Curioussquared continues 2021 with some books: part 4

Hello everyone! I'm Natalie. I have participated in the challenge on and off over the years, and consistently over the past few years.

I'm located in Seattle. I do most of my reading curled up on the couch with my retired racing greyhounds, Skelly, Otter, and Kermit, or listening to audiobooks while doing chores and walking the dogs. I'm on the hunt for a new job right now, and planning to take advantage of my greater free time right now to try to do NaNoWriMo this November, so I expect that will cut into my reading time.

I read mostly fiction, with a heavy emphasis on YA, along with some fantasy and sci-fi, general fiction/literature, a scattered mystery here and there, and the occasional non-fiction title. I've been keeping track of my books read since 2008, and I have traditionally aimed for 100. In 2020, I finally managed to both hit and surpass my long-time goal of of 150, with a total of 166!

Last year I also read 72 books off of my own shelves, an all-time high for me. I'm going to keep this goal at 50, in case I do end up very busy with wedding planning, etc. (I'll have a thread in the ROOTs group as well where I cross-post reviews of books off my shelves.)



Here's a photo of us and the dogs from our engagement photoshoot :)

Here are my top books of 2020! I usually do a top ten, but I couldn't narrow it down past 15 this year. In the order I read them:

The Flatshare
Behold the Dreamers
In the Woods
The Guinevere Deception
My Sister the Serial Killer
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Kindred
We Were Eight Years in Power
Half of a Yellow Sun
Network Effect
The Poet X
To Say Nothing of the Dog
Return of the Thief
Gideon the Ninth
A Deadly Education

Books read in 2021:

January
1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (off my shelf)
2. Jack, the Giant-Killer by Charles de Lint (off my shelf)
3. Drink Down the Moon by Charles de Lint (off my shelf)
4. The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins (off my shelf)
5. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (off my shelf)
6. The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White
7. The Flip Side by James Bailey
8. The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan
9. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
10. The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman (off my shelf)

February
11. A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow (off my shelf)
12. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
13. The Iliad by Homer (off my shelf)
14. The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary (reread)
15. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (off my shelf)
16. The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
17. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia (off my shelf)
18. Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)
19. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
20. The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal (off my shelf)

March
21. Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene (off my shelf)
22. A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
23. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (off my shelf)
24. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (off my shelf)
25. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
26. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (off my shelf)
27. The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
28. The LongDogs by Louisa Crook
29. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread)
30. The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh
31. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (reread)
32. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (reread)
33. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (reread)
34. Network Effect by Martha Wells (reread)

Books read in 2021:

April
35. When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
36. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (off my shelf)
37. Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb (off my shelf)
38. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (reread)
39. Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown (off my shelf)
40. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (off my shelf)
41. Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend (off my shelf)
42. Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer (off my shelf)
43. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (off my shelf)
44. The Deep by Rivers Solomon (off my shelf)
45. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (off my shelf)

May
46. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
47. A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot (off my shelf)
48. How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge by K. Eason
49. Across the Pond by Joy McCullough
50. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
51. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore (off my shelf)
52. The Necessary Arthur by Garth Nix (off my shelf)

June
53. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanen McGuire (off my shelf)
54. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (off my shelf)
55. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (off my shelf)
56. Finna by Nino Cipri
57. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (off my shelf)
58. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
59. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (off my shelf)
60. The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
61. A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark

Books read in 2021:

July
62. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark
63. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (off my shelf)
64. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (off my shelf)
65. Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami (off my shelf)
66. A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
67. Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
68. The Bostonians by Henry James (off my shelf)

August
69. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (off my shelf)
70. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (off my shelf)
71. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
72. The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary
73. Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize by Margo Rabb
74. Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (off my shelf)
75. Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (off my shelf)
76. The Sorcerer in the North by John Flanagan
77. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

September
78. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (off my shelf)
79. Giant Days: Early Registration by John Allison
80. War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi (off my shelf)
81. Beyond by Mercedes Lackey
82. SLAY by Brittney Morris (off my shelf)
83. Flamefall by Rosaria Munda
84. When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis
85. While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory
86. The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan
87. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (off my shelf)
88. Erak's Ransom by John Flanagan
89. The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco
90. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (off my shelf)
91. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (off my shelf)

Books read in 2021:

October
92. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (off my shelf)
93. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (off my shelf)
94. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (off my shelf)
95. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson (off my shelf)
96. Firebug by Lish McBride (off my shelf)
97. The Shadow Glass by Rin Chupeco
98. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (off my shelf)
99. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (off my shelf)
100. Havenfall by Sara Holland (off my shelf)
101. The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay (off my shelf)
102. This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling
103. Hollow Chest by Brita Sandstrom
104. Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (off my shelf)
105. A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos (off my shelf)
106. Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

November
107. Beach Read by Emily Henry
108. Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
109. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster (off my shelf)
110. We Met in December by Rosie Curtis
111. By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey (reread)
112. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
113. 500 Miles from You by Jenny Colgan
114. Roomies by Christina Lauren
115. Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen (off my shelf)
116. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
117. Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
118. Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik (off my shelf)

December
119. Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel (off my shelf)
120. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (off my shelf)
121. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
122. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (off my shelf)
123. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (off my shelf)
124. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (off my shelf)
125. The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins
126. One Day in December by Josie Silver
127. Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (off my shelf)
128. The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake (off my shelf)
129. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
130. A Season for Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss
131. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
132. The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent
133. A Sudden Wild Magic by Diana Wynne Jones (off my shelf)
134. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
135. Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip (off my shelf)

Finally, I have a pool of books off my shelf I'd like to get through this year. It's a mixture of books I've owned forever and want to finally get to, some newer titles I'm excited about, and everything in-between.

16 to go with two months left -- I don't think I'm going to get through all of them, but I'm pretty pleased with my progress.



Here is the list -- it is truly random, just a bunch of titles I pulled off my shelves when they caught my eye. We'll see how I do!

1. The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
2. Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown
3. The Secret Commonwealth by Phillip Pullman
4. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
5. Angel Mage by Garth Nix
6. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
7. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
8. Havenfall by Sarah Holland
9. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
10. The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
11. Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi
12. Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
13. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
14. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
15. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
16. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
17. Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel
18. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
19. LAMB: The Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore
20. Firebug by Lish McBride
21. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
22. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
23. Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen
24. Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
25. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
26. A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot
27. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
28. A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos
29. The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins
30. Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
31. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
32. Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
33. Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb
34. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
35. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
36. Jack of Kinrowan by Charles de Lint
37. Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip
38. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
39. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
40. Slay by Brittany Morris
41. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
42. A Sudden Wild Magic by Diana Wynne Jones

Thread #4 is open for business!

Happy new thread, Natalie.

Happy new thread, Natalie. Love the engagement photo up top!

Happy new thread, Natalie.

>1 curioussquared: Lovely family picture!

Happy New Thread, Natalie! I love the topper!

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Natalie. Adding my love for the photo of the two of you and the doggos.

Thanks, all! I've finished my first book of the new thread; review to come soon. Right now I'm focused on trying to get all of our thank you notes written in the next few days as I don't want to worry about them while I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I'm going to make Tim help with the ones that are to friends that are specifically his, but I figure it makes sense for me to take care of most of them since I'm not working right now. Plus, he has dysgraphia, which makes handwriting things fairly excruciating for him, so his helping will probably look more like him dictating while I actually write the notes.

In other news, it's our two month-iversary today, which I'm mostly excited about because it hopefully means the rest of our wedding photos will be ready soon :D

Happy new thread, Natalie! Lovely photo topper of you both with the dogs.

>16 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

105 books read: A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

Ophelia lives on the ark of Anima. As a reader, she's able to divine the pasts of objects through touch, and she also has the ability to travel through mirrors -- but really, she's happy being mostly unremarkable, serving as curator of the Anima clan museum. But then, she is betrothed to Thorn of the Dragon clan, and she must travel to the Pole ark to meet her new fiance, with nobody but her aunt Rosaline for support and chaperone purposes. On the pole, Ophelia is lost in a world she doesn't understand, desperately trying to understand not only the politics between the different clans, but even just within the Dragon clan itself. Her fiance is imposing and closed off, and Ophelia begins to despair that she'll never find her place...

Translated from the French, this YA novel takes some of the most classic of tropes and makes them feel fresh again. Ophelia seems like an unlikely heroine, mostly because she doesn't think of herself as much, but she's always more than she looks, with a trick or two up her sleeve (or wrapped in her sentient scarf). I'm excited to continue the series! 4 stars.

106 books read: Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Josh and Hazel have known each other since college, when Hazel introduced herself by puking on his shoes as a freshman and sent him a painkiller-fueled, typo-ridden email post-wisdom tooth operation when he was her anatomy TA. But they didn't expect to run into each other at Emily and Dave's barbecue -- Emily, notably both Hazel's friend and Josh's sister. After reconnecting, Josh and Hazel's friendship grows really deep, really fast. Hazel has always been loud, quirky, and generally too much to handle, and she knows it and doesn't apologize for it. Josh, meanwhile, is getting over a bad breakup, and larger than life Hazel is exactly who he needs to loosen up a bit. But they've agreed never to date, so instead they set each other up on a series of blind double dates, growing closer and closer as the weeks go on. But neither one wants to make the first move for fear of messing up the best friendship they've ever had...

This was a cute romcom! Nothing super special, but a sweet story that kept me on my toes with will they won't they action. 3.5 stars.

>19 curioussquared: Yay! I'm glad you liked it. That was my first Christina Lauren book so I have a lot of fondness for it.

Happy new thread, Natalie!

>1 curioussquared: I love the photo.

>18 curioussquared: Glad to see that you liked that one, Natalie, since I just got a copy!

>19 curioussquared: I think that I will give that one a pass for now.

Happy Sunday!

>21 humouress: Thanks, Nina!

>22 alcottacre: Thanks for stopping by, Stasia!

Happy 2-month anniversary! Hope you will share one or two of those wedding photos.

>24 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! We did in fact get our wedding album back last week and I'm super excited to share some photos later this week -- today is busy with a job interview and the first day of NaNoWriMo, plus we have a contractor starting to redo our main floor bathroom today :) All exciting stuff but a lot for a Monday!

I hope the job interview went well, Natalie, and the renos aren't too crazy-making.

Happy Tuesday, Natalie!

>26 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I think the job interview did go well. I like the team and the work sounds interesting, so I'm hoping for some good news next week. The position is with a university and they are definitely slower at hiring than tech companies :)

>28 curioussquared: Will keep fingers and toes crossed for a positive outcome from the job interview.

>27 alcottacre: Thanks for stopping by, Stasia!

The bathroom remodel is proceeding super quickly and I'm excited! The guy who's doing it did some bathrooms for Tim's cousins as well as his sister's kitchen recently. He happens to be from Ireland and his accent is very thick. I love hearing it, but I definitely need subtitles for some of the more obscure remodel language. Yesterday he told me I'd need to buy a schluter for the edge of our shower tile wall and I had to ask him to repeat the word a few times and then spell it because I had NO idea if it was a word I should know and just couldn't understand or a word I'd never heard before, lol. Turns out it was the latter!

