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!

Happy 2025!

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2025 is kind to you and isn’t anywhere near as dystopian as I think it’s going to be. Actually, the future is looking more bizarro with a dystopian subplot and I’m not entirely sure if that’s better or worse. But I’m not here to rant or share my fears. It’s a new year! Time for things to begin afresh. I’m going to try to focus on things that I can control, which isn’t much. I’ll keep my goals simple this year. That’s what this post is going to be about. As always, feel free to share your goals or thoughts or questions here in the comments or on my social media pages (which I’ve made some changes to, so see my social media goals for more info)!

Writing Goals: I wrote a couple of short stories in 2024, but not much else. This year, I’m planning to finish a cozy mystery novel that I started and gave up on because of a lack of will to write. I read through what I have and I really like it, so it’s not like I was stuck or anything. There’s even an outline with it. I’m going to set a deadline of July 18th (Dad’s birthday) to finish the first draft. Feel free to prod me occasionally for updates on how it’s going. No short stories unless I see a call for submissions that conjures an irresistible idea right away. I’m just going to focus on this book and see how it goes.

Social Media Goals: Leave X in favor of Bluesky. Ever since Musk implemented algorithm changes to prioritize paid accounts and bury free ones, I’ve gone from daily interactions to one a month if I’m lucky. It’s not worth my time anymore. I’m going to give Bluesky a shot as one of the sites (along with Facebook and Instagram) that I post to every day except Sunday. I’ll still check X occasionally and probably post major updates there (book releases and such) if they should occur, but it will be mostly inactive. This starts today.

Reading Goals: I read 38 books in 2024. I’m sticking with a goal of 35 books for 2025. It gives me room to read a couple of super long books if I want or just to go slow on some shorter books. I’m not looking to push myself or read a book a week or anything, so this works for me.

Thoughts on KNIFE SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Happy holidays or just happy Wednesday to those who don’t! It’s the last Wednesday of December (and the year!), so that means it’s book review time! This month, I decided to go with a new cozy mystery book (there’s potential for a series, but it’s unclear if that’s the plan). Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin was released yesterday (the 24th) from Kensington Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

Knife Skills for Beginners follows Paul Delamare, a chef who recently lost his husband and is currently in “avoid all things” mode. When an old friend (Christian) recruits him to help out at a cooking school, Paul hems and haws, but eventually gives in. What’s the worst that could happen? Being in the frame for his friend’s decapitation is apparently one of those worst case scenarios. Rather than go down for murder, Paul decides to try to solve things on his own, but the deeper he gets, the more he regrets his impulsive choices. Especially deciding to take the job in the first place.

The plot is pretty standard, but it’s one of those books that throws every trope into the story and just kind of hopes it works out. It doesn’t. Everything is muddled together and convoluted and I’m still not entirely sure about what happened. Christian’s broken arm, for instance. Was it from a fall or was it broken on purpose or what? We get a few scenarios about what might have happened, but no clear answer in the end. The whole plotline with Paul’s stepson was useless. It didn’t move the plot forward and there was no resolution of it in the end. His introduction could have waited until he was going to play an active part in the story (maybe the next book). The two tiny things he did could have been accomplished a number of ways without muddying the actual plot of the book. It was an overly complicated story when it shouldn’t have been, so it was disappointing.

As far as the characters go, they aren’t great. Paul is basically a caricature of a gay man. He’s borderline absurd. I wanted to like him, but he didn’t feel real. The other characters were flat and lacked personality. They all sounded and behaved the same, so I had difficulty keeping track of who was doing what. The only reason I could keep track of the murderer was because it’s exactly who you should expect it to be if you’ve read any cozy mysteries at all. Yes, there’s a twist you’ll see coming as well, but only because it’s a typical one, not because the character was fleshed out and subtly hinted at.

There’s also a lot of continuity errors that muddle things even more. I normally don’t mention minor errors (typos, dropped words, extra words, etc.) because ARCs aren’t the final, polished versions, but these were glaring errors that would take another round of decent edits to fix. The final fight scene made no sense half the time. It was pretty clear that the author decided to take certain scenes in different directions, then forgot to go back and weave everything together. I hope these are fixed before the final release, but I’ve rarely seen it this poorly edited in an ARC that wasn’t from a self-publishing author, so I have doubts.

The writing is fine as far as rhythm and pacing goes. It’s a quick read despite the convolutedness of it. As per food themed cozies, there are some working recipes (stuff you’re supposed to actually be able to make), but none of them were particularly tasty sounding. I just didn’t get into it the way I was hoping to.

Ultimately, I didn’t care for Knife Skills for Beginners. I had no idea the author was a famous chef (I don’t watch cooking competition shows), but it wouldn’t have helped even if I did. It’s a mediocre book at best and I probably won’t pick up any future books if this is a series.

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Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. One and a half, really. If you just devour all things food cozy mystery, pick it up. Otherwise, it’s not going to hurt to give it a miss.

Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Are you ready for whatever holiday you celebrate? We’re not doing anything special. So, I suppose we’re ready! Anyway, I was going through my Facebook memories and came across one of those stupid old games where you put your iTunes or whatever on shuffle and whatever song comes on is the answer to the question. It gets weird sometimes, but I always thought they were fun, so I’m doing it here. I’m using my liked songs on Spotify and skipping songs that aren’t mostly English because I’m too lazy to look up translations. Here we go…

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW STRANGE IT SOUNDS.
4. Explain why this song makes sense.

IF SOMEONE SAYS ‘ARE YOU OKAY?’ YOU SAY
“Fantastic, That’s You” by Louis Armstrong
Who cares about me? You’re fantastic and that’s all I care about.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
“We’re Gonna Be Okay” by Thomas Nicholas Band and Bowling for Soup
Me and the voices in my head are okay, I guess.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
“A Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins
Do I really like them on the sweet side?

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
“Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra
I promise I’m not looking for love or whatever. Maybe I just want to go dancing.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke
Keep surviving, I guess.

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
“Walkin’ in the Rain” by Jay and the Americans
Keep walking in the rain and wishing on the stars above. I don’t know.

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“No Scrubs” by TLC
Apparently they think I have standards and I’m okay with that. Or maybe I’m a scrub and they don’t want me?

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
“Radical Self-Love” by IAMX
I mean… Mom always said I only cared about myself. I guess. I have no idea.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
“Keep on Smilin'” by Wet Willie
Keep on smilin’ through the rain, laughing at the pain. Yup. I remind myself about that a lot.

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
“Think for Yourself” by the Beatles.
Figure it out yourself.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“High” by James Blunt
Will you be my shoulder when I’m grey and older?

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen
We make the rockin’ world go ’round?

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“No Time” by the Guess Who
I’m on my way to better things? I doubt it.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
“Joey” by Concrete Blonde
Don’t get crazy…

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
“Pain” by Jimmy Eat World
It’s a lie, a kiss with open eyes.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“Step Up” by Drowning Pool
If you must choose Drowning Pool, I’d rather you let the bodies hit the floor, but whatever.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“I Alone” by Live
I guess tempting people is a hobby?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
“I have but One Heart” by Al Martino and Carlo Savina
Monogamy? Only loving one person? I suppose that could be scary.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
“Play the Game” by Queen
I just lost the game. Damn you, Queen!

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
“I’m Not in Love” by 10cc
If the song is anything to go by, apparently I want to be in deep denial.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“Drive” by the Cars
Apparently I think they need someone to drive them home. It ain’t me, babe. Different song, I know.

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
“Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart” by Stone Temple Pilots
I’m not dead and I’m not for sale.