Norabelle414's Trilogy in One Part

Rory

Hello and welcome! I'm Nora. I live in the Washington DC area. This is my seventeenth year in the 75ers group! Aside from books, I also love:

animals/biology/zoology/conservation - I volunteer at the National Zoo
TV - scripted only (except Taskmaster and a few documentaries), mostly science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction; especially anything based on a book
regional theater - I have season tickets to Arena Stage but I go to shows elsewhere as well
podcasts - especially about books
knitting (I'm on Ravelry), mending, cross stitch, and embroidery
progressive politics (particularly urbanism, workers' rights, and trans rights (which shouldn't be a particularly progressive issue but here we are))

You can also find me on Bluesky @ norabelle.bsky.social

(I usually set some mini-goals for myself and when i do they will go here)

(reserved for recent books)

(reserved for 2026 books)

Happy New Year! I'm doing fine but things have been busy so I've still got some work to do back on my 2025 thread. I'll be over here soon!

Welcome back!

Happy new year, Nora!

Happy New Year, Nora.

Thanks >5 drneutron:, >6 katiekrug:, >7 BLBera:, Happy New Year!

It's Thursday.

Today is a holiday and I did pretty much nothing. I run a best-of-the-year book award for a Discord server I'm in so I spent a lot of time getting that organized. I read a bit this morning and made very yummy mushroom ramen for dinner. I thought about dropping some books off at the library but it's very cold out so I did not.

Tomorrow I'm teleworking then going to my brother's house after work. My mom is still there; they're leaving tomorrow on a little trip to Winchester, VA and then coming back here in a week or so. I don't have any plans for this weekend, I might go to a museum on Sunday.

Currently reading:
I started Cat Sebastian's latest, After Hours at Dooryard Books, this morning and it's lovely as expected. On audio I have checked out The Murder at the Vicarage, which is actually my first Agatha Christie.
Current library book count: 2 (I did delete all unread library books from my LT account before midnight, but a couple of them I would like to read in 2026 so I re-added them this morning)
January plans: After Hours at Dooryard Books, Prophet Song, She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, The Murder at the Vicarage
Reviews behind: 7 (yikes)

Playing:
My friend's wife started playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A so I logged back on to prepare to trade some Pokemon with her. I still don't think I'm ever going to be able to get the final goal - it involves reflexes that I just don't have.

Currently watching:
Nothing

Happy New Year Nora! Wishing you and your family the best for 2026.

>1 norabelle414: That is a cute photo of Rory. I love that curl in his tail, wrapped around his face.

New Year greetings from Kuala Lumpur. My project is at least physically completed and an addition to the city scape.

Look forward to keeping up with you in 2026, Nora

Thank you >9 humouress: and >10 PaulCranswick:! Happy New Year to you too.

__________________________________

To do list:
- Write 2025 reviews (5 to go)
- 2025 stats
- Stop by everyone's new threads
- 2026 goals

Happy New Year! I love Rory's perfect tail curve.

Happy new year, Nora! I am also among the lovers of that Rory photo. My cats are likewise very cute when they sleep but I've never seen them curl their tail that particular way.

I'm delighted you've chosen The Murder at the Vicarage as your first Christie, as it's a really solid one and I'm a big Miss Marple fan. I hope you have a good time with it!

Happy new year, Nora!

>1 norabelle414: Oh, that tail! Just precious.

Happy new year, Nora! Adding my love for that Rory pic :)

Happy new year, Nora! Looking forward to following your reads again in 2026.

>1 norabelle414: Add me to the fans of Rory's tail.
Happy New Year!

Happy 2026 thread, Nora!

Happy New Year! Joining the Rory tail curl fan club. Have lots of good reading this year!

Did you get the last five 2025 reviews written?

Happy 2026ing! Rest comfortable in the certainty, reported by LitHub today, that we're among the 19% of the US population that did 82% of the country's reading.

>20 richardderus: Ah, the 80/20 rule crops up in yet another context!

Found you, Nora!
Happy 2026 and I manifest for you a much stabler, happier time.

And send digital scratches behind the ear to Rory, who remains an adorable little orange baby.

>21 foggidawn: It very seldom fails to be behind most "coincidences" which makes me wonder....

Wishing you a happy new year, Nora! I finally managed to make my way over to your thread. LT is so busy at the start of the year that it takes a while to find everyone. I hope you have a good year at work and in your reading!

Happy New Year, Nora! I hope you like your first Agatha Christie.

Happy New Year Nora!
Oh, reviews. One of my hopes for the year is that I will write some. Well, the intent is to review every book read, but in 2025 I wrote exactly zero so if I write any I will be ahead. But I haven't finished any books.

Hello and I will chime in to say I love the cute Rory picture. It reminds me I haven't posted any photos of my monsters yet this year.

>1 norabelle414: What a beautiful cat!!!

Happy reading in 2026!

>12 foggidawn: Thanks foggi! Happy New Year!

>13 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! Rory has a verrrry long tail so he frequently curls it around things. It's long enough that he usually catches it when he chases it, and then pulls on it hard enough that he falls over.
Classic whodunnits are not really my thing, but the podcast I listen to is covering The Murder at the Vicarage next week so I figured why not.

>14 Copperskye: Thanks Joanne!

>15 curioussquared: Thanks Natalie!

>16 bell7: Happy New Year, Mary! Likewise!!

>17 qebo: Thanks qebo, I will put you on the list.

>18 libraryperilous: Thanks Diana!

>19 elorin: Thank you Robyn! You too!

>20 richardderus: Hi Richard! 3 down, 2 to go.... I should be able to get them done on Wednesday.

>21 foggidawn: Thanks Raven! Same to you, and I will pass on the ear scratches

>24 atozgrl: Thanks Irene! It's a firehose for sure. I just have to constantly remind myself it'll be more manageable in a couple weeks.

>25 EllaTim: Happy New Year, Ella! Thanks!

>26 AnneDC: Happy New Year, Anne! I started reviewing every book I read in 2017 and it's been great! It helps me remember what I've read sooo much better. I started with an easy template - 2 sentences of summary, 2 sentences of what I liked or didn't - but now that I've gotten in the habit I'm more freeform.

>27 ursula: Hi Ursula! Yes, please post cats!

>28 Whisper1: Thanks Linda!

>29 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita! You too!

Happy Tuesday!

Friday I teleworked, dropped off books at the library, then went to my brother's house to babysit the 18mo with my mom and her husband while my brother, sister-in-law, and the 4yo went to a party. 18mo is at a very agreeable stage so he was off to bed quickly (we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and several issues of Babybug, a literary magazine for babies that I got him a subscription to) and then we played board games.

Saturday I finished coordinating the book award that I run in a Discord server. Now is the first round of voting so there's no work for me until I have to tally the votes next week. Sunday I went to the National Air and Space Museum with a meetup group. It was recently renovated and I thought I might like it better ... but I don't. Airplanes are just really not my thing. But these meetups are very casual and it helped me to be more casual when I was not invested in the museum 😂 In the evening I made lemon cookie dough, which needed to be chilled.

Yesterday I teleworked, baked cookies, and went to trivia. Everyone was there, for the first time since November, and we had so many people we had to split into two teams. My team trounced the other and got first place overall. I had a lovely time and everyone inhaled the cookies. I might need a bigger container to take cookies to trivia in if so many people are going to show up.

Today I'm in the office. After work I'm going to my brother's house. I'm back to my usual schedule again so I have to get used to going into the office every-other day.

Currently reading:
Very much enjoying After Hours at Dooryard Books. This book is self-published, and I wonder if it's because it's a bit subversive. In my purse I have Prophet Song, but I'm finding the stream-of-consciousness hard to follow on the bus so I might swap it out (except that I need to finish it before the 17th) On audio I started The Murder at the Vicarage, narrated by Joan Hickson who played Miss Marple in some BBC adaptations. I found her almost incomprehensible, no matter how I adjusted the playback speed, so I abandoned that one and picked up a different edition with Richard E. Grant as narrator. Much better. I'm about 20%.
Current library book count: 2
January plans: After Hours at Dooryard Books, Prophet Song, She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, The Murder at the Vicarage
Reviews behind: 2

Playing:
I bought the new katamari game, Once Upon a Katamari, for Switch. I played it a bit but my default controllers and my expensive pro-controller are both fucked up so I only have a cheap controller and it doesn't have rumble effects, and I miss them. I guess I have to shell out another $70 for a pro-controller. Sigh.

Currently watching:
Taskmaster's New Year Treat! I really liked the two-episode format and was very pleased with the winner. The cast for Taskmaster series 21 has been announced and I'm very excited (I found out who they were a couple weeks ago but I get more excited when it's officially announced).

I'll have to look up 'Taskmaster's New Year Treat. TW and I have been enjoying TM again.

How do you watch it? We watch on YouTube but wondered if there is an option I'm missing that would get rid of the random breaks for ads and keep better track of what episodes we've watched...

>33 katiekrug: The Taskmaster's New Year Treat is a one-off special for the holidays that features celebrities who wouldn't do a whole season (usually non-comedian actors, sports stars, etc.). It's a great place to start because you can just watch one (or two, this year) episode whenever you want, you don't have to commit to a whole season. This year had celebrity chef/rapper Big Zuu, retired football/soccer star Jill Scott, Eurovision 2nd place winner Sam Ryder, lexicographer Susie Dent (who you probably know from other UK panel shows), and actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, who is Deaf.

The official YouTube channel is the best place to watch it, both legally and logistically. You might look into an ad-blocker? I watch on my computer which has one. I find if I am logged into my YouTube account it does a good job of queuing up the next one for me.

>34 norabelle414: - We did find the YouTube channel, which has helped. I wish it was on BritBox or something, though. But we shall persevere! We are currently watching S18, after getting through S20, which we LOVED. Prior to that, we had just watched random episodes from random seasons.

>35 katiekrug: Random episodes are fun but not as thrilling as watching a whole season and getting to know the contestants over time. Are you going to try to watch s21 week-to-week? It should start in April-ish.

>36 norabelle414: - I might... if I remember (or someone reminds me :) )!

>32 norabelle414: Congrats on the trivia win! Yum, lemon cookies! I'm always wanting to make cookies, but not wanting to have them around the house. (Taking them to work doesn't work either, as we're a small group, some have various allergies, others are always on diets.) Maybe I need to find a trivia group of my own to participate in/bake for. :-)

Happy new year, Nora!
I thought I'd follow your thread - we do seem to have some reads in common.

Happy New Year to you and Rory! I love seeing all the pets here, and your Rory looks so cozy.

>32 norabelle414: I don't have any video game equipment anymore, but boy did I play the heck out of Katamari Damacy back in the day!

>30 norabelle414: Yes, Jasper does that too. When he fights with his tail, often it's the tail that wins I feel.

>37 katiekrug: If you want me to talk about Taskmaster even more, that can be arranged.

>38 foggidawn: Thank you! I've stopped taking baked goods to work for similar reasons - I happily make allergy-friendly treats but my coworkers always complain that it looks great but they can't possibly eat any because they're on a diet, which is not great for my own struggles with disordered eating. I love having cookies in the house but I get bored trying to eat a whole batch before making another. This way I get to keep a week's worth for me and other people can enjoy the rest. You should definitely find an activity to bake cookies for! It also helps me keep my ingredients fresh *glances at bag of chocolate chips that expired 6 months ago*

>39 quondame: Welcome, Susan!!

>40 AMQS: Happy New Year, Anne!

>41 ursula: You'll be pleased to know it still slaps. There are remasters of the original Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari on Switch as well and they really hold up.

>42 humouress: When Rory chases his tail the winner is me

It's Thursday.

Tuesday after work I went to my brother's house to help with the kids. My brother didn't get home from work until almost 9 and my sister-in-law said this was probably her only chance this week to give the kids a bath, which made me feel like I was actually being helpful (sometimes I feel like I'm just there for the free dinner). Yesterday I worked from home, went to the library and checked out a fat stack of books to start the new year, made pizza for dinner. I got to sleep very late the night before so I had plans to get back on a reasonable schedule but following the horrible news out of Minneapolis threw a wrench in that. (It was silly to try to get on a regular schedule on a telework day anyway, I'm a mess on telework days.)

Today I'm in the office. I have a grocery delivery coming today which I'm hoping will stay cold and intact despite sitting in the hallway for hours. I'm also planning to stop by Trader Joe's on my way home from work so my evening will consist of tetris-ing food into my tiny kitchen. Tomorrow I'm teleoworking with no other plans. Saturday I'm having brunch with some friends. Sunday I'm working at the zoo in the morning and then baking cookies in the evening. I'm thinking maybe raspberry thumbprints. On top of a cabinet I found a couple extra tins I can use to carry cookies to trivia; I'm going to try one that is slightly larger and if that doesn't fit I have one that is much larger.

Currently reading:
It's not a great time in the world to be reading Prophet Song! But I don't foresee it being a good time for quite a long time. I'm over halfway done, thankfully. After Hours at Dooryard Books is also pretty heavy, as one of the leads is (this is a secret for the first 25% of the book) a CIA whistleblower and it's about the Vietnam War. The lightest of the books I'm currently reading is, of course, the one about The Murder at the Vicarage, which I am 50% through.
Current library book count: 8
January plans: After Hours at Dooryard Books, Prophet Song, She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, The Murder at the Vicarage
Reviews behind: 1

Playing:
Nothing

Currently watching:
Caught up on St. Denis Medical and Happy's Place, which were supposed to be background watching while I did chores but instead ended up as background watching while I read the news.

One of my book groups read Prophet Song last January, and it was rough then (we met to discuss it right before the Inauguration...). But we all thought it was excellent, so I hope you find the emotional effort of reading it right now worth it in the end.

I have no words re: Minneapolis...

>45 katiekrug: I have no doubt it will be a rewarding read. I'm finding that, like the beginning of the pandemic when I was very into dystopias, it is affirming to read about a world experiencing similar issues to ours so I don't spend the whole read thinking "how can you behave like things are normal when all of this shit is going on?"

>46 norabelle414: - Ah, that makes sense, in a sad way.

I thought Prophet Song was a masterly portrait of how things can go so very wrong, but slowly, so that people don't quite notice.

