Women Authors

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are usual. I was going to show pictures of Dad’s hydroponics system and plants, but he’s busy and can’t take pictures right now, so I’ll do that next week. Today, since it’s women’s history month, I’ll share some books by women authors that I enjoy. I’ll try not to use repeats from recent posts. In no particular order, books by women!

1. The Library of Legends by Janie Chang. This is my current for fun book, but I’m about 75% of the way through and really liking it.

2. Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime by Leonie Swann. It’s the second book in a cozy mystery series, but I think it’s better than the first book.

3. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. An old book, but a lovely read.

4. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. A strange combination of horror and sci-fi and life in general that I found lovely.

What are some books by women that you recommend? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!

Tell Me Something Good

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? I’m tired. Allergies suck. Life is a dystopian hellscape. It seems like every time I wake up, something new and worse is happening. And there are still people who are too… I don’t know if they’re stupid, oblivious, stubborn, obsessed, or what… to acknowledge that this is all stuff that’s been done before and is a harbinger of all the bad things (unless you’re a rich, straight, probably white, cis-dude). And to top it all off, we’re on the wrong side of history this time. Anyway, I’m stressed. I’m tired. I panic check my benefits every day just to make sure the Doggies (DOGE) haven’t randomly cut them off. I have more trouble than usual sleeping. My tachycardia is back to acting up once or twice a week instead of once or twice a month. I expect our Social Security payments to stop and am delightfully surprised when they do show up. I’m waiting for them to officially get rid of Section 504 so they can go after the ADA next. I’m angry on behalf of the people who are already being affected (immigrants, trans, women, etc.). I constantly have to remind myself to unclench my jaw. And I’ve been this way since November. So yeah, I’m fucking tired.

Instead of ranting more, I want you to tell me something good. It doesn’t matter how big or small. Don’t try to tell me my fears are unfounded or that I’m overreacting. Don’t try to turn this into a political debate. Just tell me something good that has happened to you recently. I want to know there are still good things going on in this world, no matter how small.

Thoughts on GRIM

~ shawnaborman ~ 5 Comments

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are still very much dystopian, but I’m trying hard not to dwell on it all. So, let’s focus on the fact that it’s the last Wednesday of February instead! You know what that means… book review time! This month, I decided to try a little horror (not that I needed it with the state of everything, but yeah). Grim by David Cinnella is being released via The Book Whisperer today (the 26th). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.

Grim follows Gabe Matthews from childhood into those angsty teenage years. As a young boy, he loses his father, but discovers a secret silent friend dressed in black robes and carrying a scythe. The problem is that no one else can see this being. At 17, his mother is diagnosed with cancer. In a desperate attempt to save her, Gabe makes a deal with his friend. But can Gabe pull off his end of the bargain and save both his mother and himself?

The plot. It’s a pretty standard “deal with Death” scenario. Gabe’s a momma’s boy and doesn’t have the coping skills to deal with her potential death. He’s a bullied outcast in a small town. So, he talks to his Grim Reaper friend and ends up making a deal that doesn’t go as planned. There’s nothing new or surprising about it. Some of it doesn’t really make sense. Gabe’s leap to “I must murder people” instead of “I have to temporarily take over this dude’s job” when he sees the contract is weird, but I put it off to the whole being a teenager thing. The contract itself is pretty straightforward, so the ending felt like a giant leap. I mean… you wrote the contract. You can’t just randomly add something to it in order to create a plot twist. It feels like author interference rather than a natural progression of the story and that’s not good. It knocked the plot from a solid standard but not bad, down to mediocre.

The characters were mostly fine. I didn’t really connect to Gabe because he was pretty stupid for a supposedly smart kid. I had no idea where his anger at his stepdad came from. Basically, there were far too many things that I had to attribute to his being a teenager rather than being shown why he was the way he was. It was all very surface level. His stepdad was awkward but nice enough. Mom was the perfectly imperfect mother in the hopes that the reader would empathize with Gabe’s plight. Everyone played the role they were made for without much work to flesh them out. They were solidly standard which isn’t bad, it’s just not memorable. And that’s fine.

I’m going to be honest. I finished this book about a week ago and I don’t remember much about it. I remember the parts that didn’t quite make sense and the general story, but nothing really sticks out. Which means I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t particularly like it either. Nothing about the writing sticks out. I’ll forget it entirely in a few days. A lot of books are like that.

Ultimately, Grim is a thing that exists. It’s neither good nor bad enough to hate. It just is. I’m not going to go looking for more books by Cinnella, but I won’t actively avoid his stuff.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Actually, 2 and a half. I don’t think you’re missing anything if you skip it, but it’s not something I’ll tell you not to read. Unless you take issue with the whole “killing off/harming a woman simply to motivate the hero/villain” trope. Then you should probably steer clear of this one.

