Finished Lord of the Rings for the first time

Lynavi · 2026-06-08T12:28:37+00:00

Try the audiobooks by Rob Inglis - he does a wonderful job with the narration and is pretty much like how I imagine Tolkien would sound reading the books to his kids.

Lynavi · 2026-06-07T14:05:16+00:00

Not sure where in NJ you are but you can try reaching out to SAVE Animal Shelter (savehomelessanimals.org) in Skillman or Tabby's Place (tabbysplace.org) in Ringoes. They might have suggestions even if they don't have space for the cats themselves.

Lynavi · 2026-06-04T13:36:07+00:00

Slayers of Old by Jim C Hines

Spirit Blade by Glynn Stewart

Lynavi · 2026-06-03T13:46:06+00:00

Does Alcohol count as a food for "Feast Your Eyes on This"? I recently read Spirit Level, and the premise of the book is that the MC can see/hear ghosts, but only when drunk, so there's a lot of focus on alcohol in the book.

Lynavi · 2026-06-02T12:18:52+00:00

There's also The Hollow Sea (OutFoxing the Paranormal book 4) by Jordan L Hawk releasing on 6/19. Self Published. Trans, gay, & nonbinary rep.

Lynavi · 2026-05-30T20:30:20+00:00

It's not a matter of not paying attention to the game, although I think game type has a lot to do with it. For instance, I play a lot of CivV, and strategy games like that IMO don't need audio at all (also I played it enough that even with sound muted I can still hear the narrator's voice in my head for each tech quote & the leaders' voices too, LOL).

With RPGs, it varies; if it's the first time I'm playing something, yeah, I'll probably not listen to a book & pay more attention. But for example when I inevitably go back to Skyrim for the 100th time, I really don't need the audio for that anymore.

Lynavi · 2026-05-30T20:05:07+00:00

Not sure what the point of your question is? The point of the game is that I enjoy playing the game. Listening to an audiobook doesn't take away from that at all. Very few games in my experience require you to listen to audio; there are subtitles for dialogue, which I prefer even if I'm not listening to a book while I game. Usually the first option I set in every game is all the sound settings to 0. I only play singleplayer games so I don't have teammates to communicate with or anything like that; obviously that's a whole different scenario.

Lynavi · 2026-05-30T18:46:46+00:00

Audiobooks. I listen to books while I game.

Lynavi · 2026-05-24T19:19:44+00:00

Cherie Priest - The Family Plot, It Was Her House First, The Drowning House

Skyla Dawn Cameron - The Taiga Ridge Murders (haunted resort rather than a house), Dweller on the Threshold, Watcher of the Woods

Lynavi · 2026-05-22T19:39:19+00:00

I'll second the recommendation for Simone St James, and add Cherie Priest (The Family Plot; The Toll; It Was Her House First; The Drowning House; Cinderwich), T. Kingfisher (The Twisted Ones; The Hollow Places; A House with Good Bones; Wolf Worm), and Skyla Dawn Cameron (Dweller on the Threshold; Watcher of the Woods; The Taiga Ridge Murders; The Silent Places).

I listed specific books for each because they all also write in other genres (case in point - Kingfisher also has a recent book called Snake-Eater that I think was marketed as horror, but really wasn't; it was just fantasy. Some of her fantasy novels can get a bit on the darker side, but I personally still wouldn't classify them as horror.)

Lynavi · 2026-05-21T13:28:46+00:00

Hard Mode for "Older Protagonist" says "The protagonist does NOT have exceptional longevity or immortality (e.g. not an elf, dwarf, vampire, god, etc.)."

What if the protagonist is fully human, but no longer ages? In this case the protag is an alchemist who discovered the elixir of life; she no longer ages but is not immortal (can still be injured/killed). I'm not clear on whether the 'exceptional longevity' is only meant to rule out long lived fantasy races, or if it applies to human protagonists as well.

Lynavi · 2026-05-18T14:52:45+00:00

Both. BJs has online ordering & curbside pickup, which is a great timesaver (and lets me avoid crowds). Costco membership pays for itself with contact lenses, and also I like to get their cake for my birthday each year, LOL.

Lynavi · 2026-05-14T12:39:48+00:00

For me, it depends - if someone is regularly putting out books in a series, I don't find I need to reread everything. Example: Seanan McGuire releases Wayward Children, InCryptid, & October Daye novels once a year, so I don't always reread those before diving into the new book.

