MickyFine's 2025 Reads. Part 4

Callanish III, Isle of Lewis (photo credit: me!)

I'm Micky, 39 years old, librarian, and generally bookish nerd. I usually have a good mix of reads going on every year with strong doses of romance, sff, historicals, and a dash of non-fiction. I'm largely kicking around without any goals this year beyond a list of 12 books off my own shelves that I want to (re)read. We'll see where my reading mood takes me!

I do my best to be chatty on my own thread (these days I pop in weekly-ish) and in addition to my reading, I'll also discuss highlights of my craft projects (check out my NeedleArts thread if you like more details), board games, what we're watching, and general life goings on, often featuring my husband, Mr. Fine, and our two cats, Ash and Smee. Posters and lurkers alike are welcome.

This year's toppers are all photos of Scotland in celebration of the fact that Mr. Fine and I recently visited in September. It was a fantastic trip!

January
1. Starter Villain - John Scalzi
2. I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons - Peter S. Beagle
3. First Comes Scandal - Julia Quinn
4. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen (re-read)
5. Chilling Effect - Valerie Valdes
6. Blithe Spirit - Noel Coward (re-read)
7. People We Meet on Vacation - Emily Henry
8. Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don't Rhyme and Other Oddities of the English Language - Arika Okrent
9. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (re-read)
10. The Great Dating Fake Off - Livy Hart
11. Just Like Heaven - Julia Quinn
Favourite(s):


February
12. You Sexy Thing - Cat Rambo
13. Nora Goes Off Script - Annabel Monaghan
14. One for the Books - Jenn McKinlay
15. All Things Bright and Beautiful - James Herriot
16. You, Again - Kate Goldbeck
17. The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde (re-read)
18. The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love - India Holton
19. Hench - Natalie Zina Walschots
20. Emma - Jane Austen (re-read)
21. Yours From the Tower - Sally Nicholls
22. A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers
Favourite(s):


March
23. How Would You Like Your Mammoth?: 12,000 Years of Culinary History in 50 Bite-Size Essays - Uta Seeburg
24. Uprooted - Naomi Novik
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (re-read)
26. Bringing Down the Duke - Evie Dunmore
27. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend (re-read)
28. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy - Becky Chambers
29. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams (re-read)
30. The Other Side of Disappearing - Kate Clayborn
31. No Ordinary Duchess - Elizabeth Hoyt
32. Incense and Sensibility - Sonali Dev
33. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
Favourite(s):

April
34. The Author's Guide to Murder - Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
35. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen (re-read)
36. On Book Banning - Ira Wells
37. Prime Deceptions - Valerie Valdes
38. Summer Knight - Jim Butcher
39. When the Moon Hits Your Eye - John Scalzi
40. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car - Ian Fleming
41. The Bodyguard - Katherine Center
42. Great Big Beautiful Life - Emily Henry
43. The Body in the Library - Agatha Christie (re-read)
44. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend (re-read)
Favourite(s):


May
45. Everything Is Tuberculosis - John Green
46. Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson
47. Into the Woods - Jenny Holiday
48. Forever Young - Hayley Mills
49. The Seven Measures of the World - Piero Martin
50. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab (re-read)
51. The Darcy Myth - Rachel Feder
52. Summer Reading - Jenn McKinlay
53. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - T. Kingfisher (re-read)
54. Othello - William Shakespeare (re-read)
55. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent - Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea
Favourite(s):


June
56. Earls Trip- Jenny Holiday
57. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) - Jesse Q. Sutanto
58. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (re-read)
59. Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend (re-read)
60. Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend
61. Fault Tolerance - Valerie Valdes
62. Home - Julie Andrews
63. Soulless - Gail Carriger (re-read)
Favourite(s):

July
64. The Odyssey - Stephen Fry
65. Changeless - Gail Carriger (re-read)
66. Blameless - Gail Carriger (re-read)
67. The Son of Neptune - Rick Riordan
68. Heartless - Gail Carriger (re-read)
69. Timeless - Gail Carriger (re-read)
70. Untitled - Undisclosed
71. Home Work - Julie Andrews
72. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Favourite(s):


August
73. Don't Trust Fish - Neil Sharpson
74. Manic Pixie Dream Earl - Jenny Holiday
75. Death Masks - Jim Butcher
76. The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde (re-read)
77. Temple of Swoon - Jo Segura
78. Doctor Who: The Resurrection Casket - Justin Richards
79. A Stitch in Time - Kelley Armstrong
80. Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie (abridged by Martin Jarvis)
81. Role Playing - Cathy Yardley
82. Enough is Enuf - Gabe Henry
83. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot (re-read)
Favourite(s):


September
84. The Enchanted Greenhouse - Sarah Beth Durst
85. Princess in the Spotlight - Meg Cabot (re-read)
86. A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order - Judith Flanders
87. What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (10th anniversary edition - Randall Munroe
88. Princess in Love - Meg Cabot (re-read)
89. Macbeth - William Shakespeare (re-read)
90. Cabin Pressure Season 1 - John Finnemore (re-read)
91. Cabin Pressure Season 2 - John Finnemore (re-read)
92. Cabin Pressure Xmas Special - John Finnemore (re-read)
93. Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice - Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
Favourite(s):

October
94. Hex and Hexability - Kate Johnson
95. It's Elementary - Elise Bryant
96. The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society - C.M. Waggoner
97. The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman
98. Marriage & Masti - Nisha Sharma
99. Cabin Pressure: The Complete Series 3 - John Finnemore (re-read)
100. The Austen Affair - Madeline Bell
101. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (re-read)
102. Cabin Pressure: The Complete Series 4 - John Finnemore (re-read)
103. Cabin Pressure: Zurich - John Finnemore (re-read)
104. Doctor Who: The Day of the Troll - Simon Messingham
105. Katabasis - R.F. Kuang
106. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy - Megan Bannen
107. Canadian Boyfriend - Jenny Holiday (re-read)
Favourite(s):


November
108. The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary - Sarah Ogilvie
109. The Spellshop - Sarah Beth Durst
110. Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum - Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry
111. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
112. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (re-read)
113. Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
114. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
115. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
116. Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive - Eliot Stein
Favourite(s):


December
117. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
118. Lovelight Farms - B.K. Borison
119. Twelve Doctors of Christmas - Jacqueline Rayner et. al.
120. The Secret Christmas Library - Jenny Colgan
121. How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? - Mac Barnet and Jon Klassen
122. Undead and Unwed - Sam Tschida
123. A Season for Second Chances - Jenny Bayliss
124. Princess in Waiting - Meg Cabot
125. Persuasion - Jane Austen (re-read)
126. There's Something About Mira - Sonali Dev
127. Second Chance Romance - Olivia Dade
128. Brigands & Breadknives - Travis Baldree
129. A Murder Is Announced - Agatha Christie (re-read)
Favourite(s):

My rating system:

/ = Ran screaming in the other direction (aka did not finish)
* = Suffered through it for reasons I'm still not sure of
** = Had far more flaws than virtues
*** = A read I don't regret but could use some improvement
**** = A good, solid read that I might revisit
***** = Loved it beyond reason and will probably re-read in short order

Last year, I set a list of 12 books off my own shelf to (re)read and that went so well, I'm doing it again this year. I'll be aiming for one a month but we'll see how it goes.

From My Shelves
Soulless (re-read)
Caliban's War
Bringing Down the Duke
The Well of Lost Plots (re-read)
Just Like Heaven
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (re-read)
Blackout (re-read)
All Clear (re-read)
Anne of Green Gables (re-read)
Making It So
Star Trek Picard: Last Best Hope (abandoned)
Summer Knight

I mentioned in one of my reviews on the previous thread that I'm doing a Fall Reading Bingo Challenge. If you're curious (or interested in joining) here's the card (courtesy of BookRiot). I'm going to attempt a sweep by the end of November. We'll see if I manage it or just lose interest before then, lol.

ETA: Got a bingo by the end of October and completed all the reading challenges I'm really interested in so I'm calling this complete. :)

Let the Scotland spam begin!


Ruins of St. Antony's Chapel


Ross Fountain with the Edinburgh Castle in background


Village of Dean


Ceiling in St. Giles Cathedral

View from the Butt of Lewis


Isle of Harris


One of several white sand beaches on Isle of Harris

Honey, the hairy coo (ain't she precious)


Kilt Rock


Three Sisters of Glencoe

As you can see, Scotland was gorgeous. We had a fabulous time exploring Edinburgh on our own and on our six-day tour around some of the Highlands and Islands. We both loved every second and didn't really want to come home. Some of my personal favourite things were: wandering the streets of Edinburgh (every view is fantastic), the National Museum and National Portrait Gallery (both gorgeous architecture in addition to cool contents), Edinburgh Castle, the Callanish Standing Stones, every single spot we stopped on Isle of Skye (I would totally run away there), the Jacobite Steam Train ride that included going over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, and all of the delicious food.

