Lucy's (Sibylline) Quarterly Report: Autumn into Winter 2020

Pet triptych: Tenzing with crossed paws, Ernie lurking at pond, Posey with "stupid toy". Yes, her toys have names.

Currently Reading December 2020

♬

Currently Reading in December
new The Gods Arrive Edith Wharton fiction american
ROOT Nora: The Real Life of Molly Bloom Brenda Maddox bio
E The Price of Ransom Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen
♬The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (5th of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry mys classic, mys british
♬ Hope For the Best Jodi Taylor fantasy time travel

Read in December (For full list, look below in December reading)
128. new Shadow of Ashland Terence M. Green magical realism w/ a touch of time travel? ***1/2
129. E A Passage of Stars (1 of 3) Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen sf sp/op
130. ♬ An Argumentation of Historians (9) Jodi Taylor
131. E Revolution's Shore (2 of 3) Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen sf sp/op

Reading Tally 2020

Series Tally 2020

Currently reading 2020
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle (6) Next up (5th of 6 in audio series)
The Chronicles of St. Mary's (12 plus many stories) Jodi Taylor Currently reading: (8) And the Rest is History

will continue
Lady Hardcastle mysteries (4) T. E. Kinsey NEXT UP (3) A Picture of Murder (Audio)
Galaxy Outlaws (16.5) Listening to #2
Cass Neary(3) Elizabeth Hand NEXT UP (2) Available Dark
The Craft Sequence(6) Max Gladstone NEXT UP: (2)Two Serpents Rise
The Invisible Library(6) Genevieve Cogman NEXT UP (6) The Secret Chapter

Finished/Caught Up in 2020!!
Kurland St. Mary Mystery(7) Catherine Lloyd Death Comes to Bath (6th of 7)
Pelbar Cycle(7) Paul O. Williams READING (7th) The Sword of Forbearance
James White (5) Sector General series (about 12 books)
Murderbot Diaries Network Effect (5) Martha Wells

Inda Sherwood Smith (4)
Revenger(3) Alastair Reynolds
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (15) Louise Penny READING (15) A Better Man
The Kencyrath Chronicles (6) P.C. Hodgell
Terra Ignota(3 so far. . . ) Ada Palmer
The Chronicles of Kazam (3 so far) Jasper Fforde

Probably won't continue?
Constable Evans (6) Rhys Bowen READING (1) Evans Above
Oxford Medieval Mysteries (1 of 6) Ann Swinfen
Roma sub Rosa (12) Steven Saylor NEXT UP (2) Arms of Nemesis

Read in October
96. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (4th of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry mys*****
97. ✔Tropic of Creation Kay Kenyon sf ****
98. ♬ Death Comes to the Village(1) Catherine Lloyd regency mys ***1/2
99. ♬Death Comes to London(2) Catherine Lloyd regency mys ***1/2
100.!! new The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England Graham Robb history ****
101. ♬ Death Comes to Kurland Hall(3) Catherine Lloyd regency mys ***1/2
102. (ER) Fire Logic Laurie J. Marks fantasy ***
103. ♬ Death Comes to the Fair (4) Catherine Lloyd cosy mys ****
104. new I Will Have Vengeance Maurizio de Giovanni mys ****
105. ♬ Death Comes to the School Catherine Lloyd cosy mys ****
106. ♬ Death Comes to Bath Catherine Lloyd cosy mys ****
107. E The Song of the Axe (6) Paul O. Williams sf post apoc *****

Stats
Total: 12
Men: 4
Women: 8
M/W writing together: 0
Non-fiction: 1
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 0
SF/F: 3
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 8
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 3
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 6
New (to shelves): 2
e-book: 1
Off Shelf/ROOT:0
Pearled: 0

Books In: October
16. I Will Have Vengeance Maurizio de Giovanni

E.
18.Song of the Axe Paul O. Williams
19. The Sword of Forbearance Paul O. Williams
20.

audio:
17. to 23. Series: Kurland St. Mary Mystery Death Comes to the Village Catherine Lloyd
24.

Housekeeping:
(Physical) books (for year) IN = 14
e-books (for year)=17
audio (ditto) =17
ALL IN: 50
(Physical) Out July= 3
(Physical) TOTAL OUT= 32

Books Read in November

108. ♬ Death Comes to the Nursery Catherine Lloyd cosy mystery ****
109 E The Sword of Forbearance (Pelbar Cycle 7) Paul O. Williams sf post apoc ****. Series=****1/2
110. ♬ Quarter Share Nathan Lowell sf sp/op ***1/2
111. Luna: New Moon Ian MacDonald sf moon
112. ♬ A Second Chance (3 of Chronicles of St. Mary's) sf time travel
113. The Very First Damned Thing Jodi Taylor (novella) sf time travel
114.♬ A Trail Through Time Jodi Taylor (4 of Chronicles) Jodi Taylor Plus a story: The Muse of History Jodi Taylor ****
115. new Luna: Wolf Moon Ian McDonald sf moon ****
116. ♬ No Time Like the Past (5) Jodi Taylor sf time travel *****
117. new Luna: Moon Rising Ian McDonald sf moon ****
118. new South Riding Winifred Holtby fiction, Virago ****

