Roni Reads in 2020: Chapter 6

We keep giving big bags of them away, but still...

Hi, I'm Roni. I live in San Diego with one husband, one small dog and way too many cats in a small bungalow with a garden and lots of books. I'm retired these days, after a long career as a school psychologist. Since retiring, I've made time for throwing pottery, wirework, crochet, and sewing in addition to reading and share photos of my work on my threads.

I've been a member of LT since 2008 and an active member of the 75 Book Challenge groups for that long as well. I read mostly in genre, science fiction and fantasy, but also try to read some nonfiction, mystery, and regency romance.

Welcome to my thread. I love visitors and promise to visit you back.

My final thread of 2019 is here:https://www.librarything.com/topic/313220

Goals for 2020

Read 150 books and 50,000 pages.
Read at least 30 books off my own bookshelves.
Acquire no more than 80 books.
Send 50 books out the door.

Read at least 12 nonfiction books--I usually do this, but it's important to me and I want to be sure I prioritize it.

My Goals for 2019:

1. Read 150 books and 50,000 pages.. Goal Met: 175 books and 57,
2. Read at least 40 books off my own bookshelves (BOMBs). NOT Met: 22 books
3. Acquire no more than 80 books. Goal Met: 78 books acquired, 43 read! Close one.
4. 50 books out the door once more. Goal Met: 115 books, exceeded expectations!

That does mean that I read 65 of my own books, just that 43 of them were acquired this calendar year.

Books Read in 2020

January

1. The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell
2. Christmas Revels VI by Hannah Meredith
3. Spoilers: Things Get Worse by Galen Surlak-Ramsey
4. The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman
5. The Hollow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle
6. Kaleidoscope by Dorothy Gilman
7. The Globe by Terry Pratchett
8. Catfishing on Catnet by Naomi Kritzer
9. Dragonshadow by Elle Katharine White
10. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hugheart
11. Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
12. The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
13. Cast in Wisdom by Michelle Sagara

February

14. Crown of Renewal by Elizabeth Moon
15. Close Kin By Clare Dunkle
16. Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero
17. A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain
18. The Goblin Mirror by C. J. Cherryh
19. In the Coils of the Snake by Clare Dunkle
20. A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell
21. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
22. A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark
23. Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher
24. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
25. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark
26. Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire
27. Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest

March

28. Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins by Bella Forrest
29. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
30. Comet Weather by Liz Williams
31. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
32. The Gate That Locks the Tree by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
33. Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen
34. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir
35. The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Horwitz
36. Echoes in Onyx by Sharon Shinn
37. A Woman of Consequence by Anna Dean
38. Wyrde and Wayward by Charlotte English
39. Wyrde and Wicked by Charlotte English
40. The Road to Farringale by Charlotte English
41. The Chronicles of Amber: Volume 1 by Roger Zelazny
42. The Chronicles of Amber: Volume 2 by Roger Zelazny
43. The Lost Art of Scripture by Karen Armstrong
44. Baker's Magic by Diane Zahler

April
45. Lessons in Enchantment by Patricia Rice
46. Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz
47. Changer by Jane Lindskold
48. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
49. The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss
50. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
51. Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen
52. Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor

May
53. A Light in the Window by Jan Karon
54. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
55. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
56. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
57. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
58. Network Effect by Martha Wells
59. The Physicians of Vilnic by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Changeling by Molly Harper
61. All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor
62. Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
63. The Med Series by Murray Leinster
64. Star Surgeon by Alan Nourse
65. Hospital Station by James White
66. Star Surgeon by James White
67. Major Operation by James White
68 Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Beginnings by Lydia Sherrer
69 Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Revelations by Lydia Sherrer

June
70. Ambulance Ship by James White
71. False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
72. Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Allies by Lydia Sherrer
73. The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman
74. Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherrer
75. Resting Witch Face by Rebecca Regnier
76. Sector General by James White
77. Star Healer by James White
78. Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling
79. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune
80. Code Blue--Emergency by James White
81. Furies of the Calderon by Jim Butcher
82. The Great American Deception by Scott Stein

July
83. Sorcerous Rivalry by Kayleigh Nicol
84. The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
85. The Genocidal Healer by James White
86. The Galactic Gourmet by James White
87. Final Diagnosis by James White
88. The Little Grey Men by Denys Watkins-Pitchford
89. Mind Changer by James White
90. Double Contact by James White
91. Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco
92. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
93. The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
94. Scharlette Doesn't Matter and Goes Time Travelling by Sam Bowring
95. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
96. The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust

August
97. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry
98. Love, One Regency Christmas by Arietta Richmond etal.
99. Magical Midlife Madness by K. F. Breene
100. The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
101. Magical Midlife Crisis by K. F. Breene
102. Angel Mage by Garth Nix
103. Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
104. Touch of Power by Maria Snyder
104.5. Attack of the 50 Foot Indian by Stephen Jones

September
105. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
106. A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
107. Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis
108. Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn
109. Trader's Leap by Lee and Miller
110. Accepting the Lance by Lee and Miller
111. Neogenesis by Lee and Miller
112. Mantivore Dreams by S. J. Higbee

Books Acquired in 2020

January
1. Flame Bringer by Elle Katharine White
2. Arkad's World by James Cambias
3. From Sea to Stormy Sea edited by Lawrence Block
4. Love, One Regency Christmas by Arietta Richmond
5. Echo in Onyx by Sharon Shinn
6. Cast in Wisdom by Michelle Sagara
7. Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope
8. A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell
9. Stars Beyond by S. K. Dunstall

February
10. A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark
11. Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
12. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
13. Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire
14. The Hound of Justice by Claire O'Dell

March
15. Comet Weather by Liz Williams
16. The Gate that Locks the Tree by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
17. Wyrde and Wayward by Charlotte English
18. Wyrde and Wicked by Charlotte English
19. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

April
20. Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor
21. The Innkeeper Chronicles: Vol. 1 by Ilona Andrews
22. Hand Made by Melissa Norris

May
23. Network Effect by Martha Wells
24. The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold
25. Eye of the Wizard by Daniel Arenson
26. Changeling by Molly Harper
27. Beginning Operations by James White

July
28. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
29 The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust
30. Singer Enigma by Ann Maxwell

August
31. Attack of the 50 Foot Indian by Stephen Jones

September
32. A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
33. Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis
34. Trader's Leap by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
35. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Welcome to the new thread, peoples! I've got three books to catch up reviews on, in a bit, probably this evening. Be back later!

Happy new one!

What a great tomato harvest :)

Happy new thread!

Lovely tomatoes!

Happy new thread, Roni. I wish I were your neighbor; I would be in tomato heaven.

Happy new thread, Roni!

Book #90 Double Contact by James White (311 pp.)

The Rhabwar, Sector General's ambulance ship, is sent out to investigate a distress call and ends up encountering not one but two first contact species. This book is narrated from Dr. Prilicla's POV and is as usual a highly imaginative adventure with original aliens, but I do have a fondness for the character of Sector General itself and miss it when we are off in space instead. This is the final book in the series.



Book #92 Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco (422 pp.)

This is either a really original take on fairy tales or a hot mess--perhaps a bit of both. What I loved: the immersion in Filipino culture especially at the beginning of the story, with the language and the food and the titas. As long as the story was focused on Tala in the small Arizona town where she and her family and the aunts and uncles live and in her high school, it was grounded and interesting. But when all the action centered in on her best friend Alex's being revealed as the hidden Crown Prince of Avalon, where both the government of the Royal States (having outlawed magic) and the Snow Queen Beira (whose attack on Avalon had resulted in its being frozen in ice) send forces to capture him. The rest of the book is a series of escapes and flight into Avalon to restore Alex to the throne, in the midst of a patchwork of fairy tale tropes from both Alice in Wonderland and traditional fairy tales, and devolves away from characterization to all action film. Add to that a deliberately ambiguous ending that clearly signals a sequel, and you may not want to invest the time and energy.



Book #93 The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison (448 pp.)

This is the new Addison book, out just one month, and I was the first in line at the library. If you are hoping for another book at all like The Goblin Emperor, you WILL be disappointed. If you are a Sherlock Holmes devotee, you will love the re-imagining of four of Holmes' signature cases in an alternative history that includes angels, hell hounds and werewolves. This was originally Holmes fanfic, reworked, and the author is a big fan of the Cumberbatch show so I understand there are a lot of allusions that I missed as well. Go into it expecting that and you will be entertained.



Book #94 Scharlette Doesn't Matter and Goes Time Travelling by Sam Bowring (360 pp.)

This is one of those Kindle books I could borrow for free and which promised completely mindless light fantasy/science fiction and pretty much delivers. Scharlette is having her usual bad day as a TSA screener when she gets kidnapped accidentally by a time traveller and, because she has absolutely no impact on history, he keeps her around through a constantly rebooting armageddon for the human race which pretty much consists of nonstop action of one sort or another. The author is an Australian comedian and the tone is sardonic and light. Okay for pandemic reading.

Hi, Anita, Susan, Beth and Judy! It's been a mix of indolence and conservation this week, with the latter including laundry and rearranging the kitchen to make room for the (HEAVY) KitchenAid stand mixer that my husband bought me Wednesday for our anniversary tomorrow. Also working around not using my kitchen sink or dishwasher for most of the week until the plumber could come in yesterday and replace the broken pipe under the house where it drained out. Fortunately the water was still running, I have a second smaller sink in the kitchen, and none of the other drains was affected, so we could use everything else. Temps have been in the high 70s or low 80s, gorgeous outdoors when sitting in the shade, and so afternoons have been mostly reading on the lounge. Gardening and watering in the mornings--the photo above doesn't include the 13 tomatoes and 18 lemons brought in from the back yard this morning. I did lose the bush beans to powdery mildew, though. Molly had her teeth cleaned Wednesday, and I brought library books home including the Adderly and the Uriah Heep books. At pottery on Thursday, I picked up some hand-built phone and tablet and business card holders and then trimmed 6 plates and glazed one bowl.

>11 ronincats: How could I have missed #93!? I thought I was on the lookout for the next Katherine Addison, but clearly I dozed.

Love tomatoes, always love your thread, Roni.

Happy new one. xx

Sounds like a great start to the weekend, Roni, except for the necessity of a plumber. At least the job is done!
I have *Uriah H* on my Kindle but no time to start it yet. I'll be interested (and likely motivated or not) by your reaction.

>12 ronincats: What a great idea! Those stands look lovely, and must be so useful.

Your tomatoes look amazing. My bean plants look great but have yet to flower: hoping for some sunshine!

Happy new thread Roni and happy anniversary!

I wish you could send me some tomatoes, but they might be a bit squashed by the time they get here (not to mention a bit off; post to/ from Singapore takes a surprisingly long time in this day and age). I like your holders, especially the blue ones; they look a bit Japanese-y.

Happy new thread Roni. Those tomatoes look wonderful. And I bet they taste wonderful as well.

Happy new thread, Roni!

Your tomatoes look great. The Wayne is struggling with his and is Not Happy...

