![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
still alive
Nov. 15th, 2017 10:58 amSo, yeah, I am totally out of the habit of stress management during a major product release. OY. I have not been a happy camper these last few weeks, but everything went out at 3 yesterday morning, so we made the pre-holiday code freeze with nothing breaking on the deploy and now we just cross our fingers that nothing blows up over Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
Also, I am afraid the lady who cleans for me is about to fire me b/c the house has just been backsliding into barely ready for her to clean these last few months. The new berserker dog (not really 'new' these days as he's been with us for a year now) sheds a lot more than WonderDog ever did, so that's not helping either. Now that I've gotten through the pre-release stress, maybe I can manage things a little bit better at home. (Though cleaning is never not going to be last on my list--we still ate pretty well during all the craziness, but I'll always jump into cooking loooooong before cleaning.) The bit where I’m not able to work from home regularly really isn’t helping here either.
On happier notes, I did get to see Thor with the boys, which was fun & then D & I went to dinner for my birthday. New restaurant, owned by friends, unexpectedly good, so fun again.
I started writing this reading update last week, but see above re: crazy releases, so let’s just roll it to this week:
finished
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, Michael W. Twitty==I think I ended up giving this a 4 on goodreads—it was fascinating and I think it’s an important look at a subject that normally is so glossed over it’s not even on the radar, but I had a really hard time keeping the different branches of his family sorted out and while I totally understand the importance of naming what names he was able to find, my eyes glaze over at all the names after a few generations of my own family. So it was a bit of an uneven reading experience for me, but if you’re at all interested in culinary history, this is right up your alley.
Miss Wonderful, Loretta Chase==Ok, I agree with the many goodreads reviews that mentioned pacing issues (it def dragged a bit in the middle for me), but I seriously could not have been the only person who drew the immediate connection between Alistair’s dandy-ish tendencies and Waterloo? Like, within the first paragraph of him thinking about the blood and stench and horror of lying wounded and helpless, half-buried by the dead and dying, it was crystal clear that he’d subconsciously decided he was going to create an atmosphere around him that was as far away from that as he could. I was thinking, ‘oh, EXCELLENT show-not-tell PTSD’ but apparently that flew over 90% of the GR reviewers heads.
Paris In Love, Eloisa James==This is less a memoir and more a collection of status updates and the occasional blog post of her sabbatical year in Paris with her family, but she acknowledges that upfront and it’s (I think) part of the charm of the book. She’s not trying to find Great Meaning in the year. She just lost her mother to cancer and then survived a diagnosis of the same thing 2 weeks later and ran away to Paris. Of course, she took her husband & kids, & sold her house in NJ, & did actually write a bit while in France, so there were lots of moving parts to coordinate, but it did happen & I very much enjoyed reading the details.
Summer at Little Beach Bakery, Jenny Colgin==Post-HEA fluff in Cornwall, which is much harder to pull off well that people assume, so I was happy to wallow in it a little more. Obstacles were overcome, bread was baked, puffins taken care of, lighthouse priorities affirmed. All is well. I have the Christmas sequel lined up for more, too.
Christmas at Little Beach Bakery, Jenny Colgin==I grabbed this thinking it would be the kind of fluff that helps keep me sane during the run-up to the holiday, but then it turned out to be kinda angsty. Which is fine--I like when characters work their way through issues. I just would have been a little more stressed on their behalf than would have been good if I'd read it during the Crazy Times. On the plus side, it does end in a snowy, gorgeous OTT floof of a happy ending, so that did good things for my BP during the pre-release fretting I had going on over the weekend. Also, I like when she writes sequels b/c she steps out of her more familiar patterns and tropes so I'm not quite sure what's happening next.
now
To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis == Audiobook, and really, I think I'm listening to this just because I needed something to keep me distracted in the car. I keep trying to read/listen to her Oxford time-travel books (because they tick off all kinds of checkboxes for me) but I don't seem to have the attention span for them. We'll see how it all goes this time.
Darwath Trilogy, Barbara Hambly == Dear lord, I am still going on these. I don't not like them, but they certainly aren't sucking me in to where I can't put them down.
Burn For Me, Ilona Andrews == I need something different than my usual historical romances, so paranormal romance, it is. (Also, yay, something from my shamefully large electronic TBR.)
next
I need to pick something my mom would have loved, so I can read it on her (upcoming) birthday. Considering we spent hours every week talking about books, it seems to be as good of a way to celebrate her life as anything. And then I need to line up some Christmas fluff to keep me sane during the season. Thoughts? Recommendations?
