Sibylline's (Lucy's) Quarterly Report 2021: Autumn to the New Year!

Esto es una continuación del tema Sibylline's (Lucy's) Quarterly Report 2021: Summer!.

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Sibylline's (Lucy's) Quarterly Report 2021: Autumn to the New Year!

1sibylline
Editado: Dic 7, 2021, 11:33 am

In Memoriam: Finbar 2018-2021
Here are a few favourites, but there are many many more in my photograph file here at LT:




2sibylline
Editado: Dic 29, 2021, 5:05 pm



Currently Reading in December
new Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari anthropology
new The Last Graduate Naomi Novik fantasy
new Unsheltered Barbara Kingsolver hist fic
new Caste Isabel Wilkerson sociohistory
♬ reread Men at Arms Terry Pratchett fantasy
I Thought It Was Just Me Brené Brown psyche
Castle in the Air Diana Wynne-Jones fantasy

Read in December
132. new Eyes Like Leaves Charles de Lint fantasy ***1/2
133. ✔ Artemis Andy Weir sf ***1/2
134. new Second Place Rachel Cusk contemp fic *****
135. ✔ Darwinia Robert Charles Wilson sf alt hist
136. ✔ Borderland Terri Windling (and others) fantasy urban ***
137-144. ♬ Galaxy Outlaws: The Black Ocean 1-16.5 J.S. Morin sp/op
145. new The Collapsing Empire(1 The Interdependency)John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
146. new The Consuming Fire (2 The Interdependency) John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
147. ✔ Cyberabad Days Ian MacDonald sf near future
148. new The Last Emperox (3) John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
149. new A Deadly Education(1)Naomi Novik fantasy YA
150. ♬ Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne-Jones fantasy



Books Dropped/Paused in October 2021
13. new Giants of the Monsoon Forest Jacob Shell Elephants!
14. new Otherland Vol 1 City of Golden Shadow Tad Williams cyber fantasy

*BBG is the Bridgeside Book Group which was to reconvene in September. Postponed to October -- I think that one will fly.

3sibylline
Editado: Dic 31, 2021, 1:53 pm

Books Read September 2021
99. new The Library of the Unwritten A.J. Hackwith fantasy ***1/2
100!!!! ♬ The Grove of the Caesars Lindsey Davis mys ancient Rome ****
100b. E Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory Martha Wells ****
101. new (bbg* selection for September) The Warmth of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson Am history *****
102. new Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz mys british
103. ♬ The Viscount Who Loved Me Julia Quinn fic regency
104. ♬ The Duke Who Loved Me Julia Quinn fic regency
105. ♬ Bunburry 1-3 inc. Murder at the Mousetrap, A Taste of Murder Helena Marchmont mys british cosy
106. ✔Under Heaven Guy Gavriel Kay fantasy *****
107. ♬ Guards, Guards Terry Pratchett relisten w/K *****
108. ♬ An Offer From A Gentleman Julia Quinn fic regency ***1/2

Stats
Total: 10
Men: 3
Women: 7
M/W writing together:0
Non-fiction: 1
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 0
SF/F: 3 (and a short story)
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 6
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 4
Reread: 1

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 6
New (to shelves): 3
e-book: 0
Off Shelf/ROOT: 0
Pearled: 2

Books In So Far:
physical-48
E-books-13
audio-29

Books Out So Far:
physical-25

4sibylline
Editado: Nov 19, 2021, 9:26 am

Read in October
109. new BBG The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Lisa See contemp fic ****
110. ♬Romancing Mr. Bridgerton Julia Quinn fict regency ***1/2
111. ♬ To Sir Philip, With Love Julia Quinn fiction regency ***
112. ♬ When He Was Wicked Julia Quinn fict regency ***
113. new Manhattan Beach Jennifer Egan hist fict
114. ✔ River of Stars Guy Gavriel Kay fantasy ****1/2
115. ♬ It's In His Kiss Julia Quinn fict reg. ***
116. ♬On the Way to the Wedding Julia Quinn fict reg.***
117. ♬ From the Ashes Sabrina Flynn hist mys ***
118. ♬ A Stitch in Time Kelley Armstrong ***
119. BBG new Survival of the Friendliest Brian Hare&Vanessa Woods sociology ****
120. Sisters in Love Melissa Foster romance *** (not sure how to rate, but within the genre I expect these are reasonably good)
121. Brightly Burning Mercedes Lackey fantasy ***1/2

Books dropped/paused in October
13. new Giants of the Monsoon Forest Jacob Shell Elephants!
14. new Otherland Vol 1 City of Golden Shadow Tad Williams cyber fantasy

Stats
Total: 13
Men: 1
Women: 11
M/W writing together: 1
Non-fiction: 1
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 2
SF/F: 2
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 6
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 5 (inc joint authors)
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 7
New (to shelves): 1
e-book: 0
Off Shelf/ROOT: 0
Pearled: 2

Books In So Far: (not updated for Oct yet)
physical-49
E-books-15
audio-33

Books Out So Far:
physical-25

5sibylline
Editado: Dic 2, 2021, 9:27 am

Read in November
122. new Empire of Ivory (Temeraire 4) Naomi Novik fantasy ****
123. new Victory of Eagles (Temeraire 5) Naomi Novik fantasy ****
124. new Tongues of Serpents (Temeraire 6) Naomi Novik fantasy ****1/2
125. new Crucible of Gold (Book 7) Naomi Novik fantasy ****1/2
126. new Blood of Tyrants (book 8) Naomi Novik fantasy ****1/2
127. new League of Dragons (book 9) Naomi Novik fantasy ****1/2
128. new Transcription Kate Atkinson hist fic ****
129. new The Hollow Land Jane Gardam fic
*****
130. ♬ Ghost Wall Sarah Moss fic *****
131. new Hard To Be A God Arkady Strugatsky Boris Strugatsky SF ****

Stats
Total: 10
Men: 2 (together)
Women: 9
Two writing together: 1
Non-fiction: 0
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 3
SF/F: 7
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 0
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 1
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 1
New (to shelves): 9
e-book: 0
Off Shelf/ROOT: 0
Pearled: 0

Books In So Far: (not updated for Nov yet)
physical-49
E-books-15
audio-33

Books Out So Far:
physical-25

6sibylline
Editado: Dic 31, 2021, 1:56 pm

Read in December
132. new Eyes Like Leaves Charles de Lint fantasy ***1/2
133. ✔ Artemis Andy Weir sf ***1/2
134. new Second Place Rachel Cusk contemp fic *****
135. ✔ Darwinia Robert Charles Wilson sf alt hist ***1/2
136. ✔ Borderland Terri Windling (and others) fantasy urban ***
137-144. ♬ Galaxy Outlaws: The Black Ocean 1-16.5 J.S. Morin sp/op
145. new The Collapsing Empire(1 The Interdependency)John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
146. new The Consuming Fire (2 The Interdependency) John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
147. ✔ Cyberabad Days Ian MacDonald sf near future
148. new The Last Emperox (3) John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
149. new A Deadly Education(1)Naomi Novik fantasy YA ****
150. ♬ Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne-Jones fantasy ****1/2

Stats
Total: 19
Men: 16
Women: 3
Two writing together: 0
Non-fiction: 0
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 1
SF/F: 15
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 0
YA or J: 1
Poetry: 0
New author: 1
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 9
New (to shelves): 6
e-book: 0
Off Shelf/ROOT: 0
Pearled: 0

Books In for 2021
physical-73
E-books-15
audio-37

Books Out 2021:
physical-26

7sibylline
Oct 1, 2021, 9:27 am

109. contemp fic ****
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Lisa See

Li-yan (also Girl and later Tina) is of the Akha hill tribe and lives in the remote mountains of Hunnan province, China. It's hard to grasp that the book is set in the recent past (90's up to more or less now) as, at the start, the setting is so close to what it has been for centuries, people living very near to subsistence and a culture depending on ritual and taboo. This area, however, has a resource soon to be 'discovered'--Pu-er tea. I feel lucky in that I have drunk (likely inferior, but not terrible) Pu-er tea for decades having come across it somehow or other and loving the taste and 'feel'. Definitely not your garden-variety stuff. The story of the tea is told through Li-yan's life as she moves from poverty into plenty, bringing many others in her wake. See is very good and having characters give us the information we need, say, three tea shop afficionados talking about their investments in tea, or later, a young woman writing up her goals for studying pu-er tea in graduate school. I do NOT mean this condescendingly, but this is a novel that intertwines a great deal of information about the area and the tea with a good story full of twists and turns (an Akha baby put up for adoption who ends up in the USA), some mystery (who is Mr. Huang and what is he up to?), some surprises and coincidences (where would we be without those!?) and a very satisfying ending. There are other layers -- to do with the role of women in China, how they are regarded, the effects of the one-child policy, what it is like to be adopted Chinese in American, pressure on Asian students--even adopted ones--to succeed academically. See has written a fine book. I look forward to reading her memoir of her family. ****

This was read for my book group (hosted by Bridgeside Books in Waterbury VT) which is reconvening next week. Some in-person (me included) and some via internet. Lisa See is going to join us for part of the time.

I will be posting this on my new thread too which I hope to get up and going later today.

8drneutron
Oct 1, 2021, 9:36 am

Happy new thread!

9PaulCranswick
Oct 1, 2021, 10:19 am

Happy new one, Lucy. x

10katiekrug
Oct 1, 2021, 1:35 pm

>! - That breaks my heart, Lucy. I'm so sorry you had to go through that with sweet Finbar.

11LizzieD
Oct 1, 2021, 1:53 pm

Glad to see you here and sad all over again for beautiful Fin.

12richardderus
Oct 1, 2021, 3:57 pm

>1 sibylline: I grieve with you. Finbar's finally free of the problems he shouldn't have had.

Hugging you tightly, Lucy.

13quondame
Oct 1, 2021, 4:02 pm

Greetings on your new thread!

>1 sibylline: That is so sad. Dog breeders can be so irresponsible in addition I do so wish that there were penalties at dog shows for extremes like French bulldog's lack of snouts and dachshunds' long backs. It is stupid and wrong.

14sibylline
Oct 1, 2021, 4:14 pm

All of you, thank you. Your sympathy does help. As most of you know, I love dogs to a ridiculous extent. I never imagined finding myself faced with a problem to do with a dog that couldn't be helped with love and hard work and problem-solving skills.

15FAMeulstee
Oct 1, 2021, 4:22 pm

>1 sibylline: So sorry, Lucy, this is very hard to take. Breeders can be a breed apart :'(
I hope your story gets published.

Breed related problems were part of the reason we stopped breeding Chow Chows, and why we are currently without a dog.
All breeds are affected. Part of the problem are the closed studbooks, meaning inbreeding for over 100 years, based on outdated ideas.

16RebaRelishesReading
Oct 2, 2021, 1:11 pm

>1 sibylline: OMG Lucy!! I'm so sorry. What a difficult thing to endure, for your whole family not to mention poor Finbar himself. You are SO right to be angry about the irresponsibility of the breeder. Hugs to you all.

17SandDune
Oct 2, 2021, 2:24 pm

>2 sibylline: Lucy, I am so sorry to hear this. So very sad.