I'm thinking in exclamation points after reading this thread. tomatoes! 94 books! leaking pipe! telephone holders (I may need one of those)! So, besides that, Happy Anniversary!! Enjoy the weather while it holds! Stay well!

I am now about half done with Book 3 in the Nevernight series by Jay Kristoff. As always this is exciting reading.

I am trying to finish up, or catch up, on several of the fantasy series that I have started and have not finished and this series is one of them. I am also trying not to start any new ones until I get some of these done. That is like running through a swamp - you can make progress but it is slow.

Hi Roni.
As said previously, gorgeous tomato harvest. Ours are a month away unless the hot weather keeps up here.
And! 94 books towards your 150 objective. Way to go. Have fun.

Edited to say that back in the previous thread, that 1947 book looks wonderful. I haven't heard of The Little White Horse, so something to look out for in juvie vintage reading titles.

Thought of you at the farmer's market to day when I saw the tables full of beautiful tomatoes!

>6 ronincats: Hi Roni. I also had a new dishwasher installed this month. And, because there were plumbing problems, it was delayed. My daughter, Breanna, and I laughed when the part needed had to be replaced with a new one because there was a huge hole in it.

We laughed because Will always accused us that we did not shut the dishwasher door properly, when all along, it was a broken piece needed a new one.

Happy new thread!

>1 ronincats: Look at all those tomatoes! We have a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes too, and would have and even bigger one if Ruby didn't keep picking every green one she can reach. :( Well, we're keeping them on the window sill and hoping they'll ripen there.)

>12 ronincats: Aren't those clever! And such delightful colors and shapes.

Happy new thread!

>27 ronincats: That would be me, lol! Happy new thread, Roni!

Happy new thread, Roni!

Beautiful tomatoes. I love garden cukes and am actually getting some from friend Louise who gets them from neighbor Diane. She can’t eat them any more, doesn’t want to hurt Diane’s feelings, and I am the beneficiary. And friend Dwain brought me some cherry tomatoes and 2 nice Better Boys the other day as a thank you for a piece of cake I gave him about a month ago. What goes around sometimes comes around in a very nice way.

>12 ronincats: I hope you like Uriah Heep. I like your phone, tablet, and business card holders. My favorite is the red one - a beautiful color and shows off the texturing nicely.

Yay for the stand mixer and Belated Happy Anniversary! I have a stand mixer but don’t keep it on the counter. I may consider moving a few things around because I used it yesterday and haven’t put it back yet because I don’t like hefting it around. Hmmm.

>27 ronincats: Yes! And my daughter already has two bookshelves up and filled and is very proud of her collection. Of course, she’ll eventually get mine and God help her then…

>27 ronincats: Yes!

Hello, all you wonderful visitors!
Susan, glad to be of service.
Paul, thank you.
Peggy, yes, the plumber was a hit on the pocketbook but his repairs should fix a long-standing chronic problem in addition to the immediate leak so I'm glad to have it done. Will let you know about Uriah--a review by Karen put it on my radar and the library had it.

Hi, Charlotte. The blue top right one is the best designed, as the roll-ups will work for tablets or phones horizontally but overbalance in vertical stance. Hope your garden gets some sun and flourishes.

Thanks, Nina. Wish I could send you tomatoes too. Looks like I'm doing another round of sauce today.
Thanks, Ella--they do.
Hi, Katie. Hope the Wayne gets some good tomato weather. Also, is he shaking the blossom clusters daily--helps them set on more reliably.
Reba, we're gearing up for the predicted hot weather midweek here.
Got a lot of unfinished series myself, Benita.
Haven't had to go to the farmers market lately, Reba. Brought in more okra, cucumber and our first zucchini is about ready to pick.
Hi. Linda. Plumbing problems are the pits, but looks like you also got a chronic problem eliminated.
Hi, Cassie!
My cabinets aren't big enough for this monster of a stand mixer, Karen! I did find a corner on the counter by the refrigerator where it can live and not be a nuisance. It's too heavy to be lifting as well.
Hi, Beth!

So, Monday morning, the watering outside is done and I need to dust through the house. Looks like more tomato pulping and sauce making today, along with a cucumber salad and breaking in my mixer with some peanut butter cookies later. At one, I do a video conference with the PT; the exercises she had me do last week seem to have helped a lot with the dizziness I was having, especially when bending over as in gardening, filling the dishwasher and doing laundry! So that's good.

One of the things I removed from my cabinets while clearing off counters to make room for the stand mixer was this:

I haven't used it for at least 15 years, maybe 20. Never used it much or very successfully but, of course, NOW I'm wondering if I shouldn't play around with it before donating it to Goodwill. I need to look for the manual too.

>27 ronincats: We moved to our house over two years ago and I just finished hanging some art and putting up some new floating shelves in the past few weeks. Setting up the bookshelves and bringing all my books over from my parents' house definitely took precedent!

>32 curioussquared: But of course!!

Tomatoes put through the tomato press, yielding 6 cups of puree and no noticeable diminution of the tomatoes on the table, in the sauce pan with olive oil, salt, garlic, bay leaf and basil, now reducing on the stove. Cucumber salad made with the huge cucumber seen in >1 ronincats:. Resting for now--I'll do cookies this evening and probably wait to do the strawberry lemonade tomorrow, as the top shelf in the fridge is pretty full. Having a tall glass of freshly brewed ice tea right now.

Guess what this is! It popped up on my Facebook feed today.


It's a wallet. $25 pledge. I'm thinking about it. Here's the info:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/383334488/novel-bookwallets-wallets-disguis...

Happy new thread! Those tomatoes look yummy; I'm fighting blossom end rot with mine (I always seem to have this problem with my container garden tomatoes). I loved so much of your pottery on the last thread, and those phone/card holders are fun. I like the dark blue ones best.

Happy new thread, Roni! Your tomatoes look AMAZING.

>34 ronincats: Oooh, that is pretty.

>35 foggidawn: - My husband's tomatoes are also plagued by blossom end rot. It's driving him bonkers....

>34 ronincats: - Love that!

Happy new thread, Roni, and happy anniversary.

My tomatoes are definitely the most bountiful harvest from my garden at the moment. Squash is about gone now.

>33 ronincats: How do you make your cucumber salad, Roni?

>34 ronincats: That is very clever.

>34 ronincats: Love it, but not tempted to look further!
>40 RebaRelishesReading: I'd like to know that too.
Hey, Roni. Is Seanann McGuire's Middlegame worth $2.99? It's a Kindle daily deal and seems to be a divisive book. I don't need something else, but I'd like to try something of hers. Would you recommend something else instead? (It would need to be something equally cheap!)
(Hmmm. I see that she wrote Feed, which I enjoyed OK while I was reading it but like less on reflection.)

>34 ronincats: Love it, but it looks a bit small. That's okay if you don't carry your life with you in your purse, of course. 🙄

>35 foggidawn: Only one of my containers is showing any end blossom rot, foggi, thankfully.
>36 bell7: Thanks, Mary.
>37 katiekrug: And thank you, Katie.
>38 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg.
>39 thornton37814: Got my squash in late, Lori, so just picked my first zucchini yesterday. Tomatoes are slowing down a bit.
>40 RebaRelishesReading: I didn't like the recipe I tried the other day, Reba, but see below for one I do like a lot.
>41 BLBera:, >43 Storeetllr: They have lots of titles, very cute, but as you say, Mary, a bit smallish.
>42 LizzieD:. See below for the recipe. I got Middlegame in my Hugo packet, Peggy, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I wouldn't make it be the first one of hers I read. I'd recommend Rosemary and Rue myself, as I really like that series of hers.

Thai Cucumber Cool Down

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1-2 T. finely minced fresh red chili (I'm a wuss so I wave some red pepper flakes at it instead)
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots (or sweet onion)
1 cup halved, seeded and thinly sliced cucumber
1-1/2 T. chopped fresh cilantro leaves ( I like cilantro, but you can omit if you don't)

Combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook, swirling the pan, over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes (I put it in a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave for the two minutes, works). Add the chilies and let cool.

Place the onions and cucumbers in a bowl, pour the vinegar mixture over top and stir to combine.

Just before serving, toss in the chopped cilantro.

Serves 4 as a condiment, 2 as a side salad.

Okay, I've bought two books this week and read them both.



Book #95 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (289 pp.)

This newest T. Kingfisher book came out last week. Light fantasy with some darker themes built in, as is usual with her books, and well-done as always.
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries…



Book #96 The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust (448 pp.)

And this book was published Tuesday. This is the 6th of the Dragaera books told in Paarfi's voice, and while some grow impatient with the author's voice, I am rather amused by it.

Reader, you will undoubtedly have had the misfortune of consuming the rotten fruit of fallacies that we—Paarfi of Roundwood (esteemed historian of House of Hawk and exquisite artisan of truths)—“borrow” our factual recount of Dragaeran history from some obscure fellow who goes by the name Al Dumas or some silly nomenclature of that nature.

The salacious claims that The Baron of Magister Valley bears any resemblance to a certain nearly fictional narrative about an infamous count are unfounded (we do not dabble in tall tales. The occasional moderately stretched? Yes. But never tall).

Our tale is that of a nobleman who is betrayed by those he trusted, and subsequently imprisoned. After centuries of confinement, he contrives to escape and prepares to avenge himself against his betrayers.

A mirror image of The Count of Monte Cristo, vitrolic naysayers still grouse? Well, that is nearly and utterly false.

>45 ronincats: Well, I'll try to get my hands on those. I like both authors.

>44 ronincats: Oh yum, that sounds delicious! I'll have to add it to my list of recipes to try.

>45 ronincats: I'm impressed with you buying and reading books on the same weekend. Since I (understandably, since I work there) have so many library books at my finger tips, buying a book is basically a guarantee I won't read it for years unless it's one of my Drop Everything And Read authors. There's no due date... The narrative voice of The Baron of Magister Valley sounds like fun to me, I'll have to see if I can track down book #1.

Playing around with glazes. Meh on this 8 inch bowl. Nothing out of the bisque kiln to glaze yet. One of my plates cracked as it dried from last week.

Good reads both, Susan.

Mary, if you haven't ever read any Brust, I suggest you might start with the present tense books, the first of which is Jhereg. That gives you the background to this specific world, which will help when you read The Phoenix Guards.

>44 ronincats: Thank you! That sounds great and I just happen to have 1 1/2 English cucumbers and one shallot in my fridge -- this will be perfect for dinner with my left-over stuffed bell peppers :)

>48 bell7: Ah yes, the drop everything and read authors. I often wish for more of them, but really, a handful is about all even a life so unreal as mine can sustain.

>49 ronincats: Oddly, the middle of the bowl reminds me of swiss cheese...

Happy tomatoey weekend!

Happy new thread, Roni!

>49 ronincats: Like!

The cucumber salad was a big hit with both of us. Thank you!

Happy New Thread!

Oh my - tomato porn! The sauce sounds delicious.

