Saturday, February 8, 2025

The Sunday Salon: Winter Birdwatching on the Bluewater Highway




Welcome! I am delighted that 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 also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 






Misty rainbow over the jetty at Surfside Jetty Park


After snow two weeks ago, 
we had a week of 
gorgeous, almost-80 degree F weather.

We spent a day visiting great winter birding spots 
along the Bluewater Highway 
near Surfside, Texas.

Happiness perks
from being out in nature:

1. No access to the news
2. Fresh air
3. Sunshine
4. Sound of the waves
5. Salty breeze









What I Read Last Week:

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (Readalong with Tina)

Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words by Anne Curzan (NF)

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Fantasy)







What I'm Reading Now:

Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (Fiction)

Roots by Alex Haley (Chapter-a-Day)

Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright (NF)





Monday Mailbox is back! 

Monday Mailbox is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

It is now hosted at I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Vicki would love to have you join in.





What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:











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 from our nature walk near Surfside.





Good Thing #1:

Reddish Egret



Good Thing #2:

Ruddy Turnstone



Good Thing #3:

Great Egret





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.


Friday, February 7, 2025

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 




Today's Featured Book: 

The Enchanted April

by Elizabeth von Arnim

Genre: Classic

Published: 1922

Page Count: 172 pages

Summary: 

The Enchanted April tells the tale of four very different women who escape dreary London for an Italian castle in Portofino, shortly after World War I. Elizabeth von Arnim’s ageless novel compellingly responds to the eternal question of how to achieve happiness in life.




 


BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City ReaderWhat 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.

It began in a Woman’s Club in London on a February afternoon—an uncomfortable club, and a miserable afternoon—when Mrs. Wilkins, who had come down from Hampstead to shop and had lunched at her club, took up The Times from the table in the smoking-room, and running her listless eye down the Agony Column saw this: 

To Those Who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine. Small mediaeval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be Let furnished for the month of April. Necessary servants remain. Z, Box 1000, The Times.


von Arnim, Elizabeth. The Enchanted April (p. 3). 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. 

She liked it; she liked it best of all. It had the Judas tree and an umbrella pine, it had the freesias and the lilies, it had a tamarisk beginning to flush pink, it had the convenient low wall to sit on, it had from each of its three sides the most amazing views—to the east the bay and mountains, to the north the village across the tranquil clear green water of the little harbour and the hills dotted with white houses and orange groves, and to the west was the thin thread of land by which San Salvatore was tied to the mainland, and then the open sea and the coast line beyond Genoa reaching away into the blue dimness of France. Yes, she would say she wanted to have this entirely to herself.


von Arnim, Elizabeth. The Enchanted April (p. 56). Kindle Edition. 




I'm a huge fan of this book, and I'm a huge fan of the movie that was made from it. This for me is a reread. If you are looking for a lovely, yet thoughtful escape, and a visit to Italy sounds delightful, then this might be the book and the movie for you.

Here's a sample of the movie:








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   

February 7th - 13th - Do you prefer to read series one book after another, or can you read other books in between? (submitted by Idea-ist @ Get Lost in Literature)

To those of you who love series, my series reading may be quite upsetting to you, but here it is: 

I simply read the first book of a series and I stop. Stop. That's it. No more.

Usually. Unless the next book is wildly compelling...And unless another reader looks at me, aghast, and says in that mocking voice, Whattt? And you call yourself a readerrrr??? But you haven't read this whole seriessss????

Pictured above are some of the many series of which I have only read the first book: Game of Thrones; Eragon; The Series of Unfortunate Events; Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Outlander; Anne of Green Gables; Ender's Game; The Color of Magic; Dune; The Bartemaeus Sequence; Nancy Drew; Pillars of the Earth; Keys to the Kingdom; Famous Five; Redwall; Wolf Hall; Mitford; Penderwicks; My Brilliant Friend; Wolf Brother; Noughts & Crosses.

For a complete picture (up to 2022), take a look at this post: Books in a Series I've Completed...and Those I Haven't...A Grim Accounting