What I read -- May 2025

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 much of an argument. Not sure what I was hoping for, I guess. I hear the breakfast one (in the same series) is good.

LHC #281: "The Once and Future Sex" by Eleanor Janega. Hard copy. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for either, but at least its structure made sense.

LHC #282: "A Radical Act of Free Magic" by H.G. Parry. Hard copy as that was all the library had. It's a sequel, and I read book 1 about two years ago, so I didn't remember many details, but I managed to pick up what was going on. Anyway, that might have made it hard to get started, but by the end I was very invested. Satisfying conclusion.

LHC #283: "Thornhedge" by T. Kingfisher. eBook. Delightful. Tried to push it on my book club but I don't think it's going to happen.

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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