Write for Your Life; Poetry Rx; Around the World in 80 Books; and Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? (Uh, No)

 

I'm off to North Texas this weekend to attend the high school graduation party of our granddaughter, Bailey. 

I finished Mary Barton this week, and I must say that I was a bit disappointed. Author Elizabeth Gaskell focused on the lives of desperately impoverished people of Manchester in Mary Barton and that was the part of this book I thought was impressive for a book that was first published in 1848. But the story plays out a little like a fairy tale, with bad people coming to a bad end and good people living happy lives, and that was my disappointment. 

I was also a little disappointed with On Quality, a posthumously published collection of quotes from writer and philosopher Robert M. Pirsig. It didn't really add much to what he'd already published in his two books, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila, but it was a nice reminder of the thoughts he'd already shared. And the illustrations, photos of Pirsig's tools, added a lot to the book.

I completed two 1001 Children's Books, Nobody's Family is Going to Change, a novel, and Gargling with Jelly, a humorous poetry collection. I read Anna Quindlan's wonderful Write for Your Life. And I wrapped up Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are, concluding that we probably are not.

Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen (Nonfiction)

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal (Nonfiction)

Nobody's Family is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh (1001 Children's Books)

Gargling with Jelly by Brian Patten (1001 Children's Books)

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (Chapter-a-Day; Classics Club)

On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings by Robert M. Pirsig (Nonfiction)

Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton Hill (Nonfiction)

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis (Narniathon)

Around the World in 80 Books by David Damrosch (Book-About-Books)

Poetry Rx: How 50 Inspiring Poems Can Heal and Bring Joy to Your Life (Happiness; Poetry)

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (Chapter-a-Day)

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

Sunday Salon: Kindergarten Graduation and a Walk Across the Prairie and Even a Little Bit of Reading

Books I Was So Excited to Get But Still Haven't Read Yet

Wordless Wednesday: Monet's Garden at Giverny

My husband has been suffering from a cough for several days and he finally took a Covid test (negative) and went to the doctor. The doctor thinks his allergies have gone crazy from all the time we've been spending outdoors, and we're trying to stay indoors a little more until all the pollen subsides.

All the time we have spent outdoors has 

allowed us to see several new-to-us species of butterflies lately.

Good Thing #1

Orange Sulphur

Good Thing #2

Spicebush Swallowtail

Good Thing #3

Southern Dogface

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place 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.