Books Set On-the-Road

Many of my favorite books are set on-the-road.

On-the-Road may be my favorite book setting.

Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

True Grit by Charles Portis

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

Do you have any favorite books that are set on-the-road?

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: New to My TBR

 For the fourth year in a row, Rebecca of Bookish Beck and Cathy of 746 Books are celebrating the art of the short* book by co-hosting Novellas in November as a month-long challenge.

This year we have five prompts, adapted from ones commonly used for Nonfiction November. (*A reminder that we suggest 200 pages as the upper limit for a novella.)

Here’s the schedule:

Week 5 (starts Monday 27 November): New to My TBR

• In the last few days, talk about the novellas you’ve added to your TBR since the month began.

---

Here are the books I added to my TBR this month. 

Thank you for your contributions to this list.

Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan (184 pages; short stories)

Happening by Annie Ernaux (96 pages)

Sundays in August by Patrick Modiano (168 pages)

The House on the Hill by Cesare Pavese (176 pages)

The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi (208 pages; memoir)

Passing by Nella Larson (176 pages)

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (128 pages)

La Vie: A Year in Rural France by John Lewis-Stemple (195 pages)

My Neglected Gods by Joanna Nelson (130 pages)

Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith (126 pages)

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (125 pages)

Nonfiction November: Week 5 (11/27-12/1) New To My TBR

Week 5 (11/27-12/1) New To My TBR: It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book! (Lisa of Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)

Foodie

Red Sauce, Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey by Felicity Cloake, recommended by LouLouReads.

Memoir/Biography

A Kind of Magic by Anna Spargo-Ryan, recommended by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best.

Science/Nature

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert, recommended by Harry at Unsolicited Feedback.

Self-Help/Happiness/Health

No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard C. Schwartz, recommended by Lory at Entering the Enchanted Castle.

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery, recommended by Liz at Adventures at Reading, Running, and Working from Home.

Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell, recommended by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best.

Bliss More: How to Succeed in Meditation Without Even Trying by Light Watkins, recommended by Laura at Reading in Bed.

The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolk, recommended by Brona at Brona's Books.

Social Issues

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit, considered by Reese at Typings.

Spirituality/Philosophy

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen, recommended by Lory at Entering the Enchanted Castle.

Pray First by Chris Hodges, recommended by Anne at Head Full of Books.

Travel

The Unofficial Countryside by Richard Mabey, recommended by Liz at Adventures at Reading, Running, and Working from Home.

Writing

Time to Write by Emily Winslow, recommended by Shoe's Seeds and Stories.

Write Out Loud by Naomi Nakashima, recommended by Shoe's Seeds and Stories.

The Way of the Fearless Writer by Beth Kempton, recommended by Beverley at Beverley A Baird.

What nonfiction titles did you add to your TBR this month?

The Sunday Salon: Four Thanksgiving Feasts!

 

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. 

I'm enjoying my fourth Thanksgiving family get-together this weekend in New Ulm, Texas. The first three celebrations featured traditional Thanksgiving foods, but this weekend we will dine on tamales and fajitas. When I get home, I plan to spend the rest of this weekend enjoying the Thankfully Reading Weekend. 

What I Read Last Week:

Ten-Word Tiny Tales to Inspire and Unsettle by Joseph Coelho and 21 Artist Friends

Yes, I realize that this looks sad---just one little picture book read last week.

But hear me out...I read this book as a collection of what I am calling picture book novellas, and this is Novellas in November month. And I was struck by the part of the title that mentions these tiny tales are "to inspire and unsettle." And I agree; they definitely inspire and they definitely unsettle. Might not want to share a couple of these tiny stories with the tiniest of readers, but they were a hit with me.

What I'm Reading Now:

I hope to finish up a couple of nonfiction reads and novella reads before the end of November.

Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships is Wrong by Eric Barker (Nonfiction)

Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most by Miroslav Volf (Nonfiction)

Western Lane by Chetha Maroo (Novella)

In Concrete by Anne Garréta (Novella)

 

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Tearing Up the Roads

Nonfiction November: Week 4 (11/20-11/24) Worldview Shapers

What I'm Grateful For in 2023

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

My husband and my dad play cornhole

at my dad's farm in East Texas.

Fifteen members of my family

 go fishing, play baseball,

swing, drive the tractor, and eat good food.

It is here we enjoy our first Thanksgiving.

