Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

Just this minute I got a text from my son,DGD3 has been in hospital for 2 nights with the flu. He didnt want to worry me so we were obliviousLast time he was here with her he said she had a cold so no hugs,but she got worse and ended in hospital. GGS3 is now ill with the strep virus,but is getting better

Today DD2 came overthe first time since her covid. She says she has never been so ill in her life. DS1 came,telling us about the nasty bug he got while away from home,and he had a hair raising 5 hours driving home in the snow.

Hopefully we all get in better health by Xmas Day!

dustydigger

We have had visitors solid since 11.am,and the last left just now. Fortunately the Morocco/Croatia match is on BBC,so we were able to rewind to the start with iplayer,so Mr Dusty can now watch the whole game in peace

I am going to open a book for the first time today. I still have to read 6 titles by the end of the year!.I also have to make up my TBR for 2023 for my SF website. The basic list is 50,I've already chosen 23,so I'm well on my way. Of course I expect to read at least 80 books altogether,but I like making a list of books I really want to read as a framework,and then add more for the monthly challenges as the year progresses.

now can relax for the first time today. The lamb is in the slow cooker simmering for tomorrow.

Muddy_Walker

Hello!
Dusty I’ve charged up my Kindle so I can let you know what I’ve been reading.. as I’ve said I read a lot of Kindle Unlimited and some of it is truly dire 🤣🤣
Jaqueline Druga writes not too distant future about apocalyptic themes. Static was awesome, Gone was good and Three Days After Impact was superb.
Loved almost all Agatha Christie which is where my love of murder mystery comes from ❤️ KL Slater is quite good. I like Theresa Driscoll for her twists! 

Matt Brolly UK detective stuff was enjoyable, his USA stuff not so much.
TR Ragan always has angry people with a past…
I like Marian Keyes for lighthearted feel good stuff.
if I can find anymore I’ll let you know 😊

dustydigger

@Muddy_Walker

thanks so much for showing me your your ''not dire'' Kindle choices. ,I'll check them out.As a rule,with ordinary reading I read to the bitter end,as I hate to ''DNF''(did not finish) a book,especially if it is a book in a challenge,but in self defence on kindle if I cant get into a book I just dump it,often even after just 20 pages!

But in my normal reading I def want to finish. I have been working my way through a SF award list,reading one a month in between other reads over years. I had finished 49/50 by 2019 and had only one book left,Samuel Delany's ''Dhalgren'',800 pages long,and I hated it,gave up  at around page 300. In 2021 tried again,got no further. Its annoying that I cant boast to my fellow nerds that I have finished a list,so a few months ago I started my 3rd attempt,I read about 10 pages at a time,and am now actually on page 380!

Thats my new year resolution for 2023,I WILL finish this so called classic SF book,and post (boast?) about it on the SF site. I have already finished all the 70 books on the Hugo award list up to 2021 (SF equivalent of the Oscar,I suppose) and the 57 on the Nebula list,and its ridiculous that I cant complete the Locus award list because of this one book. Oh boy,am I weird,or am I weird?

I remember a few years ago reading a famous magical realism story, Gabriel Garcia Marquez ''100 Years of Solitude''. I made a plan to read a few pages as I ate my breakfast porridge. The book took my mind off the porridge,not exactly the most exciting meal,and the porridge,spiced up with masses of fruit,took my mind off the book. I got both chores off my back by 9 am each day,and at 10 pages or so a day I finally finished the book within 3 weeks. Perhaps I should employ the same strategy with the Delany book,but at 440 pages still unread that will still take a long time,but I hope to get there in the end. .I'll keep you posted. Last week I actually got through 50 pages in a couple of days,prioritizing it over other reads,but once again 4 or 5 days have gone by without reading a page. Perhaps I should post each morning where I am up to on here,shame myself into reading.Could I finish it this year,get it off my back? Hmm,could I bear reading 35 pages a day? I am down to reading barely 25 pages an hour because of my stupid eyes,so an hour and a half EVERYDAY  ? Nope. So its a new year resolution for next year  I know,what has that to do with frugality. Nuthin! But if I finish it by end of January,it will be a birthday present to myself when I can at last put it on line.

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The SF site I use is Worlds Without End, a site whose purpose is to list all the different SF,fantasy and horror awards and lists. We nerds then click off books on the lists as we complete them.

do check it out! So many lists,so many challenges and fantastically detailed author and title info for a host of authors. Its my go to site for those genres. I stumbled on it in 2012 and have been a strong supporter ever since,till my health has deteriorated so much I have cut down drastically,but I still faithfully track all my challenges and reads on there. I do get peeved that they dont list ANY self published stuff at all. They assume its all rubbish. Could be right,but it can be fun

http://www.worldswithoutend.com/index.asp 

dustydigger

Snow,what snow? Went to bed with a totally white snowy garden,an inch of snow on the garden wall,and being wary of crossing the yard to the bin,but woke up with not a speck of snow anywhere!. Its 12 degrees. Yesterday morning was -1C. Its got to be warmish for several days ,then the north and Scotland at least can expect bad weather again.Weird.

