Ronincats reads and crafts into a new year of Reading: Thread 2

This is our dowager duchess Zoe, age 13, in one of her favorite napping spots on the back of the sofa under my tbr shelf. Such a character, and a very sweet one. The two boy cats (aged 7) love her and call her momma and Molly (the dog, aged 8) often sleeps by her in a chair or on the bed.

I’m Roni and this is my 9th year in the 75 Book Challenge Group. I live in San Diego with a husband, 3 cats and a small dog, a year-round garden, a substantial personal library and an old bungalow with lots of bookshelves. I’m retired and fill my time with throwing pottery, making wirework and beaded jewelry, and crochet-work. When I finish a project, I post a picture here.

My reading is heavily slanted toward science fiction and fantasy genre reading, but I try to work in at least a dozen nonfiction books a year, along with a few mysteries, romances and children’s books as well as books heavily recommended by other LTers. I’m also fond of rereading favorite books. I usually read around 150 books a year, as I’m a fast reader, and set my goals accordingly.
















Goals:

I will continue my default goals of 150 books and 50,000 pages read for the year. This is right at my comfort level and usual reading rate for the year.

I did well on my goal to acquire fewer books than last year. I will continue that goal as well.

Thanks to a last minute donation to the library, I met my goal to get rid of more books than I acquired. I will continue this goal also.

I failed miserably in reading books off my own shelves--only 11. I plan to set a goal of 40 unread books now on my own shelves for the coming year.

Fiction: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Nonfiction: The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley
The Mantle of the Prophet by Roy Mottahedeh

Children’s: Hold Fast by Blue Balliett

Children’s series: The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas
Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

Fantasy series: Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence
Kate Griffin’s Matthew Swift books

Best series continuations: A Red-rose Chain by Seanan McGuire (Toby Daye)
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (Lady Trent)
Winter by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles)

Best alt. history regencies masquerading as fantasy:
The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix

honorable mention: Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Bullet-catcher’s Daughter by Rod Duncan
Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

And here is the link to my final thread in the 2015 group: http://www.librarything.com/topic/208485

Books Read in 2016

1. A Winterfold Christmas by Harriet Evans (66 pp.)
2. The Last Chance Christmas Ball by Mary Jo Putney etal. (320 pp.)
3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (465 pp.)
4. The House of Twenty Thousand Books by Sasha Abramsky (340 pp.)
5. Sorry I Barfed on your Bed by Jeremy Greenberg (64 pp.)
6. St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate by Karen Armstrong (158 pp.)
7. Halo: Mortal Dictata by Karen Armstrong (496 pp.)
8. Terry Pratchett: The Spirit of Fantasy by Craig Cabell (244 pp.)
9. Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (106 p.)
10. Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War by Barbara Ehrenreich (241 pp.)
11. The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (295 pp.)
12. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (336 pp.)
13. New Order by Fay Wolf (181 pp.)
14. The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (265 pp.)
15. Game Wizards Play by Diane Duane (640 pp.)
16. Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (197 pp.)
17. Book Scavenger by Jennifer Bertman (354 pp.)
18. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold (344 pp.)
19. The Bible Doesn't Say That by Joel Hoffman (304 pp.)
20. Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara (507 pp.)
21. Updraft by Fran Wilde (364 pp.)
22. Interim Errantry by Diane Duane (459 pp.)
23. Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire (325 pp.)
24. Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire (356 pp.)
25. Biblical Literalism by John Shelby Spong (421 pp.)
26. Heap House by Edward Carey (405 pp.)
27. City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett (498 pp.)

Books Acquired in 2016

1. Harmony Black by Craig Schaefer (free)
2. Unseemly Science: The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire Book 2 by Rod Duncan ($1.99)
3. Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire ($1.99)
4. A Winterfold Christmas by Harriet Evans ($.99)
5. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley ($1.99)
6. Starship's Mage Omnibus by Glynn Stewart (free)
7. The Last Chance Christmas Ball by Mary Jo Putney and others ($2.51)
8. Citadel of the Sky by Chrysoula Tzavelas (free)
9. Del Rey and Bantam Books 2015 Sampler (free)
10. St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate by Karen Armstrong ($1.99)
11. The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction by Justine Larbalestier (free)
12. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold ($19.89)
13. New Order by Fay Wolf ($14.91)
14. Putting God Second by Donniel Hartman (ER-free)
15. Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane ($9.99)
16. Book Scavenger by Jennifer Bertman ($10.36)
17. City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett ($11.39)
18. The Bible Doesn't Say That by Joel Hoffman ($12.99)
19. Biblical Literalism: The Gentile Heresy by John Shelby Spong ($13.99)
20. Interim Errantry by Diane Duane ($8.49)

So, January has been a slow reading month, as you can see above. I've a couple of books in progress, but will finish nothing else. I'll do the stats and project into February in a later message. Today I've been making Valentine jewelry--I have a buyer for a local market who is going to buy some tomorrow, so I'm filling out my display with wire jewelry.



So my desk, in my office and paper-cleaning project talked about in the last thread, has been neglected today. It's all cleared out, but lots of the stuff taken off is sitting on the sofa that Zoe is sleeping on. A project for later this week, I think.

I hope so, cuz I'm claiming this one.

Happy new thread, Roni! What an adorable topper!

Howdy Roni! Have you read The Familiar by Mark Z. Danielewski?

Hi, Katherine and Mamie. Thanks for dropping in. Give your cats a hug from mine!

From the last thread,
>247 nittnut: You are very useful, Nina!
>248 ronincats: Thanks, Robin.
>249 sirfurboy: Bet there are some fine artisans in your locale, Kerry.
>250 ronincats: I never get tired of hearing it though, Lori.
>251 PaulCranswick:, >253 humouress: Thanks, Kim and Mary, with your similar preferences! I glaze two cereal/soup bowls that color yesterday because you all liked it so much.
>253 humouress: I am by no means proficient but I do enjoy playing around in the mud. Tad (TadAd) is a much finer artist than I with clay.
>254, >255 Thanks, Anne and Alex.
>256 You've been busy, Jenn--just nice to see you here.
>257 Mostly for sale, Faith. I fear saturating the family with my wares.
>258 Heather, glazing is really a crap shoot every time--I'm always happy when the glazes work out.
>259 Thanks, Kirsten. That piece is a small pitcher, but it is mug size, just with a spout.
>260 Thanks, Lucy.
>261 And thank YOU, Jo. I know growing conditions are quite different there.

And hi, Ro! No, I have not read The Familiar. Looks intriguing--have you read it? Looks like a wide range of ratings but regardless, they are talking about this being the first of 27 books that will take at least 13 years to complete--I'll check it out in 13 years then.

I have volumes 1 & 2. Thought it was going to be 3 volumes when I purchased. LOL! I hope I can still see when the last volume comes out. ;-)

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

January Stats

Books read: 8
Pages read: 1683
Average pages per book: 210
Average pages per day: 53

All books were new to me reads, one was a Book Off The Shelf (BOTS). Three were library books. Three were Kindle books. The other two, one was a Christmas gift and the other was the BOTS.

Genre: Science fiction-1, fantasy-1, nonfiction-3, general fiction-1, romance-2

Author gender: female - 5, male - 3

I finished two books, biographies, for the nonfiction challenge.

Books acquired: 11 (books read - 3, all Kindles)
Format: All but one are on my Kindle, the other came in from PaperBackSwap
Genre: 1 sf, 6 fantasy, 2 nonfiction, 2 romance
Cost: $11.46, Average $1.91

Books out the door: 1 to BookMooch

Plans for February:

I'm part-way through Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War by Barbara Ehrenreich for a history book for the nonfiction challenge. It's my bathtub book--a chapter a day--and it is fascinating.

I'm also slowly working my way into War and Peace for the group read.

It's Fantasy February and I'm part of a group read for The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. Also will try to read City of Blades, sequel to City of Stairs, and since most of my tbr reserve consists of fantasy, to make some headway on my BOTS challenge. I also have the first two books of a Holly Black series waiting for me at the library, The Iron Trial and The Copper Gauntlet, so I'll definitely read them this month.

ETA And Mamie's excellent stats and review remind me that I intend to read an Agatha Christie this month for the British Author Challenge. Cards on the Table is my choice, and I've just ordered it from the library.

>10 luvamystery65: Well, looks like you are stuck, then. Let me know what you think when you get to them, Ro.

Thanks, foggi and Zoe. Zoe, did you see your namesake at the top?

>14 ronincats: Yup, I did notice that! :D

Happy new thread Roni! Adorable Zoe picture. (:

>1 ronincats: Zoe looks like she's getting a well-deserved rest. I have 'Swordspoint', too.

>5 ronincats: 'January has been a slow reading month' I was going to say - you've only read twice as many books as me so far. I was getting my hopes up for reaching 75 this year.

Happy new thread, Roni. Zoe looks like she belongs in that spot! I was surprised to see that I read as many books in January as you did but then I saw W&P.

Happy New Thread, Roni.

Happy New Thread, Roni! Nice pictures of Zoe and your Valentine's Day jewelry.

Happy new thread, Roni. Your jewelry makes your thread look like Valentine's Day!

>5 ronincats: I have that problem with all the papers that stack up except they all gravitate to the coat room and sit in a stack to be sorted through about maybe once or twice a year if we are lucky.

>1 ronincats: Love the photo of Zoe.

>3 ronincats: Nice Valentine's jewelry too!

>5 ronincats: A nice old-fashioned roll-top desk!

I'll probably start W & P sometime this month. I won't rush myself (unless I become so absorbed that I want to rush) since I have until the end of March to finish it with the group read.

I really like the heart pendants. Are those ribbon "chains?"

Happy New Thread, Roni! Zoe is a darling. Mama Cats are the best!
Since it's Fantasy February, as you remind me, I will definitely plan to finish my reread of The Stone of Farewell. I'm happy that I'm liking these almost as much as I did the first time I read them. Are you a fan?

