A Fabulous Book About...Moss? and Adios, 2020; and Annie's Shiny, Shiny Shoes

 

The best book I (almost) finished* last week was Gathering Moss. Now please don't run screaming from the room. Gathering Moss? A book about what? Moss, you say? I can almost hear you questioning my bookish judgment. It's my naturalist book club book for January, and it is about moss, but, trust me, it's scientific and it's poetic. You will fall in love with moss.

*I shall be reading the last page of several books, including this one, on January 1st, 2021, to start my new year with a bang.

The collection of Mary Oliver poetry read since April? Done.

My daily drawing book? Done.

The intro to classical music that I read while listening to each selection? Done.

War and Peace that I literally read every day for the last twelve months? Done.

I'm free. I can read whatever I want. 

Talk about reading-at-will. I'm darting between a book about ways people enjoy happiness around the world to my brilliant Classics Club spin novel to a book of quotes compiled by the Today Show's Hoda Kotb to How to Be Happy (or At Least Less Sad): A Creative Workbook....I'm all over the place, and I love it.

Waving a fond adieu to a departing year...eagerly greeting the incoming year...these have traditionally been some of the delights of being an ardent reader. 

To say goodbye (and, honestly, good riddance) to 2020:

The Best Books I Read in 2020

My Year in Books: Goodreads

My Life in Books, 2020 Edition (posting next week)

Small Joys of 2020 Tag (posting next week)

The 2020 Cybils Fiction Picture Book Finalists (posting next week)

Books I Meant to Read in 2020 But I Didn't Get To (posting mid-January)

New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2021 (posting late January)

To greet 2021 (O bearer of so much hope!):

First Book of 2021 (posting next week)

Books on My 2020-2021 Winter TBR

Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021 (posting early January)

Resolutions for 2021 (posting early January)

My 2021 Yearly Challenges

Don't know which challenges to take on? How about a choose-your-own-adventure sort of challenge from Modern Mrs. Darcy? Take a look at it here.

Bonnie at Bonnie's Books offers up Focus for 2021. Take a look at this poster and the first four words you see are your focus for 2021. Mine? LOVE. CONNECTION. PURPOSE. BREAKTHROUGH.

Good Thing #1: Annie's Shiny, Shiny Shoes

Yep, blame those shoes on her Nana.

Good Thing #2

I must have been a good girl this year.

An espresso/capucchino maker. 

Good Thing #3:

At last! An explanation for 2020: this Match.com commercial:

A Match Made in Hell

See you in 2021!

I'm happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place for us to link up and to 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. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.

The Classics Club's Unbelievably Detailed 50 Question Questionnaire

50 Classics Club Questions 

1. Share a link to your club list. The Classics Club: Fifty Classic(ish) Books I Will Read in the Next Five Years
2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club? (We are SO CHECKING UP ON YOU! Nah. We’re just asking.)   I joined in early 2018. So far I have read 25 of 50 titles. I am a fast reader. Or maybe I just picked short classics.
3. What are you currently reading? Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata.
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it? I just finished four Jane Austen novels to celebrate Austen in August.
5. What are you reading next? Why?  Autumn Term by Antonia Forest. I like to read thematically; this book is set in a school and September is the traditional time for school to begin.
6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why? Frankenstein was excellent. I was surprised at the complexity of the story's structure. 
7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list? I want to read Anna Karenina, but I'm nervous about it since W&P did me in.
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why? I'm pretty sure Moby-Dick will be a difficult read for me.
9. First classic you ever read?
   
   My Aunt Karen had a set of children's classics she shared with me when I was little. I remember reading Heidi and A Little Princess.
10. Toughest classic you ever read? I gave up on War and Peace. Maybe someday?
11. Classic that inspired you? I found the main characters in Anne of Green Gables and A Little Princess to be very inspiring.
12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list? Italian Folktales, compiled by Italo Calvino, is the longest so far, at 800 pages. Moby Dick and Anna Karenina are both left on my list.
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list? The oldest classic I've ever read is The Odyssey. The oldest classic I have left on my list is One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any? I'd love to read a good bio of Kafka.
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why? I don't think there is a single classic book that everyone should read. I'm a librarian, and I believe in free choice.
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any? I don't keep rare books.
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic? I have loved all the movies made from Jane Austen books.
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film. Why is there no 1001 Arabian Nights movie?
19. Least favorite classic? Why?
    
    I hated Heart of Darkness when I was forced to read it in high school. Also loathed Under the Volcano and On the Road. Sorry if I am stepping on toes.
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read. I am eager to read Leo Tolstoy, Yasunari Kawabata, Elizabeth Gaskell, Barbara Pym, and Romulo Gallegos.
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why? Anna Karenina is the one I most want to read because it is so respected.
22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? (This could be with the club or before it.) Yes. I loved Shakespeare once I read him with the help of a good teacher.
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head? Gregor in The Metamorphosis by Kafka is hard to forget.
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
    
    I've always thought I'm a lot like Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time.
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like? I admire Sarah Crewe in A Little Princess.
26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend? 
    I have many best friends; so as to not hurt somebody's feelings, I'll hone in on mi esposo, and I'll compare him (in a good way) to Tom Sawyer.
27. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading? Or, would you avoid the augmented manuscript in favor of the original? Why? I never like sequels.
28. Favorite children’s classic? I have lots and lots. I'd say one of my favorites is The Little Prince. I also love The Hobbit.
29. Who recommended your first classic? My mom led me to many good books.
30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature? (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.) To thine own self be true.
31. Favorite memory with a classic? I loved trying to read all of Jane Austen's books during Austen in August.
32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by? I've read everything by Jane Austen.
33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list? Jane Austen did.
34. Classic author you own the most books by?
    