>45 katiekrug: Likewise. Someone posted this on Bluesky, and I found it, and some of the replies, a tiny bit helpful: https://bsky.app/profile/mosheroperandi.bsky.social/post/3mbvaw4lrbc2i.

Love and healing to us all. These jackboot terrorists already have lost, they just don't know it yet.

Here is Renée's prize-winning poem, if any of you haven't read it yet: On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs.

>32 norabelle414: I would take lemon cookies over airplanes any day of the week, Nora!

Happy New Year, Nora! I will try to comment on your thread more this year, especially for the cookie talk...and books, of course! I've had two boys request I make chocolate chip cookies soon, so I'm planning to do that this weekend.

>44 norabelle414: Raspberry thumbprints sound delicious! I haven't baked cookies in a long time. Now I'm wondering what I have the ingredients for...

Hi Nora! Happy New Year. Do you have resolutions? I have plenty of new goals, but I don't think of them as new year resolutions. They just happened to start right after Christmas.

*waves* Caught up on your new thread...the first 2 weeks of the new year here are exhausting! But Mmmmm.....cookies!

>48 SandDune: Hi Rhian! I'm not find it to be very slow but it is definitely incremental.

>50 PaulCranswick: Thankfully not a choice one usually has to make.

>51 aktakukac: Hi Rachel! A few weeks ago I made chocolate chip cookies with rice krispies in them that were great! I love the little extra crunch. One of the people on my trivia team is allergic to chocolate and though she says she doesn't mind if I bring chocolate cookies, I try to mostly make ones she can enjoy too.

>52 elorin: They're easier than I expected! My mom makes ones that have some fancy ingredients (almond flour, and something else) but the one I found is just butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, almond extract, and salt (and jam)

>53 The_Hibernator: Happy New Year, Rachel! I am not a fan of setting resolutions because I always feel like I am just setting myself up for failure. When I accomplish something it's usually because I'm not trying to.

Happy Sunday!

Thursday after work I stopped by Trader Joe's and I had a grocery delivery waiting for me when I got home. Friday I teleworked and went to the library. Yesterday I was supposed to get brunch with some friends but one of their wives was too tired and he never does anything without her so the whole thing was cancelled at the last minute and I was pretty down in the dumps about it (especially since I would have had to travel over an hour to get to them so I woke up early).

Today I volunteered at the zoo in the morning, then I made cookie dough which needs to chill for 4 hours. I'll bake the cookies this evening. Tomorrow I'm working in the office then going to trivia. Tuesday there's a firehouse primary (conducted by the party instead of by the county board of elections, due to the short turnaround time) that I will vote in for a special election in February. Wednesday I'm taking the day off and my mom and her husband and I are going on a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo in the morning and then to a bookstore in the afternoon.

Currently reading:
I finished The Murder at the Vicarage on Friday and After Hours at Dooryard Books yesterday. I only have a few pages left in Prophet Song so I've taken it out of my bag and replaced it with When Driving Is Not An Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency by Anna Letitia Zivarts. My next audiobook is All Things Wise and Wonderful, but I haven't started it yet.
Current library book count: 8
January plans: Prophet Song, She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, When Driving Is Not An Option
Reviews behind: 3

Playing:
Lots of Once Upon a Katamari

Currently listening:
This is the time of year when I still have Christmas songs stuck in my head. I have to listen to lots of other songs to get the Christmas songs unstuck but I haven't done that yet.

Currently watching:
I caught up on Saturday Night Live from last month and started Happiness (a very fun show about a Broadway director who has to move back to his tiny New Zealand hometown and direct their local theater) and also the first season of The Pitt, which I didn't watch when it first came out.

Sorry to hear about your cancelled brunch plans and the needless early rising.

I'm crossing my fingers you enjoyed your first encounter with Miss Marple. I hope your next reads treat you well.

It's Monday.

Yesterday evening I baked the cookies that were chilling earlier in the day and they were a disaster. I followed the directions exactly but they spread out completely flat. I even followed some online advice for overly-spreading cookies because I have had issues previously. I'm going to take some more steps - buying new sheet pans, moving my oven racks up a notch, using fridge-cold butter instead of room-temp (which the recipe calls for), using parchment instead of a sil-pat, etc. and I'll try this recipe again next week.

It feels unfair that I have to go into the office today after the weekend I had but here we are. I didn't sleep well last night. The person who sat in this cubicle on Friday put a banana peel in the trash and then hid the trash can under the desk and the trash didn't get picked up and it reeks. I can't talk to them about it because we're never in the office at the same time and sending an email feels weirdly passive-aggressive. Also they are very short so the computer monitors are very low and they keep leaving their notes and other work things on the desk. It feels like everyone else has their own desk and I'm the only one who has to borrow someone else's, when we're supposed to be 4 people sharing 3 cubicles (eventually it should be 5 people sharing 3 cubicles but we're currently short-staffed).

After work I'm going to trivia, probably sans cookies. Tomorrow I need to vote. Wednesday I'm taking the day off and my mom and her husband and I are going on a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo in the morning and then to a bookstore in the afternoon.

Currently reading:
I have more of Prophet Song left than I thought, but I was too upset about cookies to read much yesterday. I did start When Driving Is Not an Option and am enjoying it a lot. It's well-cited and specific, unlike the previous anti-car book I read.
Current library book count: 8
January plans: Prophet Song, She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, When Driving Is Not An Option
Reviews behind: 3

Currently watching:
Watched some more episodes of The Pitt.

1. Crepes by Suzette written and illustrated by Monica Wellington

Suzette sells crepes from a cart all over Paris. She sells them with many different kinds of filling, to many different kinds of people.

A very sweet (pun intended) little book peppered with French phrases and with a glossary at the back. The art is lovely - the backgrounds are collages of real photos of the parks, buildings, and monuments of Paris, as well as money, food, sheet music, etc. depending on the scene. According to the author’s note, some of the photos are the author’s own and others are public domain. On top of the collage are simple drawings of Suzette, her crepe cart, and her customers.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (4/5)

2. The Murder at the Vicarage (audiobook) by Agatha Christie, narrated by Richard E. Grant

A small-town vicar returns home after an appointment to find a man has been murdered in the vicarage. He shadows the local police to help them figure out whodunnit, with assistance from his nosy but insightful elderly neighbor, Miss Marple. A great number of people in the town disliked the deceased, but all of them have alibis. Or do they?

Murder mysteries are not my thing so I was not expecting to love this, and I didn’t. There are too many characters for me to follow and I didn’t really care about any of them. This edition was mostly likely edited for sensitivity, as all of Christie's work has been, yet still all of the main characters are pretty elitist and rude to service workers and women. Miss Marple does intrigue me but she’s really not in it much - she sets up a few lines of investigation at the beginning and then pops up again at the end to show how she solved it first. I can now say I’ve read an Agatha Christie book! But I’m not racing out to get more. I started out listening to the audiobook narrated by Joan Hickson, who played Miss Marple in several BBC adaptations, but she was almost incomprehensible at any speed (also, a weird choice since she's barely in the book at all). I switched to a different edition narrated by Richard E. Grant, who was perfectly fine.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ (3/5)

3. After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian

Walt Whitman aficionado Patrick runs a bookstore for Mrs. Kaplan, the woman who took him in when he was thrown out of his home for being gay, and she occasionally brings him other strays to take care of. The newest one, Nathaniel, is very handsome and clean-cut so Patrick can’t figure out what he might be doing there. Soon there are two more arrivals - Susan, Patrick’s sister in law, arrives with the devastating news that Patrick’s brother has been killed in the Vietnam War, and she has a newborn baby in tow. Mysterious Nathaniel has an aptitude with infants and lends a hand, but he also has a terrible secret that would hurt unabashed loverboy Patrick and rabble-rousing folk-singer Susan if they ever found out.

This book is much more pointed and political than most of Sebastian’s work I’ve read, as well as being much less spicy. Her books always deal with historical politics, and her position on CIA actions in the 1960s and the Vietnam war comes as no surprise, but it’s much more overt than I was expecting. I really enjoyed it, but the romance is fairly minor. I loved the characters, as I always do, and watching them grow and form a found family was a delight.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

2025 Statistics

In 2025, I read 130 books. That's 2 fewer than last year, and the second most I've ever read in a year.
29 of those were picture books, a short story, or comic books less than 100 pages, so that's still 101 full books, which is still the second most I've ever read in a year (and is 13 more full books than last year).
21,929 pages, plus 10 days, 2 hrs, and 24 mins of audiobooks.
I averaged 10 days per book, 58 pages per day, 11 books per month.
Average paper book length was 217 pages.
Average audiobook length was 8 hrs and 21 mins.

The longest paper book was More Weight: A Salem Story at 530 pages.
The longest audiobook was All Things Bright and Beautiful at 13 hours and 23 minutes.
The shortest paper book was Class Trip! (Peppa Pig) at 24 pages.
The shortest audiobook was Carmilla at 3 hours.

I acquired 32 books:
4 free digital audiobooks
4 LTER books
2 gifts
1 from a little free library
I bought 21 books.
I deaccessioned 17 books, 1 more than last year.

Books read this year:
105 (81%) were marketed for adults
12 (9%) for middle grade/young adult
13 (10%) for children.

100 (67%) of the authors/artists I read were non-male. (Some books have multiple authors/artists)*

21 books (16%) had authors/artists of color*
27 books (21%) had a main character of color.
33 books (26%) had out LGBTQ authors/artists*
41 books (36%) had an LGBTQ major character.
13 books (10%) had an out trans author*
11 books (8%) had a trans major character.

(*These are to the best of my knowledge. It is very hard to find biographic information about a lot of picture book authors!)

33 (25%) had a major character with a disability.

7 (5%) were translated from another language (French, German, Japanese, Italian).

24 (18%) of the books I read were were purchased by me
80 (62%) checked out from the library
4 (3%) were publicly available ebooks
13 (10%) borrowed (mostly from my niece)
3 (2%) free used copies
1 (1%) gifts
1 (1%) free promotional copy
4 (3%) early review copies.

95 (75%) were print books
3 (2%) ebook
29 (23%) audiobooks.

93 (72%) prose books
1 was a collection of plays
23 (18%) comics
0 poetry
13 (10%) picture books.*

113 (87%) fiction
17 (13%) non-fiction

16 (12%) rereads

12 (9%) published in 2025
78 (60%) published from 2015-2024
40 (31%) published before 2015.
The oldest book I read was Cranford, originally published in 1851.

My best reading months were May, July, and October, in which I finished 12 books. My worst reading months were April and June, in which I finished 9 books.

My most-read genre was speculative fiction/science fiction/fantasy/horror, of which I read 56 books (43%).
23 (18%) general fiction
14 (11%) Romance
11 (8%) historical fiction & fantasy
8 (6%) biography/memoir
6 (5%) adventure/mystery/thriller
4 (3%) science non-fiction
3 (2%) each history non-fiction, short story collections
2 (2%) general non-fiction

78 (60%) were from the US
34 (26%) from the UK
5 (4%) from Canada
2 (2%) each from Australia, Japan, and New Zealand
1 (1%) each from Germany, Uganda, France, Ivory Coast, Ireland, Belgium, and Italy

Favorites:
Piranesi
The Golden Enclaves
An Immense World
Murder by Memory
The Nickel Boys

Dishonorable Mentions:
- All the Spider-Gwen: Gwenverse comics
- Pretties
- The Bedwetter
- Under the Whispering Door

Nora, You are reading at a fast pace. I'll be back to add some to the TBR pile. Thus far, I've added Crepes by Suzette. I very much enjoy illustrated books.
It sounds like you have a busy life with lots of good things to do.

My new years resolution is to get out of the house more. Thus far, it's been a very cold winter with lots of snow and ice. Today, I went to the mailbox and took my garbage containers out front for the garbage collection this afternoon. It was bitter cold. I was going to take books back to the library, but stayed inside and finished a very good book.

I enjoyed reading through your lists.

>63 Whisper1: Hi Linda! I'm not reading as much as I wish I was. I think you'll like Crepes by Suzette! The art is very unique.

I also try to get out of the house more. In theory I don't want to go out when it's cold out but it's still way better than summer.

Happy Friday!

On Monday I took the very flat raspberry thumbprint cookies to trivia because they tasted fine and I warned everyone that they were not allowed to make fun of them. I ordered some light-colored cookie sheets, though I don't think that's actually the problem because my cookie sheets are not that dark on the bottom. My team got 2nd place and I had a great time. Tuesday I worked from home and during my lunch break I voted in my first firehouse primary (I've learned that's a term used almost only in my state - it's a primary that is run by the party instead of by the elections board. They don't use any county resources but they also don't have to follow most regulations. In this case it's because the primary needed to happen with only 10 days' notice which is not enough time for an official primary). The polling site was at the library so I also picked up some books.

Wednesday I took the day off of work and went with my mom and her husband and my friend on a behind-the-scenes tour of the lion & tiger house at the zoo! I took a lot of pictures but I am not allowed to post them. I got to feed a binturong (chopped fruit, with tongs) and got to be *very* close to two lions and three tigers (two Amur and one Sumatran) (with fencing between us, of course). Seeing all of the logistics and safety precautions was very cool. The female Amur tiger is very wary of new people so she hissed at me. I got hissed at by a tiger! Then we went out for lunch and then to the bookstore where I bought uhhhh a lot of books.

Yesterday I teleworked and did laundry. Very unusual for me to do laundry twice in a week (I use a laundromat so I like to do several loads at once and not go as often) but I got bird poop on my zoo volunteer shirt last weekend and I'll need it on Monday. Today I'm in the office. My brother and sister-in-law left this morning on a trip so I'm helping my mom and her husband with the kids this weekend. I'm going to try to make the raspberry thumbprints again with my new cookie sheets but I'm not sure I'll have enough time (they need to chill for at least 4 hours). The backup plan is making rice krispie treats, which are easy but I think of them more as a summer snack since they don't involve turning on the oven. I'll make those on Monday (which is a holiday) in-between my zoo shift in the morning and trivia in the evening.