Demo was all done yesterday, and today he worked on floor and drywall prep for laying new tile and painting. We're doing a semi-total remodel -- not moving anything around, and not changing the tub, but doing new floor tile, replacing the ugly shower walls with nice subway tile, replacing the dated vanity with a new one, replacing the old toilet, updating all the old fixtures, and painting. I think it's going to make such a difference! The old bathroom wasn't horrible horrible -- no super offensive colors or anything -- but it was all just the worst kind of DIY. The tile floor could have been attractive but had clearly been done by someone who'd never done tile or used spacers before, as all the pieces were uneven and instead of cutting a piece to fit if a space was too small, they had just filled the whole space with grout, which was now chipping out, of course, since grout isn't meant to be used like that. The vanity looked like it had been one wood color originally but then was inexpertly whitewashed to make it look shabby chic, and the toilet had a permanent chip in the seat and endless flushing problems that we would fix only for another to develop. It was time, lol.

I had already purchased the floor tile and ordered the vanity, but didn't realize the work would start so quickly this week, so today was devoted mostly to driving around town with my mom (something like 5 different home improvement related stores?) and getting the rest of the stuff we'd need, including shower tile, grout, the new toilet, and paint. A very fun and productive day, but exhausting for sure.

I'll definitely post pictures when we're done! I think most stuff will actually be accomplished this week, but the vanity won't arrive until November 19th.

In other news, NaNoWriMo is proceeding apace, and so far I'm having a lot of fun writing. Hopefully I didn't just curse myself by putting that into words!

On the reading front, I've been too busy for any print or digital reading, but am slowly working my way through Beach Read on audio while walking the dogs or tidying the house.

>29 PaulCranswick: You snuck in there, Paul! Thank you :)

>31 curioussquared: Hah! We're at the start of a bathroom remodel and I just learned what a schluter is too!

>34 drneutron: Lol, I'm glad I'm not the only one, Jim!

So now inquiring minds want to know: what part of my bathroom is the schluter?

>36 MickyFine: Lol! If you have a tiled shower wall, or any kind of tiled wall, it's a piece of metal trim installed along the edge of the tiling. It looks like this when it's not in the wall:



And like this when it's installed -- just a nondescript edge piece.

I had to look 'schluter' up too. I'm guessing it's nice but not essential as it's a recent trend that I've noticed?

We had our bathroom partly redone recently, too (which is to say, coming up on two years ago); mainly making the shower larger, which entailed partially retiling the bathroom. So I took the opportunity to design a mosaic on the wall, which came out nicely.

>38 humouress: Yes, I don't think it's necessary, just something people are tending to use these days. Designing the mosaic must have been fun! I chose a bold patterned tile for the floor but didn't trust myself to do anything overtly artistic otherwise :)

NaNoWriMo word count update: 5,100, so I'm right on pace, but it's definitely interfering with my reading time :) It's also just been a busy few days, so there hasn't been an abundance of free time.

Yesterday I did my writing during the day for the first time, then we headed over to our friends' house for some board games. We ended up playing a five player game of Catan with two sets, which is fun if a little wacky. We also picked up Catfish Corner for dinner, which is a classic Seattle restaurant featuring fried catfish and various sides that has only recently reopened after some years shut. My parents used to go after their lamaze classes nearby; my mom responded "You had that many times in utero!" When I sent her a picture of the new storefront :)

Still working on listening to Beach Read; progress is slow going. Today my best friend and I are going to do something undetermined. She's starting a new job Tuesday but off until then, so we're taking advantage of the time to hang out during the day.

>40 curioussquared: Good going, Natalie, on NaNoWriMo! Keep it going! I know you can.

I hope you hear good things regarding the job. It sounds like one in which you are very interested.

>41 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! The writing has been fun and fairly easygoing so far, though I keep worrying I'm going to jinx myself by saying that. I think the extensive outline work I did in October is helping a lot.

I am definitely excited about the job, but if I do get an offer, whether or not I take it probably depends on if they're willing to negotiate at all on the allotted vacation time. I think I'd be happy with the benefits if they would give me an extra week.

Glad to hear you're keeping up with NaNoWriMo. Way to go!

Hope you have a great girls' day out!

>42 curioussquared: Yes, this is a thing with me too. "You are offering how many days off?" is a thing I find myself saying frequently while reading what the company has touted as it's 'excellent benefits package.' Good luck negotiating if you get an offer!

>43 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

>44 libraryperilous: I had a call with a recruiter for a contract position with a company in Minnesota the other day that I was super interested in. It would have been a step up in seniority with a great salary, and the job duties and required experience fit me to a T. If it was going to be a limited term contract and technically employed by the recruiting agency, well, so be it, the experience would look great on my resume. Then the recruiter told me they only offer 8 days of paid time off per year and I basically ended the call there, lol. Why do companies think this is OK???

I'm glad to hear you're going well with the job hunt. And I was thinking about thinking about NaNoWriMo this year (which is probably a step closer than before) but I shall live it vicariously through you. Best of luck with everything!

>45 curioussquared: When I got my first job (with the NHS in the UK), I got 21 days annual leave - which I had to take instantly about a couple of months in because I had already booked a month's trip to Australia to spend time with my sister. A few years later, when I moved to Singapore and started working, I was unpleasantly surprised to find I'd only get 7 days leave. And they worked half days on Saturday.

>46 humouress: Yikes, that's not a fun surprise! I had it really good at the job I was at for 5 years with about 6 weeks of vacation for most of the time I was there. 4 would be minimum for me. Tim has unlimited vacation, too, so it would be a bummer if he couldn't really use that because I was stuck at home working.

>42 curioussquared: Glad to hear that your prep work is paying off, Natalie. I hope it continues to do so.

Happy Friday!

>48 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! I got a late start today, so I still have 1300 words to go. Happy Friday to you, too!

Today my friend and I had another girls' day out and had brunch at a spot I've been dying to try for years but consistently has several hour waits on the weekends, then went to my favorite bookstore, so all in all a good one. Finishing it up with writing and pizza. I got way too many books; ostensibly the purpose of going was so I could pick up my preorder of Terciel and Elinor, but I snagged a bunch of other good ones, too, mostly on sale so I could justify it, except for a few newer releases I'd been excited about:

A Marvellous Light
The Goblin Emperor
The Princess Will Save You
Newt's Emerald
Take Me Home Tonight
The Vanishing Half
Kushiel's Dart
Time to Smell the Roses

>49 curioussquared: Nice haul, Natalie! Sounds like you had a good day all around.

>49 curioussquared: Happy girls' day haul! I need to read one of the Hermux books.

The Goblin Emperor is such a lovely novel. Like Becky Chambers, but fantasy.

>51 libraryperilous: I know I loved the first two Hermux books as a kid, am pretty sure I read the third one at some point, and don't think I ever read this fourth one. It was a super sale one for fifty cents, so I snagged it. I might treat myself to a reread of the rest of the series before diving in.

I'm excited for Goblin Emperor! I had been looking for a copy the last few times I was at a book store, but somehow had jotted down the author's real name rather than her pen name so kept looking for it in the wrong spot.

>50 alcottacre: Oops, missed you, Stasia! It was a lovely day and lovely haul :)

Just realized I actually missed one -- I also scored a used copy of Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys.

107 books read: Beach Read by Emily Henry

January is a successful romance writer who has always believed in her work -- in true love, in happy endings, and all the rest of the tropes of her genre. But her worldview comes crashing to the ground when she learns that her parents, in her mind the model for a perfect, loving relationship, had been living a lie for years before her father's death when her father's mistress approaches her at the funeral to hand over keys to his secret second home in northern Michigan. Shocked, January doesn't know how to proceed, but financial necessity pushes her to retreat to her father's beach house to hide out for the summer so she can finish a draft of her latest book and actually get an advance and some cash in the bank, all while working on emptying the house so she can sell it -- she doesn't want any memories of her father's affair. But all of her plans fall apart when she learns just who else is living in this small Michigan town...

A fun romance recommended to me by my friend. In addition to the required romance, there are some poignant reflections on grief; I also enjoyed the drafting and writing process bits, which were fun to read while I'm also working on drafting. Recommended if you like a good romance! 4 stars.

Currently reading:

Still working on A Room with a View in print; loving it, it's just taking a while.

Like a River Glorious is my current audio -- so far the sequel is living up to Walk on Earth a Stranger.

Started The Merciful Crow on Kindle, and am so far very intrigued, just not very far in. Owen is a much loved local author at my favorite bookstore, and I saw so much love for her new book, Little Thieves both there and from some of my favorite authors on Twitter, that it both pushed me to pick up a copy of Little Thieves and start The Merciful Crow, which I already had a digital copy of.

Still having fun with NaNoWriMo, but as predicted it's taking a toll on my reading!

108 books read: Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson

Leah Westfall and her traveling companions have made it to California, where they plan to stake claims and get down to the business of mining and panning for gold. Her old friend Jefferson has made it clear he wants to marry her, but Leah isn't sure she's ready to have the few rights she has as a woman taken from her as a wife. Plus, her uncle Hiram is still out there, and she knows he won't rest until her gold-seeking powers are under his control...

I thought this sequel was just as strong as the first book, if somewhat less pleasant to read just because of the subject matter. Carson excels at writing villains, to the point that I found it difficult to listen to some of the middle sections where Leah is desperate and helpless. Still recommended. 4 stars.

Haven't written today's words yet; current NaNo count is 13,608. Still on pace!

Oh, and a bathroom remodel update: the guy doing it for us has pretty much gone as far as he can until the vanity arrives, supposedly on the 19th, so he'll come back then and install the toilet, vanity, and various other bathroom fixtures once it's here. But all the tiling and painting is done and it looks great!

>58 curioussquared: Sounds exciting! (I assume you have another bathroom you can use in the meantime.)

Still admiring your writing drive. I'm glad it's coming along well.

Yay for great-looking bathroom progress! Will you share photos once it's all done?

Also adding my cheers for your writing progress - it sounds like you're doing an amazing job!

>59 humouress: Yes, we have another bathroom :) otherwise this definitely would not have worked! And thanks, I'm honestly surprised how easy it's been.

>60 scaifea: Thanks Amber! Yes, I'll definitely share photos. The only before photo I have doesn't really capture everything, but it's the after photos people care about anyway :) And thanks for the writing cheers! Who knows if it's really anything, but I'm really just shocked at how easy it's been to fit writing 15,000 words into my past week or so.

>53 curioussquared: Between Shades of Gray was the first book by Ruta Sepetys that I read. I enjoyed it very much so I will be curious to see what you think of it when you have a chance to read it, Natalie.

>54 curioussquared: I will have to give that one a try when I am in the mood for a lighter read.

>56 curioussquared: I will have to look for the first book. Thanks for another recommendation, Natalie.

>58 curioussquared: I hope the vanity arrives as expected. Having gone through a bathroom renovation about 2 years ago, I know how stressful these things can be. Woot for new paint and tile!

Happy Wednesday!!

>62 alcottacre: Happy Wednesday to you, too, Stasia! I need to get to Ruta Sepetys soon. Too many books, not enough time.

I hope the vanity arrives on time and as expected, too! We had to replace the vanity in our basement bathroom last year due to some water damage. The first one arrived on time, but it had been a little beat up during transport, so we sent it back and had to reorder. Annoying! I paid a little extra for the white glove delivery service this time, directly into the room where it will be installed, so maybe that will guarantee a little extra care? Not sure, but my fingers are crossed.