>15 _Zoe_: :-D
>16 The_Hibernator: Hi, Rachel!
>17 humouress: Zoe just shut down my computer as I got to this point in replying--she thinks the laptop is exactly the right temperature for a nap and the computer takes exception by freezing up.
>18 Familyhistorian: Can't use W&P as an excuse--I read the first chapter three times in three different translations but haven't gone further yet.
>19 PaulCranswick:, >20 kidzdoc: Thanks, Paul and Darryl.
>21 DeltaQueen50: Right in season, right, Judy?
>22 xymon81: Matthew, it's that last box of loose papers that kills me every time!
>23 thornton37814: Finally, someone noticed the desk! Thank you, Lori.
>24 Storeetllr: Yes, those are inexpensive ribbon necklaces I can get on eBay to show off my pendants.
>25 LizzieD: I loved William's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series the first time through, back when they came out. Still have them in my library and would love to get back to them, but the sheer size has been somewhat daunting.

Happy new thread, Roni. That picture of Zoe is so sweet. That does look like one comfy spot for a snooze!

>9 ronincats: Pitcher, that's the word I couldn't lay my fingers on! "Jug" just seemed too inelegant :)

>27 lkernagh: Hi, Lori!
>28 kgriffith: Perfectly acceptable synonym, however, Kirsten.

So, the Bujold listserv is doing a group read and discussion of Penric's Demon. I thought I'd skip it, since I read it when it came out last year, but got pulled in by the discussion, so reread it last night.



Book #9 Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (109 pp.)

A charming novella, best appreciated by those who have read the earlier Chalion books. A coming of age story with the complication of demons and the Five God world of this universe.

I also started The Watchmaker of Filigree Street last night, about 25% through, and enjoying it.

Happy new thread :)

I just got her Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. I have to finish two books so I can get to it, and one's a chunkster (The Aeronaut's Windlass).

New design that is quicker and hangs better!

>32 ronincats: Oooh, love the two/three heart dangles. I'm having trouble figuring out scale though - how long do they hang?

Happy new thread! Love your clean desk. Mine is a mess right now (my landlords' son told me he could tell it wasn't a workspace, and it's really not it's more storage than anything else - a "someday" project perhaps).

Love the photo of Zoe. Your Valentine's crafts look great. And your desk looks very very clean . . .

What a sweet kitty! And yes, an impressively clean desk! I cleaned my desk off completely before winter break, optimistically hoping it would get cleaned over the break (it didn't). Two things happened: 1) I discovered/remembered that my desk is blue, and 2) my para came back from break to a very clean desk and worried that I had quit:)

Happy new thread!

>32 ronincats: Cute; I like them. Could you get a bit more of an S-bend to get the back wire a bit closer to the front? Just so they're not at risk of being pulled out by the weight of the hearts. I'm always being told by worried friends that my wire-backed earrings are about to fall off.

I was looking at my cosmetic jewellery, and had an idea - you could combine your twin loves of pottery and jewellery and make little clay earrings, pendants etc. for unique jewellery.



I wanted to post a picture of earrings, but just google it; there's lots of inspiration.

And - ooh, more Chalion? I must investigate.

>33 bell7: Mary, the three heart earrings are about 2 inches from the top of the earring wire to the bottom, while the 2 heart ones are one and a half inches. Desk is still clear and the sofa is mostly cleared off, but my computer armoire is stacked up again with the leavings--working on that!
>34 sibylline: Thanks, Lucy. Very comprehensive! ;-)
>35 AMQS: Oh, I remember those days, Anne. At least it made it easier for me to clean when school started back up!
>36 humouress: Nina, the aluminum wire is completely flexible so yes, definitely could do that, but the earrings are VERY lightweight--just wire after all. I have made some ceramic beads at the studio but haven't used them yet--they definitely weigh more.

Yes, more Chalion. E-book only though. But you can download it to your computer or tablet and read it there. Short, almost a teaser, but good.

Speaking of which, I went off to get my hair cut and colored cobalt blue (some of it anyway--picture tomorrow) and when I got home, my copy of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen was here! Then we went off for a 3.5 hour seminar on native landscaping.

>37 ronincats: Ta.

Desks - the less said about the state of mine, the better.

Cobalt blue? *sigh* I've been wanting to do mine blue for ages (in fact, I have an appointment for Friday) but I'd have to bleach it again as it'd go greenish otherwise, and my hair is already horribly dry. I'll do mine a different colour and envy you yours.

I did NOT bleach my hair first--not much color in it to begin with--and it came out fine. However, another brand that stylists in that salon have used did have that effect without bleach.

Wish I'd remembered to take a before picture of my desk, Nina.

>32 ronincats: lovely hearts earrings :-)

>37 ronincats: cobalt blue Roni, can't wait to see the picture!
I have thought to do a bit of blue in my hair, but am waiting until I have something to celebrate, for me coloring is only for special occasions :-)

*sits down to await the photo of Roni's hair*

Remember when my Birdy had blue hair? Putting a link to my thread to show the photo, as I didn't want to post a personal photo on your thread without permission. Birdy's blue hair

Hi Roni,
I love the Zoe topper. :-)

I can't wait to see your cobalt blue hair!!

And we are planning to do native plantings in our front yard which is currently rather blah. We have two lovely Japanese Maples around which to work and they are apparently very stingy with soil nutrients so planting under them is challenging. Hostas, hellebore, ferns, etc....

>42 EBT1002: Oh, I love hostas, Ellen!

Happy New thread, ron. I just try to catch up with threads. I'm so far behind. I love all your art work.

I've just started Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Roni. It jumped the queue when it showed up.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is an interesting read, I hope you enjoy.

I like how little care hostas require. :-)

Roni! Yoo hoo! Roni? Where's that pic of your cobalt blue hair? It sounds wonderful! I'd like to color mine, but not blue. I'd look like a corpse. Instead, I would love a bright magenta red. *sigh* Not going to happen, though. I colored for years before retiring, and after I grew out the old color and got rid of the roots, I said "Nevermore!" (Actually, it was "Never again!" I'm just feeling dramatic for some reason today.)

I just ordered a copy of Gentleman Jole from the library and am anxiously awaiting its arrival on my hold shelf.

Okay, here we go. Probably a case of much ado about nothing! We've had difficulty getting a picture that shows me off well AND shows my hair off well, so you are getting the hair for now at least. Nothing like Birdy's blue hair (which was gorgeous) but I like it a lot.


So, it's been another busy day. Eye exam for the husband this morning, then out to the buyer at the market at 1 (she bought the whole shebang! See message 5 plus the ones I've made since then) and then the heart bowls to the consignment store. Then to the car wash and finally to the library to pick up the Holly Black books, The Iron Trial and The Copper Gauntlet recommended by sirfurboy, and to give them the dozen 2016 calendars I got from charities to dispense rather than throwing them into recycle. And at 6, it's the intra-state rivalry of K-State playing my Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, so a full day altogether.

Yesterday, I finished my next nonfiction book which is also a ROOT or Book Off The Shelf as well.



Book #10 Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War by Barbara Ehrenreich (241 pp.)

This was put on my wishlist by member joaquin, whom I've not seen around the last few years, and PaperBackSwap came through with a copy about two years ago.

This book is fascinating and deeply disturbing. Fascinating in the way she links our violent tendencies to man's evolution at some point from prey to predator and the resulting ambivalence of the species. Fascinating in the way she shows how war has shaped culture and how shifts in technology have shifted war have shifted culture. Disturbing in the realization that the logical reasons we apply to war are not really that valid and the underlying layers point to a war meme that is not in human control. Despite this book being almost 20 years old, these are not concepts I've seen in the mainstream consciousness, and yet they seem valid and powerful.

>40 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! It's pretty special for me.

>41 Crazymamie: I well remember Birdy's blue hair--much more dramatic than mine, which youth can carry off, and quite gorgeous.

>42 EBT1002: No hostas here, Ellen. LOW ET plants and creating a soil sponge to absorb what water there is. Adaptations are leathery leaves, small leaves, silvery color or , drat, I forget the last one.

>44 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

>45 jnwelch: Good for you, Joe. I've only held off because I read the eARC but will definitely be rereading this month. Waiting impatiently for your reaction.

>46 avatiakh: I'm enjoying it so far, Kerry.

>48 Storeetllr: Got the hair for you, Mary! And hope you get the book soon. Now, off to the TV for the game!

I'm amazed at my conservative self, but I love the hair!!!

I love it, too, Roni! I turn sixty in a few months (how did that happen!) and I think I'll emulate you and become a ole blue haired lady!

I love your hair, Roni. What fun! The perfect look for Fantasy February. ; )

>49 ronincats: Ooh, nice! I'm not sure what colour I'll do yet, but probably a variation on my usual red/ pink/ purple. Wish I could join you all with LT blue.

>50 ronincats: thick cuticles? small spiracles? spines? (I'm thinking cacti here.) My biology seems to have deserted me too.

Your hair looks fabulous, Roni.

>49 ronincats: Looks lovely Roni!

Roni! I love your hair!!

Looking forward to your thoughts on The Iron Trial. I just started The Copper Gauntlet a couple of days ago.

>49 ronincats: Beautiful! My hair is still salt & pepper, or maybe more accurately salt & cinnamon, so I'd have to do something a little more than your lovely streaks.

>50 ronincats:, >54 humouress: Ellen and Nina, the fourth characteristic was solar-tracking leaves! Checked my notes.

>51 LizzieD:, >52 streamsong:, >53 DeltaQueen50:, >54 humouress:, >55 Ameise1:, >56 SandDune:, >57 Crazymamie: Thank you very much.

>57 Crazymamie: So far, so good, Zoe. I picked it up for my bathtub book this morning, and ended up taking it out of the bathtub and reading on into the afternoon. Being a middle school book, I think it's telegraphing its direction pretty clearly and early. These really are spoilers so don't read if you plan on reading this yourself, people. The last words in the prologue plus the last page of chapter 4 make it pretty clear that Call has been implanted with some chaos to infiltrate the magicians. I also thought he would end up being a Makar, but am not sure now since his teammate has been identified as one. But it's a fun read, and entertaining.

Mary, my friend with the orange, magenta and red streaks has dark salt and pepper hair. It's just you do have to bleach the hair to be highlighted first if you still have color there.

A quiet day, with a bit of a headache, most likely due to high pressure moving in. We are supposed to have highs in the 80s AT the beach on Monday. I've read, played games, and cooked some spaghetti and meat sauce for supper. Also picked a handful of peas from the back garden, and the lemon tree is loaded with lemons right now thanks to the timing of our rains in December.

Yay for blue hair!

I can well imagine that native plants would be SO different in our two climes, Roni. :-)

>49 ronincats: Loving it! I wish I could dye my hair fun colors, but alas, they would not let me continue to have a job.