>12 ronincats: I really like your card and phone holders. I love the carving (?)/scrolling, especially on the light blue and brown glaze.

I started The Eye of Zoltar yesterday and will have it done in a day or two. It will be a bit late for the July Juvenile thread, but I'll comment on it over there.

Next up, I plan to read Star Surgeon. I know you've finished the whole series, and here I am planning to read the second one. Ah well. Puttering along doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the first one!

You also added to my want to read list-with The Little White Horse. How did I miss that one in my horse-book-mad youth?

>50 RebaRelishesReading:, >54 RebaRelishesReading: Glad you liked it, Reba!

>51 quondame: Yep, only a handful, but both these authors are in it!
>52 richardderus: I can see that, Richard.
>53 FAMeulstee: HI, Anita!
>54 RebaRelishesReading: It's rolling pin design or stamps on slabs on those, Janet. Good reading plans! And yes, the schedule of White books doesn't matter, so keep on reading at your own pace.

So far I've made peanut butter cookies and a chocolate layer cake and frosting with my new mixer and it is exquisite in its power and ease of use.

Today is 15 degrees cooler than yesterday, which was in the mid-90s and we had to turn on the window air condition in the bedroom. Tomatoes are still coming in daily, and okra. The green beans have pretty much given up for the moment in the heat. Cucumbers producing one or two a week. I need to make more tomato sauce, despite the husband giving bags away to all and sundry.

Haven't settled to a new book yet, but have a bunch of library books to choose from.

July Summary

Books: 14

Pages read: 4710
Average pages/book: 336
Average pages/day: 152

Print: 9
Kindle: 5

Library: 3
Mine (2020): 7
Re-reads:4
Books Off the Shelf: 2
DNF: 0

This accounting is wobbly this month because of the James White series books. There are 5 books in two omnibi, both of which are books off my shelf. Only two of them are rereads, 3 are new reads. I only counted them as two books off my shelf, because that's the physical book count, but otherwise are counting them all individually.

Fiction: 14
- Science Fiction: 6
- Fantasy: 5
- Children's: 2
- General/Popular: 1
- Romance: 0
- Mystery: 0

Nonfiction: 0

Female: 6
Male: 8

US authors: 4
Other countries: Ireland - 5, England - 3, Australia - 1, Phillipines - 1

Acquired: 4, 3 ebooks, 1 mmpb

Source: Amazon

Books out the door: 0 No one will take them right now!

>56 ronincats: Mine are Bujold, Cherryh, de Lint, K. Elliott, M.W. Turner, Tim Powers. I miss Gene Wolfe and Sheri Tepper and of course Terry Pratchett.

Happy New Thread, Roni.
>34 ronincats: what a wonderful idea!
>57 ronincats: I love your summary.

>58 quondame: Bujold, Brust, Lee and Miller, McKinley, Moon, Megan Whalen Turner. Used to include Cherryh and Powers, but I've fallen behind. Also miss Wolfe and Tepper, Pratchett and D. W. Jones!

>59 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas!



I'm thinking, I'm thinking!

My absolute favorite board book was The Little Engine That Could. Early chapter book favorites were the Nancy Drew series.

Stay cool, Roni!

>60 ronincats: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I've always wanted to bash Cindy Lou Who into dust. How she irked me!

>60 ronincats: I also like Lee&Miller and Moon, but on the same level as Brust & Kingfisher, not quite hungry for them, just pulling them in as they come. McKinley is fairly new to me and I find her more pleased with herself than I'm prepared to be pleased with her, my taste for bitter resolutions is not as developed as my guilty pleasures requirements.

>60 ronincats: There's a fun imagining ~ I would probably choose one of the "What-a-Mess" books. I think What-a-Mess and the Cat Next Door is my favourite.

Our family had the whole collection but that title (the Cat one) was a Christmas Eve story and utterly hilarious. The side play with little imaginary cartoon characters is endlessly entertaining.

>62 richardderus: , >63 quondame: Would you *really* want to spend a whole month with these characters? 'Course if bashing Cindy Lou was the aim, RD, you could do it on day 30 and depart on 31...

>65 SandyAMcPherson: No, that wasn't the part of the message to which I replied! I've repeatedly stated that the city in Kiki's Delivery Service is the only fantasy 'universe' which I really want to visit.

Hi Roni, I am very intriged by those book wallets - but I would have a hard time choosing which one! As for >60 ronincats:, I spent a minute or two thinking about Little House on the Prairie - but no refrigeration - Yuck! Same for Little Women, and The Little Princess. I finally decided that I could easily spend a month in any of the Trixie Belden books - hanging out with the Bobwhites, riding horses, and solving mysteries - now that would be fun!

Happy Newish Thread, Roni!

Love the tomatoes photo up top. Wish we were nearer; we'd take some off your hands. We have cherry tomatoes growing this year and they're wonderful, but not numerous so far.

>27 ronincats: Yes! Luckily, both our kids have turned out to be like that.

The P & P wallet intrigues me, too. >60 ronincats: I'd pick The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (touchstone not working) - after things had settled down, if I could pick "when", too.

>60 ronincats: Either Hogwarts or Narnia for me.

I would want to be in the home of Susan Smith. She provided a home for the severely abused Ada and her brother James in the book War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. A loving parent, a loving pony, and lots of room to ride.

Hi Roni!

>31 ronincats: Wow. An antique! *smile*

>56 ronincats: Congrats on making yummy things with the stand mixer.

>60 ronincats: The Enormous Egg is my first thought because … dinosaur. But logically it would be Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

>45 ronincats: OK, that book just reminds me of a Renaissance Faire character we used to have named Megan the Baking Faerie. We sewed up little gingerbread dolls and hid them around the Faire for kids to find and return for a prize. The story was that Megan was baking gingerbread brownies and a traveling door-to-door sales troll distracted her so that the brownies burnt and went "bad". The kids were told they had to find the brownies and return them so Megan could lock them up so they couldn't do anything bad. It was so hilarious and the kids, even some of the older ones, really took the job seriously! :D

>52 richardderus: No, I get it. I can picture Swiss cheese from that. Though hopefully your Swiss cheese isn't that shade of green--lovely as it is for a bowl, I don't think I'd be eating cheese that color, lol!

>60 ronincats: Hmmm....Harry Potter of course is up there, but I'm also rather enjoying the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger--though I'm not much of a fashion diva so I would be at a disadvantage there. Both are pretty fraught with danger though, so if this is supposed to be a relaxing vacation, maybe something like Dr. Seuss's The Sleep Book. Yep, I think that's the one. :)

>72 CassieBash: No joke, there's no chance green (any shade) cheese will tempt me to nibble either.

I like the combination of colours in that bowl, Roni.

Guilty as charged, although it does get easier for me with age.

>75 ronincats: - Oh, that is SPOT ON.

>75 ronincats: #DeathToMarcine

>75 ronincats: >76 katiekrug: Nope, no easier. In fact I've no energy for anything more strenuous than returning library books. Somehow picking them up isn't a problem.

>75 ronincats: Hahahaha, yeah, I relate to that a bit too much.

Hi Roni!

>75 ronincats: Wonderful. I particularly like the books to sell stack. I’m building up to the point of getting rid of all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books myownself.

>80 karenmarie:
Can I join you in that endeavor? however, in my case it would be hard to contribute because I don't own a single book by that author and don't intend to. None of his books have appealed to me and I wonder why he is so well regarded.

Thanks for the cucumber recipe, Roni. It's similar to our family recipe and a real taste of summer!
I just checked out the first *R'mary & Rue* at Amazon, and it's pretty expensive for an old book. People must really like and hang on to it.
Living in a children's book? I wouldn't want to spend a month with either the Five Little Peppers or the four Little Women since I want my creature comforts. I guess I'd want Hogwarts or Nancy Drew and Co. in the 30s. Thanks for asking!
Getting rid of books makes me shudder.

About time for me to catch up here! It's been a busy not-busy week, with trips out to Target on Monday for cat food and Costco on Wednesday, pottery studio on Thursday but nothing brought home. Made a marinara sauce that was in the oven for 6 hours--interesting, very deep taste to it. Anyway...

>61 RebaRelishesReading: Hi, Reba. It's been great weather, very comfy. Don't know that I'd want to be with that little engine for a full month!
>62 richardderus: So you'd hang out with the Whos for the month?
>63 quondame: Interesting, Susan.
>64 SandyAMcPherson: I'm not familiar with that series, Sandy.
>66 quondame: Another with which I am unfamiliar.
>67 DeltaQueen50: There is a lot of choice with the wallets for sure, Judy. Trixie Belden would be very 60s-ish.
>68 jnwelch: Hi, Joe! Wish you could have some of our tomatoes too.
>69 foggidawn: Adventurous, foggi.
>70 benitastrnad: I have that book but haven't read it yet, Benita.
>71 karenmarie: Another Hogwarts denizen, Karen!
>72 CassieBash: And UNadventurous, Cassie!
>74 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg.
>76 katiekrug:, >77 richardderus:, >79 bell7:, >80 karenmarie: Thought that would resonate with a lot of us!
>78 quondame: What I've found easier, Susan, is getting rid of new books after I've read them. I'm just not that invested in most of them. Now all the old mass-market paperbacks that I've had for 30, 40, 50 years--no, that pile is not getting any smaller--not just that I like them, but getting any copies used or at the library of most of them is practically impossible now.
>82 LizzieD: Hi, Peggy. Yeah, $7.99 for either the mass market paperback or the Kindle version. Both my city and county libraries have ebook versions available--is that an avenue for you? Nancy lived a pretty posh life, so that should be comfy.

I also have difficulty deciding on which children's book to hang out in. I think maybe Morwen's cottage in Searching for Dragons, or Chrestomanci's house as he really likes his creature comforts. Or Heidi
when she's up on the mountain with her grandfather. So many choices.

Book #97 The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry (452 pp.)

Karen put this book on my wishlist and the library got it to my branch rather quickly for curb pickup! This was not a book that absorbed me, maybe due to Rob's brother-relationship angst, although that turned out to be rather central to the story, and I often set it down for a day or two. But by the last third of the book I was fully into it and finished it quickly last night. This is an author who loves Dickens and your enjoyment will be enhanced if you also are familiar with him, especially David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, but it isn't necessary. Nonetheless I feel I should warn Richard away. Rob's brother Charles is a summoner--he can call characters forth from books, and his family has spent his entire life protecting him from discovery. What happens when he discovers a street from Victorian England existing in an inter dimensional pocket in the middle of Wellington, New Zealand, and populated with such characters? And when there is an evil nemesis intent on changing reality? That's the book! An excellent first novel by this New Zealand writer.

Garden-wise, I've brought in two zucchini so far and have an eggplant growing quickly. Need to harvest the beets soon, and the cucumbers and tomatoes are still producing and the swiss chard growing nicely. I even have cantalope melons set on! But this sunflower takes the prize right now.

>84 ronincats: Oh drat! A misfire on such a great concept is very frustrating. So sorry.

