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[personal profile] michelel72 posting in [community profile] little_details
I'm hoping these are straightforward questions, but I couldn't find a way to word the first to get any relevant results in web searches, and the second got weird on me.

The context is a civilian with extensive field-medic-style training providing off-the-books, in-home medical/supportive care to a preteen who is ill with a viral* fever-inducing illness. (* Viral seems easier; but bacterial is possible if necessary.) The setting is the modern-day (or at least vaguely post-2010) United States.

1. Is it feasible to administer intravenous (IV) saline without an infusion pump? (I've been assuming it is but want to double-check.)

cut for IV details )

2. Is there a point at which a childhood (viral) fever is dangerous?

Read more... )

Many thanks!
Dec. 27th, 2025 11:48 pm

Riding the rails again

loganberrybunny: From an old station seat (GWR)
[personal profile] loganberrybunny
Public


330/365: Hagley Hall, Bewdley
Click for a larger, sharper image

It was off to the Severn Valley Railway today for a few hours on the trains. The rain just about held off, although it became very murky and gloomy by mid-afternoon. The trains were pretty busy, and I had to stand for half my first journey. Bridgnorth town centre was also packed, but fortunately the station refreshment room had space for me to have a coffee and a beef and veg pasty. Quite a relaxed day overall, certainly compared to the big gala events I'm more used to attending, but that was part of its appeal. Here's my first train of the day, 4930 Hagley Hall (which turns 97 in May) arriving at Bewdley station.
Dec. 27th, 2025 03:17 pm

Complete pickleball fail

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[personal profile] bill_schubert
They have this really cool ball machine at Tejas Pickleball.  It runs on a rechargable battery and has an app that does all kinds of amazing things.  You can tell the ball machine where it has been placed on the court, tell it what kind of shots you want including a shot series that you particularly want to practice.  How to rush the net and then get back quickly for a lob then back to a deep shot.  You can collect a bunch of different routines and link them together and practically play a game against the machine.  It is really amazing to do.  But it requires focus and effort and a lot of brainwork and time.  I have the app and know how to use it and, give that time and focus, can run it through its places.

So I requested some ball machine time.  The guy running things set me up with a block of time but opened it to anyone else up to a total of four people.  Three others signed up.  I got there and was in the process of setting up the machine and linking the app when two them showed up and said 'hey, I think this M button will run the maching just fine' and proceeded to take over and use the machine in its lowest possible usage.  Just same ball at same place over and over.  They were extatic that it worked and were running around like elementary school kids (they are likely a few years younger than me).  Didn't ask my opinion, didn't acknowlege that I had any place on the court or operating the machine.

I left.

Next time I need to figure out a way to lock everyone out and use the machine the way it is supposed to be used.

It was really not a happy event for me at all.  Monday I'll talk to the big guy and see if we can figure it out.
Dec. 27th, 2025 12:58 pm

2026 whine preview

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[personal profile] susandennis
Hazel has come into my apartment 3 times this week to ask me to fix her tablet. Three times I have said that I would all she has to do is bring it to me. No tablet yet. She downloads shit and then gets warnings from malware. I think if I ever see the tablet again, I'll find her solitaire games that she can play offline and then turn off her wifi access.

But, the big news is she said that John (her husband who can't turn on his computer) has ordered her a big cellphone. Probably a large size, off brand smart phone. "he got the big one so I can see the numbers". Hazel cannot work a traditional handset because she forgets how. There is no way in the world she will be able to operate a cellphone. She will be in here every time she tries to turn it on. John does not know how to operate a smart phone. He can barely manage his feature flip phone. This is going to get ugly fast. I think my game plan is to show her to to call our IT guys here at Timber Ridge.

Elbow Coffee was not as bad as it has been and not as good. But, it is over for another week.

I'm just tired of old people.

I did my Safeway run and it is really cold out. I have no reason to test it further. I might puzzle a bit and then settle in with some TV and knitting.
Dec. 27th, 2025 04:00 pm

Finally saw Zootopia 2!

conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
Before I say anything, A would like you to know how extremely annoying it is that they played those "Arabian Nights" riffs every time the snake (Barry) appeared, and it would be annoying even if the plot Read more... )

They wouldn't shut up about it, so there we go. They're not wrong.

Read more... )
Dec. 27th, 2025 11:51 am

Yuletide Recs!

rachelmanija: (Autumn: small leaves)
[personal profile] rachelmanija
Here are some Yuletide recs, sorted for your reading pleasure by whether or not you need to know the canon.