>61 EBT1002: So true, Ellen.

>62 rosylibrarian: Really? There were a couple of teachers in my school district who treated hair color as a totally changeable accessory--part of my long-term inspiration--and it never reflected on their job security. You librarians are so staid... ;-)

>63 ronincats: Well, I'm sure lots of librarians can have fun hair, but I work at a military academy and wear a military uniform, so it would be breaking my contract. :) One day though!

Ah, military sameness. Actually, the author of my last book had interesting things to say about that. BUT I know for you, it's a route to a job you love and your spouse's profession at the moment. Some day!

Great hair!

Book #11 The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (295 pp.)

This is the first of a middle school fantasy quintet by two authors well-known in the field. It's a quick read, entertaining and with some good red herrings out there!

Happy new thread and happy new cobalt blue hair Roni! It looks great :-)

>64 rosylibrarian: It's in the contract?! The first time I coloured my hair, it was such a bright vivid pink that I tended to keep it clipped up all the time (which I have to do when I'm outside as it's too hot for me otherwise, but I can keep it down indoors). I regretted that afterwards as I never got such a nice colour when I coloured it again. But when I had it up, no one realised it was coloured. It's a balayage effect.

Well, got my hair coloured today. Somehow I'm not in the mood for really bright at the moments. My colourist had something in mind, which she said would be a 'candyfloss' colour, but she couldn't show me what it would be like beforehand. So until they unwrapped the last towel, it was a mystery to me. She did show me a photo of a nice dark purple - which was exactly what I was thinking of having, in fact - but it came out a more reddy-purple. It's quite subtle, but she did have to lighten my hair again as the original lengths are growing out; this time, when she held my hair as if it were pinned up, you could see the colours, by the contrast against the non-coloured sections. I'll try and post a photo - if only I can remember how ...

ETA - corrected spelling :0/

So marvelous that the buyer bought the lot!

A new Bujold? Gotta go!

>67 ronincats: I loved how I thought I knew where the story was going, feeling all smug about myself and wondering how these two marvelous authors could possibly write something so derivative and then...BAM!!! I did not see that coming. My husband had the same experience, and halfway through started complaining about it. "Just finish it," I said. "You'll see." He didn't believe me...until he finished, and did. :P ... :D

Happy reading this weekend!

>67 ronincats: >71 dk_phoenix: I've got both books sitting on my bedside table to read. Good to know that they are getting good reports from here!

>66 nittnut: Thanks, Jenn.
>68 souloftherose: Hi, Heather, and thank you.
>69 humouress: Hey, I inspired you. Waiting for that picture.
>70 sibylline: Yes, it was a bit surprising and very nice, Lucy. Go!
>71 dk_phoenix: Oh, Faith, that is it perfectly! It's not that my predictions were exactly wrong--it's that they took a turn I wasn't expecting! Neat!
>72 tapestry100: David, I'm sure you will enjoy them. I'll be starting on the second in a day or two--since I will have to wait after that for the rest to be written, I'm trying not to rush it.

I also can't color my hair fun colors. It's against the dress code. Now if I worked in a pediatric hospital it would be fine.

Love the blue hair. Isn't there an expression "talking a blue streak"? Maybe that's what they had in mind.

Happy weekend, Roni.

Roni, I love the blue highlights in your hair! I wonder what my company would do if I showed up with something like that.... I'm too afraid to find out!

>49 ronincats: Love the blue hair, Roni! :)

Love the Hair colour !! .... I think my head has been every colour of the rainbow & much more - now its a tad boring due to the fact its a #1 buzz cut to cover lack of in certain areas :)

though would be fun to dye it again, my manager would have kittens .... a tad conservative even on his good days ... bless him

Roni, I LOVE your hair!! Made my day! (Well, the Broncos contributed a bit as well:)

Love you new blue hair, Roni!

>74 luvamystery65: :-( So sorry, Ro!
>75 Familyhistorian: But I'm nearly nonverbal!
>76 Ameise1: Hope you had a good one, Barbara.
>77 katiekrug:, >78 The_Hibernator:, >79 roundballnz:, >80 AMQS:, >81 lkernagh: Loving all the hair love, friends!

The weekend was busy. My Jayhawks beat TCU fairly easily early on Saturday, then it was time to go to pottery where I picked up two bowls and trimmed two bowls and 2 mugs, as well as throwing two more mugs and a bowl. Sunday we went down to the Gaslamp farmers market (early morning for us as it starts at 9) because the weather is just glorious, in the upper 70s, where I took this picture of the new bowls.


I sold three pieces of pottery and one heart bangle bracelet, for a profit after the fee of $16. Oh well, it was a beautiful day. Then we came home and put dinner on and watched all the Super Bowl hoopla. My husband was rooting for North Carolina, but I wanted this one to be for Peyton so I was happy.

I finished up a book too.



Book #12 The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (336 pp.)

I downloaded this when it was a Daily Deal, and put it on top of the tbrs when a group read was organized for this month (plus it fit Fantasy February). I seem to be in sync with the other readers in really liking the setting and the characters and the first three parts of the plot. Then it gets confusing, not only in the plot but in the actions of some of the characters that seem uncharacteristic. Wish the last part had been handled differently but enjoyed the characters.

Today involved some intermittent cleaning but more sitting out on the deck soaking up the lovely weather. Tomorrow may be the beach--it's supposed to be 80 there and the warmest day of the week. The tourists who came by the market yesterday thought they were in heaven (one couple from Maryland!)

Again, neat glazing - the bottoms of the bowls make me think of solar systems. Nice!

It's pretty hot up here, too - it was 74F in Oakland on Sunday (not quite that hot here, next door). Ridiculous for February (the 74F broke all records for the date). But very nice.

>67 ronincats:

Nice to see your write up of The Iron Trial. You don't say much, but it looks like you enjoyed it too.

Nice bowls btw.

>49 ronincats: I'm a big fan of blue hair, so excited to see the picture. I've wanted to dye my hair blue since I was in my 20s but didn't get around to it until Christmas Eve 2014 at the age of 44, right before the first Christmas with all of the relatives in decades. It was fun. The person who was most distressed was my young niece; my conservative dad kept his opinion to himself except maybe an eyeroll. It was a fugitive dye though, so it only lasted about a week.

>82 ronincats: More gorgeous pottery! Love those bowls too.

Love the bowls. The colour combination looks great to me.

I've been pretty conservative with hair colour, but having seen two successful blue dyes on here I'm quite tempted. I wonder if it would cope with the chlorine from the swimming pool!

>82 ronincats: Nice bowls. Interesting that you can still see the red and blue distinctly, and it didn't really turn purple. Did you sell them as a set?

Hi Roni! I love the blue hair!

I just found your PM (I forget to look on my Profile page) and have responded. Also realized I didn't have your second thread starred - - don't know how that happened but we're good now :)

>82 ronincats: Ugh, I am done with books that can't stick the ending. Thanks for the warning about Filigree Street, Roni.

Morning, Roni! Stopping in to thank you for your reset of Wednesday - it worked! Now remember to use your power only for good.

Hi, Jenn, Stephen, Chris, Charlotte, Nina, Reba, QQ, and Mamie! Well, the last two days have been in the mid-80s here. Tuesday was a pajama day--putzed around the house all day with some desultory cleaning and lots of time on the deck watching the sparrows enjoy their newly refilled bird feeder and watering plants. Yesterday picked another crop of fresh peas and the husband was desperate to get out of the house so we ran errands and picked up some fried chicken to bring home for supper. Today is supposed to be a bit cooler--maybe we'll be able to walk the dog--but I woke up early with a bit of a headache due to the extremely dry air that always accompanies a Santa Ana.

On the reading front, not a whole lot getting done. Too much time playing Every Word on my Kindle. But I finished one and am half-way through another. Also, my ER win for January arrived and looks interesting, Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself by Rabbi Donniel Hartman.



Book #13 New Order: A decluttering handbook for Creative Folks by Fay Wolf.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for organization books. I never follow through, but I love reading them. This one was pretty par for the course on most of its recommendations. Where it stood out was the section on decluttering digitally, like your In Box in your email, and a listing of resources on where you can donate specific types of things.

Mid-80s sounds amazing. We've had a very mild winter this year but I think winter finally woke up to the fact that it's supposed to be here... it's snowing all week and it's going to be a high of 10 on Saturday.

I enjoyed Penric's Demon quite a bit, I wish that there were more Five Gods books.

Kriti, she's actually working on another Penric novella. Yay!

>94 ronincats: That's great! Penric was a great PoV character, I didn't think she would return to him since all the Five Gods books have had different protagonists.

So, some days are just like this--I just downloaded 4 free Kindle books off the BookGorilla.com email today.

Good haul! Hope it going to be cooler today. I'm about to strike out for a walk and would rather not have the heat of late.

>92 ronincats: I'm a sucker for organization books. I never follow through, but I love reading them.
LOL!

Our house is well organised, even after nearly 4 months doing almost nothing, it doesn't look bad. But I am happy to be able to do some houshold chores again.

Wow, sounds like you have been experiencing some amazing winter weather, even for your part of CA, if I am not mistaken.

Same temps here at the house today as it was yesterday--high of 83. I cleaned up the kitchen, put away the boxes of light bulbs that had been sitting out for the last month, and threw away 30,000 emails. No reading yet today. But I did finish a book yesterday.



Book #14 The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Claire (265 pp.)

Second book in a middle school fantasy series, this chronicles Call's second year at the Magisterium. The action continues but Call's angst gets a little wearing, even when he's balancing his Evil Overlord points. Now I have the wait for the rest of the series to be written and published.

Just checking up on you -- nice bowls and obviously fun reading!

Looked outside this morning and couldn't see the neighborhood at all through the fog. Hope that means the high is breaking down and we may get some moister, cooler weather!!

>102 RebaRelishesReading: Ha, the hubby wanted to go outside and sit on the deck for coffee like we've been doing in the morning. I looked at him in disbelief and said, hell no, it's 58 degrees out there. Ah, it's NICE out, says he. 3 minutes later he's back inside saying, well, it is a little nippy out. But we have clear skies and nothing but sunshine here.

>101 sibylline: Always happy to have you come by, Lucy.