>86 richardderus: So sorry that you will miss it. The author must be something of a Dickens scholar--she has some very interesting interpretations of his ouvre.

WHAT?!?

>75 ronincats: This is so real, it's scary!

Hi Roni!

>84 ronincats: I’m so glad you liked The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep.

>85 ronincats: Beautiful.

>88 ronincats: Bookworms don’t need libraries. Bibliophiles don’t need libraries. Bibliomaniacs need libraries.

Bookworm: someone who reads or studies a lot
Bibliophile: someone who loves books
Bibliomaniac: someone who has an excessive fondness for acquiring and possessing books

>44 ronincats: Thanks for the cucumber recipe, Roni! Very fitting for me, my Thai neighbour at the allotment gave us a batch of her cucumbers.

>45 ronincats: Love the title of the Wizard book. Watching the Great British Bake Off at the moment

>88 ronincats: I'd love it, but I would have to have the kind of magical house that's larger on the inside than on the outside. I'm not a collector, but to be surrounded by books, and nothing but books seems so restful.

>75 ronincats: Hmm. I imagine many of us see ourselves here. :)

>84 ronincats: Nice comments.

Love your sunflowers!

My name is Reba and I'm a bibliomaniac.

>93 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba!

My name is Richard and I am a bibliomaniac.

For all of you bibliomaniacs out there, don't miss this!

>88 ronincats: My name is Peggy and I'm a bibliomaniac. I've been assembling my library most of my life. It isn't pretty, but it's mine and I love it.

My name is Shelley and I am a bookworm, a bibliophile AND a bibliomaniac. In fact, I thought that was the definition of an LTer! ;-)

Biblioaddict here.

My book club met by Zoom today. Does that count as. National Book Lover'd event?

We read and discussed Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto. To my surprise everybody in the group loved the book. There are couple of members who don't usually care for the nonfiction books we read, but this one was a hit with everybody.

>97 jessibud2: I thought those were cumulative but, if they aren't, I too am all three (does that mean I'm supposed to join three support groups?)

>96 LizzieD:, >97 jessibud2:, >98 quondame:, >99 benitastrnad: Welcome, fellow biblio-crazies Peggy, Shelley, Susan and Reba!

And these just keep coming...

>101 ronincats: - All of the above (except maybe the rereading; I do that but not a lot). But for the rest a LOT! :-)

>101 ronincats: Yep. That's me all around. Hi, (((((Roni)))))!

>104 RebaRelishesReading: yep (except rereading which I also don't do a lot)

>101 ronincats: What >102 jessibud2: said.

That last one is totally me --

And . . . wayyyy back -- The ceramic phone and laptop holders are interesting --- not sure . . . but experiments are important!

Love the cartoon about the book sorting, that sure is me too. I'm doing better lately, although the current problem is about four bags/boxes of books that need to go first to the used booksellers to see what they'll take and then to Goodwill or whoever! Our Goodwill was so swamped for awhile they stopped taking donations! Now they are open three days of the week.

>101 ronincats: Totally me.
I especially loved that one about seeing old book covers and magically, I'm back being 12-years' old, reading in our big old horse chestnut tree to escape my pesky little brother!

>106 sibylline: Our local recycler and the book-donation charities opened to great long line-ups. There were those decal-distancing symbols to mark 6-ft apart, except people were crowding in, so back home with the donations.

This is such a strange time. I am not sure I'm adapting.

>101 ronincats: Yep, Roni, I was 9 for 9 from that graphic!

The last one about living in the bookstore could have been composed specifically with me in mind.

It's unanimous, Shelley, Peggy, Reba, Richard, Lucy, Sandy, and Paul! Even if some of us are more inclined toward rereads than others!

I finished up the second of two masks to mail to my sister. She's a paraprofessional in a special ed class for 4th and 5th grade students, in her 60s, and heads back to the classroom next week. As are her son (middle school teacher), daughter in law (middle school principal), and three grandchildren, all in town except for the eldest grandchild who is back to college today in Lincoln NE. Keep your fingers crossed!

>109 ronincats: cute masks! I will indeed be thinking of your sister and family as they head back out to schools! Scary thought.

Beautiful masks, Roni! What is the strap on the top? I have bought 4 cloth masks and while they are comfy enough I have found that the backs of my ears begin to hurt after a short while. Only one of the masks has adjustable plastic thingies on the elastics and that was a godsend when I had to spend 6 hours getting from Toronto to Montreal (and back) over the last coupe of weeks.

Thanks, Reba.

>111 jessibud2: That strap takes care of the ear pain. You hook the elastic over the buttons instead of your ears. Obviously, the strap goes at the back of the head. There are multiple patterns for crocheting or knitting them if that is your preferred craft. My sister asked for straps as her ears hurt as well, but I made the strap for her to try.

>109 ronincats: I have one out of that same cat fabric, but mine has elastic loops.

Hi Roni, I love the photos of the tomato harvest and the sunflowers. Your masks are very chic. Here you don't see a lot of cloth masks because our epidemiologists class them as not safe enough. Therefore, most (me too) wear medical hygiene masks that we throw away after use.

>101 ronincats: All true, Roni.

Love the cat masks.

>116 ronincats: :)

>113 thornton37814: It's a popular fabric, Lori. My sister requested straps.
>114 Ameise1: Hi, Barbara. The studies over here show that masks made with tightly woven cottons perform much better than most anything other than hospital grade masks. So we wash and reuse them--much smaller carbon footprint.
>115 BLBera: Hi, Beth. Thanks.

Not a lot of reading going on--I'm not crazy about anything I'm into, or the mind isn't up to the complexity. I'm reading a chapter or two of Academ's Fury a day--the way Butcher loads catastrophes onto his characters overloads me else. I'm a few chapters into Garth Nix's Angel Mage, which I hear is good but is political and complex and so not grabbing me yet. Picked up The City We Became at the library yesterday (curbside pickup of a hold that came into my branch) and so may try that. Also got a tote bag with a coupon for a free book once they reopen, a free admission into the NAT (Natural History Museum) at Balboa park and a free panda bowl at Panda Express for participating in their summer reading program (virtually, of course). The last being the only one I can actually use right now.

Gardening continues. Watering today--we are supposed to be up into the mid-90s today here and the container plants and raised beds in particular will need everything I can give them. Still bringing in plenty of tomatoes, another zucchini and my first eggplant yesterday, and the okra is stepping up production, while the green beans have pretty much given up.

I just stopped by the pottery yesterday to pick up stuff. Got the two plates that were commissioned, but my bisque plates that I wanted to bring home for designing weren't ready yet. These match some bowls of mine they already have.

Just spent a few minutes downloading all the ebooks from
https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/f4/e5/f4e5fe6e4eb5294636a4c537667434...

This Reclaim Her Name project is really something. Even though I will probably never read all of these--well, they are free!



Guess I will have to figure out Calibre because they are all epub format.

>117 RebaRelishesReading: Hi, Reba! Sneaky!

>120 ronincats: "sneaky"?

>119 ronincats: They do look very impressive! I use "ReadEra" which is a very simple free app on my phone.

I love the plates - reminds me of clouds.

->109 ronincats: The buttons are such a clever idea. It's lovely to think that they're taking a bit of your support in the classroom with them, too.

>121 RebaRelishesReading: Sneaky because you snuck in here while I was composing!
>122 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte.

>118 ronincats: they're lovely plates!

have a splendiferous weekend, roni

This is a bowl the plates coordinate with (center bottom):



Same to you, Richard dear.

*CHOO*
I like the bowl behind it a lot, too.
*schneeeerrrrk*

Hi Roni. I gotta say I think >101 ronincats: describes me perfectly! I've been spending a lot of time reading and working on puzzles this week as I am in a bit of a funk about not seeing my family in so long. I was going to head over to the Island in a week or so but right now our virus numbers are up so I think I best just stay home for now. Is the kitty in >125 ronincats: looking in the bowl for a meal or just photo-bombing your picture?

>126 richardderus: *smooch*
>127 DeltaQueen50: He's a champion photo-bomber, Judy!

Love that bowl your kitty is sniffing.
I have a coffee mug quite like it. A potter-friend made it. I confess I didn't need another mug, but I wanted to be empathetic.

She's amazing. Supports herself with her work, although she won't be supplementing her salary right now with teaching. This virus has affected so very many people in different ways besides making people ill.

((((((Roni)))))

>101 ronincats: Thats me!
>109 ronincats: I love them.
>116 ronincats: So true.
Your plates are wonderful, Roni.
I wish you a wonderful weekend.

>123 ronincats: Ah! I thought perhaps it was because the post was so tiny you didn't see it, lol

Stay cool!!

The mug and the green bowl particular catch my eye from this batch, Roni. Hope you're having an enjoyable weekend.

>125 ronincats: I like those, particularly the green bowl at the center of the back row.

>129 SandyAMcPherson: Too bad as probably the teaching was supporting her more than sales.
>130 LizzieD: ((((((Peggy))))))
>131 SirThomas: Hey, Thomas, hope all is lovely for you.
>132 RebaRelishesReading: We've been able to have the air conditioner off the last two days. Yesterday was comfy, as the thermometer topped off at 85. Today it went up to 89 with 70% humidity--not as comfy but still bearable when reading under the fan. I fear the air will be going back on tomorrow. We've not been hit by a rolling blackout yet but have had 5 calls from SDG&E telling us about it!
>133 bell7: Worked on keeping cool, Mary, so got some reading done.
>134 foggidawn: Thanks, foggi.



Book #98 Love, One Regency Christmas by Arietta Richmond and others (646 pp.)

I read the first one of these five novellas back in January and never continued. I got tired of seeing it come up on my Kindle as currently reading every time I turned it on, and there was a Romance theme this month, so I took the opportunity to clear it off. Eh, it was okay. Decent stories, every single one of which conformed exactly to the customary tropes of regency romance fiction and which ended up being totally boring as a result.



Book #99 Magical Midlife Madness by K. F. Breene (376 pp.)

Romance theme, right, and a free read. And a protagonist who isn't a teen or twenty-someone. Promising, right? And it certainly was better than so many of those exceptional teenagers coming into their powers. Had some imaginative bits, set in wine country (!), no jumping into sex, a confident woman...but everything else is pure typical paranormal romance plot and, like the book above, that has become boring. I may still give the next a chance--it's free too and it's mind candy, which is what my brain handles best right now.



Book #100 The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (437 pp.)

Now THIS is a book to submerge yourself in, to savor, to indulge! A paean, a celebration, an homage to the City of New York of the same richness as Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) and Kate Griffin (Matthew Swift) have done for London.

The City of New York is preparing to be born as an aware entity, but the Enemy has sabotaged the process. Can the previously unaware avatars of the five boroughs come together and support the City itself? Fascinating. Read it!

Oh excellent, so happy to see you liked The City We Became. I can't wait for book 2!

>136 bell7: I know! Isn't it exciting that it's a trilogy?

Wow! Book #100 and what a fabulous doozie.
The City We Became went on my request list at Overdrive. Not surprised there were 17 people ahead of me.

