Arizona!

 

If all goes well, we are off in Arizona, hiking, resting, relaxing. 

I am just taking two books along with me to Arizona. I've got one fiction book, These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories. And I've got one nonfiction book, Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West. 

Nonfiction November: Your Year in Nonfiction

Non-Bookish Hobbies

Small Delights: Old Car in My Neighborhood

Nonfiction November: Book Pairings

I also posted A List of Nonfiction Classics on The Classics Club blog.

Hiking. Taking photos. Drawing.

I'm keeping a little journal during the trip.

Good Thing #1: The election is over, and the good guys won.

Good Thing #2: I'm off in Arizona.

Good Thing #3: I'm not thinking about the election or the coronavirus or hurricanes.

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.

Nonfiction November: Book Pairing

It's Week 2 of Nonfiction November (November 9-13).  Julz Reads will be sharing Book Pairing: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story. 

Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird AND How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

A novel about the life of a freed enslaved Black woman who joins the Buffalo Soldiers AND a nonfiction overview of the history of American racism and ways to overcome racism in America today.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig AND From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty

A novel about a woman who tries to take her own life and ends up with opportunities to relive her life and make different choices in the afterlife AND a nonfiction book written by a mortician who travels the world to see ways different cultures care for their dead.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue AND Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Jeremy Brown

A novel about a nurse in flu-ravaged Dublin in 1918 AND a nonfiction book about the 1918 flu.

These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901: Arizona Territories: A Novel by Nancy E. Turner AND Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West

A fictionalized diary of a woman who came to live in the Arizona Territories in 1881 AND a history of the American West. This is the pairing I'm experiencing this week.

Small Delights: Old Car in My Neighborhood

 

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by A Web of Stories. 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 A Web of Stories.

My Non-Bookish Hobbies

I love to read. You might be surprised to find that I enjoy other things.

What can you surmise from these paintings of my alter ego, Readerbuzz?

Yes, so here goes: I love to bird watch, take photos, garden, and bake...PLUS...

...write in my daily journal, walk, bake bread, blog, do yoga, travel, make pies, meditate, drink coffee, draw, visit Paris, play Scrabble, learn new words, write poetry, talk, listen to others talk, go to bookstores, visit libraries, swim, bake the world's best chocolate chip cookies, learn French, practice my Spanish, ride my bike, watch old movies, review books, go rock hunting, kayak, grow vegetables, explore the American West, write my novel, paint rocks, play guitar, hang out with my puppets, play card games, hike, walk in nature, camp, read aloud from picture books, illustrate my favorite quotes, make lists of books I want to read, talk to my bird, picking up pecans, bake something I've never baked before, tell stories, wear costumes, dance, sing, listen to music, watch romantic comedies, search for books for my Little Free Library, bake biscuits, be with my grandchildren, go antiquing, make lists of the best books I've read, listen to podcasts, write little stories, arrange my bookshelves, organize cabinets and drawers, fold laundry, browse through books, swing on my front porch, go on picnics, visit museums, quilt, look for fossils, hang out with my friends and family, tell jokes, put together puzzles....

And read. Did I tell you that I love to read?

Do you share any of these pursuits?

What do you enjoy doing?

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 Common Good; The Start of Nonfiction November; and Two Birthdays

 

Last week was actually (yes, even in the midst of all the storms around us) a lovely week. Fall is really just a prolonged summer here along the Gulf Coast of Texas, but we got a cool front and temperatures dropped into the 60s. Nice. Crisp. We turned off our air conditioner. For a bit.

You know that feeling we readers get sometimes when we read a book that's so wonderful you have to tell everyone you know about it? That's the way I felt in reading The Common Good by Robert B. Reich last week. 

I heard Robert B. Reich speak in Houston virtually a few months ago, and he wowed me with his knowledge about our American political system, his intelligence, and his ethics. I immediately set out to read something he's written, and I was happy to find this book at my local library.

Wow---everyone needs to read this book. Reich opens the book by relating how he heard President John F. Kennedy's famous line, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," when he was a teen. Reich is saddened by how much the overall attitude of our country has changed over the years since then to "What's in it for me?" He goes on to look at the idea of the common good and how that has developed through history, and then he examines the key events of the past that have torn the fabric of the common good from government as well as business. He concludes by proposing several ways (thank goodness!) we can all nurture the idea of the common good in America today.

An exceptional book that could change our country. I want to buy multiple copies and hand them out to everyone I know.

If you are feeling bleak about America, I urge you to read this book and act in ways that will work for the common good. I intend to try.

Nonfiction November officially begins on November 2, but I've already posted a list of my favorite nonfiction reads of the year. Now I'm gathering nonfiction reads for November. The stack I've accumulated is pictured above and listed below. 

Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West by H. W. Brands

Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris

Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew Graff

Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day by Clemency Burton-Hill

You've Got to Read This Book! 55 People Tell the Story of the Book that Changed Their Life

The Guardians of Liberty: Freedom of the Press and the Nature of News

Half Empty by David Rakoff

Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close to What is Sacred by Mark Nepo

Humans by Brandon Stanton

One More Warbler: A Life With Birds by Victor Emanuel

Anything look promising?

Good Thing #1: Last week was the birthday of my granddaughter, Annie. She's five. I painted her name on a toy box for her. 

Good Thing #2: We are leaving on a trip to Arizona late this week. We're planning to spend ten days hiking around Sedona. A little nervous about getting there, with two days of driving each way, but very excited about doing some traveling.

Good Thing #3: November 1st is my birthday. I've always loved celebrating my birthday on the day after Halloween; Halloween has always felt like everyone is throwing me a huge party. Plus it's cool to be born on All Saints' Day. 

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.

Nonfiction November: Your Year in Nonfiction

Happy day! It's the start of Nonfiction November, one of my favorite reading events of the year. Nonfiction November will take place from November 2 through 30 this year, and it will be hosted by Katie at Doing Dewey, Rennie at What's Nonfiction, Julie at Julz Reads, and Leann at Shelf Aware. 

Leann will be kicking things off with Your Year in Nonfiction. Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on a couple of questions.

What were your favorite nonfiction reads of the year? 

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style

Around the World in 80 Trees

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books that Changed Their Lives

I Think You're Wrong, But I'm Listening: A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes

Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park

In Other Words: A Language Lover's Guide to the Most Intriguing Words Around the World

What Would Cleopatra Do? Life Lessons from 50 of History's Most Extraordinary Women

Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? 

In 2020, I've read lots of history, books about words, and nature books.

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? 

I think I've recommended The Splendid and the Vile the most.

What are you hoping to get out of Nonfiction November?

Good book recommendations, of course.

Small Delights: Billboard on Our Morning Walk

 

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by A Web of Stories. 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 A Web of Stories.

Dressing Up for Halloween: Great Book Characters

If we lived in my happy place, Halloween participants would all be required to dress as their favorite book characters. Here are some costumes I would put together. Can you name the book and/or characters I'm dressed as?

Answers: Watership Down; Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird; The Mouse and His Child; Cher Ami from Cher Ami and Major Whittlesby; Elphaba from Wicked; Go, Dog, Go; Ignacius from Confederacy of Dunces; and Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.

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.