MickyFine Rocks 2022, Thread 6

Gros Morne National Park. Photo credit Douglas Sprott on Flickr

I'm Micky, 35 years old, librarian, and generally bookish nerd. I usually have a good mix of reads going on every year with strong doses of romance, sff, historicals, and a dash of non-fiction. I'm doing a Canadian author challenge for myself this year to try and increase the amount of Can Lit I read, which is often abysmal. Anyone who's interested is welcome to join me (schedule down thread). I do my best to be chatty on my own thread and in addition to my reading, I'll also discuss my craft projects (cross-stitch and crochet), board games, what we're watching, and general life goings on often featuring my husband, Mr. Fine, and our two cats, Ash and Smee. Posters and lurkers alike are welcome.

2022 will be the year that Mr. Fine and I finally go to visit his family in Newfoundland. In celebration of the trip, this year's thread toppers will be views of the Rock, as the island is affectionately known.

January
1. All Adults Here - Emma Straub
2. Arcadia - Tom Stoppard
3. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell
4. Wicked and the Wallflower - Sarah MacLean
5. Warlight - Michael Ondaatje
6. A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers
7. A Likely Story - Jenn McKinlay
8. The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London - Judith Flanders
9. Am I Overthinking This?: Over-Answering Life's Questions in 101 Charts - Michelle Rial
Favourite(s):


February
10. Troy - Stephen Fry
11. Bloodlust & Bonnets - Emily McGovern
12. The Twisted Sword - Winston Graham
13. Before She Was Helen - Caroline B. Cooney
14. The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green (re-read)
15. Half-Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan
16. Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente
17. The Murder on the Links - Kate McAll
18. Boy: Tales of Childhood - Roald Dahl
Favourite(s):


March
19. Cold-Hearted Rake - Lisa Kleypas
20. Binti: The Complete Trilogy - Nnedi Okorafor
21. Marvel 1602 - Neil Gaiman
22. Oscar Wilde: The BBC Radio Drama Collection - Oscar Wilde
23. Molly of the Mall: Literary Lass and Purveyor of Fine Footwear - Heidi L.M. Jacobs
24. Pretty Bitches - Lizzie Skurnick (ed.)
25. At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie
26. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (re-read)
27. Index, A History of the - Dennis Duncan
28. Six-Gun Snow White - Catherynne M. Valente
Favourite(s):

April
29. Hot Six - Janet Evanovich
30. Time After Time - Lisa Grunwald
31. The Bride Test - Helen Hoang
32. Mãn - Kim Thúy
33. The Garden of Small Beginnings - Abbi Waxman
34. Check, Please!: #Hockey - Ngozi Ukazu
35. Check, Please!: Sticks and Scones - Ngozi Ukazu
36. My Brown-Eyed Earl - Anna Bennett
37. Dark Mirror - Diane Duane
Favourite(s):


May
38. A Woman of No Importance - Sonia Purnell
39. Sorcery of Thorns - Margaret Rogerson
40. The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi
41. Gallant - V.E. Schwab
42. Julieta - Alice Munro
43. Other People's Houses - Abbi Waxman
Favourite(s):


June
44. Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron - Julia Quinn & Violet Charles
45. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - T. Kingfisher
46. Seven Stones to Stand or Fall - Diana Gabaldon
47. Indians on Vacation - Thomas King
48. The Princess Beard - Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne
49. Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez
Favourite(s):

My rating system:

/ = Ran screaming in the other direction (aka did not finish)
* = Suffered through it for reasons I'm still not sure of
** = Had far more flaws than virtues
*** = A read I don't regret but could use some improvement
**** = A good, solid read that I might revisit
***** = Loved it beyond reason and will probably re-read in short order

Canadian Author Challenge Schedule

January - Michael Ondaatje
February - Esi Edugyan
March - Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
April - Kim Thúy
May - Alice Munro
June - Thomas King
July - Scotiabank Giller Prize
August - Kelley Armstrong
September - Leonard Cohen
October - Vivek Shraya
November - Non-fiction
December - Lucy Maud Montgomery

Born in California and of Cherokee descent on his father's side, Thomas King has lived in Canada since 1980 and has worked as a professor of both Native Studies and English at several different universities. He has been nominated for the Governor General's Award twice and received the Order of Canada in 2004. King's works include fiction for both children and adults as well as narrative nonfiction.

What's on the agenda: Early routine for an in-office day. Work today has and will include submitting my carts of September pre-orders, browsing through fall publisher catalogues (working my way through the monster that is Penguin Random House's various imprints list), and working on my diversity audit. We also had our weekly group meeting, which are now moving to biweekly. Chicken souvlaki, rice, and Greek salad for supper tonight.

What I'm reading: Started Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron on the bus this morning and should wrap it up on my afternoon coffee. I've got A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking in my bag for the trip home.

What we're watching: An episode of Heroes and a couple of Mom.

New-thread orisons, and Thomas King is a Go from me! I have three to choose from, so I shall ponder which one gets the nod in an already crowded schedule.

Happy new one, Micky!

Happy new thread! I was intrigued at the mention of a new Abbi Waxman title on your old thread, so I looked it up: Adult Assembly Required. My library has it on order, so I placed a hold.

Happy new thread! I just picked up The Kaiju Preservation Society from the library - looking forward to diving in soon.

Happy new thread! I hope you enjoy Defensive Baking as much as I did :)

Happy new thread, Micky. I love the topper!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Micky!

Happy new thread, Micky! Looking forward to your thoughts on Defensive Baking as well :)

Happy new thread, Micky!

Thank you to Richard, Kate, Foggi, Jim, Natalie, Paul, Susan, Steve, Mary, and Anita for the new thread well wishes!

>7 richardderus: I look forward to seeing which one you opt for, Richard. I picked up my hold of Indians on Vacation from the library yesterday, which IIRC you enjoyed last year.

>9 foggidawn: Nice! After finishing Other People's Houses and noting that Lili from The Garden of Small Beginnings cropped up in it, I'm tempted to re-read The Bookish Life of Nina Hill before moving on to the rest of Waxman's bibliography. It's nice when apparent stand-alones also reward readers who follow an author closely.

>10 drneutron: I hope you have a great time with it, Jim. I found it so much fun.

>11 curioussquared: >15 bell7: It's going well so far! :)

Yesterday I had the second part of the two full day training course at work. It was fine but as expected, I was pretty peopled out by the end of the day. I'd also failed to put chicken that was on the counter to thaw a bit before I left for work into the fridge so we ended up having frozen pizza for dinner. I feel bad wasting food due to absent mindedness but the pizza was good. :P

What's on today's agenda: Early wake up but it's a WFH day so I got lots of chill time to myself without having to get prettied up, etc. Yay for yoga pants! I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher and then finished yesterday's row on the temperature blanket (update on May progress coming soon). Work today is customer suggestions in all the places and that may be all I get up to other than staying on top of email. Beef and broccoli over pasta for supper tonight. We're planning to do a walk before settling in for movie night.

What I'm reading: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is still on the go. I keep picking up my phone at bedtime instead of my book (bad Micky!) so not as much progress is being made as should be.

What we're watching: Wednesday night was West Wing, last night was the new Obi-Wan Kenobi and an episode of Supernatural.

I'm a little behind so I just finished the row for May 31 yesterday (June 2). The coldest temperature was 7°C, the warmest was 23°C, and the most frequently used colour was ice (16-20°C). I completely used up a ball of both grapefruit (pale pink) and ice (white). If you look closely at the bottom right corner, you'll see the hints of the rectangle this blanket will be, as I started maintaining the diagonal on May 26. The tape measure I had handy this morning wasn't quite long enough to measure the width of the blanket, but I lay down on the floor next to it and it's roughly as wide as I am tall (5'3"), for those who are curious.

>18 MickyFine: I do indeed love, love, love Defensive Baking and I'm glad you're enjoying it too.

>17 MickyFine: Howinheck did I never write a review for Indians on Vacation?! You're correct, I enjoyed it a good deal but not quite 4-stars'-worth...and that (2020) was COVID year. Well, you're in for some fun in Budapest. *smooch*

Enjoy the weekend.

>20 richardderus: I'm looking forward to the King. Some vicarious travel is exactly what I need right now.

