Anne (AMQS) Reads in 2022 - 1

Happy New Year to LibraryThing friends! My name is Anne. 51. I live in Lakewood, Colorado with my husband Stelios, and two kitties. We have two grown daughters. I am a teacher librarian in a little mountain elementary school, so I read a lot of children's literature, along with adult literary fiction. I adore audiobooks and always have one going for my commutes up to school. This is my 13th year in the group (thank you, Jim/drneutron!)

Here's Maya:


Here's Winslow - so happy to have his girl Marina home from college:

I know there are many octopus lovers here in the group. This is the hand-made Christmas card my talented sister-in-law created for Callia:


And here's my sweet nephew Falcon enjoying the snow we (FINALLY) got:

And for the bird lovers here: this is a Sharp-shinned Hawk eying my dad's bird feeders a couple of weeks ago:


I love the way the feathers shine with the sunlight on them:

Happy New Year Anne! Love the photos.

Now reading:


Audio:

2022 Reading (1):

February, 2022
8. The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl
9. Mr. Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd
10. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
11. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

January, 2022
1. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
2. Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin
3. Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
4. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
5. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
6. The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin
7. The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

Just in case...

I don't typically participate in reading challenges, as I am a moody reader, but I do try to challenge myself to read more:

*Books from my own shelves
*Books by diverse authors
*Nonfiction

I'm also not very good at starring my books. I need a little distance to objectively judge them, I think. I'm going to try, because seeing other people's stars definitely helps me.

2021 Wrap Up:
81 books read, which break down as follows:

Adult Fiction: 36
Nonfiction (all): 17
Own: 22
Parmalee Library: 26
Audio: 28
POC authors: 32
Children’s: 29
YA: 4
Rereads: 3

Favorites (in order read):
The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson
When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (reread)
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife
Persuasion by Jane Austen (reread)

Happy New Year, dear friends!

I did manage to squeeze one more in just under the wire in 2021! Reposting here because the book is awesome.



81. (in 2021) Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

This is an outstanding middle grade fantasy that has echoes of both Harry Potter and of Nevermoor, and yet is definitely its own, strong story. Amari has a lot on her plate. She attends a fancy private school on a scholarship, yet is unwanted and ostracized for living in the projects. But Amari and her single mother are devastated by the disappearance six months earlier of her older brother Quinton. Quinton was a genius, a mentor, universally beloved, and Amari's best friend and protector. Against his mother's wishes he skipped college to start working, but upon his disappearance, there seems to be no trace of him. No pay stubs, no tax records... so of course the police assume the worst about his activities and show little interest in the case. But Amari receives a mysterious delivery one day which leads to a meeting with her brother is a dream form, and he gives her a nomination for a tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Once there, Amari is connected to her own supernatural abilities, and discovers that her brother is just as revered here as he was on the "outside," and also that she herself feels just as much of as outsider as she did at her private school. Amari must prove herself while also dedicating her life to finding her brother.

I flew through this book and was thrilled to learn that there is a sequel to be released in May!

>4 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! You're my first guest of 2022! So glad you're here!

Happy New Year, Anne. Great bird pics (you know your audience LOL). I haven't seen a sharpie here, but there are a couple of red-shouldered hawks who hang out in the trees near our house. Hawks are magnificent birds.

This group always helps me to read; welcome back to the group, Anne. xx

Happy new year, Anne!

Happy reading in 2022, Anne!

>3 AMQS: What a beautiful bird!

Hi Anne, Happy 2022! Spend it splendidly.

>10 AMQS: This makes me think of the $1.99 special, Sorcery & Cecilia: or, the Enchanted Chocolate Pot. (The deal's here: https://www.amazon.com/Sorcery-Cecelia-Enchanted-Chocolate-Novels-ebook/dp/B007Z... I was most fond of it a billion years ago when reading it to Kristin.

>10 AMQS: Adding that one to the BlackHole, Anne. Thanks for the recommendation!

Happy New Year!

>12 lauralkeet: Thank you, Laura! They are, aren't they? We live in a great place for hawks, and I usually see at least 2-3 every day, especially now that I know where to look. Occasionally we have a cooper's hawk who hangs around our bird feeders.

>13 PaulCranswick: Paul, thank you. Normally I do all of those except for airplane mode. The last two years I have done waaaaaaaay too much doomscrolling. I do like to be informed, but of course, that leaves less time for reading, for LT, and for not feeling absolutely bleak about the state of the world.

>14 drneutron: Thank you, Jim, and thank you as always for such a warm and amazing space.

>15 FAMeulstee: Happy New Year to you Anita! He is a beauty, isn't he? When my stepmother sent me the pics she wrote "new meaning to 'feeding station.'"

>16 richardderus: Richard, this sounds marvelous! I don't Kindle or e-read, so I won't be taking advantage of the $1.99 deal, but my library has it in e-book format (nope) and digital audio (yes!) I read the LT reviews with interest, as many say "I can't stand epistolary books..." but I LOVE epistolary books so that only increases the appeal. Thanks for the recommendation!

>17 alcottacre: Happy New Year, Stasia!

>18 AMQS: I don't Kindle or e-read, so I won't be taking advantage
...weirdo...
But isn't that even better a story, then, a review reminds someone visiting you, who won't read middle-grade fiction, of a Kindlesale which you won't read, but your library has the audiobook of it, which you prefer!

I love LT.

>8 AMQS: I'm a moody reader too! What a perfect phrase :)

>18 AMQS: I just learned a new word! (--epistolary--) I guess my mum is/was right....if you pay attention you learn something new every day.

Happy New Year Anne!

Maya and Winslow are purrfect! Hope you have a great year of reading!

>20 richardderus: I love that, too, Richard. When we retire to a Mediterranean (or South Pacific or even Caribbean) island I realize it may be more practical to switch to the Kindle, but until then I'll tick to my print and audio books!

>21 LovingLit: Hi Megan! I think it does explain my reluctance to join challenges:) And I don't know that I knew epistolary before I joined LT, though I've always liked that style. Yay mum!

>22 thornton37814: Thank you, Lori! We do love our kitties:)

Happy New Year, Anne! What great photos! And your kitties are full of gorgeous.

Happy 2022, Anne!

>1 AMQS: Aw, so sweet!

As I said somewhere above, I generally do not do reading challenges. But I do try to keep up with my RL book club reads. We've been going strong for about 25 years, though I can only rarely attend as the group meets on Friday mornings (long story). We choose our books for a school year. Here's what's left for this year:
January: A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre. I listened to this book on audio last year and thought it was terrific.
February: Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga. This was suggested by me for our group, which had never read middle grade fiction or novel in verse before. This was a top read for me two years ago and a Battle of the Books selection last year.
March: The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts
April: The Planter of Modern Life by Stephen Heyman - this was one of my top 2020 reads.
May: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
June: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
July: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

And I try to read a lot of books from my school's (my) library, particularly edgy books. As I've said before, our district's policy is that a book should be recommended for two grade levels of a school, and since my school is K-5 that means the book should be recommended for grades 4 and up. But grade 5 and up books tend to be some kind of cut-off for truly great, meaty children's literature, and since my school is a gifted and talented center school and because of that cut-off, I bend the collection policy a lot. But if the book seems edgy or otherwise very mature I always try to read it so I can defend its inclusion in my collection (or move it to middle school, which I have done a couple of times).

>24 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! We love them:)

>25 Copperskye: Thank you, Joanne! Winnie (Winslow) reminds me of your Boomer.

Happy New Year, Anne. I am making a note of Amari and the Night Brothers for Scout; she and her mom just finished the sixth Harry Potter! I love your photos.

Your best reads list is great; I need to reread Persuasion.

Love all the pictures up top! Happy reading, with or without challenges. And sometimes, the challenge is just to find the time, LOL.

>26 AMQS: Some great looking books there for your reading group, Anne! I have read two of them, The Rose Code and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I will be curious to see what you make of the books after year read them.

Happy new year, Anne! Looking forward to following your reading for another year...

Happy New Year, Anne! I hope it's filled with great books!

Happy new year, Anne! Hope it's filled with lots and lots of good books :)

>28 BLBera: Hi Beth! I think Amari would be a great Scout read, particularly since she's enjoying HP so much. And Persuasion is perfection. Hope you enjoy your reread.

>29 Berly: You're right, Kim, it can be challenging to find the time!

>30 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I've been looking forward to The Book Woman for awhile. I enjoyed The Alice Network which I think is the only other Kate Quinn book I've read.

>31 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

>32 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie! Happy New Year to you:)

>33 curioussquared: And hello Natalie! We were oohing and awing over your greyhound photo in your thread last night:)

The Meme:

Describe yourself: The Librarian
Describe how you feel: Walking on Eggshells
Describe where you currently live: The Library of Lost and Found
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Aloha Rodeo
Your favorite form of transportation is: The Ride of Her Life
Your favorite food is: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Your favorite time of day is: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Your best friend is: The Light in Hidden Places
You and your friends are: The Kitchen Front
What’s the weather like: The Splendid and the Vile
You fear: Hollowpox
What is the best advice you have to give: Come Fly the World
Thought for the day: We Dream of Space
What is life for you: The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
How you would like to die: A Wish in the Dark
Your soul’s present condition: Scary Stories for Young Foxes
What was 2021 like for you? Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard
What do you want from 2022? No Great Mischief

Hi Anne and Happy New Year! I hope to be visiting threads a lot more this year and look forward to following along. Great meme responses! I guess you didn't have to think hard about the first one.

Happy New Year, Anne! Actually, I had "tried out" a couple of others for that one until the obvious answer came to me.

I'm glad you're here! I've had a really hard time the past two years keeping up here, but even after long absences and the inability to visit other people's threads everyone still treats me like family. It's only one reason why I love it!

Happy new year! Happy reading! I loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and hope you do, too.

>36 AMQS: Good meme answers!

Hi Anne, I was here earlier and got sidetracked by "stealing" your meme. Loved your answers...and it saved me from searching my archives to find the categories.

I also took note of Amari and the Night Brothers to recommend to 11-year-old Haley. She had a concussion right after Christmas last year and was out of school for three months, then she had another one after going to school only 8 days at the start of 5th Grade this year. She has been diagnosed by a Pediatric Neurologist with Recurring Concussion Syndrome. She's doing better and went to school half-days in December and hopes to go fulltime when they start back on Tuesday. The only thing she could do was listen to audio books and listened to the complete Harry Potter series at least 3 times!

I really enjoyed The Sacrament from your favorites list. I read Restoration by Olafsson in October and loved it. It missed being on my year-end list by a hair!

>11 AMQS: Oh, dear! I really jumped the gun. Sorry, should have paid more attention to what number I was posting on :(

>34 AMQS: I am going to have to check out The Alice Network. Did you enjoy it?

What was 2021 like for you? Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard
What do you want from 2022? No Great Mischief

Ha, ha. Love it. Here's hoping for a great 2022 for you, Anne. Happy reading.

>36 AMQS: Okay, I'll have to get to The Meme soon, but I loved yours, especially

Your favorite time of day is: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Your best friend is: The Light in Hidden Places

: )

Happy New Year, Anne! Have a wonderful year with the family and the books. I love the sharp-shinned hawk. I still have a tough time telling them apart from a Cooper's Hawk. I am picking up When Stars Are Scattered from the library today.

Happy New Year and happy new thread! "No Great Mischief" is a worthy goal for 2022!

>39 witchyrichy: Happy new Year, Karen! I've heard lots of great things about The Book Woman and I am really looking forward to it. Since that book is for June, I might actually be able to go!

>40 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

>41 Donna828: Hi Donna! I'm sure I "stole" it from Carrie (cbl_tn) who also has a different, dinner-party themed meme. But I stuck with the familiar one.

I am so sorry to hear about Haley. That is so scary, and I'm sure her situation is so worrying for her family. It sounds like she is getting good care and can still enjoy normal kid things like Harry Potter. The good thing is that we know so much more about concussions and how to treat them than we did before. I hope you will let us know how she is doing, and I will keep her and you in my thoughts.

And thank you for the recommendation of Restoration. The Sacrament was a book club book and all of us loved it and hope to read more by Olafsson.

>42 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I will gratefully welcome visitors whenever they come!

>43 alcottacre: Stasia, I did enjoy it. I do tend to love WWII stories, and WWII women's stories.