We were really lucky with the weather and had very little rain while we were there. We mostly had overcast or mix of sun and cloud days (although it was pretty windy and my hair was largely chaotic). Despite breaking in my boots before we left, over 29,000 steps on our first full day in Scotland led to me finding all new spots to develop blisters - and then discovering the magic that is UK blister plasters (a witchcraft I've never seen in pharmacies in Canada). We also were so lucky with our tour group. Our driver/guide was fantastic and our group of 17 was a largely nice group of people (a few stand-offish folk but no jerks, huzzah!). Overall, the trip was fantastic from start to finish and Mr. Fine is now much more keen on future European adventures, which makes me happy.

And now this thread is officially open for business. I'll be back to my regular weekly life updates next week.

Happy new thread, Micky!

>12 MickyFine: Welcome home Micky! Sounds like an amazing trip and I can't wait to see any future travel adventures.

Happy new thread! What wonderful photos of the trip.

>1 MickyFine: I love that expansive sense of the place you caught in that photo, Micky. Happy new thread and ben tornata in casa!

>12 MickyFine: How very, very cool it All sounds, and looks, and was...good to come home to sleep in your own bed but not easy to part with such a glorious looking place.

I'm so glad you guys had a nice time! The photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!

>10 MickyFine: Haha, butt

Fabulous photos! I'm glad you both had a great time, and hooray for MrFine now being more interested in further adventures. Once I finally got The Wayne to come on a European trip with me, he was hooked :)

>13 quondame: Thanks, Susan!

>14 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! ❤️ Our next trip is likely to be Newfoundland next year as one of Mr. Fine's nieces is getting married (assuming we get an invitation, which is pretty likely as he's her godfather).

>15 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Figs!

>16 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I'm pleased with how well it turned out. Not pictured are the many sheep that were nearby, lol.

>17 richardderus: Precisely. Happy to be home to my cats and my pillow but also would have been happy to be there longer.

>18 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora! It was hard to choose just a smattering (I came home with close to 600 photos and videos and Mr. Fine took nearly double).

I also snorted at Butt. It's particularly funny that it's the name chosen as that's the northern tip of the island.

>19 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! I had a feeling Mr. Fine would be a convert once I got him there and I was right. He wants to do more of the UK for sure now and is slightly more willing to consider France (I went to the latter in high school and would love to go back).

Happy new thread! Glad you had a great trip!

Happy new thread, Micky.

What wonderful pictures! >10 MickyFine: I love the rainbow, and the clouds in the third picture (Isle of Harris). Very dramatic. Your other pictures are also great. It sure sounds like you had a great time. I've always wanted to go to Scotland, and this sure adds to the appeal.

Happy new thread! Love, love, love the Scotland pics -- I must do the Edinburgh trip that I was planning, but now I also want the rest of the scenery!

Happy new thread!! Love all the photos :)

>22 drneutron: Thanks on both counts, Jim!

>23 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene. Scotland is very photogenic. It's hard to take a bad picture there. :)

>24 foggidawn: Edinburgh is lovely and highly worth the visit, Foggi. I did pop in to the National Library there and would recommend it as well (although sadly their standing exhibit was closed the day I visited as they were swapping out some items, so I just got to check out the centenary exhibit). But the landscapes in the countryside are breathtaking as well and I have tons of pictures of various fields, mountains, lakes, rivers, and cliffs. The country's just so dang pretty.

>25 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie!

Happy new thread!

Scotland looks so gorgeous; you are a fantastic photographer, Micky.
And that Highland cow! I wanna boop that snoot so bad.

Happy reasonably new thread, Micky.

>9 MickyFine: Your photos are really wonderful, Micky, thanks so much for sharing them. The sky on the Isle of Harris in particular is simply breathtaking.

Happy new thread, Micky!

I was following your travels on Instagram, but so nice to see many lovely photos here as well. Glad to hear you had a great time in Scotland. The Isle of Skye is gonna have to go on my bucket list now, as it looks absolutely gorgeous.

>27 Ravenwoodwitch: Thanks, Angela! The coos are very adorable.

>28 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul.

>29 bell7: Thanks, Mary. I definitely think visiting Skye is a must. It's so gorgeous.

I didn't squeeze in any more reads to September so a quick September summary

September
Books read : 10 (3 physical, 7 audio)
Re-reads: 6
Off My Shelf read: Nothing from the list
Favourite new to me read(s): The Enchanted Greenhouse was a really excellent cozy fantasy.

With our trip in September, I'm not surprised my physical reading was lower than usual and my audio reading is only so high because I listened to some shorter collections. Ah well, these things ebb and flow.

I've got some time so let's do a life update.

We opted for a relatively quiet weekend at home last weekend as we continued to try and get back to a normal sleep routine for our time zone. On Saturday, we skipped church and watched a service online instead and then went for a walk. Mr. Fine then went to the gym and I spent a couple hours powering through a read and catching up on LT. When Mr. Fine came home we played my new board game, Artistry (it's art deco themed and gorgeous!) and then had a chill evening and watched K-Pop Demon Hunters (it's pretty fun and the songs are very catchy). Sunday I finally slept through the night (woot!) and powered through chores before my monthly hang out with my friend, A. In the afternoon, H stopped by to pick up the gifts we brought her from Scotland and then we showed off pictures to her and K.

Monday was the first day back to work for both of us. I returned to 394 emails, which took me about 3ish hours to get through, plus over 350 customer suggestions that I'm still wading through (and they'll probably get worse before they get better). Tuesday was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation so Mr. Fine and I were both off work and had a quiet day at home with a walk and a game of Everdell Duo as the only bits I remember. Wednesday we were at work again, and I continued to do a bit of post-vacation catch-up. Wednesday was our Friday as we're off for a stretch now for H's wedding.

Thursday I had a pedicure in the morning as my feet were in rough shape after all the walking in Scotland. The technician did a great job of cleaning up some of my blisters that have deflated, plus I now have a pretty dark red on my toes that feels very autumnal. In the afternoon, we picked up my FIL who has flown in from Newfoundland and will be staying with us for the next few days. We took him out for dinner to a fish and chips place we like and he pronounced it very good (win for my landlocked province).

Today we went out for breakfast and then I popped into town to get a wool coat to wear for the ceremony tomorrow (it's outdoors and the forecast is looking pretty chilly). I do have a wool coat but it's in the green-ish family and as the bride is wearing green, I wanted something different (plus a black wool coat is always a good thing to have in the closet). Afterwards, we gave my FIL a driving tour of the river valley in town, which is looking gorgeous today in all its fall colours. We'll be heading out shortly to help set up the reception venue for tomorrow. Planning to make pizza for dinner tonight and a chill evening in (I hope).

On the crafting front, I'm just working on the wedding blanket for H (and K). I might be near the actual halfway mark now (it's tricky to measure as each round gets bigger).

In viewing, we're largely back into routine. To refresh your memory, currently in rotation is Poldark season 3, Smallville season 2, Muppet Show season 5, Only Murders in the Building season 5, and Star Trek: Voyager season 1. This week we abandoned The X-Files and I'm planning to fill that slot with the new season of The Diplomat when it drops in a couple weeks but until then I'll probably pick movies. This week I opted for the 1999 The Mummy which I'll love forever and always.

Only one book completed since my last update but I've been thoroughly enjoying both my paper and ear read currently on the go. Probably a review at some point this weekend for my one completion but no promises on exactly when.

>32 MickyFine: Welp, I guess I'm not canceling my subscription just yet so I can watch the newest Only Murders...

I also saw K-Pop Demon Hunters over the weekend and agree with your assessment.

>33 bell7: It's been a pretty fun season so far.

Book 94

Life has been very full lately, let's see what I can remember.

Last Saturday was H and K's wedding. While it was on the cool and breezy side (about 7C before wind chill), they had sunshine for their outdoor ceremony and the fall colours were in excellent form for their photos. Mr. Fine did a great job walking H down the aisle and gave a lovely speech at the reception. I was pleased that the reception went really well. The food was good, the speeches didn't make me cringe (always a risk), and we left early enough that we didn't have to deal with really hammered twenty-somethings. Sunday we had a quiet start to the day with breakfast at home and then Mr. Fine and I went to the hall to help with clean up as the keys need to be returned early afternoon. After a stop at the car wash, I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon doing cleaning at home and sorting through Scotland photos for slideshow purposes with the friends and family willing to sit through 600ish pictures (lol). Sunday evening, Mr. Fine's cousin and his cousin's girlfriend came over for dinner and to visit with my FIL.

Monday was largely a quiet day at home. I stayed in bed late and read a bunch before breakfast. We did manage to get my FIL to go for a walk (he'd been hesitant to walk much during his visit as his knee had been bugging him a bit and he didn't want it to get bad enough to require a doctor's visit while he was away from home). In the evening we went out for dinner with H and K, plus our friend M and his kiddo (A had to work that evening and couldn't join us). It was lovely last evening before my FIL flew home.

