Lavinia (PlatinumWarlock) loves reading in 2023 (1)

Hi! I'm Lavinia. Welcome to my very first reading thread and my very first challenge! (I have another thread over in Needlearts - it's not going to see nearly as much action as this will, but I'd be happy for you to visit both, if you're interested!)

Short-form profile: I live in the Seattle area with my partner of nearly 10 years and our three dogs. I'm a "retired" stay-at-home mom (the kid is in college), a non-retired volunteer, a fledgling gardener, a reader (obviously!), a crafter (mostly stitching of various forms), and a few other "-ers".

I joined LT way back in 2008, promptly dropped off the site for 14 years, came back last fall, and started over from scratch since I'd forgotten what email I originally used to log in. My reading interests lean heavily towards fiction of most sorts, with the occasional non-fiction title thrown in.

Long-form profile here, if you want to know a little more.

I expect I'll chatter on a bit in this thread about what I'm doing besides reading, and I'd love to have you follow along if you wish. In the meantime, thanks for visiting!

Also participating in:

June TIOLI (I'm allowing myself the first six months of this year to complete June's sweep - which means it isn't really a sweep, but whatever! Upcoming months are TBD.)

Primary Challenge:
1. Read a book of fiction in which there is a printed (spelled out) odd number in the narrative of the first page: Kiss and Don't Tell by Meghan Quinn (One word... love.) - COMPLETED

Challenges #2-6
2. Read a book whose title includes at least three words beginning with the same letter: The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai - COMPLETED
3. Read the “Next in a Series” book – can be any number in an series you are currently reading except number one: Those Three Little Words by Meghan Quinn (The Vancouver Agitators (2)) - COMPLETED
4. Read a book with a synonym for "travel" on the cover: The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts (Journey) - COMPLETED
5. Read a book about something a nice person wouldn't do or one indicating such a thing in the title: Really Cross Stitch: For When You Just Want to Stab Something A Lot by Rayna Fahey (Stab) - COMPLETED
6. Read a book by an author new to you: Zero Day Code by John Birmingham - COMPLETED

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book with the number 35 in either in the title (subtitles allowed!) or the ISBN: Portals by Douglas E. Richards (9798353023999) - COMPLETED
8. Read a book that fits one of the categories of the 2023 Seattle Public Library Summer Book Bingo card: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (audiobook) - COMPLETED
9. Read a book (F or NF) about the experiences of indigenous/First Nations peoples in the Americas or Australia/NZ: Crazy Horse's Girlfriend by Erika T. Wurth - COMPLETED
10. Read a book for Morphy's favorite subgenres semi-rolling challenge: Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad (How, Why, & Who) - COMPLETED
11. Read a book written by a transgender and/or nonbinary (or any other gender non-conforming identity) author: Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobin - COMPLETED
12. Read a book with a title starting with “S”: Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair by Anne Lamott - COMPLETED

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book by an author with the same first or family name as a member of the Leeds United Centenary FA Cup Final winning team of 1972:
14. Read a book that made the Publishers Weekly best-seller lists any year up to and including 1986:
15. Read a book whose title contains all of the vowels (A, E, I, O, U) or none of the vowels: Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maitre D’ by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina - COMPLETED
16. Read a book whose title contains words all of different lengths: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - COMPLETED
17. Read a book with a title or subtitle that mentions a place that is not set in the country where you reside: Oxford Wild (England) by Laura Bradbury - COMPLETED
18. Read a republished book/work or collection of previously published writings:

Favorite 12 Books of 2022

The Water Keeper - Charles Martin
Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson
Island in the Sea of Time - S.M. Stirling
Apprentice in Death - J.D. Robb
Dies the Fire - S.M. Stirling
I’m Possible: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream - Richard Antoine White
Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater - Frank Bruni
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage - Ann Patchett
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
The Wise Man’s Fear - Patrick Rothfuss

Books Read in 2023

January
Really Cross Stitch: For When You Just Want to Stab Something A Lot - Rayna Fahey
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1) - Becky Chambers
Vox - Christina Dalcher
This Place of Wonder - Barbara O’Neal

February
Echoes in Death - J.D. Robb
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America - Elizabeth Letts
Wanderers (Wanderers #1) - Chuck Wendig (Audiobook)
The Forge of God (Forge of God #1) - Greg Bear
The Second Sleep - Robert Harris

March
Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile
A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #1) - Ursula K. Le Guin

April
Lost in Time - A.G. Riddle
Honor - Thirty Umrigar
Unsouled (Cradle #1) - Will Wight
Mary Jane - Jessica Anya Blau
Portals - Douglas E. Richards

May
Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maitre D’ - Michael Cecchi-Azzolina
Infinity Born - Douglas E. Richards
Wild Scottish Knight (Enchanted Highlands #1) - Tricia O’Malley
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Life Interrupted - Suleika Jaouad
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots - Deborah Feldman
Wake Me After The Apocalypse (Bunker Books #1) - Jordan Rivet
Wayward (Wanderers #2) - Chuck Wendig (audiobook)
The Cure - Douglas E. Richards
Kiss and Don’t Tell (Vancouver Agitators #1) - Meghan Quinn

June
Those Three Little Words (Vancouver Agitators #2) - Meghan Quinn
Right Man, Right Time (Vancouver Agitators #3) - Meghan Quinn
Quantum Radio - A.G. Riddle
Zero Day Code (End of Days #1) - John Birmingham (audiobook)
Fail State (End of Days #2) - John Birmingham (audiobook)
The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories - Jamil Jan Kochai
Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair - Anne Lamott
Crazy Horse's Girlfriend - Erika T. Wurth
The Lost Gate - Orson Scott Card
Oxford Wild - Laura Bradbury
Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story - Jacob Tobia

Total so far: 36

Great to see you joining us, Lavinia.

Welcome to the group. Look forward to keeping up with you. x

>5 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. :)

Yay! She has a thread! Glad to see you here, Lavinia.

>7 lauralkeet: YAY! Thanks, Laura. :)

Hiyah, Lavinia! I've seen you posting around the threads a bit, glad you made a thread and jumped in. Let me know if you have any questions about the group and the various things we've got going. If you haven't found them yet, there's a Threadbook where I keep links to personal threads and a group wiki where we organize our activities like group reads and. challenges. Both are linked on the group home page.

>9 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! Yes, I have a million questions, but I’m sifting through them slowly… I’ll reach out when I get stuck!

Welcome, Lavinia!

Welcome to the group! Always nice to see new faces, so to speak.

I'm glad to see that you've created a thread, and now I can call you Lavinia instead of Platinum!

I see you're reading the Eve Dallas series. I need to read the last two not yet read that I have on my shelves, #s 54 and 55. I just ordered #56, which will get here on Saturday. If you haven't already visited her thread, @alcottacre, Stasia, re-reads the entire series about once a year.