18lauralkeet
Oct 3, 2021, 7:29 am

Lucy, I'm so sorry to read about Finbar. That's really, really difficult and sad.

19SandyAMcPherson
Oct 3, 2021, 9:49 am

Hi Lucy, I guess we got chatting on my thread about your news and I forgot to add my sympathy here. I hope the days going forward bring you small joys.

20sibylline
Editado: Oct 11, 2021, 11:21 am

110. ♬ fict reg ***1/2
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton Julia Quinn

This follows the third brother's entry into the married state and the story of his surprising discovery of who is bride is to be. Both of them have secret aspirations that, of course, they can't hide from one another and that their relationship brings out into the open. I would have read this one in book form -- Quinn hits on a good story, with some complexity. Bravo! I suspect the dramatized version won't come close. Oh yes, I'm good and hooked. Good thing I have a ton of xmas knitting lined up. ***1/2

111. fict regency
To Sir Philip, With Love Julia Quinn

Eloise is now 28 and her best friend, Penelope, has suddenly and very unexpectedly married! She has, on her own, been engaged in a correspondence with a man (that would be Sir Philip) who's (deceased) wife was a cousin. An interesting proposal arrives from Sir Philip and Eloise, never one to step back from action (as in impulsive and impatient), decides to take matters into her own hands. Lots of fun. These last two have had . . . more psychological substance and subtleties. ***1/2

112. ♬ ***
When He Was Wicked Julia Quinn

Francesca Bridgerton was married only two years when her husband, John, dies suddenly. His cousin and best friend, whom she expects to be a support is strangely distant. Little does she know he has loved her madly from first setting eyes on her, but she was John's. He removes himself from the scene (to India) but returns four years later hoping he can move on, but . . . you know how it is. When this one heats up, btw, get out your oven mitts. Good silly fun. ***

21sibylline
Oct 3, 2021, 1:29 pm

Anita, Reba, Rhian, Laura and Sandy -- Thanks so much. You can see now why I've retreated into escape fiction!

22MickyFine
Oct 4, 2021, 11:21 am

>20 sibylline: Penny and Colin's book is probably my favourite of the whole series but I enjoy them all. Hope the same is true for you, Lucy.

23sibylline
Editado: Oct 7, 2021, 9:48 am

DNF
Giants of the Monsoon Forest Jacob Shell

I diligently read 50 pages and skimmed the rest. Shell's purpose is the best -- to learn and write about the endangered Asian elephants in a hopeful way, showing how they serve an important need in this remote and physically impossible to get around in area of Burma and India. Shell is a geographer and he should know -- During the rainy season the area is almost impassable. The elephants are the only ones who can reliably break up log jams (teak) and get the teak out of the forests, carry people across flooded rivers and rescue during floods. If your sole purpose is to learn about this part of the world and you love elephants, this is a must read. For whatever reason, for me, right now, this is not a must read. This is unusual for me to decide, to move on, to let a book go, when there is nothing whatsoever wrong with it other than somewhat clunky writing. I will keep the book around for a bit in case I change my mind.

24sibylline
Editado: Oct 11, 2021, 11:11 am

Yesterday we went exploring around Isle LaMotte in the Champlain Islands of VT and found ourselves in an old limestone quarry, now protected, as it has almost the only (or the only?) exposed Ordovician rock WITH fossils in the continental USA. The fossils are the unique bit.



Then we just had to take our shoes off to step barefoot on rock 460,000,000 years old.

25richardderus
Oct 10, 2021, 10:49 am

That's so amazing...half a billion years and you can walk on it! Oh my.

(you should let your husband know his nail-paint needs a touch-up)

26lauralkeet
Oct 10, 2021, 12:38 pm

>24 sibylline: that is really cool, Lucy. And I love that Miss Po's tiny peets are part of the photo!

27LizzieD
Oct 10, 2021, 1:25 pm

WOW!!!! (Exit, laughing at Richard)

28sibylline
Oct 10, 2021, 2:04 pm

Lady Po likes to have a paw in everything.

Richard! You scamp!

29drneutron
Oct 10, 2021, 9:44 pm

>24 sibylline: Well, that’s just cool!

30sibylline
Oct 16, 2021, 10:09 am

113. hist fict ****
Manhattan Beach Jennifer Egan

1930's Brooklyn where Anna Kerrigan lives with her family: father Eddie, mother, sister Lydia. Her father has been a messenger for the longshoreman's union, but needing more income for Lydia, severely handicapped, offers his services to Dexter Styles, a nightclub owner and mob figurehead--clean record and married to a banker's daughter But when Eddie disappears the family know nothing about what might have happened to him; they struggle on and eventually goes to Anna at the Naval Yard, tediously measuring tiny parts of instruments, but one glimpse of the navy divers changes her life. Research and story are perfectly balanced, from what it felt like to wear one of those 200 lb suits to the 'shadow' language of the mob where things tend to mean the opposite of what is said openly. Probably the biggest reach in the novel is the portrait of the mob man Styles and the essential contradictions in his character. Such men can end up randomly on either side of the law, brilliant at their work, not naturally cruel or attracted to crime, but fatally engaged by risk and glamour. ****

31sibylline
Editado: Oct 18, 2021, 10:54 am

114. fantasy, ****1/2
River of Stars Guy Gavriel Kay

Only a writer as established and admired as Kay could make the choice of the story of a brilliant battle leader who makes a hard (possibly the hardest) choice . . . that's the thing, I can't tell you without spoiling. Sooner or later every government faces this problem--including our own--by the way. Kay is amazing at demonstrating the different skills that make a good military leader but not necessarily a good emperor and vice versa.

Kitai is 400 years on from the 9th Dynasty (subject of the first novel of Kitai) but fear of powerful military leaders has not abated, leaving the Kitai army run, as ever, by incompetents and therefor vulnerable to predation from the Northern tribes, now under the control of the Altai and an official empire. Long ago the Kitai lost the 14 former cantons along the Great Wall, and now the Altai are greedy for more. One person, Daiyan, a former outlaw, emerges as a leader capable not only of holding the Altai back but of even, perhaps, vanquishing them from all of Kitai, and recovering the lost lands near the Great Wall. This is, in fact, his life's ambition. Very subtle and powerful storytelling. The main female character is marvelous, Daiyan too and many many others. ****1/2

32sibylline
Editado: Oct 18, 2021, 10:58 am

115. ♬ *** fict regency
It's In His Kiss Julia Quinn

Book #7! It's Hyacinth's turn (child #8). Quinn offers a romp and a mystery, very appropriate for Hyacinth's somewhat rambunctious nature. Good fun with some mildly naughty bits.***

33MickyFine
Oct 18, 2021, 1:07 pm

>32 sibylline: Hyacinth's book is one of my favourites of the series. Glad to see you enjoyed it.

34richardderus
Oct 18, 2021, 1:49 pm

Fun reads, Lucy! Kay's work is clearly not falling off as he ages, is it.

BTW I have a new thread.

35sibylline
Oct 19, 2021, 5:36 pm

fict reg ***
On the Way to the Wedding Julia Quinn

This was Bridgerton #8 so this binge is officially over unless Audible has a two for one sale that includes a final book about the mother, Violet. It's been fun. In this last book Gregory (actually child #7 in birth order, but the last child to be settled) finds his true love and his calling in life, a plot that starts very slowly and was, perhaps, somewhat thin. I did feel that Quinn was stressed herself to find ways to write a final original story, but she did her best and as with all her novels there are always a few laughs and some startling twists, and I'm not going to be critical. For the genre, she does a fine job and was very lucky too to have Rosalind Landor reading. ***

36sibylline
Oct 21, 2021, 11:01 am

117. ♬ hist mys *** 1/2
From the Ashes Sabrina Flynn

Set in San Francisco around 1900, the (hoping to soon be) retired detective Atticus Riot returns from world travels to find he can't refuse one more intriguing case, a kidnapping of the young wife of
a prominent businessman and two conflicting ransom notes. As the mystery unfolds, unwillingly, Riot realizes this is a case that not only isn't what it appears to be but extends tendrils into every part of the city. I listened and didn't care for the reader, so it is a tribute to the author that I kept on. Some women can do men's voices very well and vice versa and some can't. This reader uses a kind of ponderousness with the male characters, especially Atticus, and I didn't care for it. There is a second book and I will likely listen to it as it is the right fare for driving around. ***1/2 (for the mystery!)

37bell7
Oct 21, 2021, 7:54 pm

Happy new thread, Lucy!

I'm sorry to hear about Finbar, how sad you must be about the whole situation.

>24 sibylline: That's extremely cool, and I love the photo of all your feet!

38sibylline
Editado: Oct 24, 2021, 12:17 pm

118. hist rom ***
A Stitch in Time Kelley Armstrong

Well I've fallen down some sort of rabbit hole but this was a 'free' selection that bobbled up after I finished my last audible book and as I was driving in the car I went with it. A young woman inherits a manor house from her aunt -- on the Yorkshire moors where, it turns out, as a child she used to visit and had a playmate (male) from the Victorian era. (Shades of Dark Shadows!) (No surprise she teaches history of that era, at the U of Toronto) but the idyll ended in tragedy and she hasn't been back for 23 years, is now widowed and etcetera. She returns and . . . The plot is ridiculous and convoluted, but the reader was very engaging, you could feel her laughing as she read, good laughter, enjoying herself. Anyway, good escapist fun which somehow seems my level these days or at least, acting as leaven between more serious reads. *** (I think it is pretty good for the genre.)

Just in, uh, passing. NO ONE IN THAT ERA referred to dying as "passing". That is an Americanism. So if you plan to write historical novels don't use that word! And seriously, you should know enough history of your era to know that. Just because your readers might not know any better doesn't get you off the hook. Rant over. The usage almost knocked my stars to 2 1/2, but that seems cruel.

39sibylline
Oct 24, 2021, 12:18 pm

>37 bell7: Thank you. The whole thing was devastating for everyone involved.

40sibylline
Editado: Oct 24, 2021, 12:40 pm

14. DNF
Otherland Tad Williams

I'm such a fan of Williams' fantasy but this venture into the hip cyberpunk zone isn't catching fire in my imagination even though I very much like some of the characters (mainly Renie and !Xabbu). I'm about a fifth of the way in and dragging and, well, I have made a vow to myself that fun reading is meant to be fun. My daughter adored this book and for that I am glad. I will keep it around in case I change my mind. Nothing wrong with it, just me.

41sibylline
Editado: Oct 24, 2021, 12:42 pm

So here's something fun. Many of you know I was, yonks ago, the library director in Wellfleet MA on the Cape. We have a cottage here that I use for writing retreats and have just ceased renting finally (after twenty-five years of doing that in the summer, what a relief). ANYWAY, this August I met a newish neighbor who writes romance fiction but didn't get her whole name. Yesterday we chatted for a long time (standing around with our dogs) and I confessed to reading/watching the Bridgerton series (so different the two from one another, believe me, but both lots of fun). Anyway, we plan to exchange books but I have downloaded an Audible version of one she recommended. Her name, btw, is Melissa Foster and under that name she writes most of her work, under another she writes very prim and proper romances for a different sort of audience. I'm kind of staggered:
she contracts to write 7-8 books a year!!!!! I can't imagine doing that! I am sure they are anything but literature, but she is delightful person, so who cares!

