What did YOU buy today? October 2020

Things are a bit better at work: one of the other managers (I spoke to her about the treatment I was receiving) called the bullying manager on the carpet (I told her I wasn't asking her to do that yet) and said he needs to watch how he talks to me. And he actually started treating me decently. She didn't tell me she said something -- I asked her since the change was so noticeable and abrupt.

One ARC: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz, a mystery due to be published November 2020.

>ReneeMarie: So good to hear!!! I was worrying about you after I read your last post on here... Glad things have started to get better!!!

Since we spend so much time at work, it must be nice not to have that stress!!

My first October purchase was Battle Ground by Jim Butcher which is his next entry into the Dresden Series.

Thanks for the support. And y'all are right about the stress, it's much lower.

I actually spent money yesterday, including on one of those anti-bully books (just in case):

* On Fascism: 12 Lessons from American History by Matthew C. MacWilliams

* Love in the Blitz: The Long-Lost Letters of a Brilliant Young Woman to Her Beloved on the Front by Eileen Alexander

* The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt by Robert I. Sutton

* The Time Collector by Gwendolyn Womack (fantasy)

I’ve been thrifting. I was thrilled to find Letters to Juliet. I also found The Library Book, Time Cat, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Refiner’s Fire and Ireland: A Celebration.

>5 varielle: The Library Book is so good. I plan to buy a copy for myself, one of these days.

Bought one and brought an ARC home.

The bought:
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (cognitive psychology: what happens when the brain reacts automatically, and how to make it go slow to create a better result)

The brought:
The Butterfly House by Katrine Engberg (pub date 1/21; book 2 in a Danish mystery/thriller series)

I went into my local indie bookstore for the first time all pandemic yesterday. There were so many things that I wanted to buy, but nothing I wanted enough to over-ride the little voice in my head going 'you have no job and no more unemployment'. Still, it was really nice just to be able to go in there and browse the shelves again.

>8 Julie_in_the_Library: I am back at work (haven't received unemployment compensation**), but still have the voice in my head that says "what if they furlough me again," or "what if the idiots keep being idiotic and the infection rate gets so high they shut us all down again."

My local library, however, is partly open again -- you can put things on hold to pick up, but can't browse the shelves. And according to my latest checkout slip, my library has saved me more than $22,000 this year.*

Right now I have nearly the limit checked out (and it's a high limit). The only downside is that if you REALLY want to read a book NOW, there might be other people ahead of you with the same thought. One book I want to read has me sitting at 172 out of 174 holds. I can wait.

Don't forget that you can follow up all that lovely browsing with a trip to your library until you have another option.

And I wish you much luck.

* My library was closed for 2-1/2 months out of the last 10, so that's amazing.

** Edited: just checked my claim status, and apparently they deposited the 14 weeks of unemployment payments on October 21st, confirmed the 22nd. I can put money back into my savings -- yay! For those keeping track, it took 4 months.

I got Han Kang’s The White Book through Bookmooch.

>9 ReneeMarie: ReneeMarie:

Edited: just checked my claim status, and apparently they deposited the 14 weeks of unemployment payments on October 21st, confirmed the 22nd. I can put money back into my savings -- yay! For those keeping track, it took 4 months.

Finally!!! 👍 👍 🎉👏 👏

And whattttt???
my library has saved me more than $22,000 this year.
📚📚

Finally got back to town and my local bookstore (after 5 weeks of sickness...) and picked up two books I had ordered
Haunted Japan by Catrien Ross
and
Manga Yokai Stories by Sean Michael Wilson.
And I felt compelled to buy two others:
a gorgeous edition of Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo ad well as The death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave. 😁

So the other day I ordered You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy and Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD. They should arrive today. I'm super excited.

I've been living on my own for several months now, and it has become eminently clear to me that I need some advice like this. Both books come highly recommended from various ADHD threads and forums, and from the previews, they're exactly what I need.

And now that I've figured out that I can re-open my unemployment claim and keep collecting, I feel better about having bought books. Especially books that should help me organize my life, and hopefully waste less money, going forward. As far as book purchases go, this one feels a lot less frivolous than usual. :D

One ARC: The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little (pub date 12/20, historical fiction)

>11 Yuki_Onna: Glad to hear you are feeling better. Hope it's nothing that continues to linger.

And whattttt???
my library has saved me more than $22,000 this year.

The bottom of each checkout slip tells us how much we would've had to spend for every item we borrowed from the library rather than buying from some other source. I check out a lot.

But apparently my library's staff has members who have to quarantine. To keep the same level of service, they are cutting hours on weekdays and aren't open on weekends. So I can't get there any weekday I'm scheduled to work. My library fines will increase until they're back to normal.

>12 Julie_in_the_Library: Glad to hear you're moving forward.

I have three errands to run today, and a few things to do online first, so I'll be running all day. Sometimes I procrastinate, though, especially since things take forever by bus. We'll see if I get to all 3.

>13 ReneeMarie: our library has suspended fines until Jan. 1

>14 Tess_W: That's lovely. Mine hasn't. And I just finished logging the list of what library materials I have out are due with no renewals over the next few weeks. The stuff due 12/14 I'll have to get back on the 9th (works with the buses) or the 12th (the two buses I need don't connect on the way to the library) because the scheduling manager ignored my availability that day (also scheduled me 15 minutes before I could possibly get there by bus on 12/19).

And it got worse: because of community spread of COVID, the library has closed the public computers again and limited the time you can be in the building to 15 minutes. Depending on the weather this winter, I may not be able to spend the rest of the time between buses at the bus stop (frostbite risk), so I may have to stop going. Just in case, I suspended almost all my holds until March. Goodness gracious, I may have to read the books I own....