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Welcome to my weekly update for July 5, 2026!
I hope my fellow Americans had a happy 4th of July, and the rest of you had a good weekend, however you chose to spend it!
My husband and I took a little day trip last Sunday to explore some smaller sights we hadn’t seen yet here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We’re staying on the Lake Superior side of the peninsula so we drove down to the Lake Michigan side. We visited Kitch-iti-kipi, a natural spring that’s a constant 45° F (7° C). We pulled ourselves out to the middle of the spring on a raft to look down into it. The raft was sort of a hollow rectangle so we could look down through the middle. There were some huge trout in that water! It reminded us of Florida’s clear springs. Then we drove to see the Manistique Lighthouse and Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse. We also stopped by to see Benny the Beardfisher, one of artist Thomas Dambo’s trolls. I love these adorable, personable trolls so much! I posted about more of his trolls on December 28, 2025. I saw another one in Breckenridge, Colorado last summer but I just realized I never posted that picture. That means it’s time to introduce you to Isak Heartstone too!
Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2026
- The spring as seen from above
- Looking down through the center of the raft into the spring. Who would have guessed the reflections in my first picture were hiding this gorgeous water?
- Manistique Lighthouse presiding over Lake Michigan
- Seul Choix Point Lighthouse
- Benny the Beardfisher in Germfask, Michigan
- Isak Heartstone in Breckenridge, Colorado. I “met” him last summer
Posted:
(re)Viewing Last Month: June 2026–Short (for me) reviews of the shows and movies my husband and I finished in June
Read:
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett–3 Stars (Link to my GoodReads review)
Currently Reading:
The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry #1) by Guy Gavriel Kay–This is a re-read. I fell in love with Guy Gavriel Kay’s writing as a teen when I read this series. I’ve re-read them before but it’s been decades. I’m a little nervous it won’t live up to my memories. Wish me luck!
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2) by Matt Dinniman
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
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?
33 Comments
It’s so great how you visit all the local stuff in your move to each new station. Thanks for sharing the photos. I was in Minnesota the week before the 4th visiting old friends and places.
Anne – Books of My Heart
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, though The Summer Tree has been on my TBR for a while now. I’m curious to see if it holds up to your memories!
Oooh, Guy Gavriel Kay used to be one of my favorites. I’ve lost track of his work in recent years. The Lions of al-Rassan is my very favorite of his books, and probably on my top ten of all time, followed closely by Tigana. I think you would like him when you’re in the mood for some very high stakes fantasy.
Deep water is scary! The fish are pretty cool, though. It sounds like a fun trip.
It wasn’t terribly deep–maybe 40 feet? The clarity of the water might make it look deeper in the picture
Only three stars for Commonwealth? It’s been a while since I read it. I’m running too late to sign into GoodReads right now to read your review, but will come back to it.
I was surprised too. The short version is that it just didn’t click with me so I found it just okay. I think I’ll mostly forget about it fairly soon.
I love those trolls, but have never seen one in person. I’m going to look them up so that I know the locations in case I am ever close to one.
There are so many! And there’s at least one, possibly two, traveling troll exhibits going around the country right now. One of them made it to the Arboretum back home for a few months so I was able to see it. I hope you find one some day!
What wonderful scenery! Thank you so much for the lovely photos. I have finally got hold of the first Dungeon Crawler book, but haven’t yet started it. I hope you have a great week.
I hope you love Carl and Princess Donut as much as I do!
Great trolls! Your other pictures are wonderful too. I have the first Dungeon Crawler Carl but haven’t had a chance to start it yet. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
We made it into Minnesota for the 4th and I thought of you! We even made a quick stop in Duluth on our way up to International Falls and Voyageurs National park.
Love that troll! I would be dragging my husband all over the place to find them all!
Have a great week!
I don’t know what city you live in, but it looks like Thomas Dambo has several trolls around Perth! I do have a basic understanding that Australia is big, so I don’t know how accessible they are for you though.
Sounds like you’ve seen some lovely places lately. Enjoying the photos! Commonwealth looks interesting. Hope you enjoy your week!
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2026/07/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-mailbox.html
Thanks!
Love the photos!
I love Guy Gavriel Kay’s work so much. Last time I revisited, the Fionavar books did hold up! Though it feels like they’re not a quick start.
Here’s my Sunday Post: https://breathesbooks.com/2026/07/04/stacking-the-shelves-the-sunday-post-134/
I’m about 2/3 of the way through The Summer Tree and so far so good! I’m a little worried about where some of the female character arcs are heading (I can see problematic possibilities), but the fact that there even are female characters in a series like this gives me hope that GGK won’t do them wrong. Fingers crossed!
“We pulled ourselves out to the middle of the spring on a raft to look down into it. The raft was sort of a hollow rectangle so we could look down through the middle.”
Girl, I was SO SCARED to look at the picture!!! I thought we were going to be looking down, down, down into unfathomable depths and that terrifies me. lol I finally got up the courage to open my eyes and I’m glad I did. Gorgeous! Is that the color of the water or is the blue because we’re looking through the raft? I mean, was the raft a clear color and the water is that blue or was it a blue raft? LOL
😂 I should have been clearer! That’s the color of the water. The raft is completely open in the center so you aren’t looking through glass or anything. Good question!
Loving your Michigan trip! I love my state so much.
The Upper Peninsula sure is beautiful! We hope to visit a site or two in the rest of the state (I don’t know what you call it–The Mitten? :-D) as we head out to wherever our next work location might be.
Lovely photos, those troll figures are so great!
Thanks for sharing your week, happy reading!
Those trolls just make me happy!
I’m so glad you are enjoying Michigan!! The Upper Peninsula is so beautiful. Alexis Dahl on YouTube has some great videos about the UP.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll look her up!
Love the trolls! I can’t wait to go see them near me at some point. The closest (VT) I think is closed so I need to go to Maine for them.
I would love to see the ones in Maine! We spent a summer there back in 2019 but the trolls hadn’t been built yet. I didn’t even know there’s one in Vermont! We spent a long weekend there in 2024 while my husband was working in upstate NY. Dangit! I can’t believe I missed it!
Just stopping by to say Happy Sunday and Happy Reading!
Thanks!
Hold the phone. I just started book 1 and am at the part where Princess Donut just transformed and is able to talk. You’re telling me Carl is running around in his jacket, cape, and boxers all the way into book 2?!? 🤣
Kristin @ Book Sniffers Anonymous
Oh boy! You’re in for a wild ride!