said. I don't know what she is working on now, but I think she doesn't have a contract for it yet. And thank you for the kind comment about the pots. I was pretty happy with this week's glazes.

Morphy, what you can't see is that the lid stuck to the shelf--too much glaze--and I broke some of the bottom of it when I tried to separate them. As long as the lid is ON the pot, you can't see it. But I do love the way the glazes turned out too. Hope you get the new Bujold soonest!

Thanks, Kath!

Reba, see above re: the blue pot. But thank you!

Joe, glad you are enjoying it. This is another of her romps, like A Civil Campaign--just plain fun. I love the ending.

Lucy, it will be, but I could never delay my gratification like that. I figure, if that day comes, I'll just reread the book for the best medicine ever. Wait, I just did...

*smooches* Richard!

Okay, yesterday was an exceptionally lazy day. I got some reading done, did NOT get out of the house, watched The Voice last night, and didn't get around to posting here. So for yesterday, I give thanks for the occasional lazy day so necessary to our mental health, a pajama day with a cozy bed, good books, warm animals cuddling up, and no obligations anywhere calling my name.

Today, I made up for yesterday. Sandals went onto the top shelf of the closet, suede flats came down and into the shoe etagere. Summer purses went into the back closet and winter purses came out onto the shelf of the front closet. Sleeveless dresses moved to the back closet, making room for warmer pants. The armoire was sorted out and summer jackets pulled out and winter sweaters put in. My sleeveless and short sleeve tees were moved to the back closet and the 3/4 and long sleeve tees moved to the middle closet in the bedroom. The front hall was mopped and sealed. The sweetpea seeds were planted to take advantage of the lovely warm day (mid-70s) and plants were watered outdoors. I watched the Jayhawks lose to Michigan State on ESPN, the first time they've been on national TV this season (this is only the second game), and crocheted one and a half infinity cowl scarves while watching. We ordered pizza for supper. Tomorrow, Halloween decor and summer pajamas and tops and jackets I won't wear until next summer will go up into the attic and my turtlenecks and sweats and winter pjs will come down, along with some Thanksgiving decor. And our luggage from the trip will be put back up. Let's face it--I have too much stuff. But if the apocalypse comes, I will not be lacking anything for YEARS! So today I am thankful for the abundance with which I am blessed. I keep telling myself to simplify, to cut down--but I suspect I would be profoundly uncomfortable with a completely pared-down existence.

Hi, Paul! Yes, by this point in the series, it's who you know and love! Dancing, yes, but singing, no! You have a lovely week, too.

Hehe, love the idea of space opera being full of singing.

Sounds like you had a busy day - I'm tired just reading it! I've recently started up pottery myself so I'm in awe of your efforts, as mine look absolutely nothing like that. Very lumpy bumpy with uneven glaze, not good! At least you'll have useful skills as well as lots of clothes when the apocalypse comes and we all have to revert to pottery made objects ;)

>112 ronincats:: I'm saving the Honor Harrington books to spread across my reading and savour them slowly, in case I hit an otherwise slow patch. Hoping that Bujold is going to carry on writing Barrayar stories, though I do have gaps to fill in in Miles's part of the saga before I move onto Ivan. In the meantime, I shall savour the anticipation (although 'medicine' is not a good word in this house at the moment; just ask my kids.). As for the pottery work, it goes without saying that I always think what you produce is amazing; but I will remember to say it anyway.

I have to confess to being confused. I grew up in the UK, but now I'm in Oz, where we're supposedly heading into summer. But I was never organised enough to swap my clothes around anyway. Mind you, I need jumpers and long sleeves for most of the year.

>114 lunacat:: In that case, I'm thankful I know Roni, who makes such beautiful and useful pottery objects. :)

Postapocalyptically, we'll all keep Roni comfy by bartering for her gorgeous pots. And I want all of mine with that lovely blue glaze, minus of course the cracking on the bottoms like the lid of that one. The color is deeply satisfying.

Too bad about the beautiful blue pot -- but just keep the lid on it and enjoy the beauty of it.

Sounds like you've been amazingly busy. I decided on Monday that I HAD to do something about our (small) walk-in closet. We have very little storage here so our closet is where I tend to put things I don't know what to do with. Got it nicely sorted out and took two big bags of things to donate. Decided to take the Christmas tree that's too big to donate while I was at it which meant taking everything out of the basement storage locker and then putting it back. Did that yesterday morning. Feel good about it but was pretty tired when I finished.

Sounds like you had a wonderfully productive day, Roni! Oh yes, the fun of changing seasons and rearranging closets.... :)

I've been doing the changeover too.....

Are you throwing on a wheel, Jenny? Centering the clay in the first place is the biggest bugaboo, and the texture of the clay can make a big difference. Give it my teacher's requisite thirty pots before you start judging yourself.

Nina, I think you are wise to space them out a bit--just not far enough to completely forget the important details that carry over. Our nights are getting cold, into the 50s, and since we don't turn on the heat when the days are still getting up into the high 60s or low 70s, it was time to break out the winter pajamas to cover my arms. I finished up today, with the tank tops and short-sleeved excess tees getting packed away into the bins that previously had the turtlenecks and sweats in them. Thank you for your very kind words about my pottery.

