Robynettely

"The Moomins and the Great Flood" by Tove Jansson.  eBook. I read this because Marissa Lingen loves them. It was fine? This was the first one in the series and the only one available online; maybe the later ones are better. Maybe they're better if you read them as a child.  "The Relentless Moon" by Mary Robinette Kowal.  Hard copy. Read it because Ed had the whole series out of the library. It took a long time to get going, and sometimes I find MRK exhausting. Her white main characters all seem oddly aware of the Black experience.  "The Martian Contingency" by Mary Robinette Kowal.  Hard copy. Read it because Ed had the whole series out of the library. I don't often read subsequent books in a series in quick succession, and my reaction to this one is a lot of why: I found Alma's voice too similar to Nicole's -- sure, Nicole obsessed about food much more, but they both went on and on about "must support black guy in management" an...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing.  Vinterlys:  Finished marking chapters, wrote outline, worked on the setting of the first three chapters, found a good doctor character, and wrote notes for some much-needed backstory.  Critted  4  Got back  1 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with the second sleeve just attached to the body. If I want to finish it this year, I needed to finish the body in October. That meant 7 rows per weekend day. The month started with each row taking about a half hour. This got better, though, as every row has decreases and is shorter than the last. However, on Thanksgiving weekend I only managed to do 7 rows. Nevertheless, I did finish the body.  Athabasca socks  (knitty): Started the month half done the second sock. These are done now.  Georgia  (Nora...

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: ...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name):  Nothing. Vinterlys:  Almost to the end with marking chapters so I can fix the outline.  Critted  4  Got back  1 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with 27 rows to go on the second sleeve. I finished that sleeve and attached it to the body.  Color block sock . Started the month with all the finishing on both socks to do. That's done now.  Arundel sock  (Knitty). Started the month needing just the heels and finishing on both socks. That's done now.  Athabasca socks (knitty): Started the first, did the heel, decided I'd made a bad choice, ripped out the heel. Finished that sock, started the second. Most of the leg is done now, soon to do another heel.  Georgia (Norah Gaughan). I really needed something that wasn't a sock and that didn't need to b...

Wind/Water/Salt Chapters 39-51:   Nothing. Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing Vinterlys:  Continued marking the rest of the chapters so I can have an outline and then fix the outline.  Critted  4  Got back  1 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with about 60 rows to go on the second sleeve. This is down to 27 now.  Color block sock . Started the month mostly done with the first (didn't tie in the danglers yet) and half the leg of the second. Finished all the knitting, just have to do the finishing.  Arundel sock  (Knitty). Started the month with the foot and ankle done on the first one, just the heel and cuff to go. Finished everything but the heels and danglers on both socks.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.  Ruffle skirt:   Nothing. Purple Romper:   Nothing. Nikka pants: Why yes, rather than finishing anything I've...

LHC #291: "Under the Pendulum Sun: A novel of the fae" by Jeannette Ng.  Hard copy. The Yellow Wallpaper with fairies and inappropriate lusts. Not sure I'd call it fun, but it was definitely engrossing.  LHC #292: "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon.  Audio book. Very fun. The reader was great. I wonder if I might have benefitted from a written glossary of yiddish terms though.  LHC #293: "Fabric: The hidden history of the material world" by Victoria Finlay. eBook. A lot of this book is about economics and the evolution of work. A s a professional writer at the advent of ChatGPT, it's somewhat distressing to read about spinners and weavers during the industrial revolution .  "The Travelling Cat Chronicles" by Hiro Arikawa. eBook. For office book club. When I started the voice was annoying and twee, but I was on an airplane so I just went with it, and it was a good book to read on a plane because it wasn't too taxin...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51 :    Nothing.   Persephone  (probably not its real name):    Nothing.  Vinterlys:  Combined chapters 2, 3, and 4, did not finish.   Critted  4  Got back  2 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with one row of the main portion of the second sleeve done. I did about 60 rows, and have about 60 to go.  Color block sock . Started the month mostly done with the first (didn't tie in the danglers yet) and half the leg of the second.   Arundel sock  (Knitty). Foot and ankle done on the first one, just the heel and cuff to go.  Sashiko project: Nothing.  Ruffle skirt:     Nothing.  Purple Romper:     Nothing. 

  LHC #287: "Walking to Aldebaran" by Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Hard copy. As usual I had no idea why I'd chosen this for myself, and little idea what it was about, so the whole Grendel thing caught me by surprise.  LHC #288: "The Librarianist" by Patrick DeWitt. eBook. I found the writing style a little simple. Also my idea of librarians is maybe different than the author's--I feel like they get out and connect with people, and Bill doesn't do that. I had the sense that maybe it was all meant to be funny?  LHC #289: "Spear" by Nicola Griffith. Hard copy. Maybe if I knew the legend of Percival better I would have felt like it was going somewhere.  LHC #289: Motherless Brooklyn" by Jonathan Lethem. Audio book. Really glad I listened to this one, the reader was excellent.  LHC #290: "The Creative Lives of Animals" by Carol Gigliotti. Audio Book. I guess I have a sort of humanist idea of creativity, but this was a good read.  "Foul...