Yeah, I've got it on Overdrive reserve too. Looking forward to it!

>135 ronincats: I have to get to The City We Became! Glad you enjoyed it.

>137 ronincats: Yes! I'm working on catching up on her backlist while I wait - I never did finish The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy (I've reread books 1 and 2) or read the Dreamblood duology. Ooh, and congrats on 100 books!

*CWB* is on my wish list, but I expect that the price will have come down before a copy ever comes to me.

Congrats on 100!

Hi Roni!

>109 ronincats: Very nice masks in a theme that I love. Having read further down to find out what it is, I think that strap is fantastic. I hope all the educators in your family are able to stay safe and sane as schools start back up.

>125 ronincats: Cute kitty pic! *smile* I particularly like the plate-coordinating bowl.

And congrats on 100.

Congrats on reaching 100, Roni.

Wow 100! At it's only August. I'm sort-of hoping I'll make 100 by the end of the year (only did that once before) and here you are there already! Congratulations!

>138 SandyAMcPherson:, >139 drneutron:, >140 curioussquared: I'm sure you will enjoy it!
>141 bell7: Good strategy for the waiting period, Mary.
>142 LizzieD: I make good use of an excellent library system here, Peggy.
>143 CassieBash:, >144 karenmarie:, >146 SirThomas:, >147 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Cassie, Karen, Thomas and Reba.

This morning was some serious tomato pruning at 8 am, and I was dripping sweat--not so much because of the 81 degree temperature but because of the 83% humidity to go with it!



Book #101 Magical Midlife Dating by K. F. Breene (336 pp.)

Okay, I read the second of the series because it also was free and I wanted some mind candy for yesterday's siesta. Again, not bad, better than the usual twenty-something heroine--I do like the protagonist--but I'm just really bored with paranormal tropes or really hard to please right now.

>148 ronincats: Think I'll be giving that a miss... paranormal anything isn't my thing unless the paranormal event is very understated. And lately it seems to be cropping up too often. It's different to "magic" and not fantasy, in my opinion.

My idea of brain candy, TBH, runs to my favourite titles in Heyer's Regency novels.

>135 ronincats: Congratulations on reaching #100 Roni! And with a new Jemisin? Great.

Happy Hundredth!

Well done Roni on getting to 100 books - even if it is a little late by your own standards.

>119 ronincats: Love that.

Congrats on reaching 100, Roni!

I tried listening to The City We Became, but I just didn't like it. I think it was the narrator's voice. On your reccie, I'll try it on the Kindle instead, see if that's better.

Congratulations on reading 100, Roni! I usually see the photos on your thread but #125 is a broken link.

Congratulations on 100 books Roni!

I haven't been on LT much so I'm very far behind, but children's books I could spend a whole month in?... when I was a young reader, just about every book I read. The only one that springs to mind now, though, is Peter Pan.

When I was very young, I had a couple of beautifully illustrated books about a little girl growing up in an African village and since we lived in Africa I asked my parents if we could go and visit her. Even though I knew at around 4 or 5 years old that stories are make believe, the book specifically said 'If you want to visit her go to ...' (followed by some vague directions like go upriver in this country) and I was very upset that they wouldn't consider taking me.

As for all the bookmania cartoons, yes, yes, yes; all me.

I didn't congratulate you on reaching 100? Bah! Sounds just like me.
CONGRATULATIONS, RONI! Read on, my friend, read on!

>149 SandyAMcPherson: Heyer's Regencies are what make me so bored with most other romances, Sandy.

Thank you, Ella, Richard (love the bling!), Paul, Mary, Meg, Nina and Peggy!

I think I would become terribly confused listening to The City We Became, Mary--hope print works better for you.

Good to see you picking up some activity, Nina.



Book #102 Angel Mage by Garth Nix (536 pp.)

This is a very meaty fantasy, an homage to Alexandre Dumas and his Musketeers without at all being a retelling, and a stand-alone. I tend either to love Nix or be totally indifferent; this one took me some time to get into but ended up being worth the time and effort. Things that make books difficult to get into for me; 1) too much time in the villain's head and 2) too many viewpoint characters. Both of those were present, especially at first, but finally it gelled and began to move forward, the richer for the details.

But don't start with Nix here. Start with his masterpiece, The Abhorsen Trilogy, with Sabriel as the first book.

Hot again here, but any fires in the county, and there are several each day during this heat spell, have been knocked down quickly, unlike north of us. Still hot, 91 at the house today (33 C.) and so haven't been doing a lot. Made Ratatouille yesterday with zucchine, eggplant and tomatoes from the garden, always yummy, and lots of watering. Most of my plates cracked before firing at the pottery, and I don't know why but think it was the clay I was using, a new type when my favorites were unavailable. So I had nothing to work on there, but glazed a cat plate I designed at home and 4 little bowls, threw two pumpkins. Pictures next week!

And I just realized that while I talked about The Little White Horse here when I read it in July, I never numbered it!

Book #103 The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (280 pp.)

This is what my "new" book looks like, also published in 1947, but NOT falling apart like the original.
The Little White Horse achieved some renewed fame in this century when it was revealed that it was a favorite and an inspiration for J. K. Rowling, resulting in what I hear was a VERY poor movie that in no way did it justice. There were also reprints in paperback and Kindle editions, so it became more available. It is a lovely fable, full of luscious language and glorious English settings, and I am rereading it because I've been meaning to do so for awhile, and this month's Juvenile July theme provided the impetus!

Hi Roni! Love the tomatoes, pottery and mask pictures and making note of the Reclaim Her Name ebooks!

Happy 100, Roni!

And I do need to get to the Abhorsen Trilogy.

>159 lkernagh: Hi, Lori!
>160 swynn: Thanks, Steve, and yes, you do!



Book #104 Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher (534 pp.)

This is book 2 of a 6 book series. What Butcher has done in the first two books is throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at his main POV characters, and then have them pull out of it by the skin of their teeth at the end of the book. I can only read it a chapter at a time so it's been my bathtub book, up until the last few chapters which I have to finish in a rush.

Just popping by to say "Hi!" Roni! Congratulations on the big 1-0-0!

>161 ronincats: The ol' "person-falls-in-a-hole" plot that people do so love.

>162 HanGerg: Thanks, Hannah!
>163 richardderus: Yes, indeedy, Richard.

Yesterday I finally got back to the she-shack and sewed up a utility/vendor's apron I've had cut out for a while.


Also zipped through a quick read:



Book #105 Touch of Power by Maria Snyder (392 pp.)

Snyder is a very popular author of fantasy series. I had read her Poison Study some time ago and not been particularly impressed. But I thought I'd try this series debut from the library. Book one seems fairly run of the mill plot-wise for so much of this fantasy but it was a quick read. I probably won't go on with the series though, as book 2 reportedly ends on a cliffhanger and I'm not a fan of that. YMMV though, because it seems very idiosyncratic which ones of this type of fantasy will end up with characters or worlds or plots that just pull you in. For example, I'm a BIG fan of the Elantra series by Michelle Sagara but I know it doesn't appeal as strongly to some other fantasy readers.

>157 ronincats: I tried to get my hands on Angel Mage from before the pandemic shut down our library system.
It sounds so worth looking for a local copy (says the cheapskate). It might be another year before our provincial inter-library loans system is back up and running.

We're on the same page along with many others, aren't we? (RE: Heyer's Regencies are what make me so bored with most other romances). Heyer had a way of pitching the story so that lots else was happening besides "the romance". And I always admired how her portrayal kept to the historical standards of the day.

>158 ronincats: Serious 💚 !

Heyer romances were some of the first that I read in the genre as well, Roni. They usually seem a cut above. Strange that her mysteries and histories don't have the same spark.

Heyer always wrote variations on a theme, with a rich secondary cast, Sandy (except for her last book, which was a rewrite of Black Sheep, when she was ill and needed money. And it is indeed a mystery, Meg, why her mysteries and histories do lack that spark.

Pottery studio day today.

>168 ronincats: NICE!!!! I do love the very blue and very green-blue bowls!
I guess I'm weird. I liked the Heyer mysteries except for Penhallow, which I have found unreadable again and again.

>168 ronincats: Nice pottery as usual, Roni. Though it's tending to blend into the tablecloth. The pink - not normally one of my colours - is intriguing.

>168 ronincats: There's something very satisfying about the shape of those bowls, particularly the blue and green ones.

>168 ronincats: Beautiful, and the sad cat platter is so much fun! I really like the pink bowl. Love Heyer's romances but like others I didn't enjoy the only mystery I tried of hers (Envious Casca), tho I did enjoy the only history I tried of hers (Simon the Coldheart).

Cobalt and deep green leave me deeply gruntled. Pinque and puddytat, not so much.

>168 ronincats: Love that sad cat.

>168 ronincats: Oooh I do love the bowls, I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite of the blue, deep green and pink.

Happy to see you enjoyed Angel Mage. I've had an ARC sitting around for over a year and really should get to it one of these days...

Hi, Peggy, Nina, foggi, Mary, Richard, Ella and Mary! Thanks for all kind comments. I was experimenting yesterday in the she-shack.

Oh, Nativities! And a punkin. The middle Nativity has a lovely protective vibe, though the left-hand one is nicely kinetic.

The open sides of the punkin are a little off-putting to me, unless one were to lean in to the idea, add some scroll-y stuff to the panels, and put a tray filled with pumpkin-spice scented water in which one has floated tea lights or something.

Thanks for the feedback, Richard. This is all hand-built, so that pumpkin started out as a flat slab.

The technique is difficult for me to *get* but that was my impression...more or less that you took a slab, sliced and diced, then sort of drew it up, and that's the way the shape came to be.

>176 ronincats: I like the one in the middle, Roni.
I have absolutely nothing with pumpkins ;-)

August Summary

Books: 9

Pages read: 3753
Average pages/book: 464
Average pages/day: 121

Print: 5
Kindle: 4

Library: 4
Mine (2020): 4
Re-reads:0
Books Off the Shelf: 1
DNF: 0

Fiction: 8
- Science Fiction: 0
- Fantasy: 8
- Children's: 0
- General/Popular: 0
- Romance: 1
- Mystery: 0

Nonfiction: 0

Female: 6
Male: 3

US authors: 5
Other countries: Australia - 2, New Zealand - 1

Acquired: 1 ebook
Source: Amazon

Books out the door: 0 No one will take them right now!

(((((Roni)))))

Another vote for the middle creche! I adore that one. Is there an opening in the bottom of the pumpkin? It would make a darling holder for a tea light.

Hope you're well and have been finding time to enjoy our lovely weather.

Ooh, I like your experiments. I really like the pumpkin as-is, personally, and the smaller nativity in the middle is my favorite.

Nice August stats too!

>180 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita.
>182 LizzieD: Hugs back, Peggy.
>183 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba. I have been enjoying the weather, but we are getting ready to hunker down this weekend.
>184 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

Home from the pottery yesterday...


And I finally finished my first book of September.



