Mary's (bell7) Reading in 2025, Page 3

Welcome to my third thread!

If you haven't already been following me, here's my introduction: My name is Mary and I'm a librarian. I read widely and eclectically, some for work (I facilitate a book group) and most for fun. I tend to choose fantasy, historical, and contemporary fiction, while also enjoying some mystery and romance, and a bit of nonfiction besides.

My reading goals for 2025:
-Over half of books read to be by authors born outside of the U.S. (so far I'm doing well with this one)
-Read 12 books by indigenous authors. (I have not read one yet, but still planning on doing this)

Outside of reading, I enjoy watching sports and knitting. I started a project last year of listening through the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list (2023 iteration) and I’ve been going roughly chronologically through it (I’m up to 1969 now). And I have a large family of parents, siblings, and niblings who will be mentioned frequently.

2025 Book Club Reads

One of my work responsibilities is facilitating one of our book discussions. Here's what we're reading in 2025 (we take a break for the summer):

JANUARY - South to America by Imani Perry - COMPLETED
FEBRUARY - The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - COMPLETED
MARCH - Rivermouth by Alejandra Oliva - COMPLETED
APRIL - Devotions by Mary Oliver
MAY - Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
SEPTEMBER - The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede
OCTOBER - The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
NOVEMBER - Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo
DECEMBER - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Favorites of 2024

Fiction
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Foster by Claire Keegan
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
James by Percival Everett
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Postcard by Anne Berest

Nonfiction
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder
Red Paint by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Inciting Joy by Ross Gay

Poetry
Above Ground by Clint Smith

Best of 2025

5 stars

4.5 stars
Rivermouth by Alejandra Oliva
The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Balancing Stone by Victoria Goddard
Power to Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takacs
Terec and the Wild by Victoria Goddard
Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Random things I'm tracking

Articles of interest and book lists:
1. How to Critically Read a Press Release from the Federal Government
2. International Booker Prize Longlist 2025
3. Most Banned Books in the 2023-2024 School Year
4. Ontario librarians discuss book banning
5. More Borrowed Library Books in the US in 2024
6. Translation prizes from the Society of Authors
7. Kirkus Reviews best books of the 21st century

How to make pretty block quotes (directions from Richard):
{blockquote}TYPE OR PASTE QUOTED TEXT HERE{/blockquote} and replace the curly braces with pointy brackets.

Number of books read since keeping count on LT:
July - Dec 2008 - 65
2009 - 156 (plus over 70 graphic novels and manga volumes)
2010 - 135 (Note: in June, I started working a second part-time job for full-time hours)
2011 - 150
2012 - 108 (Note: accepted a full-time job in February)
2013 - 107
2014 - 126 (plus 8 graphic novels)
2015 - 120 (plus 6 graphic novels)
2016 - 141 (I stopped counting graphic novels separately)
2017 - 114
2018 - 105 (Note: my first full year as Assistant Director)
2019 - 116
2020 - 153
2021 - 138
2022 - 131
2023 - 180
2024 - 131
2025 - ???

Global reads in 2025 (author’s country of origin):
Canada - Victoria Goddard, Heather Fawcett, Premee Mohamed
Denmark - Olga Ravn
France - Alexandre Dumas
Hungary - Bogi Takacs
India - Sangu Mandanna
Ireland - Sarah Crossan
Mexico - Isabel Zapata
Taiwan - Yang Shuang-zi
UK - Adrian Tchaikovsky, Elizabeth Macneal, Richard Osman

All time (since 2022):


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Rough guide to my rating system:
I'm fairly generous with my star ratings - generally a four is a "like" or "would recommend" for me, while a 4.5 stars is a book I would reread. I break it down roughly like this:

1 star - Forced myself to finish it
2 stars - Dislike
2.5 stars - I really don't know if I liked it or not
3 stars - Sort of liked it; or didn't, but admired something about it despite not liking it
3.5 stars - The splitting hairs rating of less than my last 4 star book or better than my last 3
4 stars - I liked it and recommend it, but probably won't reread it except under special circumstances (ie., a book club or series reread)
4.5 stars - Excellent, ultimately a satisfying read, a title I would consider rereading
5 stars - A book that I absolutely loved, would absolutely reread, and just all-around floored me

I see it more in terms of my like or dislike of a book, rather than how good a book is. My hope is that as a reader I convey what I like or what I don't in such a way that you can still tell if you'll like a book, even if I don't. And I hope for my patrons that I can give them good recommendations for books they will like, even if it's not one I would personally choose.

Currently reading
The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

Bible/Devotional Reading
Genesis, Job, Matthew

DNFs in 2025
1. A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

April
32. Murder by memory by Olivia Waite
31. Water, water by Billy Collins
30. Where the Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan
29. In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf
28. In the Realms of Gold: Five Tales of Ysthar by Victoria Goddard

March
27. In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata
26. Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi
25. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
24. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard
23. Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
22. South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray
21. A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
20. Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration by Alejandra Oliva
19. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
18. The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
17. The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
16. A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

February
15. Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal
14. The Employees by Olga Ravn
13. The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
12. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
11. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
9. Balancing Stone by Victoria Goddard
8. Power to Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takacs

January
7. The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
6. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
5. The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb
4. South to America by Imani Perry
3. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
2. Terec and the Wall by Victoria Goddard
1. Serving Herself: the Life and Times of Althea Gibson by Ashley Brown

*sweeps up thread construction dust*

Happy Tuesday! As I start my third thread of the year and the weather is very warm this week, my question for you is: what's your favorite season and why? No wrong answers, though I might passionately disagree with you. *grins*

My boss is out sick today, so instead of working 9-5, I'm working 12-8 to cover for her. I'm still dog walking this morning, but taking my sweet time about it because I don't have to rush out the door to get to work on time, and the next two days of dog walking I'll be on vacation. (After Thursday, I'm done this job and have a break of a few weeks.) At work, I have to complete at least one desk schedule (hopefully two), finish writing a monthly email to schedule while I'm gone, and have two meetings to attend in my boss's stead. Well... I won't get bored, to say the least. I have the rest of the week off and took Monday & Tuesday next week off, too, for a full week, and I'm looking forward to a little breathing room, some fun plans, and the ability to catch up on some things that I haven't gotten to because life's been so busy.

Reading: The Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed, A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, and South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray

Listening: I'm going to put on "The Band" today...

Watching: nothing last night, we'll see if I'm in the mood for anything

Crafting: I haven't picked up my knitting since Saturday, but if I watching anything over the next few days, I'll continue working on the foot for the pair of socks I'm making for myself

New-thread orisons, Mary!

>11 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! And an extra *smooch* for being first

Edited to correct numbering

Just caught up on your last thread. I think you're going to love Welcome to Wrexham

Happy new thread, Mary!

We are big fans of 'Welcome to Wrexham' - note to self: check when new season is dropping...

My favorite season is autumn, specifically mid-October to mid-November :) When TW and I got engaged (in August), I was very set on having a fall wedding, so we waited for over a year. I had forgotten that "fall" in Dallas lasts for approximately 2 days :-P It was 75 degrees on our wedding day, and I was mad.

>10 bell7: There's still ice on the Connecticut River in Northampton, MA. I know that because I saw a photo a granddaughter sent her mom. I had a brief chat with said granddaughter, Gracie. She was having a video call with her mom when I arrived for a homemade pizza supper. Stellar evening it was.

Happy new thread!

>14 katiekrug: My mother went on a pilgrimage to the city of Wrexham in the fall, eyeroll eyeroll eyeroll, where she met a bunch of people from the show and was told by someone she met on the local bus??? who worked behind the scenes on the show that the new season is going to start in April, because they want less of a lag between the football season and the TV season.

>17 norabelle414: - A pilgrimage, eh? Heh.

Yeah, the internet told me April but no specific date yet. I am happy to wait - my To Watch list is so long...

Happy new thread! My favorite season is fall, though spring is going to feel really good (we're getting warm weather here this week, and it's so nice). When I was a kid, I might have said winter was my favorite season -- and I do still love it, but I'm not a fan of having to drive in it. And it does drag on a bit.

Hi Mary, from your last thread we do have the same edition of Albert Murray: Collected Essays & Memoirs, as South to a Very Old Place in my book starts at page 197. Even though I put my mother to bed just after 6 pm I should have mentioned that I was quite tired, after a very full day including an intense physical therapy and exercise session. I only got to page 207, but I'm fully rested now, and I'm sure that I can read the first (New Haven) and second (Greensboro) chapters today. It seems as though you have a very busy day, so I can wait to read Chapter Two until tomorrow.

Happy new thread, Mary! I actually like the transitions from one season to another more than any one particular season. Right now’s great because I’m tired of winter and we’re starting to get spring days!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Mary! Fall might be my favorite season, although I'm partial to a perfect Summer day :)

Happy new thread, Mary.

I am partial to all the seasons right now on the basis that we don't have any in Malaysia!

I agree with Natalie in that autumn is my absolute favourite season followed by spring and those are the two main transitional seasons in the yearly cycle (cold to warm and back to cold).

>13 norabelle414: Oh I'm glad to hear you say that, Nora. I was trying to remember if it was among the TV shows you've watched. The first episode definitely caught my interest, so I'll enjoy delving into it more.

>14 katiekrug: I'm just getting started, but maybe by the next Giants game meet up we can catch up on all the ins and outs. I love your very specific fall season haha. I love about 75 degree weather, but it's also not really fall weather, is it?

>15 weird_O: Somehow that doesn't surprise me that Gracie is still seeing ice in her neck of the woods. It was about 60 degrees today and there's still melting ice along the street where I'm dog walking. I'm glad you were able to catch up with both daughter and granddaughter.

>16 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

>17 norabelle414: and >18 katiekrug: Hm, perhaps now is not the time to mention that I looked up where Wrexham was and thought about it. Briefly. Actually, what I more seriously thought about was, I wish I knew what city the Welsh guy my dad, sister A. and I met in London while queuing for Wimbledon who knew about American hockey, because if it was Wrexham that would be amazing. Anyway, I'll have plenty of watching to do to catch up during/after April.

>19 foggidawn: Thanks, foggi! When I was a kid, winter was the season I got really bad eczema, so it's never quite been my favorite (though I do love Christmas). Glad you're getting some of this gorgeous weather too!

>20 kidzdoc: Darryl, I meant to answer you earlier, but I saw your post just before I went into work and totally forgot. I could go either way, and it sounds like we're at a similar reading pace. I started reading chapter 2 (Greensboro) this morning and can finish it tonight or wait. I'm off starting tomorrow, so if you read it and I don't finish it, I won't have a problem catching up to you.

>21 drneutron: I get that completely, Jim!

>22 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>23 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie! When I was a kid I loved summer vacation and swimming when it got really hot, but now when it's 80 I'm ready to turn the AC on (thanks, perimenopause!).

>24 PaulCranswick: That makes sense, Paul. One of the reasons I love where I live is that I would miss the distinct seasons we get.