Hi Lavinia, over on Karen (@karenmarie)'s thread you had a brief exchange about when to start a new thread. I just wanted to mention an LT feature you can look forward to seeing here. When your thread reaches 150 messages a prompt will appear at the end of the thread saying, "Continue this message in another thread". If you use this prompt to create your next thread, LT will create a sequence so you can navigate to previous thread, next thread, etc.

I'm not sure I'm explaining this well. If you go back to Karen's thread you'll see the Continue this thread ... prompt at the bottom, and links to previous and next threads at the top.

>14 lauralkeet: Good advice, Laura. The yardstick used to be 200 posts and some people look to do a new thread at 250 posts and some at 300 - no rules is the rule!

I normally look to make a new thread between 250 and 300 posts and I am sure that the first time you "renew" your thread will be a slightly exciting moment (who will post the first message to your new thread for example!).

Welcome to the 75ers! LT tells me we share 588 books in common in our libraries, so I look forward to following along with your reading.

Thanks for the welcome, everyone. 😀🙏🏻

>13 karenmarie: Thanks for the alert about fellow Eve Dallas fans, Karen! I just love those books. I'm a bit behind - maybe #45 or so? - but I have all of them, so I just need to find enough hours. (And hi, Stasia! *waves at @alcottacre* The whole series, once a year? I'm in awe...)

>14 lauralkeet:, >15 PaulCranswick: That's exactly what I was wondering about, Laura and Paul - thank you. 🙂

>16 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Funny... LT tells me we share 658. Odd that it would be different, but bottom line: yes, lots of overlap! I admit that my TBR list (most of which I don't own) is about half of my library, but I see that yours is too, so perhaps we'll do some co-reads at some point. Also: your tag list! Holy cow! Most impressive.

Welcome fellow Seattle-ite!

While I don't share quite as many books with you as kaiekrug does, a crossover of 131 gives me a pretty good feeling we'll share some Book Bullets (BBs). Since I moved here (Pierce County) last year those hurt a lot less thanks to the wonderful local library systems and the Reciprocal Borrowing arrangements that make getting audio and ebook so much easier. It's to the point that over 85% of my reading this year has come from the libraries.

Looking forward to seeing what you get up to.

>18 dreamweaver529: Thank you, Amanda. Yes, the libraries are amazing - most of my reading come from either the library or Kindle Unlimited these days, and I'm starting to think I can get rid of the KU subscription! I'll keep an eye on your threads as well!

>19 PlatinumWarlock: Same! Granted 95% of the time, when I can't get an ebook from one of my 10 library cards (I have one more to go before I have all cards I can get), it is on KU.

I keep threatening my hubby that we need to move to King County so I can get more cards, but so far no dice ;) Maybe when our kids are out of high school. So I just have to wait 11 more years. La sigh.

Welcome to the 75’s , Lavinia! Happy New Thread! I’m delighted that you have started a thread!

>21 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deb! 😀

Welcome, Lavinia! You sound a lot like me, in that you joined LT in 2008 and then disappeared for years. I did pretty much the same thing. I was on here irregularly for a few years, cataloging my collection (which still isn't complete), but didn't get involved in the social aspects. Then I got too busy with life and work and didn't log in for a long time. I retired last year and finally had time available to read and tackle the books I've picked up over the years. Once I started reading, I realized I needed a way to track what I'd read, and, duh, realized I already had a place to track that. So I came back on the site to start keeping track of my reading and update my collection. I found the 75ers at the beginning of the year, starting talking books and life with folks here, and haven't looked back. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming, it's a great place to be.

I'm at a point where I'm going need to start a new thread before long. I have only my first thread so far, but will need to start one soon, so the advice you've been getting on that has actually been helpful for me too. My only concern is that we're getting ready to head out of town again soon, and I don't know if I'll have time to set up the new one before we leave.

So glad to have you join us!

>23 atozgrl: Thanks for stopping by, Irene! I certainly have found everyone to be lovely as well - a treasure in today’s world! Yes, our experiences sound quite similar, and I’m hoping my ongoing journey will be as good as yours. 😁

>17 PlatinumWarlock: According to my visit to your profile page we share 565 books, Lavinia. Not half bad I would have thought.

>25 PaulCranswick: Great minds think alike, perhaps? 😁😁

>27 PaulCranswick: It does have a little to do with sheer quantity of books too, Lavinia!

For example of my pals either currently or previously active in the group I have the most shared books with:

1. Suzanne (Chatterbox) 2,483 books
2. Caroline (Caroline_McElwee) 2,309
3. Ilana (Smiler69) 2,301

Welcome to the group, Lavinia! Looking forward to following your reading and other adventures here. :)

Adding my welcome to the best group ever! I think you will feel right at home here, Lavinia, as the 75ers are a chatty and welcoming group!

>27 PaulCranswick: Impressive overlap, Paul! I need to go figure out who reads like I do…

>28 MickyFine: and >29 jessibud2: Thank you, Micky and Shelley! I’m finding it a lovely place to be. 😁

Hi Lavinia. Welcome to the 75ers ;-)

> 15 I'm currently experimenting with starting new threads based on the calendar. In particular, every 4 months - Jan 1, May 1, and Sep 1. I'm not sure how that will work in practice - my threads tend to get fewer posts in summer, so I may not be ready for a new one at the end of August.

Edited to add: we "only" share 93 books. Or maybe 94 - I clicked on a link to see the 93 we share, and got 94. Either you are adding books right now as I type, or there's some inconsistency in the software.

>31 ArlieS: …Either you are adding books right now as I type…

That wouldn’t be totally outside the realm of possibility… 😳😳😳

And thank you for the welcome!

Hi Lavinia! Just dropping by!

>33 quondame: Hi Susan! 👋🏻

I think I've finished my challenge setup for this year. Since it's already the middle of June (wait, how???), I don't want to get too carried away - because that could totally happen. 🤪 So I'm limiting it to 75 Books and the TIOLI challenge (which I've adjusted to accomplishing June's challenge over January through June, so I've got a chance...) - we'll see about future months' TIOLIs after I finish June.

How does everyone do all these challenges?? Do you EVER SLEEP???

>2 PlatinumWarlock: So happy to have you with us on the TIOLI challenges. I can't believe I've been running them for over thirteen years now. I hope you find them as much fun as I do. They are probably among the lowest stress challenges you'll find anywhere. :D

>23 atozgrl: but didn't get involved in the social aspects

...but now aren't you glad you did?!

>29 jessibud2: Adding my welcome to the best group ever!

