2025-1 Susan (quondame) Remains Reading

This a portrait by the photographer Lara Grauer, but not of me.

Well, I haven’t gotten any younger! I’m Susan, 76, long retired—no, even longer than that—and it wasn’t voluntary, though I came to appreciate it. I live in Southern California, near enough to the ocean to benefit from the climate, in a house with my husband and our daughter, my daughter’s dog, and my husband’s dog.

I read quite a lot, mostly books, but since I spend a good deal of time on LT, Discord, and Facebook (and eBay), and all of those involve reading, it’s come to me that books are not the whole of it.

I spent 30+ years organizing and attending dance and social events lightly based on Regency England and later joined the SCA to do their version of historical recreation. My interest in dress and costume predates those interests but was certainly fueled by them, and I have all sorts of fabric and fiber craft supplies, the collecting of which is a hobby in itself. I also collect dolls from about 1955 to now, but only certain ones, and mostly that’s about wardrobes. Clothing again. Another collection is miniature tools, charm-sized; the more realistic, the better.

My reading is heavily F&SF, within which I have a strong preference for women and gender-queer authors. Given a recommendation from a trusted source, I will, however, read almost anything. I am in my 3rd year of being a total fan of Victoria Goddard’s Lays of the Hearth-Fire series and am attempting a major fic, having written a few small, lightweight bits.

The other part of my online social life is on Discord, the HOTE Support Group server to be exact, where I also discuss books, mostly fantasy, and go over every minutia within HOTE, etc., and every alternative or possibly canon story members have imagined.

There are multiple shared reads and book clubs of which I’m in what I think is the main one.

January’s Book is:
The Monsters We Defy

I have yet to make any progress this year on my fixKip fic, but I think I found a lead Gender Failure about trauma recovery.

250104
918 words of fic. I didn't think things could get worse for the whump'd one who renounced his names (Cliopher/Kip) in CYH, but I have somehow done something even more evil. But! it's to motivate him to go on and agree to leave his refuge.

250302
Yesterday and the couple of days before I put together 889 words, with some redundancy. Captured a bunch of Fitzroy/HR ideas.
The other person's take has proceeded well, but it very much isn't my take.

February's book, Everfair was interesting but didn't really click with me.
March's Each of Us a Desert seems though more sparse, seems deeper.

As of 3/30/2025

Books I have started and put down for over a week:

The Book of M
Bound to Please
The Carmina Burana: Songs from Benediktbeuern*
The Middle Kingdoms
Navigating the Stars
Time Is a Mother
The Warburgs
Worn

Books I'm currently reading:

The Bookbinder
Heat x Beat

===========

*This is a large trade paperback with 250+ songs (Carmina) from before 1250, and I may get through 1 or 2 a day. Disappointingly this only include English translations with Latin/Middle High German text online(Link not currently working)

I have these books checked out of the Library as of 3/30/2025

After Long Silence
The Atlas Six
Bloodchild
The Book of M
The Bookbinder
Bound to Please
The Butcher of the Forest
The Call of the Sword
The Case of Cem
Cecilia
The Crane Husband
Daring Greatly
Dragon Pearl
Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales
Equal Rites
The Faithless Hawk
The Fedgling
For the Good of All, Do Not Destroy the Birds
Four Squares
Geometries of Belonging
The Girl with No Reflection
The Golden Thread
GolemCrafters
Her other mouths
I Cheerfully Refuse
Into the Drowning Deep
The Known World
The Knowing
Liberty’s Excess
The Magic Gem
The Map Thief
The Ministry of Time
My Darling Dreadful Thing
Navigating the Stars
The Night in Question
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands
Nobody's Fool
One of Our Kind
The Other Side of Disappearing
The Position of Spoons
Small Things Like These
So Let Them Burn
Some by Virtue Fall
Summer Green to Autumn Gold
This All Come Back Now
Time Is a Mother
Worn

Not to mention what I have on hold.......

I guess I have a placeholder.
Whatever could I put here?

OK, it's ready!

1) Gender Failure



Two AFAB individuals share their stories, interleaved as they almost certainly were in the stage show that this reflects. I adore the notion of gender-retired, and am pretty convinced that the government really should be gender-blind—if someone passes the physical for military service, fine. The govt. should not enforce pronouns or gender expectations.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book by a new-to-you author NOT recommended by anyone, that you've stumbled across

I find The Soul of Civility distasteful not because of message, but it's repetitive so so preachy and really doesn't understand that civilized is NOT a synonym for good. Nomads and people in village cultures aren't badly behaved for not being civilized, and probably have better overall manners within their culture.

Happy New Year, and new thread, Susan!I always love your toppers.

Welcome back, Susan!

Happy New Year, Susan. That is a long list of library books.

Hiya Susan, I've dropped a star here as part of my ongoing project to be hopelessly behind on lots and lots of threads ;-)

Happy New Year, Susan! I had looked before and couldn't find a thread, but now here you are, so hooray for that.

Happy New Year and happy new thread! You have a lot of intriguing library checkouts!

Happy new year, Susan!

Happy 2025, Susan.

It wouldn't be the same without you in the group.

Happy New Year, Susan!

Happy New Year, Susan!

Happy New Year and new thread!

Happy new year, Susan!

Happy reading in 2025!

Well, it took me a while to catch up on the 2025 threads to follow.
If you haven't seen me on yours, feel free to let me know where to find it!

>9 vancouverdeb: Yay! Deborah! My first visitor of the year! Thanks!

>10 drneutron: Thank you, Jim, for your visit and your efforts in keeping this group going. It's a great place.

>11 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. It is, isn't it. And it changes pretty much daily.

>12 ArlieS: Good to see you, Arlie! I'm sure that's a project you'll enjoy!

>13 Crazymamie: I'm glad you found me, Mamie! It was still wet behind the ears when you found it hiding in the bracken.

>14 foggidawn: Thanks, Foggi! Some of them have been intriguing me for over a year, but a couple are fresh on the list!

>15 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie!

>16 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. Those silhouettes look both architectural and familiar. I wonder why?

>17 ronincats: Thank you, Roni!

>18 EllaTim: Thanks, Ella!

>19 Narilka: Thank you, Gale!

>20 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

>21 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita!

Oh! I found what I meant to put at >5 quondame:.

I'll put it here instead.
This was a bit of fun!

Year-End Meme Using 2024 Books

Describe yourself: Demon Daughter

Describe how you feel: We Are the Crisis

Describe where you currently live: Tower of Thorns

Your favorite time of day is: When Women Were Dragons

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Mansfield Park

Your favorite form of transportation: Dragonwings

Your best friend is: Ella Minnow Pea

You and your friends are: Dangerous Women

Describe your job: Parasite

What are you eating: The Witch's Heart

What’s the weather like: Storm Furies

You fear: The Warm Hands of Ghosts

What is the best advice you have to give: Don't Hug Doug: (He Doesn't Like It)

Thought for the day: If Found, Return to Hell

How you would like to die: Happiness Falls

Your soul’s present condition: Heaven

What is life for you: Belly Up

2) One Good Knight



Ariadne's mother, Cassiopeia, is a bad one, which is obvious to the reader before her first line. But Andie wants her mother's love and approval and comes up with a plan, which makes her a target. So where is the knight? Well, that takes a while, by which time the book is a bit dull. It doesn't get much less dull, but it does get very silly. Since we know HEA is the rule, no warnings of tragedy have any bite. Neither does the book.

