Friday, December 31, 2021

The Book of Boba Fett: Stranger in a Strange Land (Disney Plus)



 Bobba Fett escapes from the Sarlaac pit in the opening of this new series. How very slimy it is, inside a Sarlaac.

His luck isn’t good, though, as he’s stripped of everything by Jawas and then, half dead, you’d think, he’s captured and treated horribly by Sandmen.

He dreams of this past while trying to set himself up as the ruler in Mos Espa.  Expecting tributes in his new position, he gets a mixed response from locals.  

He wants to rule fairly, the locals want more of a Jabba the Hutt Crime lord. It’s a good thing he has Fennec Shand by his side. He also gains the employ of two Gamorrean Guards, one of my favorite Star Wars species.

The fight scenes where  Fett doesn’t have his Mandolorian armor prove him to be a real survivor and formidable foe. 

With his Mandalorean armor, and with Shand by his side, he didn’t seem to fare as well when attacked in the street. I really wanted him to take out the bad guys, because that’s what we saw in the Mandolorian when he fought. 

A big win in front of all and sundry would have also given him some of the respect he’s trying to win. Why not let him have that?

There are only seven episodes in the series, airing on Fridays.

Librariandoa's 2022 (We Hope)

 Let's say goodbye to 2021 and see what 2022 has in store.

On the excellent side, we are going to the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, and the Bouchercon Mystery Convention here in the Twin Cities.

We attended the 2012 Chicago Worldcon and had a great time.  The hotel was great though elevators took forever.  We saw lots of our favorite authors.  Pizza was great.  There was a little grocery nearby so we could have a little fridge in the room stocked with fruit and cheese and bread.  Note to self bring a butter knife in suitcase.  There was a Walk With The Stars and you could chat with an author you admired.


 

We haven't been to Bouchercon, but since it's right at home, gotta go.


Baking

Time to master breads (stop over proofing!).  Don't fear the yeast!

I love cake, and will somehow make a wide variety of cakes, and stuff myself, and be happy.

Garden

What a disaster in 2021.  I'll try to sum it up on my garden blog, but needless to say keeping rabbits and moles from devouring my plants is high on the list.  It's almost the entire list, lol.

Ride my bike.  

Somehow I have developed a fear of falling over on my bike (though I haven't done so in years).  It's added exercise, and you feel like you own the world zipping along on your bike.  What a weenie I've become.

Scrapbooking 

I have the best papers and pencils and watercolors, you name it to do some wonderful scrapbooks.  I just need to get back into it.  

Scanning and digitizing pictures.

I now have the Epson Fast Photo scanner which zips your photographs through, and the keenly desirable Epson V600 Photo Scanner which also does slides and negatives.  Time to scan the hundreds of pictures I have myself and inherited from mom.

Reading

I do in fact have the best TBR shelf I've ever had. So many good and new to me authors.  I don't forsee any sort of reading slump for me for a very long time.


First Line Friday December 31, 2021


 

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Throwback Thursday December 30, 2021

 I have to have something for today, so we'll go for the ever cheapo Throwback Thursday post.  Digging in the archives....one sec...


Well, here we go.   This little beagle of ours did not like having his picture taken.  I think his face captures 2021, though, doesn't it?  There were bright spots in the year, but, yup, most of it was like this.  

Be better, 2022!

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

What’s Cooking December 29, 2021

 The problem with evening posts, on a regularly scheduled basis, is that it's easy to forget about them.  What's Cooking Gets a Thursday Morning at 7 am spot beginning January 6, 2022.

I need this not for the half recipes but for making only a third of a recipe.  This is useful when trying out new recipes so you don't have leftovers, or worse, for the dreaded "that was gross, let's toss it".




I did very little decorating for Christmas this year. Next year, I vow to do it right, like this!  I need a mug tree for my Christmas mugs.  I haven't had one in years.  Got the cute chicken. Got the little cake plates and the wooden house.  I feel more festive already.




Having watched the Great British Baking Show, I know these were “over proofed”. Even so, this potato bread is soft and almost cake like. With Butter and Honey, it tastes like a light cake, in fact.  Recipe link when I find it :)  I printed it out and it's in my pile.  A keeper of a recipe.  Watch that proofing.