...and aren't you glad I brought you here?! :D

>35 PlatinumWarlock: So the TIOLI challenges are a funny thing. The way it works is that you get credit for any book that you COMPLETED in a certain month no matter when you started reading it. If you can't finish a book in a month (for example, June), just take the book off of June's wiki and put it into any category it fits into in the following month's challenges (in this case July). There is no hurry to finish a book or even read one that you decide you don't like. Simply take it off the TIOLI wiki. Each month you have the option of adding your own challenge (which very likely could fit the book that you didn't finish the previous month!). Anyway, the whole thing is to have fun and not be stressful in any way. Enjoy it!

Also...beware! You have the end of the old month and only four days into the new month to add your own challenge. I do not announce when I add the new month's challenges. At the end of each month, start looking around for them and star that thread so you don't lose it. This is for my amusement. Ha!

>36 SqueakyChu: Yes, I am!

>35 PlatinumWarlock: Only a few of us crazies do every challenge in TIOLI. I mean it is the take it or leave it .... it's fun watching progress on Our TIOLI Meter

>36 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the clarification, Madeline. 😁 I’m trying to balance overachieving (which I just can’t help sometimes!) and avoiding stress (which I should do ALL the time). Not an easy middle ground!

I do not announce when I add the new month's challenges…This is for my amusement. Ha!

Ha indeed! She who makes the rules gets to do so however she pleases!

>38 quondame: I can be seriously obsessive sometimes, Susan - craziness is right up my alley! Realistically, I’ll probably never get all the challenges done, but it’ll be fun to try!

>39 PlatinumWarlock: I truly have fun with the TIOLI challenges. It's been a great hobby!

Hi Lavinia, and happy Friday to you.

>35 PlatinumWarlock: I rarely do challenges any more because I fail on an epic level with them. They become homework, and after I stopped going to school after my BSBA in 1975 and after I stopped going to work when I retired in 2016, homework is rarely appealing. Self-imposed challenges are different, of course. 😁

>41 SqueakyChu: I can imagine! Thanks for all the work you put into this - it’s a fun adventure. 😁

>42 karenmarie: Happy Friday to you, too, Karen. ☀️ Your point is a good one… I need to be careful not to start feeling like I “have to” complete them, which would totally be like me. I love the organizing nature of them, but I’ll need to make sure I’m primarily doing it for fun.

Happy Friday, everyone. Busy day yesterday… my other half, Jeff, and I are building a house on a nearby island and we had a meeting with our landscape architect. It’s fun to see their plans coming together and, as one who cannot visualize very well, I love having drawings to peruse.

(BTW… “building a house on a nearby island” isn’t quite as exotic as it sounds… it’s a 20-minute ride on a car ferry, and about 75 minutes door-to-door from our current home if we time it just right. It’s a lovely, quiet, largely rural place, but it’s also within easy commuting distance of Seattle, and many people do just that.)

My son, Chris, is home from college for the summer, and having him around is wonderful; he keeps wacky hours, though, so we don’t always see him much. His girlfriend apparently came over last night with her new kitten, so I’m waiting to see if our three dogs start acting as if there’s some mysterious smell in the air…

I managed to get a little stitching time in last night while watching the pilot episode of “Silo” (fascinating and very well done) and the season premiere of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (feeds my nerdy soul… such a strong cast, good story, great pacing, several great chuckles - e.g., Spock’s “I would like for this ship to go… now!”). And a new Chief Engineer Carol Kane! Awesome!

Errands and chores today, especially since I’ve been putting off a few things because I’ve been obsessing over reading challenges!

Your house project sounds fun. We've done new construction before and enjoyed being able to customize the overall design, the kitchen, the bathrooms, etc. And everything is so new and shiny when you move in! More recently we went in the complete opposite direction and moved into a 1791 stone farmhouse. It's a different kind of project and a different kind of fun.

Lucky you having a child that still comes home regularly. Ours are 27 & 30 and have fledged the nest. We still see each other reasonably often, but as both have "partnered off" they have obligations to two families. Enjoy it while you can!

>46 lauralkeet: A 1791 farmhouse definitely sounds like it has its charms too, Laura! Although I suspect the upkeep is different. :)

I'm glad Chris still wants to come home - although once we're on the island in a year, I doubt we'll see him quite as much because the ferry is "so inconvenient!" Poor baby... LOL

I will second all the positivity for the TIOLI challenges, Lavinia. It is great fun and not stressful (unless you are going for all the challenges in a month - a sweep - and you are running out of days!).

Your first thread is ticking along very nicely, I have to say.

>48 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I did think I'd try for all the June challenges, but then I realized the sweep was IN JUNE, not so far this year. 😳 So I'll try for the main challenge each month - doable - and the others will just be icing on the cake.

I feel good about my first thread!

I popped into my local library's book sale today and picked up hardcover copies of Stephen King's The Stand and Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary in very good condition, for the princely sum of $2 each. Yay!

Hi Lavinia!

I read the abridged version of The Stand when that was the only one available, then read the 'complete and uncut' version when that one came out. Both are excellent.

>51 karenmarie: I started listening to the unabridged version right before the beginning of Covid… how’s THAT for timing. (Loved it anyway, though.)

Hi, Lavinia! I love your thread, and I’m so glad to meet you. Have a great weekend!

Karen O

>52 PlatinumWarlock: *snork* Yeah, I bet that was a bit creepy.

I read it years ago, then read the uncut version when it came out. Loved ‘em both. My favorite is still The Shining, though.

>53 klobrien2: Thank you, Karen!! I'm delighted to meet you too! Happy weekend to you as well. :)

>54 drneutron: SO creepy, Jim. More than one person said to me, upon hearing that I was reading it right then, "Don't you just want to, you know, STOP?" 🤣 I've not read The Shining, but I know it's highly regarded - I'll add it to the (oh-so-interminable) list. I think the only other King novel I've read is Pet Sematary... I picked it up in an airport across the country from where I lived at the time, read the whole thing on the flight home, and then left it on the plane because I was so freaked out by it that I didn't actually want it in my house.

Joining in to say welcome, Lavinia, and looking forward to following your thread. We don't share as many books as some (300 currently), but I definitely see some overlap in your favorites of 2022 and the science fiction and fantasy I've read or want to read.

>55 PlatinumWarlock: I picked it up in an airport across the country from where I lived at the time, read the whole thing on the flight home, and then left it on the plane because I was so freaked out by it that I didn't actually want it in my house.

Heh! This reminds me of the time I was driving home alone one night listening to the audio version of The Shining. I got to one scary part, but I had to turn it off so I wouldn't be scared while driving. I had the book at home and read the scary part while safe in my house. After reading The Shining, be sure to see the movie version starring Jack Nicholson. I didn't like the changes they made to the original story, but Jack Nicholson was so Jack Nicholson in the movie. I found it hilarious.