The 3rd of 3 novels in the omnibus I checked out. Not a good reason to read it.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book in which a title word begins or ends with an L or a T

Hi Susan! Happy new year and happy new thread!

Hi Susan! Happy New Year, and happy first thread of 2025.

>7 quondame: I adore the notion of gender-retired, and am pretty convinced that the government really should be gender-blind—if someone passes the physical for military service, fine. The govt. should not enforce pronouns or gender expectations. I’ve never thought about it this way. A gender-blind US would be fantastic.

Happy New Year, Susan!

Happy New Year, Susan!

I got a kick out of your sardonic answers in the book meme.😀

I’m reading Orbital and so far liking it very much.

Found you! Love your meme answers. I'll have to come back and steal that later....

Happy New Year Susan. My son is finally reading The Sheepfarmer's Daughter which I enjoyed over a year ago.

>25 PawsforThought: Thank you, Paws!

>26 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen!
Yes, isn't a bummer that the govt seems determined to do more of what it does ruinously and less of what it does competently?

>27 EBT1002: Thank you, Ellen!

>28 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe.
I haven't read any of a huge number of award winning &| highly recommended books form 2024.

>29 Berly: Thank you Kim!

>28 jnwelch: >29 Berly: I was amused to gather so many bitchy formidably female titles to use.

>30 avatiakh: Thanks, Kerry!
Paksenarrion is a fantasy great. So many things we've seen before, perfectly deployed, and with heart.

3) The Long Game



A fun read, with "cute" amphibious cephalopod aliens unknowingly exploited by a human company and dealing with the PR-mandated liaison, one of whom is outraged after being told he will die. Seeking, like the most ancient of heroes, for "immortality," it goes to human space to meet the elder of its species.

There are so many echoes from other SF here, but Leckie endows this telling with particular charm, achieving more wry humor than conviction

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book by an author called Ann, or with Ann in the title

(Pat's self on back! I wrote 918 words for my fix-fic >2 quondame:)

Happy New Year, Susan. Happy New Thread. I hope you have a safe & healthy 2025.

Hope 2025 brings you many enjoyable reads!

Happy New Year Susan!

>33 msf59: Thank you, Mark! I hope so too!

>34 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

>35 SandDune: Thank you, Rhian!

Happy New Year! My library got a copy of The Weaver of the Middle Desert, and I got to read it this weekend finally. I hope you'll share your fic when it's ready.

4) Darkness Visible



This is a short, sometimes intense, account of the months leading up to William Styron's hospitalization for acute depression. When his body no longer tolerated alcohol, rather suddenly, and he was already taking risky medications to be able to sleep, Styron fell into a nearly fatal depression. The book outlines the lead-up and goes into the final crisis in which a bit of music made him aware that he wanted to continue and got himself hospitalized. In the hospital, the most dangerous medication was discontinued, and freedom from anxiety-producing expectations gave him space to heal. Which he seems to have done.This is not a generally helpful map out of depression; it is more a list of warning beacons to identify what is happening and reassurance that it can be bridged.

BB from @avatiakh

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #13: Life is short: read a short book (<150pgs) or short story collection

>37 justchris: Thank you, Chis.

The Weaver of the Middle Desert is fun. Arzu's viewpoint on her overtly more adventurous sisters is a delight. I would have loved a version that showed a bit of development on her part, though.

I will of course share fic - my earlier ones are on AO3 and my userid there is also quondame. They are all pretty tame, with a spicy verse or two.

BUT! the one I'm working on now is a fix for Cross Your Heart, which is a major whump fic that entirely earns it's "DEAD DOVE, do not eat!" tag.

>38 quondame: I thought that was well worth reading and just the right length to immerse yourself in someone else's despair. You might look at adding it to TIOLI challenge #13 as it is a shared read there.
The Long Game looks fun.

Hi, Susan. You seem to be well underway, reading-wise. I'm started, but I haven't yet got a focus on it. Two books under my belt, but undecided what will be next. Ha. If it doesn't come to me, I'll go after it. Have an enjoyable week.

>40 avatiakh: Good point about the length. I have read longer ones, and it isn't fun, although those usually have more meat in the healing sections.

Challenge #13 it is!

>41 weird_O: Two is good, though I am rarely faced with wonder what to pick up next. Putting down is usually the issue. Good to see you drop by, Bill!

Congratulations on reading four books thus far this year!!

I've kind of given up on Lackey at this point. But I will seek out that Leckie, of which I was unaware!

>43 Whisper1: That's what we're here for, Linda! ;)

>44 ronincats: Lackey is increasingly producing listless renditions of less common fairy tales. I probably should have given up long and long ago, but, well, not quite yet. Very few books rated above 3 lately and many below.

Susan, how are things for you? Are you still in Westside Village? That's the last address I had for you when you did Christmas Swap in 2021. Hope all is well

>23 quondame: Love the meme answers -- especially your best advice!

>46 mahsdad: We are safe, our air quality sucks, our solar+batteries has spared us the local power outages.

>47 foggidawn: It was fun.

>48 quondame: Good to hear that you are safe. Our air sucks down here, I can only imagine what it is by you.

Hi Susan. I'm so glad you're safe. Thank goodness for solar+batteries. Hugs to you, your family, and your fur kids.

>49 mahsdad: Unfortunately I'm not imagining it. Keeping a leash on Nutmeg for her outies is the main exposure.
French Bulldogs have sever respiratory limitations.

>50 karenmarie: It is really grim out there. We are so shocked by how far and fast the fires are spreading.

5) The History of the World Begins in Ice



The stories in this volume are very much of the cozy sort—hurt comfort in some cases, but strongly weighted to finding a good place to be, helping others in finding a more stable place in a relationship, a place to be secure, a group of friends or family. And Cat and Vai are just a tad too sweet for my taste. Rory is a delight, but I'd appreciate a look at him in a more knowing, deliberate mode.

I pre-ordered this special illustrated, signed HB in support of the author, an unusual move for me. I think I'll stick with pure Patreon support henceforth. Rather than book with slipcover, the printing is directly on the smooth cover.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #13: Life is short: read a short book (<150pgs) or short story collection

Glad to hear that you are safe.

Hi Susan my dear, i have starred you again dear friend.

>53 foggidawn: Thanks, Foggi!

>54 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. I'm glad you could drop by.

6) Yield Under Great Persuasion



This M/M fantasy romance is a blast! The snarky, bristly Tam can't stop jumping Lyford's bone(s), but he harbors such a lot of anger and resentment that he can't have any other interactions with him. A dishonest excuse lands Tam in Lyford's company at a local festival, and the whole town seems bent on resolving things between them. Even the gods.
The fantasy elements are strong enough to cover "great persuasion," but the treasure is Tam and his very real relationship-quenching behaviors. Lonely and feeling he deserves to be so, his sharp tongue and chancy temper might well have kept him so if it weren't for divine intervention.
Lyford is pretty standard romantic partner material, the real fantasy element. Mostly, inevitably it's two Tams that tangle rather than a Tam getting a Lyford.
There could have been more sex, but there's enough to put off those who don't want even light descriptions. Acts are mentioned more than described.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book which has a connection to a New Year's resolution or to something someone might want to give up

The fire and I:

I am the red star, middle right. the three colors are:
orange - fire
red - mandatory evacuation
mustard - evacuation warning

My brother has offered us floor space at his spare "office house" in San Pedro. There is a yard for the dogs and we have camping cots, not to meantion other semi-packed equipment we could load and take.

