The Sunday Salon: Home From the TLA Conference, But Still On the Go

  

It's time for Sunday Salon again, and, if I haven't told you lately, I want you to know that I am happy that you are here. 

I don't want to make excuses for my lack of reading, but in the last week I went to a library conference in Austin; attended a play in Houston; heard an author speak in Houston; did the Butterfly Count at Camp Mohawk; participated in the City Nature Challenge; painted faces at Migration Celebration at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge (that's where I am this weekend!); and took a writing class. 

Whew. I'm tired.

Anyway, that's why I only managed to finish two children's books this week.

Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease (1001 Children's Books You Must Read)

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (TBR Pile Challenge)

Silas Marner by George Eliot (Chapter-a-Day Classics Challenge)

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson (Naturalist Book Club)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Classic)

Poverty by America by Matthew Desmond (Nonfiction)

The Bobbsey Twins: Merry Days Indoors and Out (TBR Pile Challenge)

The Happy Writing Book: Discover the Positive Power of Creative Writing (Creativity Challenge)

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Magic Hour

Favorite Audiobook Narrators: Please Suggest These for Me

The Sunday Salon: At the Library Conference in Austin

I hope to update my challenges this week.

I love TLA, and I'm glad I was able to attend this year. The focus everywhere was on finding ways to stop these crazy book bans. Publishers usually flood the attendees with copies of all the most promising new books, but this year I saw a lot of romance and historical fiction titles and little to no literary fiction and thoughtful nonfiction---have some publishers stepped back from Texas?

Just wondering...

Still, there are many wonderful things about TLA...

Good Thing #1

Amazing authors at TLA!

(This is Christina Soontornvat,

children's book author.)

Good Thing #2

Amazing speakers at TLA!

Happiness expert Gretchen Rubin spoke about her new book

which shares how using the five senses can increase your happiness.

Good Thing #3

Amazing free books at TLA!

I brought home 162 books from the conference.

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 Magic Hour

'The last hour before sunset and the first hour after sunrise are coveted by professional photographers. Referred to as “the golden hour” or “magic hour,” these times provide the perfect light to capture stunning photos.' Adobe.

Paris sunrise

Sunset in Florence

Sunrise at my school,

a few months before I retired

The Loire at sunrise

I probably don't have to tell you this one. Sunrise.

Sunset in Utah

My sister and her husband at sunset in Arkansas

Sunset in West Texas

 

For more photos, link up at Wordless Wednesday, Comedy Plus, Messymimi's Meanderings, Keith's Ramblings, Create With Joy, Wild Bird Wednesday, and My Corner of the World.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love or post about anything word-ish. It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post. 

Favorite Audiobook Narrators: Please Suggest These for Me

I have recently started listening to audiobooks.

I have listened to...

Merle Streep...and...

Tom Hanks...

reading audiobooks.

And I loved them.

Who else do you recommend for me?

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.   

The Sunday Salon: At the Library Conference in Austin

 

I am in Austin at the Texas Library Association Conference. More when I return...

Nightcrawling: A Novel by Leila Mottley

I raced through this novel over the weekend in preparation for Leila Mottley's appearance at Inprint in Houston on Monday night. 

It was a grueling read ...more

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Danny and his friends in Tortilla Flat spend their lives hanging out, telling stories, drinking wine, fighting, and spending time with women.

It's a simple story of simple...more

I don't know what I'm reading next. I haven't been able to do anything except speed-read through books in the last few weeks. 

I hope I find something fantastic at the library conference.

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

(Ten of) My Favorite Poems (and an Excerpt from Each)

The Sunday Salon: Killers of the Flower Moon and Becoming Better Grownups

Slavery: "...The Worst of Evils...:" An Exhibit at the Freeport Historical Museum

The Monday of National Library Week - April 24, 2023 - will mark one year since the launch of the Unite Against Book Bans campaign. To honor the occasion, the American Library Association is calling on readers, advocates, and library lovers to fight back against censorship in a national day of action to defend, protect, and celebrate your right to read freely, Right to Read Day.

