Hello everyone!! I am a day late for the Sunday linkups but today still counts! We spent last week and the weekend catching up on everything post vacation. I am not sure how our short little quick trip caused such a disruption, but it did. However it was worth it. And now we are slowly rolling out our fall and Halloween plans and decorations. Yay!
Books:
In the past two weeks I have finished three books.
I read The Change in one weekend, a busy weekend at that. I was obsessed with this nearly 500 page book and could not put it down! It is a feminist revenge thriller with magical realism elements and I can’t recommend it enough.
Stillmeadow Calendar is a more gentle read, full of good food and memories and country landscapes and descriptions of a slow country life. I also really enjoyed this one!
And finally, Cold Clay. I am just getting back to this series but this one is perfect for early fall! I love a good cozy talking animal book. Lol.
This week, I am thinking about one of these.
I would have to buy the kindle book though of the Rollins book, and I have already bought two books this paycheck and we are just getting back from vacation. And the Kindle book is $6.99 and I hate paying that for a kindle book. So I might wait so I can buy the paperback of it. I do however have a copy of The Undead Fox because, well that was one of the two books I bought since Friday. Lol. So, I will probably end up reading the Undead Fox. Glad I worked that out just now.
Screens:
Billy and I have been watching Bookish, and episodes of the Great British Sewing Bee because sometimes we need something like that too. Wyatt has baseball on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7 and our nights get so crazy afterwards that we just need something easy. We also started Murder She Wrote, swayed by Lisa at Boondock Ramblings love for it. I watched it with my brother as a kid, on nights that my mom was in school and I was in charge so I do have some warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia watching it. I used to make us nachos for dinner like the good responsible big sister that I am, and we would settle in and watch some Jessica Fletcher together. Then like the complete dorks that we are, when we saw our mom’s headlights as she pulled in, we would arrange ourselves around the living room like we had been murdered. She never fell for it and in fact was really good at just acting like nothing was wrong. It was hilarious.
We also watched Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost on Saturday with Wyatt.
Last week I posted a few times:
Louisville Part One – Louisville Slugger Museum and Troll Under the Bridge
Louisville Part Tw0 – Mega Cavern, Col. Sanders, and an All Horror Bookstore
Louisville Part Three – Churchill Downs
Sweater Weather Cinema: Wake Up Dead Man
And remember, I am cohosts with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and Cat at Cat’s Wire, of the linkup A Good Book and a Cup of Tea for all things books -not just books read or reviews, but bookstore visits or author visits or whatever else bookish you can think of! You can find the link up for September here!
In-Betweens:
The other day I lived out a 1980s McDonalds commercial. My niece is in middle school now, her first year there, and she was assigned a lunch without any of her friends. She has been struggling a bit, she is pretty shy, and sad that she had to eat alone. She even texted me from her lunch one day. I decided that I would take her McDonalds for lunch that week, as a treat because if there is one thing I learned working in a school is that having a special lunch dropped off makes kids happy. So last Wednesday I got to McDonalds at 10:30 am, ordered her lunch plus two chocolate chip cookies. I thought if she felt inclined she could offer a cookie to another kid and make friends. Lol. Well, I don’t know if she did that but she DID talk to another little girl at lunch that day!
All it takes sometimes is a little McDonalds I guess. But doesn’t it sound like it could totally be a commercial from the 80s?
And that is all from me today! I hope that whatever you do today you do something that makes you smile!
Yup! Living the commercial! I really enjoyed Bookish — another season is in production. And liking the new Tommy/Tuppence mysteries on Britbox. We used to watch Murder She Wrote — I loved your mom memory. Now and then if it’s on, I tune in!
Lol my poor mom. We did so much to make her crazy.
Oo I am glad to hear there is another season in production already! Yay!!! And I will have to watch the new series of Tommy and Tuppence too!
Aw, you are such a sweet auntie! I thought of you Saturday when I was a Barnes and Noble as they had a whole display of fall themed rom-com books and so many were ones you had mentioned in your round up (that I had never seen around here!). I had to buy one… pretty sure I went with Fall I Want.
Ooo that one looks good!! All of these fall books get me every year.
And thank you. I just want her to be happy poor kid. I would never go back to middle school, yuck!
