That is *lovely* yarn. I can't tell what you're making (a shawl, maybe) but it's going to look fantastic.

Yes, he complained about it taking up space on a bookshelf - but he still took out 2 Neal Stephenson books to make room for it.

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a genre bookstore option. 🤷‍♀️

I have been successfully resisting the other kits because ... meh. They're just decorative.

Google has not been helpful so I'll look elsewhere, when I'm on a computer. But I did find the older cover, which is much better. Somebody made A Choice on this one.

Just the cover is off-putting.

Out of 30+ natural selection quizzes, maybe 3 got that question right.

There were 2 versions: one where painted Zebra Finches escaped into a nearby park; the other where the farmer's wife cut off the tails of 3 mice, who could then escape the cat easier.

& I know they know the difference.

So if you're curious, it's a fast read. It may be helpful or it may not. I didn't find it life-changing ... but I was already onboard.

(My other incomplete foundational book is Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which is philosophy more than anything. That's probably a summer project 😬)

I'm not unhappy that I read this - but I'm definitely going to find some academic articles to beef it up. There has to be more recent research.

Will I use growth mindset techniques in class more often? Probably. Do I understand the background a little better now? Yes.

The writing style is very chatty, like we're sitting in a coffee shop trading stories. All of her stories have citations but, because she's writing for a general audience, they're not footnoted. Instead, there's a notes section at the end, with partial lines & page numbers.

I am working my way thru all the Kingfisher books. (Heck, I might even read the children's books under her other name.) Guide was great but Swordheart surprised me by being a romantasy.

I have read A House With Good Bones (it had a vulture on the cover), which was a cozy horror?

If you like figuring out mysteries, you might like this one. You'll also have to like the base fairytale.

I'm a big fan.

Plus, the narrator was fantastic.

Anyways, as usual, I'm the target audience. (I might not be when I get to her horror stories.)

If you like independent practical women figuring their way thru fairytale retellings, this book is for you.

If you love your garden maybe more than your sisters, you'll like this book.

Also, I learned that Bryony is pronounced bree-oh-nee, at least by British folks. (I still want that "bry" to rhyme with "bye".) & I had to look up the plant - There are 2 plants named bryony & both are poisonous.

The other 2 sisters are also named after plants. This is a botany-infused book.

Yes, there is a magic rosebush, climbing up a birch tree in the courtyard. Yes, there is a library, complete with books of bad poetry & books about crop rotation. Yes, the Beast asks her to marry him every night after dinner.

The pieces are all there - but they make a different story.

The Beast is also kind, & "rather sarcastic" (per Bryony herself), & smells of cloves & fur. & he might also be a prisoner of the house?

Bryony is trying to figure out the mystery the whole book. If I had the paper version, I'd go back & re-read & look for clues.

Plus, Bryony is funny in addition to being practical. Her complaining about dying because of rutabagas was lol funny. (Altho the audiobook probably helped with this.)

She has a week to say goodbye & bring anything from home - & she brings plants & seeds from her garden.

She tries to take the rose home as proof to her sisters, & that's when the Beast shows up.

It was fun, knowing the bones of the story, to see what else could be built. (I also need to go back & read the early versions of this tale - Disney takes up too much room.)

So, Bryony is returning home after visiting a friend in a nearby village for rutabaga seeds. She & her pony are caught in a spring snowstorm & end up sheltering in a magic house. It's either that or freeze to death.

The house feeds her, of course, with an out-of-season rose on the table.

Michigan State University is essentially nextdoor to the capitol - Proximity probably helped lawmakers see the problem more clearly.

Also, the parents of the kid in 2021 were arrested & eventually convicted of manslaughter.

I say "thoughts & prayers" but the Michigan legislature is actually in the process of strengthening gun control laws - after the school shooting in 2021 & the university shooting in 2023. So fingers crossed for that.