karenmarie's reading in 2023 - part X

Welcome to my tenth thread of Two Thousand and Twenty-Three!

New – Bibliolater. Plus, bibliomaniac, bibliophile, lectiophiliac, bookworm. Five ways to describe me and books.

The Good: Family, friends, kitties, books, in constantly-rotating order. Jenna being home is wonderful although I know living at home chaffs her and she’d rather have her own apartment and a kitty or two. Eight months and almost a week post left knee replacement surgery, and I’m happy with where I am with it. I’ve also recently gotten a killer haircut. “Simple pleasures for simple minds.

The Bad and the Sad: Ukraine is still fighting for its survival as an independent country. I’m distraught that there are so many state-sanctioned evil things going on in so many countries in the world, including ours. And I’m devastated at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatening the world. Whack job Mike Johnson is elected speaker of the House. We’re heading back to the 1950s and heading towards becoming a third-world country.

The 2023 hurricane season is almost officially over (June 1 – November 30), with no major threats to us here in NC so far, and none projected.

The Ugly: The Gang of Psychos is the ugliest thing going on in this country right now, especially with the new Speaker of the House and 45 ramping up to get closer to the fascist state he wants.

Like everybody else who gets to 70, I think “How did I get to be old?” No trips planned for the rest of the year. Sigh.

Here’s what I still feel about being retired after almost 8 years:

It’s rip-snorting! It’s Killer Diller! It’s the humdinger. It’s also dilly! It’s the Lollapalooza. It’s the lobster’s dress shirt! It's the snail's ankles. It’s bonaroo! It’s the berries! It’s aces, snazzy, hot, smooth, sweet, swell, keen, and cool. It’s also the fox’s socks, the cat’s pajamas, the bee’s knees, the eel’s hips, the monkey’s eyebrows, the sardine’s whiskers, the gnat’s whistle. It's the razzmatazz and the chipmunk's cheeks. It’s jake, and it’s hotsy-totsy.

I read and am a charter member of the Redbud and Beyond Book Club, started in 1997. Here’s the schedule for 2023-2024:

Aug 23 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - loved
Sep 23 - Indigo Field by Marjorie Hudson – abandoned about page 10
Oct 23 - Shy by Max Porter – abandoned about page 8
Nov 23 - An Immense World by Ed Yong – first several chapters read, interesting and I WILL continue with it
Dec 23 - Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Jan 24 - The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Feb 24 - Solito by Javier Zamora
Mar 24 - The Scapegoat by Daphne DuMaurier
Apr 24 - The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
May 24 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

I happily turned over the reins of the Presidency of the Friends in July and am Immediate Past President. I’ll stay on the Board for however long the next President serves, then completely leave the Board and just stay on the Book Sale Team. I currently volunteer for small duties to help various members of the Board. The Book Sale Team meets on Tuesdays to sort donations for spring and fall book sales.

I have been married to Bill for 32 years and am mother to Jenna, who turned 30 in early August. The three of us live in our own little corner of paradise on 8 acres in central North Carolina USA. The horse boarding thing didn’t work out because of major problems with getting clean, safe power to the barns, and we are not inclined to spend $5K to get the problems fixed right now.

We have three kitties. Inara – 16 1/2, Zoe – 5, Wash – 4.
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We were talking about hair color, grey/silver/white hair on my last thread and I put this together. I’ll re-post here. 2, 24, 32. 1955, 1977, 1985. It’s gotten darker and browner, but my hair is still definitely reddish.
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My goal last year was 75 books, based on what I thought would be a tough reading year because of my health. Ha. I read over 300 books, mostly on my Kindle, mostly using Kindle Unlimited. They were, as my daughter calls them, smut, and my friend Karen in Montana calls porn. *shrugs* I really, really enjoy reading this subgenre of contemporary fiction/romance and will continue until it no longer interests me. This coming year’s goal is back to 100, but I’ve already read 324 books, am still enthralled with contemporary fiction/romance – smut - with no end in sight. I’m going to leave the 100 book goal as is.
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New Year’s Resolutions – 2023 – I think I’ll just posting this all year and make sure I read and update it!

Health:

Lose a minimum of 20 pounds.
Work out for cardio health 3 times a week when appropriate given potential knee surgeries. Have restarted 3x per week treadmill.
Get knee replacement surgery (ies?) and assiduously follow through with all PT and other requirements. First one, left knee, done.
Reduce red meat consumption and increase salmon and other healthy fish consumption. More chicken more frequently, salmon about every week and a half.
Continue low-sodium lifestyle and gradually work to reduce sugared items to 2-3 times a week. Low-sodium lifestyle – check! Reducing sugar – yikes. Not even close.

Reading:

Read 5% nonfiction this year if continuing with startling numbers of contemporary fiction - i.e., romances, otherwise 10% if the romance trend tapers off.
Inventory all book shelves in house, ruthlessly cull that which I won’t read/re-read and which Jenna won’t want when I’m gone. ~123 shelves = 10/month. *sad face*
Finish The Federalist Papers, Pilgrim, re-start and finish Run With the Horsemen, a gift from Peggy.
Read A Brief Introduction to the New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman with friend Karen in Montana.
Read The Making of Biblical Womanhood with friend Karen and @streamsong, both in Montana.

Maybe read Don Juan by George Gordon, Lord Byron, with Peggy.

House:

Get the Parlour back under control by making a decision about each thing in the room and immediately following through properly: keep and store, toss, donate.

Inter-personal:

Be in better touch with family and friends. I tend to isolate when stressed.

General:

As Judy says, pay attention.
Express gratitude for what I have - family, friends, intangibles and tangibles - every day.

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2023. I have high hopes for familial stability with Jenna living at home and socking money away for the eventual move to an apartment of her own. The new normal for Covid will, I hope, be continued vigilance and an eventual regimen of yearly vaccines as we do with flu. With politics, who knows, but I hope the Democrats continue to keep the Gang of Psychos in check as much as possible and the world does not implode via Putin/nuclear/Ukraine, Kim Jung Un in North Korea ditto nuclear, and the Middle East with Israel and Iran ditto nuclear. See a potentially devastating theme here?

Books Read - last year was 324

January
1. Glamorous by Romeo Alexander 12/31/22 1/1/23 202 pages Kindle
2. Commitment Issues by Ali Ryecart 1/1/23 1/2/23 372 pages Kindle
3. Take My Breath Away by Ali Ryecart 1/2/23 1/3/23 395 pages Kindle
4. Out of the Shadows by Ali Ryecart 1/3/23 1/4/23 364 pages Kindle
5. Loose Connection by Ali Ryecart 1/4/23 1/5/23 354 pages Kindle
6. Corporate Bodies by Ali Ryecart 1/5/23 1/6/23 318 pages Kindle
**abandoned Release by Ali Ryecart** 106 pages
**abandoned Time for Love by Laura N. Andrews** 84 pages
**abandoned Imperfect by Ali Ryecart** 52 pages
7. Hotline by Quinn Anderson 1/6/23 1/6/23 276 pages Kindle
8. Alaska by Cate Ashwood 1/6/23 1/7/23 182 pages Kindle
9. Bishop Ridge by Cate Ashwood 1/7/23 1/8/23 187 pages Kindle
10. Copper Creek by Cate Ashwood 1/8/23 1/8/23 198 pages Kindle
11. Bet on Love by A.F. Zoelle and Ariella Zoelle 1/9/23 1/10/23 178 pages 2020
**abandoned First Comes Marriage by Shira Anthony** 145 pages
12. Ex-Factor by CJ Bishop 1/10/23 1/10/23 22 pages Kindle 2022
13. Hot Boss by Scarlet Blackwell 1/10/23 1/11/23 110 pages Kindle 2021
14. The Mechanic and the Surgeon by Steve Milton 1/11/23 1/11/23 115 pages Kindle 2015
**abandoned Captured by Scarlet Blackwell** 82 pages
**abandoned Ironhearted by Cate Ashwood** 156 pages
15. The Best Man Problem by Jace Hadley 1/11/23 1/12/23 248 pages Kindle
16. Show Me Wonders by Riley Nash 1/13/23 1/14/23 327 pages Kindle
17. Hold me Under by Riley Nash 1/14/23 1/15/23 336 pages Kindle
18. Christmas Special by Riley Nash 1/15/23 1/16/23 261 pages Kindle
19. Gruff Touch by R. Cayden 1/16/23 1/17/23 170 pages Kindle
20. Off Limits by Riley Hart 1/18/23 1/18/23 265 pages Kindle
21. Trusting Tanner by Nicky James 1/19/23 1/20/23 197 pages Kindle
22. Not So Nice by Emma Lyon 1/20/23 1/21/23 215 pages Kindle
23. Reunion by Lynn Van Dorn 1/21/23 1/22/23 312 pages Kindle
24. Rebound by Lynn Van Dorn 1/23/23 1/23/23 381 pages Kindle
25. Be My Mistake by Lynn Van Dorn 1/23/23 1/23/23 92 pages Kindle
26. Wild By Nature by Lynn Van Dorn 1/23/23 1/23/23 134 pages Kindle
27. Damage Control by Lynn Van Dorn 1/24/23 1/24/23 426 pages Kindle
28. Delicious by Stella Starling 1/25/23 1/26/23 249 pages Kindle
**abandoned, 8 books** 693 pages
29. Sem by Cora Rose 1/27/23 1/28/23 276 pages Kindle
30. Whit by Cora Rose 1/28/23 1/29/23 290 pages Kindle
31. Emery by Cora Rose 1/29/23 1/29/23 294 pages Kindle
32. Luke by Cora Rose 1/30/23 1/30/23 276 pages Kindle
33. Lex by Cora Rose 1/30/23 1/31/23 233 pages Kindle
**abandoned Save Me by Beck Grey** 86 pages

February
34. Hard Target by Kelly Fox 2/1/23 2/1/23 246 pages Kindle
35. Full Contact by Kelly Fox 2/1/23 2/2/23 206 pages Kindle
36. Most Wanted by Kelly Fox 2/2/23 2/4/23 220 pages Kindle
37. Goodnight by Kelly Fox 2/4/23 2/5/23 264 pages Kindle
38. Heart of the Steal by Roan Parrish and Avon Gale 2/5/23 2/5/23 296 pages Kindle
39. In The Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish 2/5/23 2/6/22 428 pages Kindle
40. Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish 2/6/23 2/7/23 316 pages Kindle
41. Straight to the Heart by Lynn van Dorn 2/8/23 2/8/23 302 pages Kindle
42. The Loner by Riley Hart 2/8/23 2/9/23 253 pages Kindle
43. The Husband Hoax by Saxon James 2/9/23 2/10/23 278 pages Kindle
44. The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith 11/1/22 2/11/23 audiobook 32.75 hours
45. Pretty Obsessed by J.R. Gray 2/10/23 2/11/23 350 pages Kindle
46. Pretty Toxic by J.R. Gray 2/11/23 2/12/23 228 pages Kindle
**abandoned May the Best Man Win by J.R. Gray, Kate Hawthorne** 116 pages
47. Just Want More by Evelyn Jeannie Hall 2/13/23 2/13/23 203 pages Kindle
48. The New Hire by A.W. Scott 2/14/23 2/14/23 116 pages Kindle
**abandoned Ben's Boss by K.C. Wells** 231 pages
**abandoned Powder and Pavlova by Jay Hogan** 99 pages
**abandoned The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde** 18 pages
**abandoned Sawyer by J.J. Harper
49. Gus by J.J. Harper 2/15/23 2/15/23 120 pages Kindle
50. Pushing the Limits by Riley Hart 2/16/23 2/16/23 322 pages Kindle
51. Giving Chase by Riley Hart 2/17/23 2/17/23 355 pages Kindle
52. Murphy's Law by Riley Hart 2/17/23 2/18/23 343 pages Kindle
53. Hard Knox by Riley Hart 2/18/23 2/18/23 358 pages Kindle
54. Griff's Place by Riley Hart 2/18/23 2/19/23 353 pages Kindle
55. Beautiful and Terrible Things by Riley Hart 2/19/23 2/19/23 386 pages Kindle
56. Snowed in With Benefits by Misha Horne 2/20/23 2/20/23 422 pages Kindle
57. Working Out the Kinks by Misha Horne 2/20/23 2/21/23 362 pages Kindle
58. Just a Bit Bossy by Alessandra Hazard 2/21/23 2/22/23 251 pages Kindle
59. So Into You by S.E. Harmon 2/22/23 2/23/23 312 pages Kindle
60. Stay With Me by S.E. Harmon 2/23/23 2/24/23 272 pages Kindle
61. Chrysalis by S.E. Harmon 2/24/23 2/24/23 238 pages Kindle
**abandoned Texas King by A.R King** 150 pages ugh. got weirdly kinky. I like kink, but not this kink.
62. Charming Him by Louisa Masters 2/25/23 2/26/23 183 pages Kindle
**abandoned The Last Favor by Meg Harding** 15 pages
**abandoned Until You Say Otherwise by Kate Hawthorne** 120 pages
63. Fake It 'Til You Make It by Louisa Masters 2/25/23 2/26/23 39 pages Kindle
64. Eurotour by Jaberona BL 2/26/23 2/26/23 95 pages Kindle
65. Proud by Tatum West 2/26/23 2/27/23 231 pages Kindle
**abandoned Not Used to Cute by Becca Seymour** 40
66. The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths 2/27/23 2/28/23 357 pages hardcover
67. 1066 by Professor Jennifer Paxton 2/14/23 2/28/23 audiobook 3 hours

March
68. Business As Usual by Alison Hendricks 2/28/23 3/1/23 219 pages Kindle
69. A Kind of Romance 3/1/23 3/2/23 by Lane Hayes 270 pages Kindle
70. Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray 3/2/23 3/3/23 336 pages Kindle
71. Honestly Yours by Jaime Reese 3/3/23 3/4/23 364 pages Kindle
72. The Marriage Contract by Aja Foxx 3/4/23 3/4/23 254 pages Kindle
**abandoned Out by Tatum West** 167 pages
**abandoned Forgotten:Luca by Sloan Kennedy** 116
73. Rare by Briar Prescott 3/5/23 3/5/23 302 pages Kindle
74. The Happy List by Briar Prescott 3/5/23 3/6/23 278 pages Kindle
75. The Dating Experiment by Briar Prescott 3/6/23 3/6/23 268 pages Kindle
**abandoned The Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition** by Professor Teofilo F. Ruiz** .45 hours
**abandoned The Underdog by Briar Prescott** 22 pages
**abandoned Heal My Heart by HQ Kingsley** 24 pages
**abandoned The Long Game by Samantha Wayland** 14 pages
**abandoned Forgotten: Luca by Sloane Kennedy** 100 pages
76. The Inconvenient Love by Briar Prescott 3/7/23 258 pages Kindle
77. Dirty Forty by Mia Monroe 3/8/23 3/9/23 236 pages Kindle
78. His Touch by Elena London 3/18/23 3/18/23 55 pages Kindle
79. Redeem by Christina Lee 3/18/23 3/21/23 238 pages Kindle
80. Undone by Christina Lee 3/21/23 3/23/23 255 pages Kindle
81. Beautiful Chaos by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack 3/24/23 3/25/23 241 pages Kindle
82. Love Me Louder by Christina Lee 3/25/23 3/25/23 236 pages Kindle 2018
83. The Romantic by Riley Hart 3/26/23 3/27/23 270 pages Kindle
84. Destructive Relations by Hayden Hall 3/27/23 3/27/23 244 pages Kindle
85. Pretty Wreck by J.R. Gray 3/28/23 3/31/23 282 pages Kindle

April
86. Colin by Cora Rose 3/31/23 4/1/23 242 pages Kindle
87. Hard for Tristan by Brady Fox 4/1/23 4/2/23 86 pages Kindle
88. Roommate by Sarina Bowen 4/2/23 4/3/23 297 pages Kindle
89. Reaching Reed by Cora Rose and Nicole Dykes 4/3/23 4/4/23 264 pages Kindle
90. Filthy Sweet by R. Cayden 4/4/23 4/5/23 216 pages Kindle
91. Givers by Casey Cox 4/5/23 4/6/23 281 pages Kindle
92. The Unmasking of Kelly James by Belle Chapin 4/6/23 4/7/23 224 pages Kindle
**abandoned The Faker Rulebook by Baylin Crow** 77 pages
**abandoned Family Rules by Jacki James** 78 pages
**abandoned Moving On by Felice Stevens** 210 pages
**abandoned Filthy and the Beast by R. Cayden** 100 pages
**abandoned Thief of Hearts by K. Evan Coles** 17 pages
**abandoned Hired: Hadley by Nora Phoenix** 112 pages
93. Pretty Things by Devon McCormack 4/7/23 4/8/23 342 pages Kindle
94. The Night Screams by Devon McCormack 4/8/23 4/9/23 203 pages Kindle
95. #ROYAL by Devon McCormack 4/9/23 4/10/23 263 pages Kindle
96. Snowblind by Eli Easton 4/10/23 4/11/23 114 pages Kindle
97. The Trouble with Tony by Eli Easton 4/11/23 4/11/23 111 pages Kindle
98. Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews 4/11/23 4/12/23 263 pages Kindle 2016
99. Honeymoon for One by Keira Andrews 4/12/13 4/13/2023 269 pages Kindle 2018
100. In Case of Emergency by Keira Andrews 4/13/23 4/13/23 155 pages Kindle 2017
101. Dearest Milton James by N.R. Walker 4/13/23 4/14/23 218 pages Kindle 2021
102. 2 Dead Fish Named Kevin by L.A. Witt 4/14/23 4/14/23 84 pages Kindle 2023
103. Surprise Groom by D.J. Jamison 4/14/23 4/15/23 312 pages Kindle 2019
104. To The Moon and Back by N.R. Walker 4/15/23 4/16/23 209 pages Kindle 2023
105. Prince of Lies by Lucy Lennox 4/16/23 4/16/23 298 pages Kindle 2023
106. IRL: In Real Life by Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox 4/16/23 4/17/23 267 pages Kindle 2019
107. Say You'll Be Nine by Lucy Lennox 4/17/23 4/17/23 265 pages Kindle 2020
108. Virgin Flyer by Lucy Lennox 4/17/23 4/18/23 254 pages Kindle 2020
109. Facing West by 4/18/23 4/18/23 4/19/23 271 pages Kindle 2017
110. Hearts Colliding by Ali Ryecart 4/19/23 4/19/23 310 pages Kindle 2023
111. Gideon by RJ Scott and Meredith Russell 4/20/23 4/21/23 190 pages Kindle 2020
112. Cover Me by L.A. Witt 4/21/23 4/22/23 386 pages Kindle 2014
113. Hitman vs Hitman by Cari Z 4/22/23 4/22/23 272 pages Kindle 2020
**abandoned Attraction by Kelly Fox** 120 pages
114. Takeover by Anna Zabo 4/23/23 4/24/23 230 pages Kindle 2021
**abandoned Just Business by Anna Zabo** 130 pages
115. Hard for my Boss by Daryl Banner 4/24/23 4/24/23 380 pages Kindle 2017
**abandoned Jerk: An ABCs of Love by Daryl Banner** 140 pages
116. The Intern by Serena Akeroyd 4/25/23 4/25/23 270 pages Kindle 2020
117. Revenge is Sweet by Felice Stevens 4/25/23 4/26/23 273 pages Kindle 2023
118. Make Me Fall by Riley Nash 4/26/23 4/28/23 296 pages Kindle 2022
119. Deadly Lover: Special Edition by Jocelynn Drake 4/28/23 4/29/23 338 pages Kindle 2021
**abandoned The Marriage Runaway by Aja Foxx** 120 pages
120. And the Best Man Ran Away with the Groom by Isla Olsen 4/29/23 4/30/23 185 pages Kindle

May
121. List Me With Your Best Shot by Isla Olsen 4/30/23 5/1/23 205 pages Kindle 2023
122. Friendly Fire by Cari Z 5/1/23 5/2/23 228 pages Kindle
123. The Art of Possession by Cari Z 5/2/23 5/3/23 171 pages Kindle
124. The Intern by Ally Porter 5/3/23 5/3/23 59 pages Kindle 2021
125. Tate by D Alex 5/3/23 5/4/23 138 pages Kindle 2021
126. Soul to Keep by Garrett Leigh 5/4/23 5/5/23 238 pages Kindle 2018 Jamie and Marc
127. Christmas on Firefly Hill by Garrett Leigh 5/5/23 5/5/23 188 pages Kindle 2022
128. Angels in the City by Garrett Leigh 5/5/23 5/6/23 254 pages Kindle 2020
129. How to Catch a Prince by Ana Ashley 5/7/23 5/8/23 230 pages Kindle 2019
**abandoned No Good Mitchell by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack** 203 pages
130. Checking Him Out by Debbie McGowan 5/9/23 5/10/23 208 pages Kindle 2014
131. Up for the Challenge by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack 5/10/23 5/12/23 358 pages Kindle 2017
**abandoned Felix and the Prince by Lucy Lennox** 148 pages Why, oh why, did I think another Prince of a small European Country and an American would work?
132. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith 3/1/23 5/12/23 16 hours audio book
133. Addicted to Ellis D by S.E. Harmon 5/12/23 5/13/23 320 pages Kindle 2023
134. Misconduct by Lynn Van Dorn 5/13/23 5/14/23 198 pages Kindle 2023
135. Not That Complicated by Isabel Murray 5/14/23 5/15/23 283 pages Kindle 2022
136. The Trouble With Trying to Date a Murderer 5/15/23 5/16/23 167 pages Kindle 2022
137. Not So Fake by Emma Lyon 5/17/23 5/18/23 Kindle 187 pages 2021
**abandoned Midnight Ash by Ana Ashley** 183 pages
**abandoned Sugar and Sawdust by Debbie McGowan** 33 pages
138. Picking Up the Pieces by Frey Ortega 5/18/23 5/19/23 118 pages Kindle
139. The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey 5/16/23 5/20/23 254 pages Kindle
140. The Realist by Riley Hart 5/19/23 5/19/23 235 pages Kindle 2023 Marcus and Kai
**abandoned His Personal Assistant by LJ Harris** 120 pages
141. Edge of Living by HL Day 5/20/23 5/21/23 250 pages Kindle 2018
142. Five Night Stand by HL Day 5/21/23 5/22/23 151 pages Kindle 2022
143. Taking Love's Lead by HL Day 5/22/23 5/22/23 248 pages Kindle 2018 Zack and Edgar
144. Gaycation in Paradise by Ariella Zoelle 5/23/23 5/24/23 236 pages Kindle 2021 Rook and Aldo
145. Cinderella in the Sheets by Reece Pine 5/24/23 5/24/23 131 pages Kindle Presley and Louis 2018
146. Always MJ by SJD Peterson 5/24/23 5/24/23 49 pages Kindle Matty and Jared 2012
**The Gift of Strength by M.A. Innes** 126 pages
147. Kept in the Dark by HL Day 5/25/23 5/26/23 202 pages Kindle Dean Justin 2018
148. A Temporary Situation by HL Day 5/26/23 5/26/23 249 pages Kindle 2018 Tristan and Dominic
149. Time for a Change by HL Day 5/26/23 5/27/23 249 pages Kindle Michael and Sam 2018
150. Temporary Insanity by HL Day 5/27/23 5/28/23 258 pages Kindle 2019 Paul and Indy
151. Christmas Riches by HL Day 5/28/23 5/28/23 156 pages Kindle 2019
**abandoned Shai by HL Night** 146 pages
152. Not So Silent Night by HL Day 5/29/23 5/29/23 222 pages Kindle Ferris and Xander 2021
153. Exposed by HL Day 5/29/23 5/30/23 370 pages Kindle Tate and X 2020

June
154. A Flighty Fake Boyfriend by Z.A. Maxfield 5/31/23 6/1/23 250 pages Kindle
155. A Much Younger Man by Z.A. Maxfield 6/1/23 6/1/23 254 pages Kindle 2020 Beck and Lindy
**abandoned The Office Nemesis Calamity by Hayden Hall** 186 pages
156. Trick Play by Eden Finley 6/2/23 6/3/23 316 pages Kindle Matt and Noah 2018
157. Beautifully Stolen by Charity Parkerson 6/3/23 6/4/23 146 pages Kindle Brett and Roman 2020
158. Sometimes You Just Know by Bill VanPatten 6/4/23 6/4/23 258 pages Kindle Arnie and Peter 2022
159. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith 5/13/23 6/5/23 17.5 hours audiobook 2014
160. Forrest's #Win by Jennifer Cody 6/4/23 6/6/23 221 pages Kindle Forrest and Blake 2021
161. Poison Hearts by Jennifer Cody 6/6/23 6/7/23 85 pages Kindle Orlando and Shannon 2023
162. The Best Men by Lauren Blakely and Sarina Bowen 6/7/23 6/8/23 326 pages Kindle Asher and Mark 2022
**abandoned A Guy Walks Into My Bar by Lauren Blakely** 138 pages
163. Reckless Roulette by Alice Winters 6/8/23 6/9/23 147 pages Kindle Kade and Len 2023
164. Dealer of Secrets by Davidson King 6/9/23 6/10/23 143 pages Kindle Zaire and Carter 2023
165. Leave No Trace by Michelle Frost and Sammi Cee 6/10/23 6/10/23 79 pages Kindle Trace and Kol 2023
166. Atlas by Eden Finley 6/10/23 6/11/23 257 pages Kindle Atlas and Lemon 2023
167. Snow Falling by Davidson King 6/11/23 6/11/23 236 pages Kindle Snow and Christopher 2017
168. Bullets & Butterflies by Maz Maddox 6/11/23 6/12/23 147 pages Kindle Liam and Cisco 2023
169. Smash & Grab by Maz Maddox 6/12/23 6/13/23 180 pages Kindle Dalton and Simon 2020
170. Sink or Swim by Maz Maddox 6/13/23 6/14/23 220 pages Kindle Jackson and Baha 2021
171. King & Queen by Maz Maddox 6/14/23 6/15/23 219 Kindle Royal and Blaise 2021
172. Lost in Amber by Maz Maddox 6/15/23 6/16/23 219 pages Kindle Yu and Lance 2022
173. Love for the Reaper by Charlie Cochet 6/16/23 6/16/23 80 pages Kindle Dev and Remy 2023
174. Heart Thief by Skylar Sweeney 6/16/23 6/17/23 282 pages Kindle Mason and Rex Blood Brothers 1 2022
175. Power Plays by Tricia Owens 5/28/23 6/17/23 6/17/23 117 pages Kindle Max and Ethan 2018
176. The Bucket List by Tricia Owens 6/18/23 6/18/23 110 pages Kindle Gabriel and Quinn 2016
177. Not So Innocent by Emma Lyon 6/18/23 6/18/23 201 pages Kindle Ethan and Holden 2021 The Real Thing 2
178. Not So Perfect by Emma Lyon 6/18/23 6/19/23 192 pages Kindle Shane and Quinn 2021 The Real Thing 4
179. The Guardian by Tricia Owens 6/19/23 6/20/23 332 pages Kindle Hayden/Dorian and Thomas 2017
180. The Holiday Hookup by Baylin Crow 6/20/23 6/20/23 57 pages Kindle Finn and Hunter 2021
181. Sweetest Hate by Baylin Crow 6/21/23 6/21/23 216 pages Kindle Arsen and Kellan 2021 Guys Next Door 2
182. Booklover by J.E. Birk 6/21/23 6/21/23 240 pages Kindle Jamie and Briar Vino and Veritas 7 2021
183. Mastering the Muse by Peter Styles 6/22/23 6/23/23 137 pages Kindle Arlo and Walter The Billionaire's Consort 1 2019
184. The Date Mistake by Joelle Lynne 6/24/23 6/25/23 296 pages Kindle Trevor and Aaron 2023 standalone
185. Nerdy Talk by Joelle Lynne 6/25/23 6/25/23 236 pages Kindle Micah and Lucas 2022 standalone
186. Wish Me Home by Joelle Lynne 6/25/23 6/25/23 167 pages Kindle Emmett and Cody 2022 Home for the Holidays 2
187. Hired for the Holidays by Raquel Riley 6/25/23 6/26/23 134 pages Kindle Jones and Adam Hearts for Hire 5
188. Faking It by Ali Ryecart 6/26/23 6/26/23 288 pages Kindle Toby and Ben Rent Boys 2
**abandoned Love, Me by Quinn Ward** 57 pages
**abandoned Shared Custody by J.P. Oliver and Peter Styles** 45 pages
189. Ace in the Hole by J.P. Oliver and Peter Styles 6/28/23 6/28/23 178 pages Kindle Oliver and Leo 2018
190. Before You Go by S.J. Conner 6/28/23 6/29/23 139 pages Kindle Leo and Anthony 2022 Holiday MM Romance 1
191. Adam by Reese Winters 6/29/23 6/29/23 69 pages Kindle Adam and Ronin Cockpit Club 1 2020
192. The Billionaire's Proposal by Reese Winters 6/29/23 6/29/23 75 pages Kindle Sebastian and Jude 2020
193. Corporate Merger by Lance Abrusco 6/29/23 6/29/23 41 pages Kindle Jack and Cameron 2015
**abandoned Into the North by Amber Huxley** 200 pages
**abandoned Fighting For You by J.P. Oliver** 60 pages
**abandoned Paladin by Onley James** 262 pages

July
194. Captive Hearts by Ali Ryecart 6/30/23 7/1/23 296 pages Kindle Dashiell and Billy Deviant Hearts 1 2018
195. LOL by Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox 7/1/23 7/2/23 277 pages Kindle Scotty and Roman After Oscar 2 2019
196. The Step Bro Situation by Jesse H Reign 7/2/23 7/3/23 321 pages Kindle Luke and Jessie The Situationship Series 1 2023
197. How to Say I Do by Tal Bauer 7/3/23 7/5/23 401 pages Kindle Noël and Wyatt 2023
198. Sainted by Jesse H Reign 7/5/23 7/6/23 277 pages Kindle Saint and Damon (Demon) 2023
199. The List by Felice Stevens 7/6/23 7/8/23 267 pages Kindle Win and Eliot Second Chances 1 2021
200. Stick to the Script by Lane Hayes 7/8/23 7/8/23 88 pages Kindle Wyatt and Jamie Ace's Wild 13 2019
201. The Real Baxter by Lane Hayes 7/8/23 7/9/23 344 pages Kindle Sebastian and Trent The Baxter Chronicles 1 2022
202. Spreadsheets by Jaclyn Quinn 7/9/23 7/9/23 88 pages Kindle Griffin and Jeremy Ace's Wild 8 2019
203. Baxter's Right Hand Man by Lane Hayes 7/9/23 7/10/23 269 pages Kindle Pierce and Lorenzo The Baxter Chronicles 2 2023
204. Up to No Good by Annabella Michaels 7/10/23 7/10/23 60 pages Kindle Miles and Cole Ace's Wild 11 2019
205. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith 6/6/23 7/11/2023 18 hours audiobook 2015
206. Explicit Transactions by Hayden Hall 7/10/23 7/11/23 215 pages Kindle Luca and Austin Destined to Fail 3 2023
207. Rent Boy by Peter Styles and J.P. Oliver 7/11/23 7/12/23 126 pages Kindle Evan and Jacob 2018
208. The Right Wrong Number by Katie Warren 7/12/23 7/12/23 240 pages Kindle Julian and Liam 2023
**abandoned Up In Flames by Eden Finley and Saxon James ** 240 pages
209. The Jerk Next Door by Mia Monroe 7/13/23 7/14/23 190 pages Kindle Reign and Ace 2021
210. The Easy Way by May Archer 7/14/23 7/15/23 266 pages Kindle Cort and Cam 2017 The Way Home 1
211. I Do (Not) Anni Lee 7/15/23 7/15/23 244 pages Kindle Jake and Trevor 2023
212. See Me by CeCe Bennett 7/16/23 7/17/23 84 pages Kindle Ben and Oliver Requited 1 2023
213. Trained by the Boss by Charlotte Storm 7/17/23 7/18/23 184 pages Kindle Aiden and Griffin 2018
**abandoned Unfortunate by Nicole Dykes** 164 pages
214. Marry Me by Mia Monroe 7/18/23 7/19/23 230 pages Kindle Briar and Jude Tattoos and Temptation 1 2020
215. Not So Sincerely, Yours by A.M. Johnson 7/19/23 7/20/23 442 pages Kindle Ethan and Anders 2021
216. Laws of Attraction by Peter Styles 7/20/23 721 137 pages Kindle Tom and Jay 2016
217. Until You by Briar Prescott 7/20/23 7/22/23 320 pages Kindle Jude and Blake 2023
**abandoned Mr. Big Shot by Isla Olsen** 88 pages
218. My Boss With Benefits by Casey Cox 7/22/23 7/23/23 Kindle Miles and Kyler Elysian Escapades 2
219. The Long Way by May Archer 7/15/23 7/23/23 Kindle Damon and Cain 2017 The Way Home 2
220. Wrong Message, Right Valentine by Romeo Alexander 7/23/23 7/23/23 Kindle Sebastian and Trevor
221. Right-Hand Man by T.S. Ankney 7/23/23 7/23/23 Kindle Eli and Dante 2022 Hot Takes 1
222. Asking for a Friend by JJ Harper 7/23/23 7/24/23 Kindle Lando and Hesketh 2023
**abandoned Beau Pair by Rhys Everly** 128 pages
**abandoned The Unravelling of Julian Gray by Belle Chapin** 134 pages
223. The Kiss of His Blade by Romeo Alexander 7/25/23 7/27/23 387 pages Kindle Dane and Tristan 2022
224. Always the Groomsman by Raleigh Ruebins 7/27/23 7/27/23 253 pages Kindle Zane and Sebastian 2018
225. To Love and Protect by Romeo Alexander 7/27/23 7/28/23 330 pages Kindle Marcus and Adrian 2022
226. Help Me Remember by Romeo Alexander 7/28/23 7/29/23 277 pages Kindle Eric and Dylan 2022
227. Cupid Hates Me by Romeo Alexander 7/29/23 7/29/23 111 pages Kindle Brendan and Ryan 2020
228. Escort by Romeo Alexander 7/29/23 7/30/23 189 pages Kindle Jacob and Max 2021 Greenford 1
229. The Case of the Disappearing Hero by Romeo Alexander 7/30/23 7/30/23 118 pages Kindle Trevor and Cole 2019
**abandoned Stubbed Toes and Dating Woes by Dahlia Donovan** 38 pages

August
230. Distraction by Kelly Fox 7/31/23 8/1/23 248 pages Kindle Hopper and Liam Mobsters and Billionaires 4 2022
231. An Unexpected Kind of Love by Hayden Stone 8/2/23 8/2/23 277 pages Kindle Aubrey and Blake When Snow Falls 1 2021
**abandoned Romantic Rescue by Blake Allwood** 99 pages
232. Curious by R.G. Alexander 8/3/23 8/3/23 232 pages Kindle Jeremy and Owen The Finn Factor 1 2015
233. Liar's Gambit by KellyFox 8/3/23 8/4/23 90 pages Kindle Nigel and Wilhelm The Elite 5 2023
234. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall 8/4/23 8/6/23 425 pages Kindle Luc and Oliver London Calling 1 2020
235. Obsession by Beth Laycock 8/6/23 8/6/23 269 pages Kindle Eli and Dominic 2019
236. How to Bang a Billionaire by Alexis Hall 8/6/23 8/7/23 350 pages Kindle Arden and Caspian Arden St. Ives 1 2017
237. How to Blow It With a Billionaire by Alexis Hall 8/7/23 8/8/23 355 pages Kindle Arden and Caspian Arden St. Ives 2 2017
238. How to Belong With a Billionaire by Alexis Hall 8/8/23 8/10/23 452 pages Kindle Arden and Caspian Arden St. Ives 3 2019
239. Love Always, Wild by A.M. Johnson 8/10/23 8/11/23 386 pages Kindle Wilder and Jax For Him, 1 2020
240. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 8/6/23 8/12/23 386 pages Hardcover
241. Glitterland by Alexis Hall 8/12/23 8/13/23 286 pages Kindle Darian and Ash Spires 1 2013
242. The London Chance by Lane Hayes 8/12/23 8/12/23 77 pages Kindle Chance and Roman 2023
**abandoned The Boss by M.D. Gregory** 48 pages
243. Waiting For the Flood by Alexis Hall 8/13/23 8/24/23 98 pages Kindle Adam and Edwin Spires 2 2018
244. For Real by Alexis Hall 8/14/23 8/16/23 427 pages Kindle Laurie and Toby Spires 3 2018
245. Pansies by Alexis Hall 8/16/23 8/18/23 438 pages Kindle Alfie and Fen Spires 4 2018
**abandoned Yours to be Forgiven by Hayden Hall** 115 pages
246. Reese Holt: The Dark Side by Laura Baumbach 8/18/23 8/19/23 236 pages Kindle Reese and Alex Reese Holt 1 2016
**abandoned A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach** 100 pages
247. Dear Mr. Brody by A.M. Johnson 8/19/23 8/20/23 402 pages Kindle Van and Parker For Him 3 2021
**abandoned Forever, Con Amor, by A.M. Johnson** 233 pages
248. The Endless Road to Sunshine by Nicky James 8/21/23 8/22/23 351 pages Kindle Jason and Skylar 2021
249. The Christmas I Know by Nicky James 8/22/23 8/23/23 145 pages Kindle Xavier and Andrew 2018
250. Adrenaline Jake by Louise Collins 8/23/23 8/23/23 93 pages Kindle Jake and Maddox Jake & Maddox 1 2017
251. Mad Dog Maddox by Louise Collins 8/23/23 8/23/23 117 pages Kindle Jake and Maddox Jake & Maddox 2 2017
252. Bye Baby by Louise Collins 8/23/23 8/24/23 157 pages Kindle Eliot and Donnie 2020 Flowershop Assassins 1 2020
253. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith 7/12/23 8/28/23 audiobook 22.5 hours 2020
254. So Pathetic by Louise Collins 8/25/23 8/26/23 249 pages Kindle Yates and Dylan Flowershop Assassins 2 2022
255. Raging Ranger by Louise Collins 8/26/23 8/26/23 243 pages Kindle Ranger and Troy Flowershop Assassins 3 2022
256. Rocked to Death by Louise Collins 8/26/23 8/28/23 307 pages Kindle Stone and Robin The Bakery Brothers 1 2023
257. My Cowlick Cop by Louise Collins 8/28/23 8/29/23 320 pages Kindle Jude and Luck The Bakery Brothers 2
**abandoned About Last Night by Aimee Nicole Walker** 93 pages
258. Halo by E.M. Lindsey 8/30/23 8/31/23 239 pages Kindle Victor and Oliver 2023

