rose_griffes

New country this summer! I've never been anywhere in the U.K. before--and now I've spent three weeks in London. Work again, like last summer's Paris stay: chaperoning (mostly American) high school students doing a study abroad program.

The students were lovely--less drama than the 2025 group. London was busy: our hotel was smack-dab in the middle of it. I did so much walking! Which makes the Unfortunate Incident well-timed, I guess: I stubbed my pinky toe on the last day, and have been hobbling around the week since my return. Turns out that the tip of the bone is fractured, and there's just nothing to do about it. Even buddy-wrapping doesn't help--makes it hurt more, in fact--given the configuration of foot bones. So I went from ALL the walking to no walking, and it's making me antsy.

While in London I saw Operation Mincemeat, a musical based on the World War II military operation of that name. A cast of five tackle dozens of roles, which is part of the dizzying fun of it all. It started with actors in the U.K., then eventually made its way to New York City, and now back to the U.K. again in the tour.

How are y'all doing? Anything new going on? I'll try to post about recent books and films soon.

Something I didn't mention before: last year I had to put a cat to sleep--right after the move and summer travels. (Yeah, that was not a good time.)

Since then I acquired brother kittens, and one of them had to have a minor procedure done today to check on a swollen/inflammed paw. And ooof, he's not a happy cat at all; he hasn't settled down since getting home, and that's with a mild sedative in his system. Oh, and his brother is freaked out by the bandage on his paw and the cone. All in all, not a fun time chez Rose.

Fingers crossed that the bandage will stay on. Even the vet had a hard time getting that paw wrapped.

Books! I didn't finish the Aaron Burr novel by Gore Vidal. It was the combination of Burr as a thoroughly unpleasant person--which seems quite plausible; the narrator being unpleasant in different ways; and (what I perceived as) the bleed-through of the author's unpleasantness, too. Although I will say that Vidal had a biting wit that I approve of, for the most part. His fellow author Norman Mailer wrote a book that Vidal reviewed quite scathingly, which led to Mailer punching him. Vidal reportedly then said, "Once again, words fail Norman Mailer." That comment is even more of a burn when you take into account that Mailer's poorly-reviewed book was about feminism, and that Mailer once stabbed his, er, second? wife--with a penknife, so she lived to divorce him. So yes, words failed Mailer multiple times.

Anyway! Terrible people are not always as entertaining as one might think. And the Burr novel was quite long, which was another factor in not finishing it.

A book I did finish: Jacqueline Holland's debut (and so far only) novel, The God of Endings. It features vampires, though the word isn't used; Slavic monsters; a preternaturally gifted kindergartner; a bad grandpa and his bad henchman; and so much more! I have mixed feelings about some elements, but it was compellingly written, with a haunting protagonist.
edited to add: The protagonist makes a choice at the end that doesn't feel supported enough within the text.

The Five Year Lie was a suspense/romance story by Sarina Bowen. I enjoyed it, but it doesn't stick well in my memory, so that's it for a review.

Lois McMaster Bujold has another new Penric & Desdemona novella, Darksight Dare. This series by Bujold is a reliably good read. I'm so glad she's writing it.

I also read What the Night Sings, by Vesper Stamper. She's another new-to-me author--one that I plan to read again. Stamper illustrates as well; that was her first career, which was partially derailed when she lost quite a bit of capacity in her dominant hand/arm due to an accident. At any rate: What the Night Sings is a blunt and memorable look at the possible mindset of a Jewish survivor of a concentration camp. Recommended.

What led me to that novel was a renewed interest in, of all things, the backstory for Gaby Teller in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 2015 film. I was minding my own business, enjoying summer vacation, when suddenly Gaby was there, demanding attention. I have written fanfic for the film, mostly centered around Gaby, but it's been more than five years since I last finished anything. (Not sure I'll finish actually anything in this unexpected resurgence of character appreciation, but I am making progress on a couple of ideas.)

Anyway: Gaby's backstory includes life in a divided post-war Berlin, which led to me poking around potential resources, which led me to Vesper Stamper's novel Berliners. Since it's not available online through my library, I thought I'd check out another book by her to see if it would be worth purchasing the Berlin novel. At this point I'll say yes.