109 books read: A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

On a trip to Italy with her older cousin Charlotte Bartlett, Miss Lucy Honeychurch is sad to find that though they had been promised a room with a view at the Pension Bertolini, they have in fact been given courtyard view rooms. Luckily, the Emersons, an older man and his son, offer to switch rooms with them. So begins Lucy's time in Florence, which culminates in an inappropriate rendezvous with the younger Emerson, George, and results in Miss Bartlett whisking her off to Rome the very next day to avoid any scandal. Upon her return to England, Lucy is soon engaged to Cecil Vyse, who she met in Rome. But trouble is still brewing, as she learns that the Emersons are coming to stay in their village...

A gorgeous novel, ahead of its time. I didn't love it quite as much as Howards End, but it packed a lot into a rather slim volume. Now to watch a film adaptation or two! 4.5 stars.

>64 curioussquared: It's such a lovely little novel. Sex and Vanity is a riff on it as well that's pretty fun (although if you didn't like Crazy Rich Asians it may not be for you).

>64 curioussquared: Another one that I need to re-read. Definitely watch the Maggie Smith/Helena Bonham-Carter/Daniel Day Lewis film version of that one.

>65 MickyFine: Oh, good to know! I loved Crazy Rich Asians, so I'll have to track that one down.

>66 alcottacre: Yes, that's the version I want to watch! Of course it's not available on any of my streaming services *eyeroll*

I've had some complicated family stuff going on over the past week or so, which is why I've been absent. Things are a little calmer now but still potentially very busy over the next week or so -- TBD!

But I've still been managing to get some books in, and to keep up with the writing: I have about 600 words left today before I hit 28,900, which puts me a day ahead of schedule. I wrote some extra over the weekend when I wasn't sure how much time I would have this week, and I'm trying to maintain that extra day.

110 books read: We Met in December by Rosie Curtis

Jess can't believe her luck when she manages to score first her dream job in publishing in London and then an amazing deal on a room through her friend Becky, who has just inherited her grandfather's house in Notting Hill and promptly rented out all the rooms to friends. The only rule is no dating among housemates. Which Jess has no problem with, until she meets her new roommate Alex -- a sweet, handsome man who has just switched careers from corporate lawyer to trainee nurse. Jess and Alex have an instant connection, but over the course of their first year living together, they never seem to make good on that connection -- each always involved with another partner, or too scared to make a move due to the no dating rule. They do, however, become great friends, walking all over London together as Jess gets to know the city. But when Alex announces he's moving out, both know that something has to give.

I saw this recommended for fans of The Flatshare, I guess due to the roommates aspect, but for me, this was a mediocre, toothless romance -- totally missing the charm of The Flatshare. I didn't feel like I really connected or cared about any of the characters, and just... nothing much happened. 2.5 stars.

111 books read: By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey

Kerowyn, granddaughter of the sorceress Kethry, has never wanted what other girls want: marriage and babies and household duties. But she never thought she had a choice, either, until her brother's fiancee is kidnapped at their betrothal feast and none of the men are able-bodied enough to rescue her. In the wake of the successful rescue, Kerowyn decides she's had enough, and decides to forge her own path. First, she pursues training with her grandmother and her soulbonded sister, the shin'a'in warrior Tarma, honing her natural weapons talent and also training in battle strategy. Soon, Kerowyn is skilled enough to find a place in a mercenary company, finally earning her own way as she always wanted. But fate isn't done with her yet, and when she's separated from her company in a battle gone wrong, lost in enemy territory, she never expects to meet and rescue Eldan, a Herald of Valdemar. She never expected to fall in love with him, either...

This is one of my total comfort read books -- my copy is bruised and bent and battered and just generally well-loved. I picked it up amidst the family stuff I mentioned up-thread and it was like coming home. 5 stars.

112 books read: Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Cassie Hanwell is pretty sure she was born to be a firefighter. She loves her job, and is honored to be her department's youngest ever recipient of their valor award and on track for promotion to lieutenant. But then... the award presenter turns out to be a man from her past. A man who hurt her, years ago, in high school. Up there on the stage, Cassie thinks she might be able to make it through the award presentation... until he has the audacity to grab her ass. In a blind rage, Cassie beats him up, concussing him and sending him to the hospital. When she refuses to apologize, Cassie has no choice but to leave the department. Luckily, her captain is still willing to put in a good word for her, and Cassie's estranged mother has been bugging her to move to Massachusetts to take care of her as she's having vision problems. In a new, anti-female fire squad, Cassie must find her place, prove to the guys that she's meant to be there, and maybe even learn to open up a little.

I really enjoyed this; it's a fun firefighter romance, yes, but there was also some deeper content about grief, healing from trauma, and learning to forgive oneself and others. 4 stars.

On deck: I'm about halfway through 500 Miles from You on audio, which is fun. I also started A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking on Kindle, which I'm loving so far, and Rosmerholm in print, which is fine, but nowhere near my favorite Ibsen at this point. I want to pick up Victory of Eagles sometime soon, as well as Terciel & Elinor.

I also chose Fingersmith to kick off my book club's restart meeting. We had a few Zoom meetings during pandemic times, but at this point almost everyone is ready to meet in person again, so I volunteered to host and organize to get us kicked off again. But we're not meeting until the second week of December, so I have a while to get to that one.

I'm late in commenting on your book haul, but I very much enjoyed The Goblin Emperor and hope you do too. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on A Marvellous Light. I have it on hold at the library and I think I'll get it this week, so hopefully I'll be reading it myself in the next month or so.

>70 curioussquared: This is one of my total comfort read books -- my copy is bruised and bent and battered and just generally well-loved.

I love those kind of reads!

>71 curioussquared: I will have to see if I can find a copy of that one. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Natalie.

>70 curioussquared: I'm glad you had a book that could help you through the family stuff.

I have By the Sword on my shelves but I see it's the fourth in its sub-series; do you think I need to read the others first? As you know, I'm a completionist :0) I don't like starting in the middle of a series and not knowing characters or events that have gone before.

>74 alcottacre: Me too, Stasia! Sometimes I focus so much on all the books I haven't read that I forget how much I love a good reread. I hope you enjoy Things You Save in a Fire if you can get your hands on it!

>75 humouress: Thanks, Nina! I think of By the Sword as a standalone within the Valdemar universe, and you can definitely read it without reading the other books. But for me, it's a standalone that I think you enjoy a little more if you read The Oathbound, Oathbreakers, and Oathblood first, as the main characters from those play a big role in the first third or so of By the Sword. I'm someone who absolutely loves when characters from previous books in a series make cameos or play supporting roles in subsequent books, though.

On the bright side, I find that trilogy to be one of Lackey's very best, so you have some excellent reading ahead of you if you choose to go that route!

>73 bell7: Oops, I missed you, Mary! I'm excited to get to both The Goblin Emperor and A Marvellous Light -- I've heard so many good advance reviews of the latter that make it sound right up my alley. The staff recommendation card at my local indie compared it to a mashup of Red, White, and Royal Blue and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel which sounds absolutely ideal to me :)

I hope the family stuff is sorted soon.

Yay for relaunched in-person book clubs!

I have the T. Kingfisher title on my Kindle. Should I bump it up?

>79 libraryperilous: I'm probably less than 25% through A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking but so far I think you'd really like it!

>80 curioussquared: I would check out A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking just for the title! My local library has a copy so I will be curious to see your final thoughts on it.

Happy Wednesday, Natalie!

>81 alcottacre: Isn't it a great title? Happy Wednesday, Stasia :)

Just sending virtual hugs for you dealing with family stuff. Looks like you've got lots of good reading going on in the midst of it.

>82 curioussquared: Yes, it is a great title!

OMG. Perfection.

>83 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

>84 alcottacre: 😊

>85 libraryperilous: Um, amazing. There's a guy on tiktok who finds videos of dogs with particularly melodious howls and then posts videos of himself accompanying them on keyboard. It's amazing and I'll try to find a link 😁

>85 libraryperilous: as mentioned above: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8gB1Fjd/

Perfect! The ending of this one!

>88 libraryperilous: :D I love it

Part of the ongoing family stuff has meant that my mom and her two sisters have been out of town since November 11. They should be home tonight, fingers crossed, but this week I've been helping take care of the younger aunt's kids while she is gone and their dad is underwater at work. They're not super tiny and helpless or anything -- they're a very young-seeming 13-year-old boy and a very old-seeming 11-year-old girl -- but they do need some supervision, chauffeuring, and feeding, etc. So that's where most of my week has gone!

I managed to finish a few audiobooks while driving without the kids in the car this week, but have otherwise only had time to finish my writing each day and fall into bed exhausted. To top it off, Tim had a minor surgery the same day my mom and aunts left to have some pre-cancerous mole tissue removed from his back. They took out a big chunk of flesh and gave him a bunch of stiches, which aren't supposed to come out until this Thursday, so I've had all the dog walking duties. I don't mind it, it's just hard to fit in when I'm gone from the house all day. Oh well, we should be back to normal soon.

113 books read: 500 Miles from You by Jenny Colgan

Lissa and Cormac are both nurses, Lissa in London and Cormac in the Scottish highlands. When Lissa witnesses a tragic accident and needs a break from the busy London lifestyle, she and Cormac end up on a job rotation where she takes over his duties in the highlands and he takes over hers in London. They're even living in each other's homes and hanging out with each other's friends -- essentially living the other's life. Even though they've never met. They're supposed to communicate about their case loads over the NHS email system, but soon they find themselves conversing constantly over text, too, each becoming the other's confidant. When Lissa has to come back to London to testify in a court case about the accident she witnessed, she and Cormac figure it's their chance to finally meet -- but it seems like forces are trying to keep them apart.

This was my first Jenny Colgan. I know she has a big following. This was just OK for me; it was a cute concept, but came across as almost saccharine. I think I needed there to be a little more bite or spice to the story. The falling in love without meeting thing is similar to The Flatshare, but in this one, they literally don't meet until the very very end of the book, which sort of took the fun out of it, I guess. 2.5 stars.

114 books read: Roomies by Christina Lauren

Holland doesn't have much going for her. Her desire to write has fizzed out since she graduated with her MFA. Instead, she's working for her Broadway writer/director uncle's show as a general gopher, taking pictures, selling tshirts, you name it, and her uncles pay most of her Manhattan apartment rent. The one thing she's been able to focus on lately is her crush on the gorgeous guitar-playing busker who usually hangs out at 50th street station. Holland has a burst of inspiration when she realizes the busker, whose name is Calvin, would be the perfect replacement for a superstar musician who's leaving her uncle's show, and gets him to come into an addition. Everyone loves him, and the part is his, but there's one problem -- Calvin's Irish, in the country illegally since he graduated from Julliard four years ago, and there's no way to get him a work permit. In a burst of inspiration, Holland realizes she can finally do something to repay her uncles, and she and Calvin get a green card marriage so he can join the show. It doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes, too...

This is my fourth Christina Lauren book and probably my least favorite that I've read? It was fine, just felt a lot more trite than the others -- this is one of their earlier standalone novels so that might be why. So far I've had two hits from these two (Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, In a Holidaze) and two less-good entries (The Unhoneymooners and this one). I'll probably keep reading their books, as they're easy listens even if I don't end up totally loving them. 2.5 stars.

>91 curioussquared: >92 curioussquared: Too bad your last reads were not better for you, Natalie. I hope the next ones are.

I also hope that things settle down to normal for you soon. Sounds like you have had a lot on your plate lately!

>91 curioussquared: I didn't like the Colgan I tried, in large part because part of the plot was how liberal a community was and they were ... not liberal. lol.