Reviewing my stats above >62 norabelle414: was interesting. I didn't realize I read so many more audiobooks than last year! That explains why my number of non-picture books went way up but my page count went slightly down. I haven't decided yet what this means for my goals for the year. I probably want to read 12 romances, 12 non-fiction books that are not celebrity memoirs, finish all the Jasper Ffordes, finish all the She-Hulks, and keep my percentage of books that are audiobooks between 15% and 25%. I missed last year's goal to read 3 books that were gifts, so I'll renew that for this year.

Currently reading:
I have not been reading very much but I only have 10 pages left in Prophet Song. Next up is Glorious Exploits. When Driving Is Not an Option is still going fine. I started All Things Wise and Wonderful on audio. How is this the longest book in the series?? So far all of the stories in it are nothingburgers. Fine to listen to in the background but not really worth seeking out.
Current library book count: 10
January plans: Prophet Song, She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, When Driving Is Not An Option, Glorious Exploits
Reviews behind: 0

Currently watching:
Caught up on The Pitt.

>65 norabelle414: Second place in trivia, congrats!

Behind the scenes at the zoo is super cool. Feeding a binturong sounds fun - could you tell if it smelled like hot buttered popcorn? Being hissed at by a tiger is awesome too (when you're behind a fence).

When Driving Is Not an Option sounds interesting. Neither Morgan nor I have driven a car since we left the US in 2020. There are some hassles, and if we had licenses anymore we might consider renting a car occasionally but overall we don't miss it. But we're not disabled, or pushing a stroller, or needing other accommodations like that. I see the struggle for others. Particularly when you are waiting on a train and see a notice that says that none of the cars are accessible by wheelchair. Or the elevator in the station is out of order. Or on the train, there's a notification that the next 2 stops are "unfortunately" not currently accessible by wheelchair.

Wow, your behind the scenes tour sounds like so much fun!

The behind the scenes tour sounds VERY cool, Nora. Tigers are one of my favourite animals so I'm extra jealous.

Wishing you a restful long weekend!

Hey Nora!
Really sorry about the cookies; im not sure what happened either frlm what you said. Here's hoping they turn out better the second time.

I confess I know little about the Miss Marple books, but I do agree that character counts in these types of stories can get quite high. You could always give one more college try with a Poirot novel (I liked the Orient Express).

>65 norabelle414: Nora, I love youR description of the hissing tiger! What a nice day you had.

I had no idea tigers could hiss.
Thats adorable.

>66 ursula: Thank you!
Feeding the binturong was very fun. We asked the keeper about the buttered popcorn smell and she said she doesn't notice it in his indoor (behind the scenes) area because it mostly just smells like pee all the time, but when he's outside he co-habitates with the female so does a lot more scent-marking and the smell is noticeable.
I try to read a decent amount of urbanism/anti-car books since that's very relevant to my personal politics. I think what sets this one apart is that most of the books are about all the ways driving less is better but this one is a very thorough examination of people who already don't drive, who they are, why they don't drive, and what they need to fully participate in society. It's very focused on the US (Washington state in particular, where the author lives and works in advocacy) but by her definition you and Morgan would be considered "involuntary non-drivers" - anyone who wakes up in the morning without a choice as to whether to drive (even if they had purposeful choices that led them there in the long term). Could be because they physiologically can't, or legally can't, or just don't own a car. I've typically thought of myself as a voluntary non-driver but the truth is so much more complicated. I never learned how to drive due to my parents' disinterest but probably also my own anxiety and ADHD. At this point I would have to completely restructure my entire life if I wanted to own a car. So that makes me solidly involuntary too.

>67 drneutron: It was!

>68 MickyFine: I also love tigers and I was very excited to see them but there is still something primal inside me that panicked when I saw one so close. I was not expecting that!

>69 Ravenwoodwitch: Hi Angela! Murder mysteries are just really not my thing unless there's some other aspect to the story that I enjoy. I've seen a few adaptations of Poirot books and I don't think they're for me either. Maybe I'll get to one eventually.

>70 Whisper1: Thanks Linda!

>71 Ravenwoodwitch: Me neither!! I really wish I could share my videos. Everyone just needs to come visit me so I can show you them in person.

It's Tuesday.

Friday after work I went to my brother's house for dinner and to help my mom with the kids while my brother was out of town. Went back on Saturday and we took them to the library and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Went back on Sunday, my brother and sister-in-law came home a little before bedtime and my parents left early Monday. Monday I volunteered at the zoo in the bird house on the morning, had lunch with a friend, then went home. I made rice krispie treats which turned out just okay (a bit too crumbly, I added too much cereal) and then took a nap. I went to trivia which was very low-key. Several people dropped out so we ended up with two teams of 5 which should have just been one team of 10. Between the holiday and sports there were only two other teams playing (the regulars) and the host was very distracted by the game on the tvs. We came in second place (out of 4, I'll remind you).

It's a busy week. Today I'm in the office. I'm going to my brother's after work. Tomorrow I'm teleworking and then in the evening I'm going to see Taskmaster Live. Everything has been so chaotic since I bought the ticket in early December that I haven't had a chance to get REALLY FUCKING EXCITED so I am working on that now. Things should be quieter after that (knock on wood) so hopefully I can get back to reading and TV watching and volunteering at the zoo.

Currently reading:
I finished Prophet Song and I'm about halfway through Glorious Exploits and 3/4 through When Driving Is Not an Option. I haven't decided what's up next but I have a lot of great options out from the library.
Current library book count: 8
January plans: She-Hulk 6, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, When Driving Is Not An Option, Glorious Exploits
Reviews behind: 1

Currently playing:
Since I live alone I don't get a lot of opportunities to play board games so I always try to take advantage when my mom and her husband visit. We played Skip-bo, Wingspan, and Dominion.

Currently watching:
I haven't had time to watch much of anything!

>73 norabelle414: - Welp, I've just signed up for email alerts should Taskmaster come back to the US for live shows. Very tempted to see if any tix are up for re-sale for the Friday show in NYC...

>74 katiekrug: They should be back every January. The year before last they did one show at a teeny comedy club in NYC (they overbooked and it was a shitshow), last year they did one show at a big venue in NYC, and this year they're doing a 5-city tour. So hopefully next year they'll do even more. Tickets for the DC show sold out in less than 10 minutes so I am *very* lucky I got one.

Ed Gamble from season 9 has a show coming up in NYC in March which is not sold out yet, I think. At the Bell House.

>75 norabelle414: - Cool - thanks for the info!

The two shows in NYC later this week are at a pretty big theater, so here's hoping they do come back. I looked at re-sale tickets and they were like $1000. I LOLed.

Ooh I look forward to your Taskmaster Live recap! I get clips from them on Insta all the time and we watched a few episodes on TV while we were in Scotland (Taskmaster and GBBO episodes/reruns made up a lot of our viewing in the hotel at night) and it's always a delight.

I keep lists in my local library's catalog of books I want to read, and then as I read them or acquire them or decide I don't want to read them, I delete them from the list. Every year I start a new list to add books to but keep deleting books from old lists as needed. Is this a great TBR system? No. But it makes checking out books from the library dead easy (I can put them on hold straight from the list, and even see which ones are currently on the shelf at my branch) and it's better than my old system which was a piece of paper I kept folded up very small in my wallet. (Where did that piece of paper go, anyway??)

I'd like to make these lists smaller or perhaps even get rid of one?? Here are the number since my last update in May 2025:
2016 Wishlist - 8 books (down 1 since May)
2019 Wishlist - 22 books (down 3)
2023 Wishlist - 26 books (down 7)
2024 Wishlist - 67 books (down 15)
2025 Wishlist - 126 books (up 78)
2026 Wishlist - 11 books

>78 norabelle414: To weed down my TBR list, I look at the aggregated rating for the book. If it's been around for a while/has a lot of ratings and the rating is below 3.7, unless it's a topic/plot/author I'm super interested in, I'm probably not going to enjoy it. You might be able to bump some books off of the older lists that way.

>73 norabelle414: I thought Glorious Exploits extraordinary - much more memorable than 95% of what I read. And reading The Last of the Wine shortly after made both richer.

I hope you have a fantastic time at Taskmaster Live!! I would love to go just to really understand how tall Greg is.

>79 foggidawn: I'm not really one to trust strangers' ratings! Even in the aggregate. I do skim through the lists every once in awhile to see if there's anything that no longer looks interesting, but since I don't work in any book-related industry I'm not likely to put a book on the list to begin with if I'm not super interested in the topic or author.

>80 quondame: I am really loving Glorious Exploits!

>81 curioussquared: I had a great time! I think the best way to understand how big Greg is is that he does make Alex look very small...and Alex is 6ft tall.

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday after work I went to my brother's. I didn't feel super helpful since I the kids really wanted to spend time with their parents after missing them all weekend, but I did make dinner while my sister-in-law was picking them up so I wasn't totally useless I guess. Yesterday I teleworked and then went to see Taskmaster Live which was great fun. I knew it was going to be long so I tried to take a nap beforehand but I was too excited. The show had an hour of audience Q&A, then they picked 3 audience members and did a full episode of Taskmaster with them plus 2 local comedians (whom I had never heard of). Five whole live tasks! I didn't get home until 11:30 and then I was too amped to fall asleep until about 12:30.

In the office today but very tired! Our office admin is on vacation this week and next and I am covering for her, which is not too difficult (she left me very comprehensive notes on what I need to do and how to do it) but it takes more brain power to do something different. I was planning on going straight home after work but there's a big snow storm coming through on Saturday night and all day Sunday so I'm going to take the other route home to stop by Trader Joe's and get some necessities.

This weekend is really up in the air. I was planning to meet up with an online friend who is in DC for work on Saturday and then volunteer at the zoo on Sunday but that was before we had the storm forecast. Friend cancelled our get together because she needed to move her other plans from Sunday to Saturday so I moved my zoo shift from Sunday to Saturday but now her other plans might be completely canceled so we might be back on. Who knows. I'm guessing trivia will probably be canceled on Monday, which is disappointing since I would love an excuse to get out. I'll probably make some cookies anyway.

Currently reading:
Still working on Glorious Exploits, When Driving Is Not an Option, and All Things Wise and Wonderful. I read The Sensational She-Hulk #6. Next up is my book A Psalm for the Wild-Built and probably some library books.
Current library book count: 8
January plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, When Driving Is Not An Option, Glorious Exploits, A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Reviews behind: 2

Currently watching:
I literally haven't had a non-working moment at home since, uh, Tuesday of last week? Hoping to catch up this weekend if my power stays on during the storm.

Hope the storm leads only to an excuse to be cozy and curled up with Rory and that you don't have any outages. Stay warm!

Also, I'm so pleased Taskmaster was a fun night out for you.

I really liked the Becky Chambers book you have lined up, so I hope you have a good time with it.

>61 norabelle414: You certainly got me with that one, Nora. To be honest I has not come across either the author or the title elsewhere but it looks like something I would really like. I will go and look out for it.

Also, as you can imagine, I appreciated the slew of statistics you gave us too!

>84 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! No outages here, thankfully.

>85 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! You haven't run across Cat Sebastian because she writes only very sexy queer romance. After Hours at Dooryard Books is much less spicy than her usual fare, though, so you might still enjoy it.

Happy snowy Monday!

I had a fucking fantastic weekend. Thursday on my way home from the office I went to Trader Joe's and it was mobbed but I got all of the things I needed and most of the things I wanted. The line wrapped around the inside of the store several times, which meant I entered the store, got in line, then picked up the things I needed from the shelves as the line moved through the store. The cashiers are so fast and efficient that it didn't take much more time than usual. Friday I teleworked and it was uneventful.

Saturday it was VERY cold, and I volunteered at the zoo in the morning. There were very few guests but I got to spend some quality time with the ones that were there and that felt great. Then I met up with an online friend for lunch on my way home. She is on a work trip because she works on museum lighting, which was very cool to talk about. I think we're going to see each other a couple times a year because she is working on a project for my zoo soon. I stopped by the library on my way home to pick up a hold. Then, a few minutes after I got home, my trivia friends asked if I wanted to play Jackbox games with them online. What a perfect day.

Saturday night it snowed a lot and I woke up to a winter wonderland. I was enjoying it from my window when one of my trivia friends who lives right across the street asked if I wanted to go for a walk with him in the snow!?!?! We did and it was magical. I had a little crush on him before and now I'm a goner.

Today would normally be an in-office day but the government is closed so I am teleworking. I made cookies this afternoon and they turned out terrible again. Sigh. The streets are extremely icy but I'm still walking to trivia because I'm bored of staying home. I might be the only one there.

Tomorrow is a telework day and then I'm meeting some online friends (including the one I got lunch with on Saturday) for dinner, weather permitting. The rest of the week should be business as usual.

Currently reading:
I have not been reading much but I did finished When Driving Is Not an Option, and I'm about 60% through All Things Wise and Wonderful. I might not be finished before it's due back, though.
Current library book count: 10
January plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Glorious Exploits, A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Reviews behind: 3

Currently playing:
Once Upon a Katamari

Currently watching:
I caught up on a lot! Abbott Elementary, Going Dutch, Animal Control, Taskmaster Australia, Miss Scarlett, Happiness, High Potential, The Pitt, and I started the new shows Bookish and Best Medicine, which are both very mediocre. I also rewatched part of season 1 of Schitt's Creek just for fun.

I am so happy you had a great weekend. Walk in the snow sounds lovely. 😊

That does sound like a fantastic weekend!

Glad you had such a lovely weekend! Are you still fighting with your jam thumbprint recipe? I have a good one, but it involves pecans, and I'm not sure if you want them to be nut free. I tried to figure out which online recipe site it came from with no luck, but I can copy it from my recipe book if you want it.

Sounds like a really pleasant weekend, Nora! You remind me that one of these days I really should get to Abbott Elementary...

Thanks >88 MickyFine: and >89 katiekrug:!!

>90 foggidawn: It's definitely me, not the recipe. Most cookies I have made in the last couple years have spread way too much, regardless of the recipe. I think I might have figured out the problem, more on that later.

>91 bell7: I think you would *really* like Abbott Elementary

Happy Friday!