My Jayhawks replay Oklahoma this morning, but this time at their house. Then it's off to the pottery studio--nothing coming home today but I have some trimming and may have some glazing to do. Supposed to get into the high 70s today, humidity is up at the moment to 53% which is a relief to my poor dried-out sinuses.

>103 ronincats: The fog cleared here by 8 or 8:30 and now it's clear blue skies except for some smoke or dust to the east and north (wonder what that is). I haven't been outside to see what the temp is like - may not get out at all today. I'm hoping for a "sea day" :)

>82 ronincats: MORE beautiful pottery! I'm so impressed with the variety.
Re The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street - I loved it, but the more I think about it the less satisfied I am with the ending. It seems a little too convenient, and as you say, certain events risking lives with the bomb didn't really seem to fit with the character behind them. However I was so enthralled by that point that I was willing to accept whatever happened. I must go add my tuppence worth to the group read.....

>92 ronincats: I'm on a decluttering kick too at the moment. Well, a reading-about-decluttering kick, anyway. Somehow putting it into practice is so much harder.

>103 ronincats: I like clear cool mornings to sit and drink my coffee with a good book looking at the beautiful morning outside my living room window.

Have a lovely weekend, Roni.

>103 ronincats: Roni, I'll take 53 degrees when compared to our current coldest day and night of the year. It is zero degrees, with wind chill of -7. Baby, it is indeed cold outside!

Happy Valentines To One of My Favorite Ladies:

Happy Valentine's Day, Roni!

Love the hair--my daughter just did all-over purple. Enjoy!

Love all the Valentines. I am NOT going to get around to everyone's thread today to wish them Happy Valentine's Day, but here's a Valentine for those who visit here.

Thanks for the Valentine's smile. Hope you're having a lovely day.

Happy Valentine's Day Roni!

>111 ronincats: That will do. :-)

Just saying hi -- and wishing you a wonderful week!

Wishing you a great start into the new week, Roni.

Hi Roni! Love the be-sunglassed cats, love the blue and red bowls, and LOVE the blue hair!!! I sometimes toy with the idea of dying my hair a non-natural colour. I've never put any kind of dye in my hair; most people look at me aghast whenever I mention the idea, saying how many people would love to have hair my colour (sort of strawberry blond, though it's definitely darkening as I'm getting older, so I think it's supposed desirability is diminishing!), but I've always fancied going a bit off the wall and giving something totally new a try. In the same way, I get these periodic urges to get a tattoo. So far I've resisted both, but hmmm, maybe not for much longer!

>111 ronincats: - Love it!

Hi Roni, I loved your Valentine jewelry, especially the simplicity of the heart bracelets. Also love the blue hair! I am going to get some paint-on color one of these days for the little girls and me. Should be a fun surprise for the parents!

>92 ronincats: I also like books on organization but my efforts don't last very long as we have a Gremlin in the house! Books on exercise and losing weight are fun, too, but the first kind makes me tired and I get hungry when I read diet books.

Are we on for Thursday?

So, I wrote personalized and apropos responses to everyone from Reba in >104 RebaRelishesReading: to Reba in >119 RebaRelishesReading: (yes, Reba, we are still on--I PMed you this afternoon before I saw this.) and then a cat--yes, that self-same cat seen totally minding her own business at the top of this thread--sauntered across the keyboard and completely disappeared them all. So please imagine what I might have said that would have been exactly what you wanted to hear, because I'm not doing it all again. Sorry.

It was a hot day here, high of 89 at the house, and we were working out back in the yard, cleaning and watering and weeding. It got hot. It's a very comfy 70 degrees at 9 at night right now.



Book #15 Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane (640 pp.)

I broke down and bought (via Kindle) Games Wizards Play, the newest of the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane and loved it. Not the place to start, but a great continuation!

>120 ronincats: Have you read the in-between book (Diane Duane calls it Young Wizards 9.5), Interim Errantry? It's three novellas (of which I've read two, individually from her store) that fill in events between Wizards of Mars and Games Wizards Play. I doubt it really adds much in terms of plot or arcs, but a little more wizardry is always fun. I got it off her site (during one of her regular sales); don't know if it's on Amazon as well.

>120 ronincats:

Bad cat!

But Games Wizards Play piqued my interest, could you describe the series in a nutshell by any chance? and do you think I would like it?

>120 ronincats: Mua-hahah. My cat keeps *almost* doing that...while I'm working. She'll jump onto the table from the floor and land right on top of my laptop while I'm, say, in the middle of writing/ Last time I almost had a heart attack because I hadn't saved my work for a while and I thought she'd erased an entire chapter. I'm trying to pile things around the outer edge of my laptop now to discourage her from doing this (and make the end of the table a better target instead). I probably look like a crazy person hunkered down inside a little table cave of paper, books, and dishes, but I don't care! It's working so far!

>123 dk_phoenix: So, today Zoe is up to her usual tricks again (and bringing up an extra window on the computer)! I may have to resort to your technique.



Today dropped 10 degrees, MUCH nicer, and then clouded over and dropped into the 60s with some sprinkles.

We went to Costco and found these industrial desk lamps there. My bedside lamp has been very inadequate in shedding light on my reading, and the model looked like it would do the job beautifully. What do you think? Molly likes it.


>121 jjmcgaffey: Jenn, I have not. I've been wondering whether to pick it up.
>122 sirfurboy: Stephen, the first book of the series is So You Want to Be a Wizard, and it is a children's series, but one that deepens and delves into very serious matters about choices and mortality. At times it can be a bit moralistic and at times a bit techy, and yet once I get into each book, I can't put it back down. Definitely worth considering, I'd say.

Stopped by the library to pick up my Agatha Christie book for the BAC and find out why Heap House has been in transit for the last 2 weeks. Explanation: hit a black hole. There are 5 copies available in the system so he reordered it for me.

>124 ronincats: I have now bought the kindle edition of So You Want to be a Wizard. Not sure when I will get round to it as my kindle TBR runs to several pages, but it looks good. Thanks for the recommendation.

>124 ronincats: Molly seems to appreciate the sun lamp you installed for her!

That looks like a perfect reading lamp to me! How is it working out for you -- assuming Molly consents to move aside!

>124 ronincats: Your resident animals clearly know that you're a pushover.

I came, I lurked, I liked it all!

>124 ronincats: Hilarious pic of Zoe, Roni!

The photos made me laugh, Roni!

Love the Zoe pose! Cats and computers always bring a smile to my face. My nieces used to have fun with their cat by sending print jobs to the printer.... the cat would come running from anywhere in the house, approach the printer, and pretty much attack any print job the machine was spitting out. ;-)

Great reading lamp. I need to get on for the beside table but I have been rather lazy about going shopping for one.

Love the photos. It could be one of our cats. She is a great help to me too when working at the computer.

>125 sirfurboy: Left info about the bargain boxed ebook set available on Duane's website on your thread.
>126 foggidawn: Molly loves to sleep in "my" spot whenever possible, and I have to chase her out of it when I want to crawl into bed.
>127 sibylline: Oh, it is perfect! The circle of light cast is big enough to illuminate the whole book, even a large hardback, and nicely bright.
>128 qebo: Oh, Katherine, it's so true!
>129 LizzieD: Hi, Peggy!
>130 jnwelch: Glad you enjoyed it, Joe. She was oblivious.
>131 Crazymamie: Happy to have brought a laugh into your day, Mamie.
>132 lkernagh: This lamp pretty much found me, Lori, but I'm glad it did. It certainly is optimally functional.
>133 Ameise1: I suspect that all of with cats have similar instances, Barbara.



Book #16 Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (197 pp.)

While I have seen nearly all the Hercule Poirot BBC episodes and some of the Jane Marple ones, I've never read any of Christie's books. I picked up this one in response to the British Authors Challenge and enjoyed it.

Reba and I had a lovely lunch at Eclipse today. No pictures, sorry, but we had good food and caught up with each other over 2 hours.

>134 ronincats: Sophie also likes to sleep in my spot, but has learned the command "Scootchy-scootchy," which means "Move over or I will sit on you!" I tried the same command on my parents' dog -- it didn't work.

>124 ronincats: What a beautiful cat!

>134 ronincats: Cards on the Table is a favorite of mine and my daughter's. One of Dame Agatha's best, IMO. Glad you had a good time with it.

>105 eclecticdodo: I am really looking forward to the opportunity to declutter in the process of packing and fully moving out of the house I've lived in for the last 5 years. I love all of that organizational stuff--like to do it for fun at friends' houses and what-not. But am able to impose it on myself only intermittently rather than as a daily discipline. Such is life.

>134 ronincats: I started reading Christie mysteries when I was young--I think they were my entree into the whole genre. My mom was a big fan, so that's probably where it started. Can't remember whether I read stuff before seeing the television version, or after, or concurrently...

I just posted these two messages over on the What We Are Reading: Science Fiction and Fantasy thread, but want to repeat them here:

As you may remember, for the last few years I have promoted and encouraged people to start, reread, or otherwise enjoy two science fiction series, the first being Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books in 2014 and the other being the Liaden Universe books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller in 2015. Many of you are still engaged in this process. Nina (humouress) has just started a reread of God Stalk, the first of P. C. Hodgell's Kencyrath Chronicles. It is one of my favorite books on its own, a rare 5 star book. Of those of you who might be willing to accompany me into another series, what would be a good timeline? Just start, start at midyear, wait until next year? What would work for you?

The Worlds Without End website is reminding members to vote for their top books of 2015 in sf, fantasy and horror.

WWEnders,
Just a quick note to let everyone know that time is running out to get your votes in for the 2015 WWEnd Award Worthy Books list. The cut off is March 15th -- beware the ides of March!

https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_awardworthybooks.asp

If you're new to WWEnd all you have to do is tag your favorite books from 2015 as "award worthy" and your vote will count on the main list. Details can be found on the list page and if you have any questions you can get help in the forums:

https://www.worldswithoutend.com/mbbs22/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1414&post...

Thanks to everyone for participating and read on!

Dave
Administrator

If you don't belong to this site, you should consider it and explore it. It is totally free and a super resource for book ideas in these areas.

Hi Roni, I have to cover my eyes and not read about a new group read of a series. I am still working on both the Vorkosigan and the Liaden Universe series! I hope to get back to Sharon Lee next month and Bujold soon after.

