Four things make a post
Jan. 10th, 2026 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ermingarden1. I donated blood today, mentioned it in a text message to my dad, and received a reply asking "How did the blood removal go?", which is a masterful example of making something sound wildly ominous while still technically being an accurate description! ("Blood removal" went fine, as usual.) Side note: If you're in NY or NJ and are able to donate blood, please consider scheduling an appointment ASAP - we currently have less than a two-day supply and a blood emergency has been declared.
2. Recent reads:
- The Tsar of Love and Techno, by Anthony Marra, is a collection of interconnected short stories set in Russia, from the 1930s to the present (and arguably outer space in the near future, depending on how you read the last story). I read this for a book club with some coworkers and enjoyed it. Some stories are naturally stronger than others, but it's good throughout and at times excellent.
- New York Sketches is a collection of E. B. White's short pieces about NYC - vignettes, poems, brief essays, and assorted snippets resistant to categorization. It's very fun! A quick read, if you plow straight through it - I bought my copy at a bookstore in Washington Heights and finished it by the time I made it to Chinatown, so somewhere around an hour - but also a book amenable to being read in bits and pieces. Pages 35-44, devoted to the observation of pigeons and their nests (with illustrations!), particularly charmed me: "While [pigeon nests] endure we must note their locations, elevate our gaze above the level of our immediate concerns, imbibe the sweet air and perfect promise: the egg miraculous upon the ledge, the bird compact upon the egg, its generous warmth, its enviable patience, its natural fortitude and grace."
- Death in Dover is the latest book in Maureen Ash's Templar Knight Mysteries series. Unfortunately, it does not measure up to the earlier books in the series. I think it's primarily a matter of editing, or the lack thereof: The first eight books, through A Holy Vengeance, were traditionally published, but starting with Sins of Inheritance they've been self-published, and there's a noticeable difference. (Actually, I've noticed a distinction among the trad-published books as well: the first six were published by Berkeley, a Penguin subsidiary, while the seventh and eighth were published by a different Penguin subsidiary, InterMix, and there's clearly a bit less attention devoted to the seventh and eighth compared to the previous, including less detailed covers; I also believe that's when they started to be published as ebooks only, though I can't confirm that.) Even compared to the other self-published books in the series, though, Death in Dover disappoints. I hate to say this, I really do - you all know by now that this series is one of my favorites - but I unfortunately can't recommend this book.
3. I just started Mansfield Park, at the suggestion offiona15351, who wants to know what I think of it. I'm not far enough in to think much of anything, though I did accidentally text Fiona "Mary Crawford is such a butch omg" earlier today. I meant bitch! That typo is far too easy to make, in either direction.
4. Tomorrow is a red letter day: the anniversary of my adopting Queenie! Hard to believe it's been a year already! Cats may not keep calendars, but I do have a gift for her.
I don't know how I ever managed without a cat before!
2. Recent reads:
- The Tsar of Love and Techno, by Anthony Marra, is a collection of interconnected short stories set in Russia, from the 1930s to the present (and arguably outer space in the near future, depending on how you read the last story). I read this for a book club with some coworkers and enjoyed it. Some stories are naturally stronger than others, but it's good throughout and at times excellent.
- New York Sketches is a collection of E. B. White's short pieces about NYC - vignettes, poems, brief essays, and assorted snippets resistant to categorization. It's very fun! A quick read, if you plow straight through it - I bought my copy at a bookstore in Washington Heights and finished it by the time I made it to Chinatown, so somewhere around an hour - but also a book amenable to being read in bits and pieces. Pages 35-44, devoted to the observation of pigeons and their nests (with illustrations!), particularly charmed me: "While [pigeon nests] endure we must note their locations, elevate our gaze above the level of our immediate concerns, imbibe the sweet air and perfect promise: the egg miraculous upon the ledge, the bird compact upon the egg, its generous warmth, its enviable patience, its natural fortitude and grace."
- Death in Dover is the latest book in Maureen Ash's Templar Knight Mysteries series. Unfortunately, it does not measure up to the earlier books in the series. I think it's primarily a matter of editing, or the lack thereof: The first eight books, through A Holy Vengeance, were traditionally published, but starting with Sins of Inheritance they've been self-published, and there's a noticeable difference. (Actually, I've noticed a distinction among the trad-published books as well: the first six were published by Berkeley, a Penguin subsidiary, while the seventh and eighth were published by a different Penguin subsidiary, InterMix, and there's clearly a bit less attention devoted to the seventh and eighth compared to the previous, including less detailed covers; I also believe that's when they started to be published as ebooks only, though I can't confirm that.) Even compared to the other self-published books in the series, though, Death in Dover disappoints. I hate to say this, I really do - you all know by now that this series is one of my favorites - but I unfortunately can't recommend this book.
3. I just started Mansfield Park, at the suggestion of
fiona15351, who wants to know what I think of it. I'm not far enough in to think much of anything, though I did accidentally text Fiona "Mary Crawford is such a butch omg" earlier today. I meant bitch! That typo is far too easy to make, in either direction. 4. Tomorrow is a red letter day: the anniversary of my adopting Queenie! Hard to believe it's been a year already! Cats may not keep calendars, but I do have a gift for her.
I don't know how I ever managed without a cat before!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-11 08:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-12 02:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-11 12:05 pm (UTC)How I wish I could donate blood, but apparently I don't weigh enough. I've always wondered why they just can't take less from me than from others. *ponders*
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-12 02:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-11 01:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-12 02:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-11 11:10 pm (UTC)E.B. White is a real treasure. I haven't read the pigeon essay, but I clearly should, so thanks for the tip!
Mansfield Park is probably my favorite Austen - I think P&P is better in terms of structure and of course has a lot more popular appeal and influence, but I like MP because it touches on the same subjects as Jane Eyre and it's complicated in ways that her other books aren't.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-12 02:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-12 02:57 am (UTC)And happy adoptiversary! Queenie is looking so cute!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-12 10:58 am (UTC)