Hello everyone. I hope you are all doing well! As for me, I am a bit of a mess at times but I am managing. I even read books last week! Two very wildly different books, but I am a mood reader so maybe that makes sense for right now, that I needed two crazy different reads.

Books:

The Smallest of Joys by Diane Shiffer: I found a lot of peace in this read. It is definitely a book to be read in bits and spurts, not cover to cover. I read it mainly in the mornings while drinking my coffee and underlined and marked passages throughout the whole book. It will be interesting to read again maybe in a year or so from now, to see what calls to me then. For now though, it was like a peaceful read during a time of such huge emotions.

We Already Dug the Grave by Emma C. Wells was wild. It is a Southern Gothic thriller and it was riveting. Nothing peaceful in these pages, that is for sure. I needed something that just grabbed me and this did the trick. I will post reviews later this week.

As for this week, I am not sure what I will end up reading. I do have plans to read Gladys Taber, this time Stillmeadow Calendar, as I love her Stillmeadow books.

Screens:

We started our Kevin Bacon Movie Binge this past weekend, and of course we started with the “classic” Tremors. It was just the silly campy movie we needed. It pays homage to the creature features of the 1950s, with giant monsters that live under the ground that can sense movement on the surface. And the cast is such a throwback too! Besides Kevin Bacon, this 1990 movie boasts a cast consisting of Reba McEntire, Michael Gross (both occupying roles you would never expect which makes it even better), Fred Ward (yep Remo Williams!), and the little girl from Jurassic Park. This is obviously where she sharpened those screaming skills!

In-Betweens:

On Saturday, a new bookstore near us opened its door, holding their grand opening, so of course we had to go and check it out.

They are off to a bit of a rough start. They had a power outage the day of the grand opening, and the store was so dark and black inside; I had to use my cell phone flashlight to read some of the book titles, especially in the children’s area. They don’t seem to have all of their stock in yet so they had a lot of empty shelves still as well. However, I am pulling for them! They have some good ideas. They want to turn the store into a third place, somewhere people can take a seat in front of the fire and read, where families can play board games, or just drink some coffee and play chess with a friend. Hopefully things come together for them, the community can use some additional third places.

And that is it from me! I wish you all peace and love today, and in your upcoming week.