Solitaire Book Club Three-fer and pre-vue

I have been remiss - here's a catch-up lightning round:

Carbide Tipped Pens edited by Ben Bova and Eric Choi. This collection of hard science fiction short stories was a throwback to my youthful engagement with the genre in the best possible way. The selections were well-curated and the stories high-quality; and, as with most anthologies (and boxes of chocolates), if one offering doesn't particularly appeal to your taste the next one will likely hit that sweet spot dead on.

 

 

 

Head On by John Scalzi. I usually try to avoid dropping into a series after the first installment, but Scalzi delineates his world of "threeps" so well that it was easily to be swept away in a murder mystery involving investigators, suspects, and victims whose consciousnesses reside in artificial bodies. So far, Scalzi has ever disappointed.

 

 

 

An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain. An exquisitely crafted story of love, loss, disappointment, and resilience that spans the struggles of characters from the mid 18th century and the early 21st. Achingly human and highly recommended for anyone with a heart.

And here's a little preview of a project that won't reach fruition till the end of the year. The Power Broker by Robert Caro is a monumental (1200-page) biography of the man who, more than any other individual, quite literally shaped New York City. The podcast 99% Invisible is going to make a project of reading it. Here's how host Roman Mars put it:

We’re going to spend 2024 reading it together and talking about it with some of our favorite people. These will be extra monthly bonus episodes of 99% Invisible in which we’ll cover about 100 pages at a time, taking us all through the coming year.

I have decided to join in this endeavor (and you can too), so in addition to the other book club selections, I will be working my way through this for the next 12 months:

 My paperback copy came just today (not from Amazon) so I had better get a move on, eh?

Grit City Xmas

Happy Isaac Newton's Birthday, everyone!

 

 

So, Coco wasn't satisfied with the way her Christmas-Eve Brownies™ came out last night, so today we bounced out in the rain to the local to get more ingredients for she could make some Christmas-Day Brownies™ for the guests (and we get the keep the irregulars for ourselves).

 

Shout out to all those folks who work the holidays so the rest if us can enjoy ourselves! 

And off-kilter holiday post here for our first holiday in Tacoma. No monster movie marathon today; we're hosting the Putnam fam this afternoon and heading out to a "regular" movie together after. But no fear: Coco and I did see Godzilla Minus One in the theater a few days ago (it was grrrrreat!) so the streak is maintained in spirit if not in fact!

This has been a year of transitions, as so many have.

 

For Coco, it was the end of her master's program and the beginning of her practice as a mental health counselor - a practice which is going strong already!

 

For me, it was opening up and then tying off so many threads, as we managed the move and I began to really lean into retirement. Just this week I passed a landmark - I merged my work desk and my art desk and have just one station instead of two. I realized I don't have a work-me and a play-me anymore and I get to be just-me. And that feels pretty good.

Anyhoo, still lots of holiday fun to be had over the next week, and beyond until our Steel Anniversary in January. 

 

I think I owe this space three book reviews and should update my other spaces too. In the meantime,for anyone here who doesn't already have it, this is me:

https://linktr.ee/walakaofearthtwo

One last thought: all of this can seem so trivial compared to the struggle and privation so many people are undergoing this year all across the planet. Let us all hope for and work toward a world free from the hate, cruelty, and greed that blights us.

One love.