I would say it's been one of those weeks, but in truth it's been worse. On Monday morning my mother called me to let me know that our neighbour of over 20 years had passed away during the night. For people who don't talk to their neighbours you may not know how close you can get to a person you see every day, or at least a couple of times a week, for decades.
Coral was a lovely lady and I would often chat over the fence with her for an hour or two. Towards the end, before we knew about how sick she really was, I would often talk to her where she would stand on her balcony and chat to me as I stood near the garden that separated our yards. I saw her back in June/July when I went home to get my new glasses, never thinking that would be the last time I would speak to her....
So. Today was her funeral. I couldn't go (medical reasons), but that didn't stop me from stressing out about my mother and aunt who were going. And you can tell what happened from the title. I got on my handy dandy mobile phone and bought more books that I should have... but at least it wasn't chocolate!
So, Dallass (you might be asking yourself), exactly what did you buy?
Well, I splurged. Seriously, I spent over $100 dollars (a lot for me) and I have to admit that although I feel a little guilty about it, I'm not sorry. First indulgence came via Book Depository - and it was all that 10% off codes fault! This order includes the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (which I still haven't read, but didn't want to miss snapping up a special edition of), Devonshire Scream by Laura Childs and The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths are two books that are from series that I'm following, Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews because I need some more from her since I found out that Magic Triumphs is the final Kate Daniels book!, and finally Vigil by Angela Slatter as I haven't read a book that is set in Brisbane (QLD) before - and an urban fantasy at that ;-D
Even using my 10% off code it was still a pretty penny, but when I swung my attention over to Awesome Books early this evening to see if the books in my cart were still there I realized that I needed to snap them up asap as I had a few items that were "1 of 1" in stock. After a few tense moments when I couldn't get the stupid website to accept my payment (which resulted in me firing up the computer), I was the proud owner of seven more books! Seven! Okay, it's really five because I bought two that my mum was after, but still - that's a lot of books.
I can now add The Making of a Marchioness by Francis Burnett Hodgson to my shelves, as well as two books by Marisha Pessl, Night Film and Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Should be interesting because I have never read anything by Pessl. Dark Aemilia by Sally O'Reilly will do nicely for the historical paranormal craving I've been having ever since I reread Shadow of Night, and Villette by Charlotte Bronte was available in the PEL edition, so of course that was coming home to me. Finally there were the two books that I was getting for my mum, and they are MacKenzie's Legacy by Linda Howard. I really adored the first of the two stories in this bind up. MacKenzie's Mountain is a wonderful story. And alongside that, mum will be getting Born in Flame by Nora Roberts. Hopefully this order will get here a little early, otherwise it'll be early November before I can haul them.
I tell you, when you're clicking on buttons with your phone, it doesn't seem like this many items...
So that was how I spent this Friday the 13th. Avoiding all thoughts of a funeral and the lovely neighbour I will never see again, and stress buying more books - because that really is a thing.
I think I'm going to go get a hot cup of tea and destress some more, but with YouTube this time - and until I see you next time,