We very much hope it will not come to that.

I don't seem to have much concentration in my reading just now - I've started 3 new works without finishing any, though I've made progress on some.

>57 quondame: I cannot imagine the stress of being so close to this monstrous fire...I'm sure we're all sending positive energy your way and hoping it does not come any closer to you.

I am thinking of you and your family. >58 laytonwoman3rd: and Lynda is correct in saying we all will be sending positive energy your way. Please keep us posted if you can.

>58 laytonwoman3rd: >59 Whisper1: Thank you Linda & Linda! At my last check one of the closer evacuation warnings had been lifted, so that's good.

That is so scary, Susan! Keeping you and yours on my thoughts and prayers and hoping you do not have to evacuate.

>38 quondame: I had forgotten about that book; it's one I'd like to read.

>57 quondame: Yikes. I hope you remain safe and do not have to evacuate. Fingers crossed for you and your family.

Hi Susan my dear, i cannot believe how close you are to the fire zone and hope that you are able to stay where you are. We are both thinking of you and yours at this horrific time.

>57 quondame: I hope that the fire does not come any closer Susan. Thinking of you.

>57 quondame: That looks nasty close, Susan. Keeping fingers crossed for you.

>57 quondame: Stay safe. I have family near there too. I hope they can get the fires contained soon.

>61 Crazymamie: >62 EBT1002: >63 johnsimpson: >64 SandDune: >65 EllaTim: >66 Narilka:
Thank you all for your concern!
There has been no announced change for the worse since >57 quondame: - well one of the closer areas went to mandatory evacuation but has returned to warning, which undoubtedly caused anguish for those who had to leave even if their homes turned out not to be in immanent danger.

The winds are expected to resume in a day or two, so we'll see what happens. There aren't any of the sort of terrain in which the fire has spread between where I live and the current limits of the blaze.

>66 Narilka: I hope your family remains safe and well, Gale!

Susan--so sorry you are going through this! Stay safe and sending best wishes to you and everyone in CA. Hugs!

I’m just reading this now , Susan . I had not realized that you and yours are so close to the fire. Take care, and I’ll be thinking of you. I’m glad your brother has a place for you, should have to evacuate.

Hello Susan.

>57 quondame: Gads. You are close enough to be worrisome. I’m glad you have somewhere you can go in a pinch and can understand your not having much concentration right now.

I hope you stay well out of the evacuation area although the air quality must be horrific.

Thinking of you and your family and hoping they get this fire under control sooner than later, although I see it's only 14% contained.

>68 Berly: >69 vancouverdeb: >70 karenmarie: Thanks Kim, Deborah, and Karen.

The good news is that the warning areas closest to me have been somewhat reduced, and the percent contained has increased slightly for the Palisades fire.
Tonight's winds are the major source of insecurity.

7) In Our Own Image



These are interesting notes on the similarities between difficult gods—Loki, Coyote, etc.—and difficult humans. I'm not entirely comfortable with comparing difficult creative individuals with some of those gods—Loki and Prometheus were rather uncomfortably accommodated.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #13: Life is short: read a short book (<150pgs) or short story collection

8) The Lights of Ystrac's Wood



Two very different people follow the path through the woods, one fulfilling her duty as a guide and the other to prove his claim that he is favored of Talesyn, god of creativity, and satisfy his ambition to be favored. For each, the path leads the way to deeper understanding of the gods to which they are dedicated.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #13: Life is short: read a short book (<150pgs) or short story collection

9) The Dead Cat Tali Assassins



A smart-mouthed rule pusher of an unalive assassin gets a very unusual commission. Unusual enough to bring trouble to her, the guild for which she works and the goddess who holds her bond. But even in the festival, the city through which she moves does not come alive; the Dead Cat Tail designation is just annoyingly odd, and, well, I don't want to have rooted for the character she is in the final scene of this book.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book you acquired in December 2024 without paying for it

10) The Doors of Eden



We spend too long with this cast of characters. The most compelling of them are the Cousins and we don't get their vp at all. If the entire universe is to be the stakes, at least the reader should care something for the people we watch trying to save it. This is more of an ideas playground than a real story.

>57 quondame: it is quite scary! Sending positive thoughts your way.

So scary to follow what's going on in LA and to know you are so close to the fire. Hoping and praying this nightmare will soon come to an end and that you and your family will stay safe.

Susan, Please know that many here in our lovely group are thinking of you and wishing the best for you and your family. Please keep us posted when you can.

>74 figsfromthistle: >75 SqueakyChu: >76 Whisper1: Anita, Madeline, Linda, thanks! The Palisades fire is a bit more contained and the closest warning areas to us have drawn back, so perhaps while the danger isn't gone it's significantly less.

I have spent some anxious periods, but mostly I'm running on as usual. Whether I am realistic or in denial, well, we'll see.

11) Ultra-Processed People .25



If you are looking for a true horror story, this is it.
This is a look at the catering to appetites that will destroy our ecosystem and compromise our health due to basic capitalistic forces.
Tasty processed food is cheap to make and sells well. It costs the environment enormously, but the stockholders aren't liable for those costs this quarter, so they discount them.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge ##1: Read a book which has a least one set of double letters in both the title and the author's name

I cannot add anything to what everyone else has expressed other than to say 'stay safe.' We are all thinking of you right now.

>79 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia!

The closest fire is looking a bit more contained than yesterday, and there are no extended warning areas.
So that is about as good as we could hope for.

Further away, much, there is a new fire though.

>80 quondame: Well, that is guardedly good news. I wish rain would come....

>81 EBT1002: I do too, Ellen. But mudslides. This is usually our most rainy season, so it isn't unlikely the poor fire victims and their neighbors will get the worst of both weathers.

I'm glad the closet fire is more contained, Susan. That's good news. I confess I have been avoiding watching much news. I just don't want to read or hear about Trump.

12) Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands



Emily's research has turned up clues to a door Wendell can use to reclaim his fairy kingdom, but his usurping stepmother is on the offensive, and he may not live to find it. There are a number of abbreviated battles both in Cambridge and in the Alps, and wandering through hills and Fairie, but I just couldn't get more than superficially interested in Emily and Wendell.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book listed on a best-of, must-read, or notable list for 2024

Hi Susan, I'm stopping by to see how you are. I'm glad the fire near you is contained. I canonly imagine just how scary this situation is.

>84 quondame: Oh, dear! I read the first in that series last year and quite liked it.

>86 Crazymamie: I did too. It's a fun read, just now we know who Wendell is, it's a very different sort of story.

The fire situation update:

There is one less fire shown on the maps, the Palisades fire is significantly more contained and the evacuation warnings have pulled in, and a couple of the areas closest to me have gone from mandatory to warning.
The expected winds never seemed to hit over the last 4 days, but 31% contained after all these days isn't good. The area so big and so hilly are no doubt the issues.

Heavens, Susan. I had no idea you were so close to the fires. Now I hope even more than before that they get them under control and that the winds stay abated.

