Mary (bell7) Reads in 2023 - Thread 4

Welcome to thread #4!

For those that don't know me, my name is Mary, and I've been with the 75ers since 2010. To those that do, welcome back! Hope you'll sit back, relax, and continue to enjoy hearing about reading and life in 2023.

Oddly enough, I started the fourth thread of 2022 exactly a year ago today!

2023 Book Club Reads (library)
January - Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - COMPLETED
February - The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris - COMPLETED
March - Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown - COMPLETED
April - Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr - Reading
May - All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson
June/July/August - a low key "what are you reading now?" meeting where participants can tell us about their current book(s)
September - The Overstory by Richard Powers
October - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
November - Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
December - The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

2023 Book Club Reads (SIL and friends)
January - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - didn't reread, but did go
February - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan - COMPLETED
March - The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer - Nobody read it, we just met for dinner

Best of 2023 (so far, and not counting rereads):

4.5 stars
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton
The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez
Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard
Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson

5 stars
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Random things I'm keeping track of -
Bookish articles:
1.

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

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

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

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

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

Currently reading
Index, A History of The by Dennis Duncan

April
37. Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni
36. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
35. My Years at The Gotham Book Mart with Frances Steloff, Proprietor by Matthew Tannenbaum

DNF
1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (it was a reread and I wasn't in the mood)
2. Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien

March
34. Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson
33. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
32. The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard
31. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
30. Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
29. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
28. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
27. Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson
26. Musical Tables by Billy Collins
25. Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
24. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
23. Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez

February
22. A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
21. The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (out Mar. 7)
20. Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
19. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
18. A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung (out Apr. 4)
17. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
16. The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
15. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
14. The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard
13. Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton
12. Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper

January
11. So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow
10. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
9. The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
8. No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson
7. Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
6. Petty Treasons by Victoria Goddard
5. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
4. The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
3. The Emma Project by Sonali Dev
2. The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde
1. Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown

Global reads in 2023 (author's country of origin):

Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

Unites States - most of my reading
Canada - Petty Treasons by Victoria Goddard
Japan - Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
UK - Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
France - A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
Indonesia - Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

All time (since 2022):


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, France, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

It's safe to post! Grab your beverage of choice, pull up a chair, and make yourself comfortable. What are y'all reading this weekend? As we get close to the first quarter of the year, what's been a stand-out read for you so far?

Carrying this over from my last thread:

What I'm listening to -

I am really boring when it comes to music. I don't listen to a lot other than when I'm in the car when I listen to the same CDs over and over, or my morning alarm which takes from a Spotify playlist of every song I have heard and liked. But Ursula has been talking about some of the albums she's been listening to, and it prompted me to try something new (or, if not purely new to me, at least branching out of the couple dozen I listen to constantly). So here's what I've been listening to this week:

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Foo Fighters
A lot of high-energy rock songs with driving beats. Many started quiet and were yelling by the end. My favorites of the bunch were "Come Alive" and "Ballad of Beaconsfield Miners" - I really liked the guitar in the latter, which was completely instrumental. Generally I found the lyrics depressing and the music too high energy for my tastes.

The Fray - The Fray
Usually the self-titled albums are the first, but this was actually the second. I find them pretty easy to listen to, though I'm most familiar with their singles from hearing them on the radio. No real complaints about the album, but it's all kind of same-y and it was hard to pick out favorites as a result. I guess I'd go with "You Found Me" and "Never Say Never," but I have a tendency to like songs the more I hear them, and it could just be the familiarity talking. I'm not sure why my library had this one in "Pop" and one of their more recent albums in "Alternative," but I'll probably ask them at work to switch this one. I might try another album just to get some songs I haven't heard before and compare my reaction.

Red - Taylor Swift
I liked this album as a whole more than the other two and didn't dislike any of the individual songs. What can I say, I like poppy songs that don't take a lot of effort for me to engage with and tell a story. I have, by the way, definitely listened to this album before so I did know what to expect, and again, familiarity tends to be what I like as well. There's a nice range in both style and emotion that weren't really on the other two albums, either. Favorites of mine are "All Too Well," "22," "The Last Time," "Everything Has Changed" and "Begin Again". Also "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" which is less of a liking the song than the memories that go with it now - it's a funny and relatable song (not that I ever had breakups like it describes, but certainly knew people who did), and when it was popular we had a Brazilian exchange student ask me what it meant, which was a hilarious conversation. Nothing like realizing how meaningless a phrase is in a language until you try to define it for a non-native speaker.

Hi Mary, I added Facing the Mountain to my wish list because of your comments on the last thread. Actually, I might suggest it for our book group. We have a new male member and he is thinking of leaving the group because of the focus on women authors. Oh no. I think he would love the Daniel James Brown book. I've read several by him and (as you know) he writes fascinating accounts of historical events.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Mary!

Happy new thread Mary!

Happy number four, Mary.

I enjoy Ursula's very eclectic mix of music over at her place and I am another of our number who enjoys music almost as much as books.

Happy new one!

Another Sunday, another new thread. Huzzah!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Mary! Have fun changing up your music.

Happy new thread Mary! Love the branching out with music, I listen to the same recordings in my car over and over as well. I used to listen to Pandora more to find new artists and music, but it's been awhile and now I mostly use YouTube. I've recently been listening to more non-English artists myself. Hope you find some new faves in your music exploration.

>11 Donna828: Oh that's great, I think it makes a fantastic book club book and it would be really neat to hear what your group thinks if you do. I was just recommending it to my dad, too.

>12 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>13 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita!

>14 quondame: Thanks, Susan!

>15 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! I enjoy music, but it often takes a fair amount of my focus away so unlike you, I can't listen to music and read at the same time. So, it ends up being primarily while I'm driving, which is not a ton of time most days.

>16 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>17 weird_O: Thanks, Bill!

>18 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene!

>19 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! It's always fun to explore a little bit :)

>20 WhiteRaven.17: Thanks, Kro! I haven't tried Pandora in awhile. When I did, I'd start with an artist or song and try to find similar music, but after awhile I'd notice that a lot of the songs I'd "like" were ones I was already familiar with and it became a stream of songs I knew already instead of introducing me to new ones like I'd meant it to be. Oops. I should try it again and use some of the genres they've already made playlists for.

Thanks all for the new thread wishes, and shout if I missed you!

Today's my last dog walking day for a few weeks. I'm working 'til 2 and hoping to drop off some documents to my tax guy. In the evening I have Bible study, and the regular facilitator asked me yesterday if I could step in because she has a meeting at her kid's school tonight. And that will be my day.

I'm reading Freewater and jumped right into Murderbot #2, Artificial Condition, as my e-book. The novellas are just a couple hours' read for me, and I should be able to finish it today. There are only a few series I can read back-to-back, but Murderbot is definitely one of them.

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ARISE, POUTY, BLOKE, CLONE, GLOVE. A few options today, but at least I didn't run out of guesses!

I'm the same way with music, Mary. It's more of an active process for me and I often find myself preferring to listen to a book than a song. I will sometimes listen in the car, especially with Tim on longer drives, and sometimes I can listen while I'm working depending on the task. But I can't listen while I'm reading!

I have music playing almost all day long when I'm working. I can't work in complete silence, which is what both my office and at home spaces largely are so I've got Spotify running almost constantly when I'm on the clock (unless I'm in a meeting). Sometimes I'll experiment with new to me music and do various playlists but often I'll just set shuffle loose on my liked songs, which is sitting at over 5500 songs right now (and always growing).

If I'm doing something that requires more focus, like writing a report or something similar, it has to be instrumental music but otherwise it's a lot of pop, rock, Christian contemporary, and musical soundtracks in the mix.

I hope your short work day flies by!

>25 curioussquared: "More of an active process" - yes, this, exactly! I can listen while I'm knitting, cleaning, or driving, but many times I find myself distracted from whatever I'm trying to do.

>26 MickyFine: It really depends for me if I can listen to music and work at the same time. Most of the time, I will not. The exception was when I was working from home during the pandemic. I couldn't listen to music with lyrics, but I created a playlist of just the instrumental songs and would sometimes put it on to get myself started and focused on work. My Spotify wrapped for 2020 was very different from normal as a result; I'm pretty sure Brian Crain was my most listened to artist that year.

Generally speaking, I have a lot of pop, rock, and Christian contemporary too.

29. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Why now? Continuing my reread of the series - couldn't help myself

The review from when I first read it three years ago:

Yes, Murderbot, the grumpy AI with a soft spot that just wants to be left alone and watch its entertainment is back. Having left behind the group of humans it worked with on its last mission, it has gone rogue and jumps on a transport. Its mission? To figure out what happened in an incident it remembers as the reason it hacked its governor module, where either something malfunctioned or it was ordered to start killing everyone around it.

These are funny, sarcastic books that slip in some thought-provoking ideas along the way. I have a feeling they'll be just as rewarding to reread than to experience for the first time, and I'm really looking forward to continuing the series.

This one also introduces ART (Murderbot's short form of "Asshole Research Transport" which I'd forgotten was the full meaning, and it still makes me laugh that ART just accepts it), who is excellent.

I love Murderbot and ART together. My favourite part of the series.

I'm enjoying the music discussion very much. I like your idea of taking note of what you're listening to lately. I have done that sporadically with a Reading/Listening/Watching formatted journal entry but I've gotten away from it. I should start it up again.

While I like music in a fairly wide variety of genres, I gravitate toward songs with interesting or meaningful lyrics rather than the melody or beat. I find that kind of music difficult to listen to in the background, especially if I'm trying new-to-me artists.

I have Apple Music rather than Spotify, and I love being able to check out music from new artists to see if it suits me before I pay for a whole album. On the other hand, I find their recommendations of what new music I should listen has a heavy recency bias. For example, a lot of music I listen to gets coded in the "country" genre, even though none of it gets played on country radio stations and is not at all part of mainstream/Nashville country music. (It's more properly classified as Americana or roots rock or maybe singer-songwriter, but Apple Music doesn't seem to get that granular, unfortunately.)

So if I listen to American Aquarium, the next day I get tons of recommendations for mainstream country acts like Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney, none of whom I particularly like at all and none of whose music in any way resembles American Aquarium, since AA don't sing about girls in tank tops drinking beer while sitting next to a man driving a pickup truck. :-)

Similarly, when I have Bruce Springsteen in heavy rotation one day (which is most days, honestly) the next day my recommendations are for oldies rock acts like the Stones and Tom Petty and Billy Joel. And I like all of those acts, but none of them align particularly well with Bruce, who is still releasing new music in his 70s.

>27 bell7: I'm with you all here. Music while driving, cleaning, etc. is very enjoyable, and actually helpful to the task. But I can't listen to anything with words while reading or trying to do an office-based task. I did try a little of that during work-from-home during COVID, but I found lyrics too distracting. Classical music is fine for that, but not songs.

