2025-2 Susan (quondame) Resumes Reading

I've been feeling like an airBnB for viruses most of this year and today I'm cleaning up after the last unruly guests so I'm just going to do a repeat of my Q1 intro:

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

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

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

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

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

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

January’s Book is:
The Monsters We Defy

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

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

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

February's book, Everfair was interesting but didn't really click with me.

March's Each of Us a Desert seems though more sparse, seems deeper.

April's The King is Dead is now on my kindle.
This one is a winner!

May's Even Though I Knew the End is on Hoopla and I think is KindleUnlimited. As it's short we are also reading The City in Glass

250424
I've wrote over 2600 words of my fic, some parts of scenes and a sever scattered bits and character notes which feed into those scenes.

250515

865 of an AU followup of TMWYHBT as a side story to my fix for CYH. It turns out there was some trauma for Kip.

250517

Minus 113 words, Plus 677. So 564 to the credit side.

250518

Plus 595.

250527

685 On a different view of the Colhélhé episode - the housekeeper. Currently unnamed.

250531

200 words of Shine on Your Own, which I will probably toss, but hold the place for the idea. Finally an non-CYH related fic!

250626

1229 words Between Amanu and Kip
400-600 of which were from the 24th&25th, but much re-written on the 26th.

As of 6/30/2025

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

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

Books I'm currently reading:

Middlemarch

===========

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

I have these books checked out of the Library as of 6/30/2025

An Academy for Liars
After Long Silence
Bloodchild
Bound to Please
The Case of Cem
Dear Wendy
The Everything Box
Equal Rites
The Fedgling
For the Good of All, Do Not Destroy the Birds
Geometries of Belonging
The Golden Thread
Her other mouths
The House of Rust
I Cheerfully Refuse
I Who Have Never Known Men
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
Into the Drowning Deep
The Knowing
The Last Sun
The Latina anti-diet
The Lions of Al-Rassan
The Map Thief
Masks and Shadows
The Middle Kingdoms
My Darling Dreadful Thing
Night of the Living Rez
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands
Nightwatch over Windscar
Nobody's Fool
Ocean's Godori
One of Our Kind
The Other Side of Disappearing
Passiontide
Perfume and Pain
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
Reign to Ruin
Return to Nevèrÿon
The Spear Cuts Through Water
The Tenfold Tenants
The theory of flight
Thief's Magic
This All Come Back Now
Time Is a Mother
Wheel of the Infinite
When the Tides Held the Moon

For a new quarter, a newly extracted list, which is, well, pretty much the same as last month's list.

Acquisitions for 2025.

250101 Beauty
250104 Memory
250122 The Charm Offensive
250125 Niccolò Rising
250201 The Orb of Cairado
250221 Soul Music
250221 Maskerade
250221 Night Watch
250221 The Fifth Element
250221 Going Postal
250221 Thud
250221 Making Money
250223 Witness for the Dead
250226 Virginia Woolf: The Complete Works
250215 The Grief of Stones
250215 The Tomb of Dragons
250320 Point of Hearts
250322 The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal
250327 Black Wolves
250401 The King Is Dead
250412 Tiffany Aching Complete 5-Book Collection
250416 Drum into Silence
250425 Scenes from the City
250501 Even Though I Knew the End
250520 The Lost Bookshop
250525 Double Life
250601 The Alchemist
250602 Marag
250602 Rihasi
250603 Suelen
250608 Giovanni’s Room
250610 The Witch Roads
250620 All the Broken Blades
250628 Middlemarch: Annotated

Italic is for Kindle Unlimited - I may no longer have this on my Kindle.
Bold is for titles new to me - the other's I bought because I want them on my Kindle.

Yup?! : ) Happy new thread!! Love the topper pillows.

>6 Berly: Welcome and thank you!

While I was replying there were 2 messages with #5, confusing. All better now.

>1 quondame: I love the opening beautiful images!

Happy new thread, dear Susan.

>1 quondame: I would happily buy those!

66) The Bookbinder

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

67) Heat x Beat

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book whose title/subtitle includes any of these three-letter combinations: JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC

68) Summer Green to Autumn Gold

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book whose author has a name in the top 10 most popular baby names from the last five years

69) Nikoles

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #19: Read a book that you intended to read in the First Quarter of 2025

>8 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda!

>9 PaulCranswick: Welcome Paul!

They are for sale, though not by me. I liked the images, but was pretty sure the products were too artificial fiber heavy for my taste.

Happy new thread Susan!

Happy new one, Susan!

Happy New Thread!

Happy new thread! I love those pillows in your top post.

Hi D Ho, Susan. Hey, if you see your brother Eric, tell him Weird_O admired his book. It was very good. To me, it's a warning about Russia, the KGB, and their persistence, ringing through the decades to the present day. And here we are...

>1 quondame: it wasn’t voluntary, though I came to appreciate it That sounds very familiar :)

>10 quondame: I am hoping to get to that one next month. I hope I like it as much as you did, Susan!

>13 quondame: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation!

Happy new thread! I certainly hope that I keep up with this one better than I did the last one.

>19 weird_O: I sure will! It is his best book so far. He's not happy about The Shadow of Time which, even with all my suggestions ;), did not improve enough to get any attention.

In a way I think it's more a warning about not taking any enemy and their skills seriously and about the failures caused by lack of self evaluation and inter-agency competitions.
I suspect there have been failures and deaths due to information leaks, and I'm also pretty sure that the stakes are rarely anywhere close to what gets put into thrillers. While we shouldn't ever underestimate our enemies/competitors, their capacity to mess up is probably just as high as ours.

>20 alcottacre: I jumped right into a re-read of Tuyo and have now started Tarashana with no ulterior motive (TIOLI) at all.