I can't catch up here, but I'm glad to see you're reading and posting.

>88 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy. Aside from the bad air and a day or so of anxiety, it hasn't been bad for me.

Tomorrow I hope to go to a pet adoption event and meet a little black Chiweenie that was posted by PetFinders. She looks tiny and is described as "quiet and easy" which is what I'm looking for.

Good luck with the doggie! I hope you like each other.

>90 laytonwoman3rd: Aspen has joined our family!


She is quiet and easy as described, and has decided opinions on where she wants to be. She is not charmed by Nutmeg. Nutmeg is unhappy about the usurpation of her bed. Gizmo is happy to share, Aspen not at all.

The Palisades fire is listed as 49% contained, all of the evacuation warning areas have been lifted and the mandatory evacuation areas that weren't within the fire borders have gone to warning status. One person in my Hitty group was able to move back, but another lost her house.

Aw! Congratulations to both you and Aspen. As Austen said, "Know your own happiness". Sounds like Aspen does. Good girl, Aspen. Hoping that in time Aspen and Nutmeg can be friends. Our Biscotti never warmed up to our Bella - she was most annoyed by her, and the funny thing was that Bella adored Biscotti. They gave us many laughs over the years. Biscotti would go into the kennel and pull the door shut behind her, and Bella would just sit outside of the kennel and look at Biscotti with pure adoration.

It's nice to meet you Aspen :) Looks like you'll fit in well.

What a lovely dog is Aspen! She's a lucky one too. We both wish that we could have a dog, but it can't happen with 7 cats.
Anyway, I hope that she and Nutmeg eventually work out a relationship.

Good to hear that you are not in danger!

>91 quondame: Oh, lovely! Congratulations to all of you.

>92 Crazymamie: >93 Narilka: >94 LizzieD: >95 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Mamie, Gale, Peggy, & Linda! Aspen has taken to following me around and telling me to sit in the recliner, she needs a lap for heaven's sake! Sometimes I do.
I hope to take her to the groomers tomorrow.

Fire report: The only evacuations now seem to be in the actual burn area, and the containment is set at 56%.

I'll get reviews up for my latest reads, but I'm a bit dogged-down just now.

>91 quondame: What a cutie!! Quiet and easy is ideal for a companion. Glad to hear the fire containment continues to rise.

Congratulations on welcoming Aspen to your family!

>97 curioussquared: >98 foggidawn: Thank you, Natalie and Foggi.

Aspen is acclimatizing rapidly and after 3 days of clinging to me has gone out on her own to lie in the sun for a couple of hours.

13) Quarter Share



A sweet young man in near desperate straights finds a berth on a merchant ship - and there is no meany! A friend of his is somewhat injured, and the circumstances that required him to ship out are bad, but there isn't any struggle, to be found. A cute easy read, especially if you like C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter books or Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's Trader books and are happy to only get the calm parts.

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book that is the first or last in a series, or contains those words in the title

14) The Teller of Small Fortunes



A young woman traveling alone with her house-wagon and mule through the kingdom in which she is racially an outsider is being careful to limit her use of her fortune-telling abilities. By the time the reader learns why, she has acquired a few companions and a cat, and it's clear she is being pursued. There is a bit more tension in the telling than in most comfy reads, but not nearly enough to put it out of the class.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book with the name of something you'd drink from in the title or author's name

15) Sixpence House



This is a love story with a bittersweet ending. Paul Collins wants to move his young family to Hay-on-Wye, the "Town of Books," to live in an old house and raise his son in the country. Interspersed in the money pit accounts are mini-romances with old books, and not at all the classics, but the real losers and near misses of the publishing world, the entirely forgotten popular books and authors without the resources to tell a story that could have been a contender.
One of the lost popular books, which Collins says isn't what people want to read anymore, a book of gentle, sermon-like memoirs, sounds very much like this very book.

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #12: The "Penny for Your Thoughts" Challenge: Read a book that has the name of a coin, either obsolete or in current use, in the title

16) The Monsters We Defy



This fantasy is deeply embedded in the Washington D.C. of the 1920s and features businesses and people of the Black community then and there. Clara Johnson is based on Carrie Johnson, a young Black woman with an unusual past. The threat, as if the Black community needed more than what weighed on them in their mundane lives, is almost entirely supernatural but integral to the community, and the characters are involving.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book F/NF about a forgotten or often overlooked woman in history

17) Green Is a Chile Pepper



A spiced up book of basic colors.

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book that has either salt or pepper in the title

Oh wow! Congratulations on Aspen. What a gorgeous girl! I hope she and Nutmeg with eventually get along.

>101 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah. They are getting used to each other, but not being worshiped really isn't in Nutmeg's experience.

18) Beauty



Time travel and fairy tales, Beauty starts off well embedded in a 14th-century Sleeping Beauty and after lingering there jumps to a barren late 21st and violent 20th. Returning to a plague-struck 14th for a dark Cinderella and exploring imaginary realms and/including Faerie and saving Tam Lin. Well, further episodes include costly revenge, finding lost love, that idiot Snow White, a spell in Hell—one of the most memorable parts of the novel, the epic end of Faerie, and a loquacious Frog Prince. A whiff of hope for the return of Beauty is the conclusion, after religions of greed are thoroughly excoriated in Tepper fashion.

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book you acquired in January of 2025

I've been known to say I don't have any triggers requiring warnings. Which is sort of true, but I just started The Chronology of Water and the author is dealing with the stillbirth of her daughter. I think I would have appreciated a warning.

19) The Chronology of Water



A life up to now (2010) memoir from a writer who wants to go without the current acceptable parameters of the addict/abuse survivor. She does tell the story in her own language and structures it with mixed episodes from her young adult life and childhood from the central tragedy of a stillborn daughter.
Yuknavitch does not recover from addictions so much as move past them once she has a path and partner, but she had already gotten her Ph.D. and been published. She does relate various crash & burn sequences but seems to dust off the ashes and reinflate, moving on rather than the more "fashionable" slow rise to sobriety and productivity—she was pretty productive without the sobriety.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book by a new-to-you author NOT recommended by anyone, that you've stumbled across (and explain why...)

Hi Susan -

I'm coming by to say hello and drop a star. Congratulations on adding Aspen to the family!

>106 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks, Dejah! We're learning who Aspen is a bit more every day as she's expressing more and more personality. She's the first dog we have that will run after a squirrel without barking. Not that she'll catch one - her brain seems wired for legs 1.5" shorter and she's always tripping herself.

20) Half Share



Cotton candy as Ishmael Horatio Wang shows more people skills, and his stud muffin side, at 18 than belongs in one novel - or a whole series.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book you acquired in December 2024 without paying for it

21) Full Share



Ishmael has to make adjustments when his position in environmental is given to a rated employee and he declines to bump anyone below him off the ship. He does well in a temporary role, though decisions about his future still must be addressed.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book in which a title word begins or ends with an L or a T

I've read these two books and while they aren't the greatest SF, I find them very pleasant, easy reading. Sometimes I just want a story in which someone tries hard and things work out well.

>109 Dejah_Thoris: I totally agree.