Good Thing #2:

The beautiful pines of East Texas alongside 

the rustic cabin where I stay when I visit.

Note the front porch lavatory. 

Plus...

...two of the reasons why I visit East Texas 

and stay in the rustic cabin.

I celebrate my second Thanksgiving here.

Good Thing #3:

I discover an odd obsession with Sasquatch 

at the home of my nephew, Erik.

Ten of us enjoy our third Thanksgiving celebration here.

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.

What I'm Grateful For in 2023

Left to right and circling down and to the right and up: Face painting at Migration Celebration at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge for my Texas Master Naturalist group; making blueberry pie for Pi Night; my dad (middle) with my two brothers and my sister and me; Readerbuzz's 15th blogoversary; author Christina Soontornvat at the Texas Library Association Conference; my sister, brother-in-law, my husband, and me in Italy; grandkids Wyatt and Annie help me bake a cake; granddaughter Bailey with g-granddaughter Lucy and b-friend Daniel; friends and I go see Barbie; watercolors; My Favorite Books of All Time; jazz concert at the bookstore of my friend, Rae; g-kids Annie and Wyatt face off with a llama at a wildlife park; Texas Pollinator Study; Rae opens her bookstore, Rae's Reads; grandpup Jordan; Breakfast Mamas get-together; plethora of tomatoes from our garden; we visit Lisa and Ben and Lisa's parents in Chicago; oh, that fantastic backyard garden; g-granddaughter Lucy; we take a train ride with friends Mac and Karen.

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.  

Nonfiction November: Week 4 (11/20-11/24) Worldview Shapers

Week 4 (11/20-11/24) Worldview Shapers: One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is learning all kinds of things about our world which you never would have known without it. There’s the intriguing, the beautiful, the appalling, and the profound. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Do you think there is a book that should be required reading for everyone? (Rebekah of She Seeks Nonfiction) 

I Never Thought of It That Way by Monica Guzmán

I Think You're Wrong, But I'm Listening by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers

Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt 

by Arthur C. Brooks

Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse by Timothy P. Carney

Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam

I've been dismayed about the state of community and civil discourse in America for many years. 

It was Stephen L. Carter's Civility that first set me thinking about the very uncivil ways citizens 

in America talk to each other. Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam shared statistics that revealed the

frayed and battered state of the American community. I read both of these twenty years ago.

Love Your Enemies and Alienated America are books I ran across about four years ago, and 

both of these alerted me to the ways in which our community has become even weaker 

and our civil discourse has become even more strident. 

In the last two years, I've focused on learning ways to talk with those I disagree with, and, to help

me, I've read I Think You're Wrong, But I'm Listening and I Never Thought of It That Way.

I welcome any other book recommendations you might share with me.

The Sunday Salon: Tearing Up the Roads

 

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. 

I spent last weekend at the Texas Book Festival in Austin with my writing buddies, and I'm in East Texas this weekend to enjoy an early Thanksgiving with family there. I can't seem to stay home much these days...

What I Read Last Week:

Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir by Lisa Dale Norton (Nonfiction)

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl (Nonfiction)

Banned Books: The World's Most Controversial Books, Past and Present (Nonfiction)

The Skull by Jon Klassen (Children's Books)

(Links take you to my reviews)

What I'm Reading Now:

Figuring by Maria Popova (Nonfiction)

Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships is Wrong by Eric Barker (Nonfiction)

Western Lane by Chetha Maroo (Novella)

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (Nonfiction)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Popular Authors that I Still Have Not Read (and, Honestly, I Never Want to Read)

Novellas in November: Broadening My Horizons

Nonfiction November: Week 3 (11/13-11/17) Book Pairings

The Sunday Salon: At the 55% Mark for My Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very-Bad Novel

We are celebrating an early Thanksgiving in East Texas with my extended family this weekend. 

Here's the menu: Fried turkey, roasted turkey, dressing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, rolls, fruit salad, ham, pie, cookies, pumpkin bread, and cranberry sauce.

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:

My writing friends and I 

had a Writing Weekend in Austin

last week. We visited the Capitol

and went to the Texas Book Festival and wrote.

Good Thing #2:

My friends and I spent a lot of time 

last weekend at the best bookstore in the world,

BookPeople in Austin.

Good Thing #3:

Zadie Smith at Inprint in Houston.

I plan to write more about her visit soon.

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.