Leonard and Hungry Paul; The Lion; and How to Love the World

 

I have been wanting to read Leonard and Hungry Paul for over a year now, and I finally got a copy and read it last week. If you like action in your stories, skip this one, but if you think you might like a gently humorous story about two men in their thirties who still live at home with their parents and are friends, you should look for it.

Has anyone read The Lion by Joseph Kessel? I'd love to hear your thoughts. It's a book from my 1001 Children's Books list, and---wow---what a story. It's an old book, and it's set in Africa, and the narrator is an upper-class elitist typical of his day. Despite these limitations, there is an energy that runs through the characters that is strikingly similar to the energies found in the natural world, and I read the story almost hypnotically to the inevitable conclusion.

Poetry is powerful. But it often focuses on the pain in life and the troubles people face. Want to read something from another point of view? I offer How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope.

How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope (Poems) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Lion: A Novel by Joseph Kessel (1001 Children's Books) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Syllabus by Lynda Barry (Writing) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Leonard and Hungry Paul: A Novel (Mood-Boosting) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Annie Lumsden: The Girl from the Sea by David Almond (Children's Book) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Driving Hungry: A Memoir (Foodie) ⭐⭐⭐

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (Nonfiction Challenge)...42%

Yes, and...Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr (Daily Meditation Reading)...85%

100 Poems to Break Your Heart (National Poetry Month)...Waiting on the return of this book from the library

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (Chapter-a-Day Read)...33%

Favorite Folktales from Around the World collected by Jane Yolen (Classics Club Spin)...48%

Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (Naturalist Book Club)...7%

I shared my list of favorite bird books, Birds of a Feather Flock Together, last week, and I got lots of wonderful recommendations for bird books I should read next.

For Wondrous Words Wednesday, I spoke about the trials for this American of reading British English: When English is (Really) English.

Good Thing #1: We saw two kinds of huge Swallowtails during our Butterfly Monitoring last week. 

Good Thing #2: Our garden is full of cherry tomatoes and kale and green beans and jalapenos.

Good Thing #3: Last week we spent a day with our g-kids, Annie and Wyatt. Here's a photo of Annie and me making cookies, while, unbeknownst to us, Wyatt is sneaking a bit of dough.

I'm happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's 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.