Tuesday morning we were up early-ish to drive my FIL to the airport for 8 a.m.. H met us there so she could say goodbye as well. Afterwards, the three of us plus one of H's friends went out for breakfast at a restaurant not too far from the airport. After breakfast, Mr. Fine and I did ALL THE THINGS. Since we were on that end of town, we popped in to IKEA and bought bed sheets, some drinking glasses (our last batch cracked really easily so we're hoping these are better), and I grabbed a pot (I want to try making caramel for a dessert and if it goes poorly I don't want to ruin one of our good pots). After that, we came back to the burbs and made stops to pick up Superman on blu-ray for Mr. Fine, fall table cloths, and some embroidery floss for my next cross-stitch project. Then I did a bunch of laundry and we had a relatively relaxing afternoon at home.

Wednesday I was back at work (Mr. Fine took one more day off than me, the lucky bum). Although I'd been out of office for only 4 work days, I came back to 177 emails, which took a couple hours to get through. I didn't look at customer suggestions until Thursday and had 442 to tackle. I managed to get it down to 185 by the end of work on Friday but with it being Thanksgiving weekend, I expect I'll return to 250+ suggestions on Tuesday. The one downside to vacation is all the catch up afterwards. *pout*

My crafting time continues to be all blanket all the time (and probably will be for the rest of the month). I'm on section 5 of 8 or, alternatively, round 50 of 74 so that feels like progress.

On the viewing side of things, everything was a little topsy-turvy while my FIL was here as his tastes aren't the same as ours. His preferred viewing is NTV, the music channel that plays traditional Newfoundland music/country, or videos on YouTube of boats at sea. While that meant we mostly played archival episodes of Land & Sea on YouTube for him, we did also start a rewatch of The Rookie as a show he would probably be ok with. He didn't appear to have strong feelings about it but now Mr. Fine and I have added The Rookie to our rotation as well and are enjoying revisiting the first season. This week on Wednesday my movie instead of a show pick was Beetlejuice, which I'd never seen before. If you are a fan of this movie, feel free to make your case. I found it weird and lacking a lot of charm of other Burton films.

I've finished three books since my last update and will try to get reviews up today or tomorrow.

Book 95

>36 MickyFine: Returning to normal service sounds like a really big relief to me, since All The Things have been successful/positive/over now. Happy Thanksgiving weekend, and May the suggestions awaiting you All fall into one or two overarching categories so as to be uncomplicated to resolve. *smooch*

>38 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I wish suggestions were that easy but I'm lucky if 4 customers make a suggestion for the same book. I try to remember the obscurity of customer suggestions means I'm doing a good job and that the major titles are on order in good time. But when I have a backlog of suggestions, it mostly just feels Sisyphean.

>39 MickyFine: Oh hell...it does mean you're very much on point but how irksome to need to examine "Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers 1889-1912" and "The Annotated Mary Pickford Filmography" all day....

Happy new thread and Happy Thanksgiving, Micky! Nice Scotland pictures up thread and you were lucky to have good weather. Though to be honest I can remember being in Edinburgh when it was 30C so it's not always rainy.

Congrats to H and K! I'm glad the reception went well :)

>40 richardderus: Snort! Precisely.

>41 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving as well.

>42 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie!

Book 96

Book 97

I got tired just reading your life update, LOL

>36 MickyFine: Congrats to H & K!
If someone is going to have odd taste in media, it could be worse than youtube videos of boats! I was expecting you to say "the news" which is what my mom always wants to watch when she visits.

>44 MickyFine: I'm planning to read The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society this month as well. Glad you found it "fine", since that's what I'm looking for 😂

>46 katiekrug: Lol. I promise the next one will be much more chill.

>47 norabelle414: Yeah, he mostly watches NTV for the news from Newfoundland and Labrador but since we don't have cable we can't access it. Admittedly, NTV news is pretty delightful - my favourite story when we visited the in-laws the first time was about line-ups for swimming lessons (and it wasn't the human interest story at the end, it was in the first half of the newscast).

I hope you have much more fun with the Waggoner. I think it could be a great read for the right reader and I just wasn't that reader.

Duplicate, somehow.

It's a bit later than usual but have a life round-up.

Last weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving and our long weekend was a good mix of social and quiet. On Saturday, I went to church solo as Mr. Fine had a game tournament with a friend to attend. When I got home from church, I had a snack, read a bit, and played a solo game of A Place for All My Books. Our Saturday night movie was Heads of State, which is a fun, if occasionally silly, action movie that definitely falls into the Fast & Furious school of physics.

Sunday we had a light breakfast and did all the cleaning and setting up for hosting Thanksgiving. We had 14 (including me and Mr. Fine) in our house and we had a lovely turkey dinner. Afterwards we showed off Scotland photos to the fam, who enjoyed it. The last guest left about 5:30 and we had a chill evening of TV and takeout from McDonald's - I haven't had chicken nuggets in ages and I feel like they're skinnier than when I was a kid.

Our holiday Monday was a delight. I read in bed for a bit, had breakfast with Mr. Fine, and then went back to bed to finish a book. We went for a walk, played a game of DC deck building, and had some solo time (I did some crafting).

Back to work on Tuesday and the week was mostly continuing to get back on top of regular tasks. We had our department staff meeting on Tuesday where we got to see draft floor plans for our new office space at the warehouse. They're still confident that the move will be early December but did say that getting permits could result in a delay, so my money is on the move being delayed until January. I finally caught up on customer suggestions on Thursday so now I can settle fully back into my regular routine of tasks.

On the crafting side of things, I'm nearly finished the last round of section 5 for the blanket - I would probably have been further along but didn't pay close attention to the pattern and had to frog a round and a half so corners would be right.

On the viewing side, we finished season 2 of Smallville, which included a lot of ridiculous cliffhangers.

I finished 4 (!) books (2 print, 2 audio) in the past week and I'll do my best to get reviews up this afternoon.

Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving!

I'll put my money with yours on the move being in January if they haven't started the renos yet 😂

>51 curioussquared: Lol, right? They still haven't finalized design drawings and the further into October we get, the more dubious I am about the timeline.

Book 98

Book 99



Cabin Pressure: The Complete Series 3 - John Finnemore (re-read)

It's a comfort listen at this point and every time I revisit this series, it's an utter delight.

Rating: *****

Book 100

Book 101

>55 MickyFine: - Noting this one! I don't always love time ttat it your comments make me want to give it a try.

>55 MickyFine: You got me with this one! Also, congrats on surpassing 100 books!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! 14 people is a lot, I'm glad everything went smoothly.

>55 MickyFine: You got me with this one too!

>57 katiekrug: >58 foggidawn: >60 curioussquared: Oh yay! I hope you all enjoy The Austen Affair whenever you pick it up.

>58 foggidawn: Thanks! It's such a pleasing threshold to reach.

>59 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora. It is a fair-sized crew and my brother's kiddos keep growing so, while it still doesn't feel like quite as many people if they were all full-grown adults, it does feel a little squishy. My oldest niece (who's 10.5 years old) will probably be taller than me next year.

Somehow it's the last weekend of October??? Here's what went on this week.

Last Saturday we went to church and I stayed after the service to do a quick run-through of songs for the following Saturday with my pianist (she lives pretty far out of town so doing a practice during the week didn't work as well for her). After I got home, I had a snack and went for a walk with Mr. Fine. In the evening we had our monthly game night with M&A during which we played no games. We had dinner, shared our Scotland pictures, and then M wasn't feeling well so he went to bed, Mr. Fine said he was tired so he didn't feel like playing, and A and I were fine with ending the evening early. Except then the three of us chatted for another two hours, lol. Sunday I had a lazy start to the day and was a little slow to roll out of bed but did get my usual cleaning done. In the afternoon, I had an appointment to have my seasonal tire change done and Mr. Fine decided to come along so we did a bit of shopping and stopped for a snack at DQ, since I was peckish. In the evening, Mr. Fine had his monthly game night with friends and they did "Dudesgiving" for dinner (and there was enough for me to partake) so there was turkey, potatoes, stuffing, etc. While they played, I watched Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, which was... quite French. I liked it fine but it was decidedly the aesthetic of French cinema and not as rom-com-y as the trailer made it come across.

Work this week included our second round of activity assessments for my department, which meant tracking how I spent my time down to 5-minute increments based on a pre-built list of tasks. It's no one's favourite thing but it was relatively painless this time around. It was a bit of a strange week for me to have it going on as I only had one 30-minute meeting all week so I had a ton of time spent on selection work for a change.

Tuesday we went to a buffet for date night because Mr. Fine was in the mood for it. It was tasty as usual and for once I didn't overestimate how much room I had for dessert. On Wednesday after work, I did a little running around to pick up a birthday gift for Mr. Fine as that's coming up super quick.

