Google says it is ‘gradually rolling out’ option to change your @gmail.com address (4-minute read)

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Google is gradually rolling out the option to change a Gmail address to a new one (up to three times) with an altered username. Users’ original email address will still receive emails and work for sign-in. Users will be unable to change or delete their email within 12 months of each change.

The support page detailing the update is currently only in Hindi.

Read the full article on 9T🕘5Google.

Sources:
•  TLDR. (2025, December 18). TLDR Newsletter. https://a.tldrnewsletter.com/web-version?ep=1&lc=f5cb7e17-003d-11ed-9258-0241b9615763&p=e3e9d6a2-e22a-11f0-afef-355d711e4cd9&pt=campaign&t=1766750425&s=58b821c1851cf90164444bda52a229e71373eca7b07bd111e21da74b821d4f04
•  Schoon, B. (2025, December 25). Google says it is ‘gradually rolling out’ option to change your @gmail.com address. 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2025/12/24/google-change-gmail-addresses/

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Finished book #131 in 2025

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Book #131
In the Margins book cover		 Book: In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing Author: Elena Ferrante
Source: Library loan
Format: Large print		 Pages: 160 Duration: 12/25/25 – 12/25/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Genres: nonfiction, essays, writing, books about books, memoir, Italian Literature, feminism
📕10-word summary: Pandemic-aborted lectures about Ferrante’s writing process turned into a book.
🖌6-word review: Very academic and at times esoteric.
💭A memorable quote: “Beautiful writing becomes beautiful when it loses its harmony and has the desperate power of the ugly. And characters? I feel they are false when they exhibit clear coherence and I become passionate about them when they say one thing and do another.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: camorrist, canticle, calque
Description:* In 2020, Claire Luchette in O, The Oprah Magazine described the beloved Italian novelist Elena Ferrante as “an oracle among authors.” Here, in these 4 crisp essays, Ferrante offers a rare look at the origins of her literary powers. She writes about her influences, her struggles, and her formation as both a reader and a writer; she describes the perils of “bad language” and suggests ways in which it has long excluded women’s truth; she proposes a choral fusion of feminine talent as she brilliantly discourses on the work of Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, Ingeborg Bachmann, and many others. Here is a subtle yet candid book by “one of the great novelists of our time” about adventures in literature, both in and out of the margins.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’ve read 2 books by Elena Ferrante — The Days of Abandonment in 2022 and The Lost Daughter in 2025 — and both books have brutally honest female protagonists whose first-person accounts “take you down” with them. It’s quite remarkable writing, which is what made me interested in reading about her writing process. I gave this book only 3 stars solely due to the “may or may not recommend” part of that rating. I doubt this book would be interesting to non-writers, and it’s quite an academic endeavor, which is also a turn-off for a lot of people.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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A pitiful powerball

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I’m pretty sure this is only the 2nd lottery ticket I’ve bought in my life. I’ll call it a “perfect storm” that drove me to it:

  1. The jackpot was over a billion dollars.
  2. I’d been drinking for at least 4 hours when at a party, someone said they were running out to buy one.
  3. The peer pressure and my weakened state made me a tag-along.

I’m happy to report that out of the winning numerals in the winning number:

we had a whopping one-number match, albeit in 2 different rows:

I’m happy to report that, because it will ensure I don’t get caught up in the moment again. 😂

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Finished book #130 in 2025

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Book #130
The Famous Lady Lovers: Black Women and Queer Desire before Stonewall book cover		 Book: The Famous Lady Lovers: Black Women and Queer Desire before Stonewall Author: Cookie Woolner
Source: Library loan
Format: E-book		 Pages: 210 Duration: 12/23/25 – 12/25/25 (3 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, queer, history, Lesbian, LGBT, race, education
📕10-word summary: Academic study of Black queer women in the Jazz Age.
🖌6-word review: Mostly fascinating. Sometimes infuriating. Text-book style.
💭A memorable quote: In 1926, the Black newspaper The New York Age published a front-page article with the graphic headline “Woman Rivals for Affection of Another Woman[,] Battles with Knives, and One Has Head Almost Severed from Body.” The lengthy opening sentence read: “Crazed with gin and a wild and unnatural infatuation for another woman, Reba Stobtoff, in whose Manhattan apartment her friends and acquaintances had gathered for a Saturday night rent party, grabbed a keen-edged bread knife and with one fell swoop, severed the jugular vein in the throat of Louise Wright after a fierce quarrel in which Reba had accused Louise of showing too much interest in a woman named Clara, known to underworld dwellers as “Big Ben,” the name coming from her unusual size and from her inclination to ape the masculine in dress and manner, and particularly in her attention to other women.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: deportment, liminal, dissemblance, interwar, extant, dirk, swains, rent parties, buffet flats, imbricated, specious, inveigling, nances, chorines
Description:* Black queer women have shaped American culture since long before the era of gay liberation. Decades prior to the Stonewall Uprising, in the 1920s and 1930s, Black “lady lovers”—as women who loved women were then called—crafted a queer world. In the cabarets, rent parties, speakeasies, literary salons, and universities of the Jazz Age and Great Depression, communities of Black lady lovers grew, and queer flirtations flourished. Cookie Woolner here uncovers the intimate lives of performers, writers, and educators such as Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Gladys Bentley, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and Lucy Diggs Slowe, along with the many everyday women she encountered in the archives. Examining blues songs, Black newspapers, vice reports, memoirs, sexology case studies, and more, Woolner illuminates the unconventional lives Black lady lovers formed to suit their desires. In the urban North, as the Great Migration gave rise to increasingly racially mixed cities, Black lady lovers fashioned and participated in emerging sexual subcultures. During this time, Black queer women came to represent anxieties about the deterioration of the heteronormative family. Negotiating shifting notions of sexuality and respectability, Black lady lovers strategically established queer networks, built careers, created families, and were vital cultural contributors to the US interwar era.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’m going to count this as having taken a course in Queer Studies, Gender Studies, or African American Studies, because early on in this book, I thought, “This reads like a text book or somebody’s dissertation.” Turns out it was the author’s 2014 doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan, was adapted into a book published by the University of North Carolina Press, and has been used as a college text book in various courses. It’s extremely educational and a mostly fascinating, sometimes infuriating (i.e., discrimination, hate crimes, police brutality, etc.) look at the plight of queer, Black women in the 1920s and ’30s. The chapter names are:

  • Introduction: Have We a New Sex Problem Here?
  • One: Woman Slain in Queer Love Brawl: The Violent Emergence of Lady Lovers in the 1920s Northern Black Press
  • Two: The Famous Lady Lovers in the Early Twentieth-Century Black Popular Entertainment Industry
  • Three: A Freakish Party: Black Lady Lovers, Vice, and Space in the Prohibition Era Urban North
  • Four: Intimate Friends and Bosom Companions: Middle-Class Black Lady Lovers Crafting Queer Kinship Networks

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Three 50-word stories about some Christmas songs.

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Had some controversy Didn’t mention Christmas Didn’t age well
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus was first recorded by 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd in 1952. Although an instant hit, it originally caused controversy for implying infidelity. The song was swiftly condemned by the Catholic Church, according to some disputed accounts. It was definitely banned by some radio and TV stations. There are a few songs that weren’t written as Christmas songs, and in fact don’t even mention Christmas. They include Jingle Bells, which was originally written for Thanksgiving and originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh.” Other examples include Winter Wonderland and Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! The #MeToo movement rendered Baby It’s Cold Outside coercive and suggestive of date rape, and It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas has “gendered toys” with its dolls for girls and pistols for boys. There’s a handy cheat sheet to decide if a toy is for girls or boys.
Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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Finished book #129 in 2025

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Book #129
Run for the Hills book cover		 Book: Run for the Hills Author: Kevin Wilson
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 253 Duration: 12/21/25 – 12/21/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, humor, family, road trip
📕10-word summary: Half-siblings road trip to find/meet their father who abandoned them.
🖌6-word review: A sibling story like no other.
💭A favorite quote:
“I have no idea how you and I are connected,” Rube said to Mad’s mother.
“Oh, I don’t think we’re anything.”
“So I mean, I don’t know if it’s legal or anything, but maybe you would be, like, my stepmother once removed?”
“Oh, honey, I don’t think it works like that.”

“No, I know. But, we’re connected, obviously.”
“Sure, why not?” she offered.
Description:* Ever since her dad left them 20 years ago, it’s been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it’s a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it’s mostly okay. Mostly. Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half sister. Reuben — left behind by their dad thirty years ago — has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him for the craziest kind of road trip imaginable to find them all. As Mad and Rube — and eventually the others — share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with every new incarnation. Who are they to one another? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad’s previously solitary life on the farm?*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book, in fact it might be my “book of the year” for 2025. This is my second book by this author, having read The Family Fang earlier in the year, and the common denominator is “quirky” — both in terms of storyline and characters. From reviews I’ve read, this author seems to be known for that. I hope to read another of his books in 2026. This is a 2025 book (published May 13), and I’d be very, very surprised if it isn’t made into a movie. At this time, the author and the publisher still own the rights to the book.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Our menus for 12/21/25 – 12/27/25

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This week’s menus! What strikes your fancy?

Day Meal
12/21/25
Sunday		 •  Grilled chicken thighs
•  Potato salad
•  Broccoli
12/22/25
Monday		 (Mid-hiatus reprise of happy hour to wish the Pelagic Run Club runners happy holidays!)
•  Party food
12/23/25
Tuesday		 •  Shrimp
•  Power blend vegetables
•  House salad
12/24/25
Wednesday		 (Mordecai Roll & Stroll, 1 – 2 p.m.)
•  Roll & Stroll: Hot nuts, eggnog martinis, BJ shots, kids’ snack bags)
Dinner:
•  Fettuccini c̅ meatballs
•  Green beans
•  House salad
12/25/25
Thursday		 (Mashewske-Nagel-Parker Open House Extravaganza)
•  Taking deviled eggs
12/26/25
Friday		 •  Turkey c̅ cranberry sauce
•  Mashed potatoes c̅ gravy
•  Brussels sprouts
12/27/25
Saturday		 •  Chicken enchiladas
•  Cream salad
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Food-oriented sentence-a-day diary entries for this day since 2014

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Updated with 2025 entry.

One of my favorite things about keeping my sentence-a-day diary is looking back over the years on any particular day for trends. Today’s day “in history” gave me a good chuckle. I’m so food oriented! 75% of the 11 12 years worth of entries include food. 😂

In other news, it’s our 4th-year anniversary of owning our air fryer. And I guess my entry for today should include some food in it.

December 21

2025
Sunday: We prepared our snack bags to give to the kids during the Mordecai Roll & Stroll on Christmas Eve, I grilled chicken thighs on the grill that Bob had tenderized and marinated, and I read the entirety of my 129th book of 2025, Run for the Hills.

2024
Saturday: I wrote my haikus for the remaining days of 2024, my biopsy from that cauterized spot on my face came back benign, Bob made the pretzels from the mix that Vivian & Jeff gave us a few months ago, I got a free haircut with Neal’s coupon from a Hurricanes game (I tipped the stylist $10), and I grilled some Montreal-steak-marinated chicken thighs to perfection.

2023
Thursday: I created our menu for next week for a change, the earbuds and charger adapters came for our new phones, and Bob made a Chicken & Kale soup to which we added some white beans—egads!

2022
Wednesday: Cindy and I went to Wegmans while Bob visited with “the boys” (his brother and nephews) at their Airbnb (1600 Carson St.), we spent a couple of hours there this afternoon, and then everyone came to our house for African Peanut Soup for dinner and all but me played Bananagrams afterward.

2021
Tuesday: I did 2 “talkaloud edits” for Anna Lonon, did my knee stretching exercises, we got cookies in the mail from Robyn Johnson as a thank-you for my work, our air fryer (compliments of Red Hat Rewards) arrived, and I started American Gods.

2020
Monday: Bob brought our BAP (big-assed poinsettia) and some homemade treats to Nicholas Blanchard, I wrote my first three 50-word stories, and I started reading my 75th book of 2020, Girls Like Us.

2019
Saturday: Bob wrote out a bunch of holiday cards that we got to the post office by Planet Fitness just before noon, did our workout there, had dinner at the food court in Wegmans later, and went to “black-out night” at Flex, taking The R-Line there and back.

