A Novel and a Newspaper

I recently started reading a YA novel by Mary Hogan, "The Serious Kiss." The front cover is adorable, a little yapper dog on the front with a huge smoochy on his cheek. That alone makes you want to read it—well it does me anyway. And within the first few pages, you realize that this is a deeper book than its title and cover let on. So far, the book is good. I am enjoying her writing and how she intricately weaves humor into the heavy matter. I find myself laughing out loud at her clever, witty lines, which I'm sure my husband finds annoying. But he never says he does.

Okay, funny story, about sounds being annoying. Well, not that funny.

Anyway, the other night, he's reading his newspaper—don't ask, it's a new thing. One day, he just woke up and decided to turn into Ward Cleaver, saying "I think I'll start reading the newspaper"—and when he's reading, he makes these sounds like "huh" and "hmm." While part of me wants to know what is so interesting, the other part of me wants to say, "Can you please keep your huhs and hmms to yourself." But naturally, being a good little wifey, I don't say that.

Well, one day, he's holding his newspaper, making his sounds, and then hands an article to me and says, "You've got to read this."

I sighed because I was already reading something, which I'm sure he could see. I read it anyway. And right in the middle of my finding it quite an interesting article, I heard it..."Hmm."

Only it was distinctly a female "hmm." I was like, "OMGoodness that was me. I'm doing it." I tried to stop, but as I kept reading, I did it more, sort of like a hiccup, sporadic and uncontrollable.

Be forewarned, you future newspaper readers, it's contagious. I now wear a mask when I read an article so I won't catch the "huhs" and the "hmms."

No, I don't really. You probably knew that. By the way, the Sudokus in the newspaper are really hard.