Ronincats Reads the Riot Act in 2015

I grew up there, but now I live here.


I'm Roni and this is my 8th year in the 75 Book Challenge group. I have cats and a small dog, a garden (year-round), a husband, a substantial library, and an old bungalow with lots of book shelves. I'm retired and have taken up pottery and wirework and beading jewelry along with crocheting to keep busy. As I finish a project, I post a picture of it here.

My reading is heavily slanted toward science fiction and fantasy genre reading, but I try to work in a dozen nonfiction a year, along with a few mysteries and some Regency romances as well as books heavily recommended by other LTers. I'm also fond of rereading favorite books I haven't visited in a while. I usually read around 150 books a year since I'm a fast reader, and set my goals accordingly.

This is the link to my final thread for 2014: http://www.librarything.com/topic/182308

I'm finally ready to talk about my top reads of 2014. Although I'll finish at least one more book and probably two, none of them with reach that rank.

My top five fiction, all in genre oddly enough:
The Martian by Andrew Weir--nerdy, clever, unputdownable.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie--original, between the stars adventure.
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan--a delightful alternate steampunk history.
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin--Set in London, unconventional and original.
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire--a highly atmospheric ghost story, with delightful echoes from the 50s.

All but the first book are the first in a series.



Best Non-fiction:
What Makes This Book So Great? by Jo Walton--This is also genre, as Walton collects her blogs on her reactions to books, including many from two of my favorite series.


Speaking of which, best continuations of favorite series in 2014:

Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger--book 3 of The Finishing School
Crown of Renewal by Elizabeth Moon--book 5 of The Legend of Paksennarion
The Sea of Time by P. C. Hodgell--book 7 of the Chronicles of the Kencyrath
The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire--book 8 of October Daye
Valour & Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal--book 4 of the Glamourist Histories



Best YA series:
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Best Short Stories:

Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis

Best Re-reads:

The Vorkosigan series
The Parasol Protectorate series
The Red Heart of Memories and Past the Size of Dreaming by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

2014 SUMMARY

Books read: 172
Pages read: 58,563
Average pages per book: 340
Average pages read per day: 160

New reads: 128
Rereads: 44
Library books: 48
Books off my shelf (acquired prior to 2014): 22

Genre:
Science fiction: 33
Fantasy: 94
Children's: 12
Nonfiction: 13
General fiction: 3
Romance: 11
Mystery: 6

Books acquired: 88

Books out the door: 40

Books Read in 2015

January

1. A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant (message #66)
2. The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley (#99)
3. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (#142)
4. The Western Lit Survival Kit by Sandra Newman (#161)
5. The Minority Council by Kate Griffin (#192)
6. The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively
7. Deeds of Honor by Elizabeth Moon
8. Arabella by Georgette Heyer

Books Acquired in 2015

* denotes ebooks

January

1. The Minority Council by Kate Griffin
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
3. Deeds of Honor* by Elizabeth Moon
4. The Grand Sophy* by Georgette Heyer
5. The Toll-Gate* by Georgette Heyer

Welcome to 2015, everyone!

*waves*

Hi, Roni!

Hi Roni! I'm pretty sure you grew up in Kansas but just wanted to check. That first picture is gorgeous. And I don't think I knew you had a small dog. How does he or she get along with the cats?

Hope you have a great 2015!

Since it's a bungalow, are they built in bookcases? My nine kitties say hello to your kitties and your dog. Good luck this year!

Dropping a star, Roni.

Good luck in the new year

Welcome back!

Here we go!! Making my rounds, finding my friends. :)

Following Valerie around from thread to thread.... :-)

Leaving my star(s) on your new thread.

Hi Roni! Good luck with your reading this year!

*Waves* hi Roni... dropping my star looking forward to seeing your creations!

Hi Roni! Looking forward to more bookish goodness in 2015!

Hi Roni! Happy New Year!

Dropping in to star your thread, Roni. Here's hoping I do a better job of keeping up with your thread in 2015 than I did this year.

got you starred hope I can keep up

Hi Roni! I love your thread topper pictures - both are beautiful!

Hi, Roni - dropping off a star! Those are some gorgeous thread-toppers, you lucky girl. :)

Hi Roni! Stopping by to star your thread!

Roni, what breathtaking photos at the top of your thread! Happy New Year!

>1 ronincats: Love the hint of sea in the first photo and its fullest realisation in the second.

Roni, my Sci-fi conscience, I am always happy to see you take your place amongst us. xx

Hello from Kansas :)

Welcome back Roni! Those are some stunning opening photos.

>1 ronincats: A scenic life. Following along for another year...

Roni, San Diego is a beautiful city, but I will take those green Flint Hills any day. Guess I am a true blue midwesterner! And I'm happy to see that The Vorkosigan Saga was a favorite reread for you. I am enjoying it immensely! Happy New Thread…Happy New Year!

Heya Roni - dropping a star and looking forward to sharing some sci-fi/fantasy fun :)

Happy New Thread!

Happy New Year! Thanks for stopping by to remind me of the fun place to be. I like the 2014 summary. Don't quite feel ambitious to collect similar stats on myself. But maybe it would help me rein in the buying spree?

Especially happy to see someone else who loves Hodgell's Kencyrath books. The Sea of Time felt like a return to some depth instead of an awful lot of backstory copy and pasting from earlier works.

Roni,



Happy New Year from your friend in Kuala Lumpur

Happy New Year, Roni. I look forward to seeing your creations in 2015.

planting a star

Happy New Year!

Hi, all. I'll be back tomorrow to finish passing out these!

I think I wished you happy new year on your 2014 thread. But happy new year again! Just in case.

Hi Roni, a very happy new year to you and yours. Just stopping by to drop a star. I am looking forward to viewing all your beautiful craft work again this year, and of course see what books you have been reading :)

Hi Roni,
a very Happy New Year! Lots of reading and crafting!

Welcome back!

Happy New Year, Roni! May it be filled with fabulous!

Happy New Year, Roni!

Wishing you all the best in 2015, Roni!
I look forward to viewing your art as well as following your reading. :-)

Happy New Year, Roni! Starred!

Finally! Happy New Year, Roni, on your Happy New Thread!
I love your pictures at the top and appreciate your wrap-up of last year. I meant to do that today but got side-tracked. Anyway, you are my go-to woman for fantasy and scifi, so I look forward to following your reading and your crafting. I'm ready!

Hi there! Happy New Year! I think I've been to everybody's thread above to leave a star and a New Year's welcome. Except for Brenda (brenpike)--do you not have a thread yet? You aren't in the thread book.

So, something neat happened today. Mysterious Galaxy, THE independent bookstore in San Diego for Mystery and Speculative Fiction, always has a New Year's Day sale, and so we went out to shop for a new range (stove) because the oven refused to come on this morning and to stop by the bookstore and pick up the fourth Matthew Swift book, The Minority Council, which they had ordered for me and see what else they had. Well, I'm browsing and NOTHING that I pulled off my wish list is on their shelves, when my husband comes over and hands me an envelope. He had been stymied on what to get me for Christmas (because I have everything!) and he bought me a $50 gift certificate! So I threw Station Eleven onto the counter, and am saving the rest of it for later. That's a first! I loved it.

ETA Charles de Lint just reviewed Sparrow Hill Road in the new Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, and he LOVED it, loved it, loved it!

What a great name for a book store! & a great gift.
Everyone seems to be raving about The Martian. I may have to look into it.

Stopping by to drop a star, say Happy New Year, and promise to try to do a better job of keeping up this year. I don't have my 2015 thread done yet, but stay tuned. Happy reading.

Texas bluebonnets? Happy New Year Roni.

>50 ronincats: Oh, that's the best kind of present, no? Last year for my birthday, my mom handed me some cash and said, "We'll look after Charlie - you go spend the afternoon in a bookshop." Best. Birthday. Ever.

What a lovely Christmas present Roni. I wish some of my relatives would just give me vouchers rather than buying inappropriate presents. At least 1/3 of the presents I received this year have gone straight into the 're-gift or donate' box which seems very harsh, but we have limited space and there is no point having things around that we'll never use.

Happy New Year, Roni!

Happy New Year - 172 books read! Wow!

Roni, I have to chime in with everyone else - What a wonderful and thoughtful Christmas present.

I also bought Station Eleven just before I went home to Germany. I might will read it this month.

Happy New Year Roni, wishing you a happy, healthy, book filled 2015.

Happy New Year!

Happy second day of the new year, Roni! Looking forward to a great reading year ahead based in large part (if tradition holds) on your recommendations.

>50 ronincats:. Hi Roni, Here I am ... Just a little slower than the rest of you getting started :)
Thoughtful guy, your husband! A great gift given creatively . . .

