Ronincats Reads Relaxedly in 2015: Thread 5

Summer is here--time to relax and read!

Last time we were down at Mission Beach, which was too long ago--before Christmas!

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.

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
9. The Butler Who Laughed by Michelle Martin
10. The Spirit Gate by Maya Bohnhoff
11. M'Lady Witch by Christopher Stasheff
12. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Shiguro
13. The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

February
14. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan Howard
15. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
16. Nobody's Home by Tim Powers
17. Wordplay by Glenn Bassett
18. The Glass God by Kate Griffin
19. The Nothing Girl by Jodi Taylor
20. Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia McKillip
21. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
22. The Aspern Papers by Henry James
23. The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan
24. Fairest by Marissa Meyer
25. What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund
26. Hex Marks the Spot by Madelyn Alt

March
27. Severance by Chris Bucholz
28. Flirting With Felicity by Gerri Russell
29. The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg
30. Prudence by Gail Carriger
31. Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire
32. Only a Novel by Joan Aiken Hodge
33. A God That Could Be Real by Nancy Abrams
34. Third Time Lucky by Tanya Huff

April
35. The Science of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
36. Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
37. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
38. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
39. Abducticon by Alma Alexander
40. Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
41. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
42. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett
43. The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer
44. Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee

May
45. A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
46. The Girl With the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir
47. I am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
48. Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill
49. Holiday in Death by J. D. Robb
50. The Reformation: A History by Diarmaid MacCulloch
51. First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
52. Under the Egg by Laurence Fitzgerald
53. The Origins of Tolkien's Middle Earth for Dummies by Greg Harvey

June
54. Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
55. The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
56. The Occasional Diamond Thief by J. A. McLachlan
57. Saving the Original Sinner by Karl Giberson
58. The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud
59. Cut the Clutter and Stow the Stuff by Lori Baird
60. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
61. Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
62. Jinx's Magic by Sage Blackwood
63. The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens
64. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

July
65. Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
66. Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
67. Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
68. Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
69. I Dare! by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
70. Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
71. Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
72. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas
73. Station Eleven by Emily Mandel
74. Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
75. A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
76. A Liaden Universe Constellation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
77. A Liaden Universe Constellation II by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
78. A Liaden Universe Constellation III by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
79. Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
80. Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
81. Saltation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
82. Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
83. Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
84. The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas
85. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

August
86. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
87. The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
88. Stolen Magic by Gail Carson Levine
89. The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
90. A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
91. The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas
92. The Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas
93. Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
94. Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
95. Tower in the Crooked Wood by Paula Johanson
96. The Magic Thief: Home by Sarah Prineas

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
6. Wonders of the Invisible World* by Patricia McKillip
7. Great Science Fiction about Doctors
8. The Gathering Storm* by Winston Churchill
9. Their Finest Hour* by Winston Churchill
10. The Grand Alliance* by Winston Churchill
11. The Hinge of Fate* by Winston Churchill
12. Closing the Ring* by Winston Churchill
13. Triumph and Tragedy* by Winston Churchill

February
14. The Nothing Girl* by Jodi Taylor
15. Severance* by Chris Bucholz
16. Flirting with Felicity* by Gerri Russell
17. The Paper Magician* by Charlie Holmberg
18. Great Science Fiction about Doctors
19.

May Summary

Books read: 9
Pages read: 2940 Longest book: 687 Shortest book: 166 Mean pages/book: 320

Format: 6 hardbacks, 1 trade paperback, 2 Kindle

Source: Library- 7, pbs- 1, Kindle-1

Genre: (this is unprecedented!)
Mystery: 4 (for May Murder & Mayhem)
Nonfiction: 2
Children's: 1
General fiction: 1
Romance: 1

NO science fiction or fantasy!!!!

Author gender: 5 female, 4 male

NO books off my shelves

Series: I progressed on four of my mystery series: Flavia, Eve Dallas, Dr. Siri, and Georgie.

Welcome to the new thread! I appreciate my recent visitors in the last thread: Mary (storeetler), Reba, Jenn, Donna, Meg, Lucy, Marie, and Mary (bell7).

It's funny how the Fitbit thing is catching on. They were in the store at Costco yesterday, which they hadn't been since Christmas, but they only had the Fitbit Flex and the Charge, the latter only in black, so I'm happy with my purple one. I'm mad, though. I walked up my first stairs yesterday (and back down) since I got the thing, and it didn't register it! And this morning I put it off to charge while I was at the computer and forgot to put it back on until after I did all my kitchen cleaning up and gardening chores, so I missed the majority of my steps for today. And my week is up so I need to think about actually working at increasing my steps...

Mary, isn't it amazing how much more efficient this folding method is? Now, if I could only do that with books...

Hi Roni!

Welcome, Carrie.

My last book in May was



Book #53 The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-Earth for Dummies by Greg Harvey (318 pp.)

Melissa (Kassilem) had mentioned this book and since it was available at PaperBackSwap, where I have a million credits, I went ahead and got it. It was a great review of the stories in the Silmarillion without having to plod through it again, and is edging me toward a reread of LOTR--it's been a while. Interesting without being must-read fascinating, the author is knowledgeable and has some good points to make.

Happy new thread!

Hi Roni, happy new thread. It's amazing all the things I learn about here on LT and now a new way to fold my clothes! Who said you can't teach an old dog a new trick?

Thank you, foggi! I'm over here constructing a shield against all those BBs you keep handing out.

First book of June, received Tuesday morning from Ammy and finished midday yesterday!



Book #54 Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (404 pp.)

I don't care for the cover. Except, that IS Miri front and center! But I loved the book. Set almost entirely on Surebleak, we are following half a dozen plot strands that very satisfyingly bring us up to date on ALMOST all those we love and care for (Shan and Priscilla are only mentioned in absentia, as is Theo). This, however, is NOT a book to introduce you to the Liaden universe. No, not at all. To read this book as you should, you should be familiar with the events in:

Agent of Change
Conflict of Honors
Carpe Diem
Plan B
I Dare!
Necessity's Child

Theo is really not involved in this book, but her mother is and to understand her, you should at least read Fledgling and Saltation. Theo's story continues in Ghost Ship and Dragon Ship, which brings us up to the timeline of this book.

There are three other books that deal with the present generation's parents, two books that are deep prequel explaining how the Liadens arrived in this universe thousands of years ago, and two books involving a Terran trader interacting with Liadens some 300 years prior to this current series with no overlapping characters.

>10 DeltaQueen50: Well come, Judy! Indeed, it's so simple and counter-intuitive. And space-saving and efficient for finding what you want.

Here is a photo of one batch of my tomatoes this morning (the others are in pots on the decks).

>6 ronincats: Is the staircase in question at least 10 steps? The Fitbit doesn't register less (which is really annoying if you have a short staircase...). It also registers poorly if you hurry up the steps - so don't be cheerful, just plod step by step. Yeah, annoying.

Love Miller and Lee - I haven't gotten Dragon in Exile yet, but I will.

>13 jjmcgaffey: Yes, it was a true second floor, and I am a plodder, which I thought might have been the problem but evidently not.

Actually, I think I missed an event this year. I believe last year while doing the Bujold year-long read through of the Vorkosigan that some of us had talked about doing something similar in the Liaden Universe this year. I suspect I was supposed to be the organizer, in which case I have clearly fallen down on the job.

Is anyone out there at all interested in doing such a thing, and if so, would you be interested starting in July 2015 or in waiting for 2016?

I'd love to do a Liaden read, I was just going to ask you what the recommended reading order was. And July 2015 sounds great, I should be done with my Wheel of Time reread by then and that always makes me want to find another long series to dive into.

I hope some others feel like you, Kriti!

You can start with either Agent of Change or Conflict of Honors--the two meet in the third book, Carpe Diem. I prefer AoC first personally. And you start the Theo books after finishing Plan B, any time after that and before Necessity's Children. And of course you will want to read the stories of Val Con and Shan's parents after getting to know them. I only recommend the Crystal Dragon duology to hardcore fans, but the Trade duo are good stories in their own right.

Since I'm already reading Carpe Diem, I'll be happy to join in the Liaden group now anyway. I don't know whether I'll be up for continuing for awhile although I haven't read (and don't have) Plan B. We'll see.
>15 kgodey: Done with the *Wheel* reread! I can only dream. Having just finished book 5, I may have to wait until next year. A lot goes a long way.

Plan B wraps up the story in Carpe Diem, Peggy, so I think you'll want to get to it sooner rather than later. Then you can rest for a while.

>18 ronincats: It does? Plan B leads pretty straight on to I Dare, to my mind. _Then_ there's a pause. Which leads straight to the Theo books, of course, but - y'know, you have to stop somewhere. And there was a pause in publication for a while - though not as long as the pause after Carpe Diem.

Personally, I Dare is one of my favorites. Pat Rin goes from an annoying hanger-on to a person I really like. I keep trying to put that story into Plan B, though - the names don't connect to the story, for me and for those two.

I might join a reread - I'd have to do some pretty solid reading of new books to allow it, though (I've got a rule, this year, that I have to read two new-to-me books for every reread, and I have to read the new ones first (pre-"pay" for the reread)). I've read, and love (or at least like a lot), every Liaden book except the one that's just come out, Dragon in Exile - looking forward to that.

I'm definitely up for participating. I LOVED the Crystal Dragon duo and I did start with them - although - I admit at times I had no idea what was going on, so rereading those two in particular is an appealing idea.

I've also been loving reading the short stories - I'm waiting for the second volume to show up along with the new one and the one just before it, which I missed somehow. The stories fill in all kinds of little corners.

Hmm, I'm interested in the Liaden read. I tend to want to do things in publication order, so I'll have to stir up the older ones somewhere - not in my public library.

Roni the Category Challenge is doing a Liaden Universe read in August. This was planned since last year. Some of us were planning to dip in early. Would you mind extending your read from June-August? That way some of us can participate in both groups.

I have Crystal Soldier and was going to start with that. I bought it used on Amazon. I also have Agent of Change on audio. From what you are saying I should start with AoC yes?

Wow - Origins of Middle Earth for Dummies looks perfect. I've never made it through the Silmarillion, either. I used to read LOTR every year - but it's probably been twenty years since I've done that. I might have to remedy that.

Clothes folding and fitbits - good stuff!

Happy new thread, Roni!

>12 ronincats: We woukd have loved to do a garden like that this year. Too bad its not allowed. Darn Bears.

Count me in for the Liaden Universe, Roni. I have Agent of Change on my Kindle, so that will be my first read.

>19 jjmcgaffey: Well, yeah, but I was trying to entice people in, and there is a pause there while we go over to other points of view. But I would consider those five the core books, true. Although L&M p***ed me off good with the epilogue and Theo. And I LOVE Plan B so much.

>20 sibylline: I got the Constellation stories for free back when they were only in digital format, so it's been a while since I reread those stories. I always think of the Crystal Dragon duology for all of us who have been hearing Cantra and Jela quoted for at least 5 books and now are crazy to find out what this Ship's Captain thing and the Tree are all about.

>21 drneutron: Jim, Agent of Change is free as an ebook, and all of the early ones are available used online.

>22 luvamystery65: Ro, yes, I would suggest starting with Agent of Change. It's a much more fun read. And see above response to Lucy.

>23 streamsong: Actually, Janet, I did get all the way through The Silmarillion--ONCE! This book reprised it for me so I don't ever have to tackle it again. :-) The folding is amazing, and the Fitbit, hopefully, inspiring.

>24 scaifea: Hi, Amber. You are a busy lady these day, what with organizing the book fair at school and a new puppy.

>25 xymon81: You have bears in Arkansas?

>26 DeltaQueen50: Judy, great! I was thinking of you for this, and now I don't need to go to your thread to promote it.

So, what is going to happen is that on July 1 I will open a Liaden Universe thread, and put information about chronological and publishing order and my own idiosyncratic (not really, mostly publishing order) recommended order for reading there. Again, this isn't an organized group read. It's a vehicle to encourage people to try out this universe. In August, the Category Challenge people will use the thread to discuss their planned group read of Liaden books, and so we'd like to encourage the 75ers who are participating to plan to read at least one book during that month as well. Other than that, just like with the Vorkosigan read last year, it's read at your own pace and come talk about it on the dedicated thread. Several people will go ahead and start reading in July, which is just fine, and you have a whole year to tackle as much of the series as you want to. I personally love the books and will probably do a complete reread, ymmv.