The cookies I made on Monday spread a LOT and turned out pretty bad. These were a good experiment, though, because they were coconut macaroons made with only 1 entire can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 entire bag of shredded coconut (and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract). Since they still spread despite having zero ingredients in common with the thumbprints, and having zero room for measuring error, and I used new light-colored baking sheets, I think the only remaining variable must be my oven? I knew my oven was too hot so I've been turning it down in accordance with a new accessory thermometer I got and I wonder if I've overcompensated and the oven is too cold. Everyone else (except the trivia host) backed out of trivia and I was going to go anyway.....but all the usuals were going to play Jackbox games online instead at the same time and I decided to do that. Of course that meant I ended up with the entire batch of mediocre coconut macaroons, but on Tuesday my neighbor asked me to go on another walk so I gave him some.

Tuesday dinner with online friends got moved to Wednesday due to the snow. The government was open on Wednesday but my boss told me to telework anyway and I did. Dinner was delicious and the company was good and it was nice to get out of the house. Yesterday was a normal telework day.

Today I'm in the office. Not going to Trader Joe's on my way home because I have lots of food. This evening I really need to do some mending because I'm running low on tights. I bought some expensive wool ones a few weeks ago and they have come in soooo handy because they're nice and warm. But you should never wear the same tights two days in a row! Let them breathe! Anyway, I wore my wool ones like 4 days in a row and now they have holes in the inside of the thighs 😭

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the zoo in the morning and then I'm going to baby-sit at my brother's house overnight (they're actually getting home around 11pm but it's going to be very cold so I'd rather just stay there). Sunday I don't have any plans but I might walk around the neighborhood to find all the places where snow has been piled in the crosswalk and report it to the county.

Currently reading:
I still have not been reading much! I finished Glorious Exploits last night. I got about out 75% through the audiobook of All Things Wise and Wonderful but I couldn't renew it because there was a waitlist at all of my libraries?? I guess because the TV show just came back. I should get it back in 2 weeks to finish up and in the meantime I started the audiobook of Heated Rivalry. The narrator is not good but I'm #104 in line for 4 paper copies while the audiobook has unlimited checkouts, so this is just what has to happen. This morning on the bus I started A Psalm for the Wild-Built.
Current library book count: 10
January plans: A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Akira Book 1
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, All Things Wise and Wonderful, Heated Rivalry, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, She-Hulk #7
Reviews behind: 4

Currently playing:
Nothing

Currently watching:
Now into season 2 in my Schitt's Creek rewatch, and also watching season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians because I thought I needed Disney+ to watch it but apparently it's also on Hulu, which I have.

>93 norabelle414: Glad you figured out the cookie problem (at least, I hope you did). My oven runs 25 degrees colder than the display says, so I've learned to compensate.

>94 foggidawn: How much would you expect the temperature fluctuation on an oven to be? I feel like mine is really high (sometimes up to 100 degrees??) but I don't think there's anything I can really do about it. (it's a gas oven and I don't own it)

I feel your pain about the oven, though mine only runs about 15 degrees off.

I just saw that Catherine O'Hara died, so I might be joining you with a Schitt's Creek re-watch :(

>95 norabelle414: Yikes, that's a big difference! How good is your landlord about sending around repair people? It's worth asking, since the temperature is that far off.

>96 katiekrug: Yes! Extra devastating since just yesterday she was telling me to simply fold in the cheese.

>97 foggidawn: If there's a provable problem the maintenance staff are great about getting stuff fixed but I'm not sure I could quantify "when I set my oven to 350F sometimes it goes up to 450F and sometimes it goes down to 250F". Probably the best I could hope for is they would just swap my oven for one from a different apartment (which might have the same issue).

Hi Nora! Sorry about the cookies - hope you're honing in on a solution. I bake at high altitude (we live at 6000 feet) so often unexpected things happen when baking.

Loved your story about the binturong - fun fact, this is the mascot (bearcat) of my daughter Callia's school (Willamette Univ) so I've taken an interest in the animal.

You got me with After Hours at Dooryard Books. Thank you!

4. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

Eilish and her family live in Ireland, which has recently elected a right-wing, authoritarian government. She’s a scientist and her husband is a teacher, but he is also the head of the teachers’ union so he quickly becomes a target of the new administration. He’s questioned a few times, loses his job, and then disappears. The situation spirals from there as Eilish struggles to keep her family - a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old, a 9-year-old, a toddler, and an aging father - afloat and together and alive in the face of fascism.

There is never an easy time to read this book, but in the midst of a real-life authoritarian crackdown on our own cities is a particularly poignant one. Much of Eilish’s story felt all too familiar or ominous, up until a point where it doesn’t. I think the rebel forces depicted, while obviously based on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, are not something that could function the same here. So by the end I was able to be a bit more detached. I generally do not like a stream-of-consciousness style of writing, but here it really propels the reader forward and gives a sense of chaos. I knew I would appreciate having read this book, but I enjoyed the act of reading the book more than I expected to.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

Hi Nora! I'm finally catching up on the threads this year.

I hadn't imagine that tigers hissed. Do you often get to do behind-the-scenes tours at the zoo?

I'm glad you've narrowed down the cause for your cookies spreading; I was thinking that it sounded like a temperature issue.

>100 norabelle414: I thought Prophet Song was excellent, but also disturbing. And I read it before (waves hand) all this. I admire you for tackling it now.

Nice review of PRophet Song, Nora! I also don't generally like stream of consciousness narration but thought it really worked here.

>99 AMQS: I can't imagine how hard it is to bake at high altitude! I have enough trouble at 400 feet.
Binturongs are so cute! The female at my zoo can be fairly vicious (she bit a keeper recently, oops) but the male is just interested in food. They're bigger than you would expect. And so much fluffier.

>101 humouress: Hi Nina! I usually can manage to get a tour once a year or so. They're a way that the zoo staff can show appreciation for the volunteers that doesn't cost anyone any money.

>102 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. I don't think it's going to get any easier. It gets less relevant as it goes along, but the beginning with Eilish's husband being targeted as a union organizer and then just not coming home one day was very haunting.

>103 katiekrug: I was surprised how well it worked! With A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in particular it made the story feel more urgent and chaotic than was warranted, but the urgency is definitely warranted in Prophet Song.

It's Tuesday.

Friday I did get some mending done, finally. I mended the thigh hole in my wool tights and a heel hole in my white tights. It's starting to get a bit warmer (all the way up in the 20s instead of the 10s or 00s, wow) so normal non-wool tights should be fine. Saturday morning I volunteered at the zoo with the pandas and it was great. Pandas looooove the snow so they were rolling around having a great time. I went to my brother's house to babysit and stayed the night. After I got home on Sunday I walked around finding spots in my neighborhood that had not been shoveled and reported them to the county, but I was not terribly motivated since all of the spots I had reported last week were closed without action.

Yesterday I teleworked and baked cookies. I made the raspberry thumbprint cookies again and they came out WAY better than last time! Way less spreading. The problem was definitely that the oven was too cold. I also pre-heated the oven for 45 minutes instead of my usual 20 minutes and I think that helped the temperature stabilize a bit before I put the cookies in. Trivia was great. I helped with a lot of questions about books and mid-00s TV shows. We only had one team and got second place, behind some mystery team we had never heard of before.

Today I'm in the office and going to my brother's to baby-sit after work. Nothing going on Wednesday or Thursday besides lots of work meetings. I'm taking Friday off because my dad is having minor surgery and I will need to pick him up at some point, I don't know when. Saturday I have a meeting at the zoo at 10 then I'm meeting up with my trivia friends at the Air and Space Museum at noon. Didn't I just go there with a different online meetup group less than a month ago? Yes but don't tell them that. No plans for Sunday but I probably need to find something to do because Super Bowl Sunday is the boringest day of the year.

Currently reading:
Still not reading a ton. I finished Akira, Volume 1 on Saturday. Action-y comics are not really my thing so I'm not sure I'll continue with the series, but I appreciate it's influence on the genre (Stranger Things in particular). I just finished A Psalm for the Wild-Built during lunch today. I expected to love it but I didn't really like it that much. I found Dex insufferable but I liked Mosscap. I'm going to write a quick review and roll right into the next book. Not sure what's after that. I'm about 55% through Heated Rivalry, which is not really holding my interest since it's quite similar to the TV show and also have I mentioned that the narrator is terrible??
Current library book count: 8
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, All Things Wise and Wonderful, Heated Rivalry, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, She-Hulk #7
Reviews behind: 4 (I really must get these written/posted)

Currently playing:
Once Upon a Katamari

Currently watching:
Almost done rewatching Schitt's Creek

A few random tidbits I forgot to mention:
1) Last night the bar I go to for trivia was playing a dog show instead of sports. Incredible! We almost missed a couple questions because we were too busy looking at the dogs.
2) One of the elephants at the zoo where I volunteer gave birth to a baby girl last night! So exciting! https://nationalzoo.si.edu/news/female-asian-elephant-calf-born-smithsonians-nat...
I won't get to see her for another couple weeks, I don't think, but she's doing well.

Yay for pandas in the snow! Yay for better cookie results! Boo for Super Bowl Sunday -- it's just another day for me. Fortunately John isn't into the sportsball either. And yay for dog shows and baby elephants!

As you know, TW and I have been enjoying Taskmaster a lot. We bounce around seasons and just finished 18 (also as you know). What season should we start next? Do you have a favorite?

>105 norabelle414: Snow pandas sounds ADORABLE. I have heard the Heated Rivalry narrator is horrific which is why I haven't tried to listen to any of the books. Apparently he's an ex-priest or pastor of some kind??? I do not understand the shift to gay romance audiobook narrator but OK. Also apparently the real crime is the Game Changer audiobook -- I heard an excerpt of what he did to Kip's voice and it's, uh, something.

>106 norabelle414: Westminster! I'm rooting for the Afghan Hound :) I wish bars always played dog shows instead of sports.

I am also not really excited for the Super Bowl, despite my local team playing, but I AM excited for the Bad Bunny concert. Idk man, he just does it for me. Nuevayol gets my hips moving even if I'm dead asleep. I am not the most latina of latinas but I guess the Bad Bunny love comes from something deep within me.

I'm not into the Super Bowl either, though I'd feel different if the Broncos were still in it - it was probably aspirational for them to make it, but then probably impossible once our QB was hurt. I never watch the halftime shows and only peripherally know who Bad Bunny is, but I know a lot more about him now that there's so much backlash from certain quarters. I told my husband that I want to watch it or at least have it on because if I can help ratings in favor of him versus the Real American or whatever nonsense competing halftime show that I want to. Who knows - maybe I'll become a fan!

Glad your cookies came out! Lots of baking pros insist on oven thermometers - it's wild how the temps can vary. I know my oven runs hot.

5. The Sensational She-Hulk #6 by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Andres Genolet and Dee Cunniffe

Jen is suspended from work for two weeks after her bar fight with demons was on the news. Jack suggests they take advantage and go on an actual vacation as a couple. They take a flying car to a space station near the sun. Jen meets a grieving but powerful woman at the bar named Ganymede, and it turns out she and Jack are already acquainted.

Fun! Too bad there are only 4 issues left. Andres Genolet is back, after being gone for a few issues, and I’m very glad to see his art again.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

>107 foggidawn: I wish super bowl Sunday could be just another day, but it's a day where I feel like I can't go out and do anything or socialize with anyone.

>108 katiekrug: My favorite season of Taskmaster is 13 (Ardal O'Hanlon, Bridget Christie, Chris Ramsey, Judi Love, Sophie Duker)! Followed probably by 5 and 9.

>109 curioussquared: He's very bad at voices. There's a lot of hate for his Russian accent but also for some reason both Shane's mom and Rose have southern accents which makes absolutely no sense. I bet he's better as a dual narrator. I bet he's pretty inexpensive, and of course a bad audiobook is better than no audiobook at all. I'm only 12th in line for a paper copy of Game Changers so I don't think I will be subjected to that audio.
We only saw the hounds and the toys. The Afghan hound was so majestic! I thought of Goose jumping on your counters when we watched the borzoi. A bit disappointed that the doberman won overall, I find them boring.
One of my neighbors (in her 40s) is obsessed with Bad Bunny and she did a powerpoint presentation at a local bar to get all the other neighbors up to speed for his performance. I was very bummed I couldn't go but I think it ended up being over capacity anyway.

>110 AMQS: Ratings are only counted from Nielsen households, Anne, so don't feel pressured to watch if you don't want to! But I think he's very fun. I recommend checking out one of his (many) episodes of Saturday Night Live.
The accessory thermometer ended up being part of the problem, I think. I was getting too obsessed with making sure everything was exactly the right temperature and it was resulting in the oven being too cold.

It's Thursday.

I babysat on Tuesday after work. Yesterday I teleworked, went to the library to read for a bit, made pizza for dinner.

Today I'm in the office. I slipped on ice getting to the bus stop this morning, surprisingly my first slip of this whole storm. I'm fine for now but I think I'll be sore tomorrow. I'm hoping to do some laundry when I get home.

Tomorrow I have the day off to pick up my dad from surgery at some point. Saturday I have a meeting at the zoo then going to the Air and Space Museum at noon. Sunday I might volunteer at the zoo but I haven't signed up for a shift yet. Monday I would normally have my monthly dinner with my brother and my dad but my brother has a conflict so we're doing Tuesday instead. I think I'm going to make coconut macaroons for trivia.

Currently reading:
Almost done with A Prayer for the Crown-Shy and I'm enjoying it more than Wild-Built because there's more Mosscap. I got All Things Wild and Wonderful back so Heated Rivalry is on the backburner. I think my next paper read will be Armistice (the sequel to Amberlough). I just got Breadknives & Brigands from the library but I think I need a break from cozy fantasy for a minute.
Current library book count: 8
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, All Things Wise and Wonderful, Heated Rivalry, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, She-Hulk #7
Reviews behind: 4 (3 of these are written already but not the next one in order!)

Currently watching:
Nada (I'm very behind again)

>112 norabelle414: - We've started season 4 because The Wayne was excited to actually be familiar with some of the cast :-P

>114 katiekrug: Season 4 is another great one!

>112 norabelle414: I thought Penny the doberman was very pretty but I was definitely rooting for Zaida the Afghan! She was just GORGEOUS in motion. Omg, I love that your neighbor did a Bad Bunny educational presentation. So good.

Hope you're not too sore from your fall!

