justchris and Duende chilling with books and cat toys in 2021

Diskutera75 Books Challenge for 2021

Bara medlemmar i LibraryThing kan skriva.

justchris and Duende chilling with books and cat toys in 2021

1justchris
Redigerat: jan 25, 2022, 9:19 pm

Welcome to 2021! Let's hope it's a less interesting time than 2020. Hopefully, this curse has an expiration date. May this be a year of social transformation and finding a better status quo than the one that was so catastrophically disrupted last year (and the years of turmoil before that, really). My meditation word for the year is trans·form.

Books read in 2021:

January

1. The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer - ROOT 1
2. The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer*
3. Frederica by Georgette Heyer*
4. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler* (book club)
5. Queers Destroy Science Fiction! guest edited by Seanan McGuire - ROOT 2
6. Kindred by Octavia Butler
7. The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford(*) - BAC

February

8. Air Logic by Laurie J. Marks*
9. Ornament of the World by Maria Rose Menocal NF - ROOT 3
10. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin(*)
11. The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter NF - ROOT 4 (book club)
12. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein NF - ROOT 5 (book club)
13. The Farthest Shore by Ursula LeGuin(*)

March

14. The Witch's Book of Self-Care by Arin Murphy-Hiscock NF - ROOT 6
15. Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling - ROOT 7
16. Seed to Harvest by Octavia E. Butler - ROOT 8
17. Chalice by Robin McKinley*
18. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith*
19. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay NF - ROOT 9

April

20. Heroics for Beginners by John Moore*
21. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (book club)
22. Ken Hom's Asian Ingredients NF - ROOT 10
23. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh NF G - ROOT 11
24. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz - ROOT 12
25. Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks*
26. The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh - ROOT 13
27. Gardening with Less Water by David A. Bainbridge NF - ROOT 14

May

28. Earth Logic by Laurie J. Marks*
29. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik*
30. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson NF - ROOT 15 (book club)
31. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin NF - ROOT 16 (book club)
32. The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art by Juliette Wood NF - ROOT 17

June

33. Crazy Woman Creek NF/P edited by Linda M. Hasselstrom et al. - ROOT 18
34. Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh - ROOT 19
35. The Telling by Ursula LeGuin - ROOT 20
36. Water Logic by Laurie J. Marks*
37. The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia McKillip*

July

38. Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton - ROOT 21
39. New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Tales from the Caribbean edited by Karen Lord - ROOT 22
40. What's Your Pronoun? NF - ROOT 23
41. The Revised and Expanded Decktet Book NF - ROOT 24
42. Invisible Planets translated and edited by Ken Liu - ROOT 25
43. Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead - ROOT 26
44. Deerskin by Robin McKinley*
45. Ride the River by Louis L'Amour*

August

46. LaRose by Louise Erdrich (book club)
47. Nameless Woman: An Anthology of Fiction by Trans Women of Color - ROOT 27
48. Knight's Wyrd by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald*
49. Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten by Stephen Few NF - ROOT 28
50. Love, Inshallah edited by Nura Maznavi and Ayesha Mattu NF (book club)
51. Latinx Rising: An Anthology of Latinx Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Mathew David Goodwin - ROOT 29

September

52. New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl - ROOT 30
53. Regenesis by C. J. Cherryh - ROOT 31
54. Harpist in the Wind by Patricia McKillip*
55. Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few NF - ROOT 32
56. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyazi (book club)
57. Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker G - ROOT 33
58. Divergence by C. J. Cherryh - ROOT 34
59. The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped by Sherri S. Tepper*
60. People of Colo(u)r of Science Fiction! - ROOT 35
61. The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe NF - ROOT 36

October

62. False Colours by Georgette Heyer*
63. Fallon by Louis L'Amour*
64. Ride the Dark Trail by Louis L'Amour*
65. Venetia by Georgette Heyer*
66. The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer*
67. Arabella by Georgette Heyer*
68. Fair Blows the Wind by Louis L'Amour*
69. Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond edited by Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall - ROOT 37
70. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer*
71. The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer(*)
72. April Lady by Georgette Heyer*

November

73. There There by Tommy Orange (book club)
74. The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer*
75. Sunspot Jungle volume I edited by Bill Campbell - ROOT 38
76. Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva (book club) - ROOT 39
77. The Long Hunt by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald*
78. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold* (ebook)

December

79. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer*
80. Sunspot Jungle (2) volume II edited by Bill Campbell - ROOT 40
81. Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer (ebook)
82. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer - ROOT 41
83. Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer(*)
84. The Toll Gate by Georgette Heyer(*)
85. Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer(*)
86. Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora edited by Zelda Knight and Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald - ROOT 42
87. Blood and Ivory: A Tapestry by P. C. Hodgell - ROOT 43
88. The Price of the Stars by Debra Doyle and James D. McDonald*
89. Toad Words and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer (ebook)

currently reading

Hero with a Thousand Faces NF
Honoring Your Ancestors NF
Plant Spirit Medicine revised and expanded edition NF
Tai Chi Secrets of the Yang Style NF
Queer Magic NF
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way NF
Malice Domestic 7

(I've now removed the books that I initiated and intend to finish but clearly on indefinite pause at this point--they've been added to my ROOT lists.)

currently in bedtime reading rotation

By Honor Betray'd

* reread
(*) I know it's a reread, but I don't really remember it
G graphic novel/comic
NF nonfiction
P poetry
~P text contains significant chunks of poetry
e e-book

The order of finished books may be approximate because I often do not update my records in a timely fashion.

My previous 75 Book Challenge threads:

2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009

2justchris
Redigerat: dec 27, 2020, 1:31 am

It looks like people are posting handy intros about themselves. I guess I shouldn't be so standoffish and secretive.

I'm newly 50. Now living with Duende the cat who celebrated one year at about the same time. I'm still in the midst of major life changes. I bought a condo last year in a cohousing community in a brand new building. That means lots of friendly and helpful neighbors and a generally supportive environment and lots and lots of meetings. Because cohousing is basically everyday democracy at the neighborhood level, which means lots of group process and participation in damn near every aspect of domestic life outside of our own units, and weekly community meals before pandemic. I'm involved in the following groups: annual meetings planning, community meals, conflict resolution, gardening, newsletter, safety, and TLC (organized neighborly support). And that's only a taste of the possibilities.

I finally got completely legally and financially disentangled from my ex and the house we had bought together. My employment contract ended at the end of 2019, so I've been unemployed the whole of 2020. I've been super busy, though. Seems like I've hardly had time to job hunt. I am trying to be more diligent about it now that savings are dwindling fast and my accrued sick leave is about used up to cover ongoing health insurance premiums.

In 2020, I signed up for a year of online writing classes, and I have access to them for another year, so I want to continue to go through the materials and do the exercises. All of this is toward the goal of a regular writing practice and finally working on a novel and contacting my tentative co-author about planning our non-fiction manual.

I also restarted my recreational Arabic study. My next class starts in February. We're finally getting to verbs. I continue to facilitate an antiracism workshop, and our next session also starts in February. We host 10-week sessions twice a year. This'll be our second time offering it online. I've also been doing intermittent online antibullying training.

Now that I have a whole building of people to share food with (safely), I've started baking again. And I want to be more mindful in both cooking and eating. I want to dive into more vegan dishes, and alternative food production methods: nondairy cheeses, fermented products like miso, homemade mole sauces, and so on. Finally take the plunge into sourdough. Finally make tamales. Do even more with my InstantPot. Our recent accordion potluck was a big hit.

I am also trying to develop a self-care routine. I want it to involve regular tai chi, meditation, journaling, art, and spiritual exploration. Got a long way to go. I'm currently studying tarot and specifically my new deck, Gaian tarot. And music! A dear friend gifted me a viola years ago now, and I had a handful of sporadic private lessons, but I'd like to get back into practicing music to both honor the memory of my friend and as another form of self-care. I have the company of several musicians in the building to inspire me.

Plus, winter is my preferred photography season. I want to get back into that as well. I had so much fun canoeing with one of my new neighbors, and I am looking forward to more paddling, and hiking, and snowshoeing, and all of the outdoor activity I can get. Definitely a critical component of my self-care. Oh, and good sleep hygiene. Actually going to bed before midnight. It's a goal. I had thought that I had forgotten how to have fun--that's how difficult the last many years have been. My year in cohousing has shown me that I still know fun and can create fun for others too.

And reconnecting with people. It feels like I am finally getting my feet under me and putting myself back together after years of freefall and generally feeling overwhelmed. LibraryThing is not the only place where I've done a poor job of keeping in touch. After years of loose ends and unraveling, I want 2021 to be the year I begin to darn and reweave my metaphorical tapestry.

So is that enough about me yet?

I read. I always want to read more. After years of circling through familiar comfort reads for what feels like years, in 2020 I finally started getting into substantial numbers of new books. I have one box of unread fiction. My goal is to get through the whole box this year. I have 2 bookcases for fiction that I've committed to as my limit. I need to take a hard look at what's there and whether it's shelf worthy for the long haul. Plus, I finally broke the e-book barrier and have accumulated quite a bit of e-reading that needs to happen. I dabble in a lot of genres, but speculative fiction is my home. I also have a large nonfiction collection on a wide array of topics that interest me, and would really like to dig into more self-directed learning.

Hello to everyone. It's always a delight to join the newest iteration of the 75 Book Challenge and see what everyone is doing.

Oh, and here's my reading companion:

3quondame
dec 27, 2020, 2:41 am

Hi! I just noticed you on several threads I follow so I hopped in here.

Happy new thread!

4PaulCranswick
dec 27, 2020, 2:46 am

>2 justchris: I really enjoyed reading your intro, Chris, and of course I am pleased to see you back.

From all you have going on in your intro, it is impressive that you have had time to post and read as much as you have.

5justchris
dec 27, 2020, 4:13 am

>3 quondame: Hi Susan! Thanks for stopping in! Yes, I see you were right behind me in visiting all the shiny new threads.

>4 PaulCranswick: Inorite? But then my life is simple compared to everyone else's. I'm not juggling marriage, children, aging parents, job, volunteer work, home maintenance and the zillion other responsibilities most grown-ups navigate every day. I mean, I hope I'll have a job again and do more volunteer work. But still, I am in awe of all the people I know who manage all the things. Look at you! Wife, kids, parents, homes, work, transcontinental travel, poetry, and way more books than I manage even in a good year. Impressive backatcha!

6PaulCranswick
dec 27, 2020, 4:49 am

>5 justchris: I'm used to juggling things nowadays and have the occasional bouts of energy especially when I'm not working!

7PaulCranswick
dec 27, 2020, 4:51 am

Oh and since you are one of the few people who seem to appreciate my scribblings, I will premiere a new poem here at 11 a.m. LT time.

8cbl_tn
dec 27, 2020, 8:39 am

Happy New Year! I was largely absent on the threads last year, including my own. It wasn't entirely due to pandemic fatigue. About 3 years ago I bought a brand new condo. Just over a year ago, the developer turned the HOA over to the homeowners and I was elected to the HOA board. It's not cohousing, but we do a lot of the things you mention about your community. It's a rewarding experience, but it does take time away from other things.

9drneutron
dec 27, 2020, 9:53 am

Welcome back, Chris! It sounds like you’ve got a full plate going on. Looking forward to seeing how your 2021 goes.

10PaulCranswick
dec 27, 2020, 11:10 am

New Poem

Another bi-product of reading Louise Gluck today:

Glucked

I am content Gluck was made Laureate
and that meaningful constructs
of words still have meaning.

She still has space to conquer
in a world of Performance Poetry;
of the booming percussion of profanity

Where the words rut, fuck
and cunt are celebrated
as the latest in originality.

Yet set those crashing terms
as verbs and they gain
a more spectral resonance.

If I'm fucked the world is askew
but whilst fucking I am,
for glad moments, careless of silver.

I'm in a rut and trees are still, leafless,
though, when rutting, all stirs
and I am Prince to the Four Winds.

Cunt is verbal yet has no verb;
it is wont to receive and not
expected to have anything to give.

In a language created by men
I am content Gluck was made Laureate
for a world of words to reconstruct.

Apologies for some of it being near the knuckle.

12richardderus
dec 27, 2020, 11:26 am

Hi Chris, what a year of transformation your 2020 turned out to be! I'm saddened to say my InstantPot had to go (old building, tripped the breakers once too often...bread maker went with it) but if you ask karenmarie I can point out a good IP recipe to try. She liked several, I'm reliably informed.

I hope 2021 brings you a bundle of good switches, and they grow into sturdy shrubs.

13justchris
dec 27, 2020, 2:12 pm

>8 cbl_tn: Congratulations on stepping up into a leadership role, Carrie. Yes, it definitely takes up a lot of time. I guess you could say it's the functional equivalent of house maintenance work for single-family homeowners. Another situation when the work is never done.

>9 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>10 PaulCranswick: Thanks for sharing that, Paul. Yep, it includes words I use prolifically and words I shy away from. And sets them side by side for consideration. Fun wordplay that! And nice homage.

>11 smileyrocks: Looks like interesting work. But I am so not qualified. I may be aging out of the labor force due to the set of skills I have vs the skills wanted, and my nature as a generalist vs so many specialized positions. I'm an editor of words, don't know how to code, and am unqualified for anything remotely IT. But I have an academic/research not journalism background and no real interest in marketing, and most of the vaguely writing/editing positions I've seen posted in the last year are all about building the brand to internal clients and external customers. Yawn. So we'll see, I guess.

>12 richardderus: Sorry to hear about the appliance losses. I never got into using a breadmaker, but I have friends who love and depend on them. Sure, send a recipe my way. I've already invested in 3 IP cookbooks and have enjoyed exploring them, though lots more to try still.

Thanks for the gardening metaphor. It's needed because I am a little at odds with the rest of the gardening group, and I am not sure it's going to end well from my perspective.

14thornton37814
dec 27, 2020, 10:10 pm

Enjoy your 2021 reading! I got my cats a tunnel for Christmas. Best toy ever! I have laughed at them so much over the last 3 days.

15justchris
dec 27, 2020, 11:54 pm

>14 thornton37814: Yup. Kitty tunnel antics never fail to amuse. I have one for each room. One is solid with a window in the center and faux fur trim around each opening, the other is mesh and thus see-through. Both tend to get flung about because physics of cat launches. When I get out the toys to play with her, she immediately goes to one end of a tunnel and gets into hunting crouch.

16ChelleBearss
dec 28, 2020, 12:29 pm

Hope you have a good 2021!

I use my instant pot a few times a week and my family loves this home made mac n cheese recipe.
I can't find fontina here easily so I usually swap it with gouda, and the regular cheddar is usually swapped with old cheddar. With a salad and garlic bread it's a pretty good meal. Makes a ton and could be frozen.
https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a57660/instant-pot-mac-chees...

17justchris
dec 28, 2020, 11:36 pm

>16 ChelleBearss: Thanks for the good wishes. And thanks for the recipe! Looks delicious!

Mac n cheese used to be my number one comfort food. Then I developed problems with both dairy and wheat, and the 2 together are a pretty fatal combo for me (sad face!). But that doesn't mean I never indulge (and live through the consequences), or work on adapting recipes to be more pain-free for me.

They make some pretty amazing plant-based cheeses these days, and I want to get into making my own. But I've also started some very limited trials of reintroducing small amounts of aged cheeses to my diet, especially if they're sheep or goat based. So I am sure I can nail down the cheese part of it.

Not sure the GF pasta would hold up to the IP the way wheat pasta does. But I can dig around online and see what works.

A friend just sent me a squash lasagna recipe that I am hoping to try out. Again, all about finding tasty alternatives or adaptations to old favorites.

18PaulCranswick
dec 29, 2020, 12:16 am

>17 justchris: Well the Greeks do use eggplant slices in lieu of pasta sheets to turn lasagne into moussaka.

19justchris
dec 29, 2020, 12:42 am

>17 justchris: Right, and I've discovered that chilaquiles are basically the Latino equivalent of lasagna using corn tortillas. We do love our layered dishes.

20justchris
dec 29, 2020, 2:42 am

Heh, I loved Lynda's sharing of her Penguin Random House literary horoscope.

Here's mine:

August 23 – September 22

Hiya, Virgo!

Virgo, 2021 brings you luck with your health and daily work. However, there may be some revelations and surprises that come in the realm of spirituality or education, and those could potentially conflict with the serenity of a staunch routine. It’s best to allow for some flexibility, even as you attempt to ground yourself after a difficult year in 2020. Every Mercury retrograde will help you consider how you want to make a living, and the eclipse cycle is bound to change the way you live. Your life path winds in a different direction now. It begins to take you to a new place. By the end of the year, the Venus retrograde will have you reflecting on pleasure, always a worthwhile thing to weave through daily life.

And then it recommends Enchantments, Bestiary, Much Ado About You, Begin Again, Let's Talk, Sophomores, Brood, Self Care, Social Chemistry, and Whale Day. Only the last two of those had the correct touchstones, and I had to give up on finding the correct one for two of the others. When I get a book published I am definitely checking extant titles to make sure there aren't hundreds of similar titles to make touchstones a nightmare.

Generally uncannily good book recommendations. Makes me wonder whether they peeked at my browser history or something.

21justchris
dec 29, 2020, 7:13 pm

And so the snowstorm begins! The city sounds are incredibly muffled right now, and it is a lovely change from the usual traffic noise in the neighborhood. I'm really excited about getting out on skis and snowshoes this week.

And organizing my books for 2021 challenges. Maybe I will actually follow the plan for once.

22Carmenere
dec 29, 2020, 7:33 pm

Happy 2021 thread, Chris! Your horoscope sounds very interesting and I like that you also posted your book recommendations. Good idea! I've got to go back and check mine. Since I didn't post them, I've already forgotten them.
My sister in law bought a cardboard cabin for my kitties. They love it however it already looks like the big bad wolf blew it down. I'm still able to reassemble it but I'm not sure it will last a month.
Enjoy your snow storm! sounds like a good time to read and snuggle with Duende.

23richardderus
dec 29, 2020, 7:38 pm

Have a snug, fully-powered snow event.

