Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Sedona Panoramas
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
New-to-Me Authors I Read and Loved in 2020
Maggie O'Farrell. I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death, a memoir of her close calls with death, was my introduction to Maggie O'Farrell. Later in the year I read her fabulous historical fiction novel, Hamnet. More please.
Saturday, January 23, 2021
The Sunday Salon: 🌟A Reread of A Gentleman in Moscow🌟, 🌟The Bookmobile🌟, and 🌟"Even the Air Feels Cleaner Now"🌟
Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:
- What was your week like?
- Read any good books? Tell us about them.
- What other bookish things did you do?
- What else is going on in your life?
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Wondrous Words: Ichigo Ichie
I ran across ichigo ichie last week in a book called, appropriately, The Book of Ichigo Ichie. I'm fascinated with ideas about happiness, and ichigo ichie is a word that is all about happiness. It is a Japanese word that means the art of making the most of every moment, and that's what this little book is all about.
The authors begin by reminding us that life is impermanent. My wonderful friend and comadre Diana passed away last week. She was my age. I know that life is impermanent.
The authors share the secrets they have found for making the most of every moment from the Japanese---paying attention...listening...looking...touching...tasting...smelling...returning to now...being mindful...slowing down.
Here I go. I'm making the most of every moment. Starting now.
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Books I Meant to Read In 2020 but Didn’t Get To: Novels
I blame the pandemic. My reading was off in 2020. Not in numbers, mind you; I read and reviewed 709 books in 2020, Goodreads tells me, and no one would be less than proud to share that. But what percentage was fiction books?
I couldn't read adult fiction last year. Only 14% of my reading was adult fiction. And only half of that, a mere 7% of my reading, was contemporary adult fiction; the rest were classics.
Here are novels I wanted to read but did not read in 2020. Please talk me into reading these.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Reading in Bed by Sue Gee
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ask Me Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Weekly Wrap-Up: My Small Morning Routine, Challenge Updates, and Let Us Dream
Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:
- What was your week like?
- Read any good books? Tell us about them.
- What other bookish things did you do?
- What else is going on in your life?