We're chugging right along. 2020 is almost in the books. What a year to be a business owner! I have learned so much this year about flexibility in your business model. Downtown Beaverton has been a boon to the store that no one could have predicted, especially during Covid.
My Thanksgiving holiday was good, not as restful as I wanted, but good. The store got decorated for the holiday season! Those bright red trees are back for everyone that enjoyed those, and my large collection of stockings are up on the wall. I'm still waiting for someone to fill the stockings... ha, nope, would never let someone on the ladder at the store, but it's funny to imagine.
The new freeze rules for the last part of the month ended up not affecting the store, retail just got put at 75% maximum, which... doesn't touch the restrictions I put into place in March. So, business as usual at the store.
I think people are finding a rhythm with Covid, which is good for us all mentally. I had to settle into what I consider the "normal" for now and stop expecting things to get better. I think, for the store at least, this will be the routine for most of 2021. I hope you are all finding the same in your worlds.
I actually read quite a bit in November. I discovered a new author from our romance bookclub that I really enjoyed and I just went right through 2 series. I'm still in my re-read of JD Robb's In Death series, I just finished #27.
Picture It by Jana McKewen - A local author's debut book, with a mention of Jan's in the thank you's, so of course I had to read it. Very cute romance. It's labeled as steamy, but not overly in my opinion.
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall - This has been on my TBR list for a bit. The topic focuses on how the feminism movement leaves groups behind, specifically Women of Color. I thought the author did a good job at showing the growth of a movement inside of a movement, but overall I thought the book needed an editor to help connect points together.
Alien Warrior Academy Series – Some Like It Read Rogue by Tana Stone, Rebel by Hope Hart, Reckless by Miranda Bridges, Ruthless by Kyra Snow - Rogue was our Beyond Borders pick for November and it was such an easy cute read, that I just kept going with the series. Been a really long time since there has been a series I had to tear through like that. The downside of this series is that only book 1 is available in print.
Possessed and Plundered by Tana Stone - Same author as Rogue, I told you I liked the author so much I went on a tear. They are alien/human romances, but really light on the science fiction portion of the writing. Just really easy cute reads without too much meat to them.
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed - The YA bookclub selection, this book was set in LA during the LA Riots in the early 90's. The riots themselves was more a peripheral storyline that caused a few things to happen to the main characters, but no one was actively involved in the riots. It was more a coming of age story, so quite a bit of narration, less dialogue than I usually enjoy. It was interesting to visit that time frame as I lived there through the riots as well, but a completely different perspective for me. I would have liked more dialogue (as always with me), but an easy read.
Hope to see you soon!
Lori
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