On the crafting side, AKA blanket land, I'm halfway through section 6, which is a small one of only 5 rounds. At the rate I'm going, I might have this done by mid-November but it might go until the end of next month.

For viewing we started the new season of The Diplomat and have binged four episodes. It remains So Good.

As for reading, I completed three (pretty short) audiobooks and one paper book this week and reviews should be up pretty soon after I post this.

Books 102-103



Cabin Pressure: The Complete Series 4 - John Finnemore (re-read)
Cabin Pressure: Zurich - John Finnemore (re-read)

No matter how many times I listen to the run of this radio drama, I'm always delighted how well it ends and always a little sad to let go of these characters.

Rating: *****

Book 104

Book 105

Somehow it's November already? Here's what the last bit of October yielded.

Saturday we went to church as I led the singing portion of the service. Afterwards, Mr. Fine and I went for a walk and had a chill afternoon at home. In the evening, our neighbours came over for a game night and we had a good time playing Flamecraft with them. On Sunday, Mr. Fine and I were up a little early to power through cleaning. H came over for her monthly hang out with her dad and I joined them as they were watching Back to the Future, which is a favourite of mine. After H left, we went for a walk and I did some budget balancing.

Mr. Fine was on early shift for work so it was a full week of rising early. I was in office for three days (it's been a while since I've done that) but two of them were spent getting my First-Aid certification, so that felt like a bit of a break. With our upcoming move to the warehouse, our department will require first-aiders to meet OH&S requirements (right now in the branch where we're located, security is the designated first-aiders). It was a fun two days although my knees were definitely tender after kneeling on the floor for the CPR section. Outside of that training the only really interesting bit was when the librarians in my department had a meeting with our director who provided more details about the software that we're implementing and some of its implications for our work. She did admit that the move date is not going to be early December but couldn't provide an actual move date. My money is on late January but I have colleagues who are guessing March or April, lol. They still haven't finalized designs for the renovation and then they need to apply for permits so... stay tuned.

Mr. Fine and I opted not to hand out candy for Halloween this year and just had a quiet Friday evening to ourselves. Neither of us are super into the holiday, particularly Mr. Fine as his birthday is November 1 so he always resents it for stealing some of his birthday thunder.

I didn't touch a craft project most of the week. While H was here on Sunday I obviously couldn't work on the blanket, so I pulled out the sweater I "finished" earlier this year and finally started working on making the changes that will make it a little more comfortable for me (the neckline is too off the shoulder for my tastes and I need to lengthen the sleeves a bit). Hoping to get through making those changes in the next few weeks as I do want to start wearing it this fall/winter.

On the viewing side of things, we finished season 1 of Star Trek: Voyager and have started season 2. We also finished the latest season of Only Murders and were solidly pleased with both the mystery resolution and the cliffhanger setting up season 6.

I finished one print book and one audiobook this week and should have reviews for both up soon-ish, plus an October summary.

Book 106

Book 107

October
Books read : 14 (7 physical, 7 audio)
Re-reads: 5
Off My Shelf read: Nothing from the list
Favourite new to me read(s): Hex and Hexability was so much fun both as a fantasy read and as a historical romance.

My highest number of completions in a month so far this year, although it was helped significantly by having four audiobooks that were under three hours long.

>67 MickyFine: Rachel Neumeier recommended this a few days back, so it's already on hold for me!

Hi Micky! We don't get trick or treaters at our house and I'm totally okay with that. I hope Mr Fine had a nice birthday with all the thunder he wanted!

>69 MickyFine: An excellent month indeed. I'm amazed, Mr. Fine and Old Stuff share a birthday!

I'm pretty much chill on this early-winter/fallen-back day...it was an early rising, but it feels to me like a return to normal. Happy November!

>70 quondame: I hope you enjoy it, Susan!

>71 lauralkeet: He had a very good birthday. Thanks, Laura!

>72 richardderus: Glad to hear November is off to a good start for you!

Hiya Micky!

Wow a lot has happened for you. Congrats on the wedding with the kiddos, and my money is on April for that move.

>67 MickyFine: So glad you liked this one! I loved it and the sequel. The third one is still on my list to get to.

>74 Ravenwoodwitch: It has been a busy couple months. As for the move, no updates this week (so far) so we'll see.

>75 curioussquared: Oh I'm glad to hear the sequel is good too!

It was birthday week at chez Fine, let's recap it.

As mentioned in my last weekly update, last Saturday was Mr. Fine's birthday so we spent the day doing all the things he likes. We had a lazy breakfast, went for a walk, played a round of Dice Throne, and he had some video gaming time. For dinner we went to his favourite steak place where he'd pre-ordered an off-menu 24 oz steak that he was very excited about it. We met our friends M & A there but A wasn't feeling well so she left early. After dinner, M came over and he and Mr. Fine played several rounds of Dice Throne. Mr. Fine declared it (minus A's illness) a very good birthday. On Sunday we did our usual chores and then I dropped off Mr. Fine for a game tournament. I then had a chill solo afternoon at home and did some crafting while watching Down with Love. In the evening H and K came over to celebrate Mr. Fine's birthday and we had pizza for dinner.

Work this week was kind of quiet and I largely spent it working on ordering. Tuesday evening, Mr. Fine and I got our flu and COVID shots, so I spent my Wednesday work day feeling a little fuzzy headed and worn out with the added bonus of sore arms. However, the worst of it wore off by Wednesday night, which was good as Thursday was my birthday!

I love celebrating birthdays and had an excellent time on mine. Mr. Fine and I both had the day off work and we did all the things I wanted. We had breakfast out, went to both the romance book store and Indigo, plus picked up some chocolate and clothes. For those who are curious, the romance book store didn't have the title I was hoping to snag so I just got stickers and a bookmark there but at Indigo I got a fancy sprayed edges edition of The Princess Bride and splurged on the fancy anniversary Twilight saga book boxset (my not guilty guilty pleasure). I also went for a pedicure in the afternoon and enjoyed some chill time having someone rub my feet and reading. Then we went out for dinner at Olive Garden, which has been my birthday restaurant of choice since I was probably 8.

I was back to work on Friday but Mr. Fine was off so I got to have lunch with him on my break, which is always a perk when I work from home and he's here.

in the crafting realm, I have 10ish rounds on the blanket for H and K left to go and I'm going to try and power through them in the next week so that I can then tackle making K's cross-stitch stocking (which will almost definitely not be done for Christmas but c'est la vie).

On the viewing side of things, we wrapped up a few seasons and shows this week. We finished season 3 of Poldark, season 3 of The Diplomat (it remains SO GOOD!), and the final season of The Muppet Show. We tried the first episode of North of North, which wasn't Mr. Fine's jam so I'll be watching the rest of it on my own. Plus I started a rewatch of Dawson's Creek and Mr. Fine has been highly amused by all the angst and drama in episode 1 so I look forward to watching more with him.

With all the birthday celebrating, I only managed to finish one paper book and the review for that should be up shortly.

Book 108

I'm glad you had such a great birthday (and Mr. Fine, too)! No comment on Olive Garden, but if you ever visit NYC, please let me know 🙂

What a fabulous birthday week! I had to laugh at your Olive Garden tradition. And as always I'm impressed with your crafting, especially the variety of crafts you do.

>77 MickyFine: Dawson's Creek! I remember that cutie-pie James VerBeek, but nothing else whatsoever.

Have a terrific new week, Micky!

>79 katiekrug: So here's the thing, Olive Garden in Canada is a slightly different vibe than in the US (I think). There's only a dozen locations or so in the whole country so it's more of a novelty and people here tend to treat it as a fancier restaurant (more likely to see people in dresses/dress pants etc. than people in jeans). We have a very small Italian-Canadian population in my province so there's not really any Italian restaurants that aren't chains. Also, I just love me some breadsticks and eggplant parmesan. 🤷‍♀️

All that said, of course I will definitely connect with you if I ever come to NYC and you can point me at all the good Italian places. ❤️

>80 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! And I'm flattered you're impressed by my crafting as I'm always in awe of your talent.

>81 richardderus: Probably best you don't remember more. I feel all the teen angst would give you hives, RDear. *smooch*

Happy belated birthday to both you and Mr. Fine!! Sounds like you both had good days ☺️

>83 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie!

I bet on March for the move, Mickey. >56 MickyFine: I first encountered this classic mystery in a junior high English class I had to read that twice! You got to read mysteries in an English class! Not in my day, for sure.

>85 Familyhistorian: Yeah, my junior high English teacher was really great. I feel like we might have been studying conventions of mystery but it's so long ago, I don't remember for sure.

>77 MickyFine: Sounds like a wonderful time celebrating both birthdays! I didn't see any mention of cake…..did you have birthday cake?

