Bookish Brags: Little Free Libraries

Reading has brought me so much joy in my life. 

One of the ways I like to share my love of reading is through Little Free Libraries.

My husband built my first Little Free Library #2924 in 2012, and installed it in front of our house. We replaced it last year.

In 2015, we put Little Free Library #30157 in the Fair Oaks neighborhood of my town. The steward of that library is keeping it going strong.

Liverpool is a town of about two hundred people just down the road from my town. Liverpool has no public library. In 2016, we installed Little Free Library #31446 in front of Liverpool City Hall. The city secretary had a new LFL built and installed last year, and she keeps it going.

Thank you to Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com for this prompt.

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.   

The Sunday Salon: "...that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse..."

    

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 I Read Last Week:

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark

What I'm Reading Now:

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Inprint author)

A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andrés Reséndez (Naturalist book club)

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam (Inprint author)

Throughout the month of November, bloggers Liz of Adventures in reading, running and working from home, Frances of Volatile Rune, Heather of Based on a True Story, Rebekah of She Seeks Nonfiction, and Deb of Readerbuzz invite you to celebrate Nonfiction November with us.

Each Monday, our weekly host will post our topic prompt and include a linkup where you can link your posts, connect with other bloggers, and dive deeper by reading and sharing nonfiction book reviews. Feel free to use our official Nonfiction November graphics, too! 

For more details about Nonfiction November, see my post Nonfiction November Returns: Save the Date.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Kiki's Delivery Service

Books I Refused to Read Because They Were Too Popular

Nonfiction November Returns: Save the Date!

The Sunday Salon: World Postcard Day, Comfy Cozy Cinema, and We'll Prescribe You a Cat

I just have two more Oz books to read before the end of the year.

I think I can do that.

From my reading this week:

"That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

—Walt Whitman

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. I've established a regular routine now of writing down my 3 Good Things. 

Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

Inprint Reading Series 

at Rice University

with authors 

Rumaan Alam (Entitlement) and

Danzy Senna (Colored Television).

Good Thing #2:

The Breakfast Mamas,

get together

to celebrate Brenda's (in blue) 

77th birthday.

Good Thing #3:

My husband and I enjoyed seeing

the high school play, 

The 39 Steps,

with my dad and his wife this week,

free for seniors.

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.

 

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Kiki's Delivery Service

I suggested to my husband that we try to do a few Comfy Cozy Cinema choices this fall, and he agreed. 

Movie Title: Kiki's Delivery Service

Original Release Date: 1989

Where I Found It: DVD at my public library

Rating: G

Time: 1 hr. 45 min.

Amazon Rating: 4.9 / 5 with 10,412 ratings

Cast: Animated, with Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, Phil Hartman as Jiji the cat,

Janeane Garofalo as Ursula, and Debbie Reynolds as Madame

I can't remember the last time I saw an animated film. I was apprehensive when I saw this film was from Japan, worried this film might be like the animated films from Japan like Speed Racer that I saw as a young person. 

I needn't have worried. Kiki's Delivery Service is an exceptional film. I was immediately captivated by the details in the film, the buzzing bee, the shifting point-of-view of the camera, the little gesture the bus driver makes when he shifts into gear. The film feels startlingly lifelike.

The story is about a young witch who turns thirteen and must strike out on her own. The only skill Kiki has is flying on her broomstick, so she decides to run a delivery service. The owner of a bakery provides Kiki with a place to stay and helps her get her business going. In addition to the baker, Kiki soon meets and befriends a boy fascinated with flying, an old lady, and an artist named Ursula. 

Kiki is horrified when she realizes that she is losing her magic, one of the most powerful parts of the movie, and it is the artist who is able to help Kiki cope with the way our gifts can come and go.

Kiki faces the same struggles as most teens, and with the help of her new friends, she learns more about herself and how to deal with others. 

I couldn't help speculating about what our world might be like if kids were sent out on their own at thirteen, to make their own way in life. 

My Comfy Cozy Rating: High 

Comfy Cozy Qualities: The trials of adolescence including

learning to make friends, discovering your strengths and weaknesses,

and learning how to make it in the world

Here's a bit of the movie in its trailer.

I was happy to discover that my library not only had the DVD, but it also had the book from which the movie was taken, Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono. It was delightful, too, though it was different from the movie. In the book, Kiki is not paid with money but is instead given a small gift in gratitude for her service. In the movie, Kiki faces big problems, including saving a boy from a wayward airship and losing her magic powers; in the book, Kiki faces small problems, including using her flying abilities to dry a person's clothes quickly, to deliver a knitted belly band to a woman's son who is boat pilot, and finding a replacement gear for a clock in the clock tower during an important event. I loved the little stories in the book as much as the big stories in the movie. My review of the book is here.