Richard, you do realize that if the apocalypse comes, after I barter away my surplus ware, I'll have to switch to hand-built and raku-fired pottery sans electricity! I was really happy with the blue color as well.

Reba, that's exactly what I plan on doing. What people don't know won't hurt them! Glad you got a closet cleared out, too.

Valerie, I would guess that in your climate, you would definitely have seasonal wardrobes!

And you, too, Lucy.

Today I am thankful for pets, those animals who choose to spend their lives enriching ours with their companionship.

Book #146 The Disappearance by Phillip Wylie (405 pp.)

This 1951 classic explores what happens to society when all the members of one gender disappear instantaneously with no trace. Wylie uses this thought experiment to explore the relationship between the sexes as well as the purpose of society and culture, but is ultimately unable to escape the confines of his own acculturation.



Book #147 Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold (237 pp.)

I appreciate this book more upon rereading it. Ethan is a citizen of Athos, a reproductive specialist doctor upon a planet consisting entirely of men. Using 200 year old ovarian cultures and the uterine replicators so endemic to the galaxy, his work is to fertilize and decant babies for those men who have earned their parent status. But now the ovarian cultures are starting to die out from age, and the replacement cultures ordered from off-planet turn out to be junk. Someone must be sent to Kline Station and negotiate new cultures, and Ethan is drafted.

Other players in the mystery of what happened to Athos' cultures include Dendarii mercenary Elli Quinn, visiting her home station, a few Cetagandans, and even some Bharuptaran goods from Jackson's Whole. Will Ethan's naiveté survive this adventure? Will he?

Here are the two "mobius infinity scarves" I crocheted during the game last night and finished up during nightly news today.

I just knitted a mobius scarf -- it was a kick to see it growing. I have no idea howyou would get a crocheted one to twist. Knitting (and sometimes crocheting) is about my second favorite passtime -- after reading, of course!!

Wow! Those are gorgeous scarves, Roni. I don't know how to crochet, although I am growing quite fond of knitting. And good luck with your salad greens - I need to help my mom get ours planted soon.

And the pottery from a few days ago is gorgeous, as always. You are very talented in that area, Roni. :)

Inspired by your garden, I made greens and rice with canned kale. It's so yummy. Fresh takes too long to cook since my pressure cooker died.

Hi, Roni! Lovely new pots! I came over to catch up and to tell you that I read a wonderful Newbery award book this past week that made me think of you: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. You've likely already read it, but if you haven't I highly recommend it - throwing pottery plays a large role in the story, which, in itself, is fantastic.

In the first half of term we were doing handbuilding and learning basic glazes, so everything has turned out looking very rough and ready. We've now just started wheel thrown things, and as long as my instructor helps me centre it, it goes ok. The first time I attempted a pot without her centring assistance went badly wrong, and then it's top kept falling off so I ended up with a very very small pot.

I seem to be not firm enough in the centering process and then too firm when building and shaping, as it was the third rim I had made fall off out of five attempts!

Hi Roni. I too love the pots. So pleased you enjoyed the latest Bujold (again) - it has been far too long since I read a book in that series and I plan to do some catching up next year but I'm putting off Honor Harrington until after I'm up to date with Miles (probably).

I give thanks for the occasional lazy day so necessary to our mental health Amen to that!

#122 The scarves look lovely, very warm and very well modelled by the cats!

Those scarves are beautiful, Roni. I have picked up my crochet work again recently and now I am totally hooked. I can see that I will be turning to some audio books to listen to while I crochet away.

Reba, I hope you'll post a picture of your scarf when you've finished! It's simple. After you do your chain and your first row of stitches in the chain, when you come to join the two ends, you simply make a twist and do your next row in the bottom of the chain.

Eris, although I can knit a simple garter stitch muffler, for some reason I prefer crochet. My greens are doing well so far, although my sweet peas haven't come up yet. Thank you for your kind words about my pottery.

Richard, you have to give me the recipe, since my husband loves to cook greens. Please?

Amber, I haven't read that one, but I've just put it on my wish list! Thanks for the recommendation.

Jenny, I had many pots go badly wrong at the beginning. Even now, sometimes. So, since you've just started with centering and throwing, hang in there! It will come. My instructor emphasizes that, as you are bringing the clay up, you aren't concerned with centering the whole mass, just the inch or so directly under your hands. I just had a pot fall apart Saturday after a good centering when I let it get too thin too far down on the pot--big time sag!

I saw the cutest hand built pot holders at a craft show this weekend. Rectangles rolled out on burlap or brocade to give them texture, then folded up and sealed at the two ends to look like fat envelopes with space in the middle for the plants.

Heather, Bujold far outweighs David Weber, hands down, so your priorities are correct. Glad you noticed my model for the cats--wish I could manage that with the live ones!

Judy, I hope you'll show us your next project when you finished. I really get going during college basketball season as I cannot simply sit and look at the tv without doing anything else. I also love it when we go visit family and are sitting around visiting.

Today I am thankful for a good night's sleep. Partly because I didn't get one last night, and partly because they are harder to come by these days compared to when I was younger. Being able to sleep deeply the whole night through and wake up completely rested is indeed a gift and I am totally grateful when I can manage it.

