Susan(quondame) Reads 2023-5

So, a late start for a new thread.

I remain my irascible self, only more so due to a month of not near enough sleep and the beginnings of adrenaline depletion. I older yet than I was at the start of my last thread, no surprise, closing on 75. I still have too many dolls, a gross surfeit of fabric and other fiber crafting supplies and tools, and even more dolls than that. And a lot of storage boxes to put them in snuck into the house and gobbled up bunches of this and that and leaving rectangular containers and piles of packing materials.

Mike, my husband, and Becky my daughter are still sticking around with their dogs Nutmeg and Gizmo, to whom I am furniture which throws toys and opens doors.

Well, the women who write speculative fiction list has languished. Every now and then I get enthused but it never seems to last long and only starts up when some thirty-something men put together yet another dumb list of best F&SF which admits that Ursula LeGuin wrote some stuff worth reading but really there are all the guys doing the really great books. Funny 15 years later over half of those male authors have dropped from the list the new gang puts out.

Well onto sprang!


I'm taking a class about making ornaments!

If I write any more The Nine Worlds fanfic I'll add links here.

By all means read all The Nine Worlds books, but especially The Hands of the Emperor.

OK. Welcome.

Hi Susan. I'm rarely first in anyone's thread to say "Happy New Thread"!

Up late to scribble some thoughts on a Graphic novel (Tween age audience, I think). >2 quondame: Fancy ornaments btw. You do that on the sprang whatsit?

Happy new thread Susan!

>2 quondame: Happy new thread!

Those are some nice ornaments.

Happy new thread, Susan.
So you'll be a 75er 75er!

Happy Saturday, Susan. Happy New Thread! I will be starting my last thread of the year soon too...

Happy new thread, Susan. I like the ornaments.

Happy new thread! I love the bookish hanukkiah!

Happy new one!

>5 SandyAMcPherson: 🥇 Congratulations on being first, Sandy!

I think my weekly immersion in Sunday comics and friends who were allowed comic books (the first Spider-Man!) made Graphic novels easy for me. Most times I'm not good about noticing the art, but sometimes it can break through.

>6 humouress: Thanks, Nina!

>7 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita - those are the course illustrations, mine i coming along slowly.

>8 PaulCranswick: Yep, it my year! Thanks, Paul!

>9 msf59: Thanks, Mark, I'll be by even if I remain confused.

>10 BLBera: Thanks, Beth! I hope I'm up to those patterns before I have to pack away all my craft shit stuff.

>11 foggidawn: Thank you, Foggi! I love googling for (x) book just to see what comes up!

>12 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba!

293) Starter Villain



What happens when an underemployed former business journalist inherits his uncle's roll and a billionaire villain and gets thrown into the league that inspired SPECTRA? Mix with talking cats and filthy mouthed dolphins and have fun. Of course the body count is non-negligible.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book you mean to get to earlier in 2023

294) The Buddhist Maritime Silk Road



Intended as background for the major multimedia exhibit on the subject at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Museum in Taiwan this book shows that the major route of Buddhism from India into China and beyond was by sea rather than the previously accepted land route, though that was the initial path. Century after century Buddhist merchants brought monks and manuscripts from India and Sri Lanka to multiple ports in southeast Asia and then to China, where trade winds dictated they spend large segments of the year. There are many maps, most of them simple illustrations of the documented journeys of known Buddhist proponents and many photographic illustrations.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with at least three letters of "December" in the title

Happy new thread, Susan! The ornaments look lovely.

>15 bell7: Thank you, Mary. Alas, those are just the course examples....

Happy new thread, Susan!

Happy new thread!

Yay! A new Penric & Desdemona Demon Daughter coming

>19 quondame: Yes! I added this to my TBR earlier today. A friend sent me this link yesterday.
I was able to snag a cover image there.
She knows I'm keen on the Penric novels. So my thing.

It will be awhile and I may succumb to the e-book with a Kindle app on my computer.
I only recently decided to try Kindle because my Kobo is very difficult about ISBNs (the Overdrive version sometimes has ISBNs that differ to Kobo's).

>17 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita!

>18 drneutron: Thank you, Jim!

