Happy weekend everyone. I’m back for another Sunday Salon. My postings may be a bit hit or miss for this (or my blog in general it seems like!) but thank you to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting the Sunday Salon and bringing us together to chat.

What I’m watching: We bought the DVD of the 8th and final season of Spiral. This is a French police procedural and legal drama which we’ve really enjoyed and last night we started it. It’s got a great cast and I love that although it is set in Paris, you don’t get a romanticized view of the city. Instead you see the characters dealing with issues of immigration, money-laundering, etc. It’s really good.

What I’m listening: As I’m participating in R.I.P., I decided to listen to some spooky tales and I’ve been listening to a couple of episodes of Lore. Why do I insist on listening to these at night?

What I’m reading: I am really enjoying The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff. The Stevens family sets for their yearly vacation at the coast of England. I love how excited they are about their vacation and how much they prepare to start it. I wish I was going to the seaside myself.

What I’m making: Journal entries. I’ve mentioned before that I tend to keep several journals at once. I don’t necessarily write in my journals every day or every week sometimes but one of my journals had been a bit neglected all summer but I’ve been adding some entries this week. This is one where I use stickers, washi tapes, magazine cutouts, etc. It’s almost like a scrapbook for me.

What made me smile this week: I found out about a new indie bookstore, Reverie Books! This small bookstore is located in south Austin and not too far from my home so I was super excited. We went for a visit yesterday and was delighted at their selection. It may be small but they have shelves dedicated to poetry, fiction, LGBTQ, memoirs, etc. And, they also have a selection of gift items. It was a bit crowded so we didn’t stay too long but I did purchase Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Will definitely be back!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I’m looking forward to finishing up a book today, catching up with my best friends on a zoom call and of course getting ready for the work week.

I look forward to hearing what you’ve been up to.

I hope you all had a great weekend. It was so nice to have an extra day thanks to the Labor Day holiday. There are never enough hours to do all that I want but at least I was able to get some stuff done around the house. We also went to Half Price Books which was such a fun visit. It’s been well over a year since we’ve been so it was nice to stop in. We had some books we were getting rid of so that was the main purpose but of course it’s always fun to see what they have.

I was interested in looking for some vintage books or those Reader Digest books with cool covers but I didn’t see any. My husband found two photography books and I did pick up a copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth. I had no idea that Warby Parker has published books and this was a neat edition plus I’ve never read this story.

Later we also went to Book People and I loved that masks were mandatory to go in. Still a bit too crowded for my taste so we didn’t stay too long. And, they no longer have a magazine section. Or at least it wasn’t were it normally was. Because we knew our time was limited I didn’t even go upstairs but I went to look at the classics wall and translated fiction section. I ended up with Wish Her Safe at Home by Stephen Benatar. I love the cover and the book just sounds really good.

Finally we stopped in quickly at Whole Foods next to Book People and we treated ourselves to carmelita bars. These are so delicious. So today I put on some soft music, had my carmelita bar and The Crying Child by Barbara Michaels. It was the best afternoon.

I love a cup of coffee and a treat. I do enjoy some soft classical music in the background but I just realized I do enjoy some ambient sounds like those from Relax Melodies app. At one point I had the sound of rain in the background and then this story, let me tell you I was definitely feeling like I was in the middle of the woods waiting to hear some other scary noises. Do you like to enjoy a treat or listen to music when you read?