Hold On!

A friend and I were recently discussing author Frieda McFadden and she asked me what I thought of her books. I told her that I had never read any of McFadden's books so I really had no idea what they were like. They are certainly popular and I found out just how popular when I tried to place holds on a couple of Frieda McFadden books.

I'm used to seeing long hold times in Libby. Oftentimes, they are ~ a month or so, but for popular books they can be much longer, as you can see above. Dear Debbie isn't even published January 27, so I'm sure that hold time will get much longer after the publication date. 

One of my libraries uses Cloud Library instead of Libby and this hold just made me laugh. 

I didn't actually place a hold on this on this one. There are some books I'm curious about, but not curious enough to actually buy the book or wait 13 years. Thrillers aren't my genre of choice, but they certainly are popular with other readers. 

 

Here's hoping your library books are available and if not, that your hold times are short!  

 

 

 

 

Bits and Pieces: January 2026

I've got a few topics that I could post about but none of them are really enough for a whole post of their own. It's clearly time for a Bits and Pieces post. 

• The photo above shows the Milford Bridge, where I usually cross the Delaware River when traveling to Pennsylvania. There was a light dusting of snow, along with the early stages of ice forming on the river. Around here, people call it “scab ice” (yuck!), though the proper term is anchor ice. Anchor ice typically forms in flowing water when supercooled, loosely packed bits of ice collide and stick together, eventually attaching to the riverbed. Over time, this creates a bottom layer of ice that may later break free and float to the surface. There’s much more to say about how ice forms in rivers, but that's probably quite enough for now.

• I get to go look for wedding dresses tomorrow! I haven't mentioned it here yet, but Jess and Justin got engaged this past fall. Their wedding is scheduled for October 24th and I think much of the planning (for the big stuff, anyway) is done. Justin had one request, that they not get married in a hotel, resort, or "fancy" wedding venue. They've chosen a place in the Poconos that is rustic and everything can be outside if the weather permits. Jess is looking at dresses on Saturday, and I'm kind of excited to go along. Her mother lives in Ohio so she won't be there, but Jess has also invited her maid of honor, one of the vets she works with, and John's youngest sister. I may end up just holding the phone in case Jess facetimes with her mom, but I think it will be a fun experience. The bridal salon website says to plan on two and a half hours and their dresses start at $3500. I chose my dress in 20 minutes after work and paid $200 in 1981, but things have certainly changed since then!  

• Thank goodness John is traveling to Florida later this month. He used to travel quite a bit when he was working and I got used to it. It's been an adjustment since he retired and my alone time is much harder to come by. He has a good friend (David) that lives in Orlando and is quite ill with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and hypertension. David just got a pacemaker and is on the list for a heart transplant, so John thought it would be a good idea to visit him. John does not do very well in cold weather (he tends to nap too much) and when his sister offered to go with him (she has friends there and they will go to Disney World), he agreed. I have four days to myself, no dinners to prepare, and I only have to take John and his sister to Trenton airport. That's much easier than driving to Newark, so I'm really looking forward to my mini-vacation. 

• I've been looking for small things that make me happy, and one of them is feeding the birds. Justin got me a small feeder that I have attached to the kitchen window and I love seeing the finches (and occasionally a cardinal or two) come to the feeder when I'm sitting at the kitchen table. I've started feeding them sunflower kernels which they seem to like best. A five pound bag lasts about five months and that is a small price to pay for multiple daily finch visits that always bring me joy.

• Another thing that has made me happy is spinach dip. I made some as an appetizer for Christmas lunch and we've gotten a bit addicted to it. I've made three batches of it since Christmas, but it may be time to stop. I can rationalize and say there is lots of spinach in it, but it's also got plenty of fat from cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise. We ate some of it with French bread or crackers, but this last batch is being enjoyed with carrots and celery sticks. More vegetables!

That's it for my bits and pieces. Feel free to let me know any interesting things going on in your world, especially if they are making you happy and maybe even healthy. I'd love to replace my spinach dip obsession with something that's a bit better for me. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

 

 

Unraveled Wednesday: 1/7/26

I’m happy to join Kat and the Unravelers today, with some (hopefully) better mittens in progress and continued Hitchhiker knitting. 

I haven't knit the thumb yet, but the Comfy Gusset Mittens are a much better fit for my hand. Jane sent me a link to a great youtube video about knitting perfect thumb gussets that I think will be helpful in knitting the thumbs without gaps. 

The gray Hitchhiker is growing slowly but surely. I'm a bit tired of mittens but i should probably finish the pair and actually knit the thumbs before I quit. But I am glad to have this Hitchhiker on the needles as it's what I've wanted to work on recently.