70) Those Who Hold the Fire



Kip has learned the lays and dances and the forms of patience he must hold to be a taná, though his failure to dive for a flame pearl has shaken him, and at 13, the strength of his desire pushes him toward perfection. Now he seeks to win the obsidian pendant to center his efela ko. We get snips of Kip's life outside his house in Tahivoa, the barber shop, and the house of Saya Dorn, and what seems like rather a lot of young, impatient earnestness from Kip for such a short story.

Re-read for April TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book whose title includes one of the 5 “Ws” – Who, What, When, Where and Why

71) Tuyo



A tuyo is a young man left to appease a victorious army and signal a commitment to end current hostilities.
This is an adventure featuring a 19-year-old nomadic warrior. The book is also a deep delve into trust and the ethics of power, pitting two powerful sorcerers against each other. The protagonist is on the squeaky clean side, and I'm not a fan of the emphasis on giving/accepting physical blows as discipline and dispute settling, but that seems to fit the culture of the nomads. The world is definitely not quite fantasy standard geography, seemingly banded into north steppe, grading to middle savanna to southern desert with jackal-headed inhabitants.
The moon and sun seem to have some agency in their movements.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book that names a flower or garden in the fourth chapter

72) Tuyo



The penalty for assassinating or attempting to assassinate a scepter holder is a gruesome death of all family to the 3rd degree. Aras is faced with having to do this, and when a request comes from Ryo's family in the Winterlands to attempt communication with the lone survivor of the Tarashana, he does not regret leaving a difficult situation behind. He and Ryo face even more difficult situations.
This sequel builds on the features and issues of the first book in a lively and engrossing manner.

May meet April TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book with a supernatural creature in the title or author's name

Happy New Thread, Susan. Happy Saturday. Just checking in after our epic trip. I hope all is well.

Happy new thread! Love the book-themed pillows/quilt in your thread topper. I bought a book-themed decorative birdhouse this week -- just couldn't resist.

>25 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Your vacation looked amazing.

>26 foggidawn: Thanks, Foggi! A bird library!

I'm halfway through the Discord book club read The King is Dead, and finding it a very good read. But now I have to put it down for a week so as not to get ahead. This hasn't been much of a problem for other book club choices, but this one is a Good Read.
I had to buy an e-copy, it wasn't expensive, and it isn't very available otherwise.

Happy New Thread, Susan. I am a bit late, but have been busy with our grandkids, a BBQ yesterday, reading and of course, Muffin. I always love your toppers.

>29 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah! That sounds very busy indeed.

73) Ardently

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book written by Jane Austen, about Austen, or a literary homage

74) The Faithless Hawk

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #2: The "Ya Gotta Have Faith" Challenge: Read a book with the word/name 'Faith' in either the book's title or the author's name

75) The Butcher of the Forest

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book written by a Canadian Author published after 2010

I finally went to the new dentist. Of course she recommended deep cleaning. And laser something. I signed a waiver. The cleaning wasn't a problem, but I'm not used to the hygienist having an assistant who is also hovering over me.
Maybe this dentist won't do for Becky, she has major personal space issues.

Then I had a video appt with the psychologist who use a filter. Is that ever creepy. I stared at the little green camera light the whole session. I much prefer phone only, but I think even video may be pushing Medicare rules.

Now I just have to go to the Kaiser pharmacy to pick up drugs and the Kaiser app has timing issues. I logged on for the video call, and though it had logged me off, the login part still thought I was connected and bounced me. Tomorrow is another day.

76) Keraunani

I just meant to read a bit and had a hard time putting it down.

I never enjoy going to the dentist, Susan, but I go. I am used to a deep cleaning, but I wonder what the laser thing is? So you don't see the psychologist, just a green light ? That would be creepy!

>36 vancouverdeb: Oh, the green light was just the camera, the image was so processed that his face looked like plastic. Eerie valley. Up after the first couple of pre-covid office visits it's been voice only.

A week ago I suggested to Mike and Becky that they might make a family dinner once a week or so. Mostly we all fend for ourselves, but often as not make something that if the quantity were increase would do for all of us. Becky did not interpret it that way this week - she went for baked potatoes. I did the sautéed mushrooms, bacon bits, and scallions, she did grated cheese and chili. They were a success.

Help! I've fallen into the Rachel Neumeier's Tuyo verse and don't want to leave!

>34 quondame: I am a little sensitive on such things too, Susan. At least you got the thing done and out of the way.

>37 quondame: Great, a new series to look into...

>38 PaulCranswick: There's that. Also if a dental emergency does come up, there are recent X-rays very close by.

>39 foggidawn: The main series, Tuyo, Tarashana, and Tasmakat of the main sequence are all good, absorbing reads. As were Nikoles and Keraunani. Tano, as a more conventional, young outsider proves himself narrative, lost my interest and I skipped the middle section. The world is harsher than Lays of the Hearth-Fire, but the agreeable characters and the story flow are similar.

Coincidentally, I just took my younger son to the dentist yesterday. I thought I was due for a filling but as my usual dentist was away, she said it was borderline and could just be watched.

On the other hand my son, despite my trying to inculcate good dental hygiene to prevent such things, did need a filling but it was close to the surface so he didn't need to have an injection (actually, she gave us the choice and I thought it was better to get it now than allow it to get worse before treating it - when he would probably have needed injections). When I think of the tortures we went through when we were young - I think we even had injections for our baby teeth! My sister said, the other day, that maybe our dentist of the time was experimenting on us.

In fact, though my son could improve on his maintenance, I seem to be overdoing it and wearing away the enamel at the gum-line. I'm overcompensating now, when it's too late 🤗

>41 humouress: It's frustrating when we have learned how important maintenance is, that we can't impart the urgent necessities to our dependents. Or, even, always act on them ourselves! My daughter hasn't internalized my understanding that yoga is something she will always be happy to have practiced. But she does, and has, consistently kept up other physical activities, whereas I haven't.