>44 ctpress: Thank you, Carsten! I didn't choose Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard specifically for the meme, but I admit I was thinking about the meme when I read it. It's got to be one of my favorite book titles:)

>45 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Before the Coffee Gets Cold was not a great book, but it has a great title!

>46 msf59: Happy New Year, Mark! I'm not sure I would know the difference either, so I'm glad a positive identification came with the photo! I hope you love When Stars Are Scattered. It is a Battle of the Books selection so most of my 5th graders are reading it, and I am so glad. Refugees are not going away. It's important that people hear their stories.

>47 foggidawn: That's what I thought, foggi! After the past two years, it seems like a modest New Year wish.

>48 AMQS: I got a coffee dish towel fro Christmas and thought of you when I put it out today. LOL

Happy New Year, Anne!

I’m a fan of Book Woman and When Stars are Scattered.

It looks like I liked Before the Coffee Gets Cold a bit more than you. Not too of the charts, but what an interesting premise.

>48 AMQS: Thanks for letting me know, Anne. The local library has a copy of The Alice Network, so hopefully I can get to it soon.

>49 Berly: Kim, that's sweet! I do love coffee.

>50 jnwelch: Happy New Year, Joe! I am really looking forward to Book Woman! I am glad you enjoyed the Coffee book. I could not bring myself to like it, even though I thought it was a great premise for a story. It could be that I listened to it rather than read it.

>51 alcottacre: I hope so, Stasia!

Well I managed to mess up my intended first audiobook of the year. I was notified that my hold on Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World had come in. I wanted to wait to get as close as possible to when I started school to check out the book because I can't listen as much when I'm not commuting... but I read the date wrong on the email notification and when I went to check out the book (I had set an alert on my phone and everything) it was too late. Now I'm at the back of the line again. So I checked out and began a different audiobook. Meanwhile, I gave my brother, who lives in Germany, a boxed set of the first four Murderbot books, and he ran through them as fast as I did and loved them so much that I wanted to read them again and try them on audio, which I had heard were really good. They are. So right after beginning my other book, I was notified that All Systems Red was now ready, so I switched to that. So... for book #1 of the year - a reread in a new format I present:


1. All Systems Red by Martha Wells, audiobook narrated by Kevin R. Free 5 stars.

I love Murderbot and that is all. I'm glad to be trying the audios. They're really good, and I avoid the thing I do when I'm tearing through a book in print, which is read so fast I miss a lot. On audio, you get every syllable. No skimming or blazing.

>53 AMQS: I love Murderbot too! I may have to try the audiobooks at some point.

>53 AMQS: I have proved to myself that I *can* stay awake for a whole audiobook, but I still don't want to...the Murderbot reads are so delightful to me I'd be scared to try them out on audio anyway.

Such a stick in the mud, ain't I? But truthfully, can anyone resist the charms of Murderbot and its addiction to Sanctuary Moon?

I'll have to try Murderbot on audio some time. I suggested the series to one of my former college roommates, and she loved them, too.

>53 AMQS: Glad to see you enjoyed Murderbot on audio too, Anne. I re-read them that way last year and liked them although it took me a bit to adjusting to a male voice. When I read them in print, while fully aware that Murderbot has neither sex nor gender, I "heard" its voice as female in my head. Kevin R. Free makes great voice decisions but ultimately I ended up preferring reading the series in print because I can hear Murderbot's voice as I imagined it.

>57 MickyFine: Same. I'm so glad I'm not the only one.

Happy Thursday, Anne! We love those Murderbot books, too.

>54 alcottacre: They're good on audio, Stasia!

>55 richardderus: If it ain't broke...? I had listened to audiobooks occasionally as a teen, etc and the girls had some. But I had tried them when audiobooks weren't really practical - like "I'm going to tackle this giant pile of papers and get them sorted and filed." I can't read anything and listen to a book at the same time. But Once I tried them... and my first Jane Austen at the same time - on my commute I was hooked for good. And I do lament the many years of LONG commutes with no audiobooks! But I listen far less during school breaks. I'm pretty sure I could never reach 75 books without audios.

And no, I haven't found anyone who has tried Murderbot who can resist its charms:)

>56 foggidawn: I can say they're good on audio, foggi, unless perhaps its voice doesn't match what's in your head, as with Micky.

>57 MickyFine: I always thought of Murderbot as a him, even though I know there's no sex/gender. I was actually wondering if the narrator would have a "neutral" voice that could be male or female, but Kevin Free actually sounds pretty much exactly the way I already heard Murderbot, so it definitely works for me.

>58 Crazymamie: Happy Thursday, Mamie! Aren't we lucky to be able to choose from a variety of formats for the books we love?

So I posted this over in Natalie's thread. My family got a surprise the other night. An employee of my husband is a friend of an artist who creates a painting/drawing of pets from photos. My husband asked him to order one for his partner Max, who recently lost his Chesapeake Bay retriever Zomo (we always traded dog-sitting with them and we loved Zomo also). Well, the employees got together and ordered the artwork for both of our dogs. When we received it, Stelios (my husband) assumed it was Zomo, and he was to give it to Max (I should explain that the entire team is remote and many work outside of Colorado). So when he opened it up and it was Whistler... we were all overcome. We miss our handsome boy.



I thought this might be the original photo they used, but maybe not. This is from my husband's company's website, which has profiles of employees and furry companions:) https://www.chronosinteractive.com/about

>61 AMQS: That's such a lovely story, Anne. And what a grew drawing.

>61 AMQS: - Oh, wow, how thoughtful!

>61 AMQS: That is absolutely lovely!!

Sweet Whistler!

>61 AMQS: So beautiful, but also a little heartbreaking, I'm sure.

Hi Anne, finally getting caught up on your new thread here. Glad you're enjoying Murderbot, now on audio. I used audio partially to reread the series last year, though I definitely find only certain books work for me on audio because my thoughts have a tendency to wander off while I'm listening. So I'll end up having multiple formats available and mostly reading. I'll often enjoy children's books as audiobooks, however.

Love the artwork of your Whistler, it's a lovely piece and I'm sure is a bittersweet reminder of him.

>59 AMQS: Fascinating how differently people can construct a character like Murderbot. I hope the rest of the series is just as enjoyable on your next ear read.

>61 AMQS: So lovely!

Oh Anne! I love the drawing. I also am charmed by the Murderbot stories; I think I first heard about them from you. I listened to the first one and loved the audiobook, so I do think of Murderbot as "he." I am waiting for my turn with the second one.

How's school?

>61 AMQS: Love the painting!

And Murderbot is completely new to me. I may start by reading and then try listening. I listen to books as I walk the dogs and crochet as I no longer have any kind of commute anymore.

Sweet Thursday, Anne! I am loving When Stars Are Scattered and hooray for Murderbots! I also highly recommend the audio versions.

>61 AMQS: what a lovely painting, and so thoughtful.

>61 AMQS: That was so very thoughtful and touchingly kind...Stelios has built a top-quality team.

>61 AMQS: Aw, what a lovely surprise!

I need to get round to the Murderbot books soon...

>61 AMQS: What a lovely story and beautiful painting! A wonderful way to honor your sweet pet.

>61 AMQS: Oh my. That is a beautiful picture to commemorate a wonderful dog, Anne. I know it will have a place of honor in your house.

>63 Crazymamie: Thank you, Mamie, we were touched.

>64 katiekrug: I know, isn't it, Katie?

>65 Copperskye: Sweet Whistler. We miss him so much.

>66 foggidawn: It was. We loved Whistler, but Stelios was particularly attached. They were pretty much together 24/7, so it was emotional to receive it.

>67 bell7: Mary, it is bittersweet.
I will sometimes listen to a book and read along in print - I've done it when reading to an epically ling book like Les Miserables or reading a book I need to go back and refer to things - the one I'm thinking of is The Sacrament, because sometimes it wasn't obvious where in time the story was and looking at a physical copy helped. If my attention wanders while I'm listening it would probably be worse in print!

>68 MickyFine: Thanks, I'm looking forward to revisiting them this way:)

>69 BLBera: Hi Beth! So glad you're enjoying Murderbot. School is fine. It's been a strange week since it's short, everyone is nervous about COVID, and we had a weather 2-hour delay yesterday. But it's nice to be back in the routine again, actually. I've really enjoyed my classes this year. What's happening now with your class?

>70 witchyrichy: Thanks, Karen! There is a lot of Murderbot love around here, so I hope you join in and love it as much as the rest of us do! The audios (and the books too, for that matter) are very short. Like 160 pages or so for 5/6 of the books. So they're quick and really fun.

>71 msf59: Yay, Mark! Today it's Sweet Friday, and I'm always very glad when our first weeks back from break are short ones:)

>72 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. It means a lot to us, and we were totally surprised!

>73 richardderus: Yes, he has, Richard. I know he would say managing people is the most difficult and least favorite part of owning a business, and I think many business owners would say the same. But even so, he has a fantastic team that is like family.

>74 scaifea: Thank you, Amber, and yes, you do! I remember summer 2020 when it seems as if everyone was reading them and gushing about them and impatiently waiting for holds to come in. I bit back then and then added my voice to the gushing:)

>75 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba. He was such a great dog and we miss him a lot.

>76 Donna828: Thank you, Donna! Yes, I think Stelios will frame it. He and Whistler were special buddies.

>61 AMQS: That is a really lovely likeness, Anne.

Wishing all your family a lovely weekend. x

>61 AMQS: Oh, wow. What a great tribute.

>61 AMQS: What a thoughtful gift, and a lovely way to remember Whistler.

>78 PaulCranswick: Paul, thank you. I hope you have a great week!

>79 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia, we really love it, though it is definitely bittersweet.

>80 cbl_tn: Thank you, Carrie.

I had some unexpected concentrated reading time due to a last minute decision to fly somewhere this weekend. I'll share more details later, but while my family giggles when I agonize over books to bring and back up books (I know no one here is giggling and that a back up book is a perfectly sensible precaution), I ended up not only finishing my primary book but finishing my emergency back up book AND progressing on my audio. So there, snerking family.

2. Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin - 3.75 stars

I'm still deciding how I feel about this one. Its short chapters and mystery at its heart kept the pages turning even though the books clocks in at nearly 500 pages. This book has been called "Italy's favorite lockdown novel" (it was published in France). Violette Toussaint narrates her own story, going back and forth in time from her childhood in foster care to her present situation as a small-town cemetery caretaker, and the momentous, heartbreaking years in between. This is a book of friendship, love, and life and also a book of horrible tragedy and paralyzing grief. There is much to love in this book, but the grief and the unending, pervasive infidelity (am I a prude?) was hard for me to overcome.

3. Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park - 4 stars

I love everything I've ever read by Linda Sue Park. This novel is that author's "attempt to reconcile my childhood love of the Little House books with my adult knowledge of their painful shortcomings." Set in LaForge, South Dakota, representing De Smet, South Dakota, the home of the Ingalls family and the setting for several of the Little House books, the book tells the story of a pioneering single father and his half-Chinese daughter attempting to fit in in a place that decisively rejects outsiders. This is a terrific story, and definitely one to hand to fans of Little House, Caddie Woodlawn, and other pioneer stories.

>84 AMQS: Serendipity, perhaps? fuzzi shared her Newberry List and, of course, Laura Ingalls Wilder is included although it looks like she did not ever win. But she was on the honor list at four or five times. I loved Wilder's books as a pre-teen but haven't gone back to them. A side by side reading along with other pioneer stories would be an interesting challenge.

>84 AMQS: A welcome corrective indeed!

>83 AMQS: re: spoiler...nope. I surprise myself by agreeing with you. It's perfectly possible for adults to agree to behave otherwise but that isn't infidelity, with its lies and selfishness and sheer bloodyminded narcissism.

>84 AMQS: This sounds like an excellent premise for a novel. I haven't felt any shortcomings in the Little House books, but this would bring another cultural setting into the pioneer/prairie theme that sounds interesting.

>83 AMQS: Hmm, I think I may give that one a pass.

>84 AMQS: I have already read that one, so I get to dodge that particular BB. Whew!

Have a great week, Anne!

Prairie Lotus sounds great. Onto Scout's list it goes. Thanks Anne!

