Weekly Update for October 17, 2021


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Weekly Update at Introverted Reader

Welcome to my weekly update for October 17, 2021!

We’ve moved on to my husband’s next work assignment. We’re in Charleston, SC! It’s nice to wear shorts and tees after spending the summer in Alaska in long sleeves and jeans. I don’t know how long the shorts weather will last but we’re soaking it up while we can. We’re usually only in one spot for three months before moving on, but we’re frankly tired of fighting snowbirds for campgrounds (we travel in our RV) and new traveling healthcare professionals for jobs around the new year, so we signed a six-month contract this time. We’ll be here until April! We’re only about a four-hour drive from home (Asheville, NC) so we should be able to spend some long weekends and hopefully some holidays with our family and friends.

We arrived on Thursday last week, drove up to Raleigh for my cousin’s long-awaited wedding (rescheduled twice because of covid!) and got back here last Sunday. Needless to say, we haven’t had much time to explore yet, although we have spent some long weekends in Charleston in the past.

Slideshow:

  • Kiawah Beachwalker Park
  • View from our campground
  1. Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island
  2. A view from our campground

Posted:

Ten Favorite Book Settings

Top Ten Book Settings

Read:

I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe–4 Stars

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara, read by Gabra Zackman–4 Stars

The Mist by Stephen King (originally published in Skeleton Crew)–4 Stars

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet–4 Stars

The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph–4 Stars

Currently Reading:

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo

The Necromancer’s House by Christopher Buehlman, read by Todd Haberkorn

Up Next:

I got my Charleston library card on Friday and checked out a stack of graphic novels. I’ll start working on those, keep reading high school nonfiction for the Cybils awards, and hopefully work in some horror for Halloween.

What did your week look like?

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?


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36 Comments

  1. Charleston looks lovely. I hope you enjoy your time there. It will be nice being closer to home. Nice assortment of books too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

  2. Hooray! I’ve never been to Charleston, but your new digs sound ideal, especially since you can get home for the holidays without too much trouble. Yeah, those new rv’ers and snowbirders are really filling up the campgrounds, aren’t they? I hope a lot of the newbies to rving decide they don’t like it as much as they thought they would, once Covid is over (will that happen?) and they start traveling in more traditional ways. Our campgrounds have been packed, but there haven’t been as many kids during the week, which makes it a bit quieter. However, we’re probably finished traveling in our RV until next spring, since the weather is about to get nasty (and we don’t go anywhere in November or December). Enjoy exploring your new area! I’m envious.

    1. Yes! The new flood of new RVers is making everything so much more difficult! I see posts multiple times a day in my RV Travel Nurse group begging for leads for private sites because there aren’t any obvious long-term sites to be found near hospitals. Some are just giving up and storing their RVs for a few months, hoping things get better. I do feel like I’m seeing more fairly new travel nurses selling their RVs, either because of this or because they don’t like working as a traveler. This makes me hope the general public might be slowly shifting away from RVing too. I see a lot of travel nurses talking about opening their own campgrounds, which is probably a fantastic idea!

      It’s a shame that you have to store your RV now. We were always sad at the end of the season when we just used ours on weekends. We really missed it while we were in Alaska too.

  3. I bet you are looking forward to being in one place for six months this time. And it will be great to be so close to home. I’ve heard South Carolina is beautiful, and the pictures certainly confirm that.

    You had a good reading week. Thanks for sharing your ratings of some books that I’ve been interested in. It looks like you enjoyed them all.

    Enjoy your stack of graphic novels.

  4. That sounds like a nice area, and that’s a nice bonus that you’re not too far away from home! Especially around holiday time. spending the winter months somewhere warm sure sounds good!

    1. We’ve gotten spoiled by using the RV as an excuse to avoid winter. “Oh, our RV pipes will freeze, we have to go south!” People do live in their RVs in cold climates but it looks like more miserable work than I want to tackle, so I’ll just join the ranks of the snowbirds and head south!

  5. I’ve been to Charleston once and enjoyed the historical tours / homes. That sounds great for you to be warmer and closer to home for a bit longer. Great photos as always!

    Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

    1. My husband is trying to talk me into another ghost tour (We did one years ago that scared me to death) but I’m trying to get him to compromise with a history tour. If he wants me to let him sleep that night, he’ll choose the history tour.

  6. I’ve never been to Charleston but have heard great things about the area. I hope you can enjoy the warmer weather. Have a great week!

  7. Let me just get this straight, you are going to live in your RV for six months? Or are you renting a space? I find your life fascinating! You need to write a book.

    Oh gosh – The Mist! It was brilliant! But the ending freaked me out terrible. I think that book might be part of the reasons why I tend to procrastinate… LOL!!

    Enjoy Charleston and I am looking forward to your pictures.

    Have a good week Jen!

    Elza Reads

    1. Yes, we live in our RV while we’re traveling with my husband’s job, so that’s always months at a time! We rent a site at a campground that will let us stay for a few months. It’s so much easier than packing and unpacking every time we move to a new location. We just unplug everything, drive to the new place, plug back up, and we’re home!

  8. Ooh, Charleston!! We’ve visited a few times and love it… great spot to spend the next six months! Even better because it’s so close to home. Looks like you’ve have a streak of great reading, too.

  9. Being in one (warmer) place for 6 months sounds pretty great and the fact that you are closer to home during the holiday season is also fun. Yay for reading the CYIBLS books. There are some really great nominations so I am sure you’ll have some good reading over the next couple of months.

  10. I have never been to Charleston, but I do want to go at some point. I hope you enjoy your time there.

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