I hope the family stuff gets sorted soon and you get a bit of a break.

>93 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! Things should be a little more normal by tomorrow at least, and then I should be able to tackle some books I've been looking forward to. At least I've been able to keep up with NaNoWriMo!

>94 libraryperilous: Thanks, Diana. Yeah, this book felt "cozy" in a way that was almost obnoxious. I love a cozy book, but this didn't really work for me.

Oh, and I stress ordered some books from Book Outlet today. Sorry not sorry. Mostly stuff that's new to me that I've been eyeing, as well as two favorites I really wanted physical copies of:

Black Water Sister
Chaos on CatNet
Eliza and Her Monsters
Firekeeper's Daughter
Rebel Sisters
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
The Flatshare
The Fountains of Silence
Wilder Girls

>91 curioussquared: That's too bad it wasn't more of a hit for you. I really liked her The Little Shop of Happy Ever After and I'm crossing my fingers I'll get The Christmas Bookshop from the library before the holidays but we'll see on that front.

Sending hugs and hoping things calm down on the personal front soon.

>90 curioussquared: Gosh, that's a lot going on for you. Hoping things work out well soon. Still impressed with your writing; keep it up!

>96 curioussquared: Oo, nice! I hope you enjoy them all!

Wanted to let you know that I received a copy of By the Sword. Very curious to see how I like it - but have no idea when I might get to it, lol.

Have a great week, Natalie!

Natalie--So, I lost you there for a bit. Sorry. From your last thread...yes, we went to Kleinfeld's (no we weren't taped for the show) and it was so much fun! She found a dress and it was not the expected silhouette, of course. LOL. Happy after-your-two-month anniversary! Where are the pics? How is the bathroom renovation going? Did the vanity show up? And despite wedding planning and kid-sitting (hope the family things is working itself out) you are on book #115!! Phew! That's a lot. Life and books. : )

>97 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! I would pick up a Colgan again if one came highly recommended. It wasn't horrible, just didn't quite hit the spot for me.

>98 humouress: Thanks Nina! I'm still keeping up, though I've been maintaining a lead of a day's word count for about a week and yesterday lost it; I only wrote about 800 words out of the 1700 I wanted. So I might try to make those up today, as it's nice to feel like I have a little buffer.

>99 alcottacre: I hope you enjoy it whenever you get to it, Stasia!

>100 Berly: No worries at all, Kim! I need to find your thread, too. Lol, isn't that always the way with wedding dress shopping? I have been remiss with the pictures; hopefully I can get some posted in the next week or two. The bathroom reno is almost done -- the vanity even arrived early! We have a plumber here right now to install a new shower valve and shower trim kit. There was a brief hiccup where we discovered the existing valve, that we had thought would be fine to keep, was actually discontinued and only worked with one style of faucet. Of course that faucet was really ugly and only came in chrome, when we just got black fixtures to replace everything else. I thought we were stuck with that faucet since we had already redone the shower tile, but luckily we realized we can actually access the valve fairly easily through the closet behind the shower. So we're paying a little more to replace the valve, but the shower trim will match the rest of the bathroom, which is nice. I'm interested to see how much of my reading total this year will be audiobooks. They have totally saved my book count :)

My mom and aunts are back so I'm officially off kid duty for the moment :) I've replaced the kids with my parents' dog, Henry, who is staying with us for a little bit as he and my brother's dog, who is staying with my parents, are not getting along. The dog is much less work than the kids, all things considered :)

>102 curioussquared: Henry is the Irish wolfhound, yes?

>103 MickyFine: Henry is the Italian Spinone. Hamish is the Irish Wolfhound :) I love Hamish, but am glad we're taking care of Henry. Hamish is still a puppy and has more energy than I want to deal with right now! Probably why he gets along better with my brother's dog, Gattuso -- they are both around a year or so old and just spend all day wrestling.

>104 curioussquared: Oh phew! Hamish is a beautiful doggo but I can only imagine how many people would cross to the other side of the street when you took your pack for a walk, lol. Hopefully Henry and your trio have a grand time together (and you do too). :)

>105 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Yes, Hamish is quite the draw in public. As it is we're struggling because Henry is a horrible, horrible walker -- he never stops pulling and he is a STRONG dog. His breed is meant to accompany hunters and sniff out birds, so he's built to run and sniff and chase all day, and it shows. Whereas my dogs are built to run very very fast for approximately 30 seconds and then sleep the rest of the day :D A little bit of a mismatch! So Henry gets to come with us on evening walks and ruin the peace while I spend the whole time yanking him back and forth, but he gets left at home during our morning walks so the greyhounds can actually enjoy it.

115 books read: Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen

Rosmersholm, the Rosmer family estate, is haunted by the recent death of Beata, Pastor Rosmer's late wife, who died by falling (or jumping?) off the bridge by the millpond. Her death is something of a mystery, as they're not sure why she would have jumped. But Rosmer and Rebecca, a friend who had helped with Beata's illness and who still lives at Rosmersholm now, are about to learn more about each other as secrets start unfolding, starting with a visit from Kroll, Beata's brother, and unraveling from there.

Not my favorite Ibsen, but still a masterful play and I would absolutely love to see it in a theater. 3.5 stars.

116 books read: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Alex and Poppy have been friends since college, even though they're total opposites: Alex is buttoned up and stiff and responsible, and Poppy is wild and spontaneous and can't even keep a houseplant alive. They live very different lives, Alex teaching high school in their hometown in Ohio, while Poppy travels the world writing articles for travel magazine R&R. But they always make time for their summer trips, a tradition since college. The trips started in college on the cheap, and continued as they grew older and lately have been financed by R&R. Until Croatia, two years ago, when everything changed, and they stopped talking. But lately, Poppy has been feeling unhappy in her life, and when she tries to pin down when it started, she can only trace it back to that fateful Croatia trip and losing Alex as her friend. Desperate to win back his friendship, Poppy proposes another summer trip to off-season, boiling hot Palm Springs, on the cheap just like old times, because Alex thinks R&R is paying -- but Poppy is really financing it herself. Determined to make it the best trip ever, Poppy has everything planned out perfectly -- but she doesn't really understand just how many things can go wrong.

This was so fun -- Poppy and Alex are fantastic, believable characters I want to be friends with. Emily Henry is quickly becoming a must-read romance writer for me. 4.5 stars.

Finished two books today before noon -- not bad! Next up is Into the Bright Unknown on audio and probably Victory of Eagles in print. Still working on A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking on Kindle -- not because it hasn't caught my attention, but just because I've been busy :)

>106 curioussquared: Your descriptions of Henry vs your dogs made me laugh.

>108 curioussquared: And BB.

>110 MickyFine: I hope you enjoy! Beach Read was also excellent.

>111 curioussquared: Duly noted.

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

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

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

Natalie, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

Natalie, I am enjoying getting to know you and I wish you (and yours) happiness and health on this day of Thanksgiving! And cookies. : )

>113 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul!

>114 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Hmmm, I didn't have any cookies yesterday. Must rectify the situation.

>108 curioussquared: My local library has a copy of that one, so hopefully I can get to it soon.

Happy Friday, Natalie!

>116 alcottacre: Belated thanks, Stasia! I hope you enjoy it when you get to it.

117 books read: Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson

Leah Westfall is finally free of her uncle, once and for all, and she and Jefferson are finally affianced, to be married in the Spring. But while the new town of Glory, California is prospering, there are still a few things to take care of. First, Becky Joiner must travel to San Francisco to claim her disassembled house very soon, or it will be auctioned off and she won't be able to say anything about it. Leah, Jefferson, and others from the crew decide to travel with Becky -- Leah and Jefferson to make sure they claim the town charter for Glory that Mr. Hardwick promised them at the end of book 2. But when they arrive in San Francisco, they find that it's a city built on lies -- most of those stemming from that same Mr. Hardwick. Leah, Jefferson, and the rest must use every resource at their disposal, including Leah's still strengthening gold sense, to reclaim Becky's house, acquire Glory's charter, and make San Francisco -- and the whole frontier -- a better place.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I was a little worried about where book 3 would go with Uncle Hiram out of the picture now, but Hardwick was an excellent villain. I liked that Leah's powers grew over the course of the books, and that this third entry lent the reader a little more insight into her gift and others like it. This book felt almost like a heist story; there's a bit at the end where all is revealed, and there was definitely a lot of deft plotting and storytelling that went into the tale. All in all, a solid book and a solid series. 4 stars.

I am heading to Joplin tomorrow and will be out-of-pocket all week long, Natalie, so I am wishing you a happy upcoming week! Take care of yourself - and behave :)

Hi Natalie, and CONGRATULATIONS! On my thread I had wondered if you were a married person, and catching up on you threads I see that you are! I love the photos you posted and I look forward to more!

So... a few BBs here: Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, When the Men Were Gone, While We Were Dating, Hollow Chest, and People We Meet on Vacation to name a few. I also adored The Interpreter of Maladies, though it's been long enough since I read it that I'm sure I'm due for a reread, and I LOVE 84 Charing Cross Road, which you bought on your Powell's spree (the best wedding gift, IMO. Like it's top 5 of all time.

Where did you go on the OR coast? We had never visited Oregon before going for a college visit and all of us fell in love with it. We spend the July 4th week n Lincoln City. I just read about a sea lion who spent Thanksgiving there... https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/11/roving-sea-lion-wander...

>118 curioussquared: Always happy to see when a trilogy has a solid ending. Hope whatever is up next is also good.

>119 alcottacre: Enjoy Joplin, Stasia! I'll do my best to behave, but we're headed to Hawaii on Thursday, so no promises ;)

>120 AMQS: Thanks so much, Anne! Hoping to post a few photos before we leave for Hawaii on Thursday. Glad (or sorry?) I got you with some book bullets! I'm excited for 84 Charing Cross Road :) Technically my Powell's spree was a birthday gift, but I think it could probably count as a wedding gift too :D We were staying in Seaside but did a lot of driving up and down the coast in that area, including Cannon Beach and Astoria. That is hilarious about that sea lion! I have visited the Sea Lion Caves before but never seen a rogue one :)

>121 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! Lots of good reading still going on here. Really enjoying A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking still, Victory of Eagles is just as good as the previous Temeraire entries, and I've started Fingersmith on audio for book club, though I may switch to Kindle at some point just because I think I can probably read it faster than I can listen to it.

As I mentioned up-thread, we're heading to Hawaii on Thursday! This is our honeymoon we delayed back in September when Delta was rampant and Hawaii was asking tourists not to visit. We got our booster shots in preparation this morning. Hoping to be less laid out this time around!

Oh, Hawaii! Gosh, that sounds nice right about now. Safe travels and have a fantastic time!

Have a lovely time in Hawaii, Natalie! Which island are you staying on?

>126 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

>127 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! We're giving Maui a try this time. It's our first time -- we've only been to Kauai and the big island before.

Oof. The Moderna booster shot truly kicked my butt last night. I swear I felt worse than I did when I had actual COVID. We got our shots around 10 am and I felt ok until about 6pm; minor body aches during the afternoon, but nothing too bad. I cooked dinner and then took the dogs on a walk and that's when it really hit me. Took some tylenol and felt ok for another hour, but then was totally miserable by 8pm or so and had a very restless night filled with body aches and chills despite more tylenol. Every muscle was screaming. I guess I have an active immune system?? Still a little achy now but definitely feeling much better, so hopefully I'm through the worst. Planning to spend most of today lounging and finishing Victory of Eagles.