I think I got everyone, but shout if I missed you! Thanks for stopping in. I myself rather love the transitional seasons of spring and fall. It's lovely now to start having nice warm days and start garden prep work, and my birthday falls in spring. But I also love when the leaves change and the nights get cooler in fall.

Happy new thread Mary!

>29 quondame: Thanks, Susan!

Happy New Thread, Mary. I think Spring is my favourite season. Sometimes it can get to warm for my liking in the summer. I like the longer days and the milder weather. And I hope, less rain than we get in winter. We get a lot of rain - except in summer.

Good morning, Mary! I fell asleep shortly after starting Chapter 2 (Greensboro) in South to a Very Old Place last night, but I should be able to finish it, and hopefully Chapter 3 (Atlanta) today. Needless to say Atlanta is the chapter I'm most interested in reading, as I've still lived there longer than anywhere else.

Happy Wednesday, Mary. Happy New Thread. I hope your week is off to a fine start. In my music listening- I am currently in the "M"s of my CD collection. I wonder if I will finish by the end of the year? I do get side-tracked by listening to other albums by these artists. I am actually enjoying that.

>31 vancouverdeb: Oh interesting to hear that about the rain, Deborah, as April is generally our really rainy month here and winter tends not to be (in fact, I think much of the state of Massachusetts is still currently under drought).

>32 kidzdoc: Sounds good, Darryl. I did finish "Greensboro" last night and will plan on reading "Atlanta" this evening and I look forward to your thoughts on it since you lived there for as long as you did. It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of Murray's writing style and the way he says "you" when he's talking about himself, but I'm enjoying the conversations he's having with writers and can kind of see stylistically ways I think Imani Perry was trying to be in conversation with him as well, though I don't think it was as successful.

>33 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Hope you're having a good week so far. What artists are included in your "M"s? I doubt I will finish my listening this year, but I figure from starting last year in 1956 getting to 1970 this year isn't so bad. After I finish "The Band" I've got "Let it Be" and "All Things Must Pass" ready to go.

Happy Wednesday! I'm off for the next week. Often when I take a staycation, my first day off is a bit of a lazy day where I'm not much motivated to do anything, and today is no exception. I've walked the dogs and at noon I'll meet a friend to go on a short hike locally. I do have a few things on the to-do list, like making a meal and prepping a shopping for having my brother and SIL over on Friday, but nothing too onerous. Other that those small items, I will read, knit or watch TV as the mood takes me.

Reading: The Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed, A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, and South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray

Listening: continuing "The Band"

Watching/Crafting: nothing yesterday, we'll see if I'm in the mood today

>34 bell7: Well done, Mary. I've had a busy day so far, as I had a physical therapy appointment (for idiopathic right leg weakness, which fortunately has gotten much better), an appointment to my local American Red Cross donation center to give blood (I'm a Sickle Cell Fighter, which means that I have a relatively rare RBC subtype (probably Ro) that is particularly valuable and suitable for people with sickle cell disease who need frequent blood transfusions; only 1 in 3 African Americans, or 2% of all American blood donors, have this subtype), which I try to do six times a year, an unplanned visit to my optometrist to get my eyeglass frame readjusted after I rolled over on them while sleeping, and a trip to the supermarket. I'll pick up my mother shortly, and after we have dinner and I put her to bed I'll be able to resume reading South to a Very Old Place; I'll definitely have more to say about it tomorrow.

>35 bell7: Mary, even your quiet days sound busy to me! Glad you've got some time off to do what you want to do. I am looking forward to some time off in a month or so.

Hi Mary my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

Glad to hear you're having a chill first day off, Mary.

Happy new thread!! I am currently enjoying the transition from winter to spring. I am ready for less rain and more sun!! And I love when my garden comes to life.

>36 kidzdoc: You remind me that it's been far too long since I've given blood, Darryl. As far as I know, I don't have any rare subtypes but am a nearly-universal donor being O+.

"Atlanta" was a fairly short chapter and I finished it last night; this next one looks a little longer and if you're still ready to read "Tuskegee", I'll probably start it earlier than I have been to be able to finish it today. But if you want me to hold off, let me know.

>37 charl08: Ha! Well, a hike in the middle of the day is plans, I suppose, but it was fun. We were done earlier than expected to I added another errand so I don't have to do it today. I hope you enjoy your time off next month!

>38 johnsimpson: Thank you, John! Nice to see you.

>39 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

>40 Berly: Hi, Kim! The rain hasn't quite started here yet, but I do love when the flowers start to come out. I'm hoping by having someone to do my mowing I will take more time to weed and have my garden in more order than it was last year (I... literally did nothing and it was a mess).

Happy Thursday! I have just a tad more on the docket than I did yesterday. I've got to do some laundry, some meal planning (I didn't yesterday), and do the grocery shopping. I have Bible study tonight, and I signed up for snack. I expect today is my last dog walking for this particular job.

Tomorrow should be fairly chill, and I'm hoping to do some baking and cooking at home. My SIL and toddler niece will be coming over around 4 and my brother will follow when he gets out of work to have dinner at my place. It'll be Creamy White Bean and Spinach Quesadillas from Budget Bytes, a new-to-me recipe but one that looks yummy and fairly fast to turn out when we're ready to eat.

Reading/Listening: same

Watching: I finished the Great British Baking Show holiday episode I'd started a couple of days ago

No crafting yesterday

>41 bell7: Good morning, Mary. I had posted on Facebook in December or early January that my American Red Cross Blood Donor mobile app informed me that I was a Sickle Cell Fighter, which prompted me to do more research; I had no idea my blood type (A+/Ro) was that rare. I had taken care of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients who had varying degrees of RBC transfusions because of subtype (not type) reactions, so I knew that my blood was especially valuable to SCD patients, whose reactions to blood transfusions with non-matching subtypes only worsen with time.

What's new and nice about the updated Blood Donor mobile app is that it tells you where your blood was sent to, and how many people it helped. My blood was given to three people, IIRC, so presumably it was separated into packed RBCs for someone with SCD, platelets for someone with a clotting disorder, and plasma for antibodies. It went to a teaching hospital affiliated with the West Virginia University School of Medicine near Charleston.

Jenny (lunacat), who I'm still in touch with on Facebook, told me that she also has a rare blood subtype that is particularly suitable for NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) babies, so her blood is sent to the world renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London.

I feel asleep again last night before I could do much reading — fortunately I put my eyeglasses on my nightstand before I did! — so I'm only at the beginning of "Atlanta." I'll finish it today and start reading "Tuskegee," but I suspect I won't finish that chapter before Friday. Don't let me hold you up, though; I'll eventually catch up.

>43 kidzdoc: I had to look at my app, and it appears I haven't given blood since December of 2020 so I don't think they're updated with my subtype. I have scheduled an appointment for Sunday, however, so thank you for the reminder (I used to try to give annually at least). I'll be interested in seeing what it can update me on afterwards, including where the blood ends up.

I'll take my time over "Tuskegee" today, then, and see where I end up. You won't be holding me up; I have a few other books that I can focus on and want to finish before I start my book club book for this month.

>42 bell7: Which season of GBBO are you watching? I've forgotten. No word yet on s16's premiere date. The quesadillas sound excellent! I hope they're crowd-pleasers.

Happy Thursdaying, dear Mary.

>45 richardderus: I watched the two holiday episodes in "Season 1" as currently on Netflix. The one I finished last night had Benjamina, Rav, Rob and Sandy.

>44 bell7: My most recent blood donation other than the two I gave in the past three months was also in 2020. Sadly the app didn't mention that my blood subtype was suitable for SCD patients; otherwise I would have donated far more frequently.

I suspect that you won't be informed of your blood subtype unless it's one that is especially useful for a particular category of patients, as is the case for Jenny and me. Do let me know what you find out, and I'm glad that my post encouraged you to donate blood!

One of the staff members in my local American Red Cross Blood Donation Center informed me yesterday that I would be eligible to donate again starting on May 7, and after looking at my monthly planner just now I scheduled an appointment for that afternoon.

"Atlanta" is a short chapter, so I'll plan to knock it out this afternoon, and start reading Tuskegee after dinner.

>47 kidzdoc: I suspect that you won't be informed of your blood subtype unless it's one that is especially useful for a particular category of patients
Ah, yeah, that would make sense. I wonder if it's something they can look up when they're asking me the myriad questions leading up to donation. I'll try to remember to ask.

I will start on "Tuskegee" soon to stay about where you are, then. A chapter a day does seem about right in pacing.

>48 bell7: After doing some online searching I did find some additional information. Ro blood, the subtype I almost certainly have, is a normal variant of the Rh (Rhesus) factor; most people are Rh+ or Rh-. If Jenny frequently donates blood to NICU babies she almost certainly has Rhnull blood, which lacks the Rh antigen (an antigen is a protein on the outer cell membrane that antibodies can react to). Rhnull blood is referred to as "golden blood," as it won't cause transfusion reactions to Rh+ or Rh- babies, especially sensitive preemies, and it is far rarer than Ro blood. I'll touch base with her through Facebook Messenger to see if she knows which blood subtype she has.

I would guess that you could find out if you have Rh+ or Rh- blood, and the Red Cross would probably inform you in some fashion if your blood is especially valuable for transfusions.

The Blood Donor mobile app does allow you to answer that long list of questions in advance and generate a Rapid Pass that a staff member can scan into your record. You then only have to answer true or false to three questions before you're ready to donate blood (or plasma).

I've been especially tired today, probably a side effect of yesterday's blood donation, so I still haven't finished "Atlanta." I did take a long afternoon nap, though, so I should finish that chapter tonight.

>49 kidzdoc: Oh, okay that's pretty fascinating about Ro and Rhnull. I actually know in that case, I'm Rh+. They do like my blood for transfusions, but more because it is O than for the subtype.

I had forgotten how much I could do on the app, and if I have the chance on Sunday, I will answer the questions beforehand. My plan with the appointment timing is that it gives me a chance to go out to lunch after church and before the donation, so I'll be feeling my best when I give it. I will often have a headache by the end of the day after I give blood, and try to drink a lot of water before & after to counteract that. But fortunately, I've never really felt faint or had other adverse reactions.

I only read a few pages of "Tuskegee" today and am just about ready for bed, so I'll plan on finishing the chapter tomorrow.

I woke up decidedly unmotivated this morning, so I have lingered over my coffee and breakfast and had to check my thread to see what I'd said I would do today. I do still want to do some baking and cooking, though it's not hugely pressing. I just have a bunch of sourdough discard I've been saving in the fridge and would like to use some of instead of composting it all. I'm looking forward to having my brother's family for dinner and have a little bit of tidying I should do so that my now-walking niece doesn't get into everything. And that's about it.

Nothing new to report on the reading/listening/etc. front.

>51 bell7: Baking sourdough buns for work sammys might be a good use of the discard...I'm in high sandwich mode because the facility's been serving lots of fish that I can't eat...digestive issues...so I'm on the chicken-salad train.

Toddler proofing is a huge task. I do not envy you. Happy weekend-ahead's reads!

>52 richardderus: Mmmmm, that would be a new one to branch out with. My go-tos are crackers and granola, and I'd like to add English muffins to the mix as well.