24justchris
dec 30, 2020, 12:43 am

>22 Carmenere: Yup. Even in transcribing from the publisher website to LT I was forgetting them.

A friend of mine bought one of those kitty cabins, and her cats similarly loved it to pieces. She actually added some sort of durable reinforcement so that it wouldn't end up in the waste stream right away.

>22 Carmenere: and >23 richardderus: Thanks! I just realized I have neglected the requisite hot cocoa...steps away...fixed that! The snow has drifted up against the balcony door. Duende is peeved I won't leave the pet door accessible right now.

25The_Hibernator
dec 30, 2020, 5:19 pm

Wow, I agree with Paul! You've got a lot going on. So many community activities! And good luck on your job search and manuscript writing. Those are each full-time jobs themselves.

26DianaNL
dec 31, 2020, 6:57 am

Best wishes for a better 2021!

27Crazymamie
dec 31, 2020, 3:37 pm

Dropping a star to see what you get up to - I keep seeing you around the threads, so I thought I would come and checks yours out.

28ronincats
dec 31, 2020, 6:10 pm

Lovely intro, Chris. I do so look forward to seeing more of you this year. I have put up my thread now. Happy New Year!

29FAMeulstee
dec 31, 2020, 6:56 pm

Happy reading in 2021, Chris!

30PaulCranswick
jan 1, 2021, 1:42 am



And keep up with my friends here, Chris. Have a great 2021.

31quondame
jan 1, 2021, 2:11 am

Happy new year!

32Berly
jan 1, 2021, 4:21 am

Chris!! Happy 2021! I loved reading your personal intro--thanks for sharing. Wishing you continued happiness in your new abode and a job that fulfills you and books and canoeing and sleep and self-care and tarot ( I took a class last year) and more books!

33MickyFine
jan 1, 2021, 11:40 am

Hope your new year is off to an excellent start, Chris. Dropping off a star.

34The_Hibernator
jan 1, 2021, 11:41 am

Happy New Year Chris

35laytonwoman3rd
jan 1, 2021, 12:15 pm

Hi, Chris. Hoping to follow your reading in 2021, and very pleased to make Duende's acquaintance. Molly shares my reading chair as often as possible, and she approves every book choice except the really big ones that crowd her space.

36ronincats
jan 2, 2021, 12:55 pm

Dropping off my and wishing you the best of new years in 2021!

37justchris
jan 2, 2021, 11:03 pm

Gah! Got locked out of my computer New Year's Eve in the midst of time-sensitive cohousing business. I finally was able to get the computer to reboot after I manually removed and returned the battery pretty much just now. So now I have a lot of catching up to do...

>25 The_Hibernator: and >34 The_Hibernator: Thanks for the good wishes, Rachel! And Happy New Year to you too!
>26 DianaNL: Thanks, Diana!

>27 Crazymamie: Thanks for stopping by, Mamie! I always get off to a good start because I get fired up with each new year. But then I get distracted or overwhelmed and fade away. You folks are so darn talkative and prolific, and I don't like to jump into a convo that's already +100 posts. But every year I have the ambition to stick it out, and starting out at the beginning, all the threads are easy enough to keep up with until I lose a few days. We'll see how 2021 goes. I am feeling much less overhwelmed than a year ago.

>28 ronincats: and >36 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! So good to see you! And Happy New Year to you!
>29 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! And happy reading to you too!
>30 PaulCranswick: Such a lovely meme, Paul! Yes, let's have more of all of that.

>31 quondame: I love the celebratory books, Susan! Happy New Year to you too!

>32 Berly: Thanks for the good wishes, Kim! Happy New Year to you too! I did a New Year's spread on New Year's Day that was interesting, using my "practice deck" of only the minor arcana. The spread is from the guidebook to my Gaian Tarot deck.
Layout:
1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7.
1. What do I leave behind in the Old Year?
2. What do I open up to in the New Year?
3. Key opportunity of the New Year
4. Key challenge of the New Year
5. Hidden concern (dealt from bottom)
6. Deep wisdom/divine guidance (dealt from mid-deck)
7. Key theme of New Year

What did you think of your tarot class? Are you continuing to practice?

>33 MickyFine: Thanks! And Happy New Year to you too!
>35 laytonwoman3rd: Molly looks like a very serious cat. I always enjoy following your threads too, though I generally lurk.

38justchris
jan 3, 2021, 1:19 am

When my computer completely bricked on New Year's Eve in the midst of my frantic efforts to finish business while collaborators were already into their celebrations and I got past my agitated state and resigned myself to not meeting the deadline, I proceeded to make an amazing dinner, start a good book, and take a nice long bath.

The dinner was scallops in sherry-cream sauce with oyster mushrooms over polenta. Amazing and melted in the mouth.

The book was The Talisman Ring, somehow a Heyer I have missed all these years. I enjoyed it. This reissue had an intro written by Mary Balogh, which also referenced The Corinthian that I then promptly reread from my collection. The former was published in 1936, the latter in 1940. I found an amusing unintentional continuity of the butler named Porson between them.

The Talisman Ring features two potential romantic couples, an unsolved murder mystery from years ago, and an inheritance in the balance. The legendary Lord Sylvester Lavenham lies dying as the opening scene. His pitifully small family are gathered at Lavenham Court: Beau Lavenham, great-nephew and ornament of society living on the estate at the Dower House, but held in contempt and mistrust by the old man; orphaned teenage granddaughter Eustacie de Vauban, recently retrieved from France as the Revolution is heating up yet longing for adventure; Sir Tristram Shield, the 32-year-old other great-nephew, last of his name and cynical misogynist after youthful heartbreak, stuck with being executor of the estate.

Sylvester arranges a marriage of convenience between Eustacie and Sir Tristram, who meet at the old lord's bedside. They both agree to this marriage for lack of better options, then romantical Eustacie decides Sir Tristram is way too stuffy and boring and worst of all autocratic and decides she needs to run away. Beau Lavenham is not a viable romantic alternative because Eustacie dislikes him with the folkloric wisdom of children and dogs. So where's the other potential couple? And what's the sticking point with the inheritance?

Enter Ludovic Lavenham, the other grandchild and direct heir to the title. Accused of murder years ago and fled out of the country, current whereabouts unknown. A crack shot yet claimed to have shot at and missed an owl the night of the murder. The utterly reliable Sir Tristram heard the apparently fatal shot just 10 minutes after parting ways with Ludovic, who was incredibly drunk and angry and desperate to retrieve the titular heirloom from the person who ended up dead. The talisman ring is a priceless family treasure and has been missing ever since the murder. Find it and find the real killer.

So where's the other female lead? Well, a naive runaway, a cargo of smuggled brandy, excise men in search of free traders, a missing heir who turns up unexpectedly, and shots fired in the night all collide and lead all the players to the Red Lion, where 28-year-old Sarah Thane and her brother, a respected magistrate with a cold who knows an exceptional brandy when he tastes it, have decided on impulse to stay at the inn.

For awhile there, I wasn't sure how it was going to sort out because Heyer has definitely gone the route of confirmed bachelor--rake, even--falls for artless ingenue: see Venetia, Arabella, April Lady, The Convenient Marriage, Sprig Muslin, and the afore-mentioned The Corinthian. And Eustacie is young, pretty, and full of French charm. But it's clear that Eustacie and Sir Tristram are not a good match.

Heyer has also has heroines that are older, calm, capable, and unfazed by romantic heroes (or any other men) who are jerks: Mary Challoner in Devil's Cub, Drusilla Morville in The Quiet Gentleman, Anthea Darracott in The Unknown Ajax, and Sarah Thane here.

Murder, mystery, and the efforts to keep Ludovic safe and hidden despite his reckless inclinations lead to endless hijinks in and around the inn. Lots of humorous scenes and dialogue and letting the various characters shine. Even the safe and sober Sir Tristram gets into the fun despite himself. And all ends well with the ne'er do well caught and our couples free to resume their lives in unexpected (by them) but happy pairings.

39PaulCranswick
jan 3, 2021, 1:45 am

See your reading is off to a flyer, Chris. We have both managed two books already. 2021 is looking promising.

Good luck with the computer!

40richardderus
jan 3, 2021, 10:59 am

>38 justchris: How lovely! I've never read any Mary Balogh stories, so I'll seek her out.

I am always so empathetic with computer woes. I need to be talked off the ledge many days when one of those moments comes. Are you investigating new computers?

41bluesalamanders
jan 3, 2021, 1:16 pm

justchris I'm curious about the non-dairy cheese recipes. Have you found any good ones? I've been dairy-free for a decade or so and the store-bought alternatives never quite hit the spot.

42justchris
jan 3, 2021, 2:57 pm

>40 richardderus: The irony is that this is my new computer. Ordered in September, received at the beginning of October. The old laptop had hinges that failed entirely, and the screen had completely separated from the keyboard section, but luckily the umbilical hadn't been severed so it still worked despite having the screen propped up on a document stand. But I now have it packaged to ship back to the manufacturer to replace the screen and hinges. So one laptop with software problems, the other with physical problems. I guess I'm just hard on my equipment.

I was pleased to run into your review of Cotillion while looking up either Heyer stories for comparison that aren't on my shelves. I've read and enjoyed some Mary Balogh stories, but they are a very different kettle from Heyer's fishes. Balogh tends to write a modern historical romance with sex scenes. I have her An Unacceptable Offer, which has a heavy petting scene. I've read a couple other of her stories, but they're escaping me now. I don't think they egregiously violated the social norms of the day--a completely modern story in historical costume that violates the social rules of the context just don't work for me but results in me throwing down the book in disgust because who can suspend disbelief under such circumstances?

>41 bluesalamanders: Well, the store-bought versions are getting better. Daiya remains disappointing, but the Violife feta and smoked mozz are really something, and the parmesan is fine for cooking with. Plus, I am really loving the cocoyo yogurts--really zingy! I refer you to The Art of Plant-Based Cheesemaking. So far I've only dabbled at making my own coconut yogurt but plan to delve into this book this year.

43The_Hibernator
jan 3, 2021, 3:50 pm

I have not read The Talisman Ring either, but I loved The Corinthian.

44justchris
jan 3, 2021, 4:30 pm

>43 The_Hibernator: At first I was thinking they were very parallel stories, but then realized not so much. Beyond the butler name and a young runaway in search of adventure, not much in common. But both very ridiculous and enjoyable.

45richardderus
jan 3, 2021, 5:00 pm

>42 justchris: Well, that's just ghastly. I hope the software issue proves to be a one-off!

I'll try An Unacceptable Offer at the least...maybe they're not for me, maybe they are, but in fairness I'll try one to see.

Thanks for the compliment re: Cotillion.

46bluesalamanders
jan 3, 2021, 5:44 pm

>42 justchris: Daiya is disappointing, isn't it? I think I've seen Violife, but I'm not sure smoked mozz or parm have been any of options. I'll keep an eye out. I'll check out that book, thanks!

47justchris
jan 4, 2021, 2:45 am

>39 PaulCranswick: I'm honored that you're comparing us as if we're in the same league of reading.

>45 richardderus: Well, not a one-off. This is the second time I've had substantial issues with rebooting. The first time a few weeks ago, it booted up to the point of loading the login screen then giving me the white screen of death telling me to contact an administrator. This time it was the black screen of completely ignoring me and pretending like it's never heard of booting up.

>46 bluesalamanders: The last few times I've been to various stores, the smoked mozz has remained out of stock. A tragedy in the refrigerated section. I love to use it for morning quesadillas with corn tortillas. Let me know what you think if you get a chance to try out the Violife products. I have yet to find a Daiya product I actually like. But I guess I have to give them kudos for being one of the first companies to offer DF cheeses etc.

48dk_phoenix
jan 4, 2021, 10:48 am

Hoooo boy, you sound like me -- a gazillion interests, mostly unrelated, trying to make time for them all in a day that sadly lasts only 24 hours. I made myself a very simple habit tracker this year to try and help with that... and I'm going to attempt to use timers a lot to make sure I don't get lost in the in-between moments and stay focused. I'm restarting Korean lessons, trying to get back into cross-stitch, returning to short story writing AND trying to finish a full manuscript, hoping to relaunch & develop a few writing courses, apparently also playing Animal Crossing for relaxation since that was just gifted to me, and about 17 other things. I feel your intro at a deep soul level. LOL. Here's to a year of Aligning All The Personal Interests and hopefully a really freaking dull everything else. No more interesting times, please!!!

49swynn
jan 4, 2021, 11:39 am

Hi Chris! Dropping a star and looking forward to whatever the new year brings.

50mahsdad
jan 4, 2021, 12:26 pm

Happy New Year, Chris!

51justchris
jan 4, 2021, 1:05 pm

>48 dk_phoenix: Yup. Totally kindred spirits. My first Arabic class included someone who knew Korean. She was definitely going for breadth in languages. Let me know how the habit tracker works out. Good luck with the various writing projects--you definitely have a more solid base for that. And let us be done with the cursed year!

>49 swynn: Hello, Steve!
>50 mahsdad: Thanks, Jeff! And a Happy New Year to you too!

52drneutron
jan 4, 2021, 1:30 pm

>47 justchris: Morning quesadillas. Great, now I've got to run to the store for tomorrow morning...

53justchris
jan 4, 2021, 5:09 pm

>52 drneutron: Yep, when I'm feeling too disorganized and especially want some a.m. protein, quesadillas is the way to go. Except that I forget about them for weeks or months at a time, then go through a phase, etc. I kinda alternate between them and tea eggs as quick protein pick-me-ups with my morning green tea.

54Whisper1
jan 4, 2021, 10:36 pm

Hello Chris. I vow to visit threads that I am not familiar with. Your living arrangement sounds wonderful. You mention baking. That is my sanity. I love to bake. My partner of 18 years passed away a year and 1/2 ago. He always made me laugh.

Whenever I bake, I share with the neighbors. Once when Will was talking on his photo to his cousin, he noted that he would put me on the line, except I was delivering goodies and continuing to make the neighbors gain weight. Will always made me laugh. I miss that.

I find a lot of great recipes on Pintrest.

All good wishes for a year of baking, sharing, and reading.

55justchris
jan 5, 2021, 12:00 am

I'm sorry for your loss after such a long time together. I hope you are finding some comforts in your new normal, and it sounds like baking is part of it.

I just announced a monthly vegan dinner in our community. That can absolutely include baking. Three households responded immediately with interest. I'm looking forward to it. Both getting back into more baking and expanding my comfort zone.

I'm on Pinterest but trying to avoid the recipes rabbithole there. Mostly I am using it for costume research and slowly expanding into some stuff for cohousing and spirituality practices. But food? That's a trap that I might never escape. Thanks for the suggestion!

And thank you for the good wishes. I hope you have a good year of cooking, baking, reading.

56lauralkeet
jan 5, 2021, 7:24 pm

Hi Chris, just realized I hadn't found and visited your thread yet, but have now remedied that. Looks like you have your hands full but it all sounds interesting and I look forward to seeing what you get up to this year.

57justchris
jan 5, 2021, 11:23 pm

>56 lauralkeet: Thanks for stopping in, Laura! No worries!

Cohousing update: no longer interim co-facilitator of the meals group; meals group started a conflict resolution process, and participants seemed to value it; need to start gearing up for first conflict resolution group meeting with me at the helm; got the garden group to pause long enough to wait for community decisions/approvals of the outdoor master plan and change the meeting time to accommodate me in the future. And now I am remembering that I was supposed to draft a piece for the newsletter by the weekend. Oops.

Winter update: second ski outing along the railroad tracks. Went further, got just as thirsty. Need to bring water out with me and continue to build up my endurance. But snow is melting fast, definitely grazed a few rocks today.

Reading update: finally got back into Queers Destroy Science Fiction! and hope to finish it this week. Getting a library copy of Kindred tomorrow and need to quickly reread Parable of the Talents for Saturday's book club discussion. Plus, I need to start on The History of White People for my other book club discussion this month.

58Berly
jan 6, 2021, 2:54 am

>37 justchris: I recently took a class on Grimm's Fairy tales, taught by the same lady who did the Tarot class ,and she developed two new decks which we used in the class. One based on Red Riding Hood and the other on Blue Beard. Love them!!! Look up Coleman Stevenson at The Dark Exact. : )

Love seeing you around on the threads this year!!

59ChelleBearss
jan 6, 2021, 8:48 am

>57 justchris: I never really grasped the whole skiing concept. My husband has tried multiple times to get me cross country skiing and I just am not coordinated to get very far. My snowboarding lessons went just about as bad!

60Carmenere
jan 6, 2021, 9:01 am

I enjoy reading about the co-housing idea. Good luck with all your duties.

61drneutron
jan 6, 2021, 12:10 pm

>57 justchris:, >59 ChelleBearss: I tried to get mrsdrneutron into cross-country skiing, with limited success. But a few years back, she got us some snowshoes, and really enjoys that. The railroad tracks sound like a fun place to try!

62PaulCranswick
jan 6, 2021, 9:20 pm

>57 justchris: >59 ChelleBearss: >61 drneutron: One of my regrets in life is that I have never gone skiing, cross country or otherwise. I would like to get fit enough to go and do it before I really do get too old.

63justchris
jan 6, 2021, 9:37 pm

>58 Berly: I will definitely look that up.

>59 ChelleBearss: It's not for everyone. But I love it. My best winter ever was working at a ski resort and learning to snowboard, and skate ski, and telemark, and just be out on the cross country trails a lot. In the mountain pass, really there was nothing to do but drink, watch videos, and be out on the slopes. One restaurant. One gas station/video store. And lots of miles to the rest of civilization. But the powder was wonderful. Oh I loves snowboarding so much. And have never done it again. Now that I'm 50, not sure I could.

>60 Carmenere: Thanks! The good thing is we get to choose our participation. I've signed up exactly once for cleaning duties, and barely managed to elevator that one time that one week. Committee work is apparently much easier for me.