Book #148 The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech (320 pp.)

hobbitlit recommended this book some time ago, so I put a request into PaperBackSwap and got a lovely hardback edition a little while ago. This is a children's fable, easily enjoyed by 9 year-olds but with a bit of depth to allow older persons to simply enjoy the story-telling as well. And story-telling IS at the core of it. Enjoy.

Where did yesterday go? Oh, yes, I had lunch with one of my girlfriends to celebrate my upcoming birthday, and then went to the pottery and threw some pots and trimmed a bowl, a planter, and two mugs. Watched KU finish losing another football game ( after watching them win two basketball games earlier in the week), and then to bed. So for yesterday, I am everlastingly grateful for Kansas University Jayhawks basketball!!!

I did not sleep restfully--felt like I was struggling to breath all night, so have been a little slow today. We did manage to make it to the Talmadge art show down in Liberty Station this afternoon--such gorgeous jewelry to look at! And came home to watch the Chargers lose again. But I finished a book last night and am halfway through the sequel now.



Book #149 The Ginger Star by Leigh Brackett (186 pp.)

This is written in 1974 but reads earlier to me. Much like Edgar Rice Burroughs' planetary adventures, we have an outsider, an off-worlder, wandering through different cultures on a dying planet as he seeks to rescure his foster-father. Lots of swords and sorcery. Brackett was one of the early women writers in the field and was married to Edmond Hamilton, another science fiction writer. Wikipedia says that her main character in this trilogy was originally in short stories in the 50s, before she went off to write screenplays like The Big Sleep, Rio Grande, Rio Lobo, and The Long Goodbye. She returned to write this trilogy in science fiction in the mid-70s before dying of cancer in 1978.

Today, I am thankful for the internet. It has changed our lives in so many ways. Growing up in the middle of Kansas with no bookstore within 25 miles, and even in the university town of Lawrence in the late 60s and early 70s WITH bookstores, the easy access to books, both new and used, in such abundance was absolutely unthinkable. And, through LibraryThing, it has made possible so many new friends here!

I just picked up a copy of The Castle Corona in a library sale, but not that lovely cover.

Happy Birthday in advance!

I'm another one getting in the birthday wishes early Roni! Hope you have a great day!
You are yet another November birthday-er - I seem to know so many of them! There's obviously not much else to do on cold February evenings ; )
Love the scarves! Just my colours too! I've done a little knitting, and would like to do a lot more, but I'm still easing my way in gently to the textile arts. Infinity scraves are all the rage here these days, although they tend to be big and chunky and called snoods. I really like the look of them, and perhaps now that the nights are drawing in I might give one a go - you've inspired me!

Happy Birthday Eve, Roni! Try to celebrate as many days of it as possible - one thought: on Thanksgiving, your family can give thanks for your being on the planet.

Happy birthday Roni! Hope you are sleeping better and breathing easier today.

Not early, humouress and Hannah! Today is the natal anniversary,and you are right on time, along with Joe. Thank you all so much. Today I am thankful for being alive, the better to appreciate you all with. And Joe, I really do extend it with lunches with various friends.



Book #150 The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (182 pp.)

Book two of the trilogy starts where book 1 left off. Stark has fulfilled the prophecy, and now must make his way back to the star port. Surprise, surprise, it's not as easy as all of that. At the end of this book, it looks like all is in train for progress, but wait--there's a book 3!

Happy birthday Roni!! Hope you're having a great day.

Happy Birthday Roni!

Beautiful scarves, Roni! One of my favourite things to knit even though it's repetitive, it's hard to mess one of those up. :)

OK, I'm REALLY impressed by that birthday greeting!!! How do you do that?

I've had the Eric John Stark books on my shelves for ages. Someday...

And happy birthday from me too, Roni!

Reba, it's the same as posting a picture. I just found an image on line and posted like I would a picture. :)

The page where for tips on how to do stuff like that can be found here.

Well, it's been a good day. I don't get gifts from a lot of people. Mom sent a check and a word puzzle book, and my sister gave me another year of Kansas! magazine and (drum roll please!)--a book! The new M. K. Hobson, The Warlock's Curse. We bought our Thanksgiving turkey, took my laptop to the tech store to be diagnosed why the fan is running constantly and went to a Japanese restaurant where they give you a free meal on your birthday. Now I'm watching KU crush Washington State, as well as The Voice, and recording The Dust Bowl.

I greatly appreciate my visitors, Reba and Brenda and Valerie and Steve. Loved the graphic, Valerie. Steve, although my Skaith books are Del Reys, not Aces, the covers have me thinking of you!

(>141 jolerie:: Ha; I could mess it up. I'm sure I've explained my knitting 'prowess' to you before)

Late on the birthday message but it sounds like you had a pleasant day anyway.

I can't quite picture the pot holders but I'm sure they looked good anyway! Far superior to anything I've made at least, but that's not difficult :)

Happy Birthday for yesterday!

Happy birthday, Roni!

Love the scarves - you reminded me I've been wanting to try my hand at knitting an infinity scarf sometime soon...

Thanks Valerie. I have managed to post a photo or two. Should explore the world of photos/art available on-line more thoroughly.

