I’m starting to feel like work is finally starting to come back to a manageable piece of my life, rather than the all-consuming, life-eating monster it was during October.

So let’s try to do some literary housecleaning posts this week. Still to come are reviews of Still to come are reviews of The Woman in White; Diamond Ruby; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; 13 Little Blue Envelopes; Ninth Ward; Will Grayson, Will Grayson; The Physics of Imaginary Objects; and Cats Are Weird and More Observations.

But rather than review those, I’ll give you a quick review of a beloved classic, which is the most recent thing I’ve finished:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
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I can now count the number of days until Iceland on my fingers. That’s good because although I’m not working the insane hours that I was before my project went live, we’ve had some hiccups that still prevent me from focusing on what’s important — my impending vacation.

However, the week has not been without its highlights, and here are but three of the beautiful ones amongst them:

1. My dad’s best friend comes up to help my folks clear the driveway of all the fallen trees blocking their egress. They might still be without power, heat, and running water, but at least now they can leave if they have/want to.

2. Rudi takes a day off to testify before city council. He’s done in time to join me downtown for a late lunch out in the sunshine.

3. Susan and Phillip invite me to accompany them to Holden’s first Halloween festival. He is a devil — and the most adorable one ever — with a huge, impish grin.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?