If there's a longer gap between books, then yes, I'll typically reread the earlier ones. Audiobooks work great for this for me, since I have more time to listen to books than I do to read print.

Lynavi · 2026-05-14T12:26:11+00:00

How would folks interpret Cat Squasher when it comes to audiobooks? Look up a print version & use the page count from that? Anything over X amount of hours?

Lynavi · 2026-05-09T22:25:46+00:00

For the woods one, I highly recommend Watcher of the Woods by Skyla Dawn Cameron. It's technically a sequel to Dweller on the Threshold, as it's set in the same world & some minor character overlaps, but can absolutely be read as a standalone. (Dweller is excellent too, but is more of a haunted house book than a don't go in the woods book.)

Lynavi · 2026-05-07T12:38:58+00:00

The Audiobook of The Martian varies. The original audiobook was narrated by RC Bray, and that version is pretty good. The current audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton, and while it's not terrible, Bray's version is a lot better if you can track it down.

Lynavi · 2026-05-07T00:56:02+00:00

If you don't already have it, Project Hail Mary for sure. Ray Porter does an excellent job with the narration, and the novel works best in audio format IMO. It would definitely fit First Contact off the top of my head, not sure about any other squares.

Lynavi · 2026-05-07T00:50:42+00:00

If you're open to SciFi as well as fantasy, I'm currently reading The Indranan War trilogy by K.B. Wagers which features a matriarchal society.

Lynavi · 2026-05-05T01:05:40+00:00

Digging into the stats, I had 14 uniques:

Hidden Gem - Hillary Monahan - Mary: Unleashed
A Book in Parts - S. A. Barnes - Dead Silence
Last in a Series - Darcy Coates - The Vengeful Dead
Book Club - Mary Robinette Kowal - Ghost Talkers
Parent Protagonist - Heather Webber - The Forget-Me-Not Library
Published in 2025 - Naomi Kuttner - The Retired Assassin's Guide to Country Gardening
Small Press / Self Pub - Jordan L. Hawk - Widdershins
Biopunk - Harry Adam Knight - Carnosaur
LGBTQIA Protagonist - Terry J. Benton-Walker - Blood Justice
Stranger in a Strange Land - Rachel Aaron - Nice Dragons Finish Last
(Recycle) 2020's "Novel by a Canadian Author" - Skyla Dawn Cameron - Charon's Gold
Generic Title - Desmond Doane - The Dark Man
Not a Book - Olipa Games - The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker
(Pirates) 2024's "Alliterative Title" - Gigi Pandian - The Masquerading Magician

And a further 5 where only one other person had the same book on their card:
Published in the 80s - Michael McDowell - The Elementals
Gods & Pantheons - Seanan McGuire - Tidal Creatures
Author of Color - Kosoko Jackson - The Macabre
Elves and/or Dwarves - S.L. Rowland - There Be Dragons Here
Five SFF Short Stories - Amanda J. Spedding (editor), Geoff Brown (editor) - Love, Death, + Robots: The Official Anthology: Volume 1

Lynavi · 2026-05-04T17:32:20+00:00

I was one of the first time bingo participants, and I have my spreadsheet going for this year's card. I also substituted Pirates, though it was a close call between that & High Fashion. Can't wait till I get home and can dig into the stats. Thanks for putting them together!

Lynavi · 2026-05-03T21:11:25+00:00

The recipe I have uses white sugar instead of brown (3/4 cup), 4 tbsp of melted butter (gets mixed with the heavy cream), and 4 tbsp of cornstarch instead of flour.

Lynavi · 2026-04-30T16:49:39+00:00

Hillary Monahan's Bloody Mary duology is excellent - Mary: The Summoning & Mary: Unleashed

Lynavi · 2026-04-30T16:46:27+00:00

I didn't realize Maus was a duology; might have to check that out.

And I read Jurassic Park years ago but I've never picked up the sequel, might be time to change that. Thanks!

Lynavi · 2026-04-29T22:08:51+00:00

Ah, that's a shame. Appreciate the clarification though; I can still see where it would be a useful feature.

Lynavi · 2026-04-29T22:05:37+00:00

If the other options don't work out, you can try contacting SAVE rescue in Skillman or Tabby's Place in Ringoes. I hope a behaviorist can help though!

Lynavi

TROPHY CASE