Hi Roni, happy new thread. I didn't pick up on the clothes folding on your last thread but you got me with the Fitbit. I had been interesting in getting one for a while and your posts finally got me into the store to buy one. I wanted the Fitbit One which is a clip on rather than a wrist one - I can't wear watches because of a metal allergy so the clip on seemed the way to go.

RL has kind of caught up with me, though and the Fitbit is still in the box. I am happy to report that I did get the new hose and sprayer that I bought the week before last out of their packaging so I am working on getting my new stuff in use and I now have a cleaner car - I wonder what the Fitbit would have made of that kind of activity?

I'm also up for the Liaden Universe read! I have Agent of Change waiting for me on my kindle.

Morning, Roni! Happy new thread! I am excited about the Liaden Universe read, as I have Agent of Change in the stacks, and Lucy's reviews have been making me want to get to it. Fun!

Hoping that your Saturday is full of fabulous, dear! Oh, and about the Fitbit and stairs - Craig has trouble with his registering when he goes up them too slowly.

>27 ronincats: Nope Alaska.

>27 ronincats: Thank you Ro!

Hello Dear Friend. I'm stopping by to say hello.
>12 ronincats: You are going to be brimming with tomatoes. Will you can them?

Happy new thread, Roni! I haven't visited the Liaden Universe yet. I went and got Agent of Change from Amazon, but it says it's the 9th book in the series.

It is chronologically, Mary, but I prefer publication order for the earlier books. You need to know at least the first three books and preferably the first 5 (publication order) for the earlier books to resonate properly. They will have you acculturated and eager to know the history at that point.

Hi Roni, I started off really well with my new Fitbit and did 10,000 steps straight for 10 days and then fell off the wagon big time! Part of the problem was although it isn't that uncommon for me to walk that much at the weekend, it is very uncommon for me to walk that much in the week, and ten days on the trot was just too much. But it has had the advantage that I now see how much I walk normally, which seems to vary from around 4,000 steps or less on a bad day to around 6,000. I'm going to set myself a target of 8,000 steps this week, which hopefully I can do without killing myself!

And back to acknowledge my other visitors!

>28 Familyhistorian: The Fitbit moment will come when life slows down, Meg. I found another quirk last night, or rather early this morning. When one wakes up and can't get back to sleep in the middle of the night, any steps around the house you take during that time aren't registered. ??

>29 souloftherose: Heather, good. I was going to come around your thread today to make sure you knew.

>30 Crazymamie: Yay, Mamie, so glad you will be joining us. And going up too slowly would be my issue.

>31 xymon81: Doh! And I knew that, because you talk about it on your thread. Senior moment, and I always get thrown by that postal abbreviation.

>32 luvamystery65: No problem, Ro! ;-)

>33 Whisper1: Lovely Linda, our usual problem is we get one good crop and then they get fungus and peter out, even though they are nondeterminant varieties. When we do have excess, I usually freeze them whole after parboiling and peeling. I find if I go ahead and make sauce and freeze it, it loses flavor and I am not a canner.

>36 SandDune: Rhian, you've been my mainstay this week, keeping it real. I am going to try to up my steps this coming week, since my average is more between 3,000 and 4,000 steps.

So, only sold a pair of booties yesterday at the farmers market, but my pottery inventory is way down. Off to the pottery to glaze some pots now. Also just finished a book, but I'll record it tonight.

Its ok, happens to us all. So cant have gardens. Any type of thing that might bring a bear into the neighborhoods like gardens or bird feeders. If its just incedental its a $350 fine. If you do it purposely, your talking thousands.

>38 xymon81: So where do all your fresh foodstuffs come from??

I only had one bowl, 7" in diameter, ready this week, but have 4 pieces in the glaze kiln and a bunch in the bisque kiln coming up.


Also have finished 2 more books.



Book #55 The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (417 pp.)

This is the first book of a middle school fantasy trilogy recommended by CompSki. So far it seems a good solid entry into its genre (she particularly liked how it wrapped up in the third book) and I will continue, but I will say that I see no reason for those not interested in children's fantasy to read it.



Book #56 The Occasional Diamond Thief by J. A. McLachlan (250 pp.)

This is an ER book, so I will have to write a real review...later. It's science fiction, YA in tone, with some good diversity and some interesting world building, but it could have been longer to develop some of the plot lines more credibly to go beyond the YA format.

So today was a back to cleaning up my office day, after the usual kitchen cleaning. You probably don't remember that last weekend I made it through the couch, my computer desk surface, and the filing cabinet (which refilled the couch). Then when I had to replace an outlet I cleared all the shelves and doors and top of the computer armoire, which included lots of outdated computer CDs. Today I cleared the window seat, where there were numerous piles of outdated computer CDs as well as lots of the stuff cleared from the armoire; the latter went where it belongs in the armoire and all the computer stuff into a big shopping bag to sort through later. Some of the CDs are clearly outdated (e.g., printers I no longer have), some are games that probably don't work on the new operating systems on our computers (including a full set of Harry Potter games), some are outdated MacAddict game collections, and some are old files from work. Is there anything one can do with old CDs, crafts or anything? The other BIG accomplishment is that I went through the entire desk drawer of notepads plus one armoire door shelf full of all those free pads you get from charities and, keeping only those with my name on them, have moved the majority of these to the dining room table where they will rot for eternity---no, no, actually, I'm going to put them in a basket in my booth at the market with a sign--Free, take what you can use! And when they are gone (please!), I'll do the same with those packets of note cards from the same sources. For some reason I just can't seem to throw either of these away, even into recycling. And then I got everything off the couch again, to where it belongs, and I only have the top of my rolltop desk to finish clearing off. Well, and the dining room table. But still, it is SO much better. Then we sat out on the deck while my husband grilled salmon collars, sweet potatoes, and asparagus--delicious!

ETA AND I found the CD disk with all of Lois McMaster Bujold's books (sans Memory) that came in Cryoburn! I feared I had lost it. It goes back into its pocket in the book right away. After I download them all onto my Kindle.

One thing you can do with old CD's if you have a problem with birds flying into your windows, is you can tape them here and there on yr. windows shiny side out and the birds see them and stay away!!! It is, perhaps, a little weird to have round things on yr. windows (I take mine off in winter) -- but that is what I do with old CD's, DVD's etc. that have no use, or were so awful I can't even see inflicting them on Goodwill or wherever. Some appalling number of birds die per year from flying into glass, so it is well worth doing. Not as bad as cats, but not good. Now that I think of it -- they probably could put shiny things on the huge windmills and that would help the birds fly elsewither. Hmmmmm.

>13 jjmcgaffey: Oh, so that's how the stairs work. I had wondered. Luckily I work on the second floor of a building which forces me to do a lot of stair walking.

Thumbs up for the Liaden thread, Roni. Thanks for organizing this.

>40 sibylline: We've never had a bird fly into a window, Lucy. Should I donate the CDs to a wind farm then? ;)

>41 rosylibrarian: Oh, hi, Marie!

>42 jnwelch: Glad you are going to participate, Joe!

Got all the Bujold books onto my Kindle, and picked up the new Neil Gaiman, Trigger Warning, and Hold Fast by Blue Balliett from the library. Also packaged up a small shopping bag FULL of note cards to give away in my booth when the notepads are gone. And I came up with a major furniture rearrangement which involves emptying 4 major pieces of furniture: 1 armoire moved from front bedroom to hallway for jackets, 1 large curio cabinet from the hallway to the dining room, 1 medium size curio cabinet to the opposite wall of the dining room, and the bookcase on that wall into the front bedroom. But first, all those bins that have been sitting in the dining room waiting to go up in the attic have to move out to make room to do the other transfers. But tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid-80s just like today was, and we may just go to the beach instead!

>40 sibylline: I've also seen them hung up in gardens, serving the same purpose as scarecrows. Also, an artist friend of mine does this with them: https://www.pinterest.com/jugglercats/my-disc-artwork/

I searched for CD art on Google and found a few - not the one I was remembering, of a silver-scaled dragon made out of broken CDs, but an assortment of stuff. One that looks neat is scratch art on a CD painted over on the shiny side. My mom made a Christmas tree to hang on her office door, once, with the CDs glued onto ribbons (I think).
If there's a...OK. In a couple places I've lived, there's been a store that had stuff - bits and pieces and stuff that gets thrown away - toilet paper rolls and the plastic bits in between the important ones and old CDs and _stuff_ - but I can't think what any of them were called. One was something like Teacher Supply, though you didn't have to be a teacher to get the stuff - but they were aiming it at elementary schools, as art supplies. So if you know of such a store, or can figure out a name to Google it by and find there's one near you, they may take the CDs (or not, I suspect they're a drug on the market).

Is there an actual thread Roni?

Well, we did go to the beach and had lunch, then walked. I earned my first Fitbit badge for walking more than 5,000 steps (small potatoes next to Mamie, Reba and Susan) but had my first problems with the ankle I broke in January when walking on the uneven surface of the sand. Achy, achy! And when we got home, I was tuckered out and slept for over an hour. Sad, because I used to be able to do twice that distance without any problem or nap afterwards. So that's all I got accomplished yesterday, except my ER book arrived, Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice. Today I had a massage, on the second floor of a building but once again my Fitbit didn't register the stairs. I almost gave my Fitbit a bath this morning--it was very close, inches!

>44 foggidawn:, >45 jjmcgaffey: I checked out CD ideas on Pinterest, and there are some interesting ideas there. Foggi, your friend's work is complex and interesting, but not for me to try!

>46 sibylline: Lucy, no, there is no actual thread yet. The Liaden read-along is scheduled to start July 1 and I will set it up no earlier than June 28 and announce it here.

I just got my copy of Trigger Warning too!

>48 luvamystery65: Haven't started yet, Ro!

Well, today has been filled with activity. I went to the pottery this morning to glaze some pieces, so I would have time to trim on Saturday and I will be missing the next Saturday for the festival, and pick up what I glazed Saturday, here!


Then I started the major furniture rearrangement. I emptied the bookcase, moved it into the middle of the living room floor, emptied the curio cabinet of its hundreds of cat figurines, moved the curio cabinet to the other side of the dining room, refilled the curio cabinet, and emptied the display cabinet in the front hallway. It is now ready to move into the dining room and then I will empty the armoire in the front bedroom. 3030 steps doing all that--whew!

Thats a busy day.

LOVE the blue in 39 and the back 2 in 49! *sigh*
You are a busy, busy woman.
O.K. O.K. O.K. O.K. I just ordered the Plan B/I Dare combo from AMP. That's it! Can't do any more right now!!!!!

>47 ronincats: Roni, we all started with our 5000 steps badge :-) You'll soon build your stamina back up. I'm sorry to hear about your ankle, though. I hope it doesn't continue to trouble you, but sand must have been a bit of a challenge.

I love the pottery, as always!

Congrats on getting all those steps done, Roni. Rearranging furniture takes a lot of energy and will probably put stress on your ankle so I hope you are being very careful with yourself. I recommend some quiet reading time to complete your day!

>49 ronincats: Ro I haven't started it either because I realized that the story I am most anxious to read is the one that takes place in American Gods world. I didn't know he had also written one that is in Fragile Things. I requested FT from the library and will read that story before I start Trigger Warning.

You have been busy Roni!

Congrats on your 5000 steps! You're definitely moving forward (punny, yes?)

There's something about having your ankle in a boot, immobilizing the ligaments, that makes the ligaments get stiff and unhappy. You may want to ask your doctor about getting a bit of Physical Therapy advice.

One exercise I still do is sitting on a recliner with my feet up (see this sounds good already, right?) and drawing the alphabet in the air with my feet. It just gets those ankle joints moving and flexing in every direction. There was also something with a stretchy band around a chair leg that I disliked and so don't remember it as well. But they definitely helped.

Steps taken while rearranging furniture should count at least double!!