Thanks, >85 witchyrichy: Karen, >86 richardderus: Richard, >87 ctpress: Carsten, >88 alcottacre: Stasia, and >89 BLBera: Beth. I loved the Little House books as a child and my girls loved them also. But speaking on behalf of teachers and librarians, we're increasingly conscious (woke?) about outdated racist stereotypes and how harmful they are. Linda Sue Park, who is Korean-American, does a great job explaining in the author's note how much she loved them as a child. "My theory is that we saw them as providing a kind of road map to becoming American. We believed - mistakenly, as I would later learn - that if we made maple-snow candy and a nine-patch quilt and a corncob doll (and named it Susan) just as Laura had, we might, one day and somehow, be as American as she was. She goes on to say It wasn't until I was well into adulthood that I learned something of the true history of the devastating effect that westward expansion had on Native Americans. Likewise, the true histories of other people of color here in the US are largely missing from our educational curricula and our national consciousness (...) The stories are of vital importance to every single one of us living in this country. To ignore them is an incalculable loss, because learning their truths makes us stronger and more capable of facing the challenges in our communities. To her point, the book talks about the Los Angeles riots of 1871 (that The LA Times and other internet sources call The Chinese Massacre, and that I had never heard about, much like the Tulsa massacre). I still love the Little House books, but I definitely think that teachers need to share with diverse groups of children with caution and discussion, and thank goodness for the increasing availability of diverse stories.

>85 witchyrichy: That is serendipity, Karen!

>86 richardderus: Glad it's not just me, Richard!

>87 ctpress: Hi Carsten! Many of my teachers are also surprised when I bring this up. I have always looked just as Little House characters do, and could always see myself in that world, but that's not true for everyone. I spent some time updating our book room - the place in the school where we keep sets of books for book groups and literature circles - because there were lots of books with outdated racist stereotypes and so many great titles available to replace them. But this is a hard conversation to have with teachers who have taught and loved the books. When I describe the issues, some of them have said "That? That hardly seems like a big deal." But I try to tell them gently that if we're not in the racial group being stereotyped then we're not really in a position to say if it's a big deal or not. Lots of problematic books are favorites of mine, so it's hard. They're hard conversations, and I am grateful for Prairie Lotus and other books that do attempt to reconcile these issues.

>88 alcottacre: I feel bad, Stasia, when I can't wholeheartedly love a beloved book, and there is a lot of love here and elsewhere for Fresh Water for Flowers. And much of it I did love. But my own reservations were enough to prevent it getting more stars. You might love it.

>89 BLBera: This is a great one for Scout, Beth. She is one lucky girl:)

4. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, audiobook narrated by Patricia Santomasso. 4.25 stars

I have Richard (and others) to thank for this delightful YA fantasy about Mona, a 14 year-old baker and minor wizard whose magical talents make magical things happen to bread, cookies, and other baked goods. But her life turns upside down when she discovers a dead girl in the bakery and is accused of her murder. Strange and sinister things begin happening and Mona - and her city - are in grave danger. When Mona has to her use her magical abilities (with bread) she is facing danger and heroism. This is a clever spin on the fantasy story about a kid or group of kids who have to save the day, but one of the only one that asks why? Why should the fate of the city rest on the shoulders of a 14 year-old? Mona recognizes that things only fell to her because adults didn't do their part, or the right thing, or were too enmeshed in bureaucracy to loop up and take action. Lots of musing about the nature of heroism, and how honoring it with medals and ceremonies means people can move on and not actually address the emergencies that required heroism in the first place. I loved that aspect of the book - adults are not let off the hook. So clever, fun, and charming.

>90 AMQS: Really interesting and important discussion!!
>91 AMQS: Glad you loved that one -- I did too!

Thanks so much, Anne for the links to the Matt de la Pena and Kate DiCamillo essays! They were just lovely.

>36 AMQS: Your favorite time of day is: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Me too!
What do you want from 2022? No Great Mischief
Me too!
:)

>91 AMQS: Sounds like a great read! It has been added to the list.

Hope you have a good weekend!

>87 ctpress: I thought your comments to Carsten showed a common sense and sensitivity that seems so often missing in the debate on the books from that era. I still think that they have a place if we try to understand and explain their context and they are often a declaration of how far we have actually come as a society already. I do think however those gentle conversations/explanations you so nicely described are as important as the books themselves.

Have a lovely weekend, Anne.

>91 AMQS: ::nail-buff::

It really was a delightful read, so I'm always delighted when others think so too.

>92 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie! I know yours was a recommendation also. I really enjoyed the book!

>93 BLBera: Oh Beth, I'm so glad you liked them!

>94 LovingLit: Pleeeeeeeease no great mischief this year, right??

>95 witchyrichy: It was fun, Karen - enjoy!

>96 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, Books are special and feelings are tender. I hope your weekend is a good one, too.

>97 richardderus: Nice nails! And thanks for a great read.

I found out today that I was appointed to the newly created Library Advisory Council for my district. Not quite sure what that will entail, other than meetings 1-2 times monthly that are outside of school hours and paid! I am looking forward to being a real-world voice for district library policy on collection, technology, instruction, diversity, and more. There are 10 of us (representing a district with 155 schools). They were looking for a wide range of representation, and my inclusion checks off boxes for mountain schools (only a small fraction of my district's schools are mountain-area, and there are unique issues "up the hill"), small schools, and GT Center schools.

>99 AMQS: That has to be a good thing. At least there is someone on the Council that knows a bit about books!

>90 AMQS: Thanks for putting the Little House book in that context, Anne. Good quote from Linda Sue Park about the disappointment of using the novels as a "roadmap to becoming American." I can see them being viewed as "painful" with her background. I guess they could still be helpful, providing more context to the Indian territory and the rule of law back then and how people viewed each other. Do you use the Little House novels in the classroom today?

>96 PaulCranswick: I agree, Paul.

>99 AMQS: congratulations, Anne! That sounds like interesting and worthwhile work.

>99 AMQS: Oh, that's wonderful, Anne! Congrats!!

>99 AMQS: Congratulations! Your leadership is essential. From what I can tell, you are creating the libraries we need today where your students get a wide variety of experiences from reading to coding and more. And you do it in an engaging, innovative way, too!

Ooh congrats on being named to the council, Anne! Hopefully your district isn't having to deal with the disheartening levels of censorship and attempted bans that I keep seeing in so many of my library newsletters.

Congrats on your appointment to the council, Anne. You are certainly my go-to expert on elementary-aged books!
I was just talking to my daughter who teaches third grade. Before the break she was reading The War that Saved My Life to her class. She told me that the kids wanted to read the sequel, but she told them no, that she had done her job introducing them to Ada. She said five kids came back after break and told her that they had gotten both books for Christmas.

She's doing a great job making kids enthusiastic to read.

>99 AMQS: That shows rare good sense on the part of the bureaucrats. I'm glad you got the nod and the word!

>99 AMQS: That’s great, congratulations, Anne! At least one knowledgeable voice!

>99 AMQS: Congratulations Anne! An honour to be appointed, surely!

>96 PaulCranswick: I agree with Paul, your summary of the book's impact on various groups is super useful. I have a hard time talking to my dad about stuff like this; he is open to conversation, but can't sometimes see how/why such issues exist (seeing as they don't exist for him). But you're right that gentle conversations are the way forward.

Congrats on your appointment to the council, Anne, and hope it ends up being a good experience for you!

>10 AMQS: Just wanted to swing by and thank you for your recommendation of Amari and the Night Brothers. I finished it tonight and enjoyed myself thoroughly!

>99 AMQS: Congratulations!

>100 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! The other 9 librarians on the list are amazing, so it should be a good group.

>101 ctpress: Carsten, I don't think so as part of the official curriculum, at least in my district, but teachers sometimes choose them as class read alouds or book studies. They are beloved books, so I imagine they're taught somewhere.

>102 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! The school library job looks different everywhere, and even in my district where it is largely supported, there are schools that choose not to have teacher librarians (mostly because of money issues), so it's a great chance to elevate our position and advocate for library support - no matter what it looks like.

>103 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! I'm excited.

>104 witchyrichy: Aww, thanks Karen! Thanks for following along on IG, too. The library really does look a bit different in every school, and we're the only ones in our buildings who do what we do, so it's hard to know if we're doing it right:)

>105 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky. I feel really lucky at my school, but I am cautious. From what I hear, there are complaints at the district and board levels and our library leadership does its best to support us, shield us, and craft policy that allows us to defend out collection choices. I expect we'll get deeper into this in the council.

>106 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. And I love the work your daughter is doing! How wonderful to inspire new readers, and 3rd grade is such an amazing year. They're really on the cusp of being able and interested in expanding their reading discovering meaty books. I love that!

>107 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! My district has always supported strong library programs, but I've been teaching here 9 years (and volunteering in its libraries even longer), and I do wonder why this is a thing only now. And it means a lot that it's outside of school hours. We're supposed to be indispensable instructional leaders in our buildings and spend 80% of our time teaching, but we also have monthly meetings during the day, and it was actually stated that these would be at the central admin building to increase visibility. Um... great... but how can they justify taking indispensable instructional leaders and teachers out of their buildings once a month? And sub pay is not covered, which is a big hit on a school's budget, particularly a small school like mine. So if this had been during the school day I would not have applied. The pay is a bonus:)

>108 Copperskye: Thank you, Joanne! The other librarians (we're called DTLs or Digital Teacher Librarians in Jeffco) are awesome, so it should be a great group!

>109 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan! I'm excited. Yes, these conversations are difficult, but you catch more flies with honey, as they say. I would never go there with my dad, TBH.

>110 bell7: Thank you, Mary! Me, too:)

>111 alcottacre: Yay, Stasia, I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did! Looking forward to the sequel.

Life news (1).

I've shared this in the Here's To Our Health group (so thankful that Stasia created this group), so if you've read this already, feel free to skip ahead:) I hurt my foot sometime this fall. It was really hurting in November, and became kind of debilitating over Thanksgiving break. I thought maybe it was plantar fasciitis, but a visit to a foot specialist and an MRI revealed that it is some tearing in a tendon in my foot and it needs surgery. Ugh. I am going to put it off until summer and then reevaluate, but it's not the kind of thing that will heal itself. It turns out that my feet are happiest in very expensive shoes... I will start wearing a lacing ankle brace, and be careful. It actually feels a lot better now that I'm back at school and walking/standing more than I did on the break, so that's a plus, but I'm not happy about needing another surgery:(

Life news (2).

Stelios and I are no longer empty nesters. Callia is home. Like... Home. She came home for Christmas for what was supposed to be a 3-day visit, but on day one she confessed that she cannot go back. If you have been a regular on my thread for the past couple of years, you know that our family was thrown into a black hole of shock, grief, and trauma after she married a Pakistani student in pursuit of a visa after a 5-week acquaintance. She did graduate from Willamette, and began working. With a lot of therapy and some time we rebuilt what was so chaotic and painful, but we never were able to like or trust her husband and felt she was being manipulated and used. And it turns out that every unkind thing we ever thought about her husband was actually true and worse. But Callia had to get there herself. This fall she had been suffering from ill health and couldn't get good care where she was living. Her finances, such as they were, were devastated, and her stress levels were through the roof working like crazy to support a parasite. Her coming home, confessing that everything is as bad as we had always feared it was, and asking for our help is what we've been fervently hoping for over the past 18 months. So now she's home, and she's already been to see medical providers, and she is in consultation with an attorney to dissolve the marriage. And though this is what we've been hoping for, it doesn't erase the emotional turmoil, which has been stirred up again. So winter break was eventful, and there's a lot to untangle, and I am hopeful that our family is on the path to healing. She has a safe place to land and regroup, get healthy, and figure out next steps. One big emotional piece for her was her cat, given to her this summer when she was struggling (we did wonder if her husband would continue just throwing a pet at her every time she was depressed). But she loves the cat and is extremely attached, and was worried that Raja may hurt or abandon her so (insert extremely complicated communication and logistics), a friend picked up the cat and took her to her college roommate's home in Portland. From where she needed to be collected. So this is the reason for my unexpected, one-day trip and return to Portland. I am a cat mule.

>113 AMQS: I saw this on the health thread and am sorry you are facing yet another surgery. I know how that goes.

>114 AMQS: I cannot imagine being in this situation. Praying for the best for Callia, Stelios, and you. I am sure Callia appreciates you being a cat mule.

Sorry you hear you need another surgery, Anne, but so, so glad that Callia has found her way home.

Hugs to you all, including, of course, the cat.

>114 AMQS: Thank God Callia is home!

Please give our friend a gentle hug from me and I am sure that she will soon be herself again in the loving care of you and Stelios.

She has a little home here in the group too and she has often been in my thoughts as your concern for her was so palpable.

