Friday Top Five Lists

Books
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga #2) by Orson Scott Card
My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Quartet #1) by Elena Ferrante
Love Letters by Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf
American Hippo by Sarah Gailey

Clothes
BGSU sweatpants
Duluth Trading Company leggings
CYDWOK Mary Janes (not exactly the same, but similar to these) - Friends, I have some bad news. I dropped these off at the shoe repair place months ago. I called to check on them and the guy said he doesn't think he's going to be able to repair them this time. WHAT WILL I DO? 
Mephisto slippers

Ororo heated vest

YouTube videos
Series 1, Episode 1 of Taskmaster - "Melon Buffet" - If you're not watching TM, why not? 

True Facts about the Owl - My husband watches this video when he has a bad day. It always cheers him up. 
Jen and Daquiri (the dog) freestyle dancing at Crufts 2022 - I love them. 
"November Rain" by Guns N' Roses - Look, everything about this video is cool. That wedding dress? Cool. Axl's trucker hat? Cool. Slash leaving the wedding to shred guitar while wearing a leather jacket and no shirt? Cool. 

Mr. Blobby vs. Jack Whitehall on The Big Fat Quiz of the '90s - I laugh so very hard when I watch this. 

Things I Don't Understand
Wind
Time series analysis
American voters
What the moon has to do with tides

How some adults seem to know what they're doing

Ice cream flavors
Butter pecan
Chocolate chip cookie dough
Vanilla
Salted caramel

Coffee

Neighborhood landmarks
Water tower (and more, if you want)
Nearby pond

Peony garden

Riverwalk

The public library

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What's something you don't understand? Your favorite ice cream flavor? 

A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett

All of the holds on my Libby account say that they will take four or more weeks to become available and I needed something to read on my Kindle at night, so when Ken Follett's 1993 joint A Dangerous Fortune was available for download immediately, what else was I going to do except grab it? 

In 1866, a boy drowns at the exclusive private Windfield School. What unwinds is a tale involving the boys at that school, politics, intrigue, some very violent deaths, and me uttering "this is batshit crazy" many many times during the reading. We follow the boys as they get older, get married, and visit an innumerable number of brothels. 

I just find Follett so readable. Was this absolutely crazy to read? Yes. Was this absolutely implausible? Yes. Did I gasp audibly at some (kind of gruesome, violent) scenes? Yes. Did I love every page? Yes. 

I get that there are people out there who don't like Follett's soap opera Rube-Goldberg way of writing. But it's honestly such a joy for me to read his books. 5/5 stars

Things I looked up:

dollymop (page 71 for the first time) - (slang, British) an amateur, often part-time, female prostitute in 19th-century London

"There's Lady St. Ann in a Dolly Varden Hat!" (page 112) - a Dolly Varden is a woman's outfit fashionable from about 1869 to 1875 in Britain and the United States. It is named after a character in Charles Dickens, and the items of clothing referred to are usually a hat or dress

Public domain

caudillo (page 278) - (in Spanish-speaking regions) a military or political leader

winkles (page 289) - small intertidal sea snails, some edible

navvy (page 488) - a laborer employed in the excavation and construction of a road, railroad, or canal

Van Diemen's Land (page 519) - the colonial name of Tasmania during the European exploration and colonization of Australia in the 19th century

Hat mentions (why hats?):

Historical fiction has SO MANY HATS. This one has 73. 