Book #106 The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (499 pp.)

This is a mood piece, lovely language, interludes and diversions, eddies and word pictures. Not to be read linearly, straight through, but to pick up and appreciate the pieces one by one.

>185 ronincats: Ooo, yes, that's a very fine bowl!

Hunker down and stay cool. I've got the A/C on in an attempt to get the house nice and cool and then turn it off for the heavy demand part of the day. I hope it will be cool again this evening so we can just open up and be OK then.

Thank you! And sorry, it won't be.

Oh well :(

>185 ronincats: - Gorgeous bowl! I really like this

I quite like all the experiments.

>168 ronincats: the green and dark bowl colours are gorgeous.

>185 ronincats: I like the terra cotta bowl.

and that's good advice on reading #106! It's an impressionistic read.

>185 ronincats: Beautiful!

I wasn't thrilled with The Starless Sea. It didn't resonate with me like The Night Circus did. Perhaps I should have read it in pieces as you suggested.

>176 ronincats: They all look nice, Roni. The pumpkin could make a nice, spooky lamp especially if it had face shape cut out of it.

>188 RebaRelishesReading: It reached 101 degrees F. (38.3 C.) here at the house yesterday, so we were very grateful for the window AC in the bedroom, Reba. Hope they get that fire in East County under control.

Thank you, Shelley, Anita, Richard, Mary and Nina!

As I told Reba, it was too hot to do anything outside of the two-bedroom air-conditioned room yesterday, and it's supposed to be hotter today before cooling down to the upper 80s tomorrow. So I got some reading done.



Book #107 A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire (362 pp.)

It was the first week of September and the annual installment of the October Daye series came out right on schedule, so of course I had to get it and read it. This is my favorite series by McGuire, along with the Ghost Roads (Have I mentioned that book 3 of that series, Angel of the Overpass, is coming out next May?) and this was as usual an interesting and entertaining read, but start at the beginning, not here, if you are new to the series.



Book #108 Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis (90 pp.)

This is a prequel novella to the Harwood Spellbook series. I've read Snowspelled and Thornbound and still have the most recent book, Moontangled, to read. Magic in an alternative Regency England where Boadicea had defeated the Romans and tamed the Anglo-Saxons by use of said magic, resulting in a world where the women are politicians and magic is for the emotional men. Always fun.

>194 ronincats: #108 Heh. I wonder what male reviewers have had to say about that one. Lovely idea!

The new bowl is lovely, Roni!

I loved The Starless Sea, but I definitely see the need for being in the right mood for it.

I'm going to have to move the October Daye series up on my list - so far the only Seanan McGuire i've read is Every Heart a Doorway. THe Harwood Spellbook series sounds fun as well.

>194 ronincats: OMG!! 101!! We don't have an outside thermometer so I don't know what it was here but we do have central A/C and I ran it until 2:00 p.m., then kept everything closed and turned it back on at 9:00 p.m. I didn't leave the house all day -- not even to go down for the mail. I'm hoping to stay inside all day today again. Hope you can stay cool and read a lot.

I just finished my weekend novella and I have to tell you about this one - even if you have read it already. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. by Zen Cho is a novella published by Tor.com and is part of their diversity publishing efforts. It is based in Chinese myths legends and religion. It is set somewhere in the future, but it clearly has its roots in the wars at the end of the Tang Dynasty period in Chinese history. It centers around a pair of shrewd acolytes of a religious order devoted to the worship of the moon goddess. Both nuns have special talents and neither knows the other are devotees of the deity when they first meet. They both hook up with a roving gang of bandits for protection and the story develops from there. There is plenty of action leavened by romance and respect. The novella is well written with only a few awkward moments in the writing.

I have been reading every novella published by Tor.com that I can find this year and I have to say that I am impressed with their efforts to diversify their author base. They are bringing a great base for lots of "new" mythologies on which to build stories and worlds. This novella is a fine example of what a publisher can do when they seek out new and diverse authors and allow them to develop and find their voice and style.

Hi Roni, we're back from our quick trip and now we are isolating ourselves for a couple of weeks just to be sure everything is ok - so plenty of time for reading right now. I really like that pink bowl up above - that's not a colour that turns up in pottery very often. I think it softens the pottery and gives it a nice feminine touch.

Hi Roni!

>185 ronincats: That bowl pleases me. Yup. It sends out a very good vibe.

>195 richardderus: Snap! That was my thought as well!

>198 benitastrnad:, Benita that is a terrific review. Now I wish I'd snagged that when I saw the e-book going by as a freebie.

>201 SandyAMcPherson: We'll know soon, I procured the darn thing....

>195 richardderus:, >203 richardderus: I see you are checking it out for yourself, Richard. I look forward to your opinion.
>196 bell7: Thanks, Mary. Yes, McGuire is a talented and prolific writer, with many different series, but try out Rosemary and Rue for the Toby Daye series or The Girl in the Green Silk Gown for her Ghost Roads trilogy.
>197 RebaRelishesReading: SO glad the temps have dropped. We were up to 101 again yesterday, and I think the haze of smoke up high blocking some of the sunshine kept it from getting higher, but today was a high of 83 here, currently 78, and it is absolutely delicious.
>198 benitastrnad: I will definitely check that one out. I have read both of Zen Cho's novels and while uneven, they were quite refreshingly original. Other outstanding stories based on Chinese lore include the inestimable Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, Snake Agent by Liz Williams, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.
>199 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I am glad your husband was able to be with your siblings for the funeral, and hopeful that you both have avoided any ill effects.
>200 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen.
>201 SandyAMcPherson:, 202 Hi, Sandy.

Thanks to the cool weather, I was able to iron the fabric I had washed and cut out an apron and a caddy today. I finished another jigsaw puzzle the other day.


Also been watching a lot of tennis and reading:



Book #109 Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn (552 pp.)

This is the second in a Victorian mystery series featuring a well-drawn female protagonist in a very idiosyncratic family--we see more of the family in this book, as the widow is at the family home for Christmas. Very interesting mysteries as well.



Book #110 Trader's Leap by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (368 pp.)

Found out yesterday that this was available as an eARC at Baen Books and immediately bought it. It was SO good. Finally we are staying with a single story line throughout the book, with Shan and Priscilla, and the Dutiful Passage, as they try to establish new trade routes for Korval. I enjoyed it very much.

>204 ronincats: Do the Liaden Universe books need to be read in order?

>204 ronincats: Yay for Trader's Leap! I've really missed Priscilla. I doubt I'll buy the eARC though.

Looks like today will be pleasant again. I'm not sure how much of that grey sky is marine layer and how much is smoke though but the air coming through the window over my desk feels fairly fresh (and nice and cool). Love your kitty puzzle!! Be safe and well!

I liked Spellswept! It was amusing and fun.

>168 ronincats: >185 ronincats: Your pink bowls are very nice, Roni. The cloth makes a good backdrop for your photos.

Our temperatures up here are usually a bit lower due to smoke but this year we haven't had the usual widespread wildfire season that sends smoke our way for a month or most of it seems to be concentrated in California.

>205 SilverWolf28: There are two optimal entry points, Silver. My preferred is to start with Agent of Change and then proceed through Conflict of Honors, Carpe Diem, Plan B and I Dare, these being the original core series. You can actually start switch up Conflict of Honors with Agent of Change if you like, but I like starting with AoC. Or you can start with the Theo Waitley books, Fledgling and Saltation, which then link up with the core series in the last of those books, I Dare. After that, you can follow these characters through an additional 9 books, their parents in three books, or go back to an origin duology or an earlier unrelated duology in the same universe. Simple!!
>206 quondame: Very interesting happenings here, Susan.
>207 RebaRelishesReading: SO atypical, and not smoke. Earlier it was 72 degrees and 79% humidity such that you felt the moisture hitting your face as you walked around outside. Good for the firefighters.
>208 richardderus: Ha, you concurred with moi!
>209 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg. Yes, this is our first big one, although there have been plenty north of us already.

>210 ronincats: Yes it is humid today. I walked to the grocery store at about 1130 and the air felt just plain "heavy" and, yes, I was thinking it should help with the fire. Nice to have it cool enough to have the windows open again.

>204 ronincats: Love the puzzle!

>210 ronincats: Thanks!

Very tempting, but I think they'd be difficult!

https://deyuan.shop/products/the-harry-potter-collection-theme%E3%80%90buy-2-fre...

Hi, Roni! I love the look of those puzzles, but no. I am about to finish a 1,000-piece one that was maybe half-done four years ago when Matthew hit. My mom couldn't work on it after that, and I didn't have time or motivation to get it done. When I finish, I'll take it up and not start anything else. I promise.

>176 ronincats: I actually like the larger nativity on the left, though I seem to be the voice of dissent here.

>185 ronincats: Once again, a very satisfying bowl -- should appeal to those who love the rose gold trend, I'd think. I keep meaning to read The Starless Sea, but lack the concentration.

Jeez Louise, so many good books, Roni.

I'm loving all the ceramics, including the experiments.

I tend either to love Nix or be totally indifferent. Ditto. I loved the Sabriel/Abhorsen books, but our son and I stalled out on the Keys to the Kingdom series.

Trader's Leap: great tip, thanks. I'll try to find it on Baen. I had to laugh as you explained the possible orders to read the Liaden books in. I liked your preferred one, although I did the first 5 a little differently when I first found the series. There were two big books back then with multiple novels, Partners in Necessity and Pilot's Choice, and the first one had "Conflict of Honors", "Agent of Change" and "Carpe Diem" in that order. It looks like it can still be purchased for not much money: https://smile.amazon.com/Partners-Necessity-Liaden-Universe-Novels/dp/1592221181...

I just finished A Killing Frost, and had a good time with it. I love that October Daye series. I'll have to check out that other series of hers that you mention, the Ghost Roads. I'm reading her quite different Middlegame right now. It's more sci-fi than fantasy, and seems ambitious so far. I'm liking the main characters, siblings Roger and Dodger (a girl).

Oh, and I just read the new Jim Butcher, Peace Talks. It has one of those cliffhanger endings, but the good news is the follow-up book, Battle Ground, comes out at the end of this month.

I'm a fan of the nativity (or am I just reading that in to the mother and child figure? ) and the bowl too Roni.

I'm tempted by puzzles but can't manage all the bending, so will have to just admire the ones on the threads!

I hope the fires are under control, I saw a photo from SF that looked like a scene from Bladerunner.

>204 ronincats:
I have read two out of the three Grace Lin novels and plan to start on the third tomorrow. When the Sea Turned to Silver. They have all good, but they are for Middle Grades and would make excellent read-alouds. The Zen Cho book is for adults and so much different in that regard. I think the best fantasy based on Chinese myths and legends are the Guy Gavriel Kay books. River of Stars and Under Heaven.

Hi Roni, I am still slowly working my way through both the Liaden Universe and the Vorkosigan series and would be hard pressed to name a favorite. This month the SFFFKit is looking at International Authors so I will be reading one of the Witcher series with The Last Wish. I quite enoyed the Netflix series that was based on these books and I look forward to a 2nd season.