I also enjoy pop, rock, and Christian contemporary. I listened to broadway musical records a lot growing up, but have gotten away from that in recent years. I should get back to it.

Happy Spring, Mary. Happy New Thread. I hope your work week is off to a good start.

>29 MickyFine: Their interactions are SO good.

>30 rosalita: Thanks for your thoughts, Julia! I often care about lyrics more than musical style, though both definitely impact my listening. And that's really interesting about your experience with recommendations. I wonder about those algorithms sometimes, whether it's for music or books, that tend to group recommendations around a particular time... it's not that it's not useful occasionally, but wouldn't it be more helpful to see if I like this artist who's playing now, who had some similarities maybe 30 years ago that I *wouldn't* have heard before? I would be interested in seeing - if anyone would ever do such a study - whether recommendation algorithms or, say, knowledgeable people at a record store would do better in helping someone find new music they liked.

>31 atozgrl: Agree 100% about music with lyrics and what I can do without distraction, Irene. Sometimes classical music is too distracting, too. It depends - when it's a full orchestra or otherwise complex, I want to stop and give it more attention. When it's a duet, it's a little easier. I have not listened to (or watched) many musicals and should consider rectifying that.

>32 msf59: Thank you, Mark, and happy spring to you too! Yesterday I got the big chore of my back of dropping off the tax papers to the accountant, so I'd say that was a good start to the week.

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ARISE, POUTY, DOUBT, TOUCH, TOUGH. And it was rather.

Good Tuesday morning! How are y'all this fine spring day? Today we have a high of 57 F forecast, and I'm hoping to get outside for a bit during the day.

I'm working a split, two hours from home on a Zoom call, and then going in to the library 2-8. I belatedly realized last night that one of my volunteers will come in at 1 and I've left it for my co-workers to figure out what she'll do. Oops... Hopefully it won't be too onerous.

Since I'm working the split, I'm hoping to get a few things done at home, including small projects like filling up the bird feeder and larger ones like getting a soup made. We'll see how I do, but yesterday I got what I wanted to done (dropping off all the tax stuff to my accountant), and sometimes a start like that can lead to a solid week. Just how my brain works *shrug*

I didn't watch much over the weekend, and just had time for one episode of Doctor Who last night ("Night Terrors"). Still reading Freewater and contemplating which e-book to start next. Do I keep going with Murderbot or start an DRC? Decisions, decisions.

I'm tempted to revisit Murderbot too!

Happy new(ish) thread Mary. Hope your day was as productive as planned.

>36 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte! I did get a couple of things I'd really wanted to done. Tonight/tomorrow I'll have to get cooking though. Hope you enjoy a Murderbot revisit if you decide to do it :)

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Love a nice, straightforward day. ARISE, POUTY, BLUET, DUVET.

Happy hump day! Should be a gorgeous spring day today up in the 60s, and I'm hoping to take advantage and get a walk in.

I'm working 9-5, hoping to take that walk right after work, and then should really cook some soup for dinner. No other evening plans, which is bliss. Either reading or knitting/watching Doctor Who. I got one episode in last night: "The Girl Who Waited" which I'd completely forgotten about and the paradoxes involved were... interesting.

I've been watching more than reading in the evenings, so making slow progress in Freewater. I haven't started anything new but downloaded the e-book and audio of it so I'd at least be reading before bed and not, you know, distract myself with Murderbot instead. Next books up are The Septembers of Shiraz and a book (to be determined) that was a Massachusetts Book Awards "Must Read" for the reading challenge I'm trying to complete this year.

Morning, Mary! Happy new one! I've been watching more than reading in the evenings, too.

Love the thoughts shared here on listening to music - I mainly listen while running errands. Old style - CDs. I do have Apple Music, so I have been trying to listen to some new things lately, too. Ursula has been having a good influence on us! My problem is that music has to compete with audiobooks, and usually the audiobook wins. I should aim for more balance because music is very happy making, and usually makes me work harder if I am listening while walking or cycling. I mostly listen to Alternative and Blues music, but I also love to listen to music that is mentioned in books I am reading. Birdy is a huge music fan, and she is always giving me the names of groups to listen to - her range is much wider than mine, and she listens ALL the time, so it's fun to compare notes with her.

I'm not much of a music person - when I do listen, it's mostly to what I liked in high school and college :-P

Like Mamie, I usually opt for audio books when I can.

Have a great Wednesday, Mary!

>40 Crazymamie: I have a free Spotify account, but generally I listen to CDs in the car. Love that Birdy can give you music ideas. One of my brothers listens to a lot of music, and he'll do that occasionally too when we're on road trips. He got me to listen to Nick Drake by putting on a couple of songs. Usually when I'm walking or cleaning I opt for podcasts.

>41 katiekrug: Yeah, I'm with you - old favorites, which typically is music that came out when I was in high school or college. Rather than audiobooks I generally opt for podcasts though.

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Surprised myself with this one today. ARISE, MONTH, STAID.

Good morning, everyone! Today's plan is to work 9-5, followed by a genealogy training at 7. The time between gives me the option to take a walk, if I'm feeling like it.

Reading and watching the same. Two episodes of Doctor Who last night, and I just have the finale of Series 6 left. It was been... hm. One of the more up-and-down of the seasons in terms of the episode quality, I think. Some are very forgettable, but then The Doctor's Wife (Neil Gaiman's first writing credit on the series) was delightful. And I do like that we get more of River Song.

The Doctor's Wife is one of my all-time favourite episodes. But yeah, series 6 has it ups and downs and you get a lot more that for the rest of Steven Moffatt's tenure as showrunner (unfortunately).

>45 MickyFine: It's odd doing a re-watch nine years later. I don't remember a lot of the details of individual episodes. But my opinions are clearer in my own head now, about Doctors, companions, and individual episodes being stronger or weaker. Not sure if that's some sort of overall familiarity with the arc now or what.

Also, I started watching some of the commentaries in the David Tennant years and was somewhat disappointed to see it doesn't look like my DVDs of the Matt Smith years have any.

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ARISE, POUTY, TROUT, GROUT. Really thought I had it in three for a second.

TGIF! Busy day today, working 9-5 and volunteering in the evening. Tonight is a "Grand Prix" race with carved wooden cars, so I'll be teaching the lesson part quickly so we can spend the rest of the night on the fun. Not sure what I'll do in my work day yet. I'm only scheduled on the desk for an hour and I have some volunteers coming in. I've been planning out some programs I'll be giving in the summer about our genealogy databases, and I may continue working on that. I'd also like to start on a handout to give to folks at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference in May that lays out all the resources we have in our local history collection that may be of interest.

>46 bell7: The further out you get, the less special features there are, sadly.

Sounds like a solid Friday ahead for you!

>49 MickyFine: The "Complete" sets are nice to have, but devoid of special features as far as I can tell. Oh well... I was only listening to the commentaries that had one or more of the actors on it anyway (I don't really go for the more technical stuff, I like hearing more about their reactions to plot points or if anything was ad libbed). And yes, a solid Friday! Tomorrow should be a pretty low key day to make up for it :)

What I'm listening to -

Earthling by Eddie Vedder
Got it out of the library because my brother R. is a huge Pearl Jam fan, and I was surprised to discover that the lead singer had done some solo work. This was an okay selection for me. The music isn't really to my taste overall, and on a first listen through, sounded basically like what I've heard of Pearl Jam from my brother's (mostly live) CDs. I actually almost stopped listening to it before I was through the first time, but I'm glad that I kept going and that I read the AllMusic review that pointed out the lyrics were more upbeat than Pearl Jam's tend to be. That may be, but the CD didn't come with lyrics and I can't really understand Vedder's mumble, though I do like the grit in his voice. My favorites were Try, with Stevie Wonder on harmonica, and Picture with Elton John. Beatles fans may also enjoy Mrs. Mills, which did seem to have a bit of whimsy in it, and features Ringo Starr on drums.

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Fun start to the day! ARISE, POUTY, VOTER.

Good morning all! It's my birthday, and it's a milestone - I'm 40 today! We were joking at work yesterday about my age putting me into a protected class now ("That's right, you can't tell me how old I am anymore!") in a workforce where I'm the second youngest. I can remember my mom turning forty when I was 15 and telling her she was middle aged. Well, I guess I am, but mentally I don't think I've changed all that much in who I am over the last decade. Loved my thirties, looking forward to what the forties bring.

Today should be a pretty quiet day, and I'm not complaining. I originally had plans with a friend to go to a bookstore, but her family is scattering her mom's ashes today so we postponed. I have some tidying up to do at home, and my brother R. and his girlfriend and her son will come over later today for takeout and games or a movie. I'll celebrate with the rest of my local family next week.

I finished up my book yesterday before work, and started some new ones. Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson is a memoir of a woman whose father is Black and mother is white, and she started doing some genealogy research. It was a Massachusetts Book Award Must Read for the challenge I'm attempting to read through this year. I'd attended a Zoom presentation by the author in 2020 and have been meaning to read the book ever since. I also started The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul as a joint read with Stasia. And I needed an audiobook last night, so borrowed Rogue Protocol and I'll supplement with my own e-book. The other book I'd like to read this month is The Merry Wives of Windsor so I can finish off a sweeplette in the TIOLI challenges for the first time ever. Hopefully this weekend will cooperate with me so I can get a bunch of good reading in.

30. Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
Why now? This year's Newbery Award winner - it's a lifetime reading goal of mine to read all the Newbery Award winners and honors, and while I don't always keep up, I do stay current and have read all the winners back to 1989

Homer and his sister Ada escape from the plantation where they are enslaved and find a community of free Black folk living in the swamp nearby. While they start to make friends in the community, Homer can't quite let go that his mother and his friend Anna were left behind.

The story is told primarily through Homer's eyes, but we also get the points of view of Sanzi, a girl born free in the swamp who dreams of adventure much to her mother's chagrin; Anna back on the plantation; Nora, the daughter of the enslavers; and a few more. The chapters are short and the pacing is fast for a 400-page historical fiction novel. There's not much known about the people and potential communities living in the marshes of North Carolina and Virginia, so the author has a fair amount of license to imagine what might of been, even while readers encounter the realities of slavery and racism. The writing is assured and impressive for a first novel. I greatly look forward to future books by this author. 4.5 stars.

I originally gave it four stars because I thought the part where the group of kids goes back to the plantation to rescue the mother and get tools for the settlement was a bit far-fetched and in real life they probably would've been caught, enslaved again, or even killed. But it's a kid's book, not an adult one. I would've loved it at that middle grade age (8-12), and I'd wholeheartedly read it again. So 4.5 stars it is.

