Podcast Roundup July 2026

I'm in an audiobook rut, so it's been all podcasts all the time. 

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I know comedian Joanne McNally because she was a contestant on Taskmaster. When I heard she had a podcast called Joanne McNally Investigates, I was fully onboard. There are two seasons, "Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?" and "Did Furbys Spy on Us?" and they were both utterly charming. In the same way I enjoyed Did Titanic Sink? and Who Shat on the Floor at My Wedding?, I enjoyed this. Is there a sort of mystery involved? Sure, but it's really a comedy. 

In a radically different type of podcast, have you heard KCRW podcast called City of Tents: Veterans Row? In the middle of one of LA's fanciest neighborhoods, there's a pocket of land that has been donated to the care and housing of America's veterans. The Veterans Administration controls access to this campus and many veterans who are facing mental health, housing, and/or substance use challenges cannot live up to the rules. So what did they do? They set up a tent city right outside the gates of the campus. What happens next is relatively predictable - denial, removal, criminality, NIBMYism, and not a lot of answers. But when the people who are unhoused are veterans, it's not as easy as just rousting them off to Seattle.

Texas Monthly just finished up a seven-part series called Where the River Took Us. Texas Monthly editor Aaron Parsley and his family were enjoying a long holiday at his family's vacation home along the Guadalupe River when there was a terrible thunderstorm overnight and the river rose rapidly. The floods in Central Texas led to trauma, death, and hardship, but also community, growth, and new beginnings. This podcast varied in quality from episode to episode, but I found the first two and the fifth as some of the most powerful podcast episodes I have ever listened to. There are some tough topics here, though, including child death, so take care of yourself. 

None of you have asked for it, but I want to draw your attention to some excellent recent Planet Money episodes. If you're not listening to PM, GO DO THAT RIGHT NOW.

"The real horror of ‘Alien’ and how it explains why we’re not paid enough" - The hosts use the word monopsony, discuss labor economics in the brilliant sci-fi movie Alien, and make you start side eyeing FAANG companies.

"Why is there a supplement craze if they don’t even work?" - As a lady who takes a fistful of supplements daily on the advice of medical doctors, I was super interested in this episode. Turns out supplements are not regulated very well (which I actually did know) and we are possibly/probably/maybe/probably not really getting poisoned by our supplements. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNO WHAT TO DO?

"Can the Trump Administration Make College Cheaper?" - So under the Big Beautiful Bill (like...what the fuck world is this?), there were significant changes made to student loans. Because I work in higher ed, I am interested in what this will mean for my students. Answer: it's complicated. 

"Can World Cup Mania Grow MLS?" - Unpopular take: I think the World Cup goes on too long and is boring. But I did enjoy this episode about how Major League Soccer teams are trying to take advantage of the North American hosting gig to try to get more people to care about soccer. I, for one, will not be getting on this (boring) bandwagon. 

Hunting the Suicide Salesman from the CBC is gripping. Dude provides a poison to help people kill themselves and tells them how to do it. Has he committed a crime? I am all for assisted suicide and I thought this guy, while an absolute dick who is profiting from people at their lowest points, was getting unfairly maligned here. (I also take the unpopular opinion that Michelle Carter should not have been found guilty of manslaughter.)

But then I heard about Amazon selling the poison and how most people who survive suicide attempts regret it and...now I don't know. If the government wants this to be illegal, then it should be illegal, you know? Dr. BB and I had some interesting conversations about this one, but it does deal with tough issues, so be aware. 

The Last Twelve Weeks is the newest from Serial podcasting, co-produced with The Marshall Project. 

The good: Interesting topic. They follow around some lawyers as they try to get a stay of execution for a convicted serial murderer whose death date is in twelve weeks. The storytelling is interesting. I always wanted to keep playing the next episode. It's only five episodes, so it's not asking you to invest hours and hours of your life. The sound is great. (I'm currently trying to listen to a podcast where the sound quality is terrible uneven and listening to this was like a balm to my ears.)

The bad: There are multiple hosts, I think? But their voices are the same? It's a bit superficial because it was so short. I wanted more about the lawyers.

I recommend it, but it's not perfect. 

I sometimes listen to podcasts from other countries and am reminded of how weird the US is in so many ways. Hearing the folks from Today in Focus talk about the death penalty was a reminder that the US government kills its own citizens on a regular basis. And now "The return of the firing squad in Trump’s America" means that because pharmaceutical companies are refusing to allow their drugs to be used in lethal injections, some states are turning to the firing squad. 