>116 curioussquared: Someone made a Bluesky thread of all the slides from her presentation! (unfortunately it does require a Bluesky account to view): https://bsky.app/profile/rathjen.us/post/3md4tughjmk2z

It's Monday.

Thursday afternoon I talked to my dad. It turns out his apartment renovation was not finished when he got home, as he was promised it was. I picked him up from surgery on Friday with no issues. He was very energetic at first, which worried me, but I did get him to have a rest before I left. There are lots of little things wrong with his apartment, and the very big issue that they ripped all of the coax cable from his walls so now he has no way to get internet. He's going to have to continue to rent a second apartment for another month, at least, while things get fixed. He doesn't like the way anything turned out (somewhat due to the incompetence of the contractor, somewhat due to my dad's refusal to participate in the process) but he's out of money so he might just need to live with it.

Saturday morning I went to a meeting at the zoo discussing changes to Africa Trail (one of the departments where I volunteer), which has been under construction for a couple years. Then I went to the Air and Space Museum with an online meetup group (mostly the same people I play trivia with (including my neighbor), but also a few others). I had big plans to get a lot of chores/errands done on Sat/Sun and I did not get most of them done but I did get more than zero! I washed my couch cushion covers (they say "do not wash" on the label but I did anyway and it was fine), assembled a new clothing rack for my bedroom (most of my clothes end up in piles on the floor because if I put them in the closet I forget they exist forever, and also I need a place to hang things to dry), and took a ton of glass to the glass recycling. Not bad! The big items still on my list are to deep-clean a few spots on the carpet, go get a haircut, and take some old furniture down to the dumpster (I might ask my neighbor if he can help me).

Today I'm in the office. I made coconut macaroons yesterday and they overspread again, even though I adjusted my oven temperature up. Sigh. I feel like I'm just doomed to make bad cookies. After work I have trivia. Tomorrow I'm having takeout at my dad's apartment with my brother. My brother went to check on our dad and his apartment yesterday and told me I'm overreacting. Cool. Nothing else going on this week. I'm volunteering at the zoo Saturday, going to a museum on Sunday, Monday is a holiday so more zoo and baking cookies and trivia.

I'm dealing with a couple "online orders gone wrong" issues, which of course happen occasionally but I find very frustrating. First of all I ordered a bunch of tights from my favorite tights company ( https://snagtights.us ) and they arrived in early January but I ordered so many that it took me awhile to realize one was missing. The company is very nice about it, they did a quick check to make sure I wasn't scamming them (they wanted pictures of the packaging of the items that did arrive, which thankfully were still in the trash) and now they're sending the missing item but they have to ship it from the UK so it's taking forever. Secondly and more annoyingly, I thought I was done getting individual issues of She-Hulk forever since the last one arrived in mid-2024 so imagine my surprise when last month I received Planet She-Hulk #2. I figured it was probably an auto-renewal, possibly only 2 issues since Sensational She-Hulk ended with issue #10. I figured they sent out issues #1 and #2 around the same time and #1 would arrive soon. Last week I received issue #3 so I emailed to let the shop know that I never received #1. They just emailed me back this morning and said issue #1 is out of stock so they'll just extend my subscription by 1 issue. What the fuck?? The only thing worse than continuing to get comics I don't want is missing issue #1!!!

Currently reading:
Still have not been reading much. I finished All Things Wild and Wonderful so I'm back to listening to Heated Rivalry. I still have about 20 pages left in A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, which is still leaving me almost as cold as Wild-Built. I started Armistice on Saturday and read more on the bus this morning.
Current library book count: 8
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Heated Rivalry, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, She-Hulk #7, Brigands & Breadknives
Reviews behind: 4 (3 of these are written already but not the next one in order!)

Currently playing:
I'm trying to get all of the remaining collectibles in Once Upon a Katamari but there are 2 or 3 that I think are just completely beyond my skill level and it's frustrating. There are lots of guides to where the collectibles are found but not much information on how to get them if you are struggling.

Currently watching:
Caught up on The Pitt and St. Denis Medical. Watched an episode each of Shrinking, Saturday Night Live, Wild Cards (this was the season premiere so Marc the cat was featured prominently), A Thousand Blows (I do not remember what happened last season or who any of these people are but I don't care enough to rewatch season 1), and started Taskmaster New Zealand season 6. I tried to watch the Call the Midwife Christmas special from December but apparently it's only available for 30 days, even to PBS Passport subscribers! Infuriating.

Hi Nora! How'd your dad's surgery go? That's generally stressful.

I have so far managed not to fall on the ice. IL has, though. He totally wiped out.

>119 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! His surgery went fine and he seems to be recovering well. It feels like I'm more concerned than anyone else but there's only so much I can do.
I don't seem to have any residual issues from falling on the ice on Thursday. For a day or two my hip twinged a little if I was walking really fast (my normal pace) so that was a reminder to slow down, but it's not doing that at all anymore. I hope IL is doing fine.

It's Wednesday.

Monday I got home, scarfed down dinner, and went to trivia. My neighbor let me know when he was leaving in case I wanted to walk over together but I wasn't ready yet so I told him to go without me. Trivia was fine; our big group split up into two teams and got 4th and 5th place. I think my team would have done better except that one woman convinced the captain to wager everything on the 3 bonus questions that involve a wager and we got all of them wrong (usually we only wager ~3-5 points instead of the full 10). Annoyingly I got a question wrong because I mixed up C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll, but later there were questions about Thomas Harris, Salvador Dali, and matching authors with their pen names that I got right. Everyone liked the coconut macaroons even though they were inconsistent (too sticky on the bottom, too dry on top). I got to know some of the women on my team a bit better, which was nice (when my neighbor is on my team I get distracted and pay less attention to other people, but he was on the other team this time). My neighbor walked me home. We've been going for walks a couple times a week, mostly at his request. He casually mentioned on Saturday that he was dating someone but did not call her his girlfriend so I don't know what's up with that. It's very nice to have someone to get me out of the house, even if nothing more ends up happening. He also mentioned he has a small hole in his favorite jeans so I offered to mend it for him - I'm dying to try out mending jeans but I almost never wear pants so I've never had any jeans to mend, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Yesterday I teleworked. There was yet another local special election so I voted during my lunch break. I get a short break from elections now until April 21, when we have a state-wide referendum on temporary redistricting. After work I picked up takeout and had dinner at my dad's apartment with my brother. My dad seems fine from his minor surgery, he says he's not had any pain at all. He's still cataloging all of the things wrong with his apartment renovation and hopefully my brother and I convinced him not to pay anyone anything more until they get fixed. As usual when it's the two of them, they forgot I exist and just talked about themselves and how everyone who doesn't share their worldview is wrong and it was incredibly boring. But I survived!

Today I'm in the office. Suddenly the temperature is all the way in the mid-40s after being below freezing for weeks. I'm wishing I hadn't worn my winter coat. Nothing else going on this week except probably a library trip and a walk with my neighbor. I'm volunteering at the zoo Saturday, going to a museum on Sunday, Monday is a holiday so more zoo and baking cookies and trivia.

My latest little annoyance is that some of my zoo volunteer meetings are moving from Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons to the middle of the day on Thursdays, which means I won't be able to attend, even virtually. This includes at least 2 book club meetings. Infuriating.

Currently reading:
I finished A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, which I still did not really enjoy. Reading Armistice on the bus and almost done listening to Heated Rivalry.
Current library book count: 8
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Heated Rivalry, Armistice, She-Hulk #7, Brigands & Breadknives
Reviews behind: 6 (3 of these are written already but not the next one in order!)

Currently watching:
Nada

>117 norabelle414: Well, that was wonderful. I'm really glad you shared it!

>122 richardderus: The presenter also did a thread of various references in the halftime show itself. I'll post a link later when I have a minute to find it.

>123 norabelle414: :-)

6. When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency by Anna Letitia Zivarts

Over 30% of Americans do not have a driver's license. Many others have a restricted license, or have one but can't or don't use it. Reasons why range from disability to age to money. For these people, public transportation and other non-driving methods of getting around are not just nice to have - they are a requirement for participation in society. Zivarts herself is vision-impaired and cannot ever drive a car - and neither will her young son. She founded the Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington where she documented the experiences of non-drivers and made sure they had representation in local governments and other decision-making bodies. This book presents not only their situations and needs, but also what society can do to make the world an accessible place for those who can’t just drive everywhere, and how that truly benefits everyone.

I am lucky enough to live in a place with decent public transportation so I don’t have to spend a lot of time worrying about it, but I am one of the involuntary nondrivers this book is about. I have never owned a car or had a driver’s license, and I never will. It’s never really a concern for me until someone else makes it one - a shocked look on someone’s face when I mention it, or an HR form at a job needing to be formally altered when I question whether a driver’s license is actually a requirement for a desk job. But I still felt very seen by this book, because nondrivers are my people. And we deserve to fully participate in society without having to worry about whether we can rely on or afford a ride, or make it down a street with patchwork sidewalk. While I found it to be a little bit Washington-centric, I highly recommend checking out this book, especially if learning that a third of Americans can’t drive shocked you. Nondrivers are all around you.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

7. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

Syracuse has recently won the Peloponnesian War and imprisoned the losing Athenian army in disused quarries for lack of sufficient prison space. Lampo and his best friend Gelon are obsessed with the plays of Euripides and realize they have a unique opportunity - a small amount of food could bribe the starving Athenian prisoners to tell them everything they know about Euripides’ works. The (literal) captive audience even lets them put on their very own play. Gelon has the vision and drive to get great things done, but Lampo is easily distracted by a pretty bartender, friendship with the Athenians, or the promise of money. Both of them hope that a masterpiece of a performance can bring together the rest of the Syracusians, who are still feeling the loss of their fathers and brothers during the war.

What a book. Lampo, as the POV character, is the kind of main character I absolutely hate to be in the head of, but the setting is so inventive that you can’t help but love it. The plot is fairly silly but in the background the book has important things to say about the nature of slavery and the trauma of war. The modern dialect makes the book very readable, though I’ve heard the audiobook with an Irish narrator is even better.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

8. Akira, Book One written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo, translated by Yoko Umezawa, Linda M. York, and Jo Duffy

In 1992 a nuclear bomb goes off in Tokyo, and then in other major cities around the globe. 40 years later Neo-Tokyo is in anarchy, run by biker gangs and terrorists. One such gang, run by Kaneda, is racing through closed-off tunnels when Kaneda’s best friend Tetsuo swerves to avoid a small child and crashes. The injuries give Tetsuo psychic powers, and he becomes jealous and violent and catches the eye of a secret government agency. Working against the agency is a young woman named Kei, who teams up with Kaneda as he tries to get his friend back.

Action-heavy comics are not really my thing, but this is a classic worth reading. I knew it was one of the first mangas to ever be translated into English and introduced to the United States, but I didn’t really know what it was about. It’s easy to see the influence it’s had on other work since the 80s (especially Stranger Things!), though I believe a lot of that is due to the movie (which I have not seen). Some of the individual panels are iconic, but I found the characters hard to tell apart and the story hard to follow. It was worth a read for the interesting story, and I would like to know more, but I didn’t love reading it in this format and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue or not.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (4/5)

9. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Dex is a monk on a planet not too different from our own. They're dissatisfied with their life in an urban monastery so they apply for a transfer to be a rural monk, traveling from village to village serving tea and listening to people's problems. They're dissatisfied with that too, so they ride off into the wilderness - and run into a robot. Mosscap the robot is descended from man-made machines of old who gained sentience and left humanity forever. It's interested in learning more about humans…starting with Dex.

I had high hopes for this book but I did not really enjoy it. Starting out with a rant (an illogical one at that) about how awful the main character finds the city is a great way to lose me immediately, and it never really got me back. I found Dex annoying and self-righteous. They don't seem to care about anyone else, despite that being their whole job. I really enjoyed Mosscap, though, and I liked the direction the book was heading by the end (though it was too preachy), so I'll read the next.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (3.5/5)

10. All Things Wise and Wonderful (All Creatures Great and Small, book 3) by James Herriot, narrated by Christopher Timothy

Framed by his brief time in the Royal Air Force, veterinarian James Herriot shares more stories of his life and work. He treated farm animals for cranky farmers and small pets for little kids, while living with his patient wife, eccentric boss, and suave coworker.

Genuinely could not tell you a single story that is in this collection I just finished. They go in one ear very smoothly and out the other just as easily. They could be the exact same stories from the previous book and I wouldn’t know the difference. They’re very enjoyable to listen to in the moment, but don’t stick around or mean much.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (3.5/5)

>100 norabelle414: I own a copy of Prophet Song. And, I actually know where to find it -- which room and which area. I'll move this one up on the TBR list. Thanks for your review!

>124 richardderus: Found it! https://bsky.app/profile/beckyhammer.bsky.social/post/3meffq52d4k2h

>130 Whisper1: It's well worth reading, Linda. I don't think you'll be disappointed that you moved it up the list.

Huh, I thought I replied here. Hopefully it didn't go somewhere else! Anyway, I must have missed some background on this neighbor. Sounds like a bit of an unclear situation though.

>126 norabelle414: I *adored* this read because Lampo and Gelon were so much fun to get to know. I'm so happy to know you liked it, too.

>131 norabelle414: Thanks for the link!

>125 norabelle414: That’s interesting - we have a perception here that everyone in the U.S. has a driving licence as it is always presented as so car centric. I know here there is a tendency for young people to get their licences much later, as the whole process is so expensive (cost of driving lessons as our driving test is hard and cost of car insurance afterwards is astronomical for teenagers).

>126 norabelle414: I loved Glorious Exploits (I did listen to the audio version and it is great with the Irish accent).

>132 ursula: I've had a couple replies get lost recently too, hmm.
There's not much to know - He's part of my online meetup group and we started walking home from bar trivia together because we live across the street from each other. Then a few weeks ago we had a big snowstorm in the middle of the day and he asked if I wanted to go for a walk in the snow because he remembered that I love the snow, and it was a lot of fun. It's probably nothing but I don't get crushes very often so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

>133 richardderus: I had never heard of it before it was featured on a book podcast I listen to, but I'm so glad I was inspired to read it!