42LizzieD
Oct 24, 2021, 1:45 pm

Wellfleet must be a pretty fascinating place all in all. Great to hear about your meeting with another novelist! 7-8 books a year is a huge commitment no matter what they are.

I also was blown away by the whole Otherland series when it came out. I had guessed that it probably hadn't aged well. The whole concept of VR was cutting edge as far as I was concerned at the time. I remember some seriously good writing about WWI in the trenches, but I wouldn't go back for that. Good enough that you tried it and dropped it.

I wonder whether "passing" originated here in the South. If you don't know Jeanne Robertson, you absolutely must watch this!

Left Brain Goes to the Grocery Store

43sibylline
Editado: Oct 25, 2021, 3:37 pm

119. sociology *****
Survival of the Friendliest Brian Hare & Vanessa Woods

Hare and Woods' careful research leads compellingly from the process of 'self-domestication' as a most effective survival tactic to a similar case with Homo Sapiens. Dogs began following hunter-gatherers, eating their leavings (yes, everything) but were tolerated as cleaning up the camp was useful, over time they made themselves useful in other ways, barking at approaching predators, and eventually even as hunting companions. Point being, some dog-loving human did not embark on the kind of selective breeding program we think of now, hunter-gathering lifestyle precluded that option. The changes happened slowly over time. From there the authors shift to humans, theorizing (as a layman I found their research compelling but I am no scientist) that the big change that separates homo sapiens from all the others is that we self-domesticated ourselves--enough to be able to live in large groups which enabled cooperation and collaboration, the secret of our success. However, only up to a point. As with many innovations the undesirable tags right along with the desirable. In this case, the same hormones (mainly oxytocin triggered by eye contact and touch) that causes humans to feel loving to their children and families and their own 'group,' also gives rise to increased of outsiders. There are degrees to this that range from mild to horrific, the horrific level being when a human being will 'decide' that some other human being is NOT a human being and can therefore be sacrificed and disposed of any old how. (When push comes to shove how many men think this way about women? The authors leave this aspect untouched, btw.) This was the subject of Karl Ove Knausgaard's final book in the 'My Struggle' saga and what he was working towards throughout. His shock at realizing the mechanism of savage violence to other humans and how Hitler, a deeply damaged and incredible intuitive person could manipulate others with inflammatory rhetoric reverberates and echoes backwards through the novels.
Can anything be done? Well, democracies do better than anyone else at equitable governance, all the checks and balances are critical, as are limits to free speech and types of demonstrations. Peaceful. No weapons. And, most critically, no pushing of the dehumanization button. The book follows many interesting avenues of research and is very convincing. If only the people who need to read it would or even could. Another gem: Darwin's Survival of the Fittest idea has led to many disastrous (think eugenics) pursuits, but he did not mean strongest he meant the most effective at promoting survival. The former concept was already lodged deeply in the popular imagination from the 19th century interpretation of his work and was intensified through imagery put forth by Life Magazine in the 1960's (I remember this book!) so that a huge group of people still take the idea for granted as meaning that the strongest in a group (literally, most violent) survive the best. It ain't so. Research is very very clear on that. Violence breeds more violence and doesn't end until everyone is exhausted. Non-violent change has a far better chance. Further and thought-provoking research indicates that once a mind closes, the only way to re-open it is through personal contact, i.e. through friendship. Tall order. This is quite a radical read, I think. *****

44RebaRelishesReading
Oct 25, 2021, 12:10 pm

Most interesting discussion Lucy. I doubt I'll read the book so I especially appreciate having your summary.

45richardderus
Oct 26, 2021, 7:45 pm

>43 sibylline: I even refuse to use the word "fit" for "physically strong" nowadays. Someone asked about a fitness club here & I said "the library's right there."

"Fit" isn't the body's sleekness.

46sibylline
Oct 27, 2021, 11:18 am

120. Sisters in Love Melissa Foster ***1/2

Not sure how to rate this, as I try to rate books according to where they fit within their genre not on the grander scale of litratcher. I've read almost no romances, no Nora or anyone, but a near neighbor (see above >41 sibylline:) is Melissa herself. What I can say is the writing is clear and solid and never annoying. The story, about a therapist in her late twenties who is feeling she's restricted her life too much and the man (ok, yeah, a hunk) who has been a player but is at that moment when many men do seem to undergo a major change (some permanently, some not, ok?) and seriously do want to settle down. Of course, he comes to Danica the therapist. The story moves quickly and purposefully with some twists and some surprises. I very much like Danica's relationship with her 'Little Sister' (not real sister) and the parallel to her relationship with her own flighty sister. The characters are very distinctly drawn. Dialogue is very good and only occasionally a bit wooden, although even this is somewhat excusable as the main character, Danica Snow, is a therapist and does go into a slightly heavy mode from time to time. This is Melissa's very first venture into this genre about eight years and she wanted me to read the most recent book too to see how she has gotten better -- I will do this and report back. Overall, I doubt I will go much further into this genre. One thing I find jarring is the mention of actual brands of clothing. Of course, I know I am an outlier, I've never cared about any of that stuff (is the shoe comfortable? does the raincoat actually shed rain, etc) but golly, I just find that creepy. I'm going to give the book a ***1/2 although it is quite possible it deserves, within the genre, more stars. Room to grow. ***1/2

47sibylline
Editado: Oct 27, 2021, 11:24 am

MEANWHILE -- a nor'easter continues to rage, power is out (I charged up ALL my batteries yesterday including the one that will run my laptop, so I think I'm OK) but this is it for internet for me today. Uses up both juice on the phone and computer.

A gust of 83 mph was clocked in Wellfleet last night -- 2:25 a.m. (I was awake and heard a very intense roar rush by, so I expect that was it). Wind still very high now, but not like that. Taking Po out is an adventure, luckily the main street once I get out of the wooded lane I'm on is very open, so no danger there. I've even figured out a way to heat my cawfee. Candle, mesh outdoor candle holder, little stainless cup measurer I can use on top as a leetle saucepan and some tin foil to help heat go up and not leak out the mesh -- rather slow but piping hot eventually!

I don't realistically expect power to come back on until sometime in the wee hours tomorrow or tomorrow morning . . . hopefully not later than that.

48richardderus
Oct 27, 2021, 12:09 pm

>47 sibylline: Wow! Very, very different down here. Like, noticeably rainy and a pleasant breeze. You're clearly a tool-usin' monkey's descendant, you clever thing, I'd've been there spooning coffee beans into my moosh to get caffeinated.

49sibylline
Editado: Oct 27, 2021, 6:19 pm

Not looking good for power. The Cape got hammered. If it looks like potentially multiple days, I may just have to pack up and skedaddle.

>49 sibylline: At home in VT, there is no sign of any bit of this storm. I think there might even have been a bit of sun.

50lauralkeet
Oct 28, 2021, 7:31 am

Oh dear, Lucy. I'm sorry you got caught up in the latest weather event. I hope your power is restored soon.

51sibylline
Oct 28, 2021, 4:46 pm

Still no power and no assurance from the power company when -- beyond probably by late Saturday. This is a major bummer. Apparently the closer you get to the bridges (e.g. the mainland, the Cape Cod Canal does give the Cape an islandish feel) the more the havoc becomes apparent, both sides. I'm not sorry I haven't left as it sounds like a mess everywhere, although I am sure they have cleared the main route by now. The bridges were both closed for a good part of the storm too. No in or out during the storm!

Our neighborhood did ok so I think it is a matter of waiting for the routes branching from the main power lines to be restored, one by one. Basically no one in all the town of Wellfleet has power. I had a lot of ice and icepacks in the freezer and not much else, so now that is my refrigerator. When that fails if the power isn't back on I'll give up and go home. I really thought it would come on today, but no go.

So the retreat has been kind of truncated. I've managed little bits of writing, but overall I am distracted and there is yard work galore and that kind of thing. Likely I will go home a little early as I am hearing rumours of another storm.

52drneutron
Oct 28, 2021, 8:49 pm

Wow! I hope power comes back soon.

53bell7
Oct 28, 2021, 9:12 pm

Oh I forgot you were on the Cape, Lucy. Sorry to hear you were affected by the storm and it may cut your retreat short!

54richardderus
Oct 29, 2021, 10:36 am

>51 sibylline: I'm so sorry you might have to cut your retreat time short, Lucy! I hope not, but I'm all about better safe than sorry when it comes to storms.

Stay safe, be well, and rock on.

55sibylline
Oct 29, 2021, 10:58 am

Thanks all for your commiseration. It is humbling.
This house, unlike in Vermont, is ill-equipped.
Even one of those little generators would help (to run fan in the wall propane heater).

Also a couple of oil or kero lamps, a tiny camp stove (the single burner on top of the tiny type propane container and a small stainless saucepan) would have made all the difference. This has happened before and then I forget. I had a weird assortment of candles -- and I am including a photo of my rube goldberg method to heat small amounts of water, food or whatever -- safely with a candle. The materials -- a metal mesh outdoor candle holder, tin foil, a small stainless (measuring cup, really) 'saucepan', a lid for it, a candle inside.



Later on I found some larger candles and made an arrangement using a big saucepan, lined with tin foil, a stainless colander on top, tin foil and a small but actual saucepan. Made coffee!

It is my firm belief that with cup hooks, duct tape, bungee cords, tin foil, some rope, a decent knife, those newish kind of clips, black with the two metal 'flaps' and a few other very simple items you can build or kind of fix up almost anything. Though not, Jim, a vehicle to fly close the sun!

Power came back on at about 9 last night. Interestingly, the power company (we shall name no names but once upon a time it was the notorious ConEd, rebranded, like Facebook's, uh, About Face!!!!), communicated thus. Under the header of Power Restoration for a day and a half they were 'assessing damage'. Then about an hour before the power came on I got this phone message that I could look online for the estimated time of Restoration, but when I went to the site the message was 'to be determined' -- but someone else I discussed that opaqueness with said that her power (down in RI) came on about an hour after she got that message.

Today I am luxuriating in being WARM above all else. Also enjoying the wonder of a microwave, of bacon, of a nice warm omelet . . . the list is endless. Later on in the schedule is a hot shower.

56richardderus
Oct 29, 2021, 11:32 am

>55 sibylline: Hooray for being in the 1950s at last! *sigh*

At least things are heading in the proper direction.

57RebaRelishesReading
Oct 29, 2021, 12:49 pm

I too had forgotten that you were on the Cape and thought "you have solar. I remember you keeping the house warm by clearing snow off of the solar panels every few hours during a blizzard. So what's the problem?" lol. Anyway, glad your power is back and hope you can settle in for some comfortable writing now.

58LizzieD
Oct 29, 2021, 1:22 pm

>43 sibylline: (Did I remember correctly?) Thank you for that thorough review, Lucy. Like Reba, I won't be reading the book, but I'm happy to have the gist of it and to acknowledge its truth. I won't be reading any Melissa F's romances either, but I'm happy to know that they're literate. (Kay Gibbons used to deplore Jill McCorkle's {both with hometown ties} dependence on brand names to anchor her fiction in time.)

