The Sunday Salon: The Common Good and Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World Plus The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

Welcome! I am glad that you are here with us at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a spot for bloggers to link up and share what we have been doing. It offers an opportunity to visit other blogs and participate in the conversations going on there. 

I was away for a couple of days this week, in Austin for my uncle's memorial service, and now that I'm home, I'm busy getting things ready for our trip to Chicago next week. We will be staying with our son and daughter-in-law for Thanksgiving this year, and we are eagerly looking forward to spending the holiday with them.

What I Read Last Week:

Around the World in 80 Birds by Mike Unwin

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

by Vivek H. Murthy

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

The Common Good by Robert Reich

A BookCrossing friend sent along a surprise science fiction gift this week, and since it's not only Nonfiction November, but it's also SciFi Month, I jumped in and read it. It is the winner of both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award in its day.

Gateway by Frederik Pohl 

What I'm Reading Now:

Startlement: New and Selected Poems by Ada Limón

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Week 1 of Nonfiction November 2025...What have you read this year? What did you enjoy the most?

Week 2 of Nonfiction November 2025...What are your favorite nonfiction topics? What might you read this month that would challenge you?

Week 3 of Nonfiction November 2025...Pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction book. 

Week 4 of Nonfiction November 2025...What book have you read that has opened your eyes to a perspective you hadn't considered?

Week 5 of Nonfiction November 2025...This is the last week of Nonfiction November. It's my week to host, and I hope everyone will share nonfiction books you have recently added to your TBR. The link will be live on Monday.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Together: Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness by Vivek H. Murthy: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Thirteen Modern Books I Think Will Be Classics In The Future

Nonfiction November 2025: Mind Openers

The Sunday Salon: A Happy Bookish Weekend at the Texas Book Festival

Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves is hosting the Thankfully Reading Week from November 24 to November 30. Instead of just a weekend, Jenn has made this reading event a full week. The official hashtag we’ll be using is #thankfullyreading. Join in for the weekend or for only a single day. No rules, no pressure! Add your link here.

I plan to participate in the 2025 Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon, hosted by Kimberly at Caffeinated Reviewer. The event will run from Wednesday, November 26 to Wednesday, December 17. Read or listen to as many holiday or winter themed books as you wish. Share your progress using #2025HOHOHORAT. Take part in at least one challenge and read two books to be eligible for the grand prize. Link up here to join in the fun.

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

I brought home a lot of books

from my county library book sale last Saturday.

Good Thing #2:

The sunset was gorgeous as 

we drove to the hotel 

after my uncle's memorial service

near Austin.

Good Thing #3:

I was happy to hear Keran Desai

talk about her new book,

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny,

at Inprint in Houston Monday night.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

Together: Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness by Vivek H. Murthy: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Today's Featured Book: 

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

by Vivek H. Murthy, M.D.

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: April 7, 2020

Page Count: 352 pages

Summary: 

Humans are social creatures: In this simple and obvious fact lies both the problem and the solution to the current crisis of loneliness. In his groundbreaking book, the 19th surgeon general of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern: a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemics sweeping the world today from alcohol and drug addiction to violence to depression and anxiety. Loneliness, he argues, is affecting not only our health, but also how our children experience school, how we perform in the workplace, and the sense of division and polarization in our society.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

My first day as a doctor began one bright June morning when I walked through the doors of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

We might fake being happy and busy...Or we might pretend to be above the fray, so confident and self-sufficient that we don't care or need to connect...We might keep this up for months or even years. But such poses are exhausting, and the relationships that we form when pretending are inevitably disappointing.

 

This is the book I've needed to read all my life.

I needed to read it when I moved to a new town just as I was about to start first grade.

I needed to read it when I started a new school in junior high.

I needed to read it that first year of college. 

It explains so much for me. I am a person who needs social connection. Without it, I am that early human, alone on the Serengeti, fearful that death is about to come, on all sides, at any minute. I need social connection. 

My full review includes lots of quotes from this book. 

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

November 21st - How many public libraries are in your area? Are they easy to get to? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)

The Houston Public Library has 40 locations. The Harris County Public Library has 26 locations. My county library system, the Brazoria County Library System, has 12. Fort Bend County Library System also has 12. Galveston County has 8 libraries. 

That's a grand total of 98 libraries.Yes, I am delighted to be close to so many wonderful libraries.

