#celeste dobbs

[plumbogs]

a new family in brookton... time to investigate

This is Nick Dobbs and his wife, Tracy. He works in the medical career as a resident. Their house isn't fully decorated yet, but they take some time to play a few rounds of chess anyway. They aren't as piss-poor as the other families, but they're not quite rich by any means.

They're both pretty serious people, but Tracy actually cares about doing things like making friends. As you can probably tell, they have children.

Celeste is their eldest daughter. She's going through her emo phase and spends every morning frying her hair to a crisp. Starla is the second daughter. She hasn't tried that yet.

The girls aren't very similar to each other. Celeste is a very curious and energetic shy girl while Starla is a lot more friendly like their mother. She doesn't really care much for popularity despite that.

They go back and forth on whether they get along, but that's how sisters go. Celeste thinks that any job that involves working in an office sounds like a bore. Starla argues that office jobs have their own interesting culture with many chances to get ahead.

And this is Derek. He's about halfway through childhood.

He's a bit of a grumpy kid, but he takes closely after their father otherwise.

The very first thing that happens is the entire neighborhood showing up to shove their noses into their business. Tracy has to quit the chess game early to meet them.

Michael Tyler beelines for their violin, which he absolutely sucks shit at playing. Camila argues with a townie behind him. Tracy immediately wants to start befriending these people.

The kids come home from school and get to meeting the neighbors as well. Michael tells Derek about how he can fix basically any coffee machine, which gets him some real perks at work. Tracy pulls the lame "how was school?" conversation out on Starla. Celeste ignores them all in favor of painting.

Derek is a fan of chess. He plays it by himself after Michael confesses that he doesn't actually know how chess works and chooses to sit at their computer instead.

Tracy corners him to tell him jokes about jewelry. He reacts in a similar way to a stinkbug and then goes home. Nick has to go to work in the evenings, which cuts into the family time he generally wants.

[beardedmrbean]

Nebraska police officers charged a mother and daughter with felonies for an alleged illegal abortion, but only after they were able to get private Facebook messages between the two – putting the social media giant on the defensive.

According to local reports, the investigation by the Norfolk Police Department included a search warrant that they issued for the messages between Jessica Burgess and her daughter Celeste in which they discussed getting Celeste an abortion pill, days before she claimed she had a stillbirth. 

Facebook's parent company Meta issued a statement titled, "Correcting the Record on Meta’s Involvement in Nebraska Case," claiming they were never told anything about the involvement of an abortion.

"We received valid legal warrants from local law enforcement on June 7, before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The warrants did not mention abortion at all," the statement said. "Court documents indicate that police were at that time investigating the alleged illegal burning and burial of a stillborn infant. The warrants were accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing information about them. The orders have now been lifted."

NEBRASKA MOTHER, DAUGHTER FACING CHARGES OVER ALLEGEDLY PERFORMING ILLEGAL ABORTION, BURYING FETUS

Indeed, police had initially only charged the women with offenses related to the disposal of the fetus, as court records reportedly said Celeste told detectives she gave birth to a stillborn baby in the shower. The investigation had begun in April after a Norfolk Police detective received a tip that Celeste had a miscarriage and buried the fetus with her mother, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported.

As for Meta's claim that they were served with a warrant prior to the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the overturning of Roe v. Wade had nothing to do with the charges in the case. Celeste Burgess was allegedly 23 weeks pregnant at the time. Nebraska law banning abortion 20 weeks post-fertilization (22 weeks after the mother's last period), has been on the books since 2010.

COLORADO MOTHER SUES FACEBOOK, ALLEGES DAUGHTER'S ADDICTION TO PLATFORM HAS CAUSED MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

Some Nebraska lawmakers tried to pass a 12-week ban following the Supreme Court's ruling, but the bill did not have enough support to get past a filibuster.

Timing is not the only reason why Jessica Burgess is being charged for the alleged abortion, as she is also not a licensed doctor, which would put her in violation of a separate statute.