Well, not a lot of reading getting done yet. Today was spent at home, and I read some of my nonfiction library book, The Smartest Kids in the World, which is much more readable than I expected so far. When I go to bed I should finish my first book of the year, a perfectly awful Regency Christmas story that is so ridiculous that I have to finish it to see what happens. Today I folded up the Christmas linens and the Christmas tops and the Christmas socks and set them on the table until the last of them are out of the wash before packing them into the attic. The tree stays up until Epiphany. That made room for the rest of my turtlenecks, which is good because it has been turtleneck weather. I also paid some bills and did a bit of cleaning. We've had bowl games on most of the day but I haven't gotten any crocheting done today since my hands have been busy otherwise.

I'm so glad to see everyone here, all 41 of you so far, and hope I've gotten back to everyone's threads who have them up as yet. I'm hoping things settle down a little faster this year--last year was crazy!

Happy 2015, Roni! I hope your reading improves from the dreadful Christmas book :)

>50 ronincats: Wow. That sounds like the best gift ever! Glad you had that good experience.

Book #1 A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant (188 pp.)

This was...not good. Too contrived, too conflicted, too tedious--while I love a fun Regency romance, I had to struggle to get through this short book and regret the time spent on it.

That said, I am also ditching my first book of the year in response to the lesson learned above. That would be Flirting with Magick by Leigh Bennett at the 19% read mark. If you want mindless chick lit with lots of sex, by all means try it out. That's how it goes with these free Kindle books, right?

>8 phebj:, >53 RBeffa: Yes, Pat, the Kansas Flint Hills--I grew up on the western edge. Ron, NOT a Texas bluebell--probably a larkspur.

>9 hairballsrus: Paula, unfortunately the only built-in is the china cabinet. Mine is one of the cheaper bungalows, not the luscious Craftsman ones. But we had bookcases built into the front bedroom many years ago, and I posted pictures when I finally stained them several years ago as my first major project after retirement. Here they are:

my hardback shelves for speculative fiction


hardback shelves for children's fantasy and science fiction below; my husband's books and reference books above. The empty shelf is for a music system and oversize books.


My paperback bookshelves before refilling--all sf&f except for the bottom two rows where my Heyers and Goudges and some others live.


And after reloading the shelves.

Other than these, there is a tall bookshelf in the living room where my books on religion, cats, and general fiction live, several shelves in the dining room where my cookbooks and craft books live, and then these shelves in my office for professional books, favorite current genre reads, and my tbrs live.

Bottom shelf is my craft materials. on the sofa back are tbrs, as well as a pile between the sofa and the paperback bookshelf in the corner, and the bottom 3 shelves of that bookcase.

Wow, Roni! MOST impressive! I love those, and the stain is beautiful!

>67 ronincats: I love the dark stain too! My brother-in-law drew up plans for an entire wall bookcase for our living room, but the cost of the wood is so incredibly high, so we're waiting a bit to carry out the plan.

>68 Crazymamie:, >69 DorsVenabili: Yes, it was expensive enough back in the late 80s when we did it--I can't imagine what the price would be now. And all those years they were just natural wood--I love the way the stain looks too.

I got an email! The latest Rivers of London book, Foxglove Summer, is on its way and will be here on Tuesday, its release day in the US!

'Cause you know I don't have anything else to read in the house!

>70 ronincats: SQUEEEEE! A new Rivers of London book! A new Rivers of London book! Putting in my request from the library now! *scurries off to hope on the library website*

ETA



*happy dance*

>67 ronincats: I always get a thrill looking at shelves, Roni.
Have a lovely weekend my dear.

Glad you got in the queue before it got any longer, Mary!

Paul, that's because you are so woefully short of them , my dear. Have a lovely weekend yourself.

No pottery coming home this week, but we'll hope the 4 pieces I glazed today will come out okay for next week!

Happy New Year Roni!

I had no idea the new Peter Grant would be out so soon. I do hope it is good. He is out to the country for this one.

Thank you for recommending I read/listen to Memory sooner rather than later. I went straight into it and it is my favorite Vorkosigan so far! Barrayar is a close second.

Great to hear, Ro! That's pretty close to my own ranking!

I must say that you're having an awesome year so far! I'd simply wander from shelf to shelf if I were you. Come to think of it, that's pretty much what I did today. I'm looking for a book; I know where it was 3 months ago, but I moved it. BIG uh oh. I have to have it soon, or I'll have to buy a 2nd copy. It's for a f2f book group, and I am the one who suggested it.
Anyway, kudos to your husband for knowing how to make a wife happy! Enjoy!

Oh, Roni, your SHELVES!! *swoon*

>50 ronincats: What a lovely gift (and great store).

>55 lunacat: I know just what you mean, Jenny. Our family has cut waaaaaay back on gift-giving, though, so I guess I can't complain.

>70 ronincats: I have the first three books in the rivers of London series sitting on my book shelves. If you are that excited by the new release, I guess I better get on to reading those to see what the hype is all about. Also, the bookshelves look so great! I would love to fill them up!

>70 ronincats: I did not know about the new Rivers of London book either. Thanks for the heads up, Roni!

>78 NicolePatrick: I read and enjoyed the first one, have bought the next three but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Maybe this year.

I have shelf envy!

>50 ronincats: Yay for gift certificates and more Matthew Swift (although Neon Court is the third book not the fourth).

>67 ronincats: And yay for pictures of bookcases!

OOooh, bookcase porn. Gotta love it. I have got to figure out how to post pictures. And clean up the bookcases so I CAN take photos. Oddly enough, I too have a bookcase that's dedicated to books about cats. :) Go figure.

Looking forward to Foxglove Summer as well, although I have to read some of my own books before I buy it. Sigh.

I'm nearing the end of my first read of the year, Her Fearful Symmetry, which should have been finished on Saturday afternoon, but a six hour nap took its place instead. :(

>67 ronincats: Looooove your shelves AND also I love the colors of your walls. Is the top part lighter than the bottom? It works really well.

>76 LizzieD: Peggy, of the shelves in the front room, almost all of them have been read sometime in the last 40 years. There are a few cases where I shelved an unread book in with others by the author. Almost all of my unread books are on dedicated shelves back in my office. And the ones sitting in front of the shelved books in the final picture on the right are books my sister has read and returned that I don't have shelf room for!

>77 AMQS: Anne, it was a huge undertaking at the time but I am so glad we did it. We had so fewer belongings back then, and I really would have hated to have my books in boxes for another 20-30 years like they had been the previous 10 since we moved to San Diego.

>78 NicolePatrick: Nicole, you'll find a lot of other LTers who enjoy them too, although most seem to feel the second book is the weakest of the lot. The last one ended on a real plot twist, so we are all eager to find out what ensues.

>79 alcottacre: OMG, a Stasia sighting!! *smooch*

>80 jjmcgaffey: Not as high a priority as the last book I urged upon you, Jenn, but definitely enjoyable!

>81 cal8769: Shelf envy is such common affliction among us, isn't it, Carrie? And I still have books spilling over onto the floor in my office. Somehow our collections expand to overflow whatever shelving we have. Note, however, that I maximize my space by shelving hardbacks and trade paperbacks on separate shelves from MMPBs and, since my shelves are adjustable (a must!), I can fit two more shelves in on that big bookcase than I would otherwise be able to. And that's 13 more linear feet!

>82 souloftherose: You are so right, Heather. That's what I get for typing off the top of my head and not checking. It was The Minority Council I bought, and I've corrected it above. Thanks for clarifying so I don't confuse anyone.

>83 hairballsrus: Paula, it's really pretty simple. Is it the uploading onto the internet or into your member gallery that's the issue, or the formatting in the message? I have managed to shrink my cat books to one 3-foot shelf. Yay for naps!

>84 rosylibrarian: Marie, yes, there's molding all around the rooms at that height (you can see it best in the first picture), and we painted above the molding the same as the ceiling with the darker color on the bottom. Good eye!

Read some more of The Smartest Kids in the World yesterday, and continue to find it very engaging and thought-provoking. I love the way Ripley has structured it--pulls me in completely. Haven't started a new fiction yet--I got one of my ER books via email and now on my Kindle, and I might start that in lieu of any longer books so I can read the Aaronovitch on Tuesday.

Hi Roni! Paying my visits a little late this new year, but it looks like yours is already happy. Bookshelves and pottery and gift certificates, oh my! What a fabulous start to the year! :)

Roni, you have the neatest bookcases I've ever seen! As I cast my eyes over my higgledy-piggledy stacked books on my bookshelves, I can only sigh in embarrassment.