And maybe Berliners is what I'll read when I'm stuck on an airplane soon. Yup, it's almost time for... *drumroll* SUMMER TRAVEL! Heading west first!

I had a massive pause on visual media for most of July due to travel. Some reading, because that’s easier while on the road (most of the time).

Wet Grave by Barbara Hambly is the sixth novel in the Benjamin January series. The story had a good balance of personal story with murder mystery plot.

Lois McMaster Bujold’s new Penric & Desdemona novella, The Adventure of the Demonic Ox, proves that well-established authors are not opposed to whump. Hee.

Kaliane Bradley has a first novel, The Ministry of Time. Time travel shenanigans! Weirdly compelling doomed romance! Interesting characterization! Questions about identity! The most charming 19th century Arctic explorer you can meet on a page! I actually shrieked out loud during some parts of this. I’m not sure I can answer the question, “Is it quality?”, but it is fun in a strangely morbid way.

Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder, by Bellamy Rose, reveals a lot in its title. Quirky murder mystery, with bonus romance. Pomona Afton is a spoiled rich girl at risk of losing all her money if she doesn’t solve the murder, so she’s motivated. And overdue for a growth arc. Silly and fun distraction read.

Rebecca Ross has a duology, Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows. Very “new adult”, I guess I’d say. The story has an innocent feel to it, even though the leading characters are reporting from a war zone during most of the story. The stakes are more personal than geopolitical as well. The world-building was probably my favorite element: Gods are real, and they’re a pain. Time to kill some of ‘em!

Stone and Sky is Ben Aaronovitch’s tenth novel in the Rivers of London series. And I read it at the beginning of July when I was also busy keeping (or failing to keep) a bunch of high schoolers out of trouble in Europe, so it didn’t stick in my memory as well as it might have otherwise. But it was a good distraction, and I appreciate the ongoing character growth. Oh, and Peter and Abigail take turns as story narrators, which is a fun addition.

And continuing with novel series, Sherry Thomas’s Miss Moriarty, I presume is another entry in her Lady Sherlock books. I tend to buy these when they eventually go on sale; they’re not “must read INSTANTLY” books for me. But Thomas is a writer whose stories work for me. They’re solidly formed with a variety of well-defined characters. If you enjoy variations on Sherlock, you'll probably like this.

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Plane ride movies! Agnes Varda and an artist who goes simply by JR made a movie together in 2017, two years before Varda’s death at age 90. JR puts large-scale photo prints on mostly-flat surfaces of various kinds (buildings, cliffs, and more). Varda was a long-time filmmaker whose films had tremendous influence on other movie creators. The resulting collaboration between these two artists is called Faces, Places in English; Visages, Villages in French. It was a moving travelogue with some real moments of emotional catharsis.

A Bicyclette, called Ride Away in English, is another French documentary/follow-our-real-life-adventure movie, from 2024. Mathieu Mekluz is in his fifties; his adult son Youri died in his mid-twenties and Mekluz decided to pay tribute to / sort out his grief for his son by doing the same epic bike ride across Europe that his son had once made. This film blurs the lines between documentary and fiction; both Mekluz and his film buddy Philippe Rebbot are actors. They left on this trip with no script, but it’s not necessarily a true documentary. But did I enjoy it? Was it an interesting narrative? Yes and yes.

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Edited to add: I have not kept up with Dreamwidth this summer. At all. And I make no guarantees for the future, given that I'm teaching a new subject in a new school district. But hey, feel free to link me to anything I simply MUST read or know. Hopefully I'll log in here at least once a week.

FILMS and TV:
There was a new Wallace and Gromit movie, Vengeance Most Fowl. Apparently the studio made a deal with Netflix, but the film itself was in movie theaters for a brief window. During which I saw it! It wasn't up to the level of, say, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Still a fun and entertaining film, though. Next time I sign up for Netflix, I’ll be sure to rewatch it.

Later I rewatched Jurassic Park, which housemate A had never seen. We both enjoyed it, although some elements didn't age very well. I’m thinking specifically of the whole “Dr Grant doesn't like children but Dr Sattler wants him to like children.” Also, still can't quite believe they cast someone 20 years younger than Neil what's his face as his love interest. I mean, I can, but… Anyway, the special effects held up well, and the overall story was still super entertaining.

