Book help, please!
Jan. 11th, 2026 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravurianI made the grave precedent-setting mistake of buying the first of 5 nieces and nephews turning 10 this year ten books for his birthday, and now, now I have to do the same for the rest of them, jaysus. Insofar as I'd thought about it at all, I'd perhaps thought I could just buy the same set 4 more times, but it turns out that I have bought a lot of books for these kids and their older siblings over the years, and also, you know, that kids of 10 have individual personalities (??) and tastes (??) and don't all like the same things (??), and also that I have no idea about kids books published in the last 10-15 years. So: help? Let's assume that I've already covered the Tiffany Aching books, the Chrestomanci books, the Borrowers, Dark is Rising, the Snow Spider trilogy, the Hounds of the Morrigan, the Green Knowe books, Howl's Moving Castle &c, the Chronicles of Prydain, etc, and things like Westall's The Machine Gunners and Serraillier's The Silver Sword.
I am specifically looking for books a 10-year-old girl whose reading tastes run to things like Diary of a Wimpy kid might like. I've found the Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell, and someone the other day recommended
Dracula & Daughters by Emma Carroll, but: HELP please. I am a fossil. I know only old books!
I am specifically looking for books a 10-year-old girl whose reading tastes run to things like Diary of a Wimpy kid might like. I've found the Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell, and someone the other day recommended
Dracula & Daughters by Emma Carroll, but: HELP please. I am a fossil. I know only old books!
The Manicurist's Daughter by Susan Lieu
Jan. 11th, 2026 07:13 amaltamira16Susan Lieu is the daughter of two people who fled Communism in Vietnam. She grows up in the family's nail salon in California with her siblings, her parents, and her aunts.
( Something bad happens. )
In college, Lieu joins a cult as she searches for a mother figure.
She turns a reflection on loss, where she is going through the stages of grief slowly without the support of her family, into a performance that is finally turned into this book.
Her relationship with food throughout this book made me squeamish. She is overeating because she wants to show obedience, that she will not waste food. Then, she may be overeating because she loves food. Her relatives are constantly body shaming her telling her that she will get fat if she eats too much but also constantly serving delicious food. Life is hard.
( Something bad happens. )
In college, Lieu joins a cult as she searches for a mother figure.
She turns a reflection on loss, where she is going through the stages of grief slowly without the support of her family, into a performance that is finally turned into this book.
Her relationship with food throughout this book made me squeamish. She is overeating because she wants to show obedience, that she will not waste food. Then, she may be overeating because she loves food. Her relatives are constantly body shaming her telling her that she will get fat if she eats too much but also constantly serving delicious food. Life is hard.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Jan. 11th, 2026 08:30 amjames_davis_nicoll
Tales of America's thrilling genocide on and colonization of Mars!
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Yuletide 2025
Jan. 11th, 2026 01:18 pmravenHere's a bit of admin I didn't manage to do while I was away. For yuletide this year, I got the following story from ryfkah:
More A Comment Than A Question (2285 words) by ryfkah
Fandom: The Day Before the Revolution - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Characters: Laia Asieo Odo, Sadik (The Dispossessed)
I was caught right in the maelstrom of the day 1 de-anonning - as in, had opened the tab with the author's name on it and then went back to the laptop every few minutes for an hour to look at the recipe in the next tab - and learned later that I had been an unwitting part of a greater scheme of deception! But honestly I was thrilled at the news Becca was writing me regardless, she is the best and this story is wonderful: does such a good job at catching on to the themes of the original, and does this via a funny little time travel scenario that fits brilliantly into the original. I highly recommend it.
I wrote the following stories:
Flowering (4850 words) by raven
Fandom: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Relationships: Cat Chant & Christopher Chant
Characters: Cat Chant, Christopher Chant, Millie Chant
Additional Tags: Coming of Age, Queer Themes
Summary:
My assigned story, and a couple of people can attest how much I hated it, hated writing it, and how much I wanted to burn it to the ground. I'm in a phase right now where writing fiction is just beyond my ken. It's too hard and it makes my soul ache. But I had been on a podcast, Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, on an episode about The Lives of Christopher Chant, so I thought I was feeling Chrestomanci sufficiently much to write it. I was not and I could not. But then I missed the deadline for no-fault default, and felt masochistic enough to continue somehow. I eventually resolved to orphan the story once yuletide was over - I have not done this. Quite a lot of people liked it and I'm grateful to them for saying so! But I learned my lesson here about giving up when I'm ahead.
promises made to be broken, made to last (1988 words) by raven
Fandom: Shetland (TV)
Relationships: Ruth Calder/Alison McIntosh
Characters: Ruth Calder, Alison McIntosh
Additional Tags: New Year's Eve, Romance, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft
Summary:
Here's one that was different! I've seen some of this show, I've been to the islands, but hadn't been particularly inspired to write for it. But thenwalkthegale was having a bad time just before Christmas, and I'd been promising her something for nearly a year, and, and. On the morning of 24 December I texted her lovely wife with a neverending slew of canon questions and scribbled and scribbled. I got this written finally an hour before the deadline and it was all worth it because C loved her gift and guessed it was me even before the de-anon. I was really pleased this whole thing came off.
ashes, ashes (2099 words) by raven
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sapphire “Saffy” Walden/Laura Kenning
Characters: Sapphire “Saffy” Walden, Laura Kenning
Additional Tags: Aftermath, Recovery, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
I don't know that I have much to say about this one! I wrote it a few months ago, before the creative void, so it was nice to have a story in the archive that I definitely liked that wasn't written in a mad hurry. The recipient didn't show up, but we can't have everything.
ryfkah:More A Comment Than A Question (2285 words) by ryfkah
Fandom: The Day Before the Revolution - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Characters: Laia Asieo Odo, Sadik (The Dispossessed)
Odo!