[pennsylvaniaprelawland-blog]

Facebook Messages Incriminate Mother and Daughter Over Illegal Abortion

By Angelica Meliksetyan, University of Pennsylvania Class of 2024

August 15, 2022

Abortion rights experts warned the public after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that social media apps may reveal potentially incriminating information to law enforcement in states where abortion is illegal. In a recent investigation into an illegal abortion, Facebook provided access to private messages between a mother and her daughter to law enforcement officials. As a result, both the mother and her teenage daughter are now being charged with criminal offenses [1].

According to an affidavit, the Norfolk police department opened an investigation on April 16th regarding concerns that Celeste Burgess, who was seventeen years old at the time, gave birth prematurely to a stillborn child. Celeste's friend gave the police a tip that an abortion pill meant to cause a miscarriage was taken in her presence, which prompted them to investigate [1]. Prosecutors claim that the mother, Jessica Burgess, obtained abortion pills for her daughter, and Celeste delivered the dead fetus in the bathtub at home. This fetus was placed inside a plastic bag, which was then transported to a property north of Norfolk, where it was buried in a box. The two allegedly buried and reburied the fetus three times, each time at a different location. In addition, Tanner Barnhill, who assisted with the burial of the fetus, told law enforcement officers that the daughter and mother tried to burn the fetus' body prior to being buried. In a cooperative and voluntary manner, the mother and daughter cooperated with the officers and took them to the burial site [2].

By mid-June, investigators obtained a search warrant and sent it to Facebook, requesting access to Burgess' private messages. Based on the messages, it became clear that Celeste's mother had instructed her on the steps to take the abortion pill. During their conversation, the two also discussed the importance of ensuring the evidence was destroyed. In addition, Celeste expressed her gratitude that, after the procedure had been completed, she would be able to "finally be able to wear jeans" [3]. Facebook's parent company released a statement after the public criticized the company for being involved in an illegal abortion case. The statement claimed that Facebook was unaware the search warrant was related to an abortion. The statement read, "The warrants concerned charges related to a criminal investigation, and court documents indicate that police at the time were investigating the case of a stillborn baby who was burned and buried, not a decision to have an abortion." On Facebook Messenger, all chats between two users are end-to-end encrypted, which means that any government entity or law enforcement agency making a legal request will not be able to access them. However, messages are encrypted only after users mark chats as "secret" in the Messenger application [1]. Andrew Crocker, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted that social media companies might be under public pressure not to cooperate with abortion cases. However, the rule of law in certain jurisdictions forces them to get involved [3].

The abortion allegedly occurred before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Nebraska, where abortions have already been illegal after 20 weeks since 2010. There is evidence in the medical records that Celeste was 23 weeks and two days pregnant at the time of her miscarriage. Her due date was set to be July 3rd [2]. Nevertheless, there is still some uncertainty about whether or not the charges against her for illegal abortion will stand. In the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the concurring opinion, "May a State retroactively impose liability or punishment for an abortion that occurred before today's decision takes effect? In my view, the answer is no based on the Due Process Clause or the Ex Post Facto Clause". Thirty Nebraska state senators are proposing a special session to pass a ban on abortion at 12 weeks. However, they lack the support of 33 state legislators [3].

Eighteen-year-old Celeste Burgess is being tried as an adult. The felony charges against her include three counts of unlawful burial, misdemeanor concealing the death of another person, and lying to police, according to court records. Jessica Burgess is facing five charges of felony burying and reburying the fetus unlawfully, inducing an abortion and performing an abortion without being a licensed physician, and a misdemeanor concealing the death of another person and lying to police. Two of the felony charges against her come from the FaceBook messages acquired by officers. The two have pleaded not guilty to the charges [1].

______________________________________________________________

Angelica Meliksetyan is an incoming junior at the University of Pennsylvania. She is studying Criminology with a minor in Law and Society. She hopes to go to law school in the future.

______________________________________________________________

[1] Collier, K; Burke, M (August 9, 2022). "Facebook turned over chat messages between mother and daughter now charged over abortion". NBC News. Retrieved August 9, 2022.

[2] El-Bawab, Nadine (August 11, 2022). "Nebraska mother, daughter charged for illegal abortion after police obtain Facebook messages". ABC News. Retrieved August 11, 2022.