Happy 40th, Mary! First of many milestones. Enjoy your quiet day. You deserve it.

Happy Birthday, Mary!

>53 bell7: Many happy returns of the day!

*smooch*

Happy birthday, Mary!!

Thanks Mark, Katie, Richard, and Natalie!

It's been a really pleasant day so far, got some things tidied up that had started to annoy me, and some relaxation time too. I think I'm gonna head out to do a quick grocery shopping before my brother gets here.

Happy Birthday, Mary! I hope you have a great day.

I just started Freewater, and it’s very good so far. I appreciate your covering the spoiler in your review; I’ll read it after I finish the book.

Enjoy your birthday weekend.

>53 bell7: Happy Birthday, Mary!

Good luck with the sweeplette. Pali is about the most difficult of the VG's characters to know quite how to feel about. But then she doesn't always seem to feel comfortable with emotions other than anger or curiosity.

Happy birthday, Mary! I hope you have a nice celebratory dinner.

HAppy Birthday! Hope you have some great tasting cake!

>60 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! I hope you enjoy Freewater and I'll look forward to your thoughts on it.

>61 quondame: Thank you, Susan! And thanks for the wishes on the sweeplette. Whether I get it or not just depends on whether I read The Merry Wives of Windsor this week. I *should* be able to, but there's still a part of me that remembers my Shakespeare teacher telling us we should read a play in one sitting, because that's how they're meant to be watched. That's still my general practice, but I may have to break from it to complete the title in time. I like Pali so far; I can relate to her not quite being sure about emotions, though I think I've reached "brimful" with perhaps a little more ease than she will.

>62 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene, we did!

>63 figsfromthistle: I had a sampler of cheesecake, and they were all delicious. Thanks, Anita!

My birthday was lovely. I spent a pretty quiet day at home. I managed to tidy up a bit for visitors (sometimes it just meant moving piles, other times was actually cleaning up, but mostly we needed the dining room table clean), read a chunk in The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul, and watched a couple of Doctor Who episodes before my brother and his girlfriend and her kid arrived. We had Chinese takeout, made English muffin pizzas for the kiddo, and played Scattergories. R. told me ahead of time that the kid had made me a present he was really excited about. I thought maybe it would be a drawing or something, but it was a Build-a-Bear stuffed animal dog wearing a t-shirt that says "Best Sister" and was named Dixie, after the little Chihuahua I was watching for them a couple weeks ago. Adorable. And my brother got me a book, The Humans by Matt Haig, the British version, with single quotations and everything. It looks pretty interesting and I hadn't heard of it, though I read The Midnight Library a couple years ago along with everyone else. I'd bought us a sampler of cheesecake and some mocha cookie dough ice cream (new-to-me flavor, delicious) for dessert. They left around 8:30, I cleaned up then watched a final episode of Doctor Who, and went to bed.

Today I have church and work, and I'm going from there to a one-night dogsitting job. The dog in question is one I've had before, a single lab who loves to walk and will tirelessly play fetch with her tennis ball. Last time she came to my house, but I'm planning on staying at their place overnight. Busy day, but should be a quiet night with just the dog and my books. I'm off tomorrow and have the morning to putter around, then I'm going to visit a friend and her kids, including the newborn, in the afternoon.

Re: Doctor Who, I've started season 7, liked the first episode, wondered if the second episode was a response to "Snakes on a Plane" ("Oh yeah? How about Dinosaurs on a SPACESHIP?", and yes, that's really the name of it, except for the caps), and was middling about the third. I actually remembered the Wild West location but upon seeing it again I thought the amount of anger the Doctor had and his willingness to grab a gun was out of character, though they did use it to emphasize how much he's been traveling without Amy and Rory. Also, going back to "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", I was surprised at how many actors I recognized, but three of the visiting cast were people I knew from other movies/shows. Meeting Rory's dad was fun.

And reading! Yes, I'm reading. I've gotten a little into Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson, and well into The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul, both of which I'm enjoying tremendously. I'm only one chapter into my reread of Rogue Protocol, but I have both the e-book (own) and the audio (borrowed from the library) and expect I can make some progress soon. I'm bringing those, plus The Septembers of Shiraz and The Merry Wives of Windsor to my overnight dogsitting job just in case I have a ridiculous amount of time to read in two days. But with tonight and tomorrow morning being quiet, you never know how much I might be able to fit in.

Wordle 645 4/6

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Almost forgot to post this. AROSE, MINTY, THINE, UNTIE.

Belated birthday wishes: sounds like you had a lovely day. How cute to have a personalized bear!

Happy belated birthday, Mary! I hope your Sunday is just a enjoyable as yesterday was.

>65 bell7: What a great birthday that was! I'm eager now to find mocha cookie dough ice cream because *shiver*

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was such a fun low-budget bottle show (all inside on one set) and Matt Smith crooning "Who's a sweet old tricey?" at the triceratops as he tossed its ball around slayed me.

I have The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul on the Kindle, I think (there was a Goddard sale last year IIRC), but haven't cracked it yet I await guidance from the Source. After my latest very disappointing read I might emulate you and re-read Murderbot. I know I'll enjoy its snark and the humans' evident affection for it.

Belated happy birthday!

Wordle 646 5/6

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Took a roundabout route to the answer today. ARISE, POUTY, MULCH, FLAVA (surprised this was accepted), GUANO.

>67 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte! I thought so, too.

>68 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl, it was. I worked 12-5, but it was busy enough to go by fast.

>69 richardderus: It was the Turkey Hill flavor "Double Dunker" which is described on the box as "Mocha with cookie dough swirled with crumbles of chocolate sandwich cookies" and it is as delightful as that sounds. The bit with the Triceratops was a lot of fun and I was pissed when the baddie killed it. I didn't realize it was all one set, which is pretty cool. I've been really enjoying my Victoria Goddard read through, and will start Stargazy Pie sooner rather than later as my next in her world. I do recommend the Murderbot reread. *smooch*

>70 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

31. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Why now? Fit the TIOLI challenge to read a book with the word "happy," a synonym, or an antonym in the title, and knocked one more play off the list of all Shakespeare's plays (reading them is a lifetime reading goal of mine)

John Falstaff of the Henry plays is visiting Windsor and writes letters to two of the wives, attempting to seduce them for their husbands' money. The wives, Mistress Ford (of a jealous husband) and Mistress Page (of a not-so-jealous husband), decide to have some fun with him for coming up with so outrageous a plot. Meanwhile, multiple suitors try to Miss Anne Page's hand.

This is a departure from many of Shakespeare's plays in that the majority of it is written in prose; only some is in meter. I enjoyed the wordplay and the ridiculous scenarios and ways the wives outwit Falstaff. The fat jokes may offend. 4.5 stars.

I try to read these all in one sitting, but I didn't quite manage it with this one, reading Act 1 in fits and starts last night. I kept getting distracted, but did confirm to myself that I'd watched a Globe production of it during Covid shutdowns. This is the first time I read the play, however, bringing me up to 17 plays read.

Good morning, all! I took a little bit of a lazy morning in with the dog. Turns out, they had all her stuff ready for me to bring her to my place, so that's what I did. I read all of The Merry Wives of Windsor last night and this morning, so I have successfully completed my first-ever sweeplette in the TIOLI.

Now I shall get dressed and be a little productive. I might see about making a phone call to my oil company to apply my credit to this latest bill, since I can't figure out a way to do that when I pay online. Then I'll take the dog for a walk, bring her back home, and visit my friend and her kids for the afternoon. Bible study tonight, then perhaps more reading and Doctor Who watching, for a pleasant day off all around.

I'm still reading Say I'm Dead, Rogue Protocol, and The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul.

>72 bell7: "Double Dunker" and I have a date...one day when I know I don't like dinner here, I'll go get one for lunch and pig out. (My freezer won't hold Turkey Hill containers, so I have to eat or share them right away.)

>73 bell7: Falstaff! I do so love him. The plays, I do not love. *flees outraged shouting*

Congratulations on reading so many Shakespeare plays! We’ve seen a lot, but I’ve only read a few. Supposedly(?) the popularity of the Falstaff character is why he reappears in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Happy belated birthday, Mary! Sounds like you've had excellent celebrations thus far.

>73 bell7: You did get your sweeplette! Yay!

>75 richardderus: Oh excellent, hope you love it! It was a serendipitous find when I decided to by some goodies for my birthday get together.

I daresay that my love for Shakespeare is a little weirder than your dislike ;) I blame only being required to read one play in high school (Macbeth) and choosing, with a friend of mine who equally loved his cleverness with language, to read a fair amount on my own without anyone draining all the joy out of it.

>76 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Other than the ones I read in high school, as I mentioned to Richard, I read a fair amount for college classes, since a full class on Shakespeare was an English major requirement. That class was around 12 plays, and then I've read 6 more since. Which... huh, that math doesn't quite work out, does it? Oh well, it's somewhere around 17-18, in any case, and if I've undercounted that just means I'll enjoy a reread of one I've forgotten. I believe I heard that about Falstaff. I read Henry IV Part 1 in college but should really read the rest. The histories are my big unread portion of Shakespeare's works.

>77 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

>78 quondame: Thanks, Susan! I'm pleased with the result :)

Wordle 647 3/6

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ARISE, POUTY, HURRY. A little unexpected when the word I used to determine some letter placement was in fact the answer.

Happy Tuesday! My dad is coming over shortly for a breakfast of trout and eggs, so I've got to get myself dressed and start doing dishes soon haha. He's been fishing regularly since retirement and catching some trout, but my mom is allergic to both trout and eggs, so he makes plans with us kids to have a breakfast together at our respective homes. Should be fun to visit. And then I work 12-8. I have a few volunteers in and need to look over what my intern has been working on for local history so I'm ready when she comes in tomorrow morning. Other than that, we'll see what happens for my work day.

I woke up a couple of times in the night and early (6:30) this morning, so I've made progress in Pali, and expect to finish it either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much reading time I have today. I had forgotten how busy my week is, between Dad coming for breakfast and agreeing to babysit some kids at the church tomorrow night after work, but I think I'll still end up with 11 books read this month.

Happy belated birthday, Mary!

>79 bell7: Henry V is definitely my favourite of the history plays so I hope you enjoy it when you get to it. Both Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation (which is tricky to get these days) and the version in the Hollow Crown film series (with Tom Hiddleston as Hal) are great, if you're also tracking down films after your reading.

Belated Happy Birthday, Mary! Sounds like you had a lovely one.

>82 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora!

>83 MickyFine: I'm pretty loose about whether I'll read or watch Shakespeare first. I do like the Kenneth Branagh adaptations I've seen and will look for that one. The library where I work has the Hollow Crown set and that's another I'd like to see sometime.

