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What I read: July 2023


 LHC #216: "The Braver Thing" by Clifford Jackman.
Audio book. Canadian. About 18th century sea-pirates. I felt like the accents slowed it down, but considering that I was tying in loose ends of Tay Tartan sweater for the bulk of the listening, that didn't matter much. I was not surprised it was written by a lawyer. It would have been like a half hour shorter if the narrator hadn't made some kind of annoying choices (I eventually dealt with this by speeding up to 1.15x). I was thinking it would have been nice to have a list of characters, except everyone's roles change so often that it would have inevitably given something away. At least it had a good ending. 

LHC #217: "Poets and Pahlevans" by Marcello Di Cintio. Hard copy. Persians and a martial art (wrestling), totally my research jam. It was exactly what I wanted it to be. 

LHC #218: "Everyone knows your mother is a witch" by Rivka Galken. eBook. The voice of this one was so great, very entertaining. I requested this one based on the title alone, and didn't really have a clue what it was about (I expected a younger protagonist, for one thing). It was pretty funny to read the acknowledgements at the end and say "oh!" The central-European feel was delightful. I will be forcing this book on others, as often as possible. 

LHC #219: "A man lies dreaming" by Lavie Tidhar. Hard copy. The library has nothing of his in eBook! His name keeps coming up, I think someone at Locus is a fan. The first of his I've read. I found it very entertaining, but can see where it might not be everyone's jam: a lot of sex and violence and sexual violence, and Hitler is after all the main character.  I won't be recommending it helter-skelter, but for the right person it's a fun read. 

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In progress - January 2026

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In progress: March 2026

Wind/Water/Salt Chapters 39-51 :   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing.  Vinterlys:  Working on Chapter 3 still, though this one seems more stable. I did work on it quite a bit during Chapter 2. 1-3 are in the same locale so it made sense to work on them together. Maybe I'll continue in this vein, doing the next locale all together too.  Critted  4  Got back  3 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Aberlady  (AS Celtic Collection). I added markers at each pattern repeat. Hopefully that will make it easier to work on.   Summer in Tokyo  (Isager):Started the month with eleven rows left on the second sleeve, the yoke, and the finishing to go. And as I wanted, I finished this and now I can wear it for a little while before sweater weather is over until fall. I could not follow the yoke short row instructions as written so I did my best to make it look like th...

What I read: September 2025

LHC #295: "The Last to Leave the Room" by Caitlin Starling. Audiobook. Workplace horror? Loved it.  "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams. Hard copy, for office Data Ethics book club. The stories about Sheryl Sandberg really made me like my boss better.  LHC #296: "The Fated Sky" by Mary Robinette Kowal. Hard copy. This got moved up the list because Ed had read book 1 in the series and got the rest out of the library. Loved it. He's got the next one in the series upstairs, I suppose I'll read it when he's done.  LHC #297: "Bluegrass: A History" by Neil V. Rosenberg. Hard copy. No idea why it was on my list, I don't care that much about bluegrass. Nevertheless, the second half was interesting. I guess the first half was necessary, as it described in great length the way people came and went in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys band, and also how technology and social pressures affect how music is made and performed.   LHC #298: ...