Joining Kat and friends. Go see what the others are up to.

Knitting.

Yes, I have been knitting. No, I haven’t taken any pictures. Next week.

Reading.

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The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. This is the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series by this author. They are not-quite cozies, but have lots of humor and irony and lovable characters. Lots of fun if you are looking for some easy reading. [Digression: this series was a Jeopardy! question on Monday! I got it right!] 4★

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Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson. A mystery set in a hospital where sometimes people die. I read everything I find that has to do with the medical profession, and this one was well done. 4★

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The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. I have tried to read several of this author’s books over the years and was never able to get into them. This one was different. Set in a small bookstore in Minneapolis — Birchbark Books, Erdich’s own bookstore — it tells the story of one of the employees who is haunted by a recently deceased customer. The characters are fully drawn, there is humor, there is love, and there is resolution. 4★

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Winter Solstice by Rosemunde Pilcher. This is not the type of book I generally read — too cozy, too little conflict. But it was a charming book, nevertheless. 3★

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If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. I started this one, but quickly decided I was not interested in reading about precocious, precious, overly dramatic, 20-something acting students. I think a lot of the story takes place ten years later and involves a murder, but I did not care to find out. YMMV. 2★

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Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger. A Kindle freebie, it was worth exactly what I paid for it. Any book with a cover like this is bound to be sub-par. It took a long time for me to care about any of the characters, and the entire plot was unbelievable. I did finish it, though. 2★

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The Man Burned by Winter by Pete Zacharias. This was another Kindle freebie, but I liked it, partially because it was set in northern Minnesota in December and January, but also because it was fairly well-written. My only complaint was that sometimes I couldn’t tell where the action was taking place; for example, in one scene I thought two men were talking next to the cabin, but then one of them breaks through the ice on the lake with no explanation of how he got there. This is the first book in the series; I will definitely read the next one. 3★

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The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne. A Kindel freebie, but a sweet story. A librarian and several patrons are trapped in her small-town Colorado library by a ferocious winter storm. The security guard, a homeless man, a curmudgeonly woman, and a teenage girl with secrets all huddle together in the dark to keep warm and encourage each other in their own ways. 4★

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The Secret Witness by Victor Methos. Another Kindle freebie. These are keeping me amused until I feel like reading something of substance again. A mystery, suspense, blah blah. Book 1 of a series. That is why it is a freebie; Amazon wants to sell me book 2. Sorry, I’ll get it from the library. 3★

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Hide by Tracy Clark. A Kindle freebie, another murder/suspense novel. Book 1 of a series. That is why it is a freebie. 3★

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At the Quiet Edge by Victoria Helen Stone. Guess what? This is another Kindle freebie. I am halfway through. It’s okay, something to amuse me before sleep. 3★

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The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Finally, a book of substance! I have read a couple of this author’s books and learned a great deal from them. I am not so sure about this one, though. I am about 50 pages in and not exactly sure where he is going with his exploration of cellular biology and cellular medicine. But I will keep trying (and probably interspersing sessions of it with more Kindle freebies). 3★

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Breathless: the Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus by David Quammen. This one is so new it is not in Goodread.com yet! It is the story of the race to *conquer* Covid 19 and is by the same author as Spillover, which I read late last year. Fascinating! I just started it yesterday, but it is 5★s, for sure.

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Listening.

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Trust by Hernan Diaz. I am only partway through this audiobook, but it is confusing me. The first quarter? third? is a story about a wealthy man in the early 20th century and his mentally ill wife. All narrative, no dialog at all. Suddenly it ends and a new story begins, this one set a bit later – after the 1929 crash? – but also about a captain of finance. Too soon to rate.

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Watching.

New Amsterdam on Netflix. I always kinda wanted to watch this show but somehow never did. The first two seasons are on Netflix, but the next three will not be. Shucky-darns, I am enjoying the show. 4★