Hi Roni! Just doing my first round of the threads for 2015 after a hectic start to the New Year. So a belated but heartfelt Happy New Year to you! I look forward to another excellent year of top notch Sf and Fantasy recommendations, plus loads of lovely craft projects to follow! (As you predicted, I LOVED Edger in Agent of Change! Who wouldn't?!)

I have had that Foxglove Summer pre-ordered for Kindle since last year! Can't wait for it to show up there!!!!

Happy Sunday, Roni!

Yeah, I've been on pins and needles waiting for Foxglove Summer too!

Those bookcases are just glorious!

Wait, wait! Roni! How did I not know about the Rivers of London series until just this very moment?!

*runs off to buy more books*

@67: Beautiful shelves, Roni! I don't know when we're going to invest in shelves to catch up with the books. We're getting kitchen shelves first. They're under construction now, with installation due in the spring, which means I better get cracking on picking out paint colors for the wall they'll be attached to.

(presses hands to ears)Rivers of London series---La la la, I can't hear you!

Oh my goodness, those bookshelves are to die for! I love how you showed them empty and then magically, look at them all full and brimming with books! Love, love, love it!

I can't wait for the new Rivers of London book -- I'm getting the audiobook overnight tonight, by which time I should be close to finishing listening to The Gallows Thief -- which is excellent, as an audiobook.

The Rivers of London series, along with the Patrick O'Brien novels featuring Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are the only two series I will listen to rather than read. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is a brilliant narrator -- completely deadpan Peter Grant. I've actually had the print book on my UK Kindle for several weeks but decided I'd rather wait and listen to it. Foxglove Summer, here we go!

Roni, your book shelf walls are like dream walls. We have half a dozen large bookshelves but I always regret never having a skilled carpenter give me a wall of books.

Hi Roni! It looks as though 2015 is treating you well so far!

I've got Station Eleven on hold at the library and Foxglove Summer would be on hold if they would get around to in processing it! Per my favorite librarian, the folks who handle the new books (cataloging, adding protective covers, etc) were basically all on vacation from just before Christmas to today, and I doubt the new Aaronovitch is going to be a priority. Sigh.

You've convinced me to give Seanan McGuire another try - I tried the first In Crypted novel and it wasn't working for me. I just requested Sparrow Hill Road. Thanks!

Incryptid is the funniest* of her series (which is not to say it's light...but there are a lot of jokes of various sorts). If that's what bothered you, Sparrow Hill Road or her October Daye series might have a better mix. Also note that while I enjoyed the first two Incryptid books, I liked the third better (about her brother), and I'm greatly enjoying the short stories for the third sibling (her book isn't out yet, I don't think).

*Sorry - _second_ funniest. Velveteen definitely wins that title.

>86 beserene: HI, Sarah! So good to see you on the boards again.

>87 cameling: Caro, I'm sure your shelves reflect your wonderful exuberance!

>88 HanGerg: Hi, Hannah. Of course you loved Edgar!! Have you written up your review of Agent of Change yet? This year or last year's thread or still to come?

>89 Crazymamie:, >90 drneutron: Mamie and Jim, looks like we might all be reading Foxglove Summer this week. I can't wait to find out what happens re: you know who.

>91 sibylline: Lucy, they are one of the joys of my life.

>92 beserene: Sarah, that's what happens when you don't hang around here enough.

>93 justchris: Kitchen shelves are lovely too, Chris. Just... not the same. Such a pity about the hands over your ears--you'd enjoy them!

>94 jolerie: Thanks, Valerie. Kiss your little monkeys for me.

>95 Chatterbox: Suz, I've still not learned to listen to books, and it's SO much slower than reading them. Still, I need to try again to free up some time for hand crafts.

>96 RBeffa: Ron, as I said above, I'm so glad we did this back when we were young and poor and newly in the house. I can't imagine the disruption now.

>97 Dejah_Thoris: Déjàh! Ha! Read on to see how 2015 is treating me. Too bad about the delay at the library--hopefully you'll get both of them soon. And yay re: Seanan McGuire! I have to say that the Incryptid books are my least favorite of her series--they are fun but not that much different from other modern urban fiction. But I adore her October Daye books and I really, really like Sparrow Hill Road, so I hope you will too.

So first thing this morning I finished my second book of the year:



Book #2 The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley (320 pp.)

This was really quite engaging and interesting. Ripley centers her facts and research around the stories of 3 transfer students who went to spend a year of school in one of the three top scoring countries in the world in critical thinking skills. Through this narrative, she looks at the factors that are related to these results and also how students view the systems. It was extremely interesting. Perhaps the weakest part is the conclusion, but Ripley had already stated her preference to lay out the data and let people draw their own conclusions. Recommended.

Then I packed the Christmas clothes and linens up into the attic and, since my husband knocked the tree over, started removing ornaments and lights a few days earlier than planned (I usually leave it up until Epiphany). I have a picture of all the ornaments that I'll post when I get back to my big computer. Our new stove arrived a little after two. It was 76 here this afternoon, very balmy.

Some of you may recall that when I had Plantar fasciitis two years ago and saw a podiatirist for the first time in my life, he expressed amazement at my VERY flexible (highly unstable) ankles. Which explained why I could never ice skate or water ski and had this problem with turning my ankle if I unexpectedly step on an uneven surface or object. So I take the vegetable clippings out to the compost bin and on the way back, step on something, turn my left ankle VERY sharply and suddenly, and fall full length, fortunately onto soft soil, thanks to our recent rains. Kaiser has stopped their urgent care appointments evenings, there are no appointments available today or tomorrow at my doctor's office, and the two walk-in urgent care clinics are at the opposite ends of the county (twenty miles to the south or 40 miles to the north, with afternoon traffic totally congested in both those directions from the middle here from 3 until 7 at night). So I am sitting in bed with my foot elevated and on ice, typing on my Surface tablet, and my ankle wrapped in an ace bandage, with lots of ibuprofen in my system. We'll go down and get it x-rayed tomorrow morning, but there was no way I was fighting that traffic tonight. It is sorter than usual for longer than usual for one of these twists, but it was quite a vigorous twist. I don't really think anything is broken, but it's well-bruised.

Jenn, I still haven't gotten hold of Velveteen yet--I need to put that on my wish list.

Oh no!!! How miserable. I hope the pain is manageable and you get good news tomorrow.

> 98 And thank you, Jenn, for your thoughts on the Incryptid series - I'm not sure why it didn't work for me. I may just have been my mod at the time!

Ow!!! Hope your ankle is all sorted out and on the mend! And glad you've started dumping those free books when they get annoying! There are way too many good books to waste your time on ones you don't like.

Hi Roni. I've finally made it over to wish you a Happy New Year!



I see you're as busy as ever, and so is your thread. Let's see if I can remember all my comments I thought of while reading it :

>1 ronincats: Gorgeous pictures (I know I use the word 'gorgeous'
a lot in response to your photos and it may be getting stale, but I always mean it).
>2 ronincats: There's a new Kencyrath book? Do you think there's any chance they might reprint the original series? I'm missing some. I managed to pick up a couple on my trip to London in 2013, though not in the Corgi edition I'd initially started collecting them in.
>50 ronincats: Great present!
>67 ronincats: Great bookshelves. Ooh - a whole wall of empty shelves!
>70 ronincats: And there's another Rivers of London book, too?

>99 ronincats: ankle
Oh no!

Love the bookshelves, though you've shown some of the photos before; maybe not the one with bears and boxes? I'm actually especially envious of unpainted door and window frames.

Eek, that doesn't sound much fun (the turning of your ankle). The general rule of thumb we go by - with only basic first aid knowledge - is if you can weight bear at all then it's not broken. Probably not scientifically proven however, and when I damaged my ankle this autumn it took a lot longer to get over than if it had been a simple fracture.

Hopefully it will feel much better tomorrow, and I'm glad that you were able to fall on something soft rather than onto concrete or down steps.

>99 ronincats: I'll be joining the Foxglove Summer gang.

Boo on the ankle! It stinks you don't have a clinic you can easily access in the evenings. :(

I hope it all sorts out soon.

>103 humouress: Nina, which ones are you missing of the Kencyriath series? Several of the early ones are now available as eBooks, and all of them are much more available here, at least, than they were for many years. And yes, a new Rivers of London book out tomorrow in the US--it came out in Britain a couple of months ago.

>104 qebo: Ha, someone who, unlike me, retains a memory! Yes, I published them in January of 2011 when I actually did the project. They are still in my photo gallery so it was easy to repost them. Your envy needs to be tempered by the effort it took us to strip and refinish those door and window frames!