“I’m Laia.” If the voice wanted her father, she thought, crossly, it could go and get him; why was it bothering her?
Oh. The voice sounded startled. You’re too small. I got it wrong. Then, hopefully: Do you have any thoughts yet about anarchism and the necessity of constant revolution?
I was caught right in the maelstrom of the day 1 de-anonning - as in, had opened the tab with the author's name on it and then went back to the laptop every few minutes for an hour to look at the recipe in the next tab - and learned later that I had been an unwitting part of a greater scheme of deception! But honestly I was thrilled at the news Becca was writing me regardless, she is the best and this story is wonderful: does such a good job at catching on to the themes of the original, and does this via a funny little time travel scenario that fits brilliantly into the original. I highly recommend it.
I wrote the following stories:
Flowering (4850 words) by raven
Fandom: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Relationships: Cat Chant & Christopher Chant
Characters: Cat Chant, Christopher Chant, Millie Chant
Additional Tags: Coming of Age, Queer Themes
Summary:
“Keep the home fires burning, Cat, will you,” Chrestomanci says lazily, and Millie blows Cat a kiss before the portal shuts.
My assigned story, and a couple of people can attest how much I hated it, hated writing it, and how much I wanted to burn it to the ground. I'm in a phase right now where writing fiction is just beyond my ken. It's too hard and it makes my soul ache. But I had been on a podcast, Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, on an episode about The Lives of Christopher Chant, so I thought I was feeling Chrestomanci sufficiently much to write it. I was not and I could not. But then I missed the deadline for no-fault default, and felt masochistic enough to continue somehow. I eventually resolved to orphan the story once yuletide was over - I have not done this. Quite a lot of people liked it and I'm grateful to them for saying so! But I learned my lesson here about giving up when I'm ahead.
promises made to be broken, made to last (1988 words) by raven
Fandom: Shetland (TV)
Relationships: Ruth Calder/Alison McIntosh
Characters: Ruth Calder, Alison McIntosh
Additional Tags: New Year's Eve, Romance, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft
Summary:
Ruth's not much of a witch, not really. Kneeling beside a corpse on the year’s turn is something any woman can do.
Here's one that was different! I've seen some of this show, I've been to the islands, but hadn't been particularly inspired to write for it. But then
walkthegale was having a bad time just before Christmas, and I'd been promising her something for nearly a year, and, and. On the morning of 24 December I texted her lovely wife with a neverending slew of canon questions and scribbled and scribbled. I got this written finally an hour before the deadline and it was all worth it because C loved her gift and guessed it was me even before the de-anon. I was really pleased this whole thing came off.ashes, ashes (2099 words) by raven
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sapphire “Saffy” Walden/Laura Kenning
Characters: Sapphire “Saffy” Walden, Laura Kenning
Additional Tags: Aftermath, Recovery, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
It was time to go, and Laura said, “Saffy, you could come with me”—and Saffy said maybe, and it meant something but neither of them knew yet what.
I don't know that I have much to say about this one! I wrote it a few months ago, before the creative void, so it was nice to have a story in the archive that I definitely liked that wasn't written in a mad hurry. The recipient didn't show up, but we can't have everything.
'Cause your eyes are the green of tornado skies
Jan. 11th, 2026 08:05 amsovayThe best thing about a photo I found tonight of John Vickery in 1981 is not that it headcanoned itself instantly as an image of the younger Neroon, it's that I had just been watching him in an American Theatre Wing seminar from that same year and been struck by how little of his older self in or out of character was immediately traceable in his thin collegiate face and especially his light Californian voice and so when looking out of mildly feverish curiosity for his notices that summer as Prince Hal I was really not expecting to find through nothing but chiaroscuro and expression his future Minbari bones.
Offstage, he had reminded me more of Kyle MacLachlan and barely looked old enough to have the bachelor's in mathematics which was part of his origin story. He tells it again in another seminar in 1998 and still has a nervous gesture of touching one of his eyes as if tired or distracted slightly; he's a great fidgeter in front of an off-the-cuff audience. I had gone looking originally for his voice, which turns out not even to be that mid-Atlantic when he's using it for himself. Three decades plus I had to notice this actor with my brain on perpetual standby for B5 and now it has an opinion.