22) The Charm Offensive



Charlie was pressured to be the prince on Ever After, a reality show that ends in a marriage proposal, and Dev is his handler. Dev handles him so well that it's Dev he has feelings for. Both Charles and Dev have enough issues, and the show sounds so contrived that anything beyond a mutual mental breakdown has to be a happy ending. For me, the strongest impression was how the diverse crew all seemed shackled to a perceived audience expectation. Dev and Charles are well enough drawn to be involving, but the emotional toll of supporting either of them through rough spots was glossed over. But hey, HEA romance.

Meets January TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book you acquired in January of 2025

>111 quondame: I read this one back in 2021, and also gave it 4 stars. HEA romance has its place!

>112 Dejah_Thoris: Given that it was HEA it spent the right amount of time on the OCD/anxiety & depression, with the required "I love you as you are/I love every aspect of you".
Away from HEA, somethings can be lived with, but loving someone for them doesn't default to win-win. Which is different from judging them lacking because of them, but more of a putting up a retaining wall.

Well, my life has followed it's usual boring trajectory, with the slight addition of Aspen, who seems to help me sleep better and cheers me up.

But Mike has gone in for archery politics. He's been very involved with local archery programs, teaching, organizing, work parties, and at one range he's the treasurer for the board of directors. The president of the board is somewhat of a bully but no one has wanted to take over the responsibilities. Mike is not one to be bullied and has pushed back.

On Saturday, a truck almost collided with his car while he was leaving the range and then drove off. It was the president. So, on Sunday at the SCA archery competition he asked for people to join the club to vote for him as president. He doesn't so much want the job as want to get rid of that guy and see if he can make some progress in what he and other club members have been pushing for. I suspect none of this will make him more cheerful.

>111 quondame: September TIOLI challenge? Hmmm......

>114 quondame: Oh cool. Archery is interesting. I would not have though that there is so much to get involved with in that sport. Good for Mike, stepping up to all those responsibilities.

>115 figsfromthistle: Well, that's been going on all month! Thanks for catching it.

Mike is super responsible. He's not super good natured, and being almost run down was his limit for putting up with bad behavior.

23) The Partition Project



When her grandmother comes from Pakistan to live with her family Maha resents the change but becomes attached to her while recording her experiences during the Partition for a school assignment. And she loves her grandmother's cooking.

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book about a city you’ve never been to

24) Rags: Hero Dog of WWI



Dogs really are man's best friends. I hope Rags did live as well as the epilogue says.

Read for January TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book for the Rags to Riches rolling challenge

HI Susan.

Awww, Aspen is so cute. I’m glad to read that she follows you around.

Glad the fire is not a threat any more, although I’m so sorry for the friend that lost her house.

Gads. Archery politics and the bullying president. I hope Mike can get elected and get things going the way that folks seem to want them to go.

Congrats on reading 24 books so far this month. Or, reading more and just reporting on 24. *smile*

>118 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen.

I've been sick, fever and respiratory yuck for a couple or more days. I'm sure I'll have something to say when I'm better.

I did read The Missing File and didn't like any of the solutions.

Hope you are well on the road to recovery, Susan.

Hi Susan. I hope you are feeling better.

Hi Susan - lovely that Aspen has a home and settling in well.

Hope you are feeling better. I quite liked Mishani's books, I've read all the ones that have been translated.

I hope you are feeling better Susan. You've read quite a few books alredy this year. Perhaps you can stay in PJS, read and rest tomorrow.

All good wishes!

>100 quondame: You got me with #13.

>114 quondame: Ugh. That sounds like a load of no fun.

>119 quondame: I hope you are recovering.

I am alive and over the viruses. I'm feeling flayed (a sandblasted M&M) and only like reading comfy old favorites, so it's been a Victoria Goddard marathon so far this month.

>125 quondame:

I'm glad to hear that you're over the viral crud, Susan - I hope Aspen was a comfort!

I stumbled across Victoria Goddard last year and read The Hands of the Emperor - I loved it! Since then, I've read The Tower at the Edge of the World, Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander, The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, and Petty Treasons. It's so nice to find a new to me author with so many works already published!

I'm looking forward to At the Feet of the Sun, but I'm almost tempted to reread The Hands of the Emperor first.

I hope your weekend has been a lovely one!

>120 PaulCranswick: I am, thanks! At least enough to get online for a few hours.

>121 Whisper1: >123 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! Ah, yes, for some value of PJs. Mostly a thigh length T layered with knit linen top and pants when I get out of bed.

>124 ArlieS: Nathan Lowell's Share books have been quite popular here.

>126 Dejah_Thoris: Aspen has become quite the charmer. She speaks an entirely different dialog of "dog" than Nutmeg and Gizmo, so there have been various interesting translation failures, but the tri-a-log is slowly expanding.
The Hands of the Emperor rewards multiple reads, especially after The Return of Fitzroy Angursell and, in addition to the others The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul. You're sure to enjoy whichever ones you choose.

25) The Missing File



Is this a mystery or a missing person story? Is the strangely disturbed neighbor a murderer? Why doesn't the state of Israel generate mystery novels? The detective lead on the case, Avraham Avraham, is going through obscure difficulties during the course of this case, which ends almost as obscurely as it begins, with one significant possibility not surfacing at all.

26) The Orb of Cairado



On the one hand, I enjoyed reading this and was satisfied with the characters and action.
On the other hand, it is now a week since I read it, and without looking at a summary, I couldn't even remember which universe it was set in.
Granted, I had a fever a couple of days during that week—and probably while I read it.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book where the title contains a place name

27) The Hands of the Emperor



8th entire read. (many partials)
What a pleasurable read! The style and substance aren't a bit showy but the interest and involvement in Cliopher Mdang and his Islander background and his position as foremost civil servant of the realm never wanes. A fantasy without strange lifeforms or huge upheavals - though there has been the past upheaval with which to deal. Gods and mages and the existence, though not visited, of other worlds are the realities of the background. I am in awe of the way in which this almost entirely individual centered book, dealing with the revelation of achievement and character rather than the achieving or the development of character, kept me involved more than any novel in years.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a title word that starts with the same letter as your first or last name

28) The Return of Fitzroy Angursell



We know the Emperor went on a quest to find his Heir, and now we go with him - only he takes on a past persona, but with each of his old companions that old role seems to fit less comfortably. A fast moving series of interesting if fairly mild adventures across parts of 2.5 worlds in a sort of stranger comes to town and someone benefits serial sort of way.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book with 25 or more characters in the title/subtitle

29) The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul



Pali Avramapul famed outlaw swordswoman adventurer is indeed well defended by her skills and wits, but perhaps at a disadvantage when gates are a better way to a goal than ramparts. Many scenes from the first book of the subseries - and even from The Hands of the Emperor are repeated from Pali's view point so it's not until 60% through that the timeline advances for the reader. As pleasant to read as the other books set in this world.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a sequel, or the second book in a series

30) At the Feet of the Sun



In The Hands of the Emperor we learned of all the worldly accomplishments Cliopher Mdang achieved by his heroic passion for detail and persistence to make the world better for its ordinary citizens. In At the Feet of the Sun, we watch all his bureaucratic skills achieve mythical heroic feats, including reaching the goals of his innermost self. And he has the best help on his way.