Black Women Authors

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m sure it’s lovely somewhere. It’s cold here. Anyway, there’s nothing to ramble about that won’t send my blood pressure skyrocketing, so you get another list post. It’s still February, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite books by black women. They’re older books, but I love them, so I still recommend them to people. So, in no particular order, here are some books/authors you should check out.

1. The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow. Standalone novel.

2. The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna. Book one of a series.

3. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Book one of a series.

4. Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen. Book one of a series.

Feel free to leave your book recommendations here or on my social media pages!

It’s That Time Of Year

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are still scary because, well… -gestures at the US in general- … you know our country is actively being destroyed and some people still don’t see it. But otherwise, life is quiet for now. Sophia hasn’t done any more splatter art with her anal blood, so she’s good. I don’t have anything to ramble about, but then I remembered what time of year it is! No, not VD day. It’s Girl Scout cookie time! I don’t know any Girl Scouts, so I don’t currently have a dealer and I’m not going to the stores in search of one, but I can still list my favorite cookies. And my most hated one.

1. Thin Mints. They’re minty chocolate. What more could I want? I like to nibble the edge until an adequate amount of cookie is exposed, then let it soak up milk. Delicious. I’ve heard that people like to pop a box in the freezer and eat them ice cold. I’d try it.

2. Do-si-dos/peanut butter sandwich cookies. I like peanut butter cookies in general. Plus, these are the best Girl Scout cookie for soaking up milk. Most are either resistant to liquids or they crumble as soon as they get wet. The do-si-dos hold enough milk that you get that squishy bit, but there’s also a little bite left to the cookie.

3. Tagalongs/peanut butter patties. I occasionally treat these like Thin Mints where I nibble and dunk them, but they’re better just eaten by themselves. They’re very resistant to milk. But they have a nice ratio of peanut butter and cookie and chocolate. Not my absolute favorites, but definitely not going to say no to them.

In fact, the only Girl Scout cookie that I’ll say no to are Samoas/Caramel deLites. I hate them because I hate shredded coconut. I just can’t get past it. I don’t like it in candy or cookies or on shrimp. It’s weird. I like food with coconut milk and stuff like that in it. It’s just the flesh of the coconut that I don’t like. It’s okay. It just means more Samoas for you!

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? Any you hate? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Being a Dog Parent is Scary

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. Dad’s trying his hand at a hydroponics garden for herbs and lettuce and stuff. He got one for some herbs recently and when they sprouted it made him happy, so he decided to build a bigger one. There will probably be pictures in the future when it’s all set up and things start growing. He used to have an herb garden out back, but the trees blocked all the sun and they died out. It’ll be nice to have fresh stuff again! Plus it means he has to use the stuff, which means more cooking. Huzzah! Anyway, today, we’re here to relive the trauma of Sunday, January 26th. I would’ve written about it last week, but… book review. Here we go.

The culprit (pictured above from when we first got her): Sophia.

Background: The previous few nights, Sophia woke multiple times and needed to go out, which isn’t unheard of, but is unusual for her. Since she spends her nights in a crate, Dad had to keep getting up to let her out. By Saturday night, he was sleep deprived, so when she cried to be let out, he decided to just let her roam. If she peed in the house (which is why she gets crated), whatever. Then, he went back to bed.

The scene: Sunday morning. Dad walks into a bloodbath. The white leather couch is covered in blood, along with the throw pillows. It’s all over the floors; living room, hallway, kitchen. The back patio has splotches of red with raspberry jam looking clumps. Dad looks for whatever poor corpse our dogs have destroyed to no avail. But Sophia is laying in his chair obviously worn out. An inspection reveals blood on her nether regions. She moves around fine, not showing any signs that she’s in imminent danger of dying. She’s just bloody (though not actively bleeding) and lethargic. After a mini heart attack, Dad cleans up and gets me out of bed. We decide I’ll stay up all night and we’ll take her to the vet first thing on Monday because we can’t afford the emergency pet hospitals around here.

The verdict: Dad and I are sure she perforated something, but she’s still alive albeit lethargic on Monday morning. After an hour of trying to get through to vet (apparently their phone system was down), I emailed them on the off chance they’d see it (they don’t check their email often) and got lucky. They said to bring her in at 11:30, so we did. After a bunch of questions and a couple of blood tests, they came back in and nonchalantly told us she had Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis which was probably precipitated by a bout of Pancreatitis, though we couldn’t figure out what she would’ve eaten to bring that on. They gave her subcutaneous fluid because she was dehydrated and sent home some antiemetics (not because she was vomiting, but because it would soothe her stomach), antibiotics in case a bacterial infection was contributing to it, and some probiotic to help with her gut life. And they said and did all this like it was the most common thing in the world. So, she had a severe tummy ache and decided to traumatize us with it.