77) Tasmakar

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book that names a flower or garden in the fourth chapter

78) The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book whose title or author's name includes a word with a "y" somewhere in the middle of the word

Well done for getting the dentist’s visit ours of the way. I’m due for a visit before summer, but I have to get myself to the optician’s first. And I need a haircut. Sigh.
I’m blessed that dentist appointments have never bothered me, and I’ve only ever had two cavities (in my early teens).

>45 PawsforThought: Thanks. I don't mind dentists appointments really, I do not like that at a practice I trusted for 40+ years, the new dentist immediately suggested deep cleaning, which when I asked the old dentist (he's younger than I am, I started with his father) he only lamely encouraged.
I've had many, many cavities - the family history is one of major dental problems. I have never had a tooth ache, and have all 32 teeth as they grew in. A large jaw and small teeth account for that.
I don't expect to keep them all another 10 years, but I may have a stroke well before that. That is the family history as well.

79) Wolfbane



This repulsively occluded crystal of a book is not about werewolves of the transform-into-canine sort, but about human wolves who are a bane almost 300 years into a future earth rent from the solar system on which humans have devolved not into savagery but into an ultra-civilized society, the formalities of which would make Genji's court look like yahoos. The climax is near perfect, the ending a disagreeable muddle.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book with a title that consists of a single compound word

80) This Year's Midnight .75

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book that names a flower or garden in the fourth chapter

>46 quondame: Hm, I hope the new dentist had good reasons for suggesting the deep clean, but sadly it's easy to assume it was for financial gain.
That's great that you've been able to keep all your teeth - not many people can say that.

Congrats on zipping past the goal!

>49 PawsforThought: My tooth retention is surely at least as much luck as good behavior. At least during my adulthood I went regularly to the dentist and got fillings and crowns as directed.

>50 drneutron: Thank you, Jim!

81) Four Squares

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book with a word from the name of a cereal advertising mascot in the title or author's name

It's amusing that the Squares are almost immediately brought up in the context of an advertising campaign for breakfast cereal. That "Four Squares" is the title of a book within the book, in which it refers 4 NYC Greenwich Village squares, is a later development.

>22 quondame: I could re-read Goddard's books repeatedly, I think!

>23 quondame: Already in the BlackHole or I would add it again.

>24 quondame: >35 quondame: >43 quondame: Good to know that the series continues to be good!

>44 quondame: Sounds like a Jodi Taylor book that I can safely skip!

>52 quondame: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Susan!

I hope all goes well for you with the dentist!

>53 alcottacre: Well, as I have re-read some Victoria Goddard's books half a dozen times, I don't doubt.

Well, as to the dentist, I'll give her and the practice a couple of years if it is as acceptable as it was that visit.

82) Of Absence, Darkness

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #18: Read a book with a game in the title

Congrats on reading 78 books!

>56 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Figs!

83) Paladin of Souls

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book that was a winner or finalist for the Nebula Awards between 2001 and 2025 (list the year and category)

84) As Shadow, A Light

85) Enemies at Home

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book (fiction or non-fiction) set before 1000 CE

I've finally, after four tries, Pearl Ruled The Book of M. An Alzheimer's apocalypse as presented is repulsive and boring.

86) The Ministry of Time .25

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book nominated for the Women's Prize

Today I attended an Easter party at a friend's home. They had a lovely new patio and if the planned landscaping was only in its early slash and burn stage, it made a good canvas for an overwhelming number of colorful plastic eggs. In each egg was a large holed bead and small candies. These beads, placed on a threaded rod - about 1/8" diameter - and topped with a 1.25" faceted "jewel" allowed the egg hunters to design a delightful variety of magic wands.
It was good to see old friends, and I hope that, as I only spent time outdoors with 3-5 of them and none of them were coughing or had runny noses, that now I have finished my own hacking and coughing from March's virus, I won't have another. But I probably will.

>62 quondame: Glad to see someone else who didn't absolutely love The Ministry of Time. I don't understand why it's had quite so much praise.

>61 quondame: If you gave it 4 tries, you gave it 3 more than I would have, lol. It sounds (IMHO) awful. I hope you find something more to your taste soon, Susan!

>62 quondame: Dodging that BB as I have already read it. I liked it slightly more than you did and am hopeful that Bradley writes a better book for her follow up.

>63 quondame: I hope that you can survive the party - it sounds fun! - without any of the various viruses getting to you!

>64 SandDune: Different strokes, right? I always think it is good that we do not all like the same thing!

Have a marvelous Monday, Susan!

>64 SandDune: tMIT certainly didn't offer what I enjoy in a book If I want to spend time holed up with a depressive in a t-shirt, I can pull my nose out of a book.

>65 alcottacre: Someone from the party emailed asking for the title of the book I was going on about. (>67 quondame:), which I count as a win!

87) The King is Dead

Read for the Discord HOTE April Book Club.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book with a word from the name of a cereal advertising mascot in the title or author's name (list mascot and cereal)

Congratulations on reaching 75 and 83 books so early in the year, Susan. I must admit I have not been interesting in read The Ministry of Time.

>68 vancouverdeb: It definitely has the feel of being written by someone who hasn't read enough SF to know what not to repeatbeat to a pulp.

Oh gosh, it didn't click. Congratulations on beating the 75 book challenge!

>70 humouress: Thank you, Nina!

88) Oleander Girl

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book whose title mentions poison or a treatment for poison

I haven't completed a book today and the ones I'm reading are short. I have been busy, for me, this week. Tue/Wed/Thurs. I took Becky to work about 10 and picked her up about 6.

On Tue. I dropped books at the library and helped take Aspen to the vet for yet another set of vaccines.

On Wed, I went out early for coffee, and in the afternoon I dropped books at one library, went to the deli, dropped off and picked up books at another library.

Today I got donuts. It's because the carrot cake I was hoping would wait for me in the fridge, went off with someone else.

And I've been writing on my fic, so I feel good about that.