You have a dedicated book store that just sells romance? Interesting.

The diplomat looks like a great series. I will have to add to my watch list on TV.

Happy rest of the week.

>87 figsfromthistle: Mr. Fine had ice cream cake and I had cheesecake on our respective birthdays.

Romance bookstores have had growing popularity in the last few years. I bet if you were to do some investigating there's probably one not too far from you.

Enjoy The Diplomat when you try it.

Friends! New Murderbot novel, Platform Decay, scheduled for May 2026. Place your pre-orders now. :)

>89 MickyFine: Oooooh! I have now done so. Thanks for the heads up!

>89 MickyFine: I just saw that! Super exciting!

>88 MickyFine: The closest adult - as opposed to children's - bookstore is The Ripped Bodice, which is a favorite of my daughter's.

>93 quondame: Envious! I'd love to visit The Ripped Bodice someday.

Another week, another recap.

The church service last week was being led by one of the children's groups and to avoid crowds of proud families, Mr. Fine and I opted to stay home instead. We watched a sermon online, went for a walk, played Mr. Fine's new game Flamecraft Dual (really great 2-player board game that's quite compact so would be easy to take somewhere if road tripping, etc), he did some video gaming and I crafted, and in the evening we watched Wicked part 1 so that it's a little more fresh in my memory. Sunday we did chores in the morning. H was supposed to come for the afternoon for a hang out and then we were planning to go out for dinner with her and K to celebrate her birthday early. However, she had a headache so she cancelled the afternoon hang out and we just did dinner out. The restaurant she picked wasn't our fave but I had a decent Beyond Meat burger.

It was a weird work week as we had Tuesday off for Remembrance Day. On the holiday we did Christmas gift shopping for the niblings and birthday gift shopping for one of my nieces (her birthday is a month before Christmas so we usually lump all the kid shopping into one trip). We also played a game of Artistry which is both a gorgeous game and quite fun.

Work was largely uneventful this week and a little quiet as my work bestie was on vacation. No one to send my whining or random discoveries to, lol. We had our departmental staff meeting which included a few move-related news items. They applied for construction permits this week and our manager noted that "there's a 0.05% chance we're moving in December." Ultimately it's for the best as it lets us get through year end, which for this year means trying to get as much material in the door as possible, before we have to deal with moving.

I didn't finish the blanket this week but I'm onto the final four rounds. However, I've lost at yarn chicken and had to pick up another ball of yarn as what remains of the colour I'm currently using is likely only enough for half to three-quarters of a round.

In viewing, we finished rewatching season 1 of The Rookie and are on to season 2. And for one of Mr. Fine's TV nights this week he opted to watch the new movie The Playdate, which is pretty stupid and not at all my jam, but he found it mindless fun.

I've finished three paper books this week and I'll likely finish my current audio this afternoon so reviews later today or tomorrow.

Happy weekend, Micky!

"Yarn chicken" made me laugh :)

Book 109

Book 110

Book 111



Bought the fancy new editions so of course I'm now re-reading.

Book 112

>95 MickyFine: My condolences on the yarn chicken!

>96 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. The heartbreak of losing at yarn chicken is real, lol.

>101 norabelle414: Many thanks, Nora.

Hi Micky!

You've been too busy for me to catch up, but I am definitely going to have to find a way to get my hands on The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary because that sounds delightful!

>102 MickyFine: I am deeply red-faced. I thought you'd made a chicken out of yarn like the purple octopus Mary made me, then lost it.

...I miss my mind...

>103 PawsforThought: I hope you like it if you do get your hands on it, Paws!

>104 richardderus: LOL. If it makes you feel better, I was adding some things to my Google calendar this week and needed to change the time zone from my default for each of them. At one point, I scrolled too far and saw "Amazon Time" and my brain at first was like, "Amazon bought a time zone?!" before realizing that the Amazon is, you know, a place. *face palm*

>105 MickyFine: LOL

Thanks, I feel better now.

...not that they couldn't buy a time zone....

>88 MickyFine: Okay, after that post I had to see if there were any romance book stores in my stomping grounds. There's one in Vancouver on East Broadway called Perfect Match Books and as I'm booked to see my optometrist this month who also is on East Broadway, I'll be making a little side trip to check it out.

Checking in on you since it has been a while, Micky. I hope that you and Mr. Fine are doing OK.

>106 richardderus: Ain't that the truth.

>107 Familyhistorian: Ooh, I hope it's full of delightful discoveries, Meg!

>108 alcottacre: Nice to see you, Stasia. We're both doing well, thanks. ❤️

This week felt looong. Let's see what I can remember of it.

Last Saturday we went to church in the morning then I spent the afternoon reading and crafting as Mr. Fine was feeling a little unwell. Whatever it was passed pretty quickly and he was mostly back to normal in the evening. He picked Braveheart for our movie night, which I'd never seen before and it was not my jam but I got a fair amount done on the blanket, so there's that. On Sunday we did chores and then I went out solo and did Christmas shopping for Mr. Fine and my dad (the latter is my assigned giftee for my family Christmas). So I'm officially done Christmas shopping unless Mr. Fine and H decide to do stockings this year (sometimes they're decorative, sometimes we put things in them). In the evening, Mr. Fine had his monthly game night with friends so I ordered the Festive Special from Swiss Chalet and watched Sleepless in Seattle.

I was a little bored with work this week. There's plenty to do, I just wasn't really in the mood for any of it. However, I did get official approval to go to a conference in Toronto in January. There's a full day pre-conference session for folks who do my type of library work so I'm excited for that. Also Matthea Roach, Mychal Threets, and Amanda Jones (of That Librarian fame) are all featured speakers, which I'm also looking forward to. Mr. Fine is currently undecided about whether he wants to come with me or not, although I have a feeling he'll probably opt out, given other plans we have for 2026.

Friday evening Mr. Fine was out with a friend and I spent my solo time getting our Christmas cards ready. I just need Mr. Fine to sign them and then they'll be ready to go in the mail at the beginning of December.

I'm still not done the blanket although I'm optimistic I'll finish it this weekend. About a round and a half to go.

No changes on the viewing front.

Only one book completed this week, but it was a chunkster so I'm pleased.

Book 113



Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer

The re-reading continues.

>110 MickyFine: I can relate to the satisfaction of getting something else done while the other half watches a show/movie. There are a couple of series that Chris enjoys and I am just "meh" about and at some point realized I don't actually need to watch them. So liberating lol.

And the conference sounds great! I loved The Librarian and would love to hear her speak about her experience.

>110 MickyFine: Oh wow. Y'all librarians really get the perks. A conference in Toronto, in January no less.

Pack your bikini. *shiver*

Enjoy the ongoing Bellafest! *smooch*

>112 lauralkeet: I often have a craft project at hand while we watch TV but depending on how engaged I am in it, I make slower or faster progress. 😆

>113 richardderus: LOL, yeah I've been to this conference a couple times before. The first time, I was making fun of the local weather man for saying it was going to be really cold for a forecast of -8°C. The other time it was -30°C the whole time I was there. But my hotel has a pool and hot tub so there will be a swimsuit in my bag.

>114 MickyFine: At -30C, no portion of my anatomy would be exposed to water...or air...indoors or out except for hygienic reasons. *shiver again*

>114 MickyFine: I complain more about going to semi-mild tempered places (like southern Sweden) in January and February because that means it’ll be grey skies and mush on the ground. I’d rather have cold and snow. -30 C is more than I like, but I’ll take it. And a pool and hot tub sounds amazing! We had a work kick-off event in August at a hotel that had a great spa-type section. Nice pool, hot tub, cold plunge pools and multiples saunas. It had just started raining outside so was delightful to sit inside and look out at the bad weather.

Hope you have a good time at your conference!

>110 MickyFine: Braveheart is not my jam either but I do think it would be a good movie to knit/crochet to.

Exciting about your conference! I love it when work pays for me to go someplace interesting.

>115 richardderus: -30C isn't my favourite but I know how to handle it.

>116 PawsforThought: It's mostly hoping there isn't a big temperature swing while I'm there for me. At home, of course, I have multiple cold weather coats to choose from but when I'm only gone for a few days, I don't really want to wear/pack more than one winter coat.

The spa at your work event sounds divine!

>117 norabelle414: The score was quite nice to listen to while crocheting.

I opted for an earlier flight on the day I depart to give myself a little extra free time in Toronto before the conference starts. I'm definitely going up the CN tower this time (it's honestly ridiculous I haven't in previous years I've attended this conference as the tower is super close to the convention venue) and I'm trying to decide if I have enough time to squeeze in a late afternoon visit to either the Bata Shoe Museum or the ROM.

What kinds of shoes are at a shoe museum?

>119 The_Hibernator: All kinds. :)

Feeling seen?

>121 richardderus: Snort. Absolutely.

Life update!

