Books read in 2024

46  Mystic Tea, Rea Nolan Martin (book club)
45  Fated Blades, Ilona Andrews (e)
44  Grace, Beverly Watts (Shackleford Sisters #1) (e)
43  The Fortunate Fall, Cameron Reed (e)
42  A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (e)
41  Secrets at Midnight, Nalini Singh (e)
40  Born a Crime, Trevor Noah (book club)
39  Rocky Start, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
38  Librarian Bear, Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters #2) (e)
37  Primal Mirror, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #8)
36  The Duke at Hazard, KJ Charles (The Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #2) (e)
35  Timber Wolf, Murphy Lawless/Zoe Chant (Virtue Shifters) (e)
34  Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (book club)
33  Whammo Ranch, Jerry Boyd (Bob and Nikki Book 2)(e)
32  Bob's Saucer Repair, Jerry Boyd (Bob and Nikki Book 1) (e)
31  Finders, Melissa Scott (Firstborn, Last born Book 1), (e)
30  When the Dandelions Sing: A Novel, James J. Hill III (book club)
29  Winter Lost, Patricia Briggs, (Mercy Thompson #14) (e)
28  Koalafied for Love, Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters) (e)
27  The Time Traders, Andre Norton (re-read) (e)
26  War for the Oaks, Emma Bull (re-re-&c-read) (book club)
25  Earthly Delights, Kerry Greenwood (Corinda Chapman #1) (re-read) (e)
24  Wednesday's Child, Rhea Côté Robbins
23  Hate Mail, Donna Marchetti (e)
22  Comfort is an Old Barn, Amy Calder  (book club)
21  Arabella, Georgette Heyer (e) (re-read)
20  The Foundling, Georgette Heyer (e) (possibly I read this once before)
19  Death in the Spires, KJ Charles (e)
18  What Cannot be Said, C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr #19) (e)
17  The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison (e) (re-read)
16  Witness for the Dead, Katherine Addison  (e) (re-read)
15  The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (e) (re-re-re-read)*
14  Hen Fever, Olivia Waite (e)
13  Unmasked by the Marquis, Cat Sebastian (e) ( re-read)
12  A Duke in Disguise, Cat Sebastian (e) (reread)
11  Heart of Stone, Johannes T. Evans (e)
10  West with the Night, Beryl Markham (e)
9   A Song to Drown Rivers, Ann Liang (e) (netgalley)
8   Bookstores and Bonedust, Travis Baldree (prequel) (e) (library)
7   We Could Be So Good, Cat Sebastian (e) (library)
6   Thorn Hedge, T. Kingfisher (e) (library)
5   Wild Seed, Octavia M. Butler (e) (library)
4   In Our Stars, Jack Campbell (Doomed Earth #1) (pre-pub) (e)
3   Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree (e) (library)
2   Heart of the Sun Warrior, Sue Lynn Tan, (Celestial Kingdom #2) (e) (library)
1   This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (e) (library)

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*... I think I may have lost track.  I do know I started several books, and put them aside, because I Just Couldn't. I stress that it wasn't Them, it was Me.  I don't think I actually finished anything before I finally did manage to settle into a re-re-re-&C-read of The Goblin Emperor, so that's where we'll pick up the tally.

The week that was

When last we saw our Hmbl Narrator, she was about to interview a person to clean her house every other week, the previous occupant of that post having quit due to Pressures of Life.

The first bid was well beyond what I could afford, but the second was on the money, so to speak.  She came by and did her first clean on Thursday, and all went well.  She'll come back Thursday after next.

No sooner had I solved the cleaning problem when the lawn/snowplow guy let me know that he's getting out of the lawn/snowplowing biz.  He'll finish mowing this year, but he won't be doing Fall Cleanup or snowplowing.  Eek.  I made calls; two people answered, both came out to look.  One gave me a quote on the spot, the other promised a quote after thinking about it, but never called back, so -- the first guy gets the job, starting with Fall Cleanup.

In-between all that, I finally tracked down and canceled the last account that needed to call Steve's cellphone for two-factor identification.  This meant that I could take Steve's phone off the account, which I tried to do online, but Verizon insisted that I had to cancel my phone, too, and -- no.

On Wednesday I went to the Verizon store where Josh very efficiently and kindly made all the virtual paperwork disappear, including calling Corporate to tell them why we were doing what we were doing ("The account manager has passed on.").

Josh also found that I was "eligible" for a new Pixel 9 (XL Pro, it says here), so I came home with a new phone, which is a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, my beautiful red Edge was living on borrowed time, and has run through its updates; and you can't beat "free" for a new phone with 7 years of updates guaranteed.  On the other hand, the new phone is a little heavier and broader than the old one, and despite being an Android phone, Google does some things differently than Motorola, which is a little disorienting, but I expect I'll get used to it.  I did order a sparkly case, so all the important details have been taken care of.

My next trick is selling Steve's guitars.  There are only two of them, and I expect I'm stressing about it more than I should. Despite Josh's help, cancelling Steve's cell account was ... kind of exhausting.  Maybe the guitars can wait until next week.

In Coon Cat News, Fans of Trooper will be pleased to learn that the lack of appetite and lethargy that had me taking him to the vet on Thursday morning is diagnosed (after an exam and a "perfect" blood test) as Kitten Exhaustion and allergies.  Fans of Rook will be happy to learn that he has been scheduled for The Operation on September 24.  And! Fans of Firefly will be pleased to know that she seems to have worked through her depression and is wrasslin' the kitten, and playing tag.

In Writing News, Diviner's Bow currently weighs in at 96,600 words, and I am frantically writing the scenes that I know so I can reach An End, and put out a call for beta readers while I take a breather.  I am at the point of being Very Tired of this book -- which is a good sign; it means we're on schedule.

And that's the week that was at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.

Looking forward to next week, I see a Stoopid Number of medical appointments, and, at the end of the week! I'll be (virtually) at AlbaCon, doing a reading and two panels.

Everybody stay safe.