Do Not Need to Know Canon

Chalion/World of the Five Gods - Lois McMaster Bujold

a knock at your front door. I think all you need to know to read this story is that there are five Gods - the Mother, the Father, the Son, the Daughter, and the Bastard - who are definitely real but rarely interfere in human affairs. They can, however, make people saints - able to do limited miracles - if they need to. This story deals with the Father, the God least-explored in canon, and is set in modern-day Chalion. It's got a clever look at what modern Chalion might be like, a very likable main character, and some beautiful writing.

FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns

If you've never read the canon, I've linked it above. It's extremely short and you will be glad you did. There are other "Snake Fight" stories and they're all fun.

Snake Logistics for Spring Defenses. Some students are just begging for a black mamba.


Need to Know Canon

Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey

find the true. Mirrim and F'lar have a chat at a Gather. I enjoyed this conversation between two characters who I don't think ever exchange words in canon. Good characterization, good atmosphere.

Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin

to be useful, if not free. My gift! A backstory/canon diverge AU for Serret, the enchantress in A Wizard of Earthsea. Beautifully written, beautifully structured.

The Long Walk - Stephen King

There's No Discharge in the War. Stebbins in a time loop. Long, intense, often horrifying, sometimes very moving, and cleverly constructed story about Stebbins and the other Walkers.

"The Lottery" - Shirley Jackson; New Yorker RPF

Why one small American town won’t stop stoning its residents to death. Isaac Chotiner interviews the guy who runs the lottery in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." If you've never heard of him, he's a journalist who's very good at letting people hang themselves with their own words. The story is dead-on, hilarious, and chilling.

Lyra series/Caught in Crystal - Patricia Wrede

Three Things That Might Have Happened to Kayl Larrinar. My treat! A very satisfyingly bittersweet canon divergence AU for Kayl's Star Cluster, full of camaraderie and atmosphere.

Mushishi

I want to taste the shadows, too. A lovely little casefic/character study about Adashino, the guy who collects mushi-related stuff. It really feels like an episode of the anime, especially the final portion.

Some Like It Hot

Anchors Away. A short and very sweet post-movie coda.

Watership Down - Richard Adams

There is no bargain. Five encounters with The Black Rabbit of Inlé. An exploration of how the Black Rabbit is different things to different rabbits in different circumstances, very well-done, sometimes moving, sometimes chilling. The Black Rabbit is Death, so warning for rabbit death.

What have you enjoyed in the collection?
Dec. 27th, 2025 09:32 am

Saturday

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[personal profile] susandennis
We only had 4 people turn out for volleyball so we only played an hour and it was not very vigorous and then I swam laps for about 20 minutes. There is a problem with the pool - both the water and the air are a few degrees cooler than they should be. And it's the weekend. Assuming no one gets to it, it should be icicles by Monday. I told the front desk but the guy on duty is famous for not doing shit so...

The big headline news is that this morning there was no blood in Biggie's pee!!! It looked just like Julio's pee!!! Yep, I'm very excited to report the findings made in comparing my cats' urine. Turns out that one of the big pluses about tofu litter is the ability to see the color of pee easily. (Biggie and Julio use different litter box real estate. Biggie pees in the back of the box and Julio's partial to the front left side. This has been very helpful in tracking them.)

I finished up a very good book a few days ago (The Wrong Hands by Mark Billingham) and have had a really hard time latching onto a new one but I think I might have found the one... Playing Dead by Elizabeth Greenwood. It's non fiction about people and reasons and methods for faking your own death. I'm just at the beginning but the prolong is really interesting.

I'm at the beginning of Season 6 (of 10) of Shetland.

I am seriously considering a quick to Safeway. I want fried chicken and cake.

But right now, I need to go to Elbow Coffee.

PXL_20251227_001333014
Dec. 27th, 2025 09:13 am

A hundred channels and...

bill_schubert: (Default)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
I bought a month of YouTube TV yesterday.  Actually a month plus five days for free.  Buyer's remorse set in almost immediately.  I got it so we could watch some of the football playoff games.  At $90 it is an expensive ticket.  We did watch the news yesterday for the first time in a long while.  It is much easier to speed read than speed watch.  The older I get the less I'm able to tolerate the news.  

Today is going to be hot.  Monday will be cold.  That time of year.  

I set up a couple of hours of pickleball ball machine today.  There are others that decided they wanted to join me so we'll see how it goes.  I need some reps without thinking about just winning the point.  Hopetully it will be a good session.  I need to increase my accuracy to reduce my annoyance when I am playing.