September
259. Rapture by E.M. Lindsey 8/31/23 9/1/23 239 pages Kindle Poe and Alonso 2023
260. Not Dating Material by Saxon James 9/1/23 9/2/23 281 pages Kindle Seven and Molly Accidental Love 2 2023
261. Aisle Be There by Charlie Cochet 9/2/23 9/3/23 246 pages Gage and Jett Kindle Runaway Grooms 1 2023
262. The Reprobate by Silvia Violet 9/3/23 9/4/23 284 pages Kindle Fox and Darren Texas Safehouse 5 2023
263. Takers by Casey Cox 9/4/23 9/4/23 246 pages Kindle Bremmer and Kelsey Upper Echelons 2 2023
264. My Fake Boyfrenemy by Casey Cox 9/4/23 9/4/23 Kindle Marnus and Pierce Elysian Escapades 3 2023
265. His Model Lover by Brendol James 9/4/23 9/5/23 200 pages Kindle Mika and Leo 2023
266. Taming the Tattooist by Brendol James 9/5/23 9/6/23 222 pages Kindle Isaac and Sean Sweet Ink 1 2022
267. Checking Out Love by R. Cooper 9/6/23 9/7/23 41 pages Kindle Jeremy and Benj 2015
**abandoned The Billionaire's Assistant by Silvia Violet ** 157 pages
**abandoned The Brat and the Bossman by Rebecca James** 9/8/23 9/9/23 Blaze and Lake
268. The Charmer by Riley Hart 9/9/23 9/10/23 249 pages Kindle Corbin and Spencer The Vers Podcast 4 2023
**abandoned Scandal by T. Ashleigh** 145 pages**
269. Heatwave by A.D. Ellis 9/11/23 9/11/23 173 pages Kindle Grant and Avery 2023
270. Return of the Chauffeur's Son by Tara Lain 9/11/23 9/12/23 223 pages Kindle Luca and Dylan Movie Magic Romances 1 2020
**abandoned Imperfect by Ali Ryecart** 160 pages
271. His Brutal Heart by Leighton Greene 9/13/23 9/15/23 400 pages Kindle Alessandro and Teddy West Coast Mobsters 2 2023
272. His Fatal Love by Leighton Greene 9/15/23 9/17/23 410 pages Kindle Leo and Julian West Coast Mobsters 2 2023
273. Will & Patrick Wake Up Married by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths 9/17/23 9/18/23 128 pages Kindle Wake Up Married 1 2016
274. Will & Patrick Meet the Family 9/18/23 9/18/23 121 pages Kindle Wake Up Married 2 2016
275. Will & Patrick Do the Holidays by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths 9/18/23 9/19/23 117 pages Kindle Wake Up Married 3 2016
276. Will & Patrick Fight Their Feelings by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths 9/19/23 9/20/23 141 pages Kindle Wake Up Married 4 2016
277. Will & Patrick Meet the Mob by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths 9/20/23 9/20/23 153 pages Kindle Wake Up Married 5 2016
278. Will & Patrick's Happy Ending by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths 9/20/23 9/21/23 140 pages Kindle Wake Up Married 6 2016
279. Mr. Naughty List by Leta Blake 9/21/23 9/23/23 312 pages Kindle RJ and Aaron Mr. Christmas 2 2019
**abandoned Husband Material by Alexis Hall** 97 pages
**abandoned Pretty F*cked by J.R. Gray** 173 pages
280. Mr. Jingle Bells by Leta Blake 9/23/23 9/26/23 421 pages Kindle Ashton and Walker Mr. Christmas 3 2021
281. A Little Bit Like Love by Brooke Blaine 9/26/23 9/26/23 314 pages Kindle Jackson and Lucas South Haven 1 2017
282. Bedhead by Brooke Blaine 9/26/23 9/27/23 238 pages Kindle Hudson and Drew Hate to Love You 1 2023
**abandoned Bring on Forever by Leta Blake** 60 pages
283.Falling for the Florist by Brendol James 9/27/23 9/29/29/23 157 pages Kindle Henry and Dylan Sweet Ink 2 2023
**abandoned His Argentinian Billionaire by Avery Mist** 71 pages

October
**abandoned Made to Order by Brigham Vaughn** 171 pages
284. The Anonymous Hookup by Jax Calder 10/1/23 10/2/23 121 pages Kindle Sam and Lane 2022
285. The Roommate Proposal by Jace Hadley 10/2/23 10/2/23 287 pages Kindle Alexsei and Logan Perfect Opposites 2 2022
286. EWB (Enemies with Benefits) by N.R. Walker 10/2/23 10/2/23 353 pages Kindle Valentine and Marshall 2023
**abandoned Private Charter by N.R. Walker** 34 pages
287. Outrun the Rain by N.R. Walker 10/4/23 10/5/23 177 pages Kindle Tully and Jeremiah The Storm Boys Series 1 2023
**abandoned Tic-Tac Mistletoe by N.R. Walker** 130 pages
**abandoned Sinner's Gin by Rhys Ford** 83 pages
288. Into the Tempest by N.R. Walker 10/5/23 10/6/23 185 pages Kindle Tully and Jeremiah The Storm Boys Series 2 2023
289. Touch the Lightning by N.R. Walker 10/6/23 10/7/23 195 pages Kindle Tully and Jeremiah The Storm Boys series 3 2023
290. The Kite by N.R. Walker 10/7/23 10/8/23 272 pages Kindle Harry and Asher 2022
291. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith 9/27/23 10/10/23 Hardcover and Kindle 2023 944 pages
**abandoned The Hate You Drink by N.R. Walker** 112 pages
292. Love and Sunshine by Killian Ford 10/9/23 10/10/23 230 pages Kindle Levi and Cameron 2022
293. I Hear You by Casey Morales 10/10/23 10/11/23 310 pages Kindle Gabe and Tyler Nashville Spicy Book 3 2023
**abandoned Oral Persuasion by Ian Finn** 52 pages
294. Body Count by L. Eveland 10/12/23 10/13/23 349 pages Kindle Theo and River Wayward Sons 2023
**abandoned Real Trouble by Elle Keaton** 60 pages
295. Captured by by Remi Kingsley 10/13/23 10/14/23 54 pages Kindle Leo and Maddox 2022
296. The Fixer by Charity Parkerson 10/14/23 10/14/23 243 pages Kindle Chad and Journey Damaged Devils 1 2023
297. Blood Sports by Daniel May 10/14/23 10/15/23 289 pages Kindle Jove and Tobias Hanged Men 1 2021
298. War Games by Daniel May 10/15/23 10/16/23 420 pages Kindle Nerva and Pascal Hanged Men 2 2022
**abandoned Claiming the Cleanfreak by Daniel May** 134 pages Atticus and Isaac 2021
299. Man Hunt by Daniel May 10/16/23 10/18/23 280 pages Kindle Mars and Diomedes Hanged Men 3 2023
300. The Moon Also Rises by Frances M. Thompson 10/18/23 10/20/23 452 pages Kindle Jake and Rami Sun, Moon & Stars 2 2022
**abandoned Too Close to the Flame by Ryan Taylor** 66 pages
301. Pick Me by May Archer 10/21/23 10/22/23 323 pages Kindle Gage and Knox Sunday Brothers 1 2021
302. Floodgates by Mary Calmes 10/22/23 10/22/23 307 pages Kindle Tracy and Cord 2023
303. The Marshal's PI by Este Holland 10/23/23 10/23/23 232 pages Kindle Kai and Gannin Yours to Protect 2 2019
**abandoned One Night in Whisper by K. Sterling** 57 pages
304. Christmas Spirit by Ali Ryecart 10/24/23 10/24/23 167 pages Kindle Roland and Georgie 2020
305. A Toast to Us by Leah Meers 10/24/23 10/24/23 156 pages Kindle Max and Emmitt Tales from Revere's 1 2020
306. Top Shelf Tastes by Leah Meers 10/24/23 10/25/23 193 pages Kindle Finn and Carter Tales from Revere's 2 2020
307. Talk to Me by D.K. Sutton 10/25/23 10/26/23 181 pages Kindle Max and Chase Sloan Brothers 1 2019
308. First Impressions by Jay Hogan 10/26/23 10/27/23 323 pages Kindle Michael and Josh Auckland Med 1 2019
309. Up Close and Personal by Jay Hogan 10/28/23 10/29/23 354 pages Kindle Mark and Edward Aukland Med 3 2020
**abandoned Giving In by Rue Whitney** 154 pages
310. Enemies Like You by Joanna Chambers and Annika Martin 10/30/23 10/31/23 308 pages Kindle Will and Kit Enemies with Benefits Series 1 2017
**abandoned Too Close to the Flame by Ryan Taylor** 110 pages
abandoned

November
311. Total Creative Control by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm 10/31/23 11/1/23 358 pages Kindle Aaron and Lewis Creative Types 1 2021
**abandoned Meeting Mr. Adorkable by Ali Ryecart** 227 pages
312. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith 8/28/23 11/2/23 audio book 32 hours Cormoran Strike 5 2020
313. His Last Christmas in London by Con Riley 11/2/23 11/3/23 188 pages Kindle Ian and Guy Con Riley's Christmas Collection 2022
314. On the 2 by Felice Stevens 11/4/23 11/4/23 283 pages Kindle Nash and Ethan 2023
315. Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker 11/4/23 11/4/23 101 pages Kindle Sebastian and Ryland 2017
316. Galaxies and Oceans by N.R. Walker 11/4/23 11/5/23 301 pages Kindle Aubrey and Patrick 2018
317. Bossy by N.R. Walker 11/5/23 11/6/23 270 pages Kindle Bryce and Michael 2021
318. Elements of Retrofit by N.R. Walker 11/6/23 11/6/23 122 pages Kindle Thomas and Cooper Thomas Elkin Series 1 2017
319. Clarity of Lines by N.R. Walker 11/6/23 11/6/23 132 pages Kindle Thomas and Cooper Thomas Elkin Series 2 2017
320. Sense of Place by N.R. Walker 11/6/23 11/6/23 134 pagesKindle Thomas and Cooper Thomas Elkin Series 3 2018
**abandoned Fall For You by Felice Stevens** 164 pages
321. The Art of Husbandry by Jay Hogan 11/7/23 11/9/23 397 pages Kindle Gil and Holden Mackenzie Country 1 2023
322. The Mechanics of Lust by Jay Hogan 11/9/23 11/10/23 382 pages Kindle Zach and Luke Mackenzie Country 2 2023
323. Trusting the Elements by Elle Keaton 11/10/23 11/11/23 178 pages Kindle Greg and Otto Never Too Late 1 2019
324. Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish by Jay Hogan 11/11/23 11/12/23 330 pages Kindle Niall and Adrian Southern Lights 3 2020
**abandoned BTW: By The Way by Lucy Lennox** 89 pages
**abandoned Hold the Door by Vinni George** 189 pages
**abandoned Tied to You by Syn Blackrose** 85 pages
325. Tallowwood by N.R. Walker 11/14/23 11/15/23 277 pages Kindle August and Jacob 2019
326. The Lost Fiancé Twist by Ana Ashley 11/15/23 11/16/23 330 pages Kindle Lex and Emery Spencer Brothers 1 2023
327. Going Up by Amy Lane 11/17/23 11/17/23 74 pages Kindle Zach and Sean 2013
328. Jon's Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case by AJ Sherwood 11/16/23 11/18/23 300 pages Kindle Jonathan and Donovan Jon's Mysteries Case 1 2019
329. Rearranged by E.M. Denning 11/18/23 11/18/23 196 pages Kindle Rowan and Sid Do Over 1 2022
**abandoned Benji: Walking Disaster by EM Denning** 148 pages
**abandoned Don't Mess With the Ex by DJ Jamison** 66 pages
** Rediscovered by EM Denning** 22 pages
330. Kiss Me Again by Garrett Leigh 11/19/23 11/19/23 212 pages Kindle Aidan and Ludo 2019
331. Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh 11/19/23 11/20/23 202 pages Kindle Liam and Zac Rented Heart 1 2018
332. The Inappropriate Date by Jax Calder 11/20/23 11/20/23 50 pages Kindle Hunter and Adam 2021
**abandoned The Other Brother by Jax Calder** Ryan and Cody 50 pages
**abandoned Explicit Transactions by Hayden Hall** Luca and Austin 70 pages, unintentional re-read
**abandoned The Sex Coach by Garrett Leigh** 76 pages Toby and Cole
333. Snowed in at Christmas Cottage by Ali Ryecart 208 pages 11/21/23 11/22/23 Kindle Kyle and William 2023
334. His Perfect Christmas Gift by Ali Ryecart 11/22/23 11/22/23 195 pages Kindle Felix and Gabriel 2021
335. Eight Dates by EM Lindsey 11/22/23 11/23/23 198 pages Kindle Ben and Nova 2023
336. When He Beckons by Halli Starling 11/24/23 11/24/23 95 pages Kindle Deacon and Zan 2022
337. Company for Christmas by Ali Ryecart 11/24/23 11/24/23 76 pages Kindle Nathan and Max 2018
**abandoned Promises by AE Via** 62 pages
338. The One That Got Away by Nicky James 11/24/23 11/25/23 329 pages Kindle Takoda and Charlie 2021
339. Radio Static by Nicky James 11/25/23 11/26/23 298 pages Kindle Nova and Mercy 2021
340. Forgetful Hearts by Nicky James 11/26/23 11/27/23 251 pages Kindle Shay and Josiah Hometown Jasper Novels 3 2020
341. A Boyfriend for Christmas by Jay Northcote 11/27/23 11/28/23 224 pages Kindle Cal and Archie 2019
**abandoned Incandescent by Christina Lee** 130 pages
**abandoned The Law of Attraction by Jay Northcote** 137 pages
**abandoned Mr. Big Shot by Isla Olsen** 39 pages
**abandoned Not That Impossible by Isabel Murray** 46 pages
342. Operation Fake Relationship by Jay Northcote 11/29/23 11/30/23 157 pages Kindle Jackson and Nick 2020
343. Protecting Elliot by Sloane Kennedy 11/30/23 11/30/23 84 pages Kindle Cruz and Elliot Protectors 9.5 2017
344. Lost Christianities by Professor Bart D. Ehrman 11/2/23 11/30/23 audiobook 12.5 hours 2002

December
345. Manny for the Mafia by Brendol James 11/30/23 12/1/23 121 pages Kindle Joey and Godric 2023
346. Absolution by Sloane Kennedy 12/1/23 12/1/23 222 pages Kindle Mace, Cole, and Jonas Protectors 1 2016
347. Salvation by Sloane Kennedy 12/1/23 12/2/23 227 pages Kindle Ronan and Seth Protectors 2 2016
348. North's Pole by Leta Blake 12/3/23 12/3/23 211 pages Kindle North and Liam Camp Bay Christmas 1 2022
349. Once Upon a December by Jess Bryant 12/3/23 12/3/23 92 pages Kindle Gibson and Felix Once Upon a Holiday 1 2018
350. Retribution by Sloane Kennedy 12/4/23 12/4/23 230 pages Kindle Hawke and Tate Protectors 3 2016
351. Grinch Kisses by DJ Jamison 12/4/23 12/5/23 198 pages Kindle Griff and Logan Christmas Falls 1
**abandoned Forsaken by Sloane Kennedy** 146 pages
352. The River Leith by Leta Blake 12/5/23 12/6/23 210 pages Kindle Leith and Zach 2014
**abandoned, with reluctance but surety Pilgrim by Timothy Findley, started June 2022** 260 pages
353. Without Warning by Reese Knightley 12/6/23 12/6/23 306 pages Kindle Ryder and Harrison Cobalt Security 1 2019
354. The Last Text by Alice Winters 12/7/23 12/7/23 142 pages Kindle Merrick and Jace 2019
355. A Different Kind of Honeymoon by Sofia Scott 12/7/23 12/8/23 130 pages Kindle Rory and Aiden New Zealand Men 2 2021
356. Awfully Ambrose by Sarah Honey 12/8/23 12/8/23 274 pages Kindle Ambrose and Liam Bad Boyfriends, Inc. 1 2022
357. Captured by Scarlet Blackwell 12/8/23 12/9/23 185 pages Kindle Gabriel and Ethan Cold Love 1 2022
358. Caught by Scarlet Blackwell 12/9/23 12/9/23 113 pages Kindle Marshall and Luka Cold Love 2 2022
**Adam's Song by Spencer Spears** 44 pages
359. Entangled by Scarlet Blackwell 12/9/23 12/9/23 202 pages Kindle Jamie and Ephram Cold Love 3 2022
360. Revived by Scarlet Blackwell 12/09/23 12/10/23 205 pages Kindle Kanen and Jensen Cold Love 4 2022
361. All I Want for Christmas is Revenge by K.A. Merikan 12/10/23 12/12/23 256 pages Kindle Saint and Rowan 2023
362. Wrong Way Home: Taken by K.A. Merican 12/12/23 12/12/23 242 pages Kindle Taron and Colin Criminal Delights 1 2019
363. Malicious Compliance by E.M. Lindsey 12/12/23 12/13/23 130 pages Kindle Forrest and Jules Loose Lips Sink Ships 1 2022
364. Instant Regret by E.M. Lindsey 12/13/23 12/13/23 144 pges Kindle Forrest and Jules Loose Lips Sink Ships 2 2022
365. Sentenced to Christmas by Marshall Thornton 12/13/23 12/14/23 246 pages Kindle Gage and Cal 2023
**abandoned The Spy and the Mobster's Son by Keira Andrews** 144 pages
366. The Christmas Veto by Keira Andrews 12/14/23 12/15/23 256 pages Kindle Reid and Connor Festive Fakes 2023
**abandoned Chance Encounter by Luna David** 48 pages
**abandoned Guys Like Him by Aimee Nicole Walker** 153
367. Debt by Louise Collins 12/15/23 12/16/23 60 pages Kindle Levi and Greyson Romance on the Go 0 2019
368. The Silent Mountain Man by Casey Cox 12/16/23 12/16/23 84 pages Kindle Harrick and Eddie Movin' to the Mountains 1 2023
369. The Curious Mountain Man by Casey Cox 12/16/23 12/16/23 101 pages Kindle Branum and PJ Movin' to the Mountains 2 2023
370. Tell Me a Lie by Brianna Flores 12/16/23 12/17/23 212 pages Kindle Lucas and Sage 2023
**abandoned If I Met You First by AB Julian** 56 pages
371. And Then You by Briar Prescott 12/17/23 12/18/23 287 pages Kindle Stephen and Quinn Until 2 2023
372. Finding Mr. Fabulous by Con Riley 12/18/23 12/19/23 312 pages Kindle Rex and Dev 2023
373. Dust of Snow by Indra Vaughn 12/19/23 12/20/23 155 pages Kindle Gregory and Ashley 2014
374. Feeling Santimental by M.J. O'Shea 12/20/23 12/20/23 58 pages Kindle Ellery and Simon 2021
375. Man on the Inside by LJ Zephyr 12/20/23 12/21/23 283 pages Kindle Artemy and Neil 2023
376. A Changeling Christmas by Eli Easton 12/2/23 12/21/23 137 pages Kindle Riggs and Felix Snowed Inn 7 2022
377. 12 Days of UPS by Eli Easton 12/22/23 12/22/23 37 pages Kindle Dan and Paul 2022
378. Perfect Ten by K.M. Neuhold 12/22/23 12/22/23 307 pages Kindle Ten and Bambi = Tennyson and Ryan Palm Island 1 2022
**abandoned Fated by Indra Vaughn** 100 pages
**abandoned The 12 Kittens of Christmas by Amy Lane** 70 pages
**abandoned Swift's Temptation by J.R. Loveless** 70 pages
379. Counterclockwise by LJ Zephyr 12/23/23 12/24/23 191 pages Kindle my own library Lee and Simon 2023
380. Merge Ahead by Tanya Chris 12/24/23 12/25/23 213 pages Kindle Adam and Will 2016
381. Among Heroes by Tanya Chris 12/25/23 12/26/23 216 pages Kindle Kindle Rook and Bryce 2018
382. Forget I Told You by Tanya Chris 12/26/23 12/27/23 221 pages Kindle Jay and Deron 2019
383. Better Off by Tanya Chris 12/27/23 12/27/23 176 pages Kindle Hailey and Mac 2020
384. Planes, Trains, and Hurricanes: A Christmas Road Trip Romance by Eli Easton 12/27/23 12/27/23 119 pages Kindle Remy and Joe 2023
**abandoned Perfect Storm by K.M. Neuhold** 61 pages
385. Fake the Date by Ana Byrd 12/27/23 12/27/23 230 pages Kindle Ben and Evan #LoveWins 1 2020
386. Suddenly Beck by Vawn Cassidy 12/27/23 12/28/23 328 pages Kindle Nat and Beck Belong to Me 1 2021
387. The Island by Lisa Henry 12/28/23 12/28/23 324 pages Kindle Shaw and Lee 2016
388. Cool Story, Bro by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey 12/29/23 12/29/23 49 pages Kindle Travis and Levi 2021
389. The River's Edge by Jordan Castillo 12/29/23 12/29/23 Kindle Gino and Shane 2023
390. Two Man Station by Lisa Henry 12/29/23 12/30/23 263 pages Kindle Gino and Jason Emergency Services 1 2018
391. Just a Bit Ruthless by Alessandra Hazard 12/30/23 12/30/23 254 pages Kindle Roman and Luke Straight Guys 6
392. Introduction to Judaism by Professor Shai Cherry 12/4/23 12/30/23 audiobook 12 hours
393. Just a Bit Dirty by Alessandra Hazard 12/30/23 12/31/23 230 pages Kindle img src="http://static.librarything.com/pics/s8.gif">Ian and Miles Straight Guys 10 2019

Currently Reading:

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters 12/23/23 Hardcover 2014
Grounded by Jon Tester 1/1/24 Hardcover 2020
An Immense World by Ed Yong 10/22/23 Hardcover 355 pages 2022
The Federalist edited by Jacob E. Cooke 5/28/22 656 pages hardcover 1961

adds - last year was 371, with way too many Kindle books. Kindle Unlimited will reduce that number significantly this year. I hope. We'll see.

1. Kindle - Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained by Maya Rodale
2. Kindle - The Mechanic and the Surgeon by Steve Milton
3. Kindle - Hot Boss by Scarlet Blackwell
4. Amazon - Livid by Cai Emmons
5. re-added - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
6. Amazon - The Dead Sea Scrolls by Betsy Bennett
7. found - New Testament by
8. FoCCL - The New Testament: Greek and English by Kurt Aland
9. Amazon - Everything You Need to Know When I'm Gone: After Death Planner by
10. Amazon - Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
11. Amazon - What Is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman
12. Amazon - Desperation in Death by J.D. Robb
13. Amazon - No Plan B by Lee Child and Andrew Child
14. FoCCL - Oldtown Folks by Harriet Beecher Stowe Quality Issue
15. Amazon - Call for the Dead by John le Carré
16. Stasia Doster - The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 by Lucy S. Dawidowicz
17. Kindle - Fake It 'Til You Make It by Louisa Masters
18. Kindle - Eurotour: Age Gap MM Romance by Jaberona BL
19. Kindle - Powder & Pavlova by Jay Hogan
20. Kindle - The Golden Asse by Lucius Apuleius, translated by William Adlington
21. Kindle - Baby Shark by Robert Fate
22. Kindle - Adrenaline Jake: Jake & Maddox by Louise Collins
23. Kindle - The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper
24. Kindle - Remember Him by Steve Milton
25. Amazon - The Fresco by Sheri S Tepper
26. FoCCL - The Golden Age by Kenneth Grahame
27. Karen - Writers and Their Cats by Alison Nastasi
28. Karen - Call of the Cats: What I Learned About Life and Love from a Feral Colony by Andrew Bloomfield
29. FoCCL - Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville
30. found - Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
31. Amazon - The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
32. Rhoda - Whoever I Am by Eileen Dewhurst
33. Rhoda - 1222 by Anne Holt
34. Rhoda - Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
35. FoCCL - Halley's Bible Handbook: An Abbreviated Bible Commentary by Henry H. Halley
36. FoCCL - Resurrecting Jesus: Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic by Adyashanti
37. FoCCL - Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them) by Bart D. Ehrman
38. FoCCL - Abraham Lincoln The War Years by Carl Sandburg
39. FoCCL - The Word Bible Handbook by Lawrence O. Richards
40. FoCCL - The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History by Ph. D. Alan Axelrod
41. Jenna - Le Petit Prince: Avec Dessins Par L'auteur , Antoine de Saint Exupery by Antoine de Saint Exupery
42. FoCCL - Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
43. Amazon - The Red Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids by Mark Lehner
44. Rhoda - Bill Slider Omnibus by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
45. Amazon - The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr
46. Karen - Thrust: A Spasmodic Pictorial History of the Codpiece in Art by Michael Glover
47. FoCCL - The Tao of Zen by Ray Grigg
48. FoCCL - God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
49. FoCCL - Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman
50. FoCCL - A Treasury of American Folklore: Stories, Ballads, and Traditions of the People by B.A. Botkin
51. FoCCL - Jewish Participants in the Civil War by Harry Simonhoff
52. FoCCL - The Bible in Pictures by Rev Ralph Kirby
53. Kindle - Sugar and Sawdust by Debbie McGowan
54. Kindle - Checking Him Out by Debbie McGowan
55. FoCCL - Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie
56. FoCCL - The Monks Of War. The Military Orders by Desmond Seward
57. Kindle - Say It by Sky McCoy
58. Kindle - Los Nefilim by T. Frohock
59. FoCCL - The Obsidian Chamber by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
60. FoCCL - Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
61. Amazon - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
62. Amazon - Slow Horses by Mick Herron
63. Amazon - Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
64. Kindle - The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey
65. Kindle - Cinderella in the Sheets by Reece Pine
66. Amazon - Salmon Fishing In The Yemen by Paul Torday
67. Kindle - Power Plays: MM Stories of Sin City by Tricia Owens
68. Amazon - Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
69. Kindle - Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
70. Amazon - Fatal Shadows by Josh Lanyon
71. FoCCL - Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
72. FoCCL - Slaughter-House Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
73. FoCCL - Back Home by Bill Mauldin
74. FoCCL - The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo
75. FoCCL - Sapho by Alphonse Daudet
76. Amazon - The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
77. Amazon - Encore in Death by J. D. Robb
78. Amazon - Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End by Bart D. Ehrman
79. McIntyre's - Metropolis by B. A. Shapiro
80. McIntyre's - Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen
81. McIntyre's - Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen
82. McIntyre's - Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris
83. Karen - Yellowstone View by Thomas Lee
84. Amazon - My Search for Warren Harding by Robert Plunket
85. Amazon - The Bigger They Come by Erle Stanley Gardner
86. Karen - The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation by N. T. Wright
87. Karen - The Beauty of Living: E. E. Cummings in the Great War by J. Alison Rosenblitt
88. Karen - The Journey to the Mayflower: God's Outlaws and the Invention of Freedom by Stephen Tomkins
89. Karen - Dinosaur Lives: Unearthing an Evolutionary Saga by John R. Horner
90. Karen - Librarian Tales: Funny, Strange, and Inspiring Dispatches from the Stacks by William Ottens
91. Karen - Scribe by Alyson Hagy
92. Karen - The Zen of Home Water: True Tales of Adventure, Travel, and Fly Fishing by Jerry Hamza
93. Karen - David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
94. Karen - Melted Cheese: Gloriously gooey recipes, from fondue to grilled cheese & pasta bake to potato gratin by Ryland Peters & Small
95. Laura - Exiles by Jane Harper
96. Louise - A Field Guide to Western Birds by Tory Peterson Institute Roger
97. Laura - An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
98. Jenna - The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes
99. Jenna - Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Live of the Stars by Scotty Bowers
100. Kindle - Our Secret Wedding by H J Perry
101. Jenna - The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
102. Jenna - Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves
103. Jenna - Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves
104. Jenna - Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves
105. Jenna - The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves
106. Jenna - Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves
107. Jenna - The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves
108. Jenna - The Seagull by Ann Cleeves
109. Kindle - Off Plan by May Archer - thank you Richard, for sending me the $0.00 link
110. Kindle - Moving Maverick by Lucy Lennox - thank you Richard, for sending me the $0.00 link
111. Kindle - The List by Felice Stevens
112. Kindle - Why Love Matters by Jay Northcote
113. Kindle - Masked Ball at Broxley Manor by Rhys Bowen
114. FoCCL - Donald Has a Difficulty by Peter Neumeyer and Edward Gorey
115. FoCCL - The Dinosaur Hunter by Homer Hickham
116. FoCCL - Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
117. FoCCL - The Library Book by Susan Orlean
118. Amazon - Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton
119. Kindle - Mission:X by Alan Kim
120. FoCCL - Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature's Most Intriguing Dedications by Marlene Wagman-Geller
121. FoCCL - Simon the Coldheart by Georgette Heyer
122. Amazon - Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey
123. FoCCL - Letty by Clare Darcy
124. FoCCL - The American Duchess by Joan Wolf
125. Kindle - Husband Material by Alexis Hall
126. Kindle - Glitterland by Alexis Hall
127. Kindle - Farthing by Jo Walton
128. Kindle - Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
129. Kindle - For Real by Alexis Hall
130. Kindle - The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale
131. Kindle - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
132. FoCCL - Gandhi's Religious Thought by Margaret Chatterjee Quality issue
133. FoCCL - When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
134. FoCCL - Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck - mass market paperback
135. FoCCL - The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck - mass market paperback
136. FoCCL - Giant by Edna Ferber Quality issue
137. FoCCL - Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis Quality issue
138. FoCCL - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
139. Kindle - Queer Ducks by Eliot Schrefer
140. Kindle - Pansies by Alexis Hall
141. FoCCL - Simon the Cold Heart by Georgette Heyer
142. Kindle - Artifacts by Mary Anna Evans
143. Amazon - The Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels
144. Amazon Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
145. FoCCL - My Religion by M.K. Gandhi
146. FoCCL - The Mind of the South by W.J. Cash
147. FoCCL - A History of Britain Vol 1 by Simon Schama
148. FoCCL - A History of Britain Vol 2 by Simon Schama
149. FoCCL - A History of Britain Vol 3 by Simon Schama
150. Amazon - Secret Power Wikileaks and Its Enemies by Stefania Maurizi
151. Kindle - Indigo Field by Marjorie Hudson
152. Thrift Shop - Writers & Lovers by Lily King
153. Thrift Shop - Hussein by Patrick O'Brian
154. FoCCL - Village Creek by Gordon Baxter
155. Amazon - Feminist Interpretation of the Bible edited by Letty M. Russell
156. Amazon - The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer - trade paperback
157. Kindle - Checking Out Love by R. Cooper
158. FoCCL - The Abduction Of A Limerick Heiress by Toby Barnard
159. Amazon - Payback in Death by J.D. Robb
160. Amazon - Shy by Max Porter
161. FoCCL - The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel
162. Amazon - Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by Dylan Hollis
163. Dutch & Kay - Collier's World Atlas and Gazetteer by Son Corporation
164. Dutch & Kay - Japanese in Thirty Hours by Eiichi Kiyooka
165. Dutch & Kay - Stirrin the Pots on Daufuskie by Billie Burn
166. Dutch & Kay - The Birds of America by James Audubon
167. Dutch & Kay - The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier by Greenleaf Whittier
168. Dutch & Kay - What If There's a Rainbow? by Johnston-Hale
169. FoCCL - A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao
170. FoCCL - A New History of the American South by Fitzhugh Brundage
171. FoCCL - Afternoons with Harper Lee by Wayne Flynt
172. FoCCL - Alexandra Petri's US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up) by Alexandra Petri
173. FoCCL - An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
174. FoCCL - Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane
175. FoCCL - Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates by Jay Dolin
176. FoCCL - Born to Be Hanged: The Epic Story of the Gentlemen Pirates Who Raided the South Seas, Rescued a Princess, and Stole a Fortune by Keith Thomson
177. FoCCL - Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century by Roseanne Montillo
178. FoCCL - Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers by McDowell
179. FoCCL - Hitchcock's Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director's Dark Obsession by Laurence Leamer
180. FoCCL - Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism by Jeffrey Toobin
181. FoCCL - I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
182. FoCCL - In the Act by Rachel Ingalls
183. FoCCL - Jerusalem: The Biography by Sebag Montefiore
184. FoCCL - Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
185. FoCCL - Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins―From Spices to Vices by Noah Whiteman
186. FoCCL - Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past by M. Kruse
187. FoCCL - Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
188. FoCCL - Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi
189. FoCCL - Rich White Men: What It Takes to Uproot the Old Boys' Club and Transform America by Garrett Neiman
190. FoCCL - Roadwork by Stephen King
191. FoCCL - Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature by Elizabeth Winkler
192. FoCCL - Soldiers Don't Go Mad: A Story of Brotherhood, Poetry, and Mental Illness During the First World War by Charles Glass
193. FoCCL - Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding
194. FoCCL - The Book of Longings by Monk Kidd
195. FoCCL - The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland
196. FoCCL - The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
197. FoCCL - The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
198. FoCCL - The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice by Benjamin Gilmer
199. FoCCL - The Paris Mystery by Kirsty Manning
200. FoCCL - The Reality Meltdown by Dan Cray
201. FoCCL - The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Callahan Henry
202. FoCCL - U.S. Official Pictures of the World War by William E. Moore Late Captain USA and James C. Russell Late Captain USA
203. FoCCL - Zero Days by Ruth Ware
204. FoCCL - Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World by Ella Frances Sanders
205. FoCCL - The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart
206. FoCCL - The Devil's Company by David Liss
207. FoCCL - Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore
208. FoCCL - Do Penguins Have Knees? by David Feldman
209. FoCCL - I'm Too Young To Be Seventy: And Other Delusions by Judith Viorst
210. FoCCL - My Friends by Hisham Matar
211. FoCCL - The B.S. of A.: A Primer in Politics for the Incredibly Disenchanted by Brian Sack
212. FoCCL - Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner
213. FoCCL - Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth by Bart D. Ehrman
214. FoCCL - The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed by Bart D. Ehrman
215. FoCCL - The Great Courses: Introduction to Judaism by Shai Cherry
216. FoCCL - Dear Brutus by J.M. Barry
217. FoCCL - North Carolina Archaeology, Volume 71, 2022 by David J. Cranford
218. FoCCL - North Carolina Archaeology, Volume 65, 2016 by R.P. Stephen Davis Jr.
219. FoCCL - The Work of Purcell and Elmslie, Architects by David Gebhard
220. FoCCL - Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas And the Shaping of Christianity by Elaine H. Pagels
221. FoCCL - A Vanished World by Roman Vishniac
222. FoCCL - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles by Anne Savage
223. FoCCL - Complete Idiot's Guide to British Royalty by Richard Buskin
224. FoCCL - Ancient Egyptian Art: Systematic Catalogue of the Collection, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh by North Carolina Museum of Art
225. FoCCL - Art and History of Egypt by Alberto Carpiceci
226. FoCCL - Amedeo Modigliani by Jacques Lipchitz and Alfred Werner
227. FoCCL - What Life Was Like in Europe's Golden Age: Northern Europe, Ad 1500-1675 by Steven E. Ozment
228. FoCCL - The Hours of Henry VIII: A Renaissance Masterpiece by Jean Poyet by Roger S. Wieck
229. FoCCL - Teotihuacan: Art from the City of the Gods by Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
230. FoCCL - Bloodline of the Holy Grail: the Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed by Laurence Gardner
231. FoCCL - Australian Family Circle Heritage Cookbook by Joy Hayes
232. FoCCL - Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
233. FoCCL - Nothin' but Good Times Ahead by Molly Ivins
234. FoCCL - TILT : A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa by Nicholas Shrady
235. FoCCL - Crowned Masterpieces of Literature That Have Advanced Civilization - Vol. X. by David J. Brewer
236. FoCCL - Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
237. FoCCL - The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right by William Martin
238. FoCCL - The Drifters by James A. Michener
239. FoCCL - The Source by James A. Michener
240. FoCCL - Caravans by James A. Michener
241. Amazon - The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1899-1936: The Making of a Detective Novelist by Dorothy L. Sayers
242. Dutch & Kay - 'Tis Sixty Years Since: A Story of the University of North Carolina in the 1880s by James Lee Love
243. Kindle - City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong - bought it in June, just discovered I hadn't added it to my catalog
244. Amazon - The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
245. Kindle - The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
246. Kindle - The Complete Harvard Classics - ALL 71 Volumes: The Five Foot Shelf & The Shelf of Fiction: The Famous Anthology of the Greatest Works of World Literature
247. FoCCL - The History of Christian Theology by Professor Phillip Cary audio CDs
248. FoCCL - Lost Christianities by Professor Bart D. Ehrman audio CDs
249. FoCCL - Aristotle's Children by Richard E. Rubenstein
250. Amazon - An Immense World by Ed Yong
252. Kindle - The Artist's Boxer by Este Holland
253. Amazon - Paleofantasy by Marlene Zuk
254. Found here at the house - Humpty Dumpty's Book of Poems
255. Found here at the house - Queen's Full by Ellery Queen
256. Amazon - My Dear Cassandra: The Letters of Jane Austen Selected and Introduced by Penelope Hughes-Hallett
257. FoCCL - The Epic of Gilgamesh
258. FoCCL - The Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey
259. FoCCL - The Trial of the Templars by Malcolm Barber
260. FoCCL - The Plums of P.G. Wodehouse by P.G. Wodehouse
261. FoCCL - The Ottoman Empire by Lord Kinross
262. FoCCL - Portfolio 12: The Artist as a Visionary by John Canaday Metropolitan Museum of Art
263. Kindle - First Impressions by Jay Hogan
264. FoCCL - Village Creek by Gordon Baxter
265. Found here at the house - The Adventures of Robin Hood by Paul Creswick
266. FoCCL - The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
267. Kindle - Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker
268. FoCCL - The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
269. FoCCL - Mayo Clinic On Arthritis: How to Manage Pain and Lead an Active Life by The Arthritis Experts at the Mayo Clinic
270. FoCCL - Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
271. FoCCL - Ultimate French: Beginner-Intermediate by Annie Heminway
272. FoCCL - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
273. FoCCL - Corpus Christmas by Margaret Maron
274. FoCCL - Death in Blue Folders by Margaret Maron
275. FoCCL - Death of a Butterfly by Margaret Maron
276. FoCCL - Fugitive Colors by Margaret Maron
277. FoCCL - High Country Fall by Margaret Maron
278. FoCCL - Home Fires by Margaret Maron
279. FoCCL - Past Imperfect by Margaret Maron
280. FoCCL - Southern Discomfort by Margaret Maron
281. FoCCL - The Right Jack by Margaret Maron
282. FoCCL - Up Jumps the Devil by Margaret Maron
283. FoCCL - Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker
284. Kindle - Trusting the Elements by Elle Keaton
295. FoCCL - The New Adventures of Ellery Queen
296. FoCCL - The Four of Hearts by Ellery Queen
297. FoCCL - Have No Fear, Snoopy by Charles M. Schultz
298. FoCCL - You've Come a Long Way, Snoopy by Charles M. Schultz
299. FoCCL - You're Supposed to Lead, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schultz
300. FoCCL - Hats Off to You, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schultz
301. FoCCL - The Book of Mormon
302. Kindle - Hold the Door by Vinni George
303. Kindle - Going Up by Amy Lane
304. FoCCL - The Zen of the Bright Virtue by Manly P. Hall
305. Amazon - The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith - audio book
306. Amazon - The Book of Paradise by Itzak Manger
307. FoCCL - As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
308. FoCCL - Forged by Bart D. Ehrman
309. FoCCL - The Promise by Damon Galgut
310. Amazon - Holly by Stephen King
311. Kindle - Mr. Big Shot by Isla Olsen
312. Hamilton Books - A Literate South by Beth Barton Schweiger
313. Hamilton Books - Mask of the Sun by John Dvorak
314. Hamilton Books - 30-Second Literature edited by Ella Berthoud
315. Hamilton Books - God's Favorites by Michael Coogan
316. Hamilton Books - California Exposures by Richard White
317. Kindle - Learning to Feel by N.R. Walker
318. Stasia Doster - The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family by Ron Chernow
319. FoCCL - Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America by O'Reilly, Martin Dugard and Bill O'Reilly
320. FoCCL - Mountains of the Pharaohs: The Untold Story of the Pyramid Builders by Zahi Hawass
321. Amazon - A Gift of Geology: Ancient Egyptian Landscapes and Monuments by Colin D. Reader
322. FoCCL - Scripture by Topic by Michael von Faulhaber
323. Kindle - Debt by Louise Collins
324. Kindle - Worship by Ellis James
325. Kindle - The 12 Kittens of Christmas by Amy Lane
326. FoCCL - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Easton Press
327. FoCCL - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Easton Press
328. FoCCL - The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated Out of The Original Tongues
329. FoCCL - Dark at the Crossing by Elliot Ackerman
330. FoCCL - White Jazz by James Ellroy
331. Kindle - Man on the Inside by L.J. Zephyr
332. Kindle - Counterclockwise by L.J. Zephyr
00 Amazon Outlander Season One: The Ultimate Collection (Blu-ray + UltraViolet + Limited Edition Keepsake Box and Flask) 2018 decided to add it to my catalog
333. Karen - The Librarians and the Pot of Gold by Greg Cox
334. Karen - Albert Einstein by Albrecht Folsing
335. Karen - Grounded by US Senator Jon Tester
336. Karen - Encyclopedia of Religion in the South edited by Samuel s. Hill and Charles H. Lippy
337. Jenna - North Woods by Daniel Mason

culls - only 88 last year. I hope for more this year with my resolution to completely inventory my catalog yielding books that need to be rehomed.

