Entering the small library, first, she rushed to the BestSeller and New Section. She secretly raced a young woman to the stand, only to gladly find she worked there.
With the Holiday over and everyone able to have more free time, or a new resolution to read more, one had to grab a book quickly. (Not to mention her local library was closed. Her home in the country could barely get internet for an ebook. And, she couldn’t drive.)
It was just about the same anywhere for women. At the store, a yard sale, and even the library, grab before another woman can get her hands on it. If they place it down, grab it up right before their eyes! Her husband had quietly taken one single book that he wouldn’t even bring home, and read, casually, as she filled her arms with books.
Every time she tried to pick a book, she selected the same authors. The same genre. Her eyes scanned the shelves looking for a light colored book jacket, or the word cupcakes. It was rather fun to read about a bakery. The cake coming beautifully out of the oven. Her cakes required an extra heaping of frosting on one side to hide that it had only risen to be an half an inch tall. Or short.
Little Women was popular because it was spectacular. Simply welcoming, as you read, making you feel as if you lived right there with them. The new movie for Christmas, 2019, was out and seen by her youngest daughter and her. Of course, they loved it. And, yes, they compared it to the 1994 version that they loved as well.
Every copy and ebook would be taken. That was fine. She would look up Louisa May Alcott and look for her other work. Being paranoid that someone would be secretly laughing and watching her as she walked to the A’s. All of Alcott’s books would be gone, everyone knew that. But, there sat A Long Fatal Love Chase. She wanted to hold it up and smile, but she acted like it was no big deal.
Without even trying, she did find a book called The LITTLE WOMEN Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly. She decided to add it to the stack, but show no enthusiasm.
One of her favorite winter books to read each year during the cold days was, The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Even though she herself had lived through two blizzards as a child, and one as an adult, Tennessee weather was mild, and she needed a reminder to not feel sorry for herself.
She did love a good mystery. Going past Grisham, Patterson, and Roberts, searching through the W’s, she selected MESSENGER OF TRUTH by Jacqueline Winspear. Maybe everyone in the world had read A Maisie Dobbs Novel, but she had not.
With her first selection from the race, to the new section earlier, Becoming MRS. LEWIS by PATTI CALLAHAN, she was ready to check out. Her husband, every patient and loving, had slipped his book back and, smiling, had been waiting for her.
He probably silently laughed, she thought. In a nice way of course. He loved that she would have several books that she was reading at the same time.
She didn’t tell anyone, and even though she was excited to begin her new books, she wished she was still curled up reading about the three day blizzards and twisting hay to build a fire to stay warm.