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Laurel-in-CA

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Posts posted by Laurel-in-CA

  1. 6 hours ago, Ordinary Shoes said:

    Definitely not a novella, LOL. What is it - like 800 pages? I read that a couple of months ago. I liked Priory more but still enjoyed it. 

    I lose track of actual page count since I read on my kindle. Had I read this one first, I don't know if I would have pushed on but, like you, I much prefer Priory.

    • Like 3
  2. I am reading A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, the prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree, which I thought was a novella and I am discovering is quite the opposite! 4 different parts of the world, 4 different people's stories, good dragons, bad dragons, drought/fire/flood, different religions and the intrigues of very different courts and governing systems...even 2 different kinds of magic to go with the different types of dragons....ai yi yi. It's complex; you have to respect the author who births something like this! I am halfway through and pressing on as I work on my next crochet project!

    • Like 3
  3. Finished A Haunting at the Bonaventure Circus - which I did not get all that enthused about. Supposed ghosts, buried secrets, discovery of a serial killer's trophies, circus people as a metaphor for both brokeness and acceptance. A lot of pondering about God, overly defensive single parenting, and the characters' purposes in life. Meh.

    Drove me back to regency romance to get a fix of more predictable books, so I've been reading Mary Jo Putney's Rogues Redeemed series. once done I'll probably go back to Dance of Thieves, which is in my library kindle queue.

    Spring has sprung - from 55 to 80 in just a few days and gardening is the name of the game around here. Husband is triumphant because he figured out the reason the drip wasn't working (it was an L-joint instead of a T-joint....engineers!) and dd is proceeding with turning the front lawn into wildflowers with, so far, poppies, bachelor's buttons, and sunflowers. I planted asparagus crowns but they won't be reading for 2 years, right about dh's retirement plan. We hope we'll be here to eat the first crop!

     

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  4. What about a sleeveless dress with a short-sleeve open weave sweater or loose shirt as an add-on? Bonus, you could drive to wherever in the sleeveless, put the sweater/shirt on for meeting, and take it off again when you're back in the car. Flowered dresses and plain sweater/shirt, or vice versa.

    • Like 3
  5. 12 hours ago, bookbard said:

    I think it's good that they're phasing out gas, it's not only not climate healthy but it's really not good for the individual, especially children's lungs. I hope, however, that the government is supporting the changeover to electric items? I know in Australia the government is paying people to swap their hot water heaters and ovens (depending on your state). They're also putting in for electricity (depending on your income). I can honestly say I've never paid so little for electricity in my life, it's under a hundred a month at the moment.

    Nobody's paying anybody here, and the switchover costs can be significant. My utilities bill went up this month like most of the rest of the county -- double!!

    • Sad 1
  6. 16 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

    Outlawed gas appliances?! Why?! How do they get to do that? 

    We ❤️our natural gas heat! 

    County control of permits = No new building with gas appliances or furnaces and then in 2025 they start forcing you to replace with electricity, first water heaters and then furnaces. So, in a way, I am glad this happened now.

  7. DH got his bonus in March, much more than expected. Woohoo -- getting some estimates from landscapers, maybe a bathroom upgrade....and then!

    Inspection of furnace and water heater required immediate replacement. It will be months before we can go back to the wish list! 

    I am frustrated but very thankful that the $$ were there when needed...or will be when the tax return comes in. Sigh. Furnace was from 1987; water heater was at least 15 years old, so it was definitely time. And it costs yet more to bring it "up to code" when it's that old. New drains, new exhaust - under the house and along the ceiling, four new holes in the outside of the house to accommodate them. Yikes!

    OTOH, my county has just outlawed gas appliances starting in 2025 so I got in under the wire.

    • Sad 25
  8. I got on a Celia Lake tangent. - https://www.amazon.com/stores/Celia-Lake/author/B07M8PMXJ4?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

    Alternate Edwardian England with magic and associated mysteries to solve. Magical graduates of various skills-focused schools, with their own sub-houses. Not much crossover with normal people. The characters show up from novel to novel and there are several series that give chronologies for different figures. I found them engaging and fun.

    Next book is Haunting of the Bonaventure Circus, for my book club.

    Meawhile spending LOTS of $$ as house furnace AND water heater have needed replacement and bringing up to code. No eating out or anything else for a few months as we restock the exchequer!!

    • Like 2
  9. INFP - First took the MB test in college and it fit so well and explained a bit why I was not a good fit in so many social situations. LOL

    Homeschooling would have been easier if I was more of a "J" they all got through in the end. Hurrah!

    So, what do you all think of the Enneagram? Better/more researched/more accurate than Myers-Briggs, or just another psych fad?

    • Like 1
  10. I too read CJ Box's latest, as soon as I could get it from the library! So good!!

    And I've gotten hooked on David Feintuch's two series, Seafort Saga and Hope series. Almost done and ready to head back to a mystery.