To keep on the theme of theater, I had no idea until her obituary that Tina Packer started her career in the three-quarters burninated 1966 BBC David Copperfield with Ian McKellen and then the much more successfully recovered 1968 Doctor Who: The Web of Fear before she discovered she cared much less for acting than directing or producing, whence Shakespeare & Company. The last time I saw Hugh Whitemore's Breaking the Code was in 2011 at Central Square Theater and they are reviving it this spring with the actor I last saw as Gaveston in the ASP's Edward II in 2017, whom I expect to be a superb Turing and me to leave the theater muttering about Joan Clarke as usual. In lieu of a teleporter, I have to hope for a transfer of this High Noon.
Offstage, he had reminded me more of Kyle MacLachlan and barely looked old enough to have the bachelor's in mathematics which was part of his origin story. He tells it again in another seminar in 1998 and still has a nervous gesture of touching one of his eyes as if tired or distracted slightly; he's a great fidgeter in front of an off-the-cuff audience. I had gone looking originally for his voice, which turns out not even to be that mid-Atlantic when he's using it for himself. Three decades plus I had to notice this actor with my brain on perpetual standby for B5 and now it has an opinion.
To keep on the theme of theater, I had no idea until her obituary that Tina Packer started her career in the three-quarters burninated 1966 BBC David Copperfield with Ian McKellen and then the much more successfully recovered 1968 Doctor Who: The Web of Fear before she discovered she cared much less for acting than directing or producing, whence Shakespeare & Company. The last time I saw Hugh Whitemore's Breaking the Code was in 2011 at Central Square Theater and they are reviving it this spring with the actor I last saw as Gaveston in the ASP's Edward II in 2017, whom I expect to be a superb Turing and me to leave the theater muttering about Joan Clarke as usual. In lieu of a teleporter, I have to hope for a transfer of this High Noon.
I am so spooky, I'm the shit, I am the living aspect of the infinite.
Jan. 11th, 2026 07:08 ambeansideIt's Sunday morning at 7 am, and that means it's time to get my journalling on. /random Bake on reference.
After game on Friday, the cough and more problematic hoarse voice came roaring back. I finally had to cancel both games because I had no voice, and I just felt kind of shitty. I felt horribly bad about it, but I just couldn't. Jess convinced me to take the first blast of a steroid dose pack, so I started on that. I was resisting because it makes me moody and bitchy normally. Though as Jess pointed out, I've not taken them with the Astartys or Vyvanse, so the "you must chill" job that it does might blunt some of the side effects. We shall see. I just took my second dose, and my god those things are vile. They have no coating, so they start melting the moment you put them in your mouth, and they are nasty tasting.
Yesterday, I did put on clothes long enough to take my sister to the garage to have her car done. She'll go today to pick it up. She says she'll have BIL take her, but we'll see. I suspect I'll be taking her after game, but we'll see.
I have a game this morning that I'm not dming for, so hopefully that one won't be a problem. I'll just mute until I have to speak, and that'll be fine. This afternoon, I plan to do nothing, except maybe get our Bake Off on. The season's been done for nearly 4 months, I know who wins, but I still want to watch it.
We have another contender in the dress bonanza. I like this one too, but I'm still deciding. Neither of the top contenders have pockets, which is annoying, but I got a little black cross body bag that'll cover me for the basics.
I know it's hard to tell, because literally all I did was throw on a bra and the dress. Just imagine it with my hair looking like it's been brushed and with black flats and a pair of nice tights on. (also, tights, nude or sheer black? I can't decide.)
I would also like to do some work on the cruise, so that I can get everyone checked in. I do need to get travel insurance, just in case we get sick in Vancouver, or on the cruise as well. I'm going to compare some plans, and go from there. We're all basically healthy, so it shouldn't be terrible.
For dinner, I actually need to cook. Pork chops with garlic pirogies and sour cream and sauerkraut (if desired). I think it'll be delicious.
Tomorrow shall be work. I'm sure my counterpart will be back, so I'll be doing a little more phones, little less wheeling and dealing, though we'll see. I know I have a few people to call back about their appts to move them to a different location. Certain insurances don't want to allow patients to schedule at hospital connected radiology centers, because there's a facility fee, and they don't want to pay that. But our system is not sophisticated enough to block it, so people book and then I call them and move them. It's a pain in my ass, and the least favorite part of my job. Fortunately, I can also send them messages through the portal, so sometimes I do that as well.
We've got like five patients this week and I've gotten through to one. Which I 100% understand. I don't answer my phone either. Though on most phones, we come up as Johns Hopkins or at least "Medical." So I'd probably answer.
Time to go forth and prepare for this game. Hopefuly, I can make myself heard with my still-hoarse voice. Everyone have a stupendous Saturday!
After game on Friday, the cough and more problematic hoarse voice came roaring back. I finally had to cancel both games because I had no voice, and I just felt kind of shitty. I felt horribly bad about it, but I just couldn't. Jess convinced me to take the first blast of a steroid dose pack, so I started on that. I was resisting because it makes me moody and bitchy normally. Though as Jess pointed out, I've not taken them with the Astartys or Vyvanse, so the "you must chill" job that it does might blunt some of the side effects. We shall see. I just took my second dose, and my god those things are vile. They have no coating, so they start melting the moment you put them in your mouth, and they are nasty tasting.