>20 SandyAMcPherson: It will be a bit longer wait than I seem to recall from other entries, but I'm sure it will be worth it! I love my Kindle quite a bit! I know I've become the lackey of an evil empire, but it has my number - dewy decimal!

295) Dreadnought



After helping the fallen superhero Dreadnought trans teen Danielle is transformed not only into Dreadnought, but into the body of the young woman she has always wanted to be - but her new problems, with family, with friends are only changed and her problems with super villains have only begun. Fast moving, but with a lot of agonizing, which while not inappropriate, never changed tone or developed.
Note: I had entirely forgotten that I read it and remembered nothing of it as I was reading, so forgettable for me.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book that fits any of the "page 2" challenges for 2023

296) Dozens of Doughnuts



A doughnut making bear has lots of doughnut eating friends - will she ever get any for herself?

Read for December TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book with some connection to 12

Happy new thread, Susan! The ornament making class sounds cool!

>22 quondame: Note: I had entirely forgotten that I read it and remembered nothing of it as I was reading ...

My lament recently, as you said on my thread (at 136). Foggidawn is in this boat, too. I admit that I'm glad (and reassured) of the company.

Hi Susan my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

I'm so used to it being quiet here that I sometimes forget to double check at the end of the day...

>23 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, the class is great, but this student is woefully under prepared. The wonderful instructor, Carol James, puts the recorded class online for a couple of months.

>24 SandyAMcPherson: Once or twice I've liked a book on second discovery, but usually it's once again nothing really worth remembering.

>25 johnsimpson: Thank you John, it's good to see you here.

Well, the major unpacking/repacking of my living room hoard is at 90% which means 1/2 done at best, but at least the 10% of difficult to sort stuff will no longer be mixed with the doll/weaving/sprang/art/sewing supplies - of course the string and yarn could be either sprang or weaving or knitting or cord making and the dolls aren't all as well sorted as they should be with the appropriately sized extra clothing, but hey, all the packing boxes have been banished!

I even cleaned off a collapsible table behind the family room couch to move my craft station to tomorrow so there will be room for a tree.

Reading is lagging...Ravens of Avalon is so bland, and now it's got to be closing in on all the rape and warfare - I guess Boudicca would qualify for next year's war challenge, but I'm sure there will be something else if I want to take that up.

Hi Susan, and happy new thread. I haven’t visited for a while, alas.

From your last thread, I added The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water to my wish list. I love your description of the Louisa May Alcott book, Saccharine silliness slipped in as scary. I have 5 books by her, 3 of them NOT Little Women or Men. Gifts or inherited. Taking up shelf space, but perhaps the sentimentality will keep them there a while longer. FSS is the rule here in my Sunroom, and I absolutely MUST clean the desk off in order to start getting ready to work on Christmas cards.

>1 quondame: Mike, my husband, and Becky my daughter are still sticking around with their dogs Nutmeg and Gizmo, to whom I am furniture which throws toys and opens doors. I hope the quest for a French Bulldog is successful sooner than later.

>2 quondame: I love those – reminds me that Aunt Ann used to make smocked ornaments and I was lucky enough to be a recipient of one.

>27 quondame: Congrats on getting an area available for a tree. I need to repack a box of VHS tapes into 3 small ones and get Jenna to move them to the Media newly-declared Storage Room and move 2 chairs so we can put up the I-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-the-idea artificial tree.

>28 karenmarie: Mike and Becky seem to like holiday pretties - they are lighting the menorah and will be fetching the Christmas tree this weekend. I love the fresh greenery smells and coming downstairs to a lighted tree, so it works for all of us. This year there is tinsel and I think we will eschew the rainbow lights - they were overpowering and didn't blink.

I had a good time at the local SCA Yule feast, though our traffic was very thick because of a Presidential visit to the city. There were few people from my barony but it was good to see them and I spent most of the time with a woman new to the SCA but not historical re-creation.

Now we have to wait and see what bug(s) we caught!

297) Ravens of Avalon



Dull. The story of Boudica molded to suit MZB's Avalon mythos alternating with the Druid priestess Lhiannon's life in such a way as to remove all tension and internal reality with tell rather than show storytelling.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book that is a re-telling or based on another story or character

So here we are in the Yule photo area - it's very domestic, and none of the stuff is mine but what I'm wearing - and the husband who is, in some sense of course, mine.