black hat (page 22, 426), broad-brimmed hat (page 33), top hat (page 33, 78, 102, 113, 137, 152, 261, 276, 344, 369, 399, 422, 461, 564), ostrich feathers in her hat (page 48), straw hat (page 58, 187), amazing hats (page 72), huge hat (page 74), underneath the hat (page 74), bowler-hatted clerks (page 78, 536), bowler hat (page 85, 93, 258, 259), touched his hat (page 85), had their hats on (page 85), the hat was a mistake (page 108), put his hat on his head (page 111), get your hat (page 111), dresses and hats (page 112), "There's Lady St. Ann in a Dolly Varden Hat!" (page 112), tilt of the hat (page 113), "How dare you take off your hat to her!" (page 115), jaunty hat (page 115), doffed his hat (page 116, 291), white hat (page 135), sailor hat (page 148), tipping people's hats off (page 152), took off his hat (page 153, 388), took off her hat (page 170), pinning her hat to her hair (page 182), hanging up their hats (page 195), without his hat (page 196), took Hugh's hat (page 238), fur coat and hat (page 258), elaborate hats (page 285, 522), respectable hat (page 291), hung his hat (page 293), gowns and hats (page 323), hat blows off (page 342), his hat had fallen off (page 345), hat and cane (page 346, 367), put on his/her hat (page 370, 523, 336), grabbed his hat (page 399), hat with a feather (page 440), hat over her eyes (page 462), Tonio's hat (page 519), "Take your hat off, Nora," he said. (page 522), picked up his hat and coat (page 522), big hat (page 545), the bird on her hat (page 547), only one hat like that (page 548), little hat (page 563)

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash is the tale of Lacey Bond. When she was a teen, her parents were accused of sexually molesting children at their daycare and from there, her life spirals out of her control. Satanic Panic plus murder plus international fugitive plus love story?  I don't truly know how to describe this book except to say that I could not put it down. 

Is this book over the top crazy? Is each plot point even more bizarre than the next? Maaaybe. But did I sort of see how all of it could potentially happen, so I just went with it. Sure, sure I did. I found it funny, lyrical, and really had a hard time putting it down to go do adulting. Who wants to go to work when there is a book to be read?!

There are also a lot of really hard themes in here - sexual exploitation of minors, psychologists implanting false memories, lesbian and trans rights, the Quebec independence movement are just the tip of the iceberg - so if that's not your thing, let it be known that this book might not be for you. There's also a fair amount of drinking alcohol and a small bit of drug use on page, so that's something you should know, too. 

4.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

During her portion of the sex talk, she listed all the mammalian species known to engage in homosexual behavior: lions, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, bonobos, polecats, wild marmots. I came away from the conversation understanding that while I was just as normal as a wild marmot, I shouldn't talk about it at school because other people wouldn't see it that way. (page 20)

We were steps away from becoming one of those couples who avoid speaking to each other because every single subject is so loaded that even the most basic conversation can result in catastrophe. They never get divorced, those couples. They just gradually lower their standards for an acceptable level of human connection until one of the dies. (page 263)

In terms of genre, I'd always put my life in the bleak drama category, but it occurred to me now that it quite possibly belonged in romance. We were a love story, Gwen and me, the kind that earned free bottles of champagne at cheesy restaurants and powered a weary world's tenderly (desperately) held belief in soul mates. Weren't we sipping one of the rarest French wines in existence? It didn't get more romantic than this. (page 275)

People I looked up:

Pamela Ann Smart (page 68) - An American woman who was found guilty of being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to murder, and witness tampering in the death of her husband, Greggory Smart, in 1990. Her accomplice included her underage "boyfriend." 

Caroline Cossey (page 299) - a British model and actress who often worked under the name Tula, which she also used for two memoirs. She appeared in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only as an extra. Following her appearance in the film, she was outed as transgender by British tabloid News of the World. In 1991, she became the first trans woman to pose for Playboy.

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

A small hubbub was brewing at the refreshments table, which held the snacks, the bowl of pink punch, and a stack of untouched party hats Melissa's parents didn't seem to realize were were too old for. (page 20)

"The second you need anything, you let me know, and I'll take my lawyer hat off and put my mom hat on." (page 43)

I didn't see Mrs. Grange's "mom hat" again. (page 45)

...Éclair wore a witch's hat while the cow flew over the moon... (page 59)

 

He tipped an imaginary hat, turned on his heel, and clomped down the steps. (page 103)

Gwen took off her fuzzy hat, then put it back on. (page 252)

My mother shook the snow from her wool hat, then put it back on. (page 348)

Small Town Holiday Weekend

My weekend was crazy. I was exhausted by three in the afternoon on Saturday and things kept happening.

On Saturday, my first stop was the community center where the annual Holiday Market was held. The Holiday Market is run by the organization that runs the Farmers Market during the summer, but it has SO MANY VENDORS. It's at multiple locations across town and the community center was one of those locations. I bought ten pounds of honey.

