New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023

Claire Keegan

Jessica Townsend

Huda Fahmy

Annie Dillard

Raymond Chandler

Ada Limón

R. F. Kuang

Catherine Newman

Lissa Evans

Ann Napolitano

Kevin Wilson

Henri Nouwen

Julian Barnes

Angie Cruz

Who did you discover in 2023?

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: Drawing Class, Annie Wins a Game, and Sandhill Cranes, Plus Some Good Reading

    

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. 

Do you ever have the sort of reading week where you just enjoy everything you are reading? That's what last week was for me. 

I listened to Hollowpox, the third book of the Morrigan Crow fantasy series, and (this is not usual for me---I never read books in a series) I continued to want to see what happens next. Apparently, there will be a fourth book later this year.

The Artist's Way was full of good ideas for writers. I especially like the idea of doing Morning Pages (though I doubt I will ever write three pages every morning) and going on Artist's Dates (off to explore an interest once a week).

My friend Rae passed The Lost Bookshop on to me, and it was a nice diversion.

I think I liked Lady Tan's Circle of Women best last week. I enjoyed reading about the life of a woman doctor in fifteen century China. I'm always fascinated with what women's lives were like in other places and other times, and this was an especially rich experience.

What I Read Last Week:

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See (Historical Fiction)

Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Fantasy)

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (Creativity)

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods (Magical Fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

Magic by the Lake: Magic Tales #2 by Edward Eager (Children's Fantasy)

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Oceans by Susan Casey (Nonfiction)

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (Classic Club)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Four Nights of Freezing Weather

Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Searching for Italy: Sacra di San Michele

I am delighted that my Classics Club spin landed on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

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

Good Thing #1:

I went to my first (ever!) drawing class. 

We learned about shading.

Good Thing #2:

G-daughter Annie, 8, played her second basketball game,

and her team won.

Annie hit a free throw.

This time, she dribbled the ball toward the right goal.

Good Thing #3:

A call from a naturalist friend sent me just outside my town

to see my first Sandhill Cranes.

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.

Searching for Italy: Sacra di San Michele

Our trip to Italy is inspired by the Stanley Tucci series, Searching for Italy, in which Stanley (I think he would want me to call him that) visits the twenty regions of Italy in search of the best foods. 

We stay in two regions during our three-week trip to Italy, Piedmont and Puglia. Piedmont is in the northern part of Italy, and Puglia is along the coast in the southern part of Italy.

During our time in Piedmont, we visit Sacra di San Michele. 

Sacra di San Michele was constructed between 983 and 987 AD. 

It is on Mount Pirchiriano near Turin. 

It was run by the Benedictines originally. 

Sacra di San Michele is part of the Itinerario di Gerusalemme. Later in our trip we will stop at Monte Sant'Angelo in Puglia, also part of this same route for pilgrims.

One of the many paintings on the walls depicts St. Michael, an archangel who fought with Satan.

An amazing view from the top.

Happily, we discover Ristorante della Sacra just outside the abbey. Here we eat ravioli with cream cheese in a fondue sauce and cabbage rolls with rice. Hope Stanley gets the chance to eat here, too.

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.

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.