[3] Kaste, Martin (August 12, 2022). "Nebraska cops used Facebook messages to investigate an alleged illegal abortion" NPR. Retrieved August 13, 2022.

[readfeelandcherish-blog]

Review #28: The Path Of Totality (In Het Spoor Van De Eclips) by Bronagh Curran

pages: 255

back cover:  August 21st 2017. The first Total Solar Eclipse in the US for 35 years. And at a time when

night is day and day is night, anyone's life can be turned upside down. Even if you're Nat Dobbs. Nat's the bullied kid. The kid with the stammer and skinny limbs. The kid who weighs 125 pounds dripping wet and never quite looks you in the eye. Maybe if he did, he'd finally make a friend. The last time he tried to fit in he ended up with this pants around his ankles...on state TV.

But Milo Quincy doesn't see Nat the way the others do, the way his father Gunther does.

Sure, he may be a 65 year old recluse who punched Nat in the face, he may even be as dangerous as the rest of the town says he is. But he's listening - and for Nat, that's enough for now. When the multi colored and multi coveted Celeste Woodston gets thrown onto their path, Nat and Quincy find themselves on a road trip - across four states - in a '67 Mustang to witness the eclipse from the optimum point - The Path of Totality.

And maybe in this moment of ultimate darkness, the unlikely friends will finally see the world more clearly - or at least how they'd like it to be.

review: Because of what the back cover told me I had a reasonably high expectation of this book. That's why it was a bit disappointing to notice that not much happened in the first half and I considered laying down the book without finishing the book (something I never actually do). But after 2 days I picked it up again and as a miracle one beautiful thing after another happened. THIS was what I expected. Ofcourse it is understandable that the writer needs a run-up to introduce the characters at the beginning of the story, but if the book contains only 250 pages in total, it is rather strange to use half of them for an intro. 

As I said, the second part of the book really met my expectations. I laughed and cried, it got very tense and that’s what I enjoyed. I am very pleased that I have finished the book and would still like to read another book from the same author, but do not think I could start a third copy if the second book is - just like this one - half a introduction.

cover: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

[weirdesplinder]

Protagoniste formose

Salve a tutti. Eccomi qui oggi con un'altra lista di libri. Mi piace potervi suggerire nuovi titoli da leggere e in questa occasione sono anche numerosi. Mi è stato chiesto di suggerire titoli di romanzi rosa con protagoniste rubenesque, cioè in carne e formose. La lista sarebbe lunghissima naturalmente. Noterete che mancano titoli di Susan Elizabeth Philips, che spesso nei suoi libri ha protagoniste con curve belle piene, e mancano anche i libri di Kristen Ashley che usa praticamente quasi esclusivamente protagoniste particolarmente formose. Ho cercato più nei romanzi storici e titoli di contemporanei meno famosi.

Spero questa piccola lista vi sarà utile.

Titolo: Un amore su misura

Autore: Sugar Jamison

Trama: Ellis Garrett è una ragazza che non teme sfide. Insoddisfatta della sua vita è fuggita da New York, lasciando un lavoro prestigioso e un fidanzato ipercritico, per rifugiarsi nella cittadina natale dove ha aperto un negozio dedicato a tutte quelle donne che come lei non rientrano nelle taglie ufficiali. Al Size Me Up le clienti non si sentono strane, ma solo piacevolmente diverse: Ellis infatti è convinta che non sia necessario essere una Barbie taglia 40 per sentirsi felici e che ci si debba godere un pasticcino (o due) ogni tanto, senza troppi sensi di colpa. Ma tutto il suo coraggio si dilegua quando per caso incontra il sexy poliziotto Mike Edwards, vecchio flirt della sorella per cui lei si era presa una strepitosa cotta. Mike non la riconosce, ma è immediatamente attratto dalle sue curve... decisamente pericolose. Più Ellis lo respinge, più lui è deciso a conquistarla, con qualunque mezzo. Che entrambi abbiano trovato la loro taglia perfetta?