O faithless carrot cake, going off with the first sweet-talker to come by! :-D

>74 foggidawn: It was the good stuff too, from Brent's Deli, 40 min away, min.

89) The Forbidden Book

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with the work "book" in the title or images of books

Today I decided that Becky and I needed to go by Mitsuwa market and pick up sushi. And she agreed with me, saying that while she didn't have much appetite and had been having anxiety induced stomach pains, sushi sounded good and she could save any extra for later in the day.
She ate all of her selections, and a sample from each of mine. The Himachi was great today.
We also loaded up on the crackers we like. I still haven't found those sesame disk cookies.

Well one of the varieties of cracker were shrimp chips. The were wasabi flavored, making my afternoon that much more adventurous.
Catching my hair in the yarn swift was another episode.

90) Scenes from the City An Astreianter Chapbook

This is exactly as advertised in the title. It works well. Little motes of plot, flourishes of character, are tasty delights. More please.

This is made available online to Melissa Scott's Patreon supporters.

91) Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book about nature

92) Point of Hearts

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book with a title of 3 or more single syllable words, no initial a, an, or the

93) The River has Roots

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book that has a word in the title that is also an authors name

94) Diviner's Bow

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #5: May-Ja Vu - Re-read a book, or read an author you've previously read

This morning was dedicated to an outing at the Acadamy (of Motion Pictures) Museum with friends from our SF community. I lasted at the exhibits for about 1.5 hrs. Lots of them involve moving pictures/lights, which is expected, but I gets me overstimulated rather quickly.

My favorite exhibit was a high relief map of the LA area, looking from north of Long Beach toward Studio City. Projected up onto the relief was a map that tracked studio developments and major entertainment landmarks from 1900-1930, very slow to start and fast from 1925-1930 with too fast to track after that to the present. I love maps, and it was fun seeing LA slowly begin a caterpillar crawl toward modern shape.

This afternoon, Gizmo provided entertainment by carrying a dead squirrel upstairs to brandish in front of Mike.

Oh no, a dead squirrel from Gizmo. My mom used to get a dead birds at my parents bedside when I was young. I am not sure why she favoured my mom over my dad and siblings, but I am glad she did. Sounds like a great outing, Susan.

>85 vancouverdeb: The little furry people seem to know we'll like dead tribute. Fortunately, ours have had few opportunities to deliver.

95) Even Though I knew the End

Read for Discord HOTE May book club part I

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book you *really should* read now (and tell us why)

The dog our family had when I was little liked to bring in snakes as tribute. Not always dead ones. (As far as I know, none of them were venomous.)

>88 foggidawn: I'd have less of an issue with snakes - they don't host flees and ticks, do they?

96) Some by Virtue Fall

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book by or about someone who has been to prison

I'm feeling book grumpy. I DNF The Girl with No Reflection after about 150pgs too many. It got increasingly silly and very YA, not in a good way. Emperor's heir and bride running all over with no attendants and encountering no household members.

I tried 3 others that I wasn't in the mood for. 1 of them I may try again before too long.

I'm looking for a passage in one of the Lays of the Hearth-fire books. At some point Fitzroy spouts a sentence or two about utterly losing himself within the Emperor, but so far it has escaped my searches. I'm beginning to think I hallucinated it or it was fan-fic. Arrgh.

What movie was it where:
Also, what age of sailing ships(pre-1820) movie from mid-20th century had a (noble?) woman stow away and perish when the ship sank or was bombarded, screaming and leaving at least one survivor/attacker thinking it was the ship that screamed?

Hi Susan my dear, a belated Happy New Thread dear friend.

>93 johnsimpson: Thanks, John! I hope it's not too long before you have the energy and stamina to visit however you like!

As per >92 quondame:, I read through all the vaha scenes in ATFOTS and at 86%, as they are heading out to see whether an island is under the new star I found:

“You saw me, he whispered. “ I would have lost myself, Kip. I was so close to just letting myself float away. I don’t know what that would have been… the magic would have done something—perhaps it would have been a second self? Under torture people sometimes send part of themselves away, to protect it, and there’s another part that comes to the fore and is only … awake, I guess you could say, under those conditions, and it doesn’t always grow or change, and it’s not whole ….”

So that's it. Now I have to go rewatch all the old swashbucklers to find the movie!

That is not going to happen.

97) Dragon Pearl

I would probably have tossed this but

Finished for May TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book by an author who uses three (or more) names

A check of my 2025 books read revealed that I had double numbered and had, in fact, read 4 more books than my numbering indicated.
It's possible I've got it right this time..... for now.

97) Yes to Life

This isn't what I'd call inspirational so much as technically supportive of inspirational approaches. It is most successful in the arguments against any external assessment of someone else's life as worthless.

Meaning isn't one of my first-level facts in life, more secondary or tertiary, so the arguments that life has meaning, that suffering has meaning, and that the meaning is meaningful in more than the internal individual sense did not move me from my position that meaning isn't the purpose of life, life being its own entire purpose, and meaning ours to choose if it's one of the textures we want.

Also, if the choice of an individual to live with great suffering is valid, then her choice to die to skip that part should be too. Yes, if she's brought in salvageable condition to a physician, the physician's duty is to save her life rather than respect her choice.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book with a title of 3 or more single syllable words, no initial a, an, or the

Although the introduction seems designed, strangely, to put all but a minority of academic gamesmanship aficionados off, I am quite enjoying the text of Tales of Nevèrÿon. For something almost 50 years old, it is fresh and savory.
The Map Thief is good too, though as it is due tomorrow I'll have to see if I can check it out again, as it is not the sort of book I gobble up.
Flux has grown on me - it shares some of it's approach with Tales of Nevèrÿon, introducing characters individually before they meet. Though it does time jump.