You're ingenious! I would have suffered, I'm afraid. Anyhow, count me has happy that you're warming up, have eaten, and showered by now, I trust. Enjoy the rest of your retreat.

59lauralkeet
Oct 29, 2021, 3:46 pm

I'm so glad your power was restored. I admire your determined resolve!

60sibylline
Oct 30, 2021, 12:32 pm

121. fantasy ***1/2
Brightly Burning Mercedes Lackey

Not long ago I tried another Lackey, acquired somehow or other, and found it an unreadable exemplar of 'high' fantasy. So I began this one with trepidation, but the assurance of a friend here that I'd like 'regular' Lackey just fine. And I am happy to say that I do. The story unfolds around a young and unhappy teenager who does not fit in at all with his family of cloth merchants. They've moved to the city and he is miserable away from the fresh air and physical activity. His parents, as parents are so often inexplicably are (but we'd never have a plot otherwise), are disappointed and even angry with his intransigeance and decide to send him to the new merchant-run school where he is set upon by a truly appalling bully. He becomes angrier and angrier until, in a rage, a magical power--to make fire--bursts forth uncontrolled and fatal. There are many powers, for mind-speech to empathy but this is rare beyond rare. Those with powers like these are sent to become either Heralds, Bards, or Healers. Heralds acquire a Companion-a horse that chooses them, and with whom they stay for a lifetime. But not only is Lavan chosen, but the bonding is an almost unheard of "life bond"--they will live or die as one. Valdemar is under siege from enemies and before he is fully trained Lavan is sent to the front. What I admire about this story is that it isn't the least bit sentimental -- but I can say no more without spoiling. I look forward to reading more of the books about the kingdom of Valdemar and surrounding lands. This book is somewhere in the middle of the work, but all are written to be stand-alones. ***1/2

61quondame
Oct 30, 2021, 9:56 pm

>60 sibylline: I read pretty much all the Mercedes Lackey books as they come out - though I've missed a few collaborations. She's often very romantic and fairly sentimental, so you must have lucked onto a good one for you.
Most of the Valdemar books come in sub-sets, mostly trilogies.

62ronincats
Oct 31, 2021, 9:23 am


Happy Howloween!

63SandyAMcPherson
Nov 1, 2021, 12:43 am

Hi Lucy. What a saga!
You are the most resourceful of people in power outages and high winds.

I'm home again and racing to catch up on so many things in the house and garden before 'real winter' sets in. Have popped into visit so people know I'm fine.

I read Just One Damned Thing After Another while I was away and I can sure see why it's an addictive series.

64PaulCranswick
Nov 1, 2021, 1:41 am

Glad to see you safe and thawed through.

The Climate Summit is coming in Glasgow in a matter of days and I cannot help thinking that we have a difficult balance to maintain between maintaining our modern conveniences and making sacrifices for the planet.

I'm all for sacrifice but am really against the cold and not being able to travel to bookstores!

65sibylline
Nov 2, 2021, 11:19 am

>62 ronincats: I love that!

>63 SandyAMcPherson: It is one reason I like going off on my own now and then. Glad you enjoyed the first book in the St. Mary's saga -- they get better and better. And I totally adore the audiobook reader which I think I say too often.

>64 PaulCranswick: Boris's opener at the summit wasn't half-bad!

66richardderus
Nov 2, 2021, 12:52 pm

Have a peaceful, unhaunted Day of the Dead.

67sibylline
Editado: Nov 4, 2021, 8:28 pm

122. fantasy ****
Empire of Ivory (Temeraire 4) Naomi Novik

Laurence and Temeraire are sent to Africa to seek out a cure for a deadly virus afflicting the dragons. Novik indulges in an alternate history where . . . no wait . . . I can't tell you. I love the dragons, they way they talk, what they value, how each one is different, as different as we are, but with a connection nonetheless. While there is plenty of action and derring-do, for me it is all about the conversations and interactions between the dragons and their humans, between each other. ****

123. fantasy ****
Victory of Eagles (Temeraire 5) Naomi Novik fantasy

Looks like Napoleon is ready to take a swipe at Great Britain. But will Wellesley (soon to be Wellington) be able to get control of the military? Will he be able to get the Army, Navy and Aeronauts to cooperate? Will anyone recognize what an asset the dragons really are and treat them properly? And what will happen to Will and Temeraire, now in utter disgrace over a choice made at the end of the African venture. Both Will and Temeraire are beginning to change: Will to question his obsession with honour and Temeraire to wonder if he has been selfish and inconsiderate of his human. What a joy to watch these two. Have I said how much I love Novik's dragons? ****

68SandyAMcPherson
Nov 4, 2021, 9:34 pm

>67 sibylline: I really must get some more Naomi Novik into my reading line up.

I recently posted a review of the first Jodi Taylor book in the Historian time travel series. I was looking at reading them chronologically rather than pub order. What do you recommend?
And BTW, I saw The Muse of History, listed as a free book. Where does a reader obtain a copy (I'm not seeing it listed anywhere)? Or was that a time-expired offer, no public access?

69sibylline
Nov 5, 2021, 8:05 pm

>68 SandyAMcPherson: I highly recommend reading them in chrono order, in fact, it would be very jarring not to. While their assignments are discrete units, the relationships between the historians, security, techies, admin, medical at St. Mary's has a through story line.

I found The Muse of History somehow or other. Maybe on J.T.'s website? Not important to read it until later -- I think it makes more sense when you know more of the story.

70sibylline
Editado: Nov 8, 2021, 12:09 pm

124. fantasy ****1/2
Tongues of Serpents Naomi Novik

As far as I'm concerned this series just gets stronger and stronger. The complexity of dragon-human relationship, the bonding that happens between a single human and a single dragon compels, along with my enjoyment of dragon/dragon relations. This offering is set in Australia, bunyips (no drop-bears, though) making the landscape all the more hostile than it already can be. Novik does her geographical and historical homework without flinching. Three (only) to go now to the end. ****1/2

BTW I just read somewhere that Peter Jackson has optioned the books. This could be a splendid thing indeed!

71richardderus
Nov 8, 2021, 2:46 pm

>70 sibylline: I think that was the one where I stopped. I don't remember why, exactly; I wasn't dissatisfied that I can recall. I do remember the Aussie creatures being really interesting, if ridiculously shy....

72quondame
Nov 8, 2021, 4:04 pm

>70 sibylline: >71 richardderus: I didn't stop, but the 3 around that volume were when my patience with Will's total dependence on Temeraire wore on me quite a bit. After Aubrey and Maturin I found his lack of any interest beyond his career and his dragon sad and diminishing.

73sibylline
Editado: Nov 10, 2021, 10:53 am

125. fantasy ****1/2
Crucible of Gold (book 6) Naomi Novik

Captured by the French and dumped on a small island the surviving crew make it to the Incan Empire, naturally complete with gorgeous feathered dragons. Napoleon has his eye on the empire as it is presently ruled by a Queen. He's dumped Josephine and everyone knows what he is up to. Hammond, the Chinese ambassador, is as usual bursting with terrible schemes and one of them involves poor Granby. Happily an escape from Cusco is effected and they're off to Brazil to see if they can make an unexpected alliance there--congruent with Will Laurence's ethics. They acquire a small Incan dragon who has 'bonded' with Hammond, although the bond is not, so far, reciprocated. As ever, lots to love, especially dragons. ****1/2

74SandDune
Nov 10, 2021, 4:01 pm

I don’t know why but I have never been able to get on with Naomi Novik’s Temeraire books. I tried His Majesty’s Dragon years ago and it didn’t grab me and then I enjoyed Uprooted so much that I thought I’d give it another go. But it still didn’t grab me. It’s strange - I feel it’s the sort of series I ought to like - I’m pretty keen on anything dragon related as a rule …

75sibylline
Editado: Nov 10, 2021, 4:29 pm

>74 SandDune: Don't know if you do any listening, but I noticed that Simon Vance reads all the Temeraires- If I had known I might not have carefully collected them all as books. I can't say exactly what has grabbed me, I do know that for the first three books my interest ebbed and flowed although I liked and was sufficiently entertained etcetera to continue, but at some point that shifted and I feel like I 'got' something deeper -- the complexity of the relationships between dragons and humans, the humour as well as the genuine differences in the dragon character. One ponders why the dragons bother cooperating with humans at all? Well, Novik really explores that, more deeply in each book, along with the bigger questions of loyalty, honor, what makes a family, what is voluntary bondage, what is slavery. I'm not saying she planned from the start to explore these themes, but they seem to naturally unfold in new ways in each book. As these themes are important in the one other book of hers I have read Spinning Silver, it makes sense. Sorry to be long-winded! I think one hopes for everyone to have the same wonderful reading experience one has had, so it is hard not to go into trying to figure out why, but we are all so different!

76richardderus
Nov 10, 2021, 4:32 pm

>73 sibylline: DEFINITELY never read that one. I really can't recall why. Well, Novik's not going out of print any time soon.

WHEN IS PETER JACKSON'S TAKE COMING OUT

77SandDune
Nov 10, 2021, 4:35 pm

>75 sibylline: Maybe I should try an audiobook then. Simon Vance is a good narrator.

78alcottacre
Nov 14, 2021, 12:35 am

I am not even trying to catch up, Lucy, just going to try to keep better track from here on out.

I am so sorry to hear about Finbar. I know your heart must be aching.

79sibylline
Editado: Nov 14, 2021, 11:57 am

>76 richardderus: Did a little more digging -- Jackson optioned the books around 2009 and has done diddly-squat so don't hold your breath. Apparently he realized it would make a better series than movie and that somehow made it all slow down. He is right though.

>77 SandDune: I'll be interested to hear how that goes.

>78 alcottacre: I am delighted to hear from you! No worries! And much thanks for your sympathy about Fin.

80sibylline
Editado: Nov 16, 2021, 5:57 pm


Galaxy Outlaws/The Black Ocean J.S. Morin

There are 16 'novels' in this series which, as far as I can tell, are offered only on Audible. So far I have listened to six of them, space opera at its most space-opera-ish and lots of fun. (Salvage Trouble, A Smuggler's Conscience, Poets and Piracy, To Err is Azrin, Alien Racer, Retro Version). The Mobius is crewed by the usual bunch of misfits, Carl is ex-Navy pilot (retired honorably after a disastrous mission), Mort is a wizard on the run, Tanny (no idea how anything is spelled since I'm listening) is ex-Marine with a drug problem, Mri is of a race that is somewhat feline-like and a superb fighter but has been banished from her home planet, Esper is an ex-priestess of the One Church . . . but no one is just what they seem to be. Oh and they even have a sentient Clifford - (big red dog) named Kubu. They go from adventure to adventure, their main source of income is carrying around semi or totally illegal cargo and about half of these ventures veer into disasters (usually of Carl's making--he can't help himself) but they have all grown on me and living where I do everything I go to is a half-hour drive away and so having something fun and unstressful to listen to. I haven't counted them into my books yet -- I am figuring each one is somewhere between 300 and 350 pages but I'll probably tack them all on at once at the very end of the year.