>61 drneutron: I am glad you were able to find a winter sport you both enjoy. I've more experience with skis but am so excited to be out using my snowshoes. Wanted them for years, but they're so damn expensive. I finally got my pair at an REI sale for 62 Never too old for cross country. It is a really low-impact activity, unless you fall a lot. But it is not an activity that is prone to falls, unlike downhill skiing or ice skating. Of course, you might need to find some snow. Sounds like that continues to be quite a plane ride away from you.

Now if only we could get more snow...
Though the hoarfrost coating all the trees and shrubs today was amazingly beautiful.

64quondame
jan 6, 2021, 11:40 pm

>62 PaulCranswick: I've sampled them both. Nope, more nope. Nope.

65Berly
jan 7, 2021, 1:01 am

I love snowboarding (I am a blue level) and skiing (black level), and I have snowshoed exactly once! I thought the last one was a lot of work. LOL. Hope you get some fun in the snow this year.

66justchris
jan 7, 2021, 10:22 pm

>65 Berly: Yes, snowshoeing is a real workout. I love all the winter sports, even if I don't actually engage in them often, and glad to find another aficionado. Thanks for the good wishes! I hope you get lots of snowtime fun too.

67PaulCranswick
jan 7, 2021, 10:39 pm

>64 quondame: I just want to say I've tried and I hopefully won't break my neck and both legs in the process.

Hi Chris. x

68banjo123
jan 9, 2021, 9:03 pm

Hi Chris! I used to love cross-country skiing, but am not sure I am in shape for it now. But the snow is so peaceful.

69justchris
jan 10, 2021, 1:32 am

>68 banjo123: Thanks for stopping by! Yes, I love snowy landscapes! Definitely peaceful, the landscape sleeping under a blanket.

70The_Hibernator
jan 10, 2021, 10:31 am

I used to cross country ski in 50km races when I was a kid. Now I'm like: 50 km?! Haha. NOPE! But it's a lit of fun.

71justchris
jan 13, 2021, 2:52 pm

>70 The_Hibernator: Impressive!

I'm getting winded just going a couple blocks in my "backyard" along the tracks. But everyone starts somewhere. That glorious winter of all the snow sports is now many decades in my past. But I haven't given up the dream! Now we just need some more snow...

72justchris
jan 13, 2021, 2:57 pm

>46 bluesalamanders: I got one of the DF cheese brands wrong! Violife is absolutely the producer of the parmesan I like, but it's Miyoko that makes the mozzarellas. The smoked version remains out of stock, so I finally broke down and bought the fresh mozz. Worked really well on the sopes with quinoa-rice blend and black garlic that I made up for an evening snack last week.

73richardderus
jan 13, 2021, 3:16 pm

>64 quondame: ^^^what she said

Hi Chris, hoping the Butler reads are going well. I love her writing and her stories.

74justchris
jan 13, 2021, 11:21 pm

>73 richardderus: Heh. More snow for me then. I love a big mess of fresh powder. So magical!

I'm amazed and yet cynically unsurprised that I didn't stumble over any of her books in bookstores or hear about her as an author until I was in my 30s, despite growing up reading science fiction from my earliest age (the first book I owned was the illustratd The Hobbit illustrated from the kitschy 1970s aniimation, and when I was in second grade my mom got so mad at me because I lost her copy of Sea Siege | Eye of the Monster on my way home from school). I was robbed.

Well, I had planned to catch up on LT and read all the threads. But I have a job interview tomorrow, and I have been painfully reminded just how woefully unprepared I am. So off to do my homework.

75ronincats
jan 13, 2021, 11:28 pm

Good luck with the interview, Chris!

76quondame
jan 14, 2021, 12:26 am

>74 justchris: Wishing you the best outcome at your interview!

77Berly
jan 14, 2021, 6:40 am

More good wishes on the interview!!

78Crazymamie
jan 14, 2021, 3:31 pm

Hoping the interview went well, Chris.

79richardderus
jan 14, 2021, 11:37 pm

Hoping there's good news on the job front!

80justchris
jan 14, 2021, 11:47 pm

>77 Berly: and >78 Crazymamie: and >79 richardderus: Thank you all for the good wishes! It went surprisingly well, so I am cautiously optimistic after going into it with the expectation that this would simply be another opportunity to practice interviewing. What's the word for reality being anti-confirmation biased?

I think I was feeling really jaundiced because I had an interview in early December for a job that I was really excited about, and I really muffed it (in hindsight) and got the official rejection letter just a couple weeks ago, though I knew it was a no-go when I asked about timeline and next steps and got a super-vague answer. So discouraging after being so excited and hopeful. This time I was fatalistic, felt unprepared, and was uncertain whether I wanted the job because "fast-paced environment" was in the job listing--never a good sign from my perspective--but also an actual editor job as opposed to all the (marketing) outreach/communication specialist positions to build up university department brands.

Anyway, I didn't even have to ask about the timeline--it was volunteered, and I should know within a couple weeks. Which reminds me--I should go jot off a thank you while I remember.

81quondame
jan 14, 2021, 11:54 pm

>80 justchris: Oh that does sound encouraging. Good going.

82quondame
jan 15, 2021, 12:25 am

I saw you mention archery - I don't, but after I joined the SCA while Mike was working back in DC, I thought he might enjoy archery as he had taken it in high school. Once he got back to LA he started with the local group at the range about 10min away and was active in shooting, arrow assembly, running events and teaching until the pandemic. They just gave him the highest archery award at the last big virtual event which he couldn't attend due to weekend work. I hope you can get back to it with no trouble once we are out from under this pandemic.

83justchris
jan 15, 2021, 12:44 am

>82 quondame: Sounds lovely! Glad Mike found the archery community and activities so rewarding (in every sense of the word!). My biggest SCA regret is that I never got any archery awards while I was deeply involved in that community. I guess part of the problem was that I was involved in a lot of different SCA activities, not just archery, so I got more general recognitions. Grass is greener, I guess. Right now, I'm trying to get back into fletching. My current project (months overdue and not yet started) is making flu-flus for the first time with leather blunts.

84quondame
jan 15, 2021, 1:37 am

>83 justchris: I haven't seen that type of fletching. Mike hasn't got his out in ages. After I'd been in and going to a couple of wars a year and a a couple of events a month and being exchequer I totally ran out of energy for everything - not just SCA, I just can't walk 2 blocks easily. I got my AA in just a few months while I had to poke the barony after Mike had been running local archery for a couple of years before they recognized him. But then I did dishes and was a hair more tactful than he was, well, maybe a wig more tactful. It should be noticed that I am not known for tact in any group to which I've belonged. It's really about who's paying attention and who's listening.

85justchris
jan 15, 2021, 2:11 am

>84 quondame: Yep. The lecture I give every proto-peer on vigil when I manage to make it to a vigil is the drunk under the lightpost metaphor. Tact isn't my strong suit either. Sorry to hear you have health issues too.

86justchris
Redigerat: feb 13, 2021, 12:31 am

So I think I might track some of my viewing, in terms of new-to-me movies, shorts, and series that I watch in full. I've been catching more episdoes of Dust, plus I currently have the 1990s French Three Colors trilogy waiting to be viewed to start the year off. In this spirit, here are the shorts I've tracked down:

Watched and enjoyed (sweet, charming, amusing, hilarious, etc)
Little Thing
2084
Alientologists
An as yet unidentified animated transformer-robot street battle
Flatland
Piglet's Big Movie
Lara and the Beat

Watched and appreciated (well-executed, thought-provoking, nice visuals, poetic, bizarre!!!, etc)
Glow
Leviathan Ages
Tears in Rain
Song in the Sky
Starian
As yet unidentified SF short centered on a man in solitary confinement

Watched and didn't enjoy (white boy wankery, usually)
Bar Talk
97%
Interview with a Time Traveller
Occupant
Mr. Success

Note: the links in this category lead to an episode database with plot summary, couldn't be arsed to dig up the YouTube videos.

Not yet screened:
Three Colors: Blue, White, Red

87richardderus
jan 15, 2021, 8:36 pm

>80 justchris: I have all my crossables crossed for good results.

88justchris
jan 15, 2021, 9:37 pm

>87 richardderus: Thank you! I'm only now putting together the thank you. Technically, it's still the day after.

89justchris
jan 19, 2021, 8:49 pm

I went on a buying trip to prepare for group reads and book clubs. I ended up with a bunch of stuff, none of which was quite on my list. Still, I'm excited about my haul!

The Food of China to help me use up 2 jars of black behttps://www.librarything.com/talkan paste--plus a whole chapter on dim sum!
Embrace Tiger Return to Mountain from a quick look at the martial arts shelf. I appreciate opportunities to better understand the Taoist heart of my tai chi practice.

The Landmark Julius Caesar in lieu of The Landmark Herodotus, which was on my list.
The Celts, found while searching for The Landmark Herodotus. These books are to help me deepen my understanding of the ancient Celts as part of my spiritual exploration.

Beloved, The Bluest Eye, and Home by Toni Morrison. I was actually looking for Jazz and Paradise to catch up with Kim, Laura, and the others.

And and!

Found a 40th aniiversary collection edition of The Prisoner: The Complete Series! What a find!

But no available copy of Three Kingdoms or 1001 Nights. Sigh. Need those for another LT group read and a storytelling exercise, respectively.

90drneutron
jan 20, 2021, 8:12 am

I have The Celts, it was a pretty good history/culture exploration. And The Prisoner!

91scaifea
jan 20, 2021, 9:53 am

The Prisoner!! YES!! I LOVE that show.

92Carmenere
jan 20, 2021, 10:00 am

Hi Chris, just checking in to see how things are going over here. Your reading looks very prolific! Nice book haul!

93justchris
jan 20, 2021, 1:39 pm

>90 drneutron: Thanks for the affidavit on The Celts. The last time I bought a couple books on this topic (in the wee hours, online), I ended up with books of dubious merit. One's a DNF because the racism/ethnochauvinism is too much. Not to mention Atlantis connections with a straight face! And of course no footnotes or references. The other has the footnotes, but was not edited so plenty missing/disarranged, and it was clearly published by compiling web pages. Yikes. No more late night purchases.

>90 drneutron: and >91 scaifea: Me too! I was excited to find this boxed set with my own foldout map of The Village and detailed notes in accompanying booklet. I knew I'd never find it again at HPB, so I got it even though I'm unemployed and am broke. What can you do?

94justchris
jan 20, 2021, 1:44 pm

>92 Carmenere: Thanks for checking in! I'm doing okay, plugging along.

Set down The History of White People because I've completed the assigned reading for next week's book club discussion, and I don't want to get ahead for discussion purposes. I've just started Ornament of the World for the HistoryCAT January challenge of the medieval era. And ready to start Kindred--one week to return it to the library. Plus, The Incredible Journey for the January British Authors Challenge of children's classics. If I achieve all of those gaols, it will be the most challenges I've participated in ever. Even adding up all previous years together.

95PaulCranswick
jan 25, 2021, 1:05 am

>94 justchris: But is is fun isn't it, especially when you do meet some of the challenges?!

96justchris
jan 25, 2021, 11:25 am

>95 PaulCranswick: Daunting, sure.. Fun? I haven't decided yet. But it means I'm not quite so lackadaisical. I was quite frantic yesterday trying to figure out where I'd set down my book the day before. Finally found it and was able to finish out a chapter.

97banjo123
jan 26, 2021, 11:23 pm

Ooh--I thought Ornament of the World was really interesting.

98justchris
jan 27, 2021, 1:03 am

Lovely, lovely snowfall last night and into today. Deposited a full foot of powder, I think. Today, I snowshoed to my local library branch to return a book. But snowshoes are hard work, so I took them off and walked back on the bike path. Helped someone get unstuck from their parking spot along the way.

The library book was Kindred, on a friend's card who inadvertently found herself with 2 library copies of this book so passed one on to me. And no renewal possible because the book is on hold for another library patron.

Octavia Butler's Kindred was published in 1979, after the first of her Patternist books (Patternmaster 1976, Mind of My Mind 1977, Survivor 1978). Patternmaster, published first, is the last in the chronology, all very much science fiction in terms of alien contact, the evolution of humanity, and where could we be in the far future. In contrast, Kindred is a time travel fantasy that is entirely about reckoning with our past. I had heard a lot about it, read the plot summary on the back cover, knew that it was the most likely of her books to be used in college courses.

Dana, the protagonist, is an author married to another author. They are finally doing well enough to buy a house together in 1976 after 4 years of marriage. She is unpacking books when suddenly Dana gets dizzy and blacks out and finds herself catapulted back in time to the antebellum south. She rescues a little white boy from drowning then finds herself on the wrong end of the rifle barrel of the angry white father. Another blackout, and she's back home only a few seconds after her husband watched her vanish.

***SPOILER ALERT: DETAILED CHARACTER ANALYSIS AHEAD***
The novel takes place almost entirely in the past on the Weylin plantation in Maryland in the first half of the 19th century. Dana soon realizes as she continues to get yanked back in time that the red-haired boy is her great-great-great grandfather (that's 5 generations back), recorded in the family Bible at the top of the family tree inscribed therein by her great-great grandmother Hagar. While very little time passes in her present--seconds, to minutes, to hours, to days--a brief lifetime engulfs her in the past as her forebear Rufus Weylin progresses from little boy to older boy to teenager to adult, and she arrives at pivotal moments to save his life and gets stranded until unexpectedly returning to the present dreading the next unexpected transition.

This story is an intimate look at the complexities of chattel slavery and how it bound up both blacks and whites in profound intimacy yet with obvious life-and-death differences. As a white person, I think it does an excellent job portraying how incredibly dehumanizing the "peculiar institution" was for the white people who benefited from the daily, centuries-long torture and bodily plunder of enslaved black people, such that whites simply are not capable of forming functional, healthy human relationships with anyone, really, at least not in this story.

The old saying comes to mind: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Coined by Lord Acton in 1887 when writing about the Pope, the moral authority of the Catholic church, it is certainly apropos of the slave holder, the secular authority of the plantation, where the majority population was enslaved African Americans (even if the majority population in the region was white).

Tom Weylin, the patriarchal white slave holder, is obsessed with money as his agricultural empire is a house of cards just one disaster away from defaulting on mortgages and begrudging any extra expense, even to care for his son. Being at the top of the heap is intensely precarious, leading to desperate and violent measures, even if rarely invoked (orly?) in the daily workings of the plantation, and an entire system of violence, from slave patrols to the Fugitive Slave Act, to maintain power and extract the last heartsblood from the enslaved humanity propping him up--most of his worldly wealth being those same suffering souls, and also the greatest imminent threat, with the fear of revolt ever-hovering in the hearts of plantation owners. The first (multiracial!) slave uprising occurred in the Colony of Virginia, and the Haitian Revolution was still sending aftershocks around the world.

His second wife, Margaret, is basically going insane as being lady of the house prevents her from engaging in anything remotely meaningful, leaving her only the role of spiteful, mean overseer of the house slaves. In this, I find her in the same position as the protagonist of "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Louise Perkins, which even takes place in a colonial mansion, thus recapitulating the nigh imprisonment of antebellum ladies, with the violent consequences of societal captivity turned inward rather than out. Moreover, she is dangerously jealous of the close connection between Dana and Rufus.

And yet, the enslaved house servants despise Margaret for being lower class white trash, a derogatory term that emerges from this era, when the vast majority of white people owned neither land nor slaves and lived in poverty. But hey, at least they weren't black--part of the fallout of the earliest slave revolts in the colonies was the divide-and-conquer strategy of the 1% planter class against the multiethnic coalition of enslaved/indentured laborers (an attitude alive and well today in Trumpistas, for example).

Rufus, the sole offspring and heir to the plantation, finds his closest relationships with enslaved agemates. He suffers whippings from his father for similar reason as those meted out to the enslaved people of the plantation--defying authority. He alternately basks in and violently rejects the attentions of his suffocatingly possessive and overprotective mother. Trusting or relying on neither parent, he turns to the African Americans around him for his emotional needs--a familiar pattern in the antebellum South. The story doesn't say whether he had an enslaved wet nurse. His "best friend" is the free black girl Alice Greenwood, who lives in a cabin in the woods with her mother, her father enslaved at a nearby plantation. As he grows older, he becomes increasingly obsessed with her, with devastating yet essential results for Dana's existence. He also grows into his power as a slave holder, learning how to coerce and compel the people around him with direct violence and threats to emotional hostages.

Alice Greenwood reaches adulthood and marries an enslaved black man. Rufus cannot believe she would prefer a black man to him, and violently decides her wishes don't matter--a common attitude toward all women, frankly. Her husband (Isaac Jackson) violently objects, and the two flee. Because she aided a fugitive slave, she is captured and becomes a slave herself, after recuperating from her nearly fatal injuries, trapped with the man who destroyed her life. How to go on living? And how to navigate the most intimate of love-hate relationships with Dana, who could be a sister in looks and personality, as the inevitable third person and unwilling yet inevitable intermediary between Alice and Rufus.

Dana keeps getting yanked back in time, staying anywhere from minutes to months. She is fundamentally implicated in the events unfolding around her in the past--her very existence hinges on Rufus and Alice having a daughter that survives to have a child of her own and thus found the lineage that leads to Dana in 1976. Dana must survive as a modern, educated, free black woman with all the wrong skills and attitudes and reactions for the era. What things can she live with? How can she survive? How does she conform to the power dynamics and norms of the people around her? What compromises, what boundaries, what values, what necessities? How does she unwillingly change, become complicit, even find a sense of home here? How does she contribute to or ameliorate the incredibly complicated situation?

Then there's Kevin, her husband: an egalitarian white man who loves her deeply and is committed to her. They married despite opposition from both their families. He's a necessary foil to the white men of the antebellum South. He's also marked as the Other with unusually pale eyes and prematurely gray hair. So he has the experience of being the outsider, not being normal, being inherently suspect based only on his appearance. At first, he can't quite believe her, even though he witnessed her vanishing and inexplicable return moments later. Then he is accidentally transported back with her partway through the story.

