All registered for #AuldLangSpine2025! My favorite Litsy event every year! @monalyisha is an amazing matchmaker (definite Librarian Skillz, for sure)!

A blended latte and an egg and cheese on a cheddar chive biscuit with some reading before running errands and getting a haircut 💇 📖

Soft pick for me - an scientific history of how our understanding of gravity has changed from Newton to Einstein to quantum theory to string theory. A little background in physics is helpful, but expertise is not needed (I took an intro level college class in 2007, so…). Some sections dragged a bit (the chapter on tides 🫠), but I thought the last third was a great intro to quantum theory and string theory, which I knew very little about.

I love the overall theme of this YA anthology - that resistance is an everyday act and sometimes just surviving is resistance. And some of the stories were excellent (“As You Were” by Bethany C. Morrow and “Ruth” by Laura Silverman), but the short pieces didn‘t work in the audio format. And while the description mentioned #DisabledAndCute, the disability rep in here basically amounted to a mention of that hashtag in a poem, which was disappointing

I‘ve only followed Travis and Sigi on Instagram for a short time, but was interested in learning more about their story. Turns out this was the perfect post-election read. Travis is candid about his struggles with depression and suicidal ideation, yet his story with Sigi is heartwarming and shows how someone can overcome hardship and how we can make a difference by building community and using our skills and passions for good.

“That evening Bianca, Sigi, Ylva and I all tuned into the evening news. Seeing the man with the parrot, then me on TV was the strangest feeling. Suddenly I felt very self-conscious. I looked nervous, but Sigi couldn‘t have looked more chilled. As I sat on the sofa turning the day over in my mind, I reflected on how far Sigi and I had come. Only four years ago she‘d arrived at our apartment in San Francisco. I was loving life . . .”

There was a (black owned!) bookseller (The Soul Book Nook from Waterloo, IA) at the conference, so I picked up a couple titles. Then I got myself a candle and cute wrapping paper to treat myself this afternoon.

I‘ve been at a conference the past couple days for women in higher education. It‘s been both a nice distraction and a good reminder of how we can make a difference in our own communities. It ended earlier this afternoon, so I took some time for a cup of cinnamon plum tea and this hopeful book (much of which takes place during the pandemic).

Took the morning off. A little treat and some reading before I have to go into the office.

Had an errand to run, but now that that‘s done, it‘s time for a treat at Panera and some more reading 📖

“‘This isn‘t over yet,‘ Ann said. ‘Merciful moons, I hope that patch holds. Come on.‘”

April had to help me open my #HHS #HauntedHallowSwap package from @Bookwormjillk

Thank you so much, Jill! I had to open the cat toys for April right away 😆 I‘m really looking forward to both of these books, the Pet Sematary bookmark is perfect (one of my favorite of King‘s), but I‘m going to dive into the tea first (love a cup of chai in the morning).

Thank you @wanderinglynn for hosting! Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 🐈‍⬛

“Well, at least-
That was when Tress‘s face exploded.”

“While we ate, Mami sat as far from us as she could. Omar couldn‘t get off work, I kept slurring, even after Leidy kicked and kicked my shin under the table each time I forced out the excuse. Dante crawled around on the floor next to her, moving from cousin to cousin, begging to be lifted. I kicked Leidy back and said it anyway - Next year, you‘ll see - to Neyda, to people who‘d been whispering about my mom‘s outburst, her door-slamming . . .”

While there was some interesting aspects of Ireland in the Middle Ages discussed here, this book got too bogged down in Rome and its fall (like 40% into the book before we get to Ireland) and the author‘s concept of “civilization” is definitely Eurocentric (Irish scribes saved Roman literature, basically). But I learned a lot about St. Patrick and Irish monastic culture, which was interesting.🤔

“I nodded to myself. I picked up the sheet of paper and I put it on the pile of pages and tapped the edges together as if I knew what I was doing, and I went to reheat my coffee.”

Time for a creepy book while having a cappuccino and an egg and cheese on a cheddar chive biscuit before running some errands.