Finished in December
119. E The Physicians of Vilnoc Lois McMaster Bujold fantasy ****
120. E Masquerade in Lodi Lois McMaster Bujold fantasy ****
121. ♬ What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Jodi Taylor sf time travel
122. E The Labyrinth Gate Kate Elliott fantasy ****
123. new Spinning Silver Naomi Novik fantasy ****1/2
124. ♬ Lies, Damned Lies and History Jodi Taylor fantasy time travel ****1/2
125. ✔Hitchers Will McIntosh post apoc? ***1/2
126. new Alice Payne Arrives Kate Heartfield fantasy time travel ***
127. ♬ And the Rest is History (8) Jodi Taylor fantasy *****
128. new Shadow of Ashland Terence M. Green magical realism w/ a touch of time travel? ***1/2
129. E A Passage of Stars (1 of 3) Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen sf sp/op
130. ♬ An Argumentation of Historians (9) Jodi Taylor
131. E Revolution's Shore (2 of 3) Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen sf sp/op

Final Tally 2020

Pearled in 2020
1. new BBG* White Oleander Janet Fitch contemp fic
2. ✔ ROOT The Brothers Powys Richard Perceval Graves lit bio
3. ✔ ROOT Burmese Lessons Karen Connelly memoir
4. new BBG* Whiskey When We're Dry John Larison historical fict/western
5.new The Wych Elm Tana French mys

*BBG is the Bridgeside Book Group

Hey, a new thread!

Totally under construction!

Hope you have constructed it already.
Happy new thread, Lucy.

I look forward to seeing what goes on here for the rest of the year, Lucy! I wish it may be always happy!

Hi Lucy. I also look forward to what you will be posting about and have always picked up great BBs here.

I started my new thread (#8), last night. My 7th thread has the Catherine Lloyd speed-reviews (or lightning rounds as Karen calls them).

Happy new thread!

>1 sibylline: My first thought of "stupid toy" was strange muzzle.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Lucy!

So, have you started South Riding? Enjoying it??
Also, I caved in and bought the first part of the Pelbar series - I'd had it on the Wishlist from when you had mentioned it before. It's coming over from your side of the pond so I'll have to wait a few weeks until I can sink my teeth into it!

Happy new thread and happy fall reading, Lucy!!

Good (maybe?) morning to you.
You've been quiet on the threads. I hope you are okay.
I am looking forward to >8 sibylline: which is under construction...

Well, I am not very ok today and I've been very anxious. Lots of time outside trying to keep my mind intact. I am healthy, just so sad.

Just erased a massive rant. What is the point?

Sandy! This IS the new thread! This new feature of popping you down to the bottom means you can miss seeing that!

>20 sibylline: Hi Lucy. Sending sympathy for ... well, everything.
Back at >11 SandyAMcPherson:, I invited you to my new thread. I think Jim has been really preoccupied and hasn't updated the thread book.

I gave you a shout out at my topper. I was being philosophical in there.
💙 and 💖

>20 sibylline: So sorry that you are feeling down, Lucy.

108. cosy mys ****
Death Comes to the Nursery Catherine Lloyd

And that brings me up to date with this series. Another is in the works, but it will be a little while. I have enjoyed these during these trying times. This last one had some stretched moments (a baronet and his wife breaking into someone's house?) but they are rarely stressful even if almost ridiculous. And who cares? I enjoy the characters. ****

>22 SandDune: Only stressed by all the things outside my own little life in Vermont. I'm feeling better hour by hour and awaiting the big piece of good news today, really hoping for that call today.

>24 sibylline: Good news today, yes?
Sending my regards and wishing you 'happy'.

Good news indeed!!!!!!

Lucy, I love your topper photos, especially Miss Posey with the "stupid" toy. Too funny!

I am not familiar with the Paul Williams books, but they sound like excellent fun. I'm adding them to The List.

109. sf post apoc
The Sword of Forbearance Paul O. Williams

This is the seventh and last in The Pelbar Cycle. Each book was different in some way, with different protagonists and personalities but the pattern: long journeys, different cultures (some of which are peaceful, open and flexible enough to cooperate, some not) continues but with an increase in intensity. Of all the cultures, there is one, the Innanigani in the East (sort of mid-Atlantic as best as I can figure) that are formidable. It is a rigid culture, devoted to law and precedent, very arrogant, very phobic of other groups (and thus effortlessly violent towards strangers), and technologically the most equal to the Pelbar. The entire book is taken up with the conflict between the federation of tribes and cultures and the Innanigani. On the other hand, this last conflict had been set up over previous books as inevitable and the true test if this new "Urstadge" was going to be the same-old or something better. A solid ending. ****

110. ♬ sf sp/op ***1/2
Quarter Share Nathan Lowell

Eighteen year old Ishmael's mom has died suddenly leaving him no money and the planet they live on, being entirely owned by a company, has no work for him. He has to go. He signs up for a trading freighter and he's off! Ishmael turns out to be good at making coffee, a wonk, a good sport, all around nice guy and immediately starts making a place for himself on the ship. The newbies only get a "quarter share" of the profits, but he and his new friend, Carstairs, come up with their own trading schemes and catch the attention of the ship's officers. If I have a complaint it is that there is really NO conflict at all, none. The level of detail, about anything from making coffee to setting up a trading booth is kind of hypnotic, not necessarily in a bad way, but the sheer amount allows Lowell to avoid making anything much actually happen. I don't like the reader at all so if I continue it will have to be on E format. I'll probably try the next one that way. Good for these stressful times. ***1/2

Hi Lucy. I like your candid take on these stories at #28 and 29.
Sometimes I'm bewildered why I don't like a book. I just have a sense that something was 'off' but haven't enough of an idea what it was. So I can't grasp any concept to mention.

I mention this little kink of mine because of your saying for Lowell's book there was no conflict, just masses of of overdone detail. That's suddenly one of those 'light bulb' moments. You know? Where the cartoon character has a bright bulb in a conversation bubble?