2018
Friday: I got a 40-minute walk in downtown to the post office, to the SECU (New Bern & Salisbury for $100 bills), to the library, and to DGX for a card and eggnog for our “Bourbon Outfitters” meeting, and then we met the gang out at Flex @ 10.

2017
Thursday: We had our holiday party tonight, which was very festive and well-attended with a lot of potluck foods!

2016
Wednesday: In a most unexpected move, our CFO, Frank Calderoni, announced that he’s taking a CEO job at another company, and Red Hat announced “disappointing” earnings for this quarter.

2015
Monday: Bob and I spent a couple of hours identifying recipients, addressing, stamping, and putting return address labels on envelopes, before folding our holiday letters to put in them.

2014
Sunday: Bob came over, with Frances and Vincent, and we had BLTs for dinner, with some sweet potato fries.

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Finished book #128 in 2025

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Book #128
Safe Enough book cover		 Book: Safe Enough Author: Lee Child
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 237 Duration: 12/18/25 – 12/19/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, short stories, crime, mystery, thriller, suspense, anthologies
📕10-word summary: 20 crime mystery short stories by the Jack Reacher author.
🖌6-word review: Diverse stories quickly pull you in.
💭A memorable quote: “My faith has no room for superstition.”
Description:* For the past 20 years, Lee Child has been one of the bestselling authors in the world, thanks to the popularity of his iconic and instantly recognizable hero Jack Reacher. But even at the height of Reacher’s fame, Child’s short story writing was not confined to the series; throughout the course of his career, he published tales about a range of characters on both sides of the law, including assassins, a body guard, CIA and FBI agents, gangsters, and more. Meticulously plotted and packed with Child’s trademark action and suspense, the stories show the author’s mastery of the short form, and they’ve never been collected before now.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’ve been dancing around this author’s Jack Reacher stories for about a year now. But after reading his short story, Eleven Numbers, earlier this year, and now this “non-Jack-Reacher” collection of short stories, I’m going to read Killing Floor, the first in the 30-book (to date) Jack Reacher series in 2026. The 20 short stories in this anthology comprise:

  1. The Bodyguard: A methodical professional bodyguard goes private to protect a wealthy 22-year-old Brazilian woman named Anna, whose family has many enemies.
  2. The Greatest Trick of All: A highly skilled hitman, mentored by a man named Ryland, must use everything he was taught to master one final trick to survive.
  3. Ten Keys: A drug-dealing hitman feels compelled to confess his guilt and fears to a complete stranger while waiting in a bar.
  4. Safe Enough: Wolfe, a man from the Bronx now living in the country, is hired by a woman to find her missing husband, but he must determine if she can be trusted.
  5. Normal in Every Way: Relegated to file clerk duty in 1950s San Francisco, a brilliant but awkward rookie cop uses his unique talent for connecting historic dates to solve crimes.
  6. The .50 Solution: An assassin is hired to kill a racehorse and clashes with his client over the high-caliber weapon requested for the job.
  7. Public Transportation: A journalist and a police officer have an unofficial conversation that reveals the truth behind a “conveniently” closed murder case.
  8. Me and Mr. Rafferty: A serial killer narrates his habit of leaving subtle, grisly clues for the detective hunting him, seeking a twisted form of connection.
  9. Section 7 (a) (Operational): An operative meticulously assembles a team for what appears to be a high-stakes military or covert mission.
  10. Addicted to Sweetness: A powerful criminal leader named Socrates interrogates a thief about stolen sugar, exploring the unexpected consequences of harsh punishments.
  11. The Bone-Headed League: An FBI agent stationed in London is challenged by a colleague to solve a murder case using clues inspired by a Sherlock Holmes story.
  12. I Heard a Romantic Story: While lying in wait for a target, an assassin overhears a romantic story that provides a backdrop to his mission.
  13. My First Drug Trial: Before a court appearance for drug possession, a defendant struggles with his internal monologue about whether or not to get high one last time.
  14. Wet with Rain: Two men traveling to Dublin to buy a house find themselves disrupted by a Special Branch officer who suspects the property hides something serious.
  15. The Truth About What Happened: Set in 1942, an African American man working on a top-secret national security project (the Manhattan Project) is interrogated about what he knows.
  16. Pierre, Lucien & Me: A tale centering on art fraud, past regrets, and the relationship between the narrator and two other men.
  17. New Blank Document: A freelance writer in Florida is hired to find and interview the secret, unacknowledged brother of a famous jazz pianist.
  18. Shorty and the Briefcase: An injured police officer uses his analytical skills and brainpower to assist his colleagues in a major bust.
  19. Dying for a Cigarette: A short, punchy tale involving a high-stakes situation where a cigarette plays a central role.
  20. The Snake-Eater by the Numbers: A rookie London police officer is mentored by a corrupt sergeant who prioritizes high arrest numbers over actual justice.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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A proud local library user

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I’m an avid user (and fan, obviously!) of libraries. Of the 127 books I’ve read to date in 2025, 78 (61%) of them have been library books.

I don’t buy books, so the other 49 free books were sourced as:

Chart notes:
– Library = Wake County Public Libraries
– Amazon First Reads = a choice of a free early-release ebook, once a month for Amazon Prime subscribers
– BookBub = a free service offering (some) free ebooks announced by email; I only download free ones

Meanwhile, back at my local library, the Wake County Public Library, shared this year’s usage statistics:

  • Over 11.9 million items borrowed across print, audio and digital collections
  • More than 10,000 programs hosted, with over 350,000 patrons joining us for enrichment and celebration
  • Over 178,000 hours of public computer usage and more than 1.1 million hours of Wi-Fi used in our libraries, supporting equitable access to technology
  • More than 11,000 hours of volunteer service were generously contributed to enhance services and programs

I’m proud to have been 78 of those 11.9M loaned books. See all the books I’ve read in 2025 to date and where they came from.

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Finished book #127 in 2025

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Book #127
If Something Happens to Me book cover		 Book: If Something Happens to Me Author: Alex Finlay
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 336 Duration: 12/17/25 – 12/18/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Genres: fiction, thriller, mystery, suspense, crime
📕10-word summary: Boy witnessing girlfriend’s abduction ignites a dangerous turn of events.
🖌6-word review: Several complicated plots wore me down.
💭A memorable quote: “Few things in this world can make you feel better than a dog.”
Description:* For the past 5 years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream as she is taken. With no trace of Ali or the car, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Ryan. But with no proof and a good lawyer, he’s never charged, though that doesn’t matter to the podcasters and internet trolls. Now, Ryan has changed his last name, and entered law school. He’s put his past behind him. Until, on a summer trip abroad to Italy with his law-school classmates, Ryan gets a call from his father: Ali’s car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a cryptic note with five words written on the envelope in Ali’s handwriting: If something happens to me…”*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: A 4-part structure and a multiple-POV narrative with no fewer than 3 name changes for a couple of characters (for example, Ali → Taylor → Sophia; think witness protection program for Ali/Taylor/Sophia and her father) — well it quickly gets exponentially complicated. We’ve got local law enforcement, state-level FBI (complete with a “dirty” agent), and the mob involved in various plots and sub-plots. It’s a lot. YMMV. I have no doubt that a lot of people would love this book.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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The Oscars are heading to YouTube in 2029 (2-minute read)

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The 101st Academy Awards will be hosted on YouTube starting in 2029 through 2033. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has signed an exclusive rights deal with YouTube that includes red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, and access to the Governors Ball.

The coverage of the Academy Awards will be available to YouTube TV subscribers in the US and for free on YouTube for viewers around the world.

Read the article on CNBC.com.

Sources:
•  TLDR. (2025, December 18). TLDR Newsletter. https://a.tldrnewsletter.com/web-version?ep=1&lc=f5cb7e17-003d-11ed-9258-0241b9615763&p=1bc85194-dbf4-11f0-a7a6-a5550b2c654e&pt=campaign&t=1766059101&s=3df7265a84d92e070df569813faebb71999ae39f5ab7d1ac1979021457a8e91e
•  Whitten, S. (2025, December 17). The Oscars are heading to YouTube in 2029. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/17/youtube-stream-oscars-2029.html

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Finished book #126 in 2025

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Book #126
What She Saw book cover		 Book: What She Saw Author: Mary Burton
Source: Free First Reads download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 347 Duration: 12/15/25 – 12/17/25 (3 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, mystery, thriller, suspense, crime
📕10-word summary: Writer, daughter delves into 30-year-old murders to find the bodies.
🖌6-word review: Good murder mystery. Good unraveling pace.
💭A memorable quote: “Paxton’s gaze was locked on her breasts — or, as he said in court, the long line of her neck.”
Description:* Cold case reporter Sloane Grayson has come to a small mountain town in Virginia to solve a mystery. 30 years ago, her mother was one of 4 women who vanished during a music festival. The event’s promoter was eventually convicted of their murders, and Sheriff CJ Taggart closed the case. But for Sloane, it’s still open. Because the bodies were never found. With Taggart long dead, Sloane must make do with questioning the victims’ families and the few remaining witnesses once again. If they’re still willing to dredge up memories of a crime that made their town notorious. As for the incarcerated killer, he has always maintained his innocence. Sloane isn’t entirely convinced he’s lying. Somewhere nearby, unmarked graves conceal the bones and secrets of the dead. Sloane will do anything to find them and unearth the truth, even if that means playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with someone determined to stop her.
Thoughts: This was a good read. Strong female protagonist, and one significant twist.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Three 50-word stories about starting a hobby.

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Doing research No expectations Permission to fail
Start collecting information: What are some beginner-friendly projects you could start with? What materials will you need? How much will they cost? Perhaps look online at tutorials and message boards, or maybe go into stores that sell the supplies and ask someone more knowledgeable for advice on how to proceed. Chances are you won’t be an expert the first time you try your new hobby. You won’t be the best at it, but you won’t be the worst. Allow yourself room to grow, and when you finally reach the goal you have in mind, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. Give yourself permission to fail and to take breaks. Becoming frustrated with learning something new is part of the process, so it’s okay to take a step back and take a breather. It’s a chance to remind yourself why you chose this project and what joy it brings to you.

Source: Perkins, N. (2021, May 15). Having a hobby is good for you. Here’s how to find one. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/15/996193143/a-knitter-a-rock-climber-and-a-mixologist-teach-us-how-to-find-a-hobby

Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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Incrudulous

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I’ve had some serious crud for a week now, so it was finally time to see the doc, where I wore a mask for the first time in forever:

and where I got tested for COVID, FLU, & RSV, which fortunately came back:

Got an inhalant with some steroids in it and a nasal spray to try and kick this thing to the curb.

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Finished book #125 in 2025

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Book #125
A Santa Stabbing book cover		 Book: A Santa Stabbing Author: Geri Krotow
Source: Free BookBub download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 266 Duration: 12/13/25 – 12/14/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Genres: fiction, cozy mystery, Christmas, crime, murder
📕10-word summary: Naval aviator turned amateur sleuth finds dead body in shop.
🖌6-word review: Strong female characters. Interesting, without schmaltz.
💭A humorous quote: “It’s part of being in retail.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: narthex, psittacines, weir
Description:* Retired Navy pilot Angel Warren’s new life awaits in Stonebridge, Pennsylvania, where she’s opening Shop ‘Round the World, her travel-inspired gift and novelty shop. A newly empty nester and longtime widow, she’s looking forward to leaving her flying career and its many life-or-death decisions behind and reconnecting with family and friends. Right now, Angel’s biggest challenge is getting the shop ready for its grand opening just weeks before Christmas. Until she finds a dead body in the shop murdered with one of her specialty Santa figurines. Even worse, Angel’s fingerprints are on the “weapon” and she’s a prime suspect. It doesn’t help that the deceased is an old friend who’s collected a long list of enemies as a cut-throat real estate agent. And then there’s the Stonebridge Chief of Police—and Angel’s high school BFF—who brings her in for questioning. If Angel wants to clear her name before the Christmas rush, she’s going to need to do some sleuthing on her own—and with the help of her stressed out parrot, Ralph.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I gave the storyline of this typical cozy mystery 4 stars, but I had to subtract a star for my overall rating due to a dozen “missed edits,” including wrong words (e.g., “What so you mean by ‘everything?'”), missing words, (e.g., “Got a good night’s in my own bed last night.”), or repeated words (e.g., “Knock off the bigger suspects off first.”) and for hyphenating the word “Stonebridge” (which is used a lot) sometimes as “Stoneb-ridge” and “Stonebri-dge,” WTF? Also, ditch the parrot! I don’t know why annoying pets are included in some stories. This story is one of them. On the plus side, there are two LGBT couples in the story. And interestingly enough, this is the 2nd book in a week that has had Matryoshka dolls as props in them. This is the final holiday-related book I’m going to read. I like to read at least one at this time of the year.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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The size of pills and pillboxes

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Why are some pills so damn big? (A quick AI overview says for 3 reasons: higher dose of active ingredients, inactive ingredients (excipients), and targeted delivery.)

