Read in August 2025 (part two of two)

 (Part one here.)

8. Molly Learns a Lesson, by Valerie Tripp (1986)

This was the one I remembered most clearly and was particularly craving to reread. The school war effort project! Such memories.

9. Painted Moon, by Karin Kallmaker (1994)

Lesbian fiction from the nineties...not amazing, not bad. Bonus points for being convincingly set in the Bay Area.  

10. The Little Book of Living Small, by Laura Fenton (2020)

This is a fun one, whether you're living in a small space like I am, or thinking of downsizing. Great case studies on real, full-time residences, with lots of photos. Good tips on optimizing space. I enjoy Laura's Substack.

11. The  Girl on a Train, by Paula Hawkins (2015)

A reread. She's so skilled with the language of her narrators, these little word choices that say so much.  

12. A New View on the Irish Language, edited by Caoilfhionn Nic Pháidín and Seán Ó Cearnaigh (2008)

I bought this collection of academic articles in Dublin, a good memory, and it was mostly pretty dry. Parts of it interesting. Parts of it no longer feel quite current, e.g. discussion of the internet.

13. The Hallmarked Man, by Robert Galbraith (2025)

My wife is still reading this, so I'm not going to post my reaction just yet. 

14. 50 Ways to Protect Bookstores, by Danny Caine (2023)

I appreciated this little volume, and it taught me a fair bit about the specific challenges of operating a successful bookstore.

Indian summer heat

Right about now I begin to idealize real autumn and winter. Thank goodness for a hefty fan to blow warm air out one window in the evening and draw cooler air in the other. Thank goodness for perfectly airy summer blankets my father-in-law brought back from Israel. 

We have a new kitten (!) - not pictured. My wife found her hiding in a storage cranny at a school, and we caught her together. She is a glorious happy-go-lucky little tabby. We've named her Matilda. We are currently spending...quite a lot of time on tasks related to her. Please cross your fingers with us that at the conclusion of our feline diplomacy program/introduction protocols, she and our adult cat will have a beautiful friendship.

I'm listening to two songs from Erin today:

"I Could Have Been" - Fire Swimmer

"effortlessly, i feel everything" - The Man The Myth The Meatslab ("so reminiscent of 'Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl' and making me nostalgic but also like a sequel to it" she said)

Read in August 2025 (part one of two)

 1. Every Peach is a Story, by David Mas Masumoto and Nikiko Masumoto, illustrated by Lauren Tamaki (2025)

Sweet picture book about interdependence and farming, from the father and daughter who grow some of the most legendary peaches and nectarines in California. 

 2. Molly Saves the Day: A Summer Story, by Valerie Tripp (1986)

Yes, I got suddenly nostalgic for these books after reading another World War II-era middle-grade novel, and read the whole box set. (By the way, my library only had a partial set, what the heck? Thank goodness for inter-library loans.) I have such strong memories of the lovely, vivid, realistic illustrations in these books, as well as the mini illustrations that are sprinkled directly into the text.

3. So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show that Started It All, by Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig (2025) 

I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes insights and anecdotes from The L Word, which I have watched four or five times through in the last twelve years and am currently re-watching with my wife. It was very much a celebrity memoir. Some parts I read just to get to the interesting parts. 

4. Molly's Surprise: A Christmas Story, by Valerie Tripp (1986)

See above! 

5. Into the Water, by Paula Hawkins (2017) 

Hmm! I wanted a page-turner and trusted that this author would deliver, and she did. I truly enjoy how well she builds an atmosphere and how hard she makes each word choice work for her. Most (or all?) of the narrators were so unwell that I felt rather unwell and stressed reading this, but no regrets. 

6. Why Me? The Unfair Reason You Get Cavities and What to Do About It, by V. Kim Kutsch (2020)

My dentist gave this to me for free and it was quite informative! 

7. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab (2020)

My  feelings about this really shifted throughout the course of the novel. Fascinating premise: a woman who lives forever but cannot be remembered once an interaction ends. Our introduction to Addie in 2014 New York City was executed so well. I wish it had been a short story - it would have been an amazing one.

The 2014 parts felt more successful than the many, many historical flashbacks. I love historical fiction, but I have high standards for it (thanks, Kate Forsyth!). I want a certain depth of research and richness of detail and a level of unfamiliarity if the setting is a foreign country hundreds of years ago. The historical narrative also felt like a slog, because immortality is a slog for Addie - her curse means she can't have relationships of any kind, hold a job, successfully rent or own property, it's a lot - so I kind of respect that but still didn't enjoy it. The 2014 narrative began to feel like 500 Days of Summer. Lots of manic pixie NYC adventures. The ending didn't really spark for me.

She sells

I thought I had collected sea shells etc. selectively, but over the years it still ended up being far too many. (More than pictured!) Mostly from two points on the edge of two oceans: Laguna Beach, California, and Mandurah, Western Australia. (Though I grew up on the coast, the surf at my home beach is cold and rough, spitting out broken sand dollar fragments and little else.)

 In my 30s I learned that the accumulated effects of tourists removing seashells from beaches are measurable and detrimental to the beach's ecology - did you know? So these days you'll catch me treasuring the ones I have, and enjoying the rest where I find them. 

Muir Woods again, Stinson Beach all burned up

January 2025. My then-fiancée, now-wife and I showed Muir Woods to two transplant friends who hadn't seen it before, followed by a jaunt up the winding cliffside part of Highway 1 to Stinson Beach. I opened the back of my camera at some point in error. Light licks at the edges of some images, nearly obliterates others. Sometimes when the tourists are in the way of the photo, it means they are the photo, you know?