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Trip Planning and Money Tool

Overslept an hour. Took the dogs out, only to realize that the tree guys were here. I forgot. Managed to get the dogs back in.

I signed up for Monarch Money last night. I tried to get my main bank accounts linked, but PNC was having issues.

I bought a Powerball ticket just because the jackpot is so high. I figured what the hell.

Gracie is barking at nothing in particular. That girl sure loves to talk. I want to pet her, but she's constantly in motion. Oliver and Bella have been getting along really well. Oliver thinks that Gracie is a terror, and I don't blame him. She barks at him a lot.

Okay, the tree guys are gone, so I can get the dogs out at lunchtime. I also want to take a nap at lunchtime and shower after work.

Taking the train to NYC isn't going to work this time. I'll fly. Unless I take the train back? Found a hotel near the cruise terminal. Restaurant near the hotel: Pershing Square. There's some crabcakes and a lobster roll calling my name :) I need to find a place to pick up some bagels for breakfast.

I think that I will wear jeans and blazers to NYC. (Shorts in Bermuda.) I could use a couple of extra pairs of jeans (ordered). I'm looking on ThredUp for some nice short-sleeved tops (ordered). I have plenty of blazers.

I'm looking into French lessons for my trip next year, although I need to start up my Italian lessons again. I had previously signed up for a language study Web site, and I'm looking into a tutor.

I think that I want a rolling cabinet like the ones that you can use for a microwave as a feeding station for the pets. I want one with doors on the bottom to keep food in (and Bella out!) I found one that I like, but I'm waiting to clean up the kitchen first. It will be stored under the stairs, but I might roll it out into the kitchen.

Note to self: Remember to bring Gracie's sample to the vet on Friday morning.

I got my accounts synced up with Monarch Money. It also provides a budgeting tool that I think will be helpful. (But it says that I spent $60 in coffeeshops? Huh?) It's similar to a tool for which Mom's trust wanted to charge me $100 a month. Much cheaper.

I want to get to bed early to drop Gracie's sample off at the vet (I hope that she will cooperate in providing one) and running some errands.

Parking Lot Kittens II: Who Wants a Kitten (or Two)?

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/21/parking-lot-kittens-ii-who-wants-a-kitten-or-two/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56931

The other day Athena noted that kittens had shown up in the parking lot of Bryant’s apartment. Sadly, between then and now one of the kittens succumbed to the dangers of outside living, and Athena and Bryant decided it was time to snatch the remaining trio of kittens and move them to a safer environment, i.e., our basement guest room. That cat-napping took place this afternoon and now we have the three kittens in the house. Here they are:

First, this cute little calico;

Then this dilute tortie;

And also this personality-filled black kitten.

We’re isolating them from the rest of the cats in the house until we can get them to the vet next week, but they certainly seem healthy and, once they got over being snatched and transported somewhere they’ve never been before, calm and baseline-level kittenish. The calico and tortie are almost certainly girl cats, genetically speaking; the black kitten is currently of indeterminate sex but I would bet on it being a boy. The three of them get along pretty well, which considering how Athena and Bryant found them, is not entirely surprising.

The plan now is to take them to the vet, confirm that they are healthy, and then either find them new homes or surrender them to a no-kill shelter. We can maybe take one of them (likely the black cat), but we’re also all right letting the entire trio go to safe and welcoming homes. So: If any of you are looking for a kitten (or two!), and can show up to take them away, we’ve got some available for you! Drop me an email (john@scalzi.com) and we can talk. These kittens are, as the kids no longer say, totes adorbs. They would love to come home with you.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/21/parking-lot-kittens-ii-who-wants-a-kitten-or-two/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56931

Day 1675: "Can we forget about this?"

Posted by Matt Kiser

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/08/21/day-1675/

Day 1675

Today in one sentence: The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to cut nearly $800 million in National Institutes of Health grants tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies; a New York appeals court threw out Trump’s $500 million civil fraud penalty but upheld the finding that he and his company committed fraud; an adviser and fundraiser for New York Mayor Eric Adams handed a reporter a bag of potato chips containing an envelope of cash following a campaign event; a federal judge ruled that Trump’s appointment of his former personal lawyer as U.S. attorney for New Jersey was “unlawful”; Texas House Republicans pushed through new congressional maps along party lines, redrawing districts to give Republicans five more seats in Congress; Trump demanded that Colorado release the former Mesa County clerk serving a nine-year prison sentence for allowing unauthorized access to election equipment; Trump promised to “go out tonight” with police and National Guard troops patrolling Washington, D.C.; the Trump administration subpoenaed hospitals for confidential records on transgender minors; the Trump administration is reviewing all 55 million valid U.S. visa holders for any violations that could lead to deportation; and Democrats lost 2.1 million registered voters between 2020 and 2024 while Republicans gained 2.4 million, a 4.5 million shift that erased Democratic advantages in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Nevada, and North Carolina.