Like that, but with blood.

By the end of that day, Sophia was mostly fine again. Now, other than still taking the antibiotics, she’s back to her usual piss-on-the-floor-if-left-unsupervised self. So yeah, that was fun and expensive. Let’s not do it again, please.

Thoughts on THE DARK HOURS

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? I think it’s supposed to be a little dreary and moist today, but hopefully it’s still lovely. Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of January, so it’s that time again. Book review time! This month, I went for more of a mystery thriller type book. I was looking for something engaging and quick paced like thrillers should be. The Dark Hours by Amy Jordan was released yesterday (the 28th) from MIRA Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

The Dark Hours follows Garda (Irish policeperson) Julia Harte as both a young woman and as a retired Detective Inspector. It’s a braided narrative where two storylines play out by alternating back and forth. In 1994, Julia’s partner has been murdered by someone who has just killed two young women and has set his sights on Julia for some reason. In 2024, after Julia has retired to a small town, it’s announced that the original perpetrator is dead, but why have two young women just been found murdered in similar circumstances to the 1994 murders? Can Julia figure out what’s going on and why she seems to be in the middle of both these cases?

I didn’t realize this was a braided narrative with present and past storylines or else I wouldn’t have requested it. I’m always bored with at least one of them in crime fiction. This was no exception. The present storyline gives things away about the past and vice versa, but not in a good way. In the past, the main character can be in mortal danger, but there’s absolutely no tension because you already know she survives. It just ruins a lot for me. But aside from that, both plotlines were fairly standard. Retired detective gets on the nerves of the current detective who doesn’t think he needs assistance. Random past cases somehow merge into one convoluted Frankencase. No real twists if you have any experience with mystery thrillers. It was standard and that’s okay. Not bad, but not great.

The main problem I had with this book was that none of the characters were particularly likeable. Young Julia was an idiot with zero sense of self-preservation. Old Julia was stuck pining over someone who wasn’t worth her time. I know I was supposed to feel bad about what happened to her husband, but he was a douchebag. She insists he was wonderful, but every time we see him, his whole vibe boils down to “I knew you wanted to be a cop and focus on your career, so I supported you until we got married, at which point you were supposed to quit and start popping out kids, and since you didn’t do what I wanted, you’re a bitch.” Like, dude… get over yourself. Everyone else were cardboard cutouts. There was no one to really root for or get attached to.

I also had issues with the way the story unfolded. I knew who the murderers were as soon as they were introduced, which isn’t a problem, but their motives just felt random and weak. I think this was because all of the aha moments were pretty random as well. In good crime fiction, you can usually trace a thread of connected events that is subtly woven in with red herrings and character development and all the other stuff that makes a book a book. But once in a while, a book will throw random major plot points at you without the thread. There’s nothing you can look back at and say “oh, that makes sense now.” It’s disconcerting and dissatisfying. This book does the latter and hopes the reader will be satisfied with the explanation that “it’s got to do with one of hundreds of past cases that aren’t connected and weren’t mentioned earlier.” I, for one, wasn’t happy with that.

The writing style was fine. I was hoping for a more exciting story, but it was a pretty quick read, so I can’t really complain about the writing.

Ultimately, The Dark Hours was not for me. It had potential, but the execution was mediocre across the board. If another book by Amy Jordan fell in my lap, I’d give it a shot, but it’s nothing I’m going to look for.

Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. A lot of the reviews love it, so maybe I’m being too harsh. I wouldn’t recommend it to a fellow writer since a lot of my complaints come from that angle, but if you’re super into mysteries, check it out and tell me if I’m wrong.

It’s Going About As Expected

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? I don’t really have much to say today. Back on the 12th, my friend Astrid sent me this message:
Happy Birthday, you majestic shimmer of light in the watery darkness of the world! May this year be better than anticipated!
I took a couple of days to answer her (and everyone else that day). My reply ended up being:
I was going to say something along the lines of “this year can’t be as bad as I expect it to be,” but cue NG and all his bullshit. It’s going about as expected. XD Thank you, though! Let’s sink into the darkness together!

Gaiman, who could have been anything he wanted, turned out to be the same boring, invasive species of pond scum that we’ve all become so inured to that it isn’t even surprising. Hell, we’ve got one sitting in the White House right now making dumbass decisions that are going to ruin our economy (which was finally starting to heal after he wounded it last time) and destroy any progress this country has made toward being halfway inclusive and people are actually proud of it. It’s all just so fucking disappointing and yet it’s still what I expect of this year. Nazi Musk? Par for the course. But I don’t want to rant or rage or cry, so I’m just going to bottle it all up and sink into the darkness.

Anyway, yeah. It’s going about as expected.