What's (been) on the agenda: Lazy start to the morning as I hung out in bed and then took a shower while Mr. Fine went to the gym. He came home and made breakfast (omelet for me, pan scramble for him) and then we watched church online. Doing cross-stitch and chatting with the in-laws currently. In an hour or so I'll start getting dolled up as we've got a wedding reception/ first wedding anniversary to attend for one of Mr. Fine's friends. We're carpooling with close friends of ours (I'm DD since I don't drink anyway) so it should be a fun evening out. We're not planning to stay until the end as the venue is a little over an hour away from us but it will be a bit late for us.

What I'm reading: Defensive Baking still on the go.

What we're watching: We finally watched The Batman. Mr. Fine is a huge DC fan and he was very happy with it. I didn't mind it although it was a bit too long for my tastes.

Just finished The Kaiju Preservation Society - what a hoot!

How's everyone's hangover chez Fine? Yours being up-lateness, his, well, one expects the usual.

Have a lovely week-ahead's reads.

>23 drneutron: Oh excellent! I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, Jim!

>24 richardderus: We're both ticking along fine. Slightly sore feet but no sore head for Mr. Fine (the reputation of Newfoundlanders being able to handle their hooch is accurate in his case). We turned out the light at midnight, so not a crazy late night happily.

What's (been) on the agenda: Was awake a little earlier than I'd have liked given our late (for us) night but it should make early bedtime tonight more tolerable. Sunday chores and bill sorting are done and I've nearly finished yesterday's row on the temperature blanket. Paused for some lunch and to rotate laundry loads. Likely going for a walk shortly. There are some errands that I've been putting off but putting them off another week won't harm anything. Might be lazy the rest of the afternoon. Mr. Fine is making hamburgers from scratch tonight, so that should be tasty.

What I'm reading: Unsurprisingly, no books were cracked open yesterday.

What we're watching: All the wedding shenanigans, which were pretty damn entertaining.

Book 44



Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron - Julia Quinn & Violet Charles

The graphic novel tale of Miss Butterworth who is much maligned and must grapple with a mad baron in order to unite with her one true love.

If you've read enough of Julia Quinn, you may have run across one of her characters reading a novel with this title. I was delighted when a few years ago she announced she'd be releasing a graphic novel version of said tale. It's as silly and fun as you'd expect of something that based on characters' descriptions in Quinn's other works is a bad gothic novel. The art by Violet Charles (Julia Quinn's sister) is adorable and complement the tale well. Highly recommended for fans of Quinn's work. However be aware the final author's note adds a tinge of sadness as she reveals that her sister and father were killed in a car accident with a drunk driver in 2021 and that her brother-in-law died five months later from injuries sustained in the accident. A heartbreaking loss for Quinn and for readers as Violet Charles' talent is on excellent display here.

Rating: ****

What's on the agenda: Back to the early routine again this week and I'm in office today (I like to get it out of the way as early as possible when I can). Work will include catching on the OverDrive customer requests I didn't quite wrap up on Friday, the regular batch of customer request made via our catalogue, looking through lists generated by our A/V vendor, and maybe some time with my diversity audit project. Butter chicken for supper tonight. Virtual craft circle for me this evening.

What I'm reading: I'm optimistic I might wrap up A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking today.

What we're watching: A couple episodes of TNG and one of Mom.

>27 MickyFine: - I knew about her sister and father but not that her BIL later passed away from his injuries. So terribly sad.

Hope your Monday isn't too Monday-ish!

>27 MickyFine: I had heard about Quinn's family's accident -- I believe she's a Seattle author so it popped up in my news recommendations -- but like Katie, I hadn't heard about the brother-in-law's later death. So awful.

>27 MickyFine: That's horrible. I'm so sad for all concerned that it happened, but even more *annoyed* that the scourge of drunk driving is still with us.

Better week ahead for you and MrFine!

>27 MickyFine: What a horrific story about Violet Charles and her family! Such a sad loss.

What's on the agenda: Early morning routine for an in office day. My work day is likely to be pretty scattered. I spent a bit of the early chunk of this morning doing some running around to other departments. The library updated the laptop kits for customers recently and are selling the old laptops to staff for super cheap. Since Mr. Fine's Chromebook is so old it refuses to update anymore, which is increasingly becoming a nuisance, I nabbed one for him so I had to drop off payment with one department and then go over to IT to pick up the laptop and its peripherals. Our department is having our first in person social event this afternoon (just potluck snacks and coffee with chit chat for those who are comfortable) and since I'm on the social committee, we have some last minute running around to do this morning (picking up more disposable utensils, possibly some additional decorations, etc.). In between all that I have actual work including some last customer suggestions I didn't get to yesterday, updating our Lucky Day collection, and some A/V selection. Take out for supper tonight is my pick and I have no clue what to choose.

What I'm reading: Back to Seven Stones to Stand or Fall and nearly wrapped up the short story about Roger's dad this morning (we reached the bus stop when I had two pages left :P). I think I'm over halfway through the collection now.

What we're watching: Episode 6 of Bridgerton. I may have spent some time ranting via text to one my friends about the episode and the season thus far afterwards.

>33 MickyFine: So old it refuses to update! Wow. That's a lovely thing to get on the cheap, given that my HP 15" Chromebook was over 2x more costly than my first one. It's not my favorite Chromebook but it *does* have a number pad and a delete button so dig we must. (I hate the speakers!)

Hoping you're disfruiting your one wild and precious life in a most inappropriate way.

Book 45



A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - T. Kingfisher

Mona is fourteen years old and works as an apprentice in her aunt's bakery, which is very convenient as Mona is a wizard whose magic powers influences dough and bread. But only bread and dough. However, when she walks into the bakery one morning to find the body of a dead girl on the kitchen floor, it begins a chain of events that will reveal a threat to the entire kingdom.

From all the raves around here for this book, I knew I was going to really enjoy it and I was not disappointed. Mona is an unlikely but entirely likeable protagonist who has plenty of things to say about someone of her age being thrust into a position of being a hero. The bread magic is well-designed and delightfully the plot moved along in a way I didn't expect. Really solid fantasy for all fans of the genre, but particularly for those who attempted a sourdough starter during the pandemic.

Rating: ****

>35 MickyFine: Yay! Glad it help up to your expectations :)

Hmm, a work social event... I have forgotten what those are.

>33 MickyFine: nearly wrapped up the short story about Roger's dad this morning (we reached the bus stop when I had two pages left :P)

Tell the bus driver to wait there for a minute!

>35 MickyFine: Oh, good, I'd be sad if you weren't behind Mona's bread defenses, too. *smooch*

>34 richardderus: Yeah, I bought Chromebook for Mr. Fine our first Christmas together so it's pushing 5 years? The laptops are 6 years old and having done public service they're not pristine but I got one with Windows 11 installed for less than $200 so I'm not complaining.

>36 curioussquared: Right? We've done some virtual ones over the last year where we hung out on Teams and you supplied your own tea/coffee/snacks and they went ok but it's not quite as fun as having eight different sweet treats to choose from like we will today. One of my coworkers even went to the kosher bakery and got doughnuts. *drool*

>37 norabelle414: LOL. I'd have to yell down the stairs. Our county uses double-decker buses for the commuter routes.

>38 richardderus: It's pretty difficult to resist Mona's charms. Nevermind Bob. :)

>39 MickyFine: I went to a few virtual happy hours in the early days of the pandemic but after a few months they started to be more painful than fun. Even at my old old job where I loved most of my coworkers, it was always the few loud annoying coworkers I didn't like who monopolized the zoom conversation. And really, the point of a work event is to eat free food and gossip, right? No free food really takes the fun out of it 😂

We did have one at my last job where the company sent us UberEats gift cards and we were all supposed to order ourselves brunch for the event... except apparently I was the only one who actually got myself brunch and I just felt weird. Maybe partly why I left that job, lol.

>40 curioussquared: Yeah, virtual gatherings are weird. And our department is chock full of introverts so our social gatherings are always super chill and usually under an hour.

What's on the agenda: Early wake up but I'm WFH today (and the rest of the week) so much chiller start. Dropped off Mr. Fine at the bus and then went for a walk when I got home as I know I won't be able to slot one in this afternoon. Came home and took a shower and did a bit of crochet. Work thus far has been some tasks that are usually quick taking up lots of time. First, checking titles that are unavailable but are showing up on our purchase alert report revealed some oddities that I needed to flag for other staff. Then there were a bunch of gap reports from staff and several of them required some actual digging into subject availability (lots of insider terms in here - if you're curious let me know and I'll explain). Hoping to spend the rest of the day doing A/V selection and maybe some time with my diversity audit project. After work I'll meet up with Mr. Fine so we can go grocery shopping. Pasta for supper tonight - it'll probably tortellini which is quick to throw together.