He's also a necessary foil to her in terms of being a modern person catapulted into the ugly past and confronted with all the evils of American chattel slavery, yet his life is not immediately at risk simply because he is a white man (and she is a black woman thus inherently imperiled). He is quickly offered a job tutoring Rufus, who is barely literate. And only Rufus knows that they are in fact married, not owner and slave. Can he fully appreciate the system, seeing only the white end of it in the big house, not having entree to the slave quarters and the kitchen, that hub of plantation life?

The couple experience tension due to their differing experiences and reactions to events on the plantation and their forced social roles. Kevin involuntarily benefits from this race and class system. How to resist it without getting himself killed? How to truly understand the brutality, when he is kept away from the whippings and other extreme violence?

But then, Kevin remains trapped when Dana is yanked to the present on being whipped for daring to steal a book from the house library (and teach slave children to read). When she finally returns, five years have passed and Kevin has long since moved away. How to find him? She cannot travel freely, even if the last known address for him is still valid (big if!). Plus, she needs help from Rufus to even find out his last location. Yet Rufus is just as obsessed with her as with Alice, seeing their resemblance, and also recognizing how much his survival has depended directly on Dana.

Other characters illustrate other aspects of the chattel slavery system, but also the full humanity, resilience, survival, and resistance of the enslaved African Americans. First is Luke, the enslaved overseer who does what he wants until the slave holder tires of his insubordination and sells him down the river, followed by Jake Edwards and then Fowler as increasingly brutal white overseers.

Then there's Sara, the enslaved cook who takes over management of the house after Margaret Weylin is sent away in her increasingly dangerous derangement. Full of rage at three of her children being sold away from her, yet her compliance is ensured by the presence of her one remaining child, the mute and vulnerable Carrie. She subverts the mammy stereotype.

Luke's son Nigel is the childhood playmate of Rufus and closest companion in adulthood. Dana illicitly teaches him to read when he asks her. He forms a family with Carrie; Tom Weylin is willing to hire a minister to marry them and allow Nigel to hire himself out to earn the money to build his own family cabin. After all, their kids will materially increase his wealth and his hold over them. Thus the innate conflict between the love and family that Nigel and Carrie create, and the bitterness of what that means for their enslaver. Should they deny their own humanity and fully realized human experience in order to deny the slaveholder that much more power (over them) and wealth and the potential future devastation should he choose to sell members of this new family?

Sam, the field slave, approaches Dana about teaching his siblings to read. Rufus is jealous of this perceived threat, and the consequences are predictable. Liza, the house slave tasked with sewing, feels threatened by both Dana and Alice, and her jealous actions also have predictable consequences. Cass, who goes from house slave, to Tom Weylin's sex slave, to the overseer's sex slave, to field hand, illustrates the ugly progression of female subjugation and destruction. The dynamics between field slaves and house slaves, the games enslaved children play that model the slavery system around them, the control of literacy and religion--all of these offer insights to the modern reader.

An elderly Margaret Weylin returns to the plantation after her husband's death and her son's assumption of power. Dana finds an unexpected connection to this frail opium addict--shared dialect, love of the written word. And she's always had an uneasy bond with Rufus--both dependent on each other and intimate in ways they cannot share with anyone else--it's this bond that keeps yanking Dana back in time. She feels close to both the whites and the blacks in weird interlocking ways, and alienated from and reviled by both whites and blacks similarly. Relationship status: it's complicated.

Who then is kindred? What makes family? What connections matter most? Who to cling to and why? Who to trust? What is the breaking point? What next when trust is broken? This book offers many questions and only some possible answers. It's one to sit with long after it's been returned to the library.

99PaulCranswick
jan 27, 2021, 8:59 am

>98 justchris: Chris that might be one of the longest reviews I have read in the group. Enjoyed it though and it made me remember my own reading of the book.

100justchris
jan 27, 2021, 10:31 am

>99 PaulCranswick: Yes, I tend to the verbose, which is why I've done almost no reviews for many years now. Took me a couple hours to put that one together. I love the concept of Burgoining, not sure I am capable of it. I've never tried to write short stories either, as a genre that requires too much of me.

101richardderus
jan 27, 2021, 10:57 am

>98 justchris: That was amazing. Kudos to you for explicating the book so very carefully and thoroughly.

102justchris
jan 27, 2021, 12:05 pm

>101 richardderus: Thanks! Means a lot coming from such a talented and experienced reviewer as yourself.

103justchris
jan 28, 2021, 6:35 pm

>97 banjo123: I'm so sorry! Somehow I missed your comment! I'm about halfway through Ornament of the World and am enjoying it for what it is, a popular history book written for a casual audience with engaging prose and no footnotes or references. I'm very familiar with this history, so I don't mind the lack, and I appreciate Menocal's effort to make a past culture accessible to a modern public.

104PaulCranswick
jan 30, 2021, 10:37 pm

>98 justchris: Certainly my comment was no criticism, Chris. I was impressed by its considered view and it struck a chord for me from my own reading of Kindred three years ago.

105justchris
jan 31, 2021, 12:28 am

>104 PaulCranswick: No no! I didn't take it as a criticism; it's more self-criticism. I always mean to be succinct but usually fail. And really, with this one, I didn't even try but went full bore.

106richardderus
jan 31, 2021, 1:04 pm

Chris, I was a lot less succinct before I found 'Nathan Burgoine's three-sentence method. My January reading went very well largely as a result of using his method (in post #7 of my threads).

107thornton37814
jan 31, 2021, 7:09 pm

I tend to be very concise in my LT reviews. I want just enough to remember it and my reaction to i, but I've got so many irons in the fire to write long reviews. >98 justchris: blows me away! How do you find the time?

108justchris
jan 31, 2021, 10:36 pm

>106 richardderus: I love the concept! Will see if I can actually implement it.

>107 thornton37814: And your approach totally makes sense. I keep meaning to try that, but I apparently tend to be all or nothing. I'll keep trying, though.

Well, that is exactly the problem and why I've written so few reviews on LT after my start in 2009. It took 2-3 hours to write that one up, consulting online summaries since I had returned the library book and couldn't refer to it, plus looking up all the supplemental reading materials, plus reading published reactions to Kindred over the years and reflecting on those as well as my own thoughts and feelings.

109ronincats
feb 1, 2021, 12:18 am

The thing is, I absolutely love your reviews and always have, right from the start. But I didn't love when their demands, among others, took you away from us. So happy medium, please!

110justchris
feb 1, 2021, 12:59 pm

>109 ronincats: Thank you! I'm going to try an experiment: the Burgoin reviews for rereads (that I haven't yet reviewed), and my usual essays for works new to me. Which means I need to pop out a few short ones right away. BRB.

111justchris
feb 1, 2021, 1:34 pm

OK, let's try this out:

The Corinthian is one of the original rom-coms by the Doyenne of Regency romances, Georgette Heyer. The drunken bachelor dreading an arranged marriage stumbles over the gamine runaway climbing out her bedroom window in the wee hours (to escape her own arranged marriage)--naturally they bond, and hijinks ensue. The Mail coach, stolen jewels, a stammering man, childhood friends grown up, star-crossed lovers, murder, Bow Street Runners, mayhem, and family members who veer from the ludicrous to the ridiculously awful fill the pages of this charming on-the-road madcap adventure ending in romance.

112justchris
feb 1, 2021, 1:49 pm

Frederica Merrivale is a young woman of good family and no prospects who has four younger siblings to manage, most immediately, her gorgeous younger sister Charis who could make a good marriage if only she had a season in London. Enter Lord Alverstoke, a bored, wealthy young man being harassed by his vying relatives to sponsor a ball for one or another of his nieces--he decides it would be great fun to launch the beautiful unknown distant relative alongside his nieces to spite their mothers. Little does he know that life is not that simple, and before he can blink, the younger brothers Jessamy and Felix will embroil him in any number of adventures, and the whole family brings laughter and meaning (and mess and distress) to his heretofore purposeless life. I tend to enjoy children as part of stories rather than strictly adult affairs, and that is especially true in romances--so if you like endearing urchins, good-natured sibling rivalry, and a man who has everything trying to figure out how to woo a woman who wants nothing for herself, this is the book for you.

113MickyFine
feb 1, 2021, 1:56 pm

>112 justchris: Frederica is one of my favourite Heyers. Glad to see it was also enjoyable for you.

114richardderus
feb 1, 2021, 1:57 pm

>111 justchris:, >112 justchris: The experiment is going well, I see. I'm so pleased that you're using the proven method to get those troublesome "wanna-have-reviewed-don't-wanna-write-it" reviews done!

115ronincats
feb 1, 2021, 2:55 pm

Yay! Love the Heyer reviews. Frederica is one of my favorites too.

116justchris
Redigerat: feb 1, 2021, 3:33 pm

The Incredible Journey is a children's literature classic and childhood favorite of mine; first published in 1960, it became a bestseller with 11 printings through 1962, and a 20th printing by the time of my 1969 illustrated edition. I was pleased that I remembered key plot points after 30+ years.

This is the story of a young hunter-trained golden retriever leading his companions--an elderly English bulldog and consummate hunter indoor-outdoor Siamese cat--300 miles across northwestern Ontario back to their family home. Through a concatenation of coincidences, their departure from the pet-sitter's home isn't discovered until weeks later; the first two and last two chapters are from the pet-sitter's perspective, while the bulk of the story follows the animals on their journey and their encounters with assorted humans and animals. When I was a child, I loved realistic animal-centered fiction, including this, Kjelgaard's Big Red books, Walter Farley's horse books (especially when few people appeared, such as The Black Stallion and Flame), John L. George's American Woodland Tales series, and the like. This story stands the test of time.

117justchris
feb 1, 2021, 3:33 pm

>113 MickyFine: and >115 ronincats: Right there with you. I love the stories where the kids are a key part of the story. So much love!

>114 richardderus: I'm in the ballpark--not quite using the exact formula, but yes, it appears to be working. Couldn't really compare Heyer to anyone else, except Austen--but that's contemporary rather than historical fiction--because everything else is derivative.

But that's enough for today. The remaining reviews will be more work, and I've got to get to the next thing.

118MickyFine
feb 1, 2021, 3:48 pm

>117 justchris: Chris, I can't remember your feelings on newer romance novels set during the Regency but if you like them The Governess Game by Tessa Dare has some truly hysterical precocious children in it.

119justchris
feb 2, 2021, 12:58 am

>118 MickyFine: Thanks for the rec! I don't have an opinion on newer Regency romances as I haven't dabbled much in them. I've heard some good things so I've been taking notes for future reads.

120justchris
feb 3, 2021, 12:45 am

I got the job! Exciting! Will be working from home until at least July. So I need to figure out some vaguely ergonomic home office setup. Which means I need to get my laptop to talk to my wireless keyboard...

121quondame
feb 3, 2021, 1:06 am

>120 justchris: Great! Congratulations! Do indulge to the limits of practicality on the ergonomic front, your body is with you whether your working or not.

122justchris
feb 3, 2021, 1:27 am

>121 quondame: Absolutely! I think the string of headaches I've been getting lately are a direct result of too many hours with laptop on lapdesk slouched on my loveseat. My problem right now is that I can't get my laptop to talk to my wireless ergonomic keyboard. Worked great when I first got it as a plug-n-play, but I think when I had to change the batteries, or had some other problem, I couldn't get it to work again, and deleted the device from the computer's settings. Now I've gotten it to find the keyboard again, but it won't pair up. Sigh. This is why I've been relying on the lap desk for too long. That, and no good seating option for my desk armoire arrangement.

I found one of those kneeling chairs for cheap not too far away, but more snow in the forecast...

123MickyFine
feb 3, 2021, 1:15 pm

Congrats on the job, Chris! Welcome to the work from home crew!

124ronincats
feb 3, 2021, 1:24 pm

Woot! Congrats on the new job!

125richardderus
feb 3, 2021, 3:24 pm

YAY for w-f-h new job news! I am so pleased for you. I hope this works out well.

126justchris
feb 4, 2021, 12:27 am

>123 MickyFine: and >124 ronincats: and >125 richardderus: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Today was background check stuff. No start date settled yet. Started setting up my ergonomic workstation last night. No more lounging on the loveseat with laptop on lap desk. Just as well, my increasingly frequent and severe headaches were telling me enough of that! Now researching ergonomic seating with a small footprint to fit in my little condo without a dedicated office space, just a desk armoire in the living room that can be closed to put away work. It's exciting! I'm excited. And relieved. I had been feeling so discouraged and went into that first interview expecting it to go nowhere and just wanting the additional interviewing experience. Tonight I said goodnight to the job hunting support group.

127jessibud2
feb 4, 2021, 7:22 am

Congrats on the new job!

128thornton37814
feb 4, 2021, 7:21 pm

>120 justchris: Congrats on your new job--and the work from home situation!

129justchris
feb 4, 2021, 8:19 pm

>127 jessibud2: and >128 thornton37814: Thank you, thank you! I'm in communication daily. I'll be starting on 2/15. I'm currently shopping ebay for active seating options with the smallest footprints--wobble stools and the like.

130Fourpawz2
feb 5, 2021, 1:55 pm

Congratulations on your new job! It's just the greatest thing when it happens and you can just take a great big breath of relief. Best thing ever.

131justchris
feb 5, 2021, 6:21 pm

>130 Fourpawz2: Thank you, and yup! It is a great big sigh of relief. After a year of dwindling savings, I was starting to feel both anxious and discouraged. Of course, now I'm anticipating the stress of new things, plus already feeling the squeeze in terms of various commitments that seem to only grow over time. But one step at a time. And this is such good news!

132Fourpawz2
feb 6, 2021, 1:13 pm

Assume your Duende was unimpressed by the good news. My Jane would have just given me a big ol' yawn and a stretch.

133justchris
feb 7, 2021, 12:11 am

>132 Fourpawz2: She didn't even notice. All she cares about is when am I going to play with her.

134PaulCranswick
feb 7, 2021, 7:28 am

Just dropping by to wish you a splendid Sunday, Chris.

135justchris
feb 7, 2021, 10:50 pm

>134 PaulCranswick: Thank you! Lovely to see you!

136justchris
feb 11, 2021, 2:40 am

Caught another episode of Dust. Reminded me to update the list of new-to-me films.

Also, here's a review!
I just finished Ornament of the World by Maria Rose Menocal. It's a popular history of al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), focusing on key figures and how societies with diverse populations (Muslim, Christian, and Jewish) in the Iberian Peninsula ebbed and flowed over the course of centuries, oscillating between multiculturalism and fundamentalism.

It opens in late Antiquity when Hispania was an important Roman province, through the migration period and eventual Visigothic domination, followed by the raid turned colonization from North Africa, through the medieval period and up to the early modern era, closing with Miguel Cervantes writing Don Quijote as a pointed commentary on the sociopolitical context of his day, in both the framing story and the main narrative. This is followed by a postscript talking about how al-Andalus and its legacy continues to capture the imagination of people today, referencing Salmon Rushdie in particular, as well as the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.

The manuscript was completed just before 9/11, and the author added a postscript dated November 2001 saying she was tempted to modify the book as a result but resisted. Closing quote: "If the stories are well told and if the morals are clear enough, then these new meanings will seem obvious to the reader. And if some of the stories are now tinged with painful irony, so be it."

I enjoyed the book: very easy read. Since it's a book for a general audience, no endnotes/footnotes, citations, or references. She included a fair number of quotes from historical sources. She does give sources for all of the quotes and further reading suggestions. The title of the book is taken from the writing of Hroswitha of Gandersheim in the 10th century after meeting the Andalusi diplomat and Christian bishop Rabi ibnZayd. At the back is an interview with the author and book club discussion questions.

This is my area of interest, so most of the content was not new to me. However, I focus largely on the 11th century, thus the chapters covering later periods were educational for me. I've never seen "memory palace" used so much before, but it makes sense since it is the key concept of her central thesis.

A quote from the epilogue:

"If the frames of these works characteristically present some sort of tyranny--direct or indirect echoes of Scheherezade's plight--the tales told within them embody the hope that stories can bring, since by their very nature they resist clear-cut interpretations and are likely to reveal the different ways in which truths and realities can be perceived. In its insistence that the point of stories, of literature, is to pose difficult questions rather than propose easy answers or facile morals, this tradition is a central part of the Andalusian legacy to subsequent European culture."

And a completely different quote from the Thanks (which I found just as interesting and entertaining as the main text):

"I have heard the cliched lament that editors are not qhat they used to be: they used to read every word an author wrote, or even thought about writing; they used to take a book from an idea through every draft, no matter how many, and then copyedit the last one for good measure they used to care about books and writings as good things in and of themselves, and so on, every sentimental bit of it."

I want to take that to heart and aspire to be that kind of editor within the constraints of my job in my new role as publications director for a research consortium. This new position was described as largely project management during the interview--the one person on the team who's paying attention to the research findings getting out there into the world. And since this research is focused on early childhood asthma, I would particularly like the articles to be written in accessible language where possible so that the research can directly reach the families of the study subjects, not just the academics and clinicians.

137lauralkeet
feb 11, 2021, 8:00 am

>136 justchris: Interesting. My knowledge of Islamic Spain can fit on less than one sheet of paper. However, a few years ago my daughter did a study abroad term in Granada and, later, we visited the city on a family vacation. I learned a bit of the history through a couple of walking tours and of course the mandatory visit to the Alhambra. I was fascinated by the way the various cultures co-existed for centuries until ... well, best not get me started. Just another example of how the history taught in K-12 education glosses over a few things.

Your new job sounds interesting and I like the way this reading inspired your approach.

138ChelleBearss
feb 11, 2021, 10:21 am

Congrats on your new job!

139justchris
feb 11, 2021, 11:54 pm

>137 lauralkeet: The Alhambra is of course the number one memory palace Maria Rose Menocal talks about in the book. It's a lifelong ambition to spend a few months in Spain, so I hope to someday experience it in person myself. Yes, funny how history classes are incredibly bowdlerized. One might even call them whitewashed.

>138 ChelleBearss: Thanks! I'm looking forward to starting on Monday. Gotta get through all the paperwork this week. I have so many tabs open on my browser. And running into technological barriers--no surprise. I forgot that in 2018-2019 campus instituted a MFA protocol that requires a personal smartphone/tablet or department-issued fob to generate temp passcodes. Well, I don't have any of the above at the moment. But hey, I just got a one-week exemption from the tech support folks. And sent off my fob request to HR.

