My Gift in the Final ShipSwap

 I'm really going to miss this exchange.  I've done it for 3 out of the 5 years, and they've all been fun, both giving and recieving.

 My gift this year is for the Baby-Sitters' Club, and it is Seasons of Love.  It's a sweet-tender-sexy-romantic take on Elizabeth/Watson, and I really enjoyed it.  It's definitely got moments parents can relate to (heyyyy, the kids are going to be gone for another hour...) and it's just lovely.

 There's some other stuff in the collection that looks good, including a fabulous Steve/Natasha fic set during Age of Ultron, but I'll post about that later.  Steadily working through my to-do list.

 DV

My Submission for the Intoabar Challenge

Well, it's not actually a bar this time.  (The concept is basically, Character A from Fandom B walks in and meets Character C from Fandom D.)

It's called Searching for Knowledge (look, titles are really not my thing) and involves Nan Bobbsey walking in and meeting M. Poirot.

My signup this year was:

Who goes into the bar?: Nan Bobbsey
What fandom are they from?: The Bobbsey Twins books
What other fandoms can you write? (Max. 4): Two Minute Mysteries - Donald J. Sobol, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume, Poirot books - Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys SuperMysteries

Have realized I need a Poirot icon.

DV

Dead Tree Reading 2016 #7

 I've been reading more on the Kindle lately, just easier to have it around.  There's a few fanfic projects on my plate, which also limits my dead tree reading.

 35. Ruth Fielding in Motion Picture (1916) - This isn't technically a new read.  I was introduced to the Ruth Fielding series with the whole pre-1924 stuff is FREE deal on Kindle, and kept reading them even after we got to where I had to pay for the copies.  I found this one in great condition at a UBS in town for only nine dollars, so I had to grab it.

 36-37. Faith at Work for Peggy and Peggy: Prayer Answered by Dorothy Martin.  So these round up the Peggy series.  Overall it wasn't bad - to be honest, it was better writing than some of the Christian stuff they're putting out today.  The Prayer Answered book is told from her mother's POV, which I found to be interesting.

 38. Ever After High: A Semi-Charming Kind of Life by Suzanne Sellors.  I bought this for the MV, but she's been taking forever to get around to it.  I borrowed it to read on the plane, and really enjoyed it.  I'm sort of getting sucked into Ever After High (she's also a devoted Monster High fan), and this was enjoyable.  I'm also enjoying the word-play in the titles.  This one has Darling Charming (daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming) chafing under expectations, and features her brothers Dexter and Daring as well.

 39. Listen, Liberal by Thomas Franks.  This is a look at how the Democratic party base has shifted from unions/working-class people to technocrats and professionals.  It was a decent read, and touches on a few of the issues currently making me unhappy with my party.  I'd recommend it if you're into political things.

 40. To Marry an English Lord by McColl and Wallace.  This is a little less scholarly than I was expecting (looking back, I'm not entirely sure why I was expecting that), and is definitely part of cashing in on the Downton Abbey craze.  I found it to be an enjoyable read, even if it did stay very shallow and jump around a lot.  There's a ton of illustrations and "fact boxes" - I would definitely NOT recommend this as a Kindle title, because I think it would be a nightmare.

 The MV and I also read The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport (1950/1960s version), which she enjoyed.

 DV

Kindle Tour #1: Agatha Christie

 The first post in my promised "Kindle tour".

 Since the Kindle lists things alphabetically, Dame Agatha's collection comes up first.  There's currently 18 items in it - but the Agatha Christie collection does not include titles that are listed in my Desert Island collection, or the separate collection of Christie shorts.

 I don't have all of her work on Kindle, although it's mostly represented in my print collection (with a few titles that I didn't like) since Harper Collins put out some lovely trades.  I do keep my eye on Kindle Daily Deals to add to the collection.

 The collection includes: Murder on the Links, Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Five Little Pigs, Towards Zero, Poirot's Early Cases, The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side, 4:50 from Paddington, At Bertram's Hotel, A Murder is Announced, Murder in Mesopotamia, Endless Night, Peril at End House, Lord Edgware Dies, The Murder at the Vicarage, and Sparkling Cyanide.

 There are also a few titles that aren't strictly Christie mysteries.  John Curran's Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks is in here (which I found fascinating from a writer's POV, just seeing some of the different paths she didn't take), as well as Clues to Christie, which is a sort of roundup of Christies work.  It also includes the new Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah, called The Monogram Murders.  It was a decent read, but I'm glad I got it on a Daily Deal and not in HC.

 DV

Recs from the Final ShipSwap

 A few recs from the Final ShipSwap collection!

1. Let The Water Wash You Clean (MCU, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov) - This one is really good.  A little introspection, because showers are good for that.  The voices of the two characters are SPOT on, and there's even a "Language" moment.

“You know what defines you?”
“The fact that I’m a killer?”
“The fact that you’re not.”
“Rogers, I kill people all the time. You’re with me for most of them.”
“And I’ve never seen you hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

2. Building Blocks (MCU, Steve Rogers/Maria Hill) - This one is funny.  The story is told by notes and text messages (transcribed for ease of reading, with art) and it's really good.

P: So, he’s sending you food, and gifts that are tailored to your likes, but you’re not dating.
M: We are most definitely not dating.
P: Because that sounds like dating to me. Or, at least, the bit that usually happens before dating. Or possibly when he’s been a dick and is trying to apologise.

3. and it all comes back to you (TOS, Spock/Chapel) - Interesting canon-divergent take on this relationship.  It's sort of sad and bittersweet, but I enjoyed it.

4. Unsent Holos (Star Wars, Leia/Han) - Good introspection piece.

5. Reception (Vorkosigan Saga, Duv/Delia) - This one will be of interest to the LMB fans amongst us.  Diplomatic reception!  Dancing!  Plumbing troubles!  Listening devices!  Delia and Duv doing the tango.  Go read it!

 DV