Yes, seniors are easily entertained. I was tickled when I refilled my Amlodipine prescription and the pill size had decreased:

This makes them fit better in my small pillbox:

I really don’t want to have to move to a bigger pillbox, which I actually own:

Complete aside: We will not be able to use this particular “included for size comparison” object with the next generation.

And lastly, Bob and I can never think about pills and pillboxes without remembering that time on a cruise…

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Finished book #124 in 2025

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Book #124
Peppermint Cookie Murder book cover		 Book: Peppermint Cookie Murder Author: Trixie Silvertale
Source: Free BookBub download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 238 Duration: 12/12/25 – 12/12/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Genres: fiction, cozy mystery, Christmas, holiday, fantasy, paranormal
📕10-word summary: Santa’s daughter leaves the North Pole to open a bakery.
🖌6-word review: Think of synonyms for preposterous. Apply.
💭A humorous quote: “Have you tried talking to the gals at the bingo club? That group drinks a lot during bingo. And there’s nothing like alcohol to pry the truth from someone’s lips.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: sluice, Dolomites in Carezza, Val d’Ega
Description:* Cindy Claus is excited to open her own bakery. She’s determined to pursue her passion and have her holiday treats prove she’s more than a Yuletide heir. But before she can whisk up a success, her roommate is murdered and Cindy is the prime suspect. With finding the real killer the only way to beat the rap, Cindy relies on the kindness of strangers and her father’s trusted arctic fox. But without a recipe for success in the unfamiliar human world, grilling the wrong suspects could put her behind bars. Can Cindy sift out the clues before she’s done and dusted?*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’m glad I didn’t pay money for this book. So much to dislike. Santa’s daughter, Cindy Claus, who is 114 years old finally tells her father (Santa, who is a little over 1000 years old and Mrs. Claus is rumored to be nearly 2,000 years old) that she’s not interested in taking over “the business” when he retires. Her parents agree to let her go to a place called Silver Shoals to open a bakery. In “the human world,” she doesn’t know a lot of things, such as what money is, and she doesn’t understand metaphors, similes, aphorisms, exaggerations, or puns, which the author mostly uses as a device to show you how she responds to the people in this little town using them incessantly. But don’t worry, she has her family pet from the North Pole with her, who is an artic fox that passes as a dog in the human world, although he has to remember not to speak to her, or her to him, in front of other people. That’s the bad news, the good news being that he explains all of the townspeople’s figurative language to her, because of course, he understands them. 🙄 Three other things: 1) Considering the name of the book, neither a peppermint cookie nor a murder had appeared yet at 43% into the book, 2) Cindy used a lot of stoopid ejaculations, “Oh reindeer poop!” “Icicles!” and “Blizzards!” to name a few, and 3) just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the word conspiratorially showed up. Numbing frost! I can’t not recommend this book enough.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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It’s beginning to look a lot like a [Betty] White Christmas

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I stopped by the post office to get some “love” stamps and some holiday stamps.

Two things happened while I was in line with about 8 people ahead of me:

  • I noticed on a rotating ad electronic display sign that there existed such a thing as Betty White stamps!
  • One of the clerks made an announcement: “If you’re in line to buy holiday stamps, we’re out of them at the counter, but you can use the self-service kiosk to get up to 100 of them.”

My first thought was, “OMG, there are Betty White stamps??? Those would make perfect holiday stamps, as underneath each on the envelope, we could write, “Here’s to a White Christmas.”

I stayed in line and after getting some love stamps:

I asked the clerk for two books of Betty White stamps, to which he replied: “Those came in two weeks ago, and we were completely sold out of them in 2 hours.”

I asked if any more would be coming in before Christmas, and he said, “We have no way of knowing.” And I said, “Okay, I’ll just take the love stamps then,” paid for them and got in line for the holiday stamps at the kiosk.

The lady 4 ahead of me at the kiosk was buying 100 of them, and the machine printed 10 stamps at a time, with a few seconds between them to, I guess, load the next 10 into memory. Whatever.

Many minutes later, after wondering why they couldn’t just print more Betty White stamps, I bought 20 of the holiday stamps of which it only offered 2 of the 4 designs — the wreath and the cardinals — which I was fine with.

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A little hot toddy

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Bob came in from working in the yard in the cold and wanted a little hot-chocolate warm-up.

I suggested dropping a couple of large marshmallows in it, and noted that it certainly couldn’t hurt to add a little Baileys to it as well.

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Finished book #123 in 2025

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Book #123
The Book Club for Troublesome Women book cover		 Book: The Book Club for Troublesome Women Author: Marie Bostwick
Source: Library loan
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 380 Duration: 12/08/25 – 12/10/25 (3 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: historical fiction, books about books, feminism
📕10-word summary: Four friendships forged in a book club prevail in self-discovery.
🖌6-word review: Humorous, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful, inspirational.
💭A favorite quote: “Apart from reservations, vodka stingers are the only thing I know how to make.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: décolletage, Shalimar, toile, bouclé, pavlova, clarion, shantung, zaftig, laminitis, pabulum, ordnance
Description:* By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman’s dream. She has a husband” target=”_blank”>, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia — one of Northern Virginia’s most exclusive and picturesque suburbs. She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman’s Place — a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn’t that feel like enough? Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia’s newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte’s orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women — Bitsy and Viv — to the inaugural meeting. Nicknaming themselves “the Bettys,” after The Feminine Mystique‘s author Betty Friedan, these 4 friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments — and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: Not that I’ve ever seen Desperate Housewives, or read or watched The Stepford Wives, but after the first couple of chapters of this book, I thought it might be like what I imagine them to be about. Hoping it wouldn’t be the case, I forged ahead. Fortunately, the 4-women book club reads The Feminine Mystique, the classic by Betty Friedman, which lights a fire in these women and things become more interesting. This is yet another “books about books,” which I’m drawn to, and about which I recently blogged about. In addition to The Feminine Mystique, these books are mentioned in this book: Gift from the Sea (read in 2024), Coming of Age in Samoa, Mansfield Park, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Wuthering Heights (read in 2015), Joy in the Morning, The Girls of Slender Means, The Bell Jar, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, A Room of One’s Own, The Second Sex, The Group, Revolutionary Road, Babbit, A Town Like Alice, Herland, Dearly Beloved, The Old Man and the Sea (read in 1991). And finally, ugh, yet another book that used my overused, nemesis word, “conspiratorial.”

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Three 50-word stories about manifestos I’ve encountered in recent books.

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The checklist manifesto The slow media manifesto The feminist manifesto
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right is the name of a book by Atul Gawande, an American surgeon, writer, professor, and public health researcher. I read recently. The author presents 8 lessons about the unexpected, extraordinary efficacy of using checklists for simple, complicated, and complex processes and procedures. The Slow Media Manifesto was mentioned in my recent reading of Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. The authors of the original 2010 “Slow Media Manifesto” are German creators Benedikt Köhler, Sabria David, and Jörg Blumtritt, who developed it as a response to fast digital consumption, advocating for mindful, meaningful media. The Feminist Manifesto, written in 1914 by Mina Loy is a call to action for women to critique the 20th century feminist movement, while designing an agenda to secure women’s identity within the changing spheres of society by casting out traditional roles and demolishing the distinction between the two sexes.

Sources:

Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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A varied and interesting life…

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Place a $ by everything you have not done! For quicker scanning, I’ve also color coded mine. Of course I have!

$6 for me! Of the 6 things I haven’t done, the only one I’d be interested in doing is #37: zip lining.

  1. Been divorced
  2. Been to Disney World
  3. Disneyland $
  4. Skipped school $
  5. Been to Canada
  6. Ridden in an ambulance $
  7. Been to Hawaii
  8. Been to Las Vegas
  9. Been to Texas
  10. Visited Mexico
  11. Been to the Bahamas
  12. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
  13. Been on a ferry boat
  14. Flown in a helicopter
  15. Sung in the rain
  16. Been to California
  17. Been to New York City
  18. Played in band/schools
  19. Sung in Church/School
  20. Sung karaoke
  21. Laughed so much I cried
  22. Caught a snowflake on my tongue
  23. Had/Have a pet
  24. Been skiing/sledding on a big hill
  25. Ridden on a motorcycle
  26. Been to a drive-in movie
  27. Ridden an elephant or camel $
  28. Ridden a horse
  29. Been on TV
  30. Stayed in the hospital
  31. Donated blood or plasma
  32. Gotten a piercing
  33. Driven a stick shift vehicle
  34. Gotten stitches or staples
  35. Broken a bone $
  36. Traveled alone
  37. Been zip lining $
  38. Been to another country
  39. Shot a gun
  40. Gotten a tattoo

How much cash do you have?

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2025 holiday bags donation

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When my mother was in assisted living, her favorite Activities Director was Maria Iadonisi, for whom we were extremely grateful and still keep in touch with 9 years later.

Each year around the holidays, we heed her call for gift bags for residents of the facility she’s currently working in.

This year it’s the Fuquay-Varina Health & Rehabilitation Center, and yesterday I dropped off the 25 gift bags that Bob and I bought and filled with snacks.

Contents of the bags:

Popped corn snacks: Kettle Corn, White Cheddar, Sea Salt, Spicy Queso Potato chips: classic, sour cream & onion, barbecue, Crunchy Cheetos, cool ranch Doritos nacho cheese Doritos, Fritos Braided pretzels: honey mustard, original, parmesan garlic
Archer 100% grass-fed beef jerky minis Fun sized candy bars: Reese's Cups, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Kit Kat, M&Ms, M&Ms Peanut, Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, Almond Joy Original Rice Krispies treats
Nutri Grain bars: apple cinnamon, blueberry, strawberry Welch's mixed fruit fruit snacks Trail mix: peanuts, peanut & milk chocolate M&Ms, raisins, almonds, and cashews

Oreos: regular, golden, double-stuffed

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The average number of surgeries a person has

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In my recent reading of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, I came across the statistic that the average person will have 7 surgeries in their lifetime.

That, of course, made me want to count mine, and lo and behold:

Surgery #
 Date Age Type
6
 07/13/2023 65 lumbar posterior fusion and lateral lumbar fusion surgery
5
 10/13/2021 64 total left knee replacement
4
 02/11/2020 62 dental implant surgery
3
 03/15/2012 54 left knee torn meniscus arthroscopic surgery re-do
2
 12/11/2008 51 left knee torn meniscus arthroscopic surgery
1
 1986 29 vasectomy

I’m thinking I’m going to exceed the average — eventually.