>56 bell7: Thank you for visiting, Mary! I’ll look forward to following you as well. 😊

>57 SqueakyChu: Haha - yes, I can imagine that happening to me too! I’m more likely to read that than listen to it, for just that reason. And I’ve never seen the movie, but I certainly know about “Heeeere’s Johnny!!” shudder

>59 PlatinumWarlock: Yep! That’s it!! The “Heeeere’s Johnny!!” had me ROFL!!

Enjoyable but long day... 2 ½ hours at an Embroiderers' Guild monthly meeting, followed by a 3 ½ hour meeting with our interior designer (my other half and I are building a house, and sometimes the only meeting time that works for everyone is Saturday afternoon (🙄)), followed by a necessary double shot of bourbon, followed by Chinese food, and then a couple of episodes of Gray's Anatomy and some more stitching. Now crawling into bed with a book. Aaahhhhh....

I found your thread! Glad you have joined the 75 ers !

>45 PlatinumWarlock: Your house building sounds wonderful. Hectic and stressful for sure but exciting as well. Enjoy!

>62 figsfromthistle: Yay! And yes, it is, on all counts! Thanks for visiting. 😁

'Morning, Lavinia!

Yesterday sounds way too busy for a Saturday, but it also sounds like fun and necessary stuff.

I've never read The Shining, never seen the movie, although I love Jack Nicholson. *shrug*

Happy New Thread, Lavinia! Welcome to the best place on LT! You picked a winner and it looks like you are going to fit in perfectly.

A bourbon lover too? I am a huge fan. One of the many Bs I am a fanatic of- books, birds, beer and baseball, to name a few.

I am picking up Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow from the library and plan to read it later this month.

necessary double shot of bourbon

You have found your people! 😀

>65 msf59: and >66 drneutron: Thanks, Mark and Jim! I don't quite see bourbon as one of the major food groups, but I do see it as maybe a vitamin, or an important nutritional supplement. 🤣

Just finished listening to Fail State, by John Birmingham, #2 in the End of Days series. Kind of meh... the narrator (Rupert Degas) was excellent and did a great job with a wide variety of voices and accents, but I got really impatient with parts of the story. I'm sure that the worst of humankind would rear lots of ugly heads if the world ever did go to hell in this way, so in that sense I suppose it's realistic, but I had a niggling sense that Birmingham was having a smidge too much fun writing about guns and battles and toxic masculinity. I know there are ways of writing about rebuilding after an apocalypse that show people being creative and constructive and exhibiting their better angels because I've read books that include plenty of that - I just wish this one had as well. Not entirely sure if I'll continue on to the third in the trilogy... TBD.

The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai

Beautiful and very emotionally difficult to read. I can only imagine that it’s impossible to grasp truly what it must be like to live in war-torn Afghanistan - or to have escaped it to America or anywhere else - unless one has lived through it. It seems so foreign (to me, at least) that it’s as if I was reading a series of speculative short stories. Kochai’s language was elegant and compelling, and the family ties between stories was an interesting construct and served to connect the stories effectively. But the amount of violence, presented at times in what seemed to be a very matter-of-fact, almost offhand kind of way, was tough to stomach.

Welcome to the group Lavinia, your thread is already going strong and I've seen you interacting all over so thought I'd stop by. Happy reading!

Did I see mention of bourbon?

I prefer single malt whiskeys and especially Irish ones, but that gives away my antecedents.

There is a place in KL that I regularly frequent called The Whiskey Bar and there are half a dozen of us regulars all of who have different bottles behind the bar at any given time.

I will be going there on Wednesday to spend some (hopefully) celebratory hours as we have a fire inspection for the building (office section) then and hope that it will clear all its tests.

>70 WhiteRaven.17: Hi Kro! Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

>71 PaulCranswick: I was exclusively a single malt drinker (when I was drinking amber spirits) until maybe a year ago, when I branched out to bourbons thanks to a couple of friends. Now I very much enjoy examples of both.

How lovely to have your own bottle at your own "local"! That sounds like a delightful community. 😊

Started Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair by Anne Lamott last night... oh, she is so wise. It's quite short - ~100 pages - so I'll likely finish it tonight.

Also started listening to The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card today - my first foray into his stories. Loving it so far, and it's great for keeping my mind off wretched traffic when I'm listening in the car!

Welcome to the group, Lavinia! I have you starred now 😁 Looks like we have a lot in common -- Seattle and lots of shared books. My husband and I also had three dogs until January when we lost our oldest greyhound.

Is the new island house going to be a secondary property or a new primary residence? That's so exciting. My in-laws have a place up on Camano and we try to go up fairly often. They claim to still live in the city, but have been living the island life almost full time since the pandemic started.

Thanks, Natalie! We do indeed. 😁 I was sorry to read about Skelly in your first thread from this year… our oldest dog is 13 now and I imagine we’re not too far from that point as well. It’s never easy. I have to say, also, that the pic of Skelly dressed up like an AT-AT walker for Halloween made me blow tea out my nose. 🤣🤣 Well done!

The new house - which is on Vashon - will be a primary residence. We’ve had the land for about 8 years but were waiting for the last kid to leave for college, then King County was a total PITA about permitting, etc., etc., etc., but now we’re almost halfway through construction and should be in by this time next year. Super exciting indeed! The property has a little secondary house on it as well, which lets us spend time over there now - and, like your in-laws, we sure did enjoy it during Covid! Camano is lovely… how wonderful that you two get to enjoy it too!

Thanks for stopping by - I’ve got you starred too!

Hi Lavinia! Your new house sounds wonderful. Glad you've gotten through the permitting & etc., and hope you get the rest of the way with minimal upset and hassle.

>77 karenmarie: From your mouth to the construction gods’ ears, Karen! 😁

>76 PlatinumWarlock: LOL, I'm glad you liked Skelly's Halloween costume! He was always such a good sport about things like that 😂 No, it's definitely never easy.

Wishing you luck as you march toward the finish line, and glad you're through the permitting process! My husband and I are casually house hunting right now -- we bought our current place in 2018 and still love a lot of things about it, but are now looking to move due to a few things (floorplan, steepness of our backyard) that are just not quite right and can't be fixed. There's a gorgeous lot in our ideal neighborhood that we keep thinking about buying, but building just sounds like such a pain... but it's tempting sometimes!

Hi Lavinia my dear, i have starred your thread and will endeavour to pop along and leave a post now and then.

>79 curioussquared: If you're in City of Seattle, I hear the permitting process is better than in King County. House hunting is fun when it's not urgent... you can take your time! Wishing you luck in that process. :)

>80 johnsimpson: Thank you, John!

Welcome Lavinia! I'm so pleased to find you've started a 75'er thread! As Jim said, it sounds like you've found your people :)

Your new home on an island sounds wonderful. 2 1/2 years ago we moved from a city center condo in San Diego to suburban Washington and I am so loving the quieter (in both senses) life we have here. Your move will be even more quiet I imagine.

