Frond Farewell

The brisk November winds picked up on Thanksgiving afternoon. We could feel a shift in seasons as temperatures dipped and the unexpected snow moved in. It was as if the blowing grasses and dried plant stalks were waving and bidding farewell to what was one of the longest warm weather spells we have had in years.
A cold snowy November morning greeted us the next day. After all the Thanksgiving cooking and entertaining it was a good time to relax and finish a book called The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship and The Uncommon Pleasure of A Good Book by Wendy Welch.

This was my first time reading an entire book on the Kindle. I will say as I was reading I missed the touch of real paper pages and my fingers ached to use my highlighter on passages that I really liked. 
Perhaps one just needs to get use to this type of book reading.

What attracted me to this book was the title Big Stone Gap. If you recall my favorite author, Adriana Trigiani, Shoemaker' s Wife wrote a series of novels about the town The Big Stone Gap.

The community is located in Virginia in the Appalachain Mountains.  
Wendy Welch's book is for all those who would consider themselves a bibliophile, animal  lover, a dreamer and a believer. It details the real life experiences of the author and her Scottish husband Jack who want to follow their dreams of leaving life behind in the fast lane and open a used bookstore in a small town. They move to Big Stone Gap and buy an old Victorian home with the intent of transferring it into a used bookstore. Welch writes in a breezy conversationalist style as she shares their experiences of the challenges of running a bookstore with no previous experience, building up an inventory and finding their place in a community as a newcomer. The Walmart caper is one of the examples how the author had to get creative to improve their business. In addition they used their bookstore to host many different types of activities that ultimately enriched their community. Many cats and dogs live happily within the bookstore since their owners support animal rescue.  
An added bonus to this memoir reading was the author's reviews of her favorite books.

 I saw this poster on Pinterest and thought it fitting for the posting.