>84 Crazymamie: Thank you, Mamie! It was lovely :)

Wordle 648 4/6

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Eliminating placement possibilities for the win! ARISE, POUTY, STENT, BESET.

Happy Wednesday morning, all! I have a full day planned. I'll be leaving for work shortly, then going to the church where I've agreed to help out at an event, getting paid to do childcare. The extra-nice part is they're feeding me, so dinner's sorted. Work today will be busy with volunteers.

This is the first of three days in a row with plans after work - childcare today, my friends from book club are coming over tomorrow (we didn't read the book this time, so it's soups and salads, and hanging out), and then I have my regular Friday volunteering. Saturday morning should be pretty quiet and, if I don't miss my guess, will involve a fair amount of dishes. Then I'm hanging out with my Little, probably going to a library or two (where is yet to be determined).

I finished The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul this morning and enjoyed it. We'll see if I have time to review it tonight. I'm still reading Say I'm Dead and Rogue Protocol, very much hoping to finish the former by the end of the month.

What I'm listening to:
1989 - Taylor Swift
Not my favorite of her albums, though "Shake it Off" always makes me laugh. Part of it is the song itself, but also there's a Supernatural take on this (spoilers for all of season 9, I believe) that's hilarious.

32. The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard
Why now? Reading through Goddard's works, and this was a shared read with Stasia (alcottacre)

Pali Avramapul, formerly of the Red Company, has been mostly content in her job as a professor. She is known as Domina Black, the foremost expert on Emperor Artorin Damara's reign. When the archives open up at the court, she takes the opportunity to travel and research, not anticipating how meeting the emperor himself will impact her.

If you've read The Hands of the Emperor, you will recognize part of where the story is going. Because time runs differently in different parts of the emperor, Pali's story is a bit compressed, overlapping with the timeline of both The Hands of the Emperor and The Return of Fitzroy Angursell. It very much does not stand on its own, but gives you a new perspective on elements of both those stories. The beginning is very slow and I had a tough time orienting myself to the timeline I just described; the second half moves along at a good clip. Goddard's strength is writing characters and their relationships well, and this is true in Pali as well. I teared up a few times during conversations or reunions. 4.5 stars.

I will say, I think I probably should've read at least one of the books about Pali and her sisters before reading this one. It's certainly possible to have not read them, but there's a lot about Pali's personality that doesn't really show in this book where she is mostly angry at the world and needs to deal with the rest of her feelings. That may have been another reason the beginning was a little on the slower side. Ultimately, however, I would reread the book, so it still gets a high rating.

Wordle 649 3/6

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ARISE, POUTY, BREAD.

33. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Why now? I started a reread of the Murderbot series with a TIOLI challenge this month and kept going

The review from my first read in 2020:

Murderbot, still on the run, decides to help out Dr. Mensah from the first adventure by investigating GrayCris, the company that attacked their research team. So, Murderbot travels to Milu and a failed terraforming location to see what it can dig up on the company.

Each novella continues just as fun as the last, and each giving us just a little bit more about the ships, bots, and humans that inhabit the universe. Murderbot, sarcastic as ever, turns out to care a lot more than it thinks about doing the right thing, making for an endearing and humorous narrative voice in stories that are just plain fun to read.

In this one we're introduced to Miki, a bot that's treated kindly by its humans, but who also agrees to help Murderbot with its plans (and least so far as it knows them).

As I mentioned yesterday, the plans today are work and have friends over for a soup & salad dinner tonight. I'm taking off from work an hour early to have time to buy a few groceries on my way home and cook before folks starting showing up.

My March reading started off pretty slowly, but I've just now finished as many books as I read in January and February (11 each) and, if I finish Say I'm Dead, I will read 12 books this month. I'm on track to do so if I can read a little over 50 pages each today and tomorrow.

>90 bell7: I started my own Murderbot re-read yesterday. Thinking I might try to pace the re-read so that I wrap up all the existing books before the newest one is published in the fall.

Have a great time hosting friends this evening. What kind of soup are you making?

>90 bell7: I need to continue my Murderbot reread. I'm through Exit Strategy and I think this time I'm going to try following the chronological order and read Fugitive Telemetry before Network Effect. I know, I know, big decisions!

>93 curioussquared: I actually just reshelved my Murderbot books into timeline rather than publication order so I do think it's a big decision. :)

>94 MickyFine: I'm glad I'm not alone! 😂

>90 bell7:, >93 curioussquared:, >94 MickyFine: My Murderbot decision is whether to spring for just the first book or to go for the whole bloomin' set. I've read nothing but good things about the books, but still, I fret getting six books, then discovering I don't like it from the get-go. Advice? Why do I suspect you all are going to tell me to go all the way. :-)

>96 weird_O: I mean, being a librarian, I'd advocate for borrowing the first book if you're uncertain, to see if it suits you and then make a purchasing decision.

>96 weird_O: >97 MickyFine: I second Micky! Borrow or buy the first book first. I have seen a few people (very much the minority) who didn't like Murderbot, and they knew with the first book.

Good idea. Glad I asked librarians.

Hahahaha, thank you all for keeping my thread warm with such lovely discussion. I may not individually respond, but I'll try to at least enter into the spirit of the conversation.

>92 MickyFine: Oooh, you are more patient than I am. I'm just reading right through and there's going to be a gap. I made red lentil soup (a recipe I got from Darryl, and one I regularly return to) and lemon rosemary white bean soup (a vegan recipe I make more occasionally). Both came out excellent and my SIL, who is an excellent cook, took a photo of the recipe for the red lentil soup.

>93 curioussquared: >94 MickyFine: >95 curioussquared: Honestly, I'm in the same quandary as I get close to starting book #4. I might read Fugitive Telemetry before Network Effect as well.

>96 weird_O: through >99 weird_O: I have to say, I agree with Micky, Bill. Try the first one from the library, and if you like it, know that the series is much of the same and you will most likely enjoy the rest. I would, of course, lean towards telling you to go all the way in that case!

Well, we had a lovely visit with four of us, though we didn't exactly talk about books much. Three of us work in libraries, and the fourth is a mom who reads a fair amount, so we did catch up on books we were reading and talked about popular books and TikTok recs (I'm not on TikTok, but I need to pay attention to the books on there because people start requesting them at the library).

But we caught up on life and enjoyed good food and wine, which was lovely. I made two soups and had salad greens and tomatoes, while the others brought the wines, beer bread, more salad fixings and a wacky cake for dessert. It was really lovely and now I have nice leftovers for the next couple of days. We did finish the wine, however.

Belated happy birthday wishes, Mary! I will definitely have to do a Murderbot reread just before the new book comes out.

>102 ronincats: Thank you, Roni! If I'd thought about the new book coming out, I *might* have been able to make myself wait a few months, though it's very hard not to read one novella after teh other (and I don't usually do that with series!).

In the meantime, though, I do have the first book in Wells's Raksura series at home from the library, and that should keep me busily reading in the interim.

Wordle 650 4/6

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Not bad for being short on sleep and only slightly caffeinated. ARISE, POUTY, LEERY, EVERY.

Happy Friday, everyone! I have a busy day of work and volunteering, and I'll be doing it at a slower pace than usual as I had a pretty rough night's sleep. I woke up a little before one and didn't get right back to sleep after reading for a bit, so I got up and read 'til I finished the book a little after 3. I did get back to sleep, but I woke up pretty groggy and I won't be at 100% today. Oh well... I'll just have to slow down a bit today.

I did meet my goal of finishing Say I'm Dead this month, though, which brings me to a total of 12 books read in the month of March. I'll probably write up my month in review tomorrow. My library stack is currently out of control, but I want to read all the books I have out, so I'm not yet willing to return a bunch unread to create a more manageable stack. I did concede (yes, this is all to myself) that I would not finish a nonfiction book by Monday when it's due, so it's in my return stack for this morning, and I put a hold on it and hope I'll have time to read it next time around.

I started Death by Dumpling (paper book) early this morning to have something completely different, and am planning on starting Index, a History of the (book/audio) and Out of Darkness (paper/ebook/audio all options, but I wasn't sure it would be a good listen-before-bed choice)

34. Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson
Why now? I chose it as my Massachusetts Book Awards Must Reads pick for the March Reading Challenge choice. It was a book on my TBR since seeing a Zoom presentation with the author back in 2020.

When E. Dolores Johnson's mother found out she wanted to learn about her white family, she told her, "You'll have to say I'm dead." But that didn't stop Dolores, a biracial woman who was born years before Loving v. Virginia ended miscegenation laws in the U.S., from learning about both sides of the family.

Johnson grapples with the complexities of race in America through her personal story. It's one thing to know about miscegenation laws from history books, and another to think about the fact that this woman, still living, was in college when Loving v. Virginia made her parents' marriage legal in the state they'd fled knowing their relationship would not be acceptable in the 1940s. Now in her 70s, Johnson reflects on that history, the political and personal, and tells her own journey of learning about herself and her family, the Black side and the white side, her parents' story, and on her own experiences growing up "mixed-race" and proud of her heritage. She doesn't flinch from the complexities while being hopeful for the future, and it makes for a really thought-provoking read. 4.5 stars.

>106 bell7: Sounds fascinating! I'm adding it to my wishlist.

>103 bell7: I do like the Raksura books - they were my introduction to Wells.

>107 atozgrl: I hope you like it when you get to it, Irene!

>108 quondame: Oh that's good to hear, Susan. I've only read the Murderbot books so far, and I'm looking forward to trying her fantasy.

Happy Murderbotting for the weekend. *smooch*

Wordle 651 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, CHARD, MARCH.

>110 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! *smooch*

Welp, I started with a sore throat in the late afternoon yesterday, wore a mask to my volunteer thing, and woke up with still sore throat and congestion this morning. It feels like a mild chest cold. I took a COVID test and it came back negative, but I texted my Little's family to see if they'd want us to get together today as planned or wait, and they said wait so we've canceled for this afternoon.

I do need to venture out and drop off my recycling at the center. This is the only day of the month it's open, and I've missed the last two months so it's piled up ridiculously on my porch in the meantime. My taxes are done and I might run out (masked) to go sign then just to have it done. The rest of the to-do list was low key and involves sitting at home anyway (paying my mortgage and setting up this month's budget), so I'll take it easy, drink lots of tea, and read.

Tomorrow's plans are frustratingly in limbo while I see how I am feeling. We were hoping to get together, my parents, my brother and his wife, to celebrate my birthday. But I'll take my now mostly-free day and rest up as much as possible, hoping to feel better and stay negative tomorrow.

>109 bell7: I'm sure I will! I obviously need to read Murderbot too, after hearing so much about it. LT is adding so much to my TBR list!

>113 bell7: So sorry to hear you're not feeling well. I hope indeed that a quiet day of rest and lots of tea helps! Happy birthday! Keeping my fingers crossed you can still celebrate tomorrow.