On the bright side, I hit 50,000 words yesterday afternoon before the aches hit so I am officially a NaNoWriMo winner!! The project still isn't done, but I'll probably take a break and get back to writing after our Hawaii trip.

In other good news, the contractor is finally back today to hopefully wrap up all the little outstanding things on our bathroom remodel. I'll post pics when everything is wrapped up!

Here are some more photos from our wedding, finally. Hope you all enjoy! It's hard to narrow down which to post, so there are a lot :D

Beautiful photos, Natalie. I'm so happy you had a wonderful wedding day, especially since you had to wait. Have a wonderful honeymoon!

re: the shots, I read that older people have less severe reactions because their immune systems have seen more. So it definitely means the booster was boosting. I'm getting mine tomorrow. Looking forward to chills and aches for 24 hours, lol. :)

>131 libraryperilous: Thanks, Diana! We didn't actually delay our wedding, just had a lot of stress over whether or not to actually go forward with planning a summer 2021 wedding after our March 2020 engagement, then some frantic planning months followed by panic when Delta emerged about a month or two prior to our date. But everything turned out pretty perfectly, even though we had to implement some additional precautions we had been hoping to avoid (i.e. we made everyone wear masks while indoors) and several people we would have loved to be there ended up not being able to attend. But it was a gorgeous day and most importantly, nobody got sick.

Good luck with the shot! I'm about 36 hours out now and finally feeling mostly back to normal aside from a few lingering aches, mostly at the injection site.

118 books read: Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik

It's a grim time for Temeraire and his captain Will Laurence: after taking the dragon plague cure to France and saving the French aerial corps from the disease the Brits deliberately spread to them, Laurence has been branded a traitor and condemned to hang, and Temeraire has been sent to a breeding grounds with other unharnessed dragons. But Napoleon's forces are too strong to keep Temeraire and his fighting ability and intelligence cooped up for long, and since he will not fight if the British army kills his captain, Laurence is granted a temporary stay of execution so that they can help Britain face the threat of Napoleonic France. They're especially necessary now that Napoleon has secured the help of Lien, another Celestial, the same breed of dragon as Temeraire. As Temeraire and Laurence do their best to serve their country, Laurence grows more and more uneasy about the things they are being asked to do, and must ask himself how far he is willing to prostrate himself in the name of Britain.

Another exciting Temeraire adventure! I enjoyed every bit of it, grim as it was in parts. I love getting the dragon perspective alongside that of Laurence; Temeraire is cleverly written and it's fun to see the differences in how they think, despite being equally intelligent. 4 stars, if only because I don't think it was quite as good as some of the earlier entries.

>130 curioussquared: Beautiful, you both look so good, and happy!
Thanks for sharing, Nathalie. I loved that the bridesmaids (sp?) dresses are all the same except an different top. Very nice that the dogs were included.

Oh, Natalie, those photos are gorgeous! WOW!!

Ooof to the booster reaction, though. I"m glad you're feeling better. Tomm and I get our boosters tomorrow...

Gret pics! I'm glad your wedding was wonderful.

>134 FAMeulstee: Thanks so much, Anita! I really liked the bridesmaid dresses too. I picked a brand and a color and then they could all choose whichever style of dress they liked best. I think it worked out really well and the dogs looked very handsome in their bow ties :)

>135 scaifea: Thanks so much, Amber! All back to normal now :) Fingers crossed that you don't react badly! I've heard that most people's booster reactions are pretty comparable to their second shot reactions, which was true for me. My booster might have been a tiny bit worse, but I wonder if it's because I had COVID back in August.

>136 drneutron: Thanks so much, Jim!

>137 curioussquared: I think I read somewhere at some point (?) that people who have had the virus tend to have stronger reactions to the vaccine, so maybe that's why? Anyway. Even if we have a more severe reaction, I'm all for getting the booster!

>130 curioussquared: Beautiful!!

(No fair; how are you all so photogenic?) The boys, of course, looking handsome. Brilliant strategy on the bridesmaids' dresses. Have a wonderful honeymoon.

I had my Moderna booster (after 2 Pfizer shots) last week. I did run a temperature the next day but didn't really have the muscle aches. Though I did take the excuse to stay in bed ;0)

>138 scaifea: Same here, Amber! But I'm still going to exercise my right to moan about it a bit 😁

>139 humouress: Thanks, Nina! The secret is that we paid the photographers a lot of money to make us look good 😂 I may have been running a bit of a fever -- definitely was a bit on and off sweaty/chilled the night after my shot, but I barely noticed dealing with the body aches. They were brutal!

Gorgeous wedding photos, Natalie! Looks like a wonderful day.

Maui is wonderful. If you need or want restaurant recommendations, let me know. We've got quite a few faves in Lahaina but there's a few other towns where we've found tasty meals. :)

So, so, so beautiful. You look like a fairy princess in the first photo particularly. And I love your greyhounds! We're missing ours, so I'm so happy to see yours!

I'm sorry your were taken out by your booster. Still worth it, though. Both my husband and I felt unwell - me less so than with my second shot, but I pumped myself full of Advil and went to school the next day. When I let it wear off that afternoon I was in a sorry state. We don't get out much, but I am in school and we've had a lot of cases among staff and students. My husband and I are starting to go to hockey games again, and I will attend some Christmas concerts this month. Plus, my girls are coming home for Christmas (both boostered or soon to be), and my brother and his family from Germany... provided that Germany doesn't do a full shutdown. We're all craving family and togetherness and want to make it as safe as we possibly can!

Have a wonderful time!

>142 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! We're staying in Lahaina so would love any restaurant recs you might have :)

>143 AMQS: Thanks, Anne! That was one of the best parts of having the wedding at my parents' house -- the dogs could be part of it! Booster is definitely worth it, especially heading into the holidays and with omicron looming. We're also craving family time, and it has been great to gather safely together these past several months -- all while making everything as safe as possible, as you say.

>144 curioussquared: Oh nice. Cool Cat Cafe, which is on Front Street in Lahaina, is an excellent burger joint and they do awesome milkshakes. There's also a pretty good pizza place on Front Street but I cannot remember its name for the life of me. I do know it was on the second story of the building near at least one of the art galleries along there. Duke's Beach House is on the grounds of a hotel in Lahaina and it is so good. Their Hula Pie is a must. If you go out to Paia, Flatbread Company does amazing pizza and there's a tasty gelato place not too far away from it. I think those are the places that have been on my must list every time we go to Maui.

Sorry about the awful storms in Hawaii. :( I hope you were able to get some beach time in before they hit and are staying safe.

What beautiful wedding photos - thanks for sharing!

Sorry to hear you had such a tough time with the booster. My first shot was the worst reaction - I just got the booster a few hours ago, though, so we'll see what tomorrow brings...

>145 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! We tried to go to Duke's but couldn't get a reservation, unfortunately :( But we had lots of great food!

>146 libraryperilous: Thanks, Diana! There was definitely some crazy weather. We had dinner reservations a 10 minute walk from our hotel the night of the big storm and were literally soaked through by the time we got there. We would have driven but the walk to the car was almost just as far from our room! We decided not to do the Hana road drive due to floods/mudslides post-storm which was a bummer but oh well, I guess we'll have to go back to Maui at some point.

>147 bell7: Thanks, Mary! Hope you are feeling OK post-booster.

Back from Hawaii late last night! We had a great time despite storms and crazy flooding in some parts, but it's always good to get home and see the dogs. I finished six books between the plane rides and beach reading so I have some reviews to catch up on!

I jumped right back into the thick of things with an interview this afternoon. It went well and I felt like I had an instant connection with the hiring manager, which is rare, but the salary is lower than what I'm looking for AND they are requiring employees to be in the office full-time, which I just don't think I want to go back to. I'd love a hybrid 2-3 days a week model, but no dice. Oh well.

>149 curioussquared: Glad to hear you had a great time, Natalie, even with the weather. Have an excellent weekend settling back in with the dogs.

>148 curioussquared: You'll have to go back to Maui? What a shame ;0) I'm glad you enjoyed your honeymoon despite the floods.

>149 curioussquared: Well, look at it as a warm up interview. It's nice to start (again) on a positive note.

Natalie,. I love your opening image of your engagement photo. Congratulations!!!

>150 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

>151 humouress: Right? Oh, no, back to Hawaii ;)

>152 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda!

119 books read: Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel

In a prehistoric time, Dusk is born to a family of chiropters -- bat ancestors who glide rather fly. But Dusk is different -- his fur is patchy, and he longs to flap his wings and take off flying. And he CAN fly, unlike his chiropter family -- he seems to be a new kind of animal altogether. When Dusk's family is attacked by feline hunters who have moved from eating bugs and plants to craving meat, Dusk must use his flying ability to lead the family to safety and find their new home.

I utterly loved Silverwing as a kid and read and reread it many times around the time I was reading Redwall. I also read Sunwing and Firewing and eagerly snapped up a Darkwing ARC when I was volunteering for the library in high school around 2006. And then... I never read it, I think mostly because the extreme prequel nature of this entry put me off. Finally picked this up as one of the oldest unread books on my shelf and ended up really enjoying it! Very different from the other books in the series, but has the same compelling adventure story and great character interaction. 4 stars, recommended for Redwall/Warriors fans.

120 books read: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Mona is a normal 14-year-old working in her aunt Tabitha's bakery who happens to be a wizard -- but her magic only works through bread and dough. One early morning, she heads into the bakery as normal... only to find a dead body in the middle of the kitchen. Mona is taken to the palace for questioning and eventually released, and she thinks that's the end of it, but it's clear that not all is well in the city. The girl killed in the bakery was a wizard, too, and soon Mona realizes that other wizards are being killed or disappearing. When Mona is attacked, she must go into hiding with her street urchin friend Spindle. Soon Mona is called upon to help the city -- and she needs to push her baking skills to the limit.

One of the most fun, original fantasies I've read in a long time! Mona is a sassy, plucky young heroine who learns to believe in herself and her abilities without ever seeming like she's not a kid. I loved the quirky magic and fun side characters. 5 stars.

121 books read: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Sue grew up among crooked folk -- Mrs. Sucksby, the woman who raised her, takes babies from those who don't want them and sells them to others, and they share a home with a fence and other petty thieves. When their associate Gentleman, a rich man by birth who has lost his money, comes to Sue with a scheme to get them both rich, Sue is hesitant at first. Gentleman needs Sue's help to convince a young, innocent heiress to marry him, then put her in the madhouse, so Gentleman will receive control of her fortune, and give a few thousand pounds of it to Sue. But Sue is soon convinced to participate. As Maud's lady's maid, Sue and Maud develop a connection, and Sue starts to wonder if she's doing the right thing, but she's swept along in the plan. But it soon becomes clear that Maud isn't the only one being played...

A fantastic, intricate story with layers upon layers; I couldn't stop reading. There were at least three huge twists that I was never expecting, and at the climax of the story I stayed up reading much later than I should have. 4.5 stars.

Has anybody seen the TV adaptation?

>156 curioussquared: I have seen the BBC adaptation, and it was pretty good! However, I've heard that the Korean adaptation, The Handmaiden, is even better.

