Cheryl Popiela

Vintage Books

We all love them. We all open them up and smell them. We search them out at used book stores and book sales. We especially like those from the 1950’s- how to throw a dinner party or how to keep house or how to make the boy next door fall in love with you. They’re amusing- to see the differences between then and now.

This week, I read a ‘vintage’ book. All the novellas were published in the early 2000’s, but were re-published in 2017? So relatively recently. And wow. Things have changed since then. I feel like things didn’t change too much between when I graduated high school (1994) and the first story being published (2000).

The first story is all about the ‘plain’ girl, Jane Smith. Of course, she’s in love with the cutest boy in school. She enlists her single popular friend to help her become popular and get a date with her crush. Of course. And then the typical high school miscommuncation happens.

Second story is about Jane’s friend Nicole. She tells the popular girls that she’s going to Prom with a stranger. So of course they have to find him, and convince him to take her to Prom. It wouldn’t be a meet cute if they didn’t find him, and it wouldn’t be a young adult book if they didn’t end up together in the end.

Third story is about Jane and Nicole’s friend Christy. She’s got a lot of personal issues going on, and turns out the boy that Nicole convinced to go to Prom with knows a lot about her issues, and how to help. Unfortunately, this leads to some miscommunication between everyone. The cool thing was that I never got the idea that Nicole was mad at Christy, she was more mad at Justin.

Overall, super cute, quick read. Took me back to my high school days, but also definitely reminded me WHY I’m glad I’m not in high school anymore.

How cute is this???

This past weekend, we did a college visit with the teen. And, of course we found an indie bookstore!

We visited State College, Pennsylvania, home of Penn State, and The Squirrel and Acorn Bookshop. We definitely had to visit, because hubs is a naturalist, he loves squirrels, his mascot is a squirrel, and the owner of the bookshop used to study squirrels before he opened the shop.

He’s only been open a year, but he’s got a fantastic variety of books- fiction, non fiction, local interest, sociological interest. And if you can’t find it, he can order it for you. There is also an online bookshop, so you can support small local business, even if you’re not local!

June Reads

This is what I read in June. A lot of non fiction, but also, a mix of old and new. I know I’ve talked a lot about how I am a book hoarder- well, maybe I haven’t, but I am. Anywhozlebe, I am making myself alternated between library books, and books that I currently own. So I can pass them along to other people.

Overall, most of the books were 3 or 4 stars, I didn’t hate them, didn’t LOVE them. They were average.

Favorite book of the month was probably I Swear by Katie Porter. You could actually hear her voice in the book. She’s funny, she’s relatable, she’s a single mom trying her best to change the country. I’m so glad she’s now running for Senate, although, the House is going to miss her.

Least favorite is Here’s the Deal by Kellyanne Conway. I will read anything from both sides of the aisle, polically, however, having lived through Trump’s presidency, I can pretty much say that she is absolutely a mean girl, and thinks that he can do no wrong. She kept on saying that she could say ‘something’ about whomever, but she’s choosing not to, because she’s ‘not like that’. Sure Jan.

A Reading Slump

I’ve been reading a ton, but nothing has grabbed my interest. A friend and I took a trip to the AAUW Used Book Sale in State College, PA earlier this week. It was fun, I’m used to going to these sales and just finding books upon books upon books. I found 2 bags worth, so totally worth going, in my opinion. We are already planning on going next year- I want to go another year and see if it’s different or the same. I know basically it’ll be the same, but this year we found a TON of mass market paperback Westerns, so I’m looking forward to seeing what next year’s book will be.

I’m currently reading The Chain by Adrian McKinty on my Kindle, and Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower in hardcover.

I’m having a hard time getting into The Chain, not sure why- the premise sounds really good- your child is kidnapped, and you have to kidnap another child to keep the chain intact. If you break the chain, something bad will happen. I’ll keep chugging along on it.

Hitler’s Furies is a non fiction book, and it talks about some women who were involved with killing Jews during WW2. It’s super dry, because non fiction but super interesting. You ‘know’ women had to have been involved in the Holocaust much more than we’d originally thought, but to see it in black and white written down is just sobering and makes you think. A lot.

Happy Indie Bookstore Day!!

We are celebrating all the independent bookstores today- and I am here for it! I’m fortunate to have several indie bookstores close to me, and I’m always looking for more to visit!

I have too many to name in terms of my favorites- Von’s in Lafayette Indiana, Indy Reads in Indianapolis, Between the Pages in Lebanon Indiana, John King Books in Detroit Michigan, The Writer’s Block in Las Vegas Nevada, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington Kentucky. All have a different vibe from each other, and I love them all. Not all are new book stores, some are used book stores. But they’re definitely all indie. From the scent when I walk into my favorite used book store, to browsing the stacks for new releases, to sticking my nose in the book and breathing deeply, it just feels like home to me.

In other news, I’m reading Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. And, getting excited about the AAU used book sale at Penn State in just a few weeks.

On this Indie Bookstore Day, look up an indie bookstore, and then go visit! You’ll definitely find a new to you read!

Hello!

Welcome to What Cheryl Reads! I read a lot, and want to share what I’m reading with everyone! I will be posting book reviews, what I’m reading, what’s coming out/what I’m looking forward to reading, and of course, bookstores. I love visiting new to me bookstores, and often stop at local bookstores when we go on vacation. I’ve also been known to plan vacations around bookstores, and sales. If you know of any bookstores or sales I should go to, please drop me a line! I’d love to hear about it!