Toddler-proof, hardly. But at least moving some things out of the way to limit what she can get into. It'll also be pretty nice out, so we may be able to go outside (she does love being outdoors and going on walks).

Not exactly a book list or article, but a link to translation prizes from the Society of Authors to give me more books to investigate this year.

Another fan of the humble sandwich (salutations to the Earl and his epicurean versatility!). I had some sausage bread (chicken sausages) as the first thing I had after breaking my fast yesterday and it was so good that I could have eaten twenty of them with no trouble at all!

Have a great weekend.

Instagram has been serving me up a lot of focaccia recipe reels and several of them have been sourdough based. They all look amazing but I'm not ready to take on a starter.

>55 PaulCranswick: MMmm, sausage bread sounds really good, Paul. I often use chicken or turkey sausage as a substitute, and will have some this week when I make stuffed mushrooms.

>56 MickyFine: Focaccia sounds like fun! I'll be making my go-to everyday sandwich bread over the weekend and bring it to my small group on Sunday to devour.
I was gifted the starter rather than start it from scratch, and it's very forgiving when I forget to feed it for a day or stick it in the fridge for a week at a time to go dogsit. I've kept it alive for over a year now. I was planning on gifting some to someone in my small group, and she ended up making one from scratch, which I find impressive.

Good morning, all, and happy Saturday! I had a rather rotten night's sleep, waking more than sleeping between 2:30-4:30, so I'm tired but up. It's overcast today, which doesn't help my energy level any. I've got class from 9-3 today, and we pass the halfway point. I will work on the bread dough before and after the class, probably try to take a walk as long as it's not raining, and will think about taking a nap too.

I finished A Tempest of Tea yesterday and hope to review it this weekend.

Reading: The Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed, South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray and Rivermouth by Alejandra Oliva

Listening/Watching/Crafting: nothing to report, but I will knit while in class today. Maybe I'll even finish the sock!

>58 bell7: Oh, cool, a Premee Mohamed book! I really enjoy her imagination. Enjoy the class, nap well, and *there there, patpat* on the crummy sleep. Me too.

>57 bell7: My mom made a starter from scratch during the pandemic and kept it going for several years. She recently let it die though as she wasn't regularly making things with it and she got tired of the maintenance.

Good luck with the course work today!

I've met Premee Mohamed a few times through work and she's really lovely. I really should try one of her books some day.

>59 richardderus: One of your reviews put her on my radar, Richard, though now I'm not certain what book it was that you read. So thank you! And hope you're able to catch up on sleep, too.

>60 MickyFine: I am impressed with your mother as well. I was intimidated by the instructions I found online (one said I should keep starter in the oven with the light on) and never made it during the pandemic, but waiting until after a fad is over is kind of how I roll *shrug*

And thanks, the first module of the day was on trauma/abuse and very tough, but we are now past the halfway point and I am that much closer to being licensed.

Also, very cool that you've met Premee Mohamed. Is meeting authors a regular part of your day job, or was it more attending a library program?

>61 bell7: I was just talking with Mr. Fine and saying that maybe I'll try a sourdough starter when I retire, lol. How's that for after a fad?

I'm part of a team at my library that promotes local writing (and has since expanded to include local artists and musicians). Back in 2017 or 2018 (before her many award wins), Premee Mohamed was one of our featured writers (a library program for up and coming local writers, where the writer does a couple programs, creates a book list, and writes a blog post) and I got to work with her on that. Last year, she was the library's Writer in Residence so we overlapped in a few meetings.

Hi Mary, I just finished "Tuskegee" in South to a Very Old Place. I'll start reading "Mobile" now, with the hope of being able to finish it tomorrow.

>62 MickyFine: *snort* Nah, I relate. I have told myself that gardening and canning and such can be a retirement project, though I don't know how much of a fad that is, really. I'd like to experiment more with the sourdough stuff I make, too, but it all takes time and I want to make the three or so go-to recipes I have found for bread, crackers and granola.

That's so great that your library features local writers and that you've been a part of the project. We have (primarily self-published) local authors who have asked about programs, but we just don't get a reliable crowd for readings/signings.

>63 kidzdoc: I will make every effort to read "Mobile" today, then, though I may find myself finishing it tomorrow depending on how the rest of the day goes (don't slow down for me, I may . By the way, I learned something new as per our blood conversation earlier this week. Mine is CMV Negative, which is good for babies and those with compromised immune systems. Apparently over half of adults over 40 in the US are CMV Positive, and who knows how long I will continue to be negative, but I thought that was fun in any case.

>62 MickyFine: *snort* Nah, I relate. I have told myself that gardening and canning and such can be a retirement project, though I don't know how much of a fad that is, really. I'd like to experiment more with the sourdough stuff I make, too, but it all takes time and I want to make the three or so go-to recipes I have found for bread, crackers and granola.

That's so great that your library features local writers and that you've been a part of the project. We have (primarily self-published) local authors who have asked about programs, but we just don't get a reliable crowd for readings/signings.

>63 kidzdoc: I will make every effort to read "Mobile" today, then, though I may find myself finishing it tomorrow depending on how the rest of the day goes (don't slow down for me, I may . By the way, I learned something new as per our blood conversation earlier this week. Mine is CMV Negative, which is good for babies and those with compromised immune systems. Apparently over half of adults over 40 in the US are CMV Positive, and who knows how long I will continue to be negative, but I thought that was fun in any case.

Happy Sunday! It's been a busy day so far of church, lunch (my parents came along), and blood donation. I currently have the bread in the oven and will head out to my small group in about an hour.

Tomorrow I have the day off from work, and I'm planning on making progress with getting the house ready for my foster care licensing. I'll be working on purchasing a smoke detector for the basement, and a friend from church is going to come out and take a look at my radiators to see about making custom covers for them (I couldn't find the right sizes online).

Nothing new on the reading report, though I'm focusing most on South to a Very Old Place with Darryl and Rivermouth for book club on Monday.

Crafting: I'm working on knitting the toe of sock #1.

>64 bell7: I'm not certain that I'll finish "Mobile" today, Mary, so it's fine with me if we plan to do so by tomorrow.

That's great that you have CMV negative blood. When I was working and ordered pRBC (packed red blood cell) transfusions for hospitalized children they would be leukoreduced (made as free of WBC as possible) and CMV negative, for the reasons you mentioned. How did you learn of your CMV status? With all of the viruses I was regularly exposed to while working I would be surprised if I was CMV negative, and since my RBCs will be targeted to patients with SCD it almost certainly won't matter.

>67 kidzdoc: I asked about it when I gave today, if they could tell me anything about my blood in addition to knowing I was O+, and that's what they showed me. It's something they test and know on their end, but doesn't show up on the app, as I understand it.

And that's good to know re: "Mobile", I'll make some progress but probably prioritize my book club book a little more tonight in that case.

>68 bell7: Thanks, Mary. I'll ask about my CMV status when I donate blood again in May.

I almost certainly won't finish "Mobile" tonight but I should tomorrow.

>69 kidzdoc: Thanks for mentioning subtypes and that certain blood was beneficial for particular patients - I enjoyed learning some new things as a result! I will plan on finishing "Mobile" today. I'm also in a good place in my book club read, so I have a little more freedom to pick up whichever book I want to among the four I'm reading.

>70 bell7: Stay well and happy, dear lady, the world needs you.

>71 richardderus: That's very kind of you, Richard. *smooches* and best wishes for today.

Happy Monday! It's a rainy, lazy kinda day here. I'm waiting for my friend to come by to measure my radiators for custom covers, and I called my brother about the smoke detector I need for the basement, so I'm making progress on the house goals for foster care. And I finished my book club book this morning, which takes care of the "have to" reading. I have some cooking I'd like to do, but I mostly have a chill day ahead of me, just going out for yoga in the evening.

Reading: A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed and South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray

Listening: I think I'm going to go once more through "The Band" to determine any favorite songs to add to my playlist, and then I'll put on "Let It Be"

Watching/Crafting: Nothing yesterday, though I do plan on getting out my knitting today and potentially finishing the first sock of the pair

>70 bell7: You're welcome, Mary. I'm getting my annual car inspection now, so I'll probably have 1½ hours of reading time and should easily finish "Mobile" by then. If I'm still here I'll get started on "New Orleans, Greenville, Memphis," and shoot for finishing South to a Very Old Place by Wednesday evening.

>74 kidzdoc: Perfect, I will aim for about the same. I might be able to finish it tomorrow, but won't rush through the remaining chapters.

19. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
Why now? It met the TIOLI challenge to read a book with a beverage in the title

20. Rivermouth by Alejandra Oliva
Why now? My book club is discussing it on Wednesday - we will have plenty to talk about!

I first heard about this one on NPR, and I'm a little surprised it hasn't gotten much notice on LT (only in 30 libraries, and mine was the first review).

>77 bell7: I'm increasingly out-of-step with the world They want us to accept. I'm repulsed by the greed of it all. Good review of a very timely book.

I've gotten a little behind what I'd like to do in terms of writing up the albums I'm listening to, so full disclosure I may have forgotten some of my impressions when it's been awhile since I've listened.

"Look-Ka Py Py" - The Meters
I enjoyed this one quite a bit, adding "Look-Ka Py Py", "Funky Miracle," "Thinking," "Dry Spell" and "Cissy Strut" to my playlist. Brett Schewitz informs me this was a New Orleans band and the "gold standard" for funk. #415 on the list

"The Stooges" - The Stooges
Mmm, this was fine. I liked "1969" best of the bunch, but none of the rest stood out to me. Don't take my word for it, though. Brett Schewitz gushes. #488 on the list

"The Gilded Palace of Sin" - Flying Burrito Brothers
Wikipedia called them "country rock", but this album definitely leaned more country imo. It wasn't really to my taste. Brett Schewitz's review explains its place of importance and points out that some of the band members were originally from The Byrds. #462 on the list

"Cosmo's Factory" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
I have entered 1970! Overall I enjoyed the sound of this one, I added "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Who Will Stop the Rain" to my playlist. This is how I learned they played "I Heart It Through the Grapevine," which of course I've heard, but can't say it's my favorite haha. Brett Schewitz has more in his review. #413 on the list

"Moondance" - Van Morrison
Also enjoyed this one overall and added "Moondance" and "Caravan" to my playlist. It was very different from "Astral Weeks" and definitely had a more jazzy sound to it that I enjoyed. Brett Schewitz admits he's probably closer to my age than I thought (he says the title track as the first MP3 he illegally downloaded in high school). #120 on the list

"Sex Machine" - James Brown
I have really liked a couple of James Brown's songs, but I have yet to actually like an album as a whole. I'm not sure if it's because they sound live even when they're studio recorded or if there's always been at least one song on each where the singer repeats "James Brown" over and over again, and I find that irritating. Oh well... Brett Schewitz reviews this "unconventional album". #439 on the list

"The Band" - The Band
And this is when I realized I missed a 1969 album, oops. Mixed bag for me, some I liked and some I was kinda meh about. "Up on Cripple Creek" and "Look Out Cleveland" were my favorites sound-wise and duly added to my playlist. Brett Schewitz's review. #57 on the list

Next up: "Let It Be" for the final Beatles album and the end of an era. Actually, there are a few 1970 albums I'm looking forward to, including "Bridge Under Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel.

