What I read -- August 2025

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 taxing, and the ending was satisfying.

LHC #294: "Good Guys" by Steven Brust. Hard copy. I read the second half of this in one sitting in an airport, and I sort of wish I'd read the first half the same way because I would read a chapter or two and put it down and pick it up a couple of days later and forget who all the characters were, so it was hard to get going on. Later, it all made sense. Good read.

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: ...

What I read -- October 2025

"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...

In progress - January 2026

Wind/Water/Salt Chapters 39-51: Nothing Persephone (probably not its real name): NOthing Vinterlys: Worked on Chapter 2 some more. Critted 4 Got back 1 Submissions 0 Out there 0 Rejects 0 Knitting Georgia (Norah Gaughan). Started the month with one sleeve and half a front to go. Finished. Love this sweater. Aberlady (AS Celtic Collection). Did a few rows while listening to podcasts. Summer in Tokyo (Isager): Started. I was looking at the pictures and the charts, and the pattern as written is not what is in the pictures! So odd. I am going to finish up two cones of yarn with this project! Pretty exciting. I hope I don't run out of light blue. I was working along on it, and if you go and look at the sweater, it's knit bottom-up, and I was at the part where I only had two colors, about 5" maybe. And I was thinking, "wow, this is pretty ugly! Maybe I should stop...

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