Hi Roni, I came by to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving holiday and now find that birthday greetings are in order as well. I hope you had a lovely birthday and enjoy the rest of the week.

Nina, it COULD be messed up, but simple repetitive patterns with no need to increase or decrease stitches lessen the likelihood!

Jenny, Rhian, Joe and Judy, many thanks for the birthday wishes. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Reba, I love the neat graphics from Valerie and Joe too, and must confess I have not learned how to find them effectively online myself.



Book #151 The Reavers of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (208 pp.)

This completes the classic trilogy. If you like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jules Verne, you'll enjoy these.

Today I am thankful for fast food restaurants, so that on those days when we don't feel like cooking and don't want dirty dishes after cleaning up the kitchen this morning, we can quickly and somewhat cheaply satisfy our food cravings!

Oh, nuts! I missed your birthday. I'm glad to hear that it was a good one (books and free Japanese food sounds like the perfect celebration to me).

Belated Bountiful Birthday Blessings!

Fun Brackett-a-thon you had there, Roni! *smooch* for a happy Holocaust of the Turkeys.

Happy Birthday, Roni...a day late. I'm glad KU gave you a big win for your birthday.

Have a great Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that we are friends!

Thank you for the birthday wishes, Amber, Morphy and Donna. And for the Thanksgiving ones, Richard and Donna. It was fun to watch KU this week!

A Happy Thanksgiving to all my LT friends. I am also thankful we ARE friends here, very much so!

Happy Thanksgiving -- and, for my husband, GO Jay Hawks!!

Roni - happy (slightly belated) birthday and here's wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving hot on the heels of the same. Looking forward to getting to your neck of the woods some time next spring.

Happy Thanksgiving and belated Happy Birthday, Roni!

Ditto.

And I like the infinity scarves.

Can't catch up, but I paused for the pottery and scarves (I want the green vase!) and now I'm wishing you a happy, thankful Thanksgiving and also belated good wishes for your new year.

Happy Thanksgiving to you roni!

Thank you much, Reba, Paul, Darryl, Katherine, Peggy and Kath! Hope you are having a lovely Thanksgiving Day. The neighborhood skunk woke me up with fetid odiferousness at 3:15 this morning, and I finally got up at 6 and started on stuffing and turkey, with lots of (non) help from the husband. Stuffing is made and in the turkey, turkey is stuffed and sealed in its brown paper bag on the broiler pan in the oven, and giblets are simmering on the stove. Yams are cut up, as are brussel sprouts, to be cooked closer to eating time.

I did finish a book last night.



Book #152 The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (410 pp.)

I agree with everyone else that this is a really good sequel. In fact, I think I like it better than the first book. Beware that it ends, although at a reasonable stopping point, with an unfinished story, and we'll have to wait a while, I'm sure, for the next book. But the characters and situations were handled well and the pacing was good--I liked it!

Happy Thanksgiving Roni!

Happy Thanksgiving, Roni! And I feel so awful that I missed your birthday. I hope today is a wonderful day for you and that the turkey will taste marvelous. Your Thanksgiving dinner sounds a lot like what my family will be doing, only no brussel sprouts. I quite like them, but we have green beans.

I'm happy you liked The Crown of Embers! I just finished that book a couple of days ago, and I was really impressed with how it lived up as a sequel. I am now writhing in anticipation for the third book, though. Oh, well.

Happy Thanksgiving, Roni! Hope you and yours are having a wonderful day.

Happy Thanksgiving, Roni!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've seen that series on one other thread and it also got a good review there so I will have to keep an eye out for this one.

Have a great Thanksgiving, Roni!

Happy Thanksgiving, Roni! And happy belated birthday, too! Hope both days were fabulous!

I agree with your review of Crown of Embers and cannot wait for the next in the series (though I guess I'll have to-grrrr).

I read The Disappearance by Wylie decades ago and remember being impressed by it, it being one of my first forays into this kind of speculative fiction exploring such deep philosopical issues. I am not sure whether it would withstand the test of time although, from your review, I think perhaps it would not.

Belated happy thanksgiving wishes Roni!

The neighborhood skunk woke me up with fetid odiferousness at 3:15 this morning

I am so glad we don't have skunks over here. Poor you :-(

Happy Belated Birthday, Roni! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too.

Oh, happy holidays ('tis now the season) to ALL of my visitors. Rhian, Eris, Joe, Tad, Leah, Valerie, Amy, Heather, and Marie, thank you for stopping by. And belated birthday wishes are still gratefully accepted. I'm off to a craft fair in a few minutes, and then a stop by the doctor's to see if I can get rid of this cough. But first,



Book #153 Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck (246 pp.)

This was read for the Steinbeckathon this month. I'll review it this evening when I get back home, but want to drop it off at the library while I am out, so recording it now.

#165 -- The third book is slated for next fall, I believe . . . so, not too long to wait.

Happy Thanksgiving for yesterday and happy belated birthday too!

Love the Moebius scarf - very cool.

I am late to the party but happy birthday/Thanksgiving/Cybermonday, Roni! I just finished the new Bujold too and enjoyed it.

Way back, in message 35, you mention a book of essays by Diana Wynne Jones? Did you ever get that, or was it the anthology of various writers? I miss anticipating new Jones books.

