What I read -- March 2026

LHC #315: "The Brides of High Hill" by Nghi Vo. eBook. Sequel. Nice and short. This one took a turn I did not expect.

"The Grifters" by Jim Thompson. Hard copy. Got it for Christmas, my sister said it was amazing, just got better and better. She was absolutely right.

"The Listeners" by Maggie Stiefvater. Hard copy. I got it for my birthday last year. I never really bonded with the main character, and for vast tracts it felt like nothing happened, and I kept wanting more from the water, but it had a satisfying conclusion.

LHC #316: "History of medicine: A scandalously short introduction" by Jacalyn Duffin. Hard copy. So, funny story. I swear I bought this book like 10 years ago and it disappeared somewhere in my house never to be seen again. I periodically search for it.

Anyway, the main character of the novel I'm working on (Vinterlys) is a young woman in 1888 Providence RI who wants to be a physician. This book was always intended to be research for that, and I'm so glad I read it. If I came across my copy of it in a box somewhere, I would not be sad to have it, having already read it.

Actually, even if I wasn't writing Vinterlys, I'd still be glad I read it. It provides so much context and was such an easy read, considering I had to google terminology constantly as I'm not a med student.

LHC #317: "A Sleight of Shadows" by Kat Howard. eBook. Sequel. Sydney is awesome, but I found this to be a very stressful read. I did not tear through it, except when I got to about 75% and then I just burned through to the end. Very good.

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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