A friend had to move to a new country for her partner’s job, and she has been sharing pictures and such on Facebook now that she is out of the country’s two-week travel quarantine. Just in time for her new country to go into lockdown.

She described the new system: You are allowed to leave your home for certain reasons, such as getting groceries, exercising outside, or attending medical appointments. To leave your home, you first text a number with your reason for leaving the home, and the system replies “accepted” (or, I guess, “denied”). They can limit how many people are out-and-about in an area at one time, and as my friend says, you definitely think whether you really need to out each time you leave your home. You need to carry the reply on your phone and show it if asked, or you can get fined.

I think this is brilliant, and her comment feed was filled with equally envious comments. A government actually doing something to curb the spread! Holding adults accountable for their actions! Making people behave as if they’re part of a community, especially when they want the benefits of being part of a community! Amazing.

I think it could happen in pockets of the US and not others.

What do you think? A single text and giving up unnecessary reasons for leaving your home for a short period of time in exchange for controlling the spread of the virus and keeping people alive?

Women accounted for 100% of jobs lost in December. 100%. That doesn’t include all the women who left their careers months ago because they took over leading remote education or other caregiving tasks.

In December, women lost a total of 156,000 jobs, while men gained 16,000 jobs, according to NWLC. Of the net 9.8 million jobs lost since [last] February, women have accounted for 55% of them.

It is really really really hard to feel hopeful.

I have a lot of fears about this week—especially about Inauguration Day—and I’m trying to combat it by taking my news only from trusted sources and only in small sips at a time. (I don’t need to circle the drain of commentary and opinion and prediction in an endless spiral.) I trust that Biden is the person for this moment; that he will bring years of experience (especially listening experience) and get this country back on course. I’m holding my breath, but I’m filled with a lot of hope. And I can’t wait to watch him take the oath on Wednesday.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

I don’t normally link to mainstream articles, but the New York Times has a personal essay at the intersection of fertility treatments and COVID-19. The writer developed COVID-19, and while she doesn’t know how she contracted the virus, she suspects that it’s connected to waiting outside the medical building or the retrieval itself. She writes, “A close friend was supposed to start her I.V.F. injections at the same time, but she decided to postpone at the last minute because Covid cases were so high in our area. By that point, we were so driven in our pursuit of pregnancy that I was startled to hear her say that, as the thought had never even crossed my mind.” It hit close to home because we all know that fertility is time sensitive. That waiting may mean that you protect yourself from COVID-19, but lose the chance to build your family. There are no good answers.

Pocobrat writes about shifting feelings. She feels great one day and sobs through the next, unable to get herself out of the maelstrom of feelings. She explains: “I couldn’t get it right; no one could get it right. I did the usual things that cheer me up (walk, star, snack, cook, bath, chats, distance meet, etc.), but nothing would take. At least I can say I tried.” You definitely should get points for trying.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix’s brain remembers and then forgets a date, but her body won’t let it go. She ends up sick on the six year anniversary of her first failed IVF cycle. She writes, “Even when I don’t consciously remember the date, my body remembers on a physical level EVERY SINGLE YEAR. That’s how big of a loss it is for me.” Feel better.

The roundup to the Roundup: Holding hope. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between Jan 8 – 15) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from December. I clearly had a great reading month—I liked a lot of books.

The Devil and the Dark Water (Stuart Turton): This one just squeaks onto the list. I’m not a fan of historical fiction, though this can barely be called that because he takes a lot of liberties with the time period to make the story work. Plus, you’ll figure out the mystery early on. But I enjoyed the journey even if it wasn’t the way I usually travel, book-wise.

Ready Player Two (Ernest Cline): If you read the first book, this one is very very very similar. Which means that if you liked the first book—which I did—you’ll probably have fun reading this one. If you didn’t like the first book, I would probably avoid it because… well… return to the first part about this being very similar.

Piranesi (Susanna Clarke): This was one of the most interesting books I’ve read in a long time, and I’m glad I went into it knowing almost nothing. It is an experience, and figuring out what is happening is part of the story. It is a gorgeous book, and it will stick with you a long time after reading it. I’m still thinking about it daily. It’s one of those books that I could see myself reading over and over again.

That Time of Year (Marie Ndiaye): I loved this book. It’s about a French family who stays one extra day on their summer holiday and discovers the town changes once September begins. It’s like a French Stepford Wives in feel. It’s non-scary horror. I ended up putting everything else the author wrote on my TBR list due to the strength of this story.

Royal Holiday (Jasmine Guillory): I bought this one for the ChickieNob and ended up grabbing it myself. I pretty much devoured it in one sitting. I’m not a big romance person, but I’m planning to read the rest of the books by this author. It was such a great book for winter break; I felt happier and lighter while reading it.

The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman): I loved this book so much that I was only a few pages in before I started Googling whether the author was planning a sequel. (He is! There will be a second book.) It’s about four people in a retirement community, solving crimes. Every character is fantastic—I wanted to get coffee with all of them. The dialogue is lovely. And even though it was a lighthearted mystery, there were some very emotionally-moving scenes.

The Inheritance Games (Jennifer Lynn Barnes): I ended my reading year on a high note. I figured out the mystery when I was 24% of the way through the book, and I didn’t care. It was so much fun. It’s like The Westing Game meets Knives Out meets quirky YA fiction. This book also has a sequel coming out soon-ish, and I happily added it to my 2021 TBR.

What did you read last month?

I’ll review Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi tomorrow when I dive into the books I read in December, but it’s the book that has stuck with me the most from 2020. As in, I spend time every day mentally back in that story. I went into it knowing very little about it, and that’s probably the best way to read it.

I want to highlight a passage that I’ve thought about a lot. (I removed any possible spoilers with brackets and a line through it. Like this: [—].) The words feel particularly fitting right now, during COVID-19 and all of the stress of this year. The pandemic has taught me a lot about people; what I’m willing to accept and what I’m not.

On page 219:

‘Don’t you like the people in your own Halls?’ I asked, puzzled. ‘I like them,’ she said, with no very great enthusiasm. ‘Mostly I like them. Some of them. I don’t always get them. They don’t always get me.”

After she had gone, I thought about what she had said. I cannot imagine not wanting to be with people. (Though it is true that [—] was sometimes annoying.) I remembered how [—] had wondered which of the People of the Alcove had been murdered and the simple fact of her posing the question had made the whole World seem a darker, sadder place.

Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not.

People make you think about the things you don’t want to think about. They make you see the world in ways you’d rather not see it. Other people can make the world feel like a wonderful place, but they can equally make it feel like a “darker, sadder place.”

It seemed fitting to find this book at this time.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Modern Mrs. Darcy posted this article last week about aging a cake. Did you know that you’re supposed to age a cake?

“Much like the sauces and stews that taste better on day two, an overnight rest can allow a cake to relax, giving ingredients time to mingle and tightly baked crumbs a chance to unwind.”

What? I cannot believe how often I’ve been stressed as all get-out, thinking I needed to make a cake the same day we’re going to eat it. This changes everything if it’s better to make a cake a day or two before we want to eat it.

Did you know about aging cakes?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.