(Neil whatsisface is a babe, don’t get me wrong. And Dr. Sattler is obviously a consenting adult, and yadda yadda yadda - but generally speaking it’s not a romance that works for me within the story, so I’m happy to nitpick it.)

Oh! And I rewatched beloved film Arrival with housemate A - another movie she’d never seen. A. noticed Denis Villeneuve’s distinct lack of ANY HUMOR AT ALL, which is accurate to all of his films that I’ve seen so far. A bit of levity wouldn’t go amiss, Villeneuve! But we both (still) loved it.

Finally finished rewatching Rings of Power, which works even better on its second round: the story arcs are more perceptible now that the story is more complete. Good cast, good visuals, interesting takes on the source materials.

[edited to add: I haven't had time for Andor, season two yet! Hoping to watch it in June.]

BOOKS:
Seanan McGuire published book 18 (!!!) in her Toby Daye series - The Innocent Sleep. This one differs from previous books – the story is told from Tybalt’s POV rather than Toby’s. It worked well for me, and was a good change of pace.

I’ve read and/or listened to all of the novellas and novels in the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. Lots of fun even though I accidentally read them out of order. I’ll give the new show on AppleTV+ a try once I have any time for TV. Maybe next month? I have no idea when that's gonna be.

Alison Goodman has a trilogy that can be loosely described as Regency-Era Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Fewer quips, more anguish about maintaining social standing in a highly stratified (and dangerous) society. I enjoyed all three. The first book is called The Dark Days Club.

Ben MacIntyre wrote The Spy and the Traitor, about Oleg Gordievsky, who worked for the KGB and then began feeding information to the West, due to ideological differences. His escape from Russia was thrilling–a nice sustained gallop within the story. I then read MacIntyre’s Rogue Heroes, about the history of Britain's SAS. Both worthwhile books.

T. Kingfisher continues to create both creative fantasy romance and the most hair-raising dark fairytales. Paladin’s Faith was the former and A Sorceress Comes to Call the latter. I’ll keep reading Kingfisher for both. (She also writes straight-up horror, which I sometimes have to avoid due to general squeamishness.)

Common theme in this post: revisiting familiar media. I re-read a couple of novels by Dick Francis, and listened to audiobook versions of two more novels by him. They’re very much centered in the time frame when they were written, which is… both good and bad, I guess. But Francis always did his homework for story settings and details, and while there are commonalities between the male protagonists, he also managed to make them distinct enough to feel worth reading. And hey–sometimes you want to read about a morally good guy dealing with bad situations.

Work: v. v. busy; reasonably good group of students this year. No "worst class you'll teach in a decade" happening this year, hurrah.

Books: still slowly reading Barbara Hambly's Edwardian vampire series and 1830s New Orleans series. With frequent interruptions from other books, none of which I have time to rec at the moment. Maybe this weekend?

(Almost signed up for Yuletide this year, because both Hambly series that I'm reading were listed. And my beloved Andor! I talked myself out of it - not enough free time.)

Slowly watching Rings of Power, season two. Stronger than season one, in my opinion - so far, at any rate.

Made a planned week-long trip during the school year for the first time ever. (I've missed work for a week in the past, but it was for reasons like the flu or Covid.) Anyway, we all survived it: me and the students. And the substitute teachers. Although AAAAUGH, prepping ahead of time for missing an entire week was a nightmare, and I don't plan to do so again if I can avoid it.

Less than a month until Thanksgiving break, hurrah hurrah. Looking forward to visiting parents and some of the siblings as well. And then it will be a sprint from Thanksgiving to Christmas, which means it's time to work on that Christmas present for my mother. (If it's a success, I may post pics here. It's a *crafty* project.)

Oh hey! It's another update! Go me!

MEDIA: The movie Thelma is worth seeing in a theater, if you're able to do so. It disappeared quickly from the closest theater, so we had to drive to the next town to see it. I would guess that nonagenarian June Squibb had a fun time in her first leading role; her character was flawed yet sympathetic, and the script took great care in the family relationships. Oh, and surprise Agent Coulson Clark Gregg! I wasn't expecting him. There are some other casting surprises, about which I'll say nothing in the post itself. Feel free to chat about the film in the comments if you've seen it.