Book #154 The Christmas Rat by Avi (133 pp.)

I read this book early because it is one I found for sale at the library and picked up to donate to my elementary school library. It is aimed at intermediate to middle school students, but renowned children's author Avi, and is a strange little story of a boy bored at home on his own during Christmas vacation, who encounters a strange exterminator, and then a rat in his apartment's basement. Rather a fable in some ways. Interesting.

I've been lazy today, at the computer for most of it playing games, watching kittens, and reading LT threads but not commenting much. I need to get Christmas stuff down from the attic, a daunting job. I did get my Christmas CDs out of the back of the cabinet today. Yesterday I got out the Christmas mugs and dishes from the dining room china cabinet and put them in the kitchen cabinets for use. All my mugs (and most of my decorations) involve Christmas cats.

foggi, good to know that the new book is coming out in the fall, although that does not seem soon at all to me!

Thanks, Cushla. I've finished a third one in that pattern, and have picked up some new patterns to try. Here's the third one, modeled on top of the other two.



Qq, good to see you. No, I've put the book of essays on my wishlist at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Writing-Diana-Wynne-Jones/dp/0062219898/ref=wl...

but if I don't get it for Christmas, will probably buy it for myself.

Happy retrospective Thanksgiving and Birthdayses, Roni! "The Christmas Rat" goes into the Swamp on the strength of its title alone.

Hello Roni -- happy late birthday and Happy Thanksgiving!

I LOVE your mobius scarves -- beautiful!

I enjoyed your review of The Castle Corona -- I think I have it somewhere...

Hey, Steven and Anne, thank you so much!



Book #155 Needle by Hal Clement (207 pp.)

This 1950 science fiction novel is one of Clement's most accessible. Set on earth, we follow a ship-wrecked alien and a 14 year old boy as they try to locate a criminal of the same race of the alien who crashed onto earth mere moments before our protagonist. Clement's noted scientific background is very evident here, as is the 50's mentality. Although there are some new energy sources in this book, the computer, internet and other modern technology are definitely absent. Also, the completely male mentality shows its time, although to a 14 year old boy, females are mostly extraneous anyhow, except for Mom who makes a few appearances. Still, a very entertaining mystery.

>182 ronincats:: I remember reading Needle back in 5th or 6th grade and thinking it was terrific. And you're right, I didn't notice the absence of girls. I expect a reread at this point would probably be disillusioning, but I'm happy to hear it holds up as "very entertaining."

Hal Clement! There's a name I haven't summoned from the basement of my brain for years! Fun review. I expect I'd be unhappy if I re-read anything from the early 1950s today.

Hello Roni *delurking* to return your visit :) I love your pottery photos. I am a great fan of pottery and I brought my parents last year some hand thrown and painted bowls, cups and plates back from Romania :)

I also noticed that we share a similiar taste in regards to fantasy and scifi :) starred you, not to loose you.

Have a lovely rest of the week.

Hi Roni! Happy (Very Belated) Birthday to you!

*smooch* for email

Steve, I think you would be surprised at how well it has worn with time. I grant you, prose styles have changed somewhat, but because of the focus upon the small group of boys and the mystery upon a small island, only the lack of other futuristic technology such as computers and internet and cell phones and satellite tv, etc., in comparison to the alternative energy production technology on the island really stands out. Many of the issues with sexism and racism that are seen in other books of this era simply don't arise.

Richard, I dunno. The I-Spy books, Eloise and The Avengers comics were written in the 50s. Ditto for The Cat in the Hat, The Lord of the Rings, Charlotte's Web, The Martian Chronicles, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I can see why you might not want to read The Lord of the Flies, The Old Man and the Sea, Waiting for Godot, Dr. Zhivago or On the Road. ;-) (Or were we just speaking rhetorically? My bad.)

Thank you, Bianca! Yes, I've been following your thread when I can catch up with it!

Thank you, Laura! Hope your back gets better quickly!

*smooch* to Richard for letting me rib him.

Well, yesterday I had another birthday lunch, and then went to pick up my repaired laptop (fan) which just happens to be a couple of blocks from Mysterious Galaxy. The bookstore was rather busy because people were arriving to get on the bus they chartered to take San Diegans up to the Redondo Beach store for the Jim Butcher signing last night, but I found what I went in for--a paperback copy of Ready Player One to be the Christmas check holder for my 36 year old nephew. I also picked up



for him because he is a former drama major and teacher and he's just that kind of guy.

Of course, I couldn't leave without something for myself, which was The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson. You may admire my self-control, but it was aided by the two boxes of books sent by my sister sitting in my office waiting for me to try to find shelf room. These are books I bought, read, sent to her to read, and are now returned and many are going into my permanent collection--these include the last two Carriger's, 3 Seanan McGuire's, 2 McKillip hardbacks, and several other series I keep. Undecided yet about the Jim Butchers and Touched by an Alien. Having put away the hardbacks that came back, I am nearly out of shelf room on the cases that I cleared out last January. I will be more than out when I read all the hbs in my tbr piles.

Seriously...*could* you re-read Charlotte's Web, knowing what happens? I simply could not do it, I'd be in floods of tears all the time.

Spoilers for Charlotte's Web and The Yearling below!