>114 atozgrl: LT is adding so much to my TBR list!
Oh yes, we're good at that, for sure!

And thanks for the sympathy. I have had lots of rest today. My actual birthday was last weekend, but tomorrow was the day my parents and I were both free. But I'll test again tomorrow morning and see how I feel.

What I am/have been listening to:

Everyday Life - Coldplay
Huh. I know their singles "Paradise" and "Sky Full of Stars" best and this is... very different from expected. It opens with "Sunrise," an instrumental with orchestra and beautiful strings. The songs that follow are quieter than I expected, and often very thoughtful. "Trouble in Town" starts very softly, but is about police brutality and ends with actual audio of an altercation (no sounds of shooting, "just" swearing and aggression) that had me tensing up every time. The fourth track, "BrokEn," was my favorite with a choir and gospel sound, and I really liked "Arabesque" too. There was a lot of variety in style and musical instruments throughout - some featuring piano, one with horns, and a few with acoustic guitar. I'm not sure I "get" all of it, but it was an interesting listen that kept me engaged, and I'll try some of their others.

Scars & Stories - The Fray
Well, I wanted to try another of theirs to see if they had more variety in them than their self-titled album. The answer is a little. It's really not a fair comparison after listening to the Coldplay album, I know. I liked the sound of the first two songs, "Heartbeat" and "The Boxer" but the lyrics were kinda meh. Mostly there's nothing too terrible nor too exciting. My favorite was the final track, "Be Still." I probably won't bother much beyond their singles from here on out.

DNF #2: Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chen

I can be picky about cozies. I got about 35 pages in, realized it wasn't going to be a beloved book, skipped ahead to see if I'd get intrigued, and decided no, not for me.

I've been mostly lounging about, snacking and watching Doctor Who. I watched several: the last two episodes with Amy and Rory, then "The Snowmen" Christmas special and "The Bells of Saint John". I am a little annoyed with exactly how Amy and Rory's story ended up (yes, I'd forgotten), but I like Clara a lot and seeing her beginning again is fun. I like "The Snowmen" pretty well (and even remembered bits of it), and it was fun to hear Ian McKellen's voice.

March in review
34. Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson
33. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
32. The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard
31. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
30. Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
29. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
28. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
27. Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson
26. Musical Tables by Billy Collins
25. Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
24. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
23. Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez

Did Not Finish
2. Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chen (technically stopped 4/1)
1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Books read: 12
Rereads: 3
Children's/Teen/Adult: 1/0/11
Fiction/Nonfiction/Plays/Poetry: 6/4/1/1
Country of origin: US - 9, Canada - 1, UK - 1, Indonesia - 1
Massachusetts Center of the Book Challenge: Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson

Because I want to awards:
Thoughtful, reflective memoir - Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson
Most fun rereads - Murderbot Diaries
I can't believe I read it in a day - Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson

YTD stats -
Pages read: 9,788
Avg pages a day: 109
Books by POC authors: 14 (41%)
In translation: 2
DNF: 2

Thoughts:
I started the month off really slowly - my book club book was only the third book read. I thought at one point last month that I would only read 8 books, and I thought the same again mid-month. But my reading time picked up, and I reread the first three Murderbot novellas, which means I read an additional 3,000 pages this month, 12 books in total. I read four nonfiction books, one collection of poetry and one play, but generally speaking the fiction I read was leaning into my comfort reads.

I only read a handful of books by authors of color this month, and I would like to get that number back up again in the coming months.

>117 bell7: It irked me, too. I didn't like Lana or the creepily (to me) manipulative relationships she's enmeshed in every which way.

Feel better, me deario.

>115 bell7: Oops, I forgot. I'm having trouble keeping all the threads straight. :-P

>119 richardderus: I didn't even get far enough into it to analyze the relationships. Her narration annoyed me (and I usually like first-person just fine), and in one conversation she tried to ask her mom about something and her mother told her "You're too young," and then on the next page in the same conversation her mother is telling her she's getting old not to have a boyfriend. And I realize we sometimes have nonsensical conversations like this with our friends and family, but I also realized I was going to be nitpicky throughout and decided best to move on. And thanks, I hope so!

>120 atozgrl: Ha, no worries, I do too!

Wordle 652 4/6

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Steady day today. ARISE, POUTY, STOOL, STOCK.

>121 bell7: I think that would've slid past me on the logic level, but made me feel like her relationship to her mother was dishonest and manipulative...withholding on her mother's part and compulsively pleasing on hers.

All the way around, yuck.

Sunday *smooch*

I hope the sore throat has disappeared and you get to have your birthday gathering today!

>123 richardderus: Nice to know it's not just my general cruddy feeling talking haha.

>124 MickyFine: Well, I'm not feeling terrible but I'm not great, either, so we canceled. Hopefully I'll be up to snuff tomorrow for my regular plans. We'll see...

Good afternoon! Yikes, did I while the morning away...

Let's see... I woke up this morning at least not with a massive sore throat, but definitely head cold symptoms. I'm sneezing and producing a fair amount of snot and generally not feeling like going out. I also started my period today, so I'm sure that's not helping my fatigue any. I was negative for Covid again this morning.

All plans for the day were canceled, and I've been messing about at home. When I got my coffee, I started looking up some genealogy thing, and then it progressed to going carefully through a pension file I'd saved some time ago. I ended up transcribing a couple of documents and identifying more people to look up. The pensioner was George H. Talmadge, Civil War veteran, and included his wife Maria's widows' pension after his death in 1912. It contained a wealth of information, including George's death certificate, letters from her brother and friends attesting their marriage in 1872, and letters mentioning a previous wife of George's (unnamed) who died in 1869. Oh, what fun will I have following up on these clues!

I haven't been able to muster the oomph to do much of anything else and am still in PJs. I might try to read or watch a movie soon, but not much else planned for the day. The only time I'm really good at resting is when I get sick lol.

Sorry to hear you're still sick, Mary! Hope you feel better soon.

>127 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie!

35. My Years at The Gotham Book Mart with Frances Steloff, Proprietor by Matthew Tannenbaum
Why now? I saw the documentary of his bookstore in Lenox, MA, and decided I wanted to read his memoir of how he got started in book selling

A collection of vignettes told in a rambly storyteller sort of way about Matthew Tannenbaum's experience working at The Gotham Book Mart after the Vietnam War, where he met the famous proprietor, Frances Steloff, and many famous writers of the day.

I spent a pleasant enough time reading this 36-page book, but found it disconnected and slight. It sort of felt like reading a bunch of stories that started, "I met this famous author when...". I didn't always recognize the author names, either, though I was pleasantly surprised to recognize others that maybe aren't so famous today (such as Christopher Morley). 3 stars.

First off, I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well, I hope things start to look up soon.

Secondly, I'm bummed that all my moving preparations meant I missed out on all the music conversation up top. It makes me super happy to see people branching out and listening to more music!

>130 ursula: Thanks, Ursula! I definitely have more energy today, so that's a good sign. I'm sorry you missed out on the music conversation as well, though I am still commenting on albums as I listen to them. I'm curious, can you listen to music while you read, or does it take too much attention for you?

I suspect I have a slightly odd way of experiencing new music. I tend to prefer things that are familiar, so on a first listen through I am mostly reacting to the newness and don't always have favorites standing out. I tend to go through an album as a whole 3 times, by which time I'll have some that I can pick out as favorites for the sound. And the lyrics are important to me, but I don't always hear them well without the words in front of me, so if needed, I'll listen through once more (not in the car, obviously) with the words in front of me.

I do want to get to This Is What It Sounds Like soon, speaking of listening to music, and it's on my library stack right now. After I finish my current nonfiction, it'll probably be the next one I pick up.

Wordle 653 6/6

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Tough one for me today, not helped by forgetting I'd already ruled out the placement of one letter. ARISE, POUTY, RAZOR, MORAL, CLARO (really surprised that was accepted), FLORA.

Hope you are feeling better, Mary!

Good morning! I'm up. I've had coffee. I'm feeling... not as tired as I was over the weekend, but still coughing up a storm. I only have a five-hour work day, and then I was planning on stopping by a local church to look at records for my genealogy research, so I'm getting ready to go and bringing a bag of cough drops to get me through the day. I'll leave if it gets to be too much, but I think it'll be okay. And I have time for a nap when I get home, should I need it. Bible study tonight is up in the air for me attending, depending on how I'm feeling.

I heard from my SIL that she's been sick with some kind of cold, too. We saw each other on Thursday, I started coming down with it Friday night and she did on Saturday, so perhaps we were exposed about then when we had dinner together. She says it feels different from when they had Covid, and we've both been testing negative.

I didn't get a ton of reading in over the weekend, but I'm reading Index, A History of The by Dennis Duncan, Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez and Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni, the latter for National Poetry Month and the one I read the most in because a few poems at a time was about all I could concentrate on.

I got a decent amount of watching in, mostly binge-watching Doctor Who so I'm nearly through series 7, with only one episode left. It's been a bit up and down like the previous series and sort-of has threads running through it (unlike series 6 which was very much standalone).

>133 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! Well enough to attempt a five-hour work day, so we'll see how it goes!

Morning, Mary! I'm sorry that you have been feeling under the weather. Hoping the work day goes quickly and smoothly for you, and that tomorrow has you feeling much better. Rae had what you are describing to that long ago, and the cough hung on forever, so I hope that doesn't happen with you.

>134 bell7: Happy new-week's return to health, Mary. I hope the genealogy trip nets some interesting results. *smooch*

Hope your workday goes OK, Mary!

>131 bell7: Well I will hopefully be able to follow along more closely now, I'll look forward to seeing your thoughts on your upcoming musical choices!

Reading while listening to music depends a lot on what I'm listening to. Years of working in record stores gave me a pretty superhuman ability to tune out music, often. But as I've been working through these lists, I'm trying to pay attention to the music so in that case, reading doesn't go with it.

I don't think that your way of listening is that unusual - you already recognize where you fall on the scale of familiarity/novelty described in This Is What It Sounds Like! Sometimes an album just grabs me immediately on a first listen, but if that doesn't happen I am likely not to remember anything at all about it 24 hours later. So I also need multiple listens to be able to talk about most things. This is why I try to take a couple of notes about an album while I'm listening to it, and try to make liberal use of "hearting" songs on Apple Music so I can at least see how many stood out to me.

I think of myself as someone to whom lyrics are important, but I also don't mind if I can't understand them.

I'm glad that you're feeling better today, Mary. Fingers crossed that what you have isn't COVID-19. Your sore throat, cough, mucus production and fatigue are at least consistent with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) infection, which usually kicks my tail whenever I get it.