Today I posted a review of a Tana French novel. I actually finished it 3 days ago, but what to say in a review was one of my stumbling blocks. My impressions of in the Woods were so inarticulate. Your level of detail phrase reminded me that one of my vexations with this novel was it's unnecessary length. Way too much description in the middle of the story moving forward. I wonder if Tana was stalled out for "what happens next"?

I went back and did a small edit on my review to mention the overlong novel not helping the narrative move forward. I looked in your library and see you rated it 4½ stars. I guess we might be on really different wavelengths for this one. I didn't belong to LT when you may have written a review on Talk ~ was there much discussion back then in the group?

>30 SandyAMcPherson: Hmm, that was my first Tana French and I was very taken up in the story. I think I read it before joining LT so there is no review here. I do remember at some point being annoyed, toward the end, at how the story "turned" -- the young policeman working with the protagonist, somehow involved? Am I remembering right? It felt a bit too handy or something, a frequent murder mystery issue. My favorite of her books is the third one. Sometimes I love detail --but not when it is a substitute for things happening.

>31 sibylline: Pretty much correct - good remembering, Lucy.
And yes, the story turned sour, imho at the point you mention. The final third was also disjointed. I'm just realising that aspect now. Less fluid. She wrote so well in the beginning, it's perhaps influenced my final viewpoint when the writing became less polished. At least, I think less polished.

Thanks for going back in your memory to cast some light on the story.

>30 SandyAMcPherson:, >31 sibylline:, >32 SandyAMcPherson: I just left a comment on Sandy's thread in response to her review of In the Woods. It looks like all three of us were annoyed with the turn of events late in the novel. I read it in 2013 so I only have my review to go on (which I quoted on Sandy's thread). The specifics are lost, deep inside my brain or possibly in pieces on the floor somewhere.

I'm astonished I remembered so much -- I think you are right Laura that the first half plus was brilliant, really great reading.

Thank goodness for LT -- I go back and check out reviews to make sure I haven't already read/have the book all the time! Much from earlier is lost forever. I have noticed, though, that the better the book the more I remember.

Still pretty fresh, this new thread. Bravo. Or whatever.

Is Tenzing the namesake of the pioneering sherpa? Is the feline a climber?

Morning, Lucy! I am loving the discussion of In The Woods - I was the same with loving the first two thirds of the book and then feeling it fell flat with the ending. Still, I loved the writing and did not feel that is was too long. I just wanted a different ending. Like Laura, I read it back in 2013. I gave it 4.5 stars.

>35 weird_O: OK, Bill. I've seen this gif before... how the heck do you get it to be active?
I don't understand how to save or upload gifs that have (I guess?) javascripts....

>36 Crazymamie: Hiya Mamie, 4 to 4½ ★s is about right imho, for much of the book.
Laura had an interesting comment (in this post).
I'd be interested if Lucy and others see this assessment is quite a True Thing, at least in Tana's Book 1 of the Dublin Murder Squad series.

>35 weird_O: Indeed, Tenzing is named for the sherpa. For no particular reason other than loving the name. He is incredibly agile -- what is known in the USA as Lynx-point siamese. Lest you think he came from a fancy breeder . . . . nooooooo ....... from a madhouse up in the Northeast Kingdom (if you know Vermont, back of beyond in a state many consider already back of beyond) with goats in the basement and about six dogs and these two siamese the family had bred. T. was the only kitten. I felt I was rescuing him! He was tiny also, too little to leave his mama, but again, good thing. Picked him up in a horrible snowstorm too.

Way more info than you wanted, I am sure.

>36 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie!!!

>38 SandyAMcPherson: I do agree with Laura's assessment! I wonder what happened with that ending -- her first book, you'd think . . . not the kind of pressure that comes once you've made it.

On a personal note: tomorrow at 2 a.m. (early!) I am heading for Boston to retrieve my daughter from Logan Airport. I hope to not set foot out of the car out of Vermont except once, in New Hampshire, to get gas. (Yep, takin' a bucket) as the state just instituted quarantine for anyone who leaves the state, as well as anyone who comes in from anywhere at all. The daughter lives in S. Oregon, is presently in SF w/friend's family and passed her PCR yesterday, gets on the plane tonight. I have not seen her since December last year. Normally she would take three flights and since she has a place to leave her car for six weeks, we went with this plan.

In the car we've put up a clear shower curtain (a bungee across, fasteners, a kind of valence extra bit taped on the glass of the sunroof etcetera) between the front and the back and she will be in back in the car.

If her plane was not crowded I will quarantine 'lite' -- I'll stay home and not go into stores or anything but not sequester totally from the spouse -- although we will not sleep in the same room or use the same bathroom and will keep our distance and wear masks if we can't etc. etc. Daughter will be out in my spousal unit's studio which he has cleaned up and made so cosy with her own simple little kitchen she may not want to move into the house. If her plane was crowded or someone sneezed on her I will take the PCR too next Friday. Otherwise no, I'll just stay away from others for the full 14 days. I hate to waste these tests if the risk is .00001 if you know what I mean.

That was kind of long-winded and reveals the anxiety around all this. Vermont is spiking along with everyone else-- highest numbers ever for us for the whole pandemic were yesterday. Not high by many standards, but kind of a shock.

You've really thought this through, Lucy. I'm impressed. And I'm also beyond excited for you, knowing how long it's been since you've seen your daughter. Good luck with it all.

Pretty much beside myself!

>40 lauralkeet: What Laura said, Lucy. Keeping you in our thoughts adn wishing you happy.

>39 sibylline: Oh Lucy! I'm so excited for you as well.

And 💚 envious because I haven't seen my elder daughter since we visited (Missouri) April 2018. She's had to relocate twice (for work) and is now at her home in Ontario.
So I sure can understand your eagerness. Brilliant arrangements for the journey. I hope the weather behaves itself, with nothing untoward.