Speaking of podcasts from other countries, I started listening to The Case Of from Australia when it was The Mushroom Case Daily and I've kept listening because the rules of reporting court cases in Australia sound batshit crazy to me in the United States. Instead of instructing jury members not to look stuff up or hear about the case they are involved with, Australia has crazy rules limiting what the press can actually report on. In the mushroom case, where a woman was accused of killing family members by feeding them death cap mushrooms, the press couldn't report on the fact that she'd already tried to kill her ex-husband before in case the jury couldn't hear it. So millions of people can't know what's going on to protect the handful of people on the jury? Instead of the other way? BATSHIT. 

Right now there's a case involving a "high-profile Queensland man" who is most certainly an Aussie politician and the way they have to report the case is so crazy that I don't even understand what's happening. There was extortion? Was the premier being extorted? Thank heavens for the redditor who posted "an unnamed prominent Queensland figure had an affair with a woman in 2017. Another man discovered evidence of this and attempted to extort the woman. The man who had the alleged affair (not the attempted extortionist) was identified as a big deal politician. The court will not name the man and the reason given is that this would potentially reveal the identity of the extortion victim."

But you know what? I keep listen to The Case Of because I'm enjoying them go around and around in circles because they can't name this guy. Or the woman. LOLOLOL. As an American, I cannot express how bonkers I think this whole thing is. He hasn't even been accused of a crime!

I'm not sure I really recommend this since the reporting on this case is hella confusing, but it's fun listening, that's for sure. 

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Okay, party people. What podcasts should I listen to next? My audiobook reading has slowed to a crawl and I'm finding all books terrible right now, so I need SOMETHING. 

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Quick reminder: The deadline to participate in my giveaway from the Adult Book Fair is Wednesday, August 5. There's an easy-peasy Google form to fill out to participate.  The orange cat package has a lot fewer entries than the purple bookshelf package if that will help you make a decision!

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I was reading in a Reddit thread about experimental fiction and Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn was recommended. The Redditor said it was a fun book. Let's see, shall we?

So far it looks fun.

Ella is a girl living on an island off the coast of the United States that was the home to Nevin Nollop, the man who created the pangram "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." The memorial to Nollop starts falling apart and as the letters on the memorial fall, the imperialistic town council begins banning the letters in writing and speech. The first time you violate the ban, you receive the warning; the second time, a public punishment; and the third time, you are banished from the island.

The book is told through letters and notes that people on the island are writing to each other and people in the United States, including people who have been banished. 

The back of my copy of this book has Kirkus Reviews calling this book "lighthearted" and Publishers Weekly calls it a "whimsical fable." 

Ummm.

This is a dark dystopian. 

The town council begins by shutting down the town library and destroying all the books. 

When citizens say that the letters falling off the memorial isn't really a sign from Nollop that he is unhappy, but rather is about how the adhesive is just not meant to be holding on for that long, the town council starts denying the truth of the science in favor of superstitious nonsense.

Meanwhile, literacy starts going down and people have to start subbing in letters and sound homophones. Communication starts to fail as people do not have synonyms for words with banned letters in them. 

As people leave town, either because of banishment or because they can no longer make a living on the island, the town council begins taking their land and homes, saying that is has been abandoned. The people who are left struggle to communicate at all. 

I thought this was brilliant in theme and execution. But I found it horrifying and terrifying. I certainly did not find it "whimsical" or "lighthearted." Some of the wordplay was pretty fantastic and the writing was clever, but the reason behind it was so dark that I'd never apply comedy to this. 

Maybe it's hitting differently in 2026 instead of 2001 when this was published. The Trump administration's rapid dismantling of higher education and cultural products is shocking. Maybe in 2001, I wouldn't have worried so much about a dictatorial government. I don't know. 

It's an interesting book. A prophetic book. But maybe not the fun book I thought it was going to be. Or, alternately, I don't have a sense of humor or whimsy. (I don't think that's the case, but maybe!) 5/5 stars

Lines of note:

...with the prohibition, the reading of all books containing the unfortunate letter will have to be outlawed as well. (page 9)

Right. Start by attacking books and education.

They shut the library down today. (page 17)

Librarians are truly protectors of free speech and liberty. Thank a librarian. 