Yesterday, I did put on clothes long enough to take my sister to the garage to have her car done. She'll go today to pick it up. She says she'll have BIL take her, but we'll see. I suspect I'll be taking her after game, but we'll see.
I have a game this morning that I'm not dming for, so hopefully that one won't be a problem. I'll just mute until I have to speak, and that'll be fine. This afternoon, I plan to do nothing, except maybe get our Bake Off on. The season's been done for nearly 4 months, I know who wins, but I still want to watch it.
We have another contender in the dress bonanza. I like this one too, but I'm still deciding. Neither of the top contenders have pockets, which is annoying, but I got a little black cross body bag that'll cover me for the basics.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6
Which dress looks better?
I know it's hard to tell, because literally all I did was throw on a bra and the dress. Just imagine it with my hair looking like it's been brushed and with black flats and a pair of nice tights on. (also, tights, nude or sheer black? I can't decide.)
I would also like to do some work on the cruise, so that I can get everyone checked in. I do need to get travel insurance, just in case we get sick in Vancouver, or on the cruise as well. I'm going to compare some plans, and go from there. We're all basically healthy, so it shouldn't be terrible.
For dinner, I actually need to cook. Pork chops with garlic pirogies and sour cream and sauerkraut (if desired). I think it'll be delicious.
Tomorrow shall be work. I'm sure my counterpart will be back, so I'll be doing a little more phones, little less wheeling and dealing, though we'll see. I know I have a few people to call back about their appts to move them to a different location. Certain insurances don't want to allow patients to schedule at hospital connected radiology centers, because there's a facility fee, and they don't want to pay that. But our system is not sophisticated enough to block it, so people book and then I call them and move them. It's a pain in my ass, and the least favorite part of my job. Fortunately, I can also send them messages through the portal, so sometimes I do that as well.
We've got like five patients this week and I've gotten through to one. Which I 100% understand. I don't answer my phone either. Though on most phones, we come up as Johns Hopkins or at least "Medical." So I'd probably answer.
Time to go forth and prepare for this game. Hopefuly, I can make myself heard with my still-hoarse voice. Everyone have a stupendous Saturday!
Putri Duyung & H2O: Just Add Water
Jan. 11th, 2026 08:11 pmscaramoucheI've watched a lot of media that shamelessly rips off other media, either the basic concepts or the plots wholesale, and a lot of time I roll my eyes or think it's funny, but when I saw that there's an Indonesian tv show that rips off H2O: Just Add Water, I got mad. :/
I think it's because although Just Add Water had its own success and is beloved by a particular generational subset, it's not an international mainstream famous kind of show, and ripping it off feels like they're being sneaky, taking advantage of an indie work that not many people know about. Unlike, say, Magik Rompak which rips off Now You See Me, or the kajilion Hindi films that rip off Hollywood blockbusters and you know exactly what's going on. (The two Top Gun: Maverick rip offs made me laugh so hard.)
This isn't even the first Just Add Water rip-off I've seen! I watched the Romanian Sirenele recently, which is exactly that, but that one is also a vanity production with less than half the production value of the original show, and in the comments of where the show is uploaded on youtube, plenty of people are calling them out for it. I don't even like Just Add Water all that much, I don't know I feel particularly offended on its behalf.
I thought I could start watching that Indonesian show alongside Aryana, but now I feel like I have to finish watching Just Add Water first so I know where the shows diverge.
I think it's because although Just Add Water had its own success and is beloved by a particular generational subset, it's not an international mainstream famous kind of show, and ripping it off feels like they're being sneaky, taking advantage of an indie work that not many people know about. Unlike, say, Magik Rompak which rips off Now You See Me, or the kajilion Hindi films that rip off Hollywood blockbusters and you know exactly what's going on. (The two Top Gun: Maverick rip offs made me laugh so hard.)
This isn't even the first Just Add Water rip-off I've seen! I watched the Romanian Sirenele recently, which is exactly that, but that one is also a vanity production with less than half the production value of the original show, and in the comments of where the show is uploaded on youtube, plenty of people are calling them out for it. I don't even like Just Add Water all that much, I don't know I feel particularly offended on its behalf.
I thought I could start watching that Indonesian show alongside Aryana, but now I feel like I have to finish watching Just Add Water first so I know where the shows diverge.
5 things is a post
Jan. 11th, 2026 11:28 amtozka1. All my apps are popping up "consent to let us sell your data for marketing" things, including ones I'm pretty sure never did when I was in the US. It pisses me off that they didn't do that in the US, actually, because I always select "no" and if they're not popping up, does that mean they auto opted me in? UGH.
Related, I'm seeing a few "content not available in your region" things for Imgur-hosted images, which is weird because WHY can't I see a fandom event graphic in the UK??
2. My search results are pushing UK-related sites up higher which is kinda fun. I searched for some historical facts (about canned goods) and had to keep specifying "USA" because it was showing me things from historical UK instead. Kind of brings home how much our experiences online are segmented and directed by invisible algorithms.