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Finished book #122 in 2025

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Book #122
The Heart of Everything book cover		 Book: The Heart of Everything Author: Marc Levy
Source: Free First Reads download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 205 Duration: 12/05/25 – 12/06/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, magical realism, suspense, family, love, romance
📕10-word summary: Son’s father’s ghost visits with a haunting, time-limited, compelling request.
🖌6-word review: Sweetly told tale with likable characters.
💭A memorable quote: “An adult is just a child with debt.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: Škoda, vetiver, jute, Arsène Lupin
Description:* There’s nothing too unusual about a father asking his son for a favor — unless, of course, the father in question has been dead for five years. Thomas, a young virtuoso pianist living a quiet, carefully structured life in France, is stunned when his late father, Raymond, suddenly appears in his home. He’s not a ghost in the traditional sense — he’s real enough to ask for help. His request? That Thomas travel with him to San Francisco to find Camille, the long-lost love of his life. For Thomas, it’s as surreal as it sounds. And yet… it might be his last-in-a-lifetime chance to know his father as a man and to square the regrets of the past. Together they embark on a five-thousand-mile journey that questions the very nature of existence, proves that love never fades, and rekindles the curious, heart-tugging bond between a parent and child that somehow endures beyond death.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This is a brand new book that isn’t scheduled to be published until January of 2026, but it was one of Amazon Prime’s December First Reads selections. I’m not a fan of the magical realism genre, but maybe because it was just one ghost, with not a lot of back story about how his appearance happened and “rules of engagement” with the entity, it didn’t bother me. I could have done without the word “conspiratorial” rearing its ugly head early in the book. I thought it was a sweet, little story.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #121 in 2025

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Book #121
Bring Me Back book cover		 Book: Bring Me Back Author: B.A. Paris
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 291 Duration: 12/03/25 – 12/04/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★☆ Genres: fiction, psychological thriller, mystery, crime
📕10-word summary: Man imminently marrying sister of dead former girlfriend gets mind-fucked.
🖌6-word review: Twisted tale. Reader gets mind-fucked, too.
💭A memorable quote: “Time is an oddity when it comes to memories.”
Description:* Finn and Layla: young and in love, their whole lives ahead of them. Driving back from a holiday in France one night, Finn pulls in to a service station, leaving Layla alone in the car. When he returns, minutes later, Layla has vanished, never to be seen again. That’s the story Finn tells the police. It’s the truth – but not the whole truth. 12 years later, Finn has built a new life with Ellen, Layla’s sister, when he receives a phone call. Someone has seen Layla. But is it her – or someone pretending to be her? If it is her, what does she want? And what does she know about the night she disappeared?*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This tale has more twists than Rapunzel’s braids. As the reader, I could see possible truth in every theory the protagonist considered — and there were a plethora of them throughout the book. What kept me from giving it 5 stars was: Enough of those goddamn Matryoshka dolls already! (And the fact that the author didn’t, at least once, use that proper name for those dolls.) This was one of those plots that made me think, “How do writers come up with these things?”

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #120 in 2025

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Book #120
Digital Minimalism: On Living Better with Less Technology book cover		 Book: Digital Minimalism: On Living Better with Less Technology Author: Cal Newport
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 290 Duration: 12/02/25 – 12/02/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, self help, productivity, psychology, technology
📕10-word summary: How to stop mindlessly sacrificing your time, productivity to clickbait.
🖌6-word review: Provides practical, albeit not easy, strategies.
💭An interesting quote: “Digital minimalism definitively does not reject the innovations of the internet age, but instead rejects the way so many people currently engage with these tools.”
Description:* In this timely and enlightening book, Cal Newport introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives. Digital minimalists are all around us. They’re the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can have fun with friends and family and eat out at restaurants without the obsessive urge to document the experience. Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement and makes a case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I found several nuggets in this book, a couple being: 1) the difference between conversations and connections, and 2) the concept of “high quality leisure.” I’ve already implemented one practical suggestion, which was to remove the Facebook app from my phone because it contains more of the “sticky” functionality, as well as provides location and activity data that the “attention economy” finds so valuable, which is to say is used to make money off us. It also confirmed my “intentional” use of Facebook, which I’ve been doing since the beginning of February 2025 — “using” Facebook instead of it using me. I do that by only going on it for 3 reasons: 1) as a very quick and efficient way to compress images to use in my writing, 2) to grab images I’ve posted there that I want to use in my writing, and 3) to check updates from groups I’m in that only use Facebook to communicate, all of which I can still do by logging in through the web interface. Not everything in the book resonated with me, but often that’s how self-help books are, and I’m happy to have been made to think deeply on this topic.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Three 50-word stories about my current, most-used free music sources.

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WCPE radio Internet radio Amazon Music Unlimited
WCPE, theclassicalstation.org, is one of my sources for free music. The station is operated locally (near Raleigh), but has a global audience through streaming. The most common times I listen are when writing or editing and for 40 minutes, 3 times a week, while doing my stretching and strengthening routine. InternetRadio is my most-used source of free music. It’s an aggregator of 8,500 free streaming radio stations organized by popular genres, and I mostly listen to Venice Classic Radio Italia in the classical genre, particularly when I’m writing or editing, and to the SF70s station in the 70s genre otherwise. We are in the midst of a trial Amazon Music Unlimited subscription, for which there is a reminder on our calendar to cancel when the trial ends on January 7, 2026. It’s not a bad service, but there’s so much free music available on the internet, why pay for it?
Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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Finished book #119 in 2025

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Book #119
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland book cover		 Book: The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Author: Jim Defede
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 271 Duration: 12/01/25 – 12/02/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, history, Canada, inspirational
📕10-word summary: Small-town Canadians open their town and hearts to stranded strangers.
🖌6-word review: Poignant, inspirational, well-woven story affirms humanity.
💭An interesting quote: “They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed.”
Description:* When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of United States airspace, the citizens of this small community were called upon to come to the aid of more than 6,000 displaced travelers. “For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed.”*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This is a great, uplifting story of incredibly generous people pouring out their hearts, opening their homes, and spending money (much of it their own) just because, they said, “It was the right thing to do.” I wasn’t familiar with this aspect of 9/11, and I certainly didn’t know that there was a musical, Come from Away, made based on the story. It’s confounding to me how musicals are made based on some books and movies that seem to be pure drama. Bob reminded me, “Look at the musical made about Carrie, based on both the novel and the film!” I have no desire whatsoever to see a play based on this book. If you, like Anne Murray, could use “a little good news,” I couldn’t recommend this book more.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Our menus for 11/30/25 – 12/06/25

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This week’s menus! What strikes your fancy?

Day Meal
11/30/25
Sunday		 •  Turkey & gravy
•  Mashed potatoes
•  Asparagus
•  House salad
12/01/25
Monday		 •  Vegetable soup
•  Clam strips
12/02/25
Tuesday		 •  Butternut squash c̅ meatballs
•  House salad
12/03/25
Wednesday		 •  Egg drop soup
•  PF Chang’s Lo Mein
•  Mixed vegetables
12/04/25
Thursday		 •  Beef enchiladas (John) & beef & been enchiladas (Bob)
•  Mexican rice
•  Cream salad
12/05/25
Friday		 (First Friday LTBG happy hour @ Nomad)
•  Catch-as-catch-can
12/06/25
Saturday		 •  Chicken cordon bleu
•  Sweet potato
•  Brussels sprouts
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Finished book #118 in 2025

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Book #118
The Woman in Me book cover		 Book: The Woman in Me Author: Britney Spears
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 288 Duration: 11/30/25 – 11/30/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, memoir, autobiography, music, mental health, family
📕10-word summary: Britney Spears details the stories behind her very public ordeals.
🖌6-word review: Fascinating, infuriating “rest of the story.”
💭An interesting quote: “In that moment, I made peace with my family — by which I mean that I realized I never wanted to see them again, and I was at peace with that.”
Description:* In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice — her truth — was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey — and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: Just wow.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #117 in 2025

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Book #117
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right book cover		 Book: The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right Author: Atul Gawande
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 208 Duration: 11/30/25 – 11/30/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, business, productivity, medicine, science, psychology, self help
📕10-word summary: How checklists help multiple disciplines — with simple, complicated, complex tasks.
🖌6-word review: Orgasmic for checklist, to-do list nerds.
💭An interesting quote: “The volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely, or reliably.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: Many aviation, construction, and medical terms, procedure, and process names
Description:* In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds. An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I am a to-do list (which is a type of checklist) whore, right up there with being a spreadsheet whore. I loved this book because it shows how something as simple as a checklist can save time, money, and actual lives in various disciplines, such as medicine, aviation, skyscraper construction, & finance. Beyond explaining how, it talks about the research that has gone into devising effective checklists, and testing done to test and refine checklists once devised. The descriptions of how complex the tasks can be in all of those disciplines is both fascinating and mindboggling.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #116 in 2025

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Book #116
The Lane That Leads to Christmas book cover		 Book: The Lane That Leads to Christmas Author: Melanie Lageschulte
Source: Free BookBub download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 280 Duration: 11/27/25 – 11/29/25 (3 days)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Genres: fiction, cozy mystery, Christmas
📕10-word summary: A “priceless” nativity set is stolen from a small-town church.
🖌6-word review: Uninteresting detail not advancing the plot.
💭An interesting quote: “The post office was one of the few organizations that had close contact with residents on a regular basis, and Kate’s boss took its secondary role as a social lifeline very seriously.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: twinset, haymow, archly
Description:* Kate is bracing herself for a blue Christmas. It’s the first since her divorce, most of her decorations are missing after too many moves, and her impulsive gesture of goodwill to one struggling family has spurred debate at the post office. But her troubles take a back seat when a mail stop at one of the area’s oldest churches presents a puzzling dilemma. The rural congregation’s antique nativity set, which was hard-carved by an early settler, has vanished from the altar. As Kate and her friends try to track the artwork’s whereabouts, they are met with a fascinating mix of folklore and facts — along with resistance to their efforts. And the case only gets more complicated as secrets are exposed and new leads are revealed. Can they recover the beloved nativity before the Christmas bells ring?*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I like to read at least one holiday-themed book at this time of the year and unfortunately picked this one. First of all, I automatically assume a “cozy mystery” is going to have a murder in it, but not all of them do. And this one didn’t. So I was bedeviled and impatient waiting for a murder until I realized there wasn’t going to be one. Second of all, the protagonist lived alone with 3 barn cats (all with names), an indoor cat, and a dog, all of which she conversed with in full sentences and often, sometimes for an entire chapter. Annoying. My biggest issue with the book was the amount of detail about things that didn’t advance the plot — the cat chit-chat for example. Get to who stole the nativity already. And as if I wasn’t already cranky enough about the book, my nemesis word, conspiratorially, made an appearance.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #115 in 2025

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Book #115
Notes to John book cover		 Book: Notes to John Author: Joan Didion
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 250 Duration: 11/25/25 – 11/26/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★☆ Genres: nonfiction, memoir, mental health, psychology, alcoholism, parenting
📕10-word summary: Detailed, intimate recollection of therapy sessions written to her husband.
🖌6-word review: Confusing pronoun antecedents. Psychologically fascinating, heartbreaking.
💭A compelling quote: “You don’t always have to look ahead for the bump in the road. Your anticipating the bump won’t make the bump disappear. It’ll still be there. You’re afraid you won’t be prepared to deal with it if you don’t anticipate it, but you will. Your adrenalin kicks in and you deal with it. And meanwhile, you’ve been happy, which gives you more strength to deal with it.”
Description:* For several months, Didion recorded conversations with [her] psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods. There were discussions about her own childhood—misunderstandings and lack of communication with her mother and father, her early tendency to anticipate catastrophe—and the question of legacy, or, as she put it, “what it’s been worth.” The analysis would continue for more than a decade. Didion’s journal was crafted with the singular intelligence, precision, and elegance that characterize all of her writing.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: There is a healthy amount of debate about the ethics of sharing these notes written by Joan Didion to her husband John Dunne accounting her own therapy sessions with her psychiatrist from December 1999 to January 2002. The Guardian contends: Notes to John by Joan Didion review – an invasion of privacy. I’m of the opinion that it’s detailing things that happened to her, so it’s her story to tell. With that said, I do think it’s good that all of the principal players (i.e., Joan herself, her husband, daughter, and psychiatrist) are now dead. This is a fascinating look at what’s been called helicopter parenting (now also being called “lawnmower” or “snowplow” parents), specifically with regards to the inability to see how what seems like is helping a child really isn’t. I took off one star, because I struggled with following the pronoun antecedents used throughout. It takes some getting used to the fact that most times when she’s using “I,” she’s referring to herself, when using, “he,” she’s referring to her psychiatrist, and when using “you,” she’s referring to her husband.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Three 50-word stories about symphony performances I have zero interest in.

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I get, and I actually applaud, the N.C. Symphony for exploring different ways to bring more people into performances.

However, call me a “purist” — which sounds better than “a crotchety old man” — but I have no interest in 3 upcoming “theme night” performances for this holiday season.