Toby continues to get better.  He's coughing less and less.  Beaux is over his respiratory but it seems he has contracted hook worms likely left over from when he was in his previous situation.  I asked the doc if the parasite could be dormant for a couple of months and apparently that is frequently the case.  Fortunately it is a one pill now, one pill in three weeks and all done kind of thing so no big deal.  

I actually think that the respiratory bug they both got was also from when Beaux was in his hoarding situation.

He is actually well and  we have some anti-diarrhea med that is already fixing the problem along with the anti-parasite.  So it is an easy fix. 

Beaux's personality continues to come out.  He jumps up on the bed and plays around and is increasingly affectionate.   He still hasn't discovered toys but has pretty much figured everything else out.  Toby is happy that Beaux doesn't understand playing with toys.  

Tomorrow is going to be interesting.  One of my three networking friends is LDS and his son just came back from a year as a missionary.  Son is going to give a presentation about it and apparently they officially welcome him back.  I'm about the last person to latch onto this kind of stuff being a follower of Christopher Hitchens as much as anything but Tyson is a good person and has been one of my longest lasting friendships and it means a lot to him.  So we're going to the ceremony at the church.  First time in an LDS church.

Otherwise just glad to have the two weeks of Christmas be over.  


james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Hisako Ichiki is a perfectly normal Japanese school girl with perfectly normal social anxiety and depression and perfectly dreadful marks. Hisako also has a stalker.

Fears And Hates (Ultimate X‑Men, volume 1) by Peach Momoko
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Seven works new to me: four fantasy, three science fiction, of which at least three are series.

Books Received, December 20 — December 26


Poll #34011 Books Received, December 20 — December 26
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 39


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

The King Must Die by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (November 2025)
14 (35.9%)

Mortedant’s Peril by R. J. Barker (May 2026)
10 (25.6%)

Cold Steel by Joyce Ch’Ng (March 2025)
9 (23.1%)

The Ganymedan by R. T. Ester (November 2025)
13 (33.3%)

Alchemy of Souls by Adriana Mather (August 2026)
5 (12.8%)

The Bird Tribe by Lucinda Roy (July 2026)
5 (12.8%)

Household by Riccardo Sirignano and Simone Formicola (2022)
8 (20.5%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
30 (76.9%)

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Cozy winter still life: cup of hot coffee and book with warm plaid on windowsill against snow landscape from outside.This year is coming to a close! Here’s what we’re reading during the last week of December:

Lara: I’m catching up with Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series. I’m currently reading Archangel’s Lineage. ( A | BN | K | AB ) I’m desperately sad that this series will be coming to an end in May. It’s been a stalwart comfort for years.

Amanda: My Romance TBR Takedown board had me landing on “new series.” I’m starting my Alice Coldbreath journey with Her Baseborn Bridegroom, ( A ) which is book one in the Vawdrey Brothers series.

Sarah: I am reading The Astral Library by Kate Quinn – I’ll be interviewing her for the podcast. It’s catnip for people who love stories about being inside books.

Shana: I’m rereading Common Goal by Rachel Reid. It’s the only book in the Game Changers series I actually own, probably because I love the older bisexual hero. Someday my Heated Rivalry hold will come in, after 63 other people read it.

Amanda: I thought you read them, Shana? I remember you reviewing Long Game. Or is my memory shot?

The Astral Library
A | BN | K | AB
Shana: Your memory is perfect, as always! I have read all of the series, I’m just doing a reread since I’m obsessed with the show.

Amanda: It sounds like your hold will come in just as season two starts.

Shana: And by then I will have moved on to a new obsession and won’t be in the mood to read the book.

Elyse: I’m reading Mother Mary Comes to Me ( A | BN | K | AB )  which is a memoir by Arundhati Roy. It’s really beautifully written and I’m a sucker for a book about complicated relationships with moms.

Claudia: I am so curious about that book. The mom sounds terrible to the daughter but great to the world.

Kiki I’m listening to The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a great companion while I’m semi-frantically trying to finish a cross stitch for my best friend’s wedding ceremony Monday! I’ve learned a lot about omnibuses and the intricacies of the mail coach system so far. I’ve been having a hard time falling into romance lately, and I feel like this is a good pivot: still historical, so I’m feeling immersed, but no plot that I have to buy in to.

Whatcha reading to end 2025? Let us know in the comments!

Dec. 27th, 2025 08:00 am

Our Favorite Reads of 2025

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

For our favorite reads, we had to choose one favorite read of 2025, but everyone is allowed two bonus picks for books not released this year. However, we typically have a few rulebreakers!