I may have to go to urgent care or the dentist quite soon. I have pain in my upper left jaw, which may or may not have to do with a tooth. My X-rays a couple months back were clear, but I've had intermittent mild to very annoying pain in the area before that just went away leaving nothing for doctors or dentists to find. Well, tomorrow's tomorrow.

I hope you can into a dentist quickly if you need too, Susan . Dental pain is never good. My dentist can usually fit me in the same day if I am in pain. I hope the same goes for you. Take care.

>99 quondame: I remember seeing Tales of Nevèryon around but for some reason never picked it up. I'll see what you think of it when you finish it.

I hope your pain is resolved soon Susan.

>101 humouress: Hi Nina! Normally I'd make a second post with the review, but hey:

98) Tales of Nevèrÿon .25

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book where one of the main characters is a young person under the age of 21

>62 quondame: I think I had a similar rating when I read it. One of those books that you either love or don't

>87 quondame: I have to admit that so far everything I have read by Polk has been great.

Happy week ahead.

>103 figsfromthistle: I'll have to check out some more Polk.

>101 humouress: The pain has been noticeably lower each day since Saturday.

I had to trash Aspen's vet visit, but I'll be seeing the dentist tomorrow.

>102 quondame: >103 figsfromthistle: I'll see if I can find it on Overdrive and give it a go, then.

>104 quondame: I hope your visit to the dentist sorts things out.

>105 humouress: I hope you enjoy it. Delany always has a different angle of view and weights values more individually than any other fantasy/sf writer I've read.

I hope so too! I still have significant sensitivity, and am more dubious about it being tooth related, but I've got to have it checked.

99) The Rescuers

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book in honor of MrMorphy

100) Flux

99) What's In a Pile?

Considering my level of organization I'll count this as

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #3: The 'It's My Mother's Birthday Again!' Challenge: In honor of the woman who taught me to read when I was 3, read a book whose title includes a place you might find a book

So far May has been better than any other month this year for my fan fic. In that I've had several ideas and have written over 1300 words (>2 quondame:). Still, just the intro stuff for a story.

100) The City in Glass

Read for my The Hands of the Emperor Support Group Discord Server's May Book Club.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #5: May-Ja Vu - Re-read a book, or read an author you've previously read

101) Happiness

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book by/with/about joy

I was happy that my dentist's office moved my June 3 appt. for a crown replacement to today. That's now past tense, as 90+ minutes of drilling, chiseling, and gluing, are making themselves known on the left side of my face. Loudly.
On June 4, when my good friends come over for dinner I will probably be glad again, for all of this having been done 2 weeks before. Unless the temporary crown bugs out.

102) At the Feet of the Sun

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

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

Back a few weeks I started at 65% and read to the end, then about a week ago I started at the beginning, needing the feel of it in my mind. Not sure what I'll do for that in the next week, but for now it

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book where one of the main characters is in their old age

103) The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book by an author who is or has heritage from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives)

Hi Susan!

Lots of interesting books on your thread. Happiness caught my attention for example. Will have to check that one out.

>113 quondame: Oh yuck. Glad it’s past though, and I hope the dinner will be wonderful.

>116 EllaTim: I've found more interesting reads this month than absorbing or satisfying ones, but that's partly the mood I'm in. If there were 50 volumes of Lays of the Hearth-fire, I'd never come out in this mood.

104) The Crane Husband

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book by an author with a consecutive double letter in their name

I've enjoyed the first two Murderbot episodes. I'm not sure whether to go for the third as soon as Mike and I feel like it or to wait until we can do another two.

104) Navigational Entanglements

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book that has been nominated for a Hugo Award

I think it will be a day or 3 before I finish anything. I'm actively reading (not stopped in the midst of)
Alma Mater,
The Hymn to Dionysus, and
The Map Thief
which are all good, but my interest in southern womanhood, gay or straight, is not compelling,
the beats of this ancient Theban story are falling in a disconcerting fashion - though the humor, black and treacly, is a treat.
Meanwhile the discussion of maps and those who deal with them is thick.
But on we go....

105) The Hymn to Dionysus

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #5: May-Ja Vu - Re-read a book, or read an author you've previously read

106) Alma Mater

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book that includes any word for "mother" in either the title or the author's name

107) The Future of Another Timeline .25

BB from @bell7

I know it should get points for sisterhood and women's rights and all the intersectional aspects, but it just did not fly well for me. I prefer Shari Tepper's rants, and those aren't my favorites of her works.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book that has won at least one award from an author you have never read before and name the award

Today was, in this quiet corner, rather eventful. We went out to a folding party - our friends being fond of group activities - where paper, t-shirts, and tents were folded, but fitted sheets were not. I played around with some fancy printed paper and failed to produce a dog, produced a recognizable version of a cat, and located a piece of plain origami paper to remind myself that I do know how to make a crane. I do, but I also reminded myself that the surface on which you fold and the lighting make a difference.
I decided that I am a Terry Pratchett troll - I need to be air-conditioned to show signs of intelligence, and the afternoon was hot, the work tables outdoors. Even indoors wasn't cool enough. Though a friend brought some excellent pita chips.

Then Victoria Goddard had a Q&A session this afternoon, which I was able to join about 20 min in. There will be at least 2 new Nine Worlds books this year, very soon, Olive and the Dragon, a Greenwing & Dart prequel, and in December Bubble & Squeak, the 7th G&D novel.

Oh, and I found out a few days ago that a new Penric and Desdemona book, possibly The Adventure of the Demonic Ox will be out shortly - the cover needs to be made up and and some final editing done afaik.

>125 quondame: Ooh - exciting news!

>126 humouress: Isn't it! Goddard even said she hopes to have another publication this summer, something she just feels like working on at the time, no hints.
She isn't one for giving brief succinct unambiguous answers to posted questions. She either skips the question or gets very discursive. So we don't know when Erwin, Gaudy's father, dies, but we do know that absent fathers have been, though she doesn't know why, a regular element in her fiction.