>78 richardderus: Thank you! I think you'd find a lot to praise and get angry about in the read.

Great review of Rivermouth, Mary.

Brett Schewitz is absolutely right. The Meters were the gold standard of New Orleans funk in the 1970s, and although their subsequent albums were good, Look-Ka Py-Py was the band's best known and beloved of them. When I lived in New Orleans from 1978 to 1981 I heard The Meters play several times, at Tipitina's, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and college campuses in the city including Tulane, and they would always play at least two songs from that album.

Rivermouth sounds very good. I'll put it on my library WL.

Scrolling through and reading about donating blood, I am reminded that I really need to get back into the habit of that! I am put off by my gravelly voice, which technicians often think is the beginnings of a cold.

>57 bell7: I love making focaccia as well. I do the dough in a breadmaker that I have had for 20 years this year, and then shape and rise it before baking. So good.

>79 bell7: I had never heard of The Meters but really liked that album, it was a fun discovery for me. I like a couple of these albums more than you, particularly The Band, The Stooges and The Gilded Palace of Sin.

I will also look forward to what is in store for you in 1970!

>81 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl. I really enjoyed the album and would listen to more by them. How cool that you saw them play in person! By the way, I haven't started it yet, but I am planning on reading "New Orleans, Greenville, Memphis" today, and as the Epilogue is only a page long, probably finishing the book this afternoon or evening.

>82 katiekrug: Oh great, Katie, I look forward to your thoughts on it whenever you get to it.

>83 LovingLit: Glad we could prompt you to think of it, Megan, there always seems to be a great need. And I'll have to put focaccia on the list of of things to try (someday). It's one of my goals this year to try to a new sourdough bread recipe, so maybe that'll be it...

>84 ursula: It could also be with those three albums in particular that I had to listen to it on my phone and those speakers probably aren't as good as my car's system. The Meters was a fun discovery for me, too. I didn't know what to expect at all, and I really liked it.

Happy Tuesday! I overslept a little and had to rush out the door after breakfast & coffee to meet a friend for a walk. After that, I came home to heat up soup for lunch and read a bit. The person who was coming over to measure my radiators didn't make it yesterday, and I'm hoping he'll make it today instead. I also didn't do any cooking yesterday, so I have a dish or two I'd like to make today.

I finished The Midwife's Tale this afternoon, and should finish South to a Very Old Place today or tomorrow, so I'm feeling good about wrapping up a couple of reads and picking out my next books.

Today's my last staycation day, and I'm back to work 12-8 tomorrow just in time for book discussion.

Reading: South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray and Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed

Listening: I finished "Let It Be" while driving to & from my yoga class and have started "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison

Watching/Crafting: nothing to report

21. A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Why now?
I've owned the book since 2012 when we weeded it from the library collection. Martha (Moore) Ballard was a distant cousin of mine according to my grandmother's genealogy research, and though I tried to read it in my teens I'd gotten bogged down in the details and lost interest. I finally picked it up after the second time reading The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, determined to read the nonfiction account. It was really fascinating to see how closely Lawhon read the book as she worked on her own (fictional) tale, as several details from chapters that didn't deal directly with the events/time period that her book cover are included as well.

Incidentally, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is the historian who first said "well-behaved women seldom make history," though she didn't mean it in the same way more of us use it now.

>85 bell7: That sounds good, Mary. I'm about halfway through the last chapter of South to a Very Old Place, so I should also finish it today.

Thanks for reading it with me! You helped me break out of a long reading slump.

>88 kidzdoc: I just finished my review and will post it shortly. Thank you for reading it with me as well! It took me a little while to get into the style of it and I might have not persevered if not for the joint read. In the end, I enjoyed it quite a bit. And here's hoping your reading slump continues to stay away!

22. South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray

Why now?
When I read Imani Perry's South to America for book club earlier this year, this book was one that definitely influenced her in its writing. In some ways, she was trying to be in conversation with him, and certainly I could understand more of the structural choices she'd made in her own book. So it was on my list... and when Darryl said he was reading through several of Murray's works, I said I'd love to read it jointly, which we did.

A couple of notable quotes from South to a Very Old Place:

But then, going back home has probably always had as much if not more to do with people as with landmarks and place names and locations on maps and mileage charts anyway. Not that home is not a place, for even in its most abstract implications it is precisely the very oldest place in the world. But even so, it is somewhere you are likely to find yourself remembering your way back to far more often than it is ever possible to go by conventional transportation.

But to be conscious of dissimilarities is not necessarily to be divided by them. Some self-styled colorblind white Americans who obviously assume that they must pretend to ignore differences in order to avoid conflict only add hypocrisy to already existing complications. Moreover, if some of the differences between two given people are racial, which is mostly to say a matter of several physical features, others are mostly personal; and human nature being what it is, whatever its habitat, there is always an outside chance that any two people even from opposite ends of the earth will find in each other more similarities of personal interest and emphasis upon which to build a friendship or at least a cordial acquainstanceship, than race-oriented differences to separate them into antithetical factions. Indeed, ethnocentrism notwithstanding, seldom is racial or even national identity alone enough to provide for an acquainstanceship comparable to one growing out of mutual personal interests.

>89 bell7: Well done, Mary. I finished it this afternoon, and I'll plan to write a review of it tomorrow.

>92 kidzdoc: thank you! I'm looking forward to reading your review and will keep an eye out for it on your thread.

Listening report:

"Let It Be" - The Beatles
The final album of the Fab Four is a bit of an odd one. If "The White Album" was a bunch of individual artists doing their things, this one is equally so, though I won't belabor what went into the recordings and the producing of the albums since there are definitely people here who know the story more definitively than I do. It's not particularly coherent as an album, but it has a lot of classic songs like "Let It Be," "The Long and Winding Road," and "Get Back" that you can't imagine the Beatles' oeuvre without. I have heard some of them too many times to want to put them on my playlist, but I did at "Let It Be" and "Two of Us" as sentimental favorites. Brett Schewitz's review (he clarified for me that these recordings were prior to "Abbey Road," though the album came out later). #342 on the list

Happy mid week!

>87 bell7: How cool to read something by a distant relative. Glad you enjoyed it.

Happy Wednesday! I'm back to work today, 12-8. My initial thought was that I'd go back to the gym today (it's been a few weeks again, and I want to get back in the habit), but I decided not to in lieu of a final quiet morning at home. I might even get to finish Beneath the Rising today.

Work tasks will primarily be catching up on a week's work of emails and prepping for book discussion. Tomorrow I'm working a short day, 9-3, and then going to babysit and probably walk with a friend after.

Reading: Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed and Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi

Listening: "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison

Watching: nothing, though starting tomorrow probably some March Madness to see how I'm doing in the family brackets

Crafting: I finished the first sock today and just barely got started on #2

>95 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! It it pretty cool, it adds an interesting layer to know that we're (albeit distant) kin when contemplating someone's life and words.

Enjoy your quiet morning, Mary, and good luck with the inbox triage when you get to work.

>98 MickyFine: I know you share the pain haha... there were over 300 messages when I got in this afternoon. Some could be ignored, some were answered, and some I'll deal with tomorrow. I think I'm down to 52 in my inbox?

23. Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
Why now? I'd made note of her as an author to try last year when Richard reviewed one of her books, and somehow picked this one as one I'd like to try. I had placed a suspended library hold on it last year, and I'm trying to work through that back log a little bit now.

Good morning!

I'm working 9-3 today and leaving early to babysit niece R. I have yet to confirm with a friend that we're walking after that, but will bring a change of clothes along in any case (much more comfortable for babysitting a toddler anyways). And tonight's dinner will be a new-to-me recipe, cheater's chicken & dumplings in the Instant Pot.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi, Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard and We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Listening: "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison

Watching/Crafting: nothing yesterday, but will probably see if I can get some basketball tourney on ESPN+ (and if I do, I'll most likely knit while watching)

>101 bell7: Chicken and dumplings *mmmm*

Mohamed's novel, indeed series, is not calling to me after your "just okay" verdict. Have fun with R. tonight!

>99 bell7: Very impressive! Since I don't work public facing, I luck out and don't get emails about the printer being down, etc. However, I've got some colleagues who love to use reply all so that often leads to some inflated email volume.

Have fun babysitting your nibling this afternoon!

I'm late to the party, but belated happy new thread in any case. You are doing some interesting reading these days.

>102 richardderus: Yeah, a cheater's version in the Instant Pot using gnocchi instead of making dumplings. It was quite tasty, but made for a late supper after everything else in the day.

>103 MickyFine: I was thinking how you're usually triaging all the Overdrive/Libby requests, figuring it's probably pretty similar. My direct colleagues, thankfully, very seldom use reply all but one particular mailing list I'm on is notorious for it, and I usually have several emails I can delete as soon as I see them.

>104 atozgrl: Thanks on both counts, Irene!

TGIF! Yesterday was a looonnng day going straight from work to babysitting, taking a walk with a friend, and cooking after I got home. I think I was eating around 9:30. It was a good day, though. R. has figured out part of the latch for one of the safety gates in the house (it wasn't completely closed/locked, thus "partially" figured out) and had fun walking between the living room and dining room closing it behind her and then opening it again. She had an easier time pulling it open; when she was on the other side, she'd stick an arm through as if she could fit through the slats and then get mad when it didn't work. She was walking more, both at daycare and at home. And her newest trick was nodding or shaking her head when I asked a question. It's amazing to me, as often as I've seen it happen, how quickly a kid can develop from one milestone to the other at this age. Watching her language develop over the next year or so is going to be fun as we get to have more conversations and interactions beyond her (very clear) ability to use body language.

Today I don't have to cook, so I'll be much more relaxed in the evening. I'm working 9-5 and hoping to finally get back to the gym tonight (if I get in the habit of after work on Tuesdays and Fridays, that seems to work best).

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi, Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard and We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Listening: "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison

Watching: So the NCAA website has streaming video of March Madness, and I put on Arizona/Kansas as background noise while I was cooking last night; probably more tonight

Crafting: I did not get the socks out. Perhaps tonight (though I also want to start another project for tomorrow, since I don't think I can cable and pay attention to the class at the same time)

>105 bell7: Ah yes. We have a suggest for purchase form available for the public through our OPAC provider and that definitely leads to a backlog always. Bright side is, I'm not off during the peak time for suggestions which is usually the transition from one month to the next. That's when our regulars tend to use up their five suggestions they're permitted per month (with that limit, we received 21,000 suggestions last year).

Good luck casting on a project suitable for keeping your hands busy while learning!

>106 bell7: Mostly excellent-sounding, that day. I hope the trend continues.

I look forward to your thoughts about Taiwan Travelogue.

