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71

Throw Down the Gauntlet / Re: 50 Books in 2025

« Last post by Raenia on Today at 04:56:29 AM »

1	Make, Sew and Mend: Traditional Techniques to Sustainably Maintain and Refashion Your Clothes	Bernadette Banner	Own	Educational	1/1/2025	Nonfiction - Home and Garden
2	Blade of Dreams	Daniel Abraham	Library	Sequel	1/3/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
3	Red Rising	Pierce Brown	Library	TBR List	1/9/2025	Fiction - Science Fiction
4	Rhythm of War	Brandon Sanderson	Own	Reread	1/9/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
5	House of Flame and Shadow	Sarah J Maas	Library	Sequel	1/16/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
6	The Archived	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	1/18/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
7	The Unbound	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	1/24/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
8	The Bonehunters	Steven Erikson	Library	Sequel	1/31/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
9	The Fragile Threads of Power	V.E. Schwab	Library	Complete Works	2/3/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
10	The Voyage of the Forgotten	Nick Martell	ILL	Sequel	2/7/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
11	This Savage Song	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	2/8/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
12	This Dark Duet	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	2/9/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
13	Children of Time	Adrian Tchaikovsky	Library	TBR List	2/15/2025	Fiction - Science Fiction
14	The Near Witch	V.E. Schwab	Library	Complete Works	2/15/2015	Fiction - Fantasy
15	City of Ghosts	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	2/21/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
16	Tunnel of Bones	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	2/27/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
17	Bridge of Souls	Victoria Schwab	Library	Complete Works	3/2/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
18	Wind and Truth	Brandon Sanderson	Library	Sequel	3/10/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
19	Tears of the Wolf	Elisabeth Wheatley	Own	TBR List	3/11/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
20	Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture	Shannon Hayes	ILL	TBR List	3/15/2025	Nonfiction - Philosophy
21	Within a Budding Grove	Marcel Proust	Library	Sequel	3/20/2025	General Fiction
22	The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue	V.E. Schwab	Library	Complete Works	3/28/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
23	Malice	John Gwynne	Library	TBR List	4/1/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
24	Sisters	Carol Saline	Own	Other	4/3/2025	Nonfiction - Memoir
25	Vicious	V.E. Schwab	Library	Complete Works	4/8/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
26	Vengeful	V.E Schwab	Library	Complete Works	4/12/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
27	Reaper's Gale	Steven Erickson	Library	Sequel	4/20/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
28	Beyond	Mercedes Lackey	Library	Reread	4/23/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
29	Into the West	Mercedes Lackey	Library	Sequel	4/24/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
30	Valdemar	Mercedes Lackey	Library	Sequel	4/26/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
31	The Eyre Affair	Jasper Fforde	Own	Reread	4/29/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
32	Lost in a Good Book	Jasper Fforde	Library	Sequel	4/30/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
33	Children of Ruin	Adrian Tchaikovsky	Library	Sequel	5/6/2025	Fiction - Science Fiction
34	Gryphon in Light	Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon	Library	Other	5/7/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
35	Gallant	V.E. Schwab	Library	Complete Works	5/8/2025	Fiction - Young Adult
36	Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future	Bill McKibben	Library	TBR List	5/13/2025	Nonfiction - Political Philosophy
37	The Harp of Kings	Juliet Marillier	Library	TBR List	5/14/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
38	The Dragon's Path	Daniel Abraham	Library	Complete Works	5/22/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
39	Miss Amelia's List	Mercedes Lackey	Library	Sequel	5/25/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
40	Toll the Hounds	Steven Erickson	Library	Sequel	5/27/2025	Fiction - Fantasy

41	Anji Kills a King	Evan Leikam	Library	New Release	5/29/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
42	Ninth House	Leigh Bardugo	Library	TBR List	6/2/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
43	The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds	Michael Lewis	Library	TBR List	6/4/2025	Nonfiction - History/Biography
44	Going Postal	Terry Pratchett	Library	TBR List	6/5/2025	Fiction - Fantasy
45	Witness for the Dead	Katherine Addison	Library	Sequel	6/6/2025	Fiction - Fantasy

Sequels: 14
TBR: 10
Complete Works:
 - V.E. Schwab: 13
 - Daniel Abraham: 1

72

Off Topic / Re: The Silent Generation

« Last post by Metalcat on Today at 04:50:57 AM »

I have definitely also noticed the OP's experience with the "silent aka greatest generation" being treated with rose-colored glasses, and the reference to "Saving Private Ryan!" It's right there in the name, and I thought it was ridiculous when I first heard it. It is very similar to the hero worship that is often afforded to every single member of the military, which I also do not understand. There are so many other people/professions that make sacrifices and do amazing things, but somehow if you're in the military you're instantly a hero that should be stopped on the street and thanked for your service. I have plenty of gratitude for people in the military who have made sacrifices, but I'm also keenly aware that the military is a large cross-section of society complete with murderers, rapists, drug dealers, racists, just a person looking for a job, and plenty of regular folks just getting by. And as Jack Reacher points out at some time in the novel series, there's a non-trivial number who specifically sign up to kill other people. But they are to be stopped and thanked too because, you know, military.