What I'm reading: I'm on to a prequel story about Jamie and Ian in France in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. I've read this one before but I don't remember much of it so it's fun to rediscover.

What we're watching: A few episodes of Heroes - I think we have one episode left to go in season 1. Followed it with an episode of Mom.

>42 MickyFine: I am curious about the collection development details. (I feel like I should follow that, but I get the sense that both the way your library does it and the fact that it's nonfiction makes it different.)

>43 bell7: Ok, purchase alerts first. Our library maintains a holds ratio of (roughly) 5 holds to every 1 copy and we have an ILS report set up to flag all items that are at or above that ratio. There is another report where records that have an item marked as unavailable (because it's out of print, out of stock with no reprint date, etc.) that are also above those ratios are flagged. Depending on the situation we might shadow the item, check if there's an alternate edition, or just leave as is. Yesterday I ran into a few cases where the book had been marked unavailable on the On Order record item, was later available and we received more copies, but the unavailable status wasn't changed to discard (how we normally deal with On Order record items when they're received) so the report was picking up the title erroneously.

And gaps. Our library does centralized selection with floating collections but all weeding of physical material is done by branch staff on a schedule we set. There's a few structures we have in place for branch staff to report back to us about their perceptions of the collection in a specific range/area including the gaps board. This let's staff flag either specific titles they think are core or in demand that have low or no copies left but also allows them to submit subject/genre gaps. I'm not sure how much my fiction counterparts get genre gaps but I get at least a couple subject gaps a month. Yesterday was a nudge that our books on the basics of drawing/painting were getting older/low so I spent some time digging through various vendor sites to find some newer stuff to beef up that topic.

Probably more detail than you wanted. Enjoy! :)

What's on the agenda: Dropped off Mr. Fine, came home and dealt with some laundry that's been left on drying racks since the weekend, and did a bit of crochet. Feel pretty apathetic about work today (there was an email late yesterday afternoon from my manager that caused a lot of FEELINGS). I was hoping to just spend the day immersed in my work but I have a meeting this morning that includes said manager and I'm exhausted already at the emotional labour required for putting on the required polite and friendly face. Sigh. The meeting itself should actually be interesting as we're talking about strategies for cleaning up some back end stuff in OverDrive/Libby and figuring out some strategies for better highlighting material in there. Outside of that, the usual customer suggestions, going through the newest issue of AudioFile, and maybe the diversity audit project. Due to the crummy ending of my work day yesterday, Mr. Fine ordered pizza to boost my mood a bit so we're having pasta tonight (chicken penne alfredo kit from Costco).

What I'm reading: Into the novella about Hal and Minnie in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. I remain so impressed at how well she fleshes out characters who are often on the fringes of the big novels.

What we're watching: A couple episodes of West Wing and one of Mom.

Sorry about the FEELINGS and necessary interaction with the FEELINGS-generator today. I hope it is as easy as possible!

Sorry about the work woes :( After tough, emotional-labor heavy meetings I usually go take a ten minute break and spend it with a dog curled in my lap. Perhaps you can do the same with a cat? Perks of WFH :)

Ah. The ever-present work-related "oh FFS" response to personal relationships with people we're not legally permitted to execute.

*there there, pat pat*

>46 katiekrug: >47 curioussquared: Thanks both for the empathy. Happily my manager ended up not attending the meeting so no emotional labour required after all. And after the meeting and some post-meeting discussion with colleagues I'm feeling less blah about the world.

>48 richardderus: LOL. Thanks, RDear. *smooches*

In exciting news, the last schedule I'd seen for the Broadway Across Canada production of Come From Away had the production in my area only while Mr. Fine and I are in Newfoundland (ironically). However, I just poked at the pre-sale link and discovered there are shows before we leave so I'm going to see it after all! Two days before we fly out and I become an actual come from away, LOL.

>50 MickyFine: Awesome! You'll love it!

>45 MickyFine: I *so* hear you. I think the biggest single reason for my dislike of my job, and retirement as soon as feasible, was the difficulty I had in putting on the happy face, when I regarded decisions and/or the way they were made as pretty much appalling.

Editted to add: and I'm glad to read that the manager in question skipped your meeting. I widh my last manager had done a lot more of that.

>49 MickyFine: - Result!

>50 MickyFine: - I want to see it but can't justify Broadway prices for 100 minutes. Someday...

>44 MickyFine: thank you for the explanation! I'm a complete library nerd and love hearing about how collection development and other things work elsewhere.

Glad to hear the meeting went better with your manager absent.

>35 MickyFine: Yay for Defensive Baking love!

>51 foggidawn: I'm really excited. It'll be a busy week but lots of fun.

>52 ArlieS: I'm sorry you had to deal with that Arlie.

>53 katiekrug: That's fair. I went for some of the cheaper tickets for the show as I know the set design is pretty minimalist so I didn't feel like I needed to be closer to experience every detail of the show. We're front row in the second balcony.

>54 bell7: Happy to oblige, Mary. I can talk weird details for hours. :P

>55 swynn: It's so much fun, it's hard not to love. :)

What's on the agenda: Dropped off Mr. Fine and then did a few chores including: splitting up a package of chicken from Costco into smaller bags to go in the freezer, cleaning the stove top with the good scrubby glass cleaner, putting away some clean dishes, wrapping birthday and Father's day gifts. Also managed to squeeze in a shower before starting my WFH day. Today's work tasks will include wrapping up the customer suggestions I didn't get to yesterday, customer suggestions from OverDrive, and then hopefully time with both the new issues of AudioFile and Library Journal. After work I'll do my normal Sunday cleaning chores as we're having a bunch of family over tomorrow to celebrate the three birthdays that are in June plus Father's Day. Chuckerout for supper tonight since it's fast.

What I'm reading: Still on the same novella in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall.

What we're watching: An episode each of Ms. Marvel (SO GOOD!), Obi-Wan Kenobi (solid), Supernatural (are we at the finale yet? I'm over the Darkness as big bad and the weekly discussion of why the guys are doing a monster of the week episode again instead of chasing her), and one of Mom.

Wordle 356 2/6

🟩🟨⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Can't resist bragging. PEONY PIETY

>58 MickyFine: I got it in 5, and was wishing I had used your starting word!

>58 MickyFine: - I got it in two, too! But in a different way :)

>59 foggidawn: It's a handy first word, I find.

>60 katiekrug: LOL. I saw. If it works, it works. :P

>58 MickyFine: 3 for me: AEONS, MIRTH, PIETY

What's on the agenda: Woke up around 6:30 and will probably get out of bed soon. Mr. Fine is making French toast for breakfast and then prepping lasagna for the family gathering this afternoon. There will be some final tidying this morning plus pulling out the folding table and chairs as our kitchen table isn't large enough for everyone (we'll have 8 adults and 4 kiddos in the house). I'm considering it a preview of what hosting Christmas will be like. We should have time to watch the church livestream this morning still as everyone is arriving at 1:30, with the exception of my Mom who is dropping off some of her food and drink before she goes to pick up my grandmother. Crossing our fingers the 30% chance of thundershowers don't show up this afternoon so that we can take the kids to the nearby park after lunch. Hanging out with the family will probably take up most of the day. Supper, if we're hungry at all, will probably be snack foods (I'm leaning towards popcorn).

What I'm reading: I just have the final story in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall left, so if I crack it open today, odds are good I'll finish it.

What we're watching: Moonraker and half an episode of Mom before Mr. Fine had his weekly video chat with his daughter.

>63 MickyFine: Have a delightful day! *smooch*

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Micky!

>64 richardderus: An excellent day was had by all! *smooch*

>65 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia!