Last Saturday we had breakfast at home, went for a walk in the morning, and then carpooled with my dad in the afternoon to attend a birthday party for one of my nieces (my mom had a nasty bug and stayed home). The party was at a gymnastics facility out in the boonies and I spent most of the time there either chatting with my brother or hanging out with Mr. Fine and my Dad. My niece had a grand time with her friends though, which is the important bit. After driving back, Mr. Fine didn't feel like cooking so we ordered takeout from Wok Box and watched Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning (my verdict: pretty stupid, too much exposition and flashbacks, and the underwater sequence could have been WAY shorter. Ghost Protocol remains peak Mission Impossible for me). On Sunday we had no social commitments and yet somehow it didn't feel like a free day either. Lots of cleaning, some bill and budget sorting, and putting together our new festive yard decoration, a trio of very cute penguins.

Work was pretty run of the mill this week. I did some ordering and volunteered as tribute for a media interview scheduled for early next week (one of those annual "what's been popular at the library this year?" pieces - this one is a bit early, usually we get the request closer to mid-December when they're plotting lighter pieces to fill space during the holidays). I can tell the reporter is not a library user as one of the sample questions they passed along when we asked for them was "how many people rented a book this year?" *slow blinks* I also started the ball rolling for the team I'm co-chairing next year, setting up a meeting with the director who is the sponsor for the team (team structures at my library are... weird but basically sponsors are our adultiest adult who make sure we don't go running wild :P). My co-chair and I are already politely butting heads over a minor issue but are largely agreed about everything else so we'll see how our two-year term goes.

I finished the blanket this week! It still needs to be washed and blocked so no pictures yet but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. H and K will be getting it at Christmas as that's the next time I'll see them both. As of today, I've started on K's Christmas stocking which absolutely will not be done for Christmas but such is life when you do handmade things.

Nothing too exciting on the viewing front this week. On Thursday, Mr. Fine opted to watch The Wild Robot as he'd been listening to the audiobooks. It's not bad as children's movies go but not one I'd rewatch. Mr. Fine informs me it took a lot of liberties with the source material and he far preferred the books.

Two paper books finished this week that I'll share in just a bit.

Books 114 and 115



New Moon - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)

Re-reading continues and it continues to be the brain candy I'm in the mood for.

>123 MickyFine: A perfectly fine (!) week was had by All, though your co-chair should pull the proverbial thumb out and acknowledge your superior...access to self-will...and let you do what you want.

Happy Horlick's Day wishes. *smooch*

>125 richardderus: Lol, if only. I was talking with my friend last night who was one of the previous co-chairs and she gave me some additional reasons for why I should get what I want so I'm hoping I come out on top.

>126 MickyFine: My money's on you.

>109 MickyFine: A bit of a delay on the romance book store visit, Micky, but I'm hoping I get to it soon.

For your Toronto trip I think the shoe museum is a must.

>128 Familyhistorian: I hope it's fun, whenever you make it, Meg.

The shoe museum would definitely be a blast but the ROM might win as it's open a half hour longer. :)

Let's see if I can remember what the first full week of December brought my way.

Last Saturday we had breakfast, went for a walk, watched a sermon online, and then had our monthly game night with M&A. Had a nice catch up with A who has been dealing with some health stuff that meant time off work for her. We played A Place for All My Books, which proved as fun with four as anticipated.

On Sunday we powered through house cleaning and I snuck in a workout before H came over to help decorate the tree (a tradition for her and Mr. Fine). Then we watched Back to the Future II.

Work this week was a bit of an oddity as I was in office Monday and Friday because of in-person meetings (I generally like to do my in office days at the beginning of the week and get them done). I did some ordering and spent more time than anticipated fighting with Teams while trying to record a screen capture video for a course I needed to update.

The biggest development at work hasn't actually happened yet. At end of day Wednesday, my manager sent out a meeting invite for next Tuesday for a discussion about how all the librarians in our department will be part of the leadership team when we move to the warehouse and what that will mean for us. We're currently not part of the department leadership team but librarians who work in branches are part of branch leadership teams so it's not unprecedented (all librarians regardless of leadership status are in-scope of the union). Our general speculation in advance of the meeting is that they're making us leadership team so that we have to work weekends. Our department is currently M-F but with the move to the warehouse we will have pages working at our location 7 days a week and they likely want leadership figures in every day as a result. I am glad that I decided to put a religious accommodation on file with HR last year when some changes to standard hours of work happened as that saves me some stress and headaches now. I confirmed with my manager that she was aware of my accommodation and she said, yes, which makes me think our speculation is likely right. For me, while I don't love it, my accommodation means my "weekends" would just be working Sundays. Plus, due to the number of us on the leadership team, we'd likely only end up with 5ish weekends per year so it could be worse. As I told one coworker, I'd rather work weekends than evenings. I'll be sure to share updates on this next week.

With the blanket done, I've now started spending all my crafting time on the cross-stitch stocking for K. I made excellent progress this week and I have the whole name section (stripes and all) completed.

Holiday viewing kicked off on Monday. If you're new around here, in December I pick holiday movies for my TV nights and Mr. Fine typically picks a movie series to (re)watch for his nights as he has only a few Christmas movies he likes to watch every year. This year Mr. Fine is doing a Tim Curry and John Candy film festival (inspired by reading the former's memoir and watching the documentary on the latter). This week we watched: A Christmas in Connecticut (a black and white I've been meaning to watch for years and I really enjoyed it's screwball sensibilities), Clue (neither of us had seen this one and we had a grand time with it), Champagne Problems (not as stupid as it looked and with actual French actors playing French characters), and Spaceballs (a rewatch that Mr. Fine is very fond of).

I finished one print book and one audiobook this week and I'll try and get reviews up today but it might be tomorrow.

OMG, you'd never seen Clue before?!?! It's a firm favorite of mine 🙂 My sister and I once got exiled from the dining table (I want to say it was a Thanksgiving dinner but that sounds apocryphal...) for quoting it back and forth to each other and cracking ourselves up a little too much...

>130 MickyFine: That you finished any books at All in the Yuletide leadup I'd nothing short of amazing. Stay warm, my dear Micky.

Hello Mickey!

As a librarian-in-training now (fingers crossed, someday) I'm curious. How often do you get to go on these conferences?

And, having worked in news before, that story made me laugh. I knew next to nothing about photography, and got called out on that once when I interviewed a professional photographer. Its important to do your research before these things; I'm sure that reporter will learn that the hard way.

Edit: For clue, I'm surprised you hadn't seen that one. Glsd you did; Tim Curry is still my favorite in the whole movie.

I adore Clue! My brother and I also crack each other up, quoting it back by and forth.
“Are you trying to make me look stupid in front of the other guests?”
“You don’t need any help from me, sir.”
“That’s right!”

>131 katiekrug: I love this story.

>132 richardderus: Reading helps with the winding down so it's not going anywhere, lol.

>133 Ravenwoodwitch: My work typically gives librarians PD funding every other year. You can submit for approval to attend a conference or course, depending on your interests and what is being offered that year.

The reporter did all right when we actually met although the final article that went up on the web did misspell my name once, lol.

>134 foggidawn: I am delighted to find so many people who have such fondness for this movie.

>133 Ravenwoodwitch: I'll chime in on the librarian conferences thing, and say that in my experience, it really depends on your library. Some have larger professional development budgets than others. Some will prioritize your attendance if you are on some sort of committee or otherwise involved in the organization of the conference. Many of the ones I've worked at like to encourage librarians to be involved at the statewide level, rather than the national level, especially in states like mine (Ohio), where there is a strong state library association. I have worked at libraries that will occasionally sponsor librarians to attend national (ALA or PLA) conferences, especially when the travel distance is not a lot. For instance, when PLA was in Columbus several years ago, the library I was at then sent several people. But at most of the libraries where I have worked, if you want to attend, say, ALA Annual frequently, you may be doing so on your own dime.

>136 foggidawn: I will agree with what foggidawn says here. Our state also has a strong state library association, and its conference was biennial, so a lot of staff got sent to that conference. I should add that we usually had quite a few staff presenting there. I will also say that if your job has a specific focus and there's a conference that goes with that, it was more likely that you would be able to attend. In my case, I worked with our library system (online catalog) for many years, and went to conferences provided by our vendors fairly often. More general (and more expensive) conferences like ALA were not as useful for me and I usually did not go to those. Other staff also went to conferences that fit with their specific work area.

>136 foggidawn: >135 MickyFine:>137 Thanks everyone! So fascinating.

As I mentioned above, I finished the wedding blanket for my step-daughter and her husband a couple weeks ago. Here it is in all its glory.



Pattern: Shell & Lace Throw
Designer: Leanna Haughian (craftybones on social media)
Hook: 5 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love in Cascade and Charcoal

Beautiful!

Another week, another life update.