108) Je peux enlever zéro

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with the word or number Zero in the title or subtitle

Today wasn't nearly as busy as yesterday.

We had to verify that the closure of our essential Italian Deli, with world famous sandwich(es) was indeed closed. It was. Health code violations. It's been 10 days and no notion of when they'll reopen. Food is going to be fraught unless they re-open - I stock up on quite a number of things including grated cheese, croutons, olives, pickles, and pickle slices, all of which must be viewed as essential. Then there is salami, sliced cheeses, and treats like prosciutto and jamon serrano, not to mention sandwiches, lasagna, and my favorite, sausage and peppers, which we eat 2-3 times a month. Woe!

Some unfortunate traffic was involved, but we were only slightly delayed, not like the poor vehicle drivers who caused the delays.

I learned why my GRD medication now requires me to pick it up rather than having it delivered in the mail like my prescriptions - it is now OTC and I'll be paying more for it. Goody.

We did not stop and pick up food on the way. Grumble.

108) Je peux enlever zéro

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with the word or number Zero in the title or subtitle

109) The Lost Bookshop

If you are writing about a magical bookshop, it's best to dazzle the reader. This book did not.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book whose title has five words or less and contains at least five vowels

Well, today is mostly lost - I've been having more and more trouble getting to sleep and so waking up later and later. So I took a pill before midnight. And slept until after noon.

So I won't be tired enough to get to sleep before midnight tonight.....

And I really don't want to do the stay up all night procedure.

Hi Susan! Only two months late on wishing you a happy new thread. *eye roll*

>1 quondame: I love the book artwork pillows.

>99 quondame: and >113 quondame: Ugh to the dental things. I’ve had my own fun experiences this year with my dentist and an oral surgeon.

>125 quondame: I’ve been thinking about origami recently for some reason, and just now pulled Dollar Animal Origami from my shelves. I want to make Hwan an origami animal for her June 28th birthday.

>132 quondame: Changes to sleeping patterns suck. I hope you can get back to your normal soon.

>133 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Yep, life, dentists, a bit of fun, sleep issues. Well, and books...

I did manage to get up before noon today after downing yet another pill last night - much earlier than the night before. My head feel very um, er, thick, sluggish, heavy, blurred, not what I want at all.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, old friends now from far away are stopping by for a spot of lunch, and oops the restaurant I bated them with is only open for dinner. Well, it's not as if there aren't all sorts of restaurants around here. There's even a Peruvian place that's open for lunch, just that I've never been there or ordered from them.

>131 quondame: I read this last year and can’t remember anything about it!

I hope you are able to get into a more reliable sleeping pattern

>135 figsfromthistle: That pretty much puts it straight out of 4-5 ratings.

A sleep cycle aligned with what I'd like my day to be shaped like would be lovely. I did get to sleep at a much more reasonable hour last night. Then woke 2.5 hrs. later, stepped in dog mess and didn't get properly back to sleep. Arrrgh.

Maybe tonight.

We had lunch with a friend of my who was briefly a co-work in 1980. We did regular lunches together through divorce(hers), marriages (mine then hers) and as long as we both worked within 12 miles of LAX. Then it was dinner on weekends. Then she and her husband retired to NH. They travel a lot, and are on their way home from 4 weeks in Taiwan and China. She grew up in Taiwan speaking Taiwanese and Mandarin. She introduced me to Beef noodle soup, which is amazing and I just spent 10min looking for the nearest bowl. After the Bosnian food we had for lunch, I really should wait a day or two....

110) The Night in Question

111) Suelen

Though the eponymous character is a man, Suelen is a woman's name here, as are Sue and Elen, so this book

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a woman's first name in the title

Oh dear, I really loved both The Lost Bookshop and The Night in Question, but you know , YMMV as they say, Susan.

>139 vancouverdeb: It certainly does. I'm often put off by what I see as "perfect-for" character selection, especially when the characters are chance met.

112) Marag

This time the eponymous character is a woman!

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a woman's first name in the title

There seem to be mixed reviews about The Lost Bookshop. I have been wavering on whether to get into the library queue and I just think that, for me, it's going into the "there are too many things to read to even give this one a try" category. Also, it seems like there are a lot of novels about bookshops being published these days. I'm constitutionally suspicious of trends. *smile*

"I'm constitutionally suspicious of trends" Me, too. Sometimes one of the multitude demonstrates some staying power, and if it starts to cross my radar again a few years after the flood recedes, I give that one a go. I never feel bad about "missing out", because there are SOoooo many books waiting for me.

>142 EBT1002: The Lost Bookdshop is a fun enough read, but yes, very on trend. Which I'm totally prepared to overlook if it's served with a really special sauce. It wasn't.

>143 laytonwoman3rd: Aren't there ever so many books out there to tempt one? I do have the occasional run of disappointments requiring immersion in re-reads, but so much less often now wit LT and the Discort/HOTE server.

113) Rihasi

Again the eponymous character is a woman!

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book which meets a category on the 2025 Seattle Public Library book bingo card (list the category)

Hi Susan!

>142 EBT1002: and >143 laytonwoman3rd: Count me in as one who is suspicious of trends in reading and books. I'm actually at a point where I tend to stay away from all books that are really popular because it seems like a lot of the time it's just a hype. Like you mentioned, books that have staying power will ultimately pop back up again and I'll maybe read it then. But there are so many books to read anyway.

>146 PawsforThought: I felt this way in the late 60s when the readers at my high school were all into Tolkien. I didn't fall into that fad until I found myself a lonely working girl with lots of spare time, probably around 74. I tend to look at what the enthusiastic fans are raving about. Different things have appealed or repulsed over the years.

