Et Cetera #4 | Eating alone, gray hair and a five-star read
This is Et Cetera - a weekly brain dump of bookish (and non-bookish) things!
Howdy, all!
My husband has been in Chicago since yesterday and when we were talking last night he told me he went to lunch by himself at a cute little cafe called Beatrix. Not only was I shockingly envious that he was lunching in Chicago, but that he was lunching alone. And lunching well. He said something about a turkey french dip, but I might have tuned him out. Now, I am home almost all the time, so I have the opportunity to go have a little ladies lunch whenever I want, but unlike my husband, I have a super hard time eating alone. I have all these good intentions and then I talk myself out of it and then end up eating crunchy peanut butter straight out of the jar. Anyway, he comes home tonight and we are psyched.
We have no weekend plans except to watch the Super Bowl. Well, in my case (and my girls’) watching just for a Taylor sighting. My oldest is convinced she is going to sing during the half-time show, but I’m not so sure. I’m not one to watch the game for the commercials, but I am anticipating a new Dunkin’ Donuts ad with the Affleck brothers. Have you seen the commercial from the Grammy’s? I want a new one during the game! Hate on it if you want, but I think they are hilarious. Ben Affleck should always use his Boston accent.
Speaking of Boston, my husband and I are heading there at the end of March, so if you have food recs, please leave me a comment. We go to cities to eat.
Truth Bombs
I got my hair done yesterday. I’ve been going blonder each time and I love it. Gray hair be gone, please and thank you. Instead of having my hairdresser dry it and curl it, she showed me her newest tool, a giant blow-dryer brush from Dry Bar. It gave me the most amazing 90’s Jennifer Aniston hair of my dreams. I couldn’t let her curl it. It never lays straight or has that much body, and in that moment, it was sheer perfection.
I get back home just in time to scarf down some lunch and then get into the school pick-up line. I had my new beautiful straight hair and my sunglasses on. I see my youngest daughter’s teacher glance at me and then squint. I wave and she ushers the girls to my Jeep. The second they open the door, my oldest says, “You look reallllllllllly different, mom!” My youngest’s teacher says '“We couldn’t recognize you! I know your car, but didn’t know if that was really you.” So I am overjoyed, right? They love my new beautiful hair as much as me!
They get in the car and buckled and we start driving off and I say “do you really like my hair?”
“Mom,” my oldest says. “It’s really blonde. I know you like that.” Truth. I do.
“Mom,” my youngest says. “You look like an old granny now.” Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch.
“An old granny?” I said. “What are you talking about?”
“Yeah,” she says. “You are covering up your gray hairs like old granny’s have.” And then she cackled like a Disney witch.
I SWEAR TO THE LORD IN HEAVEN.
My Husband on a Plane
My husband was on a flight, seated by three 18-year-olds. This is him at 5:50 a.m.
By the time he landed, he sent me a message that said “I’ve never been so annoyed by a group of kids.” And I sent him this GIF in response.
My husband, being who he is, then asked for advice from ChatGPT. It’s funny that he did this, but the answer, well it was enlightening.
One Random Review: Shy Creatures
I have my first five-star read of the 2025! I average about three of them in a year, so to have one this close to the beginning is kind of strange, but nonetheless, I loved it and I can’t stop thinking about it. So, here is one random review about Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers.
I know when asked to describe Shy Creatures, I am going to struggle and say something ridiculous like “it’s soft and low maintenance” and inevitably, someone will go “what exactly does that mean?” And I’ll mumble something like “it’s a quiet story full of nuanced characters.” And someone else will say “what exactly is a quiet story?” And then we both just stare at each other.
I really do think Shy Creatures is a soft, quiet book full of quirky, nuanced characters. It’s low-maintenance, meaning, it won’t put you on edge like a thriller or a mystery. It’s soft with the reader, allowing one to curl up and read it (or listen to it in my case) with a nice cup of coffee. It’s almost perfect for a rainy day when you’re stuck inside. Its characters are flawed, but you won’t ever hate them (but you may disagree with them). Much like the title, you want to be careful with the story and its characters because they are, in fact, shy creatures.
I’d read another of Clare Chamber’s books a couple years ago, Small Pleasures, and it had the same kind of effect on me. A quiet, soft book (despite its climactic ending). Shy, careful characters. Chambers obviously knows how to write a story that allows you to feel all the emotions of the characters and these, these kind of books are my absolute favorite. It’s why I am such a huge fan of Ann Patchett’s Dutch House and Commonwealth. They do almost the same thing to the reader. They are small, quiet stories that pack a huge punch.
After I finished listening to this, I went out to read what everyone else thought. I ran across an article by Chambers where she talked about her inspiration for the story. She was looking at a newspaper and came across the story of a man who had been living as a recluse in 1952. From there, she created an entire world around the main character William, who was based on the reclusive man. I want to tell you every single little detail of the entire book, but I’m not going to. I just want you to read it and then talk to me about it.
Spotify Audiobooks
I find it completely unfair that I start listening to a REALLY GOOD BOOK on Spotify Audiobooks and then a little voice comes on and says “you’ve reached your listening limit.” Like why, Spotify? I’m so happy and content, crocheting away and you’re just out there ruining my life and the lives of others with your stupid listening limit.
So On and So Forth: 5 Fun Links For Friday
My favorite local bookstore, The Raven, will be hosting Pulitzer Prize finalist author Karen Russell, whose new book The Antidote comes out on March 11. The Antidote is a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.
Kirkus created a list for young readers of the best books coming out in February and the list is so good.
BookTrib and several Romance bookstore owners share their favorite fictional Valentines! Mine would be a toss-up between Will Grant from Perfect Fit, Will Griffin from Practice Makes Perfect, and Will Langford from You Between the Lines. Big year for men named Will.
I loved this piece in the Paris Review about Margaret Wise Brown, her books and the reasons she loved writing for children.
Please weigh in with your thoughts about these modern redesigns of Jane Austen classics. Apparently they’ve put the literary internet world in a tizzy. I don’t hate them, but I certainly don’t love them. I prefer the cloth-bound editions over anything with actual people on them.
And an extra one because I can’t pass up an article about librarians. I loved this article about librarians during World War II!
Also…
For what it’s worth, I am feeling so blah about the state of our country right now. I hate getting breaking news updates. They put me through a cycle of emotions I just don’t have time for right now. Cup of Jo posted about a recent podcast by Ezra Klein about not giving space to Trump’s first weeks in office as his strategy is to overwhelm the media. And us. Read the opinion piece and take it as you will.
Happy weekend! And happy reading, friends!