Saturday, March 30, 2019

Weekly Wrap Up: Five Books Read, an Orange Cake, and a Terribly Cute Photo of My Grandchildren


Read...



What does it mean when you read three books in one day and you don't understand any of them? 

My online nonfiction book group read A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes this month. At the beginning of March, I read the first couple of chapters and put it down half-read, feeling a little befuddled.  For some unknown reason, I picked it back up and read it almost compulsively, mostly incomprehensibly, in one afternoon. My review of A Brief History is here.

I picked up a copy of Textu by Fady Joudah at the poetry reading this week. I loved Joudah's poems "Palestine Texas" and "Progress Notes" that he read and I wanted to read more of his poetry. I'm not sure that Textu was a good choice for me; I can't say I understood much of any of the poems in this book. My review of Textu is here

I finished out the day with The Wonderful "O" by James Thurber. It's often classified as a children's book, though it is on both the children's and the adult version of the 1001 Books You Must Read lists. It's a clever little book in which a couple of pirates force the people on an island to remove the letter "o" from all words. My review of The Wonderful "O" is here



Image result for don quixote bookImage result for maid book

I also read and reviewed Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land as well as (hurray!) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. My review of Maid is here. My review of Don Quixote is here.




Reading...


North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell




Book-ish...




Isn't this fun? How Long Will It Take You to Finish Your TBR Pile? calculator is from Read It Forward. Thank you, Shellyrae at book'd out for sharing this.







If you love children's picture books as much as I do, you need to take a look at this list of 2019 Books from Caldecott Winners at 100 Scope Notes. I can't wait to read all of these, but I'm especially excited about Circle from Jon Klassen; Nine Months with art by the wonderful Jason Chin; No More Poems with art from Dan Santat; and How to Read a Book by Kwame Alexander and Melissa Sweet.








I've finished four of ten books in My Own Books Reading Challenge set by Anne of My Head is Full of Books. I feel like I'm off to a good start with this challenge. The challenge ends on May 15th. 








I went to the Margaret Root Brown Reading Series last week with poets Fady Joudah and Carmen Giménez Smith. My post about the event will appear here on Wednesday.




Baking, photography, drawing, and other projects...



I baked an Orange Cake from The Cook's Atelier this week. Orange season is almost over here in Texas, and I wanted to use up some of the oranges we got from my brother-in-law's garden.






I couldn't resist posting this picture of my two grandchildren, Annie and her new baby brother, Wyatt. I feel so happy just looking at their beautiful faces.






The Sunday Salon 

I’ve taken the helm of one of our earliest book blogging memes, The Sunday Salon. I’d love to have you stop by my blog, Readerbuzz, here and post a link to your blog. The Sunday Salon was created twelve years ago to encourage book conversations, and I hope to do the same by sharing links and visiting others’ blogs. I will keep also the Facebook group for Sunday Salon.

I would be very happy if you would spread the word about the Sunday Salon. Encourage others to post here and/or on Facebook. Post the graphic on social media. 


Other places where you may like to link up are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.






My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. If you wish to also post a link at Facebook, you can also do that. My hope is that you will post here and/or at FB and then visit other bloggers. Sunday Salon is to encourage conversations about books and book-ish things.

27 comments:

  1. Your grandchildren are adorable Nancy.

    Thanks for the shout out too :)

    Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out

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  2. Your grandchildren are adorable! I don't think I want to know how long it'll take me to read my TBR pile! lol

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    1. It’s probably best to skip this. It may be too discouraging.

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  3. Oh I love the picture of your grandchildren. Your granddaughter looks so absolutely delighted! I love all things orange and orange cake is one of my favorites. I think one of the reasons I'm not attracted to poetry is because I never feel like I truly "get" it. My brain just doesn't typically work that way with a few exceptions. Love the TBR counter! I'm at 8 years out right now but that's only if I keep up my fairly rapid reading speed and add absolutely no new books! Have a great week and I'll be back tomorrow to link up my Sunday Post!

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    1. I love poetry. That doesn’t mean I have a clue as to what it is about.

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  4. Adorable photo of your grandchildren! I will come back to post my Sunday Salon tomorrow, but right now I am going to do the TBR pile calculator!

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  5. I have Circle on hold at the library. I will be picking it up either tomorrow or Sunday.

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    1. I need to see if my library has any of these picture books. I guess I thought they were coming out much later in the year.

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  6. Your grandchildren are beautiful. So cute! I'm scared of the TBR calculator though :) Have a great week!

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  7. What an adorable photo of your grandkids! Sounds like you've had a wonderful week... the cake looks delicious. Think I should have joined the read my own books challenge. I keep getting distracted by shiny new books, lol!

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    1. I haven't read straight through the challenge. But it think that's okay!

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  8. Maybe you were reading too fast? :)

    I don't really have a TBR pile anymore. I have a few but nothing like I used to have. I like to play it a little more by ear, I guess.

    Congratulations on your start with the challenge. I'm glad it's working for you.

    Your grandchildren look like dolls. Do they act like them too? ;)

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    Replies
    1. Do any children really act like dolls?! Lol.

      Setting this challenge gives me great suggestions on what to read next.

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  9. Aww, cute kids. I’ve seen that TBR calculator, but I’m too scared to use it. Have a great week!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. Brother and sister getting along. That won't last!

    I tried the TBR calculator. Frightening...

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  11. You've had a great week and the photo of your grandchildren is adorable. Thanks for sharing:) I tried the calculator too. I may have nightmares over it. LOL

    My Sunday Post

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  12. You really don't need to post anything other than pictures of those darling grandchildren, you know. ;)

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  13. An orange cake sounds wonderful! So cheerful and sunny!

    Congrats on the new grandson! That photo is precious. And I love the name Wyatt - I am a bit biased though, it is my son's name too. :)

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  14. I thought ever finishing my TBR pile would be impossible. However, calculations show I can finish in 6 years and one month. Of course, that's assuming I don't buy anymore books for six years. I think I'm going to stick with never being able to finish my stack. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  15. Not sure I would have read those three books in the same day but I have listened or read for a spell and realized I wasn't paying attention. Don't laugh but I thought the Wonderful O was about orgasms!

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  16. I love the photos of the grandkids. I really dislike reading books I can't understand; it makes me feel dumb. I'm with Kimberly on the Wonderful O. Have a lovely week!

    Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

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  17. I've seen the tv adaptation of North and South (quite enjoyed it) but I have a feeling the book would be better. Must read it some day and see! :)

    Your grandkids are very sweet. She looks to happy with her little brother!

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