I caught up on some ARCs over the holidays but I'll save my thoughts on those for closer to the publication dates, especially because they aren't published for three months or more. I did read The Rest of Our Lives and found it a bit underwhelming. It begins with a genuinely intriguing premise; a man who has quietly promised himself that because of her affair, he will leave his wife once their children are grown has finally reached that moment. Instead of turning back home after dropping his daughter off at university, he keeps driving west. The first chapter is strong: reflective, restrained, and full of promise about what this reckoning might mean.

Unfortunately, for me, the novel doesn’t live up to that early potential. While the setup suggests an emotionally charged exploration of marriage, betrayal, regret, and self-deception, the story quickly loses focus. As the road trip progresses, the book devolves into something more random, a series of loosely connected visits, memories, and observations that never quite cohere into a satisfying whole. The narrative begins to feel like a string of digressions rather than a journey with momentum or purpose.

There are moments of insight along the way, and Markovits is clearly interested in the quiet textures of middle age: the ways we rationalize our choices, the things we avoid naming, and the lives we might have lived. But those ideas are often buried under rambling reflections and disconnected bits and pieces, which left me feeling impatient rather than contemplative.

This is a novel with an interesting premise and real promise at the start, but one that goes quickly downhill after that. I can see it working better for readers who enjoy meandering, introspective road trip novels, but I finished it wishing it had stayed closer to the emotional clarity of its opening pages. Two and a half stars rounded up.

What are you making and reading this week? 

 

Read With Us: Discussion Time

Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us fall book, The Antidote by Karen Russell. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I've very much been looking forward to discussing this book. I'll be honest; I found it difficult to read, and after several false starts, I finally finished it. So I think this discussion will be valuable for me, and I hope for others of you as well. 

 

Here is my question: Prairie witches served as "vaults" for pioneers' unpleasant memories. How does this relate to what is happening today in America with the current administration, school districts, and museums removing topics like slavery, treatment of indigenous people, climate change, medical information, and more from websites and curricula?

 

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about our questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

 

Unraveled Wednesday: 12/31/25

I’m happily joining Kat and the Unravelers on New Year's Eve, even though there's not an official linkup today. I've finished mittens for myself with plans for another pair, and continued knitting on the gray Hitchhiker.

These mittens are done and will keep my hands warmer than not wearing mittens, but I'm not very happy with the thumb gussets. I had big holes after picking up stitches for the thumbs, and no amount of tightening would fix them. I ended up using the yarn tails to duplicate stitch the holes closed, but the thumbs just feel tight and awkward. (This could be due to knitter error!) These are The World's Simplest Mittens, but I think I might try Comfy Gusset Mittens next and see how they feel.  

But I've felt like getting back to Hitchhiker knitting, so that's what I've been doing. Our weather has been kind of crazy lately, with ice, snow, freezing fog, and 50 mph+ winds for two days, so it's quite nice to stay inside and knit while the wind howls. I'll continue working on this Hitchhiker tomorrow as I intend to begin as I mean to go on.

In reading, I've just been catching up on ARCs this week, and I'll share more about them later. I hope you all have a safe, warm, and enjoyable New Year's Eve and a happy and healthy 2026! 

What are you making and reading this week? 

 

A Year of Reading: 2025

I'm never quite sure how to review my year in reading, but I'm happy with what I've done in the past couple of years, so I think I'll stick with it. I didn't set a reading  goal on Goodreads this year because the number of books I read isn't terribly meaningful to me. This fall and winter there seemed to be lots of enticing books recommended by various Goodreads friends and also plenty of ARCs, so I just kept reading. And then reading some more. Goodreads tells me I've read 106 books so far, but I'm still reading three books right now and I'm not sure when I'll finish them. And like I said, numbers aren't what really matter to me. 

It's the enjoyment of the books, what I've learned, and where the books have transported me that matters most to me. I don't want to bore you with numbers, statistics, and ratings, so I'm just going to write about some of my highlights. The links will take you to Goodreads; if you are so inclined, you can read more about the books and decide if they might be for you.  

 

Some of the books I've enjoyed the most include:

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

This was a stunning work of epistolary fiction. 

 

The Names by Florence Knapp

A book about the possible impacts of a decision, presented in parallel narratives

 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

A Read With Us book that was just as good on my third reading

 

The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck

Probably the best collection of short stories I've ever read 

 

The Elements  by John Boyne 

"Enjoyed" is not the exact descriptor for this one because it is about abuse, but Boyne presents the moral complexities of abuse from the viewpoints of enabler, accomplice, perpetrator, and victim, written in elegant prose.