You're welcome, and thanks for your support.

I served for over two decades to help protect your First Amendment right to write paragraphs like that.

This is exactly the kind of reaction I feared and, unfortunately, it kind of proves my point. I do not intend to convey ingratitude. You and other military members do have my support, and those that made sacrifices to protect all of our rights deserve gratitude. I also served (in a slightly different capacity) for about 20 years, right alongside great military members. I don't expect any platitudes about my "service." But why interpret my statement as ingratitude? Why assume I'm not aware of my rights and how they've been protected? My point is that not all military members are great -- that's all.

My apologies that my statement caused offense. I would also invite you to reflect on why my saying that not all military members are heroes causes such a reaction and assumption that I am ungrateful. Some military members have done tremendous things for the country and given their lives in service. Some have been supreme a-holes. And most have been somewhere in-between. Does the current POTUS deserve a very special "thanks for his service" as Commander in Chief (twice, no less)?

Up here in Canada we're in the midst of a massive leadership crisis over grievous misconduct within our military that leadership has ignored and suppressed for years. A quote from CBC:

"Experts say they can't think of another military anywhere else in the world that has seen so many senior leaders swept up in scandal at the same time."

So yeah, we're very comfortable up here with holding two things at once: intense respect and gratitude for what our military does for us, and heavy criticism of profoundly unethical conduct at the same time.

Two things can be true at once, both at the organizational level and at the individual level. Our military is simultaneously deserving of respect AND deserving of condemnation. And we have individual soldiers who been exemplary soldiers AND are horrible, unethical people and have ended up in jail for it. 

As a parallel, there are plenty of healthcare professionals who are also deserving of criticism and prosecution, and don't get a universal pass for their behaviour just because either they save lives or their profession does.

Holding organizations and the people within them accountable is how we keep them ethical and effective. Suppressing criticism is how institutions develop the kind of toxic culture the Canadian military is struggling to fix, and failing miserably to do so I might add.

One of our most prominent female military service members literally quit a few years ago because the reports on the massive scandal and the extent of the silence and lack of accountability was so disgusting that she saw no path forward. That's what happens when there's a lack of accountability for awfulness.

She publicly asserted that the military should even drop the name "Operation Honour" from its current campaign to address the problems because the problem is so pervasive and so unfixable that the name is a meaningless joke at this point.

Should our militaries and the people who serve it be respected for the massive benefits it/they provide to our countries? Absolutely. Should that absolve them from criticism? Absolutely not.

One of my close friends is a General and we've had so many deep, difficult, complex conversations that veer into profoundly existential territory because of his lifelong dedication to military service and his full awareness and participation in the unavoidable practice of not taking accountability.  He says that with each increase in rank, he takes a step closer to being targeted in this issue because it's literally impossible to have any leadership in the military and not be complicit. The only way to not be part of the problem is to not serve, and that's a brutal rock and hard place to be stuck between.

73

Throw Down the Gauntlet / Re: 50 Books in 2025

« Last post by Wanttobehome on Today at 04:35:15 AM »

January 2025
1 Clean my space  - Melissa Walker - 3/5
2. Aging agelessly  - Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene 4/5
3. Inner life of animals - Peter Wohlleben 4/5
4. How to have a good day - Caroline Webb 4/5

February 2025
5. On foot to Canterbury - Ken Haigh 5/5
6. Normal rules don't apply - Kate Atkinson 5/5
7. What - John Cooper Clarke 5/5
8. Seafaring, Canoeing ancient song lines - Victor Briggs 4/5
9. The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan 3/5 DNF companion book to series I have not read.
10. The Walls have Ears - Helen Fry 5/5*
11. Fen, Bog and Swamp - Annie Proulx 5/5
12. The Magic of Meditation - Butet and Champeaux-Cunin 3/5

March 2025
13. Harvest The hidden history of seven natural objects - Edward  Posnett 5/5
14.The future of geography -Tim Marshall 5/5
15.The midnight  library - Matt Haig 4/5
16. Lost wonders -  Tom Latham 5/5

April
17. Myself and other animals -  Gerald Durrell 5/5
18. Downton shabby - Hopwood DePree 5/5
19. The frayed atlantic edge - David Gange 4/5
20 Who's buried where in England - Douglas Greenwood 4/5

May
21. The life and times of the Thunderbolt kid - Bill Bryson 4/5
22. Life lessons - Captain Tom 4/5
23. The strange order of things - Antionio Damasio 4/5
24. Finding peace  - Rinpoche  3/5
25. Deep in the Alaskan Woods - Karen Harper 4/5
26. The Art of Danish Living - Meik Wiking - 5/5

74

Throw Down the Gauntlet / Re: One (small) good deed a day 2024

« Last post by crocheted_stache on Today at 12:09:30 AM »

We went looking for a needed screw at the hardware store. I know a bit about machine screws and spent a minute putting some of the jumbled mess back in its correct little slots in the drawer. I could have met there all day, but instead, I determined the item we needed wasn't there, chose and alternative, and moved on.