>124 ronincats: I've got my cats pretty well trained not to step on my computer - though I don't know what they do when I'm not around. However, I compromise with them by leaving a little "cat space" next to my computer where they can stand or take a nap. They DO enjoy stretching out over my wrists as I type, though. And then they get annoyed when my wrists wiggle as I type.

>136 foggidawn: Molly actually sighs and gets up and moves over when she sees me coming to get into bed, so she's trained as well.
>137 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda. She's a total sweetie.
>138 jnwelch: Liz recommended it, Joe, as one of her best, and I hadn't seen a dramatization of it.
>139 justchris: I hate moving, Chris, but that is a good aspect to it. The Hardy boys were my intro to mysteries--I loved that series as a kid.
>141 DeltaQueen50: Ha, Judy, fine words from one who just put Pelquin's Comet onto my wishlist today! But that's why I'm trying to get a sense of when people might be ready to start something new.
>142 The_Hibernator: Hi, Rachel. The boys don't come up on the keyboard, but Zoe gets right in my face when she wants attention!

Been working a bit on Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen today. We got up relatively early and walked two miles with Molly before doing anything else today, then a bit of gardening and a lot of moaning about sore muscles--we really need to build up our stamina. Tomorrow will be no pottery. I have a birthday party celebration to go to--one of my good friends mother turned 100 this week, and then it's rivalry week in college basketball--we play our instate rivals K-State at their place tomorrow afternoon.

When I last had a cat I had one of those big old monitors that stuck out 18 inches or so to the back. My cat's favorite place (at least when I was working on the computer) was on top of that monitor with her tail, and often one paw, hanging down in front of what I was trying to see. A memory that makes me smile.

>124 ronincats: Well, I greatly enjoyed the first one ("Not On My Patch" - Halloween). The second was mildly enjoyable (Christmas themed, I forget the name) and clearly laid some groundwork for future events. I haven't yet read the third piece, which I think is called "Lifeboats", but the synopsis she gives on her site is interesting - another planetary rescue, except most of the residents don't want to be rescued. As I said, a little more wizardry is always fun. And she does have sales regularly (I think there's one on right now, though it may have run out).

>136 foggidawn: My cats respond to "Move.", firmly stated. At least, they usually do - sometimes I have to hover over whichever one is in the middle of my seat to get him or her to shift. Right now, one is on a cushion at my left side, and the other is attempting to shove me off the recliner foot - he's lying along my leg right in the middle, my other leg is right at the edge of the foot thing, and falling off at times.

My cats like to help me type. Piles mean nothing to them. They would just as soon jump on those and send them crashing as anything else. It makes for interesting problems when working on genealogy as I have most of the weekend, particularly if there are loose papers in the piles that get separated. I'm glad I've learned to add labels to each sheet now, but some of my older stuff doesn't have that, and I had an entire folder of older stuff knocked off and mixed up before I even thought about adding labels to each piece. I guess the lesson I've learned is to take the time to go through and label each piece before I leave it in a place where kittens may knock it off.

>145 jjmcgaffey: I'm most of the way through Lifeboats, and it's definitely the most interesting in the collection. "Not On My Patch" was great, and the Christmas themed one was interesting and incredibly fluffy. Lifeboats is much more serious, and I'm really not sure how it's going to be resolved yet. I'll be interested to see whether anything in these stories comes up in Games Wizards Play.

I just bought the updated ebook editions of all the books in one of her sales :-)

>143 ronincats: Oh, I am glad that you are going to read Pelquin's Comet, I really loved that one!

>143 ronincats: I forgot about the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, et al. Of the childhood sleuths, Trixie Belden was the one that I connected to. I also loved Harriet the Spy.

>94 ronincats: 'Kriti, she's actually working on another Penric novella. Yay!'

Yay!

>120 ronincats: & >122 sirfurboy: Ok, I think you have convinced me to try the Young Wizards series. There seems to be a normal edition of the first book and a New Millennium edition which 'features exclusive new material which does not appear in the original (1983) edition'. Which one should I read??

>140 ronincats: Thanks for the reminder about Worlds Without End, Roni. I think I signed up some time ago but haven't really done anything there for a while so I logged in and did some voting. Will try to remember to check their site more often.

Re God Stalk and sequels, I would be interested and midyear or next year would work for me.

>144 RebaRelishesReading:, >145 jjmcgaffey:, >146 thornton37814: Love the cat stories, Reba, Jenn, and Lori.

>145 jjmcgaffey:, >147 archerygirl: Okay, I'm on my way to buy Interim Errantry right now!

>147 archerygirl: Thanks for posting the Nebula nominations on your thread!

>148 DeltaQueen50: It's on the wishlist, Judy, but no telling when I'll get to it.

>149 justchris: I adored the Hardy Boys, Chris. Nancy Drew came into my life a couple of years later and I never really got into her that much, although my little sister was a devotee. I did have one Trixie Belden book I was given as a gift, but the libraries didn't have those. And I didn't read Harriet the Spy until a Child Lit course in college--5 years after first published.

>150 souloftherose: Hi, Heather. Yay, indeed! The New Millenium edition primarily updates the technology from 1982, so now the characters have cell phones and internet and all that jazz. I'd go ahead and get the new ones. Remember, at the author's website, you can usually find a sale on the ebooks at a great discount.

I signed up for WWE the year they had the Women of Genre challenge--to read 12 women genre authors who were new to you that year. That was a great challenge and I did so. The challenges the last two years have been more open-ended and I haven't used the site as much, which is a pity as it is a wonderful resource.

I suspect the God Stalk series read would go over better if we wait until next year--more people willing to participate--but I don't know if I can wait that long for a reread. On the other hand, the author is turning in the manuscript for the next book on March 1--it will probably be next year before it hits publication, so a reread at that time would fit in very nicely for that.

The books so far are:
God Stalk
Dark of the Moon
Seeker's Mask
To Ride a Rathorn
Bound in Blood
Honor's Paradox
The Sea of Time
Blood & Ivory (short stories)

There are two omnibus editions. The first combines the first two books and has several different names. The second combines books 3 & 4 and is titled Seeker's Bane.

The nice thing about this series is that if you don't like the first book, you can stop there. After all, we readers had to do so, even if unwillingly, for nearly 20 years.

Book #17 Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (354 pp.)

Amazon Description: For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself, and might contain the only copy of his mysterious new game.

Racing against time, Emily and James rush from clue to clue, desperate to figure out the secret at the heart of Griswold's new game―before those who attacked Griswold come after them too.

Thanks to CompSki for warbling about this middle-school book on her thread. I loved it as much as the Blue Balliett books to which it is compared, and the concept of the Book Scavenger game is SO MUCH FUN!

de-lurking to say hi. :)

>152 ronincats: That looks like a book my kids and I would enjoy very much. :)

>152 ronincats: I can see that I would lap up that game, itinerant Book Scavenger that I already am. XX

>153 nittnut: Jenn, it's perfect for kids who love books. And adults who are kids at heart who love books. I'm going back to the elementary school where I worked next week for Dr. Seuss' Read Across America to read to classrooms, and I'm taking my copy to donate to the school library.

>154 PaulCranswick: I'm guessing Belle might love this book, Paul. Yes, I immediately wanted to go to the website and sign up, but of course, it's fictional. The game is partially inspired by Book Crossing.



Book #18 Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold (344 pp.)

Finally, after many, many years, we get a book about Cordelia again! And this one is not space opera but an examination of aging and endings and beginnings and, of course, a little bit of farce, and we get to see Miles and Ekaterin and the 6 kids...and we see Cordelia re-establish her center without Aral and move on her own goals.

Ah, yes, cats and computers...or for that matter cats and bathroom sinks when getting ready in the morning. Always a pleasure...

Matisse and Picasso said to say hi to Zoe and your two boy cats. At least, that's my translation.

The cobalt hair looks great!

I wondered for your heart earrings what gauge wire you were using. Looks like it might be 16 - but I wasn't sure. Are you using German wire at all to get them to keep their shape? I haven't had a lot of luck with the few wire earrings I have made. I haven't tried many, and just with the wire I have on hand, but they tend to bend out of shape. I have not explored using different wire, but your heart earrings are tempting me to have another go at it.

>156I use 18 and 20 gauge aluminum craft wire, and hammer it to strengthen it. I do remind my customers, though, that it is flexible and not to put heavy things on top of them or yank on them. Wires are 20 gauge--I have found some people can't fit the 18 gauge through their ears.

>151 ronincats: You're welcome! I know that a there are people who use nomination lists as reading lists, and at least the Nebs aren't too controversial these days!

Hi, Roni.

I loved the Hardy Boys as a kid, too. Our daughter was a dedicated Nancy Drew fan, and never took to Frank and Joe. (Our son was a sci-fi/fantasy fan, and never took to mysteries at all, surprising the heck out of me).

Like you, I enjoyed that revisit with Cordelia and the clan in Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.

It'll take a little while just to collect the God Stalk books!

Hmm touchstones were better, now being weird again . . .

>151 ronincats: My first omnibus is called The Godstalker Chronicles. Not like the first book?! Sacrilege!!

>152 ronincats: That looks exciting.

Hardy Boys and Nacy Drew; I used to devour those. But I never met Trixie Belden or Harriet the Spy. My 7 year old is just discovering Enid Blyton's Secret Seven.

>150 souloftherose: The Millennium Editions have been re-edited slightly - mostly, to update the tech (and, she says, tidy up the timeline so the kids are the right age for the current books). There are mentions of cell phones in the ME which are not in the originals, for instance. No big difference, but I'd get the ME if you're just starting. I got them when I got the ebooks - not changing my paper copies, though. The differences are minuscule - I had to go through page by page to find most of them, and things like the phones are integrated nicely so they don't stand out as new text. I mostly noticed them after the fact (wait a minute, in that scene they're on their cell phones, that couldn't have been original...).

I read the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, but my favorites were Tom Swift (Jr) and Rick Brant. I was a geek even back then. But rereading, Tom is rather silly and Rick keeps choosing the stupidest possible action...ghahh! I don't know what to do with my boxes of books - don't want to get rid of them (lose my loved books?) but I don't want to read them either. I actually like the original Tom Swifts better, although you have to overlook some really blatant racism from time to time. But Tom Swift Jr is nearly as bad with the stereotypes.

