I got the Jewish Annotated New Testament for this read-through - love Amy-Jill Levine. Last time we did this I used The Source by A. Nyland, which was very focussed on how Greek is translated. Of course, now I'm instantly convinced that the First Nations version is something I absolutely need. Hmmm....

Same! Finished 2 so far: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. Recommended by @Grace Hopper last month. I really enjoyed this. Plus, after I finished I realized that one of the categories on this year's Winter Read at our library is "read a book that someone recommended to you" so I'm counting this. Flop Dead Gorgeous: an Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt. I'd listened to another book in this series during Christmas, so when I saw this on the New Book shelf I grabbed it. As expected, it was fun and light. As nearly as I can tell it doesn't make a difference what order you read this series in. I'm not interested in reading another of these any time soon, though. Which is probably good since I have at least 3 other books started, plus at church we're doing the "Read a chapter of the New Testament each weekday, and all the sermons and Sunday School lessons will coordinate with this" thing again this year (there are 260 chapters in the New Testament, and slightly more weekdays than that in 2024).

A few years back I read about plants getting drunk*. Pretty much set a new standard for things that make me raise my eyebrows. * I was a Horticulture major in school, and go on nerdy-plant-kicks on a regular basis. This little gem was in a book by Stephen Buhner, but I don't recall which one. I think he was writing about how plants utilize hallucinogens for their own purposes. Hmm, now I'm going to spend the next hour following up on this. THANKS A LOT EVERYONE FOR CRASHING MY PLANS FOR AN INDUSTRIOUS DAY

I'm so sorry for your loss.

OTOH, the entire internet is welcome to stroll on through all of these posts on the main boards. I assumed that was the reason for being a little vague. WE all have different levels of identifying information we're comfortable with, and that can change over time, and even day to day or post to post.

Deck the Hounds: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt. Holiday whodunit on audio so I could knit while listening. Actually, the Christmas part of this was tangential to the plot - the holiday just happened to be going on in the background. But it was still a fun book. I'm pretty sure I've read other books in this series. Twelve Days of Christmas: A Christmas Novel by Debbi Macomber. Holiday romance audio book. This was so bad I couldn't finish it. I stopped once, then needed something to half-listen-to while doing a tubular bind off so I tried a bit more. Yikes, it got even worse - our heroine was surprised that she had a 24 hour stomach bug because, by golly, she had gotten her flu vaccine. HELLO DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT "FLU" ACTUALLY IS?? All the Christmas knitting is done!

Just put a hold on this at the library - I love stuff like this - and I notice I'm the second hold. So ... who here already put a hold on this in the SLCL system? Am I going to have to start fighting you for other recommended books that have fewer copies in the system?

Dashing Through the Snowbirds: a Meg Langslow Mystery by Donna Andrews. Holiday whodunit. I got this as an audiobook through the Libby app so I could knit while I listened. It was as fun as any Meg Langslow book -- I've been reading random books out of this series since about the very first book, which was many years ago. This was the first time I'd listened to an audio version, though, and it took me several hours to get over the fact that the reader didn't sound like the voice in my head.

This is actually one of my all time favorite books. I purchased it in hardback when it first came out -- no clue what it was about, but it was by one of my favorite authors, so I grabbed it off the display -- and then scurried to a University reading room to start reading it, opened it and discovered it started by describing in second person what I had just done and was doing. Which absolutely delighted me. It helped that I was in my magical realism phase. If I read it for the first time now? Eh, who knows how it would hit me. Funny how time and place makes such a difference for these things.

Am I the only one who saw the title "Snack Bowl for Stanley Cup" and thought this was a hockey-related item? I was so confused when I clicked on it and it was just ... a cup. Also, the foam roller-water bottle combo strikes me as hilarious.

Okay, I didn't do this at all -- I think I have a vague memory of people discussing it last year -- but you're all making it sound so FUN!!! I need to think about this and see if I can list out 24 things. My problem with so many of these types of things is a lack of imagination on my part, sigh.