Sounds like a nice week. Sorry your niece ended up in a lunch period without her friends. Your books do sound good. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I feel so bad for her – middle school is such a rough age!
I remember well my first year of middle school when my friends were at band lunch and I was at the other one. It’s wonderful that you helped her at this time! I think Undead Fox was a Newbery Honor book.
Oh cool! I think it looks so good!
And ugh that is terrible! Middle school is hard enough. They don’t need to make it harder!
What a wonderful aunt you are, Erin! I think it’s great. You were able to even drop off a lunch. I’m not sure if the schools around me allow that. I am gonna have to read that 500 page book at some point because I’m just that way. I’m still reading my Marie Curie anthology. And we just finished The Last Airbender and must wait for the final season whenever that comes out. I need to finish an artist write up for the Giants exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. So much writing, so much writing!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
I think you would love The Change!! It is so good!! And how exciting to have so many projects and writing to do!
I was allowed to drop it off in the office but I couldn’t see her. I did have to get buzzed in through two doors, and I am on her emergency card but security does get tighter and tighter. I hate that that is how it needs to be. 🙁
Kindle books have got more and more expensive. These days $6.99 is almost on the lower side. Lovely story about dropping lunch off for your niece. Aunt of the week for sure.
I just started using my kindle again like a month or two ago, and I was shocked. Lol. Thank you Kathryn.
You have to be the best Mom AND aunt around! So sweet.
Talking about your sweetness, I just started to read the fabulous Japanese short story collection you so kindly sent me. Special prayers for your whole familky each time I grab the book
Aww thank you Emma!! That is very kind of you to say!! And I am glad that you are enjoying it. Thank you for the prayers as well. 🙂
I hear you on even short trips disrupting life … but being worth it. I’ve heard good things about The Change. My sons LOVED Scooby Doo TV and movies when they were kids – Boo Brothers was their favorite!
That was SO sweet of you to take a special lunch to your niece when she was struggling – I bet she really appreciated that.
Have a great week!
Sue
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com
The Change was so good! I can’t believe I finished it that fast. The rainy weekend we had helped me out with that. Scooby Doo is classic! I will have to look for Boo Brothers.
And she was so happy. It made me happy to do it for her. 🙂
That was such a sweet thing to do for your niece. It must have been so hard without her friends at lunch. I hope you have a great week and enjoy your books.
Yeah poor kid. Such a big transition, and then lunch without her friends too. Kids have it so hard sometimes honestly! And thank you Yvonne!
I am sure your niece really appreciated that gesture (it warms my heart for sure). I remember those years being particularly tough. Have a wonderful week!
They really are so rough! I did not enjoy middle school. Lol. She was so happy and that made me happy too. 🙂
I have to find Stillmeadow Calendar next!
It’s a good one.
Middle School is so rough as a kid! I hated it. That was so nice of you to get her lunch! The Change sounds really good. I’ll check it out. Have a wonderful week, Erin!
The Change was awesome. I loved it!! And I hated middle school too. Poor kid, I felt so bad for her eating lunch alone!
That was really nice of you, you are a good aunt.
I liked Bookish, too. It will probably take a while for a new series to make it to a platform where I can see it, though. I heard that a movie for the original series of “Ghosts” comes to theaters in October and I’m already whining about how long that is going to take for me! I love “Ghosts” so much.
Thanks Cat. I hate thinking of her sitting there all alone and sad. I know, it is always so hard waiting on things from other countries! We watch so much British television and it is tough waiting! And that is awesome about Ghosts!! I hated how it ended – or maybe just that it ended.
I loved The Change too.
I’m eagerly awaiting Season 12 of The Great British Sewing Bee but binging home renovation shows at the moment.
Thanks for sharing your week, happy reading!
It was so good!! I am ready for season 12 too! It is hard waiting lol.
Isn’t it odd how a little change in routine can cause such chaos?
Ooh! The Change sounds compelling! It’s going on the TBR list.
It was so good!! And yes, it is so crazy! We were only gone like two days and home on the third but apparently that was enough!
I love the McDonald’s story😁 And The Change is on my list, it sounds fantastic!
The McDonald’s story! <3 That's the best, and such a fun part of aunt-life too 🙂
I should start rewatching some Murder, She Wrote … I've got quite a few seasons on DVD … also Dr Quinn: that might be a good autumnal rewatch …