122 books read: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

It's the post-Civil War Reconstruction era... except in this universe, there was never time for any reconstructing. Instead, humanity has been struggling to survive as a plague started affecting the dead, causing them to rise up and attempt to consume living flesh. Jane is studying to become an attendant, a Black young lady who accompanies young white women and stops any dead from harming her. The powerful men of Baltimore claim that the city is free of the walking dead now, and that the need for attendants is decreasing, but Jane has done her own surveillance and isn't so sure she believes them. As Jane struggles to make sense of a world that's stacked against her, it soon becomes clear that those at the top are much more corrupt than she thought -- and Jane's going to have to fight with all her might to make sure that she and her friends survive.

I'm not always big into zombies, but I thought this was super well done. Loved the concept and couldn't put it down. Must acquire the sequel! 4 stars, just because I don't think I loved it enough to want to reread it in the future.

123 books read: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

In the early 1940s, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment, 12-year-old Henry's father makes him wear a button stating "I Am Chinese," so he won't be lumped in with the Japanese population that lives nearby in Japantown. Henry is the only Asian kid at Ranier middle school in Seattle, and he attends on scholarship, serving lunch to the white kids who regularly bully him. Until one day another Asian girl starts at Ranier -- her name is Keiko, and she is Japanese. Initially suspicious, as his father has taught him, Henry soon forms a bond with Keiko, one that grows ever stronger as Keiko's family and other Japanese families are taken off forcibly to internment camps. In 1986, Henry is a widower with a college-aged son, and the Seattle Times has announced that boxes and chests full of Japanese family belongings have been discovered in the basement of the long-closed Panama hotel, forgotten and never claimed after the Japanese were sent away. Henry is transported back to the past and his friendship with Keiko, and starts to reopen a chapter of his life he thought closed forever.

Loved this! A little sentimental in places, but not in a bad way, and I think the author accurately portrays the sentiments of the time. I enjoyed the Seattle aspect of the story quite a bit. 4.5 stars.

Adding tons to the BlackHole! I should have learned to stay away from your thread, Natalie
:)

Glad to hear your Hawaiian trip was a good one despite the weather. Have a terrific week!

124 books read: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Somewhere in South America, a party is held to celebrate the birthday of a wealthy Japanese businessman, featuring the talented opera singer Roxanne Coss. But everything goes horribly wrong when the party is taken over by terrorists and turned into a hostage situation. The terrorists are not terribly organized, and their plan soon goes awry. When their demands are not met, the terrorists and the outside world come to a stand-off. Trapped in a mansion together, the terrorists and the hostages begin an uneasy coexistence, existing in a delicate world all of their own -- and none of them know what will happen when that world ceases to exist.

What a story -- I started and finished this on the plane ride home, unable to put it down. There's so much tension, and yet parts are remarkably peaceful. This is my first Patchett but it won't be my last. 4.5 stars.

>157 norabelle414: Good to know, Nora! One of our book club members said the same thing about The Handmaiden. I'm going to have to track both versions down!

>160 alcottacre: Sorry not sorry, Stasia :) Hope you have a good week, too!

>161 curioussquared: One of my all-time favorite books. Glad to see you enjoyed it, Natalie.

Have a wonderful weekend!

>163 alcottacre: You too, Stasia!

125 books read: The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

Sarah Dove can talk to books, and they always tell her who needs them. Handy, since she's the Dove Pond librarian. But the town of Dove Pond has been struggling of late, and Sarah doesn't know how to fix it. Enter Grace, new to town with her dear foster mother, Mama G, and her 8-year-old niece, Daisy. Mama G has Alzheimer's and Grace is hoping returning to her home town will help jog some old memories and help her feel more relaxed. Grace's plan is to stay in Dove Pond for a year or so until she can save some money and move the family to Charlotte, where she can do work more in line with her career. But Sarah knows -- because the books told her -- that Grace is very important to Dove Pond, and that whatever happens, Grace must stay. Soon, Sarah and the rest of Dove Pond -- including one handsome Travis Parker -- are working to show Grace that Dove Pond is so much more than she sees.

Thanks to Micky for this recommendation! A fun, cozy small town novel with a sweet cast of characters and some depth as well. Nothing amazing, but thoroughly enjoyable. 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars.

>165 curioussquared: Yay! Glad it hit the spot!

126 books read: One Day in December by Josie Silver

Laurie didn't believe in love at first sight -- until she locked eyes with a boy at a bus stop and watched him draw farther away as her bus continued on. She spent the next year searching for bus boy, to no avail -- until her best friend Sarah introduced her to her new boyfriend -- and it was him. Laurie is determined to not tell Sarah, and she succeeds, over the several years of their relationship and as she becomes closer friends with bus boy, whose name turns out to be Jack. But the whole time, and even as she moves on with a boy of her own, she can't help but feel that there's something special between them -- and she's pretty sure Jack feels the same.

Meh. I kept confusing this with We Met in December because they're both fairly mediocre vaguely Christmas-y novels with boring protagonists who need to grow spines. Maybe I've been listening to too many romance novels, but this one didn't do it for me. 2.5 stars.

127 books read: Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Moreta is the Weyrwoman at Fort Weyr with her golden dragon Orlith. They are within seven years of the end of threadfall for the foreseeable future, and she and the rest of the inhabitants of Pern are feeling celebratory and excited for the new era. But the day after most of the population attends a season's gather celebration, news breaks out that there is a terrible disease upon Pern, brought from the southern continent by an infectious wildcat captured and brought back by a ship. As the disease spreads at an incredible pace, taking down more and more people, Moreta knows they must contain it or they will not have the population necessary to combat the threadfall that so threatens their existence. She's willing to do anything -- even risk her own health and safety.

It's been a long time since I've read any Pern books, aside from the Harper Hall trilogy which I probably read relatively recently. This was on my list of books to read this year just by virtue of its having been on my shelves unread for so long. I knew it was something of a prequel, based on a legend or song referenced in the main Pern timeline, but that didn't mean much to me since it's been so long since I've read the original books. What I didn't know is that it was literally just a book about a pandemic; I probably wouldn't have picked it up had I known. It was fine; I actually really enjoyed the first quarter, and it made me remember why I so enjoyed the original Pern books. But it really got fairly technical after that, with lots of quarantines and treatment options and vaccine development, and was much closer to home than I want my escapist fiction to be right now. 3.5 stars.

128 books read: The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

Violet is descended from the survivor of a shipwreck, her great great great grandmother Fidelia, who made it to shore and went on to found the town of Lyric, Maine. As a child, she, her brother Sam, and her parents would spend summers in Lyric, and she and Sam used to hunt for the wreck of the Lyric, which was never found. Now sixteen, Violet has gotten into sex, drinking, and drugs in her normal life in New York -- but all of that is pushed to the side when Sam, who is autistic and depressed and has always had trouble fitting in, tries to kill himself. While Sam is sent to a rehab center in Vermont, Violet is sent off to Lyric to spend the summer with her uncle Toby so she's out of the way, volunteering at the seen-better-days Lyric Aquarium. Violet's not sure what she's going to do with herself for a whole summer in Lyric, but she soon finds herself drawn into the history of her peculiar family and sharing her findings with new friends, as she learns more about her family's past, Lyric's past, and her family's future.

I think I found this via my local indie where it was a staff pick. I think it would work for fans of John Green; there are similar elements. I wanted to really love this book, but I think I more just really liked it; while I was very engaged and read it quickly, I didn't fall in love with any of the characters and I don't think I'd reread it. 4 stars.

129 books read: The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

Anthony Bridgerton is certain he is meant to die young, just as his father did, and this is part of the reason he is determined not to marry for love -- in fact, he wants to do just the opposite, and he's on the hunt for a suitable, intelligent wife who he'll absolutely never fall in love with. He thinks he's found just that in Edwina Sheffield, the belle of this year's season, but there's a problem: Edwina has announced to all that she won't marry without the express approval of her older sister, Kate Sheffield, and Kate... decidedly does NOT like Anthony. She thinks him a rake who will not do for her little sister. As Anthony attempts to win over Kate, he discovers that she's quite different from the other young women he's spoken with -- she's sassy, smart, and even downright rude, and she brings out the worst in Anthony. As she frustrates him time and again, Anthony starts to wonder if he'll ever be allowed to marry Edwina...

I think I liked this second Bridgerton book even more than the first. Kate is a fun heroine, and I enjoyed the hijinks she and Anthony (and Newton the corgi) got up to, even when the situations were a little ridiculous. Pure fun. 4 stars.

>170 curioussquared: I agree that one is pretty fun. Have you seen the actress they cast for Kate for season 2? So gorgeous!

>170 curioussquared: When He Was Wicked is one of my favorite novels, but all of the Bridgerton books are fun. The only one I didn't like is Daphne's book, because of the rape-y moment.

>169 curioussquared: Ahh, I had that one on the TBR, but it sounds too much like domestic fiction for my tastes. Gorgeous cover!

We are closing out 2021 with a new cat meme!

>167 curioussquared: I tried to read that a couple of years ago and couldn't get into it.

>173 libraryperilous: Oh excellent, I saw the original sea shanty (and AITA post) but that's even better!

>174 bell7: Today, he was a full-on Jorts. lol, love it.

>165 curioussquared: I get to dodge that BB because I have read it - also on Micky's recommendation.

>169 curioussquared: That one sounds interesting. I will have to see if I can find a copy.

Have a terrific week, Natalie!

>171 MickyFine: Yes! So gorgeous. I'm excited for season 2!

>172 libraryperilous: Yeah, I didn't enjoy that aspect of The Duke and I either, but glad to hear I have more good things to look forward to with the rest of the Bridgertons. Last True Poets of the Sea definitely has a gorgeous cover. I was partially drawn to it because it's supposed to be a retelling of? inspired by? Twelfth Night, but maybe I'm just oblivious, but I don't even think I would have picked up on it if it hadn't been advertised.

>173 libraryperilous: Omg. I've been telling everyone I know about Jean and Jorts, lol. I always feel like a lot of AITAs are fake but this one is so incredibly weird and specific that I believe that Jean and Jorts exist.

>174 bell7: You dodged a bullet; it just wasn't very good!

>175 libraryperilous: :D

>176 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia :)

We got some really upsetting news last week: after an ultrasound and endoscopy plus biopsy, poor Skelly has been diagnosed with a cancerous mass in his stomach. Next steps are probably surgery, but we're waiting on CT scan results to determine if a surgical removal is feasible. If it's not, we'll probably consider radiation. Heartbroken since our boy is only just 9 but trying to focus on getting him the best care we can.

In the meantime, we're trying to schedule consults with veterinary surgeons. Everyone is booked out and the surgery is potentially really complicated, so we're trying to get in with a few surgeons that our normal vet really highly recommends. We have one consult booked with one of the recommended surgeons for January 13, and another with a surgeon who wasn't on the recommended list but can get us in January 6, whereas the surgeon at his practice who was on the list is booking out to mid-February. Still waiting on a call back from the third highly recommended surgeon to schedule.

Skelly is on a slew of meds but seems to be doing OK aside from a little lethargy. In addition to the meds, we have prescribed him lots of treats and cuddles :) Just really hoping for good news from the CT.

Reading-wise, I'm trying to focus on trimming down my list of books to read in 2021 I have at the top of my thread; 7 to go. I won't get to all of them but will probably carry over what I don't get to to a 2022 list. Currently working on A Sudden Wild Magic.

Finished A Season for Second Chances on audio last night, so review to come soon, and started The Bromance Book Club on audio this morning.