Enid Blyton was one of my intros to mysteries - The ____ of Adventure (Valley, Mountain, etc) series and the Ring o'Bells Mystery (I may have read others in that series, but I don't recall them). I read Secret Seven and...the other group of kids (5 Investigators? No, Famous Five), but they weren't favorites (didn't get read and reread). She was also one of my intros to fantasy - the Brownies books and the Wishing-Chair and so on.

I remember Enid Blyton books - just loved them. Nancy Drew was good too.

>157 ronincats: Thanks, Roni. I am going to have to give wire a try again. Probably not the best time of the year for me to do it now, but as soon as April 15 passes, I am going to give it a go!

Hi, Roni. Nancy Drew and the Dana girls for me and then straight into Agatha Christie!

>158 archerygirl: Yes, Katherine, and I do too. There are so many books being published that there is no way to keep up with them, and so if enough people think these are worth being nominated, I think they are worth reading.
>159 jnwelch: Hi, Joe. I loved Frank and Joe more than any other mystery series, but I did enjoy Isaac Asimov's mysteries--did your son ever try them?
>160 sibylline: Not nearly as hard as it used to be, thank goodness, Lucy!
>161 humouress: Nina, there are two other titles for that first omnibus as well, but I think yours is the most common.
>162 jjmcgaffey: I heard of the Tom Swift books but not of Rick Brant. My small town middle America library was very limited in what it had. And no bookstore closer than 25 miles away, which was a lot further in those days, plus no disposible income. Only two science fiction books before someone donated their complete collection of Edgar Rice Burroughs hardcovers from their estate to the library when I was in 5th grade--Mars and Venus and Perelandra, oh MY!
>163 Familyhistorian: Also not available when I was young. Later, I did get to read some of hers.
>164 rretzler: Let me know when you do, Robin.
>165 LizzieD: Ah, see, I went into Heinlein and Asimov and Bradbury and Clarke and especially Andre Norton from there--all were available in my high school library when I reached there at age 13. ETA that library was about three times the size of my home town library (counting that library's picture and adult books!).

So I finished one nonfiction I've been working on for a week or so and picked up a BOTS fantasy that is for my reading group next week.



Book #19 The Bible Doesn't Say That: 40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, and Other Misunderstandings by Joel M. Hoffman (304 pp.)

The author is a foremost expert in ancient Hebrew language and translation issues. This book is tagged "religious right" and "us politics" in LT, neither of which seem to me appropriate. On the contrary, Hoffman is careful to maintain a studied neutrality to the modern interpretations of scripture that exist, maintaining that it is the right of religious leaders to do so, but working to clarify what the writings meant to the people in the language of the time. Sometimes this means identifying translation errors but often it means tracking how word meanings have changed over time so that a translation that might have been accurate using an English word 400 years ago no longer is because the meaning of that word has evolved in a different direction. Once he has set the framework, each chapter is short and to the point and very readable. I enjoyed it.



Book #20 Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara (507 pp.)

I picked this up this morning and finished it well before bedtime here, so you can see that it is very readable and also held my interest well. I picked this up from PaperBackSwap in January of 2013--I had confused the author with another whose first book in a series I hadn't particularly liked for quite a while and finally realized it, so wanted to give this series a try. It's classic fantasy, good female protagonist with great world-building and lots of action and I've got the second (it's a long series by now) on order from the library.

>167 ronincats: Trading book bullets! I have to get "The Bible Doesn't Say That".

It is not in the library, and the ebook is a touch expensive but I requested a sample already. I also notice the audiobook (from iTunes) is about the same price as the ebook, so maybe if I have a long car journey coming I will get that instead. In any case it is definitely on my TBR.

>167 ronincats: That sounds interesting; the subject matter and linguistics, I mean, though I doubt I'll get around to reading it. Maybe if I happen to come across it, which is unlikely, unfortunately.

>167 ronincats: The Bible Doesn't Say That looks really interesting, particularly the point about language changing so translations not staying accurate. I studied translation theory as part of my degree and I've always had an issue with one translation being described as definitive for all time and purposes.

Yup, definitely a bullet for me. I'm interested in translation issues and this sounds like a really good book.

"Me too" on The Bible Doesn't Say That. Now to figure out where I'll squeeze it in ....

Let me point out, Stephen, Nina, >170 eclecticdodo:, Jim and Steve, that you might want to check out Hoffman's other books for your interests. In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language looks at the evolution of Hebrew as a language and And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning appears to be a more general treatment of the issues in this book (and it's cheaper).

Interesting series of books about language and the Bible. I'm sorely tempted!!

Ah, Reba, but I'm also reading the new John Shelby Spong book, Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, where he postulates that Matthew's Gospel is structured for the Jewish liturgical year, also fascinating! He mentions his visit to Chatauqua, btw.

So, for the last week, I've actually been walking every other day, from two to 3.5 miles, which is a change from none. Last Friday I did 5976 steps, Sunday was 9053 steps, Tuesday was 7455 steps, and today 9432. My weekly total is 34,325 steps, 14.52 miles which is probably a record since retirement. Wish I'd had a Fitbit then as I put on a good many steps a day at work! Today was a walk at the beach, and lunch at Baja Beach Cafe. Here's a picture from the deck where we ate:

Another one caught by that book bullet!

>166 ronincats: Yeah, Rick Brant was never nearly as big as Tom Swift. Somewhat similar in that it was science/engineering focused, but Rick was younger (12-14 in the first book?), and less building huge things like planes and flying cars and more - oh, I recall he automated the windows in his room so he could push a button and open them from his bed, for instance. Much more a modern Maker and less the near-magical stuff Tom could do.

So, I saw this picture in an ad for the Elfa sale at Bed, Bath & Beyond on my Facebook page the other day, and it sparked a question for you all!



If you had an uninterrupted wall, which would be your priority--a closet wall or a bookshelf wall?

Actually, I have exactly one uninterrupted wall in my house, and this is it--also Elfa.


Although my bungalow is severely short of closet space!

Well, I've got quite a decent selection of closets - two sliding-door ones and one "linen closet" with shelves up to the ceiling. However, I also have two entire walls of Elfa bookshelves - one wall in my bedroom (which includes my desk, also Elfa), and one in the living room (which contains a smallish TV). Other than those small intrusions, they're all books - and mostly double-shelved. And in the living room, the opposite wall also has Elfa, but only for about a third of its length - the rest is taken up by my sofa.

>177 ronincats:. Daft question ;0)

Wait: necessity or preference?

I would so definitely go for the book shelves!

>166 ronincats: I didn't even know Isaac Asimov had written any mysteries, Roni. I have read lots of his sci-fi, but didn't know about those.

I'm not sure we could persuade our son to try them. He seems to have his mind made up that he doesn't like reading mysteries. It surprises me, because he loves solving puzzles, but he's not of two minds about it.

On the other hand, you've given me a good tip. :-) Is there one of Isaac's that you particularly liked?

>178 jjmcgaffey:, >179 humouress:, >180 DeltaQueen50: ;-D

>181 jnwelch: I remember mostly his collections of short stories collected in the Black Widowers books, Joe. Tales of the Black Widowers is the first.

Description:
The Black Widowers Club — there were six of them. Professional men and their waiter. They gather at the Milano Restaurant once a month for good food and good conversation. But lately the Black Widowers have added a new entertainment to their meetings. They have begun to solve mysteries, murders, and conspiracies of seemingly impossible dimensions.

With all the skill of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot combined, these six men and their ever-faithful waiter, Henry, take on challenging cases that will tease your deductive skills to the limit and keep you guessing to the very end.

This short story collection contains the first 12 Black Widowers stories, most of which initially appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

>182 ronincats: Got it, thanks, Roni. They're super-pricey on Amazon right now, so I'll try the library.

I'm almost to Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, only Cryoburn to go. I did skip Falling Free, though.

#177 Bookshelf wall would be my choice every time!

>177 ronincats: we have walls of books like that too. Our dining room is a mini library of IKEA Billy bookcases. What I need is somewhere to store the bikes....

>177 ronincats: a closet wall or a bookshelf wall?
What kind of question is this?

>187 qebo: Rhetorical!
>186 eclecticdodo: Hang them from the ceiling. I've seen hooks...
>185 BBGirl55: Did I expect anything else?
>184 kgodey: Almost there!
>183 jnwelch: Didn't even look there, so didn't realize. Hope the library has it.

>186 eclecticdodo: A local acquaintance: http://miser-mom.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-i-built-my-own-hanging-bike-rack.html .

>175 ronincats: -- Bishop Spong will be at Chautauqua again this summer. I have a couple of his books that I haven't read so I've packed them for reading the week he's there. I'm really looking forward to hearing him speak again.

>177 ronincats: -- you need to ask?!?

>167 ronincats: My mom loved Michelle Sagara. Haven't read anything by her, but I have my mom's Kindle so I should take a peek at what she has.

>151 ronincats: & >162 jjmcgaffey: Thanks for the information about the Diane Duane books. I feel well primed for whenever I start the series :-)

>167 ronincats: Book bullets for The Bible Doesn't Say That and Cast in Shadow although I'm a little bit wary of a series that long.

>175 ronincats: Just saw you post on Mamie's thread to say no-one had commented on this post so thought I had better come back over and edit my post to say I was very impressed, I just forgot to comment. Also looking at that picture I cannot believe it is February where you are.

*huffing and puffing*

I was 51 posts behind, Roni, but I've caught up now. Random comments: I was a big Nancy Drew fan and could never muster up the same level of enthusiasm for the Hardy Boys... Your increased walking is awesome! On days when I go to the gym, I'm usually somewhere between 8000-9000. My goal is to more often hit and exceed 10,000 - it's doable, I just have to push myself more.... And as for closet vs. book wall, I'd go for the book wall even though my closet situation is pretty grim :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Roni, I came over here to cheer about your walking success! I am so proud of your stepping! Look at you go - you will get addicted to those stats, just warning you. I am so thrilled at how much you accomplished n one week - keep it up, girl!

Hi Roni! It's been a long time since I've been active on LT -- almost a year, other than those few times when I updated last year's list -- but I'm trying it this year, finally. So, I wanted to say hello! I should have known yours would be a busy thread -- always is -- but I'm so happy to see all your great posts. Walking! Holly Black! Book walls! (And yes, my vote would ALWAYS be for a bookshelf wall.) And a new installment in the Diane Duane series that I didn't even know about! So much good stuff as always. Thanks for being you. :)

Hugs!

