Two kinds of people

"There are two kinds of people in the world — those who walk into a room and say 'There you are' and those who say, 'Here I am!'" ~ a quote from Abigail van Buren

Monday morning misery

My phone woke me at 6:43 a.m.  It was a friend, but nobody was on the line when I answered.  Not a good way for a retired elderly person to wake up on a Monday morning.  Was it a case of butt dialing?  AI quotes Wikipedia with this definition:

"Butt dialing (also called pocket dialing) is the accidental phone call made when a mobile phone in a pocket or bag is pressed by body movement."

When I answered, ready to talk to her, no one was there.  Maybe the phone call was an accident, but not the text from my cardiologist's office 28 minutes later, wanting me to confirm my appointment for next week.

Come on, people!  Retired folks, especially now that I'm 86, don't bounce out of bed that early to get ready for the workday.  I had read until after midnight and would have gotten a full night's sleep without those notifications.  I guess I'll go to bed early tonight.

Musing about a runaway

Runaway ~ by Alice Munro, 2004, stories, 352 pages

The runaway of the title story is a young woman who, though she thinks she wants to, is incapable of leaving her husband.  In “Passion,” a country girl emerging into the larger world via a job in a resort hotel discovers a single moment of stunning insight and the limits and lies of that mysterious emotion.

Three stories, the inspiration for the award–winning movie 'Julieta,' are about a woman named Juliet — in the first, she escapes from teaching at a girls’ school into a wild and irresistible love match.  In the second she returns with her child to the home of her parents, whose life and marriage she finally begins to examine; and in the last, her child, caught, she mistakenly thinks, in the grip of a religious cult, vanishes into an unexplained and profound silence.  In the final story, “Powers,” a young woman with the ability to read the future sets off a chain of events that involves her husband-to-be and a friend in a lifelong pursuit of what such a gift really means, and who really has it.

 

In Alice Munro’s hands, the people she writes about — women of all ages and circumstances, and their friends, lovers, parents, and children — become as vivid as our own neighbors.  It is her gift to make these stories as real and unforgettable as our own.

Musing about a library book

Illuminated Prayers ~ by Marianne Williamson, illustrated by Claudia Karabaic Sargent, 1997, spirituality, 103 pages, 10/10

"I think of prayer as a spiritual lifeline back to where I most want to be," Marianne Williamson writes in this book of universal prayers.  Prayer is a powerful force that can lift spirits, guide journeys, and heal the heart.  Illunimanted Prayers is a small volume of spiritual wisdom to bring the power of prayer into our daily lives.

Illustrated in the manner of an illuminated manuscript, Illuminated Prayers offers a treasured keepsake of the power and enduring relevance of Williamson's message:  Prayer illuminates our souls, and with prayer we can change the world.

Short stories about cats

The Private Life of the Cat Who . . . (Tales of Koko and Yum Yum, Book 3 of 3 of Cat Who Short Stories) ~ by Lilian Jackson Braun, 2003, cozy animal mysteries, 144 pages, rated 5 stars (out of 5) by 71% of reviewers on Amazon

James Mackintosh Qwilleran is a journalist who wrote for metropolitan newspapers from coast to coast before relocating to Pickax, four hundred miles north of everywhere.  These excerpts from his journal include memories, thoughts and ideas from the "Qwill Pen" column — altogether a drama starring two feline celebrities.  So there are 22 short stories about cats "by" the journalist-character in this book for us to enjoy.

How I got my hands on this book is another story.  I left our Circle@Crown Café and went to our library to shelve books.  Another resident got off their elevator, saw me, and said, "I've got something for you."  Reaching into the bag on her Rollator, she pulled out a gift-wrapped object that looked suspiciously like a book.  Of course, it was a book!  After opening it, I asked her specifically if she meant it's for me personally or for me to add to the library collection.  No, she said she knew I liked cats and wanted me to have this book.  Thank you, Alice.

Jodi Picoult recommends a book

Yesteryear ~ by Caro Claire Burke, 2026, satirical novel, 400 pages

This book is about a popular "tradwife" influencer, Natalie Heller Mills, who wakes up in 1855, forced to confront the harsh reality of the pioneer life she romanticized online.  And this authentic 19th-century version of her homestead is brutal.  The book explores themes of tradition, fame, and the performance of womanhood through the eyes of Natalie, its narcissistic but compelling protagonist, as she navigates a world that is both a nightmarish reality and a potential hoax or reality show.  It's a critique of modern online culture.