This is year two of Comfy Cozy Cinema, hosted by Erin at Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs and Lisa at Boondock Ramblings. Erin and Lisa invite us all to join in by watching the movie, posting about it, and linking up within a week of the day listed on the chart below.

Books I Refused to Read Because They Were Too Popular

Yes, I'm one of *those* people. A book snob, some might call me. A book gets too popular, and I shun it. I'm sure I wouldn't like it, I think, nose in the air. Probably just pure fluff. 

Here are some of the books I rejected for a long time, before finally caving in and reading:

Harry Potter

John Grisham

Here are some I ended up buying a copy of, though I have not yet read these. Should I read these?

The Thorn Birds

Cold Sassy Tree

Here are some I have never read. Should I reconsider?

The DaVinci Code

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 Returns: Save the Date!

A chill wind blows. For most, fall is about soft sweaters, delectable candles, and pumpkin treats. Here in the book blogging community, it certainly is about all of those things, but there is one most special event in the forecast every autumn. For us, the fall breeze brings Nonfiction November!

Throughout the month of November, bloggers Liz, Frances, Heather,  Rebekah, and Deb invite you to celebrate Nonfiction November with us.

Meet your hosts!

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.

Frances blogs about the books she has read at Volatile Rune and is a published poet, reviewer, sometime storyteller and novelist.

Heather of Based on a True Story lives in Ohio with her husband, surrounded by lots and lots of critters!

Rebekah reviews social justice books on She Seeks Nonfiction. She is a Pittsburgh-based activist, graphic designer, and cat parent.

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. 

How it works

Each Monday, our weekly host will post our topic prompt and include a linkup where you can link your posts, connect with other bloggers, and dive deeper by reading and sharing nonfiction book reviews. Feel free to use our official Nonfiction November graphics, too! 

Here are the topic prompts for each week:

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? (Heather)

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. (Frances)

Week 3 (11/11-11/15) Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it's a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read and you would like recommendations for background reading. Or (because I’m doing this) two books on two different areas have chimed and have a link. You can be as creative as you like! (Liz)

Week 4 (11/18-11/22) Mind Openers: One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is the way it can open your eyes to the world around you–no plane ticket required. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Is there a book that, if everyone read it, you think the world would be a better place? (Rebekah)

Week 5 (11/25-11/29) New To My TBR:  It's been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book! (Deb)

Meet the newest Nonfiction November host!

This year we have a new Nonfiction November host for week 5: New To My TBR in Deb. This prompt allows everyone who participates to come together and share all the new nonfiction books they discover each November!

The other four of us (along with Lisa) saved Nonfiction November from the brink of extinction in 2023, and we host this event again because we love the book blogging community and the books that we get to share. Thank you to Deb for joining us for our final week and sharing the joy of hosting. Please join us in spreading the love and tying the bow on Nonfiction November 2024!

Are you planning to join us for Nonfiction November?

What is in your stack of possibilities?

The Sunday Salon: World Postcard Day, Comfy Cozy Cinema, and We'll Prescribe You a Cat

    

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 I Read Last Week:

We'll Prescribe a Cat by Syou Ishida

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Both of these were light and gently thoughtful---reading without having to use much brain power but not complete fluff. I'd rate both of these a 3.5/5. 

What I'm Reading Now:

Colored Television by Danzy Senna (Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series)

I'm reading this one for the Inprint Houston reading that will take place on Monday night at Rice University. Author Danzy Senna will be reading along with author Rumaan Alam. Sadly, Alam's latest book, Entitlement, is not available through my library system, though an adjacent library system's ebook copies of Entitlement are reserved for the next six months. I may buy a copy at the reading. I do want to support the independent bookstore, Brazos Bookstore, that provides books for this wonderful reading series in Houston.

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Fiction)

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Children's Fantasy)

Liz of Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home is organizing the upcoming Nonfiction November, and this year I will be hosting the last week of the event. I'm starting to collect books for the event.

It's good to shake things up, right? I plan to take on science fiction in November. I'm looking through the Hugo Award list and seeing what I can find at my library and on my shelf here at home. I will probably be getting in over my head; the scifi universe, I'm sure, has moved on since I was devoted to it back in my teens and early twenties. For more about #SciFiMonth, take a look here. 

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

The Sunday Salon: Junk Journaling; Hummingbirds Arrive; and a Hike in Cameron Park in Waco

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:

This is year two of Comfy Cozy Cinema, 

hosted by Erin at Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs and Lisa at Boondock Ramblings. 

Erin and Lisa invite us all to join in by watching the movie, posting about it, 

and linking up within a week of the day listed on the chart below.

So far, I've only managed to post one time,

but I hope to do better soon.

Good Thing #2:

October 1st is World Postcard Day.

I love to get postcards.

Send me one;

I would love to send you a postcard back.

Good Thing #3:

Here's a page from the junk journal

I made last week.

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. Please feel free to leave a link to your blog in a comment, too.