>32 quondame: That looks like fun :)

>33 Narilka: It can be, depending on your definition of fun! Most of our events are outside in parks, where I laze around reading and chatting and Mike chats and or runs archery tournaments and other people craft/show off crafts, or hit each other with rattan sticks (while wearing armor) or fence.
Food, song, dance are also part of the whole. Classes to teach all of the above happen regularly but not at every event.

>32 quondame: What a delightful photo!!

>32 quondame: You are looking very happy. What a great photo!

>32 quondame: What a great photo! I have a college friend who is now really into SCA, so it's always interesting to see her posts.

>32 quondame: Love it!

Happy new 🧵.

I’m on the holds list for Starter Villain but don’t think I can wait till it comes up. I may spend a credit and get it from Audible.

>32 quondame: Great costumes and a very fun photo, Susan!

>35 RebaRelishesReading: >36 Whisper1: Thank you Reba & Linda!

>37 foggidawn: The SCA does add extra layers of imagery.

>38 Storeetllr: Starter Villain is fun, but not essential reading.

>38 Storeetllr: Thanks Deborah!

298) Pandora's Jar



A reexamination of some of the women without whom many of the ancient myths would be very different, in spite of predominantly being centered on the men who raped, killed, married, and cheated on them. It is primarily Euripides whose extant plays give some of them distinct and powerful voices in ancient times, however much they have been erased or altered since.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book that it's easy to dip in and out of (short stories, poetry, essays, photo book, recipe book etc)

I'm not doing too well at not reading ahead in my Discord Book Club December book Witch King especially since all the player are introduced and the action has really heated up.

The tree is up and decorated except for the tinsel - I'm supposed to do that but my back has been cramping. I have got some things done - on an old card weaving project I converted the tied on warp to warp-weighted because twist on some of the threads had become unmanageable.

>40 quondame: Curious: Which Skalzi have you enjoyed most? I think my favorite is Redshirts, because it was my intro to Skalzi and also because I was a Trekkie back in the day.

>41 quondame: Looks good!

>43 Storeetllr: I'd say Old Man's War - I've read it more than once and remember something about it. I rated The Dispatcher just as highly but remember zilch. I also liked The Kaiju Preservation Society more than Starter Villain, but then I'm not a cat fancier and speech doesn't improve their impact for me

>31 quondame: That is too bad! Is there a decent retelling of Boudica out there?

>32 quondame: What a great picture!

>41 quondame: I want to read that one. Thanks for the recommendation, Susan!

>45 alcottacre: I don't know. The Didius Falco mysteries that discuss it from the Roman Pov are the only ones in my memory.

Thanks!

I could wish Pandora's Jar included more women and in more depth - Ithaca has a whole lot more background about the Trojan war than the section on Helen.

>45 alcottacre: OK, thanks for the reply, Susan. Unfortunately my local library is no help at all when it comes to the Didius Falco mysteries.

>32 quondame: That is way fun and fabby-looking clothing, Susan. Thanks for posting the photo.

>41 quondame: Good for you persevering with Pandora's Jar. I used to love reading the Greek myths, but somehow this one was unpalatable to me. I DNF'd it, yet I know so many have enjoyed it.

>44 quondame: I returned Starter Villain for the same reason (unpalatable) and because it's due date came and I was picking up other books I felt might suit my current mindset.

I finally brought home (yesterday in a book cascade), a Tim Powers book. Ages ago, you had suggested I should try The Anubis Gates. So it's on my bedside pile now.

>48 SandyAMcPherson: I liked Starter Villain, but there wasn't much there. I do hope you find something to enjoy in The Anubis Gates.

>45 alcottacre: The only one about Boudica I know is Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff.

>49 quondame: Hi Susan, saw you visited my thread last night. I hope you enjoy The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy. And I'm looking forward to reading The Anubis Gates. I don't usually go for the time-travel theme, but always willing to see how someone else handled it.

>50 FAMeulstee: I didn't know about that one.