This is considered a major book of 2026 and has been picked as a Good Morning America Book Club selection.  Jodi Picoult is my favorite novelist, so I plan to read this book, even though 400 pages is more than I like in a book.

I relate to this book, having lived through examples the author shares

You Just Don't Understand ~ by Deborah Tannen, 1990, interpersonal relations / social sciences, 330 pages

Women and men live in different worlds ... made of different words.  Spending nearly four years on the New York Times bestseller list, including eight months at number one, You Just Don't Understand is a true cultural and intellectual phenomenon.  This book points out gender differences in ways of speaking.  With a combination of humorous writing and scientific insight, Tannen shows why women and men can walk away from the same conversation with very different impressions of what was said.

Filled with entertaining examples of real conversations, this book gives us the tools to understand what went wrong — and to find a common language in which to strengthen relationships at work and at home.  A classic in the field of interpersonal relations, this book will change forever the way you approach conversations.  And I think both men and women ought to read it.

ENJOY your books, everybody!

Let's celebrate this week by reading another book or two or three.

Epistolary fiction

 

Kate & Frida (Book 2 of 2 in the Love & Saffron Series) ~ by Kim Fay, 2025, epistolary fiction (Paris, Seattle, Sarajevo), 320 pages, 10/10

Sometimes a book can change your life . . . Twentysomething Frida Rodriguez arrives in Paris in 1991, relishing the city's butter-soaked cuisine and seeking her future as a war correspondent (hoping to go to Sarajevo).  But then she writes to a bookshop in Seattle, and receives more than just the book she requests.  A friendship begins that will redefine the person she wants to become.

Seattle bookseller Kate Fair is transformed by Frida's free spirit and is spurred to believe in herself as a writer, to kiss her handsome coworker, and to find beauty even in loss.  Through the most tumultuous years of their young lives — both personally and globally — Kate and Frida sustain and nourish each other as they learn the necessity of embracing joy, especially through our darkest hours.

This novel is a love letter to bookshops and booksellers, to the passion we bring to life in our twenties, and to the last years before the internet changed everything.

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* I read the large print edition of this novel (the white one above) and loved it, even though I haven't read the first in the series.  Now I want to get that one.

What are you reading?

I am sure I will still be reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King for many more days.  It is about John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his wife both surviving an "attempted" assassination in Dallas in 1963 because someone went back in time to change history as we know it.  I am still reading, so I do not yet know how the author makes it happen.  (Read what I have already posted about the thick 880-page book HERE.)

If you want a BIG book, here it is

Things We Never Got Over (Book 1 of 3 in the Knockemout series) ~ by Lucy Score, 2022, romantic comedy, 570 pages

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding.  She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way … with fists and beer.  Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all.  After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected.  The niece Naomi didn’t know she had.  Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones.  But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam.  And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.  At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

. . . and to another book that was recently

added to our Crown Center library collection.

AI Overview tells me about this phrase

"Divorce: The End of an Error" is a popular, witty phrase frequently

used on greeting cards, party banners, and custom cakes to celebrate,

with humor, a fresh start after a marriage ends. It frames the dissolution

of a marriage not merely as a loss, but as the conclusion of

a mistake, often marking a transition into a new chapter.

Grocery shopping

I went grocery shopping this afternoon.  My store isn't far from my home.

It was warm enough for me to walk there today, so I went.

I was really tired by the time I got home, but exhilirated

because I now have fresh fruits and things I was out of.

Go ahead and borrow that book

The Surrogate Mother ~ by Freida McFadden, 2025, literary fiction, 320 pages

She was promised a miracle.  She got more than she bargained for.  Abby wants a baby more than anything.  But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future.  That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer to serve as a surrogate.  It's an offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true.  But soon, strange things start happening, and it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is.  The woman now carrying Abby's child has an unspeakable secret.  And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

My note:  Seeing this in the library, I had to have it, even though I have not yet finished the book I'm reading.  I went ahead and got it.  (Amazon calls this literary fiction, suspense thriller, and psychological thriller.  So which is it?)

Book lovers at the grand opening of the renovated Crown Center library

Today I'm musing about the Grand Reopening of our

Crown Center library, after it was renovated.

I wore my sweatshirt that says "I can't.  I'm booked."

They gave out bookmarks which say:

Book  Lover,  n.