As this is much closer to a standard quest story than the first book, I was not as gobsmacked by it. It is still pretty amazing as a series of adventures and inner, literally, explorations, but I doubt anything will be as outrageously ambitious as making a string of bureaucratic reconstitutions as the triumphs of a fantasy (though of course any such must be a fantasy). I mean, out thinking the gods has been done, tricking them too, but completely reworking and redirecting a world-wide bureaucracy is the real challenge.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book (F or NF) about a quest, expedition, or mission

31) Petty Treasons



The Emperor's story about the recovery of his magic, his reducing the influence of the Ouranatha, and how he got his Hands and potential friend Cliopher sayo Mdang, and why that was more important and more the same thing than Kip ever knew.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a sequel, or the second book in a series

Aspen sounds like a lovely dog, Susan. A tri-a- log! Muffin remains an only dog, but she is loving her twice a week daycare half days ,where she can socialize and run to her hearts content. Poppy was not one to enjoy socializing with other dogs, but Muffin is , to quote the owner of the the doggie day care, " a party girl". Dave takes her to off leash parks nearly every day. The Missing File sounds interesting. I"ll keep it in mind.

Happy mid week! I hope you are feeling better

>130 vancouverdeb: Lovely is a bit of a stretch for a scraggly, barely recovered from mange and pregnancy mutt, but she is very pleasant - except when I have to clean up after her.

>131 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita, I am. And my little dog too!

32) The Game of Courts



We connect with Conju, properly The Cavalier Conju enazo Argellian, at a low point after the Fall when he has ceased his post-Fall dissipations and is trying to find something useful to do with his life. Slowly, the newly awake Emperor catches his imagination, and his efforts take on direction. Once he has found a place with the Emperor, the next upheaval is the new secretary, who, from what he hears, is not at all the sort of person whom Conju would approve. But the Emperor is becoming more present, so Conju must learn more.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a sequel, or the second book in a series

33) Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander



Tovo, Cliopher Mdang's mentor confronts his own disappointments and hopes and undertakes a journey almost halfway around the world to learn what his great nephew Kip has become at the center of power.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with a word of at least four letters found in the word VALENTINE'S DAY

(Oh good, you're still here.)

Happy ... er .... new thread Susan!

And welcome to the LT family Aspen.

>134 humouress: Thank you, Nina!

Aspen does seem happy with her new digs, though those other two dogs are so weird.

34) A Conspiracy of Truths



This is a strange fantasy. A Chant, a storyteller and story collector, sort of a mendicant priest of a non-religious dispersed order, has been arrested for witchcraft and faces death in a country that is ruled by 5 elected Kings/Queens, most of whom are corrupt and none of whom are effective. None of the characters are particularly likable, and the settings are all claustrophobic, mostly unsavory jail cells, and there isn't much action, wonder, or interesting magic—and yet still there is something. Stories, and the involvement with the very human characters, kept me sufficiently interested to stay with this story.

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that has at least 3 animals on the cover (the same or different animals)

Whoa! I had to scramble down the page to find my thread tonight! Four days since I posted!

Aspen finally met some outsiders on Sunday - my brother and his wife came by for dog time, dinner, and a movie. Aspen was barking at them - which is not what we expected. Chis charmed her by hand feeding her supper, but she never reached detente with Eric.
Our dinner at the Balkan restaurant was excellent and I brought home a couple of their single person loafs - pita diameter if pita were real bread, just over an inch thick. So I've been able to have my feta on fresh bread toast with tomatoes with a side of Kalamata olives. It's always a challenge to assemble the bread, (Bulgarian) feta, tomatoes and now I've done so twice with hopes for tomorrow as well.

Today was taxes out in the valley. We've been going to the same accountant longer than our daughter's been alive - we carried her in to our 2nd or 3rd year there. One of the reasons we still go in person is to get lunch at Brent's Deli - they have great pastrami and the carrot cake is to-die-for.
This time I ordered pastrami and beef-barley soup to take back with us as well.

The movie we watched on Sunday was A Complete Unknown, the point of which seemed to be Bob Dylan was a complete asshole. But really everybody seemed to be on such tracks and wanting others to stay there, that everybody came off as quite deserving of each other.

35) Fortress of Dragons



The fourth in the series, The Fortress of Dragons, spends most of its pages in the heads of Tristan and Cefwyn, though it is not without events. The birth of Cefwyn's bastard son, the politics and rallying of the Guelen forces for war, and long marches with unreliable, sometimes downright treasonous companions.

Read for February TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with fire on the cover

36) A Choir of Lies

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that has at least 3 animals on the cover (the same or different animals)

Congratulations on reading 36 books Susan!

>140 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda!

37) I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #2: The Valentine's Day Challenge: Read a book with the word 'my' (as in 'Be My Little Baby') or 'mine' (as in 'Be Mine Tonight') in the title or subtitle

38) Thus Was Adonis Murdered

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book with a biblical name in the author's name or title

Susan, I note you are reading some books with humor in them. If you have NetFlix, I highly recommend a three part series titled Remnant Alien. It is so darn funny, I laughed so hard the other night that the cat awoke.

>144 Whisper1: I always look for humor, though usually folded into drama as leaven, and dry, wry, dark, even black, is a strong preference. Thank you for the recommendation.

Today the great mattress search began. Fancy beds cost like used cars. And they aren't close to those amazing devices I've seen in the hospitals a few years back - though why they get so elaborate with the beds when they are dedicated to keeping the patients awake, I couldn't say.

We decided we did not need to control the bed from our phones, or have a sound bar. Separate head and foot elevations are still being considered and massage isn't off the menu... I was charmed by the flying TV holder, but more for a monitor so I could read fic in bed.

We got lucky at Qusqo, the almost local Peruvian restaurant - the service approaches adequate when the diners are few, which there were until we were close to finishing our main courses, so we had not suffered much in the way of deprivation while our appetizers leisurely appeared, nor was there a huge gap between them and the main course, and the latter were served with only a couple of minutes in between. But a party of 12 crowding in when we had a few bites each left on our plates and most of the tables having already filled while we ate, well, that would be one very busy waitress for an hour or so.

39) Traveller's Joy



Though it starts in aftermath of Jemis' stoning at Marrowlea this is a sweet story of friendship told from Hal's pov as he and Marcan take Jemis on a walking tour along a pilgrim path among late spring flowers.

Read for February TIOLI Challenge #10: I can't fight this feeling anymore! Read a book with an emotion word in the title

(Attach review doesn't work for older reviews)

>145 quondame: Susan it sound like you had a lovely day! Good luck with the mattress search. I had sticker shock when I shopped for a new mattress.

>147 Whisper1: I do understand the shock. Mike went and made the purchase today. Before I left I asked if the frame came with USB ports. It does. He hadn't even thought of USB ports, but hey, doesn't everything that requires electricity come with them now?

40) Winter Lost .25

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #9: Brr! It's cold! Read a book where a word in the title makes you feel cold"

41) Everfair .25

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a historical fiction book published after 1980

Susan, Congratulations for reading 41 books already this year!

>151 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda.

42) The Boy of the Painted Cave

Read for February TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book set before 500 CE

43) The Woods at Midwinter

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that has at least 3 animals on the cover (the same or different animals)

I'm reading Wifedom.
Sure, it meets Feb. TIOLI Challenge #13, the only one I haven't completed a book for yet, but hey, I've had it checked out or on hold for almost exactly a year now.
Have I mentioned that I don't enjoy:
20th century history
Stories of women's erasure and/or lack of agency?
That I haven't any more sympathy for communists than fascists
That George Orwell (Eric Blair, really?!) isn't one of my favorite writers.