A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. I love this book. Plenty of pop science about living in space, of course. But there's more - legal considerations - hello, res nullius vs res communis. And some historical context for international law. Downside: I'm pretty sure I need to go back and re-read all of The Expanse (conveniently, I have all 9 main volumes) to ponder how well those authors integrated many of these ideas and concepts ... for example, when the Weinersmiths started talking about hurling asteroids at Earth, it was old news to an Expanse-fangirl. The Good and Beautiful Life: Putting on the Character of Christ by James Bryan Smith. This was for a Bible study group at church. Based on Dallas Willard's Divine Conspiracy - the author was a teaching assistant for Willard for 10 years.

41 holds on the ebook at our library. The 6 hard copies haven't come in yet, but people are already lining up for those. And I just took my place in line!

That's so cool!

Just got 28yo Christmas list addendum last night, and Grinch artwork is right up there near the top.

Dd buys me (and herself) tacky, gaudy, cat-centric Christmas sweaters from Target. So far we have 2. Lots of sequins, fur, BRIGHT colors -- amazing stuff. Who knows what this year will bring! Pretty excited to see! My only quibble is that they're hot to wear.

Younger DD belongs to a board game group that meets weekly to play. She gave us Kingdomino last year as a game she thought worked well for 2 people.

Christmas at Holiday House by RaeAnne Thayne. More holiday fluff -- YAY! Also, shout out to my local library for putting a bright "Holiday" sticker on the spine of books, both fiction and non-fiction, so I can just cruise around and grab stuff off the shelves in any genre.

Years ago we had a meatloaf recipe that used ground turkey, subbed stuffing mix for the bread, and added cranberry sauce to the glaze. The loafs were individually sized, which was a nice change-up. I haven't made it in decades, but I imagine there are similar recipes out there on the internet. Edited to add: Whoops, not gluten free! Sorry about that!

We called a florist near the recipient (MIL, who lives in a different state) and did it directly with them. We were somewhat familiar with the florist, as was MIL - it's who we would use for special occasion flowers. She really enjoyed getting the flowers. We did about 4 months worth, to get through winter into spring. After that we sent something else for Mother's Day and then her birthday in June.

Yes, totally addictive. But I'm also addicted to Lundberg Rice Cake Minis with sea salt, and don't even get me started on those Mochi Rice Nuggets at Trader Joe's. It's all about salty and crunchy for me! (I don't like potato chips, and corn makes my joints ache)

About 30 minutes with decent sidewalks and crosswalks, so about 1.5 miles. At 3 miles with crappy crosswalks I start saying things are "practically in walking distance". But I live in the suburbs, so crappy crosswalks and crappy walking conditions are a given (insert vague muttering about the evils of car-centric neighborhoods).

Dd, who apparently believes WTM boards can solve all problems**, is trying to help a friend (23yo) find after-school care for his 18yo DS brother. Her friend is currently caretaking 3x per week, and another girl who's younger does the other 2 days. Both brothers live with their mother in Flushing. They are Catholic, and one of DS brother's main interests is church. I have the impression that Friend tries to work some with his brother on speech and language, while the other caretaker doesn't really do any enrichment activities. Friend thinks more enrichment is important. Mom has possibly gotten burned out on trying to find more resources. My best guess is that Friend would like to present Mom with some alternative(s) that would be helpful for his brother. Any thoughts on where they might start looking for more resources, more caretakers, more enrichment? **Yes, dd specifically asked me to ask you all for resources or people in the general area.

Only one left! Better hop right on that! Fair warning, though, I'm still shopping for dd who is obsessed with Oppenheimer, and that would certainly be a statement piece .....

I'm now enamored of the idea that we all become birch trees in heaven. Then again, I'm one of those people who thinks having tree-friends should be normalized. I spent way too much childhood worrying that if I kicked a rock it would be sad because it was no longer with its rock-friends ... or maybe it liked its new location more, and was grateful I moved it... oh, the quandary!