3. I've gone up to 3 cups of tea a day (and 1 cup of coffee) and am kind of concerned my teeth are going to be brown by the time I get back to the US in the summer...
4. The local Co-Op had a super special on bananas, one bunch for a mere 35p! I'm going to freeze them and use them for porridge and whatever.
5. Doing quite a lot of TV watching this week (mostly middling documentaries, tbh) and I've added a lot of things to my watchlist, as the owner has BBC and ITV and 5 as well as Netflix. She also lent me a huge stack of books I want to read, and I have some sightseeing things I want to do before I leave. So I'll be very occupied for the next two months!
Related, I'm seeing a few "content not available in your region" things for Imgur-hosted images, which is weird because WHY can't I see a fandom event graphic in the UK??
2. My search results are pushing UK-related sites up higher which is kinda fun. I searched for some historical facts (about canned goods) and had to keep specifying "USA" because it was showing me things from historical UK instead. Kind of brings home how much our experiences online are segmented and directed by invisible algorithms.
3. I've gone up to 3 cups of tea a day (and 1 cup of coffee) and am kind of concerned my teeth are going to be brown by the time I get back to the US in the summer...
4. The local Co-Op had a super special on bananas, one bunch for a mere 35p! I'm going to freeze them and use them for porridge and whatever.
5. Doing quite a lot of TV watching this week (mostly middling documentaries, tbh) and I've added a lot of things to my watchlist, as the owner has BBC and ITV and 5 as well as Netflix. She also lent me a huge stack of books I want to read, and I have some sightseeing things I want to do before I leave. So I'll be very occupied for the next two months!
January bridleways
Jan. 11th, 2026 11:22 ampuddleshark posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_nature
A bright cold morning, the fields silvered with frost, and the paths an entertaining mix of ice and mud.
( Read more... )
SBTB Bestsellers: December 26 – January 9
Jan. 11th, 2026 09:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
smartbitches_feedThe latest bestseller list is brought to you by soup, hydration, and our affiliate sales data.
- Milk Street: Tuesday Nights by Christopher Kimball Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- The Deathless One by Emma Hamm Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Come Together by Emily Nagoski Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- House of the Beast by Michelle Wong Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Digging Dr. Jones by Olivia Jackson Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newtiz Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Her Baseborn Bridegroom by Alice Coldbreath Amazon
I hope your weekend reading was celebratory!
Gosh, isn't it great
Jan. 12th, 2026 07:57 pmconulywhen you finally confess your love to the guy you've been pining after for half your life, and it turns out that you have a perfectly aligned and complementary set of kinks? Nobody has to compromise and agree to sometimes do the thing they're not that into or, conversely, never do the thing they're totally into. Nobody's turned off by the mere thought of any of it, every conversation is an ongoing saga of "yes, and".
I guess that's one more advantage of being fictional!
***********
( Read more... )
I guess that's one more advantage of being fictional!
( Read more... )
I am rapidly concluding that the B5 books are CURSED
Jan. 10th, 2026 10:17 pmsholioI don't think I posted about this at the time, but there was an absolute odyssey involved in getting the original batch of B5 script books that I ordered.
The original process was this:
I'd known about the existence of the B5 script books vaguely for a while, but hadn't really thought of buying them before. In October, when I came back from traveling, I googled it and found a massive site called "B5 Books" that had authorized editions of all the B5-related books available, which was a lot of them, not just the script books but tons of other stuff as well.
They had closed yesterday.
But wait! They were staying open through the weekend (like 2 more days) because they'd had technical issues. So I splurged and ordered an absolute ton of books (about 2/3 of the total script books out there, mainly focused on episodes I especially wanted to read about). I would have preferred to order just one to find out a) what the books were like, and b) what their customer service was like, but ... closing in 2 days! So I gave them my credit card info for a quantity of books that I don't want to think too closely about.
A month went by.
I got a shipping notice and a tracking number, and and then a box arrived .... with 2 books in it.
I contacted customer service (a bit nervously, in the hopes they'd still actually answer). To their credit, they were very quick to respond; evidently there was a second tracking email I hadn't received for some reason, for the box with most of the rest of the books in it. (They sent me a free digital book to make up for the emotional distress, too - they were really nice.)
This was back in December, and I was leaving on the 13th, Saturday, so I periodically checked the tracking info for the box. It showed up in Fairbanks over the previous weekend, and showed that it was supposed to deliver on Monday.
Monday came and went. About mid-week, the tracking info showed that it had traveled out of Fairbanks again. (Why??) I had visions of the box going all the way back to the sender for some reason. Meanwhile, I had planned to spend the last couple of days before I left diving into my new books, but as the week ticked down and it continued to tease me ... I guess not. Finally, on Friday, I got an actual "out for delivery" notice, and then a notice that a "pick up at post office" slip had been left. Also, Friday was our last day of actual mail delivery (we'd put a hold on it until after Christmas that started on Saturday and went for 2 weeks, i.e. about the amount of time that the post office will hold a box - you know, this box with $100s of books in it). I was headed to the airport Saturday afternoon, but I figured it should be possible to stop by the post office on the way.