You might be reassured to read that infections via aircraft turn out to be very rare!

Sending blessings and very best wishes for the success of all your plans.

>43 SandyAMcPherson: I've read that too. I think the measures are likely more than necessary, but on the other hand, I'm fine, as in, no problem for me to do whatever makes the spousal unit feel comfortable. My tolerance level is more manageable. We'll both read an article (such as the one above from Sandy) and I'll have a totally different take from it! I've been grateful for some of his precautions too. Now and then, say, in the pharmacy or someplace I'll suddenly feel I can't stand being there another minute, too many people, or something. I think he feels that way all the time, so I am sympathetic.

>43 SandyAMcPherson: I really am grateful my daughter's plan to move out earlier this year didn't work out. I love having her here. I also want the house to myself for a few hours every now and then. Well, that's life.

Travel safely, Lucy! Enjoy! ENJOY!

We're home!!!!!! -- 9 hour round trip to Logan -- one hour was stops of various kinds. She's asleep!

Wonderful news, Lucy!!

>47 sibylline: Whew! So good to hear! Have a delightful time.

Glad LD is home and that the trip went well. I'm most impressed by all of your precautions!

Won't see much of her for the first ten days or so, until the PCR results from test on day 7 -- she's planning to use the time to study for her exams, work on term projects etcetera. It's ok with me too, we'll acclimate gradually. Both her Dad and I are nervous about being too excited!

111. sf ****
Luna: New Moon (1 of 3)) Ian McDonald

Absolute attention to detail and plausibe(ish) descriptions of how the occupation and exploitation of the moon might evolve. Let me be backtrack: the hard details, that there are no animals, for example, or how the lesser gravity makes some things work better, some worse, the effects on the human body. Gritty, violent, doses of sex, most of which has an amusing enthusiasm. Five families "the dragons" run the show, mining metals and useful elements (such as helium, a subset of which is the key to safe fusion), selling merchandise, supplying the transportation no-how and so on. They compete. The moon is run on the principle of negotiation. There isn't "law" per se beyond the law of agreements and contracts. There are customs: even your worst enemy won't explode a refuge, for example. Gender has become somewhat beside the point in this environment. A feud has simmered between the Cortas and the Mackenzies for decades--when the Corta matriarch dies, everything explodes. The book ends with the Cortas in full retreat, some of the principles dead. One of the most intriguing characters is Wagner Corta who is . . . different. Really different, adding a touch of the mysteries of metamorphosis to the mix. I started out not really wanting to read about a bunch of zillionaires feuding, but yah, I got sucked in.****

>52 sibylline: Escapism feels just fine to me. I'm on board with reading to avoid thinking about the spread and severity of this virus. Glad you found something to draw you in!

112. sf time travel
A Second Chance Jodi Taylor

Book 3 in the series, to which I have at long last returned. I am learning that it is a bad idea, really, to stop reading a series for very long if the books are available. I'd forgotten enough from the first two to have to go and read summaries and remind myself. Max goes off to "do" Troy -- first before the fall and then the fall itself. Things go sideways, of course, badly sideways. Soon after that, when Max is still dazed from all that she saw and what happened more personally, she is kidnapped by Ronan, the evil time traveler, and sent back to the Cretacious (this was what I had to look up) but her rescuer is someone so unlooked for she is utterly flummoxed and . . . so on. Things come to a head at Agincourt. Taylor does her homework and her descriptions of both what happened at Troy and Agincourt are, somehow, both playful and given how little we know, really, of the former, convincing. Agincourt is one of those well documented debacles but still the up close view is great! You find yourself really excited that Max really gets to a glimpse of Henry V! Doing audio and I like the reader. ****

>54 sibylline: I'm a dedicated fan of this series and have read and re-read them many times (in print or audio) and I now find that I accept Jodi Taylor's view/explanation of historical events as the 'right' one!

>55 CDVicarage: Perhaps you can help me -- have you read them all "in order" -- including the short stories. Audible has most of the latter for free, which is great. My next listen will likely be the story about how Bairstow got the whole thing going. I'm happy I've found a good listen -- I have loads of knitting to do! I love Fry and Holmes, but I find I need to take breaks -- Fry brings such intensity to everything he does.

I LOVED the Trojan horse theory. I haven't looked that up, but I will -- It's really a very good theory and I won't give it away for those of you who haven't time travelled yet with Max.

>56 sibylline: Indeed I have, several times! Although The Very First Damn Thing is chronologically first (obviously!) it isn't a good one to read first as you don't know enough about the set-up, characters etc to appreciate the details. The LT Series page gives the reading order apart from that caveat. The first few short stories aren't necessarily fixed in the reading order but the later ones definitely are.

113. sf time travel *****
The Very First Damned Thing Jodi Taylor

Such fun! This novella gives the story of how St. Mary's came to be. There are more than a few of these and I'll be listening to them! Jodi Taylor herself read this one, and she was great! *****

>58 sibylline: Just checked that one out! Thanks!

114. sf time travel****
A Trail Through Time Jodi Taylor

The Time Police are posing a problem and Max is right in the middle of it all, naturally. I really can't say much of anything without spoiling, so I won't even try. What I can say is that Jodi Taylor nimbly moves from contemplation (very brief moments) to action, from heart-rending to humorous -- the pace never falters. Zara Ramm is an excellent reader. ****

115. sf ****
new Luna: Wolf Moon Ian McDonald

I read the first Luna book but then stalled. I would probably have to go back and re-read it before starting on the second part because there's quite a lot of characters and storylines to keep an eye on, but I might just make the investment. It was good fun. Is there due to be a third part or does everything get wrapped up here?