1. The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
2. American Sphinx by Joseph J. Ellis
3. The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay
4. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
5. The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay
6. The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters - duplicate
7. Montana 1948 by Larry Watson - trade paperback - duplicate
8. The Bishop's Secret by T.C. Fairley
9. The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace
10. Closer Than You Know by Brad Parks
11. Sons by Evan Hunter
12. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
13. The Player by Brad Parks
14. The Fraud by Brad Parks
15. Say Nothing by Brad Parks
16. Eyes of the Innocent by Brad Parks
17. Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks
18. The Politics of Rich and Poor by Kevin Phillips
19. The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950-1953 by Clay Blair
20. A History of the Twentieth Century by Martin Gilbert
21. Waking Raphael by Leslie Forbes
22. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - mass market paperback, 50th anniv edition, duplicate
23. The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George
24. Complete Works of Lewis Carroll - yellowed
25. Fowler's Modern English Usage - everything I'd ever need is online
26. Lily White by Susan Isaacs - will never read again, Jenna will never want or read
27. The Winner Stands Alone by Paul Coelho
28. Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund
29. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
30. The Fever Tree and Other Stories of Suspense by Ruth Rendell
31. The Killing Doll by Ruth Rendell
32. The Secret Mistress by Mary Balogh
33. All Florence In Colours by Edouardo Bonechi
34. The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey - trade paperback, given to a friend
35. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - references to LotR? Seriously?
36. Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof
37. The Melaleuca Wellness Guide 2005
38. The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
39. Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves - dup of new one given to me by Jenna
40. Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves - dup of new one given to me by Jenna
41. Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
42. Half Broken Things by Morag Joss
43. Bridget Jones the Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
44. Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding
45. In The Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
46. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
47. Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer - duplicate
48. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak - I will never, ever read this
49. A History of Britain : At the Edge of the World, 3500 B.C.-1603 A.D by Simon Schama
50. The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
51. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute - awful copy, marked in ink
52. Transcription by Kate Atkinson - just don't want it
53. The Whites by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt
54. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
55. Passing On by Penelope Lively
56. Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
57. Denali's Howl by Andy Hall
58. The Only Story by Julian Barnes
59. Quiet as a Nun by Antonia Fraser
60. Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs
61. The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
62. American Lion by Jon Meacham
63. Mrs. De Winter by Susan Hill
64. The Mayo Clinic on Arthritis

YTD Statistics through October

310 books read
2 of them on my shelves before 1/1/23 and not rereads
90 books abandoned, 9874 pages abandoned, 1 audio book, .45 hours abandoned

141.75 audiobook hours
Avg pages read per day, YTD = 273
Avg pages read per book, YTD = 266

Book of the Month: EWB by N.R. Walker

Books by Month
January - 33 e-books, 19 books abandoned for 1711 pages
February 34 e-books, 1 paper book, 1 audiobook, 6 books abandoned for 718 pages
March 18 e-books, 7 books abandoned for 443 pages, 1 audiobook abandoned for .45 hours
April 35 e-books, 9 books abandoned for 974 pages
May 32 e-books, 1 audiobook for 16 hours, 8 books abandoned for 1,112 pages
June 39 e-books, 1 audiobook for 17.5 hours, 7 books abandoned for 948 pages
July 36 e-books, 1 audiobook for 18 hours, 8 books abandoned for 849 pages
August 29 ebooks, 1 audiobook for 22.5 hours, 6 books abandoned for 688 pages
September 25 ebooks, 8 books abandoned for 1,041 pages
October 26 ebooks, 1 paper book, 12 books abandoned for 1,163 pages

Author
Male 13%
Female 78%
Undeclared * 6%
Non-Binary 3%
* - can't find any info anywhere

Living 100%
Dead 0%

US Born 44%
Foreign Born 33%
Undeclared * 23%
* - can't find any info anywhere

Platform
Hardcover 1%
Trade Pback 0%
Mass Market 0%
Audiobook 2%
e-Book 97%

Source
My Library 8%
Library 0%
Kindle Unlimited 91%
Borrowed from a friend 1%

Misc
ARC/ER 0%
Re-read 2%
Series 68%

Fiction 99%
NonFiction 1%

Author Birth Country 312
Australia 9%
Canada 4%
Cuba

October Lightning Round

**abandoned Made to Order by Brigham Vaughn**

Donovan, a chef, and Tyler, a bar manager, work for the same establishment and are always at odds until they aren’t, and Donovan the Dom masters Tyler the sub. Too improbable, and ultimately too kinky for me.

The Anonymous Hookup by Jax Calder 10/1/23 10/2/23 Kindle

A longish novella that works at 121 pages. This is the sweet story of Lane, who always seems to pick the wrong guys. His BF persuades him to just hook up, and the hookup remains anonymous for weeks – no names – but play dates for the dogs (also being play dates for them), time spent at each other’s houses. Lane’s insecure that Sam’s more successful financially than he is and wonders how Sam can possibly want to be with a teacher, Sam admits that he’s falling in love with Lane then walks away because Lane keeps saying they’re hookups. There are several coincidences, but it truly seems like Fate’s involved, as they get their HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

The Roommate Proposal by Jace Bradley 10/2/23 10/2/23 Kindle

Logan is 35, single, and supervises a lab at the University where Alexsei is working on his masters. Alexsei’s apartment floods and Logan lets him live in one of three extra bedrooms. Things start out somewhat antagonistic because Alexsei doesn’t have very good people skills. There’s sparkage, and closeted Alexsei and out Logan start a secret relationship. Alexsei is terrified of his family finding out that he’s ‘started that up again’ because his dad controls a trust fund from his grandfather. His sister finds out, he visits his family and his parents homophobic rants are so terrible that it becomes freeing to him. He and Logan break up but miss each other and get their HEA. I liked the banter and serious conversations between them and the meshing of their different habits and different family dynamics. Caveat emptor re sex.

EWB (Enemies with Benefits) by N.R. Walker 10/2/23 10/2/23 Kindle

Valentine and Marshall hate one another, have since they were ten years old. Marshall’s father’s company was bought out by Valentine’s father and Marshall’s life changed dramatically. Currently they’re on competing rugby teams after hours. Valentine runs one of his father’s company’s divisions, the construction business, and they’ve just bought out the company Marshall works for. After a rugby match, and in the bar, Valentine rescues Marshall from a potential bit of violence, but they have a sexual encounter there. Valentine suggests an ongoing setup, secretly, as he is not out. The sparkage is definitely there, but Marshall starts taking care of Valentine too – making sure he eats properly, helps him with panic attacks – and Valentine starts caring for Marshall. There’s a lot to unpack here because of Valentine being closeted and enduring verbal abuse from his father. Marshall doesn’t like the secret nature of their relationship but respects Valentine’s need for it until things get out of hand, the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak, and we eventually get the HEA. Speaking of cats, Valentine’s cat Enzo immediately likes Marshall, and there are quite a few cute scenes with them and Enzo. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Private Charter by N.R. Walker**

For all the strength and power of EWB, Private Charter is predictable and stereotypical. Stressed businessman charters yacht for him and his Friend with Benefits, FWB bails, sparkage with yacht owner, blah blah blah.

Outrun the Rain by N.R. Walker 10/4/23 10/5/23 Kindle

Another winner from Walker, the first in The Storm Boys Series. Tully is hired to take Jeremiah into the outback to take readings of lightning storms. Jeremiah has a backstory with lightning, Tully’s slumming it with his two weeks away from ‘real life’ as a successful professional in the family business. Sparkage, both literal with lightning and with each other. The first of three, with a HFN. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Tic-Tac Mistletoe by N.R. Walker**

Two very sad men spend time together when Hamish’s rental car runs off the road in the wilds of snowbound Montana. Ren hears the horn blaring and rescues him. Ren’s off work for 3 days for his first Christmas since his father died, Hamish is coming to the US on a 2-year visa to stay with his sister after his life in Australia just seems to be going nowhere. Chutney the dog, named after a character in Legally Blonde features heavily, wearing her cute coat and booties. Just too twee for me, frankly. 130 pages in and NO caveat emptor re sex, perhaps that’s the problem…

**abandoned Sinner's Gin by Rhys Ford**

I liked the storyline of this one, with Miki being the sole survivor of a crash of the limo and his 3 bandmates dying. His neighbor is a cop, there’s sparkage, but then there’s a body in Miki’s vintage GTO. What I didn’t like was the actual writing – I get irritated reading authors who try too much with the names of their main characters, alternating them with his, him, and the man… all in one paragraph. If it’s first person from one character’s POV, then I don’t need to hear the other main character’s name twice in a paragraph, or ‘the man’ as opposed to ‘his’ or ‘him’. It's a real show-stopper for me.

Into the Tempest by N.R. Walker 10/5/23 10/6/23 Kindle

Second in the Storm Boys Series has Tully and Jeremiah back in Darwin, Jeremiah assigned to the Darwin Meteorological office and just in time for a Cat 5 cyclone to hit Darwin directly. The office is decrepit, the equipment ancient. The woman Jeremiah is placing, Doreen, who’s just retired, comes in to help. Tully is beside himself with the danger his family and Jeremiah are in, but they all survive, although is brother Ellis’s house is completely destroyed. The L-word is mentioned, Jeremiah and Tully have a HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

Touch the Lightning by N.R. Walker 10/6/23 10/7/23 Kindle

Final book in the Storm Boys Series has Jeremiah tasked with fixing a monitoring station on a remote island. Tully borrows his dad’s boat and they are both there, fixing things and having fun. Out of the blue, literally, with no clouds or warning, there is a huge lightning strike. Tully’s flung to the ground, but Jeremiah takes the strike. Tully thumps his chest, saving his life, and calls for a medevac helicopter. It was interesting to read how lightning affects the body. I’d never heard of Lichtenberg figure skin patterning before, and it’s truly awesome and devastating. Tully’s love for Jeremiah is overwhelming, especially when he thinks he might lose Jeremiah. His family rallies around him and there are even touching scenes with Jeremiah’s father, a laconic and unhappy man. I loved this series. Tully is all sunshine and joy, Jeremiah is all seriousness and backstory tragedy. Their lives together are so much fun and so comforting to read about. Caveat emptor re sex, of course.

The Kite by N.R. Walker 10/7/23 10/8/23 Kindle

Two assassins who band together because they’re both on a list to be assassinated. Harry works for the Australian government, Asher is an independent operator. They don’t seem to have anything in common except their gayness. Harry is good at close up assassinations, Asher is good at sharpshooter distance work. They keep escaping by the skin of their teeth, relying heavily on Asher’s friend Four, a mysterious, rich, and powerful player. There is sparkage and eventual realization that they care for each other. And once Asher is kidnapped to draw Harry out, watch out. Harry and Four are relentless in getting to Asher and wiping the kidnappers off the face of the earth. We finally meet Four on his island off Thailand, and eventually Harry and Asher get resettled in Australia after making sure that the man who ordered their assassinations is … not assassinated… but worse – stripped of all his assets, publicly humiliated, and jailed. And who doesn’t love a character who buys a sweet little black kitten for his lover? Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned The Hate You Drink by N.R. Walker**

Monroe is an alcoholic, devastated after his parents are killed in a plane crash. He heavily relies on his best friend Erik, in love with him since they’re 18, who drops everything whenever Monroe needs him until one time when things go too far and Erik realizes he needs help from his family and a psychiatrist. Monroe agrees to the intervention, Erik leaves him at the family’s Australian Gold Coast beach house. I just couldn’t deal with the alcoholic bits, frankly, with family members being alcoholics and not caring enough for the characters to read another two hundred pages. Caveat emptor re alcoholic blackout sex from Monroe, in-love sex with Erik.

Love and Sunshine by Killian Ford 10/9/23 10/10/23 Kindle

Levi really dislikes that Cameron is a new guy at his work who seems to be threatening everything Levi wants at the company. Cameron moves across country to a new job and doesn’t understand why Levi’s so grumpy/mean to him. They are on a construction site when Cameron is injured and can’t fly home. They drive, have a road trip, and fall in love. Sweet, funny. Cameron’s written as a very positive person although there are things in his past. He doesn’t let them get him down, though, and the story is quite good. Caveat emptor re sex.

I Hear You by Casey Morales 10/10/23 10/11/23 Kindle

Sweet and spicy story of Tyler, a player, and Gabe, a virgin and deaf. Gabe owns a dog training and doggy daycare center, Tyler loves to party and is a mechanic. What they have in common besides sparkage is their dogs. They start going together but Tyler shies away, but we get our HEA. It’s interesting to try to understand, as much as a hearing person can, the issues that deaf people face. In this story, Gabe has Usher syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Gabe went deaf at age 7 but doesn’t currently have any of the vision or balance problems that can also be present. It ended up being very sweet, if predictable. All of these romances are predictable, but some of them take longer to get there or are more convoluted. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Oral Persuasion by Ian Finn**

One’s a County Prosecutor, one’s a pricey defense attorney. The defense attorney is in a ridiculous marriage, the prosecutor is out and proud. It seemed forced and used way too much shallow shorthand to try to explain how the defense attorney is attracted to the prosecutor. Not worth any more words than that.

Body Count by L. Eveland 10/12/23 10/13/23 Kindle

Every once in a while I love a book about either a sociopath or psychopath who finds someone they claim for their own. In this case River is at a bar, sees Theo, who’s a prostitute bought for the night by two men. River takes what’s his, and being the sociopath he is and already a killer, kills Rick and takes Theo home. River’s part of a family that owns a mortuary business, has adoptive brothers, is adopted himself, has two moms and two fathers out of this polyamorous relationship. I know… but somehow the description of these people works and Theo starts coming out of his deprived, and controlled, and enslaved life. River wants Theo forever. They work with the Greek mob, of which River’s family is part, and the Russian mob, who they share a power border with, to find Master, the man who has kept Theo enslaved his whole life. Success, murder, rescue of other enslaved boys and young men, and a HEA for our sociopath and his now-former prostitute lover. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Real Trouble by Elle Keaton**

Dany, part of a crime family but not working for the family, flees to an island, working as a diner cook and finally getting a chance at a job as chef to a restaurant. Soren is a cop, moved to the island. They have a History that didn’t end well. There’s a fire at one of the out buildings at the restaurant. Soren’s called in, and Dany brings coffee to the owner/manager and the two cops – they’re both shocked to see each other. So far so good, but then Soren goes to Dany’s apartment to ‘interview’ him about the fire and they immediately have sexy times. It didn’t flow, it didn’t make sense, neither of the characters was appealing.

Captured by by Remi Kingsley 10/13/23 10/14/23 Kindle

Leo’s mother died 3 years previously at the hands of rich men and Leo’s out to get revenge by hacking into and sabotaging their company systems. He sabotages Maddox’s but Maddox says he’s coming for Leo and sets a ‘trap’ at a bar. Leo just wants to see him, but Maddox takes him and keeps him against his will. He’s never mean to Leo, never abuses him, and Leo realizes that he’s not honoring his mother by what he’s doing. A few kisses, a HEA implied.

The Fixer by Charity Parkerson 10/14/23 10/14/23 Kindle

Chad is the sexual obsession of his stepfather, a U.S. Senator. He gains leverage and has been gone out of the home for 2 years. Journey is The Fixer of the title, sent by his boss Archer to get Chad to be used as leverage against the Senator. Journey and Chad are attracted and start caring about each other deeply, but the Senator kidnaps Chad’s friends, twins, trying to force Chad to come back to him. Archer sends another of his hired guns to free the twins, but Chad realizes that he was only being used by Journey. However, another powerful man steps in, forcing Archer to relinquish Journey… The plot is clever and works, mostly. However, the writing is disjointed and jumps all over the place, plus Journey has been physically maimed and it throws a rather unnecessary wrench into the story, IMO. Sparkage, sexy times, and caveat emptor re sex.

Blood Sports by Daniel May 10/14/23 10/15/23 Kindle

I really loved this book, first in the Hanged Men by a new-to-me author. Tobias is a stable hand. Jove is a mobster, out of retirement to find out who the rat in his organization is. He has 3 sons, Nerva, Diomedes, and Hadrian. Rabbit hole:

Nerva -Roman cognomen derived from Latin nervus "strength". This is the name by which the 1st-century Roman emperor Marcus Cocceius Nerva is commonly known.
Diomedes - Derived from Greek Διός (Dios) meaning "of Zeus" and μήδεα (medea) meaning "plans, counsel, cunning". In Greek legend Diomedes was one of the greatest heroes who fought against the Trojans. With Odysseus he entered Troy and stole the Palladium. After the Trojan War he founded the cities of Brindisi and Arpi in Italy.
Hadrian - A famous bearer of the name was Publius Aelius Hadrianus, better known as Hadrian, a 2nd-century Roman emperor who built a wall across northern Britain. His family came from the town of Atri in central Italy.

His sons are in his organization but he is estranged from them. Tobias gets caught up in things, and although Jove has never been interested in men, has an immediate and strong attraction to Tobias. Lots of violence, lots of mystery about who the rat is. An interesting note is that one of the criminal activities the family is involved in is with something called Saturday horses – horse-like, bloodthirsty, carnivorous, creatures. Tobias and Jove nearly die at their hands. The denouement of who the rat is was surprising yet logical. I know some about horses because of Bill and Jenna’s interest and our having them here on our property for 5 years, and the author clearly knows a lot about them. HEA, and caveat emptor re sex.

War Games by Daniel May 10/15/23 10/16/23 Kindle

Second in the Hanged Men series. Nerva and Pascal are the heirs apparent to their fathers’ mob empires, fall in love, and secretly marry. Pascal vanishes after a brutal attack on the family compound and Nerva is told he’s dead. Fast forward ten years, and Pascal is back, mentally and physically scarred, distant and seemingly only wanting his Saturday horse. Once they figure out they were both manipulated, there are chases, adventures, and their HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Claiming the Cleanfreak by Daniel May**

Ugh. Just, ugh. I shouldn’t have read as far as I did since I realized from the first page that Isaac was not a good person. He forced what he wanted but by manipulating Atticus. NOT non-con, but still. Caveat emptor re sex.

Man Hunt by Daniel May 10/16/23 10/18/23 Kindle

Honestly, this one barely worked for me, a major disappointment compared with the first two in the series. Why does Dio find Mars attractive? Why is Mars manipulated into inviting himself as Dio’s plus one to a known enemy’s island-getaway birthday party? Why is Dio set up to leverage Mars back into the ‘fold’? No real flow, no real interest from me, and barely caveat emptor re sex, grumble.

The Moon Also Rises by Frances M. Thompson 10/18/23 10/20/23 Kindle

I loved this book, because it was two men in their early 40s, both with serious baggage, yet who eventually make it work. Rami comes to work and has to temporarily share Jake’s office. Jake’s snarky, sarcastic, and rather a diva. His only serious relationship ended when he cheated and admitted it to his boyfriend, who walked away and found his soulmate. Jake asks Rami to be his fake boyfriend at their wedding. Rami obliges. There’s sparkage and then a serious interest that is more than just sex. However, Rami has secrets of his own, which were part of the compulsion to continue reading. The characters are all well drawn, including their siblings, Jake’s father, and Rami’s mother. The length worked, although it was rather long at 452 pages. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Too Close to the Flame by Ryan Taylor**

Too twee? Too predictable even though almost every book I’m reading these days is eminently predictable? Regardless, I didn’t want to continue reading it. Caveat emptor re sex.

Pick Me by May Archer 10/21/23 10/22/23 Kindle

Knox has moved home temporarily to help with the family business’s finances although the family thinks it’s for good. Gage takes a job redesigning the family business’s website and business systems. Sparkage, but Knox thinks he’s too old for Gage, then thinks he would be limiting Gage by being with him when his whole life’s ahead of him, and etc. Low angst, HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

Floodgates by Mary Calmes 10/22/23 10/22/23 Kindle

Tracey is living his good life since he broke up with Breckin as an accountant for a Russian, brother of a Russian mobster. The first chapter hs bullets flying and Tracey barely escaping with his life. Enter his brother Alex, a DEA agent and HIS best friend Cord, a police Inspector. Tracey and Cord have been dancing around each other for years. Tracey is all about stability and monogamy, Cord is all about hookups. As the action opens on this one, Cord’s changed, starts showing Tracey how much he has always been attracted to him and cares about him. Tracey responds. In the meantime, people are being attacked and dying, and they all seem to revolve around Breckin. Illogically, and what this brought down the rating for me, was that they all traipsed off to Breckin’s parents’ house on the East coast, in order to lure out the murderer/bad guy even though the murderer/bad guy is in CA… Breckin hasn’t been home in 15 years, has come home with a pregnant wife, and it mostly falls apart from there although there is a very sweet HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

The Marshal's PI by Este Holland 10/23/23 10/23/23 Kindle

Second in the Yours to Protect series which I’ve now read out of order but won’t continue. Kai is a PI who apparently had a fling with Gannin in the previous book, or at least they were attracted to each other. Gannin is a DEA agent. Kai needs protecting but it’s off the books, with Gannin taking personal time. Kai has a twin he hasn’t spoken to in a dozen years who now works for Homeland Security… lots of stuff. Also lots of poor decisions and carelessness, which lead to Gannin’s partner getting shot and Kai and Gannin getting kidnapped. Gannin gets tortured, Kai almost gets raped… gads. HEA, brothers reunited, caveat emptor re sex. No more by this author.

**abandoned One Night in Whisper by K. Sterling**

Ugh. Beck is the son of Magnus’s assistant Maggie, who never had time for Beck when she was still alive. Beck hates Magnus but all of a sudden is physically attracted to him. Magnus blackmails Beck into being his assistant by offering a shit-ton of money for a Library renovation. Beck’s AC gives out and Magnus lets him use a bedroom in the house. Magnus tells Beck that anytime Beck wants to have sex with, just knock on the door… Beck has too many beers and does… Just ugh. Illogical, poorly written, plot all over the place, AND taking advantage sexually. I’m amazed I read as many pages as I did, 57, before bailing.

Christmas Spirit by Ali Ryecart 10/24/23 10/24/23 Kindle

Fantasy tale, where Roland is a head chef and Georgie is lowest on the rung, the kitchen boy, mistreated by all, starting with Roland. Christmas shutdown, Roland is coerced by the head of HR to drive Georgie to the train station in town. However, the snowstorm picks up, they get lost and end up at a hotel, with only one room, one bed. No other staff or customers are there except for Nicholas. I loved this story, where Roland and Georgie are given the opportunity to see past each other’s failings by … well. Sweet and emotional, with a very good HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

A Toast to Us by Leah Meers 10/24/23 10/24/23 Kindle

New to me author, start of a long and hopefully good series. Emmitt’s just moved to town, Max has returned after 5 years away. Max’s wife died tragically. They meet when Emmitt is trespassing and gets struck by a branch from a tree Max is felling on his property. Instant sparkage. Max was always bi, Emmitt is smitten, so is Max. Various and sundry romantic things, a homophobic old friend of Max’s wife’s, HEA. I particularly liked how it wasn’t Gay For You, just Max’s being attracted to a man this time instead of a woman. Caveat emptor re sex.

Top Shelf Tastes by Leah Meers 10/24/23 10/25/23 Kindle

Second in the Tales from Revere’s Series has Carter taking over his father’s company when his father dies and announcing that he’s gay. He is very strong business-wise but wants to be dominated in the bedroom and has always just had one-night stands out of town so his father wouldn’t find out. He meets Finn and there’s immediate sparkage. Carter realizes that Finn inherited his grandmother’s house, and Carter’s company had a shady loan with her, trying to gouge her along with many other families. As their romance comtinues, Carter works to figure out the problems caused by the members of his father’s board, find his missing brother in whose name the unethical dealings were made, and fix it all. Finn just wants to take care of Carter, a big change from his hookup ways. HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

Talk to Me by D.K. Sutton 10/25/23 10/26/23 Kindle

Light and fluffy, but good with descriptions of introversion and social anxiety. Max was always top customer service rep until Chase showed up and started beating Max regularly. They got off to a bad start and the bad feelings continued. Max does not realize that Chase is an introvert with social anxiety. He plays a trick on him, but separately they start being attracted to each other. Rocky times when Chase finds out about the trick, but they get their HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

First Impressions by Jay Hogan 10/26/23 10/27/23 Kindle

Excellent book, with so many plot points that I was almost dizzy, but somehow Hogan stitches them all together seamlessly. Michael is an American, working in the ER of a New Zealand hospital after needing to get away from the trauma of a broken relationship, death of a child in ER that he feels is his fault, and a drinking problem. Josh is a K9 cop. They meet at a gay bar during a drug bust, with Michael there as a customer in a compromising position and Josh making a snap judgment about him. Michael sees more than he should during the bust and is pursued and attacked several times. Josh and his sister hide Michael as he recovers. Serious, major sparkage, but Michael is shy of relationships and that’s all Josh wants. Eventual HEA, with subplots of Josh’s daughter, Michael’s ex, and the criminals trying to get to Michael. The characters were almost over the top but not quite. A bit too much introspection and talking about where the relationship was going, but all worth it in the end. Caveat emptor re sex.

Up Close and Personal by Jay Hogan 10/28/23 10/29/23 Kindle

Third in the series of which First Impressions is, well, first. Josh’s best friend Mark is a player. Edward is new, a forensic pathologist, who Mark’s been attracted to and teases. Edward is NOT a player, but is also attracted to Mark. There are two supposed suicides that are suspicious, people are after Mark and Edward, betrayal, and etc. Serious sparkage but WAY too much talking about it although there’s enough to issue my usual caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Giving In by Rue Whitney**

Unbelievable, stupid, I kept trying to find a redeeming feature. Luka’s the son of Fitz’s best friend from college and gets the job based on that after walking in on Fitz naked in his office expecting a rent boy. Sheesh. Luka’s straight but isn’t, ultimately, Fitz wants him but not commitment but caves… poor writing, poor everything. Caveat emptor re sex.

Enemies Like You by Joanna Chambers and Annika Martin 10/30/23 10/31/23 Kindle

Will is doing a contract killing for the CIA with a woman partner. They are trying to get Polzin, a Russian, but the bodyguard has killed the last 5 men attempting to get Polzin. While attempting to get Polzin Will is discovered by the bodyguard, who he thinks is the girlfriend. The ‘girlfriend’ is a man, who rescues Will. Much sparkage. Will wants to kill Polzin because Polzin betrayed his unit in Afghanistan. All Will wants to do is kill him and if he dies, well, that’s just okay. The bodyguard, Kit, also has a goal, to find a file that has the names of MI5 and other agents. Kit wants to find it to exonorate his parents, who died in an explosion when Kit was 10. Kit’s raised by another agent, Archie. Convoluted, steamy, and well written, although somewhat over the top. Caveat emptor re sex.

**Too Close to the Flame by Ryan Taylor**

I can’t remember much about this one except that I abandoned it because the writing was so florid and over the top. Didn’t care about John and Bran at all.

324 books read

1 Masterpiece
51 Stunning
181 Excellent
48 Very Good
30 Good
9 Average
4 Bad
0 Very Bad
0 Don't Bother
0 Anathema

Best Fiction
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
The Adults by Caroline Hulse
Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Hopelessly Bromantic and Here Comes My Man by Blake Lively

Best (only) Nonfiction
Woke Racism by Dr. John McWhorter
The Book of General Ignorance by John Mitchinson
The Story of Human Language by Dr. John McWhorter
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

Top five overall for the LT Top Five Books of 2022 list:
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Woke Racism by Dr. John McWhorter
The Adults by Caroline Hulse
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

…...

Welcome!

New 🧵 orisons, Horrible!

Sweet Thursday. Karen. Happy New Thread. Just got back from dropping off my "kids", (ninos). So darn cute. Sue will also be bringing Jack back here later this morning and I will hang with him until Bree picks him up about 230. Hope to jam in some reading first.

Have a great lunch with Irene. Give her a hug from me. ❤️

Happy new thread, Karen!

Happy new thread, Karen! I fell a bit behind on your last thread, but I will comment now that my younger sister's hair is all white (not even silver, but white) and she looks great, whereas I would look pathetically mousy-brown-grey without interference from my hairdresser. His cuts are not quite as fabulous as yours, alas, but the color is always perfect, so I probably won't explore until he retires.

I know the new knee replacement will cause pain and hard work, but I'm sure you will like the result. And maybe be a little taller! Now that's a thought.

Happy new thread, Karen! I was over on your old thread reading and posting while you were setting this up.

>1 karenmarie: I didn't say this on the last thread, but I love those pictures of a younger you and with your sibling.

>6 karenmarie: Another impressive reading month!

Happy New Thread Already! I look forward to anything you want to put up, Karen.

As to hair color --- I resisted, but now I can't. I loathed my white headband for years although I was able to bring the rest of my side-hair over to cover a lot of it. Now front and side are white and salt and pepper. At 79 I'm bemused to see that the hair in the back is still brown with very little gray. People (women frienemies?) have been asking me for years if I'm coloring my hair. WHY would I dye the back and leave it white around my face???????

Happy new thread, Karen!

Happy new thread, Karen!

My hair has been coming in white since I was about 12, but I still have patches of dark hair. It is a weird combination, lol.

Happy new thread Karen!

I love the series of three pictures!

Happy new one!

Happy New Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355261

Happy new thread, dear Karen.

325 books read already! Congratulations of whizzing beyond 4x75.

Happy New Thread, Karen! 🧵

Happy new thead, Karen, and happy Friday!

*smooch*

Happy new one!

>10 richardderus: Thank you, RDear! I’m thinking coffee instead of a crown for being first. I'll have a cuppa with even though it's French Roast all the way for you.



>11 msf59: ‘Morning, the day after, Mark! Happy Friday to you. Brief lunch report below.

>12 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

>13 ffortsa: Hi Judy, and thank you. I feel for your ‘mousy brown grey’ hair – my mother always described her hair as mouse brown. It then went grey/grey,gray-yuh. Getting something fabulous from your hairdresser is always good, and sometimes choices need to be made.

With the knee replacement I’ll be back on keel – both legs will be the same length. It’s shorter than I used to be, what with gravity and all, but I’m looking forward to getting back to normal back pain instead of this uneven-ness pack pain. Yup to the pain and hard work again, though. I’m just lucky that the technology and medicine are there.

>14 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene, re the new thread, my October reading, and me and my brother Douglas Lee, born in 1955. I feel strongly that I should re-share the Disneyland picture from ~1959, too. L-R: Me, dad, Doug, Laura, Mom.



>15 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, and thank you. You’re a dear for appreciating my thread toppers.

Hair’s a strange thing, and I’m so sorry you loathed your white headband and worked so hard to cover it. Cultural pressure sucks. I hated my hair – red and frizzy/curly – until my mid-20s. I wanted straight blonde hair, parted down the middle with the front long bangs swooped/tucked behind my ears.

Frienemies sounds about right.

>16 ArlieS: Hi Arlie, and thank you.

>17 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia. Wow. 12. Now people would pay to get that look, of course, but I imagine it caused you grief and heartache.

>18 quondame: Hi Susan, and thank you twice.

>19 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>20 SilverWolf28: and >21 SilverWolf28: Hi Silver, and thank you twice.

>22 PaulCranswick: Hello Paul, thank you. Yes, I just surpassed last year’s total. Still reading my favorite sub-genre of romances – MM – still mostly using Kindle Unlimited but actually spent $9.61 in the last week on two Kindle books. One was meh, the one I finished last night was a sweet and marvelous novella.

>23 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah.

>25 richardderus: *smooch* to you, my dear Richard.

Wordle 881 3/6* adieu, broad, tardy

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...
Yesterday was, of course, Lunch with Irene. We have realized that we get along fabulously and have so much more to discuss and learn about each other. She's smart, articulate, and we had wide-ranging discussions. After, I went and used the treadmill at the Senior Center. I was a bit fatigued and only did 30 minutes instead of the 40 I've been doing more recently.

...
Let's see. The guy from the generator installation company was just here to confirm that the place where we want to put the new generator is okay. The location where the original guy wanted to place it is prohibitive regarding the running of a high-power propane line, so we're going to place it in the flower bed here near the Sunroom close to the side of the garage - it's mostly going to affect Bill's view outside, not mine. He doesn't care, and we just want to save as much money as we can.

My cleaning ladies are coming at 12:30 or so. They couldn't come Tuesday and this is better - closer to Thanksgiving.

I'll go use the treadmill again today to get in the third time this week, read, putter, and etc. Right now it's coffee and just finishing breakfast.

>27 karenmarie: I'm so glad that you and Irene are enjoying y'all's meetups! I love the butterfly-handle cups in my french press French roast delightfulness. Mama collected the butterfly-handled cups for years and I was grateful when I was down and out because each one sold for a grocery run-worth of money when I had to get rid of them. Pretty things, aren't they?

Glad for y'all that the generator's going to work out to be cheaper than it absolutely could avoid being. The current trends in weather events make having one a darn good idea.

Enjoy the weekend-ahead's reads! *smooch*

>27 karenmarie: Ooh, I love that family picture! And there's something about the lighting in pictures from that era--it sets a mood. I love the coffee cups in the top picture too. Wordle in three for me today as well.

Lunch yesterday was fabulous, and you are too kind! But of course smart and articulate are adjectives that apply to you as well!

I'm glad you've found a good solution for the generator. Have a great weekend!

"She's smart, articulate, and we had wide-ranging discussions." I am not surprised at all. 😁

Happy Friday, Karen. I have been enjoying the day with Jack. Bree picks him up at 3. Only 50 degrees out there but the bountiful sunshine feels so good.

>28 richardderus: ‘Morning, RDear! I’m so glad I picked the butterfly-handled cups for you, not realizing that they supported you when you needed the money. They are gorgeous and remind me of some cups I scavenged from a house that a friend’s mother had – she passed away and she let my friend Daniele and me take whatever we wanted. I should have taken more, but I did get some gorgeous bone china tea cups/saucers. They’re in the attic, I think, 6 of them, all different. No butterfly-handled ones, though.

The generator’s going to be about $8K less than we originally anticipated just because the price’s come down significantly since the last time we looked, and now even though it will be part of the scenery when people come to the house, it will be on a pad on a pea-stone bed with decorative fencing around it.

I haven’t thought about the weekend’s reads yet, and usually figure out a new read just after finishing the current one. I’m currently finishing up a pretty good book called Jon’s Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case, #1 in Jon’s Mysteries Case. I do have several Kindle Unlimited books ready to go, and if none of those seem right go to my MM spreadsheet for author inspiration or LT’s LGBTQ+ recommendations. *smooch*

>29 atozgrl: Thanks re the pic, Irene, glad you love it. Quintessential late ‘50s/early ‘60’s white middle-class US family. That dress was blue and white checked gingham, and my mother used that pocketbook, not knitted, but more canvas-y but not canvas for years after.

Our lunch was fabulous, and I’m looking forward to another lunch in December. Thanks re the generator – Bill’s very creative about those kinds of things. I hope you have a great weekend, too!

>30 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and happy Saturday to you. Yup, Irene’s a keeper. 👍

Glad you had time with Jack yesterday. We were at 75F yesterday, which is just right for this time of year but helps with the heating bill. Today’s supposed to get to 70F.

Wordle 882 4/6* adieu, brick, stink, think

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I didn't get out of the house yesterday, which was okay except I didn't use the treadmill. I did a lot of puttering in the Sunroom and the cleaning ladies did a good job.

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Bill will be taking trash today and we'll probably get take out - possibly even Taco Bell for Jenna and me and KFC for Bill, if he's willing to drive up the road a bit.

I need to make the Thanksgiving shopping list. I've already bought the turkey, 5-lb bag of potatoes, 6 sweet potatoes, and canned pumpkin and evap moo for the pumpkin pie and another container of pecan halves for the pecan pie. We'll also have banana cream pie, so need to buy the whipping cream and half and half. I'll get bananas on Wednesday most likely. I like bananas just ripe, with not a single brown spot on them.

I'll be reading and puttering.

Naner-creem pah! It's been a million years. I do love me one.

Your reading plans sound great! I hope Jon does a good job of entertaining you today. Have fun with your fast-food feast. *smooch*

Happy Saturday, Karen!

I need to make my Thanksgiving shopping list - thankfully, it's relatively short. Our supermarket does a promotion where, if you spend a certain amount of money in the month leading up to T'giving week, you get a free turkey. SInce we only want a breast, I'll buy that, but get a turkey, too, to donate to the food pantry. I think I have to do that by Monday, so I guess that'll be my shopping day. And I'll over-buy potatoes so TW is forced to make too much mashed potatoes. Heh.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Saturday, (((((Karen)))))! Enjoy the puttering and the take-out.
That's a LOT of pie!!!!!!! We will still be eating Mama's birthday pound cake, I expect.

