It's Almost a Brand-New Year!

 

What a busy week! 

I spent much of the week trying to help my dad with his wife who is recovering from Congestive Heart Failure. Rosa is at home, but she's weak, and, though both of them are in their 90s, my dad still thinks he can do all the cooking and shopping and cleaning and lawn care of a 3,000 sq. ft. house on two acres. It's difficult to talk him into letting us help. 

I'm not sure how he does it. Just the little I've helped out---and I'm beat.

The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book by Jerry Seinfeld has been perfect for me this week. I read on it in little pieces and bits, and it brightened my days. 

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: 🎄 Wishing You a Very, Very Merry Christmas! 🎄

Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection

Wondrous Words: My Favorite, New-to-Me Words of the Year

The 2022 Cybils Awards Finalists will be announced on January 1, 2023! 

Happily, I have finished all the reading challenges I took on in 2022. My wrap-up is here.

Now on to 2023!

Good Thing #1

We were happy to enjoy several Christmas celebrations

with family and friends this year.

Good Thing #2

Santa was good to me.

Good Thing #3

We were delighted to spend time with Annie and Wyatt.

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. 

The Small Joys Tag 2022

 

Thanks to Rae at Powerful Women Readers for tagging me in this fun meme for the first time in 2020. I enjoyed it so much then (see that post here) that I decided to do it in 2021, too (see last year's post here) and I'm doing it again this year.

We are being asked to list 15 Small Joys in our lives, then tag 5 other bloggers who bring us joy. Here goes:

I tag anyone who would like to reflect upon the small joys of this year, and I leave you with a bit of this lovely poem...

My Small Joys (from top left spiraling around to center): Visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Chicago; finding fossils in Montana; staying in the Loire Valley in France; our naturalist group doing an event in inner-city Houston; my Aunt Karen moves back to Texas; my 95-year-old dad and his wife; my whole family gets together; butterfly monitoring; journaling; my first great-grandchild; grandchildren Annie and Wyatt; my friend Lisa beats breast cancer; I go to Paris; baking fun; new floors; Wrigley Field.

Thanks by W. S. Merwin:

"Listen

with the night falling we are saying thank you

we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings

we are running out of the glass rooms

with our mouths full of food to look at the sky

and say thank you..."

My Favorite, New-to-Me Words of the Year

I do love words,

and I bet you do, too.

I would like to thank Mareli of Elza's Reads for hosting Wondrous Words each month.

Wondrous Words, a meme where participants post once a month about words that interest them, affords me the opportunity to celebrate words.

Here are my favorite, new-to-me words from 2022.

BEJAKA

Swedish (bay-AH-kah)

"A word that frequently recurs in Swedish and is quite untranslatable outside the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, it encapsulates a whole philosophy. Livbejakelse consists of liv, meaning 'life,' and bejakelse, meaning 'saying yes,' hence 'affirmation of life.' Bejaka means an enthusiastic, optimistic, or joyful attitude, and, when applied to life, signifies far more than just agreeing to live. Within this one word we sense a greeting --- a welcome to all the vicissitudes that life may bring and an understanding acceptance of people and things as they are."

SELAH...

a quiet, reflective pause.

HUGFANGINN...

enthralled, absorbed, captivated.

RECIPROCITY...

As evidenced by the monarch and the milkweed...

"We are all bound by a covenant of reciprocity: plant breath for animal breath, winter and summer, predator and prey, grass and fire, night and day, living and dying. Water knows this, clouds know this. Soil and rocks know they are dancing in a continuous giveaway of making, unmaking, and making again the earth."

from Braiding Sweetgrass

OXYMORONICA (OK-se-mor-ON-uh-ca)

Any variety of tantalizing, self-contradictory statements or observations

 that on the surface appear false or illogical, 

but at a deeper level are true, often profoundly true.

Did you discover any new words in 2022?

Do you write about words?

I encourage you to consider posting Wondrous Words

on the last Wednesday of the month

at Elza Reads.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.

Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection

New Kindle books for my birthday...

and Santa was very, very good to me...

Great Short Books

Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist

The Best of Brevity: Twenty Groundbreaking Years of Flash Nonfiction

Books that Saved My Life (birthday)

Revenge of the Librarians

Plus...Bookopoly and look at those book shoes!

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.    

🎄 Wishing You a Very, Very Merry Christmas! 🎄

 

My Santa Claus honey (it's mi esposo) and I, circa 2014 or so

Wishing you and the ones you love 

🎄 a Very, Very Merry Christmas! 🎄

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. 

Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year

Dear Santa,

I have been very good this year.

I'd really like for you to bring me a book for Christmas this year.

Here are some books I am eager to read.

Take care,

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

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.    

2022 Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

Happily, I've finished all three challenges I took on in 2022.

2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

How It Works:

You can select, read and review a book from the categories listed below during the year for a total of up to 12 books; OR select, read and review any nonfiction book. A book may be in print, electronic or audio format.

Choose a Goal:

Nonfiction Nipper: Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories

Nonfiction Nibbler: Read & review 6 books, from any 6 listed categories

Nonfiction Nosher: Read & review 12 books, one for each category

Nonfiction Grazer: Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal

Categories:

1. Social History...How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith

2. Popular Science...I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong

3. Language...In Other Words by Christopher J. Moore

4. Medical...Patient Zero by Lydia Kang

5. Climate/Weather...The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

6. Celebrity...The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs

7. Reference...The Happiness Dictionary: Words from Around the World to Help Us Live a Richer Life

8. Geography...An Atlas of Extinct Countries by Defoe Gideon

9. Linked to a Podcast...Don't Overthink It by Anne Bogel

10. Wild Animals...Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by F.B.M. de Waal

11. Economics...Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel

12. Published in 2022...Read Dangerously by Azar Nafisi

Favorite Book(s):

How the Word is Passed

Patient Zero

I Contain Multitudes

How I Did: 

12/12...Finished!

Back to the Classics Challenge 2022

How It Works:

The Back to the Classics Challenge has been hosted by Karen from Books and Chocolate for nine years. "The Back to the Classics Challenge is a year-long challenge in which participants are encouraged to finally read the classics they've always meant to read -- or just recently discovered." 

If my name is drawn to win the prize for the challenge (And it won't be, as I never win anything! Ha!) you can contact me at debnance at gmail dot com.

Goal: 

Read from all 12 categories.

I have earned 3 entries to the wonderful prize Karen offers!

Categories:

1. A 19th century classic. The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett.

2. A 20th century classic. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis.

3. A classic by a woman author. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton.

4. A classic in translation. Nana by Émile Zola. 

5. A classic by BIPOC author. Native Son by Richard Wright.

6. Mystery/detective/crime classic. Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux.

7. A classic short story collection. Dubliners by James Joyce.

8. Pre-1800 classic. The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

9. A nonfiction classic.  My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir.

10. A classic that's been on your TBR list the longest. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

11. A classic set in a place you'd like to visit. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy.

12. Wild card classic. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.

I also completed these additional classics in 2022:

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë.

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis.

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis.

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell.

The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton.

Nobody's Boy by Hector Malot. 

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis.

The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen by Rudolph Eric Raspe.

The Otterbury Incident by Cecil Day-Lewis.

The Robber Holzenplotz by Otfried Pruebler.

The Hills is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith.

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys.

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield.

Favorite Book(s): 

Siddhartha

How I Did:

12/12...Finished!

2022 Chapter-a-Day Read-along: A Year of Classic Women Authors

How It Works:

The 2022 Chapter-a-Day Read-along is hosted by Nick of One Catholic Life. In 2022, Nick planned to read books in 2022 that I'm not interested in, so I decided to create my own list of books.

• Get a copy of each of the books listed below. Or read them online. All of them are available at Project Gutenberg at the links found in the descriptions below.
• Commit to reading a chapter a day, starting on January 1, 2022. If you get behind or race ahead, no worries. As 2020 taught us so well, life happens.
• If you feel like it, highlight a line a day from the current chapter.

Books:

• Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield: January 1 to January 12 (12 chapters = 12 days)
• Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton: January 13 to February 27 (46 chapters = 46 days)
• Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: February 28 to March 6 (7 chapters = 7 days)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy: March 7 to April 6 (31 chapters = 31 days)
• Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton: April 7 to April 16 (10 chapters = 10 days)
• Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell: April 17 to May 24 (38 chapters = 38 days) 
• The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot: May 25 to September 3 (57 chapters = 57 days)
• Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: October 15 to November 8 (25 chapters = 25 days)
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte: November 9 to December 31 (53 chapters = 53 days)

Favorite Book(s):

Custom of the Country

How I Did:

9/9...Finished

Did you do any reading challenges in 2022?
How did you do?
What challenges will you take on in 2023?