Life news (3).

We now have three cats. Meet Rhea. Full name: Rhea Maggie Noodle. I call her Rhea Cricket because she chirps just like a cricket. She is still a kitten, and is very sweet. Maya doesn't think much of either Winnie (Winslow) or Rhea, but after a couple of days of hesitation, Winnie and Rhea have become buddies.




We puzzled for a long time about how to get her here. Stelios wasn't willing to risk flying because of Covid and was trying to figure out how to drive amid the snows, etc. But it's a 19 hour drive (one way) and I reasoned that I am exposed already as I teach 75+ students a day, plus it gave me a lot of reading time. I landed in Portland, charged my phone, played Wordle for the first time, got lunch, and met Nyrie (the roommate) at the drop off lane in Departures where we took the cat from one carrier to another, she gave me some of Callia's clothes, and I walked right back into the airport and onto a return flight to Denver. This time with an extremely unhappy cat.

So... big news at our house. Good news, but we have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of emotions to work through. And a divorce. Actually, the lawyer is recommending annulment on the basis of fraud - he was really only after the visa. And he's a criminal (a real one. Not just saying this because I don't like him. OMG you have no idea, but he never should have been allowed to come here at all). And because the visa has not gone through he will soon be illegal and will need to return home. And hopefully he will, though the neighbor reports that he is already working on another girl while texting Callia all day asking for money. So Marina is looking forward to going back to school and actually I was too. I needed the structure and normalcy this year, though I am still all topsy turvy.

Again, if you've been following me awhile, I am more grateful to you than you can possibly know. Your support has truly sustained me and this is a treasured safe space for me. So thank you. So very much.

>114 AMQS: Anne, I am in tears after reading this. Tears of happiness mostly, but I'm also so very sad that Callia had to endure such unhappiness at a young age when she should have been having fun.

I am SO glad you saved the cat. What a story. You are a cat mule and My Hero(ine). I am up past my bedtime but I just had to respond to your news. Please tell Callia that she will get over this and have a wonderful life. Here's to healing for all of you, including the new cat in the family. (((Hugs all around)))

>119 Donna828: Nicely said Donna.

>119 Donna828: >120 PaulCranswick: I agree with Paul. What Donna said.

>115 alcottacre:, >121 alcottacre:, Stasia, thank you. My family has been through hell for the past 18 months, and we can finally say we can see the other side. It's been so hard.

>116 Copperskye: Joanne, thank you. Your love and support have meant so, so much to me.

>117 PaulCranswick:, >120 PaulCranswick: Paul, thank you. Yes, thank God. We are so relieved. It's just been so awful, and the worst was worrying about her. There's still a lot to sort through but we're together now and she's safe. I so appreciate your concern and your support.

>119 Donna828: Donna, thank you. That her unhappiness was largely self-inflicted doesn't make it less awful. We're focusing on her health first, then she will look into getting a job, volunteering for a bit, or even graduate school. As she said to us, "I feel like I can dream again." It's been so awful, but she dug in and tried so hard to make it work. I am so glad she finally acknowledged that she couldn't.

I should have prefaced all this this by saying that she was suffering from battered mental health. She experienced a series of difficult and some traumatic events her junior year of college, and when the pandemic hit, she lost the beloved school environment and interactions with her support system and was pretty isolated. We've learned a lot about mental health, and about how self-harm and destructive behavior can take many forms. She truly believed she was doing the right thing and rescuing a person in need. And she is stubborn enough to stick with it and dig in deeper when we pleaded with her to slow down and reconsider. It's a tough and expensive lesson. But she is not yet 23, is dreaming again, and has learned a lot.

ETA: So have I. This all seemed so sudden I worried that she was just succumbing to the same kind of impulsive behavior that led to all of this in the first place. She knew this wasn't working but had no idea she would do this. Stelios has been seeing a therapist (so was I but he was in Denmark and it's a long story) and heard from her that this is extremely common in abusive relationships. That (usually) the woman goes home for a visit (or to a sister, etc) and once out of the environment realizes that she cannot go back. That definitely reframed it for me. And while Callia says she was not abused, she was definitely controlled, manipulated, and isolated. And who knows what might have continued. So I am grateful. And beyond grateful for all of you. Thank you.

>122 AMQS: Your story really touches my heartstrings, Anne. Please know that you and Stelios and the girls always have genuine and concerned friends here by the score. x

Psychological abuse and control can be just as damaging as physical abuse and Callia will certainly need time to heal. Thank God she has you and Stellios for support. It’s scary to think this man is out there looking for another victim. I’m glad an annulment is on the table.

That is a darling little kitty. She’ll help with the healing, too.

Anne, so, so glad to hear your good news ❤️ sending Callia and all of you good healing thoughts. And there are many different types of abuse. Even if Callia can't yet say she was in an abusive relationship, at least she was able to recognize how bad her situation was when she got home.

>122 AMQS: That has been tough for all of you, Anne, glad Callia found her way back home.
Now on the the long road of recovery, in the sweet companionship of the cats.
(((hugs)))

>99 AMQS: Congrats! That's awesome.

>114 AMQS: What awful news. It will take time to heal however, she is lucky to have you there for her giving her lots of emotional support. Sending * hugs* your way.

>114 AMQS: >118 AMQS: OMG!! I am so sorry to hear all this, Anne. Our heart goes out to you. Good luck to Callia moving forward and glad you were able to reunite her Raja. Cat mule or not, you are a wonder.

Anne, such incredible news. I've sometimes wondered how Callia was doing, but knowing how painful it was for your family, didn't want to ask. I'm so glad she is out of that situation and in a safe space with you, Stelios, and her beloved kitty (that was a great story too btw). Now you can all begin healing. I am both relieved and happy for you and your family. {{{hugs}}}

What Laura said - I’m glad that you all can begin to heal. And I love the cat mule imagery.

*HUGS all around*

You've all been through so much lately, but I am beyond happy that there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel now!

Anne - I am so sorry you need another surgery. I hope you can make it until summer. And it's great that Callia is home and safe, even though it sounds like you have some tough times ahead. Good luck. I am thinking of you and yours and hoping everything goes smoothly.

Sending along hugs for everyone and prayers for Callia as she begins to heal and find herself again.

Surgery = BOO; but necessary, so soldier on and do your duty.

Callia - Raja = ALL THE YAY!!

Callia + Home = whew, what a lot of work for everyone to do...welcome to parenting, right? Her recovery from psychological isolation and fear-mongering will take time. I'm glad you're all aware of it.

Limb of Satan #3 =

Oh, Anne. Like Laura, I had wondered how Callia was doing but didn't feel it was my business to ask. I am so glad she was able to see the bad situation she was in and do something about it. And I'm thankful she had you and Stelios to give her a safe place to land. So many people in that sort of situation don't have that. Hugs to you all.

It must have been very difficult for your whole family, Anne. Sending my love to you and Callia.

Sending hugs and prayers to you and to Callia.

>112 AMQS: I would never go there with my dad, TBH.
I find it fascinating how we (as in humans) can so easily block out points of view that are not ours. I guess its the whole tribal brain thing, go with what you know, stick with your own etc...(some sort of collective survival mechanism). But as my dad is pretty open to a good old discussion, we can have conversations that stay calm and not have to reach a resolution or agreement at the end. (My sister however, she just keeps pushing her point until the other conversation participants stop talking...thus giving her the impression she has 'won'.)

>118 AMQS: Wow, Anne. That is so difficult. Like others, I was wondering about how your eldest has been doing, but didn't want to press the issue/be nosey. Poor C....no one wants to have the rug pulled out from them in that way. The realisation that you have been played is a massive blow. But (as other have said) she will learn and grow from this, and with you and the family behind her, will flourish again! I'm sending you all my love.

What a difficult time it has been for you all but, finally, there's a light in sight. With the love and good sense you provide your children I'm sure Callia will recover and you will all be bonded even tighter for the experience. Meanwhile, you have a group of people here all rooting for you all. Hugs to you and yours.

Big hugs to you and your family, Anne. I'm glad that Callia's getting the help she needs and away from a criminal, and thinking of all of you knowing it's gonna be a long, emotional process.

Dear friends, your response is overwhelming and I am just so grateful to all of you. After 14 years on LT you have become a family. This is a treasured safe space for me and I cannot thank you enough for your support. We have a long ways to go, but the first step is getting Callia home, and we've been wishing for that for 18 months. I am grateful and hopeful and glad to be taking this journey with all of you behind me and my family. Thank you.

>123 PaulCranswick: Paul, I know we do, and I am so thankful.

>124 Copperskye: I think she will. She fits right in. I know that psychological abuse is insidious. I know it would likely have become worse with time. As it was, she was completely isolated, It was just bad in every way and I can't tell you how relieved we are that she came home. Joanne, I am so grateful for your support over the past many awful months. Thank you.

>125 curioussquared: Thank you, Natalie. She said she had no idea this would happen. She said she had known for months (!) that things were not working but she thought she would go back, evaluate, and figure out next steps. I'm so glad she took the steps she did. She also had her best friend in her corner, who could say things to her that she might not have been open to hearing from her parents. You're not well. You're not happy. What are you going to do. Nyrie has been a blessing since they connected on social media and decided to room together.

>126 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita. I know you know some of the mental health trauma we have been going through. I am so grateful for your support.

>127 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita! I am gratefully accepting all hugs.

>128 msf59: Thank you so much, Mark. I was happy to be a cat mule if it would help her heal. Just to clarify: the cat is Rhea. The husband is Raja. Colorado requires 30 days residency before someone can file for annulment. We're about 6 days away, so here's hoping we can put Raja behind us.

>129 lauralkeet: Thank you, Laura. We are relieved and happy as well. And I appreciate your concern so very much.

>130 drneutron: Thank you, Jim. Hopefully we're on the path to healing as a family. The cat is fitting right in and Callia is so happy to have her, so the trip was worth it.

>131 scaifea: Thank you, Amber. Yes, I think we do see the light. And as Callia said, she can dream again. Not sure what is in her future, but the doors are opening again.

>132 BLBera: Thank you, Beth. I seem to do well when I'm working, and I have some interventions at my disposal now, like some gentle exercises, ankle braces, anti-inflammatories, etc. I am hoping to make it until summer also, and I am encouraged. But I am also in such a supportive school. Even if I need to do it earlier I know they have my back, just as you and our wonderful friends here do. I am so grateful for your support.

>133 MickyFine: Thank you, Micky. We are gratefully accepting hugs and prayers.

>134 richardderus: Richard, I can't decide if I wish I had known parenting kids in their 20s would be harder than all the previous stages put together, or if ignorance is bliss. But we've been devoid of bliss for some time. You reassured me many months ago by saying that she was running the operating system we installed and I have clung to those words. So thank you. And yes, a new limb of Satan. She is awfully sweet (probably so we'll let our guard down). I do love cats but I've only ever had one until recently. I think the correct number of cats is 2, but these are extraordinary times and now we have 3. Does this mean you're canceling your reservation for your suite at our house/home base for your Colorado adventures?

>135 katiekrug: Katie, thank you. It has been very painful, but I appreciate your concern, even if unvoiced. Stelios's therapist, who told him what she did is really common for women in abusive relationships, also said that in some cases families are not in a position to hep, so we are grateful that we are.

>136 SandDune: Rhian, it has been difficult. The most difficult thing we have ever experienced. Thank you for your good thought and support.

>137 cbl_tn: Thank you, Carrie, we are grateful accepting all hugs and prayers. We definitely need them.

>138 LovingLit: Megan, that's what she's struggling with. As I said above, we are finding out that everything we ever suspected we were right to suspect and worse. Some of it Callia knew and was trying to "fix." Some of it is a shock. She does know that she was played and manipulated and put her trust in something that was completely false and that feels so awful. We were so hurt and angry at what she did and the way she did it. I have been needing to hear that she acknowledges that what she did devastated our family, but when it came out I realize I didn't need it anymore. She feels stupid and used and that's a terrible thing to feel. But she is surrounded by supportive family and professionals helping her through this and I am hoping she comes out stronger and wiser.

>139 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba, that's what we're hoping for. And the group of people rooting for us here... I can't tell you how much it means to me.

>140 bell7: Mary, thank you. He's pulling out all the stops now, but Callia is trying to ignore him and focus on her. It is going to be a long road, but we've taken the first steps and we have a lot of love and support helping is ad we're so thankful.