>105 lunacat: I can definitely bear weight on it--if anything is broken, it will just be a chip but you never know with all those little bones down there. I'm grateful for the soft earth as well--previous falls have been on blacktop and resulted in scrapes and bruises.

I'm sipping some Old Vine Zinfandel (blame Mamie!) and typing away as I visit threads. Too many to get around to in one time period, but if I haven't been to yours for a while, I will be sometime this week. Thread-reading is more engaging than book-reading at the moment, and I'm saving myself for the Aaronovitch's arrival tomorrow!

Ro, it's ridiculous that Kaiser would have such a clinic at the ends of the county and nothing in the middle. This county is 70 miles from the Mexico border to Orange County, and the traffic is very congested during the rush hours, which go from 3 to 7. I could go to the emergency room but that is an ordeal I suffered through for migraines in the early 90s, and it can take hours and hours besides having a $50 charge. If I thought it were truly broken, I'd do it, but as it is, I'll go to the clinic in the morning and call membership services and burn their ears off!!

We should set up a thread for discussion of Foxglove Summer, so many of us will be reading it!

ETA Have you set up a thread yet, Ro? I can't find one.

Oooh, sympathies on the bum ankle and wishing you a speedy recovery!

I'd seen the Ripley on the shelf and wondered whether it was worth a look. Thanks for the review!

>107 ronincats: Roni, I'd have to check, but I think I'm missing the earlier books; maybe 1-4.

My mistake! I somehow got the Kencyrath series confused with the Sword and Circlet series.

I hope your ankle (or 'ancle', to Jane Austen) is nothing more than a minor sprain. Sorry to hear about your fall.

Ow on the ankle - hope it straightens itself out pretty quick. I twisted my knee in October and walked with a cane for a couple weeks - it's now pretty well back to normal, though I'm still a little cautious on stairs (sometimes it decides to quit half-way up or down). I didn't go to the doctor, though - I was on a Bronze plan at that point, and was afraid of the costs. That was the deciding factor that got me to switch to a Silver plan for this year - it costs a little more (not much), but the costs are far more controlled and I'll actually use it!

>100 ronincats: A bunch of the Velveteen stories - the ones that are collected into Velveteen Vol 1 - are on Seanan's website. She also has short stories in the Incryptid universe and Toby Daye on there - very nice extra bits.

http://seananmcguire.com/velhome.php (and check the menu on the left for the others)

Sorry to hear about the ankle, Roni. I hope it heals quickly!

>99 ronincats: Oh no! Sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope you can get it checked out soon and that it heals quickly.

>99 ronincats: Crumps - I also hope that your ankle is going to be ok, Roni! Never nice. I had a work accident at the end of October and ended up with a tear in my achilles tendon, it still hurts when something touches it, also not when I walk.

>67 ronincats: Love your shelves Roni, they are so tidy and organised. Have to do my ones again as well.

wish you a wonderful week!

Good luck today with your ankle, my friend. If you had broken it you would have 'heard' the 'snap.' It is truly one of the more distinctive sounds I have ever heard in my life.

Would serious PT help with this? I had funny ankles and wore a brace and have had problems off and on and after I broke my ankle I did serious PT as well as taking up Tai Chi in a more or less serious way (less serious lately than of yore, I confess, although I still do my form once or twice a week). My ankles are sturdier and steadier than they were when I was younger now and I still do some of my exercises when I am hanging about in lines or wherever. I know they are my weakness, anyhow.

>107 ronincats: strip and refinish
Ah, I had supposed in your part of the world that maybe people would let the wood be. I priced paint removal in my Philadelphia house and decided the money could be better spent. In Lancaster, with city houses 100 years old give or take, it’s nearly impossible to find unpainted wood trim.

Oh, dang! I'm sorry about your ankle, Roni!

Hi Roni! I'm woefully behind on threads this year, and I just found yours. I hope your ankle feels better soon.

Hopefully you've discovered that the ankle is just a sprain, so you can be well on the way to healing very soon.

Happy New Year, Roni! And I love your bookshelves! I have mostly stacks on the floor.

Love the thread topper. A little envious right now. A higher than expected snow fall caused all kinds of havoc in our local morning commute. It is also supposed to be bitterly cold and windy here tomorrow. Hello January.

Those are beautiful book shelves, what a lovely job you all did with them.

I am so sorry to hear about the sprained ankle. Did the folks who explaimed about your flexible ankles give you any tips on strengthening the muscles around your ankles?

I hope you have a wonderful new year and that the ankle heals quickly.

Hugs.

Well, I'm now home at 2 in the afternoon. The clinic doesn't open until 10 (?) and we were there at 10:20, right in the midst of the masses. After waiting for 2 hours, my ankle was x-rayed and it turns out I chipped a piece off of that sticking out bone in the ankle. Nothing weight-bearing but they gave me a boot and crutches and told me to stay off it until orthopedics called me in a couple of days and I get an appointment there. Yuck! So I have to cancel all my end-of-break holiday lunches with friends on Thursday and Friday (and store their presents away until I can reschedule with them) but I will have a lot of reading and LT time. Thank goodness I got the ornaments and lights off the tree before this happened, even if I didn't get them all put away.

Thanks for all the well-wishes--I'll respond to people after I eat and rest a bit.

Oh no! Glad to hear you got to see someone about the ankle though. Take care and rest lots and do lots and lots of reading in the meantime. :)

Oh, Roni! So sorry to hear about the ankle. You poor, poor baby! Please spoil yourself - you're probably going to need more wine. I saw up there that you were asking about Roberta's thread - she is over in the 2015 category challenge. You can find her The Lovely Miss Roberta Aims to Misbehave. Let me know if there is anything else that I can get you, dear.

Steve, Nina, Jen, Stasis, Heather, Bianca, Lucy, Katherine, Amber, Kriti, Billie Jean, Sheila and Valerie--thank you for all commiseration on the ankle.

Katherine, no, I have Douglas fir wood in my house and that was routinely painted over, while the oak in the Craftsman bungalows wasn't.

Lucy, I don't know if anything could be done to strengthen the ankles. I suspect that, like my trick knees, it's a congenital thing.

Sheila, he certainly didn't suggest anything to mitigate my extreme flexibility, just shook his head over it.

Well, it hit the mid-80s today--too warm!

And Foxglove Summer just came in the door about 20 minutes ago, so I am going to start that immediately. A lovely dedication to Terry Pritchett starts it off!

Later, friends!

Oh Roni, no, no no!! I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle and your delayed lunches. I hope extra reading time can soften the blow.

>122 ronincats: Oh man, sorry to hear about your ankle. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Wow. I'm sorry to hear about the bone chip. Doggone. A sprain is bad enough. I agree with Mamie. Spoil yourself. We will likely profit from your disability, but it's a sad way for you to get more reading/LT time.
Thanks for your "smartest kids" review. That one was not on my radar. I'm convinced that teachers make the difference, having watched kids with amazing talents get lost for want of guidance. We have a long, long way to go.

'Bone chip'. Hunh. Strange. Could be too true and unrelated. Not sure how you could chip off part of a malleolus with a twist/fall. I'll be interested to see what the orthopod has to say about it.

Sorry about your ankle

Wow! I am sorry to hear about your ankle woes. Hope the ortho fixes you up right and tight. In the meantime, I hope you can use the time you are off your feet for more reading!

JEALOUS of all your bookcases! They are lovely and oh so neat.

I also love the October Daye series, but have never tried any of her others. So many books, so little time.

Oh, wow, a chipped bone! It's frustrating that you have to cancel your plans, but I hope you get lots of rest and reading in!

Ouch on the bone chip! I'm glad you found my thread. I don't think you are going to move until you have finished your book. ;-)

Look into Firefly. I think you would enjoy it. It's only one season, 13 episodes and then the movie Serenity. Available on Amazon instant view.

Bones! Always doing awkward things, but we'd be puddings without them, so there it is. At least it wasn't your book-holding appendage, amirite?

But seriously, dear, I hope that you have a swift recovery. It sounds like you do have the requisite supplies for healing, of course -- including some very good books -- so I have faith that all will be well. Sending you some happy thoughts and gentle hugs. Do let us know if you run out of things to read. ;)

Roni, what a pain to not be able to get medical care right away! I hope the orthopod has good news for you. I see one on the 7th (tomorrow) about my wrist. At the very least I hope to have a change of splint because the current one needs a good washing!

I'm so sorry, Roni, that you weren't able to deal with the ankle troubles quickly and painlessly. I hope the next visit goes better.

So - done with Foxglove Summer yet?

Roni, I'm sorry to hear about your ankle. Thank goodness it wasn't your arm, so you can still hold books :-) I hope your experiences with the medical people improve.