Have a happy Thanksgiving week, Karen. I'm happy that I don't have to worry about food prep. I never did; Judi was so good at it. And my son is good at it too. Last year, I went to his wife's parents for The Big Meal, which Tara's dad created. 'Twas their traditional meal. To supplement it, Jeremy cooked some of Judi's traditional dishes: dried corn with chestnuts, Pennsylvania Dutch filling/stuffing/what-ever-ya-call-it.

Happy new thread, Karen!

>8 karenmarie: Funny!

Have a nice pre-Thanksgiving week. Puttering always sounds good. At least, I enjoy it, and I hope you too.

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. My Saturday got away from me but I had a good time with my birding buddies on the lakefront. We were down there about 7 hours. A beautiful day.

I am taking my aunt to church, (I read in the car) and then it will be laundry, books and football. Oh yeah- Jack spent the night. They are still sleeping. I hope to see him before I go.

>32 richardderus: Hiya, RDear! It’s cousin Rebecca’s mother’s recipe, and it’s perfect. It’s also good for Coconut Cream Pie, and Jenna and I just decided that we’re also going to make one of those for T-day too since the pie crust recipe is for 2 crusts and it needs to be doubled anyway for 3 crusts. No Cook’s Reward this year.

The First Book of Jon was excellent. I’ve since tried 3 books for a total of 236 pages and will start The Second Book of Jon, Jon’s Spooky Corpse Conundrum later this morning.

No take out yesterday. 😥

*smooch*

>33 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Thanks for Saturday wishes. I hope yours was good.

Glad you’ll donate the turkey to the food pantry. We have MVP cards with Food Lion, and in the lead up to Thanksgiving, if you shop 6 times, $45 or more each time, you get $20 off a shopping order. I earned it early last week and used the $20 late last week.

Mine’s pretty short, actually, considering it’s a full-tilt boogie traditional meal for 6. Your plans sound good. I have to have a turkey since I like dark meat. I’m probably the only one who does out of this group, but I don’t care, because I actively dislike white meat turkey and chicken unless it’s buried in something, like homemade pot pie.

>34 LizzieD: (((((Peggy)))))! Thanks re my Saturday. Puttering went better than planned, take out was a bust. And in addition to the three pies already planned, see above, I’m going to make a coconut cream pie, too. Four pies, lots of pie to go home with folks, leftover pumpkin for Jenna with a few slivers for me, pecan for Bill, Banana Cream for all 3 of us, and Coconut Cream for Jenna and me.

Yum for your DH’s pound cake.

>35 weird_O: Hi Bill, and thanks. Lots of stuff to get done, but with Jenna here and me feeling just that much better this year than last, even with the knee replacement surgery ‘only’ 8 ½ months old, it will be manageable. Last year’s for you sounds wonderful, especially Jeremy cooking some of Judi’s traditional dishes. Where will you be going this year?

>36 EllaTim: Hi Ella, and thank you. I love the things I put in >8 karenmarie:, haven’t wanted to change them up for quite a while. Thanksgiving planning and prep will definitely be enjoyable. I enjoy it, and am glad you do, too.

>37 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! Happy Sunday to you. 7 hours on the lake front. My, my. Glad you got some serious BB time in.

Glad you are taking your aunt to church. Getting to read in the car is good, too. Good luck to your Bears, enjoy the books, and laundry is always there to do, isn’t it?

Wordle 883 5/6* adieu, plume, vogue, ensue, queue

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Yesterday's big ticket item was that I decided Inara needed a bath. Her coat looked rough, she had some fleas, and was scratching a lot from that and dry skin. Jenna helped, actually did the washing and rinsing. She's so gentle with her. We have a sink in the utility room with a sprayer, towels, Dawn, and now Inara is scratching much less. We made sure she stayed in after the bath and I actually kept her in my lap for quite a while wrapped up in a warm blanket. And then there was puttering. I found a huge bag of disposable plastic storage containers in the garage a while back, opened it up yesterday figured out what was there, will keep NONE of them, but wash perhaps 4 that are seriously grungy then take them all to the swap room at the dump. They're all in excellent condition, I have what I need in the house so will be strong. I'm sure somebody will find them useful.

I'm going to make something for dinner, just haven't figured out what yet. Finalizing the Thanksgiving shopping list for tomorrow, reading, updating spreadsheets. All things I enjoy.

Good morning, (((((Karen)))))!

COCONUT CREAM PIE - YES! YES! YES!

I need to do the same thing with Mama's plastic storage containers. Putting the extras in a bag would be a fine first step. Alas. It's not high priority except when I open the cabinet.....

November is here in its gorgeous state instead of gray and damp. Yay!

Kudos to you and Jenna for successfully giving a cat a bath, Karen. That's no small feat!

Enjoy your Sunday reading and puttering.

Morning, Karen. We sure enjoyed our Jackson time the past few days, which is good, since we may not see him this holiday week. Busy AM ahead- Kids Kab and then Trail Watch. I am still trying to get in my volunteering whenever I can. The Bears blew another one yesterday. Seems to be what they are good at. Sighs...

>39 LizzieD: ‘Morning, Peggy, and happy Monday to you. Coconut Cream Pie with real whipped cream.

I need to reorganize the storage containers in the kitchen, too. Yes, today’s absolutely gorgeous, isn’t it? Yesterday was, too. It’s 28F right now.

>40 lauralkeet: Hi Laura, and thank you. We’re organized, and having everything out and ready when you’ve got a squirmy unhappy cat is key.

>41 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark Glad you got your Jackson fix in, since it sounds like he’ll be visiting with Sean’s family this Thanksgiving. Sorry about your Bears. Volunteering seems to feed some souls, yours and mine definitely. I hope both activities go well today for you.

Wordle 884 5/6* adieu, broad, dally, handy, candy

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Yesterday was the aforementioned puttering, with a bit of container-for-the-swap-shop washing, and then I made a low-sodium spaghetti sauce which went over pretty well.

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I've got fasting bloodwork at 9:20 this morning for my Nov. 28th annual exam. After that I'll head on over to Virlie's for some breakfast so I don't pass out when I use the treadmill. After which I'll do more of the Thanksgiving grocery shopping, hopefully catching everything except for bananas.

Fasting bloodwork is a pain in the rump. Hopefully all the numbers will be where they're supposed to be. Have a great Virlie's Break-Fast (heh) *smooch*

Hope your bloodwork shows every indicator smack-dab in the middle of normal!!!!!! Enjoy Virlie's as a reward. I assume that even book sorters take off the week of Thanksgiving, so you need your normal Tuesday treat.

Wordle in 4. I'm back to normal.

Enjoy this particular gorgeous day too!

Hi Karen, Going the rounds... but trying to skim past a few to assuage my readerly addictions. Best wishes for good bloodwork outcomes. I find the fasting throws me off for the day and I end up being unreasonably grumpy the day before I go.

>38 karenmarie: The plastic contaners anecdote was amusing. We're sisters in that situation: I save wa-a-ay too many, bag them for the blue cart (how we recycle) but then Mr. SM finds the bag on a storage shelf in the garage because "they might be useful".

>42 karenmarie: >44 LizzieD: I second Peggy's wish for your bloodwork.

>45 SandyAMcPherson: I save wa-a-ay too many, bag them for the blue cart (how we recycle) but then Mr. SM finds the bag on a storage shelf in the garage because "they might be useful". I had to laugh because that sounds so familiar. Not necessarily with plastic containers, but items we're sorting out to go to a second hand store or the dump and then some of them wind up in the garage or a closet because "they might be useful."

Wishing you a great Thanksgiving week, Karen!

>45 SandyAMcPherson:, >46 atozgrl: There must be something embedded in the Y chromosome. Sandy's comment rang quite true for me as well!

Morning, Karen. Getting ready to go pick up my "kids". Raining here at the moment. Ugh. Trail Watch went well. Clocked in a few miles. Glad I wasn't just exclusively birding, though- saw very little.

Enjoy your day.

>43 richardderus: I rarely eat first thing, so it was easy to not eat before the appointment. And, since I drink my coffee black no sugar, I didn’t have to sacrifice coffee.

>44 LizzieD: I’ll be at Virlie’s again today today after book sort, Peggy. Yesterday was a special, personal treat, so I wouldn’t pass out on the treadmill after. I had what I’m going to have today, though, two eggs over medium with hash browns and a biscuit. I ate the eggs, 1/3 of the potatoes, and half the biscuit. Not deliberately, I just wasn’t hungrier than that. Congrats to your Wordle in 4. Today I got it in 3, with a combination of a lucky 2nd word guess and then a bit of spreadsheet magic.

Yesterday was definitely gorgeous, today’s overcast. We’re supposed to get rain.

>45 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! Thanks re the bloodwork. I’m sorry fasting throws you off – I hardly ever eat late at night and since the bloodwork early, no grumpiness beyond the norm was experienced. “they might be useful” is the story of my life until very recently. The bag of plastic containers is in the back of my car, going to the swap shop at the dump today if they’ll let me leave them there. I’ll ask, because there might be a Rule. If there is, into the recycle bin they’ll go. I have an entire cupboard of plastic and glass storage containers.

>46 atozgrl: Hi Irene. Thank you! The very same to you and your husband, too.

>47 lauralkeet: Hi Laura. Sometimes Bill saves stuff, sometimes it’s me. The plastic containers were all me, but I found another stash of old audio tech magazines with Jenna last week.

>48 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and happy Tuesday to you. Ugh for the rain. I’m glad Trail Watch went well, sorry there wasn’t much bird activity. I’ve got quite a few visitors right now – House Finches, Cardinals. Yesterday two Mourning Doves were hanging out in the Crepe Myrtle, and, fantastically, a Red-Tailed Hawk. I haven’t seen one in years.

Wordle 885 3/6* adieu, plait, piano

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Yesterday was reasonable. Bloodwork, Virlie's, treadmill. I came home instead of going grocery shopping because I hadn't taken my meds with to take at 10, and the lastest I felt I could leave them was 11ish, not 12:30ish or so. Sigh. I was feeling a tad puny in the late afternoon, and think it was some nuts I ate because I feel fine this morning, with just the usual lower back and right SI joint pain and left-knee stiffness.

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Book sort, Virlie's, grocery shopping. It's too early to do much of the T-day prep, but I am going to decide which tablecloth/napkins to use for the Noritake Rothschild (wedding) China or whether to use the good regular place mats/every day Mikasa Intaglio Garden Harvest dishes. We've used the Noritake for T-day ever since we got married, so it would be a biggie, but it would save a lot of hassle I'm not sure I'm up for.

edited to add: Bloodwork results already posted on the UNC mychart website, along with my doctor's comments - nothing that needs immediate attention before my appt. on the 28th. 5 things were slightly elevated, but the biggie, B12, has gone down from +3000 to 718, which is in the normal range.

>49 karenmarie: Your B12 result is the mirror image of mine...I was very low so am now taking it every day. Curious that it is so important now and was barely on my awareness map before the strokes.

How is the Noritake a hassle? Caring for it, or just digging it out?

*smooch* for a smooth, pleasant day.

>46 atozgrl:, >47 lauralkeet: As you've noticed and Laura mentioned, this is a common complaint: a friend also claims it is part of the 'Y' chromosome genetics, but I know women who are the same in this sort of hoarding, so there is probably nothing gender-related.

However, y'all will probably *snort* at this one:
Mr. SM is still hanging onto a case of A:drive formatted diskettes.
He has *no* idea what's on them but refuses to throw them out...
We haven't had optical drives, let alone A: Drive, on our laptops for at least 2 decades (for me, anyway). Mr. SM only this year (!) replaced his old PC system which hasn't worked with new upgrades for at least 5 years. Nope, I have no idea why (to clarify in an edit ~ he didn't replace his computer ages ago).

Karen, hope you have a happy-healthy Thanksgiving. Bummer about the B12 results.

>50 richardderus: My B12 became a concern in April. I've already made a note to talk about it with my PCP. He would have done so anyway. I was expecting mine to be low, too, but surprise, surprise!

The Noritake hassle is not digging it out, because it has it's own cabinet in the kitchen:



The issues are hand-washing it all after and having the table set with a tablecloth and cloth napkins. However, I found a good alternate tablecloth/napkins that aren't as much effort to de-wrinkle, so we'll be going with it and we'll just hand wash everything as we always do. Problem solved!

>51 SandyAMcPherson: Gaack. floppies? You'd have to probably pay a fortune just to have them read and transferred to a USB or other newer technology. At least Bill likes newer technology, for all his other quirks. *smile*

Thanks re Thanksgiving, Sandy. Happy for sure, healthy only because portions of mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, dressing, green bean casserole, rolls, butter, and pie, will be relatively small so less artery-clogging than they could be.

The B12 results are actually good - they were a complete bummer in April, when they were way too high (> 3000 and now in normal range at 718) and were probably causing the peripheral neuropathy that is still there occasionally, but hardly at all.

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Back from book sort and Virlie's, taking stuff to the swap shop at the dump and going to the grocery store. Books are always an issue - I donated one and took 3 from book sort today, two of which I'll pay for, and then, while dropping stuff off at the dump, found a box of religious books and got the following for Karen. 🙄

Amchurch Comes Out: The U.S. Bishops, Pedophile Scandals and the Homosexual Agenda by Paul Likoudis
The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux translated by John Clarke, O.C.D.
The Reform of the Roman Liturgy by Monsignor Klaus Gamber
Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers
The One Who is to Come: A Collection of the Writings of Father Arthur B. Klyber, Hebrew Catholic Priest edited by Matthew J. McDonald - touchstone not showing
Goodbye! Good Men by Michel S. Rose
Scripture by Topic compiled and edited by Rev. Kenelm Vaughan and Rev. Newton Thompson S.T.D.
The New Saint Basil Hymnal
Creating Small Faith Communities by Arthur R. Baranowski
Victory Over Vice by Fulton J. Sheen, 1953 hardcover w/dust jacket edition
Peace of Soul by Fulton J. Sheen, 1959 Whittlesey House
Witness For the Truth: The Wanderer's 130 Year Adventure in Catholic Journalism by George A. Kendall
A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture by Bishop Frederick Justus Knecht, D.D.
Also for Karen from book sorting, slight quality issue so don't need to pay for it: The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle by Karen L. King

The two for me are:
As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are by Bart D. Ehrman

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Not sure how much more I'm going to do today.

>51 SandyAMcPherson: In our case, the hanging onto stuff is coming more from the X side. My DH would be happy to see a lot of it going permanently out the door. Maybe it's inherited. My mother was a hoarder, his mother cleaned up and threw things out on a regular basis.

>49 karenmarie: Glad you had such a good report on the B12, Karen. I wonder why it dropped so much.

>52 karenmarie: Nice set of china!

>52 karenmarie: Fulton Sheen! *shudder* There's a name to conjure nightmares with.

The special storage space for the Rothschild (looks a lot like Valerie's Lenox Charleston from 1987) makes perfect sense to me, though I suspect ours is the last generation who will have sets of fancy dinner plates like that. Kristin has my old china and uses it at the feast days she holds, but if it all broke I doubt there would be a replacement set.

Enjoy the leisurely leadup!

Here's the Thanksgiving Readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355348

>53 atozgrl: Hi Irene! You probably grew up with positive reinforcement for keeping things, while your DH probably grew up with positive reinforcement for NOT keeping things.

The B12 drop, in just under 7 months is at least in part to my not taking ANY form of B12 as a supplement - even NOT taking a multivitamin in that time. I'll have to ask my PCP about possible other reasons to cause it to now be in normal range.

Thanks, re the china. We have 7, yes 7, sets of china:

Mikasa Intaglio Garden Harvest - every day
Noritake Rothschild - our wedding china
Castleton Rose - Bill's grandmother's good china
Williamsburg Potpourri Bill's mother's every day china
Rosenthal San Souci - Bill's mother's wedding china
Franciscan Apple - Bill's, his mother's, his grandmother's, and his great-aunt's everyday
Kay’s Christmas Dishes - we use them only on Christmas Day

I wonder which, if any, Jenna will keep once we're gone?

>54 richardderus: Hiya, RD. Yes, but I thought Karen might want them for her permanent collection of religious books. So far she wants every book on that list.

Probably the only folks who will have fancy china will be the upper classes. Middle and lower classes will not see china/sterling/crystal as status symbols, or if they do, they might be unobtainable status symbols. I love all 7 sets because they hold sentimental value to me. Yay for Kristin having your old china – what’s the pattern? Enquiring minds and all that.

Thanks re the T-day prep. I didn’t do any more today but tomorrow and Thursday will be very busy. I’ll love it AND be glad when it’s Friday.

>55 SilverWolf28: Hi Silver, and thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you!

>56 karenmarie: My good china is just a set my mother bought from a friend who'd been a collector. Mid. 19th century pre-bone china, middle class level set. The flatware was my father's parent's set, Buttercup, and rather nice with new knives that were a wedding present from one of Mike's richer aunts or uncles.
The rich will always have the nice things, but as long as there is an upper middle class, they will too, just not so many in fewer houses.

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday. Glad you are doing well there and keeping up with the treadmill. I am done with the "kids" for the week. I am leading a bird walk this AM. I think there is only 5 people signed up, which is not unusual for this time of year. I hope I can show them some birds. Chilly start too- only in the 30s at the moment.

>57 quondame: Hi Susan. I love the idea of your china being mid-19th century and handed down from your mother who bought it from a friend. Agree about the rich always having the nice things. We're not rich by any means, but we do have some quite nice things because Bill's maternal grandfather owned one of the first Ford Dealerships in North Carolina and Bill's maternal grandmother was very status conscious. Not things of the super rich, but some very nice things regardless.

>58 msf59: 'Morning, RDear, and happy Thanksgiving Eve to you. Thanks re the treadmill. I actually woke up this morning in no pain. Of course my back has started protesting, but only in a very minor way. I'm grateful. Glad you're not Kids Kabbing today. Enjoy the bird walk. Brrr to 30s. We're at 59F, going down to a 'high' of 58F. We had a lot of rain overnight. It's overcast. Tomorrow will be dry and gorgeous, high about 60F. Makes me happy.

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Lots of things on the prep list for today, including two pies, Pumpkin and Pecan. Leaf for the dining Room table to put in with Jenna's help. Well, everything with Jenna's help. 😊 Things that can be cut up and put in containers for use tomorrow, boiling the sweet potatoes so the souffle can be put together tomorrow, starting to clear off the counter in the kitchen used for the Thanksgiving buffet. Here's a previous year's buffet. We'll be having pretty much exactly the same, except we're not having marinated corn salad. With Bill and Louise both using canes, I'll help Bill with his food and Jenna will help Louise with hers (if she wants it, she's so blankety-blank stubborn!), so might take everything off the entire counter and have things back from the counters so plates can be scooted along the front.



In the meantime, coffee and brekkie and a bit of LT.

>56 karenmarie: She got the Independence Daffodil set:

Eighteen place settings with white serving pieces up the wazoo. I sold the sterling, Gorham Old French, because it was such a value-sink. Kept me housed an entire month, that did.

Enjoy the whirlwind! *smooch*

I'm not making Thanksgiving this year, but if I were, I'd probably drag my mother's china out of the storage locker, which I should do anyway. It's a Japanese mid-century modern white china with black teacups, so simple you can put it with anything. And it goes in the dishwasher, I think. Time to use what I've saved before the storage locker folks just auction it off.

I know there's some pieces of Rosenthal crystal in the locker too, but I'm inclined to give that away to a thrift store or something. They are VERY fragile, and I don't really have the storage for them. I'll have to see how much of it there is, and maybe Replacements Unlimited would be interested in them. I know they are not interested in my mothers silverplate, which I use every day because I love the balance and the round soup spoons. Some day I might fill in that set. But I do wash them by hand now, and that is a pain. A reasonably weighted set of stainless would be much more practical, but I can't find the round (cream) soup spoons in any current patterns.

Hi Karen my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

My dear Karen,



Happy Thanksgiving from an appreciative non-celebrator.

Happy Thursday, Karen!

Glad to read your blood results were good, makes one wonder why the B12 was so high last time.
I have a chronic B12 shortage, and need an injection every 6 weeks ever since. I think to remember from back then that B12 goes through many steps in the body, and every step can go wrong. Probably also possible the other way around.

My Thursday isn't a happy one. Yesterday right wing populists won the general election in my country.

>60 richardderus: Hiya, RD! What a gorgeous shade of yellow! It’s just a few shades darker than most of the walls in our house, which is a color called Downy Duckling. I’m glad Kristin has it and is using it, and those serving pieces are critical. I’ve got 13 (yes, I deliberately made it 13) servings of the Noritake, along with all sorts of serving pieces. Creamer and sugar, too. I’m also glad that you were able to use the Gorham Old French. I have Bill’s mother AND grandmother’s Gorham sterling, perhaps 12 settings and lots of serving pieces. I don’t remember the name of it, should add it to my inventory spreadsheet.

Yesterday’s whirlwind was successful, see below. *smooch*

>61 ffortsa: Hi Judy. Glad/not glad you’re not making Thanksgiving this year? And getting the china out would definitely be a good thing. I have heard that folks bid on abandoned lockers and that there are even TV shows about it? It would break my heart to watch them, since it probably means family drama or tragedy.

Oooh, Rosenthal crystal. I’ve got some delicate crystal, Bill’s grandmother’s cousin’s, 6 wine glasses. We have Replacements about an hour up the road from us, have been there once, and drooled and otherwise wanted lots and lots of stuff. Now, I have stuff to get rid of, depending on what Jenna wants to keep. I am smiling about your love of the balance and shape of your soup spoons. One of these days I’ll try to find the last remaining pieces of my paternal grandmother’s sterling – the soup spoons were round, but also hexagonal, I think. I’ve only got a few pieces of them, have never used them.

>62 johnsimpson: Hi John, and thank you. I hope you and Karen, Felix and your children/families are doing well. Sending love and hugs.

>63 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. I like that a lot. Thank you re Thanksgiving.

>64 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, and thank you. Happy Thursday to you, too. They thought mine was low in April when they tested it, and we were all surprised at its being so dangerous elevated. There’s also a connection to bilirubin levels, and mine are still elevated, but not dangerously… all things to discuss with my doctor next Tuesday.

Oh, I’m so sorry about the right wing populists winning. It’s getting so scary out there, isn’t it?

Wordle 887 3/6* adieu, queer, queen

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We got 2 pies made, Pumpkin and Pecan, and 2 crusts prepared and waiting to be turned into Banana Cream and Coconut Cream pies. The turkey is thawed. The sourdough lightly toasted to be made into dressing today, the streusel topping for the sweet potato souffle, except for the butter, prepared. I found the tablecloth and six napkins, to be washed this morning, got the leaf in the table... and etc.

...
Today's all the rest of the prep, obviously. Turkey will go into the oven at ~11:45. It's a hot oven method for a 17 pound turkey.

I've got another 40 minutes before it all starts. I told Jenna to get up at 8:30.

Onward! Upward!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

Happy new thread! I think I have missed at least one whole thread but better late than never to wish you a good day. This fall has been busy but mostly with good stuff.

Turkey Holocaust orisons, Horrible! Enjoy the feast day. *smooch*

Sweet Thursday and Happy Thanksgiving, Karen. Your dinner sounds lovely. We are going to my cousin's for the get-together. His wife is a terrific host and she always has good beer. Bree and Matt are doing their own things with their significant others.

Absolutely nothing stirring at the feeders.

Hi Karen my dear, Happy Thanksgiving dear friend.

Happy Thanksgiving, Karen!

Happy Thanksgiving , Karen, to you and your family. You have some lovely China! I have Wedgewood Rosedale, which is now retired! Makes me feel old. We recieved as wedding gifts. I think that probably it is more practical to have nice stoneware, as one of my brother's and his wife chose when they got married. We just use Correlle for our everyday china, if you can can call it that. My dear MIL, who I did really love, recommended that. She said it doesn't chip or break. Good advice. My own parents never went in for china, eloping at age 18 as they did. My dad felt strongly that dining rooms were a waste of space and when my parents had a house built when I was 16, my dad was a no go for a dining room. I think occasionally my mom was irked by that, but it was fine . We had a big a kitchen , where my mom and one of my sister's still live.

>65 karenmarie: I remember my dad insisting that one of the exotic silverware was a runcible spoon. Perhaps it was.

Happy Thanksgiving Karen!

>71 vancouverdeb: I am very pro-Corelle. It does shatter violently though..

>71 vancouverdeb: >72 quondame: I am also pro-Corelle, and we use it for our everyday dishes. It has held up very well. I lost one mug, but I don't remember having anything shatter. I only wish I had bought more of my pattern.

>66 witchyrichy: Hi Karen, and thank you twice! Nice to see you here. I love your Thanksgiving wishes.

>67 richardderus: Hiya, RD! Thanks. Here I am at the ridiculous hour of whatever o’clock, tired and wired. I was actually hungry – we ate at 4, dessert at 6, woke up at 2. Had some turkey, bread/butter, grapes. I’ll go back upstairs soon. *smooch*

>68 msf59: Hi Mark, and Sweet Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. I know it’s quieter than you’d like without Jackson/Bree/Sean and Matt/girlfriend (I can never remember her name, sorry), but I hope you and Sue had a good time at your cousin’s.

>69 johnsimpson: Hello John, thank you. It was busy, see below.

>70 atozgrl: Hello Irene, I hope your day was a good one.

>71 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah, and thanks re the china. Your pattern was short-lived – 12 years. Ours was longer at 23, but still, it was discontinued in 2009. We also got ours as wedding gifts. Bill’s and my first argument was over wedding china – he had Franciscan Apple Pattern as his every day but wanted stoneware by Pfaltzgraf for our ‘wedding’ china and I wanted china, not stoneware. I won. Yes, we use it rarely, but that’s what makes it special to my mind. Heh – my maternal grandparents eloped in 1928.

Sorry about the dining room – I’ve always liked a formal dining room and this one that we have now is my favorite. I’ll take a pic of it and post it – perhaps later today.

>72 quondame: Your dad sounds like a card, Susan. Runcible spoon indeed. I hope you and your family had a Happy Thanksgiving. I thought we had Corelle when we moved in 1967, but I can’t find the pattern that I remember. I’ll have to ask my sister if she remembers when we speak later today.

>73 atozgrl: Hi Irene! I need to replace some chipped everyday dishes soon.

Wordle 888 3/6* adieu, color, throw

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Jenna and I were busy from 8:30 until our friends Geoff and Diane arrived at 1. Louise came at 2. We had a wonderful time. The turkey came out beautifully, as did everything. Between Bill and Louise needing to use their canes and NOBODY wanting to go first, I forgot to take a pic of the spread before we started making inroads. Oh well. Everybody left about 7:30 or so. I got jammies on, went upstairs, collapsed, slept, and then woke up a while ago.

...
Later today will be putting away all the clean dishes and washing the cutting board, cleaning the cooktop, and bringing back everything from the counters that had to get moved off. toaster oven, air fryer, Kitchenaid, onion/garlic plate, etc. Tablecloth/napkins washed and put up, leaf taken back out of table, and etc. When I get up again later on I'll make coffee and might have pie for brekkie.

The Senior Center's closed today, so I can't go work out. Drat. And on that note, off to bed again.

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving with friends and family. We did too. Not much planned for the day. I am thinking of going to the Arboretum, although it is only in the 20s at the moment.

ETA- I just checked my feeders: juncos, sparrows, a chickadee and a downy. Oh yeah- yesterday I had a female hairy woodpecker at my suet feeder. 😁

I hope you sleep until 9 today, after the middle-of-the-night alarums and excursions.

The Senior Center closed? Odd, that. You'd think today would be jam-packed with dinner-worker-offers. I do not get the "no, I'll just have a nibble, it's a shame to ruin it" school of guesting..."I worked hard to make this delicious food now GO EAT IT!" I always want to shout.

Noritake used to be *dreadful* about discontinuing patterns in a cycle of three years. Yours lasting 23 must be some kind of record. My mother's Wedgwood Alpine Pink:

...was what she bought for herself in the 50s after getting Sunnyvale when she was married the first time:

...in 1940. She gave the Castleton to her sister when she got married in 1952. I undesrtand her daughter still has it. Talismanic stuff, china....

*smooch*

Good morning, Karen! I hope the kitchen renormalizing goes quickly so that you can relax and read. I'll try to.

Yikes! I can't remember the name of my china pattern, but I'm sure that Royal Doultan long since discontinued it. Just found it....... It's 'Signet', '63-'78. My crystal is 'Puritan', and I have no idea who made it. The silverware that I've loved since I was a child is Gorham's 'Melrose'. My DH used to beg me not to use it, so I mostly haven't and it's almost all still intact but for a couple of stems.
We also have my MIL's china with serving dishes, but I have no idea what it is.
My everyday stuff is - ACK. The name isn't coming up.....the Scandinavian stuff with brown speckles and their stainless pattern too. Age is annoying. More than anybody wanted to know, but I had fun thinking about it.

Enjoy your day!

DANSK!!! It floated to the top just as I was about to put the computer to sleep.

>74 karenmarie: Happy Friday, Karen! I hope you got some sleep in after being up in the middle of the night! I also hope you got all your cleanup tasks done. There's always so much to do afterwards. Sorry the Senior Center was closed.

I made our Thanksgiving meal today, after taking our friend out to lunch yesterday. That was a last minute request, and we had no way to get the house ready for guests as well as make a Thanksgiving meal with such short notice. So our minimalist Thanksgiving dinner was today. Now we've got leftover turkey for sandwiches for a few days anyway.

Saturday *smooches* me lurve.

China discussions, very amusing.
And yes, indeedy, Corelle can disastrously shatter.
We had 2 dinner plates fly apart in shards, like sharp spears. Turns out that if sharp knives (like steak knives) cut into the the surface, the whole plate weakens. Our set was about a year old when that happened.
We have a very simple Spode bone china set (Odyssey Blue), a discontinued pattern now (it was started with a wedding gift of luncheon plates and fruit nappies, plus tea and coffee pots etc.). I actually sold off this coffee pot and the cups and saucers at the local Antiques show. We never used those items but have kept the rest.

It is dishwasher proof, providing you use high quality detergent (like Cascade platinum) *and* run the DW on the china/crystal delicate setting (which clean just fine and dandy). I'm from the era when all the items going into to the DW were pre-rinsed so we continue to do that.

>80 SandyAMcPherson: Bone china is the toughest stuff I know of barring Corelle, but only because one can break bone china by drropping it hard enough. It's super-duper chip resistant, though. The secret to china survival in general is not to dry it with heat, just ambient air evaporation. The decoration, if it's metallic, survives better...if the decoration isn't under the glaze, it's best to hand wash or, at the least, air-dry.

Good morning, Karen! I hope you had a good night and caught up on some sleep.
We are doing fine, and I'm Fourding ahead in the Wordle game.
Enjoy this crisp, gorgeous day!!!!

>75 msf59: Happy Saturday, Mark! Sorry I didn’t revisit my own thread yesterday. I was fine, just weary. Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving. I hope you had a good visit to the Arboretum, if that’s what you ended up doing. Yay for the bird report. My feeders and the Crepe Myrtle are bird-less, but when I brought my coffee into the Sunroom I saw activity on the ground near the Tiger Grass, thinking it was a Brown Thrasher – binoculars out, I confirmed it was, and saw two more. So three Brown Thrashers scavenging in the grass. Made me happy.

>76 richardderus: I slept ‘til 9ish yesterday after being up in the middle of the night, RD, and did the same today, without the up in the middle of the night schtick. I did get up at 6 to take some pain meds, heat the cornbag and go to the bathroom. I immediately fell back to sleep, thank goodness.

The Senior Center, which used to be a 501(c)3, became part of the county two years ago, and so follows the county schedule. *shrug*

Gorgeous shade of pink, and I love the Sunnyvale. Here’s the Castleton Rose that I have in the corner hutch in the dining room:



*smooch*

>77 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Happy Saturday to you. Jenna just brought back the food processor from the Utility room, so all the kitchen appliances are back – Toaster Oven, Food processor, Air Fryer, and Stand Mixer. China needs to go up, and various and sundry.

Your china is elegant. Lots of Puritan crystal, although I see one by Heisey, and I have Bill’s grandmother’s Heisey Olympiad – lots of it. I love your Gorham Melrose. I have Bill’s grandmother/mother’s Gorham Chantilly.

Dansk Brown Mist? It has brown speckles. Too many stainless patterns to hazard a guess. Love it all! Thanks for sharing.

>78 atozgrl: Hi Irene! I did get back to sleep, and last night I didn’t get up in the middle of the night, so consider that a serious win. The brief pain meds/corn bag/etc. didn’t count since I went right back to sleep.

We’ve still got lots of leftovers, and that’s after sending home plates with Geoff/Diane and Louise, plus plates for Bill and myself last night. I’m thinking Turkey sandwich today – wholewheat bread, w/Miracle Whip (yes, I know… ) and cranberry sauce.

Glad you had a chance to take your friend out to lunch, also glad you had a Thanksgiving meal. Minimalist works.

>79 richardderus: Saturday *smooches* back at’cha, RD!

>80 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! Yikes to your Corelle shattering. I love your Odyssey Blue, I love Greek Key things in general. Replacements says it was only active 1990-1991, so wow.

Even though we have a newer dishwasher that probably doesn’t require pre-rinsing, we do it anyway. And we use Cascade Platinum, but I’ve never put a single piece of our china in the dishwasher. We use it so rarely.

Wordle 889 2/6* adieu, guide

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So yesterday was seriously relaxing, although I did completely tear apart the downstairs cat box and wash all pieces thoroughly before putting in fresh pellets and a new pad. I also went through the drive-through at the pharmacy to pick up 2 prescriptions for moi and one for Bill.

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Arsenal plays Brentford at 12:30. Man City played Liverpool and the result was the best possible for Arsenal because it was a 1-1 draw. They each got one point instead of one team getting 3 and the other 0. If Arsenal wins, they go to top of the table. Other than that, puttering, reading.

You guys snuck in while I was composing my message, above, researching china, crystal, and sterling patterns, and generally going down rabbit holes. *smile*

>81 richardderus: Hiya, RDear! I always had visions of the silver rims of my good china being pitted after going through the dishwasher.

>82 LizzieD: ‘Morning, Peggy! Last night’s sleep was good. Glad you’re all doing well. I lucked out today with 2 because of my starting word, but 4 is good. It’s gorgeous out, of course, getting to a high of 51F here today. Cold weather this week, near or below freezing nights.

...
I'm reading a very good book with a tough subject matter - it's an MM romance called The One That Got Away. Charlie was abducted when he was 12 and it's affected his life. He's 29 now and lives with is father, his mother abandoning them with Charlie's sister in the aftermath. Takoda Dyani is a police officer who's recently been assigned Charlie watch - basically lying to Charlie whenever Charlie comes to the PD with worries and fears. The PD screwed up badly in the aftermath of the abduction and Charlie's parents are powerful, so the PD pampers Charlie, but Takoda realizes someone's truly after Charlie again.

Still eating brekkie, still drinking coffee.

From the beanie, toque/tuque discussion on RD's thread. My mom knit this scarf and beanie (sans pompom, alas) for me in high school, so probably 1969 or 1970 since I had it for two high school football seasons. I had never heard of the word toque or tuque then.

>85 karenmarie: Looks GREAT!

>85 karenmarie: Good gracious! They've held their color well, haven't they? Do you recall what kind of plants you had to forage to get that shade of pink? What kind of dinosaur provided the fibers?

Looking grand, Karen. I'm mostly through the giving of thanks, but the giving of thanks is an on-going endeavor. You never really finish with it.

>85 karenmarie: Love this! And your smile.

>8 karenmarie: Thanks for the chuckles. I especially loved the third meme.

Hoping the rest of your holiday weekend is fabulous.

>86 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy!

>87 richardderus: They have held their color well, considering the several hundred washings they’ve had. Are polyesters a species of dinosaur? Because many polyesters gave up their lives for the making of this scarf/beanie.

>88 weird_O: Thank you, Bill. Giving thanks is ABSOLUTELY an on-going endeavor.

>89 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! These three memes are favorites of mine. Friend Vanessa sent me the first, and Jenna provided the second two. Glad you like them.

So far the rest of the weekend’s going well, because Arsensal snuck in a win at Brentford, getting the only goal of the game at minute 89. Kai Havertz scored it, and I couldn’t be happier for him. There was a disallowed goal by Trossard in the first half because of offsides, darn it. Arsenal is top of the league now.



Of course it’s early in the season, but nice to see anyway.

Well, I managed to get only 70 or so posts behind again. . .

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, woman!

>90 karenmarie: Polyesters are indeed dino-sourced, being oil products.

>83 karenmarie: Ooh, I love that Carleton Rose pattern! Beautiful! I'm glad to hear you're getting some good sleep.

>85 karenmarie: The scarf and hat are so pretty, and you look great in them!

>91 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Nice to see you here. The weekend is going well, thank you. I hope your weekend is wonderful.

>92 richardderus: So I'm batting 1000, right, RDear? *smooch*

>93 atozgrl: Just got up a little while ago, Irene, but was up from 3 - 6. Coffee sure does taste good. Thanks re the china pattern and my scarf and beanie.

Wordle 890 3/6* adieu, ovoid, solid

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Nothing much else got done yesterday, and nothing much is planned for today. Laziness before the start of the Christmas activities.

Castleton Rose was one of their biggest successes and lasted over 30 years. Laurie (first wife)'s mother had Castleton Gloria:

...which Laurie HATED and I kinda liked (the little turquoise rim is the reason), and King Richard:

...which I hated, but I don't recall her ever expressing an opinion about. She liked Mama's sterling:

...Royal Danish, which I dislike because its handles are like rat-tails, too skinny. Lynne and Winter got services for sixteen.

>85 karenmarie: Pink looks good on you, Karen. I can't imagine not knowing the word toque when young, but they were common where I grew up in Montreal. Not much call for warm head gear in California.

It is almost December. I am lightly shell-shocked by this realization. *smooch*

>95 richardderus: Hiya, RD. Hmmm. Gloria doesn’t work for me, although the pearl edge and blue line do.

The rabbit hole of sterling silverware. King Richard is Towle, Royal Danish is International Silver. Service for 16, nice. I don’t particularly like either, frankly. I remembered the name of the sterling pattern I’ve got, which is Bill’s grandmother’s AND Bill’s Mama’s:



Gorham Chantilly, which I like. I would have guess service for 12 because I remember 12 knives in the top of the lid of the silver chest, but it’s service for 20 – just got the key from the gun safe, opened the chest to check. Plus iced tea spoons, demitasse spoons, some soup spoons, extra teaspoons, and every service piece imaginable. I think we used it last Christmas for just the 3 of us. Hand wash, of course.

My mother had sterling, which I hated. I can’t remember the pattern, my sister got it and loves it. She also got our great-grandparents china, which my Uncle Doug gave to her. I’ve heard the story of it’s making its way to Iowa in straw-filled barrels, probably from Chicago.

>96 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Thanks. It’s actually red and white, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from that pic. Here are the tassels, where you can see the candy-cane pattern of white and red:



>97 richardderus: 'Morning, RDear. Yes. Month end stats/lightning round, starting holiday season prep. Yikes.