To echo what others have said, I'm so glad Callia is home and safe and looking forward to the future. And that's an awfully cute kitty.

Wow, Anne, so much news. Congratulations on a successful cat retrieval and I can only imagine the relief you must feel at having Callia home. Very fortunate for her that she has home to fall back on. Wishing you all the best with the road ahead. Yes, parenting kids in their 20s is not always a smooth ride!

We'll look forward to seeing lots of your cats this year. Thoughts to you as you and Callia go through the changes ahead.

I read all your messages to everyone, and can see how affected you are by all this. It's kind of heartbreaking, but kind of reassuring as well, to see that the healing part is on its way!
I can't even begin to worry about parenting kids in their 20s, as the first ten years of having fighty-fighty-brother-boys has completely consumed me ...I will deal with their 20s later :)

>114 AMQS: I am sorry that you were right about the man and sorry it took Callia wahile to get there. I am sending lots of healing energies as you journey together. And there are worse things than begin a cat mule ;-)

>143 foggidawn: Thank you, foggi. It has been a long and hard road for all of us, but I am grateful that she can have a reset.

>144 AnneDC: It is such a huge relief, Anne! We were warned about the teenage years, and they seemed so easy. But I guess we paid for them. I am grateful for a new start, and so relieved she came to make this change on her own.

>145 thornton37814: Thank you, Lori. The cats are bringing us joy, which is definitely needed. They will be so sad when my daughter Marina returns to college this weekend. Marina, on the other hand, is really ready to return. She loves her sister, loves being home, but emotions have been heightened and turbulent. She is super cautious with the pandemic, as we all are. Also her best friend was sick with Covid over winter break, so she hasn't been able to go hangout with her or anything. She'll be glad to get back to her own thing.

>146 LovingLit: Thank you, Megan. Yes, it definitely rocked our world and things have not been the same since. Young adults naturally separate from their parents and I know that's a big transition for everyone, but Callia never did until she did completely and all of a sudden. It was such a shock and such a terrible estrangement. It felt like an amputation of a vital organ or something. So we had a sudden breech from us, the sudden attachment to him, and her sudden isolation all at once. And when they're actually adults, there's not much you can do. So we know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're so glad to be here. And so grateful for your support. She's still dreaming of returning to NZ:)

>147 witchyrichy: Karen, it was hard to know how to feel. We want her to be happy and be loved and to thrive, of course, and if she was we would definitely get over our animosity toward her husband. But she wasn't, and we couldn't say anything (that parenting an adult thing). She has admitted that she has known for awhile but dug in and was determined to make it work. So grateful for a re-do. And to be honest I wasn't looking forward to having yet another cat in the house, but she fits right in and is very sweet.

5. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 4.5 stars

I have Micky (and others) to thank for this historical, time-bending fantasy. Based on friends' reviews here, I gave this book to Marina for Christmas last year, and she counts it as one of her year's best. I love it when that happens! I am known as an excellent book-giver, but I know that the real magic comes from my LT connections!

Adeline LaRue is a girl growing up in a French village in the turn of the 18th century. She wants... more. She's not sure what, but the expected life and death and marriage and motherhood lived entirely within the boundaries of her tiny village isn't it. Her spirit isn't nourished by the church - instead, she learns all she can from Estele, a fiercely independent woman who seems part-tree, and who follows the old (really old) ways and makes offerings to ancient gods and spirits. When Addie is to be married, she offers up anything she can spare to anyone who might be listening, yet the wedding approaches. In despair, she flees into the forest and desperately prays, unheeding of the hour and Estele's exhortation never to pray to the gods who answer after dark. But someone does answer and Addie accepts a trade: her freedom in exchange for her soul when she is done with it.

Thus begins a life of survival. Complete freedom, but she is forgotten once she is out of sight. She cannot do anything permanent. A glass of wine spilled vanishes. No writing implement will work for her. She cannot even say her own name. Every day she starts over, throughout the weeks and then the months, years, decades and centuries. And every year she is visited by him - wanting to see if she is ready to surrender.

This book was hard to put down, and gave me a lot to think about - what is freedom, independence, happiness? My favorite part was Marina checking to see where I was in the book every day and then just smiling. Recommended.

>149 AMQS: Huzzah! I'm glad to see that both you and Marina loved it.

>149 AMQS: oh yay, I loved Addie! So glad both you and Marina enjoyed it so much.

Oh, Anne, I am getting here so late this year, and how eventful. I'm another sorry to hear surgery is in your future but glad the foot is hanging in there in the meantime. And the news about Callia! Thank goodness she was able to separate from him! And that she was able to look to you and Stellios for support. We all make mistakes in our twenties (my first husband was an alcoholic) and if we can get out of the situation, we do heal and learn to be our more authentic selves. Lots of hugs for you all, and of course the support kitties will give you more.

And love the portrait of Whistler and its story.

>149 AMQS: That one is already in the BlackHole. I really need to get it read!

>149 AMQS: Well, Anne, you got me with your wonderful review. I’ve managed to ignore this one - until now. It’s been added to my wishlist.

I love how you were able to share the reading experience with Marina.

>150 MickyFine: Yes, it was really good! Thanks for your recommendation, Micky - your thread is like gold. Marina read it a year ago and enjoyed revisiting it with me.

>151 bell7: Thanks, Mary! I'm sure I took a hit from your review as well. It was fun for Marina to revisit it as I read it.

>152 ronincats: Roni, I am so glad you're here! Yes, very eventful, even though it's still January. Actually, Callia was supposed to be home Dec. 23-26. On the 23rd she asked if she could stay longer and on the 24th she broke down and told us everything. I've been hoping for this since July of 2020. Lots of people have talked to me about mistakes in their 20s, or their kids' mistakes - it helps to know that other families go through things like this, and I clung to those stories of healing and becoming authentic selves while we were in it. Our pets definitely help sooth and comfort, don't they? We do miss Whistler terribly.

>153 alcottacre: I think you'll enjoy it, Stasia! It is a unique and emotional story, and a page-turner.

>154 Copperskye: Yay, Joanne! I hope you enjoy it as much as well all did. I really enjoyed talking with Marina while I read this. She didn't want to say too much, but she was very invested in my progress through the story.

6. The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin 5 stars

I didn't make good decisions last night. We had freezing fog and drizzle here, which is kind of unusual, and made for really slippery roads, and most Denver-area school districts declared a late start (2-hour delay) for school today so kids (new teen drivers) and teachers and parents didn't have to navigate really icy roads and rush hour traffic. But instead of just going to bed after finishing Addie LaRue, I decided to take a hot bath and start another book. Well the bath water got cold, I went to bed very late (still woke up early though), but I finished the book! And loved it.

This is a memoir written for grades 5 and up, and while not exactly a graphic memoir, it is brilliantly illustrated on every page by the author. The book is fascinating, laugh-out-loud funny, and sad.

Mr. Yelchin describes snapshots of his childhood in Leningrad. With all the space to spread out in our enormous country, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Victor, and I were allowed to live in one tiny room. There were other rooms in our apartment, but other families occupied those rooms. The kitchen, the hallway, and the bathroom were considered communal spaces and we shared them with other tenants. Living quarters like ours were called communal apartments, or communalkas for short. Each communalka had its own spy. Most of them were paid to spy, but some spied for free to be useful to our country.

With so many people in such a tiny space, each evening there was a giant puzzle to be solved as furniture had to be moved to create space for the family to sleep. Brother Victor had to sleep across three dining chairs (but as a figure skater this was judged to be good balance practice) and the only space available for Eugene (Yevgeny) was underneath the dining table, where every night he would draw on the underside of the table with a pencil stolen from his father (the nightly outrage at the missing pencil is hilarious). Yevgeny's parents despaired over his future as he appears to have no athletic or artistic talent (mom worked at the Vaganova Ballet Academy and was obsessed with Mikhail Baryshnikov, but who wouldn't be?). Everyone knows that talent is the only way for a better life in the Soviet Union - the ticket to your own apartment, looser travel restrictions, and access to better food and clothing. And Yevgeny has no talent...until Dad discovers what he's been doing under the table.

This is just a lovely, fascinating, sad, and hilarious story. It appeared one day on my kitchen table - probably from my mom, though I have no idea how or why she got it. I realized after finishing the book and Googling Eugene Yelchin that I've read him before - I read the Newbery Honor Breaking Stalin's Nose and the wonderful picture poetry book he illustrated (Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku) is a student favorite year after year. I loved this one.

And some good news! Marina has been given the green light to have vision correcting surgery. Her vision is so bad she is not even eligible for LASIK - she will need implants. She has it tentatively scheduled in early June and is beyond excited.

AND

She is being asked to stop her injections of Humira! She's doing well enough with JIA that her rheumatology team, in consultation with her eye surgery team, agree that she can stop! She's pretty excited to get such great news before heading back to PA for school this weekend.

I’m so happy to hear Marina’s good news! Wishing her safe travels back to school and an awesome semester!

Hurray for Marina! That's great news.

>157 AMQS: Yay to good news!

Best wishes for a quiet, restful weekend to you and your family.

>157 AMQS: That is all wonderful news, Anne! As for your "bad" decision >156 AMQS:, anything that makes you happy and raises a smile in this world is a *good* decision.

Happy weekend to come!

Hooray for Marina -- so glad things are heading the right way for you all.

Nice comments on your reading, Anne. Both the Addie LaRue and the Yelchin book sound great. I'll add them to my REALLY long list.

Oh that's wonderful news for Marina!

I am so happy to see good news Re: the Doppelganger, Anne. Her shadow here in Malaysia is also pretty chronically short-sighted. Her eyesight is almost as bad as her Dad's.

Have a lovely weekend. x

Great news for Marina! Happy weekend, Anne :)

>155 AMQS: *blushes*

Glad to hear it's been largely good news on the family front this week, Anne. Hopefully you have some time to curl up with a good read this weekend.

Marina is safely back in her dorm after a very long travel day (flight from Denver to Philadelphia, train into the city, Amtrak to Harrisburg, and a ride to Carlisle). We're very glad that she's there!

We lost a tree today. Actually, it was scaring us around the end of the year - we had horrible, dangerous wind on December 30th (the winds that drove that awful fire near Boulder) and we had a huge spruce tree that was leaning over and whose roots actually came up out of the ground. We alerted our neighbors and they moved cars, etc, but fortunately it just leaned against the pine tree growing next door. But it had to come down and today it did. Makes me sad. But I was hoping maybe a flowering cherry tree or something could be planted in its place, and our crew (the same amazing crew that did our landscaping last summer) was recommending a cherry right as I was wishing for one.

>158 Copperskye: Thank you, Joanne! She has been texting me all day at each of her stops and just texted that she was back in her dorm:)

>159 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! She's pretty excited. It's something of an operation to take refrigerated medicine on a plane, so she's glad to avoid doing it.

>160 witchyrichy: Thank you, Karen! Marina just texted that she is safe in her dorm so we're happy for that news. Stelios, Callia, and I took a long walk together today and Stelios and Callia are at a hockey game now.Early morning for me but I got stuff done today so I should be able to relax a bit tomorrow. Hope yours is a good one!

>161 richardderus: Richard, it did make me happy and it did make me smile but I was struggling the next day! But still glowing from the book:) I hope your weekend is a good one!

>162 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba. She asked me on the way to the airport if she's a terrible sister because she's glad to be going back to school and away from the drama and emotional turmoil today. I told her I was actually glad to go back to school also. Things are good but still difficult, if that makes sense. Thanks for checking in on me.

>163 BLBera: Beth, I think we all have really long lists! There are worse problems to have, I suppose:)

>164 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! She's pretty excited. She was diagnosed at 13, so it's been a good chunk of her life managing JIA, so she's really happy to be where she is.

>165 PaulCranswick: I always smile when I think of the doppelgängers, Paul:) I hope you and yours have a lovely weekend also.

>166 bell7: Thank you, Mary! As ready as I was to go back to school, I'm always even more ready for the weekends. Hope yours is a good one!

>167 MickyFine: Hopefully you have some time to curl up with a good read this weekend. Not yet, Micky, but I got a lot of stuff done today (plus a good long walk) so I'll hopefully have the time tomorrow. Happy weekend to you and Mr. Fine!

>168 AMQS: Wow, Anne, that is some travel day for Marina.

>169 PaulCranswick: Indeed, Paul, it took 12.5 hours door to door. It's an awesome school, but that is the downside - not terribly close to major airports, and several states away.