Anne, Marie, Peggy, Steve, Jennifer, Heidi, Amber, Ro, Sarah, Stephanie, Déjàh, and Susan, and Mamie who snuck in while I was writing my last post--thank you all so much for visiting and your good wishes! I'm not in any pain while sitting still in bed and not moving the ankle, as the doctor has instructed for the next few days. The chip, Steve, is in exactly that point that made contact with the ground when I jack-knifed my ankle--but I also will be glad to hear what the orthopedist has to say.

Déjàh, but of course I am done with Foxglove Summer-- finished it at 11:08 last night despite spending way too much time on the threads last night!

I've started a discussion thread but am having problems getting the link to post here because I'm on my tablet. It is "Foxglove Summer: A spoiler discussion" and if you go to the group page you will see it in the recent posts. I'll ask Jim to put the link on the group wiki page as well.

Here's the link: www.librarything.com/topic/186169

Oh, excellent, Roni! Great idea! I'll be over as soon as I finish it.

Well at least you've got a good excuse to have your feet up and get some decent reading done, and a good book to kick off your enforced relaxation with! Hopefully you're not in too much pain, even though you managed to do some damage to your dastardly bones.

Book #3 Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (325 pp.)

This fifth book of the Rivers of London series does not disappoint. Peter is out of his natural milieu in rural Hertfordshire but hot on the trail of vestigium! Aaronovitch takes advantage of this to put in lots of snarky details around diversity. No previous mysteries are cleared up but the story is loads of fun and there is just enough reference to the above to keep one titillated. Also a lot of Beverly here!

Good morning, Mamie and Jenny. I've got to decide what to read next. I'm halfway through an ER book on my Kindle but I've also got a lot of good books waiting here in my tbr pile.

Whew! I finally got here and dropped my star. So sorry to read about your ankle, Roni. I agree with Mamie, more wine and more books should help.

>144 DeltaQueen50: Isn't more wine and more books the answer to everything? ;)

>145 lunacat: Absolutely, Jenny, absolutely!

Ow, that ankle sounds painful! At least you won't be short of things to read while it heals, though.

Had to drop by and add my cheer for Seanan McGuire. I'm reading the Toby Daye books and loving them, and Velveteen is just brilliant when you get to those books. I've got the first InCryptid waiting for me on my Kindle, but I may dig into Sparrow Hill Road first.

Hi Roni! Finally making my way around the threads for 2015. A slightly slow start for me to the year. lol I hope your 2015 has started out splendidly!!!

Funny story - I just saw a notice on Facebook about Foxglove Summer the other day - I'd never heard of the series before, so I checked it out and it sounds great, so I emailed Sarah about it, and she said she had just heard about it the day before here on your thread! =) I stopped into my local Indie last night and ordered she and I a copy of the first book, so we'll be getting around to joining in on the fun sooner than later.

Judy and Jenny, actually, while one can never have too many books, too many glasses of wine WILL make me quite ill, so I need moderation there. I usually have one glass a day, and occasionally a second. Still, I applaud the sentiment.

>147 archerygirl: Thanks for the sympathy. I do plan to get to the Velveteen books soon.

>148 tapestry100: I'm glad you and Sarah will be starting the Aaronovitch books, David. I know you'll enjoy them.

So I've been futzing around on the threads all morning and not committing to a book.

>129 scvlad: avulsion fracture, maybe? I say that because I've been there, done that. :-)

Get better soon, Roni! Hope it's not too painful.

>122 ronincats: ' it turns out I chipped a piece off of that sticking out bone in the ankle.'

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

>125 ronincats: 'A lovely dedication to Terry Pritchett starts it off!'

Ooh, that makes me want to read it even more.... hopefully later this month.

Ouchie about the bone chip, but silver lining is the guiltless extra reading/relaxing time.

So glad to know you enjoyed Aaronovich's latest!

I hope the foot isn't too bad off. No fun.

>138 ronincats: Hmm. Well that sounds does sound pretty convincing.

>150 streamsong: Maybe, but that's why I was suspicious. Usually avulsions occur where muscle attaches to bone and you literally rip the bone off because of a major strain on the muscle. But no muscle inserts onto either of the malleoli. Or at least that's how I understand it. But if that's where she landed, that's a different story ...

>142 ronincats: I finished the 1st-3rd of the Peter Grant series and while they were fine, I have not had a great desire to read #4. But I have heard (from you?) that the series starts to get better again. Maybe I need to dig back in ...

Stopping by to say hi! Ouch to the ankle!

Janet, Heather, Mary, Ron, Steve, and Jess, good to have company. I have picked up one of my Christmas swap books from AnneDC, The Western Lit Survival Kit, which is light and snarly and interesting all in one--the perfect book for right now.

My orthopedic appointment is Monday. So I'll have more details then. So far, as I've said, it's been fine since I've been staying off of it, except for when one of my crutches slipped and banged my ankle right on the sore spot during a bathroom visit.

Roni-Sorry to hear about your foot, but at least you got to read the new Aaronovitch! So nothing about....whatshername....disappearing at the end of Broken Homes? Poo.

As for your question about me me loading photos, I just haven't gotten around to learning it yet. ;P Lazy. I'll get to it this weekend when I start my vacation.

I'm sorry to hear about your ankle injury, Roni. It does sound like an avulsion fracture of the malleolus, which occurs when a tendon or ligament that attaches a muscle to a bone is severely extended, causing a small portion of the bone to be pulled away along with the ligament, rather than a tear of the tendon or ligament.

I found out a couple of years ago that I had an avulsion fracture of my right lateral malleolus, which probably happened in the late 1980s after a severely ankle sprain during a pick up basketball game. I saw an orthopaedic surgeon because of pain in my Achilles tendon after I slipped while descending stairs a few years back, and the X-rays of my ankle showed that I had a small tear in the tendon, along with a fragment of bone adjacent to the right lateral malleolus.

Nice review of Foxglove Summer. I bought Rivers of London two years ago, but I haven't read it yet.

Oh that's terrible Roni! I suppose one wouldn't hear a chip chipping. Not good at all to have these trick knees and ankles.

Lots of rest and reading prescribed.

>122 ronincats: Well, if the bone took some of the stress, perhaps tendons and ligaments were spared some strain? Sounds painful, Monday seems a long wait for me, but perhaps staying off of it will be the recommendation anyway. I am sorry you had to cancel the lunches you were looking forward to today and tomorrow. I am glad to hear you have some good books lined up to read.

Hugs.

Enjoy the warmth out there on my behalf, would you? It is frigindly cold here. I need to find my balaclava, I felt lik my face had frozen and was going to fall off walking to my car yesterday evening.

>157 hairballsrus: Paula, there is some contact but nothing substantial.

>158 kidzdoc: Darryl, that sounds like exactly what the doctor said, although I was unable to reconstruct it due to the unfamiliar vocabulary. And there was definitely the severe extension to cause it!

>159 sibylline: Rest is occurring, and reading too, but I'm getting a bit restless.

>160 MDGentleReader: Sheila, I could have gotten in on Friday but only at 7:30 in the morning. If I thought they were going to be able to do anything other than tell me to stay off it, it would have been worth it, but as it is, I'm willing to wait until Monday.

I hope you all get out of the deep freeze soon!



Book #4 The Western Lit Survival Kit: An irreverent guide to the classics, from Homer to Faulkner by Sandra Newman (280 pp.)

I received this as one of my Santa books from AnneDC, and it was a lot of fun. Newman is full of snark and at the same time is clearly familiar with the literature she lovingly satirizes. I appreciated her rating system, 1-10 for Importance, Accessibility, and Fun, and would definitely use this to choose which book by a classic author to read.

It made a good book to read while convalescing , as I could dip into it a short section at a time without losing continuity.

Hey Roni -- I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle! Bummer.
Books good, wine only somewhat good. :-)
P and I are doing a classic January clear-out: no alcohol, no refined sugar, and no junk for two weeks. We're giving ourselves permission to have a drink during the Seahawks game on Saturday, though.

The Western Lit Survival Kit sounds like a fun read! I may have to keep an eye out for that one.

Keep taking care!

>161 ronincats: Shoot! Didn't duck fast enough to miss The Western Lit Survival Guide. 😏

>161 ronincats: Into the swamp with The Western Lit Survival Kit! Thanks for the rec!

Oh, I loved The Western Lit Survival Kit, Roni! So glad you had a good time with it. Sandra Newman is right at the top of authors I'd like to have a beer with. I think she'd be a blast.

Hope your ankle continues to improve.

I'm FINALLY getting around to setting up my 2015 thread and dropping my starts. So sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope it's something that will heal fairly quickly (although I must admit I'd enjoy a few days forced reading time right now lol). May this be your only trouble for 2015 and may it pass quickly.