LHC #284: "Ink Blood Sister Scribe" by Emma Torzs. eBook. I found it a little "all in" on the everyone is keeping information from each other plot, but at least there was Nicholas. I thought it was going to be some kind of a slog until Nicholas showed up.  "Written on the Night" by Guy Gavriel Kay. There might be two books by him that I haven't read? We own them all anyway. I could count on Ed reading it too, so it's worth buying. He didn't seem that excited when I brought it out (granted, he was tired from having just been on a very stressful flight where he thought his bow had been left behind by the airline when he took off) but a week later he'd finished whatever he was reading and came to me and said "Where's that GGK book? I've run out of things to read." And I showed it to him, it was in my hand as I was reading chapter 3.  LHC #285: "King Rat" by China Mieville. Hard copy. One of my favorite authors; d...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing. Persephone  (probably not its real name): Wrote a scene in the last third, not the ending.  Vinterlys: Posted chapter 1, started reading ahead and marking the rest of the chapters, working on an outline of the rest, started editing chapter 2.  Critted  4  Got back  5 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with about six rows of the colorwork on the second sleeve. My goal for the month was to finish the edging band which is 22 rows. I had to set myself a quota to get myself to do it, because it was so unpleasant, but I got it done.  Sulaire  (Alice Starmore). Finished. There was a lot of finishing! Can't wait for September to wear it.  1x1 stripe socks. Knit from a picture. I had started the first one last month, this month I finished the pair.  Color block sock . Knit from a picture. Started the first....

LHC #278: "Semiosis" by Sue Burke. eBook. More like linked short stories than a novel really. Some of the characters and voices were distasteful but the aliens and worldbuilding were amazing. And the one about first contact with the glassmakers was laugh out loud funny.  LHC #279: "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell. Hard copy because there was a 6-month waitlist for the eBook but I could have the hard copy within the week. Harry Potter fanfic? I found it kind of tedious until Baz showed up, and then it was great. If there are teams, I'm definitely team Baz.  LHC #280: "Lunch: A history" by Megan Elias.  Hard copy. I didn't expect to ever read this one actually. The library had got down to one copy of it, and it was listed as lost, and I'd left this on my list in Active status for like five months, when one day it started winging its way towards me. I found it strangely organized and mostly comprising of many, many menus. There didn't seem to be ...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing. Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing.  Short Stories:  Eventually abandoned that thing from the backlog. Also wrote a short thing from scratch on scrap paper, but I don't think it's good.  Vinterlys:  I'm going to finish Chapter 1 and post it, then mark all the chapters, make an outline, and I hope I can post a chapter every two weeks until it's done.  Critted  4  Got back  1 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with about six rows of the colorwork on the second sleeve. Did not work on it. Sulaire  (Alice Starmore). Did one side of button bands. So close to done! So not wearable until September!  Ruffled sock  (self). Started the month with just the ruffle done on the second sock. Finished it. Viking hat (Self). I needed something for a costume, so I found some silver yarn in a tr...

In the order I finished them, rather than the order I started:  LHC #274: The Blighted Stars by Megan O'Keefe.  Hard copy. Read it mostly on the plane to and from Vancouver. I liked it more than I thought I would and put book 2 on my list. As usual I have no idea why it was on my list, and I found the characters a bit stock, but the plot moved right along and the science and worldbuilding were cool.  LHC #275: "Wings once cursed and bound" by Piper J. Drake. ebook. I found the writing kind of simplistic maybe? Once again, really predictable characters, and it seemed a little bit like it was introducing a new species of supernatural creature whenever the plot flagged, but whatever.  LHC #276: "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell. Hard copy. After the last book, this one was a delight from page one, though it got quite depressing later on. I can see why it's a classic. I did not find these characters predictable, but maybe that's because I know nothing ab...

That's Willow right there. On the left, the remains of the ball of yarn I used. On the right, the size of ball I started with.  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing.  Short Stories:  Kept working on that thing from the backlog.  Critted  4  Got back  0 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with the colorwork on the second sleeve just started. Did about 5 rows.  Sulaire  (Alice Starmore). Finished the second sleeve and the neck. This will be completed in May!  Willow  (Joan Ho). Finished the second sleeve and the finishing, which was minimal.  Ruffled sock (self). Started the month with just the ruffle done on the first sock. Finished that and started the second.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.   Ruffle skirt: Nothing . Purple Romper:  Nothing.. ...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing.  Short Stories:  Kept working on that thing from the backlog.  Critted  5  Got back  2 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with maybe 20 more rows to be done with that first sleeve. Finished that sleeve, started the next. I've just barely started the colorwork.  Sulaire  (Alice Starmore). Started the month on the first sleeve. Finished that sleeve, started the next. I've just barely started the cap.  Willow  (Joan Ho). Started the month on the first sleeve. Finished that, started the next. I have maybe 9 inches, eight to go?  Ruffled sock  (self). Did the ruffle. I needed something portable for travelling.  The stars continue lining up: I'm on the second sleeve of every project.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.  Ruffl...