>156 AMQS: I enjoyed Yelchin's Breaking Stalin's Nose, so I will have to give that one a try too. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Anne!

>157 AMQS: Good news all around! Nice!

Have a lovely Sunday, Anne.

>168 AMQS: flight from Denver to Philadelphia, train into the city, Amtrak to Harrisburg, and a ride to Carlisle

That's quite a journey. I'm familiar with all but the flight (my oldest almost went to Dickinson, and we were living in southeastern PA at the time). Does the school have a shuttle from H'burg at busy times like this? I'm glad the trip went off without a hitch.

>171 alcottacre: Stasia, it is really good. Marina is really happy to be back at school and not having to manage this medication anymore. She is hoping to study abroad next year, so this will simplify things! Happy Sunday to you as well!

>172 lauralkeet: It was a long trip. Yes, there is a shuttle, but she decided to ask a friend to pick her up, and I'm glad. With the shuttle timing, she would have had to wait at least an additional hour at the Harrisburg train station, and the shuttle stop is clear across campus from her dorm. It is a very small campus, but it would have been a long walk in the dark with a heavy suitcase.

>173 AMQS: That makes sense. And hurray for friends with cars!

>174 lauralkeet: LOL, Laura, Marina just texted me. She's completing her study abroad application and we've been thinking she's in good shape, visa-wise, to study in Italy. Only she just realized that her EU (Cyprus) passport expires in June and the application is due in 2 weeks. No problem - she can use her US passport, but she has to renew her Cyprus passport at the embassy in D.C. (eventually). It's only 2 hours away by car but 6 hours by train. There's that "middle of nowhere" problem again! I told her surely there's a class at Dickinson that might go to D.C. by bus or something and she could tag along.

Oh dear, Anne. Good luck with that!

Isn't paperwork *fun*!

I hope Marina retains her sanity. As to you, and Stelios, well...ships have sailed shall we say.

Hoping for a pink and blossomy old age!

Hi Anne, That was quite a long journey for Marina to return to school. It's amazing how competent young people are these days. That is wonderful news about not having to take her medicine for JIA anymore and the upcoming eye surgeries.

I had ocular implants done in my early 40s when I lived in Colorado Springs. I felt like I had a new lease on life! I had worn thick glasses since the age of 3 until I started wearing contact lenses in my late teens. However, when I moved to the dry air of Colorado, my tolerance for wearing contacts was reduced and I had red, itchy eyes all day long. I was glad there was a fairly simple solution...and that I don't have to worry about cataract surgery at my age since I already have artificial lenses.

I often wish I could take the train to Cornwall, Pennsylvania, where my parents live but even being in the same time zone doesn't make it easy. And flying in and out of Harrisburg is a challenge and pricey.

Happy Monday! Have fun with the kids this week. I'm prepping for a Scrappy Circuits workshop I'm doing in a couple weeks. I want to make at least one or two things out of the new book.

>176 lauralkeet: thanks! We also realized that Stelios's Cypriot passport expired, so the two of them need to get to DC somehow... or Cyprus.

>177 richardderus: Oh, sailed long ago, Richard, and pink and blossomy is such a kind and gentle wish! Forgetful and doddery is kind of what's going on now. Happy week, Richard!

>178 Donna828: They really are, Donna. This is the first time she's made that trip in that direction, but everything worked out well. She is so excited for her surgery. I think if she attended school in Colorado she might have had it already, but there wasn't quite enough time to squeeze in everything required. So summer it is. It will be a huge quality of life improvement for her. I'm so glad to hear that yours made such an impact!

>179 witchyrichy: Karen, I think sometimes we western types imagine that everything east of the Mississippi is really well connected. And the large metropolises are. Ah, well. The risk we took going to a small school not particularly close to anything:)

I know you've shared information about Scrappy Circuits. I still need to dig deeper. I tend to stick to digital tools used on Chromebooks. The district has invested so heavily in technology and premium licenses for certain tools that it makes the most sense to focus on those. But occasionally I think about branching out.

>180 AMQS: I completely understand and it is great that your division invested in the technology. Do you have access to Micro:bits? They can connect to lots of the online programming tools and are the next step up from the scrappy circuits. I think of scrappy as the fun, let's take a break on Friday, kind of activity. I use it to remind grown ups that just messing around and making stuff can be fun.

>175 AMQS: It must be so useful for her study options that she has an E.U. passport. I think Jacob thinks that we have failed somewhat in not having any Irish ancestors that could provide him with an Irish (and hence E.U. passport). My brother-in-law is Irish, although he hasn't lived there since he was two, so Jacob's cousins are much more fortunate in that respect!

Hi Anne & Fam! I'm thinking of all y'all and hoping this will be a dull, tedious, normal weekend. *smooch*

>173 AMQS: She is hoping to study abroad next year, so this will simplify things!
Remind me again how being further away simplifies things? Italy though....exciting!

>173 AMQS: Marina's doppelganger will be studying in the UK and who knows they might get to meet or get mistaken for each other?!

>181 witchyrichy: Karen, I bet there are micro bits I could check out from the district. Need to work it into plans, etc.

>182 SandDune: Rhian, you definitely could have picked your ancestors more carefully;) We know how lucky we are. We've been saying for awhile that we need to start working on my Cypriot citizenship, which is much more involved than the girls'. But it's always a "for later" problem and life keeps up busy enough that later never comes.

>183 richardderus: Richard, dull, tedious, and normal sounds blissfully luxurious! So far mostly dull. We just returned from a walk in a park, so a little exercise and fresh air. Our Avalanche are playing well, and things are progressing with Callia's case. Raja has been served, papers filed... we've entered the next phase and now we wait again to see what he is going to do. I hope your weekend is wonderful. Snowbound?

>184 LovingLit: LOL, sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? It will likely make her 12.5 hour commute back to Pennsylvania seem easy. But it is unlikely she will come home at all (*sob*). She's hoping to travel and we have lots of friends and family living in Germany, France, Cyprus, so it feels like she'll have places to go not too far away. She's very excited.

>185 PaulCranswick: That would be awesome (to meet) and funny (to be mistaken for one another).

>186 AMQS: Unbound, in the sense that I have no obligation to leave the building! Yippee!

Happy for Marina's cool probable residence change. *envious sigh* to be young again....

7. The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly, audiobook narrated by various artists. 3 stars.

This was a diverting read about a grand garden of Highbury House, an English country estate. Venetia Smith designs and plants the sumptuous garden in 1907. Modeled after Gertrude Jekyll, Venetia designs showy garden rooms: a bridal garden, tea garden, children's garden, lovers garden, poets garden, and winter garden. Venetia's story alternates with three other women: Emma, a historical garden restorer, charged with bringing Venetia Smith's original garden back to life in 2021, and three women from 1944: Beth, a land-girl, Diana, mistress of Highbury House, and Stella, Highbury House's cook. There is a sorrow and a mystery beginning with Venetia, and added to in the 1940s, when Highbury House was requisitioned to serve as a convalescent hospital. Stella, Beth, and Diana are as different as any women can be, but come together during the war and share yet another secret that the 2021 Highbury House owners and Emma try to unravel as they restore the garden and honor Venetia's original vision.

Though diverting, I couldn't say that I loved the book. I didn't love all of the different narrators/ Too romance-y? Too neatly tied with a bow? Now sure what exactly my reservations come down to, but I won't be rushing out to find more by this author.

>187 richardderus: No need to leave the house is the mark of a successful weekend, I think, Richard. Enjoy! Marina's change of residence will only be temporary (and I suppose with applications and pandemic and the like that I should not count chickens, etc). She will be in Italy most likely from August of this year through June of next year before returning home (yay!) and then back to Dickinson for her senior year. Both girls hope to live in Europe at some point, and Stelios and I are thinking about it also. Though a major move at our age...

>189 AMQS: Do we know where in Italy Marina is aiming to go, Anne?
Callia is often in my thoughts and I do hope that she is coping well, coming out of a difficult relationship. She is young enough to put it well and truly behind her. Hugs to all of you, Stelios included.

>190 PaulCranswick: Paul, she would go to Bologna. Apparently the food at Dickinson has been really awful (blamed on labor shortages which Marina chalks up to poor pay) so the thought of going to the food capital of Italy is very exciting.

Callia hears this a lot, but she's too in the weeds to feel this herself. She's making some progress, but is still really struggling. The waiting and not knowing are hard. This will be over, and relatively soon, but waiting for it is really hard. It's getting to Stelios - I get to go away to work every day, and nothing commands ALL of your attention like teaching young children. Stelios is at home helping Callia process, helping her with procedural stuff, and really taking a hands-on role in things like making sure she eats. He's had trouble getting work done, and is definitely feeling the emotional strain. This was the first time ever I was looking forward to the END of a school break. I think I needed some normalcy and routine, but Stelios works from home. We ALL appreciate your good thoughts and your hugs. We surely need them.

>191 AMQS: She is going to the old Etruscan city of Felsina! Bologna is known as the Fat, Red and Learned city due to the fact that it has rich food, red rooftops and the oldest university in the world. That is simply wonderful news. x

I can understand, Callia, and I have had more than my share of heartbreak. Time heals; it really does - every difficult day after the other. I guess you need to focus as much on Stelios as on Callia at times, Anne. It is difficult for fathers who tend to internalise everything and want to appear strong when really they have been torn up inside at what has befallen our little girl.

>192 PaulCranswick: Paul, your kind and wise words make me cry (I have been crying 9,000 miles from your shoulder for 18 months). I am so grateful for your support.

>193 AMQS: What a lovely thing to say, Anne. I have teared up too now and I'm supposed to be a toughie!

>191 AMQS: Interesting comment about the food at Dickinson. My granddaughter is a freshmen at U.C. Merced and it sounds like the food there is truly awful...not just "it's part of the freshman experience to complain about the food", but really bad. Labor shortages are a fact of life in this covid world so I'm willing to believe that's the problem but it isn't helping college life.

Glad Calia is making progress and I'm sure she will heal with time (I speak from personal experience) but it's tough when you're going through it.

Hope Marina gets a good international study experience -- next year right?

>188 AMQS: Hmm. I have that one in the BlackHole to read at some point. I think later rather than sooner in this case.

Have a super Sunday!

>191 AMQS: Apparently the food at Dickinson has been really awful British universities seem to be giving up on catered provision for students in many cases. Virtually all the ones Jacob looked at offered very little catered provision (if any).

>192 PaulCranswick: the Fat, Red and Learned city i always thought it was 'red' Bologna because it was traditionally very communist?

>197 SandDune: Actually Rhian it seems that we are both right - you more so than myself.

https://www.thelocal.it/20170510/bologna-dotta-grassa-rassa-red-fat-learned-stud...

How exciting that Marina gets to study in Italy! A perfect opportunity for Mom to visit, right, if health and COVID cooperate.

I've always loved that the world's biggest & best children's book festival has always been in Fat, Red & Learnèd.

Anne, PC speaketh sooth re: fathers, and Stelios needs to feel you understanding and supporting, of course, but also appreciating his work with Callia. Of course it's his job, he's her dad, he wants to do it...but he needs to hear that you see, hear, and respect his work.

It's easy to do the spouse thing and believe him. Go the extra mile, it will make a difference.

>194 PaulCranswick: Paul, toughies can be tender, too. It's one of their greatest characteristics.

>195 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba, yes, next year, so likely August -June or something like it. At Dickinson, the food is not great, AND there are impossibly long lines. Students who are also athletes sometimes have a hard time even getting food. The worst thing, IMO, is that Dickinson is 4-year residential, and students are required to have a meal plan, even if they live in an apartment with a kitchen! They have taken steps to help, like bringing in food trucks, and issuing Uber Eats coupons, but Marina thinks things would get better if they paid more.

Callia is making progress, but these things aren't necessarily linear. I think when we look back it will seem short but it doesn't feel that way now. Thank you for sharing your experience.

>196 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, it should be a quick read in print, I would think. I really enjoyed some parts of the book, but had issues, as you read. If a reader were in the right frame of mind or book mood for this book, it might be the perfect book. Still, you know there are other wonderful books in the BlackHole:)

>197 SandDune: Does that mean food provided at school? The problem is that Dickinson requires a meal plan, and even a "flexible" meal plan (based on swipes rather than meals) is the same price (expensive) as the meal-based one. It's frustrating, and many people are essentially paying double for food - what they're required to pay the school, and what they're paying for their students to feed themselves. Marina is making it work for the most part, but she does rely heavily on snacks and quick meals that she buys herself. I'm hoping this will change and soon. We likely won't be affected next year (I have no idea what the food situation will be in Bologna as far as where her meals come from and if she will have to pay into a plan, etc. I would hope there would be flexibility there!), but her senior year she could very well be in an apartment and cooking for herself.