1/ The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to cut nearly $800 million in National Institutes of Health grants tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. The 5-4 ruling lifted a lower court order that had restored more than 1,700 canceled grants, including studies on HIV prevention, kidney disease, and vaccine hesitancy. Trump ordered the cuts after taking office in January, directing agencies to eliminate DEI programs and funding for “gender ideology.” U.S. District Judge William Young blocked the cancellations in June, calling them “arbitrary and capricious” and saying, “I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.” The plaintiffs, including 16 states and public-health groups, warned the midstream cancellations would cause “incalculable losses in public health and human life.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett said the suits were filed in the wrong court, allowing the funding cuts to move forward despite the legal challenges. (NBC News / Associated Press / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

2/ A New York appeals court threw out Trump’s $500 million civil fraud penalty but upheld the finding that he and his company committed fraud. The five-judge panel split, with two judges saying the fine was unconstitutional, two calling for a new trial, and one saying the case never should have been filed. The court left in place restrictions that bar Trump and his sons from serving as New York corporate officers. Judge Peter Moulton wrote, “while harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the State.” Trump nevertheless declared a “TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE” case, while Attorney General Letitia James said “yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law” and vowed to appeal to reinstate the fine. (Associated Press / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / Washington Post / Axios / CNBC / NBC News / CNN / Bloomberg / Politico)

3/ An adviser and fundraiser for New York Mayor Eric Adams handed a reporter a bag of potato chips containing an envelope of cash following a campaign event. Reporter Katie Honan said Winnie Greco insisted she take the bag, which contained at least one $100 bill. When The City asked Greco why she gave Honan cash, she replied, “I make a mistake. I’m so sorry. It’s a culture thing. I don’t know. I don’t understand.” When asked again, Greco responded: “Can we forget about this? […] Please don’t do in the news nothing about me. I just wanted to be her friend. […] It’s nothing.” Greco’s attorney later said, “This was no payoff […] money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude.” Greco was suspended from Adams’ reelection campaign and federal prosecutors and the city Department of Investigation are reviewing the incident. Adams was indicted last year on bribery and campaign finance charges, but Trump’s Justice Department ordered the case dropped, claiming that Adams was needed to help carry out Trump’s mass deportation program. (The City / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / Bloomberg)

4/ A federal judge ruled that Trump’s appointment of his former personal lawyer as U.S. attorney for New Jersey was “unlawful.” Judge Matthew Brann said Alina Habba “is not currently qualified to exercise the functions and duties of the office” and barred her from handling cases, though he paused the order while the Justice Department appeals. The ruling came after challenges by two criminal defendants who said Habba’s authority expired after her 120-day interim term. District judges named her deputy as successor, but Attorney General Pam Bondi then fired that deputy and used a personnel maneuver to reinstall Habba as a “special attorney.” (CNN / Politico / Reuters / NBC News / New York Times / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)

5/ Texas House Republicans pushed through new congressional maps along party lines, redrawing districts to give Republicans five more seats in Congress. The mid-decade redistricting was pushed by Trump, who said his goal was a “100 more seats” Republican majority, called mail-in voting “a total fraud,” and urged Republican states to follow Texas. In response, California lawmakers advanced a plan to add five Democratic-leaning seats, with Gov. Gavin Newsom saying, “We’re going to fight fire with fire.” (Texas Tribune / New York Times / Bloomberg / Axios / Associated Press / CNN / Washington Post / Reuters)

6/ Trump demanded that Colorado release the former Mesa County clerk serving a nine-year prison sentence for allowing unauthorized access to election equipment. Tina Peters was convicted in 2024 on seven counts, including conspiracy and impersonation, after sneaking an outside activist into secure election offices. Prosecutors said her actions cost the county over $1 million, and Judge Matthew Barrett told her at sentencing: “You are no hero, you abused your position, and you’re a charlatan.” Nevertheless, Trump wrote “FREE TINA PETERS, a brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians,” and later warning, “If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!” (Washington Post / The Guardian / The Hill / Axios)