Okay, the furniture is now all in its new placement. We moved the big cabinet last night and I replaced the contents. Today I emptied the armoire and we moved it into the hallway, then the tall bookcase into the front bedroom. I refilled 2/3 of the armoire before going to pottery, where I glazed one large bowl and trimmed 5 pieces. Then I came home and refilled the bookshelves and packed stuff into the bottom storage cabinet. I had kept cleaning stuff and light bulbs there before, but the hubby plans to put furniture in front of it, so it now is for those knickknacks and curios that I rarely need to access. I put a lot of the cleaning stuff and light bulbs in the base of the curio cabinet, but some of the cleaning stuff is too tall to fit there so I took stuff from the built-in china cabinet that I rarely use to put there, making room in the china cabinet for the cleaning stuff. Not ideal, but it will work.

I took my scarves, which I never wear, out of the hatbox on top of the armoire (see why?) and folded them re: my new folding technique so I can see what I have!


And instead I put the hosiery I never wear in the hatbox. At least it all looks alike.

>50 xymon81: So how did the knee surgery go?

>51 LizzieD: And now you are SO happy that you already put in that order and it's on its way, right?

>52 susanj67: Thank you, Susan. Your steps are a source of inspiration for me.

>53 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I think I'm finally at the point where I can take your advice!

>54 luvamystery65: Ro, I need to finish at least one of the books I'm currently reading before I start on the Gaiman.

>55 souloftherose: That I have, Heather.

>56 streamsong: Janet, I skimped on my exercises when recovering, and I'm paying for it now. The rubber band exercises were the majority of them.

>57 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I agree!!

I am about to join the Fitbit group, Roni. My Fitbit is out of the box and charging as a type! I wish that I had the Fitbit set up last week because I did a lot of walking. Not sure that I will get as much in this week. I will have to check out the stairs - I live in a 3 floor townhouse and go up and down stairs all day. I am curious to see what it registers - I hope it does register something!

Hi Roni! RL has been cutting into my LT time rather, recently, so I'm trying to catch up now.

Very quick summary in response to your thread;
- the new farmers' market looks good.
- Hah; never looked into FitBit before, but maybe I'll get some for the whole family :0)
- I tend to fold my scarves and underwear with that technique, but never considered it for T-shirts, etc.
- I've seen books 1 & 2 of The Books of the Beginning in the library; maybe I'll give it a go.
- may re-read Agent of Change, but doubt I'll be able to get hold of any other Liaden books.

Oh my gosh that pottery is beautiful!

>58 ronincats: The surgery itself went fine. Thanks for asking. The worst part was when they stuck in this probe to find my nerve endings that made my whole leg twitch. I really was not sick afterwards which is good. I just cant wait to have enough mobility to not use crutches. Im pretty laid up righf now but I have percaset and this really cool ice wrap that hooks up to a cooler. I have 30 days off from work during the difficult portion of recovery.

Happy new'ish' thread, Roni! I haven't joined the FitBit crowd but I am enjoying reading about the devices here on LT. Love your tomato plants! I am thinking of trying to grow one or two tomato plants next year but the big decision seems to be what kind of tomato plants. I had no idea until this past week of the huge variety of tomato plants out there!

I really love your scarf drawer! I currently have my scarf collection in a gift box I obtained two years ago but I have them folded one on top of the other. Your presentation is much better.

>59 Familyhistorian: Meg, PM me your email address so we can be Fitbit buddies!
>60 humouress: Funny how the performing life cuts into your time, right, Nina? Good to see you.
>61 kiwiflowa: Thank you, Lisa.
>62 xymon81: Glad the surgery went well and you were nauseated afterwards. Hope the healing is proceding apace.
>63 lkernagh: Hi, Lori. You are right, there is a huge variety of types of tomatoes. I got the idea for folding from a video (YouTube) by Marie Kondo, an Japanese organizer who has a new book out. Zoe just reviewed the book on her thread.

So today was another at-home day for me. I found room for all the too-tall cleaning stuff under my kitchen sink, so cleared it out of the dining room, then finished cleaning the window end of the dining room (walls, windows, woodwork, floor) and shifted the chair and wine cabinet and cat tree to fit the new arrangement better. Then dusted the chairs and dining table (lots of wood surfaces with slats) and gave the rug a good vacuuming and cleaned the dust off the secretary which is the other piece of furniture in the room. in between I did 4 loads of laundry and then folded all the clean cloths a la Kondo for my drawers and put it all away. The hubbie cooked out chicken on the grill, I made potato salad and sliced tomatoes to go with it, and we sat out on the deck and drank margaritas while it was cooking (I was exhausted, having put over 4,000 steps in the house today. Interestingly enough, the Fitbit recorded two flights of stairs today--I wonder if getting down onto the floor and then struggling back up gave it ideas!).

I woke up at 2:45 and didn't get back to sleep until 5:40, but slept until 9 then. While up I finished my nonfiction book.



>Book #57 Saving the Original Sinner: How Christians Have Used the Bible's First Man to Oppress, Inspire, and Make Sense of the World by Karl W. Giberson (240 pp.)

This was an Early Reviewer offering that I didn't get, but it looked interesting so I went ahead and bought it. It was actually quite interesting, written by a traditional Christian professor who is NOT fundamentalist or committed to the literal inerrancy of the Bible, but he was brought up that way and he has very interesting things to say about that community and its relationship with science (or lack thereof).

Basically, he says that since Augustine took some of St. Paul's comments and tied the salvation of Jesus firmly to Adam and the concept of original sin (as opposed to Adam being simply one of a series of patriarchal scriptural characters as in Judaism), a historical Adam becomes as important as Christ in the core conceptualization of Christianity. He tracks the relationship between science and Christianity as the former develops. Now that science is increasingly making it unlikely that we are all descended from one man and one woman, especially genetics, a model of salvation that was very complete and comforting in the Middle Ages now faces a challenge as great as that faced when Earth was found not to be the center of the universe. Even bringing up the topic has gotten many Christian professors fired from fundamentalist universities, as the author was. He considers himself a traditionalist rather than a fundamentalist, although he was brought up as the latter.

>64 ronincats: I think the FitBit does get confused with things like that - one time I was sorting through a lot of boxes (of books) and getting up and down constantly to switch boxes, and at the end of the day I had something like 8 flights of stairs (in my one-level apartment). I don't know how, it's supposed to be noticing actual change in elevation.

Hi Roni! Your thread title- Roni Reads Relaxedly- just makes me smile! Great work you've been doing cleaning out. I desperately need to do it myself, but haven't had the time. Hopefully this summer I'll dig in. I'm going to have to search for a YouTube of the Kon-Mari folding. Even though she describes it (and your end results are very impressive), I still can't quite visualize how to do it.

Just dropping by to say hi after another long period of absence, so Hi!

I'm currently on the train home having just spent an extremely enjoyable evening watching Neil Gaiman talking to David Mitchell, just to make you all jealous (*smug grin*)

I've never heard of the linden series - sounds like something I should investigate?

P.S. FitBit? Is that a step counter?

>67 flissp: Depends - do you like fantastic space opera, with comedy (and occasionally tragedy) of manners, psi, spaceships, giant sentient turtles (and ditto ditto trees), and lots of cats? http://korval.com/why-read-liad/ . My answer is YES, you should read it - everyone should read it. The stories are amazing, and fun! Agent of Change was the first published - there are several entry points, but that was mine so of course it's the best way.

>68 flissp: FitBit is an advanced step counter (actually, several - FitBit is the company, it has four or five models of gadgets available). It counts steps, and flights of stairs, and calories, and general activity level; it's a timer, and will track activity separately while you're timing it, which allows it to be used as a sleep tracker too. The latest greatest also have heart monitors (my dad has one, I don't). It links to a website and mobile apps; you can connect friends and see their steps and how well you do compared to them. The website and app also let you track drinking water, and food - I've done that before, but am not doing so currently. My gadget is a One, a little-finger-sized pod; the more recent ones are mostly wristbands. Different models have different capabilities (mostly, some can track stairs and sleep and some can't - plus some have the heart rate monitors and some don't).

>65 jjmcgaffey: Well, I learned today that it doesn't register escalators!

>66 AMQS: Well, when I'm reading I AM relaxed, Anne. I know, I looked at that title the other day and thought the same...

>67 flissp: Hi, Fliss. I'm not talking to you! having just spent an extremely enjoyable evening watching Neil Gaiman talking to David Mitchell, just to make you all jealous (*smug grin*) indeed!

>68 flissp: Well, Jenn has left me nothing to say about either the Liaden series or Fitbits! But she is right on about both.

I woke up a bit later today, at 4:00 a.m., but never got back to sleep, so it was rather a lethargic morning. I headed out for a haircut, stopped by the library to pick up The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud and The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens. I also went to Grossmont Mall and picked up my pottery from the consignment shop, ostensibly to restock and reprice, but also to have more stock on hand for the big festival on Saturday. The shop is at one end of the mall and not only did I park at the far end of the parking garage but I went the entire length of the mall and back, so in 30 more steps I will pass 5000 steps for the second time since getting my Fitbit.

Wow! You've sure been doing some redecorating in a big way! Me, I need to rearrange at least some of my furniture at least once a year or I get bored and start thinking about moving houses.

Congrats on your FitBit milestones, and good luck to you on the big festival on Saturday!

Yowza! I have to go friend you at Fitbit!!!!

Just take it easy and steady and you will be amazed at your progress when you look back. Sand is tough on the feet - the ankle I broke (eleven years ago) still doesn't care for long walks on it.

#69 Thank you Jenn!!

#70 Sorry, I couldn't resist ;o)

Roni, I can. but admire from afar.
I do love the alphabet in the air with my feet. I'll recommend it to Mama too!

Yay for your 5,000 steps! My FitBit has really motivated me to step it up. The first day I came home from work I thought, whhhhaaat, that's all I walk? This week I'm doing a challenge with a few of my cousins so the pressure is really on...

>71 Storeetllr: Hi, Mary. I agree, and so does my husband. He rearranges the living room about twice a year, just on general principles. Of course, after we've lived in the house this long, there are only so many ways to do it. And thank you.

>72 sibylline: Done!

>73 flissp: I wouldn't have been able to resist, had it been me, either, Fliss.

>74 LizzieD: Hi, Peggy!

>75 rosylibrarian: Thanks, Marie. It does make you conscious of your activity, doesn't it?

So yesterday was my second 6,000 plus step day in a row, aided by taking the dog and walking two miles in Balboa Park, with enough changes in altitude to register as 7 stairs. And the backs of my thighs are sore today to prove it!

Then, it being a lovely day, we went down to Point Loma Seafood and had an early supper.

Being right where the fishing boats bring in their catches, this is maybe the only place where you find REAL crab in the California rolls, plus they have a wonderful squid sandwich on sourdough. And you can see the oysters over to the left, and a "Tony Gwynn" pale ale to wash it all down.

Then home to relax again on the deck, but without the margaritas this time, having already imbibed.

Today I went to the pottery again, since I will be at my festival all day Saturday. I picked up a bunch more of the small bowls that my friend is using to package with her shaving soap, and one larger blue bowl.

I was hoping a few more pieces would be out of the bisque kiln or the glaze kiln, but they were still too hot to unload. I had lots to do at home, cleaning and laundry and the like, but am getting ready to go back out on the deck while lamb chops are roasting on the grill!

Hi, Roni! Great description of the Liaden series by Jennifer up in >69 jjmcgaffey:. I'm going to try to remember that for people who ask. I'm looking forward to re-reading them for the group read.

>76 ronincats: I continue to admire your pottery!

Mmmm, grilled lamb. My favorite! Enjoy!

ETA I love that bigger blue bowl! It's just gorgeous!

Joe, so glad you are joining us!

Hi, Lori!

Thanks, Mary.

Had a pretty successful farmers' market today. Big festival tomorrow--long day, 11 to 8 with set up starting at 8 in the morning. Hoping for a blockbuster!

Lovely pottery! And good luck today!

I hope your long day was successful!