I love doing cross stitch so was interested in your current read Really Cross Stitch: For When You Just Want to Stab Something A Lot -- title made me smile. Unfortunately I seem to have cross stitched on so many things I can't think of anything new to start -- but you may inspire me.

Now I have to go and see how many books we share, dear fellow nerd.

>83 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! I can imagine you're enjoying a quieter life here, although San Diego is a lovely place too. My partner's son attended USD and worked in the area for a couple of years after graduating, before moving up to Irvine a year ago, so we spent some time down there - I'm probably not a SoCal kind of girl, but a trip to the sunshine in February was pretty great!

The cross stitch books are fun, although admittedly I usually just check them out from the library to see if I like enough projects to actually buy the book. There seems to be a whole genre of "snarky" cross stitch which is amusing. I have historically tended towards (relatively) massive, complicated projects that take me years to complete unless I'm really on a roll - Mirabilia patterns, for instance; but earlier this year I discovered blackwork and stitchalongs, not to mention a ton of artists who sell patterns on Etsy, and I fell down THAT rabbit hole. Many of them are much more manageable in scope, and while I'm never going to complete cross stitch patterns at the rate I complete books, I can realistically have more going at a time. If you want to see some neat examples, check out PeppermintPurple.com and also Vivsters on Etsy - both styles were new to me.

I checked out Vashon Island on google, Lavina. It looks lovely! Glad that you are half way through the construction. Yes, older dogs, it can be difficult. We have out third dog, Poppy, we think a poodle / Maltese mix. She will be 10 in September, so getting on a little, but as a 18 lb dog, she younger than a larger dog would be at the age. Yesterday while out walking I ran across an darling Italian Spinone dog. I never heard of the breed, but of course this older 13 year old dog named Dora caught my eye and I had to introduce myself to Dora and her owner. What a darling!!!!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinone_Italiano It not often I don't love a dog that I see.

Sadly, Lavina, I am not brainy enough to both listen to an audio book and do my jigsaw puzzles. Usually I just listen to music on Spotify, or an easy to follow podcast, or the news. Mainly music though.

>85 vancouverdeb: My parents actually have a Spinone! He is a HANDFUL. Extremely strong and tireless. I refer to him affectionately as a goat because he can climb on things you would think only a mountain goat could tackle. He's also an escape artist and they have had to put up chain link blockades in some vulnerable areas of their yard because he will exploit any weakness (a small hole under the fence, a handy tree ladder near the fence) to escape and chase rabbits. A very sweet boy, but a little too much for me :) I guess my parents needed something to do after my brother and I moved out 😂

>85 vancouverdeb: It is lovely, Deb - and so delightfully quiet. I feel my blood pressure drop every time I get off the ferry.

I mentioned in my other reply to you that audiobooks while puzzling aren't for everyone, but I like music too - when my other half and I are working on puzzles together, it's usually music because he doesn't want to listen to my books. LOL

>86 curioussquared: That sounds crazy! He IS just like a goat! I didn't know dogs could be like that...

I'm a big puzzler while audiobooking person 😁

>89 katiekrug: Yay! More puzzlers beside Deb, me and my husband!!

We are going to town with puzzling now because my daughter bought my husband a subscription to a puzzle rental service for his birthday. That has turned out to be so much fun!!

>89 katiekrug: Woohoo! Puzzling while audio booking!

>90 SqueakyChu: Madeline, what’s the name of the service? I should look that up… We would love that!

Happy Wednesday, Lavina. Looks like you are having a good time over here. I don't do puzzles or cross-stitch, so nothing to contribute there. I like birds. 😁

>92 msf59: Birds are beautiful, Mark!

I just discovered "reorder modules" and "toggle multi-column layout" on the home page!! Magic!!

>91 PlatinumWarlock: completingthepuzzle.com

We love it. We like to do our own puzzles while waiting for the rental puzzle to arrive. Since they are in Houston, it take about 5 days to get to us. Our subscription is for one puzzle at a time, but there are other options.

You can choose the puzzles you want from a wishlist, and then they come at random so each puzzle is a surprise. If you’re on Instagram, you can see some of them that we’ve done on my account (although I’ve been softbanned so I no longer can use hashtags). I’m SqueakyChusssssss on Instagram.

We do lots of jigsaw puzzles in our house. One a week was a weak week. It went from now and then to becoming an obsession of sorts during the pandemic lockdown. We are weaning ourselves some. There are a couple puzzle exchange places in our area.

>92 msf59: I should lend you my daughter Mark. She's a rehabilitator and manager of the San Francisco International Bird Rescue center. They just do aquatic birds though.

*whew* quite the reintroduction, Lavinia!

I'll clink my snifter of Rivulet pecan brandy liqueur to your bourbon glass in welcome.

>97 richardderus: Oooh, yum!!

>95 SqueakyChu: and >96 RBeffa: Madeline and Ron: what is your optimal puzzle size? I used to obsessively buy HUGE puzzles (10K, 15K...) because I thought they'd be amazing, and they would then sit there untouched because, really, who has the room to actually do them? We've settled on 2K as a good size, and one fits nicely on our dining table. Jeff has made me promise I won't buy any bigger than that. 🤣 We also occasionally exchange with friends so we have the chance to work on something new without actually buying it - but Madeline, I love the subscription model! (Also, I have to ask... what did you do to get a soft ban???)

Two LT questions:

1) What are BBs? I've seen them referenced - book bullets, perhaps? - but I don't understand what that means.

2) If any of you use both LT and Goodreads... may I ask what is the value to you in using them both? I was a GR user for many years, but I'm trying to limit my support of That Company (about which I have somewhat mixed feelings, as I live in Seattle and a number of my friends are employed there). That said, I'll still catch myself going there frequently for descriptions of books, if nothing else, because that information isn't always included on LT. I also have a Kindle and it's nice how integrated it is with Goodreads. So I'm wondering how others use both services.

>100 PlatinumWarlock:

1)BB is indeed a book bullet. Basically short hand for saying that someone's review has caused you to add the book to your own to be read list.

2) I keep my want to read list on GoodReads as prefer it to tracking here in LT. I also have more "real life" friends over there and I do like to keep up with their reading so I hang on to it.

>100 PlatinumWarlock: I signed on to Goodreads to follow a favorite author. I now follow 2 or 3 there and a few more as a Patreon subscriber.

>99 PlatinumWarlock: We used to do puzzles ranging in size from 500 pieces to 2,000 pieces. After pandemic that was impossible since the only place we could do them was on our dining room table (which happens to be in our country kitchen). Since we have our family to dinner every Friday evening, I needed a way to cart off the puzzle for that meal. We settled on a folding board which, when folded over, protects a 1,000 piece puzzle...so we usually do that size, although we can modify it to do larger puzzles. Since Completing The Puzzle only has 500 pieces and 1,000 pieces puzzles to rent, we simply take 1,000 piece puzzles. Depending on how hard they are, we can do them in 2 to 8 days. It take about 8 days for us tomail the puzzle back and then receive another puzzle. There are no missing peices from these rental puzzles!