7/ Trump promised to “go out tonight” with police and National Guard troops patrolling Washington, D.C. The White House gave no details about when or where this would happen, but officials later said he would only visit a law enforcement site to greet agents. Nearly 80% of D.C. residents oppose his federal takeover of the police, which he claims has already reduced crime. “I’ve straightened out crime in four days in D.C., and all they do is say ‘he’s a dictator,’” Trump said, though city data shows violent crime was already at a 30-year low. (CNN / Reuters / Bloomberg / ABC News / Politico / New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post)

The midterm elections are in 439 days.

✏️ Notables.

The Trump administration subpoenaed hospitals for confidential records on transgender minors, demanding Social Security numbers, addresses, and “every writing or record” from doctors. Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed providers “mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology,” and her deputy called gender care “one of the greatest frauds on the American public,” though neither identified specific crimes or evidence. Doctors and advocates called the demands “a breathtakingly invasive government overreach” that has already led hospitals to cut care.(Washington Post / New York Times)
The Trump administration rescinded federal rules that required schools to provide services for students learning English, reversing decades of civil rights enforcement. The Education Department claimed the rules were “overly prescriptive,” while Attorney General Pam Bondi said the move would “promote assimilation over division.” Officials offered no replacement plan or enforcement standards. Advocates questioned whether the administration was abandoning civil rights law, warning, “There is nothing holding the school districts accountable in any meaningful way.” (Washington Post / New York Times)
The U.S. and EU finalized a trade deal that locks in 15% tariffs on most European goods and keeps car duties at 27.5% until Europe lowers its own levies. Alcohol exports were left out of tariff relief, which France’s wine exporters called “immense disappointment.” Trump said Europe’s promised $600 billion in U.S. investment was “a gift” that gave him “$600 billion to invest in anything I want.” (ABC News / Bloomberg / Politico / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
Tulsi Gabbard will cut nearly half of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s staff and dissolve several intelligence centers, a move projected to save $700 million a year. Gabbard claimed the office had become “bloated and inefficient” and accused it of “politicized weaponization of intelligence.” The plan also shuts down the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which tracked foreign election interference. (ABC News / Associated Press)
The Trump administration is reviewing all 55 million valid U.S. visa holders for any violations that could lead to deportation. The State Department confirmed “continuous vetting,” including social media searches, law enforcement records, and terrorism links, and said it has already revoked more than twice as many visas as last year. Officials said 6,000 student visas have been revoked since Trump’s return. (Associated Press)
Democrats lost 2.1 million registered voters between 2020 and 2024 while Republicans gained 2.4 million, a 4.5 million shift that erased Democratic advantages in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Nevada, and North Carolina. (New York Times)

Today last year: Day 1310: "Do something."
Two years ago today: Day 944: "Unprecedented weaponization."
Five years ago today: Day 1310: "Season of darkness."
Six years ago today: Day 944: Absurd.
Seven years ago today: Day 579: For the "purpose of influencing the election."
Eight years ago today: Day 214: A path forward.

Support today’s essential newsletter and resist the daily shock and awe: Become a member

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https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/08/21/day-1675/

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Shorelines

A nearby beach had lots of surfers out. I liked the look of this tree high above them.

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Venom: Black, White & Blood #1

( Fathers & Sons )

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Not quite the same thing? but in the general ball-park I think

A few days ago Ask A Manager posted stories of co-workers overstepping their expertise.

And I guess this is not quite the same thing but I had a massive flashback to That Morning of Hours I Will Never Get Back when the whole library staff had a session with an outside consultant.

I am honestly not sure what the rationale was for having us give up an entire morning of our precious closed period - during which we did all - well, seldom actually all, but as many as we could manage - of those essential backroom housekeeping tasks which cannot be undertaken when the place has actual readers coming in and USING THE COLLECTIONS dammit.

Possibly we had either just undergone, or were just about to undergo, one of the restructurings of which I saw many during my years there, distinct from the physical relocation upheavals.

But anyway, consultant.

Had consultant been briefed? Had consultant done any due diligence about what sort of institution this was?

Okay, did know it was a LIBRARY.

Had not the slightest apprehension that this was a world-renowned RESEARCH collection and that, you know, we were not lending out books and stamping them with return dates (I am not sure that this practice, by the date in question, even pertained in public libraries).

