Imagine my excitement this morning when I discovered the annual Fall Extravaganza episode of The Girl Next Door podcast had dropped!!! I queued it up immediately, and listened as I drove around town doing my errands.
Their theme this year is “ghosts” and while nothing could compare to the apple theme of last year (when they named the Honeycrisp apple “Jenny”), they nailed it as always. There’s a quiz, (what kind of ghost would you be?) a ghost-themed would you rather?, the famous candle-sniffing segment, falliday gift exchange, and more.
One of my stops was Barnes and Noble. Let’s back up for a second, and remember that I have a fall reading list. I started this book, which I had heard such great things about:
I was over 100 pages into the book when I discovered 30 pages were missing. Obviously it was a publishing mistake, because it skips ahead from page 130-160. To be honest, I was liking the book okay but not loving it, so I made a controversial decision. I read the rest of the book, minus those pages… and then I returned it.
I felt slightly guilty about returning a book that I read- er, more or less. The fact remains that missing 30 pages did take away some enjoyment, and I wanted my money back! I wasn’t going to get anything else, but as I was about to leave the store, a display of this book caught my eye:
Meredith and Kaytee, from Currently Reading podcast, both loved this book. It’s middle grade, so not something I would usually pick up, but I decided just to read the first chapter in the store.
Clare is an “undead” fox- at the moment of his death, he was given the choice to go to the Afterlife, or become an Usher, helping other animals navigate their ways to the Afterlife. Clare became an Usher and lives in Deadwood Forest, where he grows mushrooms and performs his ushering duties. But you guys… he wears a monocle. At the moment of his un-death, one of Clare’s eyes was injured. He’s self-conscious about the empty socket, so he foraged in the dump and found a monocle to cover it up.
That settled it! A fox wearing a monocle! I had to buy the book. It’s very fall-ish (the season in Deadwood Forest is perpetually autumn) and although it’s middle grade, it’s clever and funny. I’m already halfway through, and I’ll report back when I’m done.
My next errand was Michael’s. where I bought Halloween flowers for my daughter (something about making a corsage for Homecoming?) And I needed a few supplies for another living room project. Now that the furniture has been rearranged, the wall behind the couch needed something… and it now looks like this!
This is where I usually put my Christmas card display, so I’m just getting things started a little early. When the time comes, I’ll change out the orange lights for white, and the pumpkins for holiday cards.
Are you getting fall weather yet? – We ARE NOT. But that’s okay. It’s fall in my heart. And in my house.
Would you continue to read a book if 30 pages were missing? – I really don’t feel like I missed much, which goes to show it wasn’t a great book anyway.
Top photo by Mark Duffel on Unsplash