Then I need to go in person next week with my identity documents. But I can't get in the building without a negative test result displaying on the campus pandemic app. Which again, don't have a personal device to download it, need to get one from the tech department...which I can't enter without the negative test result on the app. I'm feeling very Joseph Heller right now. Plus, I gotta get tested on campus to generate the test result to load into the app...looking into that right now.

And since it looks like I'll be on campus next week, time to arrange a couple of handoffs with people--receiving back loaned DVDs and maybe getting some freebie mastic to play around with some Middle Eastern baking. I was so sure I had some lying around, very disappointed to discover I was mistaken. Apparently, all I have is assorted gum arabic.

I also have a query in about whether I need a new campus ID, or whether they can just reactivate the old one. And maybe figure out where I filed it for safety...

All this before I even do any of the online trainings required of all new employees. So many trainings!

Then there's the question of when and how I start the actual work on Monday...

140PaulCranswick
feb 15, 2021, 3:55 am

Fingers and toes crossed for you today.

141justchris
feb 17, 2021, 9:26 pm

>140 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul!

Three days in, and it's going pretty well. Today I attended my first group meeting and got to meet a bunch of people. Turns out I didn't need to present my documents in person and was able to go pick up hardware on the first day. I've also had a full day with my home office setup and discovered further refinements to implement. My old ID has been reactivated but is still very, very safe! I need to keep looking. I had to tear apart the giant piles of papers stashed in my linen closet to unearth my identity documents--now I need to finish sorting and putting those away. Turns out my email account was still receiving messages while deactivated. I logged in on Monday to discover something like 2000 unread messages in my inbox. I finally cleared them all out today, as well as deleting all the folders associated with my previous job.

I'm really excited about this job and looking forward to the work. But still neck deep in online training and orientation meetings and 50 to 100 page procedural documents. Plus, I am very tired from getting up way too early and not having adjusted my bedtime to conform. Maybe tonight's the night I get to sleep before midnight...

142drneutron
feb 18, 2021, 9:06 am

I’m glad the new job is going well. It sounds like a fun one. Are you just working with written publications, or are other media involved as well? With our projects, we have pubs people working on everything from several hundred page proposals through research papers to scripts for videos and such.

143justchris
feb 18, 2021, 10:18 am

>142 drneutron: Right now, AFAIK, it's only mss intended for scholarly publication. But the meeting I attended yesterday mentioned a recruitment video they're developing. I've wanted to get into more types of media, and so I hope I could get involved in that down the road. I really enjoyed my digital storytelling class a couple years ago and want to get into sound editing if not video editing.

144drneutron
feb 18, 2021, 12:22 pm

I've done some voice-over work for outreach videos on my spacecraft projects, and it's been a lot of fun. Might even turn into a retirement career someday. 😀

145reconditereader
feb 19, 2021, 12:12 am

>143 justchris: Your job sounds interesting. What type of place do you work for? Is it a university department?

Congrats on the new job!

146justchris
feb 19, 2021, 12:14 am

>145 reconditereader: Yup. University. Department of Pediatrics. This project is a mission I can believe in, and I've heard over and over what a great group of people too. Both of those make for a great job regardless of anything else.

147reconditereader
feb 19, 2021, 12:14 am

Neat!

148connie53
feb 19, 2021, 5:59 am

Hi Chris, Found your thread and starred it.

149Fourpawz2
feb 19, 2021, 1:48 pm

Glad everything is going so well, Chris.

150justchris
feb 23, 2021, 12:22 am

>148 connie53: and >149 Fourpawz2: Thanks and thanks!

I finally finished the 2 heavy nonfiction books for book clubs. The next book club assignment is a movie, so I can pursue my own reading interests for the next while! Time for some fiction! And wrapping up some lightweight nonfiction.

I counted The Color of Law as a ROOT even though I got it specifically for the book club reading because I bought it, and it'll remain on my shelves now.

151The_Hibernator
feb 26, 2021, 10:25 pm

Congrats on your new job Chris!

152justchris
feb 26, 2021, 10:59 pm

>151 The_Hibernator: Thank you! I had a lot of butterflies the first week, but I'm feeling pretty good now.

>144 drneutron: Hey, Jim, I don't think I ever replied to this. How great that you've done voiceover work. I've sometimes thought that I would love to be (and be good at!) an audiobook narrator or otherwise do voice work but wouldn't even know how to get started.

I'm headed to a nice hot bath with my latest fiction anthology (Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling), which I am really enjoying. I hope to finish it this weekend, but I also have an assortment of social commitments and a couple of expiring access things I need to resolve before it's too late.

153justchris
mar 4, 2021, 9:41 pm

I haven't reviewed everything I've read so far. I might circle back to some of them, or maybe not. The fact that I'm even managing reviews is wonderful.

I finished The Witch's Book of Self-Care today just as my zoom tai chi class was wrapping up. This is a charming little book that frames self-care in terms of witchery. The subtitle: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit. It delivers as advertised. I am just starting my spiritual exploration and have been struggling for quite a long while to engage in self-care. I thought this book might be an engaging way to push over two tile cascades (dominoes FTW!).

It's divided into 5 chapters: self-care and magic, mental and emotional self-care, physical self-care, spiritual self-care, and household self-care, bookended by the introduction, bibliography, and index. It's got kind, compassionate advice and suggestions for developing habits to build self-esteem, reduce stress, and bring meaning into daily life. And lots of recipes! For personal care products, food, teas, aromatherapy blends, incense, craft projects. And spells/rituals, which are basically recipes with a spiritual dimension, to go along with an assortment of mindfulness practices. My only frustration with the book is that all of these recipes and rituals call for an assortment of materials, and it would have been nice to have included those in the index. Instead, I added sticky notes to the inside cover creating ad hoc indices for stones, oils, herbs, and incense ingredients. Based on these, the most useful items are bergamot, clear quartz, frankincense, jasmine, lavender, rose quartz, sandalwood, ylang ylang, and rose. Plus, lots of different colors of candles.

This is a very hands-on book that offers lots of things to try out. I've already started doing some of them and look forward to trying out more. The food recipes are probably the least interesting to me as I already have an extensive cookbook collection and am very comfortable with feeding the body--I really need help with feeding the soul. Hopefully, this little guide will continue to nudge me toward more intentional daily practices. It might help you too, or at least give you ideas to think about.

154PaulCranswick
mar 6, 2021, 6:09 am

Trust that the new job is going well, Chris.

Have a lovely weekend.

155justchris
mar 6, 2021, 11:57 am

>154 PaulCranswick: Yep, it's going pretty well. Haven't quite gotten to contributing meaningfully. Still exploring the platforms and the knowledgebases and reading documentation. But now been to a few meetings and "met" a bunch of people. Sadly, not many opportunities to match names and faces, though names and voices yes.

156justchris
mar 25, 2021, 9:44 pm

Just finished Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay for the March AAC. I enjoyed it. But it also feels a little dated at this point. Such is the pace of societal crises, I guess.

Getting into Americanah for my local book club. Library book from the book club kit.

Failed to get a used copy of Caste online--it's on deck for the book club.

Hoping to wrap up some quick things like Ken Hom's Asian Ingredients very soon. And dive into one of my TBR piles.

So far, I am on track to achieve 75+ books this year. And so many of them nonfiction!

157PaulCranswick
mar 26, 2021, 12:38 am

>156 justchris: I am surprised - but I guess I shouldn't be - that most people read less than a book a month and some hardly at all. I am in awe of some of our pals who can read more than a book a day but I cannot imagine being deprived of reading material full stop.

158justchris
mar 26, 2021, 9:04 pm

>157 PaulCranswick: I remember those glory days of youth when I would read a novel a day. Or even in college when I would save all my reading mojo for spring break and would hole myself up in my room with a giant stack of books and endless snacks. Sleep was optional. When I was in graduate school, I used to deny myself any casual reading because I needed to concentrate on my studies. That meant that I would burst into reading binges at the most inappropriate moments.

Actually, I classify reading as a physiological addiction for me. Withdrawal symptoms, irritibility, restlessness, the whole thing vs dopamine and self soothing. So I try to carefully meter out doses and give myself just enough that I don't go on an unplanned reading bender. Which is why I no longer read new fiction at bedtime. Nope. Way too many all nighters that way. Learned that the hard way. Generally only do well-traveled comfort reads at bedtime.

These days I have *so many* demands on my attention. I neglect so many things, and pleasure reading is one of them more often than not. I was at Half Price Books yesterday looking for some Mary Oliver poetry, but nothing in stock. Sigh. A local botanical garden book club will be discussing her Blue Iris next month, and I thought that might be motivation enough for me to dive into her work. But I'm cheap. Also a no go on Toni Morrison novels. But I did pick up an extra copy of God Stalk so I have a give away copy. Which is good. Because I just sent a book care package to my writing buddy that included the omnibus edition of that book and its sequel.

Itching to start a new fiction read from my TBR piles on the ottoman at the end of my bed...

And making progress on Americanah. Liking it so far.

159ronincats
mar 26, 2021, 11:06 pm

Woo hoo on the God Stalk love! I used to read a book a day in my youth, but that was back when the typical book was about 200 pages.

160justchris
mar 27, 2021, 12:25 am

>159 ronincats: Yeah, not really possible with G.R.R. Martin chunksters and the like. Nowadays, 200 pages are just the prologue.

I waffled on whether to send my original 2 novels or the omnibus and opted for the latter worried the former would be too hard to replace. And lo, the next day, there one was. So did I choose wrong? Meh. As long as more people are reading P.C. Hodgell, it's all good.

161connie53
apr 4, 2021, 7:24 am

>158 justchris: In summer I can manage a book a day. I've been reading all my live and have fond memories of my visits to a library with my father when I was 6 or so. It was a very strange library if memory serves me well. We went there each Friday and there were two ladies (in my eyes very old ones) giving me the books. We stood at one side of a divider and they on the other side. I gave them my books and they would give me new ones they chose for me. I was not allowed to do that myself. When I got home I lay down before the coal stove in the living-room and read all the books. During the week I re-read them all until the next Friday.

162justchris
apr 4, 2021, 3:22 pm

>161 connie53: Huh. Curated library books. Interesting. Not my childhood experience at all. But I bet it led to some fun discoveries that you wouldn't have found on your own. Thanks for sharing!

163connie53
apr 5, 2021, 3:28 am

>162 justchris: It was round 1960, so way back. At one point they had to give me books from a higher level, because I read all books that they thought were age appropriate. ;-)

164justchris
apr 13, 2021, 8:29 pm

>163 connie53: Huh. It's kinda weird to think of grownups screening my books as age appropriate (especially non-family members), but that's because I've been an extremely independent reader from the get go. But I can see how that would be the custom of the country back in the day.

165justchris
apr 13, 2021, 8:30 pm

I had a sudden unexpected trip and brought 5 books with me. Actually made limited progress on 3 of them and finished 1.

166connie53
apr 17, 2021, 6:01 am

>165 justchris: I love an unexpected book spree. I had one too but just got 2 books in. The shop is not a real bookshop but more of a stationary store that also sells books. But it's in walking distance and whenever I go for groceries I just pop in (no appointment required for whatever reason) to see if there are any interesting new books available. That makes my day al lot brighter.

167justchris
apr 17, 2021, 5:58 pm

>166 connie53: That sounds lovely! Yes, a drive-by browse is always good for the spirit.

168justchris
apr 17, 2021, 7:19 pm

I once heard Junot Diaz speak, and thought he was fantastic. And of course, I'd heard all the hoopla about his writing, both This Is How You Lose Her and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Then accusations came out in 2018 of Diaz harassing women and generally showing misogyny. Disappointing but not necessarily surprising in the years of #metoo. I found a copy of This Is How You Lose Her at the local thrift store (along with Maus). So I figured I'd pick it up and check out his writing for myself.

This Is How You Lose Her is a series of 9 stories, mostly revolving around Yunior, the Dominican American protagonist. This book felt semiautobiographical in the sense that Yunior and Diaz were both born in the Dominican Republic, emigrated to New Jersey at a young age, became professors of writing, etc. Write what you know, I guess. The book felt a little experimental. Four stories were written in the first person (The Sun, the Moon, the Stars; The Pura Principle; Invierno; The Cheater's Guide to Love). One was written mostly in third person with occasional first person narrator commentary/reaction (Nilda). Three were written in second person--two directed inward--the narrator addressing himself (Alma, Miss Lora), and one directed outward--the narrator addressing the lover profiled in that particular story (Flaca). One bewilderingly was a first-person female narrator, and the story appeared to have nothing to do with any other story or character in the book (Otra Via, Otra Vez).

The stories move back and forth through time, from the childhood arrival to the United States (Invierno) to presumed present day as a university professor (The Cheater's Guide to Love) and various points in between. The prose is an evocative Spanglish blend that does a great job of expressing Yunior's inner life. The stories mostly center on Yunior's and his older brother Rafa's sexual exploits: the women they fuck, the personal consequences of infidelity, how these women came and went from Yunior's life. To a lesser degree, they explore the family dynamics between the brothers and with each of their parents, and neighborhood dynamics. Racism is present and referenced both directly and indirectly but not the focus of any of these stories, instead just peppering the scenes with some sociocultural context.

Frankly, this book is the most dehumanizing toward women that I can remember reading. The women are evoked in the most sexually objectifying terms and appreciated in the narrative pretty much for whatever sexual gratification they can offer the male characters. This is partly why the completely unrelated story from a woman's perspective is so bizarre. Like, why is that even in there? And that story raises more questions than it answers--the story centers on multiple women, and the one man in the story feels more like a cipher, plus it places the narrator in juxtaposition with her lover's wife left behind in the DR to what effect? I left that story with no sense of resolution at all. And yet for all that, the inner life of the women still feels opaque, though more visible than in any of the stories told by Yunior. The closing story focuses on the personal devastation of losing his fiancee as a result of his serial cheating and the feeble attempts to pick up the pieces. Clearly, the woman at the heart of this story is central, and yet this longest story in the collection never names her. It kinda reminds me of The Bride in Kill Bill. Not a single male character in any of the stories appears as anything other than a womanizer. Well, maybe the white boy neighbor in the story centering on the childhood arrival in New Jersey who makes brief appearances as part of the unobtainable Americanness. Basically, all the Dominican men are assholes, and most of the women are sluts ("sucias").

The misogyny goes beyond the sex, though. Yunior's mother is present in several stories. She is someone to be ignored, belittled, gone around. Diaz even has Yunior reference male privilege at one point. But damn, from his youngest appearance in these stories, he and his brother just completely dismiss or invalidate anything their mother has to say to them. I guess she's portrayed sympathetically, or at least as sympathetically as a deeply misogynist narrator can manage. Yikes.

Is Diaz a talented writer? Yes. Are these stories worth reading? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't regret the time spent, but I think I'll skip The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I appreciated the colorful prose and engaging dialogue, but I could do without the exploitation of women as the vehicle for experiencing what Junot Diaz has to offer the reader.

169richardderus
apr 17, 2021, 7:22 pm

{/lurk}
Happy spring! Hoping for a lovely, cool summer, too. *cue massive hilarity*
{lurk}

170justchris
apr 17, 2021, 7:26 pm

>169 richardderus: Thank you for stopping by, Richard!

I got my second shot yesterday, and it left me feeling achy and miserable, which means I can't sleep flat. So I set up the hammock on the balcony, bundled up in warm clothes and blankets, and dozed outside. Brrr. But then the sun came out and it got too warm. Weird. So I went back inside and propped myself up with lots of pillows to doze some more.

171quondame
apr 17, 2021, 7:31 pm

172justchris
apr 17, 2021, 7:47 pm

>171 quondame: Don't blame you. I think I'll be passing along my copy of This Is How You Lose Her. But first I need to erase all my marginalia.

173swynn
apr 18, 2021, 7:50 pm

>168 justchris: Thanks for the warning about that one.

174justchris
apr 18, 2021, 9:50 pm

>173 swynn: np
My reaction was strong enough that I had to write a review. Lots of other books read this year that I haven't gotten around to reviewing yet...

175justchris
apr 24, 2021, 9:47 pm

Going into the weekends, I'm wanting to curl up with some recreational reading. It's not quite a consistent habit, but it is something I'm starting to look forward to.

Jill Patton Walsh was commissioned to complete Thrones, Dominations, the incomplete Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane manuscript by Dorothy Sayers. I enjoyed the book and do reread it but felt like the sutures between the original prose by Sayers and the spliced-in prose by JPW were painfully bumpy and stuck out. The donor grafts did not integrate seamlessly into the host. But I was still okay with the end result.

So I thought I'd try the follow-up novels written entirely by JPW: A Presumption of Death and The Attenbury Emeralds. The first is set during the war years, and Lord Peter is glaringly absent for most of it, probably a wise authorial choice. Because this book was so painful. What I loved about Sayers' books is that they kept me guessing and working for much of the story. The characters and dialogue were so witty. We were expected to keep up and figure it out. What I did not love about A Presumption of Death is that the clues were glaringly, painfully obvious and yet our characters took many chapters to figure them out and follow up. The dialogue was not wonderful. The story was not interesting. And so on. Not surprisingly, it took me a long time to work up the nerve to try the next installment.

The Attenbury Emeralds was better than A Presumption of Death--I made it through the book without wanting to hurl (either the book or my breakfast). And the malefactor wasn't painfully obvious. But Paton Walsh is no Sayers, and it pains me to see her try. I wonder how much is because Paton Walsh is accustomed to writing for modern readers and thus feels the need to carefully hold the reader's hand, lay out the crumb trail without any breaks or jumps for the reader to follow, and generally has low expectations of the audience. She does an awful lot of a viewpoint character explicitly interpreting another character's actions/reactions/body language, etc. Not so many literary allusions liberally peppering Peter's dialogue either. The Dowager Duchess does not sparkle and confound herself in full-paragraph periods of malapropisms and charming stream of consciousness.