Hi, Roni ~ Hope your ankle is on the mend.

I saw this today on FB and thought of you and your back yard butterfly hatchery. I plan to plant a bunch of milkweed and maybe another butterfly bush this spring here. https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/rescue-strategy-hatching-dwindling-monarch...

>165 jnwelch: Joe, you are the one who put the book on my wish list!

Ellen, Stephanie and Steve, it's perfect for when you want a non-fiction book that you can dip into on your own schedule without losing continuity and is entertaining to boot. It helps if you are familiar with a fair amount of the literature or at least know something about it to appreciate the snarkiness, but is also great for deciding which of an author's works to sample.

>166 RebaRelishesReading: Reba! You've been MIA. Good to see you showing up, and I'll have to hunt down your thread.

I too am sorry to hear about the ankle!

>142 ronincats: Sounds interesting. I looked at the tags for the series, and I don't think I've ever read any urban fantasy, but I'm not necessarily opposed, so I may check it out.

Please have a lovely weekend!

>168 ronincats: Ha! My enthusiasm probably didn't surprise you then. :-)

>161 ronincats: Hmmm. Will keep an eye open. Don't know my 'classics' very well ...

I'm sorry to read about your ankle, Roni, that sounds awful. I hope it heals quickly.

Healing energy to your ankle Roni. Hope you can keep yourself amused and your ankle up for awhile longer.

Hi Roni! I hope you have been able to rest comfortably with that ankle. The Western Lit Survival Guide sounds excellent!

Ouch, Ronin! Sorry to hear about your ankle. A couple of winters ago my sister broke her wrist and was unable to do much more than read and watch DVDs for weeks. She probably read more that month or so than she usually does in three or four.

I relate to restless - when I broke my ankle it was just so hard to sit there!

Also reporting in that I am reading Pegasus now. Loving it!

>169 DorsVenabili: Kerri, there's a lot of urban fantasy out there that is really just chicklit with a bit of fantasy and/or magic added, but the Rivers of London series is a snarky police procedural with magic added. Some of my favorite parts of this last one involved Peter noticing, as he met each new member of the local police force, "S/he was white..." Peter is the son of immigrant parents and definitely is not white, and watching him interact with the parochial population of Hertfordshire is half the fun.

*sigh* I am so tired of the auto-correct feature. I had to go change chicklit back after it was changed to checklist. Now I have to do it again.

>170 jnwelch: No, Joe, it didn't. ;-)'

>171 scvlad: Steve, having experience a comprehensive Western Lit course in college, I had a head start.

>172 bluesalamanders:, >173 markon:, >174 Cobscook: Thanks, blue, Arden and Heidi! Another quiet day here--no trip to the pottery, unfortunately, but my husband did run over to the library and pick up the British Author Challenge books waiting for me there. And I had the Kansas Univ.-Texas Tech basketball game to watch and then there's been football.

>175 CassieBash: I broke my wrist in 2008 and also was able to do little for a month. I hope the orthopedic people will tell me this is more like the time I chipped the tip of my elbow and that I won't have to stay off this that long!

>176 sibylline: I've moved about the house a little, Lucy, but since I am trying to be good and keep all weight off that foot and since I have wimpy upper body strength, I'm only good for short distances with the crutches. Wait, Lucy, I told you not to start Pegasus until McKinley comes out with the second half of the story!! Which could be years! Which is a pity because the first half IS really good.

So, I've told what little news there is up above. I'm making progress through The Minority Court and haven't committed to a partner book yet, so will probably start The Ghost of Thomas Kemper by Penelope Lively tonight.

Company is welcomed to alleviate boredom.

My goodness Roni you are an orthopedic doctor's dream!

I can't wait to get to Foxglove Summer but I've got The Martian right now from the library. It's good so I don't mind. You remind me I need to get back to Matthew Swift! I have The Mayor of Midnight still sitting on the nightstand since last year.

>178 luvamystery65: Ro, I loved The Martian too, so don't begrudge you finishing it first. One of my top reads of 2014!

Good evening, Roni! The Western Lit Survival Kit sounds like a hoot - I'll have to look for that one. I'm still waiting on Foxglove Summer. Maybe next week, sigh.

It's good to hear that you're keeping off the foot/ankle - what a great excuse to read! I've got The Ghost of Thomas Kempe out from the library, too, although it may be a bit before I get to it. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it!

Roni, so sorry to hear about your fall. I'm glad you are not in pain and have the excuse to read the day away. I broke my ankle as a teenager and it has been held together by pins for over 50 years! I was in a full leg cast for several months. I hope the OrthoDoc has good news for you on Monday. I'll check back in with you.

Hi Roni, how is your ankle feeling today? I got hurt myself over the Christmas break -- something popped and then was grinding in my hip when I was trying not to fall on my 7 year-old nephew while ice skating on Evergreen Lake. Something's still not right. Apparently I'm not 18 anymore. Huh. Keep us posted!

I posted my sympathy regarding the ankle, but apparently it didn't take. I well remember the frustration of being told to stay your feet to heal. I hope the books offer some solace. Keep taking care of yourself.

>142 ronincats: I gave in and ordered that one from Amazon. I am glad to see it is a good one!

Take good care of that ankle!

Thanks to your love of the Peter Grant series I finally got round to Rivers of London and finished it last night. Thank you for the recommendation, it was brilliant and I raced through it. Just about to order the next four with some Christmas money, though I'll try and hold off on Foxglove Summer until it comes out in PB.

Good morning! Lovely to see visitors this morning. I am, as usual, sitting up in bed with my laptop on my lap. Today's plans included watching the two playoff games (American football, for my overseas friends) and then Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting the Golden Globes. While doing so, I plan to finish two ruffled scarves and one fingerless glove. I also hope to finish The Minority Court and The Ghost of Thomas Kempe tonight. It did rain last night so I don't have to worry about the milkweed or any of my potted plants outdoors, fortunately. And the husband is going to cook roast beef and finally go to Costco for cat food (should have gone 4 days ago!).

>180 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, good to see you around. I started The Ghost of Thomas Kempe last night. It's very much in the spirit of Enid Bagnold and Diana Wynne Jones and E. Nesbitt for children's fantasy--that gentle English countryside old-fashioned setting. I'm just getting into the plot proper now.

>181 Donna828: Thanks, Donna. The last time i was on crutches was for a bad sprain when I was a teenager, 18 or 19, at the University of Kansas, and I wore blisters in my armpits trying to get around to classes over the mile-long stretch of Mt. Oread! This is better.

>182 AMQS: Oh, Anne, I hope the hip gets better fast. If not, you'd better have a doctor look at it.

>183 justchris: Chris, at least I'm retired and don't have to cope with having to be places! And I have my husband to look after me. Thank you.

>184 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia.

>185 lunacat: You mean it didn't come out in paperback in the UK, Jenny? The US publication is paperback just like all the others, else I wouldn't have it yet either.

>186 ronincats: I had erroneously assumed it would come out in hardback first, then paperback later, but having investigated, it's out in PB as well. So now I just need to decide whether to get 2-5 from Amazon using a gift card, or from the Book Depository (for a similar price) and get pretty bookmarks (that I never use).

>186 ronincats: - I have the same plan for the day, as far as football and Amy and Tina go! Enjoy!

Roni, just a quick fly past to keep up and wish you a glorious Sunday. Not too much call for fingerless gloves over here I am afraid, but I did once buy a pair of gloves for a friend with 11 fingers.

>177 ronincats: 'the parochial population of Hertfordshire is half the fun.'

As a former parochial resident of Hertfordshire I have to read this! (Now a parochial resident of Bedfordshire).

Have a nice restful Sunday, Roni!

Great TV today...thanks for reminding us about the Golden Globes. Bob & I couldn't give a fig about the awards themselves, but Tina Fey and Abby Puller are not to be missed. Guess we will DVR Downton Abbey.

>187 lunacat: Jenny, I see you made a Solomonic decision!

>188 katiekrug: Great minds think alike, Katie. Wait, we're talking about mindless TV here...

>189 PaulCranswick: Hugs to you, Paul. That must have been an interesting search.

>190 souloftherose: Be my guest, Heather! ;-)

>191 DeltaQueen50: It has been, Judy. Hope you've had a good but more active one yourself.

>192 tututhefirst: They got off to a good start but there's been too little of them since!



Book #5 The Minority Council by Kate Griffin (553 pp.)

This is the fourth book in the Matthew Swift, sorcerer and Mayor of London, series. In it, once again Matthew is shot, beat up, and generally trounced as he again spars with his Aldermen while trying to save the City. Nothing new here--but once again it all seems worth doing.

