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What I read - January 2026

Explanation: I have a very long Holds list at the library, so I'm trying to whittle that down. It's an impossible task, as I keep adding things. However, Two years ago my library was hacked and the website was down for like 4 or 5 months. So, I've got some breathing room because I couldn't place holds between October 2023 and March 2024, and books expire off the holds list after 2 years (by default. So, I don't have any holds that are expiring between now and March, and I'm using this "free" time to read all the things that have very few copies available in the system (having been burned before by there only being one copy, and it going missing). And, when that's done, I'm trying to read the sequels that are on the list, before I've forgotten what I liked about the series.  "The God of the Woods" by Liz Moore.  Hard copy. Office book club selection. I was #455 on the waitlist and yet got the book within a week. And it didn't t...
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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...

What I read: December 2025

  Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab.  Another book the boy gave me for my birthday. I found it a little hard to believe that a vampire would take 15 years to notice that when she drank the blood of a drunk person that made her drunk also. There was a moment when I was afraid she was going to forget all about finishing Catty's story, but she didn't let me down.  LHC #304:  Mammoths at the Gates by Ngi Vo.  Audiobook. Sequel! It had a 4-week hold and then it was available. Weird. I liked it, and put the next sequel on my list. It had a slow burn, at least in the audio version.  LHC #305: The Manticore by Robertson Davies. eBook. Catching up on sequels! I had no expectations and had to read the wikipedia page for Fifth Business to remember what was going on, but it was no trouble to read.  LHC #306:  Galveston by Sean Stewart.  Hard copy. The last of the "1 copy" books in Toronto Public Library! I had no expectations going in. Gr...

In Progress: December 2025

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Actually wrote that funeral scene.  Persephone  (probably not its real name):  Vinterlys:  Worked on Chapter 2 some more, but mostly planned and wrote backstory.  Critted  4  Got back  1 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with just a tiny bit of knitting a hem and then the endless finishing. It's done. I'm so sick of this sweater.  Georgia  (Norah Gaughan). Started the month with one sleeve, one flounce, and the back done, and a front started. Finished that front, attached the sleeve, started the other front. The balls of yarn are like basketballs, so this is not a portable project.  Ankylosaur socks  (knitty). Started the month with half of the first one done. Finished.  Aberlady  (AS Celtic Collection). Started. I took it away for a week to relatives' for Christmas as my only project, and ...

In Progress: November 2025

  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  0 as I posted nothing.  Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Hamilton  (Self). Started the month by picking up the stitches around the neck. I blew myself away by picking up the same number on the left and the right without actually counting. Finished the fair isle portion of this, just a tiny bit of knitting a hem and then it's the endless finishing.  Georgia  (Norah Gaughan). Started the month with one sleeve and one flounce done, and the back started. Finished the back and started a front. It's so fast compared to everything else!  Undertoe socks  (knitty). Started the month on the second sock. Finished!  Ankylosaur socks (knitty). I found this surprisingly unpleasant to work on! Did half of the first sock....

What I read: November 2025

"Katabasis" by R.F. Kuang. Hard copy, gift from the boy. Dark academia, and when I read the first chapter I was like "A walk into hell, how is she going to sustain that for 500+ pages?" but it was fine. Loved it. It seemed like a couple of times a metaphor was reused or a phrase repeated on the same page, not sure if that was intentional? It lost its way for a while, I thought, about 80% in, but it ended really well.  "Finding Me" by Viola Davis.  eBook. For office book club. She sure doesn't like Portuguese people. Reminded me of my dad that way. I didn't expect all the urine. I might not have been the right audience for this as I've never seen anything she's in, but the part where she was complaining about how hard telemarketing is, I was wondering if anyone was the right audience.  LHC #300: "A  Thousand Recipes for Revenge" by Beth Cato.  Hard copy. I sort of wished the story could have worked without having to go all "fa...

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...