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Sunday Matters

What a week! All I want to do is watch Hallmark Christmas movies, read something really good and just escape from reality for a little while. I have Monday off so this is looking like a plan that could actually happen.

Right Now:

I am trying to make my Sundays a little more relaxing by doing my errands on Friday night or Saturday during the day. That said, my day is pretty open to do what I want.

My church began services again. I have seen some videos of events recently and some people are not wearing masks although my church requires it. I seriously do not know why these people cannot wear the damn mask. I would like to attend a service but not if people are still gallivanting around without one. That means online is my only option at the moment.

This Week:

Monday off. I would like to do something because my daughter is off from school too but many places are still closed down in some way. I’ve not been feeling too great or we’d go to the beach or something but it’s a trek and I have to have supplies. Ha! Books, snacks, the like. When you aren’t feeling great you don’t want to haul all that stuff around.

The rest of the week is pretty wide open. I am going to put in for more vacation time at work, work on setting up my new 2021 planner, and do a little more meal planning in my meal journal.

Also, and I hate this part but I may look into some online exercise routine or begin walking again. I cannot for the life of me lose this pandemic pudge and it’s probably one reason why my stomach is bothering me. Could be an ulcer in the works. I hope not because it took a year to get rid of the last one.

Reading:

I reviewed The Sun Down Motel this past week and loved it. It counted for the R.I.P Challenge too which is nice. Look at your girl and her challenges!! Summer, done. R.I.P., going well.

Right now, I am reading Wendy Walker’s Don’t Look For Me. I am really into it at the moment. Also reading The Testaments for a book discussion. It’s been a long time since I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale but I really don’t want to read it again before this next book.

Watching:

The Walking Dead finale from last season is tonight. They had to postpone due to COVID and to be honest, I don’t even remember the last episode and actually care little about it. I’ll watch it just to wrap it up but this might be it for me. Poor writing for the past two years does not make a hit show and with everything going on I have no patience for poor writing.

The Haunting of Bly Manor comes out October 9 on Netflix. It’s part of The Haunting of Hill House series but a totally different story and characters from what I can gather. I’ll watch! Hope it’s good.

Grateful for:

Friends who work in financial aid and are happy to answer my FAFSA questions. Filling it out for #2 this year! Those who know, know.
Cool mornings and good coffee, together.
Tacos.

Oh! I was happy to hear that Dolly Parton has a Christmas musical coming out right before Thanksgiving (11/22) on Netflix. I really like her and what she stands for. Something to look forward to, for sure.

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square
Credit: Netflix

I have moments where I feel very hopeful about things and right now is one of them. I hope you have a really good week.

The Sun Down Motel
By Simone St. James
Berkley, 9780440000174, February 2020, 336pp.

The Short of It:

This story was good, spooky fun.

The Rest of It:

The Sun Down Motel is a run down motel that’s stuck in the 80s. It’s the type of motel people stay at when they are up to no good, or want to disappear for awhile. Vivian Delaney gets a job as the night clerk and after a few terrifying experiences, and the appearance of ghosts, she does a little digging and realizes that the motel is housing some secrets of its own.

Just when she is beginning to figure it all out, she goes missing. Never to be found with no closure for her family at all.

Fast forward 35 years. Carly, the niece of Vivian Delaney watched her own mother die without any closure for Vivian’s death. Although the two sisters were not close, it bothered Carly that a person could just go missing, without a trace so she decides to investigate on her own which lands her a job at the very same motel. Nothing has changed at the Sun Down. Not the decor, not the emptiness of its rooms, or the dead people that come out at night to roam its floors.

This book was so good and lots of fun to read. There is a supernatural element, a mystery to solve, a serial killer and the creepiness of the motel itself made for some fun bedtime reading. I normally don’t like stories that jump from the past to the present but this was handled so well and I literally read at a snail’s pace because I didn’t want it to end.

One other thing I really enjoyed is that the story is peppered with Stephen King references, his books mainly. I counted at least five. If you enjoy that sort of thing you will be giddy with happiness when you discover another mention. Simone St. James must be a huge fan.

I had not read this author before but I happen to have her previous book on my Kindle, The Broken Girls. Have you read either one? I highly recommend The Sun Down Motel.

I read this for the R.I.P. Challenge.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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