Roni, I'm sorry to hear about you "jack-knifing" your ankle. Hope your appointment goes well tomorrow.

I remember seeing those pictures of your bookcases but it was lovely to see them again.

This is the time of year when I really envy where you live.

>193 ronincats: Good to know the series remains worth doing; I have The Midnight Mayor in the Tower of Due.

>142 ronincats: Glad you're enjoying the Rivers of London series. I read the first book a while back and really loved it. I should make it a goal this year to read some more of them (my actual goal is to move forward on some of the series that I've started, so this fits in well).

Good luck with the appointment today, and I hope they give you the news that you don't have to be laid up for weeks!

Best of luck at the appointment today, Roni! Thinking of you...

>193 ronincats: I wish my local library had some of the books in that series. It sounds like one I would enjoy.

Ah yes, indeed you did tell me to wait, but I just got so excited reading the first couple of pages just 'to see' that I conveniently forgot! We can hope it won't be too long since this one came out in 2010!

Let's hope you heal quickly and without incident!

I hope the ortho visit today goes well, Roni!

> 193 ronincats: Ugh, rats you got me. I've put the first Matthew Swift book on my wishlist - looks like a fun series.

Good luck with the appointment!

I hope you get good news at your appointment as well, Roni.

Hopefully your appointment is going well, Roni!

I'll add my well-wishes to all the others, ronincats. Hope you're literally back on your feet soon.

Nothing new here--but once again it all seems worth doing. LOL, that's a comfortable series than - for the reader. Sounds like she beats up her hero pretty good.

Found you. Happy reading :)

Hello, all you sweet people! We just got home and the news is good. It is an avulsion fracture at the very bottom of the lateral malleolus, so no cast needed. I have to wear a boot full time for the next three weeks, I can walk as tolerated but no pivoting on that foot, and can use the crutches for balance and support for longer walks (for me, I take it to mean outside the house!). This means I can now do much more around the house, since I can carry stuff like cups of tea now that I don't need the crutches. Our little house has multiple walls and pieces of furniture within arm's length to catch myself should I become wobbly. I go back in three weeks, when I will get an ankle brace and a referral for PT. Thank you, all of you who stopped in to wish me well!

>194 phebj: Hi, Pat. I'm still waiting for more extensive pictures of YOUR new bookcases, you know! It's 66 today after rain yesterday and showers overnight--we love soaking up all this water.

>195 swynn: Steve, since this is the fourth time Matthew has gotten himself seriously hammered in four books, I admit to a touch of eye-rolling at that point, but the story itself remains very interesting. So yes, still worth it.

>196 The_Hibernator: Rachel, moving forward on a series sounds like a good way to get on with the Rivers of London books. Remember that most people consider book 2 the weakest of the series.

>197 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. As you see above, the news was good. I hope you are starting to feel better yourself.

>198 scaifea: Thank you, Amber.

>199 alcottacre: Actually, Stasis, mine is almost as bad. It has the first but not the next three, and then it has both books of a connected series. WTF?

>200 sibylline: You can never tell with McKinley, Lucy. She is at least as bad as Martin in coming out with sequels. And thank you.

>201 Dejah_Thoris: Thank you, Dejah.

>202 archerygirl: Ha, archerygirl, got you with a Book Bullet!

>203 kgodey:, >204 jolerie:, >205 CassieBash: Thank you for the well-wishing, Kriti, Valerie and Cassie.

>206 cammykitty: Yes, she certainly does that!

>207 Kassilem: Thanks, Melissa.

I'm back in bed with my foot up since it is rather achy after all the exercise this morning, but doing well and plan to be up and around a bit later to finally put away the rest of the Christmas ornaments (although NOT to put them up in the attic!). I've a couple more books to post in a minute, and then probably watch college football tonight. Although I have to check the KU basketball schedule...

Great news, Roni! The boot's a hassle, no doubt, but this is so much better than other possibilities . . .

Great news Roni! What a relief not to need a cast. Hang in there and be safe.

Woohoo, Roni, excellent news! Life is so much easier without a cast, lol.

Hugs to Joe, Ro, and Dejah! I love our LT community!



Book #6 The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively (186 pp.)

This Carnegie award winner reflects the sensibilities of a different time. As I mentioned above, it evokes the shades of Enid Bagnold or E. Nesbitt or Edward Eager. Written in the 70s, a time of major transition in children's literature, it looks backward rather than forward. Within its context, it is an gentle, old-fashioned little tale of a boy dealing with a poltergeist ghost as well as modern parents who definitely do not believe in such things. Because I like the authors above, I enjoyed it for what it is.



Book #7 Deeds of Honor: Paksenarrion World Chronicles by Elizabeth Moon (140 pp.)

This is a Kindle collection of short stories set in the Paksennarion universe, one of my favorite fantasy series (and it's complete!). Since I tend not to buy collections of short stories (some of these had evidently been previously published in such), all of these were new to me and I enjoyed them, but you need to have read the series to appreciate them. The collection is also rather expensive for what it is ($4.99) and so I'm fighting the unworthy urge to return it to Amazon.

Fabulous news about the foot/ankle. Please do just as the doctor says and use that relaxing time to read some great books.

Aagh, I starred the wrong roni thread. Ignore my ramblings in the 100 challenge thread. I thought it was too quiet over there.
Glad to hear your foot isn't too bad. Hopefully PT will make it better than before.
I'm waiting til after my birthday to get Foxglove Summer--I have to leave something on the wish list for another couple weeks.
I'm reading Sparrow Hill Road right now myself and enjoying it--but not as much as the Velveteen series. She has about four more stories set after Velveteen vs the Multiverse on her website.

Great! I was wondering how your appointment went today!

Happy to hear the diagnosis/prognosis on your ankle! Hobbling around for a few weeks sure beats "keep your foot up and don't walk on it!"

Also happy to hear you enjoyed Minority Council.

Good news about the ankle, Roni! Hope things continue to go well.

Thanks, Tina, qq, Carrie and Mary!

QQ, do you have a thread this year, and in what group? Can you leave me a link? I will check out Velveteen, I promise. ETA you also reminded me to go update my thread in the 100 Book Challenge group! I only post reviews there, no chit-chat. Or pictures.

Roni, I am glad your ankle doesn't require more than a boot, rest and PT. The PT for my wrist is fantastic. I don't hate going there. :-)

Great news, Roni! Hope you are able to take it easy and get the rest you need. My hip is better, just stiff, and certain movements make a twang. I may have to go in, which I hate to do. What I'd really like is to get my voice back!

Hi Roni, just catching up with your thread. I was sorry to hear about your ankle but glad to hear that it was better than expected. At least you have a few books to keep you busy while you recuperate - those are great bookcases. I can see why all the posts about bookcase envy!

>214 quinaquisset: - thank you! I'd read the ones on Seanan's website, which is all the Junior Super Patriots stories, but I hadn't found the ones on her blog (except Vs. Legal, which I somehow found and read once and then could never find again...). Yay, lots more Velveteen to read!

Yay, I'm glad to hear that the ankle isn't as bad as it could have been, and that you'll be able to do some hobbling about even if it's very awkward. I hope it heals soon!

Oh, yay for no cast!!

Stephanie, glad the PT is good. I won't start for another 3 weeks.

Anne, Meg, Jenny and Amber, yes, it was great news and I'm enjoying being able to hobble around the house in my boot and being able to use my big computer.

Jenn, I haven't gotten there yet, but I intend to.

So, now that I'm up, here's the photo I promised a while ago--the day I fell, actually, but before the fall--of all the cat ornaments I had on the Christmas tree.


And the only crafts I have finished in the new year are these three scarves.

Oh no, what's up with Puss in the ornament picture?

She's got a scratch on her eye that we're treating with eye drops from the vet, Jenny.

Awww, poor moggy. I hope she's tolerating them OK and you aren't risking your life putting the drops in.

>212 ronincats: Ok, you can't hit me with a book bullet on that one because Lori (lkernagh) already did.

Glad to hear that you have greater mobility. Take care of yourself. Drink lots of hot tea.

Hi Roni! Every time I open your thread, I'm struck by the gorgeous colors in your topper picture. I've driven through the Flint Hills of Kansas, but at the wrong time of year apparently!

So glad your ankle isn't as bad as was feared. Still a pain (ha!) but manageable... Take care!

What a relief that your ankle will mend quickly and that you don't have to use crutches all the time. They are such a pain!

Roni, that is good news about your ankle. I'm sure it's not the way you intended to start a new year but at least you won't be in a cast. That's a lot of cat ornaments! I thought maybe the cone was to keep kitty from attacking the competition!