Last Saturday, we went to church in the morning. I was feeling a little under the weather so I took a nap in the afternoon, which helped a bunch. In the evening we went to M&A's for our monthly game night (they ended up being back to back weekends because life). We played A Place for All My Books and Dice Throne and got home a little early, for us. On Sunday, we got up early to power through cleaning before A came over for our monthly hang out. We finished Timeless and had a grand time mocking the last few episodes. After she left, I made butter tarts. I always gift some to the neighbours at Christmas and there's a bunch in my freezer that we'll pull out as desired. Monday I had my EDO and I powered through more holiday prep including baking some chewy ginger cookies and wrapping gifts.

Work this week was a weird mix of busy and quiet. My in office days had quite a few meetings, including the leadership meeting that did confirm all librarians in my department will be working weekends when the new central sorter and associated software goes live (current timeline for start date is roughly mid- to late February). While no one is super psyched about it, we all recognize that we still have it pretty good as our leadership team is very large with 10 people (most branches have 3-6), so we'll work relatively few weekends. Because of my religious accommodation, I'll only be working Sundays and splitting weekends with a colleague whose accommodation balances mine. As a result, I'll be working 2 Sundays out 10. I'm planning to ask my manager in my next 1:1 to set up the rotation so that I typically won't have to work more than one Sunday a month, which I'm positive she'll be cool with. As a result of this change, we'll all be taking a bunch of training in January as we start using software and doing tasks that are normal for branch librarians but new for us.

The only other excitement at work this week was that one of our vendors had a website outage for most of a day this week (their internet provider went down, causing servers not to function), so I had fun finding other, non-ordering related tasks to do.

Crafting is all cross-stitch, all the time. I'd forgotten how quickly it can work up when you're doing more basic shapes and shading. Still won't be done for Christmas though, lol.

The recent holiday viewing has included:
● Muppet Treasure Island - this is one where my age gap with Mr. Fine rears its head as this was in regular rotation when I was a kid, and he's only seen it a couple times as an adult (with me).
● Jingle Bell Heist - silly, but pretty fun
● Uncle Buck - Mr. Fine's favourite John Hughes film and one I hadn't seen before. I liked it fine but Ferris Bueller remains my favourite Hughes flick.
● My Secret Santa - pretty stupid but I had a grand time with it. Also, actually filmed during the winter (probably in BC) so the snow and cold were real, which makes for a nice change. Plus the film gave me my first bingo this year (my friend A has made bingo sheets for us and our spouses of holiday rom com tropes - it makes viewing extra fun).
● The Great Outdoors - Not my jam, but one Mr. Fine has liked since he was a kid.

I finished 2 print books and one audiobook this week, plus I still owe reviews from the week before. I should have those up later today.

>140 foggidawn: Thanks, Foggi!

Book 116

November
Books read : 9 (7 physical, 2 audio)
Re-reads: 5
Off My Shelf read: Nothing from the list
Favourite new to me read(s): Seriously the essays in Custodians of Wonder were sooo good. It's rare an NF title makes my favourites list, so take note.

Book 117



Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (re-read)

Re-read complete.

Book 118

>143 MickyFine: Ooh, that sounds like an interesting book!

Book 119

>147 PawsforThought: I highly recommend it, Paws. It was a really excellent read.

Book 120

Abandoned

And now I'm officially caught up on reviews.

>150 MickyFine: Too bad that one didn't hold up, because the whole "Christmas in a Scottish castle full of books" thing was really sounding appealing.

>153 foggidawn: Right? It's what had me placing a hold immediately. Colgan does have other Christmas-y book-related novels that are better. The Christmas Bookshop was a better time (for me) and is also set in Scotland (though no castle).

>154 MickyFine: I know I have some Colgan on my TBR list, but I don't think I've read any of hers yet.

>139 MickyFine: Gorgeous!

>156 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

>156 bell7: ^^^what Mary said! Happy new week, Micky.

>139 MickyFine: The wedding blanket looks great! I'm sure they'll love it.

>143 MickyFine: - Just catching up with your reading and taking a BB for this. Sounds like something I would find interesting.

>153 foggidawn: I agree with you. It did sound like a good read. I appreciate the review.

>158 richardderus: Thanks, RDear! *smooch*

>159 atozgrl: Thank you, Irene.

>160 dudes22: Oh excellent. I hope you enjoy it, Betty.

>161 mnleona: Happy to help!

Lovely blanket, Micky!

Sounds like holiday prep is moving forward, which is always so satisfying. We got our first real snowfall of the season overnight, and we've just finished shoveling/snowblowing/salting. Somehow, I don't mind that sort of exercise, LOL.

I meant to tell you that last weekend, TW and I discovered a board game star near to us that lets you rent the game to try it out before committing to buying. I love this idea, as there are lots of games I'd like to try but I balk at the cost of many of them in case I end up hating it. And this is a good solution for us because the overlap between the games TW and I both enjoy is very small :)

>163 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

We've had snow on the ground here for a few weeks but the weather had the gall to give us freezing rain last night (at -15°C), which is just plain rude. Hit up Canadian Tire for ice melter this morning and hoping we can get rid of most of the ice in the next couple days before we head into a week or more of temperatures around -20°C.

That's cool your local board game store offers that option. There's a couple board game cafes in our area and Mr. Fine and I have definitely done dates there to try out a game before we commit to buying.

Happy Jane Austen's birthday to all who celebrate! :)

>165 MickyFine: I sang my Jane-carols around the Shrine to the Divine Darcy this morning!

>141 MickyFine: Ooh, a holiday rom-com bingo! I love that idea.

>167 norabelle414: It's pretty fun. There are LOTS of tropes to pick from to make one. :)

Oh goodness, I'm a little late on the life update this weekend.

Last Saturday we played hooky from church as it was cold and with the formal Christmas program, I didn't feel like braving crowds of proud family members. I spent most of the day being cozy, catching up on LT, and doing some reading. Mr. Fine had a gaming date with a friend. In the evening, we babysat our friends' kiddo while they attended a Christmas party. Rather than driving home late, they had us sleep in the guest room. In the morning we did breakfast but headed out pretty quickly as one of our friends was coming down with a bug (thankfully, touch wood, neither of us caught it). On our way home we stopped at Canadian Tire for ice melt as there had been some freezing rain and then popped in to the store to pick up some frozen apps for our dinner. The rest of Sunday was the usual chores and festive viewing with tasty goodies.

I was in office Monday and Tuesday and glad of it as Snowmageddon arrived on Wednesday. An Alberta clipper blew through most of Canada, and while our snow accumulation in my area wasn't terrible (probably 15-20 cm of the dry fluffy type), it was the blizzard conditions that made it nasty (plus the layer of ice beneath). I was quite pleased to not have to be out in it at all. Work is starting to really get into "that's a 2026 problem" territory, and I've already got some mindless projects like cleaning up my OneNote and setting up my 2026 planner lined up for Christmas Eve (library closes at 2 that day, so it's always a weird one) and the days between Christmas and New Year.

I'm continuing to make good progress on the cross-stitch stocking. I'm nearly done the top half, but of course the bottom is more heavy on stitching.

Holiday viewing since the last update:
* Love Actually - a must watch for me
* Like a Christmas Movie - SOOO stupid, with some terrible musical numbers, but awful in the way I enjoy
* Cool Runnings - a childhood favourite at my house
* A Merry Little Ex-Mas - It has Alicia Silverstone and Melissa Joan Hart in it, so of course I had to watch it. It was silly but pretty fun
* The Family Stone - I get why the cast is so amazing as there's lots of prime material to dig into here but wowzers does this show its age and it won't be one I'll rewatch
* Canadian Bacon - oof this satire feels less satirical these days
* Oh. What. Fun. - Meh. There's a good premise in here but the execution was only so-so.
* Love at the Christmas Table - one of the Hallmark-esque films that I like so much, it's in my personal collection. If you think hard about the plot of this one, it completely falls apart but that won't stop me from watching it every couple years.

I owe multiple book reviews but likely won't get around to it until closer to Christmas (maybe before, more likely after).

If I don't poke my nose in here before then, Merry Christmas LT friends! I hope your season is safe, cozy, merry, and bright!

>169 MickyFine: Yuletide joy to you and All yours, Micky!

Merry Christmas to you as well!

Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year wishes to you and all your family, Micky!

To y'all as you celebrate this year:

Merry Christmas, Micky!

Happy Christmas, Micky!

>169 MickyFine: Oh my, the "dry, fluffy type of snow", I haven't seen any of that for decades, Micky. Sounds like your Christmas was a happy one. I hope that feeling continues into 2026!

Thank you to Richard, Foggi, Irene, Angela, Susan, and Meg for the Christmas well wishes.

>176 Familyhistorian: Dry and fluffy is most of what we get around here. At this point we've got probably half a meter of it on the ground and the snowbanks at the end of our driveway are nearly as tall as me (I'm 5'3").