>134 SandDune: The US is extremely car-centric, but that's because we choose to ignore and marginalize the huge chunk of people who can't drive, not because they don't exist. In most of the US (geographically) it is near impossible to get anywhere without driving, which means that those who can't are either fully dependent on others to drive them or they can't leave the house.

>135 norabelle414: As a bus rider, I really need to find a copy of this. I don't make enough money to keep a car running. Unfortunately, I don't live in a place with good transportation. They keep cutting hours and routes, and the less utile the system is, the fewer people use it if they have any other choice.

Where I can live, shop, and work is limited by the bus system. And I probably won't see my parents' graves ever again. I was going to say until they inter me next to them, but that's not "seeing" them...

Hi Nora, such terrific reading here. You got me with >125 norabelle414: and >126 norabelle414:.

I think I have listened to all of the James Herriot books and they were a favorite of ours on road trips.

>134 SandDune:, >135 norabelle414: Indeed the US is very car-centric, particularly in the midwest and west, I think. There would be absolutely no way for me to get to me school without a car, and I suspect this is true for most schools in my district. So driving is expected of staff, students, and parents. Not only are the non-drivers marginalized and ignored, but the distances are so vast out here. But even within cities it's a significant infrastructure issue/deficit.

>136 ReneeMarie: I hope you can find it! I got mine at a bookstore in Seattle, but my local library here in Virginia also has a copy. Hopefully yours does too. There is a lot of information in the book from Tamara Jackson of the Wisconsin Non-Driver Advisory Committee, which you might find especially interesting. Here's a presentation she gave at UW-Milwaukee a couple years ago: https://uwm.edu/ipit/wp-content/uploads/sites/570/2022/10/Wisconsin-NDAC.pdf

>137 AMQS: I know I have read and/or listened to all of the James Herriot books somewhere between 4 and 10 times but they really just don't stick in my head (which is not necessarily a bad thing; it makes them endlessly rereadable).
It's interesting to read about the history of non-driver transportation in the US, because it used to be so much better than it is now, but the car industry took over mid-century and made everything worse. When Driving Is Not an Option is not very historically-focused but I'm hoping to get to some more history soon.

Happy Friday!

Wednesday after dinner I went to the library to read for a bit. Yesterday I teleworked, went for a walk with my neighbor after lunch, made pizza for dinner, then went to the grocery store. I talked to my dad on the phone (because he refuses to set up his voicemail and so any time the doctor can't get a hold of him they call me and then I have to relay the message) and he seems to be doing fine.

Tomorrow morning I'm volunteering at the zoo, possibly going to a museum on Sunday? (my meetup might be cancelled), volunteering at the zoo on Monday then baking cookies and going to trivia. Next week I'm babysitting on Tuesday and going to the theater on Thursday.

Currently reading:
I finished listening to Heated Rivalry, which was fine but not as good as the TV show. The next audiobook I have up is All of Us Murderers. Read more of Armistice on the bus.
Current library book count: 10
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Armistice, She-Hulk #7, Brigands & Breadknives
Reviews behind: 2

Currently crafting:
My neighbor gave me some jeans of his to mend and I'm having a great time learning sashiko (Japanese mending embroidery). I stayed up way too late last night working on it. When I get holes in my own jeans it's always because they wear thin in the inner thighs which is basically impossible to repair in a way that is comfortable, so this is an exciting project. I mostly wear stretchy knits so I did not have a lot of scrap fabric options for patches. I went with a white pillowcase with pastel dots on it.

Currently watching:
Continuing my rewatch of Schitt's Creek and I also started rewatching Dawson's Creek as background tv but I'm not planning to go through the whole thing.

>139 norabelle414: sashiko
Oh cool.

>139 norabelle414:, >140 qebo: mrsdrneutron's been doing some sashiko lately too.

>141 drneutron: I bet she's great at it, it's basically just quilting. I'm really struggling with my tension, the spot I'm mending is above the back pocket so there's a lot of seams involved and it won't fit in any of my embroidery hoops.

I'd love to see the finished mending Nora, if you're able to post a photo. It sounds fun.

>138 norabelle414: That's very kind of you! I'll check it out.

I've been doing some visible mending as well. Morgan is a former punk (I don't know if "former" ever really applies), so he has been very supportive of me doing some sashiko on his jeans. It's really fun, even if I'm not that focused on the precision of it all. I'd love to see your results too!

>142 norabelle414: I am deeply impressed by all things sewing-adjacent. It feels ever so slightly magical to take a string and some random chunks of fabric and make a real, useful thing out of it.

Glad to hear it was largely a good week with some decent reads in there. Hope you had fun with the critters at the zoo today!

11. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, book 2) by Becky Chambers

Dex and Mosscap continue wandering the countryside. Everyone else in the world is eager to meet a robot and Mosscap is eager to meet everyone and learn new things. Their plan to see as much of the world as possible is strenuous, and eventually they need a break.

This did not really do anything more for me than the first book. I liked that there was more Mosscap, but the world-building continued to not make sense. I like a cozy book, I don’t need a thrilling plot, but I didn’t find this particularly cozy. It felt like it was telling me it was cozy over and over again without ever actually showing me. The world is supposed to be a potential future of ours, but the only differences are in human nature, not in the actual function of the world. Their smart phones are the same as ours, except that people are just for some reason content to have the same one for their whole lives. Their monetary system is exactly the same as capitalism except that people are just content to not hoard. There’s never any explanation for why people would be different from how we are now. I was really most interested in what happened with the robots but there’s not more than a couple paragraphs about them in either book.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (3.5/5)

12. Heated Rivalry {audiobook} by Rachel Reid, narrated by Tor Thom

Ilya and Shane are professional hockey rivals who have been secretly sleeping together for years, but they just can’t seem to quit. Canadian Shane is the golden boy, perfect in everything he does, including his up-and-coming starlet girlfriend. Russian Ilya is a playboy and an asshole. They long to be together, but no major league hockey player has ever been openly gay before.

Perfectly fine. Not the best romance I’ve read but there’s obviously something special here if it could make such a good TV show. Yes, I’m saying the TV show is better. Sometimes an okay book getting adapted into another medium is like getting a really good editor. It's hard to actually say how I felt about reading the book because the TV show looms so large in my mind. I actually would not recommend reading the book right after watching the show, because there is not a lot in the book that isn't in the show (the pacing is different and a lot of the early scenes are presented as flashbacks instead of chronologically). Give it a couple years to simmer and then come back to it with a bit of nostalgia.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Tor Thom and the narration was quite bad. He only has about 3 voices - normal deep-voiced man, bad Russian accent, and southern woman. I recommend eye-reading this one, but if you can’t wait a million years to get a paper copy out from the library, at least turn the speed up to 1.5x.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (3.5/5)

>143 lauralkeet:, >145 ursula:

Crafting Update:
I removed part of the back pocket next to the hole, then basted the patch onto the inside (red thread) and started parallel running stitch across the patch (white thread)


Finished the parallel running stitch and removed the basting stitches


Added the perpendicular stitches


Sewed the pocket back on

>146 richardderus: I'm never going to have the skill or space to actually make new things with sewing, but mending things does make me feel very powerful and anti-capitalist (and the bar is lower because if I don't mend them they were just going into the trash anyway)

>147 MickyFine: Alas, this weekend has largely been a wash. Maybe next week will be better.

>148 Whisper1: Happy Valentine's Day, Linda!

>152 norabelle414: Mending is a skill I'd love to possess, though my physiological barriers prevent me from utilizing it nowadays. It's the essence of anti-capitalism!

>151 norabelle414: that looks great, Nora. Well done for keeping that pair of jeans out of a landfill.

>151 norabelle414: Ah yes, this is lovely! And way neater than my creations!

>151 norabelle414: Thanks for showing the pictures of your process -- I was having a hard time envisioning it from the stuff I found while googling. Looks great!

Long time no see, Happy Monday!

Friday after work I was feeling a bit tired so I went straight home instead of going to Trader Joe's. By the time I got to bed I had a rather ominous sore throat. Sure enough, I woke up Saturday morning coughing and sneezing, so I cancelled all of my plans for the long weekend - two zoo volunteer shifts, a museum trip, and a walk with my neighbor. I slept for like 14 hours on Saturday and took very good care of myself. I managed to get some of the behind-the-counter sinus medication, which made me feel sooo much better. I baked oatmeal and dried cherry cookies and went to trivia on Monday night. My team won by a lot, largely thanks to a question about Lillian Hellman that I got right. Unfortunately I had bad side effects from the sinus medication which meant I only slept a couple hours Sunday night and not a single minute on Monday night. So I switched back to the weaker sinus medication, canceled my babysitting on Tuesday, and teleworked for the rest of the week.

Thursday I went to the theater with my dad to see Chez Joey, a reimagining of the 1950s(?) musical Pal Joey, based on the novel (which is based on a series of stories in The New Yorker). I'm not familiar with the original musical but this new version changes everyone at the club to be Black, while the rich woman Joey gets involved with stays white, which added an interesting additional dynamic. The music was not my style but the performances were excellent.

Friday I went on a walk with my neighbor at lunchtime, then after work I had a first appointment with a psychiatrist, which I had signed up for after a bad day a couple weeks ago. I've started taking a bit of medication, but so far it has only given me insomnia so this is maybe not the one for me.

Saturday morning I had a meeting at the zoo; it was a listening session with the staff about their upcoming plans to recruit new public-facing volunteers for the first time since 2019. I'm currently the youngest public-facing volunteer at the zoo (a scary thought! I am not that young!) so my views differ from many others but I think things are moving in the right direction. After that I went out to my friend's house in the suburbs and we played Top Golf and got hot pot for her birthday. (Top Golf was just as boring as I thought it would be, hot pot was just as delightful as it always is). I got home at a very reasonable 8:30pm and watched a podcast livestream. Sunday I baked almond cookies for trivia but did not do much of anything else. It rained all day and then turned into snow in the evening. I kind of wanted to go for a walk in it but I was not motivated enough.

Today I am in the office. Everyone else is teleworking so it's quiet here. After work I have trivia. We found out last week that the company that runs our trivia got bought by Sporcle (the online trivia website that was very popular in 2009-2012 - who knew they also did bar trivia!). The time and place and host will all be the same but the format is going to change. That starts next week, though, and tonight is business as usual. Tomorrow evening I'm going to see the British comedian Ed Gamble, which I am very excited about. Not much else going on this week.

Currently reading:
I have been reading every day, but not very much. I'm about 25% through the audiobook All of Us Murderers and about 80% through Armistice in paper.
Current library book count: 9
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Armistice, She-Hulk #7
Reviews behind: 0

Currently watching:
I finished rewatching Schitt's Creek. Now I'm rewatching season 1 of The Artful Dodger so I can start season 2. I also watched a couple episodes of All Creatures Great and Small and Miss Scarlet.

>157 norabelle414: Sporcle is Seattle-based (I actually worked for them for about ~5 months right after college) so we have a lot of their bar trivia out here. I am not really a fan of their format so hopefully your trivia night stays good!

>158 curioussquared: I was not a fan of our previous trivia format, so I'm sure I'll still enjoy myself. The host tried to describe it to us this week but I think I'm going to need to see it in action.

Happy Wednesday!

Monday after work I walked to trivia with my neighbor. We were assigned to separate teams, but apparently the captain of his team asked him if we were dating and should she put us on the same team in the future and she said he didn't really answer. (I don't care if we're on the same team but would be interested in a response to the other half of the question!) I really enjoyed the team I was on, and I got to hang out with two people I haven't been on a team with before and they were very fun and nice. The other team trounced us and got 1st place; my team got 5th place overall. Everyone really enjoyed the almond cookies, though I thought they were too dry (why does every cookie I make turn out slightly off in a completely different way???)

Yesterday I teleworked and went for a walk with my neighbor at lunchtime. He asked about Rory's name so we ended up talking about Doctor Who for most of the walk. I barely slept at all again Monday night so I decided to stop taking my new medication and Tuesday afternoon I took a short nap which felt incredible. In the evening I went to see the British comedian Ed Gamble with some friends. I bought the tickets in November and thought that I bought 5 but when we got to the theater it turns out I had only bought 3! Two of my friends offered to go home and seemed okay with that (they like going to shows but have not actually heard of Ed Gamble) and I feel bad and owe them big time!

I slept well last night, for the first time in awhile. Today I'm in the office. Work is mildly stressful at the moment but most of it does not have to do directly with me so I am doing okay. I'm going to go to Trader Joe's on my way home from work. Tomorrow I have an (online) appointment with a new therapist then after work I'm going to walk to a new coffeeshop/bookstore that opened nearby (I think they only have a small selection of books for sale, not really a full bookstore) to scope it out as a possible venue for a book club one of my trivia friends wants to start. Saturday I'm volunteering at the zoo (knock on wood) then Sunday I might get a haircut, I haven't decided yet. It's almost too long but not quite. Maybe I'll wait another couple weeks until it starts getting warmer.

Currently reading:
35% through the audiobook All of Us Murderers and about 85% through Armistice in paper.
Current library book count: 7
February plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Armistice, She-Hulk #7
Reviews behind: 0

Currently watching:
Nothing! I literally haven't been home.

>160 norabelle414: 👀👀👀 I am also interested in your neighbor's non-response to that question...

Happy Friday!

Wednesday I went to Trader Joe's on the way home from work. I always contemplate if I want to take that route home every time, because it's much more pleasant, but it's just got too many transfers (short shuttle ride/medium metro ride/medium bus ride as opposed to my usual long shuttle ride/long walk). I was feeling a little stressed in the evening so I went for a long walk (by myself).

Thursday I worked from home, and had an (online) appointment with a new therapist. I don't know if it went very well, but I'm not great with new people so it's hard to tell. She wanted to set up weekly sessions but of course my work schedule does not allow for that so they will have to be bi-weekly. After work I walked to a new coffeeshop/bookstore. It was very cute but its small selection of books seemed very Tik-Tok-driven and not my style (the romantasy section was larger than the non-fiction section). If I want to buy a book that I know it has in stock I will try to buy it there but I don't think I'm going to find anything new. (It's owned by the property management company that runs the building, not actually independent, so I'm not overly invested.) I talked to the manager about my trivia friend's book club and they were very nice but they said there probably wouldn't be space on a weekend day because it gets very crowded. There's a Tatte coffeeshop a couple blocks away (close to where we play trivia) which is much larger so I think we're going to try that for the first meeting.

