Pulling this one out of the archives for a lazy Saturday. 📚☕

See the little camps around the pond? We lived in one on the upper right side of North Pond.
Back when we were young hermits. 😃 #closetohome ❤

I feel like everyone, regardless of country or neighborhood, must know an Ove. This one felt so real to me, sadness all mixed up with joy. It made me contemplate our brief stay on earth and refocused my attention on relationships and our life's impact on other people. The things that matter.
This book will stay with me. I plan to keep it and re-read it, and that is saying something, these minimilized days. ❤

No! Don't make me check out!

Went in to Christmas shop for my kids and came out with these, too!
I didn't realize that children's bookstores get grown-up ARCs as well!
Book dates!

Which one next???

An engrossing and disturbing read about Charles Cullen, the enigmatic and emotionally troubling nurse, who was responsible for the medical murders of up to 400 patients, over a sixteen year period.
While I did not enjoy dwelling on the sad nature of his victim's deaths, I was fascinated to learn of the circumstances surrounding his capture and conviction. As the sister of a nurse who works in many of the same units, the reality of this hit home.

What things do you come from?
I come from edible pod peas, Vienna Sausages, and penny candy. My parents ran a general store until I was 10.

Enjoying while working my mother's open house. Happy holidays!

I liked this one but didn't love it. It took me longer than I'd like to feel that hook and desire to keep picking it up.
Post apocalyptic books are usually engrossing, and this had its moments, but the sadness brought me down.
The first half of the book felt methodically well developed, but the conclusion was a bit too buttoned up for me.
Just eh. My husband loved it, and I agree that it is unique and often starkly beautiful. Just not my thing.

Feels like a good week to start this one.

Each individual's life story can be engaging, both familiar and surprising, if you take time to listen. I felt this authenticity many times, reading Mann's debut novel.
Robin is not so different from any of us, but the unique details of her story drew me in.
I loved reading as she muddled through and dealt with issues that impact all our "normal" lives: aging, regrets, circumstances beyond our control, awkwardness, fumbling, and even resilience.

"They bred dogs for everything else, even diving for fish, why didn't they breed them to live longer, to live as long as man?"

I adore this book. Intelligent essays on rural life in New England, published in 1980.
Very relevant during this current boom of back-to-the-landers buying up old farms and making them run again.
Living in a similar location, there were many topics that made me smile and felt familiar (the year round work of wood heat...making apple cider...small town gossip), as well as many subjects where I could stand to learn a thing or two, and did.