Scotland spam - YES! Looks amazing. Any travel planned for 2026?

Time to recap Christmas week.

Last Saturday I went to church solo as Mr. Fine had plans with a friend to see the new Avatar movie that started a little too early for him to join me. Service was long but otherwise fine. I spent my afternoon reading and going for a walk. Sunday we got up early and went out for breakfast at a new restaurant that just opened in our 'burb. I had avocado lox toast and it was excellent. Then we went home to do some cleaning before going to see a matinee showing of Wicked: For Good (I liked it but not quite as much as the first part as it felt like there was more filler in this film).

Work for me this week was 2.75 days that still felt a bit long. I was in office Monday and Tuesday and they were largely pretty quiet. I did finally have a meeting that had been bumped a couple times with my co-chair and the director who oversees us to discuss some logistics. I think we'll do ok at getting on and I'm optimistic that we'll make some progress on making the meetings for the larger group more useful.

Mr. Fine was off on Christmas Eve (and doesn't go back to work until next year) and I worked from home until the library closed at 2. It was very, very quiet and I did spend my time after lunch setting up my planner for next year as that was all my brain could handle. After I finished work, I did a round of shoveling with Mr. Fine, we played Everdell Silverfrost, and then after dinner we went for a walk around the (very snowy) neighbourhood to look at lights.

Our Christmas day was a little different than originally planned. After our light-ish breakfast of avocado toast, I got a call from my brother letting us know that one of my niblings and my SIL both had flu-like symptoms and they were postponing our planned family Christmas at their farm that was scheduled for Boxing Day. So Mr. Fine and I talked with my mom and coordinated having a family dinner with my parents and grandfather on Christmas evening to mark the day. This was in addition to our planned Christmas lunch of appetizers with H and K. So it was a more social day than planned but lovely all the same. Mr. Fine spoiled me as usual on the gift front with board games, a skirt I wanted, Oregon Trail for the Switch, and the Jane Austen Lego set.

As a result of our cancelled plans, our Boxing Day has been very quiet. We had a late breakfast, I got some reading time, we watched Knives Out (I want to rewatch the first two before we watch the new one), went for a walk, did some video gaming, and after dinner we worked on a Lego set and played a board game.

Crafting was all cross-stitch again. I continue to make good progress but I might start splitting my crafting time between crochet and cross-stitch, since my deadline for the stocking is now next year, lol.

Christmas viewing was a lot of annual rewatches including Muppet Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, and White Christmas.

I think I've finished 3 books since last week's update but since I owe two weeks of reviews, I'm not quite sure of the final count. Reviews either tonight or tomorrow afternoon, in all likelihood.

>177 MickyFine: You're lucky, Micky. When we get snow its wet and heavy, the stuff you get when it's almost rain. Have a great time off.

Book 121

While babysitting a few weeks ago, our friends' kiddo picked this one as one of his bedtime reads.

Book 122

Sounds like a pretty good Christmas all around, Micky!

Book 123

>183 katiekrug: It was a nice one and I'm not upset we didn't have to do any driving in some of the dodgy weather we had around Christmas this year. Hopefully the roads will be in better shape when we have our rescheduled large family gathering.

Abandoned

Book 124

Book 125

Book 126

The Bayliss is going on my list.

Yay for Persuasion!

I might try the Sonali Dev because I'm a sucker for a NYC setting...

Book 127

>190 katiekrug: I think you'll really enjoy the Bayliss and I'll be interested to see how you like the Dev. I always enjoy your rating of how realistic the New York details in books are. :)

Glad to see your Christmas went well, despite the change in plans. Sonali Dev can be hit or miss for me, but I see I'm going to have to try some Olivia Dade.

>193 bell7: I think my reactions to Sonali Dev have also been hit or miss.

I hope you like Dade if you try her. Spoiler Alert was the first of her books I read and I think it's a great entry point to her writing but I also think Second Chance Romance would be a great first read (in the way of romance novels, reading in series order doesn't matter overly).

And that's me caught up on reviews. I'm hoping to finish two more books this year for sure (and might sneak in a short one to make it a nice round 130) so I'm not quite ready to wrap up this thread just yet. That being said, I have set up my thread for 2026 so feel free to visit and drop off a star.

Love at First Spite is on my library list, and I plan to get to it on 2026. Good to hear the next one is a fun read!

>191 MickyFine: I liked A First Spite well enough to put this on my list of possibles when I want a romance.

Glad you had a nice Christmas and happy new year, Micky! I really enjoyed the Bayliss when I read it a couple years ago. Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors didn't really work for me so I'm hesitant to try her other stuff.

>196 katiekrug: I have a feeling you'll really enjoy both Dades whenever you get to them.

>197 quondame: I liked this one even more than At First Spite, Susan, if that's any kind of selling point.

>198 curioussquared: Happy new year, Nathalie! I think I'll be much more hesitant to try future material from Dev. It's never quite what I want.

Book 128

Book 129

And now for one of my favourite thread ending traditions, the book meme! All answers are books I read in 2025.

Describe yourself: All Things Bright and Beautiful

Describe how you feel: Enough Is Enuf

Describe where you currently live: Home

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Well of Lost Plots

Your favorite form of transportation is: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Your favorite food is: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

Your favorite time of day is: Twilight

Your best friend is: Blithe Spirit

You and your friends are: Forever Young

What’s the weather like: Chilling Effect

You fear: Brigands & Breadknives

What is the best advice you have to give: Don't Trust Fish

Thought for the day: A Season for Second Chances

What is life for you: Great Big Beautiful Life

How you would like to die: Highly Irregular

Your soul’s present condition: A Psalm for the Wild-Built

What was 2025 like for you? Timeless

What do you want from 2026? One for the Books

And finally my year-over-year stats comparison. Looking at this there's a few things that stand out:

1. I read way more audiobooks this year as I swapped out podcasts for audiobooks. I expect this number will be even higher in 2026 as changes to my commute are coming (likely) in the first quarter of the year.

2. My average time to read a book is much slower than previous years, even though this is the highest number of books I've finished in a year for a while. Likely due to audiobooks skewing the data as it often took me a couple weeks to finish one, while print books taking more than 5 days is pretty unusual. I'll be interested to see if this flips in 2026.

3. I did way more re-reading this year and I'm positive that a lot of it was on audio. I find I'm more comfortable with novels in the audio format if I'm already familiar with the story. Plus there were a few big life events in 2025 and I tend to go for comforting and familiar books during upheaval, so there's a good chance of similar levels of rereading in 2026.

Year Over Year Comparison

My reading trends for the past five years.

Books Read
2025: 129
2024: 105
2023: 120
2022: 115
2021: 133

Pages Read
2025: 30,352
2024: 31,447
2023: 35,015
2022: 28,985
2021: 32,455

Time Listening
2025: 338 hours, 55 minutes
2024: 140 hours, 0 minutes
2023: 25 hours, 47 minutes
2022: 68 hours, 49 minutes
2021: 109 hours, 21 minutes

Format Breakdown
2025: 82 print, 1 digital, 46 audio
2024: 90 print, 5 digital, 10 audio
2023: 114 print, 4 digital, 2 audio
2022: 94 print, 10 digital, 11 audio
2021: 98 print, 16 digital, 19 audio

Audience Breakdown
2025: 107 adult, 11 YA, 11 children
2024: 84 adult, 12 YA, 9 children
2023: 100 adult, 12 YA, 8 children
2022: 98 adult, 12 YA, 5 children
2021: 100 adult, 31 YA, 2 children

Fiction Books
2025: 111
2024: 98
2023: 111
2022: 99
2021: 110

Non-Fiction Books
2025: 18
2024: 7
2023: 9
2022: 16
2021: 23

Top Three Genres/Topics
2025: Fantasy and Romance tied for first, General Fiction
2024: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
2023: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
2022: Fantasy, General Fiction, Romance
2021: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi

Re-reads:
2025: 43
2024: 13
2023: 23
2022: 9
2021: 20

Author Gender Breakdown
2025: 90 female, 41 male, 1 nonbinary
2024: 90 female, 23 male, 2 nonbinary
2023: 99 female, 36 male
2022: 88 female, 46 male
2021: 87 female, 59 male

Owned vs. Borrowed
2025: 105 library, 23 mine, 0 elsewhere
2024: 78 library, 26 mine, 1 elsewhere
2023: 76 library, 41 mine, 3 elsewhere
2022: 92 library, 23 mine, 0 elsewhere
2021: 104 library, 28 mine, 0 elsewhere

Average Time to Read a Book
2025: 5.79 days
2024: 4.94 days
2023: 3.55 days
2022: 4.20 days
2021: 3.89 days

>202 MickyFine: Love the meme answers! I used Great Big Beautiful Life for the same slot -- it's kind of the perfect answer for that one.

>204 foggidawn: Thanks, Foggi! The Henry really is a perfect fit for that question.