20 Years of BookCrossing

It's my 20th anniversary at BookCrossing.

Here's a link to my BookCrossing shelf.

BookCrossing Highlights:

1. First BookCrossing book I read:  The Westing Game, part of a bookray, in 2002.

2. First BookCrossing book I found: The Little Prince on a sale cart at my hometown library in 2002.

3. First book I BookCrossed: Writing Down the Bones in 2002.

4. Record set for one of the most-traveled BookCrossing books with

 Book Lust, sending it out all across the US and around the world.

Book Lust (now #17 on the all-time list).

5. Spent a happy day at Boston Public Gardens talking with a book friend, Marcia,

with a BookCrossed copy of Make Way for Ducklings near the ducklings' statues in the gardens,

watching parents pick up the book and read all or part of it to their children.

6. Released 450 books at the 2009 Texas Library Association Conference in Houston: Astonishing BookCrossing Release Results!

7. Created the Grow-a-Reader Bookring in which a box of kids' books was passed around, shared with reading friends all over the US. 

8. Registered over 6,000 books.

10. Released over 6,500 books into the wild.

It always makes me happy when someone finds a book I've released into the wild and journals it at BookCrossing. 

Are you a member of BookCrossing? Have you ever found a BookCrossing book in the wild?

 

Six New Releases I Might Read in the Last Half of 2023

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean

by Casey, Susan.

Summary: From New York Times bestselling author Susan Casey, an awe-inspiring portrait of the mysterious world beneath the waves, and the men and women who seek to uncover its secrets.

Tom Lake: a Novel

by Patchett, Ann.

Summary: In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Hello Stranger

by Center, Katherine.

Summary: Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she's celebrating the biggest achievement of her life placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition the next she's lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a probably temporary condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features---Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie's new reality. But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls in love not with one man but two. The timing couldn't be worse. Making judgment calls on anything right now is a nightmare. If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to have it all. 

The Undertow : Scenes from a Slow Civil War

by Sharlet, Jeff.

    Summary: "One of America's finest reporters and essayists explores the powerful currents beneath the roiled waters of a nation coming apart. Across the country, men "of God" glorify materialism, a gluttony of the soul, while citing Scripture and preparing for civil war--a firestorm they long for as an absolution and exaltation. Lies, greed, and glorification of war boom through microphones at hipster megachurches that once upon a time might have preached peace and understanding. Political rallies are as aflame with need and giddy expectation as religious revivals. Framing this dangerous vision, Sharlet remembers and celebrates the courage of those who sing a different song of community, and of an America long dreamt of and yet to be fully born, dedicated to justice and freedom for all."

Such Kindness: A Novel

by Dubus, Andre, III.

Summary: After a bad fall, Tom, in constant pain and addicted to painkillers at the cost of his relationships with his wife and son, realizes he can never work again and ends up in subsidized housing, where he hatches a scheme to commit convenience-check fraud with neighbors he considers lowlifes.

The Talk

   by Bell, Darrin

Summary: Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn’t have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are. Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. While coming of age in Los Angeles―and finding a voice through cartooning―Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and police officers and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans and showcasing revealing insights and cartoons along the way, he brings us up to the moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And now Bell must decide whether he and his own six-year-old son are ready to have The Talk.

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: Hot, Hot, Hot

 

Whew. I don't know about you,

but it's hot here.

The air conditioner runs all day.

It only cools down to 80 degrees F at night.

What I'm Reading Now:

Three big books:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Large Print)---883 pages

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese---724 pages

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas---1,079 pages

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Sometimes It's Good to Let Things Go...

Books on My Summer 2023 to-Read List

Good Thing #1

My two brothers (left), my dad, me, (middle) and my sister (far right)

were able to get together for Father's Day.

Good Thing #2

This enormous sunflower

that grew from a stray seed 

near the bird feeders.