>51 SandyAMcPherson: It's a strange sort of time travel as I recall. But not at all the strangest aspect of the book.

299) My Brother's Keeper



The Brontës were beset by werewolves. Who knew? Emily kicks werewolf butt to save the souls, if not the lives, of family members. For big Brontë fans, not me, this may be full of either disgusting or delightful tidbits, depending if you like your stories straight or revisionist.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book with a connection to the number 3

>44 quondame: Oh! Yes, I really enjoyed Kaiju Preservation Society too. I enjoyed Old Man’s War, but probably not quite as much as you. I’ll have to look for The Dispatcher. It’s one I haven’t read yet.

>54 Storeetllr: I do like Scalzi's sense of fun, but it's a bit oblique to my favorite sort of laughter.

300) Love After the End



The stories are familiar dystopian futures, some with artificial feeling tacked on hope, but the two-souled and Indigiqueer takes give them a different tone. Interesting, but no, there aren't really any efforts at portraying a future more comfortable for those who have to declare their gender, or anyone really.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book for Santa's Reindeer Genre rolling challenge

You'd think that holiday decorating on a smaller scale would be quick and easy, yes? Not that much. But if it weren't for all the unpacking, sorting, and storing I did in the last weeks it wouldn't even have been possible! Still, cleanup should go quickly!

>57 quondame: That is so darling! And I don't mean in a saccharine way. It's really attractive. Thanks for sharing.

>56 quondame: Congratulations on reaching 4 x 75, Susan!

>50 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita! I will see if my local library has a copy.

>53 quondame: Giving that one a pass. I am a Bronte fan, but have no interest in that one, lol.

>57 quondame: Oh, how wonderful! I am fairly sure that I do not have the patience to do that.

>56 quondame: >59 FAMeulstee: What Anita said!

Becky had these custom made for my collection as a birthday present:


>58 SandyAMcPherson: Thank you, Sandy

>59 FAMeulstee: And thank you, Anita

>60 alcottacre: Good to see you and thanks, Stasia!

Did the hunt. 11 was finely calculated to fall between my blind spot and my frustration limit.

>61 quondame: Belated happy birthday, Susan!
Becky's present is perfect.

>62 quondame: Took me a night sleep to get the second part of the question, and find it.

Hi Susan my dear, congrats on 4 X 75 books read for the year so far, dear friend.

>63 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita!
Yep there were instructions that some brains just take a while to grok.

>64 johnsimpson: Thank you, John.

301) Witch King



Reread
In this very hard to put down novel we follow the adventures of Kai, a demon serially inhabiting the bodies of deceased humans, in two timelines. In the present he has to rescue himself and his companions from enemies among whom he may include those he considered allies; in the past aid a hostage prince fight the previously unbeatable Hierarchs and their lackeys who draw power from death and pain and have killed whole populations to power their well.
Kai and his assorted group of long lived companions are fun and quirky if a bit squeaky clean, and gender is treated as a weak guideline.

Re-read for the Discord Victoria Goddard book club.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book for Santa's Reindeer Genre rolling challenge

302) Not That Bad



Articulate women and 2 men describe what rape and sexual aggression and living in society devaluing women as a basic of it's culture and economy does to lives and quality of living. These are the women who do understand what they lived through, what killed off part of them even while they are called survivors, while they are called lucky to be alive, and can wrap words around all the colossal wrong that starts with boys will be boys, which is better in every way than being girls.
Yes, IT IS THAT BAD!

BB from @BLBera

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book for Santa's Reindeer Genre rolling challenge

303) Gaud's Grinch x Tony Fix-it Fic



Since the voice actor for Tony the Tiger was Thurl Ravenscroft who also sang You're a Mean one, Mr Grinch, a real break up song if ever there was one, it's clear that once Tony and Grinch were a thing.
What if they could be reconciled?
This is a classic of FanFic which deserves a wide audience!

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book connected to this season of the year

304) Defiance



Once again Bren is stressed by rough traveling and being kept in the dark by Ilisidi, when all kinds of disruption is active and impending. And once again he, well, you know, if you've been on this journey before.
And meanwhile, Cajeiri, hearing that his great-grandmother is ill, takes things upon himself, changing what's going on in certain important ways and has to face new factors in his household and duties.