Hi, Amber and Meg, and thank you for the good wishes. The festival was in a lovely section of Balboa Park, on the south edge, with grass and big trees but very little park. I think the latter was the reason that the crowd drawn was more similar to our farmers market in size as opposed to a big street festival. We did okay--made the $90 fee plus enough to take the husband to dinner at Casa Guadalajara today--but not any better than we'd done at the farmers market the day before in half the time and at less than half the fee. It was enjoyable but we won't be doing it again. I did get these things made while sitting in my booth:


Also finally finished another book!



Book #58 The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud (435 pp.)

Jonathan Stroud, of course, is known for his imaginative children's series, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and the second of this new series, Lockwood & Co., is even more fun in my opinion. In an alternate history where ghosts began returning from the dead about 60 years previous, which at least 4 different tiers of deadliness, only children can directly sense and fight the supernatural. In London, those children with the sensitivity are recruited into agencies, but Lucy ended up in a rather independent small agency, and this is the second book of their adventures. It's imaginative, well-written and with just enough scariness to tickle the fancies of young readers. Also recommended for older readers of fantasy as well--you'll enjoy them, but start with The Screaming Staircase.

ETA Another benefit of the festival is I had the first day where I exceeded 8000 steps, and had the equivalent of 4 floors (on a basically flat park?).

>83 ronincats: Yay for 8000 steps, Roni. It is great when the steps just add up while you are going about your regular day.

Hi Roni, your steps are adding up and it sounds like your fitbit is really helping you. I love California Rolls and the ones pictured above look yummy. We often go to a nearby beach community for fish and chips and eat them right on the docks. A great way to end a warm day and catch a cool breeze.

I think I will be joining the Fit bit bandwagon. I need more motivation to get moving and what's better than a little trainer that hangs out with you all day. LOL

Yes, Yay! for 8000. My biggest problem is occasionally taking the fitbit off and not remembering at all what I did with it......

Hey, Meg, Judy, Carrie, and Lucy! Lucy, I just did that today--forgot to put the fitbit back on after my bath this morning during a time when I was clearing the dining room table off and cleaning up. Drat!

>83 ronincats: Love your craft photos!

Thanks, Lori!

So, I finished another book I've been working on for awhile--in fact, it inspired my furniture rearrangement last week, albeit indirectly. It's been my bathtub book.



Book #59 Cut the Clutter and Stow the Stuff edited by Lori Baird (345 pp.)

I'm a sucker for these books and picked this one up through PaperBackSwap.com when I had ordered another book from the person offering this. Looking at the Recommended Reading in back, I have a number of the the books and resources she cites. Still, I always find these entertaining and, as I mentioned, it inspired a few moves here.

>88 ronincats: Congrats on hitting 8000. I know what you mean about forgetting the Fitbit. I changed after work yesterday and left it on the shelf. There I was going up and down stairs thinking I was doing ok but nothing was being recorded.

I get tired just hearing about your housecleaning and furniture rearranging! A bit late, but about Fitbit and stairs -- it doesn't count elevators either which I wondered about until I realized it's a combination of elevation change and movement that it tracks. It's still odd though. It's hilly here and I get credit for a lot of stairs but can always see which since I climb a lot of slopes now but yesterday I was in a lower-level of a building and checked by flights of stairs...9...so I climbed the flight of stairs out to the street, walked to a nearby building where I climbed a very long flight to the second flood (it's an office building and I really think that long-flight is equal to two normal flights) and check again...9...what!?! Finally walked a loop getting home so I could go up a hill and get that 10th flight. I do wonder about Fitbit sometimes!

Sounds like your art show sales are going OK although I'm sure it would be nice to find a show with some serious shoppers. Your things are so beautiful it would seem you'd have a hard time keeping up with demand. I still haven't tried those booties yet...soon I hope but I'm so focused on the tablecloth it's all I do.

Well done on the steps and the festivals Roni! I hadn't realised Jonathan Stroud had written another series so I will look out for these.

>91 Familyhistorian: And, Meg, just now looking at your message I realized I had done it again! Took it off when I bathed at 8:30 this morning and now, 9 hours later... :-(

>92 RebaRelishesReading: The sad part, Reba, is even after all of that, my house still isn't CLEAN. More organized a bit, but still lots of dust and clutter to deal with. It isn't FAIR!

>93 souloftherose: Thanks, Heather. Yes, the Lockwood & Co. series is really original and fun. Now I have to wait for the next book coming out in mid-September.

So, after a nap yesterday afternoon because I was feeling so cruddy, I wasn't sleepy at bedtime so stayed up until 12 and finished



Book #60 The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens (437 pp.)

This is the second book in the Books of Beginning trilogy (I reviewed the first earlier this month), intended for grades 4-9. The story continues, focusing on the second child and the second book, with adventure and scares enough to satiate the grubbiest little heart. Oh, and the books are entertaining as well. BUT the library (and I have been getting most of my books from the library lately) only has the last book in AUDIO, 13 hours!! And it is still pretty expensive for Kindle, since it only came out this spring. I'm hoping the library has a paper version on order.



Book #61 Hold Fast by Blue Balliett (278 pp.)

This is a five-star book. Go out and get it. Read it.

I love Balliett's books. Her first three were mysteries, each focused around a different artist (Johannes Vermeer, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Alexander Calder). In the solving of the mysteries, three children with their own issues are able to resolve some of them. These also are middle-school books but written with such wit and cleverness that adults may completely enjoy them. But Hold Fast (I haven't read The Danger Box yet) is at a whole new level. It's the story of a family in Chicago, suddenly bereft of father and homeless, and the feeling of shelter life and the ubiquity of homeless in the city and how suddenly you don't seem to matter. Twined around a love of reading and wordplay and the words of Langston Hughes, Early needs to hold her family together and find out what really happened to lead to all of this--and yes, that is a mystery. Read it. Now.

*sigh* You're reminding me of all of the series I need to catch up on -- I've only read the first Lockwood & Co., and really liked it; I need to read the third of the Books of Beginning, and I have a copy of Pieces and Players by Balliet that brings together characters from all (maybe?) of her earlier books, so I keep thinking I should read those, but the only one I'm sure I've read is Chasing Vermeer. I'll probably just read Pieces and Players, but you've made a compelling case for Hold Fast.

So very many books. So little time.

You caught my attention with that enthusiastic review of Hold Fast, Roni. I'd read a couple of Blue Balliett's earlier ones (Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3) and liked them, but had fallen off the wagon. I'm busy tracking this one down.

>94 ronincats: I've gotten pretty good at ignoring dust as I age. I still don't tolerate clutter very well but dust...not such a problem.

>83 ronincats: I must get to this second Lockwood & Co book, I enjoyed the first one. I also need to read the prequel to the Bartimaeus trilogy.

And Hold Fast, I loved the first 2 or 3 Chasing Vermeer books and like Joe, I need to get back to these. I'm currently reading Shadow Scale really slowly, the font is tiny so I can't read it at night and the story not so engaging.

I saw lots of praise for Grasshopper Jungle online and have just picked it up from the library, not sure if it's your thing, I found his The Marbury Lens a little weird but good. Anyway it's probably worth your time investigating.

I'm with Reba and a bit ahead of her. My clutter doesn't bother me at all. DH's bothers me a little but not enough to do anything about it. So sorry.
Anyway, I bow to your cleanliness and general all-around good-use-of-time-liness.
Meanwhile, it's too hot to do anything but concentrate on breathing. I'm glad that my exercise of choice is swimming. Once in the pool, I'm happy to find everything normal!

>95 foggidawn: Well, turn about is fair play! ;-)
>96 jnwelch: Enjoy, Joe.
>97 RebaRelishesReading: I seem to have both clutter AND dust. The stuff that is put away is organized, but there always seems to be more stuff to put away. And my crafts certainly don't help the situation, on top of the books.
>98 avatiakh: Kerry, I need to read the prequel as well. Haven't ordered Shadow Scale from the library yet--guess I don't need to hurry? I think I'll wait and see what you think of Grasshopper Jungle.
>99 LizzieD: It's my EFFORTS at cleanliness, not the actual product, that exist, Peggy. We're having a warm week, but nothing like yours.

So, no reading today but we went to the San Diego Fair today. It's a huge fair and I passed 10,000 steps for the first time as a result (just barely). I always have to check the mineral and gem displays, the hubby always has to walk through the Midway although we never do any of the rides or games, then we check out the commercial vendors, the livestock, and the garden and flower displays. I would love to go up in the grandstand and see the home arts exhibits, but the hubby hasn't much patience for that.

Yay, for 10,000 steps!!!

>100 ronincats: Woo hoo - I better go cheer you on FitBit. My steps are lousy today. I'm not feeling well.

Congratulations on 10,000! Hope you enjoyed the fair. We haven't been in years...like maybe 25 years. Perhaps it's time to go again.

The fair sounds like fun! And a good way to increase your steps. I've never gone to a county fair in my life. Just never seemed to get around to it. I know, I've lived a deprived life.

My parents and I went to the Alameda County fair today - not 10000 steps, but over 6000. It was pretty hot, so we mostly stayed inside - didn't visit the agricultural side at all, and we generally go glance at it at least. Did the two shopping pavilions and got good stuff - car wax, and cleaning stuff, and talked to the guy about my wonderful pans (one of which, the 2-quart saucepan) is losing its coating inside - it's under warranty, but I'd have to send it in to get that, and I don't seem able to do without it! Too useful. But they don't sell it separately, drat it). And my parents got a new wonderful massage chair, and a vibrating platform exercise machine - those things are _wonderful_ when you're walking as much as at the fair. Hopefully it will be helpful at home, too.
Then food, then exhibits - the hobby stuff (collections, ranging from woodcarvings to Elvis to Euro coins) is great, the quilts and stitching and yarn are amazing. We also missed out the fine arts exhibit, partly because it's in the courtyard (again, too hot).
Fun as always.

I ran around outside one night in order to try to achieve all my daily goes (time, steps, etc.) and it would not register TIME - I stayed at 99% no matter how long I stayed out there puffing around.

And I thought I'd lost my fitbit the other day, couldn't find it, gave up, so lost a whole day. It is kind of tyrannical, which is why, I think I stopped wearing it last winter. It maybe a seasonal April to end of November thing for me. Don't know if it registers x-country skis. It might.

And Congrats! on getting over 10,000. That is a great achievement! I have gotten so I know intuitively how much walking I have to do to get there and only don't make it when the weather is too awful. It is amazing what just walking for five minutes of every hour does to move things along. Plus being so good for you!

>107 ronincats: Interesting article on introversion, Roni. Did you take the quiz?

Interesting article and love the quiz. I am a sucker for any online quiz. ;-) My introversion traits results have me leaning towards thinking introversion (just over 40%) followed closely by social introversion (at 40%) with anxious and restrained introversion having lower percentage scores.

Happy Sunday Roni!

>107 ronincats: I took that test, and apparently I am all of them, pretty much equally.

I try to catch up, as it looks my reading ability is already in progress (at 40% less Paxil).

Oh rearranging... not here, all of us dislike changes in the house ;-)
Sometime you have to rearrange because something has worn out too much... in such a case we try a few things until we find the best way to arrange everything and keep it that way until we HAVE TO do it again ;-)

I would go mad with a FitBit, so I leave it to all of you who like it and follow your steps in awe!

Migraine today, so will post tomorrow to everyone.

Sorry to hear about the migraine, Roni. Hope you feel better soon.

Feel better Ro

Still migraine-y. The low pressure system pulling warm muggy air over us continues. Not much energy, not getting much done, even reading is a chore although I have finished a couple of books. I read a bit, play solitaire a bit, play Every Word a bit, drink ice tea a bit, and then start over. I know I do need to set up the Liaden thread tomorrow, so am hoping for more energy then.

**** to all my visitors.

Sorry to read you have been having a migrainy couple of days, Roni. My other half used to suffer through some rather bad migraines until our doctor suggest Pataday eye drops. I never thought of a migraine cure in eye drop form, but it really has made a difference.

I scored mostly thinking, then social, then the other two to some degree.

Sorry about the migraine and hope you feel better now.

Is the Liaden thread up and running yet? I get home tomorrow and can't wait! I have three new ones to read!