Today The Tribune published the names of fifty-eight of the sixty men, women, and children charged this week with first offense. (Two names were unpublishable due to the presence of a particular letter within.) All were speakers of banned words - words overheard upon the lanes, in schoolyards and church pews, and on the common greens. Neighbor turning in neighbor, perpetuating old grudges and grievances with this new weapon...(page 21)

Hm. Have we seen this playbook before?

Someone is relaying threats to the Council. Each counciliteur has gotten a copy: "Cease the insanity or you will perish." As a result, the - I must now call them what I am only too happy to call them: police goons - the police goons have gone house-to-house in their investigation, yet have yet to turn up anyone except the usual suspects - that is, virtually everyone on in the isle...the Council has put crepuscular-to-auroric house arrest upon all Nollop citizens not in league with the cult. (page 125)

Heavy, heavy sigh. 

Things I looked up:

cenotaph (page 3) -  an empty tomb or a special monument built to honor a person or group whose body is buried in another place

 

bandiford (page 5) -  is a made-up fictional noun from the novel used to describe a architectural base, pedestal, or tier featuring inscription tiles

sarilla geese (page 9) - fictional phrase from the novel. It is used metaphorically by a character to describe unthinking, conformist crowds.

aposiopesis (page 17) - a figure of speech where a sentence is left unfinished, implying unwillingness or inability to continue; suddenly breaking off in speech

partete (page 48) - I don't know this one? It's made of lace, so clothing or home decor? Do  you know?

Hat mentions (why hats?):

orange hat (x2 on page 142, 148)

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Do you know what a partete is? Do you want to read a book about a crumbling society in 2026? Have you ever heard of this book? 

Photo Every Day: July 2026, Week 3

Thursday, June 16
A couple of things today. One, it's hot. Two, the air quality is bad because of wildfires in Canada? I think. It smells like rubber and there's a haze that I last saw at Bretz, a gay bar in Toledo I was a regular at in 2001 that had a lingering cigarette funk years after smoking indoors had been banned. Also, I had a dentist appointment? What a day. 

Friday, July 17

I borderline forced my poor husband to go to the community center for a fundraiser after dinner. He was not feeling great and Friday nights are not ideal for either of us since we're usually fried after a work week. Regardless, we went. There was a band playing Bill Monroe music, a silent auction, and plenty of lovely people to chat with.

Saturday, July 18

There was an Adult Book Fair in my town today. It was amazing. Anne came and we made bookmarks, wandered around some book-themed vendors, and finished with Book Trivia. I don't want to brag, but we did come in first at book trivia. FIRST PLACE!! I knew Redwall!

Sunday, July 19

Back at the book fair again today. I am obsessed and so excited to see so many people in our town. Don't forget to sign up for my book fair giveaway if you want some adorable bookish items. The air quality was back to being gross, so we tried to limit our time outdoors. But not so limited that I didn't get photos of the sign advertising tattoos at the community center, which seems like the lady who originally imagined uses for this space would never have imaged. Sorry, not sorry, Joan, you fabulous lady. 

My friend Gina and I chatted with all the vendors and they seemed so happy with the turnout. Yay! We were also used in some social media promo, so if you start to see Gina and I become famous, you'll know how it started.

Monday, July 20

I had to come down off my book fair high and go to work. The chair of the math department had a question about the software I'm ostensibly an expert on, so I wandered down to her office. She had a collection of math-themed stickers and I have to let you know, I was unable to prevent myself from taking a bunch. All my math friends are getting stickers!

Tuesday, July 21

Next month, we're doing a big training at work. Our office is charged with doing a big training for all faculty advisors. We did it last year (I mentioned it in 4a of this post) and it was quite successful. It was so successful, in fact, that someone in leadership heard how amazing it was and mandated it be required for ALL the colleges, not just our college. *sigh* Frankly, it's ruining the vibe to have these other people there (they're lovely people, I promise, but they have different advising models and it's hard to account for all of that in our material). 

Anyway. One of the things that people liked about our training last year was that we did a lot of hands-on activities. So we have to continue that because did you know faculty members make terrible students? Of course you knew that.

My co-worker LB won an award at an advising conference for work she presented on play in training. She created a dice game to create advising scenarios that leads to excellent conversations. So we're doing a dice game is what I'm saying. 

I found these Yahtzee yard dice for a STEAL at a local thrift shop for $10.55.