>175 ronincats: All these numbers are a blur to me. :0(

>189 qebo: Neat. The ones I've seen were hooks that went into ceiling studs.
>190 RebaRelishesReading: Oh, neat, wish I could be there! And it's rhetorical, of course.
>191 luvamystery65: I've only read the one so far, Ro, but I did like it.
>192 souloftherose: Hope you give the Young Wizard books a try at some point, Heather. And apologies for the BBs. Thank you so much for the recognition--I need everything I can get to keep it going. AND we can't believe it's February either--it's going to be the warmest (and maybe the driest) February in recorded history here.
>193 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie, for the motivational recognition (see above). And yes, my closet situation is grim as well--no coat or linen closets, just two small closets in two of the three bedrooms...but I have books on my walls.
>194 Crazymamie: Hey, Mamie, I knew I could count on you! Not in your class, but a great improvement for me.
>195 beserene: Oh, Sarah, SO good to see you! I'll go find your thread right away.
>196 humouress: Yea, but you live in the TROPICS, Nina. Not amenable to exercise, or at least any more than you get chasing after your boys.

Not much reading going on. KU cinched its 12th straight Big 12 Conference championship this morning by beating Texas Tech at home--two more regular season games and then we're on to the tourneys. I did start Updraft this morning and so far it has my interest. Went to pottery (missed last week due to 100th birthday party) and glazed two mugs in shades of blue--they'll come home next week. Had 5 pieces still being bisque-fired in a kiln, trimmed two bowls and two tall mugs that will take a couple of weeks to dry and be bisque-fired. No walking today but will take Molly up to Balboa tomorrow for a good walk.

*brightens* So it's not my fault I'm piling on the weight!

Bisque-fired?

Roni--Also, popping in to say congrats on the walking!! And the uninterrupted wall goes to BOOKSHELVES! Of course. : )

Yay for more walking! I would go for the bookcase wall as well. 'Course I am not lacking in space and my basement has 11 bookshelves of various sizes (including 4 full size Billy Bookcases) and I have a walk in closet - with lots of shelf space for - books!

>175 ronincats: Lovely to see you walking your way to even better fitness Roni. That salt sea air will definitely not harm you either.

Have a great Sunday.

Congratulations on your walking Roni!

A book I ran across last year that I found interesting is Grammar of God by Aviya Kushner. She's a poet who grew up in a family who spoke Hebrew & debated interpretations of the Torah at the dinner table. While working on her MFA she took a class with Marilynne Robinson on the Old Testament, and didn't recognize the scriptures she knew in the English & Christian Bible.

So she spent several years reading various English translations, and this book explores particular themes & scriptures & the relationship of culture & language and meaning. It's not systematic as the ones you're reading, but it sheds some interesting light.

I am a secret admirer of your walking! You have shamed me into getting back on the treadmill, Roni. When I had my knee problems at the beginning of the year, I wasn't able to do any walking but with my knee in pretty good shape now I really don't have an excuse except pure laziness!

>188 ronincats:, >189 qebo: I've often wondered about hanging the bikes. Main issue is the weight as mine is electric and about 20kg. Victorian houses don't have very strong ceilings but so long as we went into a joist... then there's the issue of head room under it...
Along with our neighbours we've put in an application for the council to install a bike hangar in our street - a metal enclosed thingumy with cycle racks inside where we could all store our bikes. I'm really hoping that comes off! It's a bit of a nightmare at the moment squeezing them all under the stairs in a narrow hallway.

Good job on the stepping. I walked 10,000+ three days last week and then fell back into my slothful ways. I'm at 3836 so far today :(

The closet wall looks beautiful in the picture, but there's no way any closet of mine would ever look like that. So even if I didn't always need book storage more than clothes storage, I would choose a bookshelf wall just because it looks much nicer in reality.

Book #21 Updraft by Fran Wilde (364 pp.)

This book was added to my reading list by archerygirl when she listed the Nebula Award nominees and the library had it! It's the sort of fantasy that used to be science fiction, life in another world where people live on spires above the clouds and use artificial wings to fly. It's both a coming of age story and an examination of the social structure of the civilization. Quite well done and very readable!

>198 humouress: Of course it's not your fault, silly. There are two firings of pottery: one comes after the original clay form dries completely and is called bisque-firing--the clay is unglazed and still fragile--and the second final firing is after the bisque is glazed.

>199 Berly: Hi, Kim!
>200 Familyhistorian: Meg, I'm not talking to you. A walk-in closet, sheesh!
>201 PaulCranswick: Hi, Paul, I just have to keep it up.
>202 markon: Ardene, that is going straight onto the wishlist! And the library has it, although all 4 copies are checked out right now.
>203 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I'm not doing too well this week so far. We can do this, right?
>204 eclecticdodo: Ah, the problems of older house structures! I hear you. Hope you all can get that bike hangar.
>205 RebaRelishesReading: Got slothful yesterday myself. Today is busy--went to read for Read Across America at my former school and then a vet visit for Zoe. Probably nothing serious, but a black bump at her gum line.
>206 _Zoe_: I hear you, Zoe.

February Stats (January stats in parens)

Books read: 13 (8)
Pages read: 4614 (1683)
Average pages per book: 355 (263)
Average pages per day: 159 (53)

12 books were new to me reads, two were a Book Off The Shelf (BOTS). 4 were library books. Four were Kindle books, including the one reread. Six, including 3 of the Kindle books, were new acquisitions.

Genre: Science fiction-1, fantasy-5, nonfiction-3, children's-3, mystery-1

Author gender: female - 12, male - 1

I finished one book, history, for the nonfiction challenge.

Books acquired: 9 (books read - 5, 2 more in progress)
Format: 5 Kindle, 4 hb or tpb
Genre: 1 sf, 3 fantasy, 4 nonfiction, 1 children's
Cost: $102.01, Average $11.33

Books out the door: 0

Plans for February:
I did finish the Agatha Christie for BAC and Blood Rites for the nonfiction challenge. Also read the two books in the Magisterium series but did not get to City of Blades.

Plans for March:
I do really need to focus in on War and Peace as I have been turning to other books instead. I am working on Interim Errantry and Biblical Literalism: The Gentile Heresy as well as Indexing: Reflections. For the nonfiction challenge (travel), I will read Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys around Shakespeare's Globe, an ER book I received earlier this year.

Nice stats, Roni - I always love looking at those! And I liked that you posted the January ones in parenthesis - cool to compare like that!

Hoping that Tuesday has been kind to you.

Hooray for all the steps! I love my Fitbit too. Keeps me active and helps me set goals. I also find that I want to explain things when my step count goes down, lol. As in "hey guys, you're only ahead of me in steps cause I sprained my foot. Otherwise, I'd totally be winning." Haha!

>177 ronincats: That's a no-brainer. Books, of course. :)

Finally catching up a bit on your thread! The Bible Doesn't Say That looks really interesting, and of course I would need a book wall rather than a closet wall! (I might not say no to a different type of bureau in order to fit more bookshelves, in fact...). Nice job on your walking, too.

>208 ronincats: Hmm. I'll take that one with a pinch of salt ;0)

When you say 'older house structures' it reminds me when we bought our house it was about 40 years old. Having grown up in London, I considered it quite young. But here in Singapore, which hadn't then celebrated her 50th year as a nation, it was considered old.

>210 Crazymamie: Tuesday was good to me, Mamie. We supposedly went to walk but only ended up with one mile after running errands, part of that in park with the dog.

>211 nittnut: Yeah, well, unfortunately, this week hasn't been nearly as active.

>212 bell7: Thanks, Mary.

>213 humouress: ;-)



Book #22 Interim Errantry by Diane Duane (459 pp.)

Three stories occurring between books 9 and 10 of the Young Wizards series, these include a short story about Halloween, a novellete about Christmas and a novella that is a really great story about evacuating a planet.

>177 ronincats: Books, of course. We have quite a bit of Elfa shelving that is closet shelving, but we have even more Billys!

>181 jnwelch: >182 ronincats: The Black Widowers are a very good read, and I also liked The Union Club Mysteries too. Short stories so that you can get a feel for them without necessarily having to commit to an entire book. Of course, I'm sure you are aware that the first three Robot novels The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn with R. Daneel Olivaw and Elijah Bailey were also mysteries. Asimov also did some fantasy with Azazel. In fact, I seem to recall reading that Asimov had more works across the Dewey Decimal system than did any other writer!

>175 ronincats: Wow! Those are some fantastic numbers. I need to start walking...

Congratulations on your walking stats!!! Way to go!! It takes persistence, but I have a feel now for what I have to do to make it to 10,000 and it's gotten easier. Of course, my spousal unit thinks I am a nut-case as sometimes I walk around in circles either inside or in the driveway to get those last few hundred steps! It was not easy on this recent road trip to make it, but I do things like park as far from the rest rooms as possible! Miss Po is oddly uninterested in walking about at rest stops, so after she does her biz, I sometimes put her back in the car and take another short turn. It's amazing how it adds up.

The FitBit is motivation to do household tasks that I might otherwise let slide, because they'll add 100s of steps. A couple of short loops in the neighborhood are good for those final 500-1000 steps, or to force myself out of sedentary mode early in the day when I don't have much time. Then the main walk of the day isn't such an abrupt change, and doesn't have to be so long.

Seeing the numbers on my Fitbit add up--or dip!--is a big motivator for getting up and walking around my office regularly through the day. I've also done a lot of pacing around the house with a book to get my steps in on days when I'm at home. It's amazing how much those little green stars and leader boards get us moving!

>215 rretzler: I'm on the low end compared to the rest of our Fitbitters, I fear. And I've fallen down completely again this week. LOVE Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun, about the only Asimov SF that stands up to rereads.
>216 sibylline: Lucy, I have to get better at doing that sort of thing myself.
>217 qebo:, >218 archerygirl: It is a good motivator to work in extra activity.



Book #23 Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire (325 pp.)

This series takes place in our modern world, where fairy tale archetypes have the power to take over a person's personality and life, usually with tragic results. And our protagonist, Harry (harriett), starts the series as a dormant Snow White who is an agent of the Bureau who works to find and nullify the storylines before they can harm others. In this, book two, Harry is having to deal with having her storyline activated and how this affects her investigative team. As always, the author is original and a fine storyteller herself. For some reason, with this particular series (as opposed to the Toby Daye books or the Incryptids or the others), I cannot read it straight through. I have to put the book down, let it rest a day before picking it back up to continue. But I always continue.