 LHC #271: "Chlorine" by Jade Song.  Hard copy. This was fun. Certainly there were off-putting parts but I quite enjoyed it. It was a little stressful at times. I was describing it to Ed, who was a competitive swimmer, and he googled the author and scoffed because she was a college athlete. I mocked him for that.  LHC #272: "An Act of Oblivion" by Robert Harris. Audio book because I needed something to listen to while I worked on some tedious knitting tasks. Historical fiction, which is not my normal genre. This was recommended to me by someone who's read large portions of Wind/Water/Salt, and I would say my puritans are not nearly insufferable enough.  "One Message Remains" by Premee Mohamed. Hard copy. After reading an excerpt on the Chuck Wendig website, I wanted to read the rest (normally I don't read excerpts because then if I read the story later I'm confused, but something sucked me in), so when I saw she was going to talk at the Merril...

LHC #286:  "The Best of R. A. Lafferty".  Hard copy, because there are only two copies in the system and no e-copies, and I don't want the thing to happen anymore where I have books on my list that I never get to read because the one copy in circulation disappears.  Short stories, and as such some worked better for me than others. Stylistically very different than what I'm used to.  LHC #287:  "The Dervish House" by Ian McDonald.  Hard copy for the same reason as above. Challenging, worth the effort. I kept feeling like other things I've read are in conversation with this, and I never knew what the conversation was about until now.  LHC #288:  "My Heart is a Chainsaw" by Stephen Graham Jones. eBook. I was nervous because I haven't seen that many horror movies, but that turned out not to be an issue. There were two characters, Holmes and Hardy, and one scene they were both in where I didn't notice that the second one was there for like s...

  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Nothing.  Short Stories:  Finished a story, posted it on the workshop. Pulled another one out of the backlog.  Critted  4  Got back  3 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with maybe 30 more rows to be done with that first sleeve. I will always be knitting this sleeve.  Sulaire  (Alice Starmore). Started the month with 10cm done of the front. Finished that, now I'm on the first sleeve.  Willow  (Joan Ho). Started the month almost to the armholes. Finished the back and front, did the shoulders, did the neck, started the first sleeve.  It's like the stars lining up: I'm on the first sleeve of every project.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.  Ruffle skirt:  Nothing.  Purple Romper:  Nothing. 

  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   nothing.   Persephone  (probably not its real name): nothing.  Short Stories:  While reading reviews in Locus, I realized how to fix the lack of personality in the MC of the story I was working on, which is weird, because the solution had nothing to do with the reviews I was reading.  Critted  4  Got back  0 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with a sleeve that was about 6 inches long, and of course the body to the armholes. Ended the month with maybe 30 more rows to be done with that first sleeve..  Sulaire  (Alice Starmore). Started the month with five inches of body plus peplum. I got to the armholes and did the right and left backs and continued the front.   Willow (Joan Ho). Felt like starting something and this was next up. I got the book (Cable Knit Style) for Christmas and have 3 g...

 LHC #282: "Nona the Ninth" by Tamsyn Muir. Audio book. I love these so much. That said, I spent far too much time on the Locked Tomb wiki trying to figure out what was going on.  LHC #283: "The edge of the plain : how borders make and break our world" by James Crawford. Hard copy, and sadly not because I'm trying to read less books on Overdrive and more in hard copy, but because it's the only format they had available. This book was what I wanted it to be. A rare case where I actually remember where I heard about it: it was  Marissa Lingen .  At first it struck me as odd that this book about borders has no maps. I googled. It was no problem. Which led me to believe this was a choice, probably kept production costs down, and also I can get better maps on line with more detail and higher resolution than they could print anyway.  LHC #284: "The Monsters we Defy" by Leslye Penelope. Hard copy for the same reason as above. It's a heist set in 1920...

LHC #279: "Infomocracy" by Malka Older. I'd been waiting for this one on Overdrive, and then it popped available just as I'd started "No Gods for Drowning", but I accepted it and didn't start it. Then I had a several-hours drive and the audio book was available so I took that too. So I started with the audio book and listened to about 4 hours. I was somewhat confused. I started with hearing the word sentinel, when actually they were saying centenal and didn't realize for a couple of hours. Sometimes I couldn't really tell when it was the character speaking and when it was narration or exposition or whatever. The head-hopping didn't really help either. When I got home from the drive I listened and watched the words a little bit at the same time and things started making more sense.  One of the characters has "Narrative disorder" which I was pretty sure was made up, so I googled. Unfortunately the google AI gave me a fine description ...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Nothing.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): I think I figured out the ending.  Short Stories: Wrote a new one, on paper. Typed it up. Edited it some. Probably made it worse.  Critted  4  Got back  0 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Blushing Cloud  (Knitty S/S24). Started the month with 14 inches of back done. I finished that, cast off the back, seamed the sleeves, and started the edging. I knew I was going to run out of yarn so at that point I just switched from green to pink. It's finished now.  Hamilton  (Self). Started the month having just started the first sleeve. Now that sleeve is 6 inches long.  Seamless seam socks  (Knitpicks Pop Socks). Started the month almost done with the second.  Finished that one, started the next. This is the second pair, the last pair for Christmas. And they are done. Maybe I'll knit some soc...