I told LB about them and then she went and bought a bucket of them, too.

That's twelve tables done. And I guess we can put regular-sized dice on the rest of the tables. 

Wednesday, July 22

It was SO NICE today. Highs in the 70s with a breeze. I had to wear a sweatshirt when I walked the dog this morning. The air quality is back to normal, so we even slept with the windows open. But let's back up to the dog walk.

Look how beautiful it was!!

How was Hannah handling it, you ask? 

THIS IS HOW SHE WAS THE ENTIRE WALK. Do you notice the tucked tail? What is she afraid of? It's not dark. No one was setting off fireworks? We literally didn't see another person or dog in the park. What did we see? Sandhill cranes, geese, ducks, squirrels, and a very foolhardy tiny rabbit. She pulled and yanked and started just sitting (her version of a no, thank you). 

I ended up shortening the leash so she had to walk right by my side (loose leash? that's for other dogs, I guess) and I would not let her pull. I hated to do it, but I was scared I was going to hurt her or she was going to hurt me. 

Anyone else want to come and deal with the mental case that is my dog? 

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Is the air clear where you are? Anyone want to adopt a slightly used neurotic dog? Come to my town for our next book fair? 

The Phone Book by Ammon Shea

The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads by Ammon Shea is definitely the sort of book that you hear about and think it's quirky, but will never read. Well, that sort of book is catnip for me. 

Shea walks us through the history of the phone book (first it was just a list of people who had phones!) and reminisces about watching it decline. I don't actually remember when we got our last yellow pages, but we haven't had one since we moved to our current house. 

I recently saw this question on our town's Facebook page:

An answer: A cohesive directory of all the stores, restaurants, services that already exist. LOLOL. Suggestions were that the Chamber of Commerce collate this. 

Anyway, this is a surprisingly funny book because Shea makes snarky asides in footnotes and he's sort of a weird dude and some of that comes across. I was glad I took the time to read this because it really is true that a good writer can make anything interesting, isn't it? 

4/5 stars

Lines of note:

...I hope we can all agree that it's too bad that another one of the recommendations of the November 1878 telephone directory has not survived to the present day; the book advised that the proper way to end a conversation was with the phrase "That is all."  (page 19)

YES!! Sometimes I don't really mean it when I say good-bye, what I really want to say is that is all. 

You can still send telegraphs in many other countries, such as Telegrams Canada.*

*Its website says, "You'll see why even after 160 years, telegrams never go out of style!" which is a statement that makes me wonder what other things this company is delusional about. (page 49)

That footnote made me cackle. I looked it up, though, and it does appear as if Telegrams Canada is still in business, so maybe the company is on to something. 

When telephone books were in their infancy, there was no need of numbers - all one had to do was give a name to an operator, who would then connect the call. Many of the first telephone books had no numbers at all. (page 54)

Can you even imagine just a list of names? 

One of the first people in the late nineteenth century to recommend using numbers to indicate each and every subscriber was a physician in Massachusetts, Dr. Moses Greeley Parker. During an outbreak of measles in the city of Lowell, Dr. Parker worried about what would happen if more than one of the city's four operators succumbed to the disease. The telephone system would be paralyzed, since there were no surrogate operators who knew all the numbers and connections to replace them.

At first his suggestion was met with incredulity. Most people were of the opinion that subscribers would sooner give up their telephones entirely rather than submit themselves to the dehumanizing indignity of being identified by a number. Eventually, the obvious necessity of anyone being able to find all the subscribers in a telephone exchange won out, and numbers began to be used. (page 54-55)

Crazy. Social security numbers weren't even a thing until the 1930s. 

Since the lettering system in Chinese is ideographic (it represents ideas through pictures rather than through individual letters) it was not an option to have an alphabetized telephone book. So Wong would arrange the names geographically, based on where in Chinatown each phone was located. (page 71-72)

There's a great 99% Invisible episode on alphabetical order. I think about it a lot. 

I have a habit of smelling books before I read them. Perhaps I should call it by some other name than habit, something that denotes a degree of pleasure. It is not a fetish, nor is it a proclivity, as  I draw no illicit pleasure from it. I simply like to smell books before I read them. When presented with a new book (and I count as new any book that I've never held before), the first thing I do is open the pages to some random spot, insert my nose close to the binding, and take a good, hearty sniff. (page 126-127)

This is one of the weirdest things an author has confessed to, I think. 