The funny thing is that I'd adored Farmer Giles of Ham in middle school, so if I'd kept a record of what I'd read and liked I probably would have led the fad for Tolkien, as I was always looking for adjacent works on the shelf by authors I liked - but the middle school library didn't have any other Tolkien and my tendency not to track an author's name unless I'd already devoured 2-3 adjacent books on the shelf sabotaged me. Probably there weren't HB of Lord of the Rings at our public library in 1963. The pbs became available when I was in high school.

114) The Alchemist

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book which meets a category on the 2025 Seattle Public Library book bingo card (list the category)

115) Daring Greatly

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a memoir written by a Soldier, Politician or Mother

Pearl Ruled:
The Death of Artemio Cruz
I don't want in on the life or death of an uber-corrupt Mexican newspaper mogul. The first 3 pages were dense with unpleasantness.

>149 quondame: I haven't seen that one around before but I do tend to agree that I give a wide berth to those writers who talk of "personal growth" - aren't we all intended to mature and broaden our knowledge and experiences as we go along?

>150 quondame: Wow, 3 pages and Pearl Ruled - that shows real self-awareness!

>151 PaulCranswick: It's probably a strong indicator if not a blatant red flag when someone earns their living telling other people how they should live theirs. It was probably just an offhanded remark of a co-worker that the guy who'd just lectured us on stress relief looked wired as hell, but that made a bigger impression than any lecture.

>152 PaulCranswick: It was probably more like 13 pages, but by 3 I was already scrambling away.

Yesterday we drove what used to be my long commute out through the valley to Agoura Hills. We met with an estate planner to set up a trust for my daughter. That went reasonably OK, and as we were on that side of the hills we stopped in Sherman Oaks at The Great Greek. It is. The food was as good as I remembered, and I brought home their sampler plate for today's meals. Delicious.

Incidentally, I now know what a collection of ~17,000 Pez dispensers looks like displayed in close ranks on the walls. We had to wait on the ground floor of the office suite, which was pretty much a dense gallery of Marvel movie posters, of no particular value according to Mike, with one short hallway of boxing memorabilia, value unknown, before we were ushered upstairs where every wall and partition was ablaze with colors from close set shelves of Pez dispensers (I found one shorter shelf with 4-5" Marvel figures.) In the office where we discussed our business there were framed basket ball jerseys.

As I returned from a restroom visit to where Mike was sitting as we waited I remarked that someone's wife made an ultimatum banishing the collection of posters and boxing gloves, etc. This was validated when we went upstairs and confronted the Pez hoard. Only it was an ex-wife. But possibly not only.

116) The Golden Compass

Re-read for June TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book discussed by the BBC World Book Club in 2005

>147 quondame: I was fortunate enough that my parents had The Lord of the Rings on their bookshelves when I was growing up so both the name Tolkien and the book titles were familiar to me. A friend recommended them to me but I was at an age where elves and wizards seemed childish so didn’t read it. Fast-forward four years and there are movies coming out - I decided to read them so I’d have my own idea of them before watching anything. And I loved them, of course.

>154 quondame: Ah, I love those books! I’m very excited about the third book in the Book of Dust series coming out this year (though I’ve actually not read the previous books in the series yet).

>155 PawsforThought: Fantasy wasn't thick on the shelves of my 1950-60s home - but my dad did have his boyhood copies of Howard Pyle's King Arthur & Robin Hood and I was able to find other HP books at the middle school library.
I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies, except for the handling of the battle scenes. The visuals were spot on for me.

I'm looking forward to The Rose Field too! I have read the first two, but don't remember much of The Secret Commonwealth. La Belle Sauvage was very wet as I recall.

>156 quondame: Aw, I’ve read Howard Pile’s Knight of the Round Table more times than almost any other book. We had a copy in our summer house when I was a child, and this was back when being in the summer house meant six weeks with just the family: half an hour by car to buy milk, two channels on the TV - half an hour a day of kids programming, and the only form of entertainment was reading, so I read everything there was in the house and the books I liked I read over and over and over again.

>157 PawsforThought: One of the more obscure books he had was Days of Chivalry and though we didn't own it our library had Otto of the Silver Hand, so I was very into idealized knights even before I found Men of Iron.

117) The Call of the Sword

@humouress liked this a great deal more than I did, but I came to it as a very jaded adult, long after it had anything new to offer.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book whose title has at least one set of consecutive double letters that are consonants

Yesterday's celebration of Mike's birthday was muted to presents only because his acid reflux kept us home for dinner.
I had gone out to pick up coffee beans mid-morning and in the afternoon I finally got my permanent crown on tooth #14. No break, but lots of fiddly fitting and grinding this time. Still, since they called me in an hour early I was home before the time of my original appointment.

118) The Wizard's Butler

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book with a character who shares the name of an American Revolutionary War leader (list the shared name)

Good news - my favorite Italian Deli (>129 quondame:) reopened on Friday. If I had delayed my Thursday check by one day I'd have a fridge full of my favorites! But I can hold out until Wednesday. (They are closed Mon. & Tue).

>162 quondame: Nothing finer than your favourite eateries surviving the times, Susan. We have our places too in KL and I would be lost without them.
Hani is an incredible person and can happily travel a round trip of 8 hours (which she made me do Saturday/Sunday) only to eat a certain dish at a certain place she loves. Sometimes the Brownie points are helpful for me to bank!

>163 PaulCranswick: Yes. So many of my favorite places have been lost to time, though I must admit many of my current favorites aren't that old. While I'm enjoying a number of the new chicken places, there seem to be so many of them that I can't imagine more than 1 in 10 being around in 10 years.

>162 quondame: Yay for a favorite eatery returning! I would love to have a good Italian deli near me.

>165 EBT1002: I'm singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow!" off-key and missing all the lyrics, but tomorrow!

119) The Dawnhounds

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book with the letter combos MO, RP, HI, or DA anywhere or the letter E at the beginning of a word in the title

Yay! I have a refrigerator full of supplies from Bay Cities Deli (>129 quondame:) (>162 quondame: - >166 quondame:)!