Do you have any favorite teams in the women's or men's NCAA Basketball Tournament? None of my undergraduate (Rutgers) or medical school (Pitt) teams made the tournaments, so I don't have any favorite teams to root for. I did chose Florida to beat Duke in my men's tournament bracket on ESPN, and I'll have to see if I can still fill out a women's bracket. It would be nice to see Paige Bueckers of UConn win a national championship, given her repeated injuries during her collegiate career.

>107 MickyFine: 21,000 suggestions is *staggering*. And thanks, I got the shipment of yarn that I'd purchased for a project, so I think I'm going to put that on the needles next, and it should be a slightly easier pattern.

>208 richardderus: Thank you! So far so good, today was a good day.

>209 m.belljackson: I'm enjoying Taiwan Travelogue quite a bit so far.

I confess, basketball is a sport I know very little about and don't often watch other than March Madness. I still have a soft spot for the women's UConn Huskies team, as I remember watching Rebecca Lobo play, and they're fairly local. We had two brackets in each in our ESPN family group, and in one men's I have Duke and in the other I picked Auburn. On the women's side, I did change some of the early round games but I had UConn picked as the winner on both my brackets. I'm holding my own so far, but the men's bracket where I picked Duke has the most potential for total points right now.

Happy Saturday! It's another busy weekend. I had my second-to-last foster care training today. It's been really useful stuff, if overwhelming, but I think I've learned a lot and am starting to get to know other prospective foster parents who could be really good connections to have as we all move forward in our journeys. I have laundry in and may try to take a walk shortly. Then my brother and I are meeting up to go to a local brewery and support friends that will be playing at that venue.

Tomorrow is church, time with my Little, and small group.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi, Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard and We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Listening: "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison

Watching: So the NCAA website only gave a couple of "preview" hours of the games, so I kinda had one game on but with 20 preview minutes left, decided not to waste it watching a #1 kill a #16 seed and watched 2 episodes of "Welcome to Wrexham" instead

Crafting: knitting a baby blanket

>110 bell7: Yup. Suggestions are the most Sisyphean task I do at work, lol.

Ooh, baby blanket! I look forward to seeing colours/pattern when it's done. :)

>112 MickyFine: I cast on Friday night and got far enough to "get" the pattern, then worked on it quite a bit during the Saturday class. It's this Ravelry pattern, the version with white stripes interspersed, and I went with two shades of red, orange, peach, and yellow for the colored stripe pattern. I was really nervous when I got the yarn in the mail that I'd misread the amounts needed and wouldn't have enough, but I've finished the first red and I should be fine. I'm really pleased with the look so far and will post pictures when it's complete for sure.

Happy Sunday! I've rolled out the dough for my sourdough bread to cook this afternoon. I have church this morning, then hanging out with my Little, and small group in the evening. Needless to say, enough going on to keep me out of trouble, but it should be a good day.

Reading/Listening: nothing new to report

Watching: nothing yesterday

Crafting: worked a bunch on the baby blanket during the class on Saturday, as mentioned; we'll see if I have a chance to get it out tonight

>113 bell7: Ooh, the pattern looks nice. I look forward to seeing yours.

Have fun with all the things today!

>113 bell7: That is a beautiful blanket, looking forward to seeing yours when it's done (or partially done!).

>115 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! It's been a good day.

>116 ursula: I will probably post in-progress, but I would like some of the color progression to be noticeable when I do haha.

Finally caught up with your thread, Mary. My answer for the season question is I favour the season that rains the least so hopefully summer. Spring isn’t turning out too well on the lack of rain front.

>118 Familyhistorian: ooh, I like that answer. April is traditionally our rainy month here, but I'll usually take it over snow.

Listening report -

"All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison - well, first of all, I didn't realize this was a *triple* album, so it took me a little while to get through because I had two CDs to trade in and out of my car player while I was listening. I cannot tell if what I listened to was the original order or what, apparently there are a few different versions out there and I could not straighten out all the options. I expected more sitar, but overall the music was pretty standard pop-rock of the day; his spirituality came out more in the lyrics, with sons like "My Sweet Lord" that included the Hare Krishna mantra. I saved "Wah-wah," "What Is Life," "Let It Down," "All Things Must Pass" and "Thanks for the Pepperoni" to my playlist and thought overall it was a pretty enjoyable listen. Brett Schewitz clearly loves this one. #368 on the list

"John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" by John Lennon - continuing with the after-the-Beatles individual albums. This is very John, so if you like his stuff, you'll probably like it too. I'm not and didn't add anything to my playlist; overall, I found it profoundly angry/sad. But I will say "Mother" and "Working Class Hero" were pretty striking (the latter surprised me with a couple of f**ks), and I can tell that the album was influential. He starts his jabs at the Beatles with "God" (I misheard the lyrics when he goes through the litany of things he doesn't believe in and wondered why he didn't believe in "cinnamon" but that would be Zimmerman/Bob Dylan according to Wikipedia), and I know he and Paul McCartney kinda started trading barbs in some of their songs in the '70s. Brett Schewitz informs me that Ringo Starr played the drums in much of this album, which was an interesting detail. #85 on the list

It's Tuesday, and I better get going if I want to be ready for work and the rest of the day on time...

Yesterday I worked, got my taxes done, grocery shopped, and went to yoga. Today isn't quite so busy, but I'm working 9-5 and am hoping to get to the gym afterwards. I'll either heat up leftovers or make a quick-and-easy supper and have a quiet evening otherwise, with salted caramel ice cream for dessert.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi, Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard and We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Listening: "Bitches' Brew" by Miles Davis

Watching: nothing the last couple of days

Crafting: I didn't pick up any of my projects yesterday

Happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

>120 bell7: Morning, Mary! I hope your listening keeps that playlist burgeoning. Happy Tuesday!

As I am 100+ posts behind, Mary, I am not even trying to catch up, just swinging by for a quick 'Hello.'

I mentioned on my thread about finding a spot in April's TIOLI challenges for our next Goddard book. Let me know what you think!

Hiya, Mary.

I’m enjoying your listening reports. What do you think of Bitches Brew? I’ve been listening to a lot of Miles and Sonny Rollins lately. I remember tinking that Bitched Brew was a little too far out there for the likes of me, but I probably should give it another try.

P.S. is today your birthday? Happy Birthday!

>122 norabelle414: thank you, Nora!

>123 richardderus: it's been a great way to experience new-to-me music, Richard, and I've certainly added some good ones over the last year.

>124 alcottacre: nice to see you, Stasia! Remind me, what was the next title we'd put on our list? I will ponder what challenge might work or potentially make one that does.

>125 jnwelch: I'm glad you're enjoying my listening reports, as I enjoy doing them. Bitches Brew is certainly different and more atonal than his earlier albums, so not my favorite, but I'm still going to listen to it a couple of times through before making a final response. And, yes, it is my birthday, thank you!

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Happy birthday, Mary!!

Happy birthday, Mary!

Have a Happy Birthday, Mary!

>126 bell7: In the Realms of Gold is the next - and sadly, last - title on our list, Mary.

Adding my birthday wishes to everyone's! I hope you had a great day!

Happy Birthday! I hope it was celebrated with good cake :)

Happy birthday, Mary!

>127 kidzdoc: >128 curioussquared: >129 atozgrl: >130 quondame:
Thank you, Darryl, Natalie, Irene, and Susan!

>131 alcottacre: Oh wow, I had no idea we were so close to winding down. I think we can add The Weaver of the Middle Desert and The Glassblower as two titles that came out very recently. And then I think we'll have read all the Nine Worlds tales (she does have a couple more *not* in the series, if we want to be completists). Thank you for the birthday wishes!

>132 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita! The cake will be Saturday, but I did have some ice cream as a treat tonight.

>133 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

Happy birthday, Mary. I hope it was an excellent day!

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Delurking to wish you a happy happy birthday!!

Happy birthday! (Yesterday, I guess?)

>120 bell7: "I don't believe in cinnamon" is definitely up there with my favorite misheard lyrics now!

>135 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! It was a good day for sure.

>136 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah!

>137 Berly: Good to have you de-lurk, Kim! Thank you :)

>138 ursula: Yes, yesterday, and thank you! Hahahahaha glad I could bring you that levity - I heard it that way twice, too, and was terribly confused 'til I looked it up. I'm terrible about hearing lyrics, though, I think it's part of the reason I know a lot of choruses to popular songs but very few that I could sing from beginning to end without reading along.

Darn, missed your birthday! Glad you had a good one!

Happy Wednesday! Yesterday I did not go to the gym after work as I was feeling a little off, kind of that not-quite-headache feeling that could develop into real pain if I pushed myself. I came home and had leftovers for dinner, read, and talked to my sisters on the phone, as they each called for my birthday. My sister A's kids were on speaker phone very briefly before they went to bed, and I could hear my nephew asking, "Wait, it's her birthday? But how do you know?" (I told him he could ask Grandpa to be sure *eyeroll*), so we then had a brief conversation about my birthday and how old I was, and then they wouldn't say happy birthday and asked their mother to tell me for them hahaha. My sister T just got back from traveling, so we talked a lot about the sights she saw on her trip.

Today I'm feeling good so far, and finally had the energy to catch up on some tasks around here, such as dishes (sitting there since Sunday) and folding laundry (clean since Saturday/Sunday). I'm leaving in a bit to go for a walk with a friend, and then I'm working 12-8.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi and We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Listening: "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis

Watching/Crafting: nothing to report

>140 drneutron: Thank you, Jim!

24. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard
Why now? Next in the read-though of Goddard's works that Stasia and I have been doing

>143 bell7: Y'all're mean. Making this author I've never read, that I can remember anyway, sound like such a powerhouse of storytelling.

If I end up having to buy these books, I'm sending the bills to you and Stasia in turn. Wicked, wicked women.

*smooch*

>134 bell7: I did not know about the 2 new titles and because I am a completist, would love to read the ones not in the series too.

>143 bell7: Great review, Mary, and I suspect my final thoughts on the book will echo yours although I do not rate it quite as highly. I will probably finish it tonight.

>144 richardderus: I will happily pay that bill. Goddard is an author who deserves more recognition, IMHO.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Mary!

>143 bell7: Till Human Voices Wake Us was the first book Victoria Goddard published, Stargazy Pie being the second. Cliopher only came into being to give a parallax on the Emperor before his retirement, but sort of grew beyond that. ;)

>144 richardderus: We haven't gotten you to cave yet? *grin* *smooch*

>145 alcottacre: we have a few books to go, anyway! And we had very similar ratings, the only difference is I don't give quarter stars or I would've been right there with you.

>146 quondame: Hi Susan! What I meant was that Raphael and Cliopher have similar character arcs in being misunderstood but then having emotional conversations with family/friends. I could tell in reading that she was going for something similar but her style had really developed by the time you get to The Hands of the Emperor.

Morning, all, and happy Thursday!

