Saturday, July 19, 2025

The Sunday Salon: Reread of Lonesome Dove---Complete

 




I am happy you joined us here at the 
Sunday SalonWelcome!

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. 





It was a lovely week in summer here, with lots of swimming and guitar-playing and reading. 

I'm headed to downtown Houston today to the Alley Theater to see the play, The Mirror Crack'd, with a friend. We are also going to eat at a French (!) restaurant

Next week we shall be in Paris!* More on this later.







What I Read Last Week:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (my fourth read of this book)




What I'm Reading Now:

Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France by Vivian Swift (Paris in July)

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot (Poetry Seminar)

Fantômette et la maison hantée by Georges Chaulet (1001 Children's Books; Paris in July)

The Jules Verne Prophecy by Larry Schwartz and Iva-Marie Palmer (Paris in July)

Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism by Sebastian Smee (Paris in July)

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (Theater Outing)
 




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:


Good Thing #1:

We celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary.



Good Thing #2:

Our g-granddaughter Lucy will celebrate her 3rd birthday
at a children's museum near Dallas next weekend.
We will be staying nearby in Paris*---Paris, Texas.



Good Thing #3:

Ross Gay shows us
how we might develop our "delight muscle."



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, July 18, 2025

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 







Today's Featured Book: 

Thérèse Raquin

by Émile Zola

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1867

Page Count: 211 pages

Summary: 

Set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a dingy haberdasher's shop in the passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, this powerful novel tells how the heroine and her lover, Laurent, kill her husband, Camille, but are subsequently haunted by visions of the dead man and prevented from enjoying the fruits of their crime.




 


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.


At the end of the Rue Guenegaud, coming from the quays, you find the Arcade of the Pont Neuf, a sort of narrow, dark corridor running from the Rue Mazarine to the Rue de Seine. This arcade, at the most, is thirty paces long by two in breadth. It is paved with worn, loose, yellowish tiles which are never free from acrid damp. The square panes of glass forming the roof, are black with filth. 

On fine days in the summer, when the streets are burning with heavy sun, whitish light falls from the dirty glazing overhead to drag miserably through the arcade. On nasty days in winter, on foggy mornings, the glass throws nothing but darkness on the sticky tiles—unclean and abominable gloom.


Zola, Émile. Theresa Raquin (p. 1). Kindle Edition. 


The ugliness of the setting warns us in advance of the ugliness of the story iteself.






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. 

Camille lay asleep close at hand. This poor creature, with his body twisted out of shape, displaying his lean proportions, was gently snoring. Under the hat, half concealing his face, could be seen his mouth contorted into a silly grimace in his slumber. A few short reddish hairs on a bony chin sullied his livid skin, and his head being thrown backward, his thin wrinkled neck appeared, with Adam's apple standing out prominently in brick red in the centre, and rising at each snore. Camille, spread out on the ground in this fashion, looked contemptible and vile. 

Laurent who looked at him, abruptly raised his heel. He was going to crush his face at one blow.


Zola, Émile. Theresa Raquin (p. 56). Kindle Edition. 







This is my fifth book by Zola, and all five---Thérèse Raquin, Germinal, L'Assommoir, The Belly of Paris, and Nana---are bleak and present a view of human nature as dark and selfish. Four of the five---Thérèse Raquin, Germinal, L'Assommoir, and Nana---are on the list of on the list of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Thérèse Raquin may be the bleakest of the five books I've read so far.

There are some spoilers in the summary in the paragraph below:

Thérèse Raquin is taken in to raise by her aunt, and she grows up with her weak and sickly cousin Camille. The aunt encourages the cousins to marry when they are of age, and they do so. But Thérèse is bored with her life until she meets Camille's friend, Laurent. Laurent and Thérèse have a torrid affair, and they both begin to long for Camille to die so they can live together "in peace." Laurent kills Camille, but they never experience their longed-for peace.

From the descriptions of the setting to the descriptions of the characters to the plot itself---everything in this story is grim and brutal. Zola is always completely truthful, though, so it's a truth that is hard to look at, but also somehow necessary, if it can be tolerated.








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   

July 18th - 24th - What is your opinion on modern artists' interpretations of deceased authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen? Do you think these interpretations represent the authors correctly, or do they disrespect the authors? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I think we know a lot more about dead authors now than we did long ago. More information can't do anything but tell us more about the authors, though it might not always be flattering.




