This past week was Book Fair Week. If over two years of a global pandemic produced anything positive, it was to spare me from holding 4 consecutive book fairs. Fortunately for the world, but not so much for me, life has army crawled its way back to the edge of normalcy.
A perennial problem |
This spring, I had no choice but to pretend to be excited about having a real book fair again. I had to touch money. I had to explain that 1 quarter + 1 nickel + 1 penny does not equal "3 monies," but rather, $.31 cents, which can buy exactly nothing. I had explain the what and why of sales tax over and over and over again. I had to make kids cry.
It's over. In a few more days, I'll stop having night terrors about hypothetically handling a financial document improperly and inadvertently owing the school hundreds of dollars. In a few weeks, I'll stop clenching my jaw at the sound of assorted coins being dumped from a plastic baggie onto a hard surface. I'll never erase from my brain the image of a child's eyes welling up with tears when I tell them all the rhinestone diaries and all the unicorn diaries are sold out and can't be restocked.
Learning what a hellacious shit parade the book fair is for the adults running it has been one of the most crushing realizations of adulthood. Book fair blows. I said what I said.
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You know what, I didn't have time to read anything compelling on the internet this week. I was too busy breathing into a paper bag when I got home every night. And I was reading a really good book when I wasn't hyperventilating. Y'all can deal. Better luck next week!
Analog Reading:
Just finished The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Boy howdy was that a journey. It felt a little schlocky in the beginning, and it never exactly blossomed into literature, but it was entertaining as hell. I could not put it down towards the end, and I was probably gripping my Kindle hard enough to leave finger indentations in the cover.
Up next: Other People's Clothes by Calla Henkel
Whew and a sigh of relief for you but great job! Back to reading. Any book club recommendations for me?
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