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Yes, I can! And it's because the death is natural. If it were Wilbur, I wouldn't be able to.

Like I can't read The Yearling again.

Do you think I need to put a spoiler warning on this?

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I tend to doubt it, but I always err on the side of caution, so do...can't hurt.

>188 ronincats:: That is encouraging. I hadn't even thought about the book for years, and now I want to read it again. A revisit goes on the schedule for December or early 2013.

Or, knowing me, just whenever I get around to it.

#188 I want those moustaches! (Not for me but my husband would love them ....)

I loved Charlotte's Web and agree with you, Roni, that it's OK because the ....

Thanks for the link, Roni.

I'm always jealous of people whose families enjoy the same reading material that I do.

I got one of those mustaches at a picture booth, and after the photo wore it around for about an hour. Dashing! Although I wouldn't want to take care of a real one.

Popping in to comment that I'm glad to hear Crown of Embers is good! I recently was convinced to pick up Girl of Fire and Thorns after hearing rave reviews about it, so it's nice to know the sequel lives up to expectations...

>189 richardderus: Richard, I had to think of our conversation here that night (Thursday night) as I put down Team of Rivals to go to sleep after finishing Chapter 25, with the last chapter, "The Final Weeks" facing me as I closed the book. Could I read it, knowing the ending?? Not without tears...

Steve, glad you found a challenge to fit Needle into--I think you'll enjoy it.

Thanks, Reba. You should get over to South Park today for the holiday walkabout--the Pottery is having its semiannual student sale. I delivered a box of pots this morning before nine and hope they will sell so that I have room to make more!

QQ, I am fortunate that my sister also enjoys science fiction and fantasy and reads nearly as much as I do. She also reads a lot more mystery than I do. It's usually a surprise when I get a box of books because half of them I'd forgotten I sent her, as it can take a year or more for her to get to some of the more obscure ones.

Faith, I am so proud of you for not only having completed NaNoWriMo but having been the chairperson for it in your area. Way to go! And you just got me with a book bullet over on your thread today with your great review of Thieftaker. I see it's a series--I'm assuming you are working on acquiring book #2 asap. Unfortunately my library doesn't have the series.



Book #156 Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (754 pp.) (I don't count the 122 pages of notes as they are almost all straight citations)

I finished this at bedtime last night, thereby managing to complete the November group read of this book within November. I've been working on it for the last 3 weeks, interspersing fiction with chapters from this book. I knew general history about Lincoln and this period but this was the first really intense treatment for me. It was fascinating reading about the personalities of this time and the relationships among the men on the Cabinet. I was entranced, except when my mind would wander to the historically inescapable tragedy awaiting me at the end. MUCH harder to read than Charlotte's Web, Richard, which ended on a note of rebirth and hope--an ending sadly lacking here.

ETA for the purposes of this group, I was very amused to find a description of guests at one of Seward's dinner parties, including "English novelist Anthony Trollope, whom Fanny described as 'a great homely, red, stupid-faced Englishman, with a disgusting beard of iron grey.'" Fanny was Seward's wife.

Very little of hope in this topic, indeed. I'm so impressed that you made it all the way through!

November Round-Up

Overview of Books Read:
14 books finished totaling 3817 pages, average 273 pages

Adult/YA/J:
5 YA, 9 Adult

Genre:
3 Fantasy, 9 Science Fiction
2 Non-Fiction

Format:
14 Dead Tree, 0 Graphic Novel
0 Audiobook, 0 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
8 female, 6 male

New or Old:
11 new reads, 3 rereads

Series:
8 in series, 6 standalone

1 group read (Team of Rivals), which was also my only Book Off the Shelf this month

Bought and read right away 1
Library 5
Kindle 0
Rereads 3
Ditched 0

143. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (247 pp.)
144. A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber (352 pp.)
145. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (422 pp.)
146. The Disappearance by Philip Wylie (405 pp.)
147. Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold (237 pp.)
148. The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech (320 pp.)
149. The Ginger Star by Leigh Brackett (186 pp.)
150. The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (182 pp.)
151. The Reavers of Skaith by Leigh Brackett (208 pp.)
152. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (410 pp.)
153. Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck (246 pp.)
154.The Christmas Rat by Avi (133 pp.)
155. Needle by Hal Clement (207 pp.)
156. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (754 pp.)

Books Acquired: 5

2 books from PaperBackSwap
1 book from BookMooch
2 books -- birthday gifts
1 book from Mysterious Galaxy

Books Out the Door

3 books donated to my elementary school library
1 book sent through PaperBackSwap

ETA a book I missed that I got for my birthday when we had lunch last Wednesday--Murder Most Crafty, a book of short stories in which my friend's sister, Jan Burke, has a story.

Congratulations on reading *ToR*, Roni! I wouldn't attempt it, but from what other people have said, it's quite a feat.
I am now retreating in shame. You had a really good reading month, and mine was the worst ever.

I rilly have to sort out my 'out the door' methodology. As it is I've been using "out of sight out of mind" NOT effective at monthly roundup time.

Been gone all day. Got home about 10:00 and just discovered your message about South Park ... guess I'm too late :-( Hope your things sold well.