>178 curioussquared: Aww, I'm sorry to hear this news. It's always so tough dealing with a sick pet. Hopefully you find a treatment plan that keeps Skelly comfortable. And crossing my fingers the CT is good news.

>178 curioussquared: Oh no! I hope you get the CT results soon and can proceed with a treatment. I hope Skelly's treats and cuddles Rx makes him feel a tiny bit better.

>178 curioussquared: I am sorry to hear about Skelly. I hope the best course of treatment can be sorted very soon, Natalie.

>180 MickyFine: >181 libraryperilous: >182 alcottacre: Thank you all for the good wishes! We did get the CT scan results back this morning and there's no sign of metastasis, which is what we were primarily worried about, so that is great news. I also heard back from the third surgeon and we were able to get an appointment with them on January 6, which is earlier than we or Skelly's normal vet expected, so that's good too.

>183 curioussquared: Hooray for good news!

Oh, thank goodness for the good news!! But still, *hugs all around* because it's been so stressful, I bet!

>184 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia!

>185 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! Yes, definitely still very stressful, and the good news is good but not a guarantee that it'll be operable, so we're holding our breath until the surgical consults.

A little more good news this morning, though: I got a call from one of the recommended surgeons and they're able to move up Skelly's consult to Jan. 4 from Jan. 13 due to a cancellation. The sooner we get him seen the better I'll feel!

Oh, no! I'm so sorry to hear about Skelly's condition but I'm glad there's some good news coming through. Fingers crossed, and give him some ear rubs from me (and for the other boys too, in case they get jealous).

Oh dear, poor Skelly! I completely agree with your prescription of treats and cuddles. I'm glad to hear he's in good hands and there is some good news.

Great reviews! I already had A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking on my list, but your review will nudge it up. I just read about another book by the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet on another thread. I have Hotel somewhere, and I think I need to excavate and read it.

>187 humouress: Thanks, Nina! I will definitely pass your ear rubs on ❤️

>188 AMQS: Thanks, Anne! I was trying to think what A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking reminded me of, and I realized yesterday it's very reminiscent of Diana Wynne Jones in her prime for me. Same sort of delightfully whimsical world and magic, with a younger, brave heroine who's trying to fix things without really knowing how. It also just won the Lodestar if you needed another push!

>130 curioussquared: I am late to the party, but, Oh!! Your pictures are just gorgeous!! And everyone (especially the bride and groom) looks so happy. Thank you for sharing.
>137 curioussquared: My daughter is doing the same thing for the bridesmaid dresses and I think it is a wonderful idea. : ) And Hawaii!!!
>146 libraryperilous: I loved Fingersmith! And I didn't know there was a TV adaptation. Have to look for that one...
>168 curioussquared: I am a Pern fan, but haven't read that series in ages. Hmmmmm...wonder if I've read them all....
>171 MickyFine: Oooh! Season Two of Bridgerton. Another fun thing to watch.
>178 curioussquared: Wishing Skelly the best of luck!

>190 Berly: Thanks for the wedding photo love, Kim! :) And for the Skelly good wishes.

Skelly update: Our vet decided to just call up some of the surgeons we have appointments with and go over Skelly's case with them so we didn't have to wait several weeks just to get an opinion, which is great -- we love our vet :) She talked to two of them and both were not super positive about surgery -- the mass is in a place that I guess would require removal of a sphincter which is possible but not recommended as it's just not a very successful surgery typically. But, one of the recommended surgeons recommended doing some additional biopsy of the mass to confirm it is the type of tumor they think it is. If it's confirmed, she recommended an oral chemotherapy pill instead, as the type of tumor it's suspected to be is normally very treatable with these oral chemo pills. So, we're waiting on that additional biopsy to know how to move forward.

Yesterday I finished my Christmas shopping (FINALLY) and am just waiting on three last packages arriving today. Planning to do all the wrapping today and hopefully make some cookies! I've been craving Christmas cookies for several days and just haven't got it together to actually make them.

I managed to schedule myself a rapid test today in advance of Christmas festivities, starting with Christmas Eve brunch with Tim's parents tomorrow, then Christmas eve and day festivities with my extended family. I've been trying to schedule Tim one at the same time for over an HOUR but the website is so overloaded I keep managing to get to the end of the booking process and then it kicks me out. So frustrating! At this point I guess I'll just get mine and we'll assume it applies to Tim too; I'm the one who's been out and about, anyway.

Unfortunately Omicron is hitting hard here and our Christmas is dwindling my the second. One of my cousins tested positive and has exposed his whole family so that's four people down. Another cousin is sick with something that is a really bad cold or flu if it's not Covid, so that's four people down there too. Honestly, our family is so big and Omicron is spreading so rapidly here that it was just statistically unlikely we would all make it to Christmas....

Yay for getting Christmas shopping done and for being able to meet with the vets to get a course of treatment for Skelly. Boo for Omicron and all of the illness in your family right now.

Merry Christmas, Natalie!

>191 curioussquared: Fingers crossed for Skelly.

>192 curioussquared: I'm sorry that some of your family will miss the Christmas get-together. That must be disappointing. But I'm optimistic about omicron; it seems milder though more infectious. Fingers crossed, again.

>192 curioussquared: I hope the results of the second biopsy are good news for Skelly.

Whatever your celebrations end up looking like, I hope you and Tim have an excellent first married Christmas.

130 books read: A Season for Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss

Annie has known her husband was cheating for years, and ignored it in favor of prioritizing raising their twin boys and running their successful, critically acclaimed restaurant for which she is the chef. But when she catches her husband with a waitress half her age, breaking the only rule she gave him -- no staff -- something snaps. She leaves him, moves to a hotel, and ponders next steps. Next steps fall into her lap in the form of the town of Willow Bay, where an older woman named Mary is looking for someone to stay in her historic home over the winter months. Annie moves in, and it seems idyllic -- the town is quaint, the villagers kind, and Annie finds herself tempted to open the coffee kiosk that used to be run out of the house. The only issue is Mary's bad-tempered nephew John, who is determined that the property will be sold come Spring so that Mary will be taken care of as she gets older. As she comes to love Willow Bay and gets to know John better, Annie starts to wonder if there might be another way....

Thanks to Diana for the recommendation! I really enjoyed this sweet, slow-burn romance. Annie is in her mid-forties and knows herself and her own mind, and that's always refreshing in a romance novel -- I'm tired of romances featuring younger protagonists where half the plot hinges on them making dumb decisions. And if Willow Bay exists, I want to go there -- it sounds like the sweetest little village. 4 stars.

>193 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! Merry Christmas!

>194 humouress: Thanks, Nina! Yes, it's disappointing. We would probably be a little less cautious with Omicron, as we're almost all vaccinated except for my 4-year-old cousin, but my grandma is immunocompromised so we really just can't risk her getting sick even from Omicron. She's triple vaxxed with a third full shot instead of a booster, but we just don't know what kind of immune response her body is able to put up. At the same time, family is her lifeblood, and I know another small Christmas would be a huge hit to her mental health, so we're trying to balance those needs.

>195 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I know we'll have a good Christmas either way, it's just a bummer that Omicron had this timing!

131 books read: The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott thought his marriage was fine -- until his wife admits she's been faking it their whole marriage, and kicks him out after the subsequent fight. Gavin is desperate to get Thea back, but he has no idea how. Until his teammate Del bursts into his hotel room, orders him to get cleaned up, and drags him to what turns out to be a secret romance book club of some of Nashville's rich and famous men. The men help others like them win back their wives and save their relationships, reading romance books to learn what women want. Together, they come up with a plan to help Gavin re-woo Thea, and Gavin dubiously agrees to read the regency romance they give him as a guide. But is it too late?

Such a fun book! I loved that it featured a man's perspective and a whole group of men working to overturn toxic masculinity. 4.5 stars.

>196 curioussquared: And a BB for me.

>198 curioussquared: Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed this one too.

>196 curioussquared: Glad you enjoyed it! I found the seaside town and the kiosk more interesting than the romance. I would love to spend a winter by the North Sea!

I hope the biopsy results show a good treatment path for Skelly.

>197 curioussquared: Oh gosh no, I didn't mean you should run any risks. I meant as a world wide thing, going forward, maybe it'll turn out to be not as bad as the other mutations.

>198 curioussquared: Reading the Regency romance snippets was fun, too.

>199 MickyFine: Hope you enjoy! I'm definitely planning on reading on in the Bromance books.

>200 libraryperilous: I thought the romance was sweet, but I was definitely also captivated by the fantastic book club and town.

>201 humouress: Of course, totally get it, Nina :) Agreed -- the regency snippets were really fun! Especially as they were very reminiscent of the Bridgerton book I just finished, lol.

Have a lovely holiday, Natalie.

I hope your holiday was a good one. Still thinking about your Skelly. You got me with your last two reads - how fun!

These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID (yes, my daughter came down with Christmas Eve), a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for you and here's to next year!!

Thank you Roni, Paul, Anne, and Kim! Merry Christmas to you all as well.

>205 AMQS: I hope you enjoy those two, Anne!

>206 Berly: Hi Kim! Sounds like we had similar Christmas COVID experiences... details below ;)

Well, our Christmas didn't go quite as expected. We had a lovely Christmas eve brunch and opened stockings with Tim's parents on Friday, then went to my grandma's house, where about ten of us had dinner and diminished celebrations (usually we're pushing 20 people).

The next morning, we were due to return to my grandma's with the same group, where we'd have breakfast and open gifts. However, I was still lazing in bed around 8am when I got a call from my mom to let me know my brother, who had been at our 10-person celebration, had taken a rapid test after developing a sore throat and tested positive for COVID that morning. So, family Christmas was quickly canceled; the hope is that we can do a make-up Christmas with the whole family in a few weeks.

Tim and I opened gifts we had for each other and spent the day lazing with the dogs. My big gift from him is a new phone, but it's delayed -- stupid supply chain! Tim is very allergic to dust so I got him a fancy robot vacuum that empties itself so you only have to empty the base every week or so.

We're mostly quarantining at this point and waiting to be tested. Seattle usually has really good testing access, but most of the county-run sites have been closed the last few days due to a big snow storm and cold snap -- it's been between 15-25 degrees here the last few days which is NOT normal for us. (I know Micky is laughing right now!) We have appointments for PCR tests tomorrow, but I have a feeling the site will be closed again. Eventually we'll see if my super-immunity from two shots, COVID, then a booster does anything! I don't have any rapid tests on hand and they're sold out everywhere, so I'm just going to wait for a PCR since they're more accurate anyway.

Finally, I'm accepting all prayers and good thoughts/vibes for my grandma, who was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia last night. She was at our Christmas eve and was exposed to my brother a few days before he tested positive, but she is so far testing negative for COVID. She had a cold before Christmas that may have turned into the pneumonia. She is doing OK so far, but not out of the woods yet.

132 books read: The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent

Birdie has never known what she wants in life -- unlike her best friend Heather, an up-and-coming sommelier. When Heather decides to pass on a job offer to be the new sommelier at a run-down hotel and restaurant in rural Scotland, she asks Birdie if she'll call the staff and let them know because she doesn't want to let them down. Meanwhile, Birdie is looking for something new, and has no summer plans and no place to live at the moment. She alights on a brilliant plan -- why not impersonate Heather and take the job herself? She looked at the restaurant's wine list, and it's very short, and the restaurant has plenty of bad reviews online -- how hard can being a sommelier be at a place like that? But when Birdie arrives, it turns out the whole place is under new ownership, on the way to being a much fancier place -- with a much, much longer wine list. Birdie soon realizes that she's in way, way over her head, but she doesn't know how to extract herself from the situation without ruining Heather's reputation -- and without alienating the super cute chef, James...

