The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 

Today's Featured Book for Banned Book Week: 

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (Picture Book)

written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

illustrated by Nikkolas Smith

Genre: Historical Fiction

Published: November 16, 2021

Page Count: 48 pages

Summary: 

A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders.

But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived.

 

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.

My teacher gives us an assignment. "Who are you?" she asks. "Trace your roots. Draw a flag that represents your ancestral land."

Hannah-Jones, Nikole; Watson, Renée. The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (p. 1). Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. 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. 

How to Make Home  

After a long day’s work plantig tobacco in the fields,  after brutal treatment, after nothing to show for their hard work,  sadness would come, a longing for Ndongo,  for the mommas, for the daddies, for the friends  they could no longer hug and talk with under the warm sun.  We are in a strange land, they said.  But we are here and we will make this home.  We have our song, our recipes, our know-how.  We have our joy. We will love, laugh, sing,  and hug our children as tight as you can hold a child.  We wil survive because we have each other. 

Hannah-Jones, Nikole; Watson, Renée. The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (p. 72). Kindle Edition. 

To mark Banned Book Week, I reread a wonderful children's picture book first published in 2021, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson. It begins with a question I remember asking first myself and then my parents and grandparents when I was a child: Who are you? We all want to know where we came from, I think, who our people are and were, and what brought us to where we are today. Looking at the truth of the past is the first step in moving forward into a future of living with others in a world where all are equal under the law. 

Here is my original review.

Velshi Banned Book Club: The 1619 Project: Born on the Water takes a thoughtful look at banned books, and especially notes the importance of not banning books for children.

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.    

October 10th - How often do you enter Goodreads' Giveaways? And how many have you won over the years? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)

I am not interested in entering giveaways for books. I want to read the books I want to read, and I would rather buy or borrow the books myself.

Satisfying Book Series

I'm not much of a series reader.

Still, there are some series I have loved...

The Lord of the Rings

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

A.J. Jacobs attempts to live a year following a guideline

Hank the Cowdog 

Edward Eager's Tales of Magic

Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems

Marilynne Robinson's Gilead series

The Poldark series (first three books)

All Creatures Great and Small series

The Oz books

Have you read any of these?

Are any of these series your own favorites?

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: My 200th Bird and a Real Letter

 

Welcome! I am very happy that you joined us at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a spot to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

What I Read Last Week:

Endling by Maria Reva (fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (fantasy)

Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories by Steve Almond (writing)

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (kids' fantasy)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

How to Train Your Dragon  by Cressida Cowell: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Announcing Nonfiction November 2025: Save the Date

Books that Feel Fall-ish

The Sunday Salon: Hummingbirds, Hummingbirds, Hummingbirds Everywhere!

I'm glad to tell you that Nonfiction November is returning this year. I'm working now on making my list of my favorite nonfiction of 2025, and I'm making a list of what I want to read in November. For more about Nonfiction, take a look at my Nonfiction November 2025: Save the Date post.

I had never seen this movie nor had I even heard of this movie until Erin (Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs) and Lisa's (Boondock Ramblings) included it as part of this year's Cozy Comfy Cinema. 

The story of a peasant who poses as a knight? No, I thought, that does not sound like my cup of tea. I requested it from my library reluctantly, and I almost gave up on it early on (What is this "We Will Rock You" business at the tournament?) 

But I forged ahead, and it grew on me, Green-Eggs-and-Ham-style. I liked the addition of Geoffrey Chaucer into the knight's entourage. I liked the script. I liked William's character, his focus on doing the right thing and his pluckiness, which was a stark contrast to the scheming and belittling character of Count Adhemar. I even ended up liking the 1970s background score. 

Quite the fun movie. 

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:

We were talking about letter writing in my writing class,

and I was a Debbie Downer, saying letter writing is dead,

and after class I saw that I had a lovely package 

from Tina at Turn the Page

which included a real letter 

(along with a seed pop, 

if you are wondering what the green thing is).

Good Thing #2:

Our public library now has a seed library.

Good Thing #3:

My husband and I went to 

the first of four birding field trips in October

in Galveston, and I saw 

this Peregrine Falcon,

my #200 bird on my life list.