Today I'm in the office. No plans after work. Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the zoo in the morning. No other plans this weekend except I'm going to make s'mores cookies for trivia.

Currently reading:
At some point I'm going to have to admit that I am just not reading the same volume I have for the last 2 years, probably because I'm in a very weird place at the moment. I knew this would happen eventually and I told myself I wouldn't feel bad about it but I am anyway. Hopefully things will work out soon. In the mean time I'm going to be ramping up my audiobook listening, which I have kind of been holding back on because I didn't want the majority of my reads to be audio. But reading is reading, and I should read however I can. I'm still on track to finish Armistice (paper) and All of Us Murderers (audio) by the end of the month. Next in my audio queue I have Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy by Ed Gamble and Spook Street (Slough House book 4).
Current library book count: 7
February plans: Armistice, She-Hulk #7, All of Us Murderers
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Glutton, Spook Street
Reviews behind: 0

Currently watching:
I finished rewatching all of season 1 of The Artful Dodger and watched the first episode of season 2.

Hello Nora! I think I'm caught up

The cookie thing is very frustrating, but it sounds like you have moved in the right direction. I honestly think most people who don't bake notice when baked goods are flawed (too dry, sticky, bready, etc...) and it's my saving grace. Mine never turn out like the pictures, always too dry or too spread, and my family always asks for me to remake my biggest mistakes (lol).
But I know that for a craft that its still frustrating when it doesnt turn out the way you want, so your emotions are valid and I hope the cookies behave themselves soon.

Also, "You're over reacting" is a phrase I hope dies in a fire someday. Just saying.

As for your neighbor...I too find myself curious on your behalf 🫨😉. Good luck!

Anyway, if I missed anything I'm sorry, and I hope you're feeling less sick!

>163 Ravenwoodwitch: Hi Angela! I appreciate the commiseration about cookies!
Frustratingly I do overreact but it's never to the things that people tell me I'm overreacting to.
You didn't miss anything but unfortunately no, not less sick!

It's Tuesday.

I ended a very up-and-down week (up on Mon-Tue, down on Wed-Thu) by getting food poisoning on Friday evening. Of course I had to cancel another zoo interpreter shift on Saturday. I slept all day Saturday, briefly went to the library, slept some more. Sunday I did laundry, slept some more, made cookies for trivia. I had a request for snickerdoodles so I went with those instead of the planned s'mores cookies. They turned out perfect. I made some chickpeas in a tomato cream sauce that I've been dying to make for awhile but didn't have the time, but of course I'm still not hungry so I haven't eaten much of it.

Yesterday I worked from home and it snowed! Magical. Probably the last snow of the season since it's going to be in the 70s this week and next. My neighbor and I walked to trivia in the snow. Today was the first trivia since the company got bought by Sporcle so we all had to learn a new system, plus the trivia host just started a new day job that morning (he had been out of work for several months) AND there were a bunch of rude men at the bar heckling our game. Weird vibes. We did not like the new trivia system but we'll give it a few more weeks. My team came in third in one game and fourth in the other. The trivia captain and some of the other women on the team asked me if I wanted to have a girls night with them, which I am extremely excited about. They're a very close-knit group and I wasn't sure if they would want to hang out with me outside of trivia. One of them is the trivia friend who is also starting a book club.

Today I'm in the office. I'm babysitting after work for the first time in a month and quite excited about it. I might go for a walk with my neighbor Wed or Fri. Friday I have a mental health appointment. Saturday I'm going to see a friend act in two plays: The Real Inspector Hound and Fifteen Minute Hamlet. Sunday, god or whatever willing, I'm going to volunteer at the zoo.

Currently reading:
I had a lot of audiobook time while I was up all night barfing so I finished All of Us Murderers, started Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy, realized that was a VERY bad choice of book, and listened to about 15% of Spook Street. On Saturday I read The Sensational She-Hulk #7 and finished Armistice. I started Interior Chinatown.
Current library book count: 8
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Glutton, Spook Street, Interior Chinatown
Reviews behind: 3

Currently watching:
Caught up on Abbott Elementary, Paradise, Last Week Tonight. Started season 2 of Dinosaur and finished season 2 of Percy Jackson. Watched a couple episodes of Saturday Night Live but I'm not caught up yet.

Sorry about the food poisoning :( Yeah, the dual game aspect is partly why I don't like Sporcle trivia. Just make it one game! I also don't love wagering on the last question. But yay for girls night!

>166 curioussquared: The dual game aspect was mostly fine with us, especially with the combined score at the end. But we went from five rounds of 11 questions plus 5 long bonus questions in 2 hours (roughly 30 questions per hour) to 2 rounds of 4 questions plus 3 medium bonus questions in 1 hour (roughly 11 questions per hour) so it just felt interminably slow. I'm wondering if the host, once he gets comfortable, could speed it up quite a lot and give us a long break in between the two games.
Previously we wagered on 6 questions per game so 2 questions in 2 games is much better.

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday after work I babysat and it was lovely to see my niece and nephew again. My sister-in-law told me she was thrilled to be able to make dinner without getting yelled at.

Yesterday I worked from home. Cleaned my bedroom a bit, went to the grocery store, went to the library and read for awhile.

Today I'm in the office. On my way home I'm going to Trader Joe's. Hopefully going for a walk with my neighbor tomorrow but nothing specific planned yet. Medical appointment in the afternoon. Saturday I'm going to lunch and then to see my friend's play. Sunday volunteering at the zoo. Monday is my monthly dinner with my dad and brother so I'll have to miss trivia, booooo. It's time for my favorite non-sport, March Mammal Madness, a science-based game where a bracket full of (mostly) mammals are pitted against each other until one is a champion. The first battle is on Monday and my bracket is only half filled out so I need to work on that this week.

Currently reading:
Almost done with Interior Chinatown. Halfway through Spook Street.
Current library book count: 10
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Glutton, Spook Street, Interior Chinatown
Reviews behind: 3

Currently watching:
Caught up on Going Dutch, DMV, and Animal Control.

>165 norabelle414: Oh fun that your trivia group has invited you to a spin-off! :) Those things don't always happen, I'm glad they invited you.

Hi Nora! Your trivia group sounds fun. Too bad you have to miss. But have a nice dinner!

It's Monday.

Thursday I went to Trader Joe's on my way home from work. Friday I was in a bad mood all day and did not do much of anything. I had a telehealth appointment in the afternoon; I was planning to walk to the library and pick up a hold but I didn't get around to it. I was supposed to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy before they closed but I forgot. Then I was planning to pick it up first thing Saturday morning but I forgot again. The pharmacy is closed on Sundays and I won't be home until after 9pm tonight so the next chance I have is Tuesday while I'm teleworking. I went way out to the suburbs and had brunch with my friends and then we watched our other friend act in The Real Inspector Hound and Fifteen Minute Hamlet. Weird plays but she did a great job. Yesterday morning I volunteered at the zoo. The weather was gross - hot and wet - but the animals were good as always and it was nice to get out. Yesterday evening my neighbor asked if I wanted to go for a walk to watch the sunset. We went for a very long walk (usually we only walk for about 30 min but this one was an hour), and I told him how I feel about him. I was expecting a "maybe" or a "not now" or an "if the situation were different" but instead I got an unequivocal "no" and surprise that I would even think that there was something between us. I'm feeling very stupid for so badly interpreting what I thought was pretty obvious flirting. This is the closest I've come to romance in a decade and to find out that I was still a million miles away really hurts. He was very nice about it, of course. On the one hand it would have been nice to continue pretending that the only reason we weren't together was because I hadn't told him how I felt, but I suppose it's better to know so that I can try to get over it and maybe it'll hurt less.

Today I'm in the office. After work I'm going to my brother's house to have dinner with our dad, and missing trivia. Tomorrow I really need to pick up my prescription from the pharmacy and my holds from the library. After work I'm getting drinks near my apartment with my friend who moved way out to the suburbs. I think he just feels bad because he's been teasing me about my "romance" that didn't exist but I'll take whatever social interaction I can get. No updates on March Mammal Madness because I was planning to finish my bracket last night but I forgot. Hopefully I'll finish it Tuesday.

Currently reading:
30 pages left in Interior Chinatown. I also read about half of Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock on my long train ride on Saturday. 80% through Spook Street. I don't remember if the previous books in the series were like this but this 11 hour long audiobook has only 2 digital "sections" which is incredibly annoying. The POV switches frequently and I have to back up if I miss something but there's no chapter or section start to back up to, I can only go back a random 30 seconds.
Current library book count: 10
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Glutton, Spook Street, Interior Chinatown, 13 Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock
Reviews behind: 3

Currently crafting:
For Christmas I got my brother's family some labels with my niece's name on them and also a small sewing kit that they can keep somewhere I can access it so I can mend things for them. A couple weeks ago I sewed labels onto my niece's backpack and lunchbox. I was not anticipating having to sew the labels onto such thick vinyl, but kids clothes nowadays are so cheap/disposable that there's not really any point in sewing them labels into actual clothes. Gone are the days when I would get one new coat at the beginning of the school year and it had to last me until I outgrew it.
I also repaired the hanging loop on the back of my sister-in-law's coat so now she can actually hang it up. That's gotta be the best possible quality of life improvement compared to actual effort of mending - it took me about 3 stitches.

Currently playing:
I bought myself the Pokemon LeafGreen port for Switch as consolation because the new cozy game Pokopia is exclusive to the Switch 2, which I don't have. It's fine - basically the same as the original red/blue.

Currently watching:
Watched Taskmaster New Zealand, the season premiere of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (known in my friend group as "Go Go Godzilla"), and a couple episodes of Best Medicine.

>169 ursula: It's still only theoretical, at this point. We'll see.

>170 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel! I am definitely sad to miss trivia. I do not really have a good time at these dinners but they're the easiest way to get my brother and dad to talk to each other so I don't have to constantly act as a go-between.

>171 norabelle414: Oof. Been there, so many times. I'm sorry things didn't turn out the way that you wanted with your neighbor, but like you say, it's good to have things in the open so you're not constantly wondering. (I would also have interpreted all of those invitations to go for walks as flirting, or signs of interest.) Sending hugs.

>171 norabelle414: Sorry about the relationship situation, Nora. I s'pose it's good to know for sure, but it still hurts. Those feelings will ease over time, and I hope you can find other pleasantries to take your mind off of it.

>171 norabelle414: I'm really sorry to read how things went with your neighbor. On the one hand, the flat "no" hurts, on the other hand uncertainty is hard so I suppose it's a gift not to end up there.

I hope you have a good time out with your friend. Social interaction is important.

Your comments about kids' clothing are something that I think aren't just limited to kids' clothes - adult clothing is often made with cheap materials to be disposable. I just went shopping yesterday at the second-hand store specifically looking for natural fibers. I found a few things, which is nice.

>171 norabelle414: As others say, better to know than not, but I'm sorry.

Ugh, I'm sorry the neighbor situation turned out the way it did. Clearly you weren't the only one seeing things since the trivia captain had asked about you guys!!

It's Wednesday.

Monday after work instead of going to trivia I went to my brother's house to have dinner with our dad. I was able to spend a lot of time helping with the kids so my brother and my dad could talk, which will hopefully help with some of our communication issues. Tuesday I worked from home and was able to get some things done that I was supposed to do over the weekend - picked up my prescription and started the new medication, picked up some packages, picked up library holds, finished my March Mammal Madness bracket. One of my packages was Nobody's Baby, the sequel to Murder by Memory, which I had forgotten I pre-ordered. It was hot outside and inside my apartment all day and I was very cranky. I went on a walk with my neighbor where he showed me all of his favorite trees in the neighborhood and then we sat at a picnic table and he asked me about what I'm reading and told me his thoughts on The Return of the King which he is reading now. Operation "stop having a stupid crush on my neighbor" is going very poorly. He's very pleased I still want to go on walks with him and keeps checking in to make sure I'm okay. In the evening I was treated to a pity dinner by my friend, who also asked me if I could take care of his cat for 2.5 weeks because his other cat-sitters fell through. I'm mildly annoyed because I have really been trying to clean up my apartment, but these things happen and he certainly took care of Rory a lot back when I used to travel.

Here's my completed bracket:

I'm sure it's hard to see but for my final four I have nile crocodile, honey badger, hippo, and aurochs, and then I have hippo as the overall champion. One of the divisions this year is organisms associated with books and libraries, which is fun but also terrifying (silverfish?? mold????). The wildcard match was Monday night and my pick, Assassin bug won. The next battles are tonight.

I slept very well last night, which bodes well for this new medication. Today I'm in the office. No plans after work but I do need to do laundry soon. Tomorrow I'm teleworking then I have a telehealth appointment at 6pm. Later than I would like but that's what was available. This weekend I have a zoo meeting on Saturday then my friend is dropping off his cat on Sunday.

Currently reading:
I finished Interior Chinatown and Spook Street. Currently halfway through Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock and listening to Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy.
Current library book count: 13
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Glutton, 13 Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock
Reviews behind: 5

Currently watching:
Nothing

Thanks >173 foggidawn:, >174 lauralkeet:, and >176 qebo: for the condolences.

>175 ursula: Definitely true. I don't have trouble finding clothes made out of natural fibers but even those are just such poor quality. It seems even most cotton t-shirts are borderline see-through and only hold up to a dozen washes or so.

>177 curioussquared: He treats me so differently from everyone else in our group that it kind of makes me wonder if he does like me but doesn't realize it? But that's probably a bad train of thought to go down.

I have a particular fondness for hippos, so I like your bracket :)

>180 katiekrug: That division is animals that are depicted on national currency and it is so stacked! But I still think a hippo could beat any of the others.

>180 katiekrug: same! Looks like fun, Nora.

If this were the early 2010s, my money would be on the honey badger because of all the memes but I think hippos have a solid shot. Wishing you much luck with your bracket!

>171 norabelle414: I'm sorry, Nora. That sucks, but it's brave to go for it. You never know when the going for it might work out!

It's Friday.

