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Hello everyone,

Getting this out before I head off to a family reunion vacation all of next week. I may not be able to post at the end of next week. I'll try but not guarantees. It is starting off nice and then getting hot, hot, hot. We're on a lake in a very rural area so there should be plenty of reading time.

I only have one finish, The Way Back to You this week. It was the 9th book in this author's "Blessings, Georgia" series but I got the book from my sister who had a pile of random books. It stood on its own well enough.

I started Veridian Sterling Fakes It on my kindle. This is going to get me through a bunch of vacation. It is enjoyable so far about an underemployed RISD art graduate.

I am still listening to An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed and these have been pretty enjoyable. I'm not quite liking them (the other being An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good) as much as other novels about older main characters like The Thursday Murder Club and Killers of a Certain Age) but it is still enjoyable to read books with older MCs.

QOTW:
Have you ever met an author in real life? What was that experience like?

TBH I have not really ever met an author in real life. At least not a mainstream author. My close colleague has written many technical books that are popular and well known in our field and I too have written or been part of a couple. I will admit it was amusing to us when we were traveling to our company's main HQ and one of the new-grads came up to my colleague and asked him to autograph his copy of the technical book.

But I've never even really gone to a book signing or met a fiction or best selling author. I haven't avoided it, but it just never comes across my radar nor do I particularly seek it out.

I hope you have a fun vacation! Work is still bleh for now, but at least we have a day off next week.

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist - This was a pretty good nonfiction with a colloquial tone and lots of quotes from primary sources. It got a bit harrowing in the epilogue when the author tied it back into current events and her own traumatic delivery. (I heard about it because Mara Wilson did the audiobook, and I could see that being a good fit if you like those.)

The Mystery of the Kneeling Woman - A Golden Age mystery with a parrot is an obvious must-read for me. This is one of those books in which A Lot happens, not all of it believable, but the characters were well done and I enjoyed it. Putting a parrot in your mystery is a bit of a Chekhov's gun situation, and this one took a while to go off, but it was sufficiently satisfying when it did. The Hoopla e-book had some copy editing issues, but after last week's punctuational perfidy it didn't bother me that much.

QOTW: Yeah, pretty much same. I've met Abby Howard a couple of times because she's originally from the area and has come back for some events, I bought a signed book from Sarah Gagné when she did a talk for the Audubon Society, and Ann Littlewood is my friend's aunt so we met briefly at his wedding, but I haven't met anyone Actually Famous. I like the autograph story; that's totally something I'd do.

We went on an ill-timed road trip last week. The weather was beautiful and the sights were gorgeous, but I was still recovering from my infection, so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. We have decided we will take this same short trip again at a later date when I'm not in constant low-level pain and can enjoy it more.

Finished:
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - for PopSugar's cozy fantasy prompt. I quite enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next one.

Comics and manga:
Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 41
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 12
Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen Vol. 3
The Ancient Magus' Bride: Wizard's Blue Vol. 8
Cinderella Closet Vol. 3

Currently reading:
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell - for Robot Librarian's Nonfiction: 400s. - An entertaining look at language from a feminist perspective.

Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire - not currently for a prompt, but I might put it in for PopSugar's neurodivergent main character prompt (which is pretty much the norm for Seanan's work).

Upcoming/Planned:
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse - not currently for a prompt

QOTW:
I've met authors before at signings and conventions. I think the first one was Anne Rice back when I was in high school. Most frequently, probably Jim Butcher; we've been to at least 10 of his signings.

I've also met/chatted with Seanan McGuire, Carol Berg, Ellen Kushner, Margaret Owen, Leigh Bardugo, Martha Wells, and Tamora Pierce.

Two finishes for me this week:

Lock In by John Scalzi, which was exactly what I expect from Scalzi - interesting scenario, fun characters, well plotted and hard to put down.

Dare Me by Megan Abbott - this was one of those books that sucks you in and is hard to stop reading, but in hindsight is a totally improbable scenario. Fun, though.

QotW:

Authors I've met briefly at signings and/or conferences: Tamora Pierce, Jasper Fforde, Alton Brown, Seth Dickinson, Fran Wilde.

People I know who have published books: Ilana C. Myer (a good friend), Karen Wilfrid (my kid's ELA teacher), A. M. Grimm (my cousin-in-law), Brian Selfon (guy I was friendly with in high school).