May’s Mutterings: Rants and Ramblings
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Spring Break 2022
Our last spring break together as a family was in March (yes, this entry is a bit late). We really have no grounds for complaint, however. For several years, the college spring break for Jade coincided with the high school spring break for Marcus, and so we eked out a couple more years of spring…
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Book review: Beyond by Mercedes Lackey
Beyond by Mercedes Lackey My rating: 4 of 5 stars Prequels are difficult. Because the readers (assuming they have read the subsequent books) know how the book turns out, it’s difficult to build up suspense. And origin prequels are especially difficult because everything isn’t supposed to work quite as smoothly as in the subsequent series…
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Book review: Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron
Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron My rating: 3 of 5 stars I had read the first of this series a long time ago because it’s Jane Austen and a mystery, what is there not to like? But as I recall, the debut novel didn’t grab me, and as my TBR…
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Book review: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was really looking forward to reading this memoir, and it did not disappoint. Michelle Zauner isn’t perhaps the most likeable person, especially as she relates her childhood, but she is bluntly honest about herself, her relationship with her mother, and her…
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Book review: Cinderella Must Die by W.R. Gingell
Cinderella Must Die by W.R. Gingell My rating: 4 of 5 stars A re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale that turns everything you know on its head. In this version, the evil stepsisters are good, and Cinderella is bad. Now the stepsisters are accused of escaping from prison, killing Cinderella, and are on the run.…
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University of Kansas Basketball
We have extremely good friends (family, really) who are huge KU basketball fans and invited us to go see a game with them the first weekend of March. (To my K-State peeps: you know that I will always bleed purple and white, but the dodo bird in primary colors does have its moments, especially when…
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Book review: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton My rating: 3 of 5 stars A lighthearted frothy fantasy/romance. The book ostensibly takes place during the Victorian period and has many of the components of a Regency romance (I use “Regency romance” broadly and not at all accurately when it comes to time periods). The…
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2022 Disneyworld Princess 10K
This was our 3rd Princess 10K event (last year’s event being cancelled due to some random virus). We walked this one, as Jim had had an accident on the treadmill over Thanksgiving and had not yet been cleared by his cardiologist to exercise. (For the record, walking a 10K does not count as exercise!)While we…
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Book review: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Erik Larson is fast becoming one of my favorite non-fiction authors. Who else could take 2 years from World War II and turn it into compelling reading about Winston Churchill and…
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Book review: Death in the Off-Season by Francine Mathews
Death in the Off-Season by Francine Mathews My rating: 4 of 5 stars First in a mystery series. (Because, of course, why finish any of the many other series I’ve started? I am beginning to think I have commitment issues.)This was a fun and good read, with interesting characters and a well-constructed plot. It helps…
Got any book recommendations?