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Wordle 891 6/6* adieu, loath, tacky, tabby, taffy, tawny

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Yesterday was as advertised - almost complete laziness. A few more things put up from Thanksgiving, but that was all. I didn't even make the effort to warm up leftovers - I just had toast and yogurt and Bill and Jenna were on their own for dinner.

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Today will be putting the last of the Thanksgiving stuff up and using the treadmill at the senior center. A small grocery store run, perhaps, along with picking up two prescriptions. I live at the Walgreens...

>85 karenmarie: - ♥!

I do love the pics of tableware. I didn't mention what was supposed to be our everyday glassware, also from Dansk, which turned out to be impractically thin at the lip but which I love. I don't see them on e-bay, so they are probably from some other manufacturer.

Enjoy your day. I have a phone call lined up with best college friend and plan a quick run to the post office. I'd better get to it!

(Wordle in 5. The streak inches forward as does yours.)

'Morning, Peggy! I literally just finished posting on your thread and came back to the Talk tab to see that you posted here. Yay.

Thank you re >85 karenmarie:.

Your day sounds fun and busy - fun phone call and a quick run to the PO. Your 5 beats my 6.

>98 karenmarie: >99 LizzieD: My parents entertained quite a bit, mostly sit down dinner parties for 6-12, occasionally more, and also cocktail with appetizer get togethers that were larger.
They had a lovely bone china with fluted edges and flower baskets with small flowers, and Prelude flatware:

which seemed restrained except in contrast to our everyday stainless which was pattern free simple shapes.
I was kind of overwhelmed by the Buttercup I inherited from my grandparents:

which has the same flowers, but much more so. And there are all sorts of weird pieces that came in the box, including a few collector spoons.

Have a marvelous Monday, Karen!

My parents and my mother's parents had Coronation silverplate. I've inherited it, not quite a full set anymore. But both sets had the round cream soup spoons which I love. Can't find them in any other patterns. And of course the weight and balance are lovely.

here's a sample

Morning, Karen. Well, I am back. It is interesting how much free time I have in the AM, without logging into the internet. LOL. I do miss my routine and my daily visits. My feeders have been hopping lately, despite the winter temps, (only in the teens at the moment. 25F for a high). Juno barked about 330 am. I am quite sure, there was a coyote in the back yard. I thought I could just make out its silhouette.

Wolfing down my breakfast before I pick up my "kids".

>85 karenmarie: Nice hat! Looking good!

>101 quondame: Hi Susan. I remember you saying what a marvelous cook your mother was – baking and candy making, too, if I recall correctly.

I like Prelude – interesting that on replacements.com it shows status as unknown. Buttercup is by Gorham, of course, and similar to my Chantilly, but definitely even a bit more ornate than that. Weird pieces sounds intriguing.

>102 alcottacre: I had a marvelous Monday, Stasia – see below. Thank you. I hope yours was also marvelous.

>103 ffortsa: Hello Judy. I love it that your parents and your mother's parents both had the same pattern. It's uncomplicated and elegant. The rabbit hole of round bowl soup spoons on replacements shows 3 types of round bowl soup spoons: cream soup, gumbo, and bouillon. If you just search for "round bowl soup spoon (cream soup)" you will find thousands of pattern matches, stainless and sterling and even gold vermeil and gold electroplate - possibly more but that's as far down as I looked. Rabbit holes are fun.

>104 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Tuesday to you! I'm glad you have the internet back and yes, LT certainly can be a huge time grabber. Brrr. 25F for a high, AND a coyote. It's 26F here now but will get to 47 today. Low of 17F tonight and 23F tomorrow night, with highs in the 40s.

Yay for your feeders hopping. Nobody visiting my feeders right now, but they were hopping yesterday with all the usual suspects.

Wordle 892 6/6* Alphabet soup. adieu, globe, stove, shore, spoke, scope

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Yesterday was finally getting the rest of Thanksgiving dishes and the electric carving knife put up. I picked up 2 prescriptions and worked out for 40 minutes. Read, puttered, did a bit of laundry AND even got it folded and most of it put up. I hate putting it up, but actually love the folding bits.

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This morning is book sorting. I stopped by the Library yesterday because the Senior Center is one traffic circle exit from the Library to see what was on tap for today. There were only perhaps 7 bags, but we'll see what this morning holds for us because two weeks ago was the same situation - hardly anything on Monday but enough on Tuesday to keep 10 people busy for an hour and a half.

I probably won't go to Virlie's because my annual physical is at 1:20 p.m. plus my cleaning ladies are coming at 1, so I need to get cash from the bank and make myself presentable for my GP. Depending on how late my GP appointment goes, I may or may not stop at the grocery store for a few things.

>105 karenmarie: Booohisssss on missing Virlie's today, even though for very good reasons.

I hope some interesting stuff comes up for fondling today. I've never heard of a gumbo spoon! Bouillon spoons and cream soups, sure...but GUMBO spoons? I've got to go see what makes those different.

Hoping your physical is all good news. *smooch*

>105 karenmarie: Oh, I never thought of checking with Replacements. Good idea. thanks!

>85 karenmarie: Gorgeous beanie/ touque and scarf, Karen. I love the colour and it looks great on you. Quite the discussion we've all managed about china and silverware / flatware. I had not idea that my china was so short-lived. As per Richard, I may have to try throwing a bone china something on the floor and see how tough it is.

I've never had a Correlle anything shatter either, but I have heard of that.

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday. I am feeling a little more rushed in the AM with this work thing. I need to be out the door by 7:05 but I am back home around 830. I am sure I will get used to it. Back into the 40s today. That will feel good.

Temp in the mid-twenties this morning. Yikes. Library sale at noon today, hearing test at 3 p.m. Met with a professional assistant at the hospital's neurosurgical department and got to see that MRI. I have to get another cat scan, but I couldn't get a reservation until the 14th. Hurry up and wait. Meanwhile, that's simply a distraction from getting my hearing deficiencies diagnosed and resolved. And also balance and gait.

You know the drill.

Good morning, Karen. I hope you sail through your busy day and that the doctor visit finishes quickly with mutual congratulations on your good health!

I hate to brag, but I was so tired last night that I went to bed soon enough to get over 8 hours of sleep. It's amazing what a difference that makes in feeling and attitude! I wish you more and better!

>106 richardderus: ‘Morning, Rdear! I do love Virlie’s, but we finished sorting so quickly that the 1 ounce of pepper jack cheese and 6 Hint of Salt Triscuits that I ate on the way to the Library at 8:45 were more than enough to hold me, so in addition to having stuff to do at the house, I also wasn’t hungry at all.

There was one book by Karen Armstrong, A History of God, that I thought about taking (and paying for at the next sale, of course) for Karen, but she’ll just have to live with out it. Of course she may already have it on her shelves. And, I probably won't even mention it to her since it's a paperback. I also still have The Pulpit Commentary (23 Volume Set) Hardcover – October 1, 1985 by H. D. M. Spence (Editor), Joseph S. Exell (Editor) and a UHaul book box of books to mail to her.

I love Replacements. They’re up the road from us in McLeansville, NC, about 41 miles away. I’ve been there once, kept the drool well hidden. MiL Kay took a bunch of things up there at one point and got cash for them, and I’ve ordered Mikasa Garden Harvest from them to replenish as things have gotten chipped. It’s actually time to do that again.

Physical report below. *smooch*

>107 ffortsa: Hi Judy! See comment to Richard, just above about Replacements.

>108 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! Thank you re my headgear (notice how I didn’t specifically identify it!) and scarf. I love rabbit hole discussions, here and on other threads. My heart would shatter if I tried the china shatter test…

>109 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and happy Wednesday to you. I’m sorry that your Kids Kab mornings are rushed. Yay for 40s. It got down to 15F here last night according to Bill and our handy dandy weather station. It’s 32F now, going to a high of 47F. The Sunroom was 63.6F when I came in here earlier, so the propane heater is on.

>110 weird_O: Hi Bill! Oooh, Library Sale. I would have time for it today if it was local… I’m sorry about the delay on getting another CAT scan, I hope the results of the hearing test give clear steps to resolution. Balance and gait issues are a b**** as we get up there, aren’t they? Alas, I do know the drill, although I must say, UNC Healthcare down here has gotten significantly better in the last 5 or so years here.

Wordle 893 4/6* adieu, quilt, cubic, sushi

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Yesterday's physical went well. We discussed a variety of things, all of which resulted in a new prescription and the information that I can up my Gabapentin dose, which I did last night, which may or may not have allowed me to sleep uninterrupted from 1 a.m. ish to 9:22 a.m. I'll do the same tonight and see if I get a long stretch of uninterrupted sleep again. I asked him when he was going to retire, and he said in 3 more years, when he turns 70. Good to know.

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Jenna and I have a more-garage-cleanup date at 11. We'll bundle up, since it's pretty cold out there. Treadmill, and grocery shopping will round out the busy-ness of the day. Reading and otherwise puttering inside.

Good morning, and (((((Peggy)))))!

The visit went well, see above. I’m so glad you get good sleep, because that’s one of the more awful things about the last several years. Getting into bed and knowing I’d have a good night’s sleep used to be the norm, now it’s the exception. Last night was good.

>59 karenmarie: What a nice buffet! I am sure everything tasted good as well. I also have "nice china" and my parents have a few sets as well. We used to keep it for special occasions but now we use it on the weekends ( with the exception of one very fragile set). It makes my cooking look much nicer.

I quite enjoy the various patterns and had to replace a few plates that were chipped. Luckily theres a site that has replacement pieces!

>85 karenmarie: Love it! I used to use the word tuque all the time and still do. I did go to an all french elementary school so perhaps that's why. This type of headwear never had a pom pom on it. I rarely used or heard the term beanie and when I did it was usually applied to kids headwear.

Anyhow I am all caught up now. Hope you are having a great mid week!

Hi Anita! Happy mid-week to you, too.

I love the idea of using the china on the weekends. Or, perhaps, since I do not cook on a regular schedule, one of the days I cook during the week.

I'm going to jinx it, but I've never had a single piece of my 'wedding' china chipped or broken in the 33 years of our marriage.

I'm saddened that the pom pom has been lost from my high school beanie/tuque/toque/toboggan/etc. *smile* for all the words for the same thing, sad face for the lost pom pom.

...
Inara is sitting in my lap. She came up to me a while back, stood at my left shoulder and meowed loudly at me. What else can a cat mom do? Reminder that this is the 16 1/2 year old deaf-as-a-post, emaciated with kidney problems kitty. Gotta indulge her while we can.

>112 karenmarie: Excellent news on the physical front! I expect MT-Karen has the Armstrong book, it's a shelf-staple of a cornerstone read about the idea of a god. Even I have one. Armstrong writes so deeply that I can actually feel her ideas entering my brain.

Interesting that you got good sleep last night. I had a lousy night. Spent it rescheduling reviews because doing five, with various promo activities on different social media, is just too much for me. Thank goodness I thought ahead and have been writing then in batches since June or I'd just say "heck with it" and sulk the year out.

I hope the clear-out continuation goes comfortably.

>112 karenmarie: I wish that I could say that Gabapentin ever helped me sleep, lol. I was on it for 2+ years.

>115 karenmarie: Oh, I agree. Indulging Inara is the least you can do :) I indulge Chalfont and Mallory all the time. They figure they deserve it and I am happy to let them think that.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

>116 richardderus: Thanks, RD! I felt good when I left my doctor's office. Cocky, even. I'll ask her about the Armstrong book.

I'm sorry you had a lousy night. Glad you were productive, at least.

The clear out continued apace. We only spent about 25 minutes out there because it was really cold. However, after screeching because I saw a BUG in the closet and then having Jenna laugh at me, I decided to do almost the final bit on the workbench then clean out around the freezer - putting tools near the other tools on the other side of the garage and sweeping all the dirt and leaves up. I then puttered around 'til I needed to use the treadmill or not get it in today - had to be home by 3 because Arsenal played Lens in the UEFA Champions League. Picked up prescriptions and filled the SUV with gas, too. Got home 2 minutes before the game started. Arsenal won 6-0, fantastic to watch. Final two things for the day before total relaxation were to clean and re-fill the birdbath and get my pill dispensers, a.m. and p.m., refilled.

Back to reading! No Silent Witness tonight because I had a late lunch while watching Arsenal/Lens and that being enough TV for the day.

>117 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. I'm sorry Gabapentin didn't work for you, but the side effect of sleepiness at least worked for one night. We'll see if it works tonight, too.

It's been a pretty good Wednesday, when all's said and done.

Sounds like you had a good and productive day, Karen. Hope you have another good night of sleep tonight!

Just checking in with my Wordle progress :) I am on a 109-day streak, and just clocked a 98% success rate.

Sorry to hear about your sleeping woes. I feel for you, it is a long night on not much sleep.

Happy Thursday, Karen.
A quick visit, as we will go to my father this afternoon.

>85 karenmarie: Love the hat and shawl, looks great.

Tableware: I do have my parents wedding set, tucked away somwhere in a box. We got it after our wedding. It is nice, but I never dared to use it, afraid it would break.

>112 karenmarie: Good you slept well, I hope the Gapapentin did it again.

>115 karenmarie: Loveley picture of dear Inara.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. Glad your physical went well. Yah! I ended up meeting my birding buddies yesterday and I finally got to see an owl. Pics too. Details on my thread. I am working today but nothing else planned but books and Juno.

>118 karenmarie: I hope your Thursday does well by you, too, Horrible. I am off to the dermatologist today to have some stuff excised. Not expecting more than minimal issues with bleeding, thanks to the blood thinners, because I stopped taking them yesterday and will restart them tomorrow.

*smooch*

Hi Karen. Fun china and cutlery blogging!
>85 karenmarie: Love your pink beret (as we would call it, rather than toque!). The colour is very long-lasting, so that's amazing.

I'm reading In the Morning I'll Be Gone, Adrian McKinty's book #3 in the Sean Duffy series and stayed up _way too_ late for someone who needs her sleep!

>119 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I did have a good night sleep, but woke up a bit groggier than I wanted to and will adjust the Gabapentin down a bit tonight. Just halfway through my first cup of coffee… plus I forgot about a chiropractic appointment this morning – I was scheduled for 11 but they had to change and I said 10:30 was fine and they just called at 10:45. Sheesh. I’m scheduled for 1:45 and I’ve set an alarm on my cell phone so I don’t forget again.

>120 LovingLit: Hi Megan. Congrats. 109 with 98% is wonderful. Thanks re the sleep issues. I slept 7 straight hours last night, but woke up too groggy for my liking.

>121 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, and happy Thursday to you, too. Thanks, too, re >85 karenmarie:. Ah tucked in a box. I have way too much stuff tucked in a box that would be happier in the light of day. I’ll adjust from 2 tabs of Gabapentin last night and the night before to 1.5 tabs tonight. We’ll see if I get enough sleep AND not wake up groggy. And thanks re our senior kitty. She’s passed out on ‘her’ blanket on the yellow table right now – didn’t even wake up when I came in a while ago. I can see the rise and fall of her chest, though.

>122 msf59: ‘Morning, almost ‘afternoon, Mark! Sweet Thursday to you, too. I’m glad you got out with your birding buddies… I’ll head over in a minute. Kids Kab, books, and Juno. Decent way to spend the day. I hope that the kids give you joy. That’s one thing that I really loved when Jenna was little – seeing the kids at daycare, then K-4/after school, 5-8 middle school, and 9-12 in band/competitions/football games. I miss seeing kids.

>123 richardderus: ‘Morning, Rdear! I hope the dermatologist visit is … uneventful. *smooch*

Wordle 894 4/6* adieu, rivet, relic, resin

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Yesterday evening was uneventful.

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Well, after blowing the early chiropractic appointment I'm scheduled for 1:45, will leave about 1. Grocery shopping after, then home. Sigh. I didn't even want to go today but since they had openings I thought it would be a friendly gesture to take one of them.

OMG. Your recommendation to check out Replacements has sent me right down the rabbit hole. I discovered that my mother's stainless set, of which I have a straggly remnant, does have a possible gumbo/cream spoon to match. I've been trying to find a stainless pattern I like, and now I see I can fill in my mother's pieces. Big surprise - the stainless sets offered on eBay are rather dear. The pattern is Oneidacraft Capistrano.

And while I was there on eBay, I checked on the inherited silverplate, and there is lots of it for sale on eBay if I want to fill in the holes I have in that set. The silverplate is often cheaper than the stainless! I also found out that the Coronation pattern that I thought was for Queen Elizabeths coronation was actually created for Edward's almost coronation years before.

Am I pokey for liking my mother's patterns rather than the new ones I see? It sounds so boring of me not to have my own preferences, but I do like them.

>98 karenmarie: It still looks pink to me, Karen, even in the "red and white" photo that you posted. I'm not the only one either as I see from Sandy's post at >124 SandyAMcPherson:.

All this posting about silver cutlery got me hunting down the Silvo. I don't have silverware but have a collection of souvenir spoons I inherited and a spoon that I purloined from the family collection as I was the only one who recognized its significance. It is a desert spoon and on the end of the handle it is engraved with a fancy T S and '53. My 5 x great grandfather, Thomas Strange, became a Congregational Minister in Kilsby, Northampton in 1753.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355572

>127 Familyhistorian: Not sure of dates, but Congregational Ministers are thick in my Dad's family - from his g-grandfather back to the early 18th century at least.

>126 ffortsa: I’m so glad you had fun on Replacements, Judy. You are not at all pokey for liking your mother’s patterns. I still have a few remnants of the stainless I grew up with – I snagged them before my mother ruthlessly threw them out and got something else. I also have a few remnants of the stainless Bill and I had when Jenna was little because she asked me to keep them. I’ve also got some remnants of somebody’s silverplate that were in the cherry dining room hutch Bill had when we got married.

>127 Familyhistorian: Pink works, Meg. I’ve made it my primary picture for the nonce.

Oh my goodness – good eye on snagging the spoon with T S ’53 engraved on it. So special.

>128 SilverWolf28: Hi Silver, and thank you!

>129 quondame: I’ve got a few ministers in my family, too, Susan. Nothing recent, though. We’re talking 1600s mostly.

Wordle 895 3/6* adieu, water, taken

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Yesterday was more exciting than it was supposed to be. I went to the chiropractor, and then while I was at the grocery store, Jenna called. Louise had locked herself out of her house, did I have her house key? I did, and it was on the key ring currently hanging out of a pocket in my jeans. Got home in about 45 minutes. Jenna put everything up while I got caught up with Louise's adventure. She was tired and stressed of course, but had told Jenna and reiterated to me that if I'd give her the house key, she'd walk home. Both Jenna and I said a resounding NO, so I drove her home, opened her house up for her, and came back home. Her house key is now on the middle key rack in the pantry, properly labeled. Other than that, reading, Silent Witness with Bill. I also simmered the turkey carcass and will make turkey pot pie soon.

...
Today the only things on tap are treadmill, month-end statistics and lightning round posting, reading, and etc.

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. It's December already? Sounds like you had a bit of an adventure yesterday. Nice to spice things up a bit, right? Poor Louise. Glad it all worked out.

I have to be at Jack's house by 9. Later in the AM I will be bringing him to a "bouncy" place, (don't ask). Sue will meet us there and we hang out, eventually bringing him back here for the day and night. A full Jackson Day. Lots of rain here today, so we will be indoors.

'Morning, Mark! Happy Friday to you, too. Yup. December, and the craziness begins.

Nice that you've got time for coffee and morning routine prior heading off to Jack, Sue, and the Bouncy Place (don't ask). *smile* Enjoy the time, and I hope that an inside Jack doesn't completely exhaust you and Sue.

Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication by Bart D. Ehrman





From Amazon.com:

What did the "other" Scriptures followed by early Christians say? Do they exist today? How could such outlandish ideas ever be considered Christian? If such beliefs were once common, why do they no longer exist? These are just a few of the many provocative questions that arise from these 24 thrilling lectures. Join the dramatic search for lost Christianities and learn why it's considered such an appealing subject to study. These lectures focus on the remarkable fact that many of the struggles of early Christians were not against pagans or other nonbelievers but against other Christians. Professor Ehrman will introduce you to these fascinating groups, including the Ebionites (Jewish Christians who accepted a non-divine Jesus as the Messiah), the Marcionites (who believed the God of the Old Testament and the God of Jesus were different), and the Gnostics (who believed in other deities aside from the one true God). The fascinating heart of this lecture series is its exploration of the Scriptures that were read and considered authoritative by these Christian sects. They provide a fascinating opportunity to study little known and sometimes controversial Scriptures that might have become part of the Bible. You'll explore the Gnostic Gospel of Truth (one of the most powerful and moving expositions of the joy of salvation to survive from Christian antiquity), the Infancy Gospels (which describe events leading up to Jesus' birth and during his young childhood), and the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (which provide legendary, imaginative, and entertaining accounts of the activities of Jesus' closest followers).

Why I wanted to read it: I finally got caught up on the Strike and Ellacott series of audiobooks, and wanted to listen to something different.

Even not being raised a Christian, I was raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition and belief systems. I read the Bible, cover to cover, in 2017, something I'm convinced most Christians have not done. I had absolutely no idea that there were books not included, that there were other early Christianities, and that even the 27 books that currently comprise the Christian Bible – the New Testament – were chosen almost haphazardly, with definite goals of cementing what Ehrman calls the proto-orthodox version of Christiantity as the only true version of Christianity.

I’m stunned. If I was a Christian, it might be world-changing, but I’m not, and it’s only shocking.

This is Ehrman’s Great Courses lecture series, 24 lectures, ½ hour each, recorded prior to the publication of the book Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. I have that book on my shelves, but have not read it, and am actually glad now, that I hadn’t. How are the book and lecture series different? Enquiring minds and all that, but that’s a question I’ll need to look at another year. Here’s the Amazon blurb for the book:

The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human.

In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus's own followers. Modern archaeological work has recovered a number of key texts, and as Ehrman shows, these spectacular discoveries reveal religious diversity that says much about the ways in which history gets written by the winners. Ehrman's discussion ranges from considerations of various "lost scriptures"--including forged gospels supposedly written by Simon Peter, Jesus's closest disciple, and Judas Thomas, Jesus's alleged twin brother--to the disparate beliefs of such groups as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, the anti-Jewish Marcionites, and various "Gnostic" sects. Ehrman examines in depth the battles that raged between "proto-orthodox Christians"-- those who eventually compiled the canonical books of the New Testament and standardized Christian belief--and the groups they denounced as heretics and ultimately overcame.

Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.

In the meantime, once I got used to Ehrman’s tenor voice and his cadence and lecture style, which, admittedly, took a bit, I appreciated his knowledge, his questioning, his sources, and how he presented this subject in a way that made sense to this listener.

Six word review: Christian scholarship at the highest level.

YTD Statistics through November

344 books read
2 of them on my shelves before 1/1/23 and not rereads
105 books abandoned, 11247 pages abandoned, 1 audiobook, .45 hours abandoned

153.75 audiobook hours
Avg pages read per day, YTD = 272
Avg pages read per book, YTD = 264

Book of the Month: The Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker and Lost Christianities Lecture Series by Bart D. Ehrman

Books by Month
January - 33 e-books, 19 books abandoned for 1711 pages
February 34 e-books, 1 paper book, 1 audiobook, 6 books abandoned for 718 pages
March 18 e-books, 7 books abandoned for 443 pages, 1 audiobook abandoned for .45 hours
April 35 e-books, 9 books abandoned for 974 pages
May 32 e-books, 1 audiobook for 16 hours, 8 books abandoned for 1,112 pages
June 39 e-books, 1 audiobook for 17.5 hours, 7 books abandoned for 948 pages
July 36 e-books, 1 audiobook for 18 hours, 8 books abandoned for 849 pages
August 29 ebooks, 1 audiobook for 22.5 hours, 6 books abandoned for 688 pages
September 25 ebooks, 8 books abandoned for 1,041 pages
October 26 ebooks, 1 paper book, 12 books abandoned for 1,163 pages
November 32 ebooks, 2 audiobooks, 16 books abandoned for 1,600 pages

Author
Male 13%
Female 78%
Undeclared * 6%
Non-Binary 3%
* - can't find any info anywhere

Living 100%
Dead 0%

US Born 42%
Foreign Born 37%
Undeclared * 21%
* - can't find any info anywhere

Platform
Hardcover 1%
Trade Pback 0%
Mass Market 0%
Audiobook 2%
e-Book 97%

Source
My Library 8%
Library 0%
Kindle Unlimited 91%
Borrowed from a friend 1%

Misc
ARC/ER 0%
Re-read 2%
Series 66%

Fiction 99%
NonFiction 1%

Author Birth Country
Australia 10%
Canada 4%
Cuba less than 1%
England 14%
Germany less than 1%
Ireland less than 1%
New Zealand 2%
Philippines less than 1%
Portugal less than 1%
Scotland 1%
UK 3%
Undeclared * 21%
US 43%
* - can't find any info anywhere

Original Decade Published
2000-2009 less than 1%
2010-2019 34%
2020-2029 66%

Category
Contemporary Fiction 97%
Crime Fiction 2%
Informational Nonfiction 1%

Acquisition/Source Date
Kindle Unlimited 317
2012 0
2013 0
2014 1
2015 1
2017 0
2018 2
2019 1
2020 1
2021 0
2022 2
2023 18
Borrowed 1

Average Rating
1.5 - Very Bad 2
2.0 - Bad 4
2.5 - Average 13
3.0 - Good 34
3.5 - Very Good 67
4.0 - Excellent 161
4.5 - Outstanding 62
5 - Masterpiece 1

Average Rating 3.80
Books acquired YTD 311
Books culled YTD 63

November Lightning Round

Total Creative Control by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm 10/31/23 11/1/23 Kindle

Sweet and spicy book about Lewis, who writes and and produces a TV show called Leeches and is so temperamental that he goes through PAs like crazy. Aaron gets hired and 3 years later he’s an informal writer with Lewis and has fallen in love with Lewis. Lewis has three rules, the last of which is no sex with his PAs. However, at a retreat their mutual attraction is satisfied but Lewis shies away from Aaron immediately, telling him that the situation is suboptimal. Aaron moves to a different show, but they eventually get their HEA. I really loved the character development on this one as we learn both their back stories and understand how Lewis overcomes his unwillingness to commit. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Meeting Mr. Adorkable by Ali Ryecart**

I got worried about my blood sugar levels with this one, as cliché after cliché came out of the characters mouths. Arlo has returned to his home town in Wyoming after a disastrous breakup. Lucian has moved to Wyoming from London after a disastrous breakup and bad luck in his family’s business by closing his eyes and putting his finger on the same town. Arlo sends mixed messages – kisses one minute and coldness the next – and I just didn’t like the book any more, abandoning it at 67%.

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith 8/28/23 11/2/23 audio book

I confirmed my 4.5 stars on this one as Cormoran and Robin take on the 40-year-old case of a woman doctor missing between the front door of the clinic she worked at to the pub where she’s supposed to meet her best friend, 3 blocks away. Margot Bamborough’s daughter is obsessed with the fact that her mother went missing when she was 1 and gives Cormoran and Robin a year to solve the case. Two different police inspectors worked the case with no success. The first one was in the midst of a mental breakdown as the case was starting and the evidence is tainted – leads not followed up, leads misinterpreted, statements not taken. Cormoran and Robin systematically review all the published accounts and get hold of the first inspector’s private journal, track down old witnesses and members of the clinic. The solution to the case is stunning. Cormoran and Robin? As always, baby steps on the romance, nothing overt, subtle feelings that few can write as well as J.K. Rowling in these novels.

His Last Christmas in London by Con Riley 11/2/23 11/3/23 Kindle

Ian is returning to Cornwall, tail between his legs, as his former boss won’t give him a reference. However, Lito asks him to take on an assignment at triple pay, to take photos of a food critic at a restaurant. Ian and Guy are instantly smitten with each other. Guy’s almost twice as old as Ian. Sweet romance, steamy and satisfying. Caveat emptor re sex.

On the 2 by Felice Stevens 11/4/23 11/4/23 Kindle

On the 2 refers to the train Nash and Ethan meet on. Ethan is outgoing and talkative, Nash not so much. They are attracted but that’s all until they accidentally see each other at a bar, where there’s a scorching kiss and things go from thre. Nash is wealthy, Ethan not so much. They spend more and more time together, and after each overcomes some personal demons, have their HEA. The characters are vividly drawn and the coincidences and stereotypes are minimal but still there. Caveat emptor re sex.

Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker 11/4/23 11/4/23 Kindle

This one has writing from the heart and I actually shed a few tears while reading it. Ryland has left his hometown after his parents reject him for being gay and he’s beaten to within an inch of his life. He is closeted, working in construction. Sebastian is local, out to his family but closeted elsewhere, and they meet at a club every Friday night. Eventually they meet on the job, and although Ryland is gun-shy, comes home with Sebastian. Sebastian’s family takes Ryland in. The brother who didn’t say anything when his parents rejected him reaches out, an comes to visit with his wife. They reconcile, but the parents are still out of Ryland’s life until he gets a devastating call. Funerals, car accidents, and healing are all part of this very special novella. Caveat emptor re sex.

Galaxies and Oceans by N.R. Walker 11/4/23 11/5/23 Kindle

This novel is pure heartbreak and romance, written in an straightforward and vivid way. Ethan escapes his abusive relationship by literally walking away from a raging forest fire, leaving his ID behind so he’d be presumed dead. When asked for his name at a motel, he gives his name as his grandfather’s, Aubrey, and becomes Aubrey Hobbs. Six months later he turns up on Kangaroo Island, hiding, terrified, poverty stricken, living in an old van rented to him in exchange for doing repairs and painting. He meets Patrick, still devastated after the death of his lover Scott. Slowly Patrick befriends Aubrey, teaching him to trust him, both falling in love slowly and surely. It’s a small world but the outside world eventually intrudes, and only when the truth comes out can Aubrey and Patrick realize their HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

Bossy by N.R. Walker 11/5/23 11/6/23 Kindle

I didn’t realize I’d already read this one – November of last year – until about 1/3 of the way through, then I remembered how much I liked it and so finished it. Here’s my original Lightning Round entry: Eyes across a bar, a one night stand that turns into a night a week, two nights a week. At first it’s completely anonymous, no names, no personal info. But eventually they start sharing more personal info, then with a completely believable coincidence, Michael’s world of real estate property management collides with Bryce’s need for a building for a business venture. The story’s sweet and powerful, and the HEA also includes Bryce’s father James and Bryce getting closer and James and Michael hitting it off, too. I really liked the alternating POV between Michael and Bryce. And, of course, caveat emptor re sex.

Thomas and Cooper Thomas Elkin Series, books 1-3.

Elements of Retrofit by N.R. Walker 11/6/23 11/6/23 Kindle
Clarity of Lines by N.R. Walker 11/6/23 11/6/23 Kindle
Sense of Place by N.R. Walker 11/6/23 11/6/23 Kindle
Thomas came out as gay when he was 39, destroying his marriage. His 22-year old son’s friend Cooper is an architecture intern, hired by the firm Thomas works for based on his recommendation. They are attracted to each other, but the 22-year old gap and the fact that relationships are not permitted has them keeping their attraction secret. After Cooper’s internship is over and Thomas does not recommend that they keep him permanent because Thomas wants Cooper, Thomas gets him an interview with a prestigious firm, where he’s hired. At that point their relationship is open. Thomas’s son Ryan is upset, his ex-wife is upset. Cooper’s parents are upset, and when Thomas is going to tell his mother and father about them, it is the day his father dies of a stroke. However, Thomas and Cooper are so much in love that they work through all the issues and get their HEA over the course of the three books. I found this series funny and hopeful and emotionally truthful. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Fall For You by Felice Stevens**

We go from Carson being a jerk at the restaurant Davis works at and is fired from because of Carson, to fantasies by each of the other. Carson is trying to rescue the business his father and brother almost destroyed. Carson’s mother hires Davis to be his PA. *eye roll* Davis had left a secret relationship with his previous boss and is too afraid to openly look for work as a PA. *eye roll* Davis is a wonderful PA, things will end up HEA and Davis’s secret ex, will, of course, get his comeuppance. Not worth the effort to get there, though. Verbal shortcuts, strange plot twists, too predictable without being smooth and readable.

The Art of Husbandry by Jay Hogan 11/7/23 11/9/23 397 pages Kindle

First in the Mackenzie Country series. How I loved this book, from the Dedication, For my family who read everything I write and keep on saying they love it all, blushes included. to the last sentence, ”I love you too. We’ve got this.” This takes place in New Zealand. Gil’s life fell apart when he is seriously injured and his 10-year old daughter killed in a car accident. His husband Luke bails after 6 months, both of them devastated, both dealing with it differently. 18 months after the accident Gil is hired to be the domestic manager at a sheep station by the station owner Holden’s mother Emily after he applies for the position. Gil needs a complete break from everything that’s keeping him from moving forward. Holden also has issues, having just taken over from his grandfather, whose dementia almost lost them the station through poor decisions. He also also just broke up, literally that morning, with his best friend with benefits, Zach (next book). Instant sparkage between Holden and Gil, although Holden doesn’t know Gil is gay for a bit. Awareness, dancing around the attraction, eventual more than sparkage. HEA. The thing I particularly liked about this book was that the author researched station life and made it vivid. New Zeland came to life for me, too. How Gil and Holden get from townie Gil/psychologist Gil/grieving father Gil and lonely Holden/new boss Holden is very well done. There’s a lot of fun stuff, with the station workers teasing Holden and Gil unmercifully, the poignancy of Zach needing a refuge when he comes out to his father, Gil and Luke’s needing to deal with their divorce and grieving, and etc. Caveat emptor re sex.

The Mechanics of Lust by Jay Hogan 11/9/23 11/10/23 Kindle

Second in the Mackenzie Country series has Holden’s former lover still best friend Zach still upset after Holden and Gil get together. Luke, Gil’s ex-husband, comes to the station to discuss divorce and other things and it’s instant sparkage although Zach fights it more than Luke. They secretly hook up, with Luke falling in love quickly and Zach more worried about his banishment from his family’s station for being gay and his working to build his dog-training business and Search-And-Rescue skills. An emergency with Zach’s family, with Luke going the extra mile to help, brings them closer. In this one there’s a lot about Search-And-Rescue and how dogs are used. Emotions, family, and Luke grieving differently but as deeply as Gil are all well written. Plots flow well. Caveat emptor re sex.

Trusting the Elements by Elle Keaton 11/10/23 11/11/23 Kindle

And as well-written and detailed as the Mackenzie Country series by Hogan is, this first in a not-yet-continued series is rather shallow, with lots of writing shortcuts. Otto’s former husband is a stalker, both fear the relationship but eventually realize they’re right for each other. 3 stars is generous. Caveat emptor re sex.

Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish by Jay Hogan 11/11/23 11/12/23 Kindle

Enemies to Lovers, Niall has bought the property next to Adrian, who has secrets and only wants to live quietly. Sparkage, sharing of secrets, danger, etc. HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned BTW: By The Way by Lucy Lennox and Molly Lennox**

Flat, forced, predictable, meh. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Hold the Door by Vinni George**

Sixteen years after Sam kissed Max under the mistletoe even though Max was nominally straight and Max rejected Sam the next day when they talked before Max had to go home, the company Max works for is acquired by the company Sam works for. Apologies, sparkage, surfing, gonna be a HEA, I can feel it. Predictable and etc. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Tied to You by Syn Blackrose**

Ugh. Too much violence and kink. Caveat emptor re sex.

Tallowwood by N.R. Walker 11/14/23 11/15/23 Kindle

August’s lover was killed 8 years previously, and he’s worked cold cases, specifically Christopher’s and the 7 other gay men that he believes are the work of a serial killer. He’s stymied at every turn, kept in the dark, not given the resources he needs. He’s shut down emotionally. He gets a call from Jacob, an Aborigine and gay cop from the coast, that there’s another victim, killed 6 or more years previously, that fits with the M.O. of this killer. And they immediately find another one within shouting distance. However, the local cops AND August’s bosses, once again, shut them down, saying it’s a suicide. As they work the cases, Jacob and August are attracted to each other. August is gun shy about opening himself up to heartache again, but there’s sparkage and they start a relationship. As the tension ramps up about the killings, discoveries are made about stolen evidence, more cover ups, and how these men are being lured to their deaths and how things are made to look like suicide. A last-minute rush and capture of the killer, along with August and Jacob’s romance, make for a very satisfying read. Caveat emptor re sex.

The Lost Fiancé Twist by Ana Ashley 11/15/23 16/23 Kindle

The prologue has Lex setting up a romantic proposal for his lover Emery, with his family lurking against his wishes. Emery shows up, pulls Lex away, says yes. A year later, a brokenhearted Lex is still trying to get over being ghosted. Amazingly, he sees Emery, who has no memory of Lex, no memory of the last 3 years of his life. Lex sets about wooing Emery again. Same sparkage, same immediate connection. It’s a wonderful premise, well done, with strong and good characters. We learn why Emery ghosted Lex, and we definitely get a HEA. There’s also a sweet set up for a second book about one of Lex’s brothers, which I’ll be anxious to read next April. Caveat emptor re sex.

Going Up by Amy Lane 11/17/23 11/17/23 Kindle

This is a very sweet novella about Zach, who has no real life, just work and hiring rent boys when the itch gets unbearable. He’s the son of a successful businessman who is going into politics. He’s not out to his parents or heck, hardly even himself. He starts seeing Sean, a joyous young man, in the elevator of the building they both live in, and Zach and Sean both start looking forward to these few minutes several times a week. The POV is completely Zach’s, but not told in the first person. Zach starts opening up, both at work and to Sean, and they get their HEA. Written ten years ago, there’s much less explicit sex, but there’s a bit, and therefore caveat emptor re sex.

Jon's Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case by AJ Sherwood 11/16/23 11/18/23 Kindle

Jon is a psychic, working for a private company that takes private cases and with the police. Jon sees a potential new hire and is immediately attracted to him, both physically and psychically. Psychically because of his goodness and need to protect, physically because what’s not to like with a 6’5” Tongan? They are partnered up, with the potential for personal and ‘anchoring’ relationships. Anchoring is the bonding that can occur between a psychic and a non-psychic, romantic or otherwise. The company is hired by a man who’s been shot by a woman who’s accused him of stalking and attacking her. Jon sees that this is not true, and we go from there, with their personal and professional relationships growing. Jon is shot at, sees the aura of a serial killer, and is saddened when he sees that Donovan is attracted to someone. I liked this one – mostly froth and fun, but with a few serious zingers:

“Also, I really don’t care who knows we’re together. If they have a problem with it, that’s their problem. If they take that problem to you, I become theirs. Clear enough?”

“You told me once that affection is like a spring green color. What color is love?” I gave her a lopsided smile. “Gold.” “Is he gold at the moment?” “Like an Egyptian statue.”

Caveat emptor re sex.

