Welcome back!
I’ll be on vacation in about a week and it doesn’t feel real. Like I know it’s on the calendar, but I have so many things to get down between now and then that it hasn’t hit me yet. You know what I mean?
What are your holiday plans looking like?
Content warning for the discussion of cancer and death below.
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Author Sophie Kinsella has died at age 55. In 2022, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was such a powerhouse and really shaped the chick-lit genre. Do you have a favorite book of hers?
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Heather M. let us know that Tallahassee, FL is getting a romance bookstore! Love Story Book Co. will have its grand opening this weekend. Right now, they have an Instagram and Facebook page. I lived in Tally for my undergrad and am interested in seeing how the store will do in a college town.
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If you live in Minneapolis, did you see the giant pencil sharpening over the summer? If so, tell us everything!
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Did you now that Excel is an esport now?
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
My town, Socorro New Mexico, has a festival of the cranes every year, when flocks of cranes and snow geese come to the wildlife preserve for the winter. Some years back, a local house started a festival of the crayons in their yard, with large pencils and crayons, and this year, a whooping crayon. You can find a photo here: https://share.google/images/1xUIVA6mEiAx7KiH2
I live in Tallahassee and heard absolutly nothing about the romance bookstore until now, I am so FRICKN’ DELIGHTED one is opening in my town! I can’t wait to go there this weekend 😀
I’m so sad to hear about Sophie Kinsella! I’m almost exactly the same age as she was, so that hits close to home for me.
I enojyed The Undomestic Goddess back in the day and I still will occasionally remember funny bits from it, almost 20 years later. I’d completely forgotten that it was a romance though – clearly the love interest didn’t stay with me at all.
I was so saddened to hear of Sophie Kinsella’s passing especially as my father died from the same and I know how it progresses. I adored so many of her books. She made me laugh and kept me entertained for years. She will be missed.
Yesterday, I read this articel at Reactor (formerly Tor.com), where the author talks about Ursula K. LeGuin’s novella “Solitude” in comparison with genre expectations in romance and romantasy, and I found it rally fascinating. Here is the link:
https://reactormag.com/avoid-magic-le-guins-case-for-solitude-in-the-era-of-romantasy/
There is a lot more to it than my short explanation covers. I am much more af a fantasy/science fiction than a romance reader, so I would be very interested in this community’s take on what this article says.
I saw this which might be of interest to e-book reading members in this community. https://www.androidpolice.com/amazon-u-turns-on-drm-puts-power-in-publishers-hands/
I’m happy to report that I attended the pencil sharpening for the second year in a row. This year’s theme was Prince/ purple rain, the crowd was outrageously large and the event was frankly delightful. I would be shocked if the city does not make them get traffic control next year. A group of dancing pencils performed, pencil “shavings” were distributed and many pencil hats were worn. I discovered I could still squat my child so that he could perch on my shoulders which I’m pretty proud of. He brought his own oversized pencil and waved it during the proceedings.
The pencil has since been a Minnesota Viking for Halloween and is currently lit for the holiday season.