This list shifts frequently, but three of my faves:

1. Frances McDormand (esp Fargo and Raising Arizona).
2. Shirley Maclaine (esp Steel Magnolias and Terms of Endearment)
3. Kate Winslet (esp Heavenly Creatures, Little Children)

(And Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, LOTR). And Jennifer Aniston (specifically in Office Space and Cake and not in Friends). Couldn't help sneaking in a couple more!)

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

I'm glad I left enough time to dry my eyes and blow my nose after listening to this on my ride to class today. And that I didn't decide to wear mascara today. Oof. I might wait until I get home to listen to the rest so I'm not driving and crying.

I. Experiencing new places.
II. Patterns of behavior that no longer serve me.
III. My family (my spouse, my kids, homeschooling for so many years, the adventures we've had, and the parenting improvements I've made compared to the previous generations in my family of origin).

Great questions, @Eggs ! #WondrousWednesday

1) Resting in Uncertainty (alternate: That Was Fast. What Now?)

2) It's not specifically what I would do at this point in my life (biking solo 10,000+ miles), but I love the way Sara Dykman lives her values.

#TwoForTuesday @TheSpineView

#motivationalmonday

1. Between paid work, volunteer work, and school work, I have SO MUCH to do. And my son has a band concert Wednesday, so that's fun.

2. The dusty table and chairs on my back patio.

3. Southern California. Kind of chilly for April, but reasonably sunny.

4. I'm not really liking this one.

@Cupcake12

This novel reminded me of Stephen King's short story, "The Raft." Smith does a great job conveying tension and peril, along with what being in these conditions brings out in people (spoiler: it's mostly negative). Not all of the characters are distinct personalities. The two main guys and the two main women seem interchangeable, and I kept mixing them up. Matthias is an individual, and perhaps the only likeable character in the novel.

I got done with this book, and my spouse asked me how it was. I said it was cute, there was torture, and I could see it being made into a movie without much modification. "I don't plan on reading it, so don't worry about spoiling it for me," he said, encouraging me to say more. I shrugged. "I don't like it enough to say more." If I loved it or hated it, I'd have more to say. As our teen son says, this one was mid.

So, here's a Zion NP waterfall.

Overall I enjoyed this novel. I especially like the way Harper writes relationships and manipulation. Two things reduced my enjoyment, though: One is that sometimes characters' reactions are written as though they're obvious when they aren't to me (possibly a cultural thing?). The other is that solving the mysteries hangs on happenstance and intuition a little more than I'd prefer. I won't say more about that, but it's something I found annoying.

I'm still on vacation in my heart. Death Valley National Park isn't my favorite desert park (and I wouldn't want to visit May through October), but it's certainly unique. I feel like the landscape goes with the title of the tagged book, which I started today.

I enjoyed this novel, and not just because of Emilia Fox's interpretation of a southern (US) accent. The characters are complex and realistically cagey, and Miss Marple rocks, as usual. The observations about the differences between US and English culture are interesting. I can't judge how accurate the English side is, but Christie basically suggests that United Statesians don't mind shameless self-promotion, and I can't say she's wrong.

Yesterday I was here, and today I'm back home, doing dishes while listening to the tagged book (with cats staring at me wondering why I'm not sitting and petting them indefinitely after being away for a week).

Oh, my gosh! I love this novel! It's so weird and intense, with such an honest, deep representation of "home" and all the complicated things that come with it. It's about the accommodations we make to hold things together, and what it looks like to set a firm boundary, at long last. And alongside that, it's a deliciously creepy haunted house story. Probably shouldn't have read it on vacation in a house whose noises I don't know, but here we are.

Vacation library visit! They had a lovely eclipse-themed display and LEGO portraits made by elementary students, and it was awesome to see a family lounging on the bean bag chairs reading quietly.

April #bookspinbingo card, ready to go! Now to find time to read. 🤔

@TheAromaofBooks

I'm traveling this week, and I forgot my fancy pens, but this is my essentially complete March #bookspinbingo card. I didn't get a bingo this month, but I did finish both my #bookspin and #doublespin, so yay!

@TheAromaofBooks

This one feels similar to Mona Awad's Rouge but with less focus on grief and more on how privilege and racism inform beauty standards and how wealth can take a reasonable idea to an unreasonable extreme. I enjoyed the novel, but the story feels a little young, like it's lacking a layer of meaning that life experience might give it. Or maybe that was part of the point.

Ready for April...sort of. My younger kid is going on a trip to Europe with his school band for spring break, and when I think of the geographical distance that's going to be between us, my chest feels tight. I know he'll have a blast, but oh, my mommy heart! At least I have books to distract me.

#bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I really enjoy how Lord Peter seems clever but also a little silly and impetuous, but there's a point in each of Sayers's novels when his serious side comes through, not in a heavy-handed way, but often just as a glimpse. In many ways I find this mask/true self characterization more realistic than the more either/or characters in many books, and it helps to explain why those around him are so devoted to him, even when he acts like an ass.

Well, the results of the "official" #ToB are out and Blackouts won by a landslide over The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, which is interesting to me because I DNFed Blackouts pretty early on. I guess I like the "tyranny of narrative," which judge Kyle Chayka says Blackouts resists. Now I feel like I should give Blackouts another attempt, maybe in a different format, but the thought makes me want to go back to bed.

1) Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (read on my own, read aloud to my kids, then family road trip audiobook---narrated brilliantly by Marin Ireland)
2) LOTR (read on my own, read aloud to my kids, plus audiobook)
3) Winnie-the-Pooh (the original A. A. Milne, both read aloud by me and listening to the magnificent Peter Dennis audiobook on repeat for years)
Bonus: Anne of Green Gables by LMM

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

This book has Stephen King vibes (the voice is similar...a little glib, a little self-consciously clever) and some creepy characters and scenes. It also has a few inconsistencies (and "exeunt" used in the singular when it's plural by construction), some annoying plot armor, and some unsettlingly codependent relationships, but I enjoyed it anyway. It helped me procrastinate all of the work I ought to be doing this week.

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1) Tana French, Louise Penny, Ottessa Moshfegh, Mona Awad, Kevin Wilson.
2) I am awful at picking favorites. I'll go with the tagged (genre: literary fiction), but I'm not sure it's my favorite-favorite.
3) Beverly Cleary.

I can't remember how I learned about this book, but it's just my cup of tea. An epic, car-free journey following the migratory loop of the monarch butterfly, undertaken to raise awareness about conservation and habitat loss with commentary about community and culture and privilege... it's like the many thru-hiking books I've enjoyed just with a purpose broader than self-discovery. And on a bike. I'll definitely be gifting some copies of this one.

A little bittersweet to work this puzzle while listening to Xe Sands tell Sara Dykman's story of biking thousands of miles to raise awareness about the North American monarch migration and conservation in general. I'll review the book once I finish it...and then I'll see if my landlord will let me plant a patch of native milkweed and other butterfly-supporting plants in the tiny yard.

I attended my first book launch today! The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs (California) is not in the database, so I tagged the book! It's a beautiful journal filled with awesome ideas for adventures big and small that we can enjoy with the youngest people in our lives! The bookstore is a sweet little spot chock-full of great books and fun and friendly staff! I am so filled with exclamation marks, they are spilling into every sentence!!

I'm not able to devote quite as much time to the tagged as I'd like, but it's getting nice and creepy. No connection to this photo, really, except that I'm kind of obsessed with the lighting, which looks a little like it was painted by a Dutch master, which is maybe a little uncanny.

Afternoon treat! 🍨 📚

I really enjoy the subtlety of the relationships in Tana French's novels. She's adept at portraying both the spoken dialogue and the subtext, including when characters recognize that there is subtext but can't quite be sure what it is. I'm not sure what the title has to do with the story, but aside from that, I found this to be another solid, enjoyable addition to French's oeuvre.

I presume that this little lizard in my yard agrees with me.

Despite the fact that my photography skills make it look like an indistinct lump in the tree, this is one of our neighborhood great horned owls. On my evening audiowalk with the tagged book, I spotted this fellow flying from tree to tree in between calling to his sweetheart (and no doubt with another kind of hunting plan for later). On an earlier audiowalk today, I saw a hawk carrying off a snake. It's Wild Kingdom around here!

Pretty cool day today! I got a skip-the-line loan of Tana French's latest on Libby, had a beautiful walk with a friend (first time wearing a sleeveless top this year...slathered on the SPF50), and during our evening walk, my spouse and I unexpectedly saw the SpaceX Falcon 9 shortly after it launched from Vandenberg AFB. (I have very mixed feelings about ultra-rich dudes funding space stuff, but this was cool.)

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this one. I watched Star Trek when I was younger, and I've read a decent amount of sci-fi (Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Tchaikovsky, PK Dick, Adams, Eggers, Chiang---TheStorygraph says I've read 101 sci-fi books), but I'm not really a sci-fi fan, per se. I do not cosplay, for example. However, I'm glad I persevered because this novel is funny, smart, and emotionally truthful.

Camille and Silo say that my top priority this afternoon is sitting still and finishing my book. If I don't fall asleep under the warmth and purring of two cats.