What's (been) on the agenda: Very lazy start to my Sunday. Woke up a couple times but kept going back to sleep. Properly awake around 7:40 but stayed in bed until nearly 10. Ordered Tim's for breakfast and was a little bummed as beverages and donuts arrived but none of the breakfast sandwiches. So I've got a decent sized credit on my Skip account now. 😝 After eating, Mr. Fine and I did prep for supper tonight. We're trying the lime cilantro chicken and black bean salad recipes Katie posted a week or two ago. I also prepped everything for the macaroni and tuna salad we're having for supper tomorrow night. Mr. Fine just headed off to the gym and left me with strict instructions not to be too productive. So I'll change sheets on the bed and then be lazy until he gets back. Maybe read, maybe do some video gaming. After he gets back, I want to make trips to the recycle depot (our county does recycle glass but you have to take it to the depot rather than leaving it at the curb) and the bottle depot. After that, probably a pretty lazy afternoon/evening. A solid Sunday, methinks.

What I'm reading: Didn't crack a book yesterday so I'm still one story away from finishing Seven Stones to Stand or Fall.

What we're playing: The last of my family left around 7:30 last night, so after a small snack, Mr. Fine and I played Mario Party Superstars. I won, with help from Mr. Fine as he sabotaged the NPC who would have won otherwise.

I hope the chicken and black bean salad turn out well for you!

>68 katiekrug: They turned out great! We'll definitely be having both again at some point. And I'm looking forward to leftovers for my lunch today. :)

Book 46



Seven Stones to Stand or Fall - Diana Gabaldon

A collection of seven short stories and novellas set in and around the Outlander and Lord John Grey novels. A delight for fans of the series as Gabaldon dives into the back stories of characters both major and minor. My personal favourite was the short story about Roger's parents during WWII. Easy to dip in and out of or to read straight through. Recommended for Outlander fans.

Rating: *****

What's on the agenda: For the first time in a while, Mr. Fine is on later shift this week, which means sleeping in to a luxurious 6 a.m. It also means for my in office days, we take the bus together both going downtown and coming home. Aren't we cute? First up on the work agenda was responding to the staff engagement and diversity survey. These used to happen every other year but the schedule was thrown off by the pandemic and boy howdy am I interested to see what the results look like as I know I had some strong opinions and I know I'm not alone. But we also have a big chunk of new staff that were hired last year in the wake of pandemic layoffs who may not have as many feelings about the institution yet. That done, it's the usual routine of all the customer suggestions. That's likely to be the only thing I get done on my task list as I have a monthly team meeting this afternoon that will eat up a chunk of time. Supper tonight is macaroni and tuna salad and I've got virtual craft circle this evening.

What I'm reading: Started Indians on Vacation last night and am already really enjoying it.

What we're watching: A few episodes of TNG and a couple of Mom.

>69 MickyFine: - Yay!

>71 MickyFine: - Ooh, tuna pasta salad is one of my favorite summer dishes (I guess it's not just for summer, but I only ever make it in the summer :)). I need to think about how to lighten u my usual recipe...

I've always liked full-fat unflavored yogurt in place of mayo for pasta salads, but they must be prepared and eaten within a few hours unlike mayo or oil-dressed pasta salads.

That survey's results sound...tantalizing, Micky, are they shared automatically or posted on y'all's intranet or something?

>72 katiekrug: I hear you. There are some dishes I tend to only eat during the summer as they're either served cold or require minimal cooking/baking and thus don't heat up the house any further in the summer.

>73 richardderus: It's honestly been so long that I don't remember if general staff get the complete version of results on the internal staff site. I know there's a presentation about results at the system-wide staff meeting highlighting major themes/issues. Since our department is large enough (they only release aggregate data for groups of 10 or more), there was also a presentation/discussion at the department level in the past. If they do it this time, it could be... interesting as all of us hung through the pandemic layoffs and there are some FEELINGS floating around.

Tim and I used to bus commute together sometimes and I always got annoyed because I'm not a good person before 9am and he would try to talk to me instead of letting me read on the bus in peace 😂 he has since learned that morning is not the time to speak to me.

I need to keep reading Outlander. Planning on starting book 3 soon!

>72 katiekrug: I make a salad that's tuna, capers, lettuce and chopped tomatoes with a creamy Italian dressing that's very satisfying - though my favorite lo-cal creamy Italian has been discontinued and I'm making due with a Ken's reduce-cal Italian.

>75 curioussquared: Mr. Fine and I are both very aware that bus time is our quiet decompression time. We've made an agreement that we'll both just read (he ear reads) and save chatting for when we get to the car/home. It works really well.

What's on the agenda: It's a very rainy day here (although at least we're not in Calgary where they've declared a local state of emergency as they're facing a flood risk). Commute in was uneventful and miserable weather means I don't mind being at work (although I'd prefer to be WFH on a rainy day - easier to feel cozy). Work today will include wrapping up the customer suggestions I didn't get to yesterday, our department staff meeting, some time with the new issue of Library Journal, and maybe some time on my diversity audit project. We're playing dinner by ear tonight. Might do soup since it's perfect comfort food on a rainy evening or Mr. Fine might decide to order in. We'll see. I've got my regular massage this evening as well and I'm looking forward to my shoulders not being rock hard for at least a couple days. :P

What I'm reading: Good odds I'll finish Indians on Vacation today.

What we're watching: Finished season two of Bridgerton last night. With apologies to Katie, while there were moments I liked or appreciated, overall I was not a fan of this season.

>78 MickyFine: With apologies to Katie the entire English-speaking world, while there were moments I liked or appreciated, overall I was not a fan of this season.

Fixed it for you.
*smooch*

>78 MickyFine: - Ha! No worries. I didn't have anything to do with its creation :) I suspect I know what some of your issues with it were. I will say, I didn't love it upon initial watching but it definitely grew on me. That said, different strokes for different folks!

>77 MickyFine: Smart. It wasn't a regular thing for us -- sometimes our morning routines would just sync and we'd happen to be heading out the door at the same time -- so we never set out official rules. For a few years or so pre-pandemic we would car commute in together sometimes if I didn't have to be in the office by a certain time. I can forgive him talking my ear off when he's driving a little more since he can't very well quietly read while he's at the wheel :)

>79 richardderus: Lol! I hate to say it, but I agree. I disliked some of the choices made (notably Edwina's entire arc) but overall preferred this season to the first.

>70 MickyFine: I am going to have to get a copy of that one. Thanks for the recommendation, Micky!

>81 curioussquared: see, >78 MickyFine:? See?!

*fistbump*

>79 richardderus: Snort.

>80 katiekrug: I got mad at the plot corner the writers painted themselves into and I don't think they did enough to make the final resolution believable. And none of the side plots did anything for me. Ah well, it didn't annoy me enough I won't watch next season. We'll see how that goes. I totally get why you love the highlight reel of just Kate and Anthony though. Cut out everything else and most of their moments are enjoyable.

>81 curioussquared: We always go home together if I'm working in the office. It's mornings where we may or may not be together. And no worries on the Bridgerton front, I'm fine being a minority voice.

>82 alcottacre: Oh I'm happy to put it on your radar, Stasia. There's some fun tidbits in there.

>83 richardderus: Don't hurt yourself with all that crowing, RDear. *smooch*

>84 MickyFine: - COMPLETELY agree about the side plots. They were all boring to me. Aside from the plot corner, my other issue was making me HATE Penelope at the end. After Season 1, I wasn't sure how they were going to rehabilitate Anthony for me, but they did. I feel like rehabilitating Penelope is an even taller order, at least as far as I'm concerned. She annoyed me no end. I'll still watch season 3, of course, but I'm not looking forward to it like I feel like I am entitled to :-P

>85 katiekrug: Totally agree. They dropped the Penelope as Lady Whistledown plot too early IMO, which pushed Penelope into a crummy place both as a character and in terms of plot (all the drama around her finding ways to publish/remain undiscovered did nothing for me). They also bungled Penelope overhearing Colin saying he wouldn't court her. I feel like it gives Colin a better arc when he knows she's heard and has to overcome his own thoughtlessness.

Book 47



Indians on Vacation - Thomas King

Bird and Mimi are on vacation in Prague, the latest in a series of trips retracing the journey of Mimi's Uncle Leroy, an ancestor who was forced off the reserve by the Indian agent in the early 1900s, joined a Wild West Show, and left the country with the family medicine bundle, sending back only postcards from his journey. As Mimi and Bird visit the sights in Prague, the reader also learns more about them through Bird's flashbacks to other trips, their first meeting, and other events through their storied life together.