81richardderus
Nov 14, 2021, 12:12 pm

>79 sibylline: Yes, a series makes a lot more sense. And in that case, eleven years doesn't shock me. He's sold Weta, his movie-effects studio, to a game-development company; it sounds like he could simply be getting ready to retire.

Happy week-ahead's reads!

82sibylline
Editado: Nov 17, 2021, 10:54 am

127. *****
The Blood of Tyrants (Book 8) Naomi Novik

*****
128. League of Dragons (book 9) Naomi Novik

These last two in the Temeraire saga somewhat flow together as the story moves toward the final confrontation with Napoleon. After the last installment Laurence (re-instated) and Temeraire leave Australia and are headed back to China, to roust up a round of support against Napoleon who, they learn, is planning to take on Russia. However things go wrong and I can't tell you more without spoiling--everyone ends up in Japan in a big mess. There are some marvelous sea serpents and Novik offers yet another view into how (in this case) dragons have been incorporated into the lives and culture of the Japanese Things get sorted and they set off for Russia. The Russian treatment of dragons, no surprise given how they treat their own people, is the most egregious of all, quite upsetting really, but authentic. In these last two books the reasons for cooperation between humans and dragons becomes starkly evident. Each can do things that the others can't, but since they both exist and are both apex predators and intelligences, the dangers in not figuring out how to cooperate far outweigh, ultimately, any other considerations. Novik leads us to her conclusion convincingly. I am fascinated by how Novik wove her way through, expanding and discovering for herself along the way I think. I loved the alternate history and the care she gave to demonstrating an adequate amount of knowledge and sensitivity to each region and culture: for example the advantage that having dragons gave to many native peoples, especially in the Americas. Also how, in China and Japan and all cultures where cooperation is far developed everyone benefits, dragons and humans alike.

As I was wrote up my comments about each book here, many other readers have remarked that they couldn't get traction or sustain interest. I've pondered that and my main idea is that Novik is relentless in her focus on the human/dragon relationship and on dragons themselves, and less on developing the human relationships and problems. Which makes me wonder if some of the lack of engagement is due to expectations and, yes, preferences? I'm brought to mind the Foreigner series, which are also not to everyone's taste, where Cherryh's focus is always ruthlessly on human-atevi relations (so alluring yet so dangerous) and illuminating who the Atevi really are so we can begin to feel the alien shape. In this regard I think Novik has succeeded in creating an intelligent and complex species, showing both the contempt and the fascination each has for the other, and how complicated both are. I wish everyone would have as delightful an experience as I have had, but that never happens, does it? Brava Novik! *****




83alcottacre
Nov 17, 2021, 2:00 am

>82 sibylline: I still have not read that series. I read the first book, which I liked, but never read beyond that.

84SandyAMcPherson
Nov 17, 2021, 8:57 am

Hi Lucy. I couldn't work up any enthusiasm for Novik's dragon series.

This was a surprise to me, because I enjoyed dragons in stories by Ursula Le Guin (Earthsea series) and the appearance in McKinely's The hero and the Crown. The ones in Wrede's books were amusing but in a very juvie way.

85MickyFine
Nov 17, 2021, 3:51 pm

>82 sibylline: I've enjoyed some of Novik's other novels (I just finished The Last Graduate and loved it) but I have a mental hang up over dragon books so I haven't dipped my toe in them. Glad to see you loved them, Lucy.

86sibylline
Editado: Nov 20, 2021, 10:33 am

The U.S. Sec'y of Education was on a whirlwind tour part of the post-BBB victory lap and stopped at a school in Burlington VT where my spousal unit was busy vaxxing. First the photo (from the newspapers):



Spousal unit in EMT mode, vaxxing kids, my hero.

(rest of story continues below)

87sibylline
Editado: Nov 20, 2021, 10:02 am

Then the backstory. As he got started with this kid, who was perfectly ok about the vax, the sec'y and about twenty reporters etc trooped in and stood around them in an arc. The kid grew agitated, but they kept on clicking the cameras until the kid grew very agitated. So they were told by someone to move on, please. At the children's clinic they have a 'private room' for when the process starts to go off the rails. And Dad and his son went there. Result, spousal unit did NOT administer the shot in the end, someone else did.

88sibylline
Editado: Nov 20, 2021, 1:27 pm

128. hist fic ****
Transcription Kate Atkinson

Atkinson's strength lies in the interactions, often forced, between people who must work together but don't necessarily like or trust one another. (Which can include family). They are an odd mix too, with strong loves and loyalties combined with cynicism leavened with a streak of goodness. The writing is, from dialogue to description, always crisp and often funny. So where am I going with these comments?
In this case, the structure (going backwards) and the plot itself. Thinking it through the plot wouldn't be do-able if the story was being told moving forward in time and therein lies my gripe. As I shut the book, I felt I'd been somewhat manipulated. In the war Juliet, an orphan, no family, was taken into MI5. She is 17. Novel opens in 1981, Juliet, around 60, is immediately hit by a vehicle, lies (maybe dying?) on the pavement. (Not spoiling if it is in the first ten pages, right?). The tale then goes back to two time periods of her life, one in 1950 when she is working for the BBC on school programs (very wickedly entertaining) and the other time period very early during the war. The time between just after the Blitz to 1950 and then thirty years after that are entirely skipped. I get it, that Juliet is experiencing the important bits, while she lies on the pavement hovering between life and death, but . . . at the very very very end extra information is suddenly and rather casually dropped. Atkinson can do what she likes, of course, and I get what she was after -- delving into the 'tenebrous' quality of the realms of espionage and counter-espionage and also of loyalties--should one be loyal to causes, places or people? All too often it becomes a muddle and the littlest players get hurt. Of course, as I write this, I think, ok yeah, Atkinson knows what she is doing. Manipulating us as Juliet was manipulated. Totally worth reading, ****.

89lauralkeet
Nov 20, 2021, 12:23 pm

>88 sibylline: Atkinson knows what she is doing. Manipulating us as Juliet was manipulated. Totally worth reading
You've reminded me of why I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Great review, Lucy!

90sibylline
Editado: Nov 22, 2021, 8:41 pm

129. fic *****
The Hollow Land Jane Gardam

Oh what can I say? Perfect storytelling. Beguiling language. Compelling characters. Delicious humor. Even, in the final story, (happily not drawn out) tremendous suspense! (not really, but just enough to up the pulse rate with indignation). Northumberland, the '70's, a family begins renting, on a long lease, the Light Trees farm up on the fell in Northumberland. The Batemans. The farm belongs to Mrs. Teesdale's Dad, Old Hewitson, but he has moved down to their farm. The first year is touch and go as the Londoners adjust to the different pace and necessities. The youngest Bateman, Harry, is a natural countryman and he and Bell Teesdale become best friends. Not quite a novel, but not quite short stories either as they are so deeply interconnected, we cover 20 or so years of the Bateman/Teesdale friendship, watching it deepen into something as solid as--I was going to say--the earth, but this is land riddled with ancient mines, lead and silver-- and the tiny bit of plot hinges around that. Old Hewitson in the last story, up by the Nine Standards (old stone ring) for the eclipse, triumphant and munching on his bit of cake (where did he get that from?) is an image I'll never forget. Or the icicles. What child has not tried to save a beautiful icicle? Many deeper suggestions here, that so many moments in life are just that, not to be captured. For me, a delight and profound read in Gardam's way, from beginning to end. *****

91richardderus
Nov 22, 2021, 12:32 pm

>90 sibylline: I loved the Old Filth books, and have always had the intention of reading more Gardam. Still have not accomplished said goal...but now I have an impetus! A title, a laudatory review from a trusted source, these are the things I need to get myself over the Intend-to Hump.

Happy week's reads!

92sibylline
Nov 23, 2021, 4:15 pm

I've liked or loved all the Gardam books I've ever read!



93sibylline
Editado: Nov 24, 2021, 9:47 am

130. ♬ fic *****
Ghost Wall Sarah Moss

Imagine a re-enactment exercise gone off the rails and you have the essentials. Silvie's Dad Bill is obsessed with the time 'before', early Iron Age on back, the time, he believes, only the true tribal Britons, were in the British Isles. Given that he is also a control freak and has a 17 year old daughter you've got all you need for a train wreck. Bill though, is a bus driver, couldn't go to college, all his learning is self-directed, but he is enough of a recognized expert to be respected and he joins a professor and his students (three only, two young men and one young woman) who have signed up for a 'reality' experience up on the fells of Northumberland. He never lets his wife or daughter do anything independently, so they come along too. It's important to understand that Bill really does know his stuff and that he, like many abusive people, really loves his daughter, but that he is over the line, not able to recognize the difference between discipline and cruelty. His personality too is such that you could say he enchants them all, even Silvie, into following his will. There is so much here to take apart--the absurdity of the notion of reenactment perhaps foremost, the fact too that a good deal of harm comes when people allow imagination to run away them. There are the social divisions, the educated and the not. The privileged and the not--itself sometimes nothing more than a difference in accents. Moss takes the story to the edge of the precipice and no one emerges unchanged. Precise and brilliant. *****

94quondame
Nov 23, 2021, 5:01 pm

>93 sibylline: As a fan of reenactment and the associated experimental archeology, I could wish for a book with a more natively deplorable target.

95lauralkeet
Nov 24, 2021, 7:14 am

>93 sibylline: Excellent review, Lucy.

96sibylline
Nov 24, 2021, 9:54 am

>95 lauralkeet: Thank you!

97richardderus
Nov 24, 2021, 10:12 am

>93 sibylline: I am 180° from you in affection and fully there with you in appreciation.

Happy Humpday!

98SandDune
Nov 24, 2021, 12:32 pm

>93 sibylline: Great review! I really enjoyed Ghost Wall.

99sibylline
Nov 24, 2021, 12:47 pm

>97 richardderus: and 98 Thank you both. I look forward to reading or listening to a lot more of Sarah Moss. She is indeed special. The book did make me cringe a bit, but in the right way.

100PaulCranswick
Nov 25, 2021, 7:29 am

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

In difficult times
a friend is there to light the way
to lighten the load,
to show the path,
to smooth the road

At the darkest hour
a friend, with a word of truth
points to light
and the encroaching dawn
is in the plainest sight.

Lucy, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

101RebaRelishesReading
Nov 25, 2021, 11:50 am

Hi Lucy. Wishing you, your family and your fur family a Happy Thanksgiving.

102sibylline
Nov 25, 2021, 4:29 pm


103sibylline
Editado: Nov 25, 2021, 4:31 pm



Happy Thanksgiving! This is Posey's dream.

104alcottacre
Nov 26, 2021, 12:12 am

>88 sibylline: That one is already in the BlackHole or I would be adding it again.

>90 sibylline: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Lucy!

>93 sibylline: That one sounds like it hits a little too close to home for me, so I will give it a pass.

I hope that you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Happy Friday!

105sibylline
Nov 26, 2021, 11:41 am

>104 alcottacre: Re the last book there, I totally get that. I had to read/listen to the book no more than ten minutes or so at a time, so so intense.

