August is the New September. Here's Why I Will Never Embrace it

When I was a kid in New England, school always started after Labor Day. Ditto for my kids when they started attending school. And then we moved to Florida…

Every year it threw me for a loop when they started school in August, and this year is no exception. Kids in my area were back to school this past Monday, August 12.

After all those years of starting a new school year after Labor Day, that time of year always feels more like a new beginning to me than the actual New Year’s Day on January 1. But starting in August? That’s not a fresh new beginning, that’s just nonsense, despite my living with it since 1989!

So, to quote a great line from the movie You’ve Got Mail, no “bouquets of sharpened pencils” for me in August. Just kind of a “Seriously? You’re not kidding?” feeling. After Labor Day, though, I’ll be ready to make a fresh start.

How about you? What signifies a time of renewed energy for you?

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What I’m Reading

Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day

This is the first in a new-to-me series by an author I’ve enjoyed before, so I was fully expecting an enjoyable read.

Well, I got one!

Robbie (short for Roberta, but nobody ever calls her that) Jordan has fled California and moved to the small town her mother came from, in the middle of rural Indiana. She opens a combination restaurant-country store, offering breakfasts, lunches, and antique or unusual cookware.

She’s pleasantly surprised when her opening goes gangbusters, the restaurant is busy, and she brings in some much-needed cash.

But then the mayor’s assistant turns up dead, with one of Robbie’s signature muffins stuffed into her mouth.

Can Robbie’s business survive?

Secrets of a Scottish Isle by Erica Ruth Neubauer

This is the fifth in the Jane Wunderly series, and I’ve enjoyed the previous four books. I took a bit longer to warm up to this one, but I’m glad I stuck it out.

Jane is staying on the small Scottish island of Iona. She and fiance Redvers have been tasked with finding out whether the leader of the Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult group on the island, would be a reliable contact person for the British government’s secret agents.

Redvers can’t infiltrate the group, because he’s already known to some of them, so Jane has to. Worse, she and Redvers can’t be seen together, so they have to meet rarely, and secretly.

It all goes from bad to worse when one of the group members dies, and the occult leader claims she left him her considerable estate in a will that turns up very conveniently.

Now, Jane needs to figure out who killed poor Netta as well as vetting Robert Nightingale as an agent, and she has to do it by herself.

Buy Me a Chai

Some of the links I include in this email may be affiliate links. What does that mean? It means you pay the same — or in some cases a little less — if you click and purchase, and I get a small commission. It’s not a lot, but it helps me buy a few chai lattes here and there. . . Or, if you like what you're reading, you can Buy Me a Chai right now. Thanks! (If you really like what you’re reading, you can upgrade to a paid subscription and buy me a chai every month!)

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Notable Quotes

Sidney’s expression radiated skepticism. I didn’t blame him. Lacking his years at drama school, I sounded as believable as a politician denying a sex scandal.

- Murdered in Monterosso by Zara Keane

Snark! It would also have worked if she’d substituted “evangelical megachurch pastor” for “politician.”

And we weren’t the only ones; just two miles across Passamaquoddy Bay the Canadian island of Campobello lay sweltering under a sun so cruelly bright, even the seagulls should’ve been wearing sunglasses.

- Death by Chocolate Raspberry Scone by Sarah Graves

This appealed to me for its economy. Instead of describing how the glaring sun reflected off the waves, or seared the human watchers’ eyeballs, she draws a perfect word picture in just six words.

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Wise Words

Time to play our favorite word game again! Please select the more appropriate word choice for this sentence. The words are tracks and tracts.

As a young girl, Evie had traveled the length and breadth of her homeland, including little known _____ of wilderness, and had been eager to experience something vibrantly new.

- House Party Murder Rap by Sonia Parin

Check back next week for the answer.