    I have copies of The Little Prince in English, Spanish, French, and Italian. I have read them all.
35. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included? (Or, since many people edit their lists as they go, which titles have you added since initially posting your club list?) I have started my second list with books I wish I'd put on my first list.
36. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last — meaning you have never read this author and want to explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication — who would you explore? Obviously this should be an author you haven’t yet read, since you can’t do this experiment on an author you’re already familiar with.  Or, which author’s work you are familiar with might it have been fun to approach this way?
    
    I'd like to know more about Kafka.
37. How many rereads are on your club list? If none, why? If some, which are you most looking forward to, or did you most enjoy? There are at least thirteen. I'm most looking forward to rereading Don Quixote.
38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish? Sadly, I gave up on War and Peace.
39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving?
    
    I was surprised to find out that I love Jane Austen so much.
40. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature? I hope to do at least one readalong of a classic novel.
41. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? I hope to read Edith Hamilton's Mythology.
42. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? I'm scared to try Anna Karenina.
43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club? I love to see what classic books others are reading, and I enjoy reading their detailed reviews.
44. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs? I am a fan of Brona's Books, as she, like me, enjoys reading classic children's books. Karen at Books and Chocolate reads many French classics, which I enjoy. I've been book-friends with Andi of Estella's Revenge since 2000. Anne of My Head is Full of Books reads a lot of the same sorts of classics I like. I loved meeting and talking to Emma at Words and Peace at BEA and I love to read what she's reading. Kay of Kay's Reading Life is the person who encouraged me to join the Classics Club. And many, many more. You know who you are.
45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber? Everything Adam at Roof Beam Reader writes is wonderful.
46. If you’ve ever participated in a readalong on a classic, tell about the experience? If you’ve participated in more than one, what’s the very best experience? the best title you’ve completed? a fond memory? a good friend made? I have never done this. I want to do a readalong. 
47. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why? I would pick one of my big books, like Don Quixote or Anna Karenina or Moby Dick. 
48. How long have you been reading classic literature? How long have I been reading? Almost sixty years.
49. Share up to five posts you’ve written that tell a bit about your reading story. Reviews, journal entries, posts on novels you loved or didn’t love, lists, etc. Readerbuzz's 10th Blogoversary: Best Reads Ever; Books I'll Never Read (Plus a Couple of Those I Didn't Think I'd Read, But Did, and Loved); Books I Read, and Loved, But Didn't Really Understand; Good Books for Old Broads (Like Me); Little Books---Not Just for Little People
50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!) Here are some I'd ask: How would you define a classic book? What is the most obscure classic book on your list? What is the most well-known classic book on your list? What classic nonfiction do you have on your list? I have lots of questions.

Have you completed the 50 Question Questionnaire? Let me know in the comments. If you haven't, feel free to copy this Classics Club questionnaire and fill in your own answers on your blog. You can also share it on The Classics Club blog here.

Twelve Bags of Chocolate Chips, Housekeeping, and A Traveller in Italy

RANDOM WHINING AND MOANING

I'm trying not to feel overwhelmed. But it's the end of the year in my school library, and I have five tables of books to put away (imagine five tables covered with stacks of books so tall they are about to fall over), at least ten more after school hours of inventory to complete, and a bum thumb.

It will all get done. It will all get done. It will all get done.

Or not.

I'm doing the best I can.

As for today, here's what I must accomplish:

Yes, I agree. That's a lot of chocolate chips. I need to get busy making my award-winning* chocolate chip cookies for our Chapter Book Club Picnic...I'm estimating that I need about 15 dozen.

WHAT I'M READING

I'm hunkering through Housekeeping. I loved Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I loved Home by Marilynne Robinson. I loved Lila by Marilynne Robinson. Housekeeping? Not so much. But it's a book group read, so on I trudge.

I've also been busy at Overdrive downloading books I can read while I am in Italy. 

I'm also working my way through A Traveller in Italy. This is a delight. It's a pleasure. However, it's also 640 pages, so I'm not sure I'll get through Traveller in Italy before I'm an actual traveller in Italy.

What are you reading today?

*Truth in advertising: My recipe for chocolate chip cookies won second prize at my local Wal-Mart in 1990. I received a hand mixer. I still use this mixer.

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Chapter Book Club Picnic

The sign says: "I read ten chapter books. How about you?" Left, first graders. Right, second graders.

I feel so proud of the 127 first and second graders at my school who read ten chapter books this year!

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

When You Really, Really Want to Know Alice in Wonderland...

I wanted to thoroughly read Alice in Wonderland for our book club read, and so I ended up requesting all of these wonderful AinW books from the library. 

A map of Alice in Wonderland from a book of maps of imaginary lands

An easy reader

A board book

A play and an audiobook.

The Annotated Alice

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.