Good morning! Fortunately the migraine appears to have finally gone its merry way. This was my Type 2 migraine, not the thunder banger, but a malaise with slight nausea and elimination issues that used to land me in the emergency room for uncontrolled vomiting prior to proper diagnosis--thank goodness those days are over. So I could read but, as noted above, had to cycle between light reading, computer games, and other mindless activities as I couldn't focus on any one thing too long. Judy, Ro, Lori and Lucy, thank you for the good vibrations.

So, as a result, I have had 2 very low step days after several good days. Sunday was only 593 steps. Saturday was low on my Fitbit because I forgot to put it back on after bathing, so that was artificial. Meg, Marie, Reba and Lucy, thanks for the support.

Mary, you have led a deprived life! Especially food wise! And Jenn, I'm sure your fair is very similar to ours, except inland and hotter.

Introversion--I did take the quiz, Meg. I came out pretty even, with social the strongest right above 40%, thinking and restrained at 40%, and anxious at 30%. Lori and Foggi, we are all pretty much the same, right?

Anita, so good to see you here. Glad your reading is picking up. The secret to living with a Fitbit is to use it as a tool, not let it rule you.

Books read:



Book #62 Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (482 pp.)

Probably my favorite Heyer! A reread, obviously.



Book #63 Jinx's Magic by Sage Blackwood (389 pp.)

Book 2 of a children's series. Interesting and original, but probably not for any of you who don't love children's fantasy.

So, I think I'm caught up, except that I need to set up the Liaden thread today. Oh what fun!

Sorry to hear you have been struggling with migraines and not sleeping well Roni. Glad to hear the migraine is gone now. Looking forward to the Liaden read!

Liaden thread is up!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/192715

Come join us, read one little book (Agent of Change) available free as an ebook, just to get a taste of the universe and to be sociable!

It is amazing. A thunderstorm is passing over San Diego. Aaah, the sound of rumbling thunder, a sound rarely heard here. Really, maybe once every few years, and something I miss about the Midwest. The temperature dropped 10 degrees. We won't get much rain out of it, unfortunately.

Roni, it sounds like you are having weather similar to what we are having up here. We are going through a stretch of very hot weather and, unusual for here, quite muggy as well. Sunday we had clouds and were hoping for some rain but it passed over us. Today it's not too bad but tomorrow is supposed to be another scorcher.

>122 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I think you've been a little hotter overall than us, but we've certainly had the muggy weather this week.

What with a busy Saurday and migraine the last two days, I never reported on Friday's market. I only made $5 over booth fee, but most of what I made was due to a new product I started that morning. These are ear climbers.

June Summary

Books read: 11
Pages read: 3865 Longest book: 482 Shortest book: 240 Mean pages/book: 351
Average pages read per day: 129
First reads: 10
Rereads: 1
Format: 7 hardbacks, 1 trade paperback, 2 Kindle, 1 mass market paperback

Source: Library- 6, pbs- 1, Kindle-2, Amazon hb-1

Genre:
Science Fiction: 2
Fantasy: 0
Nonfiction: 2
Children's: 5 (4 of which were fantasy series)
Romance: 2

Author gender: 6 female, 6 male (one book was written by a pair, one each)

Books acquired: 4
Source: PBS-1, ER-1, Amazon-1 hb & 1 Kindle
Books out the Door: 4 donated to library

>123 ronincats: Oh how neat are those? I love the green one on the far left and the two blues in the middle.

Oh! Makes me wish I had pierced ears so I could wear those ear climbers!

Ooh, I love those climbers, although I suspect the feel of them on my ear would drive me bananas.
I'm sorry about the migraine, but happy to hear that it's gone!

I think I've missed the boat a little on this one, so I'm sorry if I'm asking you to repeat yourself, but Tomm and I are thinking of getting fitbits - what grade do you have? Which do you recommend?

I agree! The ear climbers are very cool!

I'm also interested in your answer to the fitbit question since I've decided I need one for my birthday. :-) For work, I'm thinking that a clip on would be more discreet with short sleeves.

Glad for the enthusiasm for the ear climbers! The wire in back is just as long as the front part of it, and provides the leverage for it to stay in place. They are very light-weight and I did not notice them at all while wearing them. Thanks, Mary, Mary, Amber and Janet.

Fitbit! I have the Charge HR, which is a wristband, and it has a heart rate monitor (how it is different from the Charge). It's in purple, a favorite color that usually goes with what I am wearing. It can be a pain to wear on your wrist all the time (for example, it will monitor your sleep--but only if you are wearing it). However, it has more functions than the Flex and the clip ones. Also, I think I'd probably be even worse about remembering to put it on if I had the clip one. The Flex is the cheapest wristband, but you can't get any data or the time directly from it--you have to use your phone and computer. The Charge can give you time, # of steps, distance, calories burned, heart rate and stairs directly and immediately, as well as on the apps. I would say the HR part is probably unnecessary unless you do serious workouts and want to be sure you are in the optimal range.

Final book for June was:



Book #64 The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (428 pp.)

Beth was warbling about this series on her thread and my library has them, so...

These are a much lighter take-off on The Scarlet Pimpernel dealing with romantic spies and the Regency misses who love them and seek to emulate them--definitely a romance. Light and humorous, although the episode in the boat was really uncalled for, and just the thing for a migraine-y day.

Okay, trying to come up with a better way to display the ear climbers in >123 ronincats:

Is that for your Etsy shop?

No, for my local market booth. Haven't set up anything online yet.

Pretty ear climbers! Very trendy! Would they get tangled in longer hair? I sometimes have problems with my dangling earrings and my hair.

I do like the ear climbers and they seem very original.

>127 scaifea:, >128 streamsong: - I have the One, which is a pod about the size of my little finger (I have the purply one, there's also a black). It fits into a rubbery clip, which is how I usually wear it, but can also slip into a pocket or whatever (but I think it would be more likely to be forgotten, that way). I just got a smartwatch, which has confirmed me in my disinterest in a wristband Fitbit - wearing a watch all the time is a PAIN when you're not used to it. That said, my father (who has always worn watches) got a Charge HR (same as Roni's), wears it on his other wrist (from his watch) and is perfectly happy with it. I do forget my One every once in a while, but rarely - once or twice a year, about. It's a matter of establishing habits. Oh, and the One needs charging for about 2 hours every 2 weeks - not sure about the HR.

Like Roni, I don't recommend the Flex or the Zip - they're cheaper, but they don't have as many features - don't give as much data. The Charge HR is unique among Fitbits in giving heart rate; other than that, the One matches the data it gives. And both the HR and the One can be read either directly off the device or in an app or on the computer/web. And both will sync through a recent smartphone (with Bluetooth 4.0 (or LE - same thing, different term)), as long as the phone has a data connection to the internet (cellular or WiFi). Doesn't take much data, either. The HR costs more, but really, the biggest difference between the two is whether you want a wristband or a clip-on.

>127 scaifea: I also have the Fitbit One. I wear it clipped to my waistband. I like the instant read out and the fact that it syncs with my phone. The wristband ones wouldn't have worked for me. I never wear a watch because I am allergic to metal. The Fitbit is a great incentive for increasing your activity.

Roni, I am miles behind but will enjoy slowly catching up. Want to start on my stats again but notice you are a bit behind too on this. 64 so far is up to date?

Thanks for stopping by to my thread several times whilst I was away trying to catch up with life.

Roni - I can't remember if you've already read Uprooted. If you haven't you'll probably enjoy, it's pretty much unputdownable.

I love the ear climbers.

Thanks for the Fitbit information, Roni & Meg! I don't want a wristband and I can't really stand to have a watch on my wrist most of the time. I would, however, like one that tracks calories burned. I'll have to read up on the various choices, I suppose...

Hm. I have the cheapest clip-on model whatever it is, a couple of years old too..... anyway, I wouldn't be able to wear the wristband either because of harp playing (and I've gotten used to usually bare wrists) -- but I'm happy to hear the One has a waist clip model. I will admit that I do get annoyed sometimes getting the clip on, but it is very secure once it is on. Also I do sometimes forget to put it on but I am getting better about that . . .

>139 scaifea: The One does calories (I think the Zip does too, but it doesn't do stairs). I find all of the calorie counters to be relatively random. It's got a vague idea of what I'm doing, plus my weight/age/sex, and calculates from there, but it has no idea what I'm eating (unless I go to the effort to put it in), or what the weather is like, or lots of factors. Well, I suppose all of the things it tracks are approximate...

Actually, I have just put my wristband in my pocket when, for example, I am throwing clay on the wheel and can't wear anything below my elbows, and that works fine. Jenn, Lucy and Amber, the Fitbit is almost rivaling books for conversation lately, hasn't it?

I have made 4th of July ear climbers, wearing a pair to the market today. Thanks, Lori, Kerry and Heather, for the feedback.



Paul, I fear that 64 is indeed up to date for the half-year. I am well behind my usual mark, am I not, my friend. However, I have two quick rereads to add today!



Book #65 Agent of Change by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (247 pp.)
Book #66 Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (326 pp.)

Yes, the Liaden Universe series year-long group conversation started July 1, and I started with it. These are the two introductory books. Again, as stated above, if you enjoy adventuresome space opera with great characters, turtles, dragons, cats, and trees, this may be for you. A lot of new readers will have tried out the Vorkosigan books in 2014, and if you enjoyed them, you will also enjoy these.

Either of these two books can serve as a starting point. For the Vorkosigan readers, if you preferred The Warrior's Apprentice to Shards of Honor and Barrayar, start with Agent of Change. If vice versa, start with Conflict of Honors. These two then come together in Carpe Diem, the third book.

I could swear that I hadn't been away from your thread but 3 days, but I was more than 30 posts behind. So --- glad the migraine has gone!
Thanks for the introversion quiz. I scored at 40% or so all the way around, going a trifle over in "thinking."
And I'll be moseying on over to the Liaden thread. Yay!

Thanks for all of the fitbit information! Tomm ordered ours yesterday - I opted for the One. We purchased one of their scales, too, as ours is super old and unreliable at best.

Happy 4th, Roni! I'm probably going to start my re-read of Agent of Change this weekend.

Happy Independence Day, Roni! Love the red white and blue ear climbers!

>143 LizzieD: You are welcome, Peggy, and glad to see you on the Liaden thread!

>144 scaifea: Yay!

>145 jnwelch: Great holiday reading, in between Wimbledon and golf.

>146 Storeetllr: Same to you, Mary.

Unfortunately, no one bought anything but one bowl, marked $15 which my husband offered for $10, and she grabbed it. Rather disappointing. Hope our new market tomorrow is more profitable. I did go to the pottery studio today, 4th or no, and brought home 4 pieces, trimmed 3 pieces and threw a bowl and teapot components. Here's what I brought home.


After pottery, my husband picked me up with the barbecue he had bought and we went home and ate and sat out on the deck with wine. Now just finished watching the televised Big Bay fireworks and going back to the big CBS show with all the artists, and which will also end with fireworks. Happy 4th, everyone!

ETA my Fitbit needed charging shortly before leaving for the market yesterday, and I forgot to put it back on before we left, so that makes two days this week when I wasn't wearing it for a major and active part of the day. Plays havoc with the weekly stats!

>147 ronincats: Love the tan bowl - it looks like wood, almost, with the variations in the glaze. They're all gorgeous (as usual!).

Phooey on both not selling much and forgetting your Fitbit. That's always annoying.

No BBs here, but a Fitbit bullet... arrived yesterday afternoon, installed this morning, so I’ve been entertained today checking the number of steps for ordinary house and yard tasks.

You are getting so adept with color and glazes. I love all of these!

Hi Roni, you've been busy! I love the new style earrings and the most recent batch of pottery. I was glad to see that you enjoyed The Pink Carnation and your review has reminded me that I have neglected that series for quite some time, but the next one up for me is The Mischief of the Mistletoe so it might just have to wait until closer to Christmas.

>148 jjmcgaffey: Thanks, Jenn. I did it again yesterday--had it off for 24 hours from midday yesterday until just now.
>149 qebo: That's exactly what I did for the first week, Katherine. My normal is between 3000 and 4000 a day. I wish I'd had one when I was working--I'm sure I got the 10,000 steps in easily at my schools.
>150 sibylline: Thanks, Lucy.
>151 DeltaQueen50: Hope the air quality improves in your area, Judy. I've been through that, and it ain't pretty.