I picked up the mail.
No slip.
I thought, okay, maybe I picked up an early batch (yesterday's? our mailbox is on the highway and both the mail delivery and our collection of it is kind of haphazard) so when Orion got home a few hours later, I asked if there had been a slip in the mailbox.
Nope!
So now my package is on hold at the post office, I GUESS, with no ability to redeliver and our mail delivery not starting until after the approximate return to sender date. We hunted all around the mailbox just in case it had been dropped. No slip.
I ended up printing out the tracking number and taking that to the post office on our way to the airport, and that DID work and they DID have the box and I got it, YAY. (Orion said that the slip spontaneously showed up in the mailbox when he was headed home after dropping me off, so WHO KNOWS what was up with that.)
Anyway, all of that ended up working out in the end, and I enjoyed the books so much that I went on Amazon to see if I could find used copies of the ones I didn't have. I ordered a few more, and I just checked the shipping info and discovered that one of them - from a 3rd party Amazon seller - was sent via Fedex and supposedly delivered on Thursday afternoon, i.e. 2 days ago.
Guess what I don't seem to have!
Orion says that Fedex often leaves deliveries in random places around the yard - he's found them on piles of construction supplies, left at the door of the shop instead of the house, etc. Inauspiciously, it snowed a few inches last night, so everything is covered with fresh snow. Also, it was dark. Still, we took flashlights and went and hunted high and low in all the places that a package might be, ranging from likely (covered with snow beside the door) to unlikely but possible (at the doors of the various outbuildings like the greenhouse, on top of random vehicles in the yard) to the highly unlikely (at our road sign, in our mailbox). Not a single sign of it! I don't know if it was delivered to some other house, mistakenly marked as delivered when it's actually fallen under the delivery truck seat, or if a very soggy B5 book is going to turn up four months later when the snow melts, but seriously, WHAT EVEN. I've never had a book go missing like this in all the time I've been ordering used books off Amazon!
Anyway, further updates from the B5 script books are coming soon, and maybe I'll have this particular book eventually, or maybe not.
The original process was this:
I'd known about the existence of the B5 script books vaguely for a while, but hadn't really thought of buying them before. In October, when I came back from traveling, I googled it and found a massive site called "B5 Books" that had authorized editions of all the B5-related books available, which was a lot of them, not just the script books but tons of other stuff as well.
They had closed yesterday.
But wait! They were staying open through the weekend (like 2 more days) because they'd had technical issues. So I splurged and ordered an absolute ton of books (about 2/3 of the total script books out there, mainly focused on episodes I especially wanted to read about). I would have preferred to order just one to find out a) what the books were like, and b) what their customer service was like, but ... closing in 2 days! So I gave them my credit card info for a quantity of books that I don't want to think too closely about.
A month went by.
I got a shipping notice and a tracking number, and and then a box arrived .... with 2 books in it.
I contacted customer service (a bit nervously, in the hopes they'd still actually answer). To their credit, they were very quick to respond; evidently there was a second tracking email I hadn't received for some reason, for the box with most of the rest of the books in it. (They sent me a free digital book to make up for the emotional distress, too - they were really nice.)
This was back in December, and I was leaving on the 13th, Saturday, so I periodically checked the tracking info for the box. It showed up in Fairbanks over the previous weekend, and showed that it was supposed to deliver on Monday.
Monday came and went. About mid-week, the tracking info showed that it had traveled out of Fairbanks again. (Why??) I had visions of the box going all the way back to the sender for some reason. Meanwhile, I had planned to spend the last couple of days before I left diving into my new books, but as the week ticked down and it continued to tease me ... I guess not. Finally, on Friday, I got an actual "out for delivery" notice, and then a notice that a "pick up at post office" slip had been left. Also, Friday was our last day of actual mail delivery (we'd put a hold on it until after Christmas that started on Saturday and went for 2 weeks, i.e. about the amount of time that the post office will hold a box - you know, this box with $100s of books in it). I was headed to the airport Saturday afternoon, but I figured it should be possible to stop by the post office on the way.
I picked up the mail.
No slip.
I thought, okay, maybe I picked up an early batch (yesterday's? our mailbox is on the highway and both the mail delivery and our collection of it is kind of haphazard) so when Orion got home a few hours later, I asked if there had been a slip in the mailbox.
Nope!
So now my package is on hold at the post office, I GUESS, with no ability to redeliver and our mail delivery not starting until after the approximate return to sender date. We hunted all around the mailbox just in case it had been dropped. No slip.
I ended up printing out the tracking number and taking that to the post office on our way to the airport, and that DID work and they DID have the box and I got it, YAY. (Orion said that the slip spontaneously showed up in the mailbox when he was headed home after dropping me off, so WHO KNOWS what was up with that.)
Anyway, all of that ended up working out in the end, and I enjoyed the books so much that I went on Amazon to see if I could find used copies of the ones I didn't have. I ordered a few more, and I just checked the shipping info and discovered that one of them - from a 3rd party Amazon seller - was sent via Fedex and supposedly delivered on Thursday afternoon, i.e. 2 days ago.