75

Throw Down the Gauntlet / Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2

« Last post by crocheted_stache on Today at 12:05:55 AM »

I dropped off a handful of things today, bringing the total items for the year to 147. We did a little shopping today, but it's to replace stuff that's broken, so it's basically clutter-neutral.

76

Throw Down the Gauntlet / Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2

« Last post by crocheted_stache on Today at 12:01:52 AM »

Now that graduation is done:
-Passing on the remaining graduation decorations I received on Buy Nothing a few years back
-Also listed two graduation sashes that DS18 ended up with after tennis senior night
-Two "congratulations" signs also posted on Buy Nothing, along with a logo'd high school bag DS18 received at graduation & doesn't want
-Finally, listed DS19's graduation gown on our school alias, to save someone else from having to buy it, but more importantly - reduce waste! Why does each kid have to buy these each year? It's nuts. I'll pass on DS18's as well, but want to double check he doesn't have any last picture requests in it, as graduation day was rushed.

Ah yes, the graduation gown...I actually have to wear mine once/year, when I go to the graduation as faculty, but if you can't get rid of it, it works well for a couple of different Halloween costumes: Judge Judy, Harry Potter (any character), could maybe make it work for a pregnant nun...

Or sew or fold the end under, put a belt around the waist, and add tights and it's a pretty good Renaissance royal.

77

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Thoughts? "Is the US Facing Irreversible Structural Decline? (The Evidence)"

« Last post by TheAnonOne on June 07, 2025, 11:12:30 PM »

Doomer content is perpetually "all the rage", for whatever reason. Yet the world continues to churn on, stocks are at all time highs, and the US continues to lead.

Could this change? Sure, but you're also then in a world where the outcomes are so numerous that it's basically impossible to plan for.

So... that said, personally, these types of things just get a big "ignore" from me.

78

Off Topic / Re: US ICE

« Last post by bacchi on June 07, 2025, 09:36:01 PM »

Well they detained a deputy US Marshall at a Federal Courthouse today.

Well, he did "fit the general description of a subject being sought by ICE." That general description might be "hispanic" but there are quotas after all.


Things are heating up in LA. Trump has sent in the National Guard to handle the protestors.

79

Throw Down the Gauntlet / Re: DONT Payoff your Mortgage Club

« Last post by Sandi_k on June 07, 2025, 09:05:00 PM »

@Dicey

80

Off Topic / Re: The Silent Generation

« Last post by DoubleDown on June 07, 2025, 09:02:16 PM »

I have definitely also noticed the OP's experience with the "silent aka greatest generation" being treated with rose-colored glasses, and the reference to "Saving Private Ryan!" It's right there in the name, and I thought it was ridiculous when I first heard it. It is very similar to the hero worship that is often afforded to every single member of the military, which I also do not understand. There are so many other people/professions that make sacrifices and do amazing things, but somehow if you're in the military you're instantly a hero that should be stopped on the street and thanked for your service. I have plenty of gratitude for people in the military who have made sacrifices, but I'm also keenly aware that the military is a large cross-section of society complete with murderers, rapists, drug dealers, racists, just a person looking for a job, and plenty of regular folks just getting by. And as Jack Reacher points out at some time in the novel series, there's a non-trivial number who specifically sign up to kill other people. But they are to be stopped and thanked too because, you know, military.

You're welcome, and thanks for your support.

I served for over two decades to help protect your First Amendment right to write paragraphs like that.

This is exactly the kind of reaction I feared and, unfortunately, it kind of proves my point. I do not intend to convey ingratitude. You and other military members do have my support, and those that made sacrifices to protect all of our rights deserve gratitude. I also served (in a slightly different capacity) for about 20 years, right alongside great military members. I don't expect any platitudes about my "service." But why interpret my statement as ingratitude? Why assume I'm not aware of my rights and how they've been protected? My point is that not all military members are great -- that's all.

My apologies that my statement caused offense. I would also invite you to reflect on why my saying that not all military members are heroes causes such a reaction and assumption that I am ungrateful. Some military members have done tremendous things for the country and given their lives in service. Some have been supreme a-holes. And most have been somewhere in-between. Does the current POTUS deserve a very special "thanks for his service" as Commander in Chief (twice, no less)?