Thirteen Modern Books I Think Will Be Classics In The Future

What is a classic? People often say a classic is a book still widely read and recommended after being published fifty or more years ago.

What books published within the last fifty years might be considered classics?

Here are some modern books that may achieve classic status.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984)

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1985)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)

Maus by Art Spiegelman (1986)

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (1987)

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (1990)

Possession by A. S. Byatt (1990)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (1994)

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995)

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006)

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.     

Nonfiction November 2025: Mind Openers

Week 4 (11/17-11/23) Mind Openers: Nonfiction books are one of the best tools for seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. They allow us to get an idea of the experiences of people of all different ages, races, genders, abilities, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, or even just people with different opinions than ours. Is there a book you read this year from a diverse author, or a book that opened your eyes to a perspective that you hadn’t considered? How did it challenge you to think differently? (Hosted by Rebekah at She Seeks Nonfiction).

The Common Good by Robert Reich

Have We Lost the Common Good? by Robert Reich

What nonfiction book has impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way?

I heard Robert B. Reich speak in Houston virtually in 2020, and he delighted me with his knowledge about our American political system, his intelligence, and his ethics. I immediately set out to read something he's written, and I was happy to find The Common Good by Reich at my local library. I read it as soon as I brought it home, and---wow---everyone needs to read this book. Reich opens the book by relating how he heard President John F. Kennedy's famous line, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," when he was a teen. Reich is saddened by how much the overall attitude of our country has changed over the years since then to "What's in it for me?" He goes on to look at the idea of the common good and how that has developed through history, and then he examines the key events of the past that have torn the fabric of the common good from government as well as business. He concludes by proposing several ways (thank goodness!) we can all nurture the idea of the common good in America today. An exceptional book that could change our country. I want to buy multiple copies and hand them out to everyone I know. If you are feeling bleak about America, I urge you to read this book and act in ways that will work for the common good. I intend to try.

 

The Sunday Salon: A Happy Bookish Weekend at the Texas Book Festival

 

 

Welcome! I am glad that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a spot for bloggers to link up and share what we have been doing. It offers an opportunity to visit other blogs and participate in the conversations going on there. 

Stephen Harrigan and Geoff Dyer

I had a fabulous time last weekend at the Texas Book Festival. On Saturday, I attended five author sessions: Dean Spears and Michael Geruso (two UT professors who have written a book on the de-population); Geoff Dyer (essayist); Peter Brown (children's book author and illustrator); Stephen Harrigan (fiction and nonfiction author); and Ada Limón (poet). On Sunday, I volunteered, helping people in the Capitol find author sessions, handing out programs, assisting people forming lines for author sessions, talking to attendees about authors and books and reading. A busy, happy weekend.

What I Read Last Week

I'm (mostly) reading nonfiction during Nonfiction November. A person at the festival asked me if I was reading any kids' nonfiction, so I looked for and read some past winners of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, an award given by the American Library Association to excellent kids' nonfiction books. 

We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance that Defied Adolf Hitler by Russell Freedman

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade

Honey: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming

I also finished one adult nonfiction title.

Bite by Bite: Nourishments & Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

What I am Reading Now

Around the World in 80 Birds by Mike Unwin

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

by Vivek H. Murthy

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

Startlement: New and Selected Poems by Ada Limón

Week 1 of Nonfiction November 2025...What have you read this year? What did you enjoy the most?

Week 2 of Nonfiction November 2025...What are your favorite nonfiction topics? What might you read this month that would challenge you?

Week 3 of Nonfiction November 2025...Pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction book. 

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: A Week of Birthday Celebrations, and Now I'm Off to the Texas Book Festival

Nonfiction November 2025: Book Pairings

Books I Enjoyed that Were Outside My Comfort Zone and Changed What I Thought About Reading...and a Question

Startlement: New and Selected Poems by Ada Limón: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

The huge turnout of people for 

the Texas Book Festival is heartening.

Good Thing #2:

Many of the author sessions were held inside the Texas Capitol.

It was good to see the face of former governor, Ann Richards, on the wall.

Good Thing #3:

Author/illustrator Peter Brown has written and illustrated

both a picture book and a chapter book of

The Wild Robot. Even though the line was long,

I couldn't resist getting both books signed.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.