106Berly
Nov 26, 2021, 1:49 pm

Lucy--Delurking to say Hi! and >103 sibylline: it doesn't look like there are any Thanksgiving leftovers. LOL

>88 sibylline: I haven't read that one yet, and obviously now I should.

107richardderus
Nov 26, 2021, 2:16 pm

>103 sibylline: Ha! Completely adorable, Lucy, and oh so relatable.

108sibylline
Nov 27, 2021, 5:37 pm

We got four inches of snow and we noticed how gorgeous Miss Po is in her hunting season outfit.


109RebaRelishesReading
Nov 27, 2021, 6:26 pm

Indeed she is beautiful. Looks like such a sweetheart too.

110MickyFine
Nov 28, 2021, 10:41 am

>108 sibylline: Adorable!

111richardderus
Nov 28, 2021, 1:24 pm

>108 sibylline: *baaawww* she's a true punkin pweshus in her day-glo orange!

112SandyAMcPherson
Nov 30, 2021, 3:09 pm

Lucy, I tried to post here earlier, but I see nothing appeared. Could be the LT servers are very busy. Or else I was too slow to be sure not to navigate away from your thread. I went away to look at the book list where I thought I had recorded an Iron Age history.
Relative to the Iron Age, I was just saying that your review of Ghost Wall was a possible book bullet. Catchy review!
I'm rather cautious about revisiting Iron Age situations because after reading The Crossing Places (Elly Griffiths), I was interested in reacquainting myself with the era. Really quite horrific, if the book I skimmed was accurate. No, I seemed not to have added the title to my catalogue on LT.

I'm going to post some book reviews later today. You might like to see what I've been reading...

113sibylline
Nov 30, 2021, 5:22 pm

>109 RebaRelishesReading: >110 MickyFine: >111 richardderus: Yes she is the reigning empress of all she surveys around here.

>112 SandyAMcPherson: -- I'll go right to your thread. GW is a cliffhanger --not at all a comfortable read, but so well done.

114sibylline
Editado: Dic 1, 2021, 10:55 am

sf classic ****
Hard To Be A God Arkady Strugatsky Boris Strugatsky

This is my third Strugatsky work (The Dead Mountaineer's Inn and Roadside Picnic) and likely not the last. The premise is the future (violence and political turmoil are a thing of the past) with space travel and concern to help prevail. Having come across a planet so earth-like as to be virtually identical (homo sapiens top of the food chain) but mired in medieval chaos, 'historians' are sent to 'observe' and where possible tweak things in the direction of enlightenment. The soviet way has prevailed in this future world, and the initial story was meant to be apolitical and fun--except in the USSR of the early 1960's (when the book was written)--that was not an option. The protagonist/hero, Don Rumata (Anton) has been in this world for three years, posing as a powerful and wealthy aristocrat in a very class/caste oriented society, top dog. He isn't a god, but he might as well be with his unlimited gold and impervious armour. Rumata has been trying to save anyone who shows any spark but even the best are not ready to progress beyond their own personal situation/salvation. He feels increasingly hopeless, intuiting a situation beyond anything that ever happened on earth, that any of their "Basis Theory" of history encompasses. The man behind this, Don Reba (oddly resonant with Beria) has seized control of the area Rumata is observing, but Rumata cannot figure him out--no motivation or purpose is perceivable, just ever increasing violence and chaos which moreover Reba doesn't even, really, seem to relish but is compelled to keep on with even to his own downfall. Knowing great violence will erupt the next day, Rumata ponders: "Two hundred thousand people! To a visitor from Earth they all had something in common. It was probably the fact that almost without exception, they were not yet humans in the modern sense of the word, but blanks, unfinished pieces, which only the bloody centuries of history could one day fashion into true men, proud and free." This passage, on p 145 of my copy, lies at the heart of where the story, meant once to be light-hearted adventure, turned into an exploration of the constant tension between pure self-interest and working for the benefit of the aggregate. Kind of timely. Or perhaps always timely. Not an SF light read. As with like Roadside Picnic a book with so much in it, humor, imagination, heart and soul and seriousness. The greatest flaw is that, apparently, in the future, women don't play much of a part in the big affairs. The Strugatskys' were men of their time in that regard after all. ****

Sorry this is too long, maybe I can tidy it up tomorrow.

115drneutron
Dic 1, 2021, 8:38 am

>114 sibylline: Haven't read that one, but I've read Roadside Picnic - and loved it. I've also read The Inhabited Island, a translation of the uncensored version of Prisoners of Power. It was good too, but pretty dark.

116sibylline
Dic 1, 2021, 11:10 am

Hi Jim! Have you seen the movie of Roadside Picnic? I loved it. Found it somewhere, can't think where, but it is really something. Moody! Apparently there are a couple of movies of Hard To Be A God too -- but I didn't feel drawn to see that one after looking at a few clips. Ultimately I think the book is about a potential for sliding into irreparable chaos. Not really a spoiler!

117drneutron
Editado: Dic 1, 2021, 12:22 pm

There's a movie? Gotta find that!

ETA: I found a series from 2017 that didn't air, or at least isn't available anywhere, a movie from 1979 called "Stalker", and a Finnisj movie from 2012 called "Zone". Which one did you see?

118sibylline
Dic 1, 2021, 5:29 pm

119drneutron
Dic 2, 2021, 6:42 pm

Cool. I’ll see if I can find it.

120sibylline
Dic 2, 2021, 7:48 pm

AZ prime and youtube, can't remember which option I chose. Have to pay a couple bucks.

121sibylline
Dic 4, 2021, 1:57 pm

132. fantasy ***1/2
Eyes Like Leaves Charles de Lint

De Lint found this manuscript in his file cabinet (or equivalent), one of his earliest (or perhaps THE earliest) attempt at a novel. At the very end he appends the original beginning, a lesson to any wannabe writers about what NOT to do, a lengthy introduction basically explaining the world, not showing. In the intro he says he nixed that whole bit, started with stuff happening, then sprinkled in the information as necessary. His talent for character and story-telling is evident, and the tale almost lifts. There is also some originality in that one of the main characters is reluctant to play her role. For me that choice didn't, in the end, really work, she never finds a backbone and comes across as whiney and annoying, but it's a brave thing to try. Here and there the dialogue is a bit too predictable, but again, this is a first novel! So I say well done! If you are de Lint fan and also have an interest in seeing how a writer develops you don't want to miss this one. ***1/2

122sibylline
Editado: Dic 6, 2021, 4:59 pm

133. sf ***1/2
Artemis Andy Weir

Took me a little while to rev up and get into this, but once I did, I read unstoppably, that sort of book. Weir set himself new challenges in this second novel--The Martian was mainly an exercise in problem-solving with one character doing all the heavy-lifting--his mind so preoccupied with survival that the main features of his character were determination to live and utilizing what he knew to full advantage. Here we have Jazz in the moon colony, steady pop. about 2000 (around the pop of my town, in fact) plus the tourists in and out. So Jazz has a Dad and ex-boyfriends and problems and her own inability to conform even the teensiest bit. And very early on, the reader gets that there is some kind of trouble in the windless void of the moon's surface. There are some great characters, Jazz's dad, friend Dale, weird but brilliant and likeable Svoboda with his 'invention' he wants Jazz to test for him. But it is the 'big' story that grabs. Who is going to end up controlling the moon? Earthers? Or the folks already living and working there. Ian MacDonald's Luna has a similar uber-plot strung out over three novels and a bit more fanciful, but this scenario does not strike me as all that unlikely, should some kind of permanent habitation and manufacturing happen eventually on our moon. If you like hard sf and some excitement and fun then you will enjoy yourself. ***1/2

123SandyAMcPherson
Dic 6, 2021, 5:40 pm

Hi Lucy. Just noticed you have read at least 133 books so far this year! I have had the impression that your books have mostly been good to complelling reading this year.

I'm enjoying A Master of Djinn but it is slow going. I keep falling asleep because I'm only reading in the later evening these days.

56 Days is waiting on the sidelines (an e-book) plus I have now several holds of physical books waiting at the library. So I need to get cracking. I've waited quite awhile for a couple of the titles.

124sibylline
Dic 6, 2021, 9:15 pm

>123 SandyAMcPherson: I've gotten a lot tougher about not even bothering to continue a book that I would rate less than 3 stars. (And that includes critically eyeing what is on my shelves, so plenty of books have been quietly set free.) And 3 stars is pushing it. Either I have to be enjoying or know I will be glad later that I read it (as in will have learned something etc.).

I am thrilled that I might make my 144 (one gross) goal this year! I did not make it last year I know.

125sibylline
Editado: Dic 7, 2021, 2:56 pm

134. contemp fic *****
Second Place Rachel Cusk

There is so much compressed into 180 pages, I hardly know where to begin to do justice. The main character "M" encounters the work of the artist "L" in a Paris gallery hours before departing on a train (to I forget where, somewhere in Europe) where she is followed from car to car by a leering man with a small child. M is in Paris on her own, taking a brief sabbatical from her marriage and small child, Justine. "L"s work connects her to a vision of what true freedom might be like. The combination of the paintings and the experience on the train propel her from passively accepting to actively demanding the freedom of choosing how to be in the world, but her decision destroys her marriage and for several years her own connection with her child.

Many years later M, married again, invites the artist L to come to where she lives now, by the marshes (somewhere like Norfolk) not far from the sea to stay in 'the second place' a formerly derelict cottage that she, with her second husband, Tony, have refurbished. M's marriage to Tony, is good, really good. (Really!) He farms and is grounded as a person. After delay (of years) L arrives with a young woman in tow. It is during the time we are still in, the first year of Covid. M's own daughter, now in her mid-twenties is home along with her German boyfriend Karl.

L's work served as a catalyst to M before and quickly it becomes apparent that L the person is also a catalyst. It's as much in him as in his work.
The spring is unusually warm and dry. L is elusive. M is frustrated. She hardly knows what she wants from him. Nothing. Everything. He avoids her.

Early on M says, "Why do we live so painfully in our fictions? Why do we suffer so, from the things we ourselves have invented?" Watching a bird she says, "Meanwhile I just sit staring straight ahead in front of me with nothing to do. That's all I've managed as far as freedom is concerned, to get rid of the people and things I don't like. After that there isn't all that much left!" and a little further on, "I find it difficult to meet my own needs. The sight of people getting what they want, jostling and demanding things, makes me decide I would rather go without."

About L's paintings she says, that they exude a sense of freedom, "this aura of male freedom belongs likewise to most representations of the world and of our human experience within it. and that, as women we grow accustomed to translating it into something we can recognize." -- "a case of borrowed finery."

Of clothes she says, "I was presumably dressed as I always am, in either black or white." "I like to wear soft, draping, shapeless clothes which I can add or remove in layers . . I have never understood clothes terribly well, and have found the element of choice especially unmanageable, so it was a great day for me when I realized . . . that by limiting the colours to black and white I need never think about aesthetics again."

The implication is, in a way, that a woman can only experience freedom by choosing to do empty out, to do and be nothing. Or, that is the route M has taken.

