The Cover Made Me Read It

I blame it on the cover.

The cover made me read it.

My aunt told me about it.

The cover sold me.

Hiding books in the locker.

It's where we are right now. Sigh.

Gorgeous dragon.

Just barely keeping above water.

What's that animal doing?

And where are the woods?

Two award stickers on the cover.

Big title.

Old lady looking back.

You go, girl.

That wink.

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 2024: Choosing Nonfiction

Week 2 (11/4-11/8) Choosing Nonfiction: What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title or cover which you find striking. (Hosted by Frances at Volatile Rune).

What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book?

I am always looking for a nonfiction book, with a subject of interest to me (and I have a lot of subjects which are of interest to me!) that reads like fiction.

Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to?

Here goes...

• nature, especially birds and ocean creatures and trees...
• spirituality...
• memoirs...
• Paris...
• philosophy...
• history...
• books about books...
• building community...
• travel books...
• food books...
• books about happiness...
• stories of heroic people...

What do you look for in a nonfiction book?

What topics do you particularly like to read?

The Sunday Salon: Sewing, the International Quilt Show, the Start of Nonfiction November and SciFi Month, and It's My Birthday

 

    

Welcome! 

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week plus it's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

What a lovely, busy week! 

My Aunt Karen drove down from Dallas to teach me how to use a new sewing machine a friend gave me, and we spent the week sewing and telling stories and laughing. 

It was like a week-long slumber party for grownups. 

Thursday was the International Quilt Show and, of course, we had to go to that. 

Friday was my birthday, and I received eight books. 

Wow! What a week! Life doesn't get any better.

What I Read Last Week:

Playground: A Novel by Richard Powers

Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey

The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum

What I'm Reading Now:

Zen and Zen Classics by R. H. Blyth (Classics Club Spin)

Bob's Saucer Repair by Jerry Boyd (SciFi Month)

Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi (Nonfiction November)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

SciFi Month Begins!

Magical Books I Loved that You Might Like to Read

Nonfiction November 2024: Your Year in Nonfiction

The Sunday Salon: Of Human Bondage, the Yamboree, and Richard Powers Comes to Houston

Done with all the 2024 Challenges!

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, three of my favorite quilts from the exhibit hall at the quilt show:

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.

SciFi Month Begins!

 

Art by Sxwx from 123RF.com

SciFiMonth is an annual celebration of science fiction across all channels, hosted by our most excellent captains imyril of There’s Always Room for One More and Lisa of Dear Geek Place and their lieutenants Annemieke of A Dance with Books and Mayri of bookforger.

This year we will definitely be celebrating the 40th birthday of Neuromancer by William Gibson in some form or another. There will also be a read-along or two, and the SciFiMonth Challenge will provide daily prompts that can be interpreted as posts, lists, photos, recommendations and more. Plans are still being made (there’s some feverish background activity going on) and other features will be announced in due course.

SciFiMonth is all about good company. Everyone is welcome and there’s no pressure to post to a timetable or read more than you want or can manage – you can do as little or as much as you want. Please sign up to let us know you’ll be flying with us and where we can find you, and add links to your posts into the Master Schedule as you go along.

Crew members are also welcome to join the Otherworlds Discord server – just contact one of us to request an invite.

Whichever channel(s) you decide to join us on, we ask that you use the hashtag #scifimonth2024 wherever possible to help us keep track of your posts.

Here's what I might read this month...

Magical Books I Loved that You Might Like to Read

I've always loved books full of magic. 

Here are some of my favorites...

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (picture book)

The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum (children's book)

My Friend Mr. Leakey by J.B.S. Haldane (children's book)

Half Magic by Edward Eager (children's book)

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin (young adult book)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (adult fantasy)

Babel by R. F. Kuang (adult fantasy)

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (adult fantasy)

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (adult fantasy)

Favorite Folktales of the World collected by Jane Yolen (all ages)

Please recommend your favorite books that contain magic to me.

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 2024: Your Year in Nonfiction

 

Week 1 (10/28-11/1) Your Year in Nonfiction: Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more?  What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November? (Hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story.)

What books have you read?

I've read 105 nonfiction books out of a total of 241 books. That's 44%.

Of the 105 nonfiction books, 23 were children's nonfiction. That's 22%

What were your favorites?