A really beautiful and occasionally funny novel that reflects the hodge podge nature of life and travel. Bird and Mimi's trip to Prague will feel familiar to anyone who's traveled - trying to see everything, trying and failing at not being too touristy, and the strange positions you find yourself in as a stranger in a new country. Bird is also grappling with his own emotional demons and physical ailments, which makes travelling less of a joy. King's personification of Bird's demons is a particular delight of the novel. Interspersed with their current trip to Prague, we also get glimpses into Bird and Mimi's life together and the challenges they've faced as a couple. In addition there are brief hints that they are also both grappling with the accumulation of wrongs both they and their ancestors have faced as First Nations people and for which there are no easy solutions. Highly recommended.

Rating: ****

>87 MickyFine: That sounds like a good one. Added to the Someday Swamp.

>87 MickyFine: You got me, too, with Indians on Vacation. Sounds great! Thanks for the rec!

Karen O

>88 swynn: >89 klobrien2: Happy to hand out a couple BBs. :)

What's on the agenda: Back to the plush work from home life. Huzzah! Dropped off Mr. Fine, took a shower, and then the 30 second walk to work. Tasks today include customer suggestions and then going through issues of both Library Journal and Booklist. And that will probably be it. After work I'll swing by the library for the weekly drop off and pick up of material. Turkey BLTs for supper tonight.

What I'm reading: About 60 pages into The Princess Beard and enjoying it just as much as previous entries in the series.

What we're watching: A few episodes of West Wing. We've got one episode left to go in season 5.

Feels like I'm winning at the WFH life today. It's in just the right temperature zone that I can leave the window above my desk open all day and enjoy the glorious scent coming from my lilacs. Smee hasn't left the window since I opened it but I'm pretty sure that's more about the sparrows in our hedges and the neighbour's apple trees than the lilacs. :)

>92 MickyFine: Sounds lovely!

HI ANYBODY ON???

soory my name is tis

my sis

>92 MickyFine: Oh, that sounds truly heavenly. Enjoy!

>87 MickyFine: I'm unsurprised that you loved the read. It's just about the best wry-observer-goes-abroad story I've read this century.

>92 MickyFine: Ooh, that's ideal!

>93 foggidawn: There's several perks to the WFH life but this one tops the list today.

>97 richardderus: Agreed on the King. I'll definitely be more open to trying some of his other novels at some point.

>98 curioussquared: Isn't it? There's storm clouds rolling in currently but I'm leaving that window open as long as possible. Lilacs are so short-lived, I'll enjoy them every second I can.

>99 MickyFine: Yep, ours are already gone even though it's been a frigid spring for us :(

>100 curioussquared: It's been a cooler spring for us this year too and our lilacs only just started blooming last weekend. They're a dwarf variety though and tend to bloom a little later than the other lilacs in the neighbourhood. It did make a nice surprise though our first year in the house as what I thought was just a row of bushes along the edge of our driveway/walk up to the house turned out to be lilacs. :)

>92 MickyFine: - Oh, lovely! We don't have any lilacs around the house, I just realized. Will see about rectifying this!

>102 katiekrug: Oooh yes! Lilacs make a lovely addition always, methinks. :)

>92 MickyFine: That's one of the few things wrong with the area where I live - no lilacs. Enjoy them extra on my behalf, since I cannot.

>104 ArlieS: Will do, Arlie! :)

What's on the agenda: Woke up before my alarm this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I did most of the crossword before getting out of bed. Yay? Dropped off Mr. Fine and then swung by the grocery store to pick up a few items we need for the weekend (we're doing a lot of socializing that involves food). Home to fold laundry and then spent a handful of minutes working on the temperature blanket. Work today will be customer suggestions in OverDrive and time with LJ and Booklist (I got sidelined yesterday looking at ELL resources and didn't spend as much time with journals as I'd expected). After work, I'll do my usual Sunday chores as we'll be busy most of the weekend and I know I won't want to do them by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around. Smokies for supper tonight.

What I'm reading: The Princess Beard is still on the go.

What we're watching: An episode each of Ms. Marvel, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Heroes, and Mom.

>106 MickyFine: I didn't wake up at all! My therapist is annoyed with me because I didn't set my alarm and slept through part of our weekly meeting. I am ashamed of being so inconsiderate.

Work sounds like the right blend of effort and pleasant outcomes. Hope it pans out that way. *smidge of a smooch*

>107 richardderus: Oh noes! Oversleeping when you have an appointment is so stressful. I hope your Friday improves from there. *smooch*

You've reminded me that I haven't done today's crossword yet!

>109 katiekrug: Happy to be of service. :)

What's (been) on the agenda: Slept much better than last night and made it to almost 7:30, which is sleeping in for me. Lounged in bed a bit and solved the crossword before getting up for a shower. One of Mr. Fine's friends came over for breakfast this morning at 10 as a belated celebration for said friend's birthday. There was scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, and, for those who weren't me, pork-based breakfast meats. Mr. Fine and he then played some Mario Party until he had to head out. Mr. Fine and I then took advantage in the break in the rain to go for a walk. Saw a new to us bird so snapped a picture and sent it off to my birdwatching Dad. He says it was a Black-crowned Night Heron and that it was a very lucky sighting as they're not very common around here. I've spent my afternoon doing crochet and watching virtual church. Mr. Fine has been prepping the casserole we're bringing for our monthly game night with friends. We're loaning them a couple games, besides the ones we're bringing to play and we'll be borrowing a couple in return. Not sure what we'll end up playing, but I think Big Book of Madness is a for sure. We usually get home from that around 11:30 or midnight.

What I'm reading: Only managed a chapter in The Princess Beard last night.

What we're watching: The friends we're having game night with tonight required that we watch The Secrets of Dumbledore last night so we could talk about it with them. It was... better than the last movie? (A tremendously low bar). I'm interested to see what they have to say. 🙂

What's on the agenda: Despite going to bed at midnight, I woke up around 6 and my brain was circling around some work stuff I'd discussed with my friend last night (she works at one of the branches in the same library system). So I woke up, wrote down what was circling in my brain, ran it past her, and now I'm doing random things on my phone until the alarm goes off at 8. My parents are coming over for Father's Day brunch and are showing up somewhere between 9 and 9:30. We're planning omelets with turkey bacon and sourdough toast. My parents will probably hang out for a few hours knowing them so that will be our morning. Once they head out, Mr. Fine plans to hit the gym. After all the peopling we've done this weekend, I know I won't have the energy for that but I am thinking I'll walk with him to the rec centre and then back home on my own to get a daily walk in. Not sure if I'll read or craft in my solo time but I'll likely do one or the other. BBQ chicken with fries and some other veggie is on the meal plan for tonight.

What I'm reading: Didn't crack anything yesterday as I spent my down time catching up on temperature blanket rows.

What we're playing: Game night included Big Book of Madness, which we beat (yay!) and Between the Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig.

Happy Sunday, Micky. Sounds like you've had/are having a busy weekend. But an enjoyable one!

>112 MickyFine: what ^^^she said.

Also..."Between the Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig" sounds terrific! Was it as much fun to play as its sales bunf makes it sound?

Sunday *smooch*

Hi Micky; I'm just catching up on threads. Your blanket is coming along nicely - I like the pinks in it. Grapefruit sounds like a delicious colour.

Hope you had a lovely time with your folks yesterday!

>113 katiekrug: It was a very full weekend and I definitely collapsed into bed Sunday evening and didn't read at all before turning out the light.

>114 richardderus: It is a lot of fun to play. Both my friend, A, and I really like it although A's husband M had a harder time wrapping his brain around it the first time. I will say the design is tricky if you have a harder time with small print as the tiles have pretty small instructions on them, which are relevant for final scoring.

>115 humouress: Thank you, Nina! Grapefruit is definitely my favourite of the two pinks in the blanket.

>116 bell7: I did have a lovely visit with my parents in the morning. And I forgot when typing up my agenda yesterday that my step-daughter was coming over in the evening to see Mr. Fine for Father's Day. So it was a very social Sunday too.

What's on the agenda: Early mornings this week and it's an in office day for me. Work today will include customer suggestions and going through an issue of Booklist. Not sure if I'll get to much more than that. The chicken hadn't thawed out enough by the time we were thinking of cooking last night so Mr. Fine switched things around and made mac n cheese from scratch for supper last night. Thus BBQ chicken tonight. Virtual craft circle for me this evening.

