She's walking on water when she walks in her sleep

[sovay]

All of the aforementioned being true, I had a delight of an evening with rushthatspeaks, spent centrally at the Malden Public Library whose eclectically deep bench of collections can be suggested by the two novels by Banana Yoshimoto he hadn't known had been translated into English and the children's novel by Elizabeth Goudge I hadn't known existed. We left with armfuls of literature—the Strugatskys and Charlotte Armstrong, Andre Norton and Janelle Monáe, Georgette Heyer and Jon Evans—and had roast beef sandwiches for dinner in the parking lot of Bill & Bob's in Woburn and ice cream for dessert from Honeycomb Creamery on Mass. Ave., which gave me decision but not brain freeze finally resolved by putting the honey lavender on top of the salted caramel crackle. I switched on WHRB as soon as I had dropped my husband home and got Belgian and then Hungarian rock from 1966–67. The moral of this story is that libraries are incredibly important and our next plan is to watch more David Lynch.

Comments

[radiantfracture]

This is all perfect.

[sovay]

This is all perfect.

Despite its beginnings, it was the best day I'd had in weeks.

[nineweaving]

How absolutely delightful!

Nine

[sovay]

How absolutely delightful!

It was!

[rachelmanija]

But what were the Yoshimoto and Goudge books?

[sovay]

But what were the Yoshimoto and Goudge books?

Yoshimoto's The Premonition (1988/2023) and Dead-End Memories (2006/2022) and Goudge's Smoky House (1940).

[rachelmanija]

I have the first two in my shop, but I haven't read them yet.

[anna_wing]

Which Goudge novel? I read a lot of them when I was young and they were lovely, though I missed a lot of the things packed in underneath.

[sovay]

Which Goudge novel? I read a lot of them when I was young and they were lovely, though I missed a lot of the things packed in underneath.

Smoky House (1940), apparently her first novel for children. My formative Goudge was The Valley of Song (1951).

[umadoshi]

<3 <3 <3

[sovay]

<3 <3 <3

*hugs*

[minoanmiss]

beams at you two

[sovay]

beams at you two

*hugs*

[asakiyume]

What a fabulous afternoon. Libraries forever!

[sovay]

What a fabulous afternoon. Libraries forever!

Amen!

[gwynnega]

A perfect evening!

[sovay]

A perfect evening!

It was great!

[thisbluespirit]

Books! I'm glad you at least got a nice evening - sorry about the rest of it! <3 But that does sound like a lovely time, and bookish haul between you.

[sovay]

But that does sound like a lovely time, and bookish haul between you.

Thank you! It was a gratuitously better end to the day than its beginning.