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Frostflower can solve Thorn's pregnancy problem... but can the pair survive the attention of a fanatical farmer-priest?

Frostflower and Thorn (Frostflower and Thorn, volume 1) by Phyllis Ann Karr
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Really, more of Book Received. One work new to me, science fantasy.

Books Received, September 13 — September 19

Poll #33640 Books Received, September 13 — September 19
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 33


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Yalum by Matthew Hughes (September 2025)
7 (21.2%)

Some other option (see comments)
1 (3.0%)

Cats!
32 (97.0%)

kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

... and doesn't quite make it.

On page 187 (of 218), we finally get this paragraph:

At this point we need to return to a crucial caveat. In most cases of persistent pain, whatever caused the initial injury has healed. Pain is now the primary disease. But there are a number of cases where there is continual damage that triggers nociceptive fibres; chronic inflammatory diseases are good examples. It is also important to point out that not every case of back pain is our brain's overreaction. A small -- but important -- minority of cases are caused by serious conditions -- cancer, some infections, spinal fractures and the nerve-compressing cauda equina syndrome -- but these can usually be ruled out by doctors, who will be on the lookout for 'red flag' symptoms. However, in the majority of cases of persistent pain (and over 90% of cases of back pain), there is no longer any identifiable tissue damage; our brain has become hypersensitive.

In a book that otherwise dedicates a lot of time to talking about gender and racial inequalities in healthcare access, including a solid half-paragraph on how common and how painful endometriosis (a chronic inflammatory condition!) is, the bit where "well this only applies to most people..." gets breezed past is certainly causing me more feelings. And yet it's still the closest anything I've read so far actually gets to engaging with the fact that the rest of us exist, so... no get-out-of-writing-essays-free card for me here, alas.

(The Painful Truth, Monty Lyman, mostly pretty good and definitely got me to think constructively about a few things -- like the merits of classical vs contemporary Pilates for my specific usecase via discussion of knitting -- and introduced me to some more, like open-label placebos and "safe threats" and the impact of paracetamol on empathy. It's incomplete, but not disrecommended.)

Bad News From Alpha Centauri A…

Sep. 19th, 2025 10:21 am
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There's a planet in the habitable zone... but not an Earthlike planet.

Bad News From Alpha Centauri A…
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[personal profile] seawasp
There was an ongoing problem with Amazon's listings of my space opera, Demons of the Past (Revelation, Revolution, Retribution), making the three of them have the same cover and confusing would-be purchasers. 

Finally it's straightened out, and here's the proper links:

#1, Revelation: https://www.amazon.com/Demons-Past-Revelation-Ryk-Spoor-ebook/dp/B0DN6Q6ZZ7
#2, Revolution: https://www.amazon.com/Demons-Past-Revolution-Ryk-Spoor-ebook/dp/B0DN6SVXF6
#3, Retribution: https://www.amazon.com/Demons-Past-Retribution-Ryk-Spoor-ebook/dp/B0DN6PL1ZT

This is the work I spent the most hours on over the years, rewriting it at least five times since its first draft in about 1982 or so (and the idea having been first thought of in the late 70s).

Sabrena Swept Away by Karuna Riazi

Sep. 19th, 2025 10:14 am
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Sabrena's life is full of struggles already. The last thing she needs is an other-worldly adventure. Life is, alas, not considerate of a teen's preferences.

Sabrena Swept Away by Karuna Riazi

[growth] pineapple is go!

Sep. 18th, 2025 07:19 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

A little while ago the toddler's household told me that you could turn the top of a pineapple into a whole entire pineapple plant (with the caveat that at least 60% of the time it goes mouldy). My first attempt at this had got as far as growing a whole entire root network but then suffered a Tragic Incident from which it never recovered; the second had been sat around with partially-browned but no-longer-becoming-more-browned and definitely-still-partially-green leaves for Quite Some Time. I had more or less hit the point of "... is this actually doing anything? at all?" and then upon my return from the most recent round of Adventures I rotated it in service of watering it, to discover...

a pineapple crown, growing a whole new set of leaves

... that it's growing a WHOLE NEW SET OF LEAVES. Look at it go! I am very excited!

(My understanding is that if I manage to keep it alive that long it'll take somewhere in the region of 3 years to fruit, and then in the fashion of all bromeliads will die having produced said single fruit. Happily this is about the rate at which we eat fresh pineapple...)

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[personal profile] redbird
I am happy to see that "should receive" the covid vaccine or booster includes infants; children and adolescents who haven't already been vaccinated; anyone with a medical condition that puts them at higher risk of severe covid; and all household contacts of anyone at higher risk.

Everyone aged 65 or older should receive two doses, six months apart.

All healthcare workers "should" receive the vaccine, as should anyone who is pregnant, contemplating pregnancy, or has recently been pregnant, and a few other groups.