I have a used book store near me that sells used puzzles for three or four dollars. About hald of them have all the pieces. The others are just missing apice or two. I also trade puzzles (as wellas books) with other members of my BookCrossing group.

The soft ban means that I can still use Instagram, but I cannot use hashtags. That keeps me from grouping my pictures (so others can see only birds, only food, or only puzzles) so I hate it. I got soft-banned when I added too many hashtags to different pictures in one day. The algorithm thought I was spam and took away my hashtag privileges. I tried contacting their help, but I got no response. I'm in Instagram limbo. :(

>101 MickyFine: LOL Well, then I'm already riddled with BBs!! Not that I expect that to get any better. 😉

And that makes sense re: GR. Definitely more RL friends there, although my sense is that I'm more immersed in tracking my books than any of my friends are. Thanks!

>102 quondame: Oh, good point, Susan. I hadn't thought about that. I used to follow a few, but they didn't happen to be ones who were at all active, so I never saw much benefit, but perhaps I'll investigate that again - I've expanded my horizons over time!

>103 SqueakyChu: The puzzle service sounds amazing, and 1000-piece ones would keep us from getting overwhelmed. I like the idea of a folding board... we used to have two big pieces of some kind of board I can't remember the name of, and we'd do the puzzle on one of them (on top of the table); if we HAD to move it, we'd stack the second one over the first one and caaaaaaaarefully move it to the floor somewhere. LOL Not a great system. But Jeff's an architect, so I bet he could design something better if he put his mind to it!

Did I see you reference Shabbat dinner somewhere else? That would be such a lovely habit - we're not good about it. Sometimes we go to services, sometimes we're just out, and sometimes we're at home in front of the TV. 😬 But every time we do the rituals, it's a good feeling. I didn't grow up Jewish and haven't converted, but Jeff's faith and traditions have been a heartwarming addition to our life together.

Sorry about the IG ban... that's a bummer. I have the sense that so much is automated over there that explaining yourself is seldom an option. Frustrating, to be sure. But I found you and followed!

>86 curioussquared: How lucky your parent's are, owning a Spinone! I thought the one I saw a couple of days was just a darling! The man walking him told me that Dora the dog was very calm - however, Dora was 13 years old. Your parents dog sounds like a handful indeed! :-)

>99 PlatinumWarlock: My optimal puzzle size is 1000 pieces, I'd say , though I just finished doing a 1500 piece puzzle. I own a couple of 2000 piece puzzles but have yet to get the courage to do one of them. I also do 500 piece puzzles for a quicker ,easier puzzle. Yesterday I got this puzzle board. I have a flat one that my husband put together from corrugated foam - or maybe it's called Coreboard? I'm not sure. But my neck and back has begun to really bother me when I puzzle for extended periods of time , so I think this should make a big difference. I've put it together, but have yet to use it, since I am in the midst of a 500 piece puzzle. https://www.bitsandpiecescanada.ca/product/deluxe-swivel-puzzle-easel?p=1619292&...

>99 PlatinumWarlock: Our optimal size is 1000 because we use a folding card table to do them on. I actually prefer 500-750 piece ones. We have several 1500 piece puzzles not done because those require us to use our project table or the dining room table, and they seem to take us so much longer. I'll pick up a 300 size from the puzzle exchange because they are fun to do so quickly. My wife does most of them these days and 1000 piece is her limit.

>106 PlatinumWarlock: Your folding board is EXACTLY what we made. We also have another extra board half the size of the folding board open so if we want to do a 1,500 piece puzzle, we can use the right side of the folding board for the right half of the puzzle, and do the left half of the puzzle on the extra board (on top off the open folding board). If we have to move it, we take the extra board, place it over the right side of the folding board, then fold the left side over, making the extra board a sandwich filling. LOL! Then I carefully lay the puzzle on our bed until our dinner guests are gone. I can’t put it on the floor because we have a robot vacuum cleaner (which is actually helpful in finding stray puzzle pieces.

Both my husband and my daughter-in-law converted to Judaism before marriage. I seldom attend services other than the holidays, but each week I bake challah, light candles, say kiddish, and make dinner for at least part of our family. I’ve done this since my kids were little, and now my younger son has two kids of his own. I’m not religious but I love our Jewish traditions.

Glad you found me on IG! I’m into bird and puzzle pictures now as you can see!

>100 PlatinumWarlock: I've traded off between GR and LT over the years, sometimes doing both, sometimes only doing one, sometimes doing neither very much. I like the tracking in LT but I use GR for finding out information quickly, like when a book was originally published or where the author is from.

My results with the Kindle/GR integration are hit and miss. When I start a book it always has the "mark as currently reading" switch on in Kindle, but it only sometimes actually puts it on my profile. I often end up having to mark it as read in the popup on the Kindle at the end. But in theory that's one of the convenient things about GR as well, since I read the majority of my books on Kindle.

Wrapped up Crazy Horse's Girlfriend by Erika T. Wurth tonight... quick, interesting, and difficult read. The book does not avoid tough realities but still left me thinking there was hope for the main character. It was the kind of book that hit home for me how deep my privilege goes and how hard it is to look unflinchingly at the way so many people actually live.

Hi Lavinia! My - things are speeding along here on your thread at a truly Cranswickian pace.

I enjoy jigsaw puzzles too, but my cat Jane would never respect such a thing as a puzzle which is basically just a cat toy with hundreds of parts.

>112 Fourpawz2: ...basically just a cat toy with hundreds of parts...

Hahahaha!! So very true.

Yes, the thread has been busy! I've had a few weeks with low obligations, so lots of time to indulge in LT. I'm sure it won't always be this way, but I appreciate all the engagement from my new acquaintances. 😁

Yes, cats are great helpers

>114 RBeffa: 🤣🤣🤣

My last 2 cats were quite geriatric and arthritic so jumping on the table hadn't been a problem (for me) for years. My puzzle days are on indefinite hiatus, however, since my current 2 joined the household. Nothing and nowhere is out of their reach at this point in their young lives. And yes, puzzles would most definitely be a new toy with many moving parts! Sigh...

Just finished The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card - what fun! Loved the worlds, the magic system, the characters, the narration - I had a really hard time putting it down (or turning it off, as the case was). This was my first of his books, and I can't wait to read more. Nice bonus: an afterword in which the author talked a little about how to story came to be.

Book 34 of 75

I have mixed feelings about Orson Scott Card as a person now that I'm an adult, but Ender's Game rocked my world as a 13-year-old and continues to destroy me every time I read it. Such a good book.