Also, I am afraid the lady who cleans for me is about to fire me b/c the house has just been backsliding into barely ready for her to clean these last few months. The new berserker dog (not really 'new' these days as he's been with us for a year now) sheds a lot more than WonderDog ever did, so that's not helping either. Now that I've gotten through the pre-release stress, maybe I can manage things a little bit better at home. (Though cleaning is never not going to be last on my list--we still ate pretty well during all the craziness, but I'll always jump into cooking loooooong before cleaning.) The bit where I’m not able to work from home regularly really isn’t helping here either.
On happier notes, I did get to see Thor with the boys, which was fun & then D & I went to dinner for my birthday. New restaurant, owned by friends, unexpectedly good, so fun again.
I started writing this reading update last week, but see above re: crazy releases, so let’s just roll it to this week:
finished
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, Michael W. Twitty==I think I ended up giving this a 4 on goodreads—it was fascinating and I think it’s an important look at a subject that normally is so glossed over it’s not even on the radar, but I had a really hard time keeping the different branches of his family sorted out and while I totally understand the importance of naming what names he was able to find, my eyes glaze over at all the names after a few generations of my own family. So it was a bit of an uneven reading experience for me, but if you’re at all interested in culinary history, this is right up your alley.
Miss Wonderful, Loretta Chase==Ok, I agree with the many goodreads reviews that mentioned pacing issues (it def dragged a bit in the middle for me), but I seriously could not have been the only person who drew the immediate connection between Alistair’s dandy-ish tendencies and Waterloo? Like, within the first paragraph of him thinking about the blood and stench and horror of lying wounded and helpless, half-buried by the dead and dying, it was crystal clear that he’d subconsciously decided he was going to create an atmosphere around him that was as far away from that as he could. I was thinking, ‘oh, EXCELLENT show-not-tell PTSD’ but apparently that flew over 90% of the GR reviewers heads.
Paris In Love, Eloisa James==This is less a memoir and more a collection of status updates and the occasional blog post of her sabbatical year in Paris with her family, but she acknowledges that upfront and it’s (I think) part of the charm of the book. She’s not trying to find Great Meaning in the year. She just lost her mother to cancer and then survived a diagnosis of the same thing 2 weeks later and ran away to Paris. Of course, she took her husband & kids, & sold her house in NJ, & did actually write a bit while in France, so there were lots of moving parts to coordinate, but it did happen & I very much enjoyed reading the details.
Summer at Little Beach Bakery, Jenny Colgin==Post-HEA fluff in Cornwall, which is much harder to pull off well that people assume, so I was happy to wallow in it a little more. Obstacles were overcome, bread was baked, puffins taken care of, lighthouse priorities affirmed. All is well. I have the Christmas sequel lined up for more, too.
Christmas at Little Beach Bakery, Jenny Colgin==I grabbed this thinking it would be the kind of fluff that helps keep me sane during the run-up to the holiday, but then it turned out to be kinda angsty. Which is fine--I like when characters work their way through issues. I just would have been a little more stressed on their behalf than would have been good if I'd read it during the Crazy Times. On the plus side, it does end in a snowy, gorgeous OTT floof of a happy ending, so that did good things for my BP during the pre-release fretting I had going on over the weekend. Also, I like when she writes sequels b/c she steps out of her more familiar patterns and tropes so I'm not quite sure what's happening next.
now
To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis == Audiobook, and really, I think I'm listening to this just because I needed something to keep me distracted in the car. I keep trying to read/listen to her Oxford time-travel books (because they tick off all kinds of checkboxes for me) but I don't seem to have the attention span for them. We'll see how it all goes this time.
Darwath Trilogy, Barbara Hambly == Dear lord, I am still going on these. I don't not like them, but they certainly aren't sucking me in to where I can't put them down.
Burn For Me, Ilona Andrews == I need something different than my usual historical romances, so paranormal romance, it is. (Also, yay, something from my shamefully large electronic TBR.)
next
I need to pick something my mom would have loved, so I can read it on her (upcoming) birthday. Considering we spent hours every week talking about books, it seems to be as good of a way to celebrate her life as anything. And then I need to line up some Christmas fluff to keep me sane during the season. Thoughts? Recommendations?