Two things of note about this:

1) The deal is that the Holiday Market used to be at locations all within walking distance of downtown. I really liked this and I would walk to each of the locations and see every vendor and it was fun to see so many people walking downtown. But now some of the locations are, while technically walkable, too far to go by foot if you are an average human being who doesn't want to spend the better part of an hour going to the southwest part of town. I could have driven, but I didn't. And that is a real loss because the only location I went to this year was the community center. 

2) I felt like Lorelai in Gilmore Girls while I was there. I walked in and the guy greeting me was someone I know from the community center. We chatted for a bit about what he's doing these days. Then I was chatting with the honey people (look, I know them - I spend literal hundreds of dollars on honey every year) about how Mr. Honey is going to have surgery and Mrs. Honey isn't sure if they'll be able to get to the markets held every month during the winter in our town and the guy across the street who let me use his cell phone when I got locked off the house when we first moved in was there and we chatted for a minute. Then I went downstairs and one of the ladies from my fitness classes was a vendor and we were so excited that she was selling her goods exactly where she usually works out. And then I saw one of the fitness instructors as I was heading out of the door with my honey. 

Okay, whew. That was a lot of typing about a fifteen minute excursion. 

Up next on my Saturday list was to donate blood at the church behind our house. Two things of note about this:

1) I told the lady that the last time I donated, I passed out. She immediately handed me a Sprite and some cookies and as soon as the needle was in my arm, she laid me down a bit. I did not pass out this time. Good job, Keisha!

2) I had worn my Lions zip up to donate blood because I knew I'd need to unzip it and remove an arm and I didn't want a hoodie because I didn't want to lay on the hood when I was donating. Little did I know (because I haven't watched an NFL game in literal years) that the Lions had just beaten the Packers in a game and I was bombarded with people getting snippy with me about bad calls and I sent my husband a panicked text (what do I say to these people?) and he sent me this link and sometimes I hate living in Wisconsin. 

THEN!! It was pretty warm out, so my husband and I put up the outside lights. For complicated reasons having to do with the fact that ALL LIGHT BULBS NOW SOLD ARE LEDS WHICH IS THE WORST DEVELOPMENT IN LIGHTING EVER, we have a new set-up this year and it will have to be our set up forever because we can never buy Christmas lights again. Anyway, it took both of us and a bit of time, but we did it. 

Then I walked the dog. Someone got the zoomies as we started the walk and she was running to the end of her leash, running around me in a circle and she was getting all twisted in her leash, so I took her to the nearby fenced in daycare playground (TOTALLY TRESPASSING) and let her run around like an absolutely adorable lunatic. Watch this video for the little nutter running around like the cutest vicious dog ever. 

So we do our walk and then I take Hannah to the dog wash station at the Pet Supplies Plus in the next town over. I was reading a reddit thread where some people said they NEVER BATHE THEIR DOGS. I was dumbfounded because Hannah reeks. Like, I don't know why? Maybe it's her skin issues? The fact that she does get the zoomies and I let her run around? Maybe it's her breed? I don't know, but if you NEVER BATHE YOUR DOG, I am so jealous. If I were a better human friend/housekeeper, she'd get bathed every 2-3 weeks because I swear to you that this dog will start smelling terrible again by the end of this weekend. 

Such a sad dog. She hates baths so much. 

And then I went home and my husband made me tea and the cat and I napped on the couch. 

On Sunday we did laundry and chores, like the boring married couple we are. The town's Christmas holiday parade was Sunday night and that's all good (and fun!) except they line up in front of our house and neither of the four-legged creatures in our house enjoyed that. 

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Did you do anything festive this weekend? If you have a dog, do you have to bathe him or her regularly? 

Five for Friday, Edition #11

1) Let's lead with the great news that Zelda's bloodwork came back from the vet and she's now in the normal range. THE TREATMENT WORKED. She's also 9.2 pounds and we like to keep her right around 8.5, so we might have overcorrected on the food we were giving her. Anyway, yay for this!