The social commentary that takes up much of the story and drips from *every* character's mouth (and all pointed in the same direction! as if they're a hive mind!) also is most unlike Sayers. Peter's PTSD symptoms from past and current events are referenced pretty casually and openly by many characters, and discussed very directly in group settings, again very uncharacteristic for Peter and Harriet and Sayers' approach to the topic. None of the key characters really sound or act like themselves. I also am not okay with the plot twists thrown in to seriously alter the nature of the characters and their place in the world. It goes beyond taking liberties into distorting the characters beyond all recognition, bombing canon to kingdom come. Did not like. Do not approve. Never reading another of her Lord Peter Wimsey attempts. Reread the originals foreva!

Notice I have yet to mention the mystery? These are mystery books, right? Kinda sorta. The mystery is pretty secondhand, lukewarm, largely off-screen. It doesn't really engage the reader, and takes a backseat to both the social commentary and the transmogrification of the characters' lives. And in the closing pages, somehow Harriet has more insight into the human heart than Lord Peter, particularly when it comes to class consciousness? I don't think so. I guess there's no pleasing fans. I'm okay with that. When the originals gems are so original, the paste copies just lack the brilliance and seem little more than glitter and glue.

176PaulCranswick
apr 24, 2021, 11:32 pm

>175 justchris: Yes Chris I wouldn't have immediately thought of Paton Walsh as the right person to finish off a book by Dorothy Sayers. Talk about going out of one's comfort zone.

>168 justchris: I hated that book too! I have his Pulitzer winner on the shelves and I am not in any particular hurry to get to it.

Have a lovely weekend. x

177justchris
apr 25, 2021, 12:33 am

>176 PaulCranswick: Other reviewers have described the Paton Walsh Wimsey books as sanctioned fan fiction. I can totally see that. Just like 50 Shades of Grey was basically Twilight fan fic. Not that I read either of those series.

Glad to know I'm not alone in my reaction to This Is How You Lose Her.

178connie53
apr 25, 2021, 6:00 am

>170 justchris: Are you feeling better, Chris!

179justchris
apr 25, 2021, 10:19 am

>178 connie53: Thanks for asking, Connie! Yes, it was one day of misery. I got up on Sunday, cleaned the floors, cleaned the kitchen, set about cooking and organizing and had a day to make up for the previous 2.

180richardderus
apr 25, 2021, 12:15 pm

I don't think the Jill Paton Walsh Wimseyish books get *any* love, poor things. The only book of hers I ever read was Farewell, Great King. It was okay, but I never sought out another. What made the Sayers estate think of her is inscrutable to me.

181justchris
apr 26, 2021, 12:39 am

>180 richardderus: Yes, I checked out others' reviews, and mine is pretty mild in comparison. Who knows? Maybe she pitched to them and was brilliant at it and here we are.

182connie53
maj 4, 2021, 4:11 am

Good to hear, Chris. I've had my first shot of Pfizer last Thursday and apart of a sore muscle in my arm I felt fine and still do. Now waiting for my second one in June.

183justchris
maj 4, 2021, 8:16 pm

>182 connie53: Glad to hear first went off okay. Good luck with the second one!

184PaulCranswick
maj 4, 2021, 10:25 pm

>183 justchris: I take it that you are now A-OK after the ill effects of the second jab?

185justchris
maj 6, 2021, 8:08 pm

>184 PaulCranswick: Was down and out just one day. Up and running the next day.

186souloftherose
maj 27, 2021, 10:59 am

Stopping by to say hello, Chris! I hope tiredness and fatigue from starting the new job are easing and you are settling into your new role.

>153 justchris: Interesting review of The Witch's Book of Self-Care Chris - that might make a nice gift for a friend of mine.

>168 justchris: Oof - thanks for taking that one for the team!

187justchris
maj 27, 2021, 11:29 am

>186 souloftherose: Heather!!! Thank you for stopping by!

Sadly, the tiredness and fatigue are no better. Over the last 3 months of employment, I've taken to more and more preemptively turning off my alarm, or turning it off after it goes off instead of snooze. So my average start time has been creeping later. Part of it is the earlier dawn interrupting my sleep earlier. Memorial Day weekend is now going to be about finishing painting around the windows so that I can get the contractors in to install the blackout blinds. Plus, I am going to try the CPAP again and consult with the clinic about adjusting its pressure--I keep discontinuing because of how much air I swallow in my sleep as a result.

Junot Diaz is a great writer (and speaker). The prose is evocative. Kinda reminds me of my reaction to The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon--very imaginative story, the prose was amazing, but also kinda ugly. Like, I appreciated its artistry but not its aesthetics. So no more of either author for me.

188justchris
maj 27, 2021, 11:30 am

How can it be the end of May and I am only now updating my reading list for this month? Hopefully, I didn't miss anything.

189justchris
jun 8, 2021, 12:11 am

I finished Cyteen. Someone gifted me Regenesis a few years ago, and I realized I had never read the whole preceding work, just only one installment. I only remembered a few bits and pieces. Couldn't really tell just which part it was that I read decades ago. Didn't like it. Didn't get it, especially the last bit.

It's like the nexus of all the Union-Alliance novels. I read Downbelow Station (took me 2 tries to get through the whole thing) because it was a Hugo winner. That gets brought up in the opening exposition. Can't say I remember much about that story. Forty Thousand in Gehenna also plays a role in a good chunk of the story in Cyteen. The exploration of programmed cloned azi vs cloned unprogrammed human and reflection on extremely long timeframes involved in societal evolution very much reminded of Serpent's Reach, which I love. The theme of the profound isolation of genius without peers to connect with is reminiscent of Wave Without a Shore (again, love that story). Frankly, I'd rather read those tighter stories with aliens than the endless human political maneuvering with plot holes and opaque motivations.

Felt like Cyteen had some real gaps/inconsistencies and didn't really hang together in some ways. I also really didn't like that the central plot point that defined the entire trajectory of 600+ pages was the rape of a drugged teenager that was then reframed as an Intervention (and thus somehow not really rape???!!). Also, presenting homosexuality as maybe really misogyny, or pathology/trauma reaction, so not okay. Said teenager becomes a traumatized adult who is regularly retraumatized by the corporation security apparatus doing all sorts of nonconsensual mindfucks. Maybe that's supposed to be the point? The whole novel is an endless series of psy-ops by the psy-ops masters out-psyching each other. Blehh.

Next paragraph is all sorts of spoilers, so skip if need be. Plus, it's an undigestible stream of reaction.

Counselor Corain is set up as a viewpoint character at the beginning then sporadically to the end--but does it actually contribute anything to the story? Like Jordan Warrick, he's established as an ideological opponent to Ari, but it's a little unclear just what their differences are, and who really cares anyway. Neither of them is actually developed as characters. Jordan Warrick apparently has ethical differences with Ariane Emory because she's too quick to kill off azi once they're no longer useful to her. And yet, Ariane Emory leaves instructions for her cloned heir (both biologically and psychologically) emphasizing that her duty is first to humanity overall and second to azi and everything else below those. Ari apparently orchestrates the rape of Jordan's clone/son to counteract his bad parenting, but he's not actually a bad parent? Or maybe it's to warp Justin in the direction she needs to develop his talents in a useful way? Yuck. Reseune, home of azi cloning and programming is being funded by Defense dark money, yet it's unclear what the hell they're supposed to be doing for the military. Like, years and decades of funding science and getting nothing back? Jordan Warrick has ethical problems with how azi are being treated, but he's head programmer at the military base? How does any of that make sense? Somehow, Reseune's finances are deeply in trouble for so many years, and creative accounting/Defense spending is all that's keeping it afloat--so what? And again, why and how? And Ari II's guppies somehow put the company back on its feet? Really? It's unclear to me just how Yanni Schwarz has somehow been disrespected in House politics and why that is such a critical plot point at the end. The various family relationships are important and simultaneously not--why introduce all these folks when they really have no bearing on the story. Ari II is so smart that she doesn't like to play with the other kids, but then she gets her personal bodyguards to help her coerce the kids one by one to become her besties, and it all works out. Sure. Ari II sets up her independent household when she's 12, and she has the maturity to self-regulate rather than self-indulge and self-destruct. Sure. Uncles Giraud and Denys push the rebirth of Ariane Emory as the latest in techniques and proof of concept and the great hope of Reseune but then turn around and try to end the project with prejudice--why exactly? All the cognitive dissonance! So many questions and gaps and nothing really resolved beyond people dying here and there.

So yeah, not going to be keeping this one. Probably will read Regenesis. Supposedly, it addresses all the plot holes and loose ends. We'll see.

190richardderus
jun 8, 2021, 7:17 pm

Hi Chris! i'm sorry the fatigue/sleep disruption issues are apparently still in full sway. I'd hate that worse than poison. Do you have your blackout blinds installed yet?

I've been on a roll with reviews. I'm sure as heck not gonna complain...I'm on track to get 190 total reviews blog-posted in 2021. It's wonderful to feel back in control after years of attempt/collapse cycles.

191justchris
jun 8, 2021, 8:57 pm

>190 richardderus: Thank you for stopping by, Richard! And the good wishes! I just got my quotes from 2 different companies for the blinds. They both say it'll take 4-5 weeks before installation--I get the impression that in both cases they're manufactured locally on demand. I seem to be doing boom/bust alternate days in terms of energy levels. Today is definitely a bust. I felt awful yesterday too but got so much done! Paying the price today, I guess.

Congrats on getting your groove back after so many years. That's worth celebrating. You're awesome!

I'm on track to actually achieve 75 books read this year, and mostly nonfiction at that. And I've actually managed some reviews for the first time in forever. You're my inspiration.

192PaulCranswick
jun 8, 2021, 9:45 pm

>191 justchris: Chris I have enjoyed all of the Louise Gluck collections I have read now until Vita Nova. I may have found the antidote to your sleep issues!

Seriously though, I hope that the blinds help. I am generally not a great sleeper either but I somehow managed to get 9 hours sleep on Saturday night when I normally suffer with only a third of that.

193richardderus
jun 9, 2021, 11:06 am

>191 justchris: ...I don't think I've ever been someone's inspiration to *do* something before...more likely to be their inspiration to avoid doing something that went wrong!

Keep sluggin' away, Chris. The blinds should, I hope, help.

194justchris
jun 9, 2021, 11:55 pm

>192 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the *cough* recommendation, Paul. Wow! Three hours on average?! I couldn't function. I prefer 9, and averaging 6-7 has been so hard for me. I guess that explains how you get so much reading done, and why I don't.

>193 richardderus: How can you say that about yourself? I'm pretty sure you inspire plenty of people around here. I've seen it. But I do hear you. I like to tell people I lead by counterexample.

>191 justchris: I am now torn between the two companies:

Main room (light filtering)--long walls are a golden-orange color (closest I could get to apricot but lacking the blush tone), window wall is apple green, with periwinkle for the window embrasure (or whatever you call the 3 narrow drywall sides that form a rectangle with the sill).

Company 1 - tangerine (goes delightfully with apple green, periwinkle, and yellow-orange)
Company 2 - golden brown (goes well with the colors, but I don't love it)

Bedroom (blackout)--walls are medium periwinkle, and the window embrasure is light aqua

Company 1 - topaz blue (blue-green)--complements/overlaps both colors, but again, I don't love it
Company 2 - lilac (delightfully contrasts and brings out the purple in the periwinkle)

I'm really tempted to have each company do one window with the prettiest of the color options, but then I pay for shipping and installation twice. Color options were really quite limited--mostly neutral beiges, browns, lots of greens, blues, reds, but all with the grey tones. Company 1 had a beautiful cinnamon brown that I wanted for the bedroom to contrast with the periwinkle/aqua and went really well with the wood furniture in the room. But it was only for light-filtering shades. Sigh. Decisions, decisions.

Next decision is what the hell color to use in my entry area. I had originally thought maybe apple green so the room is book-ended in that color, but I'm not feeling it now. Maybe a single neutral color in the entirety of my space, but what would work? I'm thinking maybe that lilac. Dunno. Going to sit with it a few more months. Sick of painting for the next while.

195PaulCranswick
jun 10, 2021, 4:39 am

>193 richardderus: Agree with Chris. You are an example to many of us in the group. I know what perhaps some others don't that you have oftentimes alerted me when one of our friends needs some solace and it is the understated kindnesses and thoughtfulness that inspires.

196richardderus
jun 10, 2021, 10:43 am

197Berly
jun 14, 2021, 12:15 am

Hi Chris!! Yes, I am once again trying to make the rounds and get caught up on LT. Very belated congrats on getting the job -- yay!! Loving all your reviews, and, yes, you get extra points for the Kindred analysis. That was a great book; although I didn't understand why the arm incident had to happen at the end. Good luck with the blinds and paint decisions. You are making progress!

198justchris
jun 14, 2021, 11:16 pm

>197 Berly: Hello!! Lovely to hear from you, Kim. I admire your ambition. It's June--I have long since given up on catching up on LT. But I'm still here dipping my toes into the shallow end (threads that haven't gone beyond a hundred comments, whether the only or the umpteenth for a person).

When I was writing that review, I read a bunch of other reviews, especially contemporaneous ones, and assorted analyses of the story. IIRC, the loss of her arm was kind of a metaphor for the permanent harm and cost and loss of self suffered under chattel slavery, made manifest in her body not just her psyche. She killed Rufus and literally lost a piece of herself as a result. Both her and her husband were deeply traumatized in different ways by their experiences, and the amputation gives them a specific focus and visible excuse for their recovery process, and perhaps a way to grow back together.

199Berly
jun 15, 2021, 10:57 pm

>198 justchris: I guess I just felt she was traumatized enough psychologically without the added physical injury. But the amputation does not need analysis, nor can it be denied based on a different viewpoint, so I guess it could be that specific focus to draw the two of them back together. Still think it's overkill though. ; )

200PaulCranswick
jun 15, 2021, 11:05 pm

>198 justchris: & >199 Berly: It was a fine book and the premise a very interesting one.

201justchris
jun 16, 2021, 11:40 pm

>199 Berly: It's certainly the cherry on top of a shit sundae. Agreed.

>200 PaulCranswick: Yup. Lots of time travel books out there. Can't say I've ever seen another one explore these particular themes.

202justchris
jun 18, 2021, 12:07 am

Last week, I finished The Telling by Ursula Le Guin. No idea where I picked up this hardcover book. Won't be keeping because I wasn't wowed by the story, plus I generally don't keep hardcover fiction.

The Telling is an exploration of cultural legacies and the violence of extremism and by extension colonialism. The first page paints a word picture of Sutty's childhood memories of living in her aunt and uncle's village in India then transitions on the next page to Sutty's youth in North America, reunited with her parents while the entire world is increasingly under the totalitarian control of the religious government of the Unists and its attacks on centers of learning and accumulated human knowledge and culture (Library of Congress, for example). This story is set in the Hainish universe, and Sutty flees the violence of Earth (Terra) to become a human Observer sent to the newly discovered planet Aka.

The first Hainish Observers happened to be Terran, and their reports were sent to Earth instead Hain. Those initial reports were largely lost due to Unist sabotage of the ansible communication system, so that only the language report survived for Sutty to study in transit to her first Observer post. She is dismayed to find that she had left a planet and its societies being destroyed by religious fundamentalists to arrive at a planet that is under the totalitarian control of a corporate government destroying its societies in the name of anti-religious accelerated capitalism and industrialization in a "march to the stars" spurred by the transmission from Earth of all its technical knowledge. The literature and ideograms that Sutty had studied had been outlawed and destroyed as relics of a primitive past.

Sutty is convinced that she is failing in her role because she is unable to be neutral, to be nonjudgmental of what's happening on Aka. As she put it, "maybe a Terran was a bad choice. Given that we on Terra are living the future of a people who denied the past...I trained as a linguist and in literature. Aka has one language left and no literature. I wanted to be a historian. How can I, on a world that's destroyed its history?"

Fifty years after first contact, Aka restricted offworld presence to four people who must stay in the main city. But then Sutty is given permission to travel up into the hills into a small village far from the city. Will she find relics of the suppressed indigenous culture and history and knowledge?

Well, it wouldn't be much of a story if she didn't. Sutty settles into that distant village and begins learning the forbidden culture that can't be completely erased from hearts and minds and walls and more. The events of this story seem very reminiscent of China's Cultural Revolution, and the indigenous culture seems very much modeled on Taoism and associated traditional Chinese medicine, qigong, cuisine, calligraphy, etc.

Sutty cannot flee her past, her own trauma and loss and grief. As she journeys first into the hills and later to the mountains she is shadowed by the Corporate Monitor, and eventually their journeys and their stories become intertwined. And the secret behind the rise of the Corporate State and the destruction of Akan religion and culture is revealed. Terra and Aka are dark reflections of the same human impulses of domination and resistance and the all too human cost of state violence and what it takes to survive.

203connie53
jul 5, 2021, 10:50 am

Hi Chris. I have been away from the 75ers for a while due to RL. I will skip all the posts above and try to visit more often.

204justchris
jul 6, 2021, 9:35 am

>203 connie53: Connie! Thank you for stopping in. No worries about skipping posts--I do that all the time in order to cope. Hope RL is going okay. I too have been away for awhile and only stop in sporadically as energy levels allow. But hey, it's July, and I'm still here--that's better than I've managed in years!

205souloftherose
jul 6, 2021, 4:29 pm

>187 justchris: Sorry to hear about the ongoing tiredness and fatigue Chris. I hope blackout blinds and CPAP help a little (as and when you can get the blinds installed). I've found a sleep mask helps a little with the light in the mornings and lets me catch up on my sleep a bit at the weekends but you're probably in a warmer area than I am so not sure how comfortable that would be.

>198 justchris: 'It's June--I have long since given up on catching up on LT.'

Hah - glad I'm not the only one!

>204 justchris: 'But hey, it's July, and I'm still here'

Cheering from the sidelines and feeling this myself this year :-)

206PaulCranswick
jul 7, 2021, 6:11 am

>204 justchris: I for one am pleased to see you here through July and beyond, Chris!

