
Welcome to a Tuesday morning in my Interior World. The coffee mug above is, like many of my mugs, filled with memories of places and people.
That one I found in Big Bear City, CA, when my second son had a cabin there, and invited the lot of us up there for a few days. I loved it! Here are a couple of shots of that cabin in a collage: you can see my two granddaughters on the right. They were seven, then! Now they are nineteen. How did that happen?

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It was 2004, and I was still working, so my time away felt like a real vacation. While others were skiing or snowboarding, I was poking around in the little shops. That’s where I found the mug, which I don’t usually grab when I want a cup of coffee. I don’t want it to break while being used. It does come out for “photo ops,” though. It usually sits here, first shelf, far right:

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I love my little “jelly cupboard,” shown above. It is small, but can contain all kinds of special mementos, and a few favorite books. I think I have talked myself out of moving, because every affordable place I’ve seen does not have room for my goodies. And yes, as my daughter says, I don’t need all this “stuff.” But maybe I do.
Who’s to say?
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Meanwhile, business as usual here, with the “clicking to buy” books that appeal to me. Am I staying “balanced?” Maybe not. Here’s what the second half of the year looks like so far, in terms of purchases. Those I have read are linked to their reviews:
JUNE 2016:
1. Confess, by Colleen Hoover
2. Death at Breakfast (e-book), by Beth Gutcheon
3. Deep Dark (e-book), by Laura Griffin
4. Dinner, The (e-book), by Herman Koch
5. Drinking Closer to Home (e-book), by Jessica Anya Blau
6. Exit, The (e-book), Helen FitzGerald
7. Here’s To Us (e-book), by Elin Hilderbrand
8. Mystic Summer (e-book), by Hannah McKinnon
9. One True Loves (e-book), by Taylor Jenkins Reid
10. Sunshine Beach (e-book), by Wendy Wax
11. Sweetbitter (e-book), by Stephanie Danler
12. Vinegar Girl (e-book), by Anne Tyler
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JULY 2016:
1. Coincidence of Coconut Cake, The (e-book), by Amy E. Riechert
2. Girl You Lost, The (e-book), by Kathryn Croft
3. In Twenty Years (e-book), by Allison Winn Scotch
4. I’ve Got Sand in All the Wrong Places (e-book), by Lisa Scottoline, et. al.
5. Melody Lingers On, The (e-book), by Mary Higgins Clark
6. They May Not Mean To, But They Do (e-book), by Cathleen Schine
7. This Must Be the Place (e-book), by Maggie O’Farrell
8. Truly Madly Guilty (e-book), by Liane Moriarty
9. Truth-Teller’s Lie, The (e-book), by Sophie Hannah
10. Valley of the Dolls, by Jacqueline Susann (50th Anniversary Copy – reread)
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AUGUST 2016:
1.All the Ugly & Wonderful Things (e-book), by Bryn Greenwood
2.American Girl, The (e-book), by Kate Horsley
3. American Heiress, by Jeffrey Toobin
4. Behind Closed Doors (e-book), by B. A. Paris
5. Book that Matters Most, The (e-book), by Ann Hood
6. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, by Anne Tyler (reread)
7. Family Tree (e-book), by Susan Wiggs
8. Firefly Summer (e-book), by Nan Rossiter
9. I Am No One (e-book), by Patrick Flanery
10. If I Forget You (e-book), by Thomas Christopher Greene
11. I Found You, by Lisa Jewell
12. It Ends with Us (e-book), by Colleen Hoover
13. Map of the World, A (e-book), by Jane Hamilton (reread)
14. My Life, My Body, by Marge Piercy
15. Results May Vary (e-book), by Bethany Chase
16. Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, by Kate Clifford Larson
17. Silver Linings Playbook (e-book), by Matthew Quick
18. Siracusa (e-book), by Delia Ephron
19. Sister, The (e-book), by Louise Jensen
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SEPTEMBER 2016:
1.Come and Find Me (e-book), by Hallie Ephron
2. Finding Libbie (e-book), by Deanna Lynn Sletten
3. Kept Woman, The (e-book), by Karin Slaughter
4. Last Good Girl, The (e-book), by Allison Leotta
5.Life She Wants, The (e-book), by Robyn Carr
6. London Train, The (e-book), by Tessa Hadley
7. Some Tame Gazelle (e-book), by Barbara Pym
8. Sting (e-book), by Sandra Brown
9. Watching Edie (e-book), by Camilla Way
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OCTOBER 2016:
1. Commonwealth (e-book), by Ann Patchett
2. Love Letters, by Debbie Macomber
3. Mothers, The (e-book), by Brit Bennett
4. Red Car, The (e-book), by Marcy Dermansky
5. Saturday Requiem, by Nicci French
6. Stealing Jason Wilde (e-book), by Dee Ernst
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As you can see, I have a lot to read still. Even though I’ve finished 68 books in my Read the Books You Buy Challenge, some of which come from the second half of 2015, there are many left. Since they are mostly on Pippa, my Kindle, they are not staring me in the face, like these stacks of print books. (I’ve actually read the top one on the stack below):

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Today I clicked to buy two more e-books, which you’ll notice on the October list:
The Mothers, by Brit Bennett:

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And then there is The Red Car, by Marcy Dermansky:

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I read reviews of both books in one of the magazines I regularly read. O or People, I’m not sure which. lol.
So…what’s the verdict? Am I hopelessly out of balance by still collecting and cherishing my books and my quirky objects? Should I stop? What do you think?
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