My #HHS box is here! I think it‘s from @Bookwormjillk

#HauntedHallowSwap

Another infusion, another book finished! This is by no means a good book, but it was a fun - a campy, 1970s, supernatural And Then There Were None. I enjoy a bad/campy horror movie and that‘s what this was in book form (makes since because it‘s a novelization of a movie that did pretty poorly at the box office; the book was apparently more popular). Definitely a bit predictable but not totally so. I just enjoyed it for what it was.

“Then, ever so slowly, her body rose to the surface, tumbling gracefully, picking up speed as it neared the top and finally popped onto the surface like a cork, floating there face down in the center of the still water, her eyes staring intensely at the Ravenshurst crest imprinted on the bottom of the pool.
The cat at the end of the diving board watched the motionless body a little longer, then grew bored, yawned, and trotted off silently. . .”

#HHS #HauntedHallowSwap package all ready to go. I‘ll stop at the post office after work tomorrow and it‘ll be on its way!

And as expected, I picked up a couple books 📚 #BookHaul

Woke up a bit earlier than expected (thanks to my cat deciding to play attack my feet), so decided to use the extra time in my day to check out a coffeeshop/bookstore that I‘ve wanted to visit for quite a while! It‘s so cute! Enjoying my Earl Grey tea and cinnamon roll with one of my current library books and then will probably look through their books (because it‘s a bookstore, duh 😆).

Also, high temperature of 69 degrees F. Happy for fall! 🍂

It feels like August (87 degrees F for the high temp and road construction), but I can at least pretend it‘s October while enjoying a sandwich (egg and cheese on a cheddar chive biscuit), tea (Lady Grey), and a dark fantasy book 📖 🍂 🫖

“Granny wasn‘t exactly friendless, but what she commanded mostly was respect. People learned to respect storm clouds, too. They refreshed the ground. You needed them. But they weren‘t nice.”

From “The Sea and Little Fishes” by Terry Pratchett in the tagged volume.

Still enjoying this middle grade series on audio (Nicola Barber‘s narration is 💯). This one had some good growth for our main characters and a lot of high action and drama. A good set up for the final book.

“On this note she swept regally away, hands lifting the front of her skirt off the floor. Roland had heard that such as she couldn‘t go about in daylight, and that part of the old tales was surely a lie. Yet another part was almost true, it seemed: a fuzzy, amorphous shape kept pace with her, running along the row of empty beds to her right, but she cast no real shadow at all.”

From “The Little Sisters of Eluria” by Stephen King in the tagged 📖

“‘Take care of yourself, Jax. If staying up at Sparrow Crest turns out to be too much, call me anytime. I‘ve got a spare room, and my door‘s always open.‘”

Here‘s my Halloween aesthetic for #HauntedHallowSwap #HHS - always atmospheric, sometimes creepy and gothic, sometimes silly or campy

A soft pick because I liked pretty much everything about this book (relatable main characters, magical libraries and books, complicated but loving sisterly relationships, a little romance but only tertiary to the plot, a tiny pampered dog name Sir Kiwi, a thrilling climax), but don‘t feel like it was especially memorable. But it was fun and made a good easy read on my lunch breaks.

April in the background #CatsOfLitsy

A very evocative portrait of Roman Pompeii told from the perspective of Amara, a doctor‘s daughter who was sold into slavery after his death and is now a brothel slave. It‘s a brutal life and the narrative doesn‘t hold back on the brutality, yet there is also moments of pleasure and deep friendship between Amara and fellow brothel slave Dido. The plot might be too slow for some, but I thought it set up the story well for the second book.

It took me awhile to get into the actual plot of this one, but I still relate to Murderbot and loved the addition of ART. Plot picked up by the end and left with enough questions about what Murderbot will do next.

The historical setting (1930s turpentine camp) was vividly rendered and was swept into the story. But the “good” characters were too good and the “evil” characters were outlandishly so. I was also troubled by how heterosexual white characters were used to illustrate experiences that were predominantly those of black men (horrid labor conditions at the camp) and queer women (violent homophobia/misogyny).