Rearranged by E.M. Denning 11/18/23 11/18/23 196 pages Kindle

Rowan is in Las Vegas for his bachelor party with his fiancé and friend, Harrison. Neither has romantic feelings for the other. Sid is in Las Vegas simply to get away from his family, on his own. He’s invited to dinner with Rowan and Rowan’s two brothers, then in a fit of lust/drunk mutual feelings, they get married. All hell breaks loose on Rowan’s side because his parents need for him to marry Harrison although he doesn’t understand why the pressure is there. Sid’s family doesn’t particularly care, and thus there are two problems. At one time or another each is needy and insecure, but each is strong and assertive in defending his husband to parents and each takes care of the other. I found this one sassy and fun and enjoyed the feeling of schadenfreude when Rowan’s parents’ lives collapse. I also enjoyed the love story. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Benji: Walking Disaster by EM Denning**

Age-gap romances are usually okay for me, but 25 years and Benji being such a miserable human made abandoning this easy. I also truly didn’t get why Leo, the older man in this relationship, was attracted to Benji.

**abandoned Don't Mess With the Ex by DJ Jamison**

Twenty years ago Laurie and Tucker got married, immediately got an annulment because Laurie’s family pressured him. Turns out the annulment didn’t actually get filed, so Laurie’s come a’visitin’ to try to get Tucker back and also get some of the fortune that should be his. Ugh.

** abandoned Rediscovered by EM Denning**

The story of Harrison from Rearranged above, and his complicated relationship with his step-brother. Harrison sees his fiancé Rowan leaving the wedding chapel with Sid, with step-brother in tow. They immediately go upstairs but the first words out of Harrison’s mouth after they have sexy times are about Rowan. Jack’s feelings get hurt and he immediately leaves, and I just couldn’t get invested in trying to see how it would work out.

Kiss Me Again by Garrett Leigh 11/19/23 11/19/23 Kindle

I loved this book of a chance encounter in a hospital leading to love. Aidan fell and has wrecked his leg and has other issues. Ludo is in the hospital because of regular issues stemming from his bipolar disease. Ludo befriends Aidan. When they get out, Aidan obsesses over Ludo but doesn’t know how to get in touch with him. Ludo wants to see Aidan again but also doesn’t know how to get in touch with him. There’s a coincidence, a slow build romance, mental health crises for Ludo, love, acceptance, and HEA. Caveat emptor re sex, and kudos for dealing in a wonderful way with bipolar disease.

Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh 11/19/23 11/20/23 202 pages Kindle

Liam cannot get over the accidental death of his husband Cory but has a large business to run. Zac is a rent boy. Liam hires him for the night, and it goes from there, with attraction and a bit more than a transactional relationship until Liam misinterprets something he sees in Zac’s pocket, doesn’t give Zac a chance to explain, and kicks him out. They are both miserable. Zac is attacked and his roommate Jamie finds Liam, who finds out that it’s Jamie’s paraphernalia and realizes that Zac couldn’t have been using anyway. HEA. Caveat emptor re sex. I’ve read lots of Rent Boy trope books in the last 17 months, and this is one of the better ones.

The Inappropriate Date by Jax Calder 11/20/23 11/20/23 50 pages Kindle

Sweet short story/novella (?). Hunter needs a date for his sister’s wedding and wants to jerk his mother’s socially-pretentious chain. He invites the blue-haired tattooed guy he speed-dated but didn’t follow up with, Adam. They kiss at the wedding and it’s electrifying, chemistry off the charts. Turns out that Adam is more than he appears. Hunter has to apologize, Adam has to come clean about who he is, and the thing that made me give it 4.5 stars is this (not x-rated) -

Adam rolled over toward me, propping himself up on one arm. Without thinking I mirrored him, so we were lying curled up facing each other. His beautiful blue eyes captured mine.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.

**abandoned The Other Brother by Jax Calder**

Ugh. YA, just too much teenage stuff early on. I did skip to the last chapter and had it been college-aged might have wanted to continue.

**abandoned Explicit Transactions by Hayden Hall**

I thought I’d read this but wasn’t sure, so started it and remembered it. The first two chapters were hot, but I only gave it 1.5 stars, so it must have gone downhill.

**abandoned The Sex Coach by Garrett Leigh**

Ugh. Just… too sickening sweet, predictable, creepy. Even the title. I’ve recently liked quite a few by Leigh, but this one reeked. I’m sorry I read so many pages, 76. Caveat emptor … almost sex?

Snowed in at Christmas Cottage by Ali Ryecart 208 pages 11/21/23 11/22/23 Kindle

A bit of an eye roll at the double-booked cottage that became un-leave-able. William is still devastated a year after his husband died in his arms, Kyle is devastated after his boyfriend of 18-months cheated on him and left for his old job in the US. Both are hurting, both needed time away from everybody in their lives who wanted them for Christmas and looked at them with pity. Instant antagonism, instant attraction. It played out nicely, with good food, decorations for Christmas in the attic of the cottage that Kyle insisted on putting up, a snowman, a hike in the woods, a fire, and slow, tentative steps on both sides. Very sweet but not sickeningly so. Caveat emptor re sex.

His Perfect Christmas Gift by Ali Ryecart 11/22/23 11/22/23 Kindle

Twee, with player Felix landing in a ditch and being taken in by Gabriel’s family. Attraction, Felix saving the day by mixing the perfect mulled cider AND playing Santa Claus, leaving, but returning for his and Gabriel’s HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

Eight Dates by EM Lindsey 11/22/23 11/23/23 Kindle

This one was funny but just a tad over the top, with Ben’s brother Aaron setting him up on a dating app and accepting 8 dates for the eight days of Hannukah for him. Each date is more ridiculous than the last, but Nova, who owns the bar where Ben meets his dates, always rescues him. They are attracted, but Nova is insecure, feeling that Ben might always wonder if his attraction to Nova could be nothing next to one of the dates. Nope, not gonna happen, of course, and, with a bit of Dom/Boy stuff that I could have done without, they get their HEA. Caveat emptor re sex.

When He Beckons by Halli Starling 11/24/23 11/24/23 Kindle

Fate intervenes when Deacon is catching some sunshine at a skate park and meets Zan there. Quick chat, never gonna meet again, except that Deaon is trying to find a new printing house for his small but successful indie publishing house and Zan works for the one he comes to. Contract, dating, HEA. Deacon’s the dominant partner (but not Dom…) but expresses insecurities. And, except for Richard, who can resist two adorable cats named Bacon and Eggs? Caveat emptor re sex.

Company for Christmas by Ali Ryecart 11/24/23 11/24/23 Kindle

Sweet novel, with Max getting lost in the wrong part of town and giving Nathan his bespoke wool coat. They see each other again, Nathan runs because why would Max want him? However, Max knows what he wants, and it’s Nathan. A few sweet kisses.

**abandoned Promises by AE Via**

Duke and Quick are bail-bond company partners. Quick’s son Vaughan has come back after college and law school, local job in hand, and wants Duke, as he’s always wanted Duke. It just didn’t work for me.

The One That Got Away by Nicky James 11/24/23 11/25/23 Kindle

Charlie was abducted and abused when he was 12 and then was the only survivor of an explosion that took all the other boys and all the sex traffickers. 17 years later, he’s been coddled by the local PD because of their culpability in taking too long to find him, but his ‘handler’ has retired and Takoda Dyani, a beat cop, is assigned the job of lying to Charlie about his concerns as a punishment for being hot headed. Only, this time Charlie’s right in that someone’s after him – leaving reminders of his time in captivity, following him. The powers that be do not believe Takoda until almost too late. Takoda understands Charlie and grounds him, taking him seriously. He teaches him some self-defense moves, empowering him. And they save each other when the man from Charlie’s past comes for him. I don’t know how accurate it all is, but I get the sense that the author researched paranoia and OCD behaviors and PTSD and was able to weave them seamless as part of the novel. Caveat emptor re sex.

Radio Static by Nicky James 11/25/23 11/26/23 Kindle

Another book with a man named Nova, who’da thunk it? Anyway, Mercy and his daughter Raelynn recently bought a cottage on a small lake. Nova and his son Cooper have also come for the month of August, first time ever in Cooper’s life, taking the cottage Nova’s parents still own. They are the only two cottages on the lake and they meet up, start socializing. Mercy, short for Mercedes, both of which are usually women’s names in my world, is attracted to Nova but doesn’t know Nova is bi for a while. Nova is divorced from Cooper’s mother, but has never told Coop he’s bi. And there’s a mystery – a 27-year old disappearance, a current murder, all being passed off as people leaving and accidental deaths. Here’s where I had a hard time, because even though they know there’s been murder and know there’s danger, they stay, putting their children in harm’s way. However, we get the solution to the disappearance/murder/etc., and a HEA for Nova and Mercy. Caveat emptor re sex.

Forgetful Hearts by Nicky James 11/26/23 11/27/23 Kindle

Shay wakes up in the hospital after 3 days in a coma, supposedly after falling 50 feet down the side of a mountain. His boyfriend Josiah is there when he wakes up, but Shay doesn’t remember the last 6 months where they went from being enemies to lovers. Shay cannot remember the fall, but is expert at rock climbing and knows he didn’t fall. Josiah had been with him but had returned to town to get a fresh battery for his camera *eye roll*, and came back to find Jay at the bottom of the cliff. Shay cannot remember events, but does have emotional memory, which includes what are to him new feelings for Josiah, and fear and vague panic feelings about the fall. Josiah and he work to piece things together. Amnesia and emotional memories are interesting topics, as is Josiah’s almost pathological inability to finish a sentence. There is an eventual explanation for it, but in the meantime Shay completes the sentences in riotously funny ways. The sexy times are steamy and the resolution of the fall is satisfying. Caveat emptor re sex. Third in the Hometown Jasper series. I read Clashing Hearts in October of last year and don’t know why I didn’t continue the series then. I need to read #2 and #4.

A Boyfriend for Christmas by Jay Northcote 11/27/23 11/28/23 Kindle

Sweet story about Cal, out and proud with tats and the possessor of a small fortune courtesy of a lottery win, who meets Archie, deeply closeted, at an investors meeting of the company his family owns. There’s an immediate attraction, immediate sexy times, and an eventual HEA when Archie comes out to his family and in the Epilogue some months later we finally see complete acceptance by his father. I particularly liked that with the temporary hiccup of Archie having to figure out when he’d come out to his family and a temporary and deliberate break in their communications, both realized what was important. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Incandescent by Christina Lee**

Boring predictable. I’ve now read 537 MM, MMF, or MMM romances since last year, and I can appreciate predictable IF it’s well written and/or the characters are interesting in an unusual way. This one doesn’t work on any level for me.Delaney and Marcus meet in a grief support group, both had been married to women, both had been bi, and now that will play out. Throw in Delaney’s 16-year old son, and it was just too twee for me.

**abandoned The Law of Attraction by Jay Northcote**

Another boringly predictable one… 537 MM, MMF, or MMM etc., with Alec a lawyer and Ed just in his first job. However, they’d had a hookup the Friday before Ed starts his new job. Alec is deeply closeted, Ed out and proud… caveat emptor re sex if you choose to read it.

**abandoned Mr. Big Shot by Isla Olsen**

Another slept with the boss just before the new job trope, not well written enough to continue. Spencer and Will. Will shouldn’t have even gotten the PA job – not enough on his CV, but apparently his honesty in saying he needed the job because his mother had a stroke… Oh yeah, because a billionaire CEO needs someone who simply needs the job and shows up in extremely casual clothes… ugh, even though the hookup was hot. Caveat emptor re sex.

**abandoned Not That Impossible by Isabel Murray**

Just not in the right mood. Supposedly married to a woman, supposedly straight Liam, gay Jasper’s supposed soul mate, is now divorced, dating a woman, but when a bit of side-eyeing goes on at a local restaurant one day, Liam comes over and there’s a bit of sexy times BUT Liam says that’s it, never more.

Operation Fake Relationship 11/29/23 11/30/23 1Kindle

Sweet story of roommates Jackson and Nick. Nick’s been estranged from his family for years but is invited home by his Mum after assurances that his dad has changed. Jackson agrees to go as his pretend boyfriend. Dad’s changed, stopped drinking and etc., there’s sparkage and sexy times, and when they get home after Christmas, they decide that it’s the real deal. Caveat emptor re sex.

Protecting Elliot by Sloane Kennedy 11/30/23 11/30/23 Kindle

Cruz has been hired to protect Elliot by the protection services company he works for, on the QT, because Elliot was attacked the day before but has issues with members of that company. So of course Cruz picks him up at a fundraiser for Elliot’s charity. *eye roll* However, the author writes feelings so authentically and creates sexy times so steamy, that I loved this novella. It’s after book 9 in her Protector series, and I’m going to read her first book, Absolution, starting this morning.

Woo Hoo for the lightning round! I'll be back!!

>133 karenmarie: I might be interested in this, Karen. It looks to be a good overview. People like me who have studied church history have already made what they want to of the early diversity. In return, I recommend Robin Lane Fox's Pagans and Christians, a deep dive into the first couple of centuries when Christians were trying to make sense of their teachings. In fact, I recommend anything that he wrote. I pulled The Unauthorized Version too, which I pulled, started, and put down because I didn't (don't) have the brain at the time to keep up with him.

I have read a couple of Karen Armstrong's memoirs dealing with her own faith.

And you should know that all this tableware talk inspired me to bring a Dansk salad plate, fork, spoon, and cup over for my own use. I had forgotten how much I love them! If I'm smart, I'll take a picture. Thank you!

>130 karenmarie: I hate locked out adventures. But I still haven't stashed a key outside, though the 2 people I used to trust with a key are quite out of my orbit now.

>133 karenmarie: I've know about the heresies and apocrypha for decades - I took a college course which covered some, but in very little detail, and mostly as they were used as excuses for land-grabs by the Catholic Church and its associated nobility.

>135 karenmarie: Mercy me! Haven't you been the busy abandoner. I think that's the best thing you can do for yourself, realize that you're a subject-matter expert with a very clear vision of what does and does not work...in the structure, the tone, and of course for you at that moment.

Ehrman's work is top-flight indeed, as expected you enjoyed it.

I'm napped, will go to sleep early tonight, and try to ignore the way the stitches hurt.

*smooch*

>133 karenmarie: My local library has a copy of the book, so I am going to have to give it a shot at some point although I daresay I know most of what Ehrman discusses. I have read others of his books.

Have a fantastic Friday!

Hi Karen, you deserve a big cheer ~ hurrah ~ because I think Troubled Blood may be a BB for me. I quit reading that series early on and though I have read subsequent reviews of the ongoing saga, this is the first one to tempt me.
I'm seriously glad because I think the characters were well-drawn types and the plot not too much of a trope. But after the first story, the tales were so very dark for my liking.

I also might have a go at >133 karenmarie:, except that title isn't in the catalogue of our provincial Library Consortium, though many other of Bart D. Ehrman's books were listed. I could always ask for an interlibrary loan and might do so in the months post December. Your review was very compelling.

>136 LizzieD: (((((Peggy))))) Pagans and Christians and The Unauthorized Version are now on my wish list.

I’m so glad you brought over your Dansk! Every little it of joy, right?

>137 quondame: I hate ‘em, too, and am especially unhappy that Louise walked more than halfway to our house before neighbor Ben gave her a ride to the end of the cul-de-sac and down the ~200 feet of uneven gravel drive. I’ve never wanted to give anybody our house key, but we have Louise’s and our friends Ronnie/Becky’s. If I gave someone the key, I’d have to give them the whole-house-security system code, which I’m extremely reluctant to do. So, I need to put the currently-in-the-pantry-on-the-key-rack spare outside somewhere not obvious just for the three of us to know about since we all know the security system code. Sigh.

>138 quondame: You’re luckier than I was in that respect, Susan. I took 4 religion courses in college at Pepperdine, which was/is affiliated with the Church of Christ – OT Survey, NT Survey, Prophets, and (daringly, I believe, for them for the times ~1973) - Love: Secular and Christian Readings. I was barely given to understand that there were multiple translations of the Bible, much less being taught that there was something called the Apocrypha or other Protestant non-canonical books. I have read Elaine Pagels’ Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas And the Shaping of Christianity and Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas and have her book The Gnostic Gospels on my shelves, but for some reason the fluidity and jockeying for power/authority in early Christiandom was never really clear in mind before this lecture series by Ehrman.

>139 richardderus: Yes, RD, I abandon books with glee. Kindle Unlimited makes that more than easy, so for $12.83/month, I can play around to my heart’s content. 28 of the 33 books I read in November were Kindle Unlimited.

I’m sorry you had such a rough time at the dermatologist’s, what with stitches and passing out and all. Rest and take care of your own dear self. *smooch*

>140 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. You probably do know most of what he discusses. I’ll be interested in you take on the book.

>141 SandyAMcPherson: Hello Sandy. Yay for a BB. The series is not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. The second and third books in particular have some seriously macabre bits, and the other books have violence and an undercurrent of evil throughout. Troubled Blood is quite possibly the least gruesome of the lot, IMO.

And thanks re my review of the Ehrman book.

Wordle 896 5/6* adieu, stoke, creme, verve, genre

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
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...
Yesterday was quite productive, and I was pleased. I used the treadmill for 40 minutes, dropped off an LLBean return at the UPS Store at the TruValue Hardware Store, where I got 2 copies of Louise's key made for her.

Reading and puttering definitely occurred, too.

Inara gave us a scare and it was my fault - when I saw Zoe and Wash around 5:30 I assumed Inara was in because we didn't see her go outside. She usually 'asks' to go out the Sunroom door. I locked the kitty door. However, at 9:15, when Jenna went to get her for her nightly capsule of Cosequin, we couldn't find her. Jenna turned the back porch lights on and was getting ready to go outside and look for her when she popped onto the porch and let Jenna bring her inside. From now on, I won't assume she's snoozing on the blanket in the Sunroom.

...
Not much planned for today, although I might ask Jenna to sweep the cobwebs from the front and back porches. I will continue the process of getting the turkey carcass ready for Turkey Pot Pie by warming the pot gently, then de-boning the turkey and straining the broth for tomorrow's final effort of actually making it.

It's foggy out this morning, and I love seeing our trees through the mist.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. I like your November report and your lightning round. You abandoned 105 books? That is close to a year's total for me. LOL. You are a reading machine.

We are enjoying our Jackson time. Sue completely devotes herself to him when he is here and he wears her out. Of course, I play with him too but I have no problem letting him play by himself. He is talking up a storm these days, which keeps us grinning. Bree will pick him later this AM but we will all be going to Brookfield Zoo later this afternoon for their Zoo Lights Festival. Enjoy your day.

>142 karenmarie: Pot pie is one of the great pleasures of the end days of the turkey slaughter. I don't know why people don't eat pot pies more often, but they sure do make great wintertime feeds. I made a turnip pot pie when Kristin went veggie, and really enjoyed it. That was a surprise, let me assure you....

*smooch*

Good morning, Karen! Oh! The joys of multiple cats!!!! We're too close to a major (for us) connector to let our 7 go in and out at will. I lose them in the house. I'm glad that Inara is fine.

Pot pie! I am just too lazy these days to make one or tetrazzini, which I also love. I just made turkey salad. I guess I could heat it, but Mama manages it better than she does sliced turkey.

Off to start the day here. Enjoy yours!

>143 msf59: ‘Afternoon, Mark, and happy Saturday to you, too. Thanks re my stats and lightning round. When Louise was here a few minutes ago, she spotted a Phoebe in one of our Crepe Myrtles. I was able to see it with the binoculars. Last time I saw one here at the house to recognize it, was 5 years ago.

It will probably be 106 abandoned soon – I’m supposed to read Cloud Cuckoo Land for next weekend’s book club meeting. I started it. Why, oh why did it have to start with “an interstellar starship decades from now” with a girl with her name misspelled? Okay, the last bit is snarky, because Konstance is phonetically correct just irritating. And, except for Westerns and poetry, my least favorite genre – SF/fantasy. Then, the second chapter with Zeno is dated February 20, 2020, Bill’s birthday less than a month before the world started falling apart with the Covid pandemic. I don’t think I can do this.

>144 richardderus: Bill will eat Marie Calendar turkey, chicken, and beef pot pies, but he grew up with this admittedly weird recipe. I've never written this one out before, so if it sounds weird it's my fault - I just watched Bill's Mama make it a few times, helping where I could.

Turkey Pot Pie without any exact measurements.

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
   
2. However much turkey is leftover from Thanksgiving or Christmas, tear apart or cut into bite-sized pieces and put in a baking dish so that the layer of turkey is about ¾ - 1” deep.
   
3. Add strained turkey broth from cooking the turkey carcass down, using enough to completely cover the turkey but only just. Use store bought broth as needed.
   
4. Salt and pepper generously.
   
5. Add butter, salted or unsalted, cut into 1/8” thick slices, not covering the turkey completely, but only leaving perhaps ½” between slices.
   
6. Measure out homemade or store bought pie crust, 1/2" inch longer than the baking dish all around, letting extra length come up evenly on all four sides sides of baking dish. Carefully cut a few vents into the crust, perhaps 6-8 total, in two rows.
   
7. Bake until the crust is flaky, 30-45 minutes.
   
8. Cut generous slices with a wide spatula and ladle some broth onto the plate, but do not ladle the broth over the crust.

*smooch*

>145 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! We’re less cat crazy than all y’all are, but even three keeps us hopping. I felt like a bad cat mommy last night. Fortunately, Inara’s one brain cell immediately forgot that she was locked out for 4 hours and she’s been hanging out here with me all day.

Ooh, turkey tetrazzini. I haven’t had that since I worked at diners in Connecticut 1977-1980. Yum, just yum.

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My day has been enjoyable. The turkey carcass is picked clean, turkey in a Tupperware. Strained broth is in a separate container.

Louise came by so that we could dry her comforter in my dryer instead of her having to go to the laundromat. I’ll give it back, folded nicely ‘cuz Jenna will do it, tomorrow.

I hope your day has gone well so far, too.

>146 karenmarie: iiiiiiiiinteresting...no veg, no condensed milk, no Wondra...no herbs...never had it made that way. I'd be intrigued to try it. *smooch*

>142 karenmarie: I started my on-and-off overview of the worlds religions very early in life - The Epic of Man (1961) was requested as a gift before I was in high-school and several other books about pre-history, mythology, ancient life, and archeology were already in the family library. Not that I ever studied those fields, but they were always of interest to me, in a lighthearted way. I didn't get New Larousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology until the end of high school though and my interests had shifted a bit by then.

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. I didn't enjoy Cloud Cuckoo Land nearly as much as my other LT pals did but I am still glad I stuck it out and finished it. I do think Doerr is a talented writer.

Today should be a fun one- I am meeting Joe near is home, in the city, for lunch, brews and chatter. I haven't seen him since August.

Good morning, Karen. That is an interesting turkey pot pie recipe. I think that even my DH, who is on a *leave food alone after it's simply cooked* kick, might enjoy that one.

Have a lovely day. I need to scoot to start ours.

Wordle in 3, and I love it.

>147 richardderus: ‘Morning, RDear. Yes it is. If I were to make a standard pot pie, I’d make a medium white sauce instead of using condensed milk, use carrots and peas and onions like the Marie Calendar ones do, S&P, and figure out an interesting herb statement. BUT, I’ve come to like this one after 33 years of marriage. *smooch*

>158 streamsong: ‘Hi Susan. How I love The Epic of Man. Mom and Dad got Time-Life books on subscription. They had The Epic of Man, but, being the opposite of pack rats in every single way imaginable, didn’t have it or any of the Time-Life books when I went to clean the house out in 2017. I managed to acquire quite a few on my own over the years, and they have place of price on shelf L61 in my Library.

I didn’t have The Epic of Man until March 10, 2020, when some unintentionally-kind-to-Karen soul at book sort put it in the discard pile. I couldn’t believe it, confirmed that they didn’t want it for the sale, and brought it, in immaculate condition and with the slipcase, home. I’ve brought it into the Sunroom and may spend a bit of time with it today. Here’s the one we had as I was growing up, different cover, no slipcase:



You definitely have an enquiring mind, as do I. Lots of things interest me in a ‘lighthearted way’. I studied mythology in 8th grade in at Richard Henry Dana Junior High in Hawthorne, and, after we moved to Diamond Bar, in 9th grade Honors English at Fremont Junior High in Pomona.

In 8th grade, I was such a nerd and had such a reputation among the teachers for being meticulous in turning homework in, that when I deliberately chose to NOT turn in the mythology project because I could not draw my way out of a paper bag and felt embarrassed at having to turn in a project with 2nd-grade-level art and was willing to take the hit to my grade. BUT, when the teacher went over my grades with me mid-semester, as she did with everybody, she'd given me a B+ for my project. I can only think that she thought she'd lost it because it would be unthinkable that I wouldn't turn it in. I figured that if she was stupid enough to not challenge me about missing a project, I'd take the B+.

In hindsight, I could easily have gone into archaeology. History interested me, but I did not want to teach history and didn’t even know how to become a researcher. I did the practical thing and took a B.S.B.A. from Pepperdine – Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. I ended up in computers by getting a job at the computer center my sophomore year, so serendipity.

>149 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and happy Sunday to you, too. I definitely think Doerr is a talented writer, and even though I gave it 4* in 2014, don’t remember it with as much fondness as those stars indicate.

Ooooh, yay for a meetup with Joe.

Wordle 897 3/6* Lucky me with the first word I always use. adieu, adorn, adapt

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Bill and I watched Arsenal beat the Wolves 2-1, so that was exciting. A bit nerve-wracking at the end, because the Wolves scored their goal at minute 87, and with 90 minutes plus stoppage to play could have scored again to a draw, but Arsenal held. Reading, puttering, and etc.

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Bill got up at 9:30, Jenna woke up at 9:30 and just came downstairs to get a bit of brekkie, I woke up to the alarm at 9:40. Something in the air or water. As mentioned above, comforter return and Turkey Pot Pie are on the agenda, plus all the usual stuff. And The Epic of Man is out and I might spend a bit of time perusing it.

'Morning Peggy! You snuck in as I was writing my epic message, to continue the epic theme. *smile*

That recipe is really straight forward, tasty, and we all love it, so if you have enough leftover turkey or even cook a turkey/turkey breast for it, it might be a good alternative to turkey salad, which you mentioned on your thread.

Scoot away - I've finally taken my meds, but need to get some breakfast so the carvedilol doesn't make me lightheaded.

My BP was 96/61 at the doctor's last Tuesday - that was after eating brekkie and lunch AND being stressed at being at the doctor's office even though I wasn't expecting any bad news. He called it 'cardio blood pressure' and wasn't worried about it.

We're the Wordle sisters today for sure.

>151 karenmarie: My desire for a career in archeology was not encouraged and some of that was no doubt knowing what it felt like to dig about in the desert and being disinclined to spend more time doing so. And wet with bugs never appealed to me.

But it didn't matter a bit what we chose to study, apart from the interest in the courses we took, because we all were fed into the maw of the hunger for computer wranglers.

My Epic of Man is the same plain brown, no slip case, one, but it's the insides that matter yes? All those delicious paintings. My favorites were the Minoan ones.

I finally made it back over to your thread. A lot to catch up on.

>146 karenmarie: Interesting turkey pot pie recipe. I need more veggies. I remember having a chicken pot pie at Cracker Barrel when it was new on the menu, and the waitress asked me to let her know what I thought. It had *lots* of meat in it. It would have been good for a meat lover, but I wanted a lot more vegetables.

>133 karenmarie: I really do need to get around to reading Ehrman at some point. I've seen him a number of times providing information in various historical documentaries on TV, but haven't read any of his books. I've been aware of the apocrypha and various other early, non-canonical writings, but never read any of them either. Maybe I should. Sigh. The TBR list just keeps growing.

Wordle in 3 for me today too. I had a lucky second guess. So I can join you and Peggy as Wordle sisters!

Morning, Karen. As expected, I had a grand visit with Joe. I think we chatted away for about 5 hours. Getting ready to pick up the kids now and then I am meeting my birding buddies at the Arb. All good here.

A busy week ahead and we are getting prepped and pumped for our Cozumel trip on Saturday. Yah!

>153 quondame: Wet and bugs absolutely do not appeal to me either, Susan. But, limiting as it sounds career-wise, hot and arid and dry conditions would have appealed. I tolerate dry heat pretty well. You and I both got into computers early, you at a much higher and more financially beneficial level (as I recall), and I feel that I was lucky to make that my career. Heh. Computer wrangler. I like it.

I learned to type on an old, manual Underwood, which required heavy pressure to make the keys strike the paper. I typed 65 words a minute after one semester of typing in high school, pounding away. I still had a heavy hand when I typed keypunch cards on an 029 and then a 129 IBM keypunch machine, and had to learn to not mentally compose when I started using an electric typewriter because I moved my fingers on the keys too much and 'djjlj;laaklsdj;d' and other nonsense came out. *smile* I never lost my need to pound the keys, though, and by the time I worked at Micom (1981-1985), I had earned the nickname Turbohacker for my speed and pounding of the keyboard. Hacker was not a pejorative yet. I still have one friend who calls me Turbohacker.

It is always the insides that matter, for sure. However, a nice leather cover, deckle edges, gilt edges, one or more satin bookmarks, stunning dust jacket artwork, and etc. are all nice icing on the cake.

I did not make time yesterday to peruse The Epic of Man, but I seem to think that the bull riding illustration might have been Minoan – if not, it was perhaps Etruscan. I’ll check it out here after I play around here on LT.

>154 atozgrl: Hi Irene! Have you ever tried to make a vegetarian pot pie? I don’t know if you could do it vegan because of the crust, but perhaps crust with margarine? Anyway, you could just load it up with lots of vegetables and leave the meat out. I have a favorite recipe, which I haven’t made in decades because Bill hates broccoli and I won’t make it without it – Vegetarian Lasagna. Now, I’d have to see if it was even an option with my low sodium requirements, but it’s quite wonderful.

Vegetable Lasagna
Low-Cholesterol Cuisine

1 T vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 16-ounce can whole tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups small broccoli florets
9 lasagna noodles
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
3 cups shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese, about ¾ pound
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; add onion and cook until tender. Stir in garlic, carrot, celery, and mushrooms; cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, breaking up with fork. Stir in tomato sauce, basil, oregano; season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until thickened slightly. Let cool, stir in broccoli.

In large pot of boiling water, cook noodles until al dente (tender but firm); drain and rinse under cold water.

In lightly greased 9” x 13” baking dish, arrange 3 noodles evenly over bottom. Spread with one half of the vegetable mixture then half of the cottage cheese. Spread with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese.

Repeat noodle, vegetable mixture, cottage and mozzarella cheese once. Arrange remaining noodles over top; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake in 350F oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

I wonder which Ehrman would be best for you to start with? Or, I can keep my eye out at book sorting and get the next one I see and give it to you when we meet up again. I think I saw a copy of Lost Scriptures, perhaps it was even Lost Christianities in the cubbies (and therefore not alrady in a box and not available) when I went to the Library on Friday and perused the sort room.

Yay for 3, Wordle Sister!

>155 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! I wouldn’t expect any less of a visit with you and Mr. Welch… Five hours? Well done. Sounds like a productive day planned. Oooh, I’d lost track of your Cozumel trip.

Wordle 898 3/6* adieu, stony, worst

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I decided to make my paternal grandmother's gingerbread recipe yesterday because Jenna mentioned it earlier in the week. It's from at least the 1860s, so had to be her mother's or even her grandmother's. Lots of molasses, heavy on the spices. Sometimes I frost it with cream cheese frosting, but so far we've only dusted powdered sugar over individual slices. It yields a 9" x 13" pan's worth. Jenna I also made the turkey pot pie, with great success.

We're eyeing an Eggnog Pie from B. Dylan Hollis's YouTube channel shorts list. He calls it Christmas on a plate. I need some good rum, more eggnog, and a package of Vanilla Pudding.

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The only thing I need to do today is use the treadmill, but now I'm thinking a quick visit to the Library and grocery store might be necessary, too.

>153 quondame: I found what I was remembering, Susan, and it's definitely Minoan.



Actually, the artwork faces the first page of the section on the Minoans and Mycenaeans and the relics supporting the artwork are a few pages later.

My sister remembers this book, too, and I might try to find a copy for her for Christmas.

Hi Karen!

I requested Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication by D. Ehrman. I've liked all the Great Courses/Learning Company classes that I've listened to and *someone* in our linked group of libraries usually has them. I've read a couple of the apocropha, but never done any study over all.

I made a new version of turkey "shepherd's pie" (doesn't that imply it has mutton or lamb in it?) this year. I had leftover mashed potatoes and green beans as my part in the Thanksgiving festivities I attended. Instead of broth or white sauce, it used tomatoes, mustard and worstershire for the sauce which gave it a completely different flavor. I'd make it again, but put sweet potatoes as the top crust instead of mashed potatoes which were a little bland.

5 for worldle for me today. I have it in my mind that the answer is usually a cheerful word. Ha! Grinchy sort of word today.

>157 karenmarie: That book was one of my sister Winter's great treasures. Mama had it, for some reason or another, in her house...finally reuinted them, and Winter has it even now.

Books as talismans.

Have a marvelous Monday, Karen!

>156 karenmarie: Oh, that lasagna recipe sounds delicious! I'll have to give it a try. I rarely make a homemade lasagna. Store bought frozen lasagna is one of my regulars when I get tired of cooking from scratch. But I'll have to try this one, especially because it's a vegetarian version.

If you spot a good Ehrman at book sorting, I'd love a copy! Lost Christianities certainly sounds interesting. I appreciate the thought!

>156 karenmarie: >157 karenmarie: Yep! Those illustrations were pure magic to me. I've never been to Crete outside the covers of books, but I did love my time at Mycenae, that hill top with its ancient remains is both full of deep mystery and vivid delights.

The physical books I remember were the acid burnt copies of Howard Pyle's King Arthur and Robin Hood, and my father's early 20th century editions of illustrated books - Treasure Island, The Arabian Nights, The Talisman, Quentin Durward, and Lorna Doon.

Morning, Karen. Kids Kab, chiropractor, dentist, walk Juno. That is my day. Of course, books will be included. Woke up to a dusting of snow.

>158 streamsong: Hello Janet! Both you and Karen have told me about the extensive Inter-Library Loan system in Montana, and all I can say is that I’m envious. I hope you can get hold of it. I’m going to be sending my copy of the course book/CDs to Karen on the Inter-Karen Library system in her book/Christmas present box, and if you can’t get a copy, I’ll have her mail you mine for eventual return.

I’m intrigued with the idea of sweet potatoes as the topping for Shepherd’s Pie. Mustard and I don’t get along except for corned beef or pastrami sandwiches or corned beef and cabbage, so I’d have to pass on that bit of your version. Using up leftovers has become rather a passion for me recently, and even with the Turkey Pot Pie there’s still enough turkey meat left for a few sandwiches.

5 is respectable, and yes, yesterday’s word was less than cheerful.

>159 richardderus: I’m glad your sister Winter has your family’s copy, RDear. I only have a few books from my childhood, and my parents didn’t think to offer books to me when they got rid of them all at one point. There are a few I’d like to have had. I do have what I called my high school books – The New Wonder World books, published in 1944 by Geo. L. Shuman & Co. I have all 10 volumes and volume 11 – the Home and School Guide. Probably my mother’s – by 1944 my dad was slogging around the Eastern European theater, my mother was 12, her sibs 9 and 6. Here’s one of the covers:



>160 alcottacre: I did have a marvelous Monday, Stasia, see below. I hope yours was good, too.

>161 atozgrl: I sort of put it out there for you, actually, knowing that you preferred vegetarian, Irene. It’s definitely a good’un. It’s from a book called Low-Cholesterol Cuisine. From the date published, 1989, and the date entered into my catalog, 11/23/07, I deduce that I brought it from California. I did find a good book, although the cover is weird – Lost Scriptures by Ehrman. Would you be interested in it?

>162 quondame: We’re in agreement about the illustrations. I envy your having been to the Mycenae. I love your memories of specific books.

Wordle 899 5/6* adieu, spunk, grunt, clung, young

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I worked out for 41.5 minutes yesterday. I reheated some Turkey Pot Pie in the oven for Bill and me - Jenna had some salmon and rice. We all indulged in gingerbread - not ginger bread people, but a 9" x 13" pan of gingerbread. Dusted with powdered sugar it's quite wonderful.

A self-indulgent book order from Hamilton Books arrived. I'll open it up this afternoon.

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Today is book sort followed by Virlie's for brekkie/early lunch. PO for Christmas stamps and grocery store run after.

Hi Karen - I might try making some gingerbread soon. I've never done it before, but I do love it. You've reminded me I need to get going on my holiday baking, which is just making candy cane brownies. Easy peasy.

Have a good Tuesday!

>164 karenmarie: Those New Wonder World books are lovely, Horrible! I'm so sad when people don't think of books as talismans and precious in their own right. One of the residents here gets books from his family, reads them, then throws them in the dumpster so other people can't read HIS books.

Bizarre.

Have fun book-fondling today. *smooch*

>158 streamsong: I'm glad to see that somebody else rejects negative words (unless, in my case, I can't think of anything else) for Wordle. That's another reason I dislike having a person choosing them.

>164 karenmarie: ACK! The bookdumper is certifiable. What a lost soul!

Happy Sorting, Karen! I'm here early because I woke up after 7 hours, and that was that.

(My two first words were golden today: got it in 3.)

>165 katiekrug: Hi Katie! If you don’t have a recipe, I’ll be happy to share mine, or there’s one on the internet from Laura Ingalls Wilder that I just looked up again – much less molasses, brown sugar instead of white, and etc. but otherwise similar, especially with using 1 cup of hot/boiling water with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Laura frosted hers with chocolate frosting, but that just wouldn’t cut it for me, hence powdered sugar or cream cheese frosting. I hope you’re having a good Tuesday, too.

>166 richardderus: Thanks re my New Wonder World books. I spent so much time as a child looking through them. I cannot fathom a person who’d rather throw a book away than let someone else read it, RD. He must be mentally ill.

>167 LizzieD: Hello Peggy. I just go with the logic of words within the scope of the 2,309 available and what’s already been used. I wonder how they’re chosen these days? I’m sorry you only got 7 hours of sleep. Congrats on Wordle in 3.

…
Book sorting was mostly tedious because a woman who’d called our fearless leader asking if she could bring in her personal library of archaeology books and was told no, brought them in anyway. We may have gotten 30% that were usable because of condition problems – warping, foxing, stains, etc. Other strange books from other donations, too, so I only sorted perhaps a total of one bag of my favorite categories of fiction and mystery. I avoided the children’s book donations – how I hate to sort them and there are other folks who either like to sort them or don't mind sorting them.

Virlie’s was fun – let’s see… there were 8 of us and the conversation was wide-ranging.

Our PO never has good Christmas stamps, grumble, grumble, but they say they’re getting Snow Globe stamps on Thursday. We’ll see. I did get 2 20-stamp-each booklets of something vaguely Christian looking.

The grocery store was a success, although no matter what I do, I almost always spend a minimum of $50.

I'd love your gingerbread recipe, if it's not too much trouble to post it. No frosting for me - the powdered sugar sounds perfect.

Our branch PO doesn't always have a great selection of stamps, but I got some cute winter animals ones that I was happy with.