This book and the first in the series, Indexing, are on sale for Kindle presently for $1.99 each. Half of what I paid for it. Go get them.

Currently working on Heap House (which finally arrived at my branch library along with Kingfisher by Patricia McKillip and the sequel to Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight) as well as the new Incryptid novel by Seanan McGuire, Chaos Choreography.

My teeth are clean and I go back on St. Patrick's Day to have the last of my cavities filled while still on dental insurance.

Zoe goes in next Wednesday for surgery--turns out they can only do the biopsy on the growth on her gums after it is removed. She's 14 but in excellent health so hopefully will respond well to the anesthetic.

We had our back door measured for replacement doors this morning, so hopefully will have that in train next week as well.

I bought a new Ninja blender/food processor combo at Costco yesterday, and replaced my old blender which had become unreliable as well as a bulky food processor I'd bought at a garage sale years ago. Also replaced the Foodsaver, which still vacuum sealed my food for the freezer but was requiring some work-arounds to get it to do the final seal. That thing is definitely a food saver--my husband overbuys food and this appliance keeps it in top condition in the freezer without the freezer burn that baggies always let in.

El Nino is coming back this weekend. Temps are supposed to drop dramatically and we should get actual rain on Sunday and Monday!

I bought new trimming tools at the pottery supply place yesterday while we were out and am looking forward to using them tomorrow, or would be had I anything ready to trim, which I don't. I should have a bunch of stuff to glaze and two cups to bring home.

My Jayhawks are back at #1 nationally. Last game of the regular season is tomorrow. The game time was unsettled until last month as ESPN worked out their schedule. Wouldn't you know it, they scheduled it at the exact same time as the Democratic caucus for the state, 3 pm! Hopefully the ranking and the political controversy won't jinx them and they can finish off the season with a win, having already won their 12th consecutive Big 12 Championship. Go Hawks! Rock Chalk!

Planted a flower bowl today with snapdragons, pansies and dianthus. I'll take a picture when they recover from the transplanting (and root amputations--they were a bit root-bound). Our apricot tree is blooming like crazy. Many years it doesn't bloom at all because it doesn't get cold enough at the right time to stimulate it, but this is the best blooming we've ever seen. Hope it sets a lot of fruit because it produces really good apricots. The lemon and grapefruit trees definitely liked all the rain we had earlier in the season and are fruiting like crazy.

>219 ronincats: Would love to see pictures of the trees - that sounds beautiful. Hope the flower bowl does well.

>155 ronincats: Funny, I just talked about this book earlier today on Heather's thread. I'm excited about another Cordelia book. I need to get moving on the Vorkosigan Series. Another road trip coming up to Colorado a week from tomorrow. I know what I'll be listening to. Who knows, next year I might join you on your new series if you decide to wait that long.

>175 ronincats: Nice lunch view, Roni. Things are looking good in Paradise!

I'm voting for bookshelves. I like your collection of stuffed animals on yours.
Oh, please do post some flower pictures for those of us who are flowerless. My daffodils will be blooming soon. Yay!

Hi Roni - I LOVE your jewelry -- and your shelves. I'm with Donna.

>219 ronincats: Thanks for the tip on the price drop, Roni! I read the first book a few weeks ago, and was going to get the second soon anyway. Glad to hear you liked it.

Happy weekend, Roni.

>220 charl08: Here you go, Charlotte. Sorry I didn't move the trash container first, but that's the lemon tree with one of the grapefruit trees in the right rear of the picture.

>221 Donna828: Well, the bowl isn't fully recovered from the transplant, but we are looking at two rainy days coming up so it probably won't look its best for another week.

>222 BLBera: Thank you, Beth.
>223 swynn: Glad to be of service, Steve.
>224 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. Hope your toe is better.

KU did win today, although it was tight to the end. Next up, the Big 12 tourney in Kansas City next week. After the game, it was off to the pottery where I glazed 6 pieces and brought these home.


Also finished a book this morning. Thanks, blue, for reminding me it was coming out this week.



Book #24 Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire (356 pp.)

Book 5 of the Incryptid series sees us back with Verity Price as the viewpoint character as she is invited to take up her dancing persona once more in the TV show Dance or Die. Only problem is that there is a snake cult murdering eliminated contestants. Love the world-building in this urban fantasy series.

Love those blue mugs!

Just checking up on things over here. Thanks for the updates! : )

>225 ronincats: Love the photos, Roni , and I want one of them blue mugs for my office.

Have a great Sunday.

It's great to have a lemon tree. It won't survive here only if one would have a conservatory. Yep, my toe feels better.

Wow that lemon tree looks wonderful. Our local aldi is doing gardening deals at the moment, and the last time I was in they were selling Mediterranean shrubs - rosemary, lavender and oranges. (I think for greenhouses) The fruit was nowhere near as impressive looking as your tree though. Thanks for posting it.

>225 ronincats: Oh, if I ever knew you had a lemon tree, I'd forgotten. What fun!
I like the shades of blue on the mugs.

>207 ronincats: Updraft may have just gone on the list...

>219 ronincats: Sigh, and Indexing too.

>225 ronincats: Love the blue of those mugs!

There is an almost tragic story about the lemon tree. We rented here for 4 years before we had the opportunity to purchase our 1930s bungalow. When we bought it in 1986, my husband bought a chain saw and, while I was at work, decided he would try it out on the lemon tree. I, of course, went ballistic when I got home. It took the poor tree nearly 15 years to recover, regrow, and start producing normally again, and he wasn't forgiven until it did! If the tree hadn't survived, he might not have either!

>175 ronincats: Love the beachview, miss the beach sometimes, in Rotterdam we were much closer to the beach... On the other hand visiting a beach with Ari would give tonns of sand back home ;-)

>177 ronincats: Books of course. Our clothing space is about 1/5 of the book space in this house. Before the great cull it was even less!

>225 ronincats: Love the flowers, those can't go outside here before May, so I'll have to wait 2 months before the annuals are bought and planted.

>233 ronincats: So I am not the only one who is relieved the lemon tree survived ;-)

>225 ronincats: I love those mugs, Roni!

I hope your Jayhawks have a great run in the tournament. And maybe you'll cheer for my Huskies (the women, at least)?

Have a great week ahead!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Thank you, foggi, Kim, Paul, Barbara, Charlotte, Katherine, Heather, Anita and Ellen, for visiting me. I have frivolled away the entire day watching all three Lord of the Rings films and the middle Hobbit film on TV. No reading. No work.

>233 ronincats: I think I would have been mad too. I love lemons and wish I lived in a good climate for

>236 ronincats: That sounds like a most excellent day, Roni. Good for you.

Hi Roni. What is it about men and chain saws! My son-in-law took his new chain saw to the plum tree in their backyard which just about broke my daughters heart. They have replanted a new one, but as you say, it will take a few years to get it back to full fruit bearing. I do envy you having a lemon tree in your backyard, lemon is my favorite flavor!

>237 thornton37814: Love my lemon tree, Lori.
>238 jnwelch: It was nice, and unusual for me.
>239 DeltaQueen50: Men want to play with their power tools, but they use suchmpoor judgment.

So, today is not so good. I woke up at 3 with a urinary tract infection and after several hours gave in and took meds. (My np wants me to get a culture first but the lab doesn't open until 8) So I got back to sleep at 6:30 and slept until 11. Been lethargic all day as the body fights the infection and playing computer games on my tablet all day.

The blue mugs are very very nice. The lemon tree is an object of envy.

>240 ronincats: Hope you have lots of cranberry juice on hand!

>240 ronincats: Oh, sorry you're feeling poorly :-( Hope you feel better soon.

I've been neck deep in other projects the past few days but am trying to catch up. Love you lemon tree story. If it had been a Meyer you would have been forgiven for most any reaction!

Loe the mugs.

UTI are horrible Ro. I hope you feel better soon.

Lovely blue mugs. Glad the lemon tree survived. Dropping by after too long away from LT with a pfft computer...now I'm on my other one, the main one is still dead.

Ack! What is it with the UTI's around here? I sure hope they aren't catching. Hope you feel better soon.

Still battling the UTI. I have a long history of this and the meds are pretty ineffective. Went in to the lab yesterday to have a sample cultured, but won't have the results for a few days yet. Good news is that although I still don't have my energy back, I at least can focus on reading after that first day and I've polished off several books--see next message for reviews.

Zoe made it through her surgery fine yesterday to have a growth on her gum removed--also won't have the results of the biopsy for several days to see if it is cancerous or not. She's not happy with the cone on her head, but it isn't slowing her down at all.

>241 sibylline: As a native Kansan, Lucy, the lemon tree is still a wonder to me.
>242 thornton37814: Actually, I've been introduced to cranberry extract capsules, Lori. Much less sugar!
>243 souloftherose: Thanks, Heather.
>244 RebaRelishesReading: If it had been a Meyer, he'd be dead and I'd be out of prison by now, Reba. You are so right!
>245 luvamystery65: Thanks, Ro.
>246 jjmcgaffey: Hi, Jenn. Glad you are back online and hope your computer woes are straightened out soonest.
>247 nittnut: I know, do you think Amber jinxed me, Jenn?

Sorry to hear you have been unwell, but glad to hear you have been able to read lately. get well soon.

Book #25 Biblical Literalism: The Gentile Heresy by John Shelby Spong (421 pp.)



Book #26 Heap House by Edward Carey (405 pp.)



Book #27 City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett (498 pp.)

Reviews in Progress--see new thread!

Hope your feeling better Roni. Yasmyne had a severe UTI a couple of years ago and was hospitalised - don't recall her finishing three books then though!

Thanks, Stephen and Paul! Come join me on the new thread!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220073

>225 ronincats: Love your blue mugs, Roni. They're reminiscent of the set that my best friend gave me for our wedding present, but mine are one-toned.

>233 ronincats: Sometimes plants come back stronger after trauma like that. My mum planted a Clematis vine in the garden which my sister's rabbits always nibbled on, so it never grew. When we had to give the rabbits away, however, the Clematis absolutely took over the back fence.

When the cat's away ... Another friend told me of how her dad (who, as far as I know, never does any DIY) decided to paint the garden fence red when her mum went on holiday.