We were sitting there cringeing and wincing, wondering when it would all be over.

Were we not very restrained by not going, in huge chorus, in the manner he would doubtless have anticipated we learnt as part of our professional training, SSSSSHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUSSSSHHHHHH!!!!?

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Superman Unlimited #4

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Watch on YouTube

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Manhunter (1988) #3

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale

Pencils: Doug Rice

Inks: Sam Kieth

Dumas takes Mark Shaw's family hostage.

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Witches, Holiday Romance, & More

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/08/witches-holiday-romance-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=150471

A Duke by Default

RECOMMENDED: A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole is $1.99! We read this for my book club and we all agreed there wasn’t enough blacksmithing and sword-making. Carrie enjoyed this one and gave it an A-:

This is such a solid book – it’s tear-jerking, it’s inspiring, it’s sexy and romantic, it’s interesting (sword history!) and it’s funny. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and—most importantly—herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she’s capable of. Turns out she excels at aggravating her gruff silver fox boss…when she’s not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.

Tavish McKenzie doesn’t need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory…even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice—and his attraction to her—but when Portia accidentally discovers that he’s the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project.

Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

A Holly Jolly Ever After

A Holly Jolly Ever by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is $1.99! This is book two in the Christmas Notch series. I don’t love holiday romances, but I’ve been tempted by the promise of spiciness. Though I’ve also heard the books aren’t as spicy as they let on. What are your thoughts?

An actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member are reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film in this all new spicy rom-com by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, bestselling coauthors of A Merry Little Meet Cute.

Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He’s living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends’ weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.

Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself—and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?

With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars…especially Winnie who can’t seem to fake on screen pleasure she’s never experienced in real life. She’s willing to do the pleasure research—for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there’s no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.

They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Trouble the Saints

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson is $2.99! Both Maya and Ellen mentioned this in a Hide Your Wallet post in 2020. Wow, time flies. It has a slightly updated cover, though I think I prefer the black background over the yellow.

“Juju assassins, alternate history, a gritty New York crime story… in a word: Awesome” —N.K. Jemisin, New York Times bestselling author of The Fifth Season.

The dangerous magic of The Night Circus meets the powerful historical exploration of The Underground Railroad in this timely and unsettling novel, set against the darkly glamorous backdrop of New York City, where an assassin falls in love and tries to fight her fate at the dawn of World War II.

Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives to strike fear among its most dangerous denizens.

Ten years later, Phyllis LeBlanc has given up everything—not just her own past, and Dev, the man she loved, but even her own dreams.

Still, the ghosts from her past are always by her side—and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she keeps in her heart. And so Phyllis will have to make a harrowing choice, before it’s too late—is there ever enough blood in the world to wash clean generations of injustice?

Trouble the Saints is a dazzling, daring novel—a magical love story, a compelling exposure of racial fault lines—and an altogether brilliant and deeply American saga.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Witches Get Stuff Done

Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper is $1.99! This is a small town paranormal romance between a witch and a librarian. Sounds a little too twee for me, but it could be right up your alley.

Juggling newfound witchy powers, a house full of ghosts, and verbal battles with the handsome local librarian is almost too much for a new witch to manage. A new witch with a coven, however, can get so much more done…

From the moment Riley Everett set foot in Starfall Point, magic bubbled inside of her. But with only her late aunt’s journals and a cantankerous live-in ghost butler to instruct her on all things witchy—including her newly inherited Victorian haunted house—Riley seeks out a coven for sisterhood and support. The last person she expects to be drawn to is the town’s frustrating, yet ridiculously attractive head librarian.

Edison Held knows almost everything there is to know about Starfall Point, but Shaddow House was always off-limits, thanks to its elusive owner. If he can convince the new owner, Riley, to let him take a peek inside, there’s so much he could learn. But as he gets closer to Riley, he’s fascinated by her dazzling wit and fiery spirit. Edison will do whatever he can to help Riley keep her family legacy alive, especially if it means spending more time with the captivating new witch in town.

Bestselling author Molly Harper wields a magical pen in this hilarious, delightful witchy romcom perfect for readers of The Ex Hex and Payback’s a Witch.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/08/witches-holiday-romance-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=150471

The Big Idea: Jane Harrington

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/21/the-big-idea-jane-harrington/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56923

Author Jane Harrington has more in store today than a book. In her Big Idea she brings us a history lesson, one that will change how you see the entire genre of fairy tales. Follow along to see how teaching this lesson to college students led to the creation of her new book, Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance.