>197 SandDune:, >198 PaulCranswick: Marina is ready to experience all the fat, red, and learned she can! Thanks for the article.

>199 BLBera: That's what we're thinking, Beth! At this point we have the cart before the horse as she has only just applied for the program, but it sure looks likely. Not sure when she'll have to go. There is a niece's wedding in Cyprus in September, and we're considering that as we consider future plans. It will be prohibitively difficult for me to attend as I will start school about 5-6 weeks before that, but maybe Marina and Stelios can go to the wedding and then on to Italy? In any case, we're tentatively planning Christmas in Europe this year. My mom, my brother (and his wife and little Falcon) are only a few hours away in Munich, so this might be the perfect year to do it.

>200 richardderus: Richard, I appreciate Stelios to the moon and back and then some. This is a very strange new normal, and we're hoping it feels more normal soon. If this becomes a long, protracted, ugly thing then I will certainly need to take some time off to support. But all signs indicate the dissolution part will be over very soon. A trip to Oregon will be necessary to retrieve her personal belongings, but once the Raja drama is over I think Callia will have an easier time and so will Stelios. We're really looking forward to spring break, which we will spend at the home of a dear family friend who is particularly close to Stelios in Florida. Because my spring break and Marina's do not line up, we're cobbling together some family time, but the plan now is for Stelios to have two weeks in Florida, which will be wonderful and much needed for him. He'll be able to ride his bike in nice weather, and time at the beach is huge for an island boy.

January Reading Recap
1. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
2. Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin
3. Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
4. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
5. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
6. The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin
7. The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

Favorite: Murderbot was of course right up there, but was a reread, and Addie LaRue was another great one.

>201 AMQS: Dickinson requires a meal plan That is pretty much unheard of for a British university. Most students only live in university accommodation for the first year anyway, but for most universities it’s rare now even for that to provide any meals. (Of course there are places where meals came be bought). Every single accommodation that we looked at when Jacob was looking at which Uni to pick was organised on an apartment basis, with 6-8 rooms and a shared kitchen where students cooked for themselves. After the first year most students live out anyway, I’ve never heard of any where people are required to live in and pay for food they didn’t want. From what I know about Italian universities they are more laissez-faire than British ones, so I’d be very surprised if there was the sort of meal plan that you talk about. To be honest I’d never even heard of one before your comments above.

>203 SandDune: Yeah, it's a racket when you don't have a choice. Most schools here, I would guess, have some kind of residential requirement for the first year, but you can usually apply for a waiver if you are local. Callia went to Willamette University in Oregon, which requires 2 years of on-campus living with a meal plan, but there were many meal plan options and the food was really good. Schools really talk up their dining halls on the tours - food here is getting better and better and there are usually tons of options, even if you don't have a special diet like GF, Halal, Kosher, vegan, etc. Apparently the food at Dickinson was really good... up until Covid. And now for a variety of reasons the food is not great, the lines are unacceptably long, and there really are no meal plan choices. That last part is ridiculous. I think many schools require a meal plan if you are in a dorm. Dorms have kitchens but they're really not intended for every-day cooking of meals, and dorms are super big. Willamette only required a meal plan if a student was in a dorm, but you could opt out if you were in an on-campus apartment. You could still have an account with a balance to swipe for meals and food at school, but it was not required. I think DC's policy is not good, but I think back when the choices were really good parents didn't mind. Now that many are paying essentially double, parents are upset.

>204 AMQS: I think the universities here are much more relaxed. I think the view is that the students are adults, you can't really make them do anything they don't want to do. When you say dorms, do people have to share rooms, or is that just a turn of phrase?

>205 SandDune: That's true of many university things. For example, most Europeans just launch straight into their major, whereas Americans have to take general education classes. The downside for Europeans is that if you discover that your chosen subject is not for you, it's really hard to change. Maybe American youth is extended somewhat - American students can try new things before they settle on a major, and can change their minds. Callia started out as a biology major, but didn't want to spend so much time in labs (she decided her mind was made up against biology when she found herself sitting on the steps of the Oregon state capitol in driving rain clucking at squirrels for a lab!) Social sciences was much more to her liking and she majored in economics.

Dorms typically mean two people, and the roommate experience is part of what you get to navigate in college. There are typically singles you can request, and occasionally 3 or 4 people dorms. Marina is in a "suite" of two rooms - one for her and her roommate and a third roommate who has an attached single. The three share a bathroom, which is nice not to have to use the communal bathrooms.

When I was in college - in the 1980s - we had 2-person dorms. There were 5 rooms surrounding a small living room area (a "suite.") Two suites (10 kids each) were connected by a shared bathroom. It took some time to get used to one another, but that suite of 10 girls I lived in became incredibly close. We called ourselves The Suite Peas and we still get together, attend each other's weddings, and meet on Zoom once a quarter.

Well, our "winter weather warning" was upgraded to "winter storm warning" with my school slated to get up to 14 20 inches of snow tomorrow, so the district (along with most other Denver Front Range school districts) called it: SNOW DAY! If you need me, I'll be in my pajamas.

>207 AMQS: Nice! Enjoy the cozy day :)

>207 AMQS: Oh my goodness. Keep warm and stay safe.

Glad you got a snow day tomorrow! Hope you're able to enjoy it and get a lot of reading done.

Enjoy your snow day!

>207 AMQS: WOOT!!

>206 AMQS: Dorms typically mean two people, and the roommate experience is part of what you get to navigate in college That is very different then. It’s very unusual to have a shared room in British University accommodation They’re virtually all single rooms as part of a larger apartment. Even when I was at Uni single rooms were much more prevalent that shared rooms. More and more of them are en-suite as well, although Jacob’s wasn’t in his first year.

When Jacob was first looking at universities we went to the University of Sheffield and visited my old hall of residence. When I was there it was catered and there were shared bathrooms. But by the time we looked at it with Jacob it had all been converted to self-catering and the rooms had been converted to en-suite as well. I asked about that and they said that none of their residences were catered any more, as students don’t like it. And I suppose, with more and more people being vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or wanting things that are gluten free, then providing catering becomes much more difficult.

I hope you are enjoying your snow day.

I grieve for Callia. I had an early, not popular with either family marriage, that ended in divorce but the circumstances were so different as we were just too young and there wasn't anything nefarious going on. (30 plus years later we are friends and even see each other now and then.) But I know the weird sense of suspended time as the past gets sorted and the future is still somewhat unknown. I also moved home...I will be forever grateful to my parents who drove from PA to LA to pick me up and then made the trip home into a wonderful adventure vacation. But, while being home was comforting and safe, it also felt like I was starting over and hadn't made much progress along the way. You are right about this not being linear and every family member will experience it differently. You and Stelios are fortunate to have each other. I am sending love and peace to all!

SNOW DAY!! Happily it's Humpday, too.

*smooch*

Happy Snow Day, Anne! I hope you're enjoying lounging around in your PJs

>206 AMQS:, >213 SandDune: I've been following the dormitory / dorm food discussion, esp. as pertains to Marina's upcoming study abroad program. My oldest, Kate, did a year-long program at Univ of Exeter in the UK. Her cohort lived in student housing that was exactly as Rhian described (single rooms, cook your own meals). The biggest challenge was that she could not bring a full complement of kitchenware with her and had to buy the minimum essential quantity of pots, pans and dishes. Julia studied for one semester in Spain; her program's housing was primarily home stays although I think university housing was an option. Julia's host mom provided breakfast and lunch and was just a delightful person (we met her on a return visit a year or two later).

>208 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! I definitely am:)

>209 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. We are snug and warm. It's a day no one should be out unless that have to, and closing schools (and governments and courts, etc) ensures that thousands of us don't have to.

>210 bell7: Me, too, Mary! I did get a book finished: The Art of the Wasted Day which perfectly sums up what a snow day is.

>211 BLBera: Thank you, Beth! We just did some shoveling, so now we can truly enjoy. It is still snowing but I hope our heaviest listing is done. The problem, which I'm sure you're familiar with in MN, is that our recent snows are still piled up, so we have to hoist the new snow up on top of the piles.

>212 scaifea: Amber, I am so happy! And the district made the call really early - like 6:30 pm yesterday, so I could enjoy my evening last night, too, knowing I wouldn't have to get up early and shovel.

>213 SandDune: Rhian, I would say that US universities and colleges are very proud of their student dining experiences. Many of the east coast schools we looked at were Shaker schools, and they were proud to have dining halls where everyone ate together. The dining halls are always highlighted on tours, and usually compare very favorably to the institutional food experiences parents remember from their own college days. I don't remember the food being either amazing or awful when I was in school. We had a big school so lots of options. The most popular was the dining hall that looked out over the Pacific and had amazing sunset views:) But all that changed with Covid, between supply issues and labor issues. I think the problem might be worse at small schools. Everyone assumes that the issue will ease when things are back to "normal." We'll see.

>214 witchyrichy: Karen, thank you. I know this feels like a huge step backwards for her, in addition to the emotional turmoil. Raja has made the decision to return to Pakistan, and that's a relief. Honestly, this man is actually a rotten person - I can say this objectively, aside from the strong feelings I have from being Callia's mother. She was the vulnerable girl who came across his path. I know in the long term this will be a learning experience, and she is very young. We're getting through it one step at a time. I appreciate your support and encouragement.

>215 richardderus: Snow day + hump day = very content! The problems of the world can remain on the sidelines for today:)

>216 lauralkeet: Laura, I am enjoying it very much! I lived in an apartment during my year abroad in Bordeaux, and had to shop and cook for myself. I'm not sure what Marina's experience will be next year. There are host families, and I believe there are apartments that are owned and administrated by Dickinson. She may do a combination of the two, as she is planning to spend the year there and many students only go for a semester. We shall see. I do worry about dishes and the like, but it shouldn't matter if she lives with a family, and with Dickinson administering, I am hoping their apartments are furnished with everything she'd need.

I just learned that I'm getting a snow day tomorrow! There was much rejoicing among my co-workers. :-)

My college experience at a small US school was very similar to what's described above: I lived in the dorms all four years, with roommates. Residential living was highly encouraged, though some upperclassmen lived in apartments off campus, and there were limited on-campus apartments as well. We had to buy a meal plan, but I remember the food being pretty good, with lots of options (a hot food line, a salad bar, and an area with several different bars where you could make your own whatever -- waffles, pasta, omelets, etc.). A lot of people griped about paying for three meals a day, though, as many skipped breakfast.

8. The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl 3.75 stars

Could there be a more apt title for me to finish on a snow day? This is not what I was expecting at all. Not sure what I was expecting - neurology research about the need for and benefits of leisure? Cultural musings about our system of drive and accomplishment? It was neither of those things (though a teeny bit the latter). Instead, this was a beautifully written book that is part reflection, part quest, part meditation, part travelogue, and movingly, an ongoing, elegiac conversation with her late husband.

Ms. Hampl reflects on writing, on solitude, on structure of one's day, and on leisure for thought. The reader goes with her to Wales, to see the home of two ladies who flee from their families in Ireland in 1778 to live a life of friendship and retirement; to the Bordeaux region to visit Michel Montaigne's chateau tower, where he thought and wrote and invented the personal essay; to a Czech village where leisure is ingrained in the culture, a lingering effect of ambition outside the Communist party being pointless; and best of all, a trip with her husband from St. Paul, Minnesota to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin on a small boat down the Mississippi river. The book is lovely, if maybe a little slow and cerebral for my current stage of life. I am passing this on to a parent of a former student at my school as she said Patricia Hampl is one of her favorite writers. Maybe I will revisit another time. If I do, I will be in good hands.

>219 foggidawn: Woohoo snow day! I imagine our storm will make its way west to you, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

I quickly got off of the 3 meals a day plan as I just never ate that much and an a la carte account plus one meal a day was plenty for me. I was only in a dorm for one year, and the other years I had an apartment (or was abroad). Callia used a similar plan. There is a "flex plan" at Dickinson, but it costs the same as the meal plan, so there's hardly benefit to choosing it. Marina seems to think there is an apartment plan if you live somewhere with a real kitchen (would still be on campus) and she will hopefully choose something like that for her senior year.