Wednesday it was extremely hot, and after work I didn't do much of anything except try to keep cool. I followed the March Mammal Madness battles for the money mammals division; the winners were whale, gorilla, giraffe, rhino, orangutan, hippo, oryx, and elephant. That's 7/8 for me. My microwave was broken and it was too hot to turn on the stove or oven so I just had yogurt for dinner. I slept poorly but I think that's due to the weather and not my medication. Yesterday it was very cold and I loved it. In the afternoon it snowed quite heavily for about an hour and I went for a delightful walk (by myself). In the evening I had therapy and it went poorly. I know it's fine to switch therapists but I never know how long to give these things. I hardly ever click with anyone immediately so I feel like it's not fair to expect that from a therapist. But on the other hand it still feels like she's just reading off a script ("Have you tried going for walks? Have you tried self-care? Have you tried journaling?") and she sent me a link to some weird wellness subscription app. I wallowed for the rest of the evening and forgot to do anything else, but I did sleep well once I got to bed.

Today I'm in the office. I have quite a bit to do for work because I'm covering for a coworker who has a family emergency. This weekend I have a zoo meeting on Saturday then my friend is dropping off his cat on Sunday, and I'll bake s'mores cookies for trivia.

Currently reading:
Still working on Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock and listening to Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy (it's fine but not great).
Current library book count: 13
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Glutton, 13 Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock
Reviews behind: 5

Currently watching:
Three episodes of Shrinking and one of The Pitt

Hopefully you and Rory have a good time with your extra feline pal.

Wishing you good weather and fun interactions with the public at the zoo today.

>171 norabelle414: I'm so sorry, Nora. I would have interpreted all those invites as signs of interest too. At least he was nice about it, but your emotions here are 100% valid.
>185 norabelle414: I'm always reminded how lucky I am that my therapist and I clicked so well. Sounds like yours has an approch that dosen't work with your needs, though I'm not an expert.

13. All of Us Murderers {audiobook} by KJ Charles, narrated by Sonny Archer

Zeb Wyckham is estranged from most of his family, who were cruel to him about his issues with attention and his gayness, but when he meets a distant cousin he actually likes he decides to visit him at his large estate in the countryside. Unfortunately the rest of his family is there as well, and Zeb’s cousin Wynn plans to make them fight over his wealth via marriage to his young ward Jessamine. Also present is Wynn’s secretary Gideon, who was once Zeb’s coworker and lover, and thankfully someone Zeb can actually trust. The two of them try to leave the fucked up family reunion but find they are trapped in the house, and family members start dying.

While it does have an HEA and contains a few explicit sex scenes, I would call this more of a thriller than a romance. It’s very plot-driven, creepy, and characters actually die. As usual with KJ Charles I enjoyed the relationship and the historical politics but the family and inheritance shenanigans were a bit more than I could wrap my head around. The audiobook narrator was great, though.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (4/5)

14. Armistice {Amberlough, book 2} by Lara Elena Donnelly

When we last left Amberlough, former burlesque dancer Cordelia was leading an underground rebellion against the fascist government, burnt spy Cyril had been caught trying to escape with fake papers for his lover, and flamboyant cabaret emcee Ari had fled the city back to his home village. Three years later, Ari is a famous political refugee in the nearby island nation of Berer and runs into the newly arrived Cordelia, who finally had to flee Amberlough in disguise after blowing up a few train depots. Their tentative alliance is tested when they’re cornered by journalist-turned-triple-agent Lillian DePaul, Cyril’s sister, who threatens to expose their anti-fascist plans if they don’t help her rescue her young son from the clutches of the head of the Ospie government.

While the characters and setting and politics are still just as vivid as the first book, this one really suffers from middle-book-syndrome. Nothing really new is introduced, and nothing is wrapped up. Lillian is even more complex of a character than Cyril was, but I found it more pleasant to be in her head than his. Cordelia is still my favorite, and I liked learning what she had been up to in the intervening years. Ari was a bit too depressed and drunk in this book to be entertaining. I’m looking forward to finishing the trilogy.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (4/5)

15. Sensational She-Hulk #7 by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Andres Genolet

Jen discovers that the new friend she made at the resort bar, Ganymede, is Jack’s old star-crossed lover. Jen leaves Jack to figure out how he feels. Meanwhile, Ganymede has completed her previous mission (avenging her dead sisters) and is looking for a new job. She’s hired by the alien who tried to blow up Manhattan a few plotlines ago, and her new mission is to kill She-Hulk.

Ganymede is interesting but Jack just instantly left Jen for her? And Jen is being such a sad-sack about it. Weird.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

16. Spook Street (Slough House, book 4) {audiobook} by Mick Herron, narrated by Gerard Doyle

Shortly after a bomb goes off at a crowded mall, a man who looks exactly like River Cartwright is shot and killed at River’s grandfather’s house, by River’s semi-senile grandfather. River takes the man’s passport and travels to France to figure out who was impersonating him. Meanwhile, an assassin wants revenge for his colleague’s death and is targeting the slow horses.

This entry in the series is all River all the time, and River is boring. There’s so much focus on his past and his father that I don’t even remember what the bomb at the beginning of the story had to do with anything. The rest of the slow horses are there but they don’t do much. Coe is an interesting addition to the group, there is a tragic loss, and excellent groundwork is laid for what will happen with Roddy in the next book.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (3.5/5)

17. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Willis Wu is Generic Asian Man, who works in a Chinese restaurant and takes care of his parents, Old Asian Woman and Old Asian Man, while dreaming of becoming Kung Fu Guy like his older brother. He lands a role as Special Guest Star on Black and White, a police procedural where one cop is Black and the other is white, and falls in love. But at some point he’ll need to decide who he really wants to be.

What an imaginative and weird (complementary) book. It’s all written like a TV or movie script and the line between reality and script is fully blurred. Just go with it! There is also a more grounded speech toward the end that I really appreciated. The book has a lot of things to say and finds a very interesting and engaging way to say them.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

>192 norabelle414: I really liked Interior Chinatown when I read it a few years back. Glad it was a good read for you, too.

>183 MickyFine: I'm sure there will still be lots of memes!

>184 libraryperilous: Thanks Diana, I appreciate it.

>186 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! The cats are having a suspiciously good time.

>187 Ravenwoodwitch: Thanks Angela. I'm still hopeful I can find a good therapist for me.

>193 bell7: It really was! I thought it would be too gimmicky but it worked

It's Tuesday, I think?

Friday was uneventful. The new medication I'm on makes me very sleepy so I fell asleep on the couch after work. Saturday I had a zoo meeting in the morning, for which I was also very sleepy. Sunday I baked cookies and I was hoping to have a meet-up with Angela but her trip to DC was canceled. My friend dropped off his cat to stay at my apartment for a few weeks and we got dinner across the street.

Yesterday was my normal telework day, which was good because we had a huge storm with tornado warnings come through right at rush hour and everyone had to leave work early. It was over by 6 so I thought I was safe and walked to trivia with my neighbor. Another storm popped up later in the evening and my neighbor was feeling anxious about it so he went home early, but I did not. I got absolutely drenched on the way home, and there were wind gusts over 60mph. Whoops! But I had a nice time at trivia and the s'mores cookies turned out amazing and my team got first place (though none of the other usual teams were there). Many people had submitted feedback to the new trivia company and there were some improvements but it was still incredibly slow and the questions were too easy.

Today I'm in the office. After work I'm baby-sitting. Thursday I'm going to see Inherit the Wind, which I'm going to try to read first. Friday I have an appointment with a new therapist (I did decide to ditch my previous one. The more I thought about it the more I really did not like some of the things she said to me.) and another doctor appointment and in the evening I'll watch a podcast livestream. Saturday I'm going to volunteer at the zoo (they've asked for help in the bird house because it's duck nesting season so I will be there) and Sunday is the first meeting of my trivia friend's bring-your-own-book-club! She's hoping to do it monthly.

Currently reading:
I finished Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock and Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy. I'm currently both listening to and reading in paper Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. It's the book of the month for a sci-fi and fantasy book club that I want to join but I just realized that I can't make the meeting anyway. I'm finding the book fine but a little tedious. Last night I started reading Inherit the Wind before bed but I was too sleepy to get very far.
Current library book count: 10
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Assassin's Apprentice, Inherit the Wind
Reviews behind: 2

Currently watching:
Two episodes of Abbott Elementary and one of Best Medicine and Taskmaster New Zealand (s6e6 was a great episode but I think this is my least favorite cast)

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday after work I went to my brother's house to help out with the kids. My brother actually got home from work on time so we had a nice family dinner. My niece gave me a "card" (a folded piece of paper) with unicorn stickers on it. Yesterday was a dud - I was so sleepy and outside of work stuff I didn't do anything, including catch up on March Mammal Madness or pick up my hold from the library. This new medication is definitely not working out.

Today I'm in the office. After work I'm going to see Inherit the Wind. Friday I have several telehealth appointments, and I absolutely must pick up a hold from the library, then I'm watching a podcast livestream in the evening. Saturday I'm volunteering at the zoo in the horny duck bird house, Sunday I have a book club meeting and I'll be baking cookies. Next week should be lighter.

Currently reading:
I'm alternating listening to and reading in paper Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb; currently 32% through. I'm only halfway through Inherit the Wind but it's short so I might be able to finish before I see the show tonight. I'm going to try to write up my thoughts even if I don't finish, so they can be separate from my thoughts on the production.
Current library book count: 10
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Assassin's Apprentice, Inherit the Wind
Reviews behind: 2

Currently watching:
Nothing

I feel like you'd get way more visitors if it was named the horny duck house, lol.

I hope the play is good!

"Horny duck house" made me laugh, too. I'm very curious how horny ducks act (beyond the obvious making ducklings, of course).

>197 MickyFine: We get plenty of visitors as it is! There were long lines to get into the building on Saturday.

>198 bell7: Mostly making ducklings but also chasing other ducks around and wandering through the visitor areas looking for a good place to nest.

Happy Monday!

Thursday the office was very quiet and boring and it was a gorgeous day outside so I went home from work early! In the evening I went to see Inherit the Wind. It was a very faithful production, which is unusual for this theater. The acting and sets were incredible, as they always are, but I don't think the play has aged very well. Dakin Matthews, the headmaster from Gilmore Girls, played Matthew Harrison Brady and he was excellent. Friday I had several telehealth appointments; one of them was a new therapist and it did not go well so I need to find another one. I did manage to pick up my library hold on Friday and I remembered to go to the pharmacy before they closed. I made pizza for dinner and watched a podcast livestream. It was a much more productive day than Wednesday had been.

Saturday morning I volunteered at the bird house. The ducks were horny, as expected. There were lots of educational experiences for children and adults alike. Unfortunately we're getting into the spring break crowds now, where there are a lot more people at the zoo and none of them are interested in talking to me, so it was kind of boring. I got home in the early afternoon to a message from my neighbor asking if I wanted to hang out and read in the park. Duh. We chatted for awhile, read for awhile, threw a frisbee, and went for a walk to check on his favorite flowering trees. Yes, I threw a frisbee. He said I'm better than I think I am, which is a low bar.

Sunday was the first meeting of a new Bring Your Own Book Club with my meetup group. It was about 50% overlap with my trivia friends but I still got to meet several new people. We had a great time sharing what books we are reading and just getting to know each other. In the evening I was planning to make peanut butter cookies but I found out that my trivia friend who is allergic to chocolate is not coming to trivia so I made double chocolate cookies instead. They turned out great even though I didn't have time to chill the dough.

Today I'm in the office. I did not sleep well last night due to the heat so I'm definitely going to need a coffee before I go to trivia. Not much else going on this week until Friday, when I'm going to girls' night! I have a zoo shift scheduled for Saturday morning but I might cancel so I can stay out late on Friday.

Currently reading:
I'm still alternating listening to and reading in paper Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb; currently 67% through. I finished Inherit the Wind on Thursday before I saw the play. Saturday I started Margo's Got Money Troubles and I loved it so much that I'm almost done (which is good because it's due back at the library on Wednesday). It was VERY popular at book club.
Current library book count: 12
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Assassin's Apprentice, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Reviews behind: 4

Currently watching:
Several episodes of Wild Cards. Marc the cat was in multiple episodes so they must have upped him to series regular. I'm behind on Taskmaster New Zealand because my friend I usually watch them with is on his honeymoon in Hawaii.

>200 norabelle414: Cookie recipes that require chilling the dough, especially for longer than an hour, are very difficult for me. I do not have that sort of patience!

>201 foggidawn: I don't usually mind, because I just make the dough a day ahead of time. And it really seems to help with the spreading issue I was having.

>202 norabelle414: See, you are clearly better at planning than I am! ;-)

Oh yay! I'm delighted your IRL book club meeting went well. Which of your in progress books did you chat about?

>203 foggidawn: Only out of necessity! I often don't have enough time for both making the dough and baking the cookies.

>204 MickyFine: I talked mostly about Margo's Got Money Troubles, which everyone was really into. It helps that it has a bright cover. I wasn't planning to talk about Assassin's Apprentice but someone else at the book club was also reading it (they're also in the other meetup group that is reading that book for their book club) so we did talk about it a bit. Normally in my online No-Specific-Book Club I talk about 3-5 recent books but there were 9 of us and we were very chatty so I think 1-2 was the right choice. I had some thoughts about Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock in my back pocket (which I also think would have been very popular) but I didn't bring it up.

Happy Wednesday!

Monday after work I had trivia. Some of my usual teammates were not there but we did okay and got second place overall. Yesterday I teleworked. My neighbor is dog-sitting his mom's dog so we took her for a walk.

Today I'm in the office. After work I'm going to Trader Joe's to get groceries and some snacks to bring to girls' night on Friday. Tomorrow I'm teleworking and I have a telehealth appointment. Friday after work is girls' night. I canceled my Saturday morning zoo shift. Going to see Project Hail Mary with a big group on Saturday night, then I have a zoo meeting on Sunday.

Currently reading:
80% through Assassin's Apprentice, 80% through Margo's Got Money Troubles. Hoping to finish today and return it to the library on time.
Current library book count: 12
March plans: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, She-Hulk #8, Assassin's Apprentice, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Reviews behind: 4

Currently watching:
Nothing

Time for a new thread! Link below!