So, Sunday was a LONG day (8:30 to 5:30 all told) and I was beat up at the end. Sold 6 pairs of the earrings, one of my pottery casseroles, and a pair of the heart wire earrings, but won't be going back. The guy running the market wants me to sell ONLY pottery, and I can't make booth fee with just one type of product. So we made $60 profit, promptly used up with shrimp tacos from the Old Town Mexican Cafe and scented salts from the guy across us at the market.

Yesterday I watched Wimbledon tennis and just lounged about. Did a bit of reading too. Today was Wimbledon again (it's over by 11 am here) and now we'll make a run to Costco.



Book #67 Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (330 pp.)
Book #68 I Dare! by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller 467 pp.)

So, a funny thing happened after Lee and Miller wrote their first two books. Their publisher told them the books didn't sell well enough and canned them. And there things rested for 9 years. But in the meantime, the internet grew and became a public venue and there were these people called fans who kept begging for more, because, see, THEY were reading the books. And so Lee & Miller were at long last picked up by a publisher named Meisha Merlin who were known for picking up quality fantasy series that no one else would continue. And so these two books were published in trade paperback, that being the default size for MM, rather than the mmpb editions of the first three books.

And there is practically nothing I can tell you about these two that wouldn't be spoilers for the earlier ones, except that it is very exciting, more great characters, and very satisfying.

Now, for the first time, I will go directly to the next in the straight storyline, skipping the 8 books written in between the two for the time being, and read Necessity's Child.

Book #69 Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (328 pp.)

After Meisha Merlin closed down, Lee and Miller wrote the next two books, Theo's story, by subscription. I well know this as I was one of the subscribers to Saltation and received a copy of the book when it was published. As a result of the subscription support, Baen Publishing took them up and has published them ever since, to the satisfaction of all their fans.

The only problem I had with Necessity's Child was the introduction of a completely new variable on Surebleak. I was not at all sure that was necessary, but am more reconciled to it upon a second reading. Again, more would be spoilers for earlier books. Now, a reread of Dragon in Exile next, to complete the current state of the main storyline.

Hi Roni,

Oh, your artwork is just as lovely as ever. I admire your talent.

My daughter Marina really enjoys the Lockwood & Co books also. I need to read them, too. You got me with Hold Fast. Hope you're having a great day.

Hi Roni; quick *wave*.

I saw, as I was surfing the internet the other day, a Tree of Life pendant in 4 seasons (i.e. in 4 sections, each with different coloured 'leaves' representing the different seasons) and thought of you.

The ear-climbers look / sound like cute caterpillars. How does one wear them without piercing an extra hole?

And, of course, I love your pottery. The colours this time are very vivid. (Though I can hear crashing noises in my mind when I read 'throwing pots'.)

<154 Anne, your girls would love Hold Fast as well, I predict.
>155 humouress: HI, Nina! The wires are u-shaped. You put the wire through your one hole, settle the front wire in your ear crease, and push the back wire up against the back of your ear to hold all in place!



Book #70 Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (404 pp.)

So I read it a month ago when it first came out. This time I read it in proper sequence, each and every word, and appreciated it even more! A great continuation of the series, not a place to start.



Book #71 A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (419 pp.)

Recommended, I think by foggidawn. I left it on the shelf after bringing it home from the library, reading two other library books and my Liaden books before it as the description left me ambivalent. But this book drew me in immediately! It's quite well written, imho, and not only draws on the immediately obvious Beauty and the Beast lore, but draws in another layer of an even older legend by the end. Strongly recommended for fantasy and fairy tale lovers, this has depth and grit and heart.

I've been spending more time than usual with the television this week, watching Wimbledon in the mornings and tapes of the USA basketball team in the World University Games in Korea--not coincidentally that team is my beloved KU Jayhawks! We're playing for the gold medal tomorrow, at 8 am eastern. I'm taping since that's 5 am out here.

Hi Roni! I love the new earrings - very cool, and a new style on me. I have some bead wire around here somewhere so I might give it a try myself. Can you post a picture of one that shows the back bit too?

You are also really tempting me with all the Fitbit talk. I didn't realise that it was the current craze sweeping LT till I came here! I had looked at them in a shop but thought them a little pricey - but I just checked them again over on Amazon and you can make big savings buying one online. I've put one on my wishlist for now but think I might succumb before too long - I'm justifying it as a great tool to help me shift all the post-pregnancy pounds!

Also being inspired by all the Liaden universe action. I have just ordered Partners in Necessity which is the first three books in the series in an omnibus. I think I might re-readAgent of Change before moving onto the other two - although I only read it last year, and really enjoyed it, I feel like the details didn't really stay fixed in my head, I don't know why. Still, I look forward to immersing myself in this new series pretty soon!

>157 HanGerg: It's a pretty complex universe, and Agent gives you pointers in a lot of directions. I read and reread that probably a dozen times before the fourth book came out (over the early years, and the hiatus), so I've got the story firmly embedded in my brain - but the later ones, Theo's story and the prequels and so on, yeah the details keep escaping. So I'm forced - forced, I tell you - to read them again... ;D

Hi Roni. Have you seen Lois McMaster Bujold has written a new novella set in the world of Five Gods/Chalion? It's called Penric's Demon and possibly only available as an ebook - I haven't got a copy yet but will probably download and read it this month. Very excited!

Hi Roni, I've taken note of A Court of Thorns and Roses for future reading.

I looked into FitBits, too, as a present for Fathers' day; but apparently my husband already has one. The kids' ones look interesting, too. Hmm ....

>159 souloftherose: *swoons with excitment*

Hey Roni. Just swinging through to see what you're up to. Reading, it seems. (heh)

>147 ronincats: beautiful bowls!

The ear-climbers are kinda cool.

The Bujold news is exciting. But only as an E-book? I wonder for how long . . . .

Elizabeth Moon did a short story compilation primarily as an ebook, then made a (very nice) POD version. Bujold may follow the same path...though a novella is a _very_ skinny book. Maybe she'll insert it into a collection, sometime.

So, I've been gone for a week, and now I'm back. We made a short trip back to the midwest, spent two nights and the intervening day with my mother (and my nephew's family in the evening, as it was my youngest great niece's birthday), and then back to Kansas City for two days of family reunion activities with my husband's cousins before flying back yesterday. Very hectic and fast moving--got NO reading done except that done on the plane. That, however, WAS time enough to start and finish my 73rd book.



Book #73 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (333 pp.)

I bought this book early in January (it just misses being a book off my shelf) and it has been sitting there ever since. I took it with me for my airplane book and it served the purpose marvelously! I thought it was beautifully written and very much enjoyed the way the different elements wound around each other. I would not call it dystopian, but very much a quintessential apocalyptic book in the tradition of The Postman and Emergence, classics in the field. Definitely recommended!

>157 HanGerg:, >158 jjmcgaffey: Glad to know you'll be joining us, Hannah. I PMed you the details on the earrings. Jenn, I'm like you--the early books are pretty firmly embedded, while the latter are much more nebulous. This is why I will undoubtedly do a rerun on both the prequels and the Theo books later in the year.

>159 souloftherose: Indeed, Heather, when you posted here, I had already bought Penric's Demon for my Kindle and was halfway through it, finishing it the next day. Which makes me realize that I forgot to record it and THAT was actually my 73rd book, but I'll record it as #74.



Book #74 Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (109 pp.)

This is a novella-length ebook set in the same general locale as The Hallowed Hunt in the World of Five Gods setting, but at a different time (150 years later) and with no other connection. Readers will benefit from reading the other three books in this setting in order to have the correct understanding of the theology, "saints" and the nature of demons. This of course does not have the complexity and depth of Bujold's full length novels but it is an entertaining tale of a young man's sudden change of circumstances and the consequences. And reading Bujold is always a pleasure!

162 Thank you, Ellen. And see, I loved Station Eleven too!

>163 sibylline:, >164 jjmcgaffey: I agree with Jenn in that I imagine eventually it will end up in a collection.

So, we got in midday yesterday, and it started raining heavily again after we got home from the airport, after breaking all records for July rain on Saturday. I still haven't seen the storm totals yet, but as yesterday was the third day of rain in July, when we usually get NO measurable rainfall, we definitely are having a record-breaking month. I think we have had over an inch here at the house and all the soil is nicely soaked and my tomatoes are happy (with lots of ripe ones waiting for us). I started a library book last night, but only got 25 pages into it before turning off the light and going to sleep at 9 last night (although we got up at 6 there, it was 4 in the morning PST and we were feeling it last night). I finished it today though, which is a thoroughly lazy day after all our running around.



Book #75 A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine (328 pp.)

Levine and Shannon Hale are probably my two favorite fairy-tale writers due to the sheer volume of work they have produced in this area. Although their targets are the intermediate grades, their work is certainly entertaining for adults as well. I enjoy Levine a lot but oft times her books are missing from bookstore shelves and I forget to look for them at the library, so I want to thank foggidawn for mentioning this when she just recently read the sequel (still on order with the library). In this tale, Elodie sets out from home to the city of Two Castles to seek an apprenticeship, not with a weaver as her parents desire, but with actors. But alas, the free ten-year apprentice system has been abolished recently and she doesn't have the silver coin need to pay. And then a cat steals the little coin she does have. What to do now? And when a greedy king, an ogre, and a dragon get involved, things get a little complex. This was lots of fun.

Congrats on 75 books! Sounds like the trip was a bit whirlwind but always wonderful to connect and spend time with family in person.

Oh good, I'm glad you liked Station Eleven!

Congrats on 75!!

Congrats on reaching 75, Roni! I've liked the books of Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale, too, but I suspect I've not read nearly as many as you. I got a kick out of Shannon Hale's Austenland books for adults, too, although my daughter teased me about reading "chick lit". Harumph, I say.

Thank you, Lori, Ellen and Joe! Hit it a bit later than usual, but it's always good to reach that milestone.

>167 lkernagh: Definitely whirlwind, but there's something to be said for leaving them wanting more. ;-)

>168 EBT1002: I did, a lot, Ellen, and I remembered how much you liked it as well.

>169 jnwelch: I am no more a chicklit reader than you, Joe, and I remember how we both really enjoyed the Austenland books.

Another fairly quiet day. It's overcast this morning but if it clears, we will take Molly for a walk and I will go by the library to pick up some books. I started some Liaden short stories last night.

Glad you're safely back. I have Station Eleven but for some reason it's not calling to me right now. Also enjoyed Penric's Demon although I wanted it to be much longer :-)

Congratulations on reaching 75!

Roni, congratulations on hitting 75!

Hi Roni, I have both Station Eleven and Penric's Demon waiting for me to be in the right mood for them, so I was very happy to see you enjoyed both.

>147 ronincats: As always, I marvel at your talent!

So, today I read my two collections, originally labeled Liaden Unibus I and Liaden Unibus II, and the bad news is that they don't correspond exactly to the Constellation collections. Liaden Unibus I includes the first 13 stories in A Liaden Universe Constellation I, but the latter also contains 5 more stories. Four of those are the first four stories in Unibus II, with the last story, "Sweet Waters", not being in my collections. The rest of Unibus II is the same as the first 8 stories in Constellation II. BUT there are 8 more stories in Constellation II that I don't have, so I will have to buy that one as I only have the first half of it, in addition to Constellation III, which just came out. Ah well, more reading!

>171 souloftherose: Heather, I waited 6 months after acquiring the book to read Station Eleven myself for the same reason, but once I started, the story pulled me in immediately.

>172 rosylibrarian: Thank you, Marie.

>173 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I think you will like both!

>174 Whisper1: Ah, dear Linda, as always I marvel at your endurance and your loving kindness!

Hi Roni! Love your comments on Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale. I have Ever After High: Storybook of Legends waiting for me at some point this summer.

Congrats on your 75. I've made note of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I'd already taken note of her Throne of Glass series thanks to @benitastrnad's comments on Mark's thread.