On the same day, the ALA will release its list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2022. The list follows ALA's recent unveiling of data showing record-shattering attempts to remove books from school and public libraries, and it shows us what types of books are being challenged the most and why.

It's also a call to action.

Join us on #RightToReadDay and beyond by participating in the actions below to support your library and defend the freedom to read in your community.

Good Thing #1. 2, and 3

TLA Conference!

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. 

Slavery: "...The Worst of Evils...:" An Exhibit at the Freeport Historical Museum

I have lived all my life in a county in Texas that calls itself the Cradle of Texas. 

Despite taking a class in Texas history two times in school (as required by the state), I really know very little about where I live.

I knew there were plantations in my county, but I heard nothing about the enslaved people who manned those plantations.

Then I went to an exhibit on slavery held recently at the Freeport Historical Museum. 

I learned that not only was slavery a force in my county, but it was the force that drove the creation and colonization and economy of this county. 

Slave collar from one of Brazoria County's plantations

Stephen F. Austin had planned to create his first colony in Texas near the mouth of the Colorado River, but when he landed instead at the mouth of the Brazos River in 1821, he quickly determined that with the subtropical climate where the temperatures rarely dropped below freezing, a yearly rainfall over 50 inches, and rich alluvial soils, the area would be perfect for sugar plantations. Sugar plantations in 1821 meant riches for the owners. Sugar plantations in 1821 meant slavery. Brazoria County was established in 1836, and, by then, it was considered "a haven for slavery."

Map of plantations in 1852 in Brazoria County

By 1852, there were twenty-nine sugar plantations in Brazoria County. The plantations collectively held more than twelve hundred slaves. By 1860, there were forty-five plantations in the county. In that year, the census taken showed that Brazoria County had 2,027 White people, 5,110 Black enslaved people, and six free Black people. 

A History of Brazoria County Plantations, first published in 1927

How did these enslaved people arrive in Texas? Texas was part of Mexico for much of its early history, and Mexico began to abolish slavery in 1821. Slaveholders smuggled in slaves and, after becoming part of the US, brought them in from other parts of America. Forced breeding was also enforced.

The planters made big profits in the years before the US Civil War. The Mills Brothers owned three plantations that earned $52,000 in 1860 alone. That is equivalent to $1.8 million dollars today. These earnings were, as one writer puts it, "stolen off the backs of the workers."

From a newspaper, 1837

Enslaved people in Brazoria County fought against slavery in every way possible. The primary method was to run away. Thousands are believed to have run away to Mexico. Slaveholders sent out teams of dogs to recapture slaves and rewards were offered.

Artifacts from Brazoria County plantations

The Freeport Historical Museum is a small museum in the southern part of my county. I thank the museum for researching and sharing information about slavery, "the worst of evils," right here in the place I call home. It was a startling experience for me to visit the exhibit and to reflect upon what I saw.

From the website:

During the Antebellum period, Brazoria County was home to forty-five plantations positioned along the Brazos and San Bernard Rivers. Enslaved peoples were trafficked from Africa by way of Cuba using the rivers to reach the plantation sites.

“…this worst of evils…” brings attention to the impact of chattel slavery on Brazoria County from the arrival of Austin’s original 300 to the American Civil War. The exhibit shares the narratives of the enslaved who labored local plantations, as well as exploring the politics and personalities involved in the slave trade. Original artifacts from local plantation sites were displayed.

"...this worst of evils..." - Slavery in Brazoria County Exhibit ran from February 1st to Saturday, March 4th, 2023.

The Freeport Historical Museum thanks staff of the Lake Jackson Historical Association, Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site, and Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site for their help and support in the creation of "...this worst of evils..." - Slavery in Brazoria County Exhibit. It was the largest exhibit put together by the staff of the historical museum.

For more photos, link up at Wordless Wednesday, Comedy Plus, Messymimi's Meanderings, Keith's Ramblings, Create With Joy, Wild Bird Wednesday, and My Corner of the World.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love or post about anything word-ish. It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.