This Brit wishes to express his thanks for the warmth and friendship that has helped sustain him in this group, Lucy

116. sf time travel *****
No Time Like the Past Jodi Taylor

Book 5 of the series and Max is off to Thermopylae to witness the battle and answer some questions she's had about how the battle played out. As usual the plan that should have gone smoothly bounces off the rails, this time mostly amusingly, as one of the crew gets caught, er, with his pants down by a sub-optimal person. This is her last hurrah before . . . well I can't spoil . . . The book ends with . . . oh can't tell you that either! I can say that at the end Max has been (temporarily) reassigned to training new recruits to the history department (while her reconstructed knee heals) and you can tell immediately that her ideas won't work the way she thinks they will. Max is a disaster magnet, but she always seems to come out on the right side in the end, a historian Clouseau? *****

118.
South Riding Winifred Holtby fiction, virago ****1/2

Full disclosure: I began South Riding in mid-August this year of covid, 2020, and I have only finished it now at the end of November. Why did I put it down? Because of the times we are in and my own state of mind, yes. In earlier days (what we call "Before Times" around here) I would not have put it down, although, as I will get to, I would note the shift in tone about 2/3rds through the book and I would add that the shift disappointed me. It's a curious feature of novel-writing that you write along mining a vein for awhile, but then you come along to, exactly as in real life, a crucial moment when a choice must be made and what you then, as the writer, decide your characters will do or how they will react to an event (even if you choose to say, "the character made me do it") the book will definitively move into a final direction. Sometimes the shift is highly original and intriguing, or breathtaking, expanding outward into the unknown, at other times, there is a failure of nerve or imagination and the protagonist doesn't take the leap, choose to fold back on his or herself, there are thousands of ways these choices can play out so that sometimes the choice to fold inward, becomes (somehow) an expanding outward. This, is, I think what Holtby intended and that is pretty much exactly where I put the book down, overwhelmed. Embedded within this story of a town in Yorkshire, the new headmistress of the girl's school, the town council and the growing pains in the early 1930's of the area. is a love story. Well, several love stories, but only one is central. Robert Carne, the local squire, wants to maintain things as they are, but his life is a mess, his wife mad and requiring housing in an institution. She is a true aristocrat (whereas Carne is of the olde landed gentry ilk and this marriage was a disaster for all concerned.) He runs his farms well, but the expenses of his wife's care have ruined him. Schemes abound but Carne, caught up in his belief in his way of life, cannot see that he must change, compromise orlose. Two women adore Carne, an older woman, Mrs. Beddows, also a Councilwoman and the new headmistress who reluctantly falls in love with him. The best story here, the most original and moving, is the love Mrs. Beddows holds for Robert Carne, twenty years her junior. I went back to the novel at last for her sake. There is a moment where she admits to the younger woman, the headmistress, that her love for Carne has been confusing, that you look in the mirror and see three score and ten, but inside you're just a girl. I'm old enough now to know that and know how poignant an emotion that is. Well worth reading, this novel. Worth also knowing that Holtby was dying as she finished this, her last, and I do think the choice she made, to turn inward, was part of her own reconciliation with her approaching death. ****1/2

Lucy, what a lovely and thoughtful review. Adding this one to The List. If you posted your review, I will add my thumb.

Hoping that your Sunday is full of fabulous.

>65 sibylline: wow, that's a brilliant review, Lucy, very thoughtful with excellent insight to the writer's craft.

It was a 5-star read for me. Looking back on my review, I was completely caught up in the goings-on in the community, and also in the interactions between Sarah and Emma. Here's a bit of what I had to say: "Sarah and Emma aren't exactly rivals, but they fail to realize how their joint influence -- on both Robert Carne and the community at large -- could do greater good than each of them on their own. Towards the end of the book they begin to grasp this, leaving me imagining the many ways these two women worked for good later (yes, I forgot for a moment that they weren't real people)."

I'm glad you were able to return to South Riding and enjoyed reading it.

>65 sibylline: Only an author could have written that review both because you understand the process so well and because you wrote it so beautifully. Right on the wish list it goes and right off to add a thumb I go.

>65 sibylline: Lovely, insightful review, Lucy. Thank you. My thumb is waiting.

>66 Crazymamie:, >67 lauralkeet:, >68 RebaRelishesReading:, >69 LizzieD:

Wow and many thanks to all and I will get right to posting the review on the book page. I've thought a lot about this book during the months in which I mainly eyed it in my "current" book pile so that just sort of poured out. I could say so much more about it -- I'm glad, Laura, for your insight into the relationship that would develop between the two women -- I think Sarah has had a few mentors, but Emma is definitely an important one in matters of the heart. Previously her mentors were pushing her intellect and leadership abilities.

I added my thumb, Lucy. Thanks for posting it!

>71 Crazymamie: me too!

Out of Number Order!!!!

117. sf moon ****
Luna: Moon Rising Ian McDonald

Third and final in this imagining of how the moon might be colonized. All the plotting and scheming of the first two books are resolved -- in some ways I preferred this last book, but maybe I was simply used to the place and the people. What stands out still is the imagining of the habitats, the ways bodies change in less gravity, the ways being only humans and almost no other living beings shifts how people interact and think. ****

Having one of those odd moments when the colours in all my currently reading books go together perfectly.

♬

>37 SandyAMcPherson: Wish I had some secret to share, Sandy, but sadly no. I think I found this particular gif through Google Images, on a search for a greeting image. All I did was download it. To get it into LT, I posted it to a Tumblr blog and linked to that file from LT. Having just looked, I have not uploaded any gifs to my profile page. But if a gif loads and animates in a thread, it should do the same in your member gallery or junk drawer.