>208 ronincats: avulsion fracture
I’d never heard of an avulsion fracture until kidzdoc’s incident last year. And then swynn’s... Hope it’s not an epidemic.

Roni, those are a lot of cat ornaments! I don't have many cat Christmas ornaments (I have a lot of butterflies, dragonflies, and Harry Potter ones, though), but as I have a fondness for ancient Egyptian culture and art, I do have a lot of Bast statues. And my artist sister (the one who broke her wrist) made a 3D sculpture of my late Persian tortoiseshell cat. She was so fluffy she looked fat, but when you buried your hands in her fur, you had to go deep before finding actual cat. She also had these yellow eyes that would get huge when she was excited. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the sculpture when I get home to post here so you can see it; it never fails to make me laugh when I look at it. It captured her goofy personality perfectly!

>228 lunacat: Jenny, she's pretty good--doesn't try to scratch or anything, just tries to pull her head away.

>229 thornton37814: That's okay, because the only reason I knew about the Moon ebook was reading about it on Lori's thread too, Lori!

>230 justchris: Thanks, Chris. I'm definitely drinking lots of tea.

>231 katiekrug: Katie, I would say the picture was taken in late spring at sunset, and then the colors were enhanced. :-) But it is awfully pretty, isn't it?

>232 sibylline: Oh, yes, having to use the crutches is the greatest pain. I can hobble around in a boot with little mental wear-and-tear. Our house is so small there is always something nearby to catch myself on should I wobble.

>233 Donna828: No, Donna, Zoe just feels this compulsion to supervise whatever I am doing!

>234 qebo: We do seem to have had a rash of avulsion fractures lately here.

>235 CassieBash: I'd love to see a picture of the sculpture, Cassie. That's actually only about half of the ornaments I own in the picture, but all I could fit on the tree.

So I was on my feet quite a bit yesterday, after so much bed rest--loaded the dishwasher and sorted through all the junk mail and got the ornaments put away into their boxes. I also got to watch my Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State in basketball and got a good deal of my purple scarf done as a result. The husband went out and checked the rain gauge and we got quite a bit over the weekend--an inch and a quarter--so my plants are all watered in well and the milkweed looks fine. My ankle was achy by bedtime but I slept well.

Today I will continue reading Arabella, last month's shared Heyer read, and plan to clear my work table as I would like to work on some jewelry projects. I will have to wait until Saturday to get back to the pottery--I will have 4 glazed pieces ready and a bunch more ready to glaze, so if I want to do some planning to have an idea which glazes I want to use, that would probably be helpful. The hubby wants me to go with him and the dog to the park, so I need to remember to take my crochet with me.

Hi, Roni ~ So glad to hear your ankle is doing so much better and you were able to get so much done! Just don't overdo it, 'kay?

Loved Arabella! One of Heyer's best (that I've read so far anyway).

Happy about your rain. You guys sure needed it! Quick question about milkweed. Over on my thread, Val was wondering if she could grow it successfully in Alberta, Canada. I haven't Googled it yet; just wondered if you had any idea.

Glad to hear the relatively good ankle news!

>177 ronincats: I'm sort of interested in trying some urban fantasy. I once started Palimpsest as an audiobook, but then determined that it would be better as a paper/ebook read, so I want to get to that. It seems to get classified as urban fantasy. The Rivers of London series definitely sounds good too.

>237 Storeetllr: Looks like she can--Alberta appears to be a Zone 4 hardiness zone and there are two species that should do well there. I'll post specifics in Val's thread.

That's good that the ankle isn't causing too much trouble and you're still able to get a lot done. Hope you have a nice time at the park.

The book that started the urban fantasy genre is Emma Bull's The War for the Oaks, set in Minneapolis, and it's still a good one. Any fantasy set in the current day pretty much qualifies, especially if set in a series, so there are werewolf ones (Patricia Briggs and Carrie Vaughn) and vampire ones, but my favorites are, like the first one, ones that deal with the legendary fae, especially those that get it right rather than using the popular stereotypes. Both the October Daye series and the Incryptid series by Seanan McGuire are good, with the latter being much more true to the politics of the serious fae and the latter played much more for fun. From male viewpoint, there's the Connor Grey series by Mark Del Franco, the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne and of course the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch.

>240 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. It was nice. I sat on a bench in the sun and knit my scarf while the spousal unit and the dog wandered.

Book #8 Arabella by Georgette Heyer (252 pp.)

This book could be described as Frederica with an 18 year old heroine, whose parents are both living. The plot parameters are among the closest to "traditional" Regency romances for one of Heyer's books, but the substance, as always, shows more imagination and heart.

Pleased to see you cast-less Roni.

>212 ronincats: I am also so grateful at the enthusiasm shown for Lively in this month's B.A.C. challenge. I had worried that it may have fallen a little flat as she is not so well known stateside but I am sure that she has won a few admirers this month. She started out very much a children's author and translate that simplicity wonderfully into her writing for adults.

>237Storeetllr: Many milkweeds have zone hardiness up to zone 3 or 4 (based on USDA zoning). This link (http://monarchbutterflygarden.net/milkweed-plant-seed-resources/) lets you see a plethora of milkweed species with their zone hardiness. I can't vouch for complete accuracy so Val might start with species listed for your zone and then double-check. I raise caterpillars of all sorts, including monarch, from the egg or caterpillar stage and then release the adults when they hatch. If she (or anyone else) wants tips on how to do this, let me know. I've literally done this for as long as I can remember--I started young. It's so awesome when they hatch out and you can let them perch on your finger or hand as they prepare for their first flight.

Now, for the sculpture pics:







First view is face-on, second is tipped, and the third is the rear. The fluffy tail doesn't translate well in this pic. But don't you just love the paw pads? Anyway, Cindy was a big poofy furball of love. She loved having her muzzle rubbed and when she was lying on her side, I could slide a hand under her shoulder and one under her hip and lift her straight up without her panicking. In fact, she acted a lot like a rag doll Persian. She was good with other cats--the "mediator"--and was good with the dogs, too. All around, one of our best cats.

> 236 & >242 ronincats: so glad that you are mobile and got to get outside.

Looked into milkweed. As far as I can tell they all require sun. That is something I cannot supply in my front or back yard :-(.

Hi Roni, finally getting some time to catch up here. Glad to hear you won't be sporting a cast, and sure hope the ankle repairs itself soon. I am about to go into nurse mode as my hubby talked himself into an early release. It's going to be a full time job both keeping him still and amused!

Paul, always so lovely to have you drop in!

Love the sculpture, Cassie. I went to your member gallery so I could click on them and see the larger pictures.

GentleReader, no sun? Is it trees or buildings getting in the way?

Hi, Judy. Good luck!

No reading today. No, not at all, but I finished one pair of fingerless gloves and half of the next pair.

I love the gloves, Roni, particularly the fuzzy purple (?) ones.

>248 ronincats: in the front, it is the homes across the street. In the back, it is the stockyard fence and trees. I have moss in the backyard and when I try to put out high fat feed for the birds in the backyard, it gets mildewed. No good place to plant herbs either. Would like to rig up plant lights to grow herbs indoors. Doesn't help the monarchs though :-).

Nice gloves Roni :)

Have you seen those gloves on Etsy that are made from the pages of books? Well, not literally, but print covered fabric. They look cool, but white with black print isn't exactly practical. And they're expensive.

Sorry to hear about the ankle and glad to hear you're on the mend! Sheesh! These long threads will be the death of me. I always catch up after the "event".

I don't think I've read any Heyer since I was a teenager. My best friend and I used to hang out at her grandmother's house for the weekend and binge read her collection.

>250 MDGentleReader: MDGentleReader: If you have an area that gets partial shade, and that you can keep wet, you might try swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata): http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ASIN We have one growing by our ornamental pond underneath some maples and while it hasn't bloomed yet, we think that may be due more to the competition between it and one of the other large plants right next to it, rather than the light quantity. But sadly, butterflies also prefer sun, especially the large ones. They have to be "up to temperature" to fly and so spend a lot of time in sunny spots. What types of butterflies do you see in your area, if I may ask?

>248 ronincats: ronincats: I agree with 249 Dejah_Thoris. Their color says "I have a dark side" but their fuzzy ends say "I have a playful side". Perfect for people like me whose dark side and light side met one day, shook hands, and became best friends! :)

>252 hairballsrus: hairballsrus: Haven't seen them, but regarding the price, I can't say I'm shocked. It didn't used to be this way, but for some reason, every time I browse Etsy nowadays, it seems like everything's expensive for what it is.

Oooh, lovely gloves!

Love the fingerless gloves. I've never had the courage to try to knit gloves or socks. Hope your ankle is continuing to heal well and that you aren't in too much pain with it.