Here are our favorites of the year! We’d also love to hear about your best read of 2025!

Ladies in Hating

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti

Author: Alexandra Vasti
Released: September 23, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: , , ,
Series: Belvoir's Library #3

A pair of Gothic novelists trade rivalry for love in this swoony, steamy, sapphic Regency by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.

Celebrated authoress Lady Georgiana Cleeve has achieved fame and fortune. Unfortunately, she’s also acquired an the enigmatic Lady Darling, whose spine-tingling plots appear to be pulled straight from Georgiana’s own manuscripts. What’s a stubborn, steely writer to do? Unmask her rival, of course.

But unmasking doesn’t go according to plan—because Lady Darling is actually Cat Lacey, the butler’s daughter and object of Georgiana’s very secret, very embarrassing teenage infatuation.

Cat Lacey has spent a decade clawing her family out of poverty. The last thing she needs is to be distracted by the stunning(ly pretentious) Lady Georgiana Cleeve. But Cat can’t seem to escape her infuriatingly beautiful rival—including at the eerie manor where they both plan to set their next books. The plot unexpectedly thickens, however, when the novelists find themselves trapped in the manor together. In between ghostly moans and spectral staff, Cat and Georgiana come face-to-face with real the scorching passion that’s been haunting their rivalry all along.

Sarah: I got to have Alexandra on the podcast twice this year to talk about the trilogy, and so I’m pretty spoiled. Not in the “I found out the ending” kind of way, but in the “I’ve been indulged with a truly opulent amount of history that makes the trilogy a more sumptuous reading experience” way. Worldbuilding, like comedy, is grounded and enhanced by detail and specificity, and the world of the two characters, the conflicts between and around them, and the charm of the whole series is precise in its elegance. Loved it.

Tara: Okay, I’m cheating a tiny bit because this book was also published this year, but it was another true standout for me. While I was drawn by the premise, with two rival gothic novel writers finding their HEA together, the true magic was in seeing them grow while experiencing traditional elements of gothic fiction.

Listen to Sarah’s podcast episode with the author!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Stone and Sky

Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Released: July 8, 2025 by DAW
Genre: ,
Series: Rivers of London #10

“This isn’t London. The rules are different up here…”

All Detective Constable Peter Grant wanted was a nice holiday up in Scotland.
He’ll need one once this is over…

check.
some.
sort of – but that’s not the only thing in the sky…

Sarah: I’ve said before this series is the one exception to some general policies I have about reading: I generally don’t like books about cops, and I don’t like books where characters of color are written by a White person. I have enjoyed many of the books in this series, and I particularly like the audiobooks, so listening to Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Shvorne Marks narrate was an extra treat. This book does have a romance of sorts in it – a queer one, too – and some of the plot points reflect current events in an eerie way, but I was so happy while I was listening to it. This book and “What Abigail Did That Summer” are probably my favorites in the series. It’s talking foxes, after all.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Never Over

Never Over by Clare Gilmore

Author: Clare Gilmore
Released: October 28, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: ,

A swoony second-chance romance where facing the one who broke your heart could be the thing that makes your dream come true.

Twenty-five-year-old Paige Lancaster is one contract away from earning a living doing her favorite thing in the world: writing songs. But when a music industry professional suggests she might be holding back with her lyrics to lessen the heartbreak of an old flame, Paige doubts if her music is ready to be heard.

In a rare, impulsive move, Paige contacts Liam Bishop after four years of no contact to ask him for a small favor: date her, and then re-break her heart, all so she can remember what those big, songworthy emotions felt like. And since Liam is the one who first set Paige on this career path, he hesitantly agrees.

Across three months of Liam’s summer work travel, the exes are forced to share hotel beds, rehash the past, and date in the present, all while navigating the building attraction between them they both swore was the one line of their agreement they wouldn’t cross.

But when it becomes near impossible not to act on their rippling chemistry, and as ever intensifying feelings blur the lines of what’s actually real and what’s driven by the music, Paige and Liam will both have to decide what’s more important: art for the sake of it, or love over everything.