Titolo: Il bugiardo (The Pretender)

Autore: Celeste Bradley

Trama: Agatha è alla ricerca di suo fratello James, arruolatosi per combattere contro l'esercito di Napoleone e poi scomparso in circostanze poco chiare. Lei è convinta che ci sia dell'altro, ma come indagare? Una donna sola non può certo muoversi liberamente: l'unica soluzione è fingere di avere un marito. E la fanciulla gli da il volto di Simon Rain, uno spazzacamino affascinante che si presta al gioco. Ma in realtà Simon è una spia al servizio della Corona, in cerca di James perchè è convinto che sia un traditore. Senza accorgersene, Agatha dsi ritrova al centro di una rete di intrighi e di passione.

Titolo: Malizia e sentimento (The accidental bride)

Autore:Jane Feather   

Trama: Phoebe non è certo una donna seducente: è maldestra e trasandata e passa il tempo immersa nei suoi libri: Per l'uomo che l'ha appena sposata, il marchese di Granville, prova solo indifferenza. Ma un giorno, quasi per caso, Phoebe scopre nel marito un fascino misterioso, che la attrae irresistibilmente. Ma come risvegliare la sua attenzione, come fargli perdere la testa? Forse con l'abbigliamento giusto e un pizzico di audacia in più...

Titolo: La malizie di un Duca (The Wicked Ways of a Duke)

Autore: Laura Lee Guhrke

Trama: Prudence Bosworth conduce una vita modesta ma dignitosa, lavora come sarta e interviene ai balli dell’alta società solo per realizzare i piccoli rammendi dell’ultimo momento. È durante una di queste serate che incontra ... Continua e incontra Rhys de Winter, l’affascinante duca di St Cyres, l’uomo più bello che abbia mai visto: l’uomo dei suoi sogni. Ma irraggiungibile per una ragazza come lei. Tutto però cambia quando Prudence, alla morte di quel padre che non ha mai conosciuto, si ritrova unica erede di un’immensa fortuna. E la corte che Rhys comincia a riservarle sembra solo una coincidenza

Titolo: Nel nome del piacere (Pleasure for Pleasure)

Autore:Eloisa James

Trama:  Perfino una cattiva reputazione è meglio di nessuna reputazione. Proprio per questo la spregiudicata Josie Essex è decisa a sfidare la sorte. Accantonato il corsetto, amoreggia con gli uomini in modo oltraggioso. Addirittura, durante una corsa di cavalli dà appuntamento dietro le stalle al conte di Mayne, un arrogante dongiovanni, solo per l’emozione di un bacio clandestino. Non abbastanza clandestino: i due vengono scoperti e costretti a sposarsi. Potrà un’unione nata da antiquate convenzioni diventare il matrimonio dell’anno?

Titolo: Dolce inganno (A Dangerous Love)

Autore:Sabrina Jeffries  

Trama. Il conte di Swanlea vuole trovare un buon partito per le sue figlie e stringe un patto con Griffith Knighton: dimostrerà la legittimità dei suoi natali se lui sposerà una delle ragazze. Ma Griffith mette in scena una personale commedia degli equivoci. Ospite dei Swanlea, per recuperare indisturbato i preziosi documenti senza essere costretto al matrimonio, scambia la propria identità con quella dell'amico che lo accompagna. Non ha però fatto i conti con lady Rosalind...

Titolo: Un uomo da conquistare (Romancing Mr. Bridgerton )

Autore:Julia Quinn

Trama: In segreto, Penelope Featherington ha sempre adorato Colin Bridgerton, il miglior amico di suo fratello. Dopo aver speso metà della propria vita a osservarlo da lontano, è convinta di sapere tutto di lui. Finché non si imbatte nel suo più grande segreto, e con stupore si renderà conto di non conoscerlo affatto…

Titolo: Una scommessa per amore (Bet me)

Autore: Jennifer Crusie 

Trama: Minerva Dobbs ha un piano per ogni evenienza, perfino per le nozze della sorella. La sua missione è perdere i chili di troppo e trovare un accompagnatore che la faccia ben figurare nel ruolo di damigella d'onore. Come se la rinuncia ai carboidrati non fosse già abbastanza dolorosa, l'uomo che Min aveva accuratamente selezionato per il matrimonio decide di mollarla a tre settimane dall'evento, sguinzagliando poi sulle sue tracce il donnaiolo professionista Calvin Morrisey. Per vincere una scommessa, l'affascinante sconosciuto dovrà persuadere Min a concedersi a lui entro un mese. Ma quando lei viene a sapere del complotto ordito ai suoi danni, decide di prendere le dovute distanze... 