More 75 congratulations!!! GOOD for you!!!
So have you read Sherwood Smith? I am becoming a fan with Inda.

Roni, congratulations on reaching 75 :-)

Woo-hoo! 75! Now, with half the year to go, you'll likely end up with at least 150! Congrats!

>174 Whisper1:...Ah, geez, thanks!

Congrats!

>176 AMQS: I imagine you have some students who love both those authors, Anne.
>177 avatiakh: Thanks, Kerry. I'll have to look up that other series.
>178 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy. I've enjoyed many of Sherwood Smith's books, but bounced off of Inda--too dense for me at the time I started it, and tales about treachery are always difficult for me.
>179 susanj67:, >180 Storeetllr: Thank you, Susan and Mary.
>181 Whisper1: Well-deserved!
>182 drneutron: Thanks, Jim.

Well, I did go ahead and order Constellations 2 & 3 on my Kindle and read the rest of the stories.



Book #76 A Liaden Universe Constellation I by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (464 pp.)
Book #77 A Liaden Universe Constellation II by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (480 pp.)
Book #78 A Liaden Universe Constellation III by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (311 pp.)

A mix of stories, some more interesting than others, with a lot of in-between action that didn't fit into a novel. Enjoyable but only for the fans who've already read at least the first five novels (publication order).



Book #79 Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace (268 pp.)

An unusual and original post-apocalyptic tale of a young woman in a brutal setting, a village culture built around a fear of and observation of ghosts, and what choices she makes when there are none. Bluesalamander recommended this, and I do as well for those with a taste for this genre.

Book #80 The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee (335 pp.)

This is a YA Victorian mystery novel. I don't know if it's the book or just me because I feel all the YA elements--the spunky girl making unwise decisions but no deal breakers, the attractive male to compete with and antagonize, an agency to train women as spies--have just been done to death. I don't feel the mystery was that cleverly developed. There is one speck of originality in Mary's background. Maybe I'm wrong and this book (published in 2009) was the original of this type of story, but someone tell me if these get better or not as the series goes on. Please?

Oooo. Go back sometime and try Inda, Roni. I love the characters.
Meanwhile, never fear; I will finish Plan B before the month is out unless something really dire happens. I'm counting on no direness at all!
And boo. Somehow I missed the Civil War women spy Kindle Daily Deal, and it's back to $10.99 today. Boo again. Likewise, Hiss!

>183 ronincats: I'm picking up the Liaden short stories one by one on my Kindle, Roni. So far the highlights have been learning how Val Con met Edger and became his brother, and the "Moonhawk" background for Priscilla.

>184 ronincats: I felt pretty much the same about that one, and I think I read it back when it came out.

>185 LizzieD: Peggy, I will someday. I have to be in a special mood to tackle one like that.
>186 jnwelch: I think it might be cheaper to buy the collections for your Kindle, Joe.
>187 foggidawn: Good to know, Foggi. Unless someone speaks up for the series, I think this one will not be continued.

Speaking of series, moving on in the Liaden Universe...



Book #80 Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (375 pp.)
Book #81 Saltation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (325 pp.)
Book #82 Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (328 pp.)
Book #83 Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (373 pp.)

Fledgling and Saltation are the backstory of Theo Waitley, who shows up on Liad in the final pages of I Dare!--her raising on the Safe Planet of Delgado and her pilot training at Abingdon Academy as the result of a trip off planet with her mother. I had forgotten how much of Ghost Ship had to do with the mainline plot of Korval moving from Liad to Surebleak and will have to correct that on the Liaden Universe thread. One should not move from I Dare! to Necessity's Child without reading Ghost Ship in between. It's one of the newer books--this was maybe my second reading but probably my third, and while yes, it advances Theo's career, it also merges the two story lines. Dragon Ship is more concentrated on Theo but also follows the main clan and, especially, Theo's mother, putting them in place for the last two books (to date) in the series, Necessity's Child and Dragon in Exile. It would also help if one had read Pilot's Choice and Mouse and Dragon before these four books, but it isn't essential. As always, Miller and Lee take us on a rollicking good adventure!

>188 ronincats: I'll check out the collections' table of contents, thanks, Roni.

Book #84 The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas (421 pp.)

Nina (humouress) mentioned this in June and PBS had it, so I ordered it. This is a fun book for the intermediate grades, with a great format, so don't get the Kindle version. It's the first of a fantasy series, and my library has them all so I will get the rest that way (esp. since PBS doesn't have any of them). Cute, original, fun, recommended!

A little late to congratulate you on 75 but nonetheless! Congrats!

I get to start a Liaden book now, having finished Doc.

Thanks, Lucy. Which one are you on?

I went to the pottery studio this morning, since I have to go to a memorial service on Saturday, and trimmed a few pieces. Also picked up these ones I glazed last Saturday. I did not intend for the glazes to be as dark as they turned out.

I like the dark with the blue - it looks like stars or northern lights (the latter especially for the teapot). I do like the _shapes_ you choose to make - they're always so elegant.

>192 ronincats: well I for one think they are gorgeous ..... even if it was unintended

Scrolling back through your books... I’m thinking Station Eleven worth a try. You know I’m going to skip the space opera.

Belated congrats on 75!

>184 ronincats: I enjoyed A Spy in the House when I read it, but I agree -- something is missing that keeps this book from being a runaway winner. Marina read the next two and enjoyed them, but I think she liked the first one best. She seemed to think the series ended, but there is a fourth book. Hard to find -- even on Amazon, which may indicate something about how good it is...?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Last book for July, along with a belated July summary!



Book #85 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (219 pp.)

Amber (scaifea) was reading this for the first time, with some antipathy at the beginning, and it had been several years since the first time I read this series and I felt it was time to read it again. I did not remember the details in this first book where misdirection plays such a large part, but just enough to actually pick up on most of the clues scattered throughout the story pointing to the denouement, so I felt pretty proud of myself. Gen IS such an unlikeable character in the first part of the book that it's hard to identify with him--just shows what a clever book it is. I of course immediately went on with the second book in the series.

July Summary

Fueled by my Liaden Universe rereads, I powered through 23 books and 6720 pages in July, averaging 217 pages a day and 320 pages per book. 14 of those were Miller and Lee's Liaden books, science fiction space opera, and a lot of fun they were, all 12 of the rereads and the two new books of short stories. Besides these, I read 6 more new books and the reread just above, 6 fantasy and one science fiction. Three of those were library books, none were books off my shelves. I acquired no new books this month nor did I dispose of any.

Book # 86 The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (362 pp.)

This continues the story started in The Thief and does it very ably. More would be spoilers.

>190 ronincats: Another for the ever-growing WL!

>192 ronincats: Beautiful!

>197 ronincats: You don't like Gen at first? Huh. I loved him from the start, but couldn't really get into the story itself until 3/4 through. I've been told that I simply *must* go on with the series, and I suppose I will, eventually...

You READ, woman!!!
I do like the dark glazes. It's pretty much a case of, "Did Roni do it? I like it."

>199 Storeetllr: Hi, Mary! Yay, and thank you.
>200 scaifea: Oh, I liked Gen--but you have to admit, he was an absolute prick for the first half of the book. Yes, you MUST go on, disregard the spoiler Katie gave you that doesn't really go into play until the third book. So many twists and turns...it's awesome.
>201 LizzieD: Had to catch up, Peggy--I was behind at the half-year! But it's so easy to power through favorite rereads... and thank you.



Book #87 The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (488 pp.)

I felt like this book didn't know what it wanted to be. At first charming and stereotypical, then confusing, then violent and ugly, then confusing, and above all LONG, I felt it never developed its own cohesive voice with solid characters. Some of the world-building was interesting, but it just didn't do it for me.

>202 ronincats: Question about The School for Good and Evil - how kid appropriate is it? My daughter has read two books in this series. I am not about to start censoring her books but I wasn't sure what to make of this series when she started reading them and I couldn't bring myself to read the books.

>Eric, it's okay in that respect. There's no sex in the first book, at least, and the violence is not at the level of Hunger Games by any means. It's just confused and impersonal, and sometimes that is almost worse to me personally. I forget how old your daughter is--I'd put it at 12 or up for reading, myself. I just think there are a lot of books more worth reading.

Hi There Roni. You have read so many wonderful books this year. As always, I very much enjoy the images you post of your pottery. How I wish I was that talented.

I need to go over and report on the Liaden thread, but first, I love the blue and brown glazes. Very pretty.

>202 ronincats: Really? I didn't think that at all about Gen...interesting...

>192 ronincats: Oooh, a teapot! Or a coffee pot?

>193 jjmcgaffey: Agreed, I quite like the dark glazes.

>197 ronincats: & >198 ronincats: I need to read the Megan Whalen Turner books.

>204 ronincats: She is 10 going on 17. Sounds like I need to put a few more worthy books in her path. She has had very good teachers the last couple of years who have worked hard to keep up with her reading rate while keeping the content level high.

Roni, I am intrigued by the Liaden Universe group read. Of course, at the rate I am reading the Vorkosigan Saga books, it may be years before I can try a new series of space opera books. My friends look at me aghast when I mention 'space opera'! I have read 7 of them now and am definitely hooked. How do the two series compare?

I'm glad you had a quick trip to the midwest but sorry we couldn't get together. I was probably driving toward KC as you were flying away. And, as always, I think of you as I drive through those lovely Flint Hills near Abilene, KS.

>210 Donna828: Poking my nose in...They're both great, but very different flavors. Vorkosigan is military and manners, Liad is manners and...intrigue? There are shootouts, but not many, and I think the biggest "battle" I've seen (space battle) was 4 ships against 6 (and now I'm thinking about the siege - but that wasn't open battle, very little direct fighting/shooting involved). In the Liaden universe, direct action is occasionally necessary but winning by out-thinking or otherwise manipulating one's opponents is both more effective and more admired. No big space battles, and very few land battles - fights, yes (oh yeah, lots!) but not battles.

Both have fantastic, well-written characters (in every sense of the word). Vorkosigan is pretty firmly focused on Miles - with occasional excursions to Mark and Ivan, but even in those books Miles is a strong presence. The Liaden universe is less single-focus - there are four books with Val Con and Miri, one with Shan and Priscilla, one with Er Thom and Ann, two with Daav and Aelliana, etc - and in each case, it's a book with two main characters, not the hero and his girlfriend (or her boyfriend). And a lot of overlap, as characters from one book become important secondary characters in another book or two (or three, or four)... Huh, just occurred to me - there are some books that have a single main character - the Theo books (Fledgling, Saltation, Ghost Ship, Dragon Ship). But most of them are paired characters, and there's a flavor of romance to all of them - stronger than in any Vorkosigan book up to Komarr, I think.

Liad is more-or-less a family saga - Val Con and Shan are foster brothers, for instance (and blood cousins), Daav is Val Con's father, Er Thom is Shan's. Multiple generations, and the families are just as bound by duty as the Vor - but it's more the duty to behave well, marry well, support the family than to fight well and gain glory.

Actually (for what little we know of them) the Yxstrang might have a more Voran view of duty...(one of the races that make up the Liaden universe. The bad guys, more or less). And Liad is rather like Cetaganda - not _really_ similar, but like. Very focused on breeding and behavior.

You might try some of the short stories, or pick up Agent of Change for free from the Baen Free Library (do you read ebooks?) and see if you like the flavor. I love them both.

Hi Roni it's been a while since I visited your thread or I would have congratulated you on reaching 75. Belated congratulations. >184 ronincats: I started with the second book in the series and liked it better than the first. But then I like historic books set in London.

>205 Whisper1: Linda, my dear, you have the interpersonal gifts that come awkwardly to me!
>206 sibylline: Hi, Lucy, and thank you.
>207 scaifea: I think the obnoxious facade is more evident upon rereading, Amber.
>208 souloftherose: Teapot. And yes, you do need to read them!
>209 Oberon: The book won't hurt her. Looking at the comments of others, Eric, foggidawn (children's librarian) said this book would have worked great at being manga, and your daughter probably likes all the action and the two girls as main protagonists. Nonetheless, there are other and better books.
>210 Donna828: Glad you appreciated my lovely Flint Hills, Donna, and my sympathies on the loss of your tree. And Jenn, in >211 jjmcgaffey: has answered all your questions very ably and saved me the trouble of doing so!



