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Hi all,

It's just been so cold here! Luckily it's finally warmed up to 19 degrees, so the mini split in the addition is actually able to work a little bit. I'm not wrapped up in 3 blankets and wearing gloves all day and still freezing. Very ready for winter to be over, sigh.

Hope everyone else is keeping warm!

The last couple weeks i finished:

The Beast Player - this was interesting, a bit different than American YA. A little less chosen-one vibes, less constant romantic tension distracting from the actual plot. I liked it, will probably read the second one eventually. Part of my TBR challenge.

Signal Moon - Another TBR challenge pick, just a short story. It's by the same author as The Rose Code but this one has a sci fi time bending element. I liked it enough i might read the Rose Code later.

Currently reading:

The Ghost Bride - this is interesting so far. About halfway done. Another tbr pick, I've had it for ages and just never got to it. Probably a kindle deal at some point.

QOTW: Is there a book that literally caused your jaw to drop as you read it? Do you remember which book or what surprised you?

I don't know about a literal jaw drop. But there've been a few nonfiction books that had some real surprises in them. I would say Radium Girls was one, just realizing that even after it was becoming clear that radium was dangerous and that the MEN working with it were being given protective gear, the women painting the watch faces were still being assured it was safe and being encouraged to continue to stick the brushes in their mouths to get the perfect point. Or in The Woman Who Could Not Be Silenced, just how easy it was to lock up a perfectly sane woman and separate her from her children just for simply disagreeing with her husband. And just how difficult it was for her to get out, because things like showing disgust and hatred towards her husband, the man who put her there, was seen as proof of insanity because women weren't supposed to hate their husbands. Even if their husbands lie to them, tear them from their children, and shove them into an institution that abuses them for years on end.

A more positive example was Braiding Sweetgrass, reading about Indigenous farming techniques. I've read plenty about how modern agriculture is really hard on the land, and crops often have to be rotated or the earth will get drained of nutrients and have to be left barren until it recovers. With the way many Indigenous cultures farm, they planted crops together in ways that they supported and benefited each other. Such as the Three Sisters, corn, beans, squash. The corn grows tall, and gets the sun, uses nitrogen in the soil. Their stalks provide a place for the beans to grow up, and the beans produce nitrogen that go back into the soil to replenish it. But both of them have roots prone to sun damage, so the squash spread out low, and protect the roots, providing a nice shady screen, while i believe using a different mix of nutrients that help balance the soil.

Hello Sheri,
I agree about the cold. We were in western Maine earlier this week and it was -10 (F) and -13 two of the mornings when we woke up. It rose to a balmy 0F by 9am. But the sun is setting noticeably later now so that is something.

I finally finished The Frozen River. It was the Dec neighborhood book club book and I didn't finish it in time. I went back to it now and very much enjoyed it. It is an historical fiction story of real life midwife Martha Ballard, based on her diaries from the late 1700s. She delivered more than 1000 babies and never lost a mother. I'm really glad I stuck with it. I enjoyed the story but it probably could have moved a little faster. I listened to the audiobook and did end up at 1.3 or 1.4x speed. But I do recommend it.

I started reading on my Kindle, There's Something About Mira. It is one of my Amazon Prime First Reads choices from January. I'm enjoying it so far. It is written by an Indian author and I'm enjoying reading about Indian cultural references (but the main character is born in and setting is all in the US).

I had a little time and started listening to The Reunion Dinner. This is one of the Amazon collection short stories. It is only about an hour long but I only got halfway through it before having to go somewhere today.

QOTW:
I agree with you Sheri! Before reading your reply to the QOTW, the first book that came to mind for me was The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear. I had so many emotions reading that book. So much anger at how she was treated, so much frustration, amazed at her resilience, and after all she did, how had I never heard of her before.

Although I read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, it didn't impact me like it did you. That's okay.

It didn't get above freezing here for a few days, which is unusual for the area, but we seem to be back to normal now.

You Better Be Lightning - I enjoyed this book of poetry, but I feel like trying to talk about poetry ends up sounding pretentious, technical, or vague.

The Seven Dials Mystery - This is the public domain Agatha Christie for this year. It is definitely not her best, but there is an extremely minor character known as Socks who overuses the word "subtle" and I love her.

There Is a Bird on Your Head! - The local children's theater is apparently doing a play based on The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, so the library had a shelf of pig and wolf books, and I read this one while picking up my holds. I liked it vastly more than Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!.

QOTW: You'd think with all the mysteries I read there'd be something, but nothing is coming to mind right now. I do remember when we read A Separate Peace in school I just took it home and read through it as fast as possible. I was shocked - shocked! - when (view spoiler)[Finny died (hide spoiler)], until I had time to process and realized that actually I might have seen it coming if I had been paying attention, and that's how I learned about foreshadowing.