JANE HARRINGTON:

The desire to restore the legacies of marginalized women writers in history was the impetus for this book. And anger.

Some years ago I was called upon to teach a college literature course, and though I’m generally more comfortable teaching writing than lit, I thought, Okay, how about fairy tales? I knew my Perrault, Grimms, Andersen, and Disney, so I could put together something decent enough. It would be fun! But it wasn’t long into the first term before not-so-fun questions started poking at my brain.

One was Why do male writers overwhelmingly dominate the history of fairy tales? The only so-called classic tale with female authorship is “Beauty and the Beast.” And Why do we even call these stories fairy tales? I mean, you can count on one hand how many fairies appear in the combined works of the aforenamed fathers of the genre. Turns out the answer to both questions is the same: because the women writers who were responsible for the popularity of fairy tales—and who coined the term itself, contes de fées (because they were French)—were axed from the canon in favor of male writers. And, yes, there were fairies in every one of their seventy-plus tales.

My first glimpse of these women was in the margins of English-language folklore scholarship, which tends to focus on German, i.e., Grimm-ish, roots, and thus can lack depth in other areas. What was said about them was scant, somewhat dismissive, and (I would only learn later) often inaccurate. But they were female fairy-talers—conteuses, they called themselves—and I wanted to include them in my course.

So began my quest, which involved walls of books growing around me, thanks to an excellent university library and charming librarians who conjured up dozens of physical volumes from beyond the collection. And then there were all the electronic texts, archival and otherwise. Much of what I had to read was in French, a language I’m far from fluent in, but I wasn’t going to let that get between me and the stories of these writers. Truth is, it’s hard for even the fluent to nail down these histories, but more on that in the book.

Some broad strokes of what I learned: The conteuses wrote not only fairy tales but novels, historical fiction, plays, essays, and poetry. Their works were wildly popular, as were the writers themselves, who hosted literary salons in Paris. There they crafted the contes de fées that would usher in the first fairy tale vogue. Charles Perrault attended these salons, too, writing his “Mother Goose” tales from the prompts offered by these women. He produced one slim book, which came out at the same time as the women’s voluminous output, and yet he is the one history remembers from that birth of a genre.

Why were the women left out of the fairy tale canon? Well, all I’ll say here is that it mostly had to do with the misogynistic, homophobic, and ultra-conservative religiosity of Louis XIV’s reign. The conteuses were always under threat of not only losing their pens but their physical freedom. Exiles from Paris were common, as were lengthy stints in convents for mauvaise conduite—being an unruly woman.

Examples of unruliness: writing poems that insulted the king, trying to stop the abuse of a husband (with no recourse in the law), gambling, cussing, engaging in same-sex relationships. For the latter, one of the women was imprisoned in a cell in a medieval castle-turned-prison. Yes, in a tower. And yes, she’d written tales of young women trapped in towers. Only in her tales—and unlike her—the characters eventually prevailed over despotic forces.

So, anger. Probably no surprise here, but the more I learned about these women, the more incensed I became over how men of the patriarchy had disrupted their livelihoods and their lives, some even chipping away at their legacies long after the women were dead (think Voltaire). I kept a list, and before I’d even finished Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance I had a plan: The conteuses would get vengeance on their oppressors in a salon in the afterlife—a quirky novel of the speculative-historical-literary variety. My working title: Women of the Fairy Tale Revenge.

Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s

Author socials: Website|Facebook|LinkedIn

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/21/the-big-idea-jane-harrington/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56923

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Fevre Dream #6

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JLA Classified #22

Writer: Steve Englehart

Pencils: Tom Derenick

Inks: Mark Farmer

A “lost story” of Justice League Detroit. The Martian Manhunter takes the rookie members of the Justice League on a team-building exercise in the woods.

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Incredible Hulk #168

Writer: Steve Englehart

Pencils: Herb Trimpe

Inks: Jack Abel

MODOK still isn’t done with poor Betty.

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Come and add your recs!

Rec post is here!

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Hawkworld #10

Writer: John Ostrander

Pencils: Graham Nolan

Inks: Gary Kwapisz

It is decided that the Hawks need a P.R. makeover after the Byth debacle.