Hi Roni, just dropping by to catch up and say "Hi". I've been sticking close to home for the last week or so dealing with some arthritis in my left hip. Getting old is certainly not for the faint of heart!

Thank you, Peggy. I enjoyed ToR, but needed the group read impetus to pick it up out of my tbr pile and get started. NO shame. It is what it is, and you are doing what you need to. This may sound like heresy, but reading is not ALWAYS the number one thing in our lives.

Lucy, I resorted to a third page on my spreadsheet to track books out the door. The first two, of course, are books read and books acquired.

Reba, sorry you missed it. I sold about 7 items and made $63. More valuably, I freed up space at home for new pots I make! I'm going to go through my photo gallery and try to recreate the ones I sold for my records.

Judy, sorry to hear about the arthritis in the hip. Mine in my hands has been acting up a bit, but doesn't limit movement like it does in a leg joint.

I went back to the pottery this afternoon, since the sale and walkabout cancelled class yesterday, and yes, all my pieces were out of the kiln and bisque fired, so I glazed 2 mugs, 2 bowls, and a vase today. Next week I trim and assemble my first teapot.

I haven't settled on my first December book yet--I have so many vying for my attention!

I sold both of these



and the pitcher here



and the infamous folded rim dish



and about 4 others, mostly small green pots, that I don't have individual pictures of here in the gallery.

Wow, congrats on the sales (although I'm in no way surprised - your stuff is always so lovely)! Can't wait to see the teapot - I'm excited!

Congratulations. I"m glad the sale went well and I too am sorry I missed it :(

Congratulations on the sales. I did a couple of platters but didn't like the way the glazing turned out, so they hit the trash—I'm being firm with myself about not holding onto things I don't really like; otherwise, the cabinets would overflow. I do have a couple of tall lamps in the kiln that I'm hopeful about.

Thank you, Amber and Reba and Tad. I was very happy to get a few pieces out of the house, so that I have room for the incoming. Obviously, I didn't send any of my favorites.

Tad, what's the deal on your local pottery? And I hope you will share pictures of your lamps. You work with much larger pieces than I am able to yet and have such lovely bold designs!

Today I started The Demon King, but spent more of the day cleaning my office--clearing the decks for action--and working on some jewelry projects for my mother for Christmas.

OOO-Wow...lucky mother!

Ooh - love the jewellery. And the pots. They all look professional, especially the jug. (I can't remember the issue with the folded rim. Nice colour on that one)

Roni well done for prancing through Team of Rivals and the dismissive anecdote of Trollope and his beard is almost worth the 750+ pages.

The jewellery looks enchanting, positively druidic.

>209 ronincats:: One of the students is talking about taking over the space as a business. She's only a bit more knowledgeable that everyone else so it would, essentially, become more of a shared studio than a classroom atmosphere. I'd miss having the knowledge but I guess I'd continue doing it and hope that I could learn what I wanted between the Web and students who have been there a number of years.

I like the bottom piece of jewelry. It looks like it's intended to be a pendant but I could see Julie wearing something like that as earrings. For daily wear she puts in pearls or small diamond studs but, when we go out with friends, she likes fun things.

Oh, I love what you were able to sell! That's very exciting. Can't wait to see pictures of the teapot once you get it assembled.

I just checked and it looks like the second book after Thieftaker isn't out until next July! But since the first one only came out this past July, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that maybe it'll be on your library's next order list... you never know!

Congrats on finishing ToR, Roni. What a well-told story. The movie's exceptional, too, BTW.

And what great ceramics - congrats on the sales, too. You're a Renaissance woman.

Thanks to Reba, Paul, and humouress for liking the jewelry. Here is the complete set, which I finished today.



Tad, Mom tends to wear smaller, more conservative earrings, like the ones above, but I could totally see using the pendant pattern for earrings too! I'm glad if it means you can still go in an putter with pottery, that the studio remains open even without expert teacher.

Thank you, Paul and Joe, for recognizing my accomplishment in finishing Team of Rivals. I really did enjoy it.

Faith, I think I was confusing this Thieftaker with a series by Stephen Deas also called Thief-Taker, where there are two sequels. My bad!

Fantastic!!

Roni : Got too far behind and had to skim ...making pit stops to read the reviews and exclaim over your amazing creativity with the pottery, crocheting (while watching tv no less! How do you not drop stitches?!!) and jewelry making.

I love the folded rim pot. Was that done deliberately?

No, the folded rim pot was where the walls got too thin and the pot collapsed on itself on the wheel. One of my early egregious errors, Caro.

Okay, I've been playing--ornament hooks! On green and red wire--the light makes the red wire look spottled, but it's not.

Like the parure in 215, but the ornament hooks...!!! FabOOO! Adore! Covet!!

I was just updating my tickers now, and noticed that I am exactly even at this point, with 68 new books acquired and 68 books out the door via trades and donations, at 68 books each. How about them apples? And I have to note it NOW because I ordered 6 books from PaperBackSwap yesterday. &^D

Where I have really fallen down this year is in reading books off my own shelves that were there prior to 2012--only 16 of my goal of 30. Ouch!

Oh, the jewelry for your mom is beautiful! I like how, the way you've arranged it, it looks like a big happy face.
And the ornament hooks are very cool!