It's too late to add these to my New Year's Eve pile of goodies, but there's always time in the New Year for chocolate.

https://www.spendwithpennies.com/chocolate-cashew-clusters/

 


 

Librariandoa's Cards On The Table Word Find by Agatha Christie

 Here's the last Wednesday Word Find.  The Answer Key will be posted Saturday, January 1, at 9 am.  The next new set of word finds will appear Sunday January 9, for Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck and Warstorm by Victoria Aveyard.  Enjoy!




Merlyn's Word Find Wednesday Answer Key for The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

 



Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Librariandoa's Post Schedule for 2022


 

I'm reorganizing and simplifying for 2022, so I hope.   Here are the scheduled days and times for "regular" features on DOA.  We can always tweak if it's kittywampus.


Monday  Open

Tuesday Book Notes 7 am, Book Reviews, all bookish things.

Wednesday Open

Thursday  What's Cooking

Friday First Line Friday

Saturday Puzzle Answers

Sunday All Puzzle types: Sunday Puzzle Five Week Rotation (Word Finds, Cryptograms, Rebus, Fallen Phrase, Week Five Puzzle), Book Related Word Finds from Tuesday Reviews, Librariandoa's Cipher Sunday (the First paragraph of a book)

As always, other posts can pop up anywhere.  These are the standards.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great 2022!

Cards On The Table by Agatha Christie

 


This is the final Poirot for 2021.  I'll be continuing my readings of Christie's Hercule Poirot novels throughout 2022.

Mr Shaitana is a flamboyant and wealthy collector.  Most of his collections are of art and objects from around the world.  He also finds people of great interest, and he finds out everything about them that he can.  His parties are filled with people he's collected that he feels are interesting.

When he meets Hercule Poirot, he invites Poirot to a dinner party.  Also at the party will be one or more people who have gotten away with the perfect murder, he says.  

In an unusual introduction to the book, Christie tells the reader there are four murderers.  The narrator this time is omniscient, rather than Arthur Hastings or some other individual involved.

The Guests:

Poirot

Mr. Shaitana

Mrs Oliver, Mystery Writer

Superintendent Battle described by all as "wooden"

Colonel Race Secret Service

Doctor Roberts  Popular physician

Mrs Lorrimer   "Well informed, intelligent, excellent bridge player"

Major Despard  Explorer

Miss Meredith  "A pretty girl in her 20s"

After a dinner in which the host tosses out some cryptic remarks that may refer to murders previously committed, the group is split into two tables to play bridge in two separate rooms.

Shaitana gets everyone started, then takes a seat by the fire in the first room.

After a few hands of bridge are played, it is discovered that the host is dead.  He's obviously been killed by someone in room one, but how, why, when?  It would take a bold killer to carry out such a deed with witnesses a few feet away.

Superintendent Battle takes charge of the investigation.  With Poirot's knowledge that there were guests invited who Shaitana had thought carried out perfect murders, he delves into the pasts of the guests to see who might have committed but not been charged with a similar crime in the past.

Poirot concentrates on the players of the game of bridge, what they thought of the game played that night and what they thought of their fellow players.  He carries their score sheets around with him, noting scoring methods and handwriting.  

In one of the most twisted plots yet, Poirot finds his killers.

Monday, December 27, 2021

Book Notes December 27, 2021

 Good morning!  Beginning next week, Book Notes moves from Mondays at 7 am to Tuesdays at 7 am (first Book Notes of the New Year Tuesday January 4, 2022 7am).  

All bookish things will now appear Tuesdays, reviews and whatever else fits. I'll have more on the new schedule later this week, but note also that the Word Finds that go with any book reviewed will now be on Sundays, with their Answer Keys falling on Saturdays.  Very exciting.

I've actually got nothing more for this last post of 2021, as I'm writing in my head 2022 posts.  All the books read (a hefty amount!)  Plans for upcoming reading, and more.

January 4th, for example, so far has:

Book Notes

Review War Storm Victoria Aveyard

Review Travels with Charley John Steinbeck

Books Read in 2021


Hang in there! Librariandoa

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Merlyn's Cipher Sunday Puzzle December 26, 2021

Welcome to the last Merlyn's Cipher Sunday of 2021!  Next Sunday the name will change to DOA's Cipher Sunday Puzzle plus the date. I'm retiring the Merlyn book blog name from this blog, but not the content.  It will continue to be Sunday evenings at 7.  Have a great last of 2021.






