Helene

This is going to be a short edition because we have guests this weekend. It is going to be J-Dawg’s fourth birthday tomorrow and we’re celebrating today. His EE and mimi bought him a swing set for our backyard which we are hopefully going to unveil later today though it’s looking like Helene has not fully let go of her rain. More on that in a bit.

So, I need one more book before the end of Monday to be fully back on track to my 100 books in 2024. I had an opportunity to do tons of reading on Thursday night because the wife was in Nashville with her bestie at a Shelby Lynn concert.

 I, however, realized I hadn’t finished the latest season of Doctor Who, so I binge-watched that instead. I love, love, love this new Doctor and how sensitive and queer he is. Still so very lonely though. And I’m not sure I like how heavy-handed they were with the racism episode. I know it needed to be addressed as the Doctor has never been black before (not counting the one played briefly by Jo Martin). They were a bit more subtle with the sexism during Jodie Whittaker’s reign though maybe that is because they were able to put a jab into most episodes instead of dealing with it head-on in only one.

While I watched, Mother Nature began crying busloads of tears. The remnants of Hurricane Helene dumped so much water that our backyard was a lake whose edge was a mere four inches from the back door. Tennessee and her bestie made it back without any issue though because the rain didn’t fully hit that part of the state. We didn’t get the wind here, thank goodness, nor did we lose power.

We were very lucky, but many others were not. Governor Lee has declared a state of emergency here because of the severe flooding in the east part of the state. Millions of others are still without power all over the South and way too many people died. Storms just don’t normally hit still at hurricane levels this far inland.

I heard a scientist say that it’s not accurate to say climate change caused this hurricane. It still would have formed, but climate change has a direct impact on how big and severe these new storms are. I will never understand those who deliberately deny science.

Book 72

Cinderella is Dead

Written by Kalyan Bayron and narrated by Bahni Turpin

Ever wonder what happened after Cinderella took up residence in the castle? What if Prince Charming hadn’t been charming? What if the fairy godmother was actually a wicked witch complicit in the subjugating of the women of the kingdom?  The dystopian sapphic twist on the classic fairy tale.

Book 73

Cloudy with a Chance of Murder – Familiar Kitten Mysteries #21

Written by Sara Bourgeois

There are 28 total books in this series. Honestly, I’m not quite sure why I’m still reading these except that they are free, and they are short novels that read pretty fast, so it helps me to get caught up on my count.

Book 74

Nothing to See Here

Written by Kevin Wilson and narrated by Marin Ireland

This is the October selection for one of my book clubs is not a typical book for us. It felt like there was supposed to be a lesson to be learned from this just slightly sapphic and just slightly paranormal story, but I couldn’t figure it out. I’m not a fan of men who write woman protagonists…they never quite feel fully formed to me or they are way too stereotyped. This book was no exception.