The Sunday Salon: It's Almost Time for Paris in July!

     

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. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

What I Read Last Week:

How the Mountains Grew by John Dvorak (Naturalist Group Book Club)

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center (Romance)

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (Nonfiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (1000 Books)

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (in French for Paris in July)

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery; Book Club)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in 2024

The Sunday Salon: A Week of Tropical Storm Alberto, Hunting for Pollinators, and Some Happy Reading

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson

What are my plans for Paris in July this year?

My number one goal is to read Madame Bovary in French. 

I have a dozen other Paris-ish books on hand from my list.

I will continue to practice my French on Duolingo.

Do you have any plans for Paris in July?

20 Books of Summer: 9 / 20 books completed

Big Books of Summer: 2 books completed

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:

Up close and personal

with mantises

at our Texas Master Naturalist

Advanced Training Day: Insects.

Good Thing #2:

Paris in July starts!

See Words and Peace 

for more information.

Good Thing #3:

I was feeling low after the Thursday night debate,

but a friend asked me to go in search

of a Great Kiskadee

that had been sighted in a neighboring town.

We were delighted to 

find and photograph the bird.

The consolations of nature.

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.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson

 

Today's Featured Book 

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

 by Erik Larson

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: April 30, 2024

Page Count: 559 pages

Summary: 

"On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.

Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals."

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

"I was well into my research on the saga of Fort Sumter and the advent of the American Civil War when the events of January 6, 2021, took place. As I watched the Capitol assault unfold on camera, I had the eerie feeling that past and present had merged."

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice, but Freda is currently taking a break and Anne of Head Full of Books is filling in. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

'And here he waved a scimitar of words that would bring him lasting fame: "No, sir, you dare not make war on cotton. No power on earth dares make war upon it. Cotton is King."'

The parallels with today's lies and exaggerations widely proclaimed as well as the use-any-means strategies to keep those in power in power at all costs---are concerning.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

June 28th-July 4th - Which do you enjoy doing more on the 4th of July: watching fireworks light up the sky or reading an inviting book? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Reading beats just about everything else for me...though, of course, it's possible to reading while watching fireworks light up the sky...

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in 2024

Here are the books I'm most eagerly awaiting...some have recently been published, but I haven't been able to read yet, but most are releasing later in 2024...

Playground by Richard Powers (Fiction)

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction)

The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Fiction)

The Backyard Bird Chronicles written and illustrated by Amy Tan (Nonfiction)

The Birds That Audubon Missed by Kenn Kaufman (Nonfiction)

Help Wanted: One Rooster written by Julie Falatko and illustrated by Andrea Stegmaier (Picture Book)

Sandwich by Catherine Newman (Fiction)

There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib (Nonfiction)

Writing on Empty by Natalie Goldberg (Nonfiction)

Bear by Julia Phillips (Fiction)

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Fiction)

Are you hoping to read any of these?

What else have I left off my list?

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: A Week of Tropical Storm Alberto, Hunting for Pollinators, and Some Happy 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. 

Storm surge from Tropical Storm Alberto causes flooding in Surfside Beach.

My town is just north of Surfside Beach.

(Houston Chronicle photo)

I've lived along the Texas Gulf Coast my entire life, and I will tell you that it is not an auspicious sign for the 2024 hurricane season to have Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the season, develop in the Gulf in mid-June. 

Fortunately for us, the storm did not aim directly for Texas. 

I am participating in Pollinator Week this week. Wish me luck. So far, I've taken photos of 54 pollinators, with 24 different pollinator species. Worrisome fact: So far, I've not seen a bee of any species.

I've been scrambling around to find some wonderful summer reading, and, in the meantime, as it always does, my wonderful summer reading found me. I've been requesting, receiving, and then almost immediately returning so many library books this June that I feared my library, in frustration with me, might confiscate my card. 

Finally this week, I listened to you, the avid readers of the world, and I ended up reading some fantastic books. 

Instead of looking for some gentle summer reads, I figured out that what I need this summer is some gentle yet thoughtful reads; pure fluff just doesn't satisfy me these days. 

What I Read Last Week:

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger (Adult Fiction)

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy (Adult Novella)

Countdown by Deborah Wiles (Children's Fiction)

The White Stone by Gunnel Linde (Children's Fiction; 1001 Children's Books)

It's Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People by Ramani Durvasula (Nonfiction; Happiness)

Jackie and the Mona Lisa by Debbie Rovin Murphy (Picture Book; Paris in July)

What I'm Reading Now:

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (1000 Books)

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (in French for Paris in July)

How the Mountains Grew by John Dvorak (Naturalist Group Book Club)

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center (Romance)

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (Nonfiction)

Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy #2) by Deborah Wiles (Children's Fiction)

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery; Book Club)

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 husband and I shared 

my husband's rock, mineral, and fossil collection

with a group of kids at a camp this week.

Good Thing #2:

Pollinator Week.

Good Thing #3:

I am delighted to discover

Poetry in America on PBS.

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.