Sandy's Books Read in 2023, #5

Having regained reliable connectivity, I wanted to share some scenery, artistic and otherwise, from my September jaunt to Vancouver Island.

The sunsets were gorgeous, though the forest fire smoke from central Washington obscured the beautiful Olympic Mountains. I especially liked the dark silhouette of trees against the skyline. Mobile phone camera limitations notwithstanding, there were indeed lovely rosy streaks above the golden tones. I take lots of sky photos as models for my textile artwork (posting next, to explain).

Dinner at a friend's property overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuga was splendid. The most astounding sight however, was this massive cruise ship, seemed like it was practically right next to the little breakwater a couple hundred yards off my friend's beach!


Apparently carrying 3,000 passengers for a weekend of frolic, the ship was heading in on a Friday night to dock at Victoria's Ogden Point (a deep port facility originally for shipping after the Panama Canal was opened). In the background we could see other ships waiting for the pilot boats to guide them in. Port Townsend and Port Angeles are on the American shore behind all this activity.

Lastly, there were several hikes along shore side trails.
~ looking across the Haro Straits to the (American) San Juan Islands.

We were watching an Orca fin surfacing and disappearing, though I missed catching that in a photo. There is a GBH (Great Blue Heron) on that reef, though it is too far away to see in this image. I think the herring or perhaps grilse, were running, because of the whale rising and diving, and lots of herons ~ a reason I do miss my coastal roots.

About my artwork: textile wall hangings using fabric to "paint" the subject matter.

Skies. One cannot buy commercially printer fabric which looks natural, unless coincidentally the Indonesian batiks succeed. Usually, I am relatively satisfied with painting high-quality 100% cottons to do this.
~ A fabulous book for those interested in 'sky dyes', by Micky Lawler.

I painted these "skies" outside in the shade on my patio.
and ~

Stormy skies are my most challenging.
~Usually the piece looks like a rag used to wash the kitchen floor.

This painting is my most successful so far. I have yet to use it in any work. If I stayed off LT and also abandoned my TBR list for a few months, I'd probably get lots of artwork done.
.

Reading list update ~

January
1. Fuzz (Ed McBain) ***½
2. A Murderous Grudge (JM Roberts) ***
3. Stormbreaker (Anthony Horowitz) ***
4. A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting (Sophie Irwin) ****½
5. My Lady Judge (Cora Harrison) ****
6. The Black Swan (Nassim Taleb) ***½
7. Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques (Peter Reinhart) ****
8. Evolutions in Bread (Ken Forkish) ****
9. Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey (Martin Philip) ****
10. Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques (Jeffrey Hamelman) ****
11. Bleeding Heart Yard (Elly Griffiths) ***½
12. The Maid of Ballymacool (Jennifer Deibel) ***½

February
13. The Cartographers (Peng Shepherd) ****½
14. The Last Mapmaker (Christina Soontornvat) ***½
15. Canoe & Camera (Thomas Sedgewick Steele) ***½
16. The Railway Children (E. Nesbit) ****
17. Miss Benson's Beetle (Rachel Joyce) **
18. Green Rider (Kristen Britain) DNF (see comment #52)
19. A Civil Contract (Georgette Heyer) ****
20. Murder on Black Swan Lane (Andrea Penrose) ***½
21. Venetia (Georgette Heyer) ***½
22. Eight Days of Luke (Diana Wynne Jones) ***

March
23. Conrad's Fate (Diana Wynne Jones) ***½
24. Writ in Stone (Cora Harrison) ****
25. Murder in the Mystery Suite (Ellery Adams) ***½
26. Foster (Claire Keegan) ***½
27. Eligible (Curtis Sittenfeld) ***½
28. Murder at Half Moon Gate (Andrea Penrose) ****
29. Murder in the Paperback Parlor (Ellery Adams) ***
30. The Sting of Justice (Cora Harrison) ****
31. Camps in Rockies (W. A. Baillie-Grohman) ***
32. Murder at Kensington Palace (Andrea Penrose) ****
33. Murder at Queen's Landing (Andrea Penrose) ***½
34. Eye of the Law (Cora Harrison) ****

April
35. The Nonesuch (Georgette Heyer) ****
36. The Clairvoyant Countess (Dorothy Gilman) ****
37. Kaleidoscope (Dorothy Gilman) *****
38. Hot Art (Joshua Knelman) ****

May
39. Playing for Pizza (John Grisham) ***½
40. The Last Remains (Elly Griffiths) ****
41. Who Cries for the Lost? (C. S. Harris) ***½
42. The Periodic Table of Elements (Jon Chad) *****
43. Amazing cows! (Sandra Boynton) *****
44. Penric's Labors (Lois McMaster Bujold) ***
45. Lavender House (Lev AC Rosen) ****
46. The Missing Heiress (Karen Charlton) **

June
47. Me Three (Susan Juby) ****
48. The Sinister Booksellers Of Bath (Garth Nix) ****
50. Troubled Waters (Sharon Shinn) *****
51. Visual Thinking (Temple Grandin) *
52. Royal Airs (Sharon Shinn) *****
53. Scales of Retribution (Cora Harrison) ***
54. Jewelled Fire (Sharon Shinn) ***½
55. Unquiet Land (Sharon Shinn) ***½
56. Solstice Wood (Patricia McKillip) ***½
57. Sketch by Sketch (Sheila Darcey) **
58. Unplugged (Gordon Korman) ***½