Amanda: This book made me eat so much crow! It took two things in romance I typically avoid: characters who work in music and a second chance romance. There is so much pining and yearning and forced proximity. If you love emotional angst and obstacles, this is amazing. I also think if you like Cara Bastone’s books, this might work well for you, though it’s a little lighter on traumatic themes.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 1

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 1 by SUOL

Author: SUOL
Released: November 8, 2022 by Ize Press
Genre: , ,
Series: Villains Are Destined to Die #1

Playing Daughter of the Duke’s Super Love Project as the easy mode heroine, Ivonne, makes charming the male characters a breeze. But once you switch to hard mode and step into the shoes of Penelope, the misunderstood villain, it’s nearly impossible to even stay alive! So imagine the shock of suddenly waking up in Penelope’s body—you know right away that your life is on the line. With love interests who will kill you if their affection meters drop too low and the inability to speak without choosing from pre-selected dialogue, it quickly becomes clear that Penelope’s chances have been rigged from the start—and this villain might just be destined to die!

Amanda: I started reading this as a webtoon, but I am both impatient and impulsive. With over 150 chapters and one free chapter read a day, I was bereft that I couldn’t marathon this one until my eyeballs fell out of my head. Thankfully, there are eight volumes in paperback format in beautiful full color. The art is gorgeous and the concept is so fun. The only way this could be better is if it were a “why choose” book where she gets to be with everyone.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney

Author: Rebecca Romney
Released: February 18, 2025 by Simon & Schuster
Genre:

From rare book dealer and guest star of the hit show Pawn Stars, a page-turning literary adventure that introduces readers to the women writers who inspired Jane Austen—and investigates why their books have disappeared from our shelves.

Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen’s books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always, allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread them, often wishing Austen wrote just one more.

But Austen wasn’t a lone genius. She wrote at a time of great experimentation for women writers—and clues about those women, and the exceptional books they wrote, are sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout Austen’s work. Every character in Northanger Abbey who isn’t a boor sings the praises of Ann Radcliffe. The play that causes such a stir in Mansfield Park is a real one by the playwright Elizabeth Inchbald. In fact, the phrase “pride and prejudice” came from Frances Burney’s second novel Cecilia. The women that populated Jane Austen’s bookshelf profoundly influenced her work; Austen looked up to them, passionately discussed their books with her friends, and used an appreciation of their books as a litmus test for whether someone had good taste. So where had these women gone? Why hadn’t Romney—despite her training—ever read them? Or, in some cases, even heard of them? And why were they no longer embraced as part of the wider literary canon?

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes—women writers who were erased from the Western canon—to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer including Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth—and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s. Romney collects the once-famed works of these forgotten writers, physically recreating Austen’s bookshelf and making a convincing case for why these books should be placed back on the to-be-read pile of all book lovers today. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf will encourage you to look beyond assigned reading lists, question who decides what belongs there, and build your very own collection of favorite novels.

Carrie: This is an amazing nonfiction book about the women who wrote novels in the Georgian period who Jane Austen would have read or at least known of. Entertaining, informative, and changed the way I think about the literary landscape of that time!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

War for the Oaks

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Author: Emma Bull
Released: July 1, 1987 by Ace
Genre:

Acclaimed by critics and readers on its first publication in 1987, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel, Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks is one of the novels that has defined modern urban fantasy.

Eddi McCandry sings rock and roll. But her boyfriend just dumped her, her band just broke up, and life could hardly be worse. Then, walking home through downtown Minneapolis on a dark night, she finds herself drafted into an invisible war between the faerie folk. Now, more than her own survival is at risk—and her own preferences, musical and personal, are very much beside the point.

By turns tough and lyrical, fabulous and down-to-earth, War for the Oaks is a fantasy novel that’s as much about this world as about the other one. It’s about real love and loyalty, about real music and musicians, about false glamour and true art. It will change the way you hear and see your own daily life.

Carrie: I re-read The War for the Oaks by Emma Bull for about the 1,000th time since I first read it in high school and not only is it just as good as every other time but, if possible, it’s even better. I find new things to delight in it every time.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Botanist’s Assistant

The Botanist’s Assistant by Peggy Townsend

Author: Peggy Townsend
Released: November 18, 2025 by Berkley
Genre:

A murder in the science lab shatters a woman’s quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery.

Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing.  But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric—an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything—make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist.

It’s those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something a murder born of jealousy and dark secrets. With the aid of a newly hired and enigmatic night custodian, Margaret finds herself thrust into the role of detective, forcing her to consider that she may not be able to find the killer before the killer finds her.

With a cast of quirky and likeable characters that one won’t soon forget, The Botanist’s Assistant is a delightful story of perseverance and the power in all of us to survive.

Lara: I read some fantastic books this year and there are about three real standouts, but this one is something special. So quiet, so good and so strong. I adored every second with this book.

Read Lara’s review!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Bone King and the Starling

The Bone King and the Starling by Elizabeth Stephens

Author: Elizabeth Stephens
Released: March 19, 2025
Genre: , ,

They call him the bone king.