>136 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! The day so far is good, and I have energy even after working a few hour, so that's a good sign.

>137 richardderus: Indeed it did, Richard! Mostly it was my aunts, uncles, and cousins getting baptized, but I was able to see the church where they attended, and found a little gem of a mention of an great-aunt I'd been doing research on. Marion Corine Talmadge was born in 1919 and her baptismal record (1935) has her birth parents, George and Winnifred Adams listed, as well as the notation "adopted Talmadge". That Talmadge was my 2nd great grandfather, Charles, and that's probably the closest I'll ever get to having proof that she was adopted (probably sometime between 1926 when her father died and 1930 U.S. Census at a guess, but definitely by 1935 when she was baptized).

>138 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie! It's over and I still have energy, which is a good sign.

>139 ursula: I will look forward to your thoughts as I go along, Ursula. Nice to know maybe my way of listening isn't so weird - I guess I'm often around people who perhaps enjoy novelty a bit more than I do and don't take quite so long to absorb, so to speak. I can see how the record store experience could help you tune out music as background noise. I can do something similar with talking (probably reading in the house of a family of seven made a difference), making it so I can have a TV on in the background of my reading, but not music.

I use free Spotify and keep a running playlist of songs I like, so I can look back and see how many I liked as well.

>140 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl! I still have a cough today, but my energy level is much better already. Hopefully I'm on the upswing. RSV is no joke either - I know someone who was out from work for two weeks with it (and then got Covid later to boot...).

Shout if I missed you!

I had a decent day at work, managing to power through with cough drops and tea. I got out at 2 and headed to a church that had some Bell and Talmadge records for me. Mostly I was able to determine that my great uncles and aunt attended the church and that their kids were baptized there. My 2nd great grandparents Bell were listed in the membership and "removed" with their dates of death. The guy who built my house also attended there with his family, as did many names of the prominent citizens of the town. This was apparently the local Protestant place to go, and part of their community.

Here's how the church would've looked when they went:



and now:


The woman who helped me out was really nice and showed me around the place. It's something else to walk in the steps of my ancestors some 100 years down the road.

The real gem of the trip, as I mentioned to Richard above, was finding the baptism of my great-aunt by adoption. Though she was an adult at the time, it listed both her birth parents and had a notation "adopted Talmadge." That's probably the closest I'm going to get to finding any record of her adoption by my second-great grandfather (I'm assuming after her father's death in 1926). He died intestate, but she was listed on the will, and that baptismal record matches both her adopted name and her birth certificate with George and Winifred Adams, so I'm certain it's the same person.

>117 bell7: I have never watched doctor who. I wonder if I should start with the original or the "new" doctor who.

>142 bell7: Wow! What a wonderful building. So cool that you were able to walk in the steps of your ancestors! Cool.

>142 bell7: Adoption was very informal in those days, apparently. Hard to envision such a scanty paperwork trail in today's world.

So glad you found the needed corroboration anyway!

>143 figsfromthistle: I've never seen the originals and followed along pretty well with the new one anyhow. And thanks, I thought it was pretty cool, too! I just so happened to buy a house in the neighborhood where they lived and worked, and finding the connections has been a blast.

>144 richardderus: Yeah, it's hard to know how official the adoption was because generally those are closed records, anyways (her birth record is still Adams, though, I don't know when birth certificates started being changed). I'd been able to put together with circumstantial evidence that Marion C. Adams and Marion C. Talmadge were the same person, but this is the only document I've seen with both names and really clinches it.

>145 bell7: Cool to find stuff htat *does* corroborate the identity, though.

>146 richardderus: yes! I was thrilled to bits

Wordle 654 3/6

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Always helps to get all five letters in the first two guesses. ARISE, POUTY, RATIO.

I let myself sleep in this morning because I don't work 'til 12, so I didn't get up 'til 9:30. It was lovely and needed, as I'm still coughing up a storm, but now it has the effect of me feeling like it's still 8:30 when it is in fact nearly 10 and I don't have time for much before work. Oh well... I'll be getting dressed shortly and deciding what to do with the hour or so before I get ready to leave.

Not sure exactly what the work plan will be today. I only have two volunteers coming in and since once of the pages has been on vacation there's actually things to shelve, so I shouldn't have to be too creative to have things for them to do. I may try to work more on the series I'll be giving in the summer about using our non-Ancestry databases for genealogy research. And I may try to work on our bi-monthly email (that didn't go out two months ago at all because I was so busy being in charge) that we send out on readers' advisory topics (that's librarian speak for telling you all about books you may want to read).

Glad to hear you got some good sleep last night! I hope you're feeling better overall today, in spite of the cough. Also great to hear that you had such a rewarding result on your genealogy research!

>150 atozgrl: thanks, Irene! Each day has been better, and I'm pretty close to normal today.

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Surprisingly tough, but got there in the end. ARISE, POUTY, FLASH, GNASH, SMASH.

>152 bell7: Yes, it was tricky (and violent). Took me 4 and I felt very lucky!

Karen O

I'm glad you're closer to your normal 500mph self, Mary. *smooch*

Today in fun with home ownership...

Actually this starts awhile back. Ahem. There's been a slight smell of gas by my stove off and on for awhile, and I hadn't thought anything of it (or noticed it) in some time, until the weekend my parents stayed over. My dad noticed it and said something. I mentioned it to the facilities guy at work, who said yeah, it's probably in need of a valve replacement or has a slow leak, call your company and get it checked, it may even been free because they have a vested interest in their customers not blowing up (ha ha).

So I finally called yesterday, they came in the morning before work, and tightened up some fittings in the basement, one of which was directly under the stove. Yay, problem solved! I left for work, came back a little after 8, walked in and... whew, gas smell! Turned right back around and called the company.

Another tech came out, checked things out, and said, yeah, it fails the leak test when this is on, call this other local company about getting a gas valve replaced on the stove.

I called this morning, they came out and are here now. Turns out my stove is old enough (1978ish) that with the pilots constantly on... it's always going to fail the leak test because it's an active line. But the stove is also old enough that it's leaking in multiple places sooooo, time for a new stove :( For today, he's capping the line and replacing the valve and one of my to-dos at work today is going to be looking up stoves. I may call up the folks I used to live with and see if they know of anyone getting rid of a used gas stove (they often come across deals...)

I literally just replaced the washer. I'm telling myself that some of these things have probably been problems since I bought the house (the washer always left my clothes soaking wet), it's just that I'm working on getting them replaced/fixed now that it's all happening at once. And... in talking to the tech today about some of what I have downstairs, he showed me how I should drain my boiler and hot water heater, which I did not know about, so I'll start doing that now.

I swear, they should give you a manual when you buy a house.

>153 klobrien2: Bahaha, it was that, wasn't it, Karen?

>154 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! Now if only things at home would stop breaking...

>155 bell7: The manual would read, "have double the purchase price socked away in cash before getting the mortgage...triple if the house is over 50 years old and tenfold if it's over 100, and never, ever buy a historic structure unless you're Jeff Bezos". That's all you need to know. Entropy will smack you around every single chance she gets.

Luck on the stove-replacement front!

>157 richardderus: hahahaha thanks, Richard. I did tell one of my friends that whatever she thought she needed for a down payment, have more than that ready for other things surrounding buying (attorney's fees, inspection) and repairs after purchasing.

Ugh to the stove issues. Agree that houses should come with a manual!!

>155 bell7: Yikes.
I'm blessing my mother for ignoring the advice on the consumer advice site that said boiler repair insurance isn't worth it. The engineers came today after we reported the leak this morning. Admittedly, they didn't fix it, but still. It *is* weird how it all happens at once: have only just signed up with the builder to fix some plaster issues.

>155 bell7: Sounds a lot like what we went through 6 months ago. Our washing machine died-- in the middle of a load. (Fortunately the neighbors were kind enough to let us bring our wash over and get it rinsed in their machine.) Then the garage door quit working and wouldn't raise. Then the ice machine in the refrigerator broke. Somehow these things always seem to come in groups. I hope the series of misadventures stops for you after this one.

There does seem to be a need for a homeowners' manual! Even we didn't realize we were supposed to drain the hot water heater regularly, and we were older when we bought our house. Now we've got a tankless hot water heater and we get it serviced annually, so we no longer have that problem. (But we also no longer have hot water when the electricity is out either. Always tradeoffs.)

Good luck getting the stove replaced!

>159 curioussquared: Yay home ownership! No really though... I am happy to own a home. It's still worth it when stuff breaks.

>160 charl08: Oof, yeah, a leak on the boiler would be a lot. I hope it gets fixed soon!

>161 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene. It does seem to happen all in a bunch. I'm hoping the washer replacement, dryer repair, and stove replacement is it for now! In the meantime, I'm counting up what I've learned as worth paying the different techs what I have over the last couple of months. It's a financial annoyance, because I was hoping to do other things with that money, but not an emergency, thankfully. My hot water heater is propane (and not particularly new either), so literally the only thing running on electric is the lights and the fridge. I've only lost power once or twice, though, and never for long, so the tradeoff difference would be minimal if I were to change over. Not so the stove - I'd have to have a 220 line put in which would be very costly.

Wordle 656 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, MEALY, LEAFY.

Good Thursday morning! For once, I shouldn't be late to work today. The gas valve was replaced and the line was capped and there was no smell of gas anywhere when I arrived home last night after work and a genealogy meeting.

I'm working 9-5 today and have a fair number of volunteers coming in, so I'll keep myself plenty busy. I should do a grocery shopping tonight. It will probably be abbreviated and mostly involve getting things that don't need to be cooked on a range. Probably things for sandwiches and salad to start, maybe a microwave meal or two, though I try to limit those because of the high salt content (I say, after a weekend of eating Ramen noodles because I was sick and the broth felt good). I'll look through my recipes and find some InstantPot options. I'd bought the fixings for stuffed peppers, and I think if I make the rice in the InstantPot, I can prep the peppers and make two at a time in my toaster oven. I might fuss with that over the weekend at some point.

There's a part of me that wants to get the appliance shopping done and over with so I don't have the stress of thinking about it, but I'm trying to tell myself there's really no rush, I can absolutely make it work for awhile to take my time figuring out exactly what I want to do instead of rushing into everything. I'm not sure what side is going to win haha.

Yeah, I swear these things come in threes for us, so hopefully it's time for things to settle down for you. 😀

Morning, Mary. Sweet Thursday. We are back from NOLA and I am slowly making the rounds on LT. I hope you are having a good week and I hope those books are treating you fine.

ETA- Sorry to hear about the appliance issues.

>165 drneutron: I'm counting the not-yet-fixed dryer as number three :P But yeah, it does seem to happen in threes, does it?