Had another ✨Inflectra✨ infusion today. Very much enjoying this audiobook about prostitutes in Roman Pompeii.

“‘One down,‘ I muttered, looking around me. ‘Another couple million to go.‘”

Enjoying this early fall day with my first PSL of the season, an egg and cheese on a cheddar chive biscuit, and staring another T. Kingfisher while sitting in a sunny spot of a favorite cafe

“But Newton made another approximation to crank out predictions from his theory of gravity. He assumed that the Sun alone pulls on Earth, and the Earth alone pulls on the Moon. The breakdown of this assumption can be seen in the case of the tides, where both the Moon and the Sun affect the Earth. And this is a general feature of the real world: bodies are pulled on by more than one other body.”

Needed to get out of the house, so I‘m enjoying an egg and cheese biscuit and iced tea while starting a new book 📖 Might take a little stroll later to enjoy the nice weather ☀️

Happy to participate in #HauntedHallowSwap #HHS24 🎃 Thank you @wanderinglynn for organizing this spooky good time! 👻 😈👹

Soft pick - a gentle romance with minimal spiciness. More than anything I enjoyed the secondary characters and the descriptions of life on the (fictional) remote Irish island of Salvation. I don‘t really get the title and there were a few continuity errors that an editor should‘ve noticed. But it was an easy, escapist read.

Pictured - getting my first ✨Inflectra✨ infusion to treat my Crohn‘s and I came prepared for the long treatment.

“‘Oh, about the same,‘ Mom says in that careful, bland tone she always uses when talking about Grandma. It‘s tough for my mother, watching dementia begin to scramble her mother‘s precious memories. It‘s not too bad yet a lot of the time, but I know it takes its toll on them both. Grandma‘s going to love seeing my photographs of the island; they might even spark insights and recollections that will mean so much more to me . . .”

“I‘m accustomed to needing to be the strong one in life - for the boys, for my mother, for Susie. There is extraordinary comfort in someone saying I‘ve got you. It brings a lump to my throat, so we sit for a while and watch the dolphins out in the bay.”

This was fun in the way that a lot of cheesy ‘80s horror movies are fun. Just go along for the ride and maybe don‘t think too much about the plot.

The design of the book is fun. And if you‘ve ever worked in corporate retail (experiences I never want to have again/at least 33% of the reason why I‘m a socialist 😆), then the satire will definitely hit for you.

Some fantasy, an egg and cheese on a cheddar chive biscuit, and a chai latte with almond milk

“‘Perfect timing,‘ Trinity said, grinning at the others. ‘Now, who‘s in?‘”

I had a $15 gift card for participating in a survey, so I bought a couple new releases (yes, I *definitely* spent more than the gift card 😆) #BookHaul

This might be my “freezer book” just for that scene with protagonist Easton hunting the hares in the woods. Seriously some of the creepiest writing. Yet there is also some sly wit and quality non-binary rep in this retelling of Poe‘s “Fall of the House of Usher.” The audiobook is very good as well and enhances the conversational tone of Easton‘s narrative. Solid secondary characters as well. Will definitely read more by Kingfisher.

Deserving of all the awards it‘s received. A tender, sapphic romance told from the perspective of Lily, a Chinese American girl living in San Francisco‘s Chinatown in the early 1950s. For a YA romance that actually has something at stake, the romance isn‘t particularly angsty in the way that so many books that are YA and/or romance tend to be. The emotions are realistic. And the historical setting is evocatively drawn.

“. . . The capitalist who employs improved but not yet universally used methods of production sells below the market price, but above his individual price of production; his profit rate thus rises, until competition cancels this out; in the course of this period of adjustment, the second requirement is fulfilled, i.e. growth in the capital laid out . . .”

After lab work🩸💉and a stop at Petsmart 🐈‍⬛, it‘s time for a sandwich, Coke, and Marx.