Reading Update
Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1) by Seanan McGuire. Quite promising start to this series about a half Fae private investigator who’s involuntarily back into the investigation game after a 14 year…hiatus. (Apparently there’s an October Daye fanfic that Seanan McGuire has happily read.)
Hell Bent and Stone Cold (Broken Magic 1-2) by Devon Monk. Good spinoff pair of books about a formerly magic rich world nearly bereft of magic, except for a few people who are paired in Soul Complements.
Summoned (Redemption’s Heir #1) by Anne M. Pillsworth. Very creepy young adult book about a teen boy who responds to an impossible ad in an old book and falls into the Cthulhu Mythos. Be warned that this gets off to a rather slow and somewhat plodding start, but boy does it pick it up speed as it goes!

“You’re definitely going to blink first.” -Mayhem

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Linkity links and links and linke

March 22, 2019 Chris 3 Comments

Bookity

Do, Think, Make, Learn

Cookity

Gluten Free

“Graham” cracker crust.

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Puzzle art.
Changing your perspective.
“What if humans are the only species with teeth?“
“You’re not like the girls in my village.“
“Still on patrol“.
“You can watch Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes online“.
Linkity from kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

Fantasy birding.

Wha…?

“Pigeons with tiny backpacks are gathering climate data now“.

LOL

Some thoughts on bagpipes.
Midwestern terms demystified!
Some humor from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Aliens on the human condition – now with more comics if you keep scrolling!
Oh, that alarming/tantalizing bubble!
Yeah, you get that with a little flooding…
And the potholes are absolutely terrifying.
Google trends maps. (Hover cursor/long-press for caption.)

Teh Cute

Baby koala! Baby mountain lions!

Reading Update
Marked and Vacant (Mindspace Investigations 3-4) by Alex Hughes. Good continuation of this series about a telepath and recovering addict who consults for the police and, under duress, the Telepath’s Guild. Unfortunately, I screwed up and read book #4 before book #3, so I spent much of book #4 thinking my memory had gotten REALLY bad when things that turned out to have happened in book #3 were mentioned…
I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching #4) by Terry Pratchett. Very good continuation of this series as teenage Tiffany works in the Chalk amid rising anti-witch sentiment.
Discount Armageddon (InCryptid #1) by Seanan McGuire. I liked it better upon rereading than I did when I read it four years ago!

“What now?!” -Mayhem

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Linkity has a miserable cold

March 15, 2019 Chris 3 Comments

Bookity

Think, Make, Do, Learn

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Human rituals reinterpreted through alien eyes.
When your online grocery order goes a little awry…
“Always read the plaque.“
Where the forecast left us at the end of last week, pretty much.
“Canadian wolves are being airdropped into Michigan to kill moose“.
Cake Wrecks does Ken. (Possibly NSFW?!)
Size Venn diagram from xkcd. (Hover cursor/long-press for caption.)

Teh Cute

The fiercest kitten evah! Baby clouded leopards! Penguin and baby!

Reading Update
Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger. Bartenders keeping humanity safe from horrors from another dimension! This was pretty silly, yet for some reason I read the whole thing.
Shattered Soul, Broken Paths, Stolen Sight, and Fenrisulfr (AIR 1-3, 3.5) by Amanda Booloodian. Ok series about a psychic who works for a secret government agency keeping creatures of myth and legend out of the public eye.
Hammers on Bone and A Song for Quiet (Persons Non Grata 1-2) by Cassandra Khaw. John Persons is a private investigator… or is he? Lovecraftian, and I have no idea what actually happened. Or do I?
A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith (Tiffany Aching 2-3) by Sir Terry Pratchett. Excellent young adult fantasy series continuing the adventures of one Tiffany Aching, witch.

“Still no birds!!!! Hmph.” -Mayhem

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Linkity wonders if March will come in like a lion or a lamb

March 1, 2019 Chris 4 Comments

Bookity

Linkity from Smart Bitches.
Linkity from Notebook Stories.
Linkity from Inkophile.
Linkity from the Pen Addict.
The return of kennings.
The sequel to The Dogfather is being written! (I’m going to wait until it’s done before I read it, but I AM subscribed so I will get updates and KNOW when it’s done.) (If anyone needs an AO3 invitation, I have a few – let me know!)
I’m sure this was a frequent misinterpretation for Harry Potter readers…

Do, Make, Learn, Think

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

New Peeps flavors.

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Baby mountain lions! Pudu and baby!