It's been a whirlwind of a week, and today is no exception. I'm working 9-5 and have Bible study tonight. The NCAA tournament starts up again today, so I'll be following the family brackets and see how I'm doing. And I finished We Solve Murders after I woke up early this morning.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi (swapped to e-book and I'll be picking a new paper book today)

Listening: "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis

>147 bell7: Nice to know about the quarter star thing! Yeah, we were pretty much in synch on that one. I am looking forward to learning more about Ysthar in In the Realms of Gold. Maybe Raphael will make another appearance?

>147 bell7: Ah, yes, the honest communication climaxes of the Rafael & Cliopher narratives are a clear parallel. For me it was overshadowed by what seemed a clearer parallel between Rafael and Fitzroy being forced into roles for inhumanly extended portions of their lives.

The Bone Harp Repeats the bard enduring ages of suffering motif, but at least it has nothing to do with that Fall, and isn't quite as extraordinary in the world building.

>149 alcottacre: Yeah, generally speaking I break it down to half stars, and every now and then I read one that's so borderline I would give it 4.25, but there's no other time I splice that finely. I'll look forward to reading In the Realms of Gold next month.

>150 quondame: Oooh, I hadn't thought of that parallel, that's a really good point. I've enjoyed what she does with both the characters and the world-building in everything I've read, so I'll look forward to reading The Bone Harp in the future.

TGIF! I found myself extremely frustrated this morning by how many little things that I want to get done have accumulated at home, so I took some personal time and left work at 1 to catch up on some tidying. Of course, as soon as I got home, my brain went, "Let's not do any of it!" So I've written a to-do list and then the handful of things I did were not on the list.

Anyway, once I make some notes on books finished and begun in my spreadsheet and on LT, I'll make myself get up to empty the car of safety gates and other things bought last night for toddler-proofing my house, and I'll go from there. I'm hoping that I will find a little bit of motivation to get started and then gain momentum as I go. Because it will very much stress me out to reach this busy weekend and be able to do very little of it.

Tomorrow I've got my last foster care training, after which I'll go to my parents' for my family birthday celebration. Sunday I have nursery, then time with my Little, then small group.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi and In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata

Listening: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel

25. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Why now? I enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club mysteries, so this one was on my list when I knew it was coming out. Read it now because it was available as an e-book/audio combo at the library when I needed that format, and it fit the TIOLI challenge to read an author with a name that started with LMNO or P.

>153 bell7: I wasn't a fan of the series, so I'm passing on Osman. Isn't it fun when you like a series that much? I always hope when I start every series that I'll be so hooked I can't wait for the next one.

Weekend-ahead's pleasures duly noted and jealousy reined in...it says here, anyway.

*hmmf*

>153 bell7: I still need to get to that one. Thanks for the reminder, Mary!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

>153 bell7: I came to know Richard Osman as a co host of the British Quiz show Pointless (much beloved by my late mum) and I really need to give his books a try.

>154 richardderus: It is fun to discover a new series to enjoy. I love trilogies and can get to about the 5-7 book range before I start to run into what I think of as series "saturation." At a certain point, I just kinda lose interest... no problem with the books or the characters, but I just don't pick up the next book and never return to the series again. Not sure why *shrug*

>155 alcottacre: Hope you enjoy it when you get to it, Stasia!

>156 PaulCranswick: I've seen in his bio that he's done some things on television, but never anything that was broadcast in my neck of the woods. I hope you enjoy Osman's books when you try it - We Solve Murders is quite separate from The Thursday Murder Club, so either title would be a fine place ot start.

I did finally get myself motivated and moving yesterday. My to-do list is looking a lot more doable over the next few days, so I'm not as stressed and distracted as I was on Friday.

I have completed my 30 hours of MAPP training for foster care, and am moving along in the process to get licensed. I have all the paperwork for next steps and will start filling things out Monday and working on getting the references I need sent in to DCF. I also have a list of things from that initial home safety visit to follow up on, so added to my regular home to-do list are some things to toddler-proof the cabinets and the like (I figure this is useful for nibling visits, too, so not a bad thing), as well as create a home emergency plan. Also next week, the director position at the library will be posted so I will be applying for that in the coming days. Thankfully next weekend is a fairly quiet one and I'm keeping it that way so I have time to work on everything without feeling like it *must* be done after a full work day.

The rest of my day is a little more relaxed. I have bread in the oven, and once it's done I'll be heading over to my parents' for my birthday celebration. We're getting a grilled chicken pizza and having chocolate with coconut cake (with an egg substitute so my mom can have it too) and sea salt caramel ice cream.

Tomorrow is nursery, time with my Little, and small group (I'll bring the bread). I saw one of the kiddos I'll have in nursery on Friday, and she ran over to me and gave me a big hug. She seemed pretty excited when I told her I'd be in her class tomorrow, but who knows what her reaction will be when she's actually dropped off haha.

Reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi and In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata (I'm going to try really hard to finish both this month)

Listening: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel

Watching: March Madness, though I'm pretty much out of the running in the women's bracket, and I have one possibility to win the men's bracket if a couple of my upset picks come through

Crafting: made much progress on the baby blanket yesterday and today

>158 bell7: Sounds like a really fun day, full of positive busyness. What egg substitute do y'all use in your cakes? Nigella seeds and psyllium are the two I know of. I'm always curious to know about others.

Extreme good luck getting the directorship!

Oooh, Director Mary has a nice ring to it. Sending all the best wishes for your application.

>157 bell7: The quiz shows can be found easily enough on YouTube, Mary.

>158 bell7: Wow! Sounds like an action packed day.

Happy Sunday :)

>159 richardderus: I think the recipe called for flax meal and water, but what my mom used (and typically does) is oil, water and baking powder. I used Greek yogurt once in sourdough discard cookies, with excellent results. And thank you! The process will take awhile, and I should know by July 1.

>160 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

>161 PaulCranswick: Well, I'll have to look it up one of these days, then. Thanks, Paul!

>162 figsfromthistle: Indeed... I have a brief break for about an hour and am taking full advantage.

26. Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi
Why now? Well, apparently I put it on hold at the library without putting it on my TBR list (a Google sheet), so I can't really say, but it was probably some combination of knowing it won the National Book Award for Translated Literature and Richard's review

>164 bell7: I'm glad to've helped inspire you! Happy week-ahead's reads.

>165 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I'm hoping to finish In Vitro tomorrow to finish of the month nicely and then I'm looking forward to seeing what I'm in the mood for next.

As mentioned, today was a busy one. I went from church to hang out with my Little, then had about an hour at home before heading out to small group. I've been messing around on Instagram and reading a few of the threads here since getting home, but it's about time I'll get ready for bed and read a bit more before calling it a night. One of our stops this afternoon was to a local library, and I picked up a couple of books in translation from their new shelf. Never heard of either author, but one is short stories by Korean author Ch'oe Myŏng-ik and the other is two novellas, I think, by Argentinean author Cesar Aira. I don't know much else besides that, so it'll be an adventure when I get to them.

Reading: In Vitro by Isabel Zapata (the goal is to finish it tomorrow) and The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

Listening: I finished "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and started "Tea for the Tillerman" by Cat Stevens

Watching/Crafting: nothing today, too busy

>164 bell7: Sounds good, Mary. I'll add it to the wishlist.

Good luck with the application to the director role. They would be lucky to have you.

Hi Mary! Good luck with the director application and the continuing foster care process.

>167 bell7: I read and enjoyed Aira's The Literary Conference several years ago. It was very weird, but my brand of weird, so it worked for me.

>168 charl08: I hope you like it, Charlotte! And thank you!

>169 curioussquared: Thanks on both counts, Natalie. That's good to know about Aira. I'd never heard of either author, but figured short stories/novellas are an easy way to try out a new author, in any case, and my library stack was too full of U.S. authors. I'm very pleased that I've kept my U.S. authors right at the 50% mark at 3 months into the year and am trying to keep that going.

Happy Monday!

I worked 9-2 today, walked with my friend, and made some progress in the next round of paperwork I need to turn in as part of the foster care application process. Unfortunately I need a scanner for a couple of things I need to attach to the email, so it'll ultimately have to wait 'til tomorrow for me to do that. Oh well... the one last big task I gave myself was filling out the home disaster plan.

I didn't really mention much about the birthday party, did I? We had a good time together, and of course while she was there niece R. was the star of the show. It's interesting to me that various caregivers get to know her in different ways and each of us had things to share about what she'd been doing and learning lately. Mom showed us how she *loves* the song "Five Little Ducks" and stamps her foot (while sitting) to "If You're Happy and You Know It" (she also threw in clapping hands this time). She says "quack" now and points to pictures and asks "Dat?" for us to tell her who each person is. We discovered that she does not like mushrooms - her mother gave her a taste while we ate our pizza slices, and she forcefully put it out of her mouth and gave it the side eye even after the mushroom was safely on the table and away from her seat. She really liked the salted caramel ice cream, however, and opened her mouth wide for tastes of her mom's serving. Oh, and now she's turned the corner and is walking almost exclusively, so she's officially in the toddler stage. Watch out, world!

I stayed for a couple of hours after my brother and his family left chatting with my parents about various things. I've reached the era where they were really listening to music and were familiar with albums as they were coming out, so it was interesting comparing notes on John Lennon and George Harrison's albums, as well as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel. More on that one in my listening report to come.

The listening report -

"Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis - I really liked Davis's earlier stuff, but this one wasn't really for me. I found the dissonance really jarring, and didn't have the reaction I do to some more experimental jazz where I may not feel calm or "enjoy" the music, but I find it so interesting that I can almost feel my brain light up like it looks on an fMRI. I only listened twice through and decided it was enough. Brett Schewitz appreciates it and mentions who was influenced by this album in particular. #87 on the list

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel - this is one of my all-time favorite albums, and I've listened to it before. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has long been a favorite song of mine, as is "The Boxer" and both were already on my playlist. After listening through (three times and an extra listen of "Bridge"), I added "Cecilia" and "Song for the Asking" too. I was discussing this album with my parents the other day, and they were really surprised I named "Cecelia" as one of my favorites. "Why?" my dad asked. "Because it's hilarious," is my answer, "and it uses the word 'jubilation' twice!" My mom laughed out loud at that and admitted she'd never realized that was the word there. I've liked Simon & Garfunkel since I was quite small (we had "Live in Central Park" on vinyl), and they still epitomize for me what harmony should sound like. Brett Schewitz's review. #172 on the list

"Tea for the Tillerman" by Cat Stevens - It probably wasn't fair to any album to come after the previous one. This was fine. I listened to it my usual three times through and didn't dislike it, but didn't feel the need to add any songs to my playlist either. I'd heard "Wild World" before. Contrary to popular belief (mine included, until recently) he did NOT sing "Cat's in the Cradle." Brett Schewitz likes his songs but not his voice. #205 on the list

27. In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata
Why now? TIOLI challenge to read a memoir about someone you've never heard of before 2025, and a book that I'd discovered earlier this month when reading through emails about new books

March in review
27. In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata
26. Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi
25. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
24. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard
23. Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
22. South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray
21. A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
20. Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration by Alejandra Oliva
19. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
18. The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
17. The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
16. A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Books read: 12
Did not finish: 0
Rereads: 1
Children's/Teen/Adult: 1/1/10
Fiction/Nonfiction/Plays/Poetry: 8/4/0/0

Because I want to awards:
Had so much fun reading and can't wait to recommend - A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping
Really deserves more acclaim - Rivermouth: A Chronicles of Language, Faith, and Migration by Alejandra Oliva
Why I love history - A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

YTD stats -
Pages read: 9,023
Avg pages a day: 100
Books by authors of color: 11 (40%)
In translation: 4 (14.8%)
Indigenous authors: 0 (0%)
Countries of origin: US - 13 (48.15%); Canada - 5 (18.52%); UK - 3 (11.11%); France - 1 (3.7%); Hungary - 1 (3.7%); Denmark - 1 (3.7%); India - 1 (3.7%); Taiwan - 1 (3.7%); Mexico - 1 (3.7%)
DNF: 1

Thoughts: I read only about a 1,000 fewer pages in March than I did in January and February combined, and it's brought my totals up closer to where I would expect to be at this point in the year, particularly my average pages read. I'm pleased with the variety of books, genres, topics, fiction and nonfiction, and how many non-U.S. authors I read this month. I have consistently been keeping U.S. authors at just around 50%, which was one of my major goals of the year. I still haven't read any indigenous authors, and would like to concentrate on that in the next quarter. I also really enjoyed my reading this month, with 4 stars being the most common rating, and 3.5 stars being the lowest (Beneath the Rising). All in all a really solid reading month - may it continue!