I finally got into the tagged book and all I want to do is read it, but instead I have to read and give feedback on informational articles written by 5th graders. I mean, they're awesome 5th graders, but it's not really the same. Photo of yesterday's sunset and waxing moon to illustrate my wistfulness.

🪻I prefer task-based work to time-based work, it's okay not to be immediately awesome at something when I first start out (or ever. Mediocre still gets the job done), and I kind of like being the center of attention (but don't mind sharing).
🪻 Part-time teacher, part-time student, aspiring voice actor.
🪻 I'd love to do so many things. Park ranger, Navy chaplain, actor, musician, photographer, scientist, midwife...
@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

Maggie Downs's second book just came out, and I can see this book becoming a must-gift for new and expectant parents (and grandparents!) in my life. The list includes activities ranging from the simple---"Sing together"---to the more ambitious---"Visit a wonder of the world." Best of all, each activity is paired with prompts and journal space to reflect on and savor each completed activity, with extra pages for your own adventures and drawings.

1) Watch drunk people on YouTube and give feedback on classmates' commercial recordings.

2) So many (clown, mom, teacher, long-haul truck driver, firefighter), but for a long time I wanted to be a singer because I loved Linda Ronstadt.

3) Zion and Death Valley NP road trip this spring, then a 2-3 week trip in June either to Nova Scotia or to Seattle/Vancouver.

4) Tagged!

@Cupcake12 #MotivationalMonday

After 23 hours, with 23 more to go, I have to set this one aside. I am interested in knowing her story but not enough to devote my precious time and attention to it right now. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

Book mail!

If this---voice acting, practicing multiple languages, learning about recording, performing music again after a long hiatus (and adding a new instrument)---is a midlife crisis, I am enjoying it more than I expected. It's kind of terrifying but mostly in a good way.

While I always enjoy Hugh Fraser's narration, I had to re-read parts of this on my Kobo to get the plot straight. Listening to the audiobook, if I let my attention stray for one moment, I lost the thread. Even reading back and understanding the basics, the motivations and details still don't make total sense to me. I like the characters, but it's not my favorite Poirot mystery.

Still chugging away on the tagged. I snapped this photo of a not-duck at school today. This fellow was singing his heart out. I don't know what he is...some kind of finch, maybe. Every time we move to a different region I have to learn new birds, and although we've been here 6 years, I still only know phoebes, ospreys, pelicans, cormorants, seagulls, condors, wrens, and quail. This is none of those.

1) Newcomerstown, Ohio (Ducks, Newburyport)
2) The location I'm thinking about now is the Canadian Maritimes from the Anne of Green Gables books. I've been to New Brunswick and PEI, but I haven't made it out to Nova Scotia yet. I've also wanted to see Newfoundland ever since I read E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News.

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

Some people take classy restroom selfies. I take whatever this is. (Book-related because while taking the picture I was listening to the tagged on my little headphones, which are cleverly hidden in my hair.)

Still uncertain if I can go the distance with the tagged book, but I listened to it while putting our new rug under the dining table, and it's grown on me a bit. (The book, not the rug. Although that's grown on me, too.)

Please tell me that the stream of consciousness doesn't go on for the entire novel. Please? So many people like this book a lot, but the stream of consciousness might break me.

(Rainbow from my walk today.)

Ready for March #bookspinbingo!

@TheAromaofBooks #bookspin

While I found the first 1/2 to 2/3 of this novel to be more well put together compared with the latter portion, which felt a little rushed, I really enjoyed the characters and relationships. McBride draws rich characters and skillfully shows how groups of people interact with one another and react to circumstances of inequality and bias. There's a feeling of being trapped and looking for/seeking to create a small bit of breathing room.

For those following closely, you probably remember that I initially, accidentally, used January's #bookspinbingo board numbers to populate my February titles. I later made the correct board, but decided to track both, just for fun. As you can see, the correct board yielded a bingo and the erroneous one did not. So, yay for February!

#bookspin #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

March #bookspin list!

@TheAromaofBooks

The first thing to know about Ring the book is that it's really not at all like either the Japanese or US movie versions. The second thing to know is that it's not really scary (but it is weird and a little creepy). It's decently enjoyable, the relationship between the two main characters is well done, and it's an interesting 1990, pre-Internet take on viral media, but there are a couple of twists where I'm just, like...why?

Towards the end of the book, Breslin explains that while she originally planned to write a work of investigative journalism about longitudinal studies and their impact on the study subjects, her publisher requested she make this book a memoir. This likely accounts for why the book consistently feels like neither one thing nor the other. It's interesting, but I think it would have been better if Breslin had been able to write it how she wanted to.