A massive, beast of a male who worships the gods and is all too willing to provide them their sacrifices. Human sacrifices. He and his warriors have come to visit Winterbren, a poor little village on the outskirts of Wrath and my home.

I’ve never been more grateful to be a thrall, for my low status will ensure that I remain outside of his notice. But when he requests — nay, requires — a willing female to warm his furs for the duration of his stay, his selection falls to me. All I can do is pray to the gods that I survive the night…

And beg the bone king for mercy.

This book contains dark themes, including a Black woman in the position of thrall, graphic depictions of torture, non-con, and discussions of early childhood abuse. A full list of warnings can be found on my website.

Shana’s 2025 pick!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

This Could Be Us

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

Author: Kennedy Ryan
Released: March 5, 2024 by Forever
Genre: ,
Series: Skyland #2

“Heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.” ―EMILY HENRY, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.

But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?

After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?

For fans of Tia Williams and Colleen Hoover comes a deeply moving and personal novel about sacrifice, self-reliance, and finding true happiness from “one of the finest romance writers of our age.” ―Entertainment Weekly

Shana’s bonus pick!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Hen Fever

Hen Fever by Olivia Waite

Author: Olivia Waite
Released: December 11, 2022
Genre: , ,

Lydia Wraxhall is on her best behavior every day of the year—except one: the annual Bickerton Christmas Poultry Show. On that day she brushes her birds, sharpens her tongue, and engages in the closest thing the village knows to war.

Harriet Boyne is a soldier’s widow reeling from the worst years of her life. She and her friends have inherited a manor on the village outskirts, and Harriet is looking forward to a quiet holiday far from the anguish of the battlefield.

But a dispute over a flock of loose chickens — a rare local breed, which Lydia thinks could be champions and Harriet thinks could be delicious — draws Harriet into the competition under Lydia’s grudging guidance. Harriet’s frozen heart is thawed by Lydia’s gentleness, and lonely Lydia blossoms under Harriet’s keen regard. But the day of the poultry show is fast approaching, and everyone’s drawing up battle lines. And in the contest between secret love and public glory, there can only be one winner.

Shana’s bonus pick!

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Discovering Nicola

Discovering Nicola by Clare Ashton

Author: Clare Ashton
Released: May 1, 2025
Genre: , ,
Series: Oxford Romance #3

Sparks fly between Nicola Albright KC and Geeta Sachdeva, but not the good kind. They’re the sort that leave small fires, devastation, and everyone peeping between their fingers at arrogant lawyer, Nicola, on one side, and everyone’s favourite mum, Geeta, on the other.

Yet when both are divorced and at a new stage in life, they find themselves living within glowering distance of each other, in beautiful Iffley Village, Oxford. Reluctantly they call a truce and try to make friends. It’s tricky though, when there’s more than one reason they’ve circled and snapped for years.

For a start, Geeta’s lawyer daughter, Olivia, idolises the eminent King’s Counsel barrister, to eye rolls from Geeta. And to Nicola’s annoyance, her own daughter, Charlotte, has always turned to perfect mama Geeta for comfort and understanding. Animosity between the two is a given.

Until they force themselves to be nice to each other, that is, and then they’re compelled to question everything…

Tara: I don’t think I knew how much I needed to read a romance with two women in their fifties falling in love. Even better, two women who couldn’t stand each other! While the subject matter wasn’t always easy, this book was so refreshing and it left me with that big dreamy sigh that only comes from the most special stories.

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Dec. 26th, 2025 09:49 pm

Just Create - Hacker Edition

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[personal profile] silvercat17 posting in [community profile] justcreate
What are you working on? What have you finished? What do you need encouragement on?
 
Are there any cool events or challenges happening that you want to hype?
 
What do you just want to talk about?
 
What have you been watching or reading?
 
Chores and other not-fun things count!
 
Remember to encourage other commenters and we have a discord where we can do work-alongs and chat, linked in the sticky.

Dec. 25th, 2025 06:09 pm

Ancient Music by Ezra Pound

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[personal profile] conuly
Winter is icummen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm,
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.
Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham.
Freezeth river, turneth liver,
Damn you, sing: Goddamm.
Goddamm, Goddamm, 'tis why I am, Goddamm,
So 'gainst the winter's balm.
Sing goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm.
Sing goddamm, sing goddamm, DAMM.