“Cirque de la Symphonie” Ugly Sweater Night A Candlelight Christmas

I’ve no interest in Cirque de Soleil when it’s not at the symphony, so it’s no surprise I have no desire to see what seems like a rather arbitrary pairing. For me, a bunch of people swinging around above the musicians would result in a distracting competition for my attention.
I’ve been to a couple of ugly sweater parties — with 20 or so of our closest friends — which have been fun enough. I just don’t see that scaling to 1500+ people, most of whom are complete strangers. It also seems like the kind of themed event that would attract children.
Call me lazy, but I have no desire to hold a candle in my hand for any amount of time, much less for a 90-minute concert. (And yes, I know they’re not heavy.) Since this event sold out last year, it’s great that many people apparently find the idea captivating.
Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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Mom memories

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Many of you might remember my Facebook posts during the years I drove to Greenville, NC almost every Saturday to take my mom to play bingo. Like a lot of posts on social media, they were almost exclusively happy times and memories.

Here’s a memory from my sentence-a-day diary that didn’t make it onto Facebook:

November 25, 2017
Saturday: I took mom to bingo, and she pretty much bitched about Brookdale goings-on and her aches and pains from the minute I got there until bingo started.

And now back to some publicly preferred happy memories:

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Finished book #114 in 2025

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Book #114
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? book cover		 Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Author: Julile Smith
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 368 Duration: 11/23/25 – 11/24/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Genres: nonfiction, self help, psychology, mental health, personal development
📕10-word summary: Psychologist shares skills to maintain mental health, navigate life challenges.
🖌6-word review: Very pragmatic, therapeutic. Free workbook included!
💭A favorite quote: “Thoughts and feelings are not facts; they’re but one view of things.”
Description:* Filled with secrets from a therapist’s toolkit, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? teaches you how to fortify and maintain your mental health, even in the most trying of times. Dr Julie Smith’s expert advice and powerful coping techniques will help you stay resilient, whether you want to manage anxiety, deal with criticism, cope with depression, build self-confidence, find motivation, or learn to forgive yourself. The book tackles everyday issues and offers practical solutions in bite-sized, easy-to-digest entries which make it easy to quickly find specific information and guidance.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’ve read (and already do) a lot of the things talked about in this book, so I wasn’t fascinated or blown away by it. In general about self-help books, I think that one either resonates with you or not. If it resonates, and you’re motivated to change, it can be wildly helpful. (For me, it was 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which I read in the early 1990s.) The thing I liked most about this book is that there is a free, downloadable companion PDF to it, which can be used to actually do the work that this “self-help” book espouses. It’s 308 pages, almost as long as the 368-page book! I might recommend skipping the book and reading the explanations and doing the exercises in the companion piece. The thing about self-help books is that a lot of people think just reading them will “fix” things, when the reality is that you have to practice the ideas and techniques in them to help/improve/fix whatever it is that was the impetus to reading the book to begin with. This book is well written and very structured with recaps and “toolkits” at the end of each section about: Dark Places (about working on “low moods,” which are just this side of diagnosed depression), Motivation, Emotional Pain, Grief, Self-Doubt, Fear, Stress, & A Meaningful Life.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #113 in 2025

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Book #113
No Two Persons book cover		 Book: No Two Persons Author: Erica Bauermeister
Source: Library loan
Format: Print		 Pages: 314 Duration: 11/21/25 – 11/23/25 (4 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: literary fiction, books about books, interconnectedness
📕10-word summary: No two people experience Alice’s book in the same way.
🖌6-word review: Refreshing exploration of a book’s “life.”
💭A favorite quote: “She’d be OK, he told himself, and he needed to be somewhere else. Somewhere so completely else that the grief wouldn’t find him. Ignoring the fact that grief is not a stalker but a stowaway, always there and up for any journey.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: pill bug, blinkered, blowzily, selkie, hardtack
Description:* Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective and presents new pathways forward for their lives.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a refreshing look at how a book is experienced by different readers — still affecting different people in different ways 9 or 10 years after its publication. In addition to learning of each character’s discovery of the book and how it affects their life, an interconnectedness emerges between several of the characters and the book’s author — and then among the readers. This was a Mostly Social Book Club book, chosen by Mary.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Exercise check-in theme and word frequency analysis

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I’ve been “checking in” (on Facebook in the past, and now here on my blog) with a comment about exercising for 15-ish years, and I have a spreadsheet currently containing 477 entries storing the check-ins that I use. What it looks like:

I don’t use one unless it’s been at least a year since I last used it. There are just a couple of exceptions to this, which are ones that are event-related (e.g., Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the end of the calendar year).

The most I’ve used a particular check-in is 12 times, and there are 3 of them at that frequency:

  • My goal was to lose 30 pounds this year. I only have 40 pounds to go.
  • I’m sorry the size of your snow angel reminded you how much you need to get back to the gym. (Used after a snowfall in our area.)
  • I hope you’re not too exhausted from your annual visit to the gym on New Year’s Day.

AI analysis

I was curious as to the themes and frequency of words in my check-ins, so I asked Gemini AI to analyze all 477 of them. Its results:

The content primarily revolves around themes related to health, fitness, and body image. Here are the overall themes and supporting details:

Exercise and physical activity

Many entries discuss exercise routines, workouts, and general physical activity. Words like these are highly frequent, indicating a focus on physical exertion and fitness activities.

Body image and weight management

A significant portion of the content addresses concerns about body size and weight. Words like these highlight discussions around body perception and weight goals, and further emphasize the connection to weight management and eating habits.

Health and wellness concerns

With words like these, the content also touches upon broader health aspects, including interactions with healthcare professionals and personal health goals.

This 2021 blog entry answers these questions frequently asked over the years about my check-ins:

  1. How long have you been doing them?
  2. Do you make them up?
  3. Why don’t you give attribution to the ones you didn’t make up?
  4. Where do you get them?
  5. Did Planet Fitness pay you to post them? (I almost always posted them when I “checked-in” at Planet Fitness on Facebook.)
  6. Why do you post them?
  7. Do you have any criteria for their use?
  8. How do you know how many times you’ve used one or how long it’s been since you last used it?
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Diving Chess: The ultimate physical and intellectual challenge

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On the TV right in front of my elliptical machine at the gym yesterday, I saw the likes of this:

Man underwater at chess board making his move

I have so many questions:

  1. Why???
  2. How have I never heard of this “sport” that’s been around since 2012?
  3. How heavy is that board and how strong are the magnets keeping the pieces on it and at the bottom of the pool?
  4. Why did they change the rule in 2022 to disallow weights on your body to make you have to continuously push the water up with your arms while you’re thinking about your move?

The omniscient internet says regarding the rule change to preclude weights:

“This emphasizes the physical challenge of the sport, requiring players to manage their oxygen levels and natural buoyancy while making a chess move. The inability to use weights means players must expend more energy to stay down, which can burn through their air faster and adds a new layer of strategy and physical endurance to the game.”

Among the statistics presented at the end of a match are:

Forfeits/warnings: The number of times a player surfaces for air without making a move is tracked (a first offense is a warning, a second is a forfeit).

Total time underwater: The accumulated time spent making moves.

Breath-hold duration: Although not an official “statistic” tracked in the final score, a player’s ability to hold their breath for extended periods is a key factor in their performance and is often noted in commentary and related articles.

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Our menus for 11/23/25 – 11/29/25

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This week’s menus! What strikes your fancy?

Day Meal
11/23/25
Sunday		 •  Angus burger sliders
•  French fries
•  House salad
11/24/25
Monday		 •  Grilled chicken breasts
•  Sweet potatoes
•  Brussels sprouts
11/25/25
Tuesday		 •  Shrimp & vegetable stir fry
•  Asian soup
11/26/25
Wednesday		 •  Butternut squash ravioli c̅ meatballs
•  Green beans
11/27/25
Thursday		 (Thanksgiving @ Vivian and Jeff’s; post-dinner visit to Tom & Claire’s)
•  Taking deviled eggs to V&J’s
11/28/25
Friday		 (10-year anniversary gathering)
•  Party food
11/29/25
Saturday		 •  Plan-aheads
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Freezer inventory

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A lot of people have been asking about our freezer inventory, and it has been a while since we’ve provided an update.

Just kidding. Not one single person has asked — or even thought about — our freezer inventory. We’re not that egomaniacal.

That aside, to satiate your subconscious curiosity, here’s the inventory as of 11/23/25 @ 10:13 AM:

KITCHEN FREEZER
1 package of plain green beans 5 spinach egg-white frittatas
1 can OJ 2 Eggo waffles
1 package of butternut squash ravioli 6 pork sausage patties
2 Angus burgers 2 hash brown patties
Tyson chicken bites 15 mozzarella sticks
Meatballs plan-aheads California blend mixed vegetables
Chicken stroganoff plan-aheads 1 jar homemade pesto
1 bag of hash browns Egg nog ice cream
1 package crinkle-cut fries  
HALL FREEZER
2 8-packs of bun size hot dogs Clam strips
1 5-pack of regular hot dogs 1 Motor City supreme pizza
1 21-pack of Nathan’s hot dogs 8 potato skins
1 lb ground turkey PF Chang’s Chicken Lo Mein
1 1-lb package of bacon 1 20-pack flour tortillas
1 bag of shrimp PB&J strawberry uncrustables
1 bag of scallops Classic hummus
2 1-lb packages of linguiça 2 containers whipped topping
1 (2-portion) chicken cordon bleu 1 Casa Cocina queso + 1 Queso-Melt
1 packages of boneless chicken thighs 2 1-lb packages of butter
1 turkey breast loin 1 bag air-fryer french fries
2 chicken breasts 1 12-pack of dinner rolls
1 pkg of cranberry-jalapeno meatballs 4 cinnamon raisin bagels
1 package broccoli/cauliflower/carrots 5 plain bagels
1 package of Brussels sprouts 5 pumpkin bagels
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Finished book #112 in 2025

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Book #112
The Lost Family book cover		 Book: The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Uncovering Secrets, Reuniting Relatives, and Upending Who We Are Author: Libby Copeland
Source: Library book
Format: Print		 Pages: 294 Duration: 11/18/25 – 11/21/25 (4 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, science, genetics, sociology, family, health
📕10-word summary: Personal stories, scientific facts, implications, and consequences of DNA testing
🖌6-word review: Important. More complex than you think.
💭A compelling quote: “I told my mom that the man she told me was my biological father wasn’t my biological father. And she had this look come over her face, and she had to tell me that her uncle had raped her.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: paucity, blithely, pogrom, dross, propinquity, enmities, panoply
Description:* In The Lost Family, journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. She explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: One of the impetuses for reading this book was that within the last year or so, two people in our extended family found out they had children they didn’t know they had. There is so much to this topic! “At-home DNA testing is sometimes called ‘recreational,’ to distinguish it from genetic tests that are ordered by doctors. But its implications can be far more profound than the term ‘recreational’ implies.” Between and among stories of people on personal DNA-related quests, the book includes quite a detailed look at the complex biology of DNA as well as the explosive rate of change in DNA-related technology over relatively few years. I liked the personal stories much more than the biology and technology information (which was usually too much “in the weeds” for my interest; but if you like that kind of stuff, it’s fascinating). The main story, about “Alice” and her family’s search for information about her father’s life is absolutely mindboggling! I used to think that as long as I didn’t give a DNA sample, I would be “safe” from all of the consequences and implications of DNA testing, but this book unequivocally disabused me of that notion. No one’s “safe.”

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Books about books analysis

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At our most recent Mostly Social Book Club I mentioned how I’m drawn to books about books and that I thought the book club members were, too.

Then I said, “It would be interesting to look at the list of books we’ve read over the years and do a little analysis on that theory. I did that very thing, using ChatGPT for the analysis.