Give it a try.

>39 sibylline: Yeaaa. Tenzing for the daring but careful Himalayan climber. Not more than I was glad to find out.

Been awfully pokey this year in get around this thread world, but also in reading and completing domestic chores, etc. Nice that your daughter is able to spend time with you. I share your feelings, but it's more directed to our six granddaughters. We see their parents on Zoom, but two are in college, so our Thanksgiving Day Zoom was the first sight we had of them since September.

>65 sibylline:, Been distracted lately with seasonal activities that I can't let slide... so wanted to add to the chorus, a compelling review. So insightful and feels such an emotional read.

At some point I'd like to add it to my list of intended reading, but I'm going to admit that ATM, my brain is swamped. Very unthinking, that brain of mine.

119. E fantasy ****
The Physicians of Vilnoc Lois McMaster Bujold

A mysterious disease is afflicting Penric's brother-in-law's soldiers and Pen and Desdemona must figure out what is causing the sickness. Bujold is a smooth and competent storyteller, very pleasurable and relaxing reading in these murky times. ****

>75 weird_O: Thanks for the advice. I think I was trying to make gifs run on my desktop, not realizing they needed to be on the browser page...

>77 sibylline: I've had these Penric sagas by LMB on my WL for awhile. I really love Bujold's work.

>78 SandyAMcPherson: Me too, I've been a Miles Vorkosigan fan for yonks! I'm just about finished the next one (not in chronological order but publishing order).

120. E fantasy ****
E Masquerade in Lodi Lois McMaster Bujold fantasy ****
Mulling over what makes Bujold so incredibly appealing and rewarding to read is that she doesn't just do "good world-building" but creates people, places, customs that have dimensionality, convincing weight. Georgette Heyer had this gift as well and several others, Terry Pratchett, P.G. Wodehouse, Dorothy Dunnett, Jodi Taylor (a new member of this club for me) -- true storytellers all, entertaining, humorous, serious, inventive, surprising and much much more knowledgeable and clever than we even notice. Without literary pretensions either, I should add. So much what we need in these difficult times. ------ And, oh yeah, this story. Pen is still working for the Archdivine who asks him to investigate a person in the hospice who was brought in by sailors and is raving and incoherent. Pen discovers the man has been taken by a demon that has itself gone mad from ill-treatment from hosts. The man runs off and the rest of the book has Pen and a 'saint' of his order hunting him down. ****

I’ve just finished the first Chalion book. I think I just really love anything Lois McMaster Bujold writes!

>81 SandDune: You'll perhaps want to see the review above!

I don't always post but lurk and it is perhaps from looking at yr thread that I jumped into these two novellas!

121. fantasy time travel ****
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Jodi Taylor

I>82 sibylline: I've mostly been lurking of late, myself.
I think I'm moving into an emotional hibernation-mode. Sort of a self-care thing.
Reading has been so hit-&-miss, too, so just as well.

I am seeing plenty of Bujold around the threads, Lucy. I bought one myself fairly recently but was told it was not the best place to start.

>85 PaulCranswick: What did you get? Not sure if I would start with the first in the Chalion series (fantasy) or the first in the Miles Vorkosigan series (space opera) . . . but one of those

Hi Lucy and Paul.
Drifted in to check what Lucy's reading... and would like to add a comment about reading Lois Bujold:

I first encountered her work (last year) in The Curse of Chalion. I loved the story, so well-written and an amazing plot. I believe it is Book 2 in a series, but at the time, it didn't matter at all.

Do you like fantasy, Paul? This one is a real gem.

122. E fantasy ****
The Labyrinth Gate Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen

Just married Chryse and Sanjay pick up a small velvet pouch as they leave their wedding reception and find a set of cards, similar to the tarot deck, but not. Riding the elevator up to their hotel room as they look at the cards, the elevator jerks, the cards drop and when the door opens they aren't in the hotel anymore, but transported to . . . somewhere very different. Where they fall into an adventure, of course! An ancient city, a potential treasure, magic (well imagined) and lots of romance. The story is lively and well written and not too demanding, but not silly -- all the potential pairings differ and a couple of them are intriguing, and not overly explained or prettified at the end, the mystery of attraction remaining mysterious. Good getaway fare for these times. ****

Jodi Taylor. Time travel. What's a good starting point/introduction to Taylor's time travel books?

>90 sibylline: Go to the series page for The Chronicles of St. Mary's and start with the first one, Just One Damned Thing After Another, I believe!

>89 weird_O: >90 sibylline: Skip the prequel. It's meaningless without most of them under your belt!

>91 quondame: Oh yes, I agree -- none of the stories are necessary first off -- go with the first full-length novel.

>91 quondame: >92 sibylline: Another vote for rightness.

123. fantasy ****1/2
Spinning Silver Naomi Novik

By the end of Spinning Silver I was totally on board with the narrative -- the primary protagonist Miryem, lives in a 19th-ish rural village in an alternate Russia and is Jewish and all the hardships that implies. But in this alternate Russia there are winter people, the icy Staryk, and there is a demon inside a tsar devouring souls. The secondary protagonist is Irina, daughter of the Duke of Visnya who wants to marry her to the tsar. A third is Wanda a young woman living in Miryem's village who, to pay off her father's debts, becomes a servant to Miryem's family. All three women are courageous and loyal to their families and Miryem is especially gifted with numbers and while helping her own family finances draws the attention of the Staryk king . . . There are decent men woven into the story, the king especially, as Miryem gradually learns that his cultural logic is not like her own, but admirable too. One craft issue that is noteworthy is that all the pov's (there are a couple more, both male but cameos) are in the first person and Novik manages this deftly, the voices and concerns of each character are different and the cues when pov changes are solid. A very good read, original and refreshing. ****1/2

>94 sibylline: What a great review, Lucy. I'm so happy you liked it. Your review brought out aspects I sensed, but didn't know how to characterize. I upthumbed it.