>158 bell7: Good luck with your application for the director position!

>172 bell7: Bridge Over Troubled Water and Tea for the Tillerman. Those take me back! That's about the heart of my radio listening era. I've still got both LPs on my shelves.

>175 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene! I'll be in the '70s for awhile, so I suspect I'll have more familiar albums for you soon :)

Tuesday orisons, you reading machine you! March was a very good month for you. I read one book that really ought to be on everyone's ereader, as you know, but you...considering how many fewer hours available to you to dedicate to reading...far outpaced me on getting a dent made in the eerily self-replenishing TBR pile.

>164 bell7:
Got me with a BB on this one.

>177 richardderus: March was a most excellent month, and I expect it will be more of an outlier in terms of number of books and pages this year. Not complaining, mind you, just aware of my own busy-ness. Hope April brings lots of good reading for you *smooch*

>178 benitastrnad: Oh good, I hope you enjoy it, Benita.

Happy Wednesday! I had every intention of posting my regular post yesterday, but time got away from me. Yesterday I worked 9-5, went to the gym, did a very quick grocery shopping, and then went home to leftovers and relaxing. I knit a little bit, went to bed on the early side and read for quite a bit before I suddenly realized I'd told Stasia I'd read In the Realms of Gold. I only started a few pages before I went to sleep. But as per usual lately, I also woke up in the middle of the night and read some more (the true secret behind my reading numbers lately). I feel asleep for a little bit, only to wake up again at 5:30, sort of drift in and out for an hour or so, and finally decided that my body was not going to let me sleep in as I'd planned, and got up for the day around 6:45 (for reference, I usually set my alarm for 7:15).

I finished In the Realms of Gold this morning, and have coordinated a bit with work stuff because we have workers there repairing display cases in the lobby today. I go in at noon. What I do for the rest of the morning is a little up in the air, I'm waiting to hear back from a friend about possibly getting together this morning to exchange Christmas gifts (she's as busy as I am, and we almost never have the same day free). If she can't get together, I'll putter around the house a bit getting laundry done or filling the bird feeders or prepping a really basic meal, but I'm still tired and won't put myself out too much.

Reading: In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf, The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten and Water, water by Billy Collins

Listening: "Workingman's Dead" by Grateful Dead

Watching: nothing

Crafting: making steady progress on the baby blanket

Kirkus Reviews puts out their best books of the century so far, including both fiction and nonfiction, teen, middle grade, and picture books. I haven't look at the lists in their entirety yet, but I like the variety on the adult fiction one, which includes genre fiction and graphic novels.

>164 bell7: Oo, that one sounds interesting. Adding it to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Mary!

>174 bell7: Nice stats! I'm pleased with the variety of books, genres, topics, fiction and nonfiction, and how many non-U.S. authors I read this month. Very nice!

>180 bell7: I will be curious to see what you thought of In the Realms of Gold. Did you have a clear favorite among the five short stories? I did :)

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday!

>182 alcottacre: Thanks for stopping by, Stasia. I hope you enjoy Taiwan Travelogue when you get to it. The stats were fun to put together, and I've been pleased with my international reading so far (reading all the Victoria Goddard books has been a huge help towards that!). I give In the Realms of Gold four stars, and hadn't really thought about favorites, but having looked at your comments, I agree that the one about Will was weakest. I think I would give the edge to Scheherazade's story, though I did like Puck's too. And Tyler was a character kinda out of nowhere, it would be interesting if he turns up again somewhere.

>183 bell7: I gave In the Realm of Gold 4 stars as well. Scheherazade was a close second for me, so it looks like we are in agreement on those two. I would not be surprised in the least if Tyler shows up again!

>152 bell7: I had to laugh when you posted that you'd taken time off to get caught up at home only to have your brain veto that idea. That sounds so familiar!

>181 bell7: It's the quarter-century mark so it's obviously time to get the listmaking going. I'm looking at the 1925 lists...next to nothing is still discussed. (At least from The Saturday Review's lists.) Instructive, that.

Thursday orisons, Mary!

Good morning, Mary! I just read on Joe's thread that your men's March Madness thread is completely busted. When I was working I participated in a pay-to-play, winner take all men's tournament challenge hosted by two members of the Children's cardiology department, but that is no longer possible for me. I've wondered if there would be enough interest to set up a tournament challenge group in LibraryThing, through ESPN, CBS, Sports Illustrated or some other site where participants could register for free, but I came to the conclusion that there wouldn't be enough interest—unless such a group already exists. My ESPN bracket is perfect at this point, as I made the boring and, for me, unusual decision to choose all four #1 teams to make the Final Four. I chose Florida to beat Duke in the national championship game, but the Blue Devils look unbeatable at the moment.

>184 alcottacre: We seem to agree so much on various titles, Stasia, that I'd probably be more surprised if our takes were wildly different :)

>185 Familyhistorian: Yeah, I figured at least someone would relate! I did end up getting things done, but it took me a little longer than expected to get going.

>186 richardderus: I'm looking at the 1925 lists...next to nothing is still discussed. (At least from The Saturday Review's lists.) Instructive, that.
I think it's a little hard to truly pick the stories that have staying power because we're so wrapped up in what concerns us most right now. Plus, the popular books just have more copies out there and it's harder to lose them all haha. But I think it's an interesting conversation starter - what books do you agree with? What would you add? What have you read, want to read, or will never read? So I find them valuable in that sense.

>187 kidzdoc: My family made a private group on ESPN and used it to go against each other, rather than pay to play or win any money. We could each add 2 brackets to the group. I would hop on to an LT group if you ever made one, though I don't know who else might. My youngest sister also picked all the #1 teams to be in the final four, and the only question is which bracket of hers will win, the one with Duke going all the way or the one with Auburn? Though I think you're right about Duke. On the women's side, ESPN picks my brother to have the greatest statistical chance of winning, but if both UConn and South Carolina get to the final AND UConn wins it all, I will manage a come from behind victory. Actually, there's a few of us still in that one (my brother R., his girlfriend, my SIL and me), so it'll be fun to watch what happens.

28. In the Realms of Gold: Five Tales of Ysthar by Victoria Goddard
Why now? Continuing the read-through of all the Nine Worlds books/stories with Stasia, this was our pick for April

29. In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf
Why now? We had a "Blind Date with a Book" display at the library where I work, and this was my pick, yes, back in February

>188 bell7: I did a quick search to see if there were any March Madness or NCAA Tournament groups or tags on LibraryThing yesterday, but there were none. I haven't played alongside anyone in my family, as there aren't many of us and if they follow sports at all it's usually professional teams. The wife of a close cousin of mine received her bachelor's degree from UConn, but she doesn't follow their basketball teams.

College sports seem to be far more popular in the Deep South than the Northeast, and casual conversations while I was working in Atlanta frequently revolved around football, due especially to the success of UGA, the University of Georgia, in recent years.

I'm not optimistic that there would be enough interest to create a March Madness thread on LibraryThing, but I would love to be proven wrong.

>191 kidzdoc: I don't follow basketball or college sports except for March Madness, oddly enough. It was a fun thing we did as kids (we'd print out the brackets and write them out) and we kinda kept up the tradition because *some* of us are competitive haha. My brother R. is a huge fan of Notre Dame football, and that's about it for college sports.

You're probably right that a whole thread/group on LT would get slim notice. But making a group in ESPN for brackets would be very doable and I might try it next year if there's any interest (it'd be free and bragging rights for the winner, as I'm not organizing stuff with $$ on the line!). Though I'll see how busy I am with kids/job then before I make any promises.

TGIF! I had thought about going to the gym today, but I was still a little sore from Tuesday, so I'm putting it off 'til tomorrow, which is supposed to be a rainy blah day anyway.

I worked 9-5, then made white bean and spinach quesadillas for dinner, and did a little bit of tidying. I'm looking forward to a quiet night at home, and will read or knit as the mood takes me. Tomorrow is my first Saturday free of classes! I'm going to fill out one more form that I need to turn in to the social worker, go to the gym, and do some cooking, but I'm looking forward to a pretty low-key weekend.

Reading: The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten, Water, water by Billy Collins, and Where the Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan

Listening: "Abraxas" by Santana

Crafting: hoping to work on the baby blanket a bit more today

Happy Friday, Mary. Back from our epic trip and slowly trying to catch up with my LT buddies. I loved those early albums by both The Grateful Dead and Santana. Such an inventive and explosive time in music. Enjoy!

>194 msf59: Glad you're getting caught up after your wonderful trip! I've enjoyed seeing the photos on your thread. The Grateful Dead surprised me, somehow I expected really hard rock but a couple of songs had a banjo on them, which was unexpected. And I'm really enjoying the Santana album.

>192 bell7: I am a fan of college sports, as I did attend football and basketball games when I was an undergraduate student at Rutgers, and I would occasionally peek in on men's basketball games when I was a medical student at Pitt on nights when I drove to campus and parked in the lot above Fitzgerald Field House on Cardiac Hill (if you've ever visited Pittsburgh, and especially the Pitt campus, you'll have seen that the upper campus lies on a very steep hill).

As I may have alluded to, many if most adults in the Deep South are rabid college football fans, but they support their alma maters or the state teams where they reside (e.g. UGA, Alabama and Florida). This was an unusual season in that so many teams in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) were nationally ranked, and two of them, Auburn and Florida, made this year's men's Final Four.

I'm watching the Texas-South Carolina game now, the first of the two women's Final Four games now. I'll be rooting for the Gamecocks, as their coach, Dawn Staley, is from Philadelphia.

