I am very brain-dead from going to a work conference in Atlanta this week. Getting up at what amounts to 4am personal time, to then spend sixteen hours go go go with way too many people, none of whom are comfortably anonymous strangers but also none of whom are friends, is exhausting. I got home late Thursday and took Friday off, even napping on Friday afternoon, which is something that I'm generally incapable of. But that's exhaustion for you, I suppose.

(The last time I napped, come to think of it, was after my last work conference, in which not only was I sleep deprived all week, but I came down with a case of literal hives on the airplane home. Ugh.)

Anyway. None of you are here to hear about all that. ;-)


Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign (1999)

Read aloud with grrlpup. First time for her; re-read for me.

This was one of my favorites from my first read of the series; I'm happy to say I liked it even better on re-read. I'm not sure how well it can be read as a stand-alone, as it assumes a working knowledge of Komarr. But I do like the strong ensemble of characters, and that the conflicts are mostly social and personal, instead of military or mystery. (Which does not stop it from rising to an action-packed climax at the end: I believe Grrlpup and I read the final three chapters in one day!)

Grrlpup's favorite characters were Dr. Enrique Borgos and his beloved butter bugs, and it is true: it is always a delight when they come on the page. Armsman Pym was also a favorite; she'd very much like to see his pov. (Alas, we do not, as I recall, ever get it in the series. I wonder if anyone has written Jeevsian fic for him?) And once again Lady Alys is serving strong Judith Martin vibes -- I do wonder if Martin was an inspiration for the character.


Lois McMaster Bujold, "Winterfair Gifts" (2004)

Read aloud with grrlpup. First time for her; re-read for me.

Taura, my beloved! *hearts-eyes* And I am fond of Armsman Roic, too (although I don't think this satisfied Grrlpup's desire for a Pym-centered story). Quick and sweet read, like a delicious chocolate truffle.


Daniel M. Lavery, Dear Prudence: Liberating Lessons from SLATE.com's Beloved Advice Column (2023)

I don't read many advice columns, but I find them most satisfying when there is an implied code of social logic that underlies them. (Make! The social! World! Make! Sense!) Lavery clearly has such a code, and the code tallies nicely with mine, which made this a pleasant read. I do enjoy the bits where he reconsiders the advice he originally gave; it's nice to know that even confident advice-givers grow and change over time. There's a chapter or two of letters on transitioning and/or coming out, presumably as Lavery himself was transitioning at the time and drawing more of that kind of question than I usually expect to see in a general-topics advice column.


Saeed Jones, How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir (2019)

Brief, lyrical, eminently readable memoir of growing up gay and black in the 1990s in Texas, attending university in the 2000s in Kentucky, and the death of his mother in the 2010s. There are some painful topics (gaybashing, homophobia, Christian evangelism, racism, a sexually self-destructive phase, and his mother's aforementioned death), and consequently the material gets heavy at times, but I raced through this in a day, always willing to turn the page and see what other thoughts and experiences he had had.


I also have a gob of Hum 110 bookgroup reading to write up, but I'll save that for their own posts.