Altri titoli con protagoniste formose, purtroppo non disponibili in italiano sono:

Perfect Stranger (1996) by Rebecca Sinclair No Regrets (2007) by Michele Ann Young Altri titoli sempre con protagoniste : Sweet Nothings (2002) by Catherine Anderson Taylor’s Temptation (2001) by Suzanne Brockmann More to Love  by Dixie Browning   His Seductive Revenge (1998) by Susan Crosby                                                 A Whole Lot of Love (2000) by Justine Davis                                                      He Loves Lucy (2005) by Susan Donovan

[kittytales1]

Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs

Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs

Dead Wrong is the first of The Blackmore Sisters Series written by Leighann Dobbs.

This delightful cozy mystery series is about Fiona, Morgan, Celeste,  Jolene Blackmore and their cat,  who live in the family home in the small town of Noquitt, Maine.  

The first book of the series is Dead Wrong. It opens with one of the sisters, Morgan, and the town busy-body, Prudence, having words in front…

[andreusdwm]

Amanda Palmer & Jasmine Power - Mr. Weinstein Will See You Now (Official Video l NSFW) from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.

WE. ARE. THE. MEDIA. there is no marketing department, people. it's just us. please share this video with those who need to see it.

directed and choreographed by noemie lafrance. produced by natalie galazka.

over 60 women - cast and crew - were instrumental in the creation of this video. i wrote a massive blog about the origin of the song and the process of making it over at: amandapalmer.net/mrweinstein

this track and video was funded independently by over 11,000 people contributing to my patreon page. please join so we can continue to build this revolution of non-commercial art. patreon.com/amandapalmer

you can stream/download the track and read the lyrics on bandcamp: 100% of digital proceeds are going to the Time's Up Now legal defense fund, amandapalmer.bandcamp.com/track/mr-weinstein-will-see-you-now-2

......

VIDEO CREDITS

THE CAST:

Performers: Ching-I Chan Alison Clancy Natalie Deryn Johnson Melanie Greene Jil Guyon Celeste Hastings Kenya Joy Gibson Dages Juvelier Keates Coco Karol Ronell Kit Adi Or Kfir Hanna-Lee Sakakibara Seana Steele Sarah Wollschlager

Chorus Performers: Giada Maria Aracri Alicia Aswat EJ Baker Lily Balatincz Heather Banieviiz Aleda Bliss Alexandria Boddie Delaine Dobbs Mickie Garcia Oihana Garde Ariel Guidry Amy Hope Sylvie Sims-Fletcher Lindsay Katt Mariah Katz Jasmine Vivian Knight Olivia Lopez Rebecca Odorisio Amanda Palmer Vie Paula Rosalie Perez Jasmine Power Miriam Pultro Manasvi Sridhar Heather Stevenson Alexi Tasanaprasert Elana Tee Melanie Testa Olivia TuPartie Ania Upstill Alex Woodhouse

THE CREW:

Director - Noemie Lafrance Producer - Natalie Galazka Director of Photography - Michael Belcher Editor - Kara Blake Art Director - Delaney Rath Make-Up - Stacy Skinner Hair - Gerald Decock Wardrobe - Ashlee Muhammed Steadicam - Lisa Sene 1st AD - Anna Swando 2nd AD - Ashleigh Bell Camera Assistants - Steven Tong & Jack Baldwin Gaffer - Alexa Harris Colorist - Francis Hanneman Art Assistant - Jess Costa Make-Up Assistant - Aja Allen Hair Assistant - Lily Scheff Production Assistants - Jes Norris, Edwin Villanueva, & India Sebastian

Artist Management - Michael McComiskey, Hayley Rosenblum, & Jordan Verzar

[courtreadsmostlyfiction]

Best Books of 2017

What a fucking year. I am trying to climb out of a hole of depression (at times, I feel like I fell in the hole on election night 2016, and at times, I feel like I’ve been in the hole - whether I realized it or not - for 30 years), and books help. In case they help you, too, here are some of my best reads of the year.