I really wanted to love this book -- Scotland, wine, cute chef, what's not to love? But I just hated that all of Birdie's relationships and interactions are based on a deception. Honestly, she gets off so, so easy at the end (sorry if that's a spoiler!). She lies so much and so often to everyone she knows, and it just made the whole reading experience super uneasy for me. 3 stars.

133 books read: A Sudden Wild Magic by Diana Wynne Jones

The UK has always been protected by the Ring, a secretive group of powerful magic users who have quietly been averting crisis after crisis for years. Lately, global warming has been on their minds, and they're at a loss to fight it. Until one member of the Ring, Mark, realizes that the global warming crisis wasn't actually created by humans, but by mages in another world in another universe. These mages have actually been using Earth as their personal experimentation world -- if they have a problem on their world, they manufacture the same problem on Earth, and then steal whatever solution Earth's mages and scientists come up with to fix it. The members of the Ring are aghast, and must come up with a solution to stop the pirate mages. Soon, the Ring has gathered a group of women for its mission, and they're ready to use whatever wiles they need to distract the all-male group of pirate mages.

Sob -- this was my last unread Diana Wynne Jones book :( It's kind of a weird one -- this one is aimed at adults, unlike the vast majority of her fiction. There are lots of similar themes to many of her books -- parallel universes, analogue human counterparts, etc. It took me a little to get into, but I was captivated by the end. I will say that for me, the written for adults aspect manifested in just a little of the DWJ charm being missing. Many of the characters were less likeable and less forgivable because they were adults rather than children. But still, a reliably wacky, creative experience of a read. 4 stars.

On the reading front, I'm listening to These Violent Delights and should finish before the end of the year. I'm planning to start Alphabet of Thorn in print to hopefully squeeze in one more title from my reading challenge this year. Still working on The Merciful Crow on my Kindle in the middle of the night, but probably won't finish until 2022.

>208 curioussquared: So sorry Covid has struck. I'll definitely be praying for your grandma.

>208 curioussquared: I hope your grandma pulls through and gets better soon! So sorry to hear about the Christmas Covid.

>209 curioussquared: So many rom-coms rely on deception. I got over halfway through one recently only to find out that the 'hero' was engaged to someone else. Umm, that is not romantic or cute in the slightest.

>212 drneutron: Thanks so much, Jim!

>213 libraryperilous: Thanks, Diana! What is it with the deception romcoms? I think I can sometimes handle it in a romcom movie, depending on the movie, but it's hard for me to enjoy in a book.

Latest grandma update is that she's doing better -- on lots of meds, but her levels are stabilizing, and she was hungry. She also asked for and had a coca cola, her favorite thing :)

Natalie--So sorry COVID struck close to home! Hope you can get tested soon and don't come down with any symptoms. I am very glad to hear your Grandma is on the mend. And what is with this cold front? Brrrr! Since I have been able to get out of my driveway and get around, I am loving how pretty the snow looks. Looks like Thursday morning could be the most yet...yikes!

Oh, I'm sorry that your Christmas didn't go as planned and I'll be keeping your grandma - and all of you - in my thoughts.

I would like to wish you and your family the very best of the season and good health and happiness for 2022. Sending prayers for your grandma and hoping everyone else is covid-free too.

>215 Berly: Thanks, Kim! So far I haven't heard of anyone else who was there testing positive, but we're really just at the 5-7 days testing point recommended by the CDC. Looks like the testing site is open after all, so later today Tim and I will try to get out of our long, steep driveway to make it there. All the main roads are clear at this point, just the driveway will be the issue.

>216 scaifea: Thank you Amber!

>217 humouress: Thanks, Nina! Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family as well 😊

My grandma is still doing ok this morning, but I think they're waiting until she's more stable to discharge her.

Fingers crossed that you stay negative, Natalie, and glad to hear your grandma's doing a lot better.

>219 bell7: Thanks, Mary! We were able to get out of our driveway and get tested this evening at the drive thru site near us. We were in line for almost an hour and a half -- they are super overloaded. Normally we've been getting results back within 24 hours, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took longer this time.

134 books read: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

In this loose Romeo and Juliet adaptation set in 1920s Shanghai, Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov are respective heirs to the Chinese Scarlet Gang and the Russian White Flowers -- which makes them sworn enemies. Not to mention the fact that Roma betrayed Juliette years ago, when they were children and before she went to New York for her education. Now back in Shanghai and ready to reclaim her city, Juliette finds herself working with Roma to discover the source of a terrible disease of madness that is causing Scarlets and Flowers alike to kill themselves by ripping their own throats out. Juliette doesn't want to trust Roma again, but she has no choice as her people start to fall around her. As more and more are taken by the madness, Juliette and Roma must race against time to track down the source -- before it's too late, or before their families find out they're working together.

I'd seen this one around on the internet before learning about the premise and the cover never attracted me, but I was intrigued when I heard that Gong wrote not only this novel, but also its recently released sequel, during the pandemic, WHILE she was an undergrad student at UPenn. Girl, don't burn out before you hit 23! Anyway, I learned that and a bit about the book and decided to give it a try. I thought this was a solid YA novel; fast-paced and full of action, with a fairly original story and setting despite the basis in Shakespeare. I felt it was a little lacking in characterization and I could have used more backstory and fleshing out of the characters in general, but it was still an enjoyable listen. 4 stars, planning to listen to the sequel as well.

Sorry to hear about your brother's COVID case and the disrupted Christmas. Hopefully he's recovering well and fingers crossed both your test and Tim's come back negative.

Sending prayers for your grandmother and hoping she continues to improve.

I promise I didn't laugh (too hard) at your cold snap but I do recognize how tricky that is when you're not used to it (or equipped for it). Hopefully things are more seasonal for you soon.

>222 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! My brother is doing well and so far nobody else has tested positive, though we're just getting to 5-7 days out when the CDC is recommending testing for omicron. My grandma continues to do well, too. And thanks for not laughing too hard at our snow incompetence :D We got a bunch more last night but temperatures are starting to go up so it'll probably melt over the next few days.

Woohoo, our COVID tests came back negative 😁 unless either one of us comes down with symptoms, I'm going to assume we dodged it this time! I think it helped that we got our boosters about a month before so they were at peak effectiveness, whereas my brother had only gotten his the week before.

>224 curioussquared: Huzzah!

>196 curioussquared: Adding that one to the BlackHole. It sounds like one I would enjoy. Thanks for the recommendation, Natalie!

>198 curioussquared: I already have that one in the BlackHole thanks to Katie Krug. I hope my local library gets a copy of it soon.

>208 curioussquared: Praying for your family, especially your grandmother!

>210 curioussquared: I have not read a lot of Diana Wynne Jones books, including that one. Into the BlackHole it goes!

>224 curioussquared: Yay!

Happy New Year, Natalie!

Glad your tests were negative, and that your grandmother is improving! Also, I started the book in >209 curioussquared: this summer and didn't get very far before returning it to the library. After seeing your review, I don't think I'll bother picking it up to try again.

>226 alcottacre: Hope you enjoy the book bullets, Stasia, and thank you for the good wishes!

>227 aktakukac: Thanks, Rachel! Yeah, it wasn't really my cup of tea (or glass of wine?). I might not have finished it if I wasn't listening to it.

My grandma continues to improve. She is still wheezing pretty badly, but they have deemed her well enough to move to a unit in the hospital for patients who need less intensive care, which is a good sign.

I forgot that I teased you all with promised of bathroom remodel pics and never delivered! We put the finishing touches on it literally the morning of the day we went to Hawaii, then the rest of December has been such a blur that I totally forgot. Here's a before and some afters!

Before: I only have one angle, but the shower walls were the same weird pinky-nude color of the vanity top, and the fixtures were all chrome.


After: I love it so much!

Oh, WOW! Your bathroom looks so good!!

Nice remodel! We're big on the oil-rubbed bronze too - our house is farmhouse style. And I think we just put a very similar light fixture in our main bathroom.

>229 curioussquared: Nice!



Happy New Year! Wishing you the very best in joy, friendship, health, happiness and lots of good books for 2022.

>230 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

>231 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! Yes, we're going for a sort of modern farmhouse vibe, too. We have a garage/roof deck remodel possibly on the docket for this year -- we were making inquiries last year but got ghosted by a bunch of contractors and then got very busy with wedding stuff. I'd also like to see if I can convince Tim that this is the year to convert our wood-burning fireplaces to gas inserts. We're just not fire people and I know we'd use the gas ones all the time. A kitchen remodel is also on the docket, but I have a feeling it won't happen this year -- the garage/roof deck one is more urgent structurally.

>232 humouress: Thanks, Nina! Right back atcha :)

Our new year's eve should be fairly uneventful; after our COVID scare on Christmas Eve and the horrifying number of new cases in our county right now, I think we'll probably spend it just the two of us and dogs at home. I'd like to finish Alphabet of Thorn (I have a little under 1/3 left) and maybe get out to Lowe's -- I heard there are some crazy good sales on right now.

>229 curioussquared: Lovely!

>234 curioussquared: Staying at home sound like a good plan to me, Natalie, given the circumstances. Good luck finishing Alphabet of Thorn.

>235 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! I finished my book and made it to Lowe's where they did indeed have some really good sales :)

135 books read: Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

In the kingdom of Raine, Nepenthe was found as a baby by the royal librarians and taken in as a ward of the library, earning her keep by training as a transcriptionist and translator of foreign alphabets. Now 16, she happens to tag along one day with a fellow ward to the floating school of magic, where the mages have a text that none can decipher. When Nepenthe lays her hand on the book, with its mysterious thorny writing, she is compelled: rather than give the book to the head librarians, she conceals it, pretends to all that the mages ended up translating it themselves and never gave it to her, and obsessively hides away deep in the library to work on translating the language herself. Meanwhile, a new queen has been crowned at the young age of 14, and her subjects and counselors are finding her lacking. Civil war is threatening as the 12 crowns of Raine sense the opportunity to seize power. As the queen stumbles through the days with the help of the ancient mage Vevay, she is warned at every turn against thorns, and soon her attempts to save Raine bring her to Nepenthe and her mystery book.

What a lovely way to finish out the year. Gorgeous, lyrical prose and a fairy tale of a story, with a library that reminded me of the library of the Clayr in Lirael. I always forget how much I like McKillip until I read another of her novels and fall under the spell of her words again. 5 stars.

I think these are my top reads of the year! No trimming because 2021 was hard and I don't feel like it :)

North and South
Catfishing on CatNet
The Fire Next Time
The Sherwood Ring
Hollowpox
Fugitive Telemetry
Concrete Rose
One Last Stop
Prodigal Summer
A Gentleman in Moscow
Dragonfly in Amber
Interpreter of Maladies
Pachinko
The Last Graduate
Hollow Chest
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
Alphabet of Thorn

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

Happy New Year, Natalie.

Your bathroom reno looks lovely! And so pleased you ended the year with a 5-star read.

>239 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

>240 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! We're very happy with it. And agreed -- always nice to close out the year with a good one.

The bathroom looks AWESOME!!

Happy New Year!!