M writes movingly of being a mother. She writes of a time when her daughter was thirteen and asked her what were the limits of her obligations to her. She says, "I believe I am obliged to let you go," I said, once I'd thought about it, "but if that doesn't work out, I believe I am obliged to remain responsible for you forever."

of writing (she is a writer herself, very occasionally) "Some people write simply because they don't know how to live in the moment . . . and have to reconstruct it and live in it afterwards."

She writes too of some moments in her marriage with Tony when she realizes how differently they see and feel almost everything. When she explains to Tony of her misgivings about calling their cottage 'the second place' she says the term "pretty much summed up how I felt about myself and my life--that it had been a near miss, requiring just as much effort as victory always and forever somehow denied me, by a force that I could only describe as the force of pre-eminence. I could hever win, and the reason I couldn't seemed to lie within certain infallible laws of destiny that I was powerless--as the woman I was--to overcome." She goes on to say, "Tony listened to me, and I could tell he was slightly surprised by what I was saying . . and after a long time he said, "For me it doesn't mean that. It means parallel world. Alternative reality."

This woman may appear to do nothing, (you might find her annoying, but then you would find me annoying too) but what she does do is observe and think about the impossible and the forbidden: the possibility that art is both dangerous and completely pointless, to the likelihood that men, being men, even the best of them, cannot begin to comprehend what women's lives are made of, that the surest love for a woman is with her children.

At the very end, unnecessarily perhaps? Cusk reveals that the novel was inspired by the memoir of Mabel Mapes Dodge of D.H. Lawrence's time at her home in Taos. Jeffers, then, is Robinson Jeffers the poet. Not sure what I think about this. Does it add or subtract?

Sorry this is so long, I am just stunned by Cusk's perceptiveness and courage about women, men, the human condition, art, you name it. *****

126SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Dic 7, 2021, 12:33 pm

>124 sibylline: I've also been happier in *not* pursuing the less appealing reading.

I finally realized that I don't need to find why I was not having fun or at least a satisfying story. It feels like a burden has lifted. I (too) have culled at least a dozen novels and a few non-fiction books which fell into this category.

Here's hoping you enjoy reaching your "one gross" reading objective.

Edited to add that I hadn't seen your post about Cusk's book until the cache refreshed.
What an awesome book, Lucy. And your review is brilliant at zeroing in on some home truths that I, myself, hate to accept: ... men, being men, even the best of them, cannot begin to comprehend what women's lives are made of. There's every likelihood, in my not-humble opinion.

Thanks for your very perceptive comments.

127sibylline
Dic 7, 2021, 2:55 pm

>126 SandyAMcPherson: If you want to check out Cusk I would start with the first of her three book trilogy Outline (called same). It's more accessible. This one was ferociously intense and compressed.

128richardderus
Dic 7, 2021, 4:28 pm

I just can't with Cusk...dunno why. It's not like she's a bad writer, but I do not connect. Like Elizabeth Strout, though, I'm going to try a bit more to see if it's mood-based or life-based or just she's not talking to me.

I've been gone involuntarily long enough...fie on living in 1995!...and missed the Strugatsky convo. I think you'd enjoy The Doomed City.

Anyway. Onward, through the fog. *smooch*

129SandyAMcPherson
Dic 7, 2021, 6:40 pm

>128 richardderus: I tried a Cusk title (it was a BB from Lucy even). I'm sure RC is excellent to read, but yeah, "No". I like Lucy's reviews and her choice of quotes, however.
And as I said here, I seem not to be a E. Strout fan either.

130sibylline
Dic 7, 2021, 7:44 pm

>128 richardderus: >129 SandyAMcPherson: My only concern then is that you might not much like me! My taste in books, anyway, is puzzling even to me!

I like Strout but some better than others. The first one is the one that really sticks. I've kind of lost track of the last two or three also.

131sibylline
Editado: Dic 12, 2021, 12:43 pm

135. alt hist ***1/2
Darwinia Robert Charles Wilson

In this version of Earth, one night in 1912 the sky shimmers with what seem to be northern lights, but everyone in the world except Europe and some of Russia (gets vague about that border or I missed it) wakes up to find that all of Europe is empty of people, in its place a vast tangle of wild growth, not earthly. At this time there were many (ok, there still are refusniks out there) those who did not believe in evolution and the vast age etcetera of our planet and the vaster age of the universe. Years later Guilford Law, is in his early 20's, a professional photographer, married, and joins the Finch Expedition to explore this wilderness. (Finch himself is a huge defender of the Biblical faction.) I was somewhat surprised by the turn in the plot and maybe disappointed, ultimately? Hard to explain w/out spoiling only that the flavor of the story changes a lot at mid-point as certain mysteries are revealed and explained. I read with interest to the end, but with mixed feelings of a brilliant premise that swerved or over-expanded. Law is the 'unwilling hero' and that gets old, like a device to keep humanity involved. Also the American role in capitalizing on the economic potential of the new Europe was appalling to me and actually not that plausible. Sounds like I am saying don't read it, but I am not, this is intriguing alt history indeed and, (I checked) ever so slightly precedes a smash-hit movie you will think maybe he was riffing off of, but he wasn't. Gender-wise also pathetic, a men's club sort of book.***1/2

132SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Dic 11, 2021, 9:08 pm

>130 sibylline: Of course I would like you. And we might even meet one day assuming this insane world gets in line to be vaxxed.

Edited to add, that yes, I do realize there are many countries that just don't have access to vaccine. It's a sad world in that regard.

133sibylline
Editado: Dic 14, 2021, 4:50 pm

136. Borderland ed. Terri Windling

Four writers, including Charles de Lint and Ellen Kushner offer stories set in the bordertown between Elfland (which reappeared at some point) and the World (of humans). Bordertown is punky and rough and arty and non-conformist for both groups. I gather there are a lot of Borderland stories out there. Likely, if I did not like de Lint so much that I would have quit after the first story. Even de Lint's was no more than adequate.***

134richardderus
Dic 14, 2021, 6:28 pm

>131 sibylline: I was So. Bitter. about that ending all a simulation! *grrr* decades later it still riles me up!

>130 sibylline: *smooch*

135sibylline
Editado: Dic 18, 2021, 1:23 pm



136SandDune
Dic 18, 2021, 2:44 pm

>135 sibylline: Have they tried to have the tree over yet? They look determined!

137sibylline
Dic 18, 2021, 8:44 pm

Don't they look like conspirators? They are being quite respectful of the tree, mostly just drinking the water out of the bucket and lolling about on the red and green velvet apron that lies on the floor around it.

138laytonwoman3rd
Editado: Dic 19, 2021, 12:16 pm

Well, I totally lost you for the last several months. I plead my own grief and distraction, but I am so sorry to hear that you've lost Fin.

>24 sibylline: That is beyond cool, in so many ways. Brilliant idea to put your bare feet (and Miss Po's toes) down on that ancient rock together and take a picture.

I was glad to see your positive review of Manhattan Beach. It's been on my shelves a while, and I've almost picked it up any number of times with that "am I really going to enjoy this" feeling making me hesitate. Now I suspect I'll get to it soon.

Glad to have caught up to you .... just in time to be totally behind with everybody when all the new 2022 threads start. *Sigh*

139sibylline
Editado: Dic 20, 2021, 1:17 pm

137-144. ♬sp/op *****
Galaxy Outlaws: The Black Ocean Mobius Missions, 1-16.5 J.S. Morin

As I've mentioned I listen while I drive around and, lately, while knitting or cooking and a few other tasks that don't need my full attention. However I can't listen to anything too gross or too stressful, so that rules out a lot. These novels, stories, whatever, were perfect. Conflict, problems and situations, interesting places and people (I include those who resemble otters or rhinos). At the very end the author explains that he was devastated by the abrupt cancelling of Firefly on the teev (what space opera lover wasn't?) and these stories were inspired by that loss. He made it his own. In this universe you can use Star Drive or you can have a wizard aboard to drop you into the astral. Ship gravity is provided by wizards in the form of a 'gravity stone' attuned to some planet or other from whence it came. Magic and machine do not get along, so having a wizard aboard is a risk, but mostly a necessary one. You have the usual crew of misfits (including a misfit wizard) and the charming captain. The narrator, Michael Naramore was superb. I'll miss that crew.
These five stars are for the consistency of the character development and writing and the narrator. At 83 hours of listening these could get you across the continent driving! *****

A note: I count around 8-10 hours as a complete book, so at 83 hours I am counting these 16 'stories' (each approximately 200 pages=four hours) as 8 books.

This brings me to 144 (my reading goal for 2021) with room to spare!

140sibylline
Editado: Dic 23, 2021, 2:09 pm

145. sp/op *****
The Collapsing Empire(1) John Scalzi

146.
The Consuming Fire (2) John Scalzi

Comments cover both books: The 'Flow' -- a (except to Flow physicists) mysterious band of moving energy in which a spaceship (protected by a bubble of our space/time) can travel more or less safely. One must use the exits and entrances and they, alas, have suddenly started closing, not quite randomly as a few of the above mentioned physicists (a very few) have been studying the phenomenon. The far-flung habitats (only one habitable planet named 'End' as it is the furthest from the "Hubfall") of the Interdependency are just that by design: interdependent, no one place (except that planet, theoretically) can make it on their own and this has kept the peace for a thousand years. So, yeah, collapsing and the folks in charge have to figure out what to do. The more 'serious' theme of the book is when does selfishness become self-destructive? Kinda a propos, eh? I am finding this series very absorbing and lots of fun, perfect for me at this moment, so a high rating based on my own enjoyment and inability to stop reading -- you might feel that way too, no idea! ****1/2

141sibylline
Dic 20, 2021, 9:56 am

>138 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for stopping by Linda. No worries about being an infrequent visitor! I didn't get into Manhattan Beach instantly, but by the end I really appreciated it.

142Chatterbox
Dic 20, 2021, 4:16 pm

I'm so rarely on here any longer, except to keep tabs on the non-fiction challenge and keep my reading list up to date, but thought I should send out a wave in a general northward direction.

Poor Fin; so glad you have the endlessly lovable Miss Po to trot along with you. Life here putters along. Lots of losses in the last 12/18 months (surprisingly, few due to Covid, I'm chalking it up mostly to the fact that my friends and I are getting older), including a former colleague in his 50s who died suddenly a few days ago of a heart attack.

Rachel Cusk -- I can read perhaps one of her books every 18 months or so. And I have to be in just the right mood.

Jodi Taylor -- so glad there will be a new short appearing on Christmas day, no less! I finally started reading the series when the pandemic began.

Now that I rely on reading glasses, I'm also more dependent on Kindle/audiobooks. Makes me sad/wistful. But such is life.

Sir Fergus the Fat and Minka the velveteen panther kitten send purrs of condolence.

143sibylline
Dic 22, 2021, 8:55 pm

>142 Chatterbox: So wonderful to hear from you, Suz. I LOVE audiobooks, I must confess and am more and more convinced that storytelling was all about listening once upon a time. Don't miss Alan Rickman reading The Return of the Native. Pure bliss. I'm less enamored of Kindle, but I have found it useful -- the large print and family-sharing especially. I wish Audiobooks would do that, and they know I wish they would. They are quite mean about it, in fact.