The Best Books I Read in 2017

Standard Deviation - I’ve been recommending this book to everyone, and I can’t quite get the recommendation right. It’s about marriage, living in a city, autism, origami. See, you don’t want to read it, right? Yet it was my favorite read of the year, so maybe this will convince you: it made me laugh out loud multiple times (which books rarely do). In twenty-fucking-seventeen. I was grateful for a witty escape, and maybe you need one, too.

(And if that doesn’t convince you: sometimes when I love a book so much, I become slightly obsessed with the author and try to learn as much as I can about them. The author of this book is Katherine Heiny, and she lives in Bethesda [!!!], and I have hopes that I will run into her someday and then we’ll be good friends and she’ll ask me to read drafts of her work. Twenty-five years ago she sent a story to the New Yorker on a Thursday, and they called her on Friday and said they were running it. That kind of makes you hate her, but gives her some writing chops. Then she spent some decades writing YA books for a different author, and now I’m behind on this list because I started reading all about her all over again.)

(PS I thought I would hate Audra, and I ended up really loving her, and now I find myself wondering what she would have to say about things. I made Grant read this book, and he does the same thing, which is really fun.)

Autumn - I would have sworn I read this in 2016 since it seems like forever ago, but the yellow construction paper list doesn’t lie. This is a book the wonderful Ali Smith wrote after Brexit, so it felt fitting (and a little depressing) to read after Trump. She’s planning a book for all of the seasons, and I can’t wait. Winter comes out on January 9, 2018.

A Gentleman in Moscow - I’ve avoided Amor Towles books because they didn’t sound that interesting to me, which was my loss. I read this and Rules of Civility (see honorable mention list below) and loved them both but recommend this one if you’re only reading one. You can google the book to find out what it’s about (a count is under house arrest in a wonderful hotel in Moscow in the 1920s), but to me it was about survival, and it’s some of what I needed to read this past year.

Rich People Problems - A few years ago, my best book of the year would have been Crazy Rich Asians (the title is problematic, but I still recommend it to people, and hope everyone will read it before they watch the movie that’s coming out). The second in the series, China Rich Girlfriend, was good but not amazing, so I had lower expectations for RCP. I’m not sure if it’s because my expectations were lower, and it sailed over them, but I loved this book. If you need an escape, especially one with laughs, and I haven’t convinced you about Standard Deviation, start this series.

Hunger: A Memoir of My Body - Mostly, I read to escape because it’s my stress reliever and one of my coping mechanisms, which is evident in many of these reviews. I say that so that you know that this book is NOT an escape; rather, it’s one that broke me open and left me raw, and one of the few nonfiction books to make my list. I am forever thankful for Roxane (one N!) for her courage and hope so many people will read this and seek to understand and be empathetic. At the same time, if you are a #metoo, especially for sexual assault, maybe don’t read this if you’re in a depression spiral. The book will wait until you are ready.

Plainsong - I found Kent Haruf when I read Our Souls at Night (also recommend) when I think it was on the Tournament of Books. I did the whole I’m-obsessed-about-an-author thing and was saddened to realize he’d died right after publication of that book. If you want to know what it’s like to live in a small town, please read him. You can start with Plainsong and then you have two more books in the series (Eventide, Benediction) to look forward to reading. Basically, read this if you want the escape equivalent of a quiet weekend on a farm with no internet.

Goodbye, Vitamin - A delicious read for anyone who has felt lost at a crossroads (who hasn’t???).

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir - Sherman Alexie is an incredible author (proof: once someone who worked for me said he didn’t know if he’d ever read a book, so [#badmanagementalert] I delegated reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian as part of his job, and he read it and loved it), and this is a memoir about the tortured relationship he had with his mom. He writes family dysfunction so well I felt like some of the sentences were coming from my own brain onto the page.

Little Fires Everywhere - I also love Celeste Ng (read Everything I Never Told You, too), and worried a little bit that there would be no way I could love her second novel as much as her first. And then I read Little Fires Everywhere and loved it more! It made me remember what it was like to be in high school, about what happens to secrets in families, and I appreciated the nuanced view of culture and adoption. This was Amazon’s (well-deserved!) best pick of the year for 2017.