My Favorite Nonfiction of 2024:

How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

Ben & Me: In Search of a Founder's Formula for a Long and Useful Life by Eric Weiner

The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning by A. J. Jacobs

Cheerfulness by Garrison Keillor

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson

Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku by Natalie Goldberg

Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harati

The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor's Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age by Gladys McGarey

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey

I also enjoyed these books of nonfiction for children: Things to Look Forward To by Sophie Blackall; A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston; The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin; What It's Like to Be a Bird (Adapted for Young Readers) by David Allen Sibley; Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine.

Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more?

As usual, I've read a lot of books this year about books and writing; happiness; nature, especially birds; Paris; baking; and history, especially leadership. I'm always on the lookout for more good books about these topics.

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I hope to find more good nonfiction.

The Sunday Salon: Of Human Bondage, the Yamboree, and Richard Powers Comes to Houston

     

Welcome! 

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week plus it's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Annie and Wyatt with me at the East Texas Yamboree

We drove home from Big Sandy last Sunday, and I think I spent the rest of the week trying to recover from eight days spent babysitting our grandkids. 

I'm trying to decide which is more exhausting, taking care of 100 chickens or two children.

Tired, but happy.

What I Read Last Week:

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

What I'm Reading Now:

Playground: A Novel by Richard Powers

Zen and Zen Classics by R. H. Blyth

Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey

The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum

It's time for Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. It seems most active on Facebook, and the website hasn't been updated from the Reverse Readathon last summer, so I plan to simply read, and maybe visit bloggers that post their links on FB.

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon Closing Survey

1. How many books did you read during this readathon? Did you have any favorites? How many books did you finish?

I finished Playground by Richard Powers.

2. Did you accomplish your goals for this readathon?

I wish I had visited more blogs, but I will do that today.

3. How did your snacks and meals work out? Are there things you would change about the food and beverages side of your readathon for next time? .

How did I forget ice cream?!

4. Did you enjoy this readathon? What was the most successful part of your readathon? What would you change for next time?

I wish there was a signup page. Maybe I will do that next time.

5. Will you be continuing your readathon reading past the end of our official readathon?

I shall.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Headed Home from Big Sandy

How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Dial M for Murder

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

November is coming soon, and that means a lot of book blogging events. Last year I participated in Nonfiction November and Novellas in November. This year I am hoping to try SciFi Month along with Nonfiction November. 

For my own reference, I'm noting below the books I might read and links to the host blogs.

          Week 1 (10/28-11/1) Your Year in Nonfiction. Liz, who blogs at Adventures in reading, running and working from home, is an editor, transcriber, reader, reviewer, writer and runner. She likes reading literary fiction and nonfiction, travel and biography.

Week 2 (11/4-11/8) Choosing Nonfiction. Frances blogs about the books she has read at Volatile Rune and is a published poet, reviewer, sometime storyteller and novelist.

Week 3 (11/11-11/15) Book Pairings. Heather of Based on a True Story lives in Ohio with her husband, surrounded by lots and lots of critters!

Week 4 (11/18-11/22) Mind Openers. Rebekah reviews social justice books on She Seeks Nonfiction. She is a Pittsburgh-based activist, graphic designer, and cat parent.

Week 5 (11/25-11/29) New To My TBR. Deb, who blogs at Readerbuzz, is a Texas librarian-for-life who swims, rides her bike, draws, writes, and loves to read nonfiction-that-reads-like-fiction, literary fiction, classics, and children’s picture books. 

What I might read for Nonfiction November 2024:

• Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi
• Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Build the Life You Want by Arthur C. Brooks
• Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
• The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
• What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci
• Zen and Zen Classics by R. L. Blyth

SciFiMonth is an annual celebration of science fiction across all channels, hosted by our most excellent captains imyril of There’s Always Room for One More and Lisa of Dear Geek Place and their lieutenants Annemieke of A Dance with Books and Mayri of bookforger.

Whichever channel(s) you decide to join us on, we ask that you use the hashtag #scifimonth2024 wherever possible to help us keep track of your posts.

What I might read for SciFi Month 2024:

• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
• A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
• Necromancer by William Gibson
• Orbital by Samantha Harvey
• Ringworld by Larry Niven

Are you planning to participate in any of the November events?

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:

Author Richard Powers

at Inprint in Houston

Monday night.

Good Thing #2:

Postcards from my blogging friends,

Tina, Nicky, and Erin!

Thank you so much!

Good Thing #3:

Photo of a stunning maple tree

my son sent from Chicago

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.