Second Place was an odd read. I was utterly taken up by the Outline trilogy which just flowed off the page and into me, but this one took thought while reading and even more thought after. More than most are willing to do, I might not have except for realizing with Outline how hard she has thought about women and culture and everything.

Let us hope for a calmer and saner 2022.

144SandDune
Dic 23, 2021, 12:06 pm



Or in other words: Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

145sibylline
Dic 24, 2021, 9:03 am

>144 SandDune: One of my Covid 'things' has been learning Irish, so Nollag shona duit! Happy Christmas to you in return (although apparently nowadays it's been more Americanized and people say "Shona Nollag")

146laytonwoman3rd
Dic 24, 2021, 9:30 am

"One of my Covid 'things' has been learning Irish" Goodness! Why don't you challenge yourself a little? (Is there an app for that?)

147sibylline
Editado: Dic 24, 2021, 11:35 am

147. sf/near future
Cyberabad Ian MacDonald

A return to the India of River of Gods in a series of short stories (not connected literally, but in time and geography). The newest aeai's (AI to us) have become almost indistinguishable to humans, perhaps superior in their abilities save their lack of corporeal existence. The US is the bad guy here and has outlawed AI's above a certain intelligence and wield their military and economic power over the now splintered up India to make it so. These are thought experiment stories, in a way, with reasonable characters, but it's more about the 'possibilities' of the cyber future, albeit mostly improbable, not entirely. An AI-human love affair, a genetically engineered Brahmin, the marriage market shifting to women as the generation previous chose to terminate most females are examples. I'm fascinated by MacDonald's No-longer-united-India (could that be happening here instead in the US?) the clash of old and new worlds. These stories will linger in your mind. ****

148richardderus
Dic 24, 2021, 10:42 am

>147 sibylline: I loved those books. His 2047 India strikes me as an apt simile for the disuniting of the US. And the deliciously imagined nutes!

Pretty much the best work he's done.

149ronincats
Dic 24, 2021, 2:44 pm

150PaulCranswick
Dic 24, 2021, 8:55 pm



Have a lovely holiday, Lucy.

151quondame
Dic 24, 2021, 9:09 pm

Happy Holidays Lucy!


152HanGerg
Dic 26, 2021, 8:23 am

Happy Christmas, dearest Lucy!

153sibylline
Editado: Dic 26, 2021, 1:54 pm

>149 ronincats: >150 PaulCranswick: >151 quondame: >152 HanGerg: Thank you and the very best to all of you and let us hope for a much better 2022!

Irish has been one of my Covid projects so . . . :



Not quite how I would pronounce these words but there is a lot of variation around the country!

154Berly
Dic 26, 2021, 3:21 pm



These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for your holiday and here's to next year!!

155sibylline
Dic 27, 2021, 12:57 pm

148. sp/op ****1/2
The Last Emperox(3) John Scalzi

The final volume in the Interdependency trilogy and it starts off a bit on the dry side, there are a lot of details both on the constructive and destructive sides to put out there, also some careful foreshadowing, but the book starts to move somewhere after the first third and from there to the end is the usual un-put-downable. Some may be a bit dismayed by where the story goes, but I got over it, by the rightness of it, and appreciated Scalzi's choices. And I sure hope he continues Marce and Chenevert's upcoming adventures! ****1/2

156richardderus
Dic 27, 2021, 1:57 pm

Wow! A very good read indeed to get 4.5 stars from you. Almost to double-75...think it's doable?

157sibylline
Dic 27, 2021, 9:18 pm

>156 richardderus: -- Remember that I rate books highly when I am enjoying them enough to not be able to put them down! This is just very very good space opera!

158sibylline
Editado: Dic 28, 2021, 10:00 am

fantasy YA
A Deadly Education Naomi Novik

Novik is meticulous with the details. In Spinning Silver it is Miryem's painstaking attention to trading and the art of the deal, in the Temeraire series it is the dragons themselves, really--never forgetting, as an example, how complicated it is to keep a big dragon fed and making it clear why dragons and humans need one another. Here the details cover everything from the nature of magic in this uni, from making it clear why parents entrust their wizard children to this school to careful descriptions of the 'mals' that thrive around the magically endowed. Best of all here, though is the character of Galadriel Higgins herself. Even though I am not generally a fan of the first person narrator I can see that it may have been unavoidable here, as the main focus of this first book is Galadriel (known as 'El'--she loathes her name) who has an affinity for dark magic but refused to succumb to being a maleficer. This radiates off of her and she's never been able to be close to anyone except her mother who is a famous healer. (El keeps that secret.) One person explains to her that when she walks into a room it is as if she brings (this is a paraphrase) the threat of rain. Despite herself, of course, or why would there be a story, her rudeness and frankness attracts the interest of Orion Lake, a boy who is fearless and brilliant at killing mals. And bit by bit she also finds friends. Lots of fun and I've already dived right into book 2. ****

159MickyFine
Dic 28, 2021, 10:18 am

>158 sibylline: Oh yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

160SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Dic 28, 2021, 12:30 pm

Happy bookish new year on the horizon, Lucy.
The books-read tally is always a bit of an incentive to read voraciously at the end of the year.

Well, much as I hate to admit it, it is true for me. I'm sitting at 98-reads and feeling that surely I could rip through a couple of re-reads! I did re-read Archangel (Sharon Shinn) and that was a case of "not being able to put it down" as you said. I'm very fond of that series, although I read them in a different order than published, because I discovered that The Alleluia Files was a total spoiler at book 3 and should have been last (book 5). Fortunately LT had listed the series in pub order, so I could discover soon enough in what order to read them.

For Christmas, I received 3 books, two by Martin Walker in a series new-to-me, Bruno Courrèges (books 1 and 6, since the hubs bought what was available in town). So sweet because I know this cosy-mystery genre is not his thing at all. I'm holding off Book 6 in case my upcoming birthday delivers some of the intervening books. Note the use of some!!

Take care and I hope your weather is better than ours this week.

161HanGerg
Dic 29, 2021, 3:05 pm

>158 sibylline:. I just recently read this and loved it too. I think she might be attempting some critique of neo-liberal capitalism and white privilege, but that just might be me reaching. It certainly made me think along those lines - the way the kids from the enclaves have all the odds stacked in their favour and are largely blissfully unaware of it, or if are aware have no idea what they can do about it. It's my first book by her and I was very impressed. Also planning to dive into the second part soon, although I hear it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger with the third part not published yet.

162sibylline
Dic 29, 2021, 4:52 pm

>159 MickyFine: >160 SandyAMcPherson: >161 HanGerg: Thank you all for stopping by! I'm reading Sapiens now (even though I haven't yet listed it in my Current Reads) so I'm seeing everything we tell ourselves (and I mean EVERYTHING) as narrative -- so that includes El's narrative about herself, her great-grandmother's, even her mother's determined effort to see things positively. But yes, Hannah, I do think the most pointed look is focussed on the enclaves and the inequities and cruelties incurred on those without. The exploitation -- I do not see as being particularly color-oriented, but more economically, given that there are successful enclaves all over the globe, although yes, the two biggest enclaves are in London and New York and make that an arguable point. Exploitation does appear to be a solid theme with Novik, and arguably in the Temeraire novels, the British take the prize as treating their dragons with the casual and unthinking manner of those who consider themselves superior beings to all other animals inhabiting the planet.

163sibylline
Dic 29, 2021, 4:52 pm

150!

164SandyAMcPherson
Dic 29, 2021, 5:10 pm

>163 sibylline: Well done you!



I just now reviewed my 100th book a few minutes ago !
Are we grand?

165sibylline
Editado: Dic 30, 2021, 9:41 am

150. fantasy ****1/2
Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones

Howl, born Jenkins in a small village in Wales, is a wizard and a pretty good one. Only problem is that he's been cursed by the powerful Witch of the Waste who has also disappeared another wizard and the brother of the local king, Prince Justin. Howl has a fire demon who builds him a castle that can move about and thus he eludes the witch. Three girls live in a hat shop in a little market town in England, the eldest believes the tales that say the eldest is always a dud, and ends up being cursed herself into an old woman, a fate she accepts, but she does end up leaving home and starting adventures of her own. Wonderfully written and wonderfully read. What a premise--a 90-year old heroine and what a delight! Howl himself is a hoot, a terrible flirt, kind-hearted but also vain and self-absorbed -- I adore how characters in DWJ's work talk to one another. I've decided to do the Wynne Jones ouevre on audio, so you'll be seeing many more. ****1/2

166richardderus
Dic 29, 2021, 7:11 pm

>163 sibylline: The double 75! Yaaay!

167quondame
Dic 29, 2021, 7:34 pm

>163 sibylline: Congratulations!

168Berly
Dic 29, 2021, 8:12 pm

>165 sibylline: Great review and I loved that one when I read it. Congrats on double 75!!

169bell7
Dic 29, 2021, 8:18 pm

Congrats on making 150 for the year!

>165 sibylline: Oh I love Howl, that's a book I reread fairly regularly.

170FAMeulstee
Dic 30, 2021, 4:12 am

>163 sibylline: Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Lucy!

171MickyFine
Dic 30, 2021, 10:48 am

Congratulations on your double 75!

172sibylline
Editado: Dic 31, 2021, 1:16 pm

Thank you! I am working on my 2022 site and will post the link here soon.

173sibylline
Editado: Dic 31, 2021, 2:03 pm

Read in December
132. new Eyes Like Leaves Charles de Lint fantasy ***1/2
133. ✔ Artemis Andy Weir sf ***1/2
134. new Second Place Rachel Cusk contemp fic *****
135. ✔ Darwinia Robert Charles Wilson sf alt hist
136. ✔ Borderland Terri Windling (and others) fantasy urban ***
137-144. ♬ Galaxy Outlaws: The Black Ocean 1-16.5 J.S. Morin sp/op
145. new The Collapsing Empire(1 The Interdependency)John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
146. new The Consuming Fire (2 The Interdependency) John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
147. ✔ Cyberabad Days Ian MacDonald sf near future
148. new The Last Emperox (3) John Scalzi sp/op ****1/2
149. new A Deadly Education(1)Naomi Novik fantasy YA
150. ♬ Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne-Jones fantasy

Stats
Total: 19
Men: 16
Women: 3
Two writing together: 0
Non-fiction: 0
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 1
SF/F: 15
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 0
YA or J: 1
Poetry: 0
New author: 1
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 9
New (to shelves): 6
e-book: 0
Off Shelf/ROOT: 0
Pearled: 0

Books In for 2021
physical-73
E-books-15
audio-37

Books Out 2021:
physical-26

175alcottacre
Dic 31, 2021, 2:49 pm

>140 sibylline: >155 sibylline: I really need to get those read. I am a big John Scalzi fan!

>174 sibylline: Great year end wrap-up, Luci! I hope you have a great reading year in 2022.

Happy New Year!

176PaulCranswick
Ene 1, 2022, 3:26 am



Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Lucy.

177CDVicarage
Ene 1, 2022, 5:29 am

Happy New Year, Lucy. The St Mary's series is on my favourites list every year. I actually read the Christmas short story on Christmas Day, this year and now I'm looking forward to the next full-length story in April.