>118 curioussquared: Just went and read a little about him, and I can relate to some mixed feelings. Then again, I'm fond of more than one author about whom I have some mixed feelings (e.g., David Eddings); I tend to be a "vote with my wallet" kind of girl, but I think that generally I separate my feelings about people's art from my feelings about them as individuals. I've never really dug into that much... it would be an interesting exercise.

>119 PlatinumWarlock: I had never dug into that much either until J. K. Rowling forced me to think about it, which was definitely an interesting exercise as somebody who grew up shaped by Harry Potter. I mostly align with you and try to treat the art separately as long as I can withhold my dollars, so I still enjoy Harry Potter and Ender's Game rereads. Sometimes, though, I can't separate them -- for example, I don't think I'll ever be able to reread The Mists of Avalon after learning about Marion Zimmer Bradley.

I really liked Card's Pastwatch, but hated a dreadful piece of tripe he wrote called Saints. It was so, so, so bad - I just could not finish it. Ender's Game was just so-so, I thought, but it may have been that I was too old for it or it was just not a good fit for me. Truthfully, at this distance, I can hardly recall what it was about.

I do try not to let a writer's issues come between me and good writing, but after making a quick trip over to Wikipedia to check on MZB's deal, I can certainly see the giant problem >120 curioussquared:. I decided, long ago, to ditch the two books of hers that I had - because I did not care for them - but I think if I were a fan I might have trouble reading her stuff now.

>114 RBeffa: I *once* acquired one of those huge some number of thousand pieces puzzles, bigger than any table I had, and attempted to put it together on the floor of a relatively empty room. My feline companion took to picking up pieces in her teeth and depositing them in other parts of the apartment. Whoops!

>122 ArlieS: when our puzzle supervisor was young he would run over and start to pry up pieces when we were taking one apart. I think he really thought he was helping. Otherwise he has never mouthed them and just likes to lay on top. Look at me not what I am laying on.

>123 RBeffa: - My girls used to bat the pieces: here, this one goes THERE! And THIS one goes THERE! That didn't last too long...

>120 curioussquared: Yes, MZB was another one I just learned about recently (and was so bummed because I LOVED The Mists of Avalon). What IS it with some people???

>121 Fourpawz2: Good to know about Saints - I'll leave that off the list!

>122 ArlieS:, >123 RBeffa:, >124 jessibud2: Ah, our furry friends can be so "helpful"!! Our dogs are currently not allowed in the part of the house where we puzzle, but that'll change in the new house, and two of them will eat ANYTHING - probably including puzzle pieces. 🙄🙄🙄

>114 RBeffa: Ha! Great help indeed! Very cute.

Happy weekend reads :)

>124 jessibud2: My mother-in-law (now deceased) would place a piece in the puzzle, then double-tap it in triumph. We all started doing that in solidarity. Good memory.

Karen O

>127 klobrien2: I do that too! It's definitely a triumph thing. Nice memory indeed. 😊

This would so completely be me if only it were possible.

>129 PlatinumWarlock: LOVE IT!!

>129 PlatinumWarlock: Yeah!

Hey, I noticed that you've dropped by my thread a few times and thought I'd return the favor!

>100 PlatinumWarlock: I use both LT and GR for slightly overlapping purposes. My main purpose for LT is to catalog the books I own, and my main purpose for GR is to store my TBR list. However, I catalog the books I have read (whether I own them or not) in both places, posting my reviews to both sites. I consider LT my primary home, though, especially since it gives me more control over my data. (Also, I've been here since 2006, so my LT habit is pretty strong.)

I've enjoyed your ongoing puzzle discussion -- I think of puzzles as a winter or vacation pastime, as I like to do them with my mother, cousins, and various other family members when we get together. My husband and I did one last winter; in the summer he's doing a lot of outdoor work so there's not a lot of spare time in the evenings. I've never done a super big puzzle, but it would be fun if I could find the space!

>129 PlatinumWarlock: Yesss!

>132 foggidawn: Thanks for stopping by, Foggi! Your LT/GR explanation makes sense. I seldom write an actual review (with more than just a few lines), so I'm not sure I'd use it that way. As I mentioned, I do like the integration between GR and my Kindle, but as I move more towards my Kobo Sage, that might change. LT is just fine for tracking TBRs, even if it requires an extra step or two. Mostly I just like the satisfaction of organizing things, regardless of which website it's on!

And if you do any particularly fun puzzles, be sure to share images! I'm always open to suggestions...

A few days behind on the book reporting because I've been too busy reading and chatting on LT! (I guess that's the best reason. 😳)

I mowed through Oxford Wild by Laura Bradbury, which was a little fluffy (my word for a book which doesn't require deep concentration or thinking - not that there's anything wrong with that) but fun and enjoyable. I'm a sucker for almost anything set in the British Isles, and especially in a university town, and especially when it's actually about people who study or teach at the university, so add in the romance feature and it was pretty much a sure thing for me.

I also started listening to The Gate Thief by Orson Scott Card, the sequel to The Lost Gate. Audiobooks keep me company on walks, in the car, and often while stitching - all of which I'm doing a bit these days, so I anticipate some good progress.

I'm also working my way through Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia, which is excellent so far, and Bramton Wick by Elizabeth Fair - both for the June TIOLI challenge.

I'm quite fortunate with our dog Poppy, as far as puzzles go. I can drop a piece or two and she is not remotely interested. Nice warm day today, for you too, I imagine.

>135 vancouverdeb: It was beautiful, yes! Perfect temp... if it gets over about 25C/77F, I don't love it, so this weather is ideal.

also beautiful one step further south :) (in the older Vancouver - teehee)

Great seeing you around the threads, Lavina. It looks like you are fitting right in. Hope those current reads are treating you well.

>137 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I didn't know Vancouver WA was older than Vancouver BC! (I actually don't know any of the history of either city.) I confess I've spent little time in your Vancouver except to drive through or to charge my car on the way to Eugene. 🤣 Do you enjoy living there?

>138 msf59: Thank you, Mark - everyone is really lovely, and the recommendations are terrific! 😊 Hope you're having a good week!

>139 PlatinumWarlock: I love living here, actually and, yes, it's older than Vancouver BC. Ours was the main settlement in the area and NW headquarters for Hudson Bay Co. before the Canada/US boundary was established 1818 and Hudson Bay moved there to stay in Canada. According to Wikipedia, "Meriwether Lewis wrote that the Vancouver area was "the only desired situation for settlement west of the Rocky Mountains." -- he meant "our" Vancouver :)

>140 RebaRelishesReading: Isn't it wonderful to love where you live?! I didn't know that about Vancouver... good history!

