It was 75 degrees F. this week. Sunny. Warm. My azaleas have bloomed. Our peppers and cucumbers in the hotbox are popping up. Carolina chickadees and mourning doves are at my feeders.
Three collections of comics. Very odd for me. And I liked them all.
Book Love by Debbie Tung
Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen
I set War and Peace aside while I was in Paris, and it took me a while to get back to my chapter-a-day readalong. When I did, I found I was 29 chapters behind. I was at the most daunting part for me, too, the war parts, the part where I completely stalled out on W&P the last time I tried to read it. I was worried.
I should not have worried. I jumped right back into the book where I'd left off, and I have now caught back up completely. I found the war parts fascinating, as I was those young people, standing on the battlefield for the first time, feeling the fear of being there, the rush of being there. Very surprising.
I have registered for this year's Texas Library Association Conference. It will be held here in Houston at the end of March. What do I have on my schedule? Here are some of the sessions I've bookmarked:
Katherine Center Speaks on Reading for Joy
My Library is Tiny! How to Be Creative with Small Spaces
Top Texas Topaz Picks (Nonfiction)
2x2 Reading List Showcase (Books for Ages 2 to Grade 2)
Recycling Books for Fun, Fashion, and Furniture
Speed Dating with Texas Authors and Illustrators
Books on the Bus: Diversify and Innovate Reading Environments
New Picture Books from Favorite Authors and Illustrators
Literacy and Community Engagement
Hot Off the Press: Great New Books for Grades 4-12
I finally got around to reading (it's a memoir as well as a cookbook) Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey in 75 Recipes. I like to try out a recipe or two, but many of these recipes were unbelievably daunting (one recipe takes at least three days to prepare). I finally settled on a fairly easy recipe for Butter Biscuits.
We watched the Masterpiece mini-series, Howards End, this week. It started slow, I thought, but, by the end, I loved it. Now I want to read the book.
I'm very happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. There are no real requirements to linking up at Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is simply a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. Sunday Salon is a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.
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?
Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.
My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.
I'm jealous of your weather but it's supposed to be back in the 60s here tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with you and War and Peace.
If people from up north visited here today, they'd sell everything they had and move here tomorrow.
DeleteYears ago, we watched the movie Howards End with Anthony Hopkins and I think Emma Thompson. It was very good, but my favorite is A Room with a View.
ReplyDeleteI must look for those.
DeleteYou've been busy. I love the purple flowers.
ReplyDeleteMy sister scavenged some old azalea bushes her neighbor had dug up and was throwing out and brought them to me over thirty years ago. The azaleas are my most successful flower. I wish Google would drive by and photograph our house right now.
DeleteI am so impressed that you are continuing with War and Peace! When you are finished, it will be quite an accomplishment. I do love a Masterpiece Theater mini-series and it's been far too long since I've watched one.
ReplyDeleteI am terribly surprised that I'm finally able to read this book. I was daunting to me for so long.
DeleteI don't know why but, I thought you were from New England. Now, I know I'm wrong with "azaleas blooming". LOL It's been a super mild winter here, in fact the bears are out of hibernation, but no blooming flowers yet.
ReplyDeleteGracious, no, Diane! I was born here in Texas and I've lived all my life here.
DeleteWe love Strange Planet in our house - my best friend gave the book to my husband for his birthday.
ReplyDeleteIt's fabulous, isn't it?
DeleteSounds like you are having nice weather. It's a little chilly in Florida, but it feels nice to me. Chilly here is around 65 degrees. As a native New Yorker, that doesn't seem so chilly to me :) I hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI bet it feels very different for you to have such balmy weather.
DeleteI've always wanted to read War and Peace but it just seems too long. Maybe I'll give it a go one day!
ReplyDeleteI am just reading a chapter a day. That seemed doable.
DeleteIt's great that you got back in to War and Peace. It can be a bit of a slog if you get too behind. I have been wanting to take a recycled books class for a while. I missed the last one offered at the library. I love some of the beautiful projects I've seen.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see what that session will be like.
DeleteSounds like Spring has arrived for you! TLA sounds like it will be a great event.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a great reading week
I always come home from TLA with a lot of books.
DeleteBreaking bread sounds like this cafe near my home called Brake for Bread, it's a pun for sure. One improviser even asked everyone on facebook to come up with all the names of 'pun-y restaurants in our area.
ReplyDeleteLove the puns.
DeleteI love Adulthood is a Myth and Book Love, haven't read Strange Planet yet, but I'm glad you enjoyed them all. I wish I joined the War and Peace readalong but I only have time to read during the weekend so I definitely would have fallen behind already.
ReplyDeleteI still need to watch Howards End, I read the book years ago but didn't like it all that much. I honestly can't recall what it was about, though.
Have a wonderful week!
The movie really put me in the right mindset for reading Howards End. I like it so far.