    Read Something in the Water for my book club. What a surprise twist on the plot!! From the title I thought there was going to be a monster, but instead it was a moral dilemma. Really quite a good read for me, though I didn't agree with the main character's choices.

    • Like 3
  11. 4 hours ago, Vintage81 said:

    Does anyone read manga? I’ve been wanting to try it out, but I’ve got no clue where to start. 

    Well, I do know that my (larger county) library system has *tons* of graphic novels, including Japanese-style. I really wish there was a way to filter them OUT when I'm reviewing the new books on overdrive. Graphic novels on a tablet are pretty frustrating, at least for me.

    • Like 3
  12. @Amelia - Family Matters was one of my first homeschool research books too. I found it quite helpful.

    Finished Women in White Coats -- Made me tremendously grateful to be supporting myself in the late 1900s and early 2000s and so thankful for all the research that has happened since those early pioneers with all their determination and persistence against such strong opposition!!

    Have been on a Marion Zimmer Bradlley re-read kick. I didn't realize that omnibus versions of some of her novels had been published and I am really enjoying the re-reads.

    My next book club book is Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman -- I am hoping it's not too creepy!!

    And thanks for the reminder about Piers Ploughman...not too expensive for my Kindle and I think I will plan to sip my way through that.

    • Like 4
  13. re audiobooks -- I do not think Blood and Thunder (lengthy, non-fiction, lots of historical detail and personality sketches) was a good place to start with an audio book. I quit about 100 "pages" in. The kids and I used to love books on tape or CD for our daily drives, but I'm not driving much anymore, let along with smaller passengers. I think I am going to stick to kindle and hardcopy.

    • Like 5
  14. 18 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

    I have just finished the 8th book in the wheel of time series.  The books kerp adding in more and more characters, with very similar names. I am having trouble keeping them all straight. 

    Seriously -- someone should publish a character chart. Not just names, but group of origin and associations! It all got too much for me by the end; I finished the series with my teeth gritted.

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1
  15. Gave up on Blood and Thunder - not sure if it was the audio instead of text, the time pressure, or the book itself. I think it will be awhile before I experiment with audio again.

    Reading a fantasy series that starts with A Coup of Tea, moves on to Tea Set and Match, and finishes with Royal Tea Service, all by Casey Blair. It is fantasy, but it is also all about the power of honesty and relationship building, discovering one's true self and serving others. Not really themes I expected in a fantasy, but it's quite engaging, and there are also dragons and potential magical disasters to over come, all tied in with the significance of tea ceremony and tea culture. Fun read!

    • Like 3
  16. We need front yard landscaping, deep cleaning, some paint touchups (where we had additional outlets installed). I'd love to update the ceiling fans and lights. I don't think we'd have to finish replacing windows to sell, but it would probably help with the price. Nobody has lawns anymore after the drought years; ours has all gone to crab grass and weeds and nobody here is going to work hard enough to fix all that. Landscaping would be necessary and $$$.

  17. Blood and Thunder is my first attempt at an audio book, which plays through my hearing aids...needless to say, this creates some confusion!! I am finding it frustrating. The book is already so FULL of personalities and their backgrounds and only some of them familiar enough for me to use them as "hooks."  I'm about halfway through and need to finish as book club is discussing this next weekend. Feeling stressed. Maybe I would like a "fluff" audiobook more?

    • Like 4
  18. We're just drying out between rainstorms but dh and I did a ton of rose and tree trimming yesterday and today put another 3 bags of potting soil into my raised bed and I planted lettuces. Our last frost date isn't until the end of April, but we'll enjoy the greens whenever we can. At least the reservoirs are near-full and I can water this coming summer without guilt!!

    I have another  new raised bed to fill with potting soil and I think I will put my tomatoes in that this summer. It's made of metal panels bolted together...that was a fun rainy afternoon project! I have some seeds for a hummingbird garden to plan in a month or so, but I am not sure if I've missed the date for the ranunculus that I got....

    • Like 2
  19. 4 hours ago, GailV said:

    Sinister Magic: Death Before Dragons vol. 1 (recommend somewhere up-thread, and this is why I don't usually participate in these threads, because y'all keep mentioning interesting books and I now have MORE ON MY LIST OF BOOKS I'D LIKE TO READ THAN BOOKS I JUST FINISHED!)(Also, wow, what a fun book!)

     

    Wasn't it? My first series by Lindsay Buroker was The Emperor's Blades - and it really got me hooked on her work. That was swords & sorcery, but Sinister Magic is more urban fantasy and I like that too.

    • Like 5
  20. She got unwired on Tuesday but her mouth is still rubber-banded shut and she's eating with a syringe, really MISSING brushing her teeth, and VERY hungry by now. Smoothie drinks and protein drinks are not enough. Anyway, next week the rubber bands come off and she can start eating really soft foods like pudding and fruit sauce and mashed potatoes. The surgeon said he was very happy with her bite, so a good outcome is expected once healing is finished.

    • Like 12
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