I haven't posted in over a week and now it's the last day of the month. They just keep flying by. This past week has been jam-packed and the weather has been so hot that I've been too tired to post!
Today I saw this on my Facebook memories:
Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose.
Again, I'm stealing a graphic from another participant, this time from Blue Country Magic. I liked this one.
Lisa wrote a blog post asking if people ever confuse authors with similar names. This gave me an idea for a discussion post. At one time, I could not remember if it was Elizabeth Gilbert or Elizabeth Berg who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. It was Elizabeth Gilbert. I've read books by both, the most recent book from Elizabeth Berg being A Year of Pleasures in April this year.
I don't recall if I ever confused any other authors with similar names, but I am aware that there is an author named Steve Martini (I've never read any of his stuff) and know not to confuse him with Steve Martin (Yes, that Steve Martin. He has written some books).
Lisa's post reminded me of a post I'd done on the blog years ago (I wasn't participating in the Book Discussion at that time, BTW). I've seen others confuse similar titles more often than similarly named authors. Linked in that post is how people confused a book called Girl on a Train with The Girl on the Train. The second book is better known, but the first one received little to no attention when it was first published. Here is the original article.
Also in my original post, I pointed out how my now-defunct book club had chosen a book called The Silent Wife. They did not say the author's name, and when a member looked for the book on Amazon, she found two different books with that title. When we met to discuss the book, some members realized that they had read the "wrong" book. Many had found this one, but the one selected was this. A search on Amazon produced even more books with this title, including one from the Will Trent series. And as you may have seen one the books titled The Silent Wife was written by a Kerry Fisher, whose name is similar to that of Carrie Fisher, who though primarily an actress, also wrote books. The spelling of each one's first name, however, is different. I did not know about Kerry Fisher until this book.
Some of you may have heard how the YA novel Between Shades of Gray was mistaken for a certain popular erotic romance. Do I even have to say what the erotic novel is?
Which do you find more confusing--similar Author names or similar titles?
After saying last week, I didn't want to think about Halloween yet, now I want to even more. Just this morning I drove past our empty Kmart building and while stalled at the traffic light before turning left to get into the parking lot, I saw an orange sign in the Kmart window. I knew what that had to be! And I had already getting emails about the stores hiring and one saying that the first store will be opening in New Jersey in August. I'm now hoping that the opening of the store in my town won't be delayed again this year.
Halloween items still haven't appeared in most stores, but there were some fall pumpkins and candles at the Dollar Tree. As I've said, the summer stuff is now slim pickings, and that we're having a "No Beach Beach Day" at work on Wednesday next week. My friend couldn't find a lot of beach stuff there or at Dollar General last Saturday. I'm glad I still have some stuff I can wear. (More on "No Beach Beach Day" to come.)
And just this morning I began searching for ideas fo alway decorations for Halloween using solar-powered light stakes. One I've seen is to cut a hole in the bottom of a plastic jack-o-lantern bucket (used for candy collecting) and screw the stake light into the hole. That sounds like a great idea. I'm almost certain I will do it. Such buckets often turn up at Goodwill, but not yet as far as I have seen. But I know I'll need to snag some as quickly as I can, once the starting pouring into the stores. I knew the light stales would be sold out before summer was half over. That is why I've bought those already. And glad I did, as I have not seen any left at either Dollar Tree or Dollar General (I got some from both stores).
Not me, though. I haven't given much thought to Halloween yet, though I have been wondering if the Spirit Store is going to open in my town again this year. Especially after the delayed opening last season. And now the former Kmart is said to be the new building for a local charter school, though it will be some time before the building is remodeled for the school. Then again, the Rite Aid building is still empty, if they can get that one. Though the hiring page for Spirit gives the address for Kmart.
While going to both Dollar General and Dollar Tree over the weekend, I noticed summer merchandise displays starting to die down, with back-to-school displays starting to be set up. My friend was looking for summer stuff at Dollar General for a "No Beach Beach Day" theme day we have coming up at work later this month. Not much was left except for a few beach towels and I'm not sure what else. I still have some stuff I can use for that day.
Halloween seems to start popping up as early as August, so I expect that is when Dollar Tree and Dollar General will begin their displays. Before the summer season began, I bought some solar stake lights for holiday lawn decorating. I had to get these early or else they would be gone before summer even started! Sometimes you do need to think ahead. The lights are still in the package.
The emoji-themed bingo card for July is here.
My Books:
25 squares completed on July 25