DeleteHallo, Hallo Deb,
ReplyDeleteI can finally resume where I left off with my weekly posts - this is the first Sunday Post I've shared in over a week as I was struck down by a severe cold! :( Wrecked my reading life and of course, due to the ear soreness audios were out of the question! I'm just thankful March has begun but as I was journalling this post throughout the night and morning I realised that February still held within its grasp quite a bit of lovely random joy! :)
Speaking of War & Peace - I came close to attempting it myself a few years ago however the timing ended up being wrong for me. I did participate in a Twitter chat (through #LitChat) I enjoyed immensely as I was talking about the themes within the novel and the overall reach of what the story was meant to tell readers who find it. I loved that discussion as you could talk about the novel even if you hadn't read it as it had relatable themes and topics of interest. In regards to reading stories set at battle I am finding myself drawing back a bit from reading too many of those narratives now - I used to read a LOT of war dramas where you were up close and personal to the action; nowadays I'm trying to seek out the human interest stories and/or the stories set at war but not necessarily at the battlefield. I think we go through seasons of what appeals to us... at least I've found this true for me.
Again, I'm just thankful I'm coming out of the cold! :) I shared some book photos today and I also shared a beautiful #unboxing for a magically curious Middle Grade Fantasy novel I can't wait to be reading!!
So glad you are feeling better.
DeleteOur mourning doves never come up onto the feeder for some reason. Out of all the birds we DO get, the most exciting is still the woodpecker. I just love them and the sounds they make!
ReplyDeleteI read Howard's End and was really excited for the Masterpiece series, but could not get into it at all. I wonder if I would do better with the Anthony Hopkins movie.
Hope you have a fantastic week, Deb!
Funny but here the woodpecker comes to a nearby old tree, but not the feeder.
DeleteThe Masterpiece Howards End started (I thought) very, very slowly.
I can't wait for 75 degrees. It hass been warmer here in Wisconsin. The snow is melting but it's only March 1, there could be another blizzard or two right around the corner.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Lori
So glad I don't live in Wisconsin. I was cold today and the temps were in the high 60s.
DeleteThat's very early azaleas! Pretty color. I'm impressed with your reading of W & P ... such a worthy goal. I haven't read it but will try it sometime!
ReplyDeleteIt's the names that give me the most trouble with W & P. I made a chart of the characters that has been very helpful.
DeleteHey Deb, I am so jealous of your weather! I am so sick of the rain and storms we have been having now! I am pleased to hear you enjoyed watching the TV adaptation of Howards End - I really enjoyed it too and went on to the read the book this year and loved that even more!
ReplyDeleteThe TV adaption is very true to the book, I think.
DeleteHowards End is my favorite E.M.Forster novel. Watching the PBS series made me want to reread it... it's been a long time. Congrats on catching up with W&P. You may just inspire me to give it a try next year!! Your azaleas are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHowards End is a satisfying read. It's a rich story.
DeleteYour library event sounds like fun. I enjoy Katherine Center's books and would love to hear her speak.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your week and your books.
I am eagerly looking forward to hearing Katherine Center speak at the library conference.
DeleteI loved War and Peace as a teenager. There was one summer - I think I was seventeen - when I read and reread it all summer long! That was a lifetime ago, but I still love it. I saw your comment at thecuecard and realized that we live in the same area of the world so I had to hop on over here. I'm glad I found you.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you enjoy birding. My husband and I are active in the chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists in our area, and we will be doing several birding events this spring.
DeleteAdulthood Is a Myth looks wonderful. I've seen her books around for a few years but haven't tried one yet, but want to. And ooh nice weather! It's was in the 50's here today which felt nice, sun was out, but 75... ah that sounds so much better! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm tempted to go swimming this week at the Y. It might be warm enough for me in the outdoor pool.
DeleteEven though it was much warmer today, I feel like we are not living on the same planet, lol. Spring is way down the road in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteOh I loved so much Book Love!!
wow, those TLA sessions sound so fascinating! So glad you can go
Lol. My son and his wife live in Chicago so we are always comparing weather reports. I don't honestly know how anyone can live in a part of the world that is so cold.
DeleteYes, I really liked Book Love. And it was at the library.
I loved Book Love and Adulthood is a Myth but haven't read Strange Planet so I need to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of work to do to get our garden ready for this spring. I'm looking forward to it but also am not ready at all. I'm still not decided on what I want to do but I better get started. It's not going to be summery anytime soon, but with the 50F+ weather coming our way, it's certainly pre-Spring weather.
It was easy to get our seeds started in our hot box. The weather is perfect for our garden.
DeleteI have all three of Sarah Andersen's comic collections. They are fun.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all the comics this week.
Deletelove your beautiful Azaleas :)
ReplyDeleteAzaleas are the most beautiful flower in my yard. Unfortunately they only last a short time.
DeleteI still have not gotten myself ready to read War and Peace.. But the comics you mention - I have read Book Love and liked it(kind of)..
ReplyDeleteStrange Planet is quite fun.
DeleteI want your weather. We still have lots and lots of snow on the ground. I think the sessions you want to attend at TLA sound intriguing. I hope you enjoy them all. Come see my week here. Happy readng!
ReplyDeleteHopefully winter will be over soon for you.
DeleteThe Texas conference sounds really great and I hope you really love it. Just going to peek at Adulthood is a Myth.
ReplyDeleteI have an 8th grade student who is reading War and Peace. He's a good quarter of the way into it. Last year he read Shogun. I read W&P 30 years ago in college, and we had to summarize each chunk of reading in 15 words or less, which was quite a challenge. I have never read or seen Howard's End, but it's on my [severely neglected] Classics Club list, as I have enjoyed other Foster. And I can spend a silly amount of time reading through the webcomics of the books you mentioned--so hilarious!
ReplyDelete