Wrapped up Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia this evening - a powerful, brave, inspiring memoir. I learned a lot about different perspectives on gender-nonconformity and was encouraged by the number of times I was pleasantly surprised by the reactions of people Jacob encountered. I also appreciate the honesty with which they told their story - the edges weren't rounded off, and the messy sludge was shown along with the glitter. Some of the repetition they utilized in descriptions or analogies was a little tiresome - you don't HAVE to say something three different ways when just one way will usually do fine - but I wasn't overly distracted by it. All in all, I found Jacob and their story admirable and impressive, occasionally hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

>133 PlatinumWarlock: Take a look at AimPuzzles - https://www.aimpuzzle.com/ . Their puzzles are not large (a couple hundred pieces, for the large size), but they're utterly gorgeous - stained glass animals, mostly. The shaped pieces (mostly animals, not related to the puzzle) are really cool and fun both to find and to place. They're wooden, so nice and solid. And you can pay a little more and get a wooden box with the image inlaid, or you can get just a purple bag with all the pieces in it and a little tag (an inch square? Not as much as two inches square) with the image. So you know what you're going for, but not any of the details. Or you can cheat slightly and print the image off the website - but I warn you, colors will not match. Shapes, yes, but not colors - don't trust a printout for that.

My sister gave everyone in the family one for Christmas before last - we finally got around to doing the last one early this year (saved them for when everyone was together, which helped with the delay).

>142 PlatinumWarlock: - This sounds like a good - and important - read. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Just stoping by to wish you a (belated) Happy New Thread, Lavinia.
You will have a lot of joy and friends here.
And of course find a lot of books...

>143 jjmcgaffey: Thanks, Jennifer - those sound gorgeous! I love stained glass images, and I love wooden puzzles too, so these might be great for us.

>144 katiekrug: You're welcome, Katie - I hope you enjoy it!

>145 SirThomas: Danke, Thomas! I appreciate your dropping by!

BTW, as you pointed out, Vancouver is right on the way to Eugene... I live about 2 miles from I-5 so if you ever want a break on your drive to or from U of O I imagine we could work out a meet up 😁

>147 RebaRelishesReading: Excellent! Let's hope for that. :)

Hi Lavinia! I haven't seen you around (probably you have been, I've just been terrible at getting around to threads, but I have a job with downtime now, so hopefully I'll get around more).

I also attempt to garden (tomatoes) and I am learning to cross-stitch. I'm currently doing Groot.

You're doing a great job of getting around on the threads (based on how active your thread is). This is a great group for chatting!

>149 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel - thanks for dropping by! I'm pretty new to the groups - probably just a month or so - but I'm having such a good time that I'm spending lots of time here. It really is a wonderful collection of book lovers!

I tried tomatoes a couple of years ago in containers, with some (but not great) success... I'll wait until I can actually get them in the ground next time. I LOVE tomatoes, so I'll be excited if I can figure out the best way to nurture them. I see you're in Minnesota, which I suspect means a much shorter growing season than we have in the Pacific Northwest - is this your first time with the tomatoes? I hope you'll report back with how they do.

I hope also that you have fun with cross-stitching... I learned many years ago, skipped out for a couple of decades in favor of other things, and just returned recently. I find it extremely soothing, and being able to listen to an audiobook at the same time (or even watch TV, if it doesn't require great concentration) makes it a wonderful activity for me. I'd love to see your Groot project!

>150 PlatinumWarlock: I'm very, very slow at cross-stitch. I don't have a lot of time, and I have ADHD. All I have is a mouth, but I'll post a picture when I do my blog pictures on Sunday.

Minimal reading today as instead I spent part of it catching up on chores (which I might have been avoiding recently by spending too much time on LibraryThing 😳😳) and the rest of it seeing the Indigo Girls with one of my BFFs at one of Seattle's best summer concert venues, the Woodland Park Zoo. I started listening to them when I was just out of college (30+ years ago - eeek!) and they were just getting some good air time for their first album. I've seen them easily a half-dozen times over the years, and they consistently sell out their shows here. They never get old for me, even if Emily's voice is not what it used to be, and 'Galileo' and 'Closer to Fine' (with which they ended tonight) always get the whole audience on their feet. Happy times.

Hi Lavinia! Welcome (back)! I'm just returning your visit. It looks like you've settled in well.

You were asking about starting new threads; I just do one a quarter, more or less, and just ignore the continuation message until then. Other people have a lot more posts so they have more threads and some people only have one thread (in this group) each year. Each to their own.

Similarly for the TIOLI challenges. Some people read enough to complete at least one sweep a month but I don't and I also don't plan the books I'll read (except for shared reads like the Belgariad group read), so I read what I feel like and then try and shoe-horn them in at the end.

As you may have noticed, we have construction going on too. Best of luck with yours; island living sounds idyllic.

>152 PlatinumWarlock: - My best friend and I saw Indigo Girls in NYC a couple of years ago, and it was a great show. I'd love to see them again!

Hi Lavinia!

>104 PlatinumWarlock: I rejoined Goodreads recently, but only in order to try to get more info on some of the authors I’m reading. It never appealed to me compared to LT – first for tracking my books, then for finding the 75ers in 2008. I have a separate LT account for my wish list - @kairfa – and use the LT user name as a tag to identify who I took the BB hit from.

>129 PlatinumWarlock: Love it. Going by my usual 100 books a year, I have almost 26 years worth of to-be-read books. It won’t happen, of course, because I always acquire new ones and have been reading lots of books on Kindle Unlimited this year. *shrug*

>153 humouress: Thank you for stopping by, Nina! Thanks for the input on my "how does this work, anyway?" questions, and I hope your kitchen remodel goes smoothly. Are you staying in your house while it's going on? (That can be a chore!) I'm sure you'll be so happy when it's finished. 🙂

>154 katiekrug: They're great... they sell out in Seattle every single time, and I never get tired of them!

>155 karenmarie: That's a neat idea, Karen - tagging with a username. I've got my TBR list in my main LT account, but as its own collection, which works so far, but I love seeing how others organize their books too. And yes, GR is good for lots of information that LT doesn't have yet. But the groups here are much better!

I'm with you on the excessive TBR list. It's out of hand. But hey... I could be hooked on drugs or sports cars or something, so I try to cut myself some slack! 😁

Well, I bailed on my obsessive attempt to get a sweep on this month's TIOLI challenge (my first). It's so easy to get carried away! I'll focus on the main challenge each month and not try to overdo it - I don't ever want reading to feel like work. I did end up reading a couple of books for it that I might not have otherwise, so that's a nice bonus.

Happy Friday, Lavina. Getting ready to launch on another Michigan camping trip. This time to the UP. A pretty campground, right along the north shore of Green Bay. This will not be with our usual camping group but a group from Michigan. Nice bunch. We have tent camped with them before.

Have a great holiday weekend.

>160 msf59: That sounds beautiful, Mark. Have a wonderful time!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to visit me on page 2 of my thread!