Reading Update
The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching #1, Discworld #30) by Sir Terry Pratchett. This was my first Discworld book and it was an quirky, enjoyable read. My plan is to read the four Tiffany Aching books (young adult) as an intro to Discworld and go from there.
Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham. Ok book about a bartender who discovers at age 30, after his estranged father dies, that he’s a wizard. Sounds like my perfect read, but something about the book kept me emotionally distant from it.
Winter Tide and Deep Roots (The Innsmouth Legacy 1-2) by Ruthanna Emrys. Good historical scifi set in the aftermath of World War 2 a young woman, freshly released from an internment camp, slowly works her way back to her roots. This is set in the world HP Lovecraft created, minus the misogyny and racism.

“It’s really, really, really sad that I am starved so by my mom.” -Chaos

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Linkity Welcomes You to the Snowiest February on Record for the Twin Cities…

February 22, 2019 Chris 4 Comments

…:weeping:

Bookity

Do, Think, Make, Learn

Cookity

Gluten Free

Chocolate chip cookies.

Artsy Crafty

It’s time for Color Our Collections – go forth and download cool coloring pages from cultural institutions around the world.
I am in one of these pictures from Monday’s meeting of the Twin Cities Visual Journaling Collective.
Linkity from knittyBlog.
Knitting linkity from kmkat.

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

“Charcoal activated vegan croissant“.
(Allegedly) bricked tennis shoes.
“FDA: Do not seek the blood of the young“.

LOL

Teh Cute

Baby tapir!

Reading Update
Empire Games and Dark State (Empire Games 1-2) by Charles Stross. The first two books of a trilogy set in the Merchant Princes’ universe sustain the intrigue and suspense of the original series and contain many familiar faces. Now, here’s hoping I can remember all of the details long enough for the final book to be released…
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard. Very good story about the magical families who live in New York and their challenges to choose a new leader. If there are more books about this world, I will definitely read them!
Herding Cats (Sarah’s Scribbles #3) by Sarah Andersen. Funny and so very, very on point.
Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2) by Chuck Wendig. Decent dark urban fantasy about a psychic who can tell how people die if she touches them. I finished it, but I have no desire to read any more in this series.
Bloodshot and Hellbent (Cheshire Red Reports 1-2) by Cherie Priest. Good pair of books about a vampire who works as a thief and is used to going it alone… but that is definitely changing, rather to her chagrin. This was obviously intended to be a longer series, but… the second book came out in 2011, so it seems unlikely it will be continued. The second book concludes tidily, but there’s a larger story arc that’s left hanging.

“…zzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Not so easy to type with his head on my arm!

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Linkity is so very very sick of snow

February 15, 2019 Chris 3 Comments

Bookity

Think, Learn, Do, Make

NASA’s retrospective of some of Opportunity’s discoveries. A retrospective via Twitter. “…and it’s getting dark.” “We’ll go no more a-roving“. I’m not crying, you’re crying. The Mary Sue on Opportunity. It’s official. xkcd (hover cursor/long press for caption).
“How AO3 built a nonprofit fanfiction empire and safe haven“.
Polysyndeton.
BOOM. Red hat symbolism. And what “woke” ads mean.
Elizabeth Warren is running for president!
Non-toxic pufferfish.
Behind the whole “so much produce gets wasted because it’s ugly!!!!” thing.
“Covering the Cuban Revolution with typewriters“.

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

A very good quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Don’t be disrespecting Gillian Anderson, yo.
Some dancing Calvin & Hobbes.
“The internet is full of ghosts.“
Transformative street art. (Maybe a repeat?!)
Dogs and bubbles.
Cross stitch dragon.
An animated LEGO fan film.
I contributed the bit on party lines…
Linkity from kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

A Very Large Snowman.

Wha…?

LOL

Using patio furniture to measure snow. Or perhaps a pink flamingo?
February beach life in MN.
How Minnesotans are waking up without coffee these days…
A very short writing prompt and response.
I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this, the best band post ever, but it made me laugh again, so! 🙂
A very bad pun.
On bees, from Cake Wrecks.
On sharing options from xkcd. (Long press/hover cursor for caption.)

Teh Cute

Cat with Very Fresh Kittens!

Reading Update
Fearless, In Shining Armor, and Legend Has It (Pax Arcana #3-5) by Elliott James. Good series about John Charming, former member of the Knights Templar, not-quite-werewolf, trouble magnet. Book 5 sort of felt like it could be the last book…
Charmed I’m Sure, Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls, Pushing Luck, Surreal Estate, Dog-Gone, Bulls Rush In, Talking Dirty, and Low Elf Esteem (Pax Arcana .01 – .08) by Elliott James. These eight short stories are set before the five main Pax Arcana novels and tell the tale of how one John Charming ended up in bartending in Clayburg.
Sin & Shadows and Ghosts & Echoes (Shadows Inquiries #2) Ghosts & Echoes, Gods & Monsters, and Lies & Omens (Shadows Inquiries 1-4) by Lyn Benedict. Decent urban fantasy series about a PI who’s kind of mean to everyone around her as she charges blindly forward… Also, this is an entire and complete series, which is nice.