Before I get to the recipe, Arsenal beat Luton Town 4-3 in the 97th minute!!! That's 7 minutes past regulation, and 1 minute past the original stoppage time posted. Declan Rice scored the winning goal. I'm happy.

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Okay, Katie. This recipe is my paternal grandmother's, or probably her mother's since the original hand-written recipe says "100 year old recipe" and was written well before my grandmother died in 1964.

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“Mom” Pomeroy’s Gingerbread Recipe

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 9” x 13” pan.

Cream:
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter
1 large egg
1 cup molasses

Sift together and add:
2 ½ cups flour
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
½ t cloves
½ t salt

Mix 1 and ½ t baking soda into 1 cup very hot water and add.

Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Frost with cream cheese frosting or dust individual pieces with powdered sugar.

.
Cream Cheese Frosting – Betty Crocker Cookbook

1 package, 8 oz, cream cheese, softened
1 T milk
1 t vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar – I recommend sifting first…

Beat cream cheese, milk, and vanilla in medium bowl on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and of spreading consistency. Frosts a 13 x 9-inch cake or fills and frosts two 8- or 9-inch cake layers. Refrigerate any remaining frosting.

Part of the last paragraph of The Federalist No 52, written by James Madison, in my copy of The Federalist, edited by Jacob E. Cooke.

February 8, 1788

To the People of the State of New York.
…
It is a received and well founded maxim, that, where no other circumstances affect the case, the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration; and, conversely, the smaller the power, the more safely may its duration be protracted.

In theory absolutely correct, but the power of the Supreme Court, with members elected for life, the current willful ignoring of stare decisis, and the clear will of the people has perverted this concept.

Wordle 900 4/6* adieu, prawn, wagon, woman

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The rest of yesterday was strange, as Jenna went out to meet a potential new friend/go on a date. It must have been successful one way or the other, because I texted her 1-ish to see what was going on, and she said she'd text me when she left, which ended up being at 2:50. I turned the Mom Radar off and the light, but boy, am I tired. The car's on the concrete, the kid is in her bed, and all's right in my world.

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Today is treadmill, working on my Christmas letter, and deciding whether to pay the handling fee for Christmas stamps if I order them from the usps.gov website or hoping that the Snow Globe stamps are delivered to the PO on Thursday AND I get there before they're all bought.

I realize that it's not the end of the universe if I have to pay a small handling fee, but really. My PO never has good Christmas stamps.

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday. We may have cross-posted yesterday. No Kids Kab today but lots of errands to run, mostly in preparation for our trip on Saturday. I did have a red-tailed hawk visit my backyard yesterday. I did take a couple of photos.

‘Morning, Mark, happy Wednesday to you, too.

>163 msf59: Yup. Sorry. I didn’t follow my rule of checking on another tab to see if anybody had posted while I was composing. Busy day for you, with the addition of the chiropractor and dentist. I’d love a dusting of snow, but we had rain last night. It’s currently 39F, with a high of 51F.

>173 msf59: I hope your day of errands goes well. Nice sighting of the hawk, but I bet it made all the other birds hide.

The post office wants the handling fee. After all, DeJoy has (like 45 who appointed him) made no secret of the desire for the maxmum amount of money to come out of your wallet to fatten their coffers. That way when they privatize the whole thing, it won't be a new thing to pay a fee for what once was part of the service we already pay for.

>171 karenmarie: There are many things that are very different in the 2020s than in the 1790s. Among them is life spans are hugely longer. Mandatory retirement at {hoi-polloi age}+10 for all judges, so right now, 77. Seems reasonable to me, as does making the Supremes match the number of circuits.

Like you, I've run into out-of-stock issues at my local PO (and as I write this I can't remember if that happened here, or in Philly) and now I prefer the peace of mind from buying online. This year I needed 10 international stamps and 20 Forever stamps which admittedly is not a large order. The handling was $1.65, and there's no shipping costs. I'm okay with that.

I hope you're able to find the stamps you want!

>172 karenmarie: 30yr olds are their own sort of trial. I'm not one to wait up though.

Just checking in on you today, Karen :)

Happy Thursday, Karen!

>172 karenmarie: I hope Jenna had an wonderful evening.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. I am working a couple of extra days this week, so I am leaving shortly to pick up my ninos. Sue will be heading to see Jack for her AM shift. Not much else planned for the day. Got several errands in yesterday.

>175 richardderus: Next day greetings, RDear! I’m so annoyed that DeJoy is from my adopted state, NC. And yes, his main goal is to privatize the PO and make beaucoup bucks for himself and cronies.

I thought about lifespans when I wrote that message. I didn’t think about changing the number of judges, but the idea of making the number match the number of circuits – the number of U.S. Courts of Appeal - has merit. Unfortunately, that puts the number at either 11 or 13. 11 if you only include geographical CoAs or 13 if you include DC, which is within the area of the 4th District and covers only Washington D.C., and the Federal Circuit, also within the area of the 4th District and which hears appeals from federal courts in cases involving certain specialized areas of law. (who knew? 😊) Increasing the number would be a huge political nightmare because of timing and I don’t trust the Gang of Psychos as far as I can throw them.

>176 lauralkeet: I’m heading down to Sanford to meet some former coworkers for lunch today, and the PO is just down the street. I might stop in there. Thanks, Laura.

>177 quondame: Hi Susan. My 30-year old has just left for an interview as a receptionist at a vet clinic. It would combine her administrative skills with her need to not do the same thing every day.

>177 quondame: Hi Stasia! I had a good day yesterday. Thank you. Hope yours was good, too.

>179 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, and happy Thursday to you, too. Jenna had a wonderful evening, apparently, with tea in the afternoon, dinner at a Korean restaurant, tea and dessert at another little place, then over to Hwan’s to chill and chat. Nothing was set up for another date, but it sounds like it will happen.

>180 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and sweet Thursday to you, too. Ah, a niños morning. Lucky Sue for Jack time, right? Glad you got several errands in, all leading up to your getaway, I bet.

Wordle 901 4/6* adieu, hovel, lever, sleep

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Yesterday was treadmill, last of the Turkey Pot Pie, Silent Witness reading, puttering.

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As mentioned above, I'll be meeting my former coworkers at a Mexican Restaurant in Sanford, so will leave at 10:45. Probably PO after, then home.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355731

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. This is the red-tail hawk I saw in my backyard the other day. I am working today so I may not see Jack unless Sue brings him back here. We will see. Of course, I won't be posting much in the next week or so but I will check in from time to time. Early flight tomorrow- 640am. Ugh.

Have a great weekend.

'Morning, Mark, and happy Friday to you!

Thank you for posting that pic here, what a wonderful pic. He's looking right at you.

I do hope you get to see Jack. Good luck with all your final packing, and if you don't post much best wishes for a safe and wonderful trip.

Wordle 902 5/6* adieu, cloak, rally, wharf, sharp. Shouldn't have chosen rally - l wasn't in the solution. Not enough coffee yet.

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Lunch was fun and excellent - I got a chicken avocado salad - brought one of the grilled chicken breasts home and had it for dinner with some angel hair pasta. There were 5 of us, and I got to see my former boss's wife, who I haven't seen in perhaps 4-5 years. I was also able to stop at the PO in Sanford and got the Snow Globe Christmas stamps I wanted. Only 2 people ahead of me in line... a Christmas miracle if there ever was one.

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Today will be a bit more garage cleanup, earlier than later, because Jenna's going to visit the woman she met on Tuesday again.

Spreadsheets, reading, puttering.

I'm glad you're experiencing some Christmas magic, Karen!!!!! That includes old friends and good food.

Keep it up for a stellar weekend! I'm happy to read that Jenna is taking steps toward happiness in both her personal and professional life.

>185 karenmarie: It sounds like the best kind of Yuletide miracle. Happy weekend-ahead's reads, Horrible! *smooch*

Greetings! Such busy-ness you've got going on. Glad your stamp-quest ended well. When you and Jenna complete your garage cleanup, I've got one you two could tackle. We built this house in 1989-90 and have never had a daily driver in the garage. I'd like to correct that before I pop off.

You've been discussing Bart Ehrman. My brother shared Misquoting Jesus with me 10 years ago. He was entertained by Ehrman's scholastic background. Bart went to Moody Bible Institute, which I associate with time lapse films of flowers opening. The connection between the images and the bible now escape me. I believe there was some disparagement of Wheaton College (the Illinois Wheaton College), and in most years, several grads of the little Christian boarding school we attended continued their educations at Wheaton. I recall that Ehrman considered himself a Christian when MJ was written, but now is an agnostic or atheist. Right?

But I have too many excellent books in the lair of the TBRs to tear off in pursuit more Ehrman writings.

Haven't heard from my son yet today. He was expecting to see Becky around 11 a.m.

Have a fantastic Friday, Karen!

>186 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Yes, the spirit of the season is beginning to kick in. Thanks re Jenna – she headed off about 11:50. She’ll text me when she’s on her way home.

>187 richardderus: Thanks, RD. Lots of good stuff going on for my kid right now, and who can beat a fun lunch with friends and getting the stamps I wanted?

>188 weird_O: Hi Bill. Yes, much busy-ness. All good. A garage for cars to be driven into has been an obsession with me my entire life, and I’ve always accomplished it, with short-term storage-instead-of-vehicle-but-never-longer-than-a-month.

Good luck with your garage. 33 years of not having a daily driver in the garage means tons and tons of stuff, I’m sure. It’s taken Jenna and me more than 2 months of sporadic work, but we’re really getting there now.

I have Misquoting Jesus on my shelves but haven’t read it yet. I have 10 unique titles by Ehrman. His path, according to Wikipedia, is Episcopalian -> born-again-evangelical -> liberal Christian -> agnostic atheist.

Your library is at epic proportions, Bill. You are lucky to be able to take advantage of all the book sales you have in your area.

I’ll check your thread for an update on Becky.

>189 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, and thank you. I hope yours is going well, too.

…
Bill took trash and brought back lunch. Not from the dump - the local pizza place also sells a good hamburger/fries. I ate half of mine, will eat the other half tonight. We watched the first half of last week’s Crystal Palace/Bournemouth soccer match.

I’ll be heading off to use the treadmill in a few minutes.

>164 karenmarie: Apologies for the belated reply; I've fallen behind on the threads again. Yes, I would be interested in the Lost Scriptures by Ehrman! Thanks so much for offering!

>181 karenmarie: Boy, did you express my exact feelings about DeJoy! I hate that he's from NC and wish there was some way to get rid of him. I blame Nixon for starting this mess. I'm always frustrated by my local PO. They never seem to have the specialty stamps I'm looking for. But I have had success getting Christmas stamps in the past. Of course, they may not have had the biggest selection of them. I haven't wanted to buy stamps by mail so far, but I might have to break down and do that at some point.

I too am glad to hear of Jenna's good news, on both the work and personal fronts. I hope the job works out!

>83 karenmarie: Oh so very pretty!!!! >183 msf59: Mark, what a stunning bird. Thanks for your posts regarding birds. Over the years, on your journey to find birds, you have taught so much to this group A BIG thank you!

>191 atozgrl: Hi Irene. I'll set it aside for you for when we can meet again, perhaps some time this month? We're already running out of month, but let's try to figure something out. DeJoy is among the worst of the Gang of Psychos.

>192 Whisper1: Hi Linda. Thank you. We love this pattern yet never use it - it's sitting in the corner hutch in the dining room along with 2 other sets of china and interesting plates and platters and a few pieces of my every day.

Wordle 903 5/6* adieu, stick, still, swift, shift

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The Senior Center was closed from 12:45 - 3:15 yesterday, and I went over there at 1:45, not even thinking that they might close the center for a staff ... thing. I don't remember what it was. Meeting? Development meeting? Whatever. I wasn't going to stay in town an hour and a half and just didn't have the wherewithal to want to stay in town to just hang out. I did take out some of the detrius from the garage that needed special attention - cable and wire on wooden spools, a large Christmas wreath with broken plastic, small electric stuff.

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Arsenal plays Aston Villa at 12:30 today, so things will revolve around that. We'll bring the Christmas tree and decorations down and get Christmas things out and up by the end of tomorrow.

I'm debating about making chili and cornbread for dinner with Jenna's help, of course.

Hoohoo. Chili and cornbread sounds great. Enjoy. I'm reading one of the Josephine Tey books I got last week. The Man in the Queue. An Inspector Grant investigation.

Chili and cornbread! Yes indeed. All is going well, I see, so contentment reigns chez moi. *smooch*

>194 weird_O: Hi Bill. I’ve only read The Man in the Queue once, and that would have been in my 20s… but I vividly remember who did it and why, in addition to the interesting where.

>195 richardderus: Hiya, RD! Things are mostly going well, as is usual with most people. *smooch*

Wordle 904 3/6* Lucky 2nd word guess to logically get to the answer. adieu, cavil, chain

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I wasn't in the mood to cook and so didn't. Everybody was on their own. I had a piece of Multi-grain toast with natural crunchy peanut butter and an apple cut into slices with a little 1.7 oz container of Marzetti's caramel.

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Jenna's going to bring the Christmas tree down today and at a bare minimum we'll get it set up, sans ornaments. I've got RL book club at 2 today. I should have said I couldn't come, but I didn't because I've missed the last two because of the venue and, of course, not having finished the books. I didn't finish this one either, but thought I should socialize with the group.

If we have enough lemons, we'll have baked wild-caught salmon for dinner.

Lots of rain this morning, and it's training over us.

edited to add: Tree up, took all of 10 minutes. Family pics taken for Christmas card letter, sent to Bill to do some cleanup - most likely glare off glasses, etc. Will pick the best of the three.

Salmon out of the freezer, many lemons available.

All good stuff.

Maybe lemon bars, too? Or lemon curd for your toast? *anticipatory drool*

Happy week-ahead's reads, Horrible...it's gonna be a BIG load of reviews this week. The friuts of a year's reading finally coming to rest here.

>197 richardderus: I love lemon bars, RD, and lemon curd but not on toast... I'm a toast traditionalist. Unsalted butter and, when the mood strikes me, seeded raspberry simply fruit, or whatever we have in the frig - currently blackberry jam or strawberry preserves. Lemon curd goes in a lemon meringue pie.

I'm glad you've gonna unload reviews this week. I'm sure I'll get a BB or two or three out of them.

Wordle 905 4/6* adieu, quell, prune, house

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Book club was a lot of fun even though I hadn't finished the book, had actually barely gotten 5 pages in. Seven of us, and lots of great conversation about the book and various and sundry.

Jenna and I made the salmon. It was particularly tender and flavorful.

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Jenna's going to go visit her new friend later this morning. I need to get more organized with work surfaces in the Sunroom, Christmas cards, and reading. I'll be heading out about 2:45 or so to go to the PO once again (sigh) for the two international stamps I need and wasn't organized enough to get on previous stamp-seeking missions, use the treadmill, then go for a 4:30 massage.

>193 karenmarie: Thank you for saving the book for me! I appreciate it! We do need to get together again, but December is flying by. This week is already busy for me. In addition to my regular exercise classes, I've got an appointment at the optometrist, and Friday I've got a funeral to go to. One of my former co-workers, who is just a year older than I am, passed away after Thanksgiving. And I'm hoping to fit a haircut in somewhere this week. We're planning to head back down to Mississippi on the 22nd, so there's not a whole lot of time to fit a visit in. What is your schedule like?

How ironic. I made chili and cornbread a few days ago, and we've been eating the leftovers for dinner since then. The recipe makes a big pot, and that lasts a while for just the two of us.

Our rain gauge had almost 3" of water in it this morning, so we got a good soaking yesterday. I hope that put a good dent in the drought.

The posts about gingerbread reminded me about how long it has been since I had any. I prefer mine topped with whipping cream. Lemon bars are a favourite too. Your thread is fattening!

Receptionist at a vet would be interesting and definitely not the same everyday.

Speaking of desserts, I'd love some Nanaimo Bar, maybe some shortbread cookies, and chocolate crinkle cookies.

>199 atozgrl: Hi Irene! You're welcome - I've set it on a shelf in the Sunroom. All of a sudden I've gotten really busy. Can we wait 'til after you get back? I'm panicking a bit about Christmas although I've decided to wimp out and send checks to my niece/wife/kids and nephew/wife/kid. My sister is not well and stressed right now and we've decided to not exchange gifts this year, first year since we had a falling out for 3 years from 1986-1989. I wish there was something I could do for her. Sigh.

We got 2.32 inches of rain from those storms. It's 22F right now - brrrr. I might make chili and cornbread this coming weekend. We'll see. Salmon was much easier although Jenna was and is always available to help, and we have a good time in the kitchen.

>200 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Cheers to the fattening thread! We ate an entire pan of gingerbread, pieces dusted with powdered sugar when being served. I might, just might, make an Eggnog Pie this afternoon. My cleaning ladies are coming ~1 p.m.

Jenna didn't get a call back, and the way it seems to go, at least out here, is that you can only apply online, frequently only have a video interview, then don't hear back if they don't want you. I used to always call interviewees to say they didn't get the job even thouse calls were frequently uncomfortable, especially if the reason for not choosing them was personality or knowing they wouldn't fit in with the team somehow.

Receptionist for a vet is still an option. Things are slowing down right now, of course, with the holidays upon us.

>201 vancouverdeb: I've heard of Nanaimo bars, Deborah, and those, shortbread cookies and chocolate crinkle cookies - I'm thinking these are what you're thinking of? I have my great-grandmother's recipe for these. I don't remember what they're called, probably just Chocolate Cookies, but anyway, they're all wonderful.



Wordle 906 3/6* adieu, spoke, these

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Puttered and read a lot yesterday before leaving at 2:30 for my errands. I got 3 international stamps yesterday and mailed one international card right there at the PO. Worked out for 42 minutes, then rewarded myself with an hour therapeutic massage. I haven't driven in the dark in a long time, and it was weird. Plus, some of the neighborhood Christmas light decorations nearly blinded me.

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I leave for book sort in about 40 minutes. Brekkie/lunch at Virlie's, quick swing by the bank for cash for my cleaning lady then home. I need to make Pecan Puffs so I can mail some to Karen and friend Louise, who's driving to Florida even as I type this to be with her daughter this Christmas. I'll be taking her mail in and just generally keeping an eye out at her place.

>202 karenmarie: Good morning, you serial book-fondler you. I'm envious of your Virlie's binge because, unlike the 365 days leading to this one, I woke up hungry. That ensure, and a blueberry or fifty, wasn't a cinnabon pancake with a side of sausage and bacon.

My wicked, wicked ways this Booksgiving have reached the last bit I think you will be threatened by:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/355597#8310445
...is the post for you to avoid. Just sayin'

*smooch*

Good morning, Karen. You're sorting away, and I'm about to start our breakfast here as Mama snoozes before the big push of getting up. Happy Virlie's to you! Sorry about this particular job for Jenna. I expect they should have wanted her more than she wanted them.

Christmas. I am singularly uninspired. Maybe I'll get a clue soon, or GCs are on the way. *sigh*

Finished The Man in the Queue, with a kinda sorta goad from the powerhouse. I was planning an evening of football, but the powerhouse put the kibosh on that. Instead, I fitted my headlite and read the last third of it. (And still, the powerhouse left me in the dark. It didn't realize that this book was Tey's first

>202 karenmarie: Thanks so much, Karen! I do appreciate it! I think waiting to meet until we get back would work better for me too. There's just so much to get done in the week and a half before we leave. Tentative plans at the moment have us leaving Mississippi on January 2 to return home, and we'll probably split the trip into two days, like we've been doing recently. So maybe we could think about the second week of January?

I'm sorry to hear about your sister. I hope things get better for her soon! And maybe Jenna might still hear back about the job? It does seem rude for them not to at least let applicants know. I'm pretty sure applicants who were interviewed were notified at my place of work, though I don't know details because HR would have handled it.

I don't think we got that cold this morning, though I don't know for sure because I didn't check when I got up. I got up in the middle of the night last night, because it suddenly occurred to me that the rain gauge still had the almost 3" of water in it, and it was supposed to get to freezing overnight. So I ran down and emptied it, and set it on the porch. I've lost too many of these plastic gauges from water freezing in them.

>203 richardderus: Hi RDear! I fondled many books yesterday, that’s for sure. Way too many children’s books – I hate sorting those for some reason, but I took my fair share of bags of those. We finished up in time for breakfast, so had hot tea and an egg biscuit. I have had one – ONE – piece of bacon in the last 2 years, 1 month, and 3 days. Sigh. And I’ve dodged a BB but added it to my wish list. *smooch*

>204 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I hope your day was … uneventful? … and possibly even inspirational. Heh. GCs. I’m sending checks to my daughter’s children/spouses/offspring, and have to figure out what to do for other folks on the gift giving list. *sigh* is right.

>205 weird_O: Hey Bill! I guess I didn’t realize The Man in the Queue was her first either. Sorry you weren’t allowed to watch football. I have a vivid picture of you with your headlite on in the dark finishing it.

>206 atozgrl: Hello Irene. Glad you’re with me on the new year meet up. Safe travels and good times in Mississippi.

The right job will come along for Jenna eventually, and thanks re my sister. It’s 25F here right now.

Wordle 907 3/6* adieu, smoke, spent

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As mentioned above, books got fondled, Virlie's got visited. Copies got made, cleaning ladies visited/cleaned/got paid.

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I'm supposed to have lunch with Rita the Librarian today. Cards need to get written, addressed, stamped.

Happy Mittelwoch, Horrible! I'm mildly surprised ye olde book-bullet missed. I covet a tree-book of that one. (Where I'd put it would be a heckuva challenge to work out.) Is the vet-reception position off the table, or still pending? I'm hoping it's still pending.

Enjoy the chill, the peace, and the day. *smooch*

Hiya, RD. Happy Mittelwoch to you, too. The BB missed. It's on the wish list, but having just bought the other Egypt book, I can't justify two. And,

She hasn't heard back and the interview was last Thursday, so I'd say it's off the table. Oh well.

*smooch*

Job searching is the pitts. Good luck to her!

>209 karenmarie: Blooey! I'll cross the crossables that something turns up soon.

Totally get the "can't justify the expense" reason. It'll still be there.

Here is the traditional recipe for Nanaimo bars, Karen.
https://www.canadianliving.com/food/baking-and-desserts/recipe/classic-nanaimo-b... The only thing I have changed over the years is to use pasteurized egg whites from a carton, rather than an egg, as you don't cook the bars. I think they might be called New York Slice in the US. They are quite a lot of work , with 3 separate layers.

Yes, those are what I know as Chocolate Crinkle cooks in your pictures. So delicious! Right now in Canada , at least Western Canada, our sugar refiners have been on strike for 6 weeks or more. Today at the grocery store there was zero sugar. It has been hard to find for a while a now, sometimes I will see a few bags of icing sugar, maybe a few bags of regular sugar. Luckily I don't bake much and I have 5 lbs of white sugar and a less of brown and icing sugar. But I think my mom has some hidden away if I get desperate.

Yes, Nanaimo bars and New Slice bars are the same thing. I'm quite sure my grandma called them that when she first made them. I was about 5 or 6 years old and I recall my mom telling me " you will have some and you will like them, because your grandma went to a lot of work! " :-) No problem, they were and are delicious. But my 5 year old self might have thought they looked a bit elaborate for my tastes.

https://tastingspoons.com/archives/226

Happy Thursday, Karen!

Not much to add, we went to a movie last night and I woke up late.
I hope Jenna gets the job at the vets.

>210 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! I know you’ve had your ups and downs with finding jobs this year. I’ll be over for a quick catchup soon.

>211 richardderus: Richard, Dear, you’ve already given me many BBs and wish list books this year. You can rest on your laurels. Please. *smile* Here’s the list since 2021, which is in my @kairfa account, tagged ‘RichardDerus’, This list does not include all the BBs I immediately bought.

Cove by Jones, Cynan
The Devil in Velvet by Carr, John Dickson
James Baldwin : Collected Works by Baldwin, James
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Williams, Pip
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by Kingfisher, T.
The Plot by Korelitz, Jean Hanff
From the Caves by Prieto, Thea
The Wrong End of the Telescope by Alameddine, Rabih
Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism by Staley, Peter
Death at Whitewater Church (An Inishowen Mystery Book 1) by Carter, Andrea
Go Back at Once by Aickman, Robert
The Late Breakfasters and Other Strange Stories (Valancourt 20th Century Classics) by Aickman, Robert
56 Days: A Thriller by Howard, Catherine Ryan
Joan Is Okay: A Novel by Wang, Weike
The Vanished Collection by Baer de Perignon, Pauline
Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond by Dalrymple, William
The Violin Conspiracy by Slocumb, Brendan
Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Fay, Kim
Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World: What China's Crackdown Reveals About Its Plans to End Freedom Everywhere by Clifford, Mark L.
Howard Zinn's Southern Diary: Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women's Student Activism by Cohen, Robert
The Man Who Lived Underground: A Novel by Wright, Richard
A Tap on the Window: A Thriller by Barclay, Linwood
Against the Ice: The Classic Arctic Survival Story by Mikkelsen, Ejnar
Twenty-Five to Life by Greene, R.W.W.
The Charm Offensive: A Novel by Cochrun, Alison
One Day You'll Burn (LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel Mysteries, 1) by Schneider, Joseph
Treacherous Strand (An Inishowen Mystery Book 2) by Carter, Andrea
The Human Front (Outspoken Authors) by MacLeod, Ken
Hafez in Love: A Novel (Middle East Literature In Translation) by Pezeshkzad, Iraj
When Sparks Fly by Hunting, Helena
First Time for Everything: A Novel by Fry, Henry
Yes, Daddy by Parks-Ramage, Jonathan
The Woman in the Library by Gentill, Sulari
Greenland: A Novel by Donaldson, David Santos
Love, Hate & Clickbait: A Novel by Bowery, Liz **started me on my MM romance obsession**
Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority by Phillips, Steve
Who Killed Tom Thomson?: The Truth about the Murder of One of the 20th Century's Most Famous Artists by Little, John
Stroke Book: The Diary of a Blindspot by Alexander, Jonathan
A Union Like Ours: The Love Story of F. O. Matthiessen and Russell Cheney by Bane, Scott
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line: A Novel by Anappara, Deepa
The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense (Byrne and Balzano Book 1) by Montanari, Richard
Real Bad Things by Ford, Kelly J.
The Spear Cuts Through Water: A Novel by Jimenez, Simon
Burning Blue by Kannengieser, Michael J.
QI: The Second Book of General Ignorance by Lloyd, John
Highfire: A Novel by Colfer, Eoin
The Sleeping Car Porter by Mayr, Suzette
My Brother: A Novel by Smirnoff, Karin
Before All the World: A Novel by Rothman-Zecher, Moriel
Diver's Paradise (A Roscoe Conklin Mystery Book 1) by Goodwin, Davin
Paradise Cove (A Roscoe Conklin Mystery Book 2) by Goodwin, Davin
Kibogo by Mukasonga, Scholastique
Murder on Monte Vista (Mason Adler Mystery, 1) by Pederson, David S.
All the Living and the Dead: From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work by Campbell, Hayley
An Angel in Sodom: Henry Gerber and the Birth of the Gay Rights Movement by Elledge, Jim
The New Life: A Novel by Crewe, Tom
Blanche on the Lam: A Blanche White Mystery by Neely, Barbara
Uncle of the Year: & Other Debatable Triumphs by Rannells, Andrew
Dead of Winter by Coates, Darcy
The Night House: A novel by Nesbo, Jo
A Crime of Secrets (A Donner & Longstreet Mystery, 1) by Aptaker, Ann
City of Ash and Red: A Novel by Pyun, Hye-young
Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by D'Emilio, John
The Words That Remain by Gardel, Stenio
The Book of Paradise (Pushkin Press Classics) by Manger, Itzik
The League of Lady Poisoners: Illustrated True Stories of Dangerous Women by Perrin, Lisa
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Lamb, Sacha
Ramesses, Loved by Ptah: The History of a Colossal Royal Statue by Thomas, Susanna

>212 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah, and thank you. I’ve printed that recipe and saved it to my Recipes folder on my laptop. I just went down the rabbit hole of custard powder, which is not a pantry staple here in the US. I could get it on Amazon, but won't spend $12-14 for something I’ll rarely use… so I’ve found a good substitute. 2T custard powder = 2T cornstarch + 2T powdered sugar + 1 t vanilla. Voila! I think I’ve got everything on my shelves except for sweetened coconut, and after yet another rabbit hole plunge, think I can safely use powdered sugar for icing sugar. The recipe you shared calls for baking the base, so an egg would be fine.

I remember sugar shortages in the early Covid Times, and am sorry you’re going through them now, especially with the holiday season upon us. I always keep white sugar, light brown sugar, and powdered sugar in my pantry. I’ve also got some Vanilla Sugar I bought for something or another in my herb/spice drawers.

>213 vancouverdeb: The recipe is … tedious… but not complicated. Perhaps something fun to try with Jenna this holiday season, although Bill may not like it because it has coconut in it.

>214 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, and thank you. They didn’t call her back for the job, alas. Yay for a movie and sleeping in.

Wordle 908 3/6* adieu, bound, would

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Yesterday I assembled/wrote/addressed 19 Christmas/holiday (for my Jewish and non-religious friends) cards and mailed 18. One I hand delivered to Rita, who I had lunch with at Virlie's. After that, quick card drop off at the PO and quick visit to the grocery store to get diet soda for Bill, unsalted butter for various and sundry, and 2 jars of pesto for my daughter.

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Today Bill and I are meeting some friends of his, although I've known them now for 12 years, for lunch at a pizza place in town. I'll either have their grilled chicken salad or a hamburger and fries. They don't salt their fries, and I'll be judicious in my use of ketchup - otherwise known as my favorite Death by Salt condiment. Salsa is a close second.

I need to wrap the presents for Karen, sealing up the box with presents and books that aren't official Christmas presents, and having Jenna go to the PO with me to carry the heavy box in to get mailed. Perhaps a few more cards since I'm going to the PO anyway. We also need to put ornaments on the tree - I can do the rest of the (minimal) decorating but want Jenna to help with the tree. Bill, too, if he wants to, although his mobility issues makes me think he might pass.

Senior kitty, aka Inara, is in my lap. Coffee is in hand.

Cheers to you, Karen. That list of BBs you've taken from Richard since 2021 is astonishing. Maybe you could negotiate a fat discount if you buy them all at once from a local bookstore. You could then shelve them in your new library wing in the garage. You and Jenna cleared out the garage junk for a good reason, right?

Having finished The Man in the Queue, I sampled a half-dozen books for the now vacant "active" reading opening.

The Sellout, Paul Beatty; Booker winner in 2017. Interesting, but not the one.
Make Russia Great Again, Christopher Buckley. Humor.
Doisneau, Peter Hamilton. A selective collection of the French photog's work, published a few year before this death.
Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi. (I can't control the Touchstone, no I can't)
The New York Public Library's Books of the Century, Elizabeth Diefendorf, ed. Twentieth century's best. A book in the mode of Time's top 100, Modern Library's 100, and all those others. I did accumulate some BBs.
Schiele, Wolfgang Georg Fischer. A Taschen art book that's going to introduce the young Austrian artist to me.
Together, Luke Adam Hawker. A "book product", with text commissioned to go with a batch of drawings created by the Author. Hardcover. Heavy stock. A shelf filler. (Actually, this'n was so easily consumed that a sampling took me all the way to the end. Number 95 for the year.)

Okay. Reading Schiele and Survival in Auschwitz.

Sorry for droning on.

>215 karenmarie: THAT'S ALL?! IN TWO WHOLE YEARS?! Is this even worth me taking aim anymore? *sigh* I feel nugatory. 😋

Enjoy the Thursday lunch with "friends".

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355903

>216 weird_O: Cheers to you, too, Bill! That isn’t the complete list because some times I’ve simply bought the book and never put it in my @kairfa account. Here are the three BBs from you. Not necessarily all.

Way Station by Clifford Simak
The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester
The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien

My goodness, such a serious list! Are you reading any fiction? I forget if you read more than one book at a time.

You’re not droning on. I always love it when you visit.

>217 richardderus: There, there, RD, you are not nugatory. The next closest wish list denizens are Stasia and Paul, at 14 books each. However, in all honesty, it’s three years, not two. *smooch*

>218 SilverWolf28: Hi Silver, and thank you.

Wordle 909 3/6* adieu, fight, topic

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Lunch was nice. David and Bill met some time after Bill's family moved to Chapel Hill. He's lived there all his life, I think, and his wife Terri moved there in 1984. I don't remember how they met or how long they've been married. David brought some stuff he thought would interest Bill from a box he'd gone through. One item was a newspaper section from perhaps 1968 with his mom and dad's insurance/realty business's ad, which we brought home. Another item was a Town and Gown from whenever, with lots of things only Bill and David really knew about, understood, or truly cared about. I had half a hamburger and half the fries, leaving the other half for dinner. I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would, so WIN! I also resisted a mozzarella stick.

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Today is momentous. Jenna' going to visit her friend near Chapel Hill, and the new generator installation is going to start happening some time around 10. Initial generator placement and whatever, then propane line installation sometime soonish, then I guess final generator installation. After it's all done, our landscaping guy will put down decorative rock and fence around it as it's going to be where everybody comes in to the house. I do not mind that at all, by the way.

I'm having lunch with a book club friend at noon at a restaurant literally next door to McIntyre's Books, an independent book store in Fearrington Village. In fact, another book club friend, Sarah works there, and will most likely be there today, so I envision a quick visit and spending some cash I feel obligated to spend on myself. *smile* Then the PO, then treadmill, home.

If anything is going to put me into active Christmas mode, Karen, it's reading what you and Roni are doing. Sounds like a momentous day indeed. Good for you all around!!!!!
You are getting to be the healthful eating champ. I really need that to rub off on me.

Wordle in 4 for me today. That's quite good enough.

Hi Karen

I hope the generator installation goes smoothly. And, I hope the lawn guy does a good job! It sounds like a very busy day.

I'm going to the bank and post office this morning. Kayla is here. It was so nice to wake up and see her on the couch with her laptop.

Tomorrow she and her father will put up new blinds in the front window. Alas, Biscuit, aka Meow, ruined the ones currently in the window. She went in an out of them in a specific area enough so that the slats broke. The new blinds are wooden like and heavier. I'm glad for their help. Normally, neighbor Andres would help me, but he is having a lot of back pain.

It is difficult to get into a Christmas spirit this year. I joined a grief support group (now over) and it raised a lot of unresolved issues regarding Will. The facilitator was very good. Friend Loraine, who lost her husband this past July, thought the group melded very well. I agree. No one dominated, everyone had a chance to share to the level they were comfortable, and many of the handouts were excellent.

All good wishes.

The recipe that I gave you at >212 vancouverdeb: does say not to bake the base , but I've never baked the base. I didn't notice that with the recipe. Just a caution that I don't know how it will turn out if you bake it, Karen. I don't think Bird's Custard Powder is a pantry staple here either, but it is easy to find in any store. I always have it on hand because I do make Nanaimo Bars aka New York Slice. It keeps for a long time too. I'm sure your substitute for Birds Custard Powder will work just fine. And icing sugar is the same thing as powered sugar, we just call it something different in Canada. You can use unsweetened coconut if you don't have sweetened. I'm sure it will be delicious if you get time to make it. You are correct, it is tedious, not complicated.

Merry Saturday, Horrible. I still *feel* nugatory, but appreciate your kind little white lie. *smooch*

>220 LizzieD: Good morning a day later, Peggy! Yesterday was busy and weird with guys outside and coming through the house and then checking all the circuits were still working when they left. They didn’t do more than I wrote above, but are thorough in making sure we were back to where we started yesterday morning, commercial power-wise. Next up is getting the propane line run to the generator and connected, getting the stuff on the electrical panels under control, then getting the county out to inspect.

I hope you can get into the Christmas spirit soon. I’m being pulled into it and getting a bit more in the mood.

Wordle in 4 for me today, with a little spreadsheet help.

>221 Whisper1: Hello Linda. It was busy and it was all good and I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad Kayla’s there with you and that you’ll get new blinds today. I'm envious of a family member being able to do those tasks for you.

I’m sorry about Andres’ back pain. I’m glad you had a grief support group although with its disbanding I hope you find another or work a bit on your own. All good wishes for you, too, my dear.

>222 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! Thanks for the tips and hints. I do have unsweetened coconut in the house, will see if it’s still good since I bought it a while back and never made the recipe it was supposed to go into. In fact, I don’t even remember what recipe I was going to use it in. *eye roll*

>223 richardderus: Hiya, RD! Merry Saturday to you, too. You are NOT Nugatory. I wish I’d kept track in my catalog, via tags, of who BBs came from, then we could count the books on my shelves that are your fault. *smooch*

Wordle 910 4/6* adieu, stole, clove, globe

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Yesterday went off mostly as planned, although there were some small crises. Fortunately, I left to visit Tamsie and Jenna left to visit her friend. Bill handled them just fine. I had fun with Tamsie. We each had a cup of medium roast coffee and a fantastic oatmeal raisin cookie then wandered around McIntyre's for a bit. No books called out to me - I know! - so I returned with the money I started with. We briefly saw friend/book club member Sarah, but she was working in another building, setting up for an author talk, when we left.

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Today's goals are Christmas cards and mailing them, decorating the tree, and small bits around the house. Jenna's heading off to babysit a friend's dogs overnight. Unfortunately, it's 2 1/2 - 3 hours away and she's not particularly happy that she agreed to do it. However, she promised, and she keeps her promises. She'll probably come back tomorrow, but perhaps stay there an extra day. I'll know tomorrow some time.

Christmas cards got written and mailed. No decorating, but I'm okay with that. Jenna will get home today. She'll be driving through the heavy rain we're expecting all day but is a good driver and always assumes everybody else is an awful driver.

Arsenal plays in 11 minutes, so off I go.

>225 karenmarie: I hope your squad wins, Horrible me lurve. *smooch*

>202 karenmarie:, >225 karenmarie: Hi Karen, catching up to admire all the Christmas prep (love those crinkle cookies, just never seem to make them!). And yeah, card writing. Good for you.

We've really fallen off the hectic aspects of the season and aren't doing much decorating or card sending. So many people on our past greeting card lists have moved away from mailing cards or writing letters that it felt kind of pointless. We do more video-chats and phone calls! I'm okay with that. Getting more reading done this month than I would normally do in December.

Half time. 0-0.

Wordle 911 4/6* adieu, shaft, rally, bacon

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>226 richardderus: Thanks, RD! *smooch*

>227 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! Cards done makes me happy. You're right - so many people don't write cards any more. I mostly write them to seniors. 14 go to our little neighborhood put directly in the mailboxes set up at the entrance to our little cul-de-sac.

Gray! Wet! Chilly! Nasty! GOOD MORNING, GOOD KAREN!!!! I hope you can stay in and read today in a warm, dry, comfortable place!!!!!

I don't know that you're going to be able to see this, but HERE is the NYT mini-article about using starter words in Wordle. In case you can't, they say that using "slate" as a baseline over a year's time, my word "arose" causes 45 extra guesses and "adieu" causes 132. I tried another word today, but I'm not quite convinced. Anyway, Four for me too!

