Life and Things
I had a long day this Monday past, getting prepped for going into a clinical trials study. They sent my bloodwork off to the sponsor company, and the results from my battery of other tests. That’ll determine if I get to actually be in the study. I’m hoping so. I have a 2:3 chance of being in a group that gets a dosage of the real meds. Even if I don’t, though, I’ll still be helping them learn about NASH, and will have lots of specialised tests paid for, so no argument there.
On the house-closing front, the lender for the buyers keeps mucking things up. It was to be the 31st of Jan, then the 29th. Now, we have no idea. Again. I’m so done with this.
Books read, reviewed, and posted/scheduled this past week
The Campbells by Jose Luis Munuera, 3*
Crime Rhymes: From Bad to Verse by Dixie J Witted, 4*
Fantasy Genesis Characters by Chuck Lukacs, 4*
Grimms Manga Tales by Kei Ishiyama, 4*
The Joy of Doing Nothing by Rachel Jonat, 4*
My Turtle Journal by Teresa Westing, 4*
Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy, 4*
A Stick Until… by Constance Anderson, 5*
Escape Claws by Linda Reilly, 5*
High Sierra by Fred Weyman, 5*
Inside Out: Egyptian Mummy by Lorraine Jean Hopping, 5*
Inside Out: Human Body by Luann Columbo, 5*
Inside Out: Sharks by David George Gordon, 5*
Inside Out: T-Rex by Dennis Schatz, 5*
Favourite Read of the Week
Escape Claws by Linda Reilly
‘Here, killer, killer, killer . . .
For the first time in sixteen years, Lara Caphart has returned to her hometown of Whisker Jog, New Hampshire. She wants to reconnect with her estranged Aunt Fran, who’s having some difficulty looking after herself—and her eleven cats. Taking care of a clowder of kitties is easy, but keeping Fran from being harassed by local bully Theo Barnes is hard. The wealthy builder has his sights set on Fran’s property, and is determined to make her an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.
Then Lara spots a blue-eyed ragdoll cat that she swears is the reincarnation of her beloved Blue, her childhood pet. Pursuing the feline to the edge of Fran’s yard, she stumbles upon the body of Theo Barnes, clearly a victim of foul play. To get her and Fran off the suspect list, Lara finds herself following the cat’s clues in search of a killer. Is Blue’s ghost really trying to help her solve a murder, or has Lara inhaled too much catnip?’
Current Read
Still finishing these two up. 😅
Next Up (maybe)
Child of a Mad God by RA Salvatore
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake
How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci
Book Haul
Child of a Mad God by RA Salvatore
‘When Aoleyn loses her parents, she is left to fend for herself among a tribe of vicious barbarians. Bound by rigid traditions, she dreams of escaping to the world beyond her mountain home.
The only hope for achieving the kind of freedom she searches for is to learn how to wield the mysterious power used by the tribe’s coven known as the Song of Usgar. Thankfully, Aoleyn may be the strongest witch to have ever lived, but magic comes at price. Not only has her abilities caught the eye of the brutish warlord that leads the tribe, but the demon of the mountain hunts all who wield the Coven’s power, and Aoleyn’s talent has made her a beacon in the night.’
They Come in All Colours by Malcolm Hansen
‘The Secret Life of Bees meets Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle in this bold debut novel, set between the deep South and New York City during the 1960s and early 70s, following a biracial teenage boy whose new life in a big city is disrupted by childhood memories of the summer when racial tensions in his hometown reached a tipping point.
It’s 1969 when fifteen-year-old Huey Fairchild begins his first day at Claremont Prep, one of New York City’s most prestigious boys’ schools. His mother had uprooted her family from their small hometown of Akersburg, Georgia a few years earlier, leaving behind Huey’s white father and the racial unrest that ran deeper than the Chattahoochee River.
But forgetting his past is easier said than done. At Claremont, where the only other non-white person is the janitor, Huey quickly realizes that racism can lurk beneath even the nicest school uniform. And after a quick slip of his temper, Huey finds himself on academic probation and facing legal charges. With his promising academic career in limbo, Huey begins examining his current predicament at Claremont through the lens of his childhood memories of growing up in Akersburg during the Civil Rights Movement…and the chilling moments leading up to him and his mother fleeing North.’
The Secret Token by Andrew Lawler
‘A sweeping account of America’s oldest unsolved mystery, the people racing to unearth its answer, and what the Lost Colony reveals about America today
In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina to establish the first English settlement in the New World. But when the new colony’s leader returned to Roanoke from a resupply mission, his settlers had vanished, leaving behind only a single clue–a “secret token” etched into a tree.
What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke? That question has consumed historians, archaeologists, and amateur sleuths for four hundred years. In The Secret Token, Andrew Lawler sets out on a quest to determine the fate of the settlers, finding fresh leads as he encounters a host of characters obsessed with resolving the enigma. In the course of his journey, Lawler examines how the Lost Colony came to haunt our national consciousness.
Incisive and absorbing, The Secret Token offers a new understanding not just of the Lost Colony and its fate, but of how its absence continues to define–and divide–America.’