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.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 

Today's Featured Book: 

How to Train Your Dragon

by Cressida Cowell

Genre: Children's Fantasy 

Published: January 21, 2014

Page Count: 241 pages

Summary: 

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb? Join his adventures and misadventures as he finds a new way to train dragons—and becomes a hero.

 

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.

Long ago, on the wild and windy isle of Berk, a  smallish Viking with a longish name stood up to his  ankles in snow.  Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the  Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans,  had been feeling slightly sick ever since he woke up  that morning. 

Cowell, Cressida. How to Train Your Dragon, p. 1.  Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. 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. 

The boys were hanging about the village gates,  taking the opportunity to show off the dragons that  they had caught. Hiccup had tried to walk through  without being noticed, but Snotlout had stopped him.  ‘Let’ s see what pathetic creature Hiccup has  got, ’ said Snotlout, and took off the lid.  ‘Oh, this is BRILLIANT – look at it!’ said  Snotlout, when he finally got his breath back from  laughing.

Cowell, Cressida. How to Train Your Dragon, p. 56. Kindle Edition. 

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.    

October 3rd - Would you rather accidentally set your favorite book on fire or drop it in the ocean? (submitted by Snapdragon @ Snapdragon Alcove)

Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Neither!

Announcing Nonfiction November 2025: Save the Date

 

A chill wind blows. For most, fall is about soft sweaters, delectable candles, and pumpkin treats. Here in the book blogging community, it certainly is about all of those things, but there is one most special event in the forecast every autumn. For us, the fall breeze brings Nonfiction November!

Throughout the month of November, bloggers Liz, Frances, Heather,  Rebekah, and Deb invite you to celebrate Nonfiction November with us.

Meet your hosts!

Liz is an ex-librarian, a freelance editor and transcriber, a runner and a volunteer. She blogs about everything from social justice and geology nonfiction to YA romance and literary fiction at Adventures in reading, running and working from home.

Frances Spurrier is a poet, essayist and reviewer.  Her novel The Winchester Codex was published in 2024.  She lives in London with her husband and Suki the Golden Doodle.  Her blog can be found at Volatile Rune.  It covers books she happens to be reading – both fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She especially enjoys biographies of writers and artists.

Heather is a veterinarian living in Ohio who blogs at Based on a True Story. She reads all genres but really loves nonfiction and fantasy.

Rebekah is a designer, crafter, and cat parent living in Pittsburgh, where she writes book reviews and other leftist musings at She Seeks Nonfiction.

Deb is a Texas librarian-for-life who loves to read nonfiction-that-reads-like-fiction, literary fiction, classics, and children’s picture books. Deb plays guitar, swims, draws, writes, thinks about happiness, and blogs at Readerbuzz,

How it works

Each Monday, our weekly host will post our topic prompt and include a linkup where you can link your posts, connect with other bloggers, and dive deeper by reading and sharing nonfiction book reviews. Feel free to use our official Nonfiction November graphics, too! 

Here are the topic prompts for each week:

Week 1 (10/27-11/2) 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)

Week 2 (11/3-11/9) Choosing Nonfiction: There are many topics to choose from when looking for a nonfiction book.  For example:  Biography, Autobiography, Memoire, Travel, Health, Politics, History, Religion and Spirituality, Science, Art, Medicine, Gardening, Food, Business, Education, Music.  Maybe use this week to  challenge yourself to pick a genre you wouldn’t normally read?  Or stick to what you usually like is also fine.  If you are a nonfiction genre newbie, did your choice encourage you to read more? (Frances)

Week 3 (11/10-11/16) Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it's a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read and you would like recommendations for background reading. Or maybe it’s just two books you feel have a link, whatever they might be. You can be as creative as you like! (Liz)

Week 4 (11/17-11/23) Mind Openers: Nonfiction books are one of the best tools for seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. They allow us to get an idea of the experiences of people of all different ages, races, genders, abilities, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, or even just people with different opinions than ours. Is there a book you read this year from a diverse author, or a book that opened your eyes to a perspective that you hadn’t considered? How did it challenge you to think differently? (Rebekah)

Week 5 (11/24-11/30) 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! (Deb)

Are you planning to join us for Nonfiction November?

What is in your stack of possibilities?