GARDEN: This has been a good year for the cucumber plant, weirdly enough. Not sure if it's because housemate A got a bit generous with the bone meal or because of the wildflower patch right next to it, or the copious rains in late May/early June. Or all of it, which is the most likely explanation. At any rate, after plentiful rains came oppressive heat, so the cucumber plant is unlikely to produce much more fruit. At least, not that we'll actually eat. (If it gets hot enough, cucumbers taste bitter.)

The yellow tomato plant has done okay, the cherry tomatoes are abundant, and the plant that's supposed to produce those purple tomatoes (Cherokee purple, a heritage plant, NOT a genetically modified purple tomato plant) has done absolutely nothing. It's tall, but hasn't set any fruit. This is my second attempt at Cherokee purple, and it's been, er, fruitless. In the literal sense.

Didn't remember to plant any squash of any kind, and not sure if I will now, given how early the hot weather showed up.

TRAVEL and REAL LIFE: I've already visited two siblings, one on east coast time and the other on west coast time. Sprained my ankle right before the easterly trip, which was unfortunate. For July I'll do a bit more traveling, but not by plane. And I may start an online course related to teaching, as well as painting (walls and ceilings) a bit. Should probably make a priority list for all of that.

Media update Jan-Mar 24

Audiobooks! I still find them a bit frustrating at times, especially when I miss a word or don’t know how to spell a character’s name. But I’ve listened to a few of them lately.

Ben Aaronovitch has a collection of short stories set in the Rivers of London universe. I enjoyed them; Kobna Holbrook-Smith is widely appreciated for his work on the Peter Grant novels, and most of these short stories were from Peter’s point of view.

I listened to a Miss Marple novel. Given my frustration with not knowing how to spell character names, or the occasional missed word, I figured I would go with a story that would be slightly familiar to me. A good plan, it turns out: I wasn’t so distracted by “how is that spelled” and it was ok to drift away from the story for a few seconds now and then.

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Book-books. E-books in this case. I’ve read several historical romance novels by Grace Burrowes, and she’s a “yay” for me. Meredith Durant was more frustrating, given the good plot mixed with ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE anachronisms.

Rachel Aaron’s By a Silver Thread trilogy is, well, complete with three books. Her stories don’t have the depth of prose that, say, Seanan McGuire can achieve, but the plots are coherent, the action works well within those plots, and I was rooting for the lead character. So: future Detroit with magic and gods. If that seems intriguing, give her books a try.

Lois McMaster Bujold has an eleven novella / twelfth book in her Penric & Desdemona series. Still consistently enjoyable!

One of y’all mentioned Barbara Hambly’s novels recently, and the name struck a chord. The last time I looked for her books, my local library had ZERO e-books of hers. That has changed, so I read the first of her vampire novels, set in the early 1900s. Hambly is a dedicated researcher, and one of her goals is to achieve a certain level of period appropriate characters and behaviors–even with the vampires, whose attitudes and comportment align well with their original cultures and languages. Book one of the vampire series is called Those Who Hunt the Night. I plan to read more, but I may have to go to the ACTUAL library (*gasp*)--they have books 1, 3 and 7 available as e-books, but not the others.

Hambly’s series featuring protagonist Benjamin January begins with A Free Man of Color. January, or rather Janvier, is a black man living in 1800s New Orleans. I’m in the middle of book three, so this is also a successful-for-me series. Both this series and the vampire novels have a mystery at the heart of each book; solving, or at least mitigating, the problem is essential to at least one character’s survival in each story. They’re not, however, classic whodunits. Characters clash and there’s usually not a clean-cut happy ending. Just people moving forward, sometimes carrying scars.

Didn’t finish: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins. Not due to a lack of quality in the writing; it was more about not necessarily wanting to read through a villain arc, especially knowing in broad strokes where the story would go.

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With the current Disney+ subscription, I rewatched the Narnia films from the 2000s. All enjoyable, although the third one had a lower budget, which was visible in the FX quality. Also, just and less-effective writing. But still good enough.

Ahsoka series: I’ve made it through most of the episodes of season one. So far my grade is “mixed”.