Book #157 The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima (506 pp.)

Mary (bell7) and foggi had both inspired me to put this series on my wishlist, and I'm glad they did. I must admit, the first couple of chapters I thought, ho-hum, very predictable YA high fantasy, but now I am so sucked into both the world-building and the story that I have immediately put the other three books on hold at the library, even though I already have a dozen there and was thinking about waiting until I had cleared my backlog. I just wish Raisa were not so enthusiastic about kissing--but she is only 15 after all.

Congratulations on turning professional, Roni. Was this your first sale? I liked the poor little bowl that with the collapsed rim. Obviously someone else liked it too!

Stunning jewelry set for Mom. She'll be the Queen of Abilene when she wears it! What fancy ornament hangers. They could almost double as earrings. Will you use them on your tannenbaum?

I like the delicate jewelry - that's more like what I wear too - I love it that you are selling your stuff.

219: Oh, the ornament hooks are fantastic!

Oh Roni, what a feast for the eyes! Lovely pottery and jewelry as always!

Where are you selling your pottery? Online?

When I saw the hook earrings, the first thing I can imagine is my son zeroing in onto them and yanking them right out of my ears! What a beautiful temptation! :)

I'm also interested in reading Demon King so glad that you liked it.

>223 ronincats:, 228 : Yup; that was a BB for me too.

The list grows ever longer ...

>216 ronincats: & 219: The ornament hooks are fun! I may have to steal that idea as a family project some night.

At pottery, we had our first night without Laura (the old owner). Quite a different dynamic. I've become so used to her saying things like, "Oh, here's a little idea that might make that easier to do..." There are two students that have been there over a decade. They don't usually come on the same night as Julie and I go but do occasionally stop by. I'm hoping that they'll come by more often and provide some input.

I like bigger pieces (re your earlier comment). I think you could do them easily. This week I felt like doing something whimsical and tried my hand at sgraffito on a lamp. Not perfect (either in shape or carving through the slip) but it makes me smile. It needs to be cleaned up and then clear-glazed but it might be fun in the game room or something.

I think that might be great just about any where -- cool lamp Roni!!

Nice lamp. I wish I could be spontaneously creative, too. That looks like fun.

I wouldn't mind seeing it lit up, though (hint).

>231 RebaRelishesReading:: - cool lamp Roni!!

Ummm.....Roni??? She wasn't the one who made it.

Yeah, Reba--that's Tad's lamp!

Oops (blush, blush) -- I see ceramics (especially on this site) I think Roni -- sorry Tad!! It's a great lamp.

I like it too, Tad.

Book #158 Dodger by Terry Pratchett (360 pp.)

Pratchett's latest is a delight. Pure fiction, set in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, when Charlie Dickens was pounding the streets as a journalist and Henry Mayhew was gathering data about the poor in London and Benjamin Disraeli was an up and coming politician and Sir Robert Peel was creating the foundation for a modern police force, our story follows a young orphan known as Dodger, a tosher by trade, whose life takes a sharp turn after he steps out to help a young woman being beaten on the streets. A mystery adventure story, with no fantasy in it, I predict you'll have fun from beginning to end.

That sounds really good. I've only read two Pratchett books and one of those was Good Omens, so I generally avoid all his new stuff thinking that they're set in Discworld.

>237 ronincats: Interesting review, Roni! Pratchett's gone outside his usual fields.

Love the look of Dodger Roni - very artful indeed! Have a loverly weekend.

Glad you liked Dodger as much as I did!

Hi Roni. I love the jewellery set you've made for your Mum. Really glad you enjoyed Dodger; for some reason I didn't enjoy it as much but I couldn't work out why.

That Pratchett looks like a winner..... good for the xmas lists of family members (my fave, as then I get to read them too......)

Hmm, intriguing new Pratchett, Roni. I'm like Kerry; I read Good Omens (with Gaiman) and a couple of others of his (Mort was one) and never caught the Discworld bug. I like that he's venturing outside it.

I am way behind on Discworld, but that one looks like an interesting standalone.

I love the earrings you made for your mom! I also like smaller and more elegant earrings, so I can definitely affirm that your mom is very lucky to be getting those gifts.

And I also wish that I was able to buy some of your ceramics - you really do make the most lovely pots. :)

Dodger looks like an interesting book! It's been a while since I read a good historical fiction tale - I'll definitely look out for it at the library. Thank you!

Kerry, Richard, Paul, Lucy, Joe, Steven and Eris--Dodger is fun. It's not a "great" book, but charming and fun light reading.

Nathalie, yes, I did like it as much as you. I especially enjoyed watching Charlie Dickens note down phrases that later would appear in his fiction.

Heather, thank you. I hope my mom likes it as much as you. Sorry you didn't enjoy Dodger as much--could it have been expectations?

Eris, you see something you love and I'll sell it to you, plus postage! Speaking of which, I came home with some new stuff from the pottery today.



The mugs are Christmas gifts. I haven't decided what to do with the rest yet. I worked on my teapot today, as well as glazing another pair of smaller mugs, but spent so much time trimming I put off the assembly to next week.

I was thinking about just keeping this thread for the rest of the year, but decided to go ahead with a new one so I can put up some holiday pictures.