 

 

A few of the books I have learned from:

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

A novel about a mother who was ordered by the courts in 1983 to remove herself entirely from her daughter's life due to her sexual orientation

 

A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko 

A nonfiction account of an epic 750 mile hike along the length of the Grand Canyon

 

99 Ways to Die by Ashely Walker

Nonfiction written by an ER doctor about viruses, bacteria, poison, diseases, pretty much what the title states, but with plenty of humor

 

Tilt by Emma Pattee

A novel about a pregnant woman's ordinary trip to Ikea that is transformed by a massive earthquake

 

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton   

Nonfiction about one woman's friendship with a wild hare

 

 

 

Special books that transported me:

 

Winter Morning Walks by Ted Kooser

A wonderful volume of poetry from the wonderful Ted Kooser 

 

Whistler by Ann Patchett

The latest novel from Patchett, and I think her best yet. It will be published in June 2026 

 

When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén

A quietly devastating novel about Bo, an 89-year-old man aging in his home in Sweden  

 

Winter by Val McDermid

A collection of essays about the season and traditions in winter in Scotland 

 

Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell

Another Read With Us selection about emotional abuse and what it might take to escape that abuse and build a safe home. 

 

That last category is a little bit different. I think of it as books that made me want to keep reading along with those that took me to different countries, places, times, and situations, even if I didn't end up awarding the book too many stars. That's how I ended up with a book of poetry, an ARC about relationships, a poignant story of aging, essays about winter in Scotland, and a Read With Us book about emotional abuse together in one list.  

 

For the sake of some conciseness (and because I don't want to bore you!), I've limited my list to 15 of my favorites. This is not exhaustive by any means, especially because it only includes about 15% of the books I read. The books I'm currently reading are all ARCs: Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves, The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall, and John of John by Douglas Stuart. 

 

I would love to hear about the books you enjoyed most in 2025, what you are reading now, or the ones you can't stop thinking about. I need to make sure I've got some good books lined up for next year, and many of the best recommendations come from you! Some books slated for publication in 2026 that I am really looking forward to are Where We Keep the Light by Josh Shapiro, The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout, and The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. Here's to another enjoyable, educational, and immersive year of reading for all of us in 2026!

 

A reading reminder: The Zoom discussion for our current Read With Us book, The Antidote, is scheduled for next Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at 7:00 pm Eastern time. You can RSVP (by email or in a comment) to Kym, Carole, or me and let us know that you'll be attending. You can find my email in the upper right hand corner. I say this every time, but I really need to discuss this book and hear everyone else's thoughts. Thanks and I hope to see you there! 

Unraveled Wednesday: 12/24/25

I’m happily joining Kat and the Unravelers on Christmas Eve, with all of my Christmas gift knitting completed, and some mittens for me in progress. The last thing I had to finish was a hat for John. I hope it's acceptable to him and that it's "warm but not too tight" so he will wear something besides the Bankhead hat I knit for him four years ago. 

The gifts are all bagged and ready, including some catnip toys I sewed for my Grandcats.

 

I'm knitting The World's Simplest Mittens for myself and enjoying them so far. I've got enough Malabrigo left over from John's hat and Justin's slippers that I might even make some mis-matched Frankenmittens to use it up. But I'm also hearing my Hitchhikers calling to me, so they'll soon be back in my knitting rotation. 

 

 

I reread some L.M. Montgomery short Christmas stories  but they were just some Christmas-flavored filler so I won't comment here. I also finally finished The Antidote for our Read With Us discussion in January, but I'll save my thoughts for that. I did read a decidedly non-Christmas related book, 99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them. It's a darkly funny, fast-paced tour through the many alarming ways the human body can fail and how to avoid becoming an ER cautionary tale. Written by an emergency medicine physician who has truly seen it all, this book blends gallows humor, practical safety advice, and just enough medical detail to be both informative and unsettling.

Each short chapter focuses on a specific danger, ranging from the bizarre to the painfully ordinary, and is anchored by patient stories or professional anecdotes. Alker has a knack for making serious material accessible: she explains complex medical risks clearly, keeps the tone light without being flippant, and often manages to make you laugh just as you’re realizing you may never look at everyday activities the same way again.

That said, the sheer volume of scenarios can feel repetitive over time, and some entries are more compelling than others. Readers looking for deep dives into physiology or systemic medical issues may find the treatment a bit surface-level, while anxious readers might want to pace themselves. The episodic structure makes it easy to dip in and out, but it doesn’t always build momentum.

Still, 99 Ways to Die succeeds at what it sets out to do: entertain, educate, and make you just a little more aware of how fragile, and also surprisingly resilient, the human body can be. It’s an enjoyable, eye-opening read for fans of popular medical nonfiction and anyone with a strong sense of humor about mortality.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on January 13, 2026.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely and peaceful Christmas season, love and light if you celebrated Hanukkah, or a very pleasant Wednesday if that's what today is for you. I'll be back next week with a few year-end posts about making and reading. 

What are you making and reading this week?