>166 msf59: The week has had its ups and downs as you can see from my appliance comments, Mark, but I am doing well and the books I'm reading are all good. If I manage some good reading time over the weekend, I may even have a review or two to write up :D

Boo to house stuff. I hate it.

Hope you're feeling better!

Let me know if you want some instant pot recipes! I have a bunch of go-tos.

Sorry to hear about all the stove/oven drama, Mary.

On your point about a manual for buying a house, when I moved out, my Dad bought me How Your House Works and it's a pretty handy guide for various maintenance things.

I hope you're getting the afternoon sunshine we are, Mary. I love this kind of spring day.

*smooch* for an InstantPotty week or two

>162 bell7: Our original hot water heater was natural gas. The newer tankless one also uses natural gas to heat the water, but there's a sensor or something that uses electricity, so we lost the ability to still get hot water if the electricity goes out. Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often.

>168 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! Some of it is definitely not fun.

>169 curioussquared: Oh excellent, those are always welcome, Natalie! I have a couple I like I need to branch out more.

>170 MickyFine: Thanks for that, Micky! I just looked it up and the library where I work has a 2007 edition (probably not a bad start considering the age of some of the stuff in the house) that I may just nab today for a look through.

>171 richardderus: It was a lovely sunshiney day yesterday, Richard. Today won't be quite as warm, but I'll be more likely to get a walk in. *smooch* back

>172 atozgrl: Oh, gotcha. I have something similar with my heat, it's oil & steam, but the thermostat has something electric to cause it to turn on when it gets below a certain point.

Wordle 657 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, FOCUS, LOCUS.

TGIF - it's Good Friday, so the schools in town are closed, but my library's open and I'm working 9-5. I can leave the house a little later today because I'm grocery shopping for the volunteer breakfast we're holding tomorrow. Much of today will be me getting ready for that. Apparently a writer from our hyperlocal paper will be coming out for the part of it, too, so I wrote down a few notes to myself to remember to tell her if there's an interview. I had 22 RSVP that they're attending (out of 80+), so I'm planning on 30, though the number usually shakes out pretty close. The teens don't always tell me that they'll come haha.

There's Good Friday service at my church tonight at 7, but I think I've decided not to go and to take some time in solitude at home instead.

Sounds like a full day ahead for you, Mary!

Will your library be extra full with kiddos today?

>176 MickyFine: hard to predict, it was also the week for a pretty stressful standardized test in Massachusetts, so our kids and teen program numbers have been low all week but we may have more families in getting materials all the same. Friday mornings tend to be quiet and so far it seems pretty typical today.

>173 bell7: Happy to share a few!

Chicken burrito bowls: https://damndelicious.net/2018/02/26/instant-pot-20-minute-chicken-burrito-bowls...

Mushroom risotto: https://damndelicious.net/2018/03/21/instant-pot-mushroom-risotto/

Lentil turmeric soup: https://thegirlonbloor.com/instant-pot-golden-turmeric-lentil-soup/

Chicken tikka masala with cauliflower and peas: https://www.skinnytaste.com/instant-pot-chicken-tikka-masala-with-cauliflower-an...

Beef, tomato, acini di pepe soup: https://www.skinnytaste.com/beef-tomato-and-acini-di-pepe-soup/

Chicken and potato stew: https://ifoodreal.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-potatoes/

African peanut stew: https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/instant-pot-african-peanut-stew/

I'd say these are the IP recipes I make most often :)

Ooh, I've made that beef, tomato, and acini de pepe soup! SO GOOD.

>179 katiekrug: Sooooo good. It was one of the first recipes I tried in the IP and it got me hooked.

>178 curioussquared: Oh excellent, thank you so much! I made risotto in the IP some time ago and really liked it, and the others sound delish.

>179 katiekrug: Oh nice, a second vote for the soup (and it does look good). Did you make any changes to it other than the requisite adding of spices?

What I've (been) listening to:

Pentatonix - Pentatonix
I really like what I've heard of this a cappella group's Christmas music (check out God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for a flavor of it), so I was intrigued when I saw a Pop album in the library's collection. I expected covers, but it was actually a bunch of original songs, mostly about either getting together or breaking up. My favorites were "Na Na Na", "Sing" (both just general feel-good songs), "Cracked" (about a break up and not a lot to the lyrics, but a fun sound and a syncopated beat during part of it that I enjoyed), and "Light in the Hallway" (gentle, last on the album, and my favorite). Lots of vocal talent in the band, and different folks were lead singer for different songs.

Amidst the Chaos - Sara Bareilles
Unusually, as soon as I put this in the CD player in the car, my reaction was oh, I like this. Usually it takes some time for me to acclimate, but no, this is easy and enjoyable listening for me. "Fire," "Armor," "Miss Simone," "Orpheus," "Poetry by Dead Men," "Saint Honesty," and "Safe Place to Land" all make my Spotify playlist.

The other CD I have out right now is Sara Bareilles's Songs from The Waitress, but I think it's missing too much context for me (it's 12 songs she performs from a Broadway musical that I'm unfamiliar with), and I'll probably return it soon without thoroughly listening like I normally do.

>182 bell7: I've seen Waitress, it's a great show! It's based on the 2007 movie, which your library probably has on DVD, if you're looking for more context.

>183 norabelle414: oh that's good to know, I might do that and give it another listen afterwards.

Wordle 658 4/6

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Surprised I managed this in four after the start I had. ARISE, POUTY, LEVEE, LEDGE.

>185 bell7: Excellent Wordling, considering you got nothin’ with the second word. Ouch! Took me four today also.

Happy Easter!

Karen O

>186 klobrien2: I was surprised, Karen, though my choice for guess #3 (mostly to figure out where the second "e" had to be) turned out to be a good one. Happy Easter to you too!

Happy weekend, y'all! I worked 9-1 today to finish out the week, hosting a volunteer breakfast from 10-12. We had a couple dozen folks come out, and the only hitch (and it was rather a big one) was that the coffeemaker made cold coffee and I had to send people into the library to use the Keurig.

I went to the appliance store after work and talked through my options with a sales associate there, at a local store that I went through for my washer that I've heard excellent things now from both a plumber I trust and one of the technicians that came out about my stove. And the thing is... I would need venting put in if I were to stay with gas, otherwise it's not up to code. Or I need a 220 line put in for electric, and I can get a decent little (self-cleaning, even!) over for about $600. Venting would not be required for electric, but it could be an option for the future.

All things being equal - and honestly, the cost might be in the end - I would go with electrical work getting done. So next on my to-do list is calling an electrician on Monday morning before work and pricing that out. I might ask about a couple more electrical projects I've had in mind while I'm at it, including putting a box in the garage so I could convert the door from manual to electric (this was the next home project on *my* to-do list before my appliances made other plans).

I now have a bit of time this afternoon to do as I will, and I'm thinking of either taking a walk or working in the garden some, after I get changed into grubby clothes. I might break in my washer and do a load or two as well (the dryer still needs parts, but should work in a pinch).

What I'm watching:

A couple nights ago I finished up Doctor Who Series 7, watched the 50th anniversary special, and watched the Christmas special in which Matt Smith becomes Peter Capaldi. I'm almost positive that I have never seen the 50th anniversary special.

This particular Christmas special happens to be the first Doctor Who episode I'd ever seen, and upon a rewatch I can confidently say it was spectacularly unsuited to an introduction. You need to have seen all of series 7 *and* the anniversary special for it to make any sense at all, and know what the Weeping Angels, Cybermen, and Daleks are to boot. I thought both the Anniversary Special and this Christmas special (when you've seen that whole series) were a lot of fun.

I'm taking a break from Doctor Who now to start watching the newer version of Fruits Basket. I watched a couple of episodes of season 1 last night, and a lot of the animation is the same, but there are changes in the dialog (and wow, some of it was fast dialog, too), and I noticed at least in the first episode they didn't have the Yuki Fan Club song. I have one DVD out from the library now, and "Part 2" on its way.

Good luck on the appliance deciding front, Mary.

The Peter Capaldi years are my least favourite thus far so be prepared whenever you go back to DW.

I love all of Sarah Bareilles albums. They're all great. I agree, watching Waitress should give you all the context you need to listen to the musical album. Sarah Bareilles version singing the songs is the great but the original cast album is also so good (I was listening to it on heavy rotation a few years ago), if you get your hands on it.

I'm not super familiar with the musical, but the film it's based on is worth a watch. And I do love the song "She Used To Be Mine" which I'd link to but I'm on my phone and it's too big a hassle 🙂

>182 bell7: I need to re-listen to Sara Bareilles as I had a few of her albums back in the day I liked them.

>189 bell7: & >190 MickyFine: I am of a different generation when it comes to the Doctor. Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were my favourites.

>190 MickyFine: I've seen some of the Peter Capaldi episodes, as at the time it was on, I had just caught up on everything before it and a friend of mine from work had BBC America. After she moved away, I had no way of watching it so at some point in that collection, the episodes will be all new to me. Good to know re: the movie, too! And thanks re: the appliances. It was somewhat of a relief just to have the gas/electric decision a little more clear, even if I don't have a stove purchased yet.

>191 katiekrug: Oh excellent! Well with that many recommendations, I've put a hold on it. The library where I work has it, so I should get it tomorrow.

>192 PaulCranswick: I'll definitely look for more by Sara Bareilles soon! Re: Doctor Who, I've never seen the classic ones, but was thinking this time around maybe I should go back and watch some.

Wordle 659 5/6

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Tough one today and not helped along by forgetting a letter placement had already been ruled out. ARISE, POUTY, SAUNA, SNACK (yeah, just to eliminate letters and help with placement), SNAFU.

36. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Why now? I've been reading through ten most challenged books of 2021, and this was one of them; helped along by a March TIOLI challenge to get the book out of the library, and then of course not actually getting to it 'til this month

Naomi and her two siblings, Beto and Cari, have moved in with their father (her stepfather), Henry, who works in the oil industry in Texas, 1937. Framed by a school explosion that really happened, Out of Darkness explores race tensions through the story of Naomi and Wash, a young black man who falls in love with her. But, in a community so divided and a world defined by race, their found family of Black and Mexican American - including the two children who are light-skinned, like their white father - is an impossibility.

The book starts with the aftermath of the explosion, and then goes back in time to the previous year, the beginning of the school year. As a result, a sense of dread hangs over the whole thing, waiting for the physical explosion, the social ramifications of interracial friendship and love, and the twisted desire Henry has for Naomi. You know it's not going to end well, and yet the story is compelling, the main characters Naomi, Wash, Beto and Cari, drawn well, and the siblings relationships are really lovely with moments of joy. The narration switches points of view among these four, as well as side characters such as Henry and "the gang," Naomi's schoolmates. 4 stars.