It took me until I finished the book and let the story sink in that I realized how excellently Novik managed to weave this tale. It remains one of my favourite novels in the last 3 or 4 years.

125. fantasy ****1/2
Lies, Damned Lies, and History Jodi Taylor

Well, I'm hooked, on Jodi's storytelling and Zara Ramm's acting. And, as ever, can't say much of anything without spoiling-----EXCEPT....... something wonderful does happen in this one!!!! *****

You've got me interested in this Jodi Taylor series, and I have the first waiting for me on audiobook when I can get to it. I'm also hoping to delve into some Bujold fantasy soon, having grown to love her SF.
I think that's a great point about writers who can bring worlds to life with great characterisation and richness - it's something to be treasured although not talked about enough as a trait of a great writer. It's in SF that we learn to value a great world builder, but you're right that its importance transcends genre. I would add Cherryh to that list as well.

>97 HanGerg: Oh I do agree Cherryh is good at everything--in particular with the Foreigner series and the Chanur. But I don't think women, human ones, ever quite get a fair shake or have a balanced quality of character and overall Cherryh's worlds are harsher and more uncertain places, so I didn't include her in this group which is more optimistic and often humorous and quite balanced. Good books to read when you feel quavery in these uncertain and unsettled times.

It's very nice to hear from you Hannah!

>98 sibylline: Ah, but Pyanfar is SUCH a wonderful character, even though not human.

>98 sibylline: >99 ronincats: I love Pyanfar! I don't think Cherryh's worlds are darker, just that her tone is less buoyant than some of those other authors - after all Jackson's Hole is pretty ghastly and what happens to Max, well. Cherryh is somewhat lacking in the gut busting humor compared with either Bujold or Taylor, but there is often some.

>99 ronincats:, >100 quondame:, no argument with either comment from me. My point is the human women don't get a fair shake -- there are some close exceptions here and there with Cherryh. I'll have to go find the title I'm thinking of (thank goodness for LT!). And yes, the St. Mary's books are gradually getting darker -- the one I'm in now is heart-rending.

125. ***1/2
Hitchers Will McIntosh

Not sure how to categorize this -- kinda -- zombie-ish, except not really. A hitcher is a dead person who has popped through a rift between here and the 'transit' zone due to a massive terrorist anthrax attack on Atlanta. The protagonist has been invaded by his grandfather, not a happy combo. His own life has been scarred by several losses, of a twin sister and his wife so he must struggle to find a way to convince his grandfather to let go -- thousands of other Atlantans have been similarly invaded and the quest is to find out how to send the dead on their way. Not my usual fare, but McIntosh is a lively writer with good characters, so I gave it a whirl. ***1/2

Somehow or other I am reading two books with "Arrive" in the title, an Edith Wharton called The Gods Arrive and a time travel fantasy called Alice Payne arrives. For what it's worth. (Not much!)

>103 sibylline: But that's a fun convergence. So worth saying...

126. sf time travel
Alice Payne Arrives Kate Heartfield

In this very brief novel of time travel, the issue of "fixing" history is the core premise. One group the "Farmers" want to slow or even stop trying to change those trigger events (say, Archduke Ferdinand's assassination) but the Guides (or the Misguided) believe that if they work hard enough at it they can succeed in "perfecting" humanity. Everyone darts around the timeline, basically making things worse. Major Prudence Zuninga has a plan but it hasn't been working so she is ready to move on to The Plan. But she gets tangled up with Alice (who keeps her family afloat by being a highwayman) and Alice's lover Jane, an inventor . . . It's a great premise but too much about the story didn't live up to it, from details as small as footmen being invited into the drawing room for a sherry (sorry but even after being robbed by a highwayman this would never ever have happened). This was one of several cringe-worthy moments, but there were larger ones as well, gaps in logic. I know in SF the thing is to throw the reader into the story and let them figure it out, but in this case I found that even reading things over and over, some bits didn't quite fit. To me the brevity ended giving me an impression of being rushed and incomplete. All that said, there is a liveliness here and entertainment enough. ***

>105 sibylline: Methinks I'd have thrown the book across the room in a Gah! fit.

You were very generous and reasonable. Lately I've been a cranky basket full of either over-the-top reactionary feelings about a novel or simply having a total 'meh' moment.

Having said that, I just realized I stayed up past 1 a.m. *devouring* an Adrian McKinty novel. Not finished yet. It's really good writing, with a brilliant storyline in an up-close-and-personal saga of Belfast during the Troubles.

>106 SandyAMcPherson: I was kindly -- had it been longer I would have quit reading it.

127. sf time travel *****
And the Rest is History Jodi Taylor

If the previous novel in the series was full of wonderful, get ready for a rough ride in this one, full of gut-wrenching awful, from the description of the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade to the events closely concerning our beloved characters. In the intro to the NEXT book in the series, which I am listening to now, Taylor jokes about a need for a support group for the previous book, and I was close to needing one, except, well, except this is a series that is built on being blunt and vivid about history and the violence therein but loving (and vivid) of the characters at St. Mary's. Can't say more about things without spoiling, but if you get this far, keep going! Never a dull moment! *****

Hi Lucy.
I think I need to add some Jodi Taylor to my reading repertoire.