July
59. The Broken Citadel (Joyce Ballou Gregorian ) ***
60. Decision at Delphi (Helen MacInnes) ***½
61. Court of Fives (Kate Elliott) ***½
62. Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World (Jenn Grannerman & Andre Sólo) ***½
63. A Lady's Guide to Scandal (Sophie Irwin) ****
64. Jacques Pépin Art Of The Chicken ****
65. The Apothecary (Maile Meloy)****
66. The Plot (Jean Hanff Korelitz) DNF

August & September
67. Shadowland (Meg Cabot) ****
68. Ninth Key (Meg Cabot) ***
69. Izzy Hoffman is Not a Witch (Alyssa Alessi) **½
70. Reunion (Meg Cabot) ****
71. An Illusion of Thieves (Cate Glass) ***½
72. Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli) ***
73. A Bone from a Dry Sea (Peter Dickinsen) ****
74. The Tightrope Walker (DorothyGilman) ****
75. Darkest Hour (Meg Cabot) **½
76. Haunted (Meg Cabot) ***½
78. Jade Dragon Mountain (Elsa Hart) ***
79. The Dressmaker (Kate Alcott) ***½
80. Twilight (Meg Cabot) ***½
81. Maddie's Ghost (Carol Fisher Saller) ****
82. Stone Soup (E. B. Mann) **½
83. A Donnybrook Affair (Robert E. Kearns) **
84. Calvin and the Sugar Apples (Ines F. Oliveira) *
85. Murder at The Mena House (Erica Ruth Neubauer) ***
86. Murder at Wedgefield Manor (Erica Ruth Neubauer) **
87. Come Hell or Highball (Maia Chance) *½
88. The Descent of Woman (Elaine Morgan) **

A sign of being up late at night and, worse the power keeps failing...
May need to edit this list...

🍁 🎃 Currently reading 🎃 🍁

Re-reading: I really didn't retain as much as I thought would "stick"
Daniel Kahneman
Thinking, Fast and Slow Originally a BB from Lucy (sybilline).

(Libby Page)
A BB fromKerry (CDVicarage)

A few PL holds that may materialize this month (long queues). One is from an ILL request months ago. Maybe I'll get some artwork done instead!

Okay, warning,

Come Hell or Highball ~ ~ Maia Chance

😡 ~ I was really on fire about this book; if you enjoyed it, *fine*. I am not criticizing anyone's choices or their liking the fun aspects or whatever was entertaining.

Spoiler alert
Nevertheless, how can the publishing industry not get past the homophobic stereotyping, not to mention the garbage reveals that insinuate the culprit did it because of his place on the gender-identity spectrum? This is such a medieval attitude and publishers can darn well influence authors to think about how offensive such careless writing affects people's attitude. Kind of like, quit calling black Americans niggers or apes, fer criss sakes.

My review was succinct, and more polite on the general book page:
Nothing like indulging in highballs, detective novels, and chocolate layer cake to cope with stress and a loveless marriage. I expected a romp and a light-hearted approach to detecting. However for me, the stereotyping of the characters was insensitive and downright passé. I didn't care much about the story but when you're stuck in an airport with flight delays...

On that ranty note, I do welcome you all ~ ,
and offer top notch beverages of the caffeinated sort, enjoyed at the Fernwood area café The Parsonage in Victoria. All in-house baked food, too.

Happy new thread Sandy!

Some patience, not a whole lot though!

Happy New Thread, Sandy! Many good reads ahead.

Plenty of patience from me, Sandy, I well know how difficult making a new thread can be.

Happy new one. xx

Hi Sandy! Happy new thread and belated congratulations on reaching 75 in September.

I loved the “We Do Not Have WiFi – Talk to Each Other – Pretend It’s 1995” sign. I’ve taken a snapshot of it and may post it on my thread, with proper credit to you, of course. *smile*

HAppy new thread!

Happy new thread!

>7 quondame: Hi Susan.

Thanks ~ ~ my morning laugh about not a whole lot (of patience).

It was bad timing (for being on a computer) for the electrical power problems, especially the kind that dips and flickers with fluctuations. There wasn't a wind to account for it, either. Of course I kept unplugging my lap top but it was only at 20% so I persisted.

We have had no rain to qualify as anything but "join-up-drops" and then (thankfully, I assure you) 2 days of rain (not torrential). I did wonder if, in this day and age, water can "leak" into something that dried out tremendously? Not that I expect anyone to answer that, but curious minds, you know?

>8 vancouverdeb:, >9 PaulCranswick:, >10 karenmarie:, >11 figsfromthistle:, and >12 foggidawn: : thanks for kind wishes. I hope I manage better to visit everyone; I do struggle to think of what to post but I assure you all that I have enlarged my book bullet list rather astonishingly this past month.

>10 karenmarie:, I am always happy to contribute the amusing and decorative images that abound here. The café is the real source but on LT, I guess that doesn't matter.

New 🧵 orisons, Sandy! *smooch*

>15 richardderus: Hi Richard. Thanks for the orisons, as you love to say. I usually need to look up the meaning but I do know it's a best wishes-y thing.

Also, in case new posters want to see the fabulous café I discovered (new to me since I last visited the area), worth putting on your radar should you ever plan to travel on Vancouver Island.

Happy new thread, Sandy!

>17 drneutron: Thanks Jim.
I was just now cruising through your thread, not having visited for awhile. Lots of interesting discussions.

I liked hearing about the space samples (OK that's not technical, yeah) and so forth. I should check out the science news more often on BBC. I think benitastrnad was the one saying it was more in-depth, globally-speaking.