“When will the birds be back???” -Mayhem

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gasp LINKITY

February 8, 2019 Chris 2 Comments

Bookity

New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Tor.com (genre-benders, young adult SFF, scifi, fantasy )
Linkity from Smart Bitches. Some stock photo adventures from Smart Bitches. Cover snark from Smart Bitches.
Linkity from The Pen Addict.
Some quotes from Michelle Obama’s book.
On librarians.
Some insight into Professor Trelawney’s confusion over Harry’s birth date.
The Buckbeak and Sirius Black conundrum.

Think, Learn, Make, Do

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Wha…?

LOL

Reading Update
Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. Pretty good (and very short) ebook that’s exactly what the title says.
Lies Sleeping (Peter Grant #7) by Ben Aaronovitch. Good continuation of the series – it’s all hands on deck trying to catch Faceless Man #2 (and Lesley) before they do Something Very Bad.
Water Weed (Rivers of London #6) by Ben Aaronovitch. Very good addition to the series. I hope everyone who read the Rivers of London series knows that the graphic novels aren’t standalone but actually develop the overarching story arc, too.
The Everything Box and The Wrong Dead Guy (Another Coop Heist 1-2) by Richard Kadrey. Ok series about magic-resistant thief Charlie Cooper and the Department of Peculiar Science.
Countdown City and World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3) World of Trouble (Last Policeman 2-3) by Ben H Winters. With only a few months to go before a surprise!asteroid takes out Earth, society has completely broken down but a former police detective hasn’t given up looking for answers.
Roses and Rot by Kat Howard. Very good story about two sisters who are accepted for a nine-month artists’ retreat and slowly realize they’re living in a faery tale.
Charming andÂ Daring (Pax Arcana 1-2) by Elliott James. Good series about John Charming, former member of the Knights Templar, not-quite-werewolf, trouble magnet.
The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll. As you’d expect from the guy who came up with bullet journaling, this book has very clear how-to explanations and examples. The tone reminded me why I don’t read productivity books – they exhaust me.
Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide: How to Start and Keep the Planner, To-Do List, and Diary That’ll Actually Help You Get Your Life Together by Rachel Wilkerson Miller. reread. I reread this since I was reading The Bullet Journal Method – Miller’s book is a nice example of a slightly different way to bullet journal. And her many layout examples are frequently more helpful than those of The Bullet Journal Method.
The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron. Abandoned because too much of the advice was higher power based.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

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In which there’s no internet to do linkity

February 1, 2019 Chris 3 Comments

Sorry about another week without linkity, but I’ve been without internet since Monday night. Apparently ice burst a fiber conduit and they inexplicably can’t repair it until the weather warms up Friday. Argh. This is what I had done as of Monday… Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm or cool, as appropriate to your location! I feel so out of touch…

Reading Update
The Kill Society and Hollywood Dead (Sandman Slim #10) Hollywood Dead (Sandman Slim 9-10) by Richard Kadrey. And now I’m all caught up on Sandman Slim. Be warned that The Kill Society is another cliffie, while Hollywood Dead feels like it could be the end of the series (although Kadrey says there are still more books).
Butcher Bird by Richard Kadrey. Ok early urban fantasy from Kadrey that contains most of the ideas that would become Sandman Slim.
Dead Set by Richard Kadrey.Â Ok young adult urban fantasy about a girl whose father died recently and who’s having a rough time of it in a new school without any friends.
The Last Policeman, (Last Policeman 1) by Ben H Winters. With only a few months to go before a surprise!asteroid takes out Earth, most people have more or less given up any pretense of normal life. But one recently minted New England police detective doggedly investigates a seeming suicide, convinced that there something not right about the death.

*sigh* -Mayhem

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Not much linkity, but a really cute picture of Mayhem

January 25, 2019 Chris 3 Comments

I ended up working during my linkity time, so here’s what was done before my linkity time. Oh, and send warm thoughts our way, because it is going to be a wee bit chilly ’round these parts…

Reading Update
Kill the Blues, Aloha from Hell, Devil in the Dollhouse, Devil Said Bang, and Kill City Blues (Sandman Slim, #5) Kill City Blues, The Getaway God, Killing Pretty, The Perdition Score (Sandman Slim 2, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 7) by Richard Kadrey. Good additions to this gritty urban fantasy series whose protagonist is a cross between Harry Dresden (Dresden Files) and John Taylor (Nightside).