Zelda says, "Hi! I'm radioactive. Do you want to pet me?"

2) As you can tell from the above photo, we put up the tree! We are listening to the Christmas playlist in the car, waiting anxiously for our holiday cards to get here so we can put them in the mail, making plans to go see light shows, and I have been busy buying and wrapping presents for the Secret SANta Swap. I'm officially in the festive season. 

3) Last we left, Hannah had ongoing GI issues. We seem to have nipped those in the bud, although she's still on an antibiotic every other day for another week and then every three days for another two weeks and then as needed. Let me tell you how happy I am every time there are solid stools on our walks! She is CRAZY in love with the cooler weather and now that I have my new winter coat and boots, I'm happy to indulge her on longer walks. 

4) Purchase updates! You may recall I was looking for a welcome mat for the back door after Hannah's GI issues presented overnight and wrecked the mudroom.  I bought this rug for the back door and have been super happy with it. It's crazy absorbent, Hannah likes to lay on it, you can put it in the washing machine, and it was only about $30. It's so absorbent that now when we come in from walks, I have Hannah stay on the rug while I take off my outerwear and only release her from the rug once I take off her harness and/or other clothing. I hope this will come in handy when it's really wet outside because the rug will help dry her off and I don't care if I have to wash the rug all the time. 

I also purchased this puzzle advent calendar and my husband and I have been enjoying putting together our forty or so pieces every night. Super fun and I recommend it if you're a puzzler. I also am starting to think all puzzles should come together in labelled little boxes. It takes us about ten minutes every night to put it together and we usually do it right after dinner, but we're only on night five, so take that for what it's worth - we haven't opened any boxes without edge pieces yet. 

I hesitate to show you this, but yes, you'll find on the table my goal tracking journal, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, an N-95 mask, and paperwork we need to file. Also, in the month of December you'll find our puzzle. 

5) Do you want to know what I put on my Christmas wish list to my husband? Some picture frames for the photos on my desk I keep meaning to deal with, a black scarf (can you believe I don't have a plain black scarf?), Williams Sonoma hotpads (we threw ours away after The Mouse Incident of 2024 and I bought some cheaper ones and it turns out the more expensive ones are better - who would have guessed?), a case for my new phone, and new socks (these ones, if you want to know). 

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What's on your Christmas wish list? 

November 2024 What I Spent

Friends, I spent SO MUCH MONEY IN NOVEMBER. Like definitely more than I made. *Huge sigh*

Just as a reminder, my husband pays a lot of the larger bills - mortgage, electricity, phone - and I do the rest. He did have to float me some money this month so I wasn't pulling out of savings. 

Groceries ($810) - Three trips to our regular grocery store, one trip to Costco, some local honey, and a few small stops here and there for fresh produce. This is the second highest amount we've spent on groceries this year, mostly because we were replacing things because of the Great Mouse Incident of 2024. 

Clothes ($744.79) - I mean, what can I tell you? I bought new winter boots, new cross trainers, a new winter coat, a new fall coat, two new dresses for work, five pairs of leggings/pants and a cardigan. I desperately needed a wardrobe refresh and all of my winter gear just gave out at once and I walk the dog too much to put off purchasing new cold weather outerwear. All was on sale except for a dress and the cardigan. 

Cars ($547.51) - I bought gas three times and put four new tires on our older car. 

Pets ($314.80) - After spending thousands last month, I was thrilled with this number. This was litter, some medications, Zelda's food, and a couple of new bins for Zelda's radioactive litter.  Don't worry, friends. Zelda has a follow-up appointment tomorrow, so expect this number to be much higher next month. 

Gifts ($313) - A roll of stamps, gifts for my Bestest Friend who just got a new job, a couple of birthday gifts for niblings, gifts for student workers, and a gift for the Secret SANta exchange.

 

Bills ($236.22) - Water and insurance. 

Holidays ($205.94) - I didn't know how to classify buying holiday cards, but I added a Holidays category. I suspect this will get lumped in with "Gifts" at the end of the year. 

Savings ($200) - LOLOLOLOL so much at this. 

Technology ($174.20) - Can we talk about how my cell phone just stopped playing podcasts? It was a problem and meant we were constantly running out of data and my husband eventually just begged me to get a new phone. 