Merlyn's Cipher Sunday Answer Key for the December 19, 2021 Puzzle

 Ho Ho Ho, Naughty One!  You know who you are :)  This is from a poem called A Very Naughty Little Person.     https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/53299/pg53299-images.html



Here's the full text:





Sunday Puzzles: A Rebus for December 26, 2021

Good morning!  Here's a bit of wisdom, saying goodbye to 2021.

 


 

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Throwback Thursday: Mom's Christmas Comic

 I come by my comic creation naturally.  Mom drew this at some point in her youth.  As it happens, my own art skills now are about what hers were then.  I'm not sure what is going on in all of the panels here.  It looks like Santa with a reindeer on a leash at the top and children sleeping near the chimney hung with stockings at the bottom.  Merry Christmas, little mom.



Throwback Thursday: Teen Summer Reading Brochure

 I had such fun designing brochures in the early days at the library.  I've always liked this one. It's not Christmas, but it is a throwback.  Doesn't it make you want to join though?



Throwback Thursday: A Mom Comic?

 I thought at first this was a Christmas Comic mom drew as a child.  The top looks like a manger.  There is a camel, I think.  But what's happening in that last panel?  I wish I could ask.

 


 



Throwback Thursday: Detective OpenShut The Case of the Rotten Recipe

 Mr. DOA has asked for more Detective OpenShut comics.  The few comic makers out there just don't have a good comic character that looks like a detective.  Though I did see one who could be Lincoln and Child's Agent Pendergast.

It appears I used Make Beliefs Comix the last time I did an OpenShut cartoon and it was ok.  Here it is, till I can come up with a plot for a new one.  I must have been influenced by the Great British Baking Show.




Wednesday, December 22, 2021

What’s Cooking December 22, 2021

Cookies for Christmas.  Just the basics.  I used the Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms recipe which called for shortening and had a bad moment where I thought to substitute butter.  I'd have to wait for the butter to soften though, and who am I to fool with the original?  These are one of my favorites. How do the Kisses stay soft even after the cookie has cooled?


https://www.hersheyland.com/recipes/peanut-butter-blossoms.html

 

 Also on the cookie menu as it always is, Mel's Kitchen Cafe Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies.  I like my cookies pillowy and soft.  These are the ones!

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/soft-sour-cream-sugar-cookies/

 

I always make Taste of Home's Chocolate Sandwich Cookies as well.  They're like two brownies with frosting in the middle. 

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chocolate-sandwich-cookies/

 

I purchased some Pizelle's last year at this time, and thought I'd like to make my own.   I ordered a Nordic Ware Krumcake Iron and it just came a day or so ago, so I may not master it before Christmas.


 

 I am also looking to purchase a Rosette maker.  I love those.

Department of elegant gifts #1  Vroom, Vroom! Who wouldn't love their heart to be gladdened by a new vacuum cleaner?  Make sure to wear your pearls while you work. 




Flocked trees were a thing at one time.  Even my parents bought one one year.  From a lot. I can't imagine them using their vacuum cleaner as a power tool.  Maybe mom, you're right.




Here's what happens when you can't get to your china cabinet to get your pastry brush (which has to be hidden from the cat).  Tasty, though!  I used the Natasha's Kitchen Chicken Pot Pie Recipe for my second time. I substituted (as suggested) a russet potato for mushrooms, which I thought smelled and tasted overpowering the first time.  The potatoes were a fine substitute. This is a Pillsbury crust, which is not as good as Natasha's crust recipe.  Use Natasha's crust.

https://natashaskitchen.com/chicken-pot-pie-recipe/




Ladies think of little else than the gleaming toaster that makes breakfast perfect.  Don't stint, get the nice one.





And, looking ahead to New Years Eve, Hot Buttered Bourbon from Spicy Southern Kitchen.  Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  

https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/hot-buttered-bourbon/


 

Merlyn's Word Find Wednesday The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

 



Merlyn's Word Find Wednesday Answer Key for The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse


 


 

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The Eye of the World: Wheel of Time #1 by Robert Jordan


 

 If you're in the mood for an epic adventure, you've come to the right place. It begins in a quiet, out of the way village, as the best adventures do.  

