{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }

  1. Ask a Manager* Post author

    The weekend posts are for relatively light discussion — think office break room — and comments should ask questions and/or seek to discuss ideas. “Here’s what happened to me today” personal-blog-style posts will be removed (because they got out of control in the past). We also can’t do medical advice here.

    Please give the full rules a re-read.

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  2. Squirrel Nutkin (the teach, not the admin)*

    What a beautiful picture of Wallace! He looks like he’s sitting for a formal portrait.

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  3. Jackalope*

    Reading thread! Share what you’re reading and give or request recs.

    I’m reading The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. It was recommended by someone in this very thread! I’m enjoying it a lot so far; it’s very cozy and the author is making fun use of magic, and the characters are fun.

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    2. Dark Macadamia*

      The Witch’s Daughter – it’s fine but not great. I’m about 3/4 done and it still doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere. I’m also appalled that Goodreads calls it partly a romance because the only relationship they could be referencing is both terrible and boring.

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      1. Dark Macadamia*

        Forgot to include – I’d love recommendations of historical fantasy (witchy is a plus but not necessary) that does NOT include SA/excessive violence against women. Something similar to Once and Future Witches where it’s more literary than fluffy but not super bleak.

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        1. Falling Diphthong*

          I quite liked the trilogy that starts with Jade City, by Fonda Lee. The Godfather collides with wuxia. Set in an analogue to Asia in the second half of the 20th century. They’re one generation out of a world war, which was the formative experience of the middle aged but barely remembered by the young adults. This felt believably layered to me–like you could see how this society would evolve over time, traditions on top of traditions reacting to new problems, but you would never set it up this way if starting from scratch.

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    3. Falling Diphthong*

      We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman of Thursday Murder Club fame. With nods to everyone who suggested I hit Elliot Bay Book Company in Seattle, where I found a signed copy while wandering around.

      This was fun. Amy is a body guard, whose assignment to a private island off South Carolina goes wonky when someone tries to kill her. (Her, not the person she’s protecting.) Steve is her father-in-law, a retired cop living in the exceedingly charming New Forest, land of pub quizzes and wild ponies and organic vegetables Amy sends him but Steve does not actually eat. She needs backup and calls on him for help. Multiple points of view, the pleasures of watching some people be coolly competent, and some congratulate themselves on brilliant plans that will not be coming off as envisioned. It reminded me of Killers of a Certain Age.

      I would say not quite hitting like Thursday Murder Club (which I’d recommend to people who don’t do mysteries as their usual thing). But as a stand-alone story of playing cat-and-mouse across the world, with likable main characters, well executed.

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      1. Geriatric Rocker*

        I was talking to one of the elderly visitors at work about her weekend and she said that she bought the latest by an author whose name she couldn’t remember. She said she’s read four of his other works and they are wonderful – murder mysteries but without the blood and gore. Richard Osman? I said. That’s him! she replied.

        We can both thoroughly recommend the Thursday Murder Club series.

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    4. Shiara*

      I’m rereading Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey in preparation for reading the sequel Red Side Story. It’s so delightfully bizarre.

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  4. Jackalope*

    Gaming thread! Share what you’ve been playing and give or request recs. As always, all games are welcome, not just video games.

    I’ve been on a bit of a dry spell this week. Other stuff was happening in my life so no video games, and our D&D game was cancelled for Life reasons. Hope someone else is getting more gaming in out there!

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    1. Crazy cat gamer*

      Just had a board games evening with friends – played Ticket to Ride, Dominion and Calico (definitely one for cat people). Tried Sandwich Masters recently but I think we either need to shuffle the cards better or adjust rules as we found it impossible to get any points.
      Video games wise,if you haven’t played Subnautica yet I highly recommend trying it – especially as Subnautica 2 is due out next year. I got into Assassin’s Creed earlier this year, finished Origins and Odyssey, and just started Valhalla.

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    2. Jenesis*

      My Band of Blades game is also sadly on hold because the DM is dealing with Life issues, BUT I discovered the contingent of my LGS that plays/runs Candela Obscura and I’m super hyped to go back! My first game was Oct 13 and I’ve got two more sessions lined up for Oct 30 and Nov 3.

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  7. Jenesis*

    So after numerous back and forth talks with the husband about “well, if we want a cat, what do we need to do to make this happen?” it appears we… have a cat?

    Found her under a parked car two Sunday nights ago, lured her into the house with food, and she hasn’t left since, except to go to the vet (it was a weeklong struggle to wrangle her into the carrier, it seems we’ve found the one cat in the world that HATES BOXES). No collar, microchip, or spay scar. Based on her demeanor, recognition of certain objects/sounds, and overall cleanliness we concluded she must have lived in a house before and wasn’t on the street that long when we picked her up. County law requires us to make “reasonable efforts” to locate the prior owner for a month (I’ve been daily checking the LOST CAT listings on Pawboost to see if anyone’s lost cat is a match), but we’ve already fallen in love with her and if a month goes by with no owner contact, we are 100% set on formally adopting her.

    Oh, and Husband is allergic to cats, but she wandered all over the condo on the first day here and he hasn’t had any bad reactions so far… so if that isn’t a miracle I don’t know what is.

    Any cat-raising tips would be appreciated!

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  8. Teapot Translator*

    What’s cooking this weekend? I have beef and orzo, so I pulled a recipe for a Greek beef stew from the Internet.

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