So, I'm not having fun with this one.

44) Wifedom

Meets February TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book, fiction or non fiction, about the family of a famous person, name the person

Impressed that you gave 4 stars to a book you...how should I put this?...panned. :-) Didn't like it even before you began, groused that it focused on four topics that incense you, and yet... Four stars! Good for you. Seems very evenhanded on your part. Tip o' the hat.

>157 weird_O: It's an interesting biography with autobiographic notes and the primary subject - Eileen - is very interesting and real.

In his death scene, I found out that I share a preference for Ceylon tea with Orwell. Earl Grey never appealed and I finally decided that I wasn't drinking lapsang souchong for the flavor but for some misguided idea of sophisticated taste. Alas, I'm pretty much stuck with Rooibos because I can't do caffeine after noon.

Wishing you a happy start to March!

>159 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita! I hope we can all get past our Ides unstabbed! And with plenty of good reads!

45) Garden Spells .25

I've had this hanging about on my Kindle since 2019, but why? A bulk purchase? Quite possibly someone on 75BPY gave it a review that caught my eye, but I didn't keep records of that so early in my LT life.

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with GARDEN in the title/subtitle, and/or series name. Embedded ok.

Hi Susan! How fun with a new family member! I'm sure life with a puppy can be quite the whirlwind sometimes.

And good on Mike for taking on the bully president and challenging him for the post. People like that shouldn't have any position of power.

>162 PawsforThought: Aspen is more of a breeze than a whirlwind, thank goodness. She's very settled in some ways, will lie for hours on my lap, and generally stays if she's put somewhere she finds comfortable. But she does like running around the yard, and totally won't buy in to the Nutmeg-Gizmo view of the world. For very different reasons and in very different ways both the 'senior' dogs can't figure out how to make Aspen fall into line.

One of the younger volunteers at the archery range agreed to run for president, and the current one said he wouldn't contest that but would run for treasurer, Mike's current position. Mike is not worried about being re-elected treasurer. So that worked out much better than Mike having to act as president.

The new bed came today and at this time is still "unpacking" from the compression from the shipping packaging. That will take a couple more hours. Alas, this model does not appear to have USB ports. The two sections together are 4" wider than our Cal. King, and 6" shorter, much better suited to 2 short wide people. We'll see how the dogs navigate the ups and downs and separate sections - I can imagine a disaster if one got squished when the foot or head lowered, though that seems improbable. I'll have to check to see if is even possible.

I've been washing the comforters I use - more than make any sense really, one a day so there is plenty of time in the dryer for each, and some of the pillows as well. But I missed a couple that were tucked in the headboard shelf.

In any case, Mike cleared all the bedding and bedding adjacent items out of the room so that the exchange of old for new beds would be as easy as possible. This is good and was necessary. But he doesn't organized things by task, and so brought everything - and everything could probably cover 6 large beds with head, foot, and shoulder props - and it is all piled on the new mattresses for me to deal with.

I'm pretty sure my back would give out about 1/3 of the way - if that - to doing the optimal thing with all that, so I'm going to try to shove 60-80% into corners while I muster the resolve to throw some of it out.

>161 quondame: Susan, I've read almost all of Anne Tyler's books. There were a few that were slow go, but the early books are very good.

Good luck with your new bed. I always like getting rid of old things and bringing in new. Will, my partner of 20 plus years, did six years ago. After he died, I had to claim the house as mine. that meant getting rid of a lot of his furniture, here when I moved in, and replacing everything with new. Looking back, it was my way of grieving.

I certainly can relate to your comment about Mike's lack of ability to stay on track, and how you are let to pick up the pieces.

>164 Whisper1: The new bed will take a bit of getting used to - it's much lower and although the mattress is supposed to be "cool", I think the Purple we had was about as cool as you would want a mattress to be. It was nice to run the massage on my shoulders before getting out of bed though.

46) MateHub: Legend

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where one of the author's names starts with one of LMNOP

47) Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted fills the published in the 1990s square on Reddit Fantasy Book Bingo - and since the author has published in the last 5 years, does so in Hard Mode.

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where one of the author's names starts with one of LMNOP

48) Love in the Big City

Read for March TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book translated from Korean, or a non-fiction book about Korea

Hi Susan!

>166 quondame: I’m glad you liked MateHub: Legend. I also liked your better way of saying what I always try go to say – contracted consensual sex leading to real connection. Rent boys, escorts, porn stars. Shifter porn stars…

I hope the saga of the new bed has settled down and that there are no squished dogs.

>169 karenmarie: Little Aspen did get trapped between the two sections, but was quickly rescued with no squishing.

I think there should be a better solution to the control issue that a 6"x2" remote - where to put it when the head and feet are elevated and movement is rather restricted. If it were smaller it would be unfindable, but it is awkward in any case, and what about the batteries going dead or it dropping into the soup! I'd at least like a button off the edge of the mattress that was a return to flat, if not a full set of controls there. I wonder if I can velcro a magnet to the mattress and glue one to the control...

>170 quondame: Or contrive some sort of pocket on the side where the control could live?

>170 quondame: We've attached a sort of decorative tray above the middle of our bed, which is where our TV remotes and (essential for me) tissue box go. Mind you, our bed doesn't move so I don't know if that would work for you. I was pleased with the solution because I really like the tray thingy but I couldn't think of a practical use for it until then - 2 birds, 1 stone.

ETA: we've used brackets to screw it into the wall.

>171 foggidawn: The pocket would have to be over the sheet - only fitted on my side, but Mike uses a flat sheet as well. If the pocket were soft it could be a struggle to slip the control in, and if it were stiff I'd be concerned about hitting it with my legs. Maybe something like a pot holder which could maintain a shape but squish under pressure.

I think I'll test to see if magnets stick to the metal base frame and then continue with my plan.

>172 humouress: The raising of the head sections pretty much blows any fixed flat surfaces - our headboard is basically a 2 level shelf, but once the head is raised it's very hard to reach. Mike can do it, I really can't.

>173 quondame: Yup; you're just going to have to suspend it from the ceiling (and not hit it with your heads).

49) The Bunyip

The Bunyip fills the Entitled Animals square on Reddit Fantasy Book Bingo - and since the a Bunyip is not an ordinary beast, does so in Hard Mode.

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where one of the author's names starts with one of LMNOP

Hi! Just catching up here. : ) Everybody is doing this new thing posting thier reviews (>175 quondame:). I'm gonna have to figure it out! : )

>176 Berly: As I didn't see it explained elsewhere I commented on your thread.

Today was Aspen's first vet visit. She's a dog. Healthy and scheduled for a series of vaccines. Weirdly, some of the paperwork that came with her isn't hers. Which clocks with the woman who was doing the adoptions that day being very disorganized and seeming out of it. But her ID chip did get registered to me, so that's good.

I just made the appointment yesterday, just after I requested a dental appointment at a new office for myself. So I am feeling rather virtuous. I tried to make one for Becky as well, but she wasn't quite ready. Our previous dentist sold out to a practice that must spend a fortune in rent to have such a great view of Santa Monica from Wilshire Blvd. And I didn't think much of the chief dentist and his touchy manner.

