What I Do After I Visit the Dentist

After the Dentist

I have been going to the same dentist office for 12 years. The previous dentist retired, and a new one bought his practice. They know our family, and can even say which son’s teeth seem like which parent’s. Best of all, right downstairs is one of the best Half Price Books in the area. (I worked there 12 years ago, which is why I started seeing that dentist.)

No trip is complete without a stop before or after to the bookstore. This stack of four was me restraining myself.The combination of The Morning News Tournament of Books, plus the new book group I’ve started, in which we’re reading fiction with themes of religion and mythology, hits me right in my vulnerable, compulsive book-buying spot. These I’m considering for the book group:

Bee Season by Myla Goldberg
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller, Jr.
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood

After the bookstore, I go to Rustica bakery for an excellent coffee drink (macchiato nowadays) and their bittersweet chocolate cookies. Post-bookstore Rustica is one of my very happiest places.

6 Responses to “What I Do After I Visit the Dentist”

  1. Steph Says:

    When I was a teenager, my dad would always take me to Dairy Queen for chili cheese fries after my orthodontist appointments. Yes, he is an awesome dad!

    I read Bee Season a few years ago, back before I was blogging. I thought it was really interesting, though I’ve heard none of Goldberg’s other stuff is in the same league, which is too bad. It’s a really compelling look at religion, true, but the family dynamic in it is especially fascinating, I think.

    Read Lady Oracle in 11th Grade English class and hated it. It kind of started me on my whole “I do not like Margaret Atwood” line, which I less vociferously defend today (since Cat’s Eye and The Handmaid’s Tale are really very good).

  2. weirleader Says:

    those cookies sound excellent — I think I’m going to have to dig up a recipe.

    As for Half-Price Books, I (once again) am jealous!

  3. Susan Says:

    Oh yay for Canticle for Leibowitz and bittersweet chocolate cookies! Actually, everything sounds wonderful. :)

  4. girldetective Says:

    Steph, my mom used to take us to Friendly’s for ice cream after our appts, and I think the ritual has stuck with me. I was impressed by Bee Season, and want to revisit it. And never read Lady Oracle, but will probably be using Handmaid’s Tale for the book group, since our first book was Gilead (second is the Road) and HT is set in the Republic of Gilead, seems a tidy fit.

  5. sm Says:

    aren’t you lucky -
    after dental appointments, i crawl under the covers and lie there until the freezing wears out and feel sorry for myself :(
    bee season starts great but weirds out abit at the end, margaret atwood is AMAZING, but i think i missed lady oracle

  6. girldetective Says:

    I missed Lady Oracle, too, and when I was researching, turned up it and Surfacing as good candidates, and this was a lovely, like-new copy.