Year of Wonder, Jane Smiley, and the Largest Virtual Choir Ever Assembled

 

Generally, I read books, and I like them. Sometimes I read books, and I love them. And, even more rarely, I read books and I enjoy them. Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day-by-Day was a book that I read and I enjoyed. Year of Wonder is a compilation of short writings about classical musical pieces, one for each day of the year. I read the daily essay and then listened on Spotify to the musical selection. And I marked each selection that I especially liked and made a playlist of my own on Spotify. It was a delightful experience.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...98% complete

The Novel Cure: From 751 Books to Cure What Ails You...42% complete

The Salt Path...36% complete

I heard Jane Smiley speak this week with Houston's Brazos Bookstore on Zoom. Happily this completely meshed with the arrival of Jane Smiley's new book, Perestroika in Paris at my house.

I really enjoyed our local book club discussion on Zoom. Everyone liked the book, The Lions of Fifth Avenue. Amazing!

Good Thing #1: 

While I was reading Year of Wonder, I ran across a day in which the featured musical selection was by a composer named Eric Whitacre. I learned that Whitacre started a Virtual Choir Project way before the pandemic, way back in 2010, and that his virtual choirs were on YouTube. I checked him out on YouTube, and ran across an interview with Eric Whitacre on Sunday Morning, a CBS news show, from earlier this year. I found it so lovely that I thought I'd share it with you here. If you'd like to hear the virtual choir for 2020, take a look here.

Good Thing #2:

I joined the FeederWatch project last week. In two days, I saw ten different species of birds, including the goldfinch above.

Good Thing #3:

We've finished our discussions about our favorite fiction picture books from 2020, and we have decided on our Cybils shortlist. I can't reveal anything until January 1st, 2021.

How was your week?

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 2020 Virtual Advent Tour: Hang Some Mistletoe and Let the Kissing Begin!

 

What is the Virtual Advent Tour?

Has there ever been a year that is better suited for a Virtual Advent? 

2020 has been a hard year for everyone, and the current world scenario doesn’t suggest the upcoming holidays are going to be any easier. We’re all thinking about how to celebrate differently at a time when tradition is particularly dear. But there are some annual events that can continue unabated, and the Virtual Advent Tour is one of them, hosted for the sixth time by Sprite Writes. 

As you likely know, the typical Advent calendar is a season-marking device, often paper, but sometimes crafted of other materials, to count down from December 1st until Christmas. Each day, you open a door to unveil a hidden scene or piece of chocolate or some other delight. The Virtual Advent Tour is a bloggers’ take on that. In our version, each morning Sprite Writes will point you to a post at someone’s blog in which they share something about their holiday season.

Hang Some Mistletoe

How about this for an easy holiday tradition? Hang some mistletoe, and let the kissing begin!

My son, Jon, and his wife, Stephanie

My niece, Erin, and her husband, Greg

The next year Erin unexpectedly suffered a brain aneurysm and passed away.

My niece, Erin, and her son, Ethan, 8

This photo is priceless for all of us now.

My sister-in-law, Ruth Ann, and her husband, Kenny

My son, Ben, and his wife, Lisa

My sister-in-law, Chris, and her husband, Buster

Buster passed away in 2018.

My husband and I

Books On My Winter 2020-2021 TBR

I'm planning to take part in several challenges in 2021, and I also have my usual book club offerings. I've made a long list of some of the books I may read this winter:

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Japanese Literature Challenge)

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (Classics Club spin)

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (1000 Books to Read Before You Die Challenge)

Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare (Back to the Classics Challenge)

The Divine Comedy (Chapter-a-Day; Books in Translation Challenge)

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn 

Little Humans by Brandon Stanton (picture book)

Love in Lockdown by Chloe James (pure escapism)

Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World 

The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson (Nonfiction Reader Challenge)

Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley

Remarkable Trees of the World by Thomas Pakenham

Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Have you read any of these? 

What are you hoping to read this winter (summer for the Southern Hemisphere)?

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.

Book Challenges; Lemon-Pecan Tea Bread; and Lots and Lots of Holiday Movies

 

After reading and drawing from 50 Ways to Draw Your Beautiful Ordinary Life every day since May, I finally finished it. What a wonderful experience. I'll share some photos of my little drawings at the end of the year.

I also read and loved Humans by Brandon Stanton. Stanton is the author of Humans of New York. He's known for interviewing and photographing strangers on the streets of New York. He expands his range in Humans and interviews and photographs strangers in forty countries around the world.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...96% complete

Year of Pleasures: Classical Music for Every Day...80% complete

The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You...32% complete

The Salt Path...11% complete

Are you interested in joining a book challenge in 2021? Susan from Bloggin' About Books has created a new site called Ready for a Reading Challenge to share the challenges others might like to join. You can also take a look at The 2021 Master List of Reading Challenges. I'm planning to do the Nonfiction Reader Challenge and the Back to the  Classics Challenge for 2021. I'm also hoping to do the Books in Translation Challenge (beginner) and the Japanese Literature Challenge.

Need gifts for book lovers? Take a look at these.

I loved the Chapter-a-Day Read-along of War and Peace this year. I plan to do some (all?) of the five books scheduled for the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along: The Divine Comedy; Quo Vadis; The Hunchback of Notre Dame; David Copperfield; and The Three Musketeers. For more details, take a look here.

My dad has oodles of lemons. We have oodles of pecans. The result? Lemon-Pecan Tea Bread. I will make this again.

Good Thing #1:

My daughter-in-law, Lisa Chavarria, a reporter at the NBC affiliate in Chicago, was asked to interview author Marisel Vera about her new book, The Taste of Sugar. I was thrilled to watch Lisa conduct such a wonderful interview.

Good Thing #2:

I listened to an Action for Happiness meeting with meditation expert Jon Kabat-Zinn this week. "The world needs all its flowers," Kabat-Zinn said. "You are the flowering of life on earth." The talk will be archived here.

Good Thing #3:

We are determined to enjoy this holiday time, and every evening we choose a different Christmas movie (or audiobook or play) to watch. So far we have seen White Christmas; A Christmas Story; A Christmas Carol: Charlie Brown Christmas; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; The Holiday; and Miracle on 34th Street. We also listened to an audiobook, The Greatest Gift, the book behind It's a Wonderful Life. And we watched a play from Houston's Alley Theater, A Christmas Carol. What recommendations do you have for other Christmas movies and audiobooks that we might enjoy?

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.

Back to the Classics Challenge

I have decided to join this challenge for 2021 and I thought now would be a good time to share it with you, in case you have missed it. It will be hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate.

Here's Karen:

"For the eighth year, I'm hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge, a year-long challenge in which participants are encouraged to finally read the classics they've always meant to read -- or just recently discovered. At the end of the year, one lucky winner will receive a prize $30 (US) in books from the bookstore of their choice. "

Karen asks readers to read from twelve categories in 2021. She offers one entry to the prize to anyone who reads from six categories, two entries to a reader from nine categories, and three entries