>211 RebaRelishesReading: Yes, another humid day here, Reba. I've been out in the garden pruning tomatoes--looks like new blooms are coming on now that the more moderate temps are here.
>212 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori. I did too.
>213 SilverWolf28: You're welcome.
>215 LizzieD: I have found that 1000 piece puzzles are not fun for me, Peggy, so I try to stick to the 500 piece ones.
>216 foggidawn: Thanks, foggi.
>217 jnwelch: Joe! What a great update!
>218 charl08: The ones here in San Diego County are slowly getting contained, helped by the cooler, more humid weather, but the rest of the state is still burning, Charlotte.
>219 benitastrnad: Yes, the Grace Lin books are middle grade, but I like that they have the depth to them that makes them just as interesting to adults.
>220 DeltaQueen50: Hi, Judy. Well, that's a great place to be reading-wise. Don't have Netflix so haven't gotten into Witcher yet.

So, the husband thought he would help out by putting the experiments in >176 ronincats: in a shoe box for transport to the pottery yesterday. And he picked up the middle nativity by the top, not the bottom. (Idiot!!) Until they are bisqued, they are very fragile--basically just dried dirt--and must be picked up at the sturdiest point, which is the base. So no more what was my favorite as well. The other two have made it safely to the pottery where they will be bisque-fired. I picked up a small (5" tall) pitcher and also brought home a bowl that cracked as it dried--something that is happening way too often lately--so it will be recycled into clay again.

I like "ink drinker" but I'd rather be a "reading horse" :)

Walked down to Target today to get my flu shot. I haven't been walking as much as I should lately and I felt both the humidity and the front of the legs from the long down-hill but now that I'm home and sitting at my desk with a lovely breeze coming in the window it's all good :)

So sorry about your mother & child!! Can you replicate it?

>224 RebaRelishesReading: We went by the La Mesa Kaiser after my haircut Wednesday. Turns out it was their first day of drive-through service, so I didn't even have to get out of my car for my flu shot.

Yes, I'll make more of that nativity. I don't mix fabric and clay workstations, though, and I've been working on the additional masks my sister requested this week. I just finished up with them this afternoon, though, so I can start some clay work over the weekend.

Book #111 Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (448 pp)
Book #112 Neogenesis by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (435 pp)

Well, I went back a book from Trader's Leap to refresh my memory of what went on with Shan and Padi prior to it, and it turns out that that event is yet another book back. And then I went another book back, because it wasn't here either. I'll try one more! This was a good refresh, though, of what was going on with everyone else.



Book #113 Mantivore Dreams by S. J. Higbee

This was a freebie Kindle book. I liked the first part primarily due to the world-building but it succumbed to all the typical tropes of YA fiction as it went on, which has become tiresome to me.

Definitely a bit late in setting up September's thread for the Monthly Group Read, but it's a catch-all theme so come on over and start reading!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/324224

And four of the books I've already read this month fit into the category of Series & Sequels!

"Library mouse" is cute-sounding until I think of my ongoing War of Extermination against the rodentia resident in this building.

Pimp My Airship is a Kindle cheapie, and it's really cute.

>227 ronincats: I love series and sequels. I must be reading some now but I didn't realize that what we were missing or else I would have brought it to your attention.

Hi Roni!

I'm sorry to read about the middle nativity scene, glad to see the pics of the masks. Your masks and aprons are always pleasing to look at because of the materials you choose.

>223 ronincats: I'm a Bookworm. Husband and daughter got me my very own plush Bookworm many years ago:

>210 ronincats: *head hurts*

>222 ronincats: I like the jug. Dramatic!

>225 ronincats: I love the fabrics you use for masks and the handy things you make for walkers (name is escaping me at the moment).

I just asked for the nearest flu shot location on Kaiser's website and it said the Target clinic so that's where we went. Turns out we should have had an appointment but there was no one else waiting and she had enough on hand so she took us right in. Hubby drove down and met me at Habit for lunch and then we got the shots and drove home (I do not walk up that hill!). Check that off the list and I got a nice walk in as a bonus.

Those are wonderful masks, Roni. I have been ordering from a woman out here in Minneapolis. What I really want her to do is a Doctor Who or a book mask of some kind. But alas. I guess there's not much call for that these days.

>225 ronincats: Love the masks, especially the sunflowers!

>223 ronincats: Old English: Book Wyrm



I own this shirt, except in gray. One of my all time favorites. It's me.

Hi Roni. I've missed a few threads and I see that you are now making phone holders. What an awesome idea! Especially with zoom and FaceTime being so much more a part of our lives, I could see those being very popular. I also love that you're making masks. I have found a couple of on-line outlets whose masks I particularly like. I don't go out much so it has probably been mostly a waste of money but I bought several from Beau-Ties (Vermont) and Bioskin (Eugene, Oregon).

>185 ronincats: That bowl is gorgeous!

Your comments about The Starless Sea are interesting. I loved Night Circus but did not care for TSS at all. I attributed it, at least in part, to my absolute lack of experience with gaming, but your suggestion to take it in small bits might have helped.

>228 richardderus: I know, Richard. Book flea does the same for me, as it's a constant struggle to keep the pets free of fleas.
>229 Familyhistorian: Glad to have you join in, Meg.
>230 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen, and that is a cuter-than-average bookworm.
>231 humouress: ;>D
>232 RebaRelishesReading: Yes, I saw that the Target stores had clinics, but since we were right by the Kaiser facility, it worked out.
>233 The_Hibernator: I posted some Dr. Who masks I saw online on your thread, Rachel.
>234 curioussquared: My sister is a big sunflower fan, and that was from some long-ago leftover scraps.
>235 CassieBash: Oooh, I LOVE that, Cassie!
>236 EBT1002: I also don't have a gaming background, Ellen, so that influence was totally lost on me. One of the things I like about your recuperation is how much more time you get to spend around here!

Book #114 The Gathering Edge by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (352 pp)

Well, it turns out this isn't the book either...



Book #115 Alliance of Equals by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (344 pp)

At LAST!! This is the book where we last left Shan and Priscilla and Padi! Four years ago, so there's a reason why the details weren't clear!! So if you want to be prepared before, er, leaping into Trader's Leap, this is the one to revisit. Still, visiting the Liaden Universe is never a chore.

Popping my head up to say hi.
>237 ronincats: Maybe that's also why TSS didn't appeal to me. I am not into gaming... I also wasn't a Night Circus fan either, even though the story had an interesting concept. I just didn't like the implied abuse of the young magicians. The books might feel different reading in calmer times...

(((((Roni))))) My RL friend has reread some of her Liaden books just lately. You both make me want to move on, but I don't know when I'll get to them. So why am I here and not reading? Friendship!

>239 SandyAMcPherson: Hi, Sandy!
>240 LizzieD: Glad to see you here, even if it means you aren't reading Liaden books right now, Peggy.



Book #116 Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen (315 pp.)

These are so silly but so much fun. Just what the doctor ordered. But this is #10, so start at the beginning!

It's been a quiet couple of days. Watched football on Sunday and Monday night, the she-shack is wrapped for termite treatment so I'm not back there, and I've been doing a fair amount of reading, as is evident. Spent today trying to trouble-shoot my apps on my Kindle Fire--they've been exiting the game in the middle of a puzzle pretty regularly, which is frustrating as all get out, so I did a system reset after making sure I'd backed up my progress. So far okay on reloading my favorites. We'll see if that lasts.

I hesitate to ask, but what are you playing on your Fire, Roni? I am spending way, way, way too much time with my dumb games.

>242 LizzieD: Currently, Seaport, Diggy's Adventure, Lily's Garden, Matchington Mansion and Manor Matters. I was playing Homescapes but that's the app that started the problems and it won't reload.

I downloaded a version of lemmings a couple of days ago and have already "lost" an hour. I think I need to delete the app!

>244 charl08: Were it only an hour, Charlotte! Still, they keep me amused in these covid days when other amusements are...unwise. And I would get tired of always reading for amusement--it's nice to alternate.



Book #117 The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell (500 pp.)

Amazon has been pushing this Kindle Unlimited freebie (loan) at me for months. Given the unprepossessing cover and my general opinion of most of the free books offered, I have been resisting, but when I saw Silverwolf had read it and asked for their opinion, it was good. So I read it yesterday. And yes, I did like it verra much, thank you.

This is urban fantasy without the urban fantasy tropes. A 30 something man, veteran of 3 Afghanistan tours and an EMT who was fired after 2 years for punching out a man abusing his wife, is looking for a job. The agency sets him up with a couple who want him to look after an elderly uncle for a year, until they can have him declared incompetent, move him to assisted living, and sell his lovely historic home for condos. Roger is actually a guy with some integrity, but after meeting the uncle, he likes him and agrees to be his "butler". Which mostly consists of picking up, cooking and serving meals, but is done strictly by the traditional butler code (and dress). Turns out cleaning and yardwork is taken care of by the pixies and fairies, so maintaining the huge old house is not beyond him. Most of the book deals with his coming to terms with his charge being a wizard and magic existing, and foiling the plot of his niece to get control of the house. I liked the good solid relationships, the details of butlering, and the characters. A nice change from so much copycat urban fantasy. And Lowell has written a space opera series, earlier work, so i'm going to check that out as well.

>245 ronincats: #117 sounds like a fun read. Still not risking $5 on it, though...maybe if the jackanapes GOP in DC can pull their stupidity plug for a minute and pass the Democraps' stimulus bill, I'll plonk the shekels down.

>245 ronincats: BB and what Richard said.
I confess to playing Secret Society and (shudder) Candy Crush. I put Monuments on my Kindle, but it was not quite mindless enough.

>246 richardderus: I completely understand. If I hadn't been able to get it for "free" with Kindle Unlimited, I wouldn't have plonked down any shekels either.
>247 LizzieD: No overlap, then. I forgot to add Criminal Case.

I didn't get to work at the pottery today as we had to be home for the SDG&E tech to turn the gas meter back on for the she-shack after the fumigation. Of course he didn't come until the very end of my studio time. But we did get out after that and pick up what I had glazed last week and also stopped by the library to pick up holds. It being 95 degrees and 20% humidity, might not have been too comfy for working anyway.

Whoa! That's dry heat!!!!!
Meanwhile, I totally caved and spent the $4.95 for the Wizard's Butler. It just looks like so much fun that I indulge my weakness. I like the sound of some of his space opera too, but I'll wait for those. I really will.

Hi Roni, I've been spending quite a bit of my time in actual reading this month and I'm seeing results - I actually have some wiggle room on my bookshelves - now I just have to control myself from filling them up again. I am trying to clear a top shelf as we have decided to install an air conditioner in this room and - you guessed it, I need to give up one of my shelves for it to be placed where one was obviously there in the past.

I love your pottery pumpkins!

I like the pumpkins too; love the detail on them. And I like that bronze on cobalt colour on the phone stand.