Hooray,the football's over1 Congrats to Argentina and Messi,but I felt so sorry for France. Two goals down,equalized. 3-2 down equalized. Lost on penalties. For me Mbappe was man of the match,even the tornament. Such a bright future for him ahead hopefully. Monopoly money wages already,well over £70million this year,puts Ronaldo and Messi's 40 million well in the shade! Mr Dusty is well into the withdrawal symptoms stage. Still hogging the chair in front of the telly as usual,butflicking through the channels all the time. At the moment its Come Dine With Me,who knows what in 10 minutes time I am seeing more TV daily than I see in a whole year,since I usually watch You Tube ,channels about books,or reaction videos.,not ordinary TV. But now with lowering consumption of energy Mr Dusty rarely uses his ''den'',and I have moronic stuff non stop for 12 hours a day. Not doing my poor old nerves a bit of good!

Lamb for dinner,but I've run out of carrots,I only have green beans available,not really a fave of Mr Dusty with meat. Delivery from asd@ tomorrow. There wont be another delivery till 4th Jan,so I have to get as much non perishable stuff as possible for a two week hiatus. But where will I put the stuff?   

Got to phone the surgery and book my B12 jab for 2nd Jan. Left it very late but its a fine line. Try to book too soon,and they say we only book for 2 weeks ahead at most please call in a few days,,but try to do it about 10 days before the date you want,and they say they are booked up,and I end up going a week over the proper date. I also need to make an appointment for a HbA1C diabetic test. Ouch,have NOT been eating right for ages,got depressed when I went on Metformin,and stopped losing weight,I sort of gave up. Also with cancer scares,Mr Dusty's cognitive problems,other health matters I have just not been able to focus at all.

On the other hand,I do feel that at last the B12 jab is making some improvements in me. Mentally.at least. Much less brain fog,and depression these last couple of months,I think,which is good. I can cope with physical pain,used to it,but I fear and get upset about mental things. I need to be sharp to deal with Mr Dusty,manage our meds and numerous health appointments!

OK,thats it for today,folks. Have done absolutely nothing today  apart from prepare dinner,and do washing up,deal with Mr Dusty,  and fumble my way through these posts,which with my two finger typing and myriad corrections,take forever.

 I promise to read at least 10 pages of that pesky book!

Muddy_Walker

I will hold you to that Dusty!! And I will def check that site 😊

beanielou

Get reading!

dustydigger

@beanielou. @Muddy_Walker

OK slave drivers. Actually I had thought I was up to 385,but it was only 365. But I really dug in and read up to 402! Yay! The book has a reputation of being difficult,obscure,plotless - the list goes on Probably not one in a hundred manage to complete it,and probably one in a thousand of them like it. This is my third attempt and the first 2 attempts were disastrous,I didnt understand a thing. Actually NOBODY understands a thing,even famous critics and fellow authors.   I am so not a fan of literary SF I find it often pretentious and dull. Hey,its only 878 pages long,only 476 pages to go.

Wonder what it is about long books,they just somehow intimidate me. Read three 400 page  in a week? Quite possible,especially if they are fast paced excting reads,not daunting at all. One 900 page book? EEK. It will take me a fortnight! Its probably one of the reasons why I dont read much fantasy. All those long long series,10 or more books each 700 plus pages,so not for me. Cant bring myself to read Game of Thrones and its sequels,and they are on lots of the lists I am working through.I hate grimdark, violent,and full of cruelty, and of course mistreatment of women as standard. Just not for me.

I am reading a cozy mystery for my December game challenge. Killer Kebab,is the title. I am not very fond of cozies,but you have to enjoy the silly titles Really,the only time I read them is when I have a challenge and have to pick something for fill in a theme. The theme this month that I chose was a book set in a restaurant.

So are any of you expect book tokens,or even books for Xmas? Look forward to posts after Xmas telling me what you got!

beanielou

I would not even pick up a 900 page book these days.
Also I will no longer read anything if the print is teeny weeny.
I am getting auld

Muddy_Walker

I grew up with Star Trek and then discovered fan fiction - some were brilliant others were awful 🤣 from that I got involved with Babylon 5 and have read a lot of sci fi - but only if it captures my imagination. If it isn’t plausible or I can’t “see” it then I don’t bother. 

Game of thrones - I had to watch the first series so I could pronounce the names in my head! 

Loved Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov. I also have a great love of horror as I used to watch old horror films growing up with my dad…Stephen King was the best but then he got weird ……. Trouble is now I am really really fussy with horror….cannot bear American teenagers screaming all the time and the handsome blond men being heroes…give me a good Conjuring film or the guy who did Sixth Sense any day of the week!
I’ve actually treated myself to 2 mountain books - will dig the titles out later - but that’s a whole other post and I don’t want to bore you all!
🌼🌼🌼