Wednesday, July 16, 2025

The Houston Bookstore Crawl: Murder by the Book

 

I was delighted to participate in the Second Annual Houston Bookstore Crawl #HTXBookCrawl25 in April. Here is a map I made of the twenty-five indie bookstores in the Houston area.


How it worked: I picked up a crawl card at Then & Now Bookstore in Galveston, one of the 25 participating stores. I got my card stamped or signed by each of the stores I visited through the end of April. Once I visited 10, I submitted my card to any of the participating bookstores to be entered into a raffle for gifts. Every store I hit after the first 10 counts as an additional entry. The cards had to be turned in by the end of business on April 30.


April 26 was Indie Bookstore Day, and indie bookstores all over the US hosted events. Take a look at the map here to see what events were held in April.

Say hello to the Participating Bookstores:

Basket Books & Art · Blue Willow Bookshop · Books Abound · The Book Attic · Books by the Bay · The Book Readers Venue · Brazos Bookstore · Buy the Book · Candescent Books · CLASS Bookstore · Copperfield's Books · Dreamers Books + Culture · Good Books in the Woods · Good on Paper Books and Stationery · Gulf Coast Cosmos Comics · Houston Book Warehouse · Kaboom Books · Katy Budget Books · Kindred Stories · LIT bookbar · LIT Java Coffee & Books · Mossrose Bookshop · Murder by The Book · Then & Now Bookshop · Village Books

I visited twelve bookstores in April. 

Here is my eleventh bookstore:

One of the largest and oldest mystery specialty bookstores in the US is Murder by the Book, originally established in 1980.  There are over 25,000 books -- new & used, hardbacks & paperbacks, first editions, collectibles, gift items, and more.  The store hosts more than 200 of the biggest mystery, crime, and fantasy authors for book signing events every year.  In the past, Murder by the Book has  hosted Dick Francis, P.D. James, Sue Grafton, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke, and Daniel Silva. 

Murder by the Book

2342 Bissonnet

Houston, TX 77005


I visited Murder by the Book as the event was winding down on a Tuesday morning. 


What a clever sign.


The store is very inviting, and has, of course, every mystery out there, but it also has more than mysteries.


My friend Cindy loves mysteries, and she shared a couple of her favorites.


I was astounded to see all the old Ann Cleeves mysteries that are available for the first time in the US.


So many upcoming store events.


Look at the diversity of staff picks.


Who knew?

I chose one of the old Ann Cleeves mysteries, this one set in High Island near me.


Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Thirteen Good Books with Honorifics in the Title (Including Three Set in France!)



Do you know which three are set in France? Answers are below.


Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert


The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell





Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett


Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce


The first three are set, at least partially, in France.




Thank you, Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog, for this prompt!


 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. 

Saturday, July 12, 2025

The Sunday Salon: A Tale of Two Cities---Done!

  




I am delighted that you joined us here at the 
Sunday Salon. You are always welcome here.

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. 





I feel like I should give myself a trophy...Yes, I did it---I finished A Tale of Two Cities. I didn't read it thoroughly and completely, like I have done with other classics in the past, and I didn't like it and I didn't like most of the characters, but I admired the circuitous way the book was written and I admired the themes of the book. So---Done!





What I Read Last Week
(Links will take you to my review):

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 

A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K. Runyan

Claudine: A Fairy Tale for Exceptional Grownups by Marian Grudko and T. A. Young







What I'm Reading Now:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Chapter-a-Day; 58%)

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola (Paris in July)

Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France by Vivian Swift (Paris in July)

The French Art of Living Well: Finding Joie de Vivre in the Everyday World by Cathy Yandell (Paris in July)
Remembering Paris by Denis Tillinac

A Bakery in Paris by Aimee Runyon

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 

(2) Watching... 

Maigret (1992) on BritBox. 

Maigret (2018) on BritBox. 

(3) Practicing my French on Duolingo.





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:





Good Thing #2:

Guitar lessons are going well.



Good Thing #3:

Our last meeting of my writing class
for the summer.



How was your week? 
I hope you will link up with a post or two,
and share what you have been up to.




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.