House ($147.05) - OKAY. There was a mouse. We had to replace some things, including dish towels (neither of us was willing to sanitize the chewed up towels and use them - this was probably wasteful, but I have NO REGRETS) and hot pads. I also went ahead and purchased a new rug that I've been dithering about for months. I mean, what's another $40 when money is flowing out of your checking accout like crazy? I also bought grow lamps for my office because my plant could no longer wait for light. 

Miscellaneous ($130.60) - I had to print some photos for work and get some stuff for my work office. 

Personal care ($98.40) - I had a hair cut and bought some feminine hygiene items and face masks like it was 2021. 

Eating out ($64.50) - I had coffee so much this month, friends. And I ate lunch out TWICE, which is a lot for me. Can anyone say stress eating?

Fitness ($63.30) - Classes at the community center through March.

Entertainment ($48.83) - I met up with a friend and we spent some money. 

Let's hope December has fewer expenses!

What's the most expensive thing you bought last month? 

November 2024 Book List

I had three (THREE!) five star books this month. I count that as a huge win. 

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11/1: The Color Purple by Alice Walker (book I own, 1982) - It is as good as they say it is. 5/5 stars

11/5: Love Letters by Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West with introduction from Alison Bechdel and edited by Louise DeSalvo and Mitchell A. Leaska (university library, 1926) - This book is now my identity. Brilliant. 6/5 stars 

11/9: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (library, 2022) - Look, I just don't know if I'm the right person for graphic novels. I sort of wish this had just been a memoir. 3.5/5 stars

11/9: Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen (library audiobook narrated by the author, 2024) - Terrifying. Brilliantly reported and written, but terrifying. 5/5 stars

11/14: Revolutions: How Women Changed the World on Two Wheels by Hannah Ross (book I own, 2020) - So much interesting historical material in this book I did not know! Fascinating! But sort of disorganized. 4/5 stars

11/14: Hurricane After Dark (Gansett Island #24) by Marie Force (library, 2023) - Sometimes you read a romance novel in a long-running series because you've read every book in the series and you realize that the author has forsaken your favorite characters and you vow never to read any more of these books, but you know you're lying to yourself. 3/5 stars

11/16: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee (library, 2011) - I have checked this out from the library so many times, but I finally read it this time. It was...fine. 3.5/5 stars

11/22: Euphoria by Lily King (library audiobook narrated by Xe Sands and Simon Vance, 2014) - Lily King is not for me. 2.5/5 stars

11/24: The Brides of High Hill (The Singing Hills Cycle #5) by Nghi Vo (library audiobook narrated by Cindy Kay) - What even happened in this book? Confusing. 2.5/5 stars

11/24: Calamity (Uncharted Hearts #1) by Constance Fay (library ebook, 2023) - I liked this one! Fun space adventure. 4/5 stars

11/27: Wrapped in Ink (Montgomery Ink: Boulder #1) by Carrie Ann Ryan (book I own, 2019) - I am out of library ebooks, so I pulled this one out of my own personal library and reread it. I like the Montgomery Ink books because Ryan writes about working class people and I like that it's not a millionaire book or about a florist who can apparently afford rent in a New York City penthouse. Because even us plebes deserve a happily ever after. This isn't one of the best in the series, but it does address complicated issues, particularly having a relationship with someone who has a chronic illness. 3.5/5 stars

11/27: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (library, 2023) - Fun romp on the Indian Ocean in medieval times and magic. 4/5 stars

Total: 12 books (but one is a novella and one is a graphic novel, so...)
Average star rating: 3.86/5 stars

Did Not Finish:

Agents of Dreamland (Tinfoil Dossier #1) by Caitlin R. Kiernan - This book felt like a fever dream. What in the world was even going on? It's a 128-page novella and I read almost half of it before I gave it up as bad job. DNF at 46%. 

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee - I tried to listen to this audiobook, but I got lost really quickly. It's not a book really intended for the layperson unless the layperson is willing to put a lot more work into it than I am willing to do. DNF at 29%. 

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What's the last five star book you read?