...occasional visits to Gimbels department store on Eighty-sixth Street with my grandmother...(page 142)

iykyk

I've begun to anthropomorphize these books, and I wonder on occasion if they are curious and apprehensive about their fate...

When I happen across books that have been thrown away, I always feel a touch of despair that these volumes are so unloved that no one wants them...(page 178-179)

YES!! Maybe I'm weird like the author. 

Things I looked up:

cotter pin (page 24) - a simple, unthreaded metal fastener with two tines. It is inserted through a pre-drilled hole in a bolt, shaft, or clevis pin and its legs are bent outward to secure an assembly. It is primarily used to prevent other fasteners from loosening. It looks like a bobby pin. 

Schuylkill River (page 28) - a river in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It flows for 135 miles from Pottsville southeast to Philadelphia where it joins the Delaware River as one of its largest tributaries

Karle Hoefle phone book covers (page 83) - From 1959-1971, Karl Hoefle, a commercial artist from Dallas, designed covers for Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages in several cities. 

photo of Thomas Dewey sitting on phone books (page 86) - Oh, man. Life magazine did Dewey wrong here. In 1944, he was the Republican governor of New York state running against FDR in the presidential election. In the March 20 edition of Life, there was a long article about Dewey in the governor's mansion in Albany. The caption reads: The Executive Chamber, rarely used except for clemency hearings, is a cavernous, mahogany-walled relic of past governors and state grandeur. Around window (clockwise) are portraits of Lafayette and Governors Odell, Cleveland, and Seward. The desk in this room is so large, the chair so deep, that Tom Dewey sits on two telephone books when being photographed here. (italics mine) Ouch.

My level of dedication is that I looked up the March 20 edition of Life to see this photo. YOU ARE WELCOME.

Princess phone (page 114) - The Princess telephone was introduced by the Bell System in 1959. It was a compact telephone designed for convenient use in the bedroom, and contained a light-up dial for use as a night-light. It was commonly advertised with the slogan "It's little...It's lovely...It lights"

By User:Mcheath - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25763482

A woman named Jolis Paons created an entire dress out of nothing more than part of a copy of the white pages (Indianapolis, I believe). From a slight distance it looks like a delicate fabric, light gray folded hundreds of times with crisp lines that make it look like a new and special material. On closer inspection, the numbers begin to become apparent, but it still doesn't look like anything like a mass of crumpled and folded paper, which is essentially what it is. (page 186)

I want to wear this dress. 

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

That an instrument as common and simple as the telephone needed instructions may come as a surprise, almost as if it turned out that nineteenth-century Americans needed written assistance to put on their hats. (page 37)

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Do you have a phone book in your house? When is the last time you used it? Would you wear that dress? 

The Enchanted Greenhouse (Spellshop #2) by Sarah Beth Durst

Just earlier this month I read The Spellshop, which is the first book in the Spellshop series by Sarah Beth Durst. It was just cozy enough for me immediately download the second book in the series, The Enchanted Greenhouse, as soon as I finished the first one. 

You may recall that there was an enchanted sentient spider plant named Caz in the first book. Caz was created by Terlu, a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium. She was convicted of illegal magic and sentenced to be turned into a wooden statue who was displayed in the library as a warning to others. Well, you may also remember from the first book that the empire fell. When that happened, the spell holding Terlu stopped working and Terlu wakes up to find herself on a mostly deserted island filled with greenhouses in the freezing cold of winter. 

And then there are more magical plants. And a grumpy gardener who bakes. I am verklempt. These books are so nearly perfect. I just wish Terlu had a bit more of an edge to her. She's kind of too nice and perfect and forgiving, which is a great tone for this type of cozy fantasy, but does sort of annoy me a tiny bit after awhile. 

But! You know what? If you like cats with wings, talking plants, ghosts of sorcerers, and a dream of living on island with just one other person, you'll like this book. 4.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

But Terlu had pushed too hard to be friends and had ended up pushing her away. You’re a lot, Eilia had told her, after she’d asked to meet up for the third time in the same week and baked her a tray of ginger cookies with orange zest. It’s nothing personal, Eilia had said, but at this point in my life, I don’t have the time and energy for a lot. (location 1186)

I think I'm a lot? Probably.

A tiny dragon, about the size of a teacup, shot between the stalks. It breathed a candle-size spurt of fire at Lotti and then soared upward. (location 1989)

TINY DRAGONS! Bestill my heart. I didn't even know this was going to be a dragon book, but here we are.