Good Thing #3

A friend and I visited the site of the Juneteenth announcement

in Galveston this week and took a close look at the new 

"Absolute Equality" mural there.

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 on My Summer 2023 to-Read List

20 Books of Summer Challenge

It’s time once again for the 20 Books of Summer, hosted by 746 Books. This year the event kicked off on Wednesday 1 June and will finish on Thursday 1 September. If you want to join in, just take the Books of Summer image, and pick your own 10, 15, or 20 books you would like to read. Post the link to your choices in the post’s comments here.

My list:

1. Mrs. Bridge by Evan Connell

2. The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

4. Pictures from Italy by Charles Dickens

5. How the Light Gets in: Writing as a Spiritual Practice by Pat Schneider

6. The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall

7. Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales

8. The Italians by John Hooper

9. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

10. A Woman's Story by Annie Ernaux

11. The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick  

12. An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain

13. How Italian Food Conquered the World by John F. Mariani

14. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

15. Eating My Way Through Italy: Heading Off the Main Roads to Discover the Hidden Treasures of the Italian Table by Elizabeth Minchilli

16. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

17. Food Americana by David Page

18. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith

19. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

20. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

13/20 - Finished as of 7/1/23. 

Links take you to my reviews.

Big Book Summer Challenge, the annual summer reading challenge, kicks off at the start of Memorial Day weekend! Check out last year's challenge page for details, pick out a Big Book (400 or more pages) or two, and join the fun! A new challenge page and Goodreads group for sign-ups was posted at Book by Book at the end of May.

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

What do you hope to read this summer?

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: Sometimes It's Good to Let Things Go...

What I Read Last Week:

A Woman's Story by Annie Ernaux (Nobel Prize Winner; Memoir)

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Book Club Reread)

You: A Writer's Guide to Craft Through Memory by Ruta Septys (Writing)

Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury (Writing)

Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg (Writing)

Pictures from Italy by Charles Dickens (Italy; Nonfiction; Travel)

The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick (Italy; Fiction)

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales (Nonfiction)

I found A Woman's Story to be a powerful book, and the author worthy of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It's the story of the death of Ernaux's mother. If you read and enjoyed a Claire Keegan novel, I feel safe in predicting that you will like A Woman's Story, too.

I listened to No. 1 Ladies' Detective for my book club this month, and I found it just as solid as I did when I first read it twenty years ago.

I wrote less-than-positive reviews for five books this week: You, Zen, Wild Mind, Pictures from Italy, Italian Hotel, and Spirals. It's not the books; I think I wasn't in the mood for reading these.

What I'm Reading Now:

I'm reading two more Italy-related books this week, and reading these has helped restore my reading mojo. One is a very light novel, My Italian Bulldozer, also by Alexander McCall Smith, and the other is a light overview of the history and current life of the Italian people titled, appropriately, The Italians, written by John Hooper. 

I'm definitely planning to dig into The Covenant of Water this week, and I'm about 15% of the way into Count of Monte Cristo.

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: I Commit to Writing a Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very-Bad Novel This Summer

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: Friday Book Friends: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

The Last Ten Books I Couldn't Resist Buying

Good Thing #1

Since Lance Wood from the National Weather Service

spoke at our Texas Master Naturalist meeting

about hurricanes,

I now know a lot about storm surge

and flooding risk and tornadoes and wind speed

and how all these relate to hurricanes 

here along the Gulf Coast of Texas.

So I guess this is a good thing...lol...

Good Thing #2

Tamara of Thyme for Tea and I 

decided not to host Paris in July this year.

Tamara said she'd be happy to pass this on

if someone else would like to host.

Let me know if you'd like to do this in July,

and I'll share Tamara's contact info.

Good Thing #3

I decided not to serve as category chair

for Fiction Picture Books and Board Books

this year for the Cybils Awards.

Happily, one of the wonderful judges on the panel

agreed to take this on in 2023.

Sometimes it's good to let things go...

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.