>196 kidzdoc: that's a really interesting observation about both regions of the country following college sports and that it tends to be alma mater. That makes sense, though I don't follow UMass sports, for example, I was very happy to say I shared a school with Victor Cruz when he played for the Giants. I'm also going for South Carolina and watching the game, but it's because I need them to win AND UConn to win it all if I'm going to win any of the family brackets.

By the way, I can't remember if I've already told you, but my nephew is also a huge Eagles fan. He lives in the DC metro area but loves the city of Philadelphia so has struck out on his own in a family full of Giants fans (and his father is a casual Commanders fan).

>197 bell7: Good morning, Mary! Well, your wish was granted, as UConn and South Carolina will meet for the women's national championship tomorrow night. On the men's side I have Florida beating Auburn and Duke beating Houston tonight, with Florida beating Duke in Monday's national championship game.

My time at Rutgers overlapped with that of Sue Wicks, who was a three time All-American basketball player and a long time member of the WNBA's New York Liberty. I saw more of their games than any of the other teams at Rutgers, as they battled Penn State for women's basketball supremacy in the East, in the days before Geno Auriemma arrived on the scene at UConn. (ETA: Google tells me that Geno started coaching at UConn in 1985, but it took a few years for his team to become a power in the East.)

I like your nephew already!

Have a fabulous, low-key weekend, Mary. Are you still knitting socks or is the baby blanket getting more attention?

>198 kidzdoc: Indeed, it all comes down to my brother R's bracket and mine in the final on Sunday! I'll be watching...

That's pretty neat about Rutgers, and I can see how watching a good team with a good player while you attended would impact following the sport. When I watched UConn, they had Rebecca Lobo playing for them and if I had to "go" for a team, it would still be them. Good luck with your men's bracket! I think a Florida/Duke final looks pretty likely, and I'll most likely have the games on in the background while I read tonight.

>199 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I finished the caregiver assessment, which was a LOT, and am about to do a dump run. The baby blanket is definitely getting more attention, it's fast and satisfying and I got a little tired of cables with the first sock haha. But I'm sure I'll complete the pair in short order, especially since I'm over the halfway point with the blanket.

>200 bell7: Right, Mary. I paid no attention to women's sports until I enrolled at Rutgers and read about Sue Wicks in the campus newspaper. The men were pretty awful except for my senior year, and I went to far fewer of their games while I was a student there.

Given that there are four number 1 seeds in the men's Final Four any team could conceivably win the national championship, but Duke has a decided edge in the talent it has on its roster. I only watched the first quarter of the South Carolina-Texas game last night, but I'll have sports on in the background most of the day, as the 6-1 Phillies will host the 8-1 Dodgers again this afternoon. I am enjoying my current read, Leo Africanus by the Lebanese author Amin Maalouf, and I would like to make some good progress in it this weekend, as I'm leading the second quarter theme on the Levant region in the Reading Globally group on LibraryThing and I have plenty of books I want to get to over the coming months.

>201 kidzdoc: I hope you enjoy the Phillies game. I paid attention to the Red Sox when I was in college, as one of my friends was a huge fan, but I've dropped off watching in the last couple of years, as games are slow and I don't have cable to watch most of it. I do go in person semi-regularly, though not in the last year, and when I do I keep score to help myself pay attention.

I'm glad you're continuing to enjoy your reading. Leo Africanus sounds interesting, and I'll look forward to your thoughts on it.

Happy Saturday!

My biggest goal of the day was to fill out one more bit of paperwork for the foster care process - a rather involved Caregiver Assessment that took me over an hour and was mentally tiring answering a bunch of in-depth questions. I have turned it in, though, and hope that means things will progress soon with interviews and home visits. I still need to get a smoke detector for the basement, but it's ordered and hopefully will be here soon.

After emailing that to the social worker, I went to the dump, had lunch, finished a book, and went to the gym. I'm now showered and ready to relax a bit before getting myself fed. I was going to cook and I was going to apply for the director position, but I'm tired and I'm scaling back to getting take out and writing the cover letter sometime this weekend.

Reading: The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten and Water, water by Billy Collins

Listening: "Abraxas" by Santana

Watching: NCAA Final Four games

Crafting: baby blanket

30. Where the Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan
Why now? I've liked other books I've read by the author, and saw that someone was reading it for a TIOLI challenge last month; I didn't get to it to make it a shared read, but I fit it in a different challenge this month

>188 bell7: We seem to agree so much on various titles, Stasia, that I'd probably be more surprised if our takes were wildly different :) Very true!

>189 bell7: I wonder if we can bribe Goddard to write faster?

>203 bell7: I am starting The Foxglove King tonight I think, one I picked up based on your recommendation. I hope that you enjoy the second book in the series as much as you did the first.

>204 bell7: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Mary!

>205 alcottacre: I just bought The Glassblower which is also set in Ysthar. I can't remember what we were planning to read in May. But we may just find ourselves rereading some favorites if we need to start waiting for new stories. I hope you enjoy The Foxglove King, I'll look forward to your thoughts. The Hemlock Queen has started off a little slow for me, but it's been over two years since I read the first book, and I think I've lost some of the urgency that I'd feel if I'd read them closer together. Hopefully it will pick up for me! And I hope you enjoy Where the Heart Should Be.

31. Water, water by Billy Collins
Why now? Billy Collins is one of the few authors of poetry I will purposely seek out, so I borrowed the book on Kindle when I learned it existed and, happy accident, read it in National Poetry Month

>204 bell7: *shudder*
In this novel in verse
*flees shrieking*

>207 bell7: Songs are Poetry with Music!

>208 richardderus: sorry! Next book is prose *smooch*

>209 m.belljackson: true enough, though I tend to hear the music first and have to read the words to get them all.

>207 bell7: One of the most accessible and reliable of American poets for sure, Mary.
Unlike RD, you won't set me to my heels by including plenty of "poultry".

>211 PaulCranswick: Nice to see you, Paul! I have one more poetry book planned for April. My book discussion group chose Devotions by Mary Oliver, and I just started today so I may find myself rushing a bit to finish it on time...

32. Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
Why now? I actually put this on my TBR list a year or so ago after seeing it in my book emails at work, but forgot and grabbed in when we got it new at the library because I liked the sound of the description. Read it today because I knew it would be fast, and I could whittle down the library stack, thus making me less stressed.

If you are running short of new, or even re-reads, of Victoria Goddard's books you might consider Tuyo and other Rachel Neumeier books in that world. It's a good bit closer to the ground, but features close up and personal views of interesting and appealing characters, and there are nasty villains. That they are only available through Amazon could be and issue.

Sunday orisons, Mary. I'm gearing up for a short trip out into the drizzle to accomplish small but needed tasks; I do not wish to do them; therefore I am fiddlefartin' around with more notes on less-loved reads to avoid it and still feel productive.

>214 quondame: Thanks for the recommendation, Susan! Always good to have plenty of books to choose from.

>215 richardderus: I can completely relate to doing something else to feel productive, but hope you were able to at least get the needed tasks completed in the end. *smooch*

Happy Monday, all!

Yesterday I had toddler nursery, which was fun, and then went home for the afternoon. I applied for the director job (it is still open for some weeks, so I won't be hearing anything until later in the month or even early May, depending) and cooked a meal to have lunches at work for the next couple of days. I made the bread, as per usual, and brought it to small group. I had the women's NCAA final on in the background during all this, and with UConn winning the national championship, I also won the family bracket in a come-from-behind victory over my brother. So that was fun! It was a busier day than I tend to like Sundays to be, but doing what I did will make it so the weekdays aren't quite so jam-packed over the next few days.

Today I'm working 9-2, if we get a break in the rain I will walk with a friend, and then I have yoga tonight. Leftover quesadillas for dinner tonight.

Reading: The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver, and A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi

Listening: "Deja vu" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Watching: NCAA tournament

Crafting: baby blanket

>217 bell7: OMIGAWSH

Deja Vu has so many of my very favorite songs ever, and certainly from the 70s! I'll really look forward to hearing how it hits someone not even born when it came out.

Leftover quesadillas sound excellent compared to the tediously kosher slop we're getting tonight. I've already forgotten what it even is. Since I like this places quesadillas, it's not those.

My second review for today is of a book I think you might enjoy, a Gothic novel set in Africa...some gorgeous writing. Coming quite soon....

xo

>218 richardderus: I really enjoyed Deja Vu, it's an album I would listen to again as a whole.

I have a great recipe for white bean and spinach quesadillas. A couple of days ago, I made the filling, popped it in a couple of tortillas and left them all in the fridge. I've been getting each one out to cook it in oil (nice and crispy that way) for dinner the last couple of nights. I'm out of them, though, so cooking tomorrow.

I shall check out your thread. Thank you for the mention!

>219 bell7: Mushroom and onion quesadillas are my own favorite ones, though I'd be pleased to try your filling. It sounds pretty lush.

I'll see you over there!

The listening report -

"Workingman's Dead" - The Grateful Dead
I'd never listened to a Grateful Dead album in its entirety, and expected a very hard rock album. This was not that. In fact, it was sometimes country-rock and there was at least one song with a banjo. That being said, it wasn't entirely to my taste either, and I didn't save any songs to my playlist. They had another album from 1970, though, so I'll be checking more out soon. Brett Schewitz's review points out that they really changed direction with this album, so I feel a little better about my expectations being upended. #409 on the list

"Abraxas" - Santana
Now I understand why my parents were commenting on Santana still playing when an album came out in 1999. This was different from what I typically listen to, and I loved the blend of instruments. The one thing I had a little difficulty in the car was telling one song from another and picking out favorites, so I'm planning on listening to it again at home before returning to the library and adding songs to my playlist. Brett Schewitz's comments include a story from Woodstock. #334 on the list

"Deja vu" - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
I enjoyed the sound of this very much and would listen to the full album again. My favorite songs were "Teach Your Children" (oddly enough, the first time I heard this was several years ago at a family "jam" at my grandparents' house) and "Our House". I was wracking my brain for why "freak flag fly" sounded familiar as a phrase (in "Almost Cut My Hair") and it turns out that it was from earlier in this project when I listened to "Axis: Bold as Love" by Jimi Hendrix - which according to Wikipedia is where that phrase originated. So there you go, a little etymology with the music comments. The harmonies, incidentally, are fantastic. Brett Schewitz breaks it down further.

I'm breaking from my regular listening to go with a 2025 listen, "For melancholy brunettes (& sad women)" by Japanese Breakfast, which Ursula mentioned on her thread. Happily my library had it, so I started it today.

>220 richardderus: Mushroom and onion also sounds delicious! Is there a particular type of cheese you prefer to use with that? You are welcome any time :) Here's the recipe from Budget Bytes.

>222 bell7: The dacility uses mild cheddar, but I prefer Monterey jack and/or very sharp cheddar. I also prefer to use rosemary oil...a couple branches of fresh rosemary steeped a couple weeks in the oil prior to use.

>223 richardderus: Mmmm, I like the sound of that. I bet the rosemary infused oil tastes really good with the mushrooms, too.

>224 bell7: Mushrooms, onions, and GArlic are all best sauteed in rosemary oil. Tarragon and chervil do wonders for salad oil.