It's a festival day tomorrow, and thrillingly, there will be a gleeman at this year's festival.  He tells stories, sings songs, and plays the harp and flute.  There is also a rumor of fireworks.

In a year when spring doesn't seem as if it will ever come, these diversions are exceptional. 

There are also two strangers in town.  They might be an Aes Sedai and her Warder. Unheard of here as well.

The peddler Padan Fain brings news of the outside world.  War wages to the south.  The standard of The Dragon has been raised, and men are choosing sides.  The Mayor and his council want to hear nothing of this today.

We meet Mat, a prankster.  Perrin, the apprentice to the town blacksmith. Rand, a sheepherder like his father.  Nynaeve, the local Wisdom, or healer.  Egwene, daughter of the Mayor who wishes to learn the healing arts.

Amid the excitement of the upcoming festival, Rand, Mat, Perrin, and some other young men of the town have seen a Black Rider watching them from the woods.  He says nothing, just observes.

Rand's father, as one of the council, hears this and decides to spend the night back at home.  Rand is disappointed, but they return to the farm.  Before they can settle in for the night, the door is burst open and trollocs enter. Rand's father tells him to run, while Tam grabs his sword and fights the creatures.  Rand and Tam escape to the woods.  Rand goes back in for supplies, but one of the trollocs isn't dead, and he says a Fade wants to talk to Rand.

It takes Rand all night to carry his father on an improvised stretcher through the woods, avoiding the roads, desperate to get help for his father. 

Reaching town finally, it has been attacked as well, with several homes burned.  Many were injured.  Only the presence of the Aes Sedai and her Warder saved it from being worse.

Moiraine, the Aes Sedai, tells Rand, Perrin and Mat they must follow her to avoid more attacks on the village.  Egwene, seeking adventure and the chance to learn from the Aes Sedai grabs a horse and joins the group.  The gleeman, Thom Merrilin, also decides to leave town and travel with the companions.

So begins a perilous journey, hundreds of miles through towns and farmsteads and dead cities.  The Fades and trollocs seem to be always just a bit behind, and the Darkfriends, those who want to see the return of the Dark One, seem to be everywhere.

Nynaeve catches up to the group in a city, and wants them returned home.  They've already been through too much by then to turn back even if they wanted to.

They become separated, as companions do, with Rand, Mat and Thom Merrilin trying to get east together.  Egwene and Perrin keep company with a man who runs with wolves and a group of Tinkers. Moiraine, Lan and Nynaeve travel uncomfortably in each others company.

You feel every step of the journey with these characters. You think about your dinner being cold water from a creek when you're lucky. These common folk are just the companions to keep by your side in an extraordinary world.

I loved this book, and highly recommend it.

Monday, December 20, 2021

Book Notes December 20, 2021

 Ho Ho Ho! Santa looks rather sketchy.



From PenguinRandomHouse The top 50 Trending Books of 2021. Something for everyone?

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/the-top-trending-books-of-2021/


 

CrimeReads chooses their favorite debut novels of 2021.

https://crimereads.com/the-best-debut-novels-of-2021/


 

Currently Reading:

Leviathan Falls by James S A Corey, the final novel in the Expanse series.  I'm also watching the final season of the Expanse on Amazon Prime.  It is nowhere near caught up to the books in the series.  I wonder how the TV show will end.

For the novel, I'm about halfway through.  I believe the crew of the Roci and humanity in general deserve a  good fate, but I'm not certain they're going to get it.


Finished Last Week:

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.  It's tomorrow's review.  I really loved it and bought the next three in the series in hardcover. These are fat books and its hard to hold a paperback copy open.  Reading while eating is really tough.

I've been watching the Amazon series side by side with reading the book for the first time.  I feel the series (up until episode five) has done a great job of translating a long, incredible journey of four friends into a fast paced film version.  In episode five, so many things veer from the story and it's telling, I found myself saying over and over "that's messed up".

I highly recommend the books themselves if you've never read them.  The world is rich, the writing just lovely, and the characters are all unique and well fleshed out.




Sunday, December 19, 2021

Merlyn's Cipher Sunday December 19, 2021

 


 

 Merry Christmas, all.  This is from a book of Christmasy things, via Project Gutenberg.  It reminds me of a certain Mr. DOA of late.