What I'm reading: Didn't flip a page all weekend so still hanging out with The Princess Beard.

What we're watching: Watched Cyrano on Sunday afternoon. As I expected of a Joe Wright film, it's visually gorgeous. I wasn't sure about the choice to adapt the play into the musical (I didn't realize until we reached the credits that this is a film adaptation of an original stage production that in turn had adapted Cyrano de Bergerac), but largely it works. Also, I now have a bit of a crush on Peter Dinklage - he does such an amazing job of portraying all of Cyrano's many emotions and you can't help but fall in love with him. We also watched one episode of Mom in the evening after the step-daughter departed.

Glad to see you enjoyed the Cyrano film! That one is on my list.

>119 curioussquared: Borrowed it from the library too, which was great. Haven't quite decided if it's a film I want for my own collection. I'll have to ponder a little longer.

>87 MickyFine: I read King's Green Grass, Running Water several years ago and enjoyed it. If you have not read that one, I recommend it. I have added Indians on Vacation to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Micky.

>112 MickyFine: Yay for beating the Big Book of Madness. I never did manage it.

Have a wonderful week, Micky!

>121 alcottacre: Thanks for the King title recommendation, Stasia.

I think our win was a combo of good luck off the hop plus realizing I'd been missing one element of the rules (when you defeat one of the curses for a monster, you get a 2-power element of your choice).

Tuesday orisons, Micky. Hopefully your moose will start in the chill. *smooch*

What's on the agenda: Another early morning in office day. I was supposed to have two meetings and a job shadow today but arrived this morning to learn that the job shadow had been postponed, which is fine by me. I've still got customer suggestions to work on today as I got sucked into some rabbit holes yesterday. I also need to update content in our Lucky Day collection. The rest of the day will be the aforementioned meetings and time with Booklist, I think. I'd appreciate prayers/good thoughts for my 1:1 with my manager this morning. It's going to involve some confrontation and (hopefully healthy) conflict and I hate both so I'm dreading it. The other meeting is at the end of my day with a different manager I really like to discuss our genealogy booklet which is extremely out of date (anyone want to know about useful CD-ROMs?), so that should be a fun note to end the day. Plus takeout for supper tonight is my pick so if comfort food is required, I can have whatever I want.

What I'm reading: The Princess Beard continues to be a delight. There have been chapters satirizing both Harry Potter and Star Wars in the chunk I read in the last 24 hours, which cracked me up.

What we're watching: I recently saw a bit of internet news that David Tennant is going to be in the Doctor Who 60th anniversary special next year, which was the kick I needed to get caught up on Doctor Who. Mr. Fine really doesn't like Capaldi and we stalled out in mid-series 9 a few years ago (I've seen all of the Capaldi years so it's rewatch for me but first viewing for Mr. Fine). Since Mr. Fine didn't remember much of series 9 we started back at the beginning of that year and fit in the first episode last night (we skipped Last Christmas because it isn't a particularly strong Who Christmas episode IMO). Also one episode of Mom.

>124 MickyFine: - Good mojo for the dreaded meeting!

Also, I think you mis-typed the title of the book you're reading :)

>123 richardderus: LOL. We have been having a pretty temperate June. Haven't seen temperatures above 25C yet this year. So my moose is the chillest it can be.

>125 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! And also for the catch on the title typo. I've fixed it. :)

>118 MickyFine: I agree with your thoughts about the visual beauty of the Cyrano movie, as well as Dinklage's excellent acting. I didn't feel that the songs really added anything to the play; they all seemed to stall the action rather than move anything along. I was also surprised to learn that it was adapted from a stage musical, and that that stage musical was not the Frank Wildhorn version that I had heard rumors of years ago, which apparently never made it to the stage.

>124 MickyFine: I stalled out during Capaldi's run, as well. I keep meaning to get back to it, but I just haven't found the time yet.

>127 foggidawn: I was curious what your thoughts would be as an avid fan of Cyrano de Bergerac. Glad to see you enjoyed it more than you disliked it. :)

I'm excited to finally to get to see Jodie as The Doctor as I haven't seen any of her episodes yet. Also due to trailers for one of the holiday specials that was floating around a couple years ago, I know Captain Jack Harkness crops back up and I'm always excited for more Barrowman. *heart eyes*

I'm pleased to say that the meeting with my manager went better than expected. Thanks for the good thoughts!

>129 MickyFine: Yay for the best-case scenario!

I also fell off the Doctor Who train when Capaldi started -- looks like I'm very much not alone! I've also been considering getting back into it with the introduction of Ncuti Gatwa -- I love him in Sex Education. And I'd like to see Jodie's seasons, too. And Barrowman, you say??? 👀

>129 MickyFine: Yay! That us good to hear.

Happy Tuesday, Micky!

>129 MickyFine: Oh, no sudden aneurysm in your manager? Oh dear...I wonder where that went instead....

So NOT Capaldian here, either. I liked Bill, though. I don't much like Chibnall's direction for the Whitaker era. Glad ol' Barrowman's on his way back...wait, you mean in that Whitaker arc! Ah. Oh well...I saw his gorgeously graying self on this season's QI.

>128 MickyFine: I'm a real fan of Capaldi, and of Whittaker! Husband and I have watched every Doctor Who that exists (some of the early ones were trashed by fools). Looking forward to the end of the current season, and the next one!

And, Barrowman, yes! The series "Torchwood" is a Doctor-Who-compatible which stars Captain Jack.

Karen O.

>130 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie. Barrowman showed up in a trailer for one of Jodie's New Year's specials a few years ago and almost tempted me into catching back up then. How much he crops ups, I don't know.

>131 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia.

>132 richardderus: Snort. Not sure but maybe it'll crop up later. :P Barrowman is in multiple seasons of Arrow and cropped up in episodes of other shows in the Arrowverse so I haven't been deprived of his loveliness in my Who gap.

>133 klobrien2: Thanks for chiming in, Karen. I have watched all of Torchwood but found it such an emotional gut punch in the later seasons that I'm not sure I could watch them again.

What's on the agenda: WFH Wednesday! Woot! Dropped off Mr. Fine at the bus, took my daily walk early as there's threats of rain and thunderstorms this afternoon, and then came home for a shower before starting my shift. Sent off a bunch of emails first thing related to various projects and then did a couple smaller tasks. I'll probably spend the rest of the morning with Booklist. This afternoon I've got a meeting about a special feature collection for the downtown branch that we need to do ordering for and then the quarterly system-wide librarians meeting. Unclear as to whether I'll have to sit through the whole 2 hour meeting as the second hour is a presentation from an organization that is only relevant to the community librarians, so I might be allowed to skip out on that. We shall see. After work I'll meet Mr. Fine for grocery shopping. Tacos for supper tonight.

What I'm reading: A little over 60 pages left in The Princess Beard so I'm hoping to wrap it up today.

What we're watching: The season 5 finale of West Wing and then the season 1 finale of Heroes followed by the first episode of season 2.

>135 MickyFine: Joining your WFH Woot! I loved my WFH days when I worked at the Medical Exchange. Such a relief from the politickin' that goes with offices.

>134 MickyFine:, >133 klobrien2: It's just as Micky says with me, too, Karen O. I can not watch "Children of Earth" ever again...I can not watch Ianto die again...but oh, how I loved watching the Rift's gifts to Torchwood.

*smooch*

>135 MickyFine: Yay for a work from home day! Hope it was a good one and you got a chance to finish your book.

>136 richardderus: WFH days are the best. Comfy pants always and if I don't have any video meetings I can wear hoodies/comfy shirts too.

>137 bell7: Thanks, Mary. Stay tuned on the book front.

Book 48



The Princess Beard - Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne

An assortment of unlikely characters come together to join the crew of the parrot pirate Clean Captain Luc (aka Filthy Lucre) including a former princess who awoke from her sleeping curse with a beard she quite likes, a centaur swoleboy who has a secret, a not very elf-like elf, and a dryad who just wants to go to law school. As they sail off in search of treasure they'll find plenty of adventure and also self-knowledge.