After Laiken died, my father said his spirit lingered to lecture him about the care of orchids for three hours, before finally falling silent.” “Orchids are fussy,” Lotti said, dismissing the one she’d paused beside. (location 2300)

I knew reading The Orchid Thief would pay off for me eventually.

Thing I looked up:

halophyte (location 3175) - a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray

Hat mentions (why hats?):

On top of a pile of watering cans, gloves, hats, pine cones, and various glittering rocks—the dragons’ treasure—was the little resurrection rose. (location 2093)

The child, wearing a new hat and mittens, was skipping through the snow. (location 6354)

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If you could have a tiny dragon the size of a teacup as a pet, would you? Or would you prefer a cat with wings? They don't get along, so you have to choose. 

In Which My Small Town Auditions for Stars Hollow (and a Bookish Giveaway!)

I fear my Gilmore Girls reference may be too dated? Stars Hollow is the fictional town where Lorelei and Rory Gilmore live in Gilmore Girls, just to be clear. 

This past weekend my town hosted a Grown Up Book Fair event that involved roughly a dozen locations in walkable distance downtown. It was organized by a woman who owns one of our three coffee shops in town (I mean, four if you count Dunkin', but I'm not counting Dunkin', sorry) and hats off to her because this event was HOPPING. 

How much of this schedule did I participate in? As much as possible, I tell you. I don't know why I'm blocking out the business names except I'm still pretending there's a facade of privacy on this blog and that 90% of my readers don't know my exact address, let alone the incredibly accessible name of my town. 

 

The weekend began with Bookish Pilates for me at the local community center. The air quality was okay on Saturday, so I met up with my friend Gina and we did it! I've never done a Pilates class, so this counts as "try a new fitness class" on my goals list for the year. Woot woot! What makes Pilates bookish? Great question. The playlist was made of songs that were on movies or tv shows based on books. Pretty tangential, but the instructor was quite proud of it, so I feel obligated to share. (Her name is Abby and she is based out of The Place in Oconomowoc. She was great.)

I stopped at the Farmers Market to buy honey, and then I went home and changed clothes because I was a sweaty mess and I gulped down a Gatorade like I had not had water in decades. Then I met up with Anne and we started doing other things!

First up, DIY confetti bookmarks at the library. I thought this was such a genius event! It was a little bit messy and I'm sure they're going to be picking glitter confetti off the floor for the rest of the month, but I am in love with my bookmark. The library was also having its monthly Friends of the Library book sale and the place was hopping. The library isn't open on Sunday, but I saw them back at the fair on Sunday with a booth at the community center.

Then we wandered around the vendors. There were vendors at SO MANY places. I have to admit it made my heart swell to see so many people walking around with tote bags downtown. Parking lots were full, stores were busy hives of activity, and it was like I was living my favorite small town dream. 

Then Anne and I met up with some other folks for book trivia. I want you to know that our team kicked ass even though Sarah and Mark had "other plans."  We were the Octobooks (we sort of panicked when we needed to decide on a name - there were eight of us, so it sort of worked) and we took home first place. Look, it was great and I know I had hyped it up last week, but the hype really did pay off. (I lost a point because I messed up the order of New Moon and Eclipse in the Twilight series and I was almost sort of proud that I just couldn't remember. It didn't seem like anyone else at the table had ANY clue, so at least I had something.)

So, you'd think I'd have done my business at this point, but NO. Gina and I met on Sunday morning and we toured the vendors again and I purchased MOAR things. 

Here are some vendors I super duper am excited about.

Bewitched Between Bindings is a Milwaukee-based company that sells book-inspired candles by genre, author, or character. BUT! I don't want you to think this is just some random scent - she only creates scents if they are described in the book or she has heard from the author directly. I was so fascinated by this woman and kept calling her a creative genius. I suspect I will place a large order with her store around Christmas. 

Sunshine Cookies is a local place that had some very hysterical book-related cookies, but also had some truly divine macarons (I had a salted caramel one). Huge thumbs up. 

There were local authors, people selling Kindle cases, lovely stained glass with book themes, totes, stickers, greeting cards, and all sorts of blind dates with books. There were artists doing bookish flash tattoos. I think Gina might have actually gotten one if they had had any appointments left. 