>225 karenmarie: I'm sending all good wishes for a safe trip home for Jenna. No matter what the age, I still get concerned when my grand daughter and daughters are driving in inclimate weather. Kayla has a new job near Philadelphia -- an hour away, as a teaching assistant. She really likes the job, but not the traveling. Like Jenna, she is a careful driver. I hope your day is relaxing. It is overcast and rainy here. I'm staying in PJS and reading. I watch Meow roam from room - room. She is delightful, but not a cat that will stay on my lap while I read.

>230 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Yes. Gray, wet, chilly, nasty. I have no need or reason to go out today. I may actually make the chili I thought about last week. I'll check out the NYT article later, thanks. Yay for your four.

>231 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda. No matter what the age is right - my mother still called me when she read about possible hurricanes, and that was as late as when I was 62. I'm sure I'll worry about Jenna 'til the day I die.

I'm glad Kayla likes her job. I'm in PJs, will read and relax mostly.

Sorry Meow isn't a lap kitty. Inara loves my lap here in the Sunroom, but is currently pouting since it's the uncomfortable lap while I'm here at the laptop. She prefers the comfortable lap when I put my feet up and read.

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Arsenal won, 2-0. We're happy.

And here are the before and after pictures of the planting bed with its new occupant, the generator. Need the propane line and the decorative stuff to hide it. I don't necessarily need for it to be hidden, but Bill does, so that's fine.

I'm glad that the generator is there too, nor do I mind the way it looks. My DH, though, would build a little fence around it - maybe it's a man thing.

>232 karenmarie: Dropping by to say a quick hi before we head out of town. We have to unexpectedly leave for Mississippi earlier than planned, because my MiL passed away a few days ago. We didn't want to drive today, obviously, so we're leaving as early tomorrow as we can. I hope Jenna got safely home in the all-day downpour.

I'm glad your generator is installed, and hope it doesn't take long for the rest of the project to be finished.

Since I won't be able to write from Mississippi, Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope you all have a wonderful time! We hope to be back by the end of the month, but in case we don't arrive by then, Happy New Year to you as well!

>232 karenmarie: The generator looks fine to me as well. It matches the trim on the house but what can I say, that's a woman's point of view.

My heating/air conditioning unit is in the back of the house. When they installed this, they put white stones around it.
Your house is very nice. I can understand why Bill might want to fence it in, or maybe put plants around it. It might look better in the spring when things are green and blooming.

But, it looks ok either way. Are you happy with it?

>233 LizzieD: Well, Peggy, I’m not going to like the expense, and I don’t know how it’s going to work, but I suppose we need a gravel surround at a minimum, so why not a bit of fencing too?

>234 atozgrl: Hi Irene. Oh my, I’m so sorry to hear about your MiL. Safe travels, and I hope you have as good a time as possible this holiday season given the sad news. Thanks re the generator – it may be upwards of a month, depending on when the propane line gets run, the installation company comes back, and the county inspects/approves. In the meantime, our old generator still works.

>235 Familyhistorian: I love the color of our house, the trim, and the shutter color, Meg. Bill would have preferred some kind of woodsy green with off-white trim and not dark red shutters, but we ended up with what was then Duron Brick Dust for the house and I don’t remember exactly which color for the shutters or the exact white of the trim. We had the house repainted, same colors, 6 years ago. I like the more formal look of true white trim. I also won with black exterior light/porch fixtures except for the spots which are white, like the trim they are anchored to. Bill would have preferred antique brass for the porch fixtures, which just doesn’t work for me. I usually win this type of battle. I definitely won it inside the house, with true brass fixtures and white trim.

I've probably written this before sometime in a previous year, but when Bill's mama was helping me with the interior decorating, we chose a pale yellow for most of the walls. It's called Downy Duckling, which Bill cringed at when I first told him. I said he could call it Yellow Macho Stud if he preferred, so that's pretty much how we refer to it now. This pic is from last year, a very good pic of the Downy Duckling walls. It's also photo bombed by Zoe Rose.



>236 Whisper1: Hi Linda! We envision white stone around the generator, too. We don’t want to take the whole bed out because we love the perennials that come up in the spring - silver bells, begonias, and hostas. This time of year, that bed definitely looks sloppy and the landscaping company will only clean it up when we have them work on the generator surround. In the meantime, Jenna and I should get out there to get the volunteer black walnuts out and clean the windows/sills. Well, I’ll have her get on the ladder and I’ll do stuff I can reach from the ground. We’ll try to do it sooner than later.

I’m happy with the way it looks because the function we’re getting is good. Automatic cut on/off with changes in commercial power availability and hooked up to our 500-gallon underground propane tank. The electrical panels are in the garage and all that wiring’s done and inside the gray protective box on the wall near the generator. Bill can look at the generator stats and whatever else on a downloadable app, which I’m sure I’ll need, too.

Wordle 912 4/6* adieu, mouth, puppy, funny. Adieu to adieu, according to the NYT article.

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Yesterday was rainy. Jenna made it home safely, and I made low-sodium chili, which I've been revising for a while. I think I've got a recipe we all three like. We had it with Sister Schubert's yeast rolls an shredded cheese.

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Jenna wants to bake something with chocolate for her new friend for Christmas. She mentioned brownies or chocolate chip cookies or fudge. I'm also thinking perhaps my paternal grandmother's Pinwheels. Everybody has a pinwheel cookie recipe, but I have the one my grandmother wrote in her recipe book that I've used for decades or even the Chocolate Cookies from one of my maternal great-grandmothers. We'll figure out what she wants to make, make a list of what we need, then both go to the grocery store, I think. Separately, I'll probably work out, although if we do baking stuff I might put it off until tomorrow. Decisions, decisions.

In the meantime, I woke up at 4, couldn't get back to sleep, and have been puttering ever since.

"Everybody has a pinwheel cookie recipe" - Nope! :)

I was also up early and am looking forward to a nap later.

Hi Katie!

They're tedious to make, although I love eating them. You're probably wiser to not even think about them at all.

Naps are good - I love going upstairs, heating a cornbag for my always cold feet, snuggling down in the bed with my soft blackout mask in place. There may be kitties on the bed, and these days Jenna is in the room behind the bedroom, playing a PS5 game with volume down or off, or messing around on her cell phone. It's all good.

I hope you enjoy yours later.

Hi Karen! We don't have a generator, but we have HVAC units in potential conspicuous locations. The original equipment (which we just replaced) is near our side entrance which gets daily use. There's some gravel and a sort of trellis around it. Nothing fancy, just the sort of panel you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's and probably too tall for your situation because it would block those gorgeous windows. There used to be clematis on the trellis but it was on a 3-year decline and gave up for good this year. We'll probably add something back eventually. We have another AC unit on the other side of the house which is largely obscured by a mature (and pretty large) lilac. I'm sure you'll come up with something to satisfy both you and Bill. I like the idea of a gravel surround and some plantings that complement your perennials.

Morning, Karen. I am finally back. I was planning on stopping by yesterday and just got lazy, reading and watching football. My Bears let another sure win slip away. They have become very good at that.

Of course, Sue brought home a bad cold and suffered most of Sunday with it. This has happened to her before. Fortunately, she had taken today off work. I am feeling the edges of a cold but I am hoping to avoid it. Back to Kids Kab today. The final week before Christmas break. Not much planned for the week, although I hope to get out birding at some point. Cold and breezy here today.

I hope all is well, my friend.

>237 karenmarie: "Downy Duckling" *shudder*

My palest-purple ceiling color was called "Wafted Feather" which is also major cringe.

Generator fencing is, to me, practical because why leave this urgently necessary piece of infrastructure unprotected from passing hooligans?

I assume there will always be passing hooligans because man. *smooch*

>237 karenmarie: I'm sorry about the early wake up. Those can drag down a day. I like your downy duckling walls all white trimmed!
I do favor a generator cover up, but not in a huge way. Waiting for govt. approvals is a pain, but you still have the important functions in place, so it's maybe not too much pain.

>232 karenmarie: A generator is a great idea! You could even put mid size green shrubs or nice tall grasses in front of it to make Bill happy.

>237 karenmarie: I really love that yellow. Nice warm feeling and not overly bright or grungy looking.

What a great Christmas tree!

Morning, Karen. I ran Sue around yesterday to 2 different Urgent Care facilities and they finally determined she just has a bad case of the flu. She is now armed with an arsenal of meds and trying to get plenty of rest. Getting ready to pick up my "kids". Only in the teens out there at the moment. Brrrrr...

>240 lauralkeet: Hi Laura! We’re definitely going to gravel/crush-and-run/other part of that perennial bed. Bill’s home office window will definitely get blocked, but it’s just what’s going to have to happen if he wants it to look more decorative than a generator and two new boxes – electrical and propane. We’ll still have part of the bed.

>241 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and welcome back to Chicagoland winter. Sorry about that. It’s pretty cold here this morning at 32F right now, and it will get down to 19F tonight. Today’s high will only be 43F, pretty cold for us. I’m sorry about your Bears, and I don’t know anything about the Panthers this season. But my Arsenal men are top of the table although they plan #2, Liverpool, this coming Saturday at 12:30.

I’m so sorry Sue brought home a cold and hope that since the 24 hours that have elapsed since you wrote the edges of the cold for you have not developed into a full-blown cold. Yay for birding.

My sunflower seed feeder is empty and the suet cake is down to just a teensy bit, so perhaps later today I’ll fill/change them. I’ve got one Finch right now. Yesterday an Indigo Bunting was on the bird bath then flew away in a flurry of blue… made me happy.

All is reasonably well. I made the last major Christmas gift purchases – Collins Street Bakery Fruit Cakes – for some cousins, bought Jenna a Narwhal Onesie, and Jenna and I finally decorated the Christmas tree and put out a few, very few, things for the dining room, living room, and breakfast room.



>242 richardderus: The name is twee, I agree, RD (*smile*), but Wafted Feather, is also major cringe. Like I said above, we typically call it Yellow Macho Stud.

If we got hooligans out here they would probably be like the gun-toting escaped convicts that were within 5 miles of us on foot several years ago. I got the Cold 45 out, made sure there was one in the chamber, kept it on safety, but kept it with me until they were caught. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. *smooch*

>243 quondame: Thanks, Susan, re the walls/trim. Today will be the last work done before the county can be given the inspection request. The propane line was run yesterday, we have the thingie that goes on the thingie for the generator people to hook up to the generator and test, and they are coming out this morning.

>244 figsfromthistle: ‘Morning, Anita. You and Laura both have a good idea with plantings. We’ll have to talk about that, for sure. Thanks re our Downy Duckling and last year’s Christmas tree. I just posted the pic of this year’s tree, and will try to get Jenna to pose again in front of it.

>245 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! I am so sorry Sue is so sick, and wow, flu. Armed with an *Arsenal* of meds, and I hope you can make sure she rests. I remember last week before Christmas prep, and of course she’s thinking about Jackson’s Christmas for sure. Brrr for the teens.

Wordle 913 3/6* New starting word: slate, lathe, table

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I did not use the treadmill yesterday. I was just a bit weary and will either go today after book sort/Virlie's or just push hard Wed-Fri. The tree did get decorated, after all.

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Book Sort, Virlie's, possibly a Walgreen's run if I don't use the treadmill - we've got $25 left on our Blue Cross OTC that has to get used before January 1.

Have a great time fondling the books, Horrible, and something scrummy at Virlie's for afters. I'll be here staring at limp salad greens and a blop of egg salad on top. *sigh*

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday. It sounds like you are dealing with some chilly temps there too. We are back in the 40s today and will stay that way through Christmas, which might hit 50F.

Hoping Sue has a good day of rest today. She is slowly rebounding. I stopped over at Bree's for a short time and got to hang with Jack for a little bit. He cannot stop being adorable. Lots of activity at my feeders but just the regulars.

>246 karenmarie: Admiring your tree. And asking myself...is that the door to the bathroom?

>247 richardderus: Hi RD! I fondled many books and came home with 5, all for $18, to be paid at the Spring Book Sale. We raised the price of books, for the first time EVER, so hardcovers will be $4 and trade paperbacks will be 3.

Dark at the Crossing by Elliot Ackerman - hardcover
White Jazz by James Ellroy - trade paperback
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Easton Press
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Easton Press
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated Out of The Original Tongues; and with The Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised. Published by the American Bible Society, 1893. Leather bound. I'm amazed that I got the exact work touchstoned.

Brekkie at Virlie's - a mushroom omelette, half a biscuit, hash browns & hot tea. Definitely better than limp salad greens and egg salad. Don’t get me wrong – I do love egg salad, but your description makes me feel sorry for the greens and egg salad. I bet it had onion in it. *shudder*

44 minutes on the treadmill, a new personal best.

>248 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and happy Wednesday to you, too. Yes, it’s cold now – 28F after getting down to 21F. High will be 49F. I’m glad you got to visit with Bree and Jackson yesterday, and of course he’s adorable. My feeders definitely need attention, glad you’ve got lots of visitors.

>249 weird_O: Hiya, Bill, and no, it’s not. We have 2 ½ bathrooms downstairs, all fully accessible, and one upstairs. That’s the coat closet that goes with the front door, which faces away from the road and nobody EVER uses. It doesn’t hold coats either – it hold the Christmas decorations (but not the tree), lots of totes, and various and sundry.

Wordle 914 2/6* I like my new word. slate, small

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Books fondled, brekkie eaten, treadmill ridden. Jenna wanted to take cookies and brownies when she goes a'visiting today, so we started chocolate chip cookies and I realized that I was not properly stocked for holiday baking. So off I schlepped to the grocery store and got flour, brown sugar, evaporated milk, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, Bakers semisweet chocolate, and various and sundry. Chocolate chip cookies and brownies got made. I realized that my gloves were missing, and in a brilliant display of detective work, knew I'd left them at Virlie's. I went in, they weren't in the lost and found box, but a waitress overheard me and brought them out from the back room. I was inordinately happy that they were turned in and that I was able to get them back.

I was glad I wasn't home for most of the day as there were Issues With The Generator and Bill was pretty upset for most of the day. We deal with stress differently. Anyway, it's apparently ready for the county to inspect, which could be tomorrow or a month from now.

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Jenna will be leaving around 10:50 today to visit her friend and will most likely be gone 'til midnight or so.

I need to wrap 2 presents, order one on Amazon, and get the Sunroom back under control. Again. I probably won't go out, so yay for that small mercy. Lots of puttering and I anticipate staying in my jammies all day.

I LOVE a jammies day and wish you the best for yours, (((((Karen)))))!! I also hope that The Generator passes its inspection soon so that Bill can relax.

Our Wordle see-saw is back in motion with our new first word choices. I'm at 4 today, and that's fine. What's amazing to me is that I now have a 200 day streak with nary a skunk. I do believe that I'm going to draw a line here and start trying hard mode.

Still no Christmas joy here. I have exchanged the white candles for red ones and will cut some holly for the mantle when it warms up a bit. My DH can't find the Christmas box in Mama's attic, so I fear it's in the front junk room. I guess I'll try to dig it out.

(((((Peggy)))))

Thanks re the generator. I'm not going to bring it up because we don't know who's supposed to order the inspection - Bill will find out today and make sure it's done.

200 day streak, my oh my. Congrats.

I'm sorry about the lack of Christmas joy. It's hard to find here, too, but I'm dragging it out kicking and screaming. I ordered the last present today and ordered a 2023 ornament for the tree, due tomorrow.

I need to make the grocery shopping list for tomorrow - it needs to include Christmas Eve/Day foods and regular stuff. Jenna already knows she needs to go with me.

Hmmm. Holly. I might have Jenna cut some as a table decoration for our Christmas Day meal. Good idea! She gathered leaves for Thanksgiving.

(read your messages)

>250 karenmarie: The haul-ette is a solid one, though whoever it is giving away their Easton Press marvies is surprising to me.

I hope the inspection goes well and Bill gets his equilibrium back.

*smooch* for your athletic self this fine Woden's Day.

Hiya, RDear!

There were also 3 I didn't take because I already had them as Easton Press editions. We see lots of books that seem to be children getting rid of parents' books after they are downsized/moved to a facility/died. I like to think that we're giving them a second chance, either with me or at the next book sale.

Plus, I've been known to bring home pathetic old books in terrible condition, simply to give them a safe harbor.

Thanks re Bill and the smooch! *smooch* back

Happy Thursday, Karen!

>246 karenmarie: Wow, that is a very full decorated chrismas tree.

>250 karenmarie: I hope the issues with the generator are resolved soon.

>254 karenmarie: I've been known to bring home pathetic old books in terrible condition, simply to give them a safe harbor.
Such a sweet thing to do.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. I hope the inspection goes through. Fingers crossed. I am filling in for someone else today, with Kids Kab (so much for only working 2 days a week 😁). I will then be off for more than 2 weeks for Christmas break. I am itching to get out and do some local birding. I miss my birding buddies.

Sue is still working on getting better. We are hoping for more improvement today. She misses Jack.

>254 karenmarie: I've been known to bring home pathetic old books in terrible condition, simply to give them a safe harbor.

I think running a Bide-A-Wee for books is a great idea. I haven't the space but I totally would if I could.

>255 FAMeulstee: Happy Thursday to you, too, Anita! Thank you re the tree. Another guy from the generator installation company is here now, apparently fixing a problem created by the propane company by not properly seating the pressure regulator from the house line to the generator line. Here's one of the books I brought home to give it safe harbor:



>256 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and sweet Thursday to you. Sorry you have fill in for someone else today, but yay for 2 weeks off. And I'm sorry that Sue's still having a hard time with the flu. I hope she turns a corner today. I just saw a Downy flit from the wild bird seed feeder to the Crepe Myrtle to the suet feeder. A Bluejay just visited, and I've got Cardinals and finches, too.

Wordle 915 3/6* slate, quilt, built

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Coffee and brownies for breakfast - hello caffeine.

Grocery shopping list is the biggie today, and Jenna and I will go out about 10:30 or so to do the shopping. She has an in-person interview at 3 this afternoon with another vet clinic.

Here's the Christmas readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356094

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. Looking forward to spending some time with Jackson today. If the rain holds out, I will try to take him to the park. Sue seems to being doing better. I can't believe it has been 6 days.

>259 SilverWolf28: Hi Silver, and thank you!

>260 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Friday to you, too. Yay for Jackson time, hope you can beat the rain. I'm glad to hear that Sue's better, but wow. 6 days.

It's not the Post Office, but I just read a sweet Covid-times short story about a 'hunky' UPS driver and a fiction writer. Just a hug and kiss at the end, and it made me smile. It reminded me of the craziness of Christmas for you. Which I'm glad you're done with, for sure.

Wordle 916 3/6* slate, trout, touch

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Jenna and I had an epic grocery shopping trip yesterday. We got everything into the cart, thanks to Jenna's packing skills. We got everything on the list too, amazingly, including a prime rib - standing rib roast. They almost always discount them at this time of year, so that was just icing on the cake. It's tucked into the back of the refrigerator and will be perfectly safe for Christmas Day.

I worked out. Only 30 minutes, but I did get at least that amount of time in.

Jenna got all the way into the parking lot of the vet clinic, early as is her modus operandi, and got a text at 2:46, just before the 3:00 interview, saying that they had a crisis and could they reschedule. She was unhappy, of course, but says she loves to drive and understands how there can be crises at a vet clinic.

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Jenna has declared that she will do nothing but recoup all the peopling energy she's spent over the last week - visits with her new friend in Carrboro and a 2-day visit to friends near Charlotte to dog sit Saturday afternoon/evening.

I completely understand, for sure.

I'm going to putter, read, update spreadsheets, and work out. I forgot to put horseradish on the grocery list, and absolutely need it for prime rib. I'll get some mushrooms, too, for sauteed mushrooms for J and myself. Not on the list, but since I have to be in there... I'm also going to go into Walgreens to use the $24 OTC money we need to use before year end.

Smut. A collection of just two stories by Alan Bennett. You'd like it, Karen. I know that because I already read one of them in a tiny book-like package that I got last year in Dublin. The Dublin in Ireland. The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes. All sorts of shenanigans are designed to avoid Mrs. Forbes finding out that her son is gay. Cripes, for half the story HE doesn't know it.

I thought of you. You could read it, then tell Jenna, "I read Smut today. No really!"

Keep up that holiday spirit.

Awww, Bill, that is so sweet of you to feed my Smut addiction! Thank you of thinking of me.

My holiday spirit is okay. Cards all sent, one more present to receive and wrap, food bought for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I hope your Christmas spirit is coming along, too.

Hi Horrible! I'm glad you got the shopping completed. Have you ever made orange-horseradish sauce? I had some orange pulp left over from making a whole-orange cake with frosting, and used the drippings from the roast with the pulp to swirl into my prepared horseradish. Turned out to need a wee bit of cooking, so glugged in a dregs of the wine-bottle and heated it through. Turned out scrummy.

>264 richardderus: I have never made orange-horseradish sauce. It sounds fantastic, but I'm not going to the grocery store again before Christmas.

Wordle 917 2/6* *blinks* I really like my new starting word. slate, slope

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Above mentioned grocery store run, used the treadmill at the Senior Center. Next week I'll only be able to get two workouts in - they're closed Mon - Wed.

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Lots of puttering, lots of reading, wrapping Jenna's second-and-last present. She's going to visit her friend in Carrboro again today - I'm a bit surprised, but hey. We all need friends.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. Of course, I enjoyed hanging out with Jack yesterday. He didn't want to go to the park so we just hung out at his house. I even managed to read him a couple of books, which means we looked at the pictures. He hasn't the patience yet for text.

We were going to get together with the kids tonight for our Christmas festivities but Sue wants to be a 100% so we bumped it to next Saturday. It looks like I am going out with Matt and Sean tonight, for eats and brews.

Foggy and gloomy here at the moment- I did see juncos and cardinals.

>265 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible! I'm into my Xmas-novella reads now, so getting ready for the big finale to 2023 (to which my farewell will not be fond).

*smoochiesmoochsmooch*

I just posted on your thread, Mark - great minds!

I'm glad you and Jackson read yesterday. He'll get to the patience part one of these days and then you'll have a hard time getting him to do much else with his grandpa.

I'm sorry you had to delay the festivities, but better safe than sorry, especially with The Grandson. Sounds like they'll be visiting with the other side of the family tomorrow/Sunday. Nice that you'll be out with Sean and Matt tonight, though. Tell Sue I'm sending her healing thoughts!

I just posted the bird report on your thread, but here it is again:

Many Cardinals, a few finches, and a Carolina Chickadee got chased off the wild bird seed feeder by a finch. A Carolina Wren was visiting on the Suet feeder earlier, and I just watched a Downy grab a sunflower seed and zoom off.

Since I wrote that, the Downy's on the suet feeder. Lots of late breakfast activity.

(((((Richard)))))

You snuck in as I was getting ready to reply to Mark's post.

Ooh, Christmas novellas. A nice ending to what was for you a very hard start. I've said it several times, but I admire your Grit and Determination to come back from what could have been completely and permanently debilitating strokes.

*smooch* to go with the hugs

Sigh. Talk of my 2nd Kindle lasting 8 years jinxed it - the charging port has become finicky in the last week or so and this is now the only way I can charge it. Large clip pushing the cable up to the right, weight holding the Kindle down. That is a candle my niece/wife gave me 10 years or more ago, still brought out for special occasions.



Never fear, Karen's NEW Paperwhite Kindle will be delivered on the 28th.

Fallen Beanie Baby = Zoe deliberately pushing it off the window sill, for the 3rd or 4th time, little witch.

edited to add: Lit Christmas Tree.

>270 karenmarie: Lovely shot of the tree, Horrible me lurve. That Kindle is old enough to have great-grands in tech years, so let's honor its service and welcome the new baby model with some reverence. *revere revere*

>269 karenmarie: Thank you, my dear lady. I'm lucky enough to have been able to do it. Jei, my podiatrist friend, gave me the compliment of saying if he didn't know I'd had a stroke, he wouldn't know I'd had a stroke...and he saw me first a few days after the event!

Let's not ignore your own determination in changing all your habits after that scary-as-hell STEMI! I thought, if Horrible can do it at HER age, I have zero excuse not to as well.

*smooch*

Things are settling down for me. At last. One package remains to be delivered (to me, so I can divvy the contents amongst four recipients). Of course, everything remains to be wrapped. What will be will be.

I can't account for my year-end reading. Auschwitz!!? But also Schiele, a GN version of Fitzgerald's ...Benjamin Button, some Smut from Alan Bennett, a kind of memoir of his wife Alice by Calvin Trillin. I do believe the TBR shelf will be groaning and sagging on Tuesday next.

Your lit tree is wonderful. Congrats on getting a new and improved Kindle. I suspect Zoe is merely helping you with the clutter. But that's how clutter works: you clean it up in one spot, only to establish it in a new location. Trust me. I'm an expert with decades of practice.

Happy Happy Joy Joy.

>270 karenmarie: Just popping by to wish you and yours a lovely Christmas, Karen. I love your tree! Is that a cat angel, or is it a cat glaring at you through the stair banister?!

Sorry to hear about the kindle, but 8 years isn't too bad going. I hope you have many happy years with your new Paperwhite!

>270 karenmarie: Alas the dying of the Kindle! New Kindle good. Witch King on sale today only. Amazon, Apple, B&N & somewhere else.

Your Christmas tree is lovely! Best wishes for a lovely Christmas and New Year, Karen.

Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda i ti!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!

Morning, Karen. Happy Christmas Eve! Love the tree. This will be our big day to celebrate with the family. Thankfully, my BIL is hosting again. Jack may still be too young to fully appreciate it but next year should be his big one. We ended up going out to dinner with Bree and family last night and I got to present them with the new Jackson calender. It was a big hit. Grandpa did good.

Have a great day, my friend.

>271 richardderus: ‘Morning a day later, RD! Thanks. The first person into the living room always puts the lights on, lately Bill’s been the one turning them off. They were on when I came downstairs.

The Kindle has shipped! It’s officially due on the 28th, but looks like the 27th. I’m charging the old one now, with the candle AND a very ugly, but given with love, frog ring holder.

We’ll pat each other on the back with our accomplishments. You’re a mere 6 years younger than me if I’ve got it figured right… *smooch*

>272 weird_O: Hi Bill! Happy Christmas Eve Day to you. Lots of presents to manage for you, but you’ll get it all done, no doubt.

Your year-end reading is less than comforting, that’s for sure. Mine’s comforting in a weird way – my smut, listening to Introduction to Judaism by Professor Shai Cherry, a Great Courses offering, and I’ll now be starting The Paying Guests for January’s RL book club read. Plus The Federalist, which I truly hope to finish in 2024.

Happy Happy Joy Joy to you too!

>273 Jackie_K: Hi Jackie! Thanks re our tree. It’s a tree topper, an angel ornament from Bill’s childhood. Faded blue plush over a paper cone. Sentimentality to the nth degree. I can see why you thought it might be a kitty ornament or live kitty. Here’s live kitty Zoe Rose giving us heart palpitations in April on a part of the banister you can’t see from the tree pic:



And, finally, Jenna brought yesterday’s mail in at 1:45 a.m., and your card AND bookmark are greatly appreciated, especially the bookmark!!! Jenna cracked up when she saw it. And, after I get Senior Kitty Inara off my lap in a while, I’m going to scan both sides in to send to friend Karen in Montana and will post it here. It’s absolutely perfect. ... Kitty off lap, scanned, uploaded.



I do think I probably gave Karen’s 2nd Kindle a run for its money since last April, reading or abandoning ~760 books.

>274 quondame: Yes, Susan! New Kindle good. Old Kindle is charging with an increasingly-complex Rube Goldberg combination of cable, clip, candle, and ugly frog ring holder. (rabbit hole: I did not know that Rube Goldberg was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning in 1948.) Only 3 days ‘til new Kindle. I’m glad you’re getting some good SF/fantasy bargains.

>275 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! Thank you twice. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.

>276 SandDune: Hi Rhian! Welsh. Thank you. And I love the manger scene – you made it, right?

>277 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and Happy Christmas Eve to you, too. Thanks re the tree. I’m glad you’ll have a Christmas celebration today, glad that your BiL is hosting, giving Sue and you a bit of a break, especially since she’s still recovering. Nice adjustment of last night’s plans, glad the new calendar was a hit. Of course Grandpa did good!

Wordle 918 5/6* Alphabet soup. slate, grave, grape, graze, grace

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Yesterday was puttering and watching Arsenal tie Liverpool, which means that Arsenal is top of the table going into the Christmas break, a huge boost for them. I folded and put up clean laundry, and while doing that discovered a pair of missing winter socks AND my 2nd pair of black jeans that I thought I'd left at the hotel we stayed at for Bill's cousin's funeral. I know - scatterbrained much? Bill and I watched a replay of another soccer match - Burnley beating Fulham, a huge upset - after dinner. Jenna came home very late, but I expected that since today's Christmas Eve and her new friend didn't have to get up early for any TA duties or studies.

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Jenna just wrapped the last of her dad's Christmas presents. The eggnog pie is good but a tad too sweet, and there's no way to make it less sweet - there are only 3 ingredients: eggnog, instant vanilla pudding mix, and whipped cream. I didn't add any sugar to the whipped cream and it's still very sweet, but a small slice with coffee was pretty good for brekkie. The original recipe calls for Cool Whip, which I never use, and that would have made it unbearably sweet.

Air fryer bone in/skin on chicken with basmati rice for dinner, relaxing today in the lead up, puttering, reading.

So glad the card and bookmark arrived in time for Christmas! I cracked up when I saw it too, and thought of you instantly, I'm afraid I couldn't resist buying it!

It still looks like a cat on the top of your tree!

Yes, perfect timing. I'm glad you couldn't resist and thank you so much!

It does look like a cat, and I'll tell both Bill and Jenna.

Happy Xmas *smoochings*

>278 karenmarie: Perfect bookmark for you, Karen! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Karen!

Thinking about you during the festive season, Karen

Merry Christmas, Karen. I hope you have a wonderful day. We had a very nice time yesterday. My SIL put on a lovely spread and it was nice hanging out with Jack 3 days in a row, plus our Bears won. A kickback day here, with just Sue and I.

*smooch*

>281 ronincats: Hi Roni! I love your Christmas greetings. Merry Christmas to you, too.

>282 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. Penguins always make me happy. Happy Christmas to you and Karen, Felix, and all your family. Love and hugs!

>283 richardderus: Thank you, RDear. Happy Xmas to you, too. *smooch*

>284 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg, and thank you. Yes, Jackie nailed it with the perfect bookmark. I hope your Christmas is wonderful, too.

>285 quondame: More penguins! I love penguins and thank you. Merry Christmas to you, Mike, and Becky, Nutmeg and Gizmo.

>286 PaulCranswick: Ooh, Paul, clever and wonderful. Thank you, dear friend. Thinking about you, too.

>287 msf59: Merry Christmas, Mark! The day has gone well so far, see below. I’m glad your BiL’s festivities included family, good food, Jackson, and your Bears winning. Enjoy your kickback day.

>288 richardderus: Sugar cookies… sigh. I have star cookie cutters, just not many and increasing sizes. That would be so much fun to make!!! And, of course, eat. I hope Rob has been having a good rest. Wish him MC from me. *Christmas Smooch to you*

Wordle 919 3/6* slate, prone, evoke

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Let's see. Bill's sleep was messed up and he got up at 4:45. My alarm went off at 8:30, Jenna said she got up about 7:30. Downstairs, coffee, presents. Bill and Jenna and the kitties got me a wonderful Book Lovers blanket and the 2023 Lladro Christmas Bell. I now have all 38 of them, starting in 1986. Jenna got me the book I asked for, North Woods by Daniel Mason. Friend Karen got me 2 books - Encyclopedia of Religion in the South with the inscription: If this doesn't answer all your questions - they aren't worthy of an answer..." and, absolutely stunning, Grounded: A Senator's Lessons on Winning Back Rural America by US Senator Jon Tester, the Democratic Senator from Montana. Karen got him to inscribe it to me personally. "I hope you enjoy my view of Montana politics - from your view in North Carolina! Read this book in good health. Jon Tester, 7-24-2023"

Jenna loved her Sky Rim blanket and her Narwhal Onesie, although it's too short and I just ordered the next size up and initiated the return on this one. Drat. Bill loved his shirt and the summer sausages/cheeses Jenna got for him.

We made and have eaten Breakfast Pizza and are all off doing our own thing. I'll do some dinner prep at 1, 3, and 3:30, with Jenna helping starting about 4 or so. Prime Rib, twice baked potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, corn for Bill. Store-bought Dutch Apple Pie for dessert.

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas, Karen! Your preparations sound great, very tasty menu.

Morning, Karen. Your Christmas day plans sound lovely. That meal sounds wonderful. We ordered Chinese takeout. I also want to read North Woods. I have heard good things.

I am meeting my birding buddies this AM. I am itchin' to get back out there, especially with the milder temps.

Dear Karen, I have come faithfully every day, and Mama has stirred just before I started writing. At least these two sentences will stand to show that I am not a stranger here!

You three had a warm, merry Christmas, I see. GOOD! We three did too. Now we are celebrating our 53rd anniversary. We were married by this time in 1970 and getting ready to head to the Eastern Shore before going on the DC the next day. The morning of the 27th we walked on the beach while it snowed - magic! - and a unique experience for me.

I'm glad that Paperwhite is coming sooner than later. Kudos to you for managing a save in the meantime. Enjoy your day! Stay in if you can!

ETA: I meant to add my bit about cherishing old books, but I'd better not press my luck.

Hi Ella, and thank you very much. I hope you had a good day, too.

>291 msf59: 'Morning, Mark! Happy Boxing Day to you - December 26th. Everything came out well, even if I do say so myself. Jenna helped ALOT, we had an enjoyable 45 minutes or so at the dining room table, then an hour later we had pie while we chatted in the living room.

I added North Woods to my wish list (@kairfa), with your name as the tag, so it's you I have to thank along with Jenna. I would like to start it today, if possible.

Yay for a birding buddies day. Enjoy the camraderie and here's wishing for lots of species, and who knows - an accidental or other lifer!

Wordle 920 3/6* slate, knife, phone

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Yesterday was fun and busy, relaxing and good. Dinner/dessert were the final events, and both were great.

My 8-year old Kindle has officially given up the ghost - even with my Rube Goldberg setup to charge it I can't get it to charge. Fortunately, the new one is out for delivery, due by 9 p.m. Tomorrow will be Kindle set up day. In the meantime, even though I need to read The Paying Guests for January 14th book club meeting, want to re-read Bad Luck and Trouble because of the second season of Reacher AND start North Woods, Jenna's Christmas gift to me, I downloaded the Kindle app to my smart phone and read well into the night last night - you guessed it, smut!

The only thing missing from reading smut is that it's on the Kindle. However, my gorgeous new bookmark is in The Paying Guests.



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Cleaning ladies today, general cleanup from Christmas. The Senior Center is not open 'til Thursday this week, grumble grumble, so will only get two treadmill sessions in this last week of the year.

>292 LizzieD: (((((Peggy))))) I believe you, and know that when your mama needs you, off you go.

I’m glad you had a good Christmas and Happy 53rd Wedding Anniversary. Wow – walking on the beach while it snowed. Definitely a wonderful part of your honeymoon.

I am going to stay in today, although I’ll have to raid my cash stash to pay the cleaning ladies. I’ll replenish tomorrow and also run an errand or two in addition to it being Karen’s New Kindle set up day.

I do cherish old books, love having them here at the house, love acquiring them. No luck pressing needed – I’m still over the top with MM romances but love physical books, too. I’d better – I know have almost 5800 in the house!

And, I love my new Wordle starting word and have you to thank for it.

edited to add: My new Paperwhite Kindle just arrived!!

>294 karenmarie: Happy Feast of Stephen, Horrible! I'm delighted for you that the new Paperwhite's in house. It's been a long time since I did the set-up so I don't recall its details but I hope it goes smoothly for you.

*smooch*

December was a blur in a good way and we just returned from spending four days with my family in PA now that they really don't drive out of their little town. Low key and good but I left the laptop behind and mostly disconnected and hung out. Lovely.

Merry Christmas!

Perfect timing on your new Paperwhite, Karen. Enjoy!

>295 richardderus: Hi RD! Happy Wednesday and happy day after Feast of Stephen Day to you. I immediately thought of the carol Good King Wenceslas, then when I looked it up, realized that it’s about a Bohemian King. I’m what I call half Czech-American, but I’m really Bohemian, so I feel pleased with this new knowledge.

I haven’t tried to figure out the Paperwhite setup yet. I’ve been reading on my cell phone and this 23-inch Dell monitor – no hardship on either – but realistically I prefer the Kindle. The old one’s down to 18% charge, currently turned off, but maybe needed to reference a few things here or there. *smooch*

>296 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! I’m glad you were able to visit your family in PA. Low key, disconnected, and hanging out are a good way to spend time. I don’t think I could go without my laptop for late nights, but I admire you for not taking it. Thank you.

>297 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle! I hope to be a better LT friend this coming year, and hope to see you around the threads. Thank you.

>298 Familyhistorian: Oh yes, Meg, perfect timing. I also just ordered a leather protective case for it, due Friday. I’m just a spending fool right now and can’t find it in myself to care very much.

Wordle 921 2/6* slate, daisy

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It rained most of the day after about 1 or so, and we might get more rain today. The cleaning ladies came, saw, cleaned and left, and the house is under control except for some wrapping stuff still cluttering up the stairs. I'll get Jenna to help me with that this a.m. before she heads out to visit a friend.

I'll go out to run some errands after a chiropractic appointment but otherwise putter. Insomnia has reared its ugly head. I've been up since 3:18 but I can always take a nap.

Morning, Karen. I had a nice walk with my birding buddies yesterday. Not many species but the bluebirds put on a show for us, along with a Carolina wren singing and a perched bald eagle. We will go out again today. They go to Florida on Friday, so we have to jam it in.

I hope you can get a nap in later.

'Morning, Mark! I just posted on your thread, so great minds.

My eyes are a bit gritty, so I'll definitely try to work a nap in.

>299 karenmarie: I'm glad I induced you to go look up King WenceslasVáclav. Rotten-souled little brother he had, no?

Crack on! *smooch*

Oh! The Kindle is here already!! ENJOY!!!!!

The new Kindle set-up should take all of about 3 minutes. It's easy-peasy.

Hope you get that nap in!

Ah, the failed charging port thing. Happened to my first kindle too, and I suspect it will happen to my now somewhat old Paperwhite this year or next. I assume my next one will come with the universal connector style and I will be able to retire the trapezoid ones. Congrats on receiving the new shiny one.

Hi Karen,
Caught up on your thread! Didn't have any useful comments to make but have to say I envy the generator. I always have a panic in winter about what would we do if the heating failed. Does it need electricity to kick in or is it fully-functional if all the utilities conk out in a big storm?

Best wishes for 2024. I hope everyone stays healthy and that the politics doesn't dominating your life. Already we see so much published in our news and it's scary.

Yeah, I am behind once again, lol.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday season! I hope you have a happy and healthy 2024!