I finished McKinty's book (Sean Duffy #1).
I reviewed it, giving a 3½ ★-rating. It was indeed a compelling story but, in the end, got a little too convoluted for me to follow the plot (although I did get who the baddie was). Of course, perceiving the plot as too twisty-concealed-connections wouldn't have anything to do with staying up until 1 a.m. to finish the book. No no...

>109 SandyAMcPherson: "wouldn't have anything to do with staying up until 1 a.m. to finish the book. No no..." That made me smile!

128. contemp fic/w/ a touch of time travel . . . ***1/2
Shadow of Ashland Terence M. Green

Hard to categorize this novel. My spousal unit found it, no doubt, in some sf review site, but to me it is more contemp fic with a magical realist twist involving time travel . . . The author leaves it up to you, really, whether the protagonist "dreamed" it all, except, much that he dreams is corroborated by others. So a loop in time, so promises can be kept? Leo's Uncle Jack left Toronto and Canada for the US in 1933. For a while they heard from him by letter and then nothing. When Jack's sister, Leo's mother, dies, odd things happen. An inexplicable rose in her hand in the hospital room, a feeling Leo has that he must go to the last place from where his mother received a letter. He ends up in Ashland, Kentucky. The hotel in which his uncle stayed is still there and even the room is unchanged, fifty years later. He can almost feel his uncle's presence and then . . . so no spoilers. It's a solid tale, a solid read by a Canadian writer, who I suspect, is not as well known here as he should be. Apparently part of a trilogy. Also it reminds me (a little, minus the time travel) of a novel I read earlier this year, an NYRB selection called Testing the Current by William McPherson. ***1/2

Oh, am I there first with Christmas wishes? Well, tomorrow promises to be filled with an excited 5 year old even more than today is, so here I shall drop it:

Wishing you and yours the very best Lucy. A happy and healthy festive season, with better days just around the corner, we hope!

Or in other words, Happy Christmas! And have a great New Year as well. Here’s hoping 2021 is better than 2020.

Lucy, I enjoyed your thread very much this year.

I had several BBs on my TBR list to attribute to you but few of those titles have made their way from the library. I hope the books in our out-of-town branches will become available in the coming months when the infection rate has reliably decreased.
I'm particularly looking forward to The Debatable Land and the Jodi Taylor series, The Chronicles of St Mary's. Taylor's Just One Damned Thing After Another is on my hold list for the eBook!

Lots of images going the rounds, so I'll just say Happy Christmas to all, and to all a Goodnight. (quoting Clement Clarke Moore, 1949 edition).

Happy Holidays Lucy!

I hope you get some of those at least, Lucy, as we all look forward to a better 2021.

Thanks so much for stopping by and my best wishes to you all.

>112 HanGerg: Hannah, hope your day was lovely. Five is so perfect for this holiday!

>113 SandDune: Many thanks.

>114 SandyAMcPherson: here’s to a year of great reading!

>115 quondame: great image!

>116 PaulCranswick:. Me too. And same wishes for you.

129. sf sp/op ***3/4
E A Passage of Stars Kate Elliott or Alis A. Rasmussen

First of The Highroad Trilogy, an earlier work of Kate Elliott under a different name. Lily Ransome is unhappy on her world, a harsh mining planet, but doubly so as she is so unlike the rest of her family. She is close, however, to her sensei. She sees him kidnapped by aliens and she's off and running, accompanied by her ancient and very special AI, Bach. There are memes, motifs and tropes very much an integral part of space opera -- the point isn't necessarily to be original per se, but to handle them with a fresh perspective, to add something new -- or to simply use these as guides and concentrate on telling a pretty good story, with good action, character development, and etc. The AI is a lot of fun. All present here. ***1/2

130. fantasy time travel *****
An Argumentation of Historians Jodi Taylor

Well, I am deep in, no mistake. These are not lighthearted mysteries by the way -- just in case you've gotten that impression. The history is meticulously researched and brought to life with imagination and gritty realism. And messing about with the time line is, basically, a terrible idea -- very hazardous. What makes it all so worthwhile are the relationships. And the narrator, Zara Ramm. Truthfully I cannot imagine reading these without her voice. *****

I'm looking at the calendar and becoming aware that I will not make my goal, not that I actually care. I do hope to manage to finish a few of the books I am currently reading and to decide what the heck to do about Nora which I can't even seem to crack open to read the first page of although I truly am a Joyce afficionado (not including Finnegans Wake) and have even BEEN to the house where Nora mostly grew up in Galway City. NOT the fault of the book or its author but the problem of everything that has gone on this year. Any sort of reading that required anything much of me went out the window in August or so. Let us all hope for better times coming.

>118 sibylline: Thank you, thank you, thank you! This book has been on my "what was that book where..." list ever since I read Binti and it felt so "read that done better." I think I overlooked it because it was Kate Elliott and I couldn't possibly have misplaced one of her heroines. And I've only read it 3 times this decade.

131. E ***1/2
Revolution's Shore Kate Elliott/Alis A. Rasmussen

Lily is coming into her own as an adult -- reminding me a little of the two sisters in the recent Alastair Reynolds pair of books I read. Start of fairly callow but rebelllious and . . . develop into someone formidable. By the end "Jehane" has "won" his revolution--with her help--but she knows she is probably on his competitor hit list. What next? ***1/2

This is very likely my last read of 2020. So I've missed my (not very serious) goal of 144 by a baker's dozen, which works for me.

The year had a very noticeable effect on my reading, mainly on what I either wanted to read or could read. Lighter fare predominated. I'd like to do more challenging reading, but I expect re-entry will be slow.

My best to all. My 2021 thread starts here: 2021

Lucy

As the year turns, friendship continues