Show Notes - Week of June 22, 2020

Greetings from 53.5° north latitude a few days after the longest day of the year. Every year at this time I think about how unfair it is that summer really hasn't started and already the days are getting shorter. It's all downhill from here!

But that is glass-half-empty Robert speaking. Glass-half-full Robert instead focuses on ... the thing is ... what I really want to say ... actually, let's just say that's glass-half-full assessments are work in progress and leave it at that. 

The week behind was productive but tiring, with one book finished and a number of new words as a result. The week ahead is a week off work but with a lot of projects on the go. I have big plans to work on the east wall of my garage and have a bit of painting to do. I want to document my garage project and I might turn it into a Long Form entry on this site. 

Upward and onward!

Reading Pile:
For Book #23 of 2020, I decided to finish the fantasy short-story anthology, "Rogues" that I started several weeks ago. It seemed mentally easier this week to digest a number of short stories instead of trying to read one long novel, and that was clearly the case as I read over 400 pages in five days. 

I'm not really familiar with short stories as a format, and even less so with anthologies. Based on this experience though, I think I need to become more familiar with both. Rogues was composed of twenty-one stories, and I count at least fifteen as being really good. Definitely worth the read, and definitely worth looking out for more of those authors in short-story or full-length novels. 

I should be able to finish one book this week at least, which will increase my reading pace to nearly one book per week. Maybe the goal of 50 books this year is actually possible, contrary to my comments last week. See? Glass-half-full Robert once again!

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New Words:
All of the new words this week are thanks to the Rogues anthology. 

propitiate
[prəˈpiSHēˌāt]
VERB

1. win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them.

auric
[ˈôrik]
ADJECTIVE

1. relating to the aura supposedly surrounding a living creature.

gyre
[ˈjī(ə)r]
VERB
literary

1. whirl or gyrate.

NOUN

1. a spiral or vortex.

florid
[ˈflôrid, ˈflärid]
ADJECTIVE

1. having a red or flushed complexion.
2. elaborately or excessively intricate or complicated
3. medicine

parterre
[pärˈter]
NOUN

1. a level space in a garden or yard occupied by an ornamental arrangement of flower beds.
2. (North American) the part of the ground floor of an auditorium in the rear and on the sides, especially the part beneath the balcony.

inimical
[iˈnimək(ə)l]
ADJECTIVE

1. tending to obstruct or harm.
2. unfriendly; hostile.

epistolary
[əˈpistəˌlerē]
ADJECTIVE

1. (of a literary work) in the form of letters.