I Hope Sasha Likes to Read

Welcome, Sasha! We are picking up our new golden retriever on Tuesday morning in south-central Massachusetts, which was the birthplace of Sophie, our previous golden. Sasha has been much anticipated in this household, to say the least. I went shopping for her today. I bought a beautiful, sturdy 6-foot leash to complement her reddish coat, a bag of her current brand of dog food, and a cushy and comfy pad for the crate. (Sasha has slept in a crate for all of her 2+ years, so we won't encourage her to sleep in a bed with humans until she really settles in and let's us know she's ready).

I hope she likes to cuddle, play, hike, swim, snowshoe, and enjoy time in the kitchen when I'm cooking. I like having a cooking partner. And a reading pal! The breeder told us she's "sweet, beautiful, and extremely laid back," so I hope she likes couchie as well as active pursuits.

Today was a very cool (in the 50s), rainy day from start to finish. I nearly devoured the whole of In a Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, but I still haven't finished it, though I'm enjoying it tremendously. There's nothing like a mystery with fully developed characters.


I have another mystery on tap, to intersperse with my German Postwar Literary Challenge novels and memoirs. It's My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland by Yrsa Sigurdardottir translated by Bernard Scudder and Anna Yates. In 2010, I read Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason, the first novel in this author's detective series set in Reykjavik. I'd like to read another.