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with at least three letters of "December" in the title

>67 quondame: Maybe the breakup was why the Grinch's heart was so small? Hmm...

Happy holidays, Susan! I hope the coming year is full of love and peace for you and yours.

(I love the menorah in your top picture, BTW!)

>69 foggidawn: Well, it's while it wasn't entirely G's fault, it sort of the other way round. But G's better now, but that's a big adjustment for T.

>70 PlatinumWarlock: Thank you, Lavinia. Good Holidays to you and yours!

305) The Ghost Drum



A rather drawn out rendering of witches and shamans and Czars with a cat as indirect narrator adding exactly nothing but and unfortunate voice to the whole.

Read for December TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with a musical instrument in the title or author's name

My highest rated first time reads of 2023, there are more than 5 because I couldn't really compare all the 4.5 books.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 5.0
Witch King by Martha Wells 4.5
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes 4.5
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo 4.5
Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho 4.5
The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition by Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher 4.5
Translation State by Ann Leckie 4.5
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 4.5

I rated Demon Copperhead 4.0 rather than the 4.5 above, but despite the flaws I found in it I remember it better than the above books I've read just once except for Cutting for Stone.

Happy Holidays, Susan!

>57 quondame: That looks lovely!

I need to get to Cutting for Stone.

>74 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah! Enjoy the holidays!

Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda i ti!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!

Happy holidays, Susan! Hope the new year brings you lots of great books to read!

>76 SandDune: >77 ronincats: >78 Storeetllr: Merry Christmas and all the Seasons greetings, Rhian, Roni, & Mary!

>73 quondame: I read Cutting for Stone many years ago and don't remember much at this point except I like it. Right now I'm reading The Covenant of Water which is wonderful and might cause me to reread Cutting for Stone (although I rarely reread a book.

>81 RebaRelishesReading: I've got The Covenant of Water checked out from the library - along with about 30 other titles, so we'll see if I get to it this year - or early next!

Back in the 70s I too adopted the penguin, odd bird as it is, as my totem, err default gift theme. I still have the odd Opus or two, but wasn't very sorry to retire the concept of theme gift. I still love the water fliers.



Merry Christmas!

Thinking about you during the festive season, Susan

Have a great holiday, Susan. Hooray for Demon Copperhead & Cutting for Stone.

>82 quondame: Happy Holidays, Susan!

I'm about half-way through The Covenant of Water now and still enjoying it a lot. It's HUGE but worthwhile :)

Hi Susan!

Merry Christmas Susan!

306) Mistress of the Art of Death



This mystery was too long and the love story was not an asset. The concern about plague was a bit out-of-sync since the black death was around 150 years away, though plagues did occur before. And the convolutions to get our heroine to England when Sicily has many tales to tell was way Anglo-centric for me.

BB from @SandyAMcPherson

Read for December TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with a variant of death in the title

I've been lurking a bit but also been away from LT and I've missed a lot on your thread. Congratulations on passing 4 x 75! Belated 'Happy Birthday'!

Wishing you and yours all the best of the festive season, Susan.



- a photo of Jasper, quickly snatched before he ate his hat (or tried to).

Hi Susan, I'm attempting to visit a few threads before everyone disappears into their 2024 posts.

>72 quondame: I'm not surprised The Ghost Drum was only a 2½-star read. I DNF'd that one. You'll probably recall it was a mistaken library hold (I meant to request The Painted Drum (Louise Erdrich). Still haven't gotten around to that book.

>73 quondame: This is a handy list! I copied it to my text lists of books. Like >74 vancouverdeb: said, I'm also interested in Cutting for Stone.

>89 quondame: I think I was okay with this book more than you were (I tend not to have a good grasp of event sequences from those early times).
I didn't like the sequels, though. I quit after Grave Goods. Which was one too many reads already. I agree, too, that the love interest seemed out of place (if you're referring to Adelia's relationship with the church guy (whose name I've forgotten).

>90 humouress: Thanks Nina! Happy Holidays to you!