207justchris
jul 7, 2021, 9:38 pm

>205 souloftherose: Heather! Lovely to see you, my LT/reading sibling!

I've been using sleeping masks for years, once I realized I am light sensitive in my old age. I was hoping to set them aside with the new blackout curtains. I did stop using the ear plugs once I moved out of apartments and into my third floor condo. Have to keep the windows closed though, otherwise the morning delivery trucks across the street get to me with their backup alarms.

Right now, my problem is simply getting to bed early enough. Plus, a lot of anxiety currently, which means the thoughts start spinning and won't stop.

Had a phone crisis in the last week that I finally resolved today. I ported my phone number to my new provider, but the device I planned to use was locked. I went through a bunch of old and new phones trying to get one that was compatible and finally found one today.

>206 PaulCranswick: Thanks for stopping in with the kind words. I have broken 200 for the first time ever. I might need to start a second thread for myself. *Gasp!*

208ArlieS
jul 8, 2021, 2:49 am

Hi Chris,

Fascinating thread so far. We have some reading tastes in common. I apologize for ressurecting some really old posts.

>98 justchris: I loved your review of Octavia Butler's Kindred. I find a lot of Butler's books too disheartening for me, but she raises good issues - it's just that I mostly read fiction for escape from reality, rather than for dealing with it.

>136 justchris: I added Maria Rose Menocal's Ornament of the World to my ever-growing list.

>156 justchris: Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist was stolen from me by a vicious library patron who put a hold on it, so I've only read part of it so far; it's on my list to check out again. I'm not as plugged in to popular culture as its author, which made what I managed to read somewhat of a weird experience for me. But I'm definitely a very bad feminist ;-)

>158 justchris: I too remember reading a novel or more a day, but I think novels tended to be a lot shorter.

209PaulCranswick
jul 8, 2021, 4:20 am

>207 justchris: I will certainly be along early on to wish you a happy new thread. x

210laytonwoman3rd
Redigerat: jul 8, 2021, 9:26 am

>207 justchris: "the thoughts start spinning and won't stop" I've had two nights like that this week....luckily not back to back, but I don't cope well on fractured sleep. I've had to try not to read anything too intellectually or emotionally stimulating at bedtime.

211justchris
Redigerat: jul 9, 2021, 11:21 pm

The Book of Atrix Wolfe was a quick reread for me a couple weeks ago. If you're a Patricia McKillip fan, you'll enjoy it--lyrical prose, compelling imagery, magic, wonder, a dreamscape fantasy where different realities bleed into each other. The book opens with a siege and a wizard who unleashes a horror that looms over the rest of the story, which largely alternates between a prince practicing magic in a haunted castle tower and a scullery maid scrubbing pots in the castle kitchen. Plus, the queen of the otherworld forest and aforesaid wizard. All caught up in the unresolved magic from that long ago battlefield. I think I keep this book for the amazing word-pictures of the ongoing feasts in all the minute details of ingredients and presentations. Mouth watering. A simple, sweet, small fantasy story about hunger, loss, and love.

ETA: Heh. Went to upload my review and discovered I reviewed this back when I first read it in 2011.

212quondame
jul 10, 2021, 12:59 am

>211 justchris: I love that book - so many of her singles that followed are treasures as well.

213richardderus
jul 10, 2021, 5:23 pm

I adore UKL...but you really got to the heart of her failings with The Telling. Nuance is missing in this book, but it's saved (to the extent that it is) by my general agreement with her angry anti-religion and in that I include Akan capitalism. Religious control freaks never change, they just wear different colors every now and then.

It got...indigestible.

214justchris
Redigerat: jul 10, 2021, 11:36 pm

>212 quondame: I don't love it as much as some of her other stuff, like The Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy, or The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. And I don't know whether that's because I read those when I was so much younger.

>213 richardderus: Did I get to the heart of her failings? I had to go back and reread what I wrote. You mean because her real-world commentary was so very transparent and not at all allegorical or metaphorical? A bludgeon is certainly something that lacks nuance.

Well, I will say that The Telling was better than The Fresco by Sherri S. Tepper, which it very much reminded me of. That one had its amusing moments, but it was such a wish-fulfillment shallow liberal fantasy of alien invasion deus ex machina that it made me want to puke. I say this as a screaming leftie radical. Both of them were screeds, and I was sympathetic with the viewpoint yet so very unimpressed by the story.

ETA: Richard, I agree completely that fundamentalists of any stripe are all the same in terms of wanting to control everyone and willing to destroy the world in the process.

215quondame
Redigerat: jul 10, 2021, 11:53 pm

>214 justchris: Sherri Tepper did pull those deis ex machina way too often. Still there are lots of her books I still like. Forgotten Beasts of Eld remains among the very top of my fantasy picks, but the The Riddle-Master of Hed sunk against other contenders. My daughter was all "why do all the men want Sybel", and couldn't get into its magic.

I was very unhappy the first time I read The Telling. I may have re-read it do to Jo Walton comments, but why ever I did I got more positive from it the second time. Of course Walton does didactic big time.

216justchris
jul 11, 2021, 12:15 am

>215 quondame: It's exactly because I love Tepper's other books so much that I was so disappointed by The Fresco. It just felt like so much liberal wet-dream wankery. The Mavin/Peter/Jinian books remain regular rereads for me. What did Jo Walton have to say about that book?

I wasn't unhappy or disappointed by The Telling, just rather meh and unimpressed, I guess. It's kinda funny because I had longed to read for years The Word for World Is Forest, and it did not disappoint. I was blown away. I had seen that story referenced in various places over the years, hence my desire to experience it myself. And in many ways, it was just as much a bludgeon (on the similar theme of the violence and exploitation of colonialism and associated genocide). In contrast--The Telling? Never heard of it. Wasn't on my radar at all. I guess I can see why.

217quondame
jul 11, 2021, 2:24 am

>216 justchris: Well, if Jo Walton did have something to say about The Telling, it's not in What Makes This Book So Great. Just checked my Kindle and came up with zip. I'm pretty sure I read someones good opinion to make me re-read it. And once I wasn't expecting whatever I was expecting it worked much better.

I'm very fond of Tepper's Game books, they are shelved just behind my Mac as I type. Also the Marianne books. And Dorothy Dunnett, but otherwise it's all Unix and related manuals. Oh, and Gudrun Sjödén catalogs. Most of my other comfort reads double fill the 6 shelves of a 31½x11x79½ Billy. There are many Tepper and Jo Clayton books on it. One Tepper that haunts me, but which I've no desire to re-read is Shadow's End.

218justchris
jul 11, 2021, 11:07 am

>217 quondame: I actually haven't read much of Tepper's works. I have her Grass trilogy in my TBR box, which I hope to get to this year or next. Besides the aforementioned books, I think the only other I read was The Revenants, and it was frankly so bizarre to my tender youth that I don't think I even comprehended it.

I've recently heard of Dunnett here on LT and looked up her books. Look interesting. Don't know if I'll ever get around to them.

Jo Clayton is another favorite author. I've gone through various collect-them-all and purge phases with her stuff. And for awhile I just tired of the same themes of oppressive society and the disruptions centered on the characters of the story and the same archetype protagonist over and over. The Moongather trilogy remains one of my all-time favorites. But then I also really like the Skeen books. I stole all the Diadem books from my mom and started accumulating all the spin-offs, but damn, that's a lot of books. And they did start to get old. So I gave them all back to my mom. But I did appreciate the early examples of Michael Whelan's art on some of those covers.

219connie53
jul 13, 2021, 3:37 am

Hi Chris, visiting your thread again and have to say I loved the Grass books. So don't wait too long to read them.

220justchris
jul 14, 2021, 11:57 pm

>219 connie53: Hi Connie! Duly noted! However, they're all mmpb, which all fit in a box in my closet. I'm working on clearing the hardcovers and trade paperbacks off my ottoman. Making okay progress there. Regenesis and the Grass trilogy will be the first from the mmpb box for sure.

221richardderus
jul 18, 2021, 5:15 pm

Happy week-ahead's reads, Chris.

222richardderus
Redigerat: jul 18, 2021, 5:47 pm

Rarely do I see double posts anymore!

223justchris
jul 19, 2021, 10:53 pm

>221 richardderus: and >222 richardderus: Thank you for the good wishes and the double post.

I'm dabbling in a bunch of different things right now. Full-on ADD.

224justchris
jul 31, 2021, 1:04 am

I finished Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead. Loved it. Only 9 stories yet all quite memorable. Protagonists are a mix of lesbian, gay, trans, nonbinary, and unknown queer-status folks, mostly young, and from Ojibwe, Cree, Anishinaabe, Mi'kmaq, Navajo nations, though some stories did not indicate any specific tribal heritage. One protagonist was white yet focused entirely on her Cree love interest. These dystopian stories include colonies out in space, either spaceships heading out from Earth or long since settled, alternate/virtual reality via cyberspace, colonizing a world via a portal, either increasingly totalitarian government and scarce resources for survival or turtled-up communities keeping the chaos outside at bay, cyborgs, time travel through the spirit realm, but also thriving after the collapse of civilization, and keeping oral history and the relics of writing alive. Definitely worth checking out if you want to experience an indigenous spin on common science fiction tropes.

I also loved Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation edited and translated by Ken Liu. The general introduction to the collection and the introduction to each author were so helpful to this clueless western reader. The book contains 13 short stories by 7 authors chosen by Ken Liu, as well as essays by 3 of the authors about Chinese science fiction. This collection made me really wish I could read Chinese so I could appreciate the originals. I loved everything I read and know I missed so much lacking the cultural context. I especially enjoyed the titular story by Hao Jingfang because it made my little biology nerd heart so happy. I mean, the story wasn't much, and I didn't really get the closing message, but I heart all the different alien biology/society vignettes--so very playful and imaginative.

The story by Cheng Jingbo was "Grave of the Fireflies," and I wondered whether the title was inspired by the Studio Ghibli movie and/or its source (I'm a devotee, and this movie consistently ranks high in best of animation lists--but absolutely the most depressing movie I think I've ever seen, no rewatching that). Or whether the title in both cases is some cultural referent that I regretfully don't know. "The Year of the Rat" from Chen Qiufan was a gut punch to start the collection, while I found "Tongtong's Summer" by Xia Jia the most charming; Ma Boyang's "The City of Silence" was a wonderful homage to 1984, while "The Circle" by Liu Cixin really reminded me of The Silent Stars Go By by James White; I found Tang Fei's "Call Girl" very haunting and Hao's"Folding Beijing" poignant. With the exception of "Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse," all of these stories were previously published in both Chinese and English-language science fiction magazines. However, Ken Liu newly translated all of them for this collection.

It's a great collection. I recommend it.

In contrast to these, I found New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Fiction from the Caribbean edited by Karen Lord kinda meh. This was the slimmest volume, featuring 11 stories by authors distributed between Barbados (3 authors), Bermuda (2), and Trinidad & Tobago (6). I liked most of the stories fine (as is usually the case with anthologies), and felt that Tammi Browne-Bannister's "Once in a Blood Moon" was a great start to the collection. In the end, I guess they didn't really resonate with me, even though I was predisposed to like them (see the glowing reviews above). Not sure why. Maybe it was because 9 of the stories featured female protagonists, of those, 5 written by men and featuring the darkest stories involving sexual abuse ("Water Under the Bridge"), infidelity leading to murder ("Maiden of the Mud"), female body image issues ("Quaka-Hadja"), and "daddy issues" ("Daddy," of course). It's fraught territory for someone of the dominant group to explore an aspect of the oppression of the oppressed group, and those tales were definitely written to address gendered violence and patriarchal dynamics in relationships. Not quite successfully for me, as I hit the cluster of stories I didn't enjoy featuring girls/women suffering in different ways and realizing the authors of most of those were men. Gah. To be fair, "The Ceremony" by a female author also was a dark story exploring female gender roles in families and was placed in the center of the aforementioned cluster of stories in the center of the collection. And the fifth story written by a man and featuring a female narrator ("Past Imperfect") did not raise any red flags because it didn't grapple with anything gender specific and was a rewarding little dystopic tale. I think the story I enjoyed most was "fallenangel.dll," which featured a gay male protagonist in a dystopian unspecified country with a Prime Minister. So this book was really a peach, with pleasant stories encasing a bitter pit. Or maybe I should say mango with a large pith, given these are Caribbean authors, and the ratio of hard to digest stories was larger than I like.

225drneutron
jul 31, 2021, 6:15 pm

Invisible Planets sounds great! Gonna look for it.

226justchris
aug 1, 2021, 12:17 am

227connie53
aug 3, 2021, 4:53 am

Hi Chris! Good to read >220 justchris: about the grass books being read soon (ish)

228justchris
aug 16, 2021, 12:15 pm

Just finished Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten by Stephen Few, the second edition from 2012. I'm working as an in-house editor for a biomedical research consortium, and I want to help researchers present their work more effectively. This book is a great resource for that.

The topic is inherently very dry, boring even, but Stephen Few brings a sense of fun and whimsy, starting with an excerpt from Pablo Neruda's "Ode to Numbers" before the table of contents. The book is divided into 14 chapters accompanied by several appendices and is written in an engaging, accessible style. The concepts are illustrated with lots of concrete example, largely from the business world, so lots of marketing summaries, sales figures, and the like.

The intro explicitly lays out the purpose and scope of the book and intended audience, and a chapter on basic stats follows. The book then proceeds through tables vs graphs, types of tables, science of visual perception and principles of graphical communication, types of graphs, general design principles for communication, then specific design principles for tables and graphs, with a detailed breakdown of design choices for each component of a graph, strategies for simultaneously displaying multiple variables, and then closes with principles of good storytelling and the balance between standards and innovation. Probably my favorite chapter is "Silly Graphs that Are Best Forsaken" (spoiler: donut charts, radar charts, stacked area graphs, circle charts, unit charts, funnel charts, waterfall charts).

Several of the chapters include hands-on exercises, both provided by the author and explicitly asking the reader to draw from their own graphs and tables from work. The pages are arranged to allow for writing in the margins, and the more extensive exercises are laid out with room for writing below each item like a workbook. References are provided in the margin, and Few is great about naming the people, not just the source titles, as well as sharing relevant quotes. He is also straightforward in expressing his own opinions and sharing his own experiences. Each chapter ends with a "summary at a glance" section like any textbook.

What I most appreciated is approaching this entire topic through the lens of storytelling and the importance of narrative. Relevant quotes:

"Information can't possibly serve a purpose until we first identify what's meaningful then manage to make sense of it."

"Unless we give information a clear voice, its important stories will remain unheard, and ignorance will prevail."

"We derive great value from the stories that numbers tell, yet we rarely consider the significance of how we present them."

"We must design the message in a way that leads readers on a journey of discovery."

"Quantitative stories are always about relationships."

"Before stories can be told, they must be discovered and understood. Data sensemaking precedes data presentation."

This is a great resource for approaching visual aids with intention and thought instead of just relying on the default settings of spreadsheets and/or graphing software. It can help anyone become a more effective presenter and design better visual aids.

229swynn
aug 16, 2021, 1:12 pm

>224 justchris: Oooh, I have Love After the End in the Tower of Due, so I'm thrilled to see you liked it so well!

>228 justchris: That actually sounds very appealing.

230justchris
aug 16, 2021, 1:24 pm

>229 swynn: Love After the End is definitely a keeper. All of the stories moved me, and the collection felt above average in terms of overall quality. Or maybe it's that queer stories particularly resonate for me.

Inorite? Before this job, I was managing editor for a medical journal and screened all of the revised submissions for format and such lower level issues. The sheer volume of poor tables and graphs...it really pained me and made me realize the value I really want to add for authors is improving that aspect of science publishing.

231richardderus
aug 16, 2021, 3:05 pm

>228 justchris: Considering the impact of data visualization on the intake of knowledge, it's crucially important reading...but for professionals, at least to me. I think it's hard enough to make people swallow data without getting them to question it!

Happy week-ahead's reads.

232laytonwoman3rd
aug 20, 2021, 10:19 am

>228 justchris: Are you enjoying LT's new Charts and Graphs feature, then?

233justchris
aug 20, 2021, 10:06 pm

>232 laytonwoman3rd: TBH hadn't noticed it. Guess I need to poke around more. Thanks for the heads up!

>228 justchris: I appreciated this book so much that I bought a couple books on its recommended reading list. The first arrived today: Beautiful Evidence.

234Berly
sep 8, 2021, 12:24 am

Just keeping current. I was only



messages behind. LOL

235justchris
sep 9, 2021, 9:40 am

>234 Berly: Ha! Nice visual aid, there!

I've now moved on to Information Dashboard Design, which I am anxiously trying to race through as we are currently developing exactly that at work for my use. But without the benefit of the guidance from this book so far.

236richardderus
sep 23, 2021, 7:17 pm

...Chris...? You roun' here?

237justchris
sep 24, 2021, 10:16 pm

>236 richardderus: Thanks for checking in! Yes, I am, amazingly enough. I was just thinking I'm doing pretty good this year--almost October and still here.

I'm on track to finish my unread anthologies this year. And I've just added up the trade paperbacks and think I might be able to finish those too. That'd be 2 piles out of my bedroom. Yahoo!

Plus, I've wrapped up a bunch of books this week. Kinda weird how that works out.

238justchris
Redigerat: sep 25, 2021, 12:29 am

I recently finished rereading The Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy by Patricia McKillip. It's been decades since I last read these little novels. They remain favorites from my youth. When I spent a semester in Costa Rica in the 1980s, the only books I brought to sustain me were this trilogy for my fantasy selection and David Brin's Startide Rising and The Uplift War, which felt like a duology at the time.

I worried that rereading this high fantasy trilogy would tarnish the sheen of fond remembrance. No such thing! I still savored the lyrical prose, the imagery and metaphors, the characters, the world-building, all of it. I thought then and still think that these would translate well to the cinema given the advances in special effects that really bring magic alive on the screen. But of course, I'd hate to see how Hollywood would butcher the story.