***


Link
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[personal profile] hrj
Actually the one book I finished in May is going to get its own separate entry (Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer) because I've decided it's my favorite book of the entire year.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman -- (audio) The entire Invisible Library series came up on sale as a set on Chirp, and since I'd heard interesting things about it I picked it up. I've only listened to this first volume. Although I find it interesting and imaginative, I kept not getting back to listening to it (hence it took me an entire month to finish). That's made me less interested in trying the next book in the series. I didn't dislike it--it just didn't grab me.

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod -- (text) I actually bought this one in both text and audiobook, but since I was already listening to a book of similar genre and setting (see next entry) I went for the text version to keep psychological separation. This is a sapphic Jane Austen-inspired story (as one might guess from the title). I've always felt that Mary Bennet got short shrift in the original book. This story begins well after the end of Pride and Prejudice and has paired her with the now-widowed Charlotte Collins (née Lucas). Mary has the advantage of having acquired a mentor in London who runs a not-very-covertly queer household, which eases the way for Mary and Charlotte to be able to share their attraction and provides a short-cut around the economic challenges for a female couple. I found the story cute and emotionally satisfying although Charlotte occasionally shocked me in blowing off the expected social isolation of recent widowhood.

A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell -- (audio) Another Regency-era sapphic romance, involving an amateur archaeologist and the love/hate relationship with her neighbor. Enjoyable, though a bit over-packed with subplots similarly to the previous book of hers that I've read (A Shore Thing). Lots of occasionally improbable hijinks on the quest for Viking-era artifacts and recognition. There were a few places where my historic sensibilities were trampled on. (You do not just "park" a horse and carriage overnight while you're off canoodling. I mean, maybe a groom was summoned to take care of them? But something it didn't get mentioned.) The conclusion seemed a bit contrived but overall I liked it.

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott -- (text) I have no idea how Elliott managed to pack so much plot and worldbuilding into one tiny novella! Secondary-world quest fantasy with a very relatable protagonist and lots of peril. There are unexpected and satisfying twists. I really hope this is a set-up for more fiction in this world.

The Tapestry of Time by Kate Heartfield -- (audio) Historic fantasy set during World War II focused around the war efforts of a family with various psychic powers who are connected in some way to the Bayeux Tapestry. Told through multiple viewpoints, the novel gradually builds up a fragmentary picture of how all the parts relate until it all comes together. There’s a fair amount of violence and peril, as one might expect in a wartime espionage story, but the ending is satisfying. A strongly woman-centered story with positive queer rep (and resolution). Heartfield writes dense, twisty books that can take some concentration but I’ve enjoyed every one that I’ve tackled.

Murder by Post by Rachel Ford -- (text) This fairly short story introduces the continuing detective couple, Meredith and Alec Thatch, set in the wake of World War I in England. Alec is passing as a man in order for them to marry, but is not presented as transgender as far as I can tell. This adds an extra element of risk and danger when the resident of a neighboring flat is found dead with signs of poison. This is a classic cozy-style mystery, with lots of clues and red herrings, allowing the reader to think just one step ahead of the characters. This initial story—really just a novelette—is free on the author’s website. I hope that some day she’ll decide to release the rest of the series more widely than just Kindle Unlimited. It deserves a wider audience. It's really testing my resolve not to buy Amazon-only books unless I'm committed to doing a review.

In August I started two long-term reading projects. Having enjoyed the tv adaptation of the first Murderbot book, I decided to give the series another try (after having bounced off one of the middle books). And I've been enjoying Rachel Fraimow and Emily Tesh's podcast, The Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones so much I decided to do a (possibly non-exhaustive) reading project of Jones's books. I have twelve of her books on my shelves, though I'm not entirely certain I've read all of them, and I hadn't quite connected up which ones were in series and what order they came in. Having very belatedly acquired a local library card, I've been taking advantage of Libby audiobooks to tackle these two projects, which spaces them out nicely, given wait times.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Artificial Condition by Martha Wells -- (audio) It's hard to evaluate the first book separate from having seen the tv series first. It was interesting both how closely the series followed the plot and the places it diverged. Having more details on all the characters (and there are a lot of them for a novella), the story began to grow on my seriously by the second book. It helped that it didn't feel like it was wall-to-wall combat scenes like my first (out of order) encounter with the series. Artificial Condition had a more mystery-like plot, which I enjoyed.

A Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones -- (audio) Young adult. This seems to be a very typical Jones set-up: a disfunctional family with the least-regarded kid as the protagonist. (That's all my notes say. I confess that some of her books have now run into each other in my memory.)

Oops, almost forgot one of my August books!