There was a lady who will DISCOVER YOUR FOUR LETTER READING PERSONALITY. Stephany, are you reading this? You need to get her on your podcast. 

Friends, it was a great time. The vendors were super friendly and excited to be there. The attendees were polite and patient. There were long lines at some places and everyone was just so chill and happy to be there. If you can get yourself to a grown up book fair, I recommend it!

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On to the giveaway. As I was wandering about, I was making purchases. I have two fun collections to share with you.

Collection #1 - The Purple Bookshelf

A heart-shaped bookshelf ornament, stickers, two pens and a highlighter, a lovely bird magnet, some reading tabs, and a notebook all in a purple pencil case. I don't know for sure, but I bet I'll add some merchandise about how awesome my town is, too. 

Collection #2 - The Orange Cat

A glasses wearing cat asleep on a pile of books ornament, stickers, two pens and a highlighter, a lovely bird magnet, some reading tabs, and a notebook all in an orange pencil case. I don't know for sure, but I bet I'll add some merchandise about how awesome my town is, too. 

Do you want a chance to win one of these delightful packages? Fill out the Google form.  Deadline is Wednesday, August 5. I'm happy to ship internationally. I'll probably remind you between now and then. 

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Have you been to a grown up book fair? Would you be a good addition to a book trivia team? Do you know the order of the books in Twilight? 

Five for Friday, Edition #46

Let's see if I can come up with five topics. Can I do it? 

1) I was driving to work earlier this week when a sedan heading in the opposite direction flashed its headlights at me. The driver was warning me about a sheriff's car parked on the side of the road. How kind! There are nice people left in the world. 

2) Friends, the air quality is poor here right now because of wildfire smoke. I am struggling. That is all. Even in the house and at my office, I feel slightly nauseated and there's a smell that is permanently in my nostrils. I can't imagine what it was like at the point of origin in Canada and I have so much sympathy for people who work outdoors and the poor animals who live outdoors. I have taken to wearing a mask when I'm walking around campus and taking Hannah out these days. I feel like I have a better understanding of The Road now. 

3) This weekend! It's a big one in our town. There's a big fundraiser situation at the local community center tonight and Saturday there is an Adult Book Fair and there are lots of activities around town, including vendors, local author book signings, "Bookish Pilates" (I have no idea what that is, but you better believe that I signed up for it), DIY bookmarks at the library, and BOOK TRIVIA. My excitement about the book trivia is pretty high. I'm trying to get the best trivia team possible, but people keep telling me they "have other plans." *sigh* I guess that's allowed.

4) One of my goals this month was to text at least one person every day and that person could not be my  husband. This means I have taken to just randomly texting my friends and family random questions. What was the name of the dance club we went to in college? What is your interpretation of the song "Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw? Do you think that she died in childbirth? How many mittens could we make from the fur I brush off my cat in a week? 

Hey, if I text you a random question, it just means I love you.

5) Random songs Spotify has recommended to me in the last two weeks:

"Love Song" by Tesla - Do I secretly love this song?

"Hey Cinderella" by Suzy Bogguss - It's not even a secret that I love this song, but I had forgotten its existence. How did Spotify know?

Every fucking George Strait song in the world until I finally blocked him as an artist. I just feel like he's a second-rate Garth? 

"The Irish Rover" by the Pogues - I have to admit that my Pogues knowledge is pretty much limited to "Fairytale of New York," but maybe they are my new favorite band?

"The Unicorn Song" by The Irish Rovers - At this point, I thought Spotify was punking me because this song is such a throwback to my childhood. HOW DID IT KNOW?

"If I Had a Hammer" by Peter, Paul, and Mary - Speaking of throwbacks from my youth, this gem was immediately added to my daily playlist. It's the hammer of justice/It's the bell of freedom - Listen, I can pretend to be Mary Travers when I'm driving to work. 

I just looked up my top song for the month and it's Billy Ray Cyrus. I'd be embarrassed, but Some Gave All is a dope album and he had some great singles. ("Could've Been Me" is the song, but "Words by Heart" is also up there.) Speaking of embarrassed, as soon as Toby Keith died and I wouldn't financially support his anymore, I immediately unblocked him on Spotify and started listening to his songs again. The musical heart wants what the musical heart wants.

Okay, great, that was five meaningless things. How's your air quality? What is your interpretation of the song "Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw? Would you do book trivia with me if you weren't busy tomorrow?