A    person   known    for

traveling     to      distant

worlds  without  leaving

their seat, forming deep

emotional   bonds   with

fictional characters, and

saying   "just   one   more

chapter"    until     3 a.m.

Often    spotted   with    a

book  in  hand,  a  cup  of

coffee   nearby,   and   an 

ever-growing  to-be-read

pile they swear they'll get

to  someday. For  a  book

lover,    bookmarks    are

essential,    spoilers    are

crimes,  and  the  phrase

"t o o    m a n y    b o o k s"

simply      doesn't     exist.

At the end of the celebration, we all had refreshments.

Some of us sat around and talked for another hour or so.

The unicorn is Scotland's national animal

I just learned the unicorn is the official national animal of Scotland, symbolizing purity, innocence, masculinity, and power in Celtic* mythology.  Featured on the Scottish royal coat of arms since the 12th century, it represents strength and independence.

Celtic* mythology believed unicorns represent innocence and purity while also being associated with chivalry, pride, and boldness.  The first recorded use of a unicorn symbol was in the twelfth century when it was adopted by William I on the Scottish Royal Coat of Arms.  The unicorn is depicted chained (see below) to symbolize the Scottish monarchy's power to tame such a wild beast.

I am surprised I have never run across this information.  I am part Scottish and was called "a bonnie wee lassie" as a child.  I am descended from the Campbells of Argyll clan, whose tartan is shown HERE.

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* The word "Celtic" used in two sentences above mainly refer to "speakers of Celtic languages" rather than to one ethnic group.

Six more weeks of winter

Groundhog Day, celebrated every year on February 2, is an unusual holiday that stretches back hundreds of years to ancient times.  According to tradition, if it’s a bright and sunny day and the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.  If it’s a cloudy day and the groundhog does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, which means that we are in for six more weeks of winter.  Hmpf, as I look out my window and see white snow (and mushy gray snow) along both sides of the cleared street below, I take a deep breath and think, "Oh, well, lots more of this."  (But just how accurate will Phil's prediction be this year?  We shall see.)

Today's book is about birds ~ and a cat

The Cat Who Sang for the Birds (Book 20 of 29) ~ by Lilian Jackson Braun, 1998, cozy mystery, pages

This book features journalist Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, as they investigate a series of suspicious events in their small town of Pickax, including vandalism, a suspicious fire, and a missing artist.  The plot involves a local scandal, an anti-computer uprising, and a murder, with Koko's unique "birdcalling" hinting at clues.

As early spring comes to Moose County, Jim Qwilleran is looking forward to the peaceful beauty of nature’s rebirth.  What he gets instead is a chorus of noisy birds that constantly wakes him from a sound sleep — especially when Koko insists on joining in with his own feline version of birdcalling.  But soon Qwill is wondering whether Koko is trying to say more than just "tweet tweet," because a series of strange events — starting with an act of vandalism and culminating in a mysterious chain of death and disappearance — has Pickax in a similar uproar.  It seems that this spring, a cat’s fancy may turn to crime solving

Musing about a couple of words

Someone left this comment on one of my posts recently:

"That first line grab my attrition.  The summary of the book has me intrigue."

My first thought was that the person is not a native English speaker (no past tense for either verb).  My second thought was that "attrition" and "intrigue" are interesting word choices that would NOT be used by someone who knows very little English.  Later, I also wondered if AI (artificial intelligence) had something to do with the comment.  Here are those two words defined:

attrition / əˈtriSHən / noun = Attrition is the gradual reduction or wearing away of something, commonly referring to workforce reduction (by employees leaving or being fired), loss of participants in research, or weakening of an enemy through constant pressure in warfare (war of attrition).  It happens due to various factors like retirement, poor management, lack of advancement (in business), or simply friction and erosion (in nature).

  

intrigue / verb / inˈtriɡ = As a verb, intrigue means to arouse someone's curiosity or interest in something, to captivate someone's attention or make them want to know more.

*Note:  I'm sure the person who commented meant "attention" for the first word I listed above, as in this second definition, so the first line had grabbed his or her attention.

What I'm musing about today

Most of my musing is about what is in the books I'm reading, but sometimes I muse about the strange or unusual things people say and do.  Today, I'm thinking about a phrase I'm sure we have all heard, about finding what you are searching for in "the last place you think to look."  Of course, it's in the last place, because once you find that lost item you quit looking.