I created a table with the books we’ve read that are of the books about books genre, along with a very short description of how books were incorporated into those books:

# Book about books Chosen by How books are incorporated
1 The Memory Library John A library curated by a mother for her daughter; then one by the daughter for her mother
2 The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry Suzanne Curmudgeonly bookstore owner finds a baby on his store’s steps
3 The Little Paris Bookshop Mary Floating bookstore on a barge provides the exact books people need
4 The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club Mary Lady turns derelict building into enchanting bookshop where she starts a bookclub for needful Radcliffe co-eds
5 The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary John Imprisoned — and arguably mad — man helps devise entries for what becomes the OED
6 The Woman in the Library Mary Three interwoven narratives help unravel one woman’s murder in a library
7 The Midnight Library Mary Woman contemplating suicide experiences parallel-universe lives through library-shelf books
8 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Sharon A “blue-skinned” traveling librarian encounters some grateful, some not, people
9 The Personal Librarian John J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian rises meteorically managing his books and papers
10 The Editor John A new writer’s autobiographical novel is picked up by editor Jackie O.
11 The Plot Sharon Previously published writer gets the break he so desperately wants for his next book
12 Dewey: The Small-town Library Cat Who Touched the World Sharon Arguably about books, but about a library, a library’s cat becomes famous around the world

Then I asked ChatGPT: “Please do an analysis of the content in the ‘Chosen by’ column and the ‘How books are incorporated’ column of this table.”

ChatGPT’s analysis of the “Chosen by” column

The books were selected by 4 individuals: John, Mary, Suzanne, and Sharon. The distribution of the 12 books selected is as follows:

  • John selected 4 books.
  • Mary selected 4 books.
  • Sharon selected 3 books.
  • Suzanne selected 1 book.

ChatGPT’s analysis of the “How books are incorporated” column

Based on the “How books are incorporated,” the commonalities in the content fall into 3 main themes:

  1. Libraries, Librarians, and Bookstores as Central Settings:
  2. Professional Roles Centered on Books:
  3. Books/Libraries as a Source of Transformation or Plot Device:

It’s pretty amazing that ChatGPT can glean all that just from those short descriptions I provided.

Intrigued, I did one more exercise. I’ve read a lot of books outside book club, so I repeated the exercise with a list of books about books that I read on my own:

# Book about books How books are incorporated
1 The Jane Austen Book Club 6 people meet monthly to discuss a Jane Austen novel whose plot mirrors relationships they are navigating
2 Hell of a Book An African American author writes a “hell of a book,” in order to get to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden cost exacted upon Black Americans, and America as a whole
3 Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone A writer who creates self-help books on writing uses this background to solve murders, treating the real-life mysteries like one of the fictional whodunits he writes about
4 The Book of Last Letters Nurse creates a book in which potentially dying soldiers can relate “last words” to loved ones
5 Yellowface White author steals and publishes dead Asian author’s next book
6 The Uncommon Reader A queen, who becomes a reader late in life, becomes so passionately obsessed that her public duties begin to suffer
7 The Christmas Book Hunt Woman wants to fulfill seriously ill great-aunt’s wish to be reunited with a long-lost hand-illustrated book from childhood
8 The Bookshop Sisterhood 4 long-time friends go through it (with each other) to open the bookstore of their dreams
9 A Very Bad Thing A bestselling author’s disastrous past comes back to hurt her
10 The Starless Sea A grad student discovers a mysterious book hidden in his college’s library stacks in a “frame narrative” that leads readers from a first story into one or more other stories within it
11 The Marriage Plot A dutiful English major is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels
12 The Bookclub on Waverly Lane A new neighborhood book club unmasks authentic lives of Stepford-wives-like women
13 The Bookstore Sisters Bookstore-owning sisters with bad blood between them reunite to fight
14 Murder in the First Edition Dead woman and missing $60,000 first-edition book instigate an investigation
15 The Sentence Deceased bookstore’s most annoying customer haunts it for a year
16 The Book Woman’s Daughter Daughter of the protagonist in the book “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” carries on her work despite a lingering ornery mule
17 The Liar’s Dictionary A lexicographer inserts fake words, as a form of rebellion and artistic expression, into the dictionary his team is working on
18 I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf How books are collected, used for decoration, inspire us, and treated as sacred objects
19 The Bookshop of Yesterdays Girl inherits bookshop that holds clues to her family’s past
20 The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (and Their Muses) Retirement-home literary legends spar, conjure up new stories, and almost magically change the lives of people around them
21 The End-of-Your-Life Book Club Son and dying mother read together bringing them close as her life comes to a close
22 Byrd A lover of books is living a cloistered life as a bookstore clerk

Then, I fed both tables into ChatGPT and asked it to do the same analysis on the combined set of books:

ChatGPT analysis of the “How books are incorporated” columns of both the MSBC books and John’s books read

Several common themes emerge that describe the central role books and the literary world play in the narratives:

  1. Libraries, Librarians, and Bookstores as Central Settings
     

    2. Both tables feature narratives where the physical locations and professions associated with books are the primary setting or focus of the story:

  2. Authorship, Publishing, and the Creative Process
     

    3. A significant number of books focus on the creation, production, and commerce of literature, involving authors, editors, and the publishing world:

    • The Author’s Life: The plot revolves around the lives and consequences faced by writers, whether they are working on a thesis or dealing with the repercussions of their work.
    • Industry Intrigue: Stories highlight the darker side of the publishing world, including theft and competition.
      • Examples: An author stealing a dead peer’s manuscript (Yellowface), and a new writer being mentored by a famous editor (The Editor).
    • Book Creation: Books are about the creation of specific literary works, such as dictionaries or novels.
  3. The Book as a Catalyst or Plot Device
     

    4. In many cases, a specific, unique book or the act of reading/discussing books is the catalyst for the main action, often involving a mystery or a quest:

    • Quest for an Object: The narrative centers on a search for a unique or sentimental physical book.
    • Metaphorical or Transformative Power: The books themselves have a transformative or symbolic effect on the protagonist.
    • Books for Communication/Connection: Books are created or used as a vessel for communication in times of need.
    • Book Clubs and Shared Reading: Literature is used as a foundation for examining relationships and building community within a group.

What a fun and interesting exercise!

Do you gravitate toward books about books in your reading?

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Three 50-word stories about things I don’t understand.

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Tardiness Carelessness Injudiciousness
How a service provider can be behind schedule on their first appointment. It has happened more than once, more than thrice even. I take the first appointment of the day and get there 15 minutes early. I don’t get called in until 15 or 20 minutes after my appointment time. Why traffic barricades blocking a lane are left up even when no roadwork is going on. You’ve seen the signs: “Lane closed ahead. Merge left.” I can almost understand when it’s overnight, but way more often than they should be, they’re left up all weekend with no work going on. Why some drivers at red traffic lights stop back 4 or 5 feet from the intersection. Often it’s enough room for another car to be in front of them. I always wonder if they’ve been hit from behind in the past and were bumped into the middle of the intersection.
Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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Thank-yous are timeless

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Bob and I are sticklers about sending thank-you notes, as addressed in this set of 3 50-word stories I wrote back in 2021:

Bob’s mother was a writer, and she owned this book:

Copyright 1955, Eaton Paper Corporation

It’s old now, but (most of) its principles still stand. It’s a short 27-page book, and 5 of those pages are about letters that must be written:

Of course, this day and age, this corollary is also true: “For example, it would never do for a young groom to reply on the telephone to a written dinner invitation from his wife’s employer!”

These are the 10 occasions for which a letter is a must — 3 of which are thank-you related:

“Thank you for the gift”
The receipt of even the most trifling gift must be acknowledged by letter.

“Thank you for the weekend”
You must write a “bread-and-butter letter” to your hostess to show that you have appreciated her hospitality.

“Thank you for the favor”
If a friend has shown special courtesy to a member of your family — if she has put herself out in any way to help you, it is imperative that you write a note to show her how grateful you are.

“Mr. and Mrs. accept with thanks”
Since all invitations should be written, it is necessary to acknowledge an invitation with a written reply.

“Bon voyage and best wishes”
To be correct, a hand-written note on your personal visiting card should accompany every gift.

“I enjoyed your letter so much”
Every letter you receive from a friend demands a letter in reply. However, if someone owes you a letter, do not stubbornly refuse to write until it is “your turn.” 😂 Write whenever you feel the urge.

“Best wishes for the holiday”
Your written message, no matter how short, means twice as much, especially at Christmas or other holidays.

“Congratulations and best wishes”
Whether it’s a new baby, a new job, a new husband (😂), or a graduation, a letter is the gracious way of expressing your pleasure.

“We hope you’ll get well soon”
A letter written to a friend who is sick is the most appreciated thoughtfulness.

“My deep-felt sympathy”
When a person is bereaved the simple, sincere expressions of sympathy you write are deeply felt and appreciated.

Here’s Bob and I waiting for our thank-you notes, if you owe us one:

Spanky Waiting GIFfrom Spanky GIFs

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Finished book #111 in 2025

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Book #111
No Conscience book cover		 Book: No Conscience Author: Phil M. Williams
Source: Free BookBub download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 333 Duration: 11/16/25 – 11/18/25 (3 days)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Genres: fiction, thriller, mystery, drama
📕10-word summary: A sociopathic mother wreaks havoc on unlikeable, unsympathetic family characters.
🖌6-word review: Too much tell, not enough show.
💭A favorite quote: “The walls were barren, the decor jail-cell chic.”
Description:* Wes Shaw’s different than his siblings—darker, awkward, the perpetual ne’er-do-well. Mary Shaw’s the doting mother, showering her children with gifts from the heart and the pocketbook. The Shaws have survived divorce and death, but something sinister is in their midst. The truth threatens to tear them apart. The lies threaten to tear them apart. Which side will each choose?*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I cared not one iota about the characters in this book, and it seemed like the author must have been “burned” by a sociopath in his life. At the end, one of the characters sends an email to his siblings with the definition of a sociopath in it, including 21 (yes, they’re numbered) signs of a sociopath, followed by 12 enumerated (yes, again, numbered) examples of what makes their mother a sociopath, followed by 7 enumerated things one should do if they encounter a sociopath. Wait, is this a textbook? I can’t roll my eyes far enough back into my head to do justice to this writing “device.” Don’t read this book if you’re not a masochist.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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From my sentence-a-day diary for this day for the past 12 years

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On this day in past years:

2025
Tuesday: I did an analysis of the books I’ve read (including Mostly Social Book Club books) of the genre books about books.

2024
Monday: Vivian & Jeff visited after appointments with Nathan and an estate planning attorney, and the Fusion has been sluggish to start and the indicators (gas & temperature) keep resetting after the car has been turned off a bit, so I dropped it off at Brown’s Alignment & Auto Repair to have the battery checked.

2023
Saturday: We went to Christina & John Ramono’s “fry-out,” along with Wayne Wilson, David Stratton, and Christina & John’s friends Margaret & Brian Clement and Dana Deaton & Finley Lee, and it was a great time with deep-fried french fries, mushrooms, pumpkin pie bites, and Hostess Twinkies pieces.

2022
Friday: I met Shannon Schorey at the northwest Cary La Farm Bakery for lunch, and Clint brought (Claire Hakin’s and Pat Hayden’s) Tupperware orders over and Claire joined Clint, Matt, & Dillon for happy hour, which (after Claire left) ended up extending late into the evening culminating with Bob making breakfast for everyone and Dillon loading our dishwasher.  

2021
Thursday: I took PTO for the morning for my PT session (8-9) and an Ameriprise financial planning meeting with Bob, and I presented my email editing analysis work at our Content team meeting, which was received with much appreciation and many affirmations.

2020
Wednesday: I ran to the Fayetteville Street post office to mail back an adapter that we accidentally took from Darren and Sandra Anderson’s cottage on Cape Cod that we rented for a month, and we received Anne and Dan’s notice that this year’s holiday “tween” gathering is being canceled due to the pandemic.

2019
Monday: The Open Studio area in the Red Hat Tower opened today, we moved our offices to the other end of the building, and Bob and I watched several season 2 episodes of Schitt’s Creek.

2018
Sunday: We had book club at Crossroads, and we discussed Logical Family: A memoir.

2017
Saturday: I took mom to bingo, stopped for Burger King chicken sandwiches on the way, and she just made a donation tonight, although she did win $200 on Wednesday.

2016
Friday: I was sick as a dog today, with what felt like the same stomach issues I had last Friday on the second day of our retreat, and I spent 3 hours (2 in the a.m., 1 in the p.m.) sleeping in the Wellness room at Red Hat.

2015
Wednesday: I drove to Greenville to take mom to bingo, and I spent the time working on the playlist for the birthdays CD we’re going to give out at the “surprise” birthday party on the Friday night before our wedding.