Guess what I don't seem to have!
Orion says that Fedex often leaves deliveries in random places around the yard - he's found them on piles of construction supplies, left at the door of the shop instead of the house, etc. Inauspiciously, it snowed a few inches last night, so everything is covered with fresh snow. Also, it was dark. Still, we took flashlights and went and hunted high and low in all the places that a package might be, ranging from likely (covered with snow beside the door) to unlikely but possible (at the doors of the various outbuildings like the greenhouse, on top of random vehicles in the yard) to the highly unlikely (at our road sign, in our mailbox). Not a single sign of it! I don't know if it was delivered to some other house, mistakenly marked as delivered when it's actually fallen under the delivery truck seat, or if a very soggy B5 book is going to turn up four months later when the snow melts, but seriously, WHAT EVEN. I've never had a book go missing like this in all the time I've been ordering used books off Amazon!
Anyway, further updates from the B5 script books are coming soon, and maybe I'll have this particular book eventually, or maybe not.
Snowflake Challenge Day 4
Jan. 11th, 2026 10:42 amswingandswirl
RL got a little nuts, but I'm determined not to let this fall by the wayside, so have a belated Day 4 post.
Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page
Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
The instructions for this one confused me, and I don't really do social media, so instead, I thought it would be fun to link some of my favourite fic/art exchanges!
Despite my sometimes Cursed Exchange Luck, I really do love taking part in exchanges. They've gotten me some of my favourite fics ever, and pushed me to write things I never would have otherwise. Here's a list of all the exchanges I'm taking part in this year:
fffx The Five Figure Fanwork Exchange! You get five months to write either 2 5k or 1 10k fic, or equivalent art. (Has the five month period ever stopped me from leaving it until the last minute? Nope. But we live dangerously 'round these parts.)
ficinabox Possibly my favourite exchange ever. You commit to writing 10k, or doing an equivalent creative activity... but it can be split up into a mind-boggling variety of mediums, from AITA posts to CYOA games to literal knitted things. One year I'm going to lose my mind enough, recipient willing, to write 10k entirely in drabbles.
highadrenalineexchange The converse of FFFX - you get two weeks to write 10k. I was somehow insane enough to do Pride and Prejudice fic my first go-around with HAX, and the two-week deadline was the only reason I managed to get out of my own head enough to do it, lol.
worldbuilding_exchange I utterly adore worldbuilding, so it's no surprise that an exchange based on it is my catnip. If the exchange somehow allowed me to nominate JUST the first four Harry Potter books, I'd be in heaven, lol.
rule_63 Genderbends are another of my very favourite things, and the main fandoms I'm in - HP, Avengers, Superbat, Numb3rs, and Star Trek - have amazing potential when it comes to male-to-female genderbends. Plus, honestly, girls are just more interesting, lol.
idproquo I am a firm believer in, and defender of, idfic. I also live in the AU where Marvel made no movies after the Avengers and Harry Potter is an unfinished four-book series with no movies, lol.
This year, I also want to take part in
seasonsofdrabbles , everywoman , if it's running, and halfamoon . We'll see how things go. Four things make a post
Jan. 10th, 2026 11:41 pmermingarden1. I donated blood today, mentioned it in a text message to my dad, and received a reply asking "How did the blood removal go?", which is a masterful example of making something sound wildly ominous while still technically being an accurate description! ("Blood removal" went fine, as usual.) Side note: If you're in NY or NJ and are able to donate blood, please consider scheduling an appointment ASAP - we currently have less than a two-day supply and a blood emergency has been declared.
2. Recent reads:
- The Tsar of Love and Techno, by Anthony Marra, is a collection of interconnected short stories set in Russia, from the 1930s to the present (and arguably outer space in the near future, depending on how you read the last story). I read this for a book club with some coworkers and enjoyed it. Some stories are naturally stronger than others, but it's good throughout and at times excellent.
- New York Sketches is a collection of E. B. White's short pieces about NYC - vignettes, poems, brief essays, and assorted snippets resistant to categorization. It's very fun! A quick read, if you plow straight through it - I bought my copy at a bookstore in Washington Heights and finished it by the time I made it to Chinatown, so somewhere around an hour - but also a book amenable to being read in bits and pieces. Pages 35-44, devoted to the observation of pigeons and their nests (with illustrations!), particularly charmed me: "While [pigeon nests] endure we must note their locations, elevate our gaze above the level of our immediate concerns, imbibe the sweet air and perfect promise: the egg miraculous upon the ledge, the bird compact upon the egg, its generous warmth, its enviable patience, its natural fortitude and grace."