Everyone else "may receive" it.

https://www.mass.gov/doc/massachusetts-2025-2026-respiratory-illness-season-covid-19-vaccine-recommendations/download

What I saw is Massachusetts-specific, but it says it is aligned with the recommendations of the new Northeast Public Health Collaborative, which includes New England except for New Hampshire, plus New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

I have had the call

Sep. 17th, 2025 05:17 pm
rmc28: Rachel in hockey gear on the frozen fen at Upware, near Cambridge (Default)
[personal profile] rmc28

Or rather the text message to book my covid & flu vaccinations. "For 75+ and immunosuppressed". I just double-checked and "have had a blood cancer" is still top of the NHS list of qualifying conditions, so that's my armour when the GP surgery gatekeepers are like, you're too young and you might be DEPRIVING someone of this vaccine who NEEDS it. (This has been the conversation the last three times I got invited to get vaccinated, sigh, and then they get a manager to look at my medical record, and then they grudgingly admit that maybe I can has jabs.)

Date is the Saturday when all the Cambridge undergraduates arrive, so just in time. I'll mostly be avoiding students for the first couple weeks of term to let the freshers flu play out, but I will be playing ice hockey so not entirely. Also getting in and out of the city centre that day may be entertaining, probably best done on foot.

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The Central Plaza Mansion tower offers palatial 900 square foot apartments for a mere ¥35,000,000. It is a deal too good for the Kano family to turn down... although they should have.


The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

tired. so tired.

Sep. 16th, 2025 10:24 pm
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[personal profile] kaberett

Have spent most of the day asleep.

  1. Attempt #2 at pineapple-from-trimmed-top has NEW LEAVES.
  2. I am also fairly sure that attempt #2 at lemongrass is taller than it was when we set off on our terrible adventures about ten days ago.
  3. Actual bed. Favourite mattress.
  4. I got to make someone's entire day by sending an "... I think I have your object" e-mail.
  5. Leftovers for dinner: curry from the crew party on Sunday night. Didn't have to think about food. Extremely grateful for this fact.

vaccinated

Sep. 16th, 2025 04:43 pm
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird
I just got this year's covid booster, as a walk-in at CVS. I'm glad I called first, because the CVS closest to our house doesn't have the vaccine; the one where I get most of my prescriptions does.

The pharmacist asked me if I wanted to get the flu vaccine at the same time, so I told her I'm waiting, on my doctor's advice. The actual injection was faster than I expected and didn't hurt much, so that's good.

The pharmacist gave me a coupon for $10 off a $20 purchase (with the usual list of exclusions). Kitchen trash bags were on the shopping list, so I picked those up, then added a box of envelopes and a bottle of dish soap to get the total up to $20. I got home and saw we may have too much dish soap, given limited storage space, but we will use it.

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey

Sep. 16th, 2025 09:09 am
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If not friend, why friend-shaped?

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey

Bundle of Holding: Dread Laironomicon

Sep. 15th, 2025 02:17 pm
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100 lair entries in two succinct pages apiece, from Aboleth's Sunken Lair to Wyvern's Nest.

Bundle of Holding: Dread Laironomicon

Clarke Award Finalists 2014

Sep. 15th, 2025 10:17 am
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
2014: Creationism is banned in British schools, the first same sex marriages in the UK are conducted, and Canadian Mark Carney helps the UK navigate challenging times. What ever happened to Carney, anyway?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 74


Which 2014 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
71 (95.9%)

God's War by Kameron Hurley
25 (33.8%)

Nexus by Ramez Naam
10 (13.5%)

The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
5 (6.8%)

The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann
1 (1.4%)

The Machine by James Smythe
3 (4.1%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2014 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
God's War by Kameron Hurley

Nexus by Ramez Naam
The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann
The Machine by James Smythe

hello rabbitholes

Sep. 15th, 2025 08:00 am
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[personal profile] rmc28

The Kpop Demon Hunters situation has progressed past "watch a second time", through "listen to soundtrack on repeat" and is now at "find and listen to as many covers and remixes of my favourite tracks as I can".

vital functions

Sep. 14th, 2025 11:59 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

Reading. Tiny bits of Solutions and Other Problems and The Painful Truth.

Listening. More Hidden Almanac.

Exploring. Chester, including Chester Zoo!

Eating. Almost all of my favourite field foods, including raspberry and lemon curd toasties, noodle pots with the addition of the prepped salad bits (spinach! red onion!), the giant lemon and sugar crepes, and flapjack. ("Almost" because the cake options CHANGED.)

Observing. The Milky Way. Something that might have been some kind of satellite or might have been some kind of shooting star. CHESTER ZOO, etc. At least one field bat.

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