>91 SandyAMcPherson: Part of what got to me about Mistress of the Art of Death was switching viewpoints just to cover over plot points. And really, though Henry II is interesting, why did the mysteries have to be set in England with all the nonsense when they could have been in Sicily with none of the above.

>92 quondame: And there would have been better weather! Your comment reminds me how much I miss Inspector Montalbano, Susan.

306) The Weirdstone of Brisingamen



A complete bore. Taking the children living away from home stumble upon adventure trope of early 20th cent fantasies and grafting on Tolkien trek/quest fell very very flat. Without the rather long uninteresting paths of perils, not much happens and none of that is character development.

This was supposed to be the Elemental Magic entry for the Reddit Fantasy Book Bingo, but I couldn't detect any elemental magic in it. At least it

Meets December TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book whose title or subtitle or author’s name includes the word “men”

Hopelessly behind, here, there and everywhere, but happy holidays!!! Hope to be a more frequent visitor in 24. : )

>95 Berly: Behind is pretty much endemic. It would be lovely if you can make it by more often! Have a very lovely remainder of the holidays!

>92 quondame: I liked the English history, Henry II being progressive with Common Law and in a way, thumbing his nose at the Pope rather cleverly as far as thwarting the injustice of the RC clergy towards their parishioners.
I don't know very much about the advantages of a setting confined to Sicily and therein probably lies a gap in my memory of grade-school level history. Been awhile since I read this book so I no thoughts about switching viewpoints and covering plot points. I could very well have missed that aspect.

Like >95 Berly:, I have not had the mental energy to cope with the threads lately. I feel disappointed (in myself) for that because I know I'm missing out on some interesting end-of-the-year discussions.

>93 PaulCranswick: I miss him too, but his absence from my Kindle is my choice as I have 13 I haven't yet read.

>97 SandyAMcPherson: I don't really know much about Sicily - especially in the Medieval period, except that everybody fought over it and traded there. It must have been much more sophisticated than England, and with much better food - also weather as @PaulCranswick says.

307) The Iron Hand of Mars



When the Emperor's son Titus makes a move on Helena, Falco goes off in a tiff and finds she's left Rome. Needing money and hoping to search for her, he accepts the Emperor's mission to Germany. There are mystery elements, but this is and reads like a somewhat sarcastically viewed adventure story. The history of Roman military (mis)adventures along the Rhine in the early Imperial era is where the data load is thickest in this episode.

Read for December TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a sequel to a book you read earlier in the year. Please name the original book.

308) The Future Falls



When an asteroid is predicted to strike earth creating an extinction level event and NASA etc finds out too late to prevent it it comes to the attention of Charlie (Charlotte) Gale, a Wild power in a family formidable powers. Of course Charlie has personal problems, primarily Jack her half-dragon cousin, too young for them to be a couple, but not too young to participate in the sexual rituals that anchor the family's power.

I really love the time-twisting in this volume! I keep having to think it out and re-figure just what's happening to whom.
So much fun!
231231 - But there is a whole lot of Gale family stuff and pining to endure before the fun which is stacked deep at the end. So while early impression isn't wrong () it's a mood thing that brought it to .

Re-read for December TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book with "tomorrow" or "future" in the title

I am inordinately delighted that my pocket-sized titanium retractable box knife turned up after an absence of 8 days. Apparently I put it somewhere safe rather than loosing it from my pocket while shopping. It was missing for package wrapping and present opening though.

Yesterday's birthday dinner for Becky (31) was at Fogo de Chaõ and we were rather overwhelmed by the huge cold food bar and endless rounds of meats on skewers. I am quite feeling partied out today, so tonight's lack of festivities is appreciated. Perhaps I'll go out for a bit to a recovery party tomorrow.

Hi Susan! I was looking for your new thread in the 75 books for 2024, but I guess you have not yet created it. Happy New Year to you!

>102 vancouverdeb: Thank you Deborah!

Yep, I put it of until the day.

Happy New Year Susan. I just read through your thread to catch up and, of course, collected some BBs on the way. I just started System Collapse so took note of her City of Bones. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water sounds good too.

>104 avatiakh: Thank you, Kerry! Happy New Year to you!

Enjoy your reads!

I've done a new thread for a new year!