Our local Waterstones is a very special place. It draws me like a magnet, and I pop in every time I go shopping in town, just to see what's new and say Hello to the wonderful ladies who work there.
I know some people are a bit derisive about Waterstones, because it's a chain. Our local bookshop might be a part of the chain, but it's a big part of our life. It's people who matter, and we are very lucky to have a super friendly team working there.
Sasha loves perusing books in the children's section, and goes in the shop every time he is out with us or his PAs. They all know him there, and are such a friendly bunch. They keep an eye on him, and when Sasha only started going out with his PAs, they would tell me later how it went.
Very knowledgable about the books too. I bought so many books based on their recommendations.
I have been taking Eddie to this bookshop ever since he was a tiny tot. I cannot praise the staff enough for being so lovely to all their customers, from little people to grown-ups.
Last Sunday my husband gave a talk about the book that he edited - called Tradecraft - which was published last year to coincide with the exhibition on le Carre at the Bodleian (he is also one of the curators of the exhibition). The ladies at the bookshop invited Federico to talk about John le Carré.
Sadly I couldn't join the event, as one of us has to stay with Sasha. It was packed full, and all the copies of the book were sold. Very pleased it went well.
Running errands on Monday, and my husband offered to meet me for a coffee when Sasha was out with his PAs. We chose Coffeesmith cafe. We ordered a latte and a chai, and sat by the table. A guy came in with a big dog and placed an order.
The girl behind the counter made his drink first, came out from behind the counter to fondle a dog, then went back to make our drinks without washing her hands.
I appreciate that people who live with dogs don't necessarily wash hands after each interaction with their dog, and that's fine, as they choose to have a dog. In a cafe I would still expect some hygiene standards. I didn't say anything, but that surely put me off going to that place again. Am I being precious?
It's been raining almost every day in the last week. When a bit of sun gleamed from out of the clouds on Tuesday, I decided to walk by the Windrush. Wrong decision, as the fields were flooded, and I couldn't pass through in my short wellies.
Wednesday was a trying day. We had to go all the way to Banbury to the dental clinic with Sasha. We usually go to Oxford, which is easier to get to, with buses running on a regular basis. Banbury is further afield, and travelling by two buses would mean almost two hours each way.
We expected to talk to the anesthesist, sadly, it was just a completely useless meeting with the dental team. It all could have been done on Zoom, they didn't do anything that needed our presence. We had to wait for an hour before being seen, and Sash was getting more and more anxious.
Now we need to go back to Banbury to meet the anesthesist, and then again for the actual procedure.
Our poor chap doesn't travel well. He was unwell on the way back. On top of everything, the taxis both ways cost over £200. Gulp.
On the same day Eddie had his mocks' results announced. Overall, he did well (though could have been better).
While writing my reading challenge goals for the year, I mentioned that I should try to expand my usual range of genres, and perhaps dip into a genre I have been avoiding so far, like a romantasy.
Last week I asked one of our lovely book ladies at the Waterstones if they could recommend me a romantasy book, but minus dragons, magicians and vampires. They were rather stumped. So, if you could suggest a book from the romantasy genre without these attributes, please let me know.
I do love sci fi and fantasy, but not too heavy on the romance side.
This is a romantasy section from the T G Jones in Banbury.
Charles Clinkard has an ongoing shoe sale at the moment and I bought a pair of boots. Definitely not for the rainy days.
Eddie asked me if I could get him an audio book, and we have downloaded Audible app on both his phone and mine. There is a current offer of a 3-months' subscription at 99p per month, after that a full price. You get one credit per month for any book, and there is a selection of free audio books too.
We used the credit to get Fahrenheit 451 for Eddie, and I have chosen a free book, which is available only on Audible, called The Twisted Women's Book Club. It is a selection of chapters written by 15 authors, like Karin Slaughter, Lee Child, B.A.Paris and others. Each chapter is narrated by a different actor. It is actually pretty gripping.
I listen to it, while I'm ironing, the task I absolutely hate, and now I am almost looking forward to it, as it means I will be listening to the story. Win-win.
Husband and I finished watching His & Hers on Netflix, a mystery thriller set in a small town in America. I remember Jon Bernthal as Shane from The Walking Dead series. There are plenty of twists, some details are rather implausible, but it still makes a bingeable TV.
The twist at the end was so unexpected. The series is the adaptation of Alice Feeney's book of the same title, and is currently available for free as an ebook on Prime.
And now we're watching The Pushover on Channel 4, based on the Scandi Noir series by Lone Theils. It's totally different from His & Hers in pacing and atmosphere. The characters are complex, and there is a lot of psychological tension.
And how was your week?