I was able to share my relief at the re-opening with the general manager who had a lot of incomprehensibly business language wrapped around a "we were almost royally screwed" before another customer engaged his attention. I expect that it will be much more busy next time I visit, but I did not mind not having to wait for my custom packed counter items.

>168 quondame: Went online and saw that they have a huge selection of sandwiches. Turkey and Brie would probably be my choice or the Tri Tip options (I had to look up what Tri Tip was!).

>169 PaulCranswick: I know the Godmother got put on a list of the 10 best in the US. It doesn't look - or even taste - super special, but the texture combination combined with the taste is pretty amazing. I've had some amazing sandwiches, with fabulous ingredients on fantastic bread that don't rate above it in total experience.
The Little Don Lorenzo is my second favorite, though the tri-tip with horseradish is up there.
The sausage and peppers I get a pint of without a sandwich, and make my own or chop into a frittata.

>170 quondame: I am a huge fan of horseradish at the best of times. I am currently salivating.

>171 PaulCranswick: It's the best with beef. Hot, hot, hot!

120) Old Hat New Hat

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with the word "old" or "new" in the title or a book with a word in the title that rhymes with either "old" or "new"

121) Shush

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book whose title makes you think of a reduction in noise

122) An Academy for Liars

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book which has language as a theme

Happy Friday, Susan. I really should revisit those Dark Material books. I loved the first 3.

>176 msf59: The Rose Field is scheduled for Oct 23, 2025, so yes, there's just about enough time to be ready for it!

We went out for a delayed celebration of Mike's birthday (>160 quondame:) and had a marvelous meal.
The restaurant was large, trendy, loud and hosting a large private gathering, but the food quite made up for all of that. All of the dishes were extra - as opposed to basic - cornbread, oysters, fried green tomatoes, strawberry walnut salad. Mains, which seem tame in comparison were rib eye, elk, and pork chop, but they were each flavored to be unexpected but quite good. The desserts of fig sticky toffee pudding, banana pudding (with caramelized slices on top), and strawberry rhubarb shortcake, were just the right level of rich sweet to finish the meal. The cocktail Becky ordered was the best I've sampled in decades. And they gave us complimentary glasses of sparkling wine with dessert.

123) The Last Sun

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with something bright in the title

124) Miss Spider's Wedding

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book with an event in the title

>178 quondame: Sounds delicious!

>181 foggidawn: It absolutely was. It takes a lot to make up for noisy crowds, but this meal did.

>180 quondame:
" Each page is a sumptuous immersion in splendid color and rich images."

I love that description, Susan.

I'm wadding though the rain forest of words that is Middlemarch. The most interesting character is the narrator. Sir James, the only titled fellow to appear, for all the Brookes and Casaubon have lofty ancestors, has not yet been provided with depth, nor do I very much expect him to be.
It is a bit of a puppet show soap opera.

>183 PaulCranswick: Thanks!

>184 quondame: I will focus upon the book from Friday too, Susan and I don't expect her tale of Provincial life to be peopled with interesting members of the Upper Classes either.

>185 PaulCranswick: I didn't know anyone else was in the middle of this marsh! I may get to 50% by Friday - I have trust documents to read before the next meeting with the lawyer. I suspect you could get through them easily enough, but somehow the plot isn't doesn't compel me, the flow is non-existent and the characters, well they keep dying off.

>186 quondame: It is very high on many people's lists of the greatest novel ever written but it will be my third attempt at reading it!

>187 PaulCranswick: The narrator does way too much telling and the characters aren't left much to show beyond, yes, as foredrawn (foreshadowed is too mild), things don't go well........ Like were being shown a set of wind up dolls, then we watch as they're wound up, and soon we watch them crash into each other.
Describing an inner life at the distance of narration isn't really gripping as making it seem the characters are telling their own internal story.

I've decided to read Drum into Silence for challenge #6 rather than force myself through Middlemarch, which I think is best taken in limited doses.
I've been meaning to read this conclusion to Drums of Chaos since I finished the second in the series and I finally got around to purchasing this book in April of this year. But until yesterday, it had remained wrapped in it's packaging.

125) Drum into Silence

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #6: Reading Shame Forgiveness - read that book you feel ashamed not to have read yet

Hi Susan!

>154 quondame: I read these books quite a while back, and have just deacessioned them since I won’t re-read them and Jenna never will. To the Friends of the Library they go!

>171 PaulCranswick: and >172 quondame: I love horseradish with Prime Rib and now even with London Broil.

>175 quondame: Great cover, but I guess that’s all, right?

I’m envious of all the restaurants you mention, and the descriptions of the food make me whimper. Keep it up!

Hi, Susan! There's no way I can catch up, but I stopped along the way as I cruised through and am glad I saw these two posts!

>131 quondame: At last! Somebody who agrees with me about this one. I had such hopes for it.
>161 quondame: I can't disagree. You know that I'm a Nathan Lowell fan for my own comfort. I mostly don't care how long his books are, or in the case of Ish, how many holes I see each time I reread. I did avoid the computer set-up in *Butler* though when I reread it. I wonder whether Lowell is seriously ill. I've been waiting for *The Wizard's Cat* for years, it seems.

The reason I came was to thank you for mentioning the Tuyo books on the e-sales thread. I wish I had been a few days earlier. My Kindle copy was back to $4.99, now the lowest price for any of them. Never mind. I read the sample and liked everything about it, so I'm off and away as soon as I finish Fugitive Telemetry, which I've hoarded and will likely drag out since I have so little left of Murderbot unread.

>192 LizzieD: Sorry the Tuyo sale slipped by so fast. I first read them all as Kindle Unlimited, but 10 books and counting quite clogs the KU space, so I was waiting for discounts.
As I've now joined Rachel Neumeier's Patreon, early copies of her new books are included, and I've enjoyed Hedesa and have Eight Doors from Dawn to Midnight queued up.