Author Archives: Thistle

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About Thistle

Agender empty-nester filling my time with writing, cats, books, travel, and photography. They/them.

A House with Good Bones, by T. Kingfisher (audio)

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Thistle

Between work assignments, Sam goes to spend a few months with her mother in the house where she grew up. Sam’s brother has expressed concern about their mother’s recent behavior, and Sam is equally alarmed when she arrives. Her mother … Continue reading →

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Sunday Coffee – The Summer Blahs

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Thistle

Back in the early days of blogging, when I was paying attention to views and comments and reader engagement, I noticed a few times each year when statistics would fall across the board. Some of those drops made sense – … Continue reading →

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because some tattoos are just silly

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Thistle

I waited so long after my last horrific tattoo experience in 2014 to finally get the one I got last month. It was like a dam burst. All these ideas that I’d had swimming in the back of my mind … Continue reading →

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Death and the Conjuror, by Tom Mead

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Thistle

1930s, London. When Dr. Anselm Rees is found murdered in a room locked from the inside, the cops are flummoxed. Inspector Flint calls on a retired stage magician, Joseph Spector, to help him solve the puzzling case. Let me start … Continue reading →

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Sunday Coffee – Readathon-ish

Posted on July 23, 2023 by Thistle

I haven’t participated in a Readathon on quite a long time. The last time I tried was spring of 2018, and I realized throughout that I’m just not cut out for a hyper-focus reading day anymore. Since then, I’ve periodically … Continue reading →

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Photoshoot: Engagement

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Thistle

Recently I had the honor and pleasure to take engagement photos for a beautiful couple. Julie happens to be one of my oldest friends, having met all the way back to when we were ten-ish. She and her fiancé, Carlos, … Continue reading →

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Sunday Coffee – The Nightmare Week

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Thistle

As the title suggests, it has been a nightmare this week! It started last weekend with Droplet’s emergency triage. I talked about that a little and I’m not going to go into the gross details, but essentially the whole situation … Continue reading →

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Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson (audio)

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Thistle

From StoryGraph: Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work … Continue reading →

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Water Kittens

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Thistle

The day after our dear friend Chris passed away, grief was fresh but elusive (because my brain doesn’t process grief linearly, and instead waits to latch onto something seemingly inconsequential to grieve over). I felt both restless and absent, my … Continue reading →

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SC – All the Books, 6mo In

Posted on July 9, 2023 by Thistle

For the last five years or so, I’ve been averaging around 50 books a year, down from the few years before that when I was reading about 70-75 a year, down from the horrific early days of blogging when I … Continue reading →

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