As the third and final book in the Tales of Pell series, this novel offers all of the fun, satire, social commentary, and puns that lovers of the previous books will expect. With a whole new cast of characters and the fun of a pirate adventure mixed in, the novel has a vaguely episodic feel while still working to give each of our main characters a fully developed arc. Dawson and Hearne also still have plenty of fantasy tropes to poke fun at (I particularly enjoyed the riffs on Harry Potter and Star Wars and there's also a recurring gag that will get a giggle from Star Trek fans). The novel however does have a particularly lovely ending that wraps up threads for characters from this novel as well as both of the previous books and should please readers who've enjoyed the whole journey.

Rating: ****

What's on the agenda: It's another WFH day and it's my Friday. Yay! Dropped off Mr. Fine at the bus and then took my daily walk this morning as we're once again supposed to have a mostly rainy day and it was pretty clear at 6 a.m. Spent the rest of my morning free time working on my temperature blanket. Work today will include customer suggestions, working through a vendor list of noteworthy fall titles, and maybe actually get some time for my diversity audit project (depending on what crops up in my inbox during the day). Tonight Mr. Fine and I are having a deluxe date night. We're going to The Keg for a nice steak dinner. I always get the same thing there and it's always delicious (6 oz. top sirloin with garlic mashed potatoes and whatever veggies they're serving plus creme brulee for dessert *drool*). Afterwards we're heading into the city to see the touring production of Hamilton. Show starts at 8 so it'll be a late night for us (especially after a 5 a.m. wake up). As a result, I've had black tea today as a cup will typically keep me awake for 10-12 hours so I should be good to go. On a side note, for all you regular caffeine imbibers, the S'mores Chai from David's Tea is delicious. Even with the lateness, I'm psyched for the evening out. It'll be my second time seeing the show live (long-time visitors of my thread might recall I went to see the Chicago production for my 30th birthday) but Mr. Fine's first. Crossing our fingers the touring cast is solid.

What I'm reading: On my breaks today I'm planning to start Invisible Women.

What we're watching: The finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the first episode of season 6 of West Wing.

>140 MickyFine: Oh, have so much fun at date night and Hamilton!! I saw it when it toured in Seattle but would love to go again.

I hope the production is excellent. I imagine it's much harder to cast 'Hamilton' than a typical musical given the totally different style.

>140 MickyFine: Have a wonderful time! The Keg sounds like a lovely place to have A Night Out.

...Chicago had theaters when you turned thirty...? That must've been the second or third time.

*smooch*

I'm pretty sure I got an urban fantasy you'd like today: A Taste Of Sin (The Forked Tail) by Arizona Tape
Glutton demon Demi loves food, especially when it's seasoned with sin. Luckily for her, the chef at the Forked Tail knows how to create delicious dishes, and now they get to go on a date. Free on Kindle....

>141 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie!

>142 katiekrug: Yes, I'm curious to see the quality of the cast. I've been to many Broadway Across Canada productions and they're always solid but occasionally there's a weak link. A few years ago my Mom and I went to see their production of Cinderella. The actor playing the Prince had a gorgeous singing voice but was not very good at waltzing, which is kind of a big deal for Cinderella. It didn't ruin the show but you could tell he was not a confident lead.

>143 richardderus: Snort. Funny man. I have the delightful anecdote of being in Chicago to see Hamilton on election day 2016 and then leaving super early the next day (planned that way in advance but I was extra glad it shook out that way).

>144 richardderus: Thanks for thinking of me. :)

>140 MickyFine: What a fine sounding evening. I would have be at least 40 years younger not to be too drowsy after that dinner to stay awake for the show.

>146 quondame: I'm very caffeine sensitive so my single cup of black tea around 9 a.m. yesterday kept me awake and alert until 11:30 last night.

Yesterday's adventures: Awake pretty early and lounged in bed for a bit before going out for breakfast. We went to Tutti Frutti and I had my usual crepe filled with blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, Nutella, and custard (it's massive and delicious). We then did a bit of running around including filling up the car, going to the mall so I could get some new white ballet flats and also take a wander through the bookstore. We also dropped by the library so I could pick up a hold and then walked over to the comic shop across the street where I found a Captain Carter Funko Pop. I then hung out at home and did crochet while watching TV while Mr. Fine went to the gym. Afterwards we played game 1 of Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle (a co-op deck building game we've borrowed from our friends, M&A) and had a good time. Tacos for supper and we watched a movie. Afterwards I took a bath and watched some TV in the tub while Mr. Fine watched Stranger Things (too scary for me) and video chatted with his daughter.

What's (been) on today's agenda: Had a glorious sleep and didn't wake up until 8. Lounged in bed playing phone games for a while then had breakfast with Mr. Fine. Watched church online and now I'll have solo time while Mr. Fine goes to the gym. I'll probably do crochet while he's out. Once he's back we'll go for a walk and then play another round of the HP game. Burgers for supper followed by more gaming and possibly a second walk.

What I'm reading: Invisible Women continues to be really excellent.

What we're watching: Lots of Gilmore girls for me while crocheting and later in the tub. Movie night was Doctor Strange 2.

Sunday was a good mix of chores and productivity in the morning and lazy in the afternoon and evening. Somehow long weekends that start on a Friday never feel as long as long weekends that end on a Monday. Just me? Anyway all this to say it's a decidedly Mondayish Monday around here.

What's on the agenda: WFH Monday. Due to various scheduling things, I'm splitting my WFH days, which has the benefit of comfy pants on a Monday but the disadvantage of leaving me very confused about what day of the week it is. Dropped off Mr. Fine this morning and then folded some laundry from yesterday before settling into my work day. Started off going down a rabbit hole related to my diversity audit project. I was getting assistance from some other staff in our department with the searching of titles/authors to determine if they fall into one of the categories we're tracking (BIPOC, LGBTQ2+, disability/neurodiversity, or intersectional (some combo of the previous)). However, the numbers looked pretty low even for baseline data before I was more actively seeking out this material so I did a quick spot check and some obvious titles/authors weren't tagged (they missed tagging Stephen Fry as an LGBTQ2+ author and Othello as having BIPOC-related subject matter). So now I have concerns about the quality of the tagging. My manager is off today so I'll have to have a discussion with her tomorrow about whether to ask them to do a second pass or if I need to do it. The project includes a baseline with last year's Q2 orders to compare to this year's Q2 orders which means reviewing over 3000+ titles/authors. Le sigh. Apologies if that's too much detail. Rest of today will be customer suggestions in all the places. Chuckerout for supper. Virtual craft circle this evening.

What I'm reading: Went to bed early last night and read a big chunk of Invisible Women.

What we're watching: I put on some episodes of Felicity while crocheting yesterday afternoon, which I've never watched before as I was a bit too young for it when it originally aired. We'll see how it goes. I also watched the Legally Blonde musical on YouTube while Mr. Fine was doing various food prep stuff. Plus our usual Sunday night fare of TNG and Mom.

>149 MickyFine: Sounds like someone got a job shoved on them that they didn't want, or is simply the most startlingly ignorant person to work in a library ever. Boo hiss in either case.

Hoping there's better news after your meeting. *smooch*

PS my reviews from today are all for newly-published QUILTBAG non-fiction titles.

Felicity is very fun and has great characters....and the worst ending I've ever seen in a TV show

>149 MickyFine: FWIW I like the detail. Sorry you had someone miss some obvious titles in the diversity audit, potentially making more work for all. Since you mention Othello as BIPOC-related content, I'm curious: are you counting anything with a non-white character regardless of author identity, or is BIPOC author a separate count?

I still have to watch the new Doctor Strange, but now it's on Disney+ I'm thinking it might be a good weekend watch.

>150 richardderus: I'm not sure what happened and I'm honestly not sure what the best way to deal with it is. The control freak part of my brain is having an I told you so moment over it being easier to do everything myself. :P

>151 norabelle414: Oooh, I'll be prepared. JJ Abrams projects have an issue with sticking the landing, I think. While I haven't seen most of the last season of Alias, I've heard it got weird. Now that it's on Disney+ I'll probably do a rewatch and introduce Mr. Fine to it as he missed the original run (he was busy having a baby/toddler at that point in his life so I can't blame him :P).

>152 bell7: I figured you might appreciate all my details. :) My coding categories are actually a little more granular than outlined above. Each of the four categories are further subdivided into three: so for BIPOC it could be coded as having a BIPOC subject, BIPOC author, or BIPOC author & subject (the categories are borrowed from Oak Park Public Library, as one of their librarians presented on their method during the LJ Diversity Audit course I took in the spring). Because I'm only looking at my ordering, which is all non-fiction, I don't typically have to look at characters so identifying subject matter is easier and doesn't require reading through the material. Drama and poetry stay in the 800s in our library, which is why Othello made it into the data set (ordering replacement copies).