39 Things

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? My birthday was on Sunday and Dad was feeling yucky again (thinking it’s his new medicine), so instead of a shower, we had a lazy day. Chinese food was involved. And we finished off Star Trek DS9 and started Voyager. We’ll go out for a proper celebration (dinner) eventually, but I’m in no rush. For now, this is my annual list of things you never wanted to know about me. I didn’t bother going over the old lists, so sorry if there’s overlap.

1. I went out in the snow for a few minutes on Thursday. It was basically gone a couple of hours later, but it existed and I was in it. And I even have proof! As you can see.

2. I’ve been craving peppermint tea and jasmine tea which is weird because I rarely drink tea. I haven’t had peppermint tea since Maine, like 10 years ago. And I haven’t had jasmine tea since my SMU days (graduated 2012) when we would go to Bangkok City (I don’t think it’s called that anymore).

3. I’ve been hermitting hard. I don’t post often on my personal social media accounts. I’m just avoiding the world, I guess.

4. Mountain Cedar/Juniper season sucks and it’s like 6 months long. Yes, I’m currently high on Benadryl.

5. I got a new toothbrush. It’s basically the same thing I had, but black.

6. I’m super tired of feeling like I have to be the adult and annoy people into doing their jobs in a timely manner. But I’m really just tired of people in general.

7. I’m also tired of having to beg for stuff I need and having some faceless government entity tell me I don’t need those things that professionals and doctors say I do need. And that shit is just going to get worse over the next 4+ years.

8. I still don’t like to rant, but it’s all I feel like doing lately, which is probably why I’m hermitting so hard.

9. I’m making Dad watch all the Star Treks with me. In order of release. Not the movies. Or original animated series. Or the shorts. Yet. We just started Voyager.

10. I’ve been doing the NYT Sudoku. I don’t know why. It’s not particularly enjoyable. I can do the easy and medium, but not the hard yet. Mostly because I get bored and do other things instead.

11. I’m drinking a cherry cola. It’s yummy.

12. I just found out Peacock has FernGully, so I might make Dad watch that with me soon.

13. Still can’t find Once Upon a Forest unless we rent it from Amazon. Boo.

14. I don’t like audiobooks, but if I’m not really enjoying a book and just want to get through it, I’ll have Alexa read to me at night. This doesn’t work with all Kindle books, but she can read most of them.

15. The dogs all have ID and rabies shot tags, so they jingle when they move and it’s super cute.

16. I like crackers (especially Ritz or Club) by themselves, but feel weird asking for them without cheese or something.

17. Dad made pinto beans and cornbread recently. Be jealous.

18. For some reason, I’ve been listening to Sum 41’s Chuck album a lot recently.

19. Pieces is my favorite Sum 41 song.

20. Going through a Rogue and Gambit phase where I steal most pictures I see of them.

21. I haven’t worn my ring in a couple of weeks. I’m just too lazy to put it on. But it still feels like I’m wearing it. It’s weird.

22. Our Roomba is named Oscar, because Oscar the Grouch is my favorite Sesame Street muppet.

23. My pinky nail broke about a week ago, so my finger feels really short and it’s annoying.

24. My favorite smell is cut wood.

25. My allergies are making my head thrum and I hate it.

26. Sophia doesn’t really bark. She banshee screams and it’s kind of terrifying when you’re not expecting it.

27. My favorite color is still purple, but teal is becoming more and more appealing.

28. I’d rather be doing the crossword puzzle right now.

29. Had leftover fried dumplings and lo mein for dinner. I’m full.

30. But I also kind of want some chocolate now.

31. I have Hell is Forever from Hazbin Hotel stuck in my head.

32. Alastor is my favorite, followed closely by Husk and Angel.

33. Sadly, Lucifer was just meh and they could have just left him out completely.

34. I still call my pulmonologist Dr. Lucifer. She’s great, though.

35. I have a televisit with her around 4 this afternoon.

36. I hate that my appointment is at 4, but I have to sign in at 3:30. It’s especially annoying with in-person visits. I guess people are prone to being late, but it just means my wait time is even longer than usual because I’m always early anyway.

37. At least I can play stupid games or read while I wait since I’ll be at my computer.

38. I’m going to do the crossword puzzle now!

39. I really need to remember to start this post early next year and just jot down a couple of interesting things a day instead of doing it all at once. I won’t, but I should.

Something Pretty

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Dad’s been sick (Sunday and Monday), so my usual shower day (yes, a shower is a day long event) got pushed back to Tuesday when he felt better. I was lazy and didn’t write a post on Monday, so since it’s already after 7:30pm on Tuesday, you get a pretty picture by Yuumei! Maybe one day, I’ll explain why shower days are so long if you’re interested in cripple life. Anyway, I’ll be back next week with 39 random things you never wanted to know about me because my birthday is Sunday. I’m old. And hungry. Dinner time!