My Favorite Costumes

It's Halloween Freebie time here at Top Ten Tuesday. To celebrate, I decided to share my favorite costumes from my years as a school librarian.

France

Vincent Van Gogh

Germany

Cat in the Hat

Fancy Nancy

Thanksgiving

Africa

Super Reader

Fortuneteller

Queen of the Library

Little Red Riding Hood

China

Witch

Doctor Books

India

Pirate

Hippy

Pakistan

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.     

Novellas in November: My Year in Novellas

 

Week 1 (starts Wednesday 1 November): My Year in Novellas

• During this partial week, tell us about any novellas you have read since last November.

This is my first year to participate in Novellas in November. I decided to clear my table of everything this month except nonfiction and novellas. I just couldn't resist participating since I read so many great novellas this year.

Here is a list of the best novellas I read in 2023. The links take you to my reviews.

Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster (148 pages)

Foster by Claire Keegan (89 pages)

The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien (175 pages)

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (63 pages)

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz (195 pages)

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (118 pages)

Here is a list of books that almost qualify as novellas. Some are a bit too long and some are nonfiction. The reason for their exclusion is provided after the title.

A Woman's Story by Annie Ernaux (104 pages) Nonfiction

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (231 pages) A little too long

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (213 pages) Nonfiction and a little too long

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (182 pages) Nonfiction

For fun, I also listed novels I read this year that were the furthest thing from novellas!

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1,138 pages)

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (724 pages)

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (656 pages)

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (546 pages)

Adam Bede by George Eliot (485 pages)

What are your favorite novellas of 2023?

Nonfiction November: Week 1 (10/30-11/3) Your Year in Nonfiction

Week 1 (10/30-11/3) Your Year in Nonfiction: Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November? (Heather of Based on a True Story)

Statistics

So far in 2023, I have read 210 books.
Exactly half of them, 105 books, are nonfiction.
The breakdown into categories: History 4    Writing 17    Classics 3    Travel 5    Poetry 14    Spirituality/Philosophy 5Books-About-Books 4    Nature/Science 9    Happiness 17    Foodie 9   Social Issues 5    Sports 1    Memoir/Bio 9    Barbie 1


Which, then, are my favorite nonfiction reads of 2023?

Favorite Nonfiction of 2023(Links take you to my reviews)
I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Monica Guzmán
Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own by Mike Greenberg
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
A Woman's Story by Annie Ernaux
Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger
Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark by Julia Baird
Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
The Poetry Remedy: Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind, and Soul by William Sieghart
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah


I am eager to see what nonfiction books you read and enjoyed this year.

The Sunday Salon: Aiming for a Month of Nonfiction and Novellas in November

 

Welcome! I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week plus it's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

What I Read in the Last Few Weeks:

On the Beach by Nevil Shute (#1962Club)

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Booker Finalist)

Cuore: The Heart of a Boy by Edmondo Di Amicis (1001 Children's Book)

What I'm Reading Now:

The Wishing Game by Meg Schaffer

The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans

I thought it wasn't going to happen, but it is. Nonfiction November 2023. My post is here. Will you be participating?

I have always wanted to participate in Novellas in November. I read so many wonderful novellas in 2023. I hope to join in this year. More about Novellas in November is here. Will you be participating?

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: A New Purple Room in Big Sandy!

Searching for Italy, Readerbuzz Edition: High Heels

Nonfiction November 2023

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

The bubble 

holding my 96-year-old dad's torn retina in place

is almost gone, 

and his vision is almost back to normal.

Good Thing #2:

Wednesday is my birthday!

This is the bookish cake

my sweet niece made for me

a few years back.

Good Thing #3:

This weekend is 

granddaughter Annie's 8th birthday,

so we are in Big Sandy again.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.