2014
Tuesday: I had lunch at Oak City Meatball Shoppe (which closed in 2024) with the Red Hatters to orient Colby Hoke on our processes.

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Meta is about to start grading workers on their AI skills (3-minute read)

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Meta plans to tie employee performance to their “AI-driven impact” starting next year. The company will assess employees on how they use AI to deliver results and build tools that can move the needle in a major way in regards to productivity.

Meta is rolling out an “AI Performance Assistant” to help with performance reviews and feedback to use in this year’s performance review cycle. Employees can also use Meta’s internal assistant, Metamate, as well as Google Gemini, for their performance content.

Read the article on AOL.

Sources:
•  TLDR. (2025, November 17). TLDR Newsletter. https://a.tldrnewsletter.com/web-version?ep=1&lc=f5cb7e17-003d-11ed-9258-0241b9615763&p=97c204ce-c395-11f0-87fd-89d261ee23b3&pt=campaign&t=1763380769&s=6101acfed2930ed36d57aedbe8c0ed59f740e671a80a39755dd92401b2f9001d
•  Mann, J. (2025, November 14). Meta is about to start grading workers on their AI skills. AOL. Retrieved November 17, 2025, from https://www.aol.com/articles/meta-start-grading-workers-ai-194500326.html

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Finished book #110 in 2025

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Book #110
Homesick for Another World book cover		 Book: Homesick for Another World Author: Ottessa Moshfegh
Source: Library loan
Format: Print		 Pages: 294 Duration: 11/15/25 – 11/16/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: literary fiction, short stories, science fiction
📕10-word summary: 14 dark short stories featuring longing, isolated, and discontented characters.
🖌6-word review: Classic Moshfegh. Icky, yet realistic, revelations.
💭A few favorite quotes:

  • “The house smelled like garlic and laundry.”
  • “It wouldn’t be fair to call me a snob and my brother trash, but it wouldn’t be far from accurate.”
  • “My poor wife. I didn’t know how little I loved her until she was dead.”
  • “A few times we even tried to recapture whatever odd coincidence of lonesomeness and availability we’d found together that first summer in Alna, but inevitably one of our body parts would fail us — sometimes his, sometimes mine.”
  • “You know women. Stray, cats, all of them, either purring in your lap or pissing in your shoes.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: padded, mottled, cornichon, melasma
Description:* [A]s many critics noted, Moshfegh is particularly held in awe for her short stories. Homesick for Another World is the rare case where an author’s short story collection is if anything more anticipated than her novel. And for good reason. There’s something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh’s stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This is my third Ottessa Moshfegh book, following Eileen (read in 2018) and My Year of Rest and Relaxation (read in 2020), which is enough for me to say that this is “classic Moshfegh.” Moshfegh has cited the poet and novelist Charles Bukowski as an influence on her work. And like Bukowski, she creates characters who are considered socially deprived and isolated. This book comprises 14 short stories, and here are 6 of them with synopses for a flavor of her characters and topics: Bettering Myself: A teacher who despises her students becomes paralyzed by the fear of her own success when she is given a chance to leave her job. Malibu: A man manipulates his disabled uncle into making him his sole heir. Mr. Wu: A man sabotages a potential relationship before it can even begin. The Beach Boy: A widower seeks revenge at the resort where his wife may have cheated on him with a male prostitute. A Dark and Winding Road: A man goes to his parents’ cabin to spite his pregnant wife and ends up having an affair with his brother’s girlfriend. A Better Place: The collection’s final story, a dark fairy tale about two siblings who believe they don’t belong on Earth and decide they must kill someone to return to their true home.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #109 in 2025

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Book #109
People Love Dead Jews book cover		 Book: People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present Author: Dara Horn
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 237 Duration: 11/11/25 – 11/14/25 (4 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, Jewish, history, Judaism, religion, essays, politics, Holocaust
📕10-word summary: Challenging contemplation of why there’s unremitting fascination with Jewish deaths.
🖌6-word review: Important. Requires vulnerability, rigorous intellectual investment.
💭A favorite quote: “When a young employee at the Anne Frank House tried to wear his yarmulke to work, his employers told him to hide it under a baseball cap. The museum’s goal was “neutrality,” one spokesperson explained to the British newspaper Daily Mail, and a live Jew in a yarmulke might “interfere” with the museum’s “independent position.” The museum finally relented after deliberating for 4 months, which seems like a rather long time for the Anne Frank House to ponder whether it was a good idea to force a Jew into hiding.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: Many Jewish cultural and religious words
Description:* Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture — and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly antisemitic attacks—Horn was troubled to realize what all of these assignments had in common: she was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones. In these essays, Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster traveling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China, and the little-known life of the “righteous Gentile” Varian Fry. Throughout, she challenges us to confront the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths, and so little respect for Jewish lives unfolding in the present.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: A friend of mine (who, FWIW, is not Jewish) recommended this book to me, and boy am I glad she did. It’s incredibly educational and thought-provoking in terms of getting you to take a look at your own beliefs (and prejudices, many not obvious) about Judaism and the Holocaust. For one thing, I’ll stop telling the (not true) story that my Portuguese grandparents dropped the “s” off the end of our last name at Ellis Island when they emigrated here from The Azores. This book also helped me understand what it is about Holocaust novels that just doesn’t sit right with me — enough that I’m not interested in reading any more of them. I recommend this book highly and unequivocally. This is a comprehensive review of the book by Katherine E. Aron-Beller of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #108 in 2025

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Book #108
The Hush book cover		 Book: The Hush Author: John Hart
Source: Friend loan
Format: Print		 Pages: 432 Duration: 11/09/25 – 11/14/25 (6 days)
Rating: ★★★★☆ Genres: fiction, mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, fantasy, supernatural
📕10-word summary: An enigmatic man on dangerously haunted land confronts its demons.
🖌6-word review: Sometimes confusing. Stephen King-ish at times.
💭A favorite quote: “The receptionist was as polished as the marble floor.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: scree, hardscrabble, keening, understory, pocosin, manumission
Description:* It’s been 10 years since the events that changed Johnny Merrimon’s life and rocked his hometown to the core. Since then, Johnny has fought to maintain his privacy, but books have been written of his exploits; the fascination remains. Living alone on 6,000 acres of once-sacred land, Johnny’s only connection to normal life is his old friend, Jack. They’re not boys anymore, but the bonds remain. What they shared. What they lost. But Jack sees danger in the wild places Johnny calls home; he senses darkness and hunger, an intractable intent. Johnny will discuss none of it, but there are the things he knows, the things he can do. A lesser friend might accept such abilities as a gift, but Jack has felt what moves in the swamp: the cold of it, the unspeakable fear.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’d never heard of this author, so when I saw this book at a friend’s house, I borrowed it. I’m not a big fan of the fantasy, supernatural, or horror genres, but I gave this a go anyway. Overall it was a compelling story, but it had a lot of characters (sometimes called by their first name, sometimes by their last, which confused me sometimes — with some “Now who is this character again?” noise in my head. And with so many characters, dialogue tags were essential but missing enough times that I thought, “Whose line is whose in this dialogue exchange right now?” a little too often. I definitely got some “Stephen King vibes” more than once while reading this — think It. This is the 2nd in a 2-book series, but it stood on its own, and I’m not interested in reading the first book in the series.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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An act of kindness

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Yesterday was World Kindness Day, and I did my part to “bring joy” to someone with “a random act of kindness.”

My friend, who occasionally bartends while pursuing her dream of being a comedian, recently made the above post about an incident.

I made a greeting card with that quote on the outside and added the “World Kindness Day!” heading to it, and on the inside, I included:

I found out where she was working last night, and I went to that bar and had a couple of drinks while I caught up with her. I added a 50% tip to that bill, and said my goodbyes.

Before I left the bar, though, I watched her go in the back for something, and I gave the card to one of her co-workers to give to her once I was gone.

A little bit later, I got this text from her:

My work here is done. And my heart is full.

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🍌 🌞 🪑

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I had my annual Medicare Wellness Visit, which “is not a physical exam, but rather a planning session that includes a health risk assessment, a review of your medical history, medications, lifestyle, and a discussion of recommended screenings.”

This visit starts with getting 3 words to remember, and to recall later in the visit. My three words for today were:

  1. banana
  2. sunrise
  3. chair

To help me remember them, I pictured myself sitting in a beach chair, watching the sunrise, with a banana in my drink and wondering where the rum is.

Next in the visit is to draw an (analog) clock with the hands set to a particular time, which this time was 11:10.

As I do each year now during this part, I wonder what “these kids today” who don’t know how to tell time on an analog clock do for this simple Alzheimer’s detection test.

The rest of the visit is spent on one of the several variations of the SAGE (Self-Administered Geocognitive Examination) assessment, of which this is one example:





Other formats of the SAGE assessment forms are available on this Ohio State University website.

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Three “trashy” 50-word stories.

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This week’s stories are by a “guest author” — my husband, Bob McVeigh!
 
Rules Service Predilection
Friday is trash day in our neighborhood. Bins must be out by 7:30AM, on the curb, wheels facing out. Pickup is typically between 8AM and 10AM. Household trash weekly, recycle and yard waste alternate weeks. Bins must not be overloaded, recycling not bagged, yard waste without debris, no construction trash. I started taking in a few neighbors’ bins a few years ago when I noticed TR’s bins, two doors down, were left on the curb for days. She’s single and often works until way after dark, so I thought I’d do her a favor. She sometimes thanks us with bourbon. Not that I’m particular, but I think the bins should be placed in a certain order. Closest to the house door should be recycling, next trash, and then yard waste. Often the trash is not filled weekly, yard waste typically just monthly. The recycle bin is definitely the most used.
Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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AI turns brain scans into full sentences and it’s eerie to say the least (8-minute read)

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‘Mind captioning’ is a method developed at NTT Communication Science Laboratories in Japan that uses a blend of brain images and AI to generate text descriptions of what people are seeing (or even visualizing) based only on their neural patterns. In tests, the system was able to correctly describe scenes viewed by participants about half the time, even when presented with a hundred possibilities — and even when participants were just visualizing the scenes in their mind.

The technology is still far from being a mind-reading device, but it could have serious ethical implications when it becomes more capable.

Read the article on ZME Science.

Sources:
•  TLDR. (2025, November 7). TLDR Newsletter. https://a.tldrnewsletter.com/web-version?ep=1&lc=f5cb7e17-003d-11ed-9258-0241b9615763&p=84c5e47a-bbbc-11f0-8862-cd15a38dd90c&pt=campaign&t=1762516721&s=fe0c4ab202cbf1eee99bef73a8587f9a8fef8f2698d09a15f5bd93f204f0c732
•  Puiu, T. (2025, November 6). AI turns brain scans into full sentences And it’s eerie to say the least. ZME Science. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://www.zmescience.com/future/ai-turns-brain-scans-into-full-sentences-and-its-eerie-to-say-the-least/

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Finished book #107 in 2025

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Book #107
Tattoos on the Heart book cover		 Book: Tattoos on the Heart Author: Gregory Boyle
Source: Library loan
Format: Print		 Pages: 217 Duration: 11/08/25 – 11/08/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★☆ Genres: nonfiction, memoir, Christian, religion, spirituality, faith, gangs
📕10-word summary: What true compassion looks like — from a gang-intervention program’s perspective.
🖌6-word review: Educational, thought-provoking stories about compelling people.
💭A favorite quote: “Forget Kleenex. Forget handkerchief. Soledad is sobbing into a huge bath towel. And the few of us there found our arms too short to wrap around this kind of pain.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: pyrrhic, recalcitrant, braggadocio, tertianship, Garpian dread, salvific
Description:* For 20 years, Father Gregory Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles — also known as the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, he has distilled his experience working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JC Penney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God’s love. From 10-year-old Pipi, we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Lula, we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the dark — as Father Boyle phrases it, we can only shine a flashlight on a light switch in a darkened room.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This book was enthusiastically and highly recommended by a friend. The message in this book is unequivocally a “5-star” one — even to an atheist reader in spite of it being completely steeped in Christian values and beliefs. I wish my rating scale had ½ stars, so I could have given it 4½ stars instead of 4. The “½-star struggle” I had with it was that there are a lot of slang terms in it (many left to decipher by context), and there are a lot of (untranslated) Spanish words/phrases/sentences in it. (Full disclosure: I speak pretty much zero Spanish.) Complicating that, many of the slang terms were in Spanish. While reading this book, I thought a lot about my friend Hugh, who gave his heart to people experiencing homelessness in his Loves Wins Ministry work in the Raleigh, NC area. This seems like the kind of book he could write from the compelling stories and insights he used to share about that work when he was doing it. I’d only recommend this book with some caveats, the main one being with regards to non-religious people. They’d have to be someone who I believe would open their hearts to the message despite the deeply religious wrapper it’s in. With all that said, I’m glad I read it. I found the education about gang-intervention approaches alone worth the price of admission. I also think Gregory Boyle should be made a saint whenever “the rules” (which are quite rigorous) allow it.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Our menus for 11/09/25 – 11/15/25

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We are good to go for next week! What strikes your fancy?