Okay, so you know I have to address the book challenges and bans, yeah? Supposedly the book is challenged for "depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit" but if it's actually read in context, the worst is said by the "gang," racist teenagers who objectify the main character and whose words are meant to be evil. The actual sexual descriptions whether it be Naomi and Wash in their tree or the rape in the final scene are not very graphic and on par with what I would expect in a YA novel that includes them. Also the violence at the end is, yeah, it's disturbing of course it is. It's also realistic. And the ending, I thought, left a lot of room for hope with Beto deciding to tell the real story. So I'm left asking, is the issue really the sexual descriptions, or is it that parents aren't comfortable with a book talking about historic racism in America?

This quote from the director of PEN America was really telling, I thought:

“They show up at a school board meeting with one excerpt,” Friedman said. “The school board doesn’t understand the context and no one is there – no librarian saying that’s not the context, that’s not what the book is about. The conversation quickly shifts from what children need to what a parent is comfortable with."

Is the book for everyone? No, of course not, what book is? Is it one I'd be fine with high schoolers reading? Yes.

If you're interested, here's a couple of articles I found helpful in writing the above (and in which I found the above quote):
Texas Schools Ban Out of Darkness
Ashley Hope Perez writes about it for NPR

37. Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni
Why now? A book of poetry for National Poetry Month

Nikki Giovanni is a poet, activist, and professor, and I've been meaning to try one of her poetry collections for awhile. Most of the poetry is short free verse and has no punctuation at all, making the reader slow down to figure out how to read the poem and where the natural stops are. The poems are generally accessible, and address racism, love, and everyday life. It's a very personal collection of poetry and prose that includes stories of her life and poems addressed to certain people (for Toni Morrison, for Ashley Bryan). You're sure to find something to enjoy and challenge. 4 stars.

Happy Easter!

I woke up early, so I took the opportunity to catch up a little on my reading and reviewing. I finished Make Me Rain this morning. It's time for me to get dressed and ready for church, after which I have nursery for the second service. My SIL is hosting Easter dinner at 4:30, though we're welcome to come over earlier, so it should be a pleasant day with family.

Happy Easter, Mary. Have a lovely holiday. I may have to give Make Me Rain a try. Seeing any good birds? All the migrants are returning or passing through.

I am going to look for Out of Darkness. It sounds good; book banners can take a long walk off a short pier, as far as I'm concerned. I have to go to Texas next month, and I'm low-key mad about spending money there :-P

Beautiful Sunday there, too, I hope...sunshine and 50° here. I'm with >190 MickyFine: about Capaldi's Doctor. It was like "Little England" got hold of the BBC and decided Chibnall should run the show without any charisma or sex appeal. *blech*

>195 bell7: I'm mortally sick of the fragility and intolerance of the right wing. "Don't say gay" and not accepting that trans people have an actual set of human rights is all of a piece with the worldview that insists there is only One Way and the destination is under their control or it's wrong and bad. Grow up.

>198 msf59: I'll look forward to your thoughts on Make Me Rain if you read it, Mark. No new birds, but some of my regulars: chickadees on the feeder, some mourning doves on the ground, and cardinals and sparrows in the trees near my house.

>199 katiekrug: I hope you like Out of Darkness, Katie. While Texas and Florida are in the news a lot, the school board meetings and challenges are happening everywhere, including Massachusetts.

>200 richardderus: When I was in high school, I remember a children's librarian telling me that if I were to become a librarian and buy books for the collection, that I would need to buy books I didn't agree with. I thought through this for years before deciding to go on to get my MLS, and what finally tipped the scale was realizing that even if I were to have, say, a completely private library where everyone who used it thought exactly like me, I would still have books in it that I disagreed with, because I should know what people who disagree with me are thinking and saying. It is up to me to provide information - and books for fun! I buy fiction. It is not up to me how other people approach or use that information. This is why the whole "parental rights" phrase really gets my goat. Like, look, you HAVE parental rights the way things are set up. There is a process for challenging books. There is a process for opting out of reading assignments in schools. Heck, when you come to the public library, pay attention to what your kids are checking out and have a conversation with them. But don't suddenly make it my business to do the parenting for you, and get rid of any book that might offend you or you disagree with.

Also, what these folks don't seem to realize (and in this case I'm talking about the closest to well-meaning the argument for this can be, as opposed to the well-funded Moms for Liberty and that ilk) is that these same tactics can be turned around and used against ANY topic that happens to be undesired at any given time. Should we segregate the religious books next?

And thanks for the weather wishes, yesterday was lovely, sunny and in the 50s as well. Today should be in the 60s and we should be getting in the 80s by the end of the week because apparently we don't do spring anymore...

Wordle 660 5/6

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Eh, I don't love five days but the streak goes on. ARISE, POUTY, RULER, UDDER, UNDER. Not sure why double letters kept coming to mind.

Happy Monday! I was off yesterday and working today as a result. It's only 9-2, though, followed by my massage. I'll be picking up something for snack at Bible study tonight and hopefully get a chance to call an electrician before 4.

I also need to touch base with a dog owner today to confirm I'm dog walking for the week starting tomorrow and let her know the bill. And I'm making plans to go down to DC and Philly in May, and need to buy my one-way flight (the train tickets for DC to Philly and Philly back home are already set).

Reading: Continuing Index, a history of the and just started my book club book, Wingshooters.

Watching: I finished the first part of Fruits Basket Season 1, so it's going back to the library today. Depending on when Part 2 arrives from the library, I'll continue with that or start the Peter Capaldi Doctor Who Collection. My strongest memories from eight years ago are the character of Missy and how complicated things got.

Crafting: I finished knitting a hat recently and started a pair of fingerless gloves in the same yarn.

>201 bell7: I completely understand and agree with what that librarian taught you decades ago. I wish I was better about consuming Their arguments but I honestly can't make myself go down the rabbit hole of nuttiness. It seems so transparently argued in bad faith that I get far too angry at the idiots who believe it to actually listen to their concerns. It's a failing but one no amount of effort has dented, still less ameliorated.

Happy beautiful Spring New Sunday!

ETA an interesting piece on Lit Hub about where readers *go* when they read.

Oh yeah, I didn't mean it in the sense of "you should be reading things you disagree with", more as a contrast with how I mentally came to the place where I would accept that I need to buy things for the library that I personally disagree with, to the point where I really don't get this insistence on a library's collection conforming to one point of view. There are people in good faith who hear "parental rights" from the people acting in bad faith and don't realize what's actually happening on the ground. And those are usually the people I'm talking to, whether it's concerned patrons or friends from church.

It is a beautiful spring day, and I like this New Sunday business. Hope you are getting a chance to enjoy the sunshine.

That was a fascinating piece from Lit Hub - thanks for sharing!

Wordle 661 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, CHALK (aka I needed some consonants), QUALM.

Happy Tuesday! I start dog walking for 5 labs today - the same ones I had over the winter, but only for a week this time. Next week, I'll be leaving to stay with one lab, but though she has just as much energy as this bunch, in a sense she is easier because I can let her out in her back yard and throw a tennis ball for her to work her energy out without as much exertion on my part haha (and there's only one of her). But the weather is gorgeous this week and it's a good thing that I'll be getting out walking again.

When I get back, I plan on getting on an online call with fellow librarians to talk about books for a bit before heading to work 12-8. Yesterday I wrapped up everything from our volunteer breakfast and sent out postcards to the volunteers who didn't make it, asking them to drop by for their gift by May 30. We have them fill out gift plate forms and add little typed plates to new books in honor of the volunteers each year, so I'll be sorting through those for the next couple of weeks. I'll either go through them myself for adult fiction or hand them to the person who does collection development for a section, depending on what kind of book the volunteer wanted for their plate. Today I have a couple of volunteers coming in the afternoon, so I have to make sure there are tasks ready, and I have a few small things on my desk to catch up on.

Also, yesterday I bought my flight to go down to DC, so I have my May vacation all planned out. I took a week and a half off from work, from May 18 through Memorial Day weekend. I'll fly down on Thursday night, celebrate my nephew's birthday and spend through Wednesday at one sister's, then I'll head over to the others and we're taking a train to Philadelphia for a couple of days before I take a train back up to western Mass. Now I just have to figure out rides because I'm not leaving my car at the airport.

Reading: same as yesterday, and I also started rereading Fruits Basket because why not?

Watching: nothing yesterday, though I did get Waitress out from the library

Listening: just the radio in my car (it's crap and only a couple of stations come in, which is why I'm usually listening to CDs). I'm going to try to remember to get a few CDs out from the library today

>205 bell7: I am the one who thinks I need to take in the other side's arguments, Mary, because one can't dismantle arguments one doesn't comprehend from the inside. Sadly it seems to be beyond me, because the arguments so far encountered are so ridiculous that ridiculing them is my only response. That being unhelpful in the extreme, best to stay out of the fray. Much as it should be otherwise, that's my lamentable failing.

ETA punctuation error

>208 richardderus: Ah, yeah I get what you're saying.

38. The Real Dada Mother Goose by Jon Scieszka illustrated by Julia Rothman
Why now? One of my co-workers was trying to figure out what Dewey number to give it and I thought... how delightful! I need that when it's cataloged. So I got to bring it home today.

Jon Scieszka brings his signature humor and playfulness to nursery rhymes. Read Humpty Dumpty transformed by computer translation from one language to another and back to English. What might a book report on Jack Be Nimble mention? How about a Jabberwocky version of Old Mother Hubbard?

I love things that play with language and found this an absolutely delightful rewriting of classic nursery rhymes. There are notes at the end that explain various things used to transform them, whether it was Esperanto or Morse code or the military alphabet, and a little about the history of Mother Goose as well. I'm going to get this out of the library when I next visit my niece & nephew.

Wordle 662 5/6

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Huh. That was an interesting one. ARISE, POUTY, MORAL, KORAN (surprised that was accepted since I usually see it capitalized), BORAX.

Good morning! I'm leaving shortly to walk a bunch of dogs, then working 10-5. Today is the day I have a bunch of volunteers in, so that'll keep me busy. Dinner tonight will probably be sushi picked up from the grocery store. And we'll see what I feel like when I get home from work, but I will choose among taking a walk up to the cemetery and taking photos for Findagrave, gardening (the blueberry bushes need pruning), and tidying up the house.

Reading: Wingshooters is good but somber so I'm balancing it out with lighter reads. I won't have any trouble finishing it in time for book club next week. Index, a history of the is still my nonfiction read. And I've started rereading Fruits Basket - I started volume 3 last night, an I'm trying not to rush through them all.

Watching: More Fruits Basket last night when I discovered it was on Hulu, though I am spoiled and didn't love having it interrupted by ads. (The DVD arrived last night, but I accidentally left it at work)

Listening: I got some new-to-me CDs from the library last night and just started listening to an Alicia Keys album.