Myself, I'm playing Two Dots (which is similar but not quite to Candy Crush, which I deleted from my devices about 7 years ago because it was such a time sink), Brain It On (in an attempt to assuage my conscience) and occasionally Lumosity.

I keep seeing ads for Gardenscapes and Homescapes and similar where you have to pull pins in a certain order to release things (or not) but they all end with a huge FAIL flashing on the screen, so it didn't look too enticing. Are they good? But if it's crashing, I'll continue to avoid it. My iPad is older and doesn't get the latest iOS versions, only the updates of the last version it was eligible for so better not risk it.

>249 ronincats: I love the pumpkins - and Terry Pratchett is always worth it!
I wish you a wonderful weekend, Roni.

I love the pumpkins, Roni.

Thankee, Peggy, Judy, Nina, Thomas and Beth, for stopping by! I've been playing the Pirate Treasure Hunt, have 11 pelicans so far.

Nina, those promos make me mad. I played Homescapes for MONTHS and never had any pin-pulling. It's all match-3 play with different barriers to make it interesting, as in icons to be removed by matching next to them or over them. You earn points that way and get to clean up and replace things in the house and gardens.

(((((Roni))))), thanks for the BB for The Wizard's Butler. I'm saving some for tomorrow, but it's taken me out of my brooding over what RBG's death is going to mean for us. I was so deep in CNN and MSNBC that I couldn't even mourn or celebrate her.
I'll surely put the first three space operas, beginning with Quarter Share on my Kindle for my birthday.

Ooh, Empire of Salt and Fortune! I read that a few weeks ago and liked it. A lot is being made about the fact that the main character is non-binary and people having varying opinions about that, but it's only very subtlety alluded to and isn't a big part of the story. I have pre-ordered the next in the series as they are very affordable as Kindle copies - this side of the pond at least.
I have just got a new phone which has way more storage space than my last one - I'm afraid I have downloaded Candy Crush and have been wasting far too much time on it. It will have to go soon I think, but maybe just one more game in the meantime...

>249 ronincats: I concur with everyone else about the pottery pumpkins; love the curling stems in particular! :)

Hi Roni, I thought I had posted here recently to say "a BB for The Wizard's Butler", but maybe that was on someone else's thread...
I haven't seen an eBook of this novel that would work on my Kobo reader, so might try for it at the PL.

Glad you are having pottery fun. I missed what that fumigation was all about... she-shack problems?

>185 ronincats: - Oh, I love that colour! Wonderful bowl.

Love the new pottery pumpkins and more - are those book stands? I love the detail of leaves on the one on the left, and the deep brown of the one on the right is striking.

I will look forward to your comments on Deal with the Devil, that one's been on my radar but I'm maxed out on holds and haven't decided to request it from the library yet.

>125 ronincats:...I'll buy all the pottery, plus the cat as well!

Everything you do is so very creative.

First of all, the reading for the last week:



Book #118 The Lord of Stariel by A. J. Lancaster (319 pp.)

First of a YA trilogy, I hoped for more at first as Hetta is older and more sophisticated when she returns home at her father's death and is unexpectedly anointed by the family Star Stone as the lord of Stariel. This first book is mostly about her dealing with this unwelcome event, as well as setting up the confrontations with Faerie that will be the center of the next book. It was a freebie and the next two are as well--I am undecided as yet as to whether I will continue.

The Wizard's Butler established that author Nathan Lowell loves his detail. In that book, it is actually soothing to have this fairly low drama settling in bit by bit. So I went to his initial space opera series, Trader's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, which also is included with Kindle Unlimited.



Book #119 Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell (250 pp.)
Book #120 Half Share by Nathan Lowell (235 pp.)
Book #121 Full Share by Nathan Lowell (268 pp.)
Book #122 Double Share by Nathan Lowell (332 pp.)
Book #123 Captain's Share by Nathan Lowell (420 pp.)

Ships in Space!! These are clearly inspired by the famous and well-beloved Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian and the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester, both set in the Age of Sail during the Napoleonic Wars. No wars here, these are trading ships, but the ship discipline is very similar. We follow Ishmael from his first posting as an 18-year-old on the ship Lois McKendrick through his promotions up to captaincy. There are more books, but I think I will stop here for the time being. These are also all included in Kindle Unlimited.

Okay, these are fun (the first sentence of each book is a quote from a famous piece of literature, staring with "Call me Ishmael" for the first book) but you have to suspend disbelief because Ishmael is truly the ultimate Mary Sue. Everyone he interacts with comes out stronger and better-adjusted, he turns trouble-making crew and unmotivated officers around in short order, he is surrounded by powerful and gorgeous women officers (although he never has sex with someone on his own ship (and the sex isn't explicit when he does have it)) even though he is only an 18 year old lad, he passes tests to qualify for higher ratings at a meteoric rate, as a new officer (age 24 or so) he successfully takes out a sadistic first mate and on his first assignment as captain, he takes the worst ship in the fleet and turns it around in a single voyage, yadda yadda yadda. Loads of detail about ship life, mess detail, meals, and so on. And yet, it is a nice escape from the world around us this week.



Book #124 Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis (70 pp.)

This short work deals with the aftermath of Thornbound and how it affects Juliana and Caroline's secret engagement. It is pretty slight and definitely not to be read unless you have read the prior book.

>256 LizzieD: Glad you are enjoying The Wizard's Butler, Peggy. Yes, I found it soothing as well. See above for my comments about the space opera.
>257 HanGerg: Hi, Hannah. I'll be reading Empire soon, I think.
>258 CassieBash: Thank you, Cassie.
>259 SandyAMcPherson: I know the book is only available as an ebook, Sandy, so I hope you can find it in a format you can use. And the place hadn't been tented for 36 years and there were termites back there. This climate is terrible for eliminating termites, no frosts.
>260 lkernagh: Thank you, Lori.
>261 bell7: I started it, Mary, but bounced. Fairly violent and some stereotypical tropes for paranormal romance, not a lot to do with books. I will try it again in a bit.
>262 Whisper1: (((Linda))) Thank you, dear.

I've been reading a lot of the Kindle Unlimited light fantasy and science fiction, as you see above, to escape from the dismal political and health realities surrounding me, rather than some of the more hefty and complex books home from the library. A Deadly Education will be here next Tuesday, and the final Thief book the Tuesday after, so I am going to begin rereading the first 5 books in preparation, as I know I will read Return of the Thief IMMEDIATELY.

Today was the first day in a while that I spent in the she-shack. I made two nativities, two Christmas tree ornaments, an angel ornament, inked and waxed a design on a plate, and after some years, finally made some alterations on a summer dress that needed shoulder straps shortened. Yesterday I watered and weeded and fed garden plants in the morning.

Cases are sky-rocketing in Kansas and my home county. After months of cases increasing by 3 or 4 or 5 cases a week, and after returning kids and staff to school two weeks ago, the cases soared from 104 to 132 in the last week. My mother even cancelled her bridge games this week--they are all elderly ladies who don't get out and see anyone else. The school district went back to virtual this week for two weeks after multiple teachers, bus-drivers, other staff and students have tested positive for COVID. My great-nephew is quarantined because he ate lunch at the same table as a student who was positive. My sister is relieved to be assisting as a special ed para aide virtually (although she has received her masks!). Although she is still going in to the school, she has her own socially isolated work station with no physical contact with students and sharply limited contact with other staff. She is most afraid of carrying the virus to our mother and her mother-in-law.

And Rachel is talking about Trump's comments on getting rid of the ballots and there won't be any need for a transfer of power...is it any wonder I take refuge in fantasy and crafts? Or all of you?

>264 ronincats: No wonder you take refuge in fantasy indeed. I'm considering taking refuge under my desk for the next few months. More and more prominent Republicans are showing a tiny bit of courage/sense at least but someone is going to have to seriously find some cajones soon or we are in a world of hurt.

And on that cheerful note, I will wish you a pleasant day and depart.

>263 ronincats: Sometimes a Gary Stu novel is just what one needs. Roll with it guiltlessly.

>264 ronincats: The reality is the coup has been announced.

I don't think this is funny and I don't think it will work, but it makes me boiling mad that it's being tried.

>265 RebaRelishesReading: Same to ya, Reba.
>266 richardderus: Heather Cox Richardson makes some excellent points in today's letter, Richard.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-23-2020

>264 ronincats: Same wavelength! I started my Thief reread yesterday :)

>249 ronincats: Love those pumpkins Roni, especially the one on the left, those colours! I love those colours in autumn.

>264 ronincats: Scary stuff, both of it, more cases and the upcoming election. Case numbers are rising here as well, and lots of people keep denying.

I hate to be a note of optimism in this whole mess of a week, but here in Alabama the infection rates have stabilized. At UA the rates are dropping, and dropped enough so that the mayor of Tuscaloosa allowed the bars to stay open until 10:00 p.m. If the rates continue to go down he has said that he will allow bars to stay open until 11 p.m. However, he has NOT extended the number of people allowed into the bar at one time. I think that may be the key to whole thing.

At UA we are being encouraged to teach face-to-face or hybrid (one in class meeting per week and up to two Zoom classes). The students are in almost lockdown. They can only leave the dorm to get food or to go to class. (I don't know how they are enforcing that. Not my area of expertise.). But numbers have come down and it looks like we have a chance of making it through the semester.

>270 benitastrnad: Indiana had a spike in late August when campus life started, but since then cases have dropped though not a lot, and it depends on where you are, of course. Our campus has had to quarantine students but so far no isolations, which means they may have been exposed (mostly teams having skirmishes with other institutions' teams) but so far no actual positive cases. I fear it's only a matter of time now though because our governor is completely opening up the state, though he's "requiring" face mask use to continue and urging social distancing. No one seems to be enforcing it much up here though. I think this is still too soon for a full opening; I expect numbers to go up again in a big spike in a couple of weeks. I'm glad your mayor is not rushing it.

>270 benitastrnad: >271 CassieBash: We're beginning to see a drop on our campus too. UT also has a drop although they think it is because students won't get tested because they don't want isolation or quarantine. I don't know if that is what is happening in our case or not. I mastered the "stare" apparently. I walked out and looked at a couple of students who were sitting too close to one another with one not wearing mask up over nose (although it was over mouth) and the other not wearing a mask at all. As I looked at them, she grabbed her mask and put it on; he pulled his up.

I have a friend whose daughter is in quarantine at Texas A&M, and another whose daughter is in quarantine at Ole Miss. I don't have kids, so I keep my mouth shut, but really? What did people expect to happen!?!?

My alma mater, a small liberal arts college in Massachusetts, announced in early August they would not be bringing students back to campus. Seems like the right move to me.

I'm counting the weeks to Thanksgiving; that's when we send everyone home and move the last of the classes online. Only 9 weeks to go....

Well, cases in my home town's county skyrocketed from the 132 reported last Wednesday to 188 on Friday. That's one out of every 100 there, the same (tested) saturation as here in San Diego County. San Diego State is still a hotspot, UCSD not so much.

Come on over to the new thread, people!