I enjoyed the new Doctor Strange but you can definitely see Sam Raimi's horror roots cropping up in the direction. At least it has far fewer women screaming into the camera, unlike the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies where you could make a drinking game out of it LOL.

What's on the agenda: Yesterday Mr. Fine's shifts were all changed to early ones for the rest of the week (le sigh) so I had the fun of the early morning in office routine today. Work today will include customer suggestions, evaluating some titles for a feature collection at the downtown branch, working on a survey for staff in my department on recognition, and figuring out what to do about my diversity audit project. Butter chicken for supper tonight.

What I'm reading: I might wrap up Invisible Women today. Read the chapter on the data gap in medical research on the bus this morning and it was absolutely infuriating.

What we're watching: I got in a few more episodes of Felicity on my lunch and while waiting for Mr. Fine to get home. We watched one episode of Doctor Who together before I went to craft circle.

Hi Micky! I've been mostly lurking lately but wanted you to know I was here. Because obviously, you'd be missing me... :-P

>153 MickyFine: I haven't seen the original Doctor Strange (I'm pretty hit or miss when it comes to Marvel so unless it gets really great reviews I don't make a point of watching) and Tim tried to convince me that it didn't matter and I could watch the second one. Lol. I left him to watch it by himself about halfway through and took the dogs for a walk instead :)

>154 MickyFine: Invisible Women is definitely angry-making. So much good, infuriating research. I read it on Kindle and finished a lot quicker than I expected because my Kindle was including the end notes in the read time :)

Howdy smoochling. That's the post.

>155 katiekrug: I DO miss you. I also check in on your thread every day even if I don't make my presence know. You know, in case you were missing me too. :)

>156 curioussquared: I live with a big comic nerd so we watch EVERY Marvel movie. We've already got our tickets for the new Thor booked, although I think I'm a little more excited for that one than Mr. Fine.

>157 richardderus: *smooches* right back you sweet man. I hope Tuesday is gliding right along for you.

>158 MickyFine: ...that wouldn't have anything to do with Thor/Hemsworth's nudity, would it?

vavavavoom!

It's been a welcome boring afternoon after a tense morning. I do so love boring days!

>158 MickyFine: I'm really excited for the new Thor mostly because I'll watch literally anything Taika Waititi creates :D

What she said >155 katiekrug:

>158 MickyFine: I wonder why you might be more excited than Mr Fine? 🤔

Yes, Richard. (see >160 curioussquared:) Taika Waititi. Really, where is your mind?

>161 humouress: Firmly (!) on Hemsworth's callipygian assets. Where it belongs.

>149 MickyFine: I don't know the source of your tagging, but I presume some publishers won't want their offerings pre-tagged for banning from any libraries the Christotopians can influence.

>159 richardderus: I definitely won't be complaining about that. But I'm also just super excited for Jane as Thor.

>160 curioussquared: Also a good reason to watch.

>161 humouress: Mr. Fine is a big comic book nerd so he's as excited as he usually is. I'm just much more excited than usual and have been since the film was announced back in... 2018?

>162 richardderus: Snort.

>163 ArlieS: It's all internally created (and used) tags. BISACs might be a clue we look at when evaluating a title but it isn't the only thing we look at.

Yesterday's adventures: It was a long day and there were several frustrating things at work, none of which I can discuss in a public forum. Outside of work, I did some running around once I got back to the burbs. Quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things we needed for dishes we're bringing to our monthly game night with M&A. Then stopped at my parents to pick up a pie plate from my Mom (my intention was borrowing but she gifted it to me, which was lovely). Then home where I cooked dinner for a change as Mr. Fine had a training course for work that kept him in the city later than usual. Nothing fancy, just cheese tortellini with marinara sauce and sides of salad and garlic bread.

What's on today's agenda: WFH and it's basically a Friday with the holiday tomorrow (Canada Day). Dropped off Mr. Fine at the bus and then came home for a shower followed by some crocheting. I was caught up for a bit and now I'm two days behind again so there may not be an update on the temperature blanket until a couple days into July. Work will mostly be customer suggestions, submitting some carts, prepping some of the carts of October titles I'll be ordering next week, and maybe time on the diversity audit project. For my afternoon coffee break I have a brief excursion planned. Despite having lived in this house for two years and working from home in some capacity all of that time, I have not once treated myself to a Slurpee from the 7-Eleven that is easy walking distance from here. So this afternoon I plan to remedy that fact. After work, I will swing by the library to do the weekly pick up and drop off of stuff with the extra treat of getting the adult colouring sheet for this week. It's one of the challenges you can complete for their adult summer reading challenge to earn entries in their weekly and grand prize draws (don't worry reading books is still the big way to earn entries). Not sure if I'll pick up Mr. Fine before or after the library trip. Dinner is Mr. Fine's choice of either take out or dining out and as of this morning he had no clue what he wanted.

What I'm reading: Started Last Tang Standing yesterday afternoon. I can't quite remember how this ended up on The List as I don't remember seeing it around here. My suspicion is that I ran across it while skimming the fiction sections of review journals and the description of it being Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones's Diary was what caught my interest. So far that description is really accurate and I'm enjoying it.

What we're watching: Tuesday night was a couple episodes of Heroes and one of Mom, last night was West Wing Wednesday.

Book 49



Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez

A brilliant exploration of the overwhelming data bias and/or gender data gap that exists in a wide range of fields where men are treated as the default and women as the outlier, even in cases where we know there are statistically significant differences between them. Criado Perez delves into a wide range of fields from social service provision, to the design of software, cars, and tools, to medical science, to politics where data is not being explored at a gender level, even when the limited data that exists indicates that women's experiences/needs are significantly different. Both informative and infuriating (particularly the section on medical science), the book is extremely well-cited and offers a plethora of evidence that the data we collect and then acting on that information, has the potential to massively change the lives of women around the globe. Highly recommended for all readers.

Rating: *****

Also, shout out to the cover designer for this book. What the digital image doesn't reflect is that on the hard copy, the symbol for women is printed white on white and is only visible when you hold the book at certain angles rendering the women... invisible. I love details like that.

>166 MickyFine: I had similar feelings about this one! I think my only complaint was that I wanted some kind of direction or action at the end, but I think that was more just a reaction to the whole depressing book rather than something I think Criado Perez should actually be able to provide.

>167 curioussquared: I totally get that reaction. It did leave me considering an alternate career as a medical researcher - except sciences were decidedly not my strong suit in university.

>166 MickyFine: Pretty much the entire research establishment researched each other. White guys. It's continued into the 21st century because we're too lazy as a populace to cut off their money (tax it away) for fear they won't keep us entertained.

June Summary




Numbers in parentheses are for year to date.

Books read: 6 (49)
Books abandoned: 0 (2)

Fiction: 5 (39)
Non-fiction: 1 (10)

Adult: 5 (43)
YA: 1 (5)
Children's: 0 (1)

Library: 4 (43)
Mine: 2 (6)
Borrowed elsewhere: 0 (0)

Canadian author: 1 (6)

Re-reads: 0 (3)

Female authors: 5 (38)
Male authors: 2 (12)
Non-binary authors: 0 (0)

Pages: 1,950 (13,819 11,869)
Hours: 0 (1 day, 15 hours, 48 minutes)

Average rating: 3.95

Average time to read book: 5.10 days

Favourite book(s): All my reads this month were really good so picking a favourite is hard. If we go with the book I'm most likely to re-read, the prize goes to Seven Stones to Stand or Fall.

I don't know what's happened to my reading mojo lately but hoping it'll reappear in July. Only 6 books in a month for two months in a row when there were no major life events or vacations is just weird. I'm still pretty close to being on track for my loose goal of 100 books this year at least.

And with that, come on over to the July thread, where I've started celebrating the Canada Day long weekend early. :)

>166 MickyFine: While my sister worked at NIH in charge of determining which areas of study in reproductive health should get funding, she helped start SWRH and which got some legislation passed which addresses that - but as she was working for most years in enemy territory it all had to be indirect.

>162 richardderus: Ah; just seen the trailer. Or, rather, the pixels blotting out a section of the trailer. P