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FINALLY: Dune, part two: aaaaaah! The narrative loves Paul Atreides. It made a Paul-shaped space JUST FOR HIM. He says he doesn’t love the narrative back, but he’s lying to himself. LINK ME TO YOUR POSTS ABOUT DUNE!

Aaaaand this post has been in progress for weeks, so I’m stopping now. Whatever I missed, I can write about next time whenever I come up for air again.

In December a friend and I watched the new Hunger Games prequel movie, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Unlike the previous HG movies, I hadn’t read the novel before seeing this film, and my vague impression was “... something about Snow?”

I did figure out fairly quickly that ( spoilers, I guess )

In January I saw the Wonka movie prequel, which was airy like a meringue, and which lasted as long in my memory as a meringue would. Meringues have their place! Even the movie version of them! At the same time, it’s still a bit disconcerting to see all of that money invested on the (beautiful!) final product and realize later that you can’t recall much more than a vague outline of the story and the characters. Not even an ear-worm song remains!

I started watching the new Disney+ Percy Jackson series. Housemate A likes it, so it’s something we can watch together. The first two episodes didn’t really catch my attention, but since I was watching with someone else, I persisted enough for the pay-off. Which is to say: I’m now really enjoying the season, five episodes in.

I read book one of the series YEARS ago, and I recently-ish saw a stage version of The Lightning Thief. So I have only a very vague sense of where the story is going. Not sure if that makes it more or less enjoyable than knowing the main plotlines from the books.

( my one complaint )

In the last five months I’ve watched the Muppet movies that a) had a theatrical release and b) are easily found online. Muppets from Space, the only non-musical of the bunch, isn’t available.

some blather about that, plus an embedded video

Unsurprising favorites: either beloved original The Muppet Movie (1979) or The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), which had the winning factor of Michael Caine taking the role of Scrooge as seriously as an actor NOT interacting with puppets.

Charles Grodin used a similar tactic in The Great Muppet Caper as the lovestruck yet pragmatic villain. His quirky humor made his screentime the most compelling; the movie dragged a bit when he wasn’t around. I’m still cackling at his delivery of the line, “Thieves aren’t breathing down your neck,” to his sister in the film (played by Diana Rigg).

Really random side note: more than 30 years after Grodin co-starred in the film, he wrote RPF about an imagined almost-fling with Miss Piggy–posted in Vulture magazine.

Caper gets a bit too silly at times, but I still enjoyed Miss Piggy’s modeling reverie, which has a full-on parody / homage to Esther Williams’ films.

Watch on YouTube

In spite of the nostalgia factor of the earlier films, I would put Muppets Most Wanted (2014) ahead of them–third place after the original film and the Dickens adaptation. It might be due to the eccentric music, but also there’s just something about the very idea of evil Kermit Constantine, the world’s most dangerous frog, that makes me giggle. Plus, Ricky Gervais as henchman villain Dominic Badguy was perfect: Gervais isn’t a favorite of mine, but this role suited the production well.

Loki season two:

eh, a few spoilers

I haven’t read many reviews, but there seemed to be a consensus that the first part of season two dragged a bit. I certainly felt it, and it wasn’t helped by the aesthetic, which didn’t have enough variety. Most of it looked a bit muddy, even though it also looked expensive.

But the acting was fantastic, and the ending worked very well for me. A winner overall, even if it felt too slow early on.

Started the new Doctor Who episode on Disney+, but haven’t yet finished. How did they get David Tennant’s hair to be so tall?!

BOOKS!
Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman was a pointed fairy tale that I didn’t love, but that made me think. So, success on that front.

Curtis Sittenfeld did a ton of research about Saturday Night Live to write her novel titled, Romantic Comedy. Enjoyable, not nearly as fluffy as one might think, given that title. I liked it more for the behind-the-scenes view of an SNL clone than for the people and romance.

Non-fiction: Jasmine L. Holmes’ book Carved in Ebony is about ten black Christian women, all American, and their impact–both in a historical and religious sense. It’s an explicitly religious book, by the way–in both the women profiled and the author herself. I started reading (e-book) and finished with the audio book, which worked well for a change. I’m not often an audio book consumer, but I had Thanksgiving travel and needed a lengthy distraction.