Day Meal
11/09/25
Sunday		 •  Ham
•  Scalloped potatoes
•  Orange sesame chopped salad
11/10/25
Monday		 •  Pumpkin sausage soup
•  Green beans
•  Cornbread
11/11/25
Tuesday		 •  PF Chang’s General Chang Chicken
•  Asian noodle soup
•  Applesauce
11/12/25
Wednesday		 •  Cod
•  Corn & peppers
•  House salad
11/13/25
Thursday		 •  Chicken cordon bleu
•  Green beans + yellow beans & carrots medley
•  Mashed potatoes
11/14/25
Friday		 •  Über Wisconsin sandwiches
•  Tomato soup
11/15/25
Saturday		 •  Jazzy Jambalaya soup
•  Clam strips
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Misaddressed greeting

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The irony is not lost on me that our mail carrier who’s been delivering mail to “Bob” and “John” for 10 years now, and who hasn’t ever really addressed me by name, has suddenly decided to — and she’s made the bold choice to go with, “Hello, Paul” when she does.

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Finished book #106 in 2025

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Book #106
The Women of Arlington Hall book cover		 Book: The Women of Arlington Hall Author: Jane Healey
Source: Free First Reads download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 329 Duration: 11/06/25 – 11/06/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: historical fiction, romance, World War II
📕10-word summary: A female codebreaker gets herself in the thick of things.
🖌6-word review: Fast-paced, somewhat-educational, with intelligent female protagonist.
💭A favorite quote: “The choices a person makes in life are shaped and influenced by a complicated calculus of time and circumstances and chance.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: bandbox, bodhran, lothario, peplum, star-crossed
Description:* 1947: Adventurous Radcliffe graduate Catherine “Cat” Killeen cancels her wedding and upends a future that no longer suits her. At the behest of her professor and hungry for a challenge, Cat arrives in Virginia to work on a confidential military project. A student in cryptoanalysis, Cat is already ahead of the game—to assist in rooting out Soviet spies who have infiltrated the US. Joining the “government girls” of Arlington Hall, Cat gains the respect of her superiors and the friendship of her peers. Then, on a night out in DC, Cat runs into Jonathan Dardis, her arrogant and privileged Harvard rival and newly minted agent for the FBI. What Cat and Jonathan share is a competitive drive and an attraction that’s becoming just as spirited. They’re also united in the same critical goal for America. Together, they’re diving deep into the shadows of espionage.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This was a free download from the choice of July 2025 Amazon First Reads, and I was afraid this book was going to be nonfiction and similar to Hidden Figures, so I was pleased to find that it was not like that at all. (Not that that wasn’t a compelling story!) In this historical fiction story, I liked Catherine (Cat), the smart (Radcliffe graduate), the fact that she called off her wedding on her wedding day, made smart, likeable co-worker friends, and quickly became recognized as a significant, respected contributor to her codebreaking department and its mission. I also appreciated the Author’s Notes included at the end of the book, which explained that: “This is a work of fiction, but it is inspired by and incorporates true events and real people. Codebreaking and the early days of the Cold War are both complex and layered subjects, and to write a novel inspired by that era means honoring the historical facts.”

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #105 in 2025

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Book #105
Isola book cover		 Book: Isola Author: Allegra Goodman
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 346 Duration: 11/04/25 – 11/05/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: historical fiction, literary fiction, France, romance, survival, Canada
📕10-word summary: Epic saga of love, faith, and defiance in reimagined history.
🖌6-word review: Forceful writing with venerable female protagonist.
💭A favorite quote: “And that is when I saw his soul rising from his body.” “How could you tell it was his soul and not smoke from the tapers?” “The smoke was gray. His soul was white.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: virginal, bandolier, citrine, approbation, abnegation
Description:* Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian’s servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished and abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue. Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she’d never before needed.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I saw this in my daily BookBub email, and it sounded interesting. Since it wasn’t free, I got on my library‘s waiting list on August 13, 2025 at #132, and it became available 2 days ago on November 4, 2025. Inspired by the real life of a 16th-century heroine, Isola is a story of a woman fighting for survival. It covers her saga from 1431-1544, during which she suffers more loss in short enough time that it wouldn’t be surprising if she became a hoarder one day. The narrator sounded British, so there were a lot of “enna-things” and “evrah-things” throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, albeit it was pretty intense at times, especially with regards to death and killing. This was my first book by this author, and I would consider reading another someday.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #104 in 2025

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Book #104
The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie book cover		 Book: The Widow’s Husband’s Secret Lie Author: Freida McFadden
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 152 Duration: 11/04/25 – 11/04/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, mystery, thriller, humor, satire, novella
📕10-word summary: A woman has killed her husband. But has she really?
🖌6-word review: Satirical mind and word games entertain.
💭A favorite quote: “The director of the psychiatric ward is my father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former college roommate.”
Description:* My husband is dead. I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car. My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back. So why do I still see his face everywhere I go?*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: This was a wild little ride with malapropisms, mondegreens, & memes. Make sure you firmly plant your tongue in your cheek as you start.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #103 in 2025

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Book #103
The Life We Bury book cover		 Book: The Life We Bury Author: Allen Eskens
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 306 Duration: 11/03/25 – 11/03/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, mystery, thriller, crime, suspense
📕10-word summary: A wrongly convicted, terminally ill man makes a dying declaration.
🖌6-word review: Fast-paced, confounding crime mystery unravels compellingly.
💭A favorite quote: “Add to that cauldron an ever increasing measure of cheap vodka — a form of self-medication that quelled the inner scream but amplified the outer crazy — and you get a picture of the mother I left behind.”
🎓A new-to-me word: vacuous
Description:* College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe’s life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran–and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder. As Joe writes about Carl’s life, especially Carl’s valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I loved this book, because it was one of those stories where you can’t figure out how something that seems so “black and white” or “open and shut” could have happened any other way. But then, like Paul Harvey’s radio program of yesteryear, The Rest of the Story, another perspective reveals how it did. I also liked how the climax didn’t happen until pretty much the very last page. I might very well make this a Mostly Social Book Club book in the future.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Finished book #102 in 2025

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Book #102
Nobody Wants Your Sh*t book cover		 Book: Nobody Wants Your Sh*t Author: Messie Condo
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 194 Duration: 11/03/25 – 11/03/25 (1 day)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: nonfiction, self help, humor, how to, personal development, reference health
📕10-word summary: Freeing yourself and family from f*cking clutter before you croak.
🖌6-word review: Laugh-out-loud funny, sarcastic, and wicked smart.
💭A favorite quote: “Hold onto the gratitude — that’s the important part — and let the thing go.”
Description:* Inspired by The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Nobody Wants Your Sh*t will light a fire under your untidy ass with humor and helpful organizing tips that you’ll actually want to use. Like a delightfully foul-mouthed best friend, this book dishes out the funny, unpretentious advice you need to hear most. You’ll discover how to deal with your sh*t like there’s no tomorrow, live in the moment without the f*cking mess, and make your life and your eventual death a hell of a lot easier. With this witty guide, you’ll learn how to: ditch the d*mn indecision, get your sh*t together and feel fantastic, and give your busy family a f*cking break… and more! Whether you’re getting ready to move in, move on, or just move your ass, Nobody Wants Your Sh*t will help you take control of your f*cking life.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I have heard of both The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and Marie Kondo, but I didn’t know that 1) “after the birth of Marie Kondo’s third child, her rigorous attitude towards tidying her home relaxed in order to make room for more personal priorities at this stage of her life,” and 2) there’s an author who goes by the pseudonym of Messie Condo who has written 2 parodies — so far, and this being one of them — based on the ideas of the Swedish death cleaning concept and Marie Kondo’s writing. I loved this writer’s “voice” (copious curse words included), and I laughed out loud and cackled a lot while reading it. It came across as very real to me, particularly by nailing human nature and calling all of us on our bullshit. I highly recommend the audiobook version read by Hillary Huber.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Three 50-word stories about seeing the word “séance” used three times in one day.

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Connections puzzle Bob’s movie John’s book
My husband and I are both big fans of coincidences and of words. So, imagine our delight when the word “séance” appeared three times in one day. On Wednesday, 10/29/25, the purple category for the NYT’s Connection puzzle was “Words starting with the ‘say’ sound”: SACRUM, SEITAN, SEYCHELLES, and SÉANCE. On that same day, my husband Bob — who is an avid movie watcher and who rates and writes a 10-word summary and a 6-word review for each — was watching Count Yorga, Vampire, and his summary of the 1970 movie was: “Friends learn handsome séance medium is vampire; vampire shenanigans ensue.” On that same day, I was reading my 99th book of 2025, The Lost Husband, in which one of the characters fancies herself as having the ability to speak with the dead and offers to do a séance with another character whose husband had died a couple of years previously.
Read other 50-word stories that I’ve written.

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Finished book #101 in 2025

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Book #101
The First Witch of Boston book cover		 Book: The First Witch of Boston Author: Andrea Catalano
Source: Free First Reads download
Format: Kindle		 Pages: 326 Duration: 10/30/25 – 11/01/25 (3 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: historical fiction, witches, romance, witchcraft
📕10-word summary: An outspoken healer is accused, convicted of being a witch.
🖌6-word review: Fictional-but-believable account of the time’s hysteria.
💭A favorite quote: “He doubted that the Widow Hallett had ever lifted anything heavier than her skirts.”
🎓Some new-to-me words: poultice, pillories, mithridates, umbilicus, doublet, poppets, quim, physic, milksop, imperious, doxy, capotain, petitgrain, Beltane, maleficium, bodkin
Description:* Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1646. Thomas and Margaret Jones arrive from England to build a life in the New World. Though of differing temperaments, cautious Thomas and fiery Margaret, a healer, are bound by a love that has lasted decades. With a child on the way, their new beginning promises only blessings. But in this austere Puritan community, comely faces hide malicious intent. Wrong moves or words are met with suspicion, and Margaret’s bold and unguarded nature draws scorn. Soon, Margaret is mistrusted as more cunning woman than kind caregiver. And when personal tragedies, religious hysteria, and wariness of the unknown turn most against her, even the devotion Margaret and her husband share is at risk.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: Being from Massachusetts, I find its witch-hunting history an interesting topic, although I’m not fascinated or obsessed with it by any means. Many of the reviewers who didn’t like this book cited “gratuitous” and “explicit” sexual details as a reason, which I didn’t find to be the case. Others complained that it wasn’t “historically accurate,” which I didn’t mind — as it’s called historical fiction for a reason. And yet others complained that both its title and its prologue were “spoilers.” Well, there are plenty of books that start off with an incident, and then go back and tell you how it happened, which was the case here and wasn’t at all a deterrent to my reading. I liked how outspoken the protagonist was and thought the author did a good job showing how the word and actions of women during that time of hysteria were misinterpreted and misrepresented. Also, I’m a fan of epistolary elements in novels.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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Halloween 2025

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Happy Hollow Weenie!

With Bob as the Invisible Man, and I wearing my Dancing Pumpkin Man shirt and mask that Bob made us last year, we enjoyed cocktails and pizza while greeting trick-or-treaters on our friend Sam and Neal’s front porch.

Bob, inspired by the 1933 movie, The Invisible Man.

John, inspired by the Dancing Pumpkin Man.

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