Book #88 The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (410 pp.)

This is one series in which the books just keep getting better! Very much enjoyed this reread.

>212 Familyhistorian: Meg, I generally do as well. I'll wait and see what you think of the book when you are done.

>214 ronincats: I read the second book back in June, Roni. This is what I wrote about it:

"The Body at the Tower was the first book that I read in the Mary Quinn series. It is supposedly a young adult novel – from which I surmise that the characters don’t leap into bed with each other at the drop of a hat – or when anything else is dropped. That’s just fine with me because then the writer has to concentrate on other things, like action and the mystery the protagonist is trying to unravel.

The mystery and the scenes of Victorian London were well done. Mary’s story and her complicated background had me turning the pages to find out what happens to her. Now I need to track down the first book to see how it all began."

>213 ronincats: Oh, it was evident - I think I just like that kind of character. Ha!

Just passing by -

>211 jjmcgaffey: very nice sketches of the flavours of the two series!

>210 Donna828: I liked Jennifer's explanation of the Liaden books, too, Donna. Agent of Change is not long, and I think you'd know right away whether the series is for you. I'd bet the answer is yes, as it brings many of the pleasures of the Vorkosigan books, and more than a few of its own.

Book #89 A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (352 pp.)

This fourth book in the series is the first not tightly focused on Gen, but it stands up in its own right to bring to a conclusion the status of the three countries and their royalty on the peninsula very similar in geography to Greece although very individual in their own right. A very satisfying series for a reread, such clever books and great characters!

Amber, Amazon tells me that people buying this series also bought Tartuffe--?!?!

Hello to my visitors. Thanks, Meg, for the additional detail. Lucy and Joe aren't really talking to me (;-P) but hi to you too!

Hi, Roni! I figured you were our Liaden guide, so you'd appreciate our pitching in. :-)

Of COURSE I do! I was teasing (see the emoticon) because I love any contributions here.

So, today I need to clean up the kitchen (AGAIN!) and then hope to actually do some wirework this morning, now that I've completed my obsessive reread of the Queen's Thief series (which means rather than pick up a book--I've now read 5 in August so far) before we head down to Little Italy this afternoon where they are having an oyster shucking contest with oysters at $1 each in a charity fund raiser. Then I need to decide whether to go back to the Liaden books or try something new, such as City of Stairs, or turn to my huge Books off the Shelves backlog, of which I have only managed to read 5 this year.

>219 ronincats: I really enjoyed the Queen's Thief series. I plowed right through the series (unusual for me) at the start of 2013.

Hi Roni, I have once again fallen behind here as I have been less active on LT and more active with babysitting my grandkids for the last week or so. I have, however, been reading and I am now about 5 chapters into Agent of Change and I am in love with this book. Val Con and Miri are great characters and I am enjoying their story. I think it's safe to say that I am firmly hooked on the Liaden Universe.

>219 ronincats: I continue to hope that she will write more of that series.

>222 RBeffa: It is good story telling for sure, Ron!

>223 DeltaQueen50: Judy! I've missed you. I'm delighted to hear you are a fan of Miri and Val Con (and Edger, of course!).

>224 foggidawn: I think she brought the story arc to a very good conclusion, Foggi, so much as I love this world and characters, I'm not sure I might not be disappointed by further books. I WOULD, however, really like her to be writing something new because her plotting and writing are so good!

Oh! I liked City of Stairs a lot!

I've got three of the Liaden books on hold at the library, just waiting for them to come in. Can't wait.

Well, I got side-lined, Mary, and started the library book The Just City instead. I hope the Liaden books come in soon--surprised if there is a great demand for them in the system, as old as the early ones are.

Here's the Shuckathon in progress in Little Italy.


and then after we each had a beer and a dozen oysters, we decided to stay in the area for dinner.

yumm looking. I like the deep sea diver's helmet.

>227 ronincats: The Just City
I have this one! Downloaded to the Nook awhile ago on the basis of it being by Jo Walton. Will be interested to know what you think.

Too bad I wasn't there for the shucking. At one time I was quite good at it because of living in Wellfleet. Home of, truly delicious oysters. They used to be sent to Russia to the Tsar and other royals!

I just picked up the sequel to The Just City at the library -- I plan to devote a good chunk of my Saturday to it (if I can wait that long).

>228 RBeffa:, >230 sibylline: It was a charity event, with 6 different chefs each doing an hour to see how many they could shuck, and they were $1 each. Pretty neat. Even neater, that's their happy hour price as well, 3 to 6 M-F, so I'm sure we'll be back.

>229 qebo:, >231 foggidawn: Still working on The Just City. Today was farmers market day so not much reading done. However, I did try out a new design while there. What do you think of my cat earrings and pendant set?

So, not a postivie reaction at all then. Yesterday was pottery--threw a bunch of little bowls for my friend's shaving soap packages, glazed two pieces. Today have been sweeping through the house and picking up. Yesterday read this.



Book #91 The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas (391 pp.)

This is the second in this children's fantasy series that I started last month. Still entertaining but only for those who enjoy children's fantasy.

I like your cats-in-profile better. If you hadn't said it was cats I'm not sure I would have seen it - maybe on the pendant, the ears show a little better at that size. Doesn't quite work for me, though I like the colors.

Thanks for the feedback, Jenn!

Book #92 The Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas (358 pp.)

Continuing the series, still lively and entertaining, a recommended children's fantasy series.

I am still working on The Just City, but I find that Walton's books are ones I don't gobble down, but rather ones I work through slowly and with reflection. This is no exception.

I haven't been keeping a separate garden thread. However, we've had a good tomato crop. Here's a picture of a nest built under a banana leaf by a pair of orioles. The babies moved out last week.

I haven't gotten a picture of the pair of anise swallowtails that have been flitting about the yard lately, but here is our resident black phoebe who patrols for insects in the garden. Of course, he had to turn his back when he realized I was taking his picture!


And finally, I haven't done any stringing for months, but since I finally sold a pair of my necklaces week before last, I need to up my inventory. Also, when I went to the San Diego Bead Show on the first, my favorite glass bead creator was closing out her stock since, due to a shoulder injury, she couldn't do glass work anymore. Both of these necklaces use her beads--I stocked up! These are all done except for the clasps.

>236 ronincats: I'm having the same experience with The Philosopher Kings -- it's good, but not the sort of book I can read in one big gulp. And I love that shade of blue in those necklaces.

>236 ronincats: banana leaf
Seems a vulnerable place for a nest.

It does seem a vulnerable place for a nest!

I had to look to see the cat form also - most easy to see in the middle one. Keep experimenting!

Hi Roni, I know you are an avid reader of series so I thought I would drop by and post a link to the September Series & Sequels thread for you or any of your visitors that are interested in coming over to the thread and letting everyone know what your series plans for September are.

Hope to see you there.

September Series & Sequels

Well, it's been a rather uneventful week at Casa San Diego. Fighting off a UTI left me without a lot of ambition in the middle of the week, so I reread the next two books.



Book #93 Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (321 pp.)
Book #94 Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (359 pp.)

These are the long-ago prequels featuring Cantra and Jela and how the Liadens ended up in our universe at all. Very interesting for the light they shed on history, but I feel the story telling is weaker.

And then I finished up an ER book on Kindle.



Book #95 Tower in the Crooked Wood by Paula Johanson (128 pp.)

The subtitle of this book is "A Novel", which it clearly isn't, and many of its faults can be attributed to its short length. The author cobbles together too many disparate elements without enough build-up to influence us to accept them at face value. Set on an island in the Northwest of North America with an appropriate aboriginal culture, the story centers upon a girl who stumbles into a village, tells a strange story of involuntary servitude by magic and states her certainty that the perpetrator of this crime is on this very island and she has come to find it. As she tells her story, we learn of the loss of her brother and of her sister's baby as a result. Jenna's tale of her journey here involves her also involuntary service to a ruler of a walled city, and her escape. This sets up the circumstance of the ruler's soldiers following after her to bring her back. The village people refuse to let them have Jenna by force. Here the story stagnates until Jenna once again is brought to the magician to labor on his tower.

The relationships do not have time to develop, there is a lot of down time that doesn't move the story along, and we never find out why it all happens. There are hints of a larger framework but it never appears. This might have made a good short story, well-pruned, but it's a bloated novella and a severely-truncated novel, despite a few good elements.

Felt better just in time to finish one more necklace before the farmers market.


Sat in 96 degree heat for 6 hours at the market, sold one pottery bowl. Only got to 95 at the house today--went to the pottery and brought home these two small items.


Seems like summertime traffic is down on the threads. My thanks to foggi, Katherine, Lucy, and Judy for visiting this week.

>237 foggidawn: I'm still plowing along in The Just City at a chapter or two a day, foggi. The thought that went into this thing just amazes me.

>238 qebo:, >239 sibylline: The nest is high, no ground animals can reach it, and it's a pretty big banana stalk--that's about 16 feet up in the air--so it has seemed to work for the orioles.

Rephotographed the cat set to see if the cats are clearer.


>240 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I'll be there!

I felt the same way about the Cantra and Jela books, Roni. Interesting to get the background, but the storytelling did seem weaker. In my re-reading, I jumped ahead to the Theo Waitley novels. It was great fun to revisit Fledgling and Saltation, and now I'm on Ghost Ship. Bechimo!

WOW..lovely, lovely images of your wonderful art work.

>242 jnwelch: Yep, I went there right after reading the core 5 last month. I'd forgotten how much of Ghost Ship was the move to Surebleak by the Liadens--I'd remembered it as being mostly Theo and Bechimo.

>243 Whisper1: Not to rival the lovely artwork you've been featuring on your thread, Linda. Some gorgeous illustrations there!

>244 ronincats: Ditto re the move to Surebleak, and remembering it as being mostly about Theo and Bechimo. It's not often a ship is also a great character.

Love, love love the blue pendant on the right in post 236!

Nice to see you Roni.

Wow Roni, you have managed to get a move on with your reading since I was last with you.
Thanks for helping to keep my humble little abode ticking along whilst I was brooding elsewhere. xx

Yep to all the art! I'm hard pressed to pick a favorite of the latest offerings - maybe the pink to rosy red necklace though. I hope all traces of the UTI are long gone and that your temperature has moderated. We're heating up here again - how I wish I thought that we could relax into the low 90s for the rest of the summer. Ain't happening.

Hi Roni! Just dropping in to say Hi. I love the cats, especially the way just one side of their bodies is decorated and the tail on the cat pendant. Too bad I'm a dog person. I'm sorry you're dealing with a UTI. And, I must say, I'm surprised to hear how high your temperatures are. I always think of San Diego as having relatively mild weather.

>245 jnwelch: Indeed, and now we are looking forward to Jeeves' influence on the Admiral as well!

>246 markon: Yes, Paul, with all my series rereads and children's fantasy, I've managed to put a big dent in my reading during the dog days of summer. It's a good life!

>248 LizzieD: Yes, Peggy, I am healthy again, and the temperature is down--which is good because the humidity is up! 74 degrees with 78% humidity at the moment. The hot days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) set numerous all-time records for highs on those dates in the inland valleys. August is when we get some of our monsoon heat, so it isn't totally atypical, just a little hotter than normal for that type of heat. Our records are in September and October when the Santa Anas push the desert air down to the coast--records in the 100s are not unusual then.

>249 phebj: {{{{Pat}}}} See above. Yes, our weather is relatively mild 98% of the time. Usually there is a week or so in August due to the monsoons, and then another week in the fall for the Santa Anas where it is uncomfortable.



Book # 96 The Magic Thief: Home by Sarah Prineas (397 pp.)

This is the fourth and concluding book of The Magic Thief series, and wraps up the story in very satisfying fashion. I recommend this series strongly for intermediate readers and for adults who are young at heart!

Hi Roni. Glad to hear you're feeling better and the weather is a little cooler. I'm enjoying being back in the Liaden universe again with Plan B.

That's a great place to be, Heather! And I'm going to be in my next thread--please join me there.