The Riddle-Master of Hed opens with Morgon, the Prince of the island of Hed (too small to be a kingdom!) meeting Deth, the High One's harpist when the spring thaw brings the trading ships into port. Deth discovers that Morgon secretly won a riddle game with the wraith of Peven, and Morgon discovers that the King of An had promised his daughter Raederle's hand in marriage to the winner of that deadly contest. Morgon and Deth head out on one of the ships, and so the quest begins.

In the first book, we're introduced to Morgon and the people and places of the HIgh One's realm. Over the course of a year, Morgon discovers he's tangled up in a destiny that goes far beyond his peaceful, agrarian life in Hed, or even his college years studying with the Riddle Masters in Caithnard. Mysterious shapechangers threaten Morgon's life repeatedly, and he and Deth travel through various lands trying to stay alive, meeting land rulers and finding help along the way. Diverted from traveling to An to marry Raederle, Morgon and Deth journey to the High One's mountain to ask who are these shapechangers and what's going on.

In the second book, Heir of Sea and Fire, we're introduced to Raederle. It's spring again, and no one has seen or heard from Morgon or Deth for a year. Raederle sets out to find out what happened to Morgon, accompanied by his sister Tristan and Lyra, the land heir of the kingdom of Herun, who had met Morgon two years ago and is haunted by his refusal to accept her help and his possible death.Along the way, Raederle discovers she's more than the second most beautiful woman of An, with dangerous and powerful magic of her own.

In the third book, Harpist in the Wind, the meaning of Morgon's destiny as the Star-Bearer is revealed, the shapechangers are at last identified, and all the realms of the High One are swept into a war of the living and the dead, the ancient past and the present. It is the prophesied ending of the age of the High One. Along the way, we meet wizards, magical creatures, riddles, harps, forests, marshes, mountains, and all sorts of people.

These books remain charming classics for me. They were a perfect bedtime read--comforting and familiar and uncomplicated.

239justchris
okt 5, 2021, 10:40 pm

So last week I got sick with covid. I was vaccinated, so it was relatively minor flu-like symptoms--2 days of semicomatose misery and several days of improving condition and lots of rest. As a result of so many days in bed, I've been going through a bunch of comfort reads. I'm back to working from home this week and took a nap at midday today. Still have some congestion and of course fatigue.

240PaulCranswick
okt 5, 2021, 10:48 pm

>239 justchris: Sorry to see your news, Chris.

Hope you will soon fully recover and thank heavens you were vaccinated.

241quondame
Redigerat: okt 5, 2021, 11:33 pm

>239 justchris: I'm glad you're better and sorry you got sick. I hope you continue rapid improvement.

>238 justchris: I may go re-re-read the Riddlemaster books. I came to like McKillip's single fantasies more over the years and my most recent visit to Hed wasn't as pleasant. My favorite is still The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.

242MickyFine
okt 6, 2021, 11:05 am

>239 justchris: Sorry to hear you got hit with the bug, Chris, but glad the vaccine kept it on the mild end. Hopefully you feel more the thing soon!

243drneutron
okt 6, 2021, 1:58 pm

Yikes! I hope your recovery is going well!

244justchris
okt 9, 2021, 7:05 pm

>240 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the good wishes, Paul.

>241 quondame: I have definitely continued to improve. Thanks! The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is on my shelves too. I might reread that in the next year or so. In fact, I was thinking it might be good to reread my whole collections and make decisions accordingly. I'm planning to relocate in 2-4 years, and starting the process of downsizing now would be good.

>242 MickyFine: Thanks, MickyFine!
>243 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

I am indeed much improved and looking forward to finally getting out of my place tomorrow, if only to the basement to dispose of trash and stuff that needs to go back into storage. Plus, groceries in the evening.

It is perhaps just as well that I was wiped out at the beginning because my first inclination on getting the test results was to come here and post an angry screed.

Masks are face condoms, and people who refuse vaccination and wearing masks are more reckless than the people who refused to wear condoms during the height of the AIDS epidemic. People could refuse to have sex with someone like that (in cases of consensual actions), but sharing the same air column isn't quite as clear cut in terms of boundaries and bodily fluids in the form of microdroplets and breath itself. Public safety versus personal sensation/perception/"freedom"--I err on the side of public safety.

I presume that I got sick via my pandemic pod friend, since I got symptoms 2 days after her. But maybe not. And she certainly has no idea where she was exposed. We both are vaccinated and good about wearing masks except when actively eating and generally trying to keep safe distances. But I have been on crowded buses since returning to the office, and she has had medical appointments. So who knows? It's very likely whoever got one or both of us sick was a carrier without symptoms because that's a thing thanks to so many unvaccinated people and the continued mutations of the virus as viruses do.

245richardderus
okt 9, 2021, 7:53 pm

Thank GOODNESS it was so mild! It rots on ice that you had it at all, but it's still a reief that you were able to kick it to the curb relatively easily.

Sending immune-boosting contact-free cyberhugs

246justchris
okt 9, 2021, 8:19 pm

>245 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! All such hugs accepted!

Yes, the main benefit of vaccination with all of these break-through infections in so many of us is the relative mildness of the symptoms. I had 2 days of misery in bed, followed by 2 days of recovery in bed, followed by several days of improvement with some residual congestion. And now all that's left is intermittent fatigue, which was already my normal.

247ArlieS
okt 9, 2021, 11:12 pm

>239 justchris: I'm glad it was only flu-like symptoms, though it sounds rather like a full blown case of the flu to me - not minor except compared to hospitalization.

I hope you are feeling fine by now - I'm reading this 4 days after you posted.

248justchris
okt 10, 2021, 9:16 pm

>247 ArlieS: Thank you so much, Arlie! Yes, it pretty much felt like a full-on flu. I'm totally fine by now. So glad to finally be able to leave my space now that quarantine's over.

249richardderus
okt 18, 2021, 2:22 pm

Chris, come visit me at my new digs: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336046

250Berly
okt 19, 2021, 8:44 pm

Chris--So sorry you got hit, but very glad it didn't last long for you! And glad you took advantage of the down time to do some comfort reading. Well played. Interesting comparison to the AIDS pandemic. I do wish people would just get vaccinated and wear their darn masks!!

251justchris
okt 19, 2021, 10:14 pm

>249 richardderus: Thanks for the invite! I'm heading right over.

>250 Berly: Thanks, Kim!

This week is off to a rough start. My usual plan is to be at the office Monday-Wednesday, but yesterday I woke up feeling so awful that I knew better than to leave home. Got up and through my morning routine and then lay back down for a couple more hours. Ugh. I got through the day. Then terrible insomnia.

Despite little sleep, I felt way better today but still stayed home thanks to a meeting first thing in the morning and the decision to walk with a neighbor at lunchtime (lots of catching up, plus checking out the relocated local, independent bookstore and pharmacy now in my neighborhood after getting booted from their downtown home due to redevelopment). Came home with only 3 books--not bad! And now I've just ordered one more plus my 2022 planner.

Don't know if I'll go into the office tomorrow. It'll be my first time co-facilitating during our fall 2021 session of the Institutes for the Healing of Racism. We're doing it virtual for the second (or third?) time. And so I might just stay home so I don't panic commute and start the evening terribly flustered. Plus, I might still need a nap.

252richardderus
okt 24, 2021, 8:16 pm

Have a good week-ahead's reads, Chris.

253justchris
okt 28, 2021, 11:01 pm

>252 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! Picked out the books for our book club to see us through the end of the year: There There and Decolonizing Wealth. The latter is part of my collection, so I've already started reading it. And I just brought home the library book for the other one last night.

254PaulCranswick
nov 3, 2021, 2:44 am

Hope that you are now fully recovered, Chris.

I have to say that - "religious" issues to one side - I don't really see the case for being anti-vaxx. I can see the point that already contracting the disease will produce anti-bodies that provide some immunity but even in that case the "booster" of a jab is surely explainable, logical and medically prudent?

I am less sure that the evidence on masks or "face condoms" as you strikingly call them, is quite as scientifically compelling as according to research only the medical grade masks are really helpful and the cloth ones possibly unhelpful. Still I am living in a country that mandates their use in public and compliance is pretty much absolute. I view it as a fairly small price to pay to make my fellow citizens more comfortable. I yearn for the days though when there will be absolutely no need for debate as to their non-use but that day is not today.

255Berly
nov 21, 2021, 1:18 am

So, where are you? It's been a month. Just saying. Hope you are okay...

256justchris
nov 21, 2021, 7:57 am

>255 Berly: Thanks for checking in. The reality is that Paul's comments merit a reply. Rebuttal more like, and I just haven't had the spoons to deal.

>254 PaulCranswick: Paul, I like you, I really do. And yet.

Here's an article about the masking ordinance in San Francisco during the 1918 flu pandemic. They were wearing fucking gauze over their faces and it helped per the linked retrospective study.

Then there's all these studies of the impact of masks in the current pandemic:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33015206/ ("minimum efficacy" but still recommended to prevent spread)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33062538/ (not for healthcare setting but still useful for the general public)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32785565/ (moderate efficacy depending on materials/construction/maintenance)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32543923/ (mask mandates reduced infection rates)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33852626/ (masking adherence inversely proportional to infection rates)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33353158/ (mask mandates more effective than shutdowns in limiting spread)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32532940/ (masks alone probably insufficient--much like condoms, frankly)

So please don't hem and haw about are cloth masks really effective and maybe even unhelpful. It gives cover to the anti-mask&vaxx wingnuts out there who have made this crisis demonstrably worse at large scale. To me, it feels on par with Trump's comments about "very fine people on both sides" in Charlottesville.

Are homemade cloth masks as good as medical N95s/surgical masks? Of course not. But still better than no mask at all. Just like no method of contraception is 100% successful at preventing pregnancies or transmission of disease. Often success rate is determined by user error and/or interactions with other factors that reduce efficacy. Imperfect protection is still better than unprotected sex. Same for face masks. Same for seatbelts, for that matter.

My antivaxx nonreligious friend is more the "purity of my body as a temple" type. She's not the only one I know of that persuasion. That retracted faked autism-vaccine study really caused harm that has lasted for many decades now.

I'm still pretty angry about getting sick. Still have no idea the source of the exposure. Plenty of people in my circle who have chronic respiratory issues, babies, and other vulnerable situations who remain worried about dying or losing their loved ones. We've had a notable uptick of cases and deaths in my state starting in September when many schools returned to in-person classes--our numbers are now comparable to December 2020. And now we're hitting the holiday season with even more travel, meetups, exposures.

257PaulCranswick
nov 25, 2021, 6:33 am

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

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

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

Chris, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

258Berly
nov 25, 2021, 4:13 pm



Chris, I am so very grateful for you, my LT friend.

I wish you happiness and health on this day of Thanksgiving. And cookies. : )

259justchris
nov 26, 2021, 9:41 pm

>257 PaulCranswick: Thank you for the lovely poem!

>258 Berly: Thank you for the nummy cookies! So beautifully decorated. And thanks for the good wishes!

260justchris
dec 9, 2021, 7:23 pm

My copy of Black Sheep fell apart as I was reading it, so I had to get a replacement. And if I'm going to buy one book, I may as well buy more. So I got a bunch of Heyer Regency romances that aren't in my collection. I thought I had read all of them before (and had owned previously in some cases). But I don't remember Cotillion at all. How could I have missed it over the years?

Also, because it was a new story, it did not work well in my bedtime rotation. I need comfort reads that I can readily put down when I feel sleepy. Not new books that keep me hooked and up until all hours. Sigh. I'm going to try again with Faro's Daughter. I know I have read that before, but it was so long ago not sure I remember much. It too might go badly for me in terms of sleep.

261richardderus
dec 9, 2021, 9:10 pm

>260 justchris: I hope it's working for you...I enjoy reading Heyer even at her least perfect.

Yuletide cheer!

262justchris
dec 9, 2021, 10:18 pm

>262 justchris: I do enjoy Heyer. Her characters and dialogue are so distinctive. I know many, many authors have written Regency romances over the years, but all these modern authors just don't capture the flavor the way Heyer does. It's so much modern sensibility in costume without much nuance of the era.

Two more books were in my mailbox today. I thought I'd gotten everything already. Another Heyer!

263reconditereader
dec 10, 2021, 1:53 am

I think the modern book that comes very close to Heyer is Band Sinister by KJ Charles. Other than that, nothing else is within shouting distance.

264PLANETBUDS
dec 10, 2021, 4:03 am

Detta konto har stängts av för spammande.

265justchris
dec 11, 2021, 12:08 am

>263 reconditereader: Thanks for the suggestion! I will check it out.

266justchris
dec 11, 2021, 10:40 am

In November, my Social Justice Book Club discussed There There, Tommy Orange's debut novel. The book opens with a brief history of the US genocide of native peoples and their survival today, then launches into the lives of a dozen Native American characters, from teenager to senior citizen, who are going to the Big Oakland Powwow. Their stories weave a tapestry of the urban Indian experience, exploring intergenerational trauma, questions of identity, family ties, personal loss, and community resilience, starting slow and building to an explosive climax as all of these people collide. It’s a mix of noir and family drama, a quick read that ends with only a hint of hope and stays with the reader long after it’s finished.

267justchris
dec 11, 2021, 11:00 am

I bought a passel of Heyer romances to expand my personal collection. Stymied in reading Charity's Girl due to an egregious printing error--pages
94-156 are missing because the preceding pages are duplicated. Can't continue the story with such a large chunk missing. I've filed a complaint with the bookseller and hope to get a replacement copy, but that'll take awhile. Sigh.

268weird_O
dec 11, 2021, 11:08 am

>266 justchris: I'll consider that a bb. I've been aware of There, There without any idea of what it is about. Now I know. Thanks. I better read it.

269justchris
dec 11, 2021, 11:13 am

>268 weird_O: Thanks for the response, Bill. It's not a fun read but it is good.

270weird_O
Redigerat: dec 11, 2021, 11:23 am

I thinking now that it would be a good entry in next year's AAC, though I might not want to wait until next November to read it.

271richardderus
dec 11, 2021, 3:50 pm

>266 justchris: I admired Author Orange's scope of ambition, but felt that his control of the material was wanting. I felt as disoriented as I expected to, knowing it was a polyphonic story going in, but it felt to me as though he was disoriented, too.

Still, a worthy story. I wanted a better telling.

272justchris
dec 12, 2021, 12:16 am

>271 richardderus: Definitely disorienting. Had to reread parts of it to sort it out, and had to go through the climax again slowly to sort all the pieces. It kinda reminded me of Reservoir Dogs without the plot twist and with a lot of family stuff/back story thrown in without actually creating characters with depth. I guess that's the sacrifice to have the ensemble cast. Maybe like Reservoir Dogs with a bit of Grave of the Fireflies thrown in.

>270 weird_O: If you don't have Louise Erdrich for AAC, I would heartily recommend her. Now there's some amazing characterizations and depth. We read LaRose for the same book club a few months earlier.

273laytonwoman3rd
dec 14, 2021, 11:34 am

>272 justchris: We featured Louise Erdrich in the AAC in 2015. We had a Native American Authors theme month this year, and will do that again in 2022.

274justchris
dec 15, 2021, 11:22 pm

>273 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for the info! I should pay more attention to AAC! And certainly, lots of Native American authors to feature without repeating anyone.

275justchris
dec 17, 2021, 8:27 pm

just finished the last of my recent Heyer acquisitions. Most of these are trade paperback reprints. High quality, but this recent edition of Friday's Child suffers for the absence of the poem referenced in the title, which was included in the front matter of earlier editions. It's obliquely referenced in the dialogue past the halfway point of the story. Here's the poem:

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath day,
Is lucky and happy and good and gay.

It references the heroine Hero Wantage, nicknamed Kitten, the ingenue teenage orphan swept up by the hero in a runaway marriage to secure his inheritance according to the provisions of his father's will. They grew up together in the country as neighbors--she always the nuisance younger kid trailing after Anthony Verelst, Lord Sherington, Sherry to his friends, willingly strong-armed into his boyhood activities while neglected by her aunt and cousins.

It's a naif coming to town unsupervised and unguided and falling into one situation after another, hapless and innocent, thrown into high society. It's a self-absorbed young man who doesn't think an impromptu marriage of convenience will affect his comfortable bachelor lifestyle. It's two young people clueless about money or adulthood run amok with spending and gambling and playing until their problems and misunderstandings catch up with them.

I used to own it and got rid of it because I don't enjoy the silly, foolish, young heroines nearly as much as the witty and wise and usually older heroines of Heyer's romances, such as The Grand Sophy, Frederica, Black Sheep, and Venetia. Maybe I'm getting soft in old age, or at least nostalgic enough to buy up a bunch more Heyers to widen my roundup of bedtime reading, once the novelty of unremembered stories is over. In the process of refreshing my memory, they are keeping me up rather than putting me to sleep. It's just a phase, though.

276ronincats
dec 24, 2021, 2:46 pm

277richardderus
dec 24, 2021, 2:48 pm


May all your surprises be good ones this Holiday season.

278mahsdad
dec 24, 2021, 6:29 pm

279PaulCranswick
dec 24, 2021, 8:23 pm



Have a lovely holiday, Chris.

280quondame
dec 24, 2021, 9:25 pm

Happy Holidays Chris!


281justchris
dec 25, 2021, 7:31 pm

>276 ronincats: >277 richardderus: >278 mahsdad: >279 PaulCranswick: >280 quondame: Thank you so much, Roni, Richard, Jeff, Paul, and Susan! What lovely wishes from all of you!

And a Happy Solstice and Yule and New Year to all of you!

282Berly
dec 26, 2021, 4:10 pm



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

283justchris
dec 27, 2021, 8:44 pm

>282 Berly: Ha! Thank you, Kim!

284PaulCranswick
jan 1, 2022, 3:02 am



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

Happy New Year, Chris.

285justchris
jan 3, 2022, 8:45 pm

>284 PaulCranswick: That is a lovely photo and stanza, Paul! Thank you!

286justchris
jan 3, 2022, 9:02 pm

I'm starting off the year by finishing my smallest category carried over from my 2021 category challenge: anthologies. Two down, both rather disappointing, ranging from meh to yuck. One more to go, let's hope I enjoy this one.