>220 AMQS: I have the Hampl on my shelves, Anne, and it sounds like one I would love. I'll push it to the top of my pile.

We haven't had as much snow as we normally do so far, and I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that, so there aren't big piles right now. I do have vivid memories from a few years ago though of trying to toss snow onto piles over my head. I can do without that. It has been super cold though, so there's always something to complain about in winter. :)

>220 AMQS: That book sounds perfect for Pajama Day, Anne! We have a measly 6 inches of snow here. I am dressed but still "wasting" my day as usual. Today is my scheduled day for Duplicate Bridge which I am not missing one bit. It is a 4-hour headache for me as my brain struggles with trying to figure out who has what. It's probably good for me...

>222 BLBera: Beth, I think you would enjoy it. I certainly hope you do!

You're right - there's always something to complain about! What accompanies the snow is the slush and the muck. That's not my favorite. I really like the snow but I do not enjoy driving in it. And yes, shoveling up above your head is really hard! Is your storm over?

>223 Donna828: Donna, I am impressed, as the words "Duplicate Bridge" make my head hurt. I don't know anything about the game, other than bridge seems hard. Is this post-covid fog? I would think if you have so much trouble there would be no hope for me. Has your storm gone through already? It doesn't look like we have any more snow on the way for the next week or so at least. As you know, here in CO it will melt and be gone.

Hi Anne, have a lovely weekend-ahead's reads!

>220 AMQS: I probably should read that one. Since I am retired, I feel like most of my days are wasted :)

Have a wonderful weekend, Anne!

Happy weekend, Anne!

Dropping by to wish you all a great weekend, Anne.

>225 richardderus: Richard, thank you. It was a nice weekend and now that it is mid-week, I look forward to the next!

>226 alcottacre: She does make the case that days are not wasted, and I agree with her. I'm the type who can happily do nothing much at all when I am at liberty to do so!

>227 bell7: Thank you, Mary! Hope your week is going well.

>228 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I imagine you're closer to your next weekend. Hope it's a good one.

It's been a busy week so far for me, and the next one will be as well. I have an author visiting on Friday for assemblies and writing workshops. He's been at my school a few times before and is always very popular. Next week we'll have our in-school Battle of the Books competition, which will take up a big chunk of at least two days. We need to get our 12 teams down to 6 teams for round 2, and then get 6 teams down to 2 for the battle with about 30 other schools. After a few consecutive weeks of snow it has been nice and sunny, but not warm enough to melt the snow - just enough to melt it and have it freeze again, so walking around is very treacherous just now. I spent our snow day last week making our spring break travel arrangements, which felt a little like coordinating a space launch, with four people traveling at different times or from different places. At least we have a place to stay - a dear family friend is graciously hosting us at his Florida home, so we can have time with him and with each other on the beach and at the pool. Looking forward to it!

9. Mr. Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd (touchstone goes to The Hoarder, its UK title). Audiobook narrated by Aoife McMahan. 3.5 stars

Katie recommended this one, but did warn that it is a bit oddball, and that it is. Still thinking of what to say about it - maybe just read Katie's comments? Just when I thought maybe I had reached a respectably Pearl Rulable point and considered giving up, I found myself hooked and thinking about the book all the time. Let's just say Irish stories with a heavy dose of mystery, supernatural phenomena, visitations by a handful of saints, charming characters you desperately wish to be happy, many cats, and Johnny Cash. But oh, is Jess Kidd's writing beautiful, and the narration by Aoife McMahan is stunning.

>207 AMQS: I hope your snow day (well earned, btw) was luxurious :)

I was thinking of taking a day to myself to celebrate surviving the whole long summer of school holidays, in which I worked and managed the kids and all their goings on as well (alongside my lovely other, who did the same). So I did. :)

>230 AMQS: Sounds like one I should check out. I mean, Johnny Cash?!

>230 AMQS: - Glad you stuck with it, Anne, and ended up liking it! I agree the beginning is a bit of a slog. I also agree that the audio narrator was wonderful :)

>229 AMQS: Your spring break plans sound lovely! I don't often get a hankering for the beach, but right now, with our own snow melting and re-freezing every night, the beach is calling to me.

>230 AMQS: That does sound unusual. I'll have to think about that.

It sounds like spring break will be wonderful. I know what you mean about travel though -- it is a project.

>230 AMQS: Oh look! Pretty blank space! ;-P

Anne, likewise you should ignore my review of my latest read...it simply would not in any way give you any positive thing. Tomorrow's, too.

>229 AMQS: Ooh your spring break plans sound lovely, Anne. When does your spring break fall this year?

Dropping in to wish you a wonderful weekend!

>220 AMQS: I am intrigued by The Art of the Wasted Day so adding it to the list.

>229 AMQS: Looks like your author visit went well. And...Florida! I am a little jealous. Our weather hasn't been as snowy as yours but cold and dreary. I few beach days with a stack of books would be welcome. Have fun...all the coordinating will be worth it.

>231 LovingLit: Oh, I did - snow days are always like a gift. The downside (besides all the shoveling) is that we need to make them up. Our district operates on the edge, so to speak, with planned instructional, or contact days about what our state's minimum is, so if we get more than one snow day in a year we usually have to make it up somewhere later in the year - either turning a non-contact day or holiday into a regular day or adding onto the end of the school year... which no one likes. But good for YOU for taking a day! We need them, don't we? How was it?

>232 drneutron: Hi Jim! Well I don't know that I'd advise you to pick it up for Johnny Cash alone, but if the story sounds like your thing then Johnny Cash could seal the deal. Happy weekend to you!

>233 katiekrug: I admit that an Irish accent in a narration is like a love potion for me, but I did end up liking that quirky story. And now I'm intrigued by the author. Thanks again for the recommendation!

>234 foggidawn: Yep, I'll catch some rays for you, foggi. I do love the beach and the sea but my husband needs it like food. I can actually watch it filling him up, even if he can't go in the water, which was usually the case on the beautiful Oregon coast. He was born and raised on an island, and never outgrew that essential part of him:).

>235 BLBera: Beth, that's a great response. Do think on it, as it is quite unusual! I am really looking forward to spring break and glad the arranging part is behind me:)

>236 richardderus: OK Richard. Predictably, I did head straight over to your thread but didn't see find a terribly negative thing, but I consider myself duly warned. Happy weekend!

>237 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! My spring break is the week of March 21. Marina's is the week of March 14. Stelios and Callia will go the whole time. Marina the first week, and me the second, only I am taking two days off of school early so I can overlap with her for just a little bit.

>238 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita, I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!

>239 witchyrichy: Karen, I hope you enjoy it whenever you can get to it! Her writing is really wonderful, and as you are nearing retirement it might be perfect for you once you're there! I am now eying my books and considering which ones to take. I prefer to leave my reads so I know I can't take ones I know I wouldn't want to leave behind!

This was a difficult week at school. I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing everywhere how difficult it is in schools, and I know people in general are stretched thin and struggling. But yikes, I was ready for a weekend. We seemed to have a lot of staff out this week, and will again next week, so we are truly stretched thin. The kids are melting down all of a sudden. My principal has been out on bereavement leave, and she is such a great and hands-on leader that we miss her when she's out, in addition to mourning her personal loss. The teaching staff are all mostly within 10 years in age of each other, and our parents are getting to be the age where they need help. We've had a lot of sympathy cards in the staff lounge we've needed to sign this year.

The good part of the week was that my author visit went off really well. He has the kids in his hand like putty and they absolutely loved it. It was a great way to end a tough week.

Another 6 or so inches of snow yesterday evening. I got my hair cut today and added in some tinsel which I had in the fall and really enjoyed. A little blue mixed in with silver and of course my hair is silver already.

It is slow going in Siberia as I suspected it might be, but I am really enjoying The Lost Pianos of Siberia and find it just fascinating. I finished the second Murderbot on audio and my hold on the third came in today, so that makes me happy. Callia picked up the first Murderbot and devoured it.

Happy weekend, everyone!

10. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, audiobook narrated by Kevin R. Free 5 stars.

I am so enjoying my reread of the Murderbot series on audio this time. This is the one where Murderbot memorably meets ART - one of the great friendships in literature, I think.

Oh, forgot to mention in >242 AMQS: that Wordle no longer works for me:( I'm one of those whose history never transferred over, but now my history doesn't even carry over since the switch! The message I get when I solve a puzzle is a straight line of zeros, and as I discovered today, it won't even keep my data in the same game. I had three attempts this morning and decided to think on it and help Stelios shovel. When I came back 20 or so minutes later the game reloaded and my guesses were wiped out. So I can effectively have as many guesses as I need, and this is the part that seems to take all the fun out of it. No history, no sharing possible, and no challenge. I can of course, not cheat, but if I don't solve the game in one go my attempts are wiped out. I've submitted feedback twice, but the robot who is nice enough to answer my emails assures me that everything is fixed for Wordle users.

>242 AMQS: other people's pain is hard! It's nice that you are all there for each other, and not just because you have to be...work etc.

I am having another 'duvet day'! My lovely other brought me coffee this morning, it was super luxurious to enjoy it from my cosy bed. It is constant rain today, I have worked heaps in the last week, my knee is swollen and sore, and the kids have friends to entertain them, so I am having a leg up, movie-watching day :)

>244 AMQS: oh no! My transition worked fine, even though I am now suspicious of future logging in requirements, or paywalls...

>245 LovingLit: Megan, that sounds like an absolutely lovely day (except for the knee). Hope you thoroughyl enjoyed and that your knee is feeling better very soon.

>244 AMQS: I don't know if that will come to me too, Anne, but if I have to subscribe then I will leave it. I already subscribe to the paper and baulked at subscribing additionally to play their games.

>242 AMQS: I appreciated your positive comments about your school's principal - it is heartening to see that some leaders can still garner the support and admiration of their colleagues.

Nice also to see Callia enjoying reading. Hope she isn't reading the murderbots to pick up any tips!

I'm so sorry to read about your Wordle woes! Also weird how the migration experience seems so variable, but I have to say yours is the worst I've heard of. Maybe leave it for a week to see if things get sorted out?

Happy Sunday, Anne! Sorry to hear about the school, snow and Wordle issues. I hope you can get some R & R in today and take comfort in those books.

I'm sorry that you had such a rough week at school, Anne. It's such a hard time for teachers right now and this stretch of winter is rough even in normal school years! I hope things level out for you and your colleagues (and the kiddos!) soon.

I hope this week is better for you, Anne. I am looking forward to spring break.

I like your description of Murderbot and ART as one of the great friendships. Yes, it is. I hope ART comes back in future books. I'm currently listening to Rogue Protocol. I love Murderbot's reactions to Miki!

>243 AMQS: Oh yay! Satisfying to revisit this extremely satisfying series and enjoy it just as much in the new-to-you way.

>242 AMQS: Boo, hiss for the unfun week, but it sounds like the author visit really did lift it out of the dumps.

Happy week-ahead's reads.

>243 AMQS: I will be getting to that one soon as I am rereading the Murderbot series this year. Glad to see you enjoyed it, Anne!

I hope this week is better for you than the last one was.

>248 PaulCranswick: Paul, I'm afraid that our principal may have ruined us for teaching at any other school. We all know how lucky we are.

>249 lauralkeet: Unfortunately, they persist, Laura! I am sending an email every day but I just get the same auto-generated message back every day saying the issues are resolved. Frustrating! I will wait - nothing else I can do.

>250 msf59: Thanks, Mark - books are (almost) always a comfort! Hope you have a great week.

>251 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. Our district ended its mask mandate over the weekend, so I'm not thrilled about that. And in a bad way, too: our county health department announced indoor mask mandates would end this week on Friday (18 Feb), and the district announced they would follow suit. Then last week a board meeting was closed to the public (they did offer a livestream) due to specific threats against the superintendent and district leadership. The news reported that the threat was from someone who wanted mask mandates to end immediately (someone who obviously could not wait a week), and in response the district... ended mask mandates immediately. So now I feel less safe at my job AND work for an organization that gives in to terrorists. Ugh.

>252 BLBera: I think all educators are looking forward to spring break! When's yours, Beth?

>253 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! I am thinking I will finally get out of Siberia this week.

>254 alcottacre: I do love the Murderbot books, Stasia. They're a diverting comfort read for me now.