The Misfortune of Marion Palm - Read this and find yourself rooting for a flawed woman who runs away from her life and might get away with it.

This Is How It Always Is - This was one of my last reads of the year, and I wish I could have savored reading it more, but I couldn’t put it down. It’s about parenting and love and cisgender and transgender children. I loved it so much that I kept reading it through the author acknowledgments where she writes that it’s inspired by her real life (she’s the mother of a transgender daughter) and so she knows that it will be a controversial book but she can’t for the life of her remember why. Read it and then I think that sentence will resonate with you, too.

Christmas Days - Maybe save this for Christmas 2018, but definitely read it. It’s a collection of short stories (a medium I’m usually not down with, tbh) that the author Jeanette Winterson wrote for her friends and family, and then her publisher convinced her to publish them. That doesn’t sound good at all, but it is! I only read it because I’m a Jeanette Winterson fan, and then they were delightful in a hygge sort of way (and not in a Lifetime Christmas movie sort of way). I felt odd that I liked this so much, and then felt super validated when this title showed up on the NYT best 100 books. So if you don’t believe me, believe them!

Mysteries

The Dry - I love a good mystery, but to me that means that it needs to be a page-turner, I can’t guess who did it (but afterward I can go back and the clues were there the whole time), and it has good writing. That last criterion is what usually trips up my quest, but not in The Dry! If anyone asks me for mystery, and they’ve already read Before The Fall, this is what I’m recommending.

Magpie Murders - A mystery within a mystery! I didn’t know if I’d be down for this concept, but it met the criteria above, and I ended up loving it. I haven’t recommended it to Grant (and I usually force my recommendations on him, especially for mysteries), and I think because it’s more of a puzzle than a thriller, so keep that in mind. (I just put together a puzzle and didn’t even ask him to help because I think he’d rather someone stab him in the eye with toothpicks, so recommending a puzzle book to him wouldn’t end well.)

Honorable Mentions in 2017 (ie I really enjoyed these books, too, but not enough to write a blurb about each of them)

Small Admissions

The American War

The Mothers

Rules of Civility

Anything is Possible

Killers of the Flower Moon

The Impossible Fortress

The Heirs

Dark Matter

The Force

Exit West

Refuge

Future Home of the Living God

The Power

Sing, Unburied Sing

The Essex Serpent

Mysteries

Celine

Since We Fell

Skinny Dip

Not A Sound

Charm City

Baltimore Blues

Participation Award Glass Houses - this is the 13th book in the Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. I usually love them, but I didn’t love this one. I’m mentioning it because I did love going to the Eastern Townships outside of Montreal this year to see the village inspiration for her books, and if you’re looking for reliably good mysteries, you can start with Still Life. You can also pick up Maisie Dobbs, and you’ll thank me later.

[plumbogs]

at the dobbs household. Nick needs to learn a bunch of random junk before they'll let him have a promotion, and he's pretty tired of working night shift, so he hits the books.

Meanwhile, Tracy heads out to the deck to look out through the telescope.

No clue what she thinks she's seeing, because it''s pine woods for miles around.

The bills arrive and pull her from her delusions of joshua trees.

She greets this tacky townie that walks by while she checks the mail and forces her inside to watch her play the violin poorly.

The teens come home. Celeste puts her homework down so she can ignore it. Starla does hers right away.

they have some sibling bonding :) celeste thinks cities are probably dumb and stupid. it isn't her real opinion even she just wants to piss her sister off. it works wonders.

Derek comes home and asks his father to help with his homework. He manages to squeeze that in before work. They were about to play some chess together but it was too late.

Tracy does her evening phone calls. She tells Michael about a pet goldfish she had as a kid. She killed it by trying to replace the water in its tank with orange juice under the belief that it would become even more orange that way. Michael wasn't thrilled by that story, and then ended the call because his girlfriend was offering him a wonderful nap on one of her weird devices.

Starla enjoys the stars once the sun sets. She's trying to find out what saturn is really hiding behind all those rings. She's pretty sure it's aliens, but she's skeptical about their existence and the locals that ramble on about them usually seem a bit out of their minds.