10/16/25 Doing more calling of dances, especially for teens. I’m very interested in ungendered dances, so no more “ladies” and “gents.” In a week, I will attend Pourparler – National Folk Organization and hang out with a bunch of people who are also interested in creating community via folk dance.
Currently reading: The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton 📚
Finished reading: The Just City (Thessaly, #1) by Jo Walton 📚I’m enjoying this series, not least because I can see the threads that eventually lead to her book Lent, which is a masterpiece.
I’m volunteering at a very cool conference in New Hampshire. Radically Rural helps rural communities discover innovative and practical ways to thrive. radicallyrural.org
My best kitty on an Autumn day
Currently reading: Endling by Maria Reva 📚Very excited to dive into this book that I heard about on the “Write Now with Scrivener” podcast Write Now with Scrivener Episode 55: Maria Reva, Booker Longlisted Author of Endling.
Finished reading: A Home in Percival by Paula Berman 📚A cute romantasy set in Oregon about a world where magic is kind of like software development. In a good way.
Currently reading: Thessaly by Jo Walton 📚
Finished reading: Flight Paths by Rebecca Heisman 📚Timely, since this past weekend saw about a billion birds migrating south across the Americas. Interesting, readable, introduction to bird migration science.
Finished reading: The Last Bake Sale by Andru Volinsky 📚While this book is mostly focused on the terrible way that New Hampshire pays for its public schools, this is an approachable introduction to school funding issues and how the Right is trying to destroy public education.
Currently reading: The Last Bake Sale by Andru Volinsky 📚How did this country get into such a bad state with public education funding? Great info, here’s a quote: “… the distribution of property wealth has little to do with the funding needs of particular school districts and the children in them.
Finished reading: The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed 📚Wonderful novella. Creepy without going all the way to horror. Some exquisite writing and great characters. A world that has a little bit of magic. Recommended.
Currently reading: A Home in Percival by Paula Berman 📚
Currently reading: The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed 📚
Currently reading: Flight Paths by Rebecca Heisman 📚
Finished reading: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton 📚Sweet non-fiction about a UK homeowner making friends with a hare.
Currently reading: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton 📚Our September book group selection.
Finished reading: The East Indian by Brinda Charry 📚Interesting novel by a local NH author, about a boy from India who ends up in Virginia in the 1600s. Good plot, good characters, well-researched about the beginnings of slavery in America and medicine in the 17th century.
Finished reading: Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis 📚a decent, somewhat silly summer read. Fantasy about an evil wizard who loses his memory and thus forgets why he wanted to be evil.
Currently reading: Air-Borne by Carl Zimmer 📚
Currently reading: Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis 📚
Currently reading: The East Indian by Brinda Charry 📚Our August book club reading.
Finished reading: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane 📚I loved this one. While it’s not Macfarlane’s best, even less-than-perfect Macfarlane is head and shoulders above everyone else. Another book in my summer theme of ascribing rights to non-humans.
Finished reading: Small Town, Big Oil by David W. Moore 📚How residents of a coastal NH town in the 1970s successfully fought a Onassis-funded oil refinery. And striking parallels between the awful governor of that time and Trump.
Finished reading: World Without Us by Alan Weisman 📚I didn’t finish this one but it’s definitely an interesting take on how the Earth would respond if all humans disappeared.