50) The Gate that Locks the Tree



Of cats and cabs and why weather forecasts are a good idea but would get in the way of stories.
If you like your Liaden™️ cute at 11, it's here.

Oh, and the tree has agency!

Read for February TIOLI Challenge #12: Celebrate national festival of trees. Read a book about trees or has tree in the title

Aspen sounds like a lovely dog, Susan. More a breeze than a whirl wind. Muffin is calming down now, but still has the separation anxiety problem . I guess that will take a while. I hope your new mattress works out well for you. It sounds great, It's always hard to find a comfortable mattress, I think.

>179 vancouverdeb: I'm quite enjoying Aspen. Her style isn't as intense as dogs we've had before - or at least so far, since we've had her less than 2 months. We have left her at home with the other dogs for a couple of hours, and that seems OK. But I'm told she has cried a bit if I go out, but maybe not always or any more, since it hasn't been mentioned.

She was trembling for the first half of the ride to the vets, but was fine when we got there and all the way back, seeming interested in the other dogs being checked in or led out.

>177 quondame: Thanks! I'll give it a try tomorrow. And congrats on your new puppy!

>177 quondame: Today was Aspen's first vet visit. She's a dog.

Always good news. We're convinced that my sister's Japanese spitz is a cat and for a while, Japer seemed to think he was a small horse.

Well done for getting the vet visit done and for booking the dentist appointment. I'm due my yearly appointment at both the optician and the dentist but I think they'll contact me about it.

And good that Aspen wasn't scared at the vet - it's tough for all involved when the pet is having a tough time there.

>181 Berly: Good luck!

>182 humouress: We've had a couple of dogs where it really seemed they weren't really into the canine thing. The current 3 are though.

>183 PawsforThought: I'm feeling accomplished. Maybe I'll feel more so when I finish filling out the new patient form. I do wish it were a proper PDF form, if I do a few blanks a day, I'll be able to send it in before the appt.

51) Heavenly Tyrant

I'll use Heavenly Tyrant to fill Prologues and Epilogues square on Reddit Fantasy Book Bingo - and since it has both it satisfies Hard Mode.

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book with a four-letter word embedded in a longer word in the title

>175 quondame: Interesting to see the word Bunyip. When I was a little kid and watching cartoons from a station out of Philadelphia, there was a puppet character called '"Bernie the Bunyip."

I did a google search and found this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertie_the_Bunyip

>186 Whisper1: It seems more is written about the Buyip than is known about its place in the culture from what a perusal of the Wikipedia Bunyip article gives.

52) Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube

The title misrepresents the tone of the book.

Read for March TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a memoir written by and about someone you've never heard of before

53) The Tale of Ginger and Pickles

Read for March TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book with a beverage in the title

You are practically reading a book a day!!! Wow!

>190 Berly: Thanks, Kim!

To me it seems as if I'm spending forever on some titles - Heavenly Tyrant and then I'm reading Each of Us a Desert 1/4 each week for book club and Descartes' Error only goes down in small gulps, so I throw in some shorties to cover some bases.

>191 quondame: Sounds like a good plan to me. : ) Happy reading!

>192 Berly: Well, I have, um, deviated from the plan, if it was one and not just what's happn'.

I bought The Tomb of Dragons and also, just because I had Witness for the Dead, The Grief of Stones, to complete the set.

It's no surprise that I've already started reading The Tomb of Dragons.

>193 quondame: LOL. Flexibility is very important in life. : )

>194 Berly: Yeah! As my body has less, it's important that some aspect of me still flexes.

54) The Tomb of Dragons

Observance of the 7 day boycott of Amazon kept me from buying this for a few days.

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book with a four-letter word embedded in a longer word in the title

>193 quondame: The same thing happened to me! Bought it to complete the set; immediately started reading it. I'm not reading your review just yet, since I'm still in the middle of it, but I'm glad to see that you gave it five stars.

>196 quondame: I didn't realise there was a new one! Off to get my kindle and buy it ASAP.

>197 foggidawn: I try not to spoil in my comments, but what that means is quite individual.

>198 SandDune: It is so good. My favorite fiction so far this year.

55) Each of Us a Desert

This is the March choice for the Discord HotE Support Group Book Club.

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book with 15 letters in the title

Susan, You are reading some great books!!!

>201 Whisper1: Some, not all, alas! Thanks for dropping by Linda!

I am not enjoying A Journey to the Center of the Earth and don't expect to. Two men I don't much like and the magical other who makes their quest possible - and two red shirts.
Also, the essay by Leonard Nimoy says that JV invented SF. Sure, let's see 1864 - 1818 = 46 years later. Mary Shelly got there earlier, if not first. He should have known better!

56) The Ghost Theater

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book that features a character who works in a creative profession

57) Descartes' Error

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book with a four-letter word embedded in a longer word in the title

I am still being bored and exasperated by A Journey to the Center of the Earth, although I was wrong about the red shirts. It would have added a bit a drama to see one fall down an endless shaft, thus giving warning to the others, and the second torn apart by a sea monster, but no, they just go home as previously arraigned before the real trip gets underway. Boy is Harry a whiner of the first class. Boy does Harry have a lot to justify his whining.

The Last of the Wine isn't a flip side to Glorious Exploits, but the early portion is about what's going on in Athens that got the soldiers into the quarry and how loosing two armies and a navy hurt. I mean, we know it hurt, but here are people living with that particular hurt.

58) The Last of the Wine

Read for March TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book with something in the title you could give up for Lent

59) Small Things Like These

Read for March TIOLI Challenge #9: Read an Irish book

60) A Journey to the Center of the Earth

Read for Reddit Fantasy Bingo: Under the Surface square

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a classic by a European author

61) Bookshops & Bonedust

Read for Reddit Fantasy Bingo: Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins - Oh My! square

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book with a four-letter word embedded in a longer word in the title

62) Noor .75

Read for Reddit Fantasy Bingo: Character with a Disabity

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where one of the author's names starts with one of LMNOP

Two of the books I'm reading (see >3 quondame:), Language Visible and The Society for Soulless Girls, cite Tolkien the first in the entries for 'L' and 'M', Mordor you know, and the second in the self-introduction of one of the characters.

63) Language Visible

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with an adjective that can be applied to a geometric solid

64) The Society for Soulless Girls

Read for Reddit Fantasy Bingo: Dark Academia

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where one of the author's names starts with one of LMNOP

I have blacked out the Reddit fantasy bingo card!



I was not able to fill every square

With an author new to me
With a woman author
With an LGBTQ+
With an author who is "a person of color"
which is to say a person disadvantaged because of an ancestor's place of origin.

>214 quondame: Congrats!

>215 Narilka: Thanks, Gale!

65) Miss Amelia's List

Meets March TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where one of the author's names starts with one of LMNOP

I felt a bit like you did reading Small Things Like These, Susan. I read The Magdalen Girls by V.S. Alexander soon afterwards, and I found that had a lot more detail about the consequences. It was a difficult read, but really worth it, I thought.

Well, I am only 2+ months behind on your thread, Susan. *sigh* I need clones desperately!

I hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

>218 vancouverdeb: I'm quite grateful that Small Things Like These was light on detail. The sort of detail that fleshes out stories particularly Irish are repetitively grim.

>219 alcottacre: Thanks for dropping by!

Soon to be at a new location, but same old me, same old stuff.....