- Death in Dover is the latest book in Maureen Ash's Templar Knight Mysteries series. Unfortunately, it does not measure up to the earlier books in the series. I think it's primarily a matter of editing, or the lack thereof: The first eight books, through A Holy Vengeance, were traditionally published, but starting with Sins of Inheritance they've been self-published, and there's a noticeable difference. (Actually, I've noticed a distinction among the trad-published books as well: the first six were published by Berkeley, a Penguin subsidiary, while the seventh and eighth were published by a different Penguin subsidiary, InterMix, and there's clearly a bit less attention devoted to the seventh and eighth compared to the previous, including less detailed covers; I also believe that's when they started to be published as ebooks only, though I can't confirm that.) Even compared to the other self-published books in the series, though, Death in Dover disappoints. I hate to say this, I really do - you all know by now that this series is one of my favorites - but I unfortunately can't recommend this book.
3. I just started Mansfield Park, at the suggestion offiona15351, who wants to know what I think of it. I'm not far enough in to think much of anything, though I did accidentally text Fiona "Mary Crawford is such a butch omg" earlier today. I meant bitch! That typo is far too easy to make, in either direction.
4. Tomorrow is a red letter day: the anniversary of my adopting Queenie! Hard to believe it's been a year already! Cats may not keep calendars, but I do have a gift for her.
I don't know how I ever managed without a cat before!
2. Recent reads:
- The Tsar of Love and Techno, by Anthony Marra, is a collection of interconnected short stories set in Russia, from the 1930s to the present (and arguably outer space in the near future, depending on how you read the last story). I read this for a book club with some coworkers and enjoyed it. Some stories are naturally stronger than others, but it's good throughout and at times excellent.
- New York Sketches is a collection of E. B. White's short pieces about NYC - vignettes, poems, brief essays, and assorted snippets resistant to categorization. It's very fun! A quick read, if you plow straight through it - I bought my copy at a bookstore in Washington Heights and finished it by the time I made it to Chinatown, so somewhere around an hour - but also a book amenable to being read in bits and pieces. Pages 35-44, devoted to the observation of pigeons and their nests (with illustrations!), particularly charmed me: "While [pigeon nests] endure we must note their locations, elevate our gaze above the level of our immediate concerns, imbibe the sweet air and perfect promise: the egg miraculous upon the ledge, the bird compact upon the egg, its generous warmth, its enviable patience, its natural fortitude and grace."
- Death in Dover is the latest book in Maureen Ash's Templar Knight Mysteries series. Unfortunately, it does not measure up to the earlier books in the series. I think it's primarily a matter of editing, or the lack thereof: The first eight books, through A Holy Vengeance, were traditionally published, but starting with Sins of Inheritance they've been self-published, and there's a noticeable difference. (Actually, I've noticed a distinction among the trad-published books as well: the first six were published by Berkeley, a Penguin subsidiary, while the seventh and eighth were published by a different Penguin subsidiary, InterMix, and there's clearly a bit less attention devoted to the seventh and eighth compared to the previous, including less detailed covers; I also believe that's when they started to be published as ebooks only, though I can't confirm that.) Even compared to the other self-published books in the series, though, Death in Dover disappoints. I hate to say this, I really do - you all know by now that this series is one of my favorites - but I unfortunately can't recommend this book.
3. I just started Mansfield Park, at the suggestion of
fiona15351, who wants to know what I think of it. I'm not far enough in to think much of anything, though I did accidentally text Fiona "Mary Crawford is such a butch omg" earlier today. I meant bitch! That typo is far too easy to make, in either direction. 4. Tomorrow is a red letter day: the anniversary of my adopting Queenie! Hard to believe it's been a year already! Cats may not keep calendars, but I do have a gift for her.
I don't know how I ever managed without a cat before!
youtube recs
Jan. 10th, 2026 10:17 pmsnickficFor movie analysis and behind-the-scenes info. (Boy has Youtube been a pain in the butt for me the last couple of days. I assume they're duking it out with my adblock. Ugh.)
Rian Johnson Breaks Down a Scene From 'Wake Up Dead Man'. I rewatched the movie on Christmas and then really enjoyed watching this. Johnson talks a lot more than just the specific scene.
Nosferatu (2024) Kill Count. This movie has really grown on me, and this is one of my favorite Kill Counts that Dead Meat has done in a while. Eggers goes so hard, which means a ton of juicy behind-the-scenes details I didn't know. Maybe time for a rewatch soon.
Rian Johnson Breaks Down a Scene From 'Wake Up Dead Man'. I rewatched the movie on Christmas and then really enjoyed watching this. Johnson talks a lot more than just the specific scene.
Nosferatu (2024) Kill Count. This movie has really grown on me, and this is one of my favorite Kill Counts that Dead Meat has done in a while. Eggers goes so hard, which means a ton of juicy behind-the-scenes details I didn't know. Maybe time for a rewatch soon.
Best of Icons nominations
Jan. 10th, 2026 09:39 pmsheliakBest of Icons is running their main event! Maker threads close tonight; nominations run until the 15th. You don't have to be a maker to go to the threads and nominate five icons that you like for each maker (or for one favorite maker, or anything in between). After the 15th, there'll be polls to pick each maker's best/most popular icon.
I like seeing which of mine people pick, and getting a look at other makers' styles!
ICON NOMINATIONS - JOIN IN! | MY THREAD
I like seeing which of mine people pick, and getting a look at other makers' styles!
ICON NOMINATIONS - JOIN IN! | MY THREAD