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie -- (audio) A short fiction collection, with some stories tying in to her Imperial Radch universe and others feeling like they're part of some other connected setting. Leckie writes the most vivid and believable truly alien characters I've encountered since back when I was reading a lot of C.J. Cherryh in the '90s. The title story is a great example.

On Audiobooks

One of the things I cut back on in preparation for my retirement was my Audible subscription. (I had the three-books-a-month level.) That's changed my audiobook consumption somewhat. What I borrow from Libby is a bit random, not simply because I tend to only put one book at a time on my wait list, rather than having several lined up in Audible, but because the types of books available are different. As I've previously mentioned, I've also been buying audiobooks from Chirp, but primarily using it for random discovery within their sale books. When I decide to outright buy a audiobook these days, I'll try Apple Books first (because: Amazon). Very much like my approach to ebooks, I dislike having books on multiple platforms because I lose track of what's where. But I can't really escape that, alas.

Why do I do so much of my reading in audio? Mostly because I do so much print and e-text reading for the Lesbian Historic Motif Project. Also, between bicycling a couple hours a day and yard work, I have a lot of contexts when I can multi-task audio. Another factor is my aging eyes. When I'm focusing on something close up for an extended period of time--whether it's my LHMP reading, or needlework, or whatever, my eyes take up to an hour to recover and be able to focus at other distances properly. It's annoying. And I can't avoid it for the LHMP work. Audio avoids adding annoyance. (Unintentional alliteration.)

Anyway, enough for now. Tomorrow I'll do my Inventing the Renaissance review, which I plan to post widely. When I first started doing this catch-up book posts, I also disseminated them to several review sites, but that got a bit exhausting and awkward. (I discovered that there's a limit to how many book reviews you can post to Amazon on a single day. A good thing, probably, but hard to keep track of when I'm doing catch-up reviews.)
Dec. 26th, 2025 04:46 pm

More Rocks

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[personal profile] ranunculus
From Red Barn Stream




Dec. 26th, 2025 01:17 pm

Paperwork

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[personal profile] ranunculus
I've made a start on the paperwork on my "desk".  The bills are paid and details entered.  
10 minutes ago it was dark and pouring rain so hard we couldn't see the nearby hills. Heck, even the other side of the circle, 125 feet away was a bit misty.  Now the sun is shining.  Apparently we will have a few dry days before the next storm moves in which will be nice. 
Edit: the above was written a couple of hours ago.  It has been a beautiful day since then. 
We went down the hill to town for a few minutes, mailed my letters and got some food.  On the way down I touched up the road a bit more. Mostly things are looking very good and no flooding.  My clearing out of the culvert area has worked very well, water is barreling through, and I hope it is carving the channel on the downhill side out a bit.  Lots of robins chattering away  in the tall trees down around the culvert.  A red shouldered hawk is hanging out near the house.  Dark Eyed Junco's are sitting on my amaranth plants eating the seeds. 
The greenhouse has a small window in the roof.  It is perfect for getting airflow moving through when it is warm or hot. The kit comes with an automatic opener/closer which I did not install because it gets both too hot and too cold here for it to work.  In our high winds the last few days that little window blew off.  Yesterday I was able to get it back in place and install a hook so it couldn't open. The wood on the hinge is still broken, but it is doing a good job of keeping in the heat. 
M just brought me a little bowl with pieces of Lively pepper that we picked from the garden yesterday.  It is really good.  I have no idea how those pepper plants have survived. 

Dec. 26th, 2025 11:59 pm

And I'm back!

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[personal profile] loganberrybunny
Public


328/365: Christmas reindeer
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329/365: Tractor Run, Bewdley
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I'm not really drunk as such, but I've had cider, brandy (on Christmas pudding) and whisky (in a cake) over the last couple of days and so I'm a little bit closer than I normally would be! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Mine was fairly quiet but pleasant, with family stuff and a great deal of nice food. Also, books. Lots and lots of books. Working out where to put them will have to wait. Well, a bit, anyway. I did go for a very short walk on Christmas morning, so I was able to get my 365 photo from just outside a cottage on the edge of town.

Today was the annual Boxing Day Tractor Run in aid of prostate cancer research, which is a fun institution that is (as you can see) not quite as aggressively ordered and organised as many events! There were a <i>lot</i> more tractors participating than you see here; I would guess somewhere in the order of 90 to 100, although I lost count. Many of them were decorated with Christmas themes, playing festive music, even blowing bubbles in one case! Load Street (seen here) was closed for four hours to allow the tractor drivers and passengers to have a lunch break.
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