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The Rec League: BDSM Romances with Little to No Sex

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/08/the-rec-league-bdsm-romances-with-little-to-no-sex/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=150476

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old book This request came from Varian in our SBTB podcast discord (another perk of joining the community!):

Okay I’ve got a rather niche request. I don’t even know if this exists in romance novels. BDSM romances with no or very little sex, or where orgasms aren’t the main goal. I miss reading BDSM stories/books, but when I get to a sex scene in audio, the “skip 30 seconds” button gets a workout. Smut sounds very different in audio than it reads on paper. I’m okay with any level of kink, up to and including heavy pain play, role play, or Master/slave dynamics. I don’t care about genders or time periods, I just want to be able to listen to the entire book.

Shana: Xan West’s Their Troublesome Crush ( A | K ) has very little sex. It’s about two metamours exploring a kink relationship and has a very wholesome vibe. I can’t actually remember if there’s any sex at all, honestly.

Tara: I haven’t read them in many years, but I remember Anastasia Vitsky’s books having little to no sex and many involved kink.

Susan: Just this once, the AroAce Database has failed me.

Xan West does the most detailed content warnings I’ve ever seen, and Their Troublesome Crush doesn’t have a warning for sex, so I think you’re right, Shana.

Shana: Awesome, thanks for checking!

What books would you recommend? Drop them in the comments!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/08/the-rec-league-bdsm-romances-with-little-to-no-sex/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=150476

(no subject)

Happy birthday,

kerrypolka!

Current Mood: cold

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Insta-food-gram.

Current Mood: cold

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April: Parwana Afghan Kitchen, Torrensville + 5 Op Shops

It's been a wee while! In any case, this lunch was at the delicious Parwana Afghan Kitchen in Torrensville. Google Maps link. They only do lunch on the weekend, and dinner is during the week and on the weekend. This restaurant is extremely popular and with good reason, the food was delicious and came in huge portion sizes. It was served as a sort of tapas style, so we shared several dishes, including the incredible Bolani kachalu which is flat bread stuffed with potato and served with an amazing chutney, Kabuli palau, which is aged long-grain rice, topped with caramelised carrots, sultanas, slivered almonds and pistachios and was also delicious, and the qormeh gosfand, being diced lamb and vegetables served in a rich tomato and onion sauce, flavoured with a mix of traditional spices. The chutney we had was the herb chutney, which was yoghurt with garlic and various green herbs, again, delicious. There was so much food, we were able to take away what we hadn't been able to finish, in order to eat later. I'd really wanted to try their cherry shabat, a drink made with morello cherries, but they'd sold out, and I also wanted to try their Persian love cake, but I was so full, I just couldn't do it!

We slowly rolled out of there, full as googs (Aussie way of saying our stomachs were stuffed), and we both agreed that this was definitely a restaurant to return to. After making sure that our leftovers were secure, we got in the car and headed towards the op shops de jour.

Images courtesy of Google reviews/images

Address: 124B Henley Beach Road, Torrensville SA 5031
Hours: Monday - closed
Tues - Friday - 6-10pm
Sat - Sun - 12-3pm, 6-10pm

So this is a group of 5 op shops that are next to each other in a long stretch of Grange Road in Kidman Park (Google Maps link). I tend to call this 'Op Show Row,' as that really is what it is. Coming from the direction of the city, you'll see it on the left hand side of Grange Road, the first store being Red Cross, then Vinnies, then RSPCA, then Save the Children and then the Salvos. And these are all BIG stores, too, most of them sell more than just clothes/shoes/jewelry/books/toys. They also sell china, glassware, cookware, furniture, electrical goods, craft supplies, bed and home linens, and so much stuff. It's easy to lose a whole afternoon in these stores bc there's so much stuff.

Not op shops but in the same center, is Rent That Rack, which is similar to a consignment clothing store, and Dulcies, which is a vintage clothing store. Between Dulcies and the Salvos is also Findon Swim Center, so I guess if it's a hot day, you could do some shopping and then go for a swim or vice versa.

I personally love this Op Shop Row, I've always done very well here, and the prices in all the stores are good and competitive. The staff in the stores are friendly and helpful, and most of the stores have loyalty card programs now, which is a nice bonus. I'm a member of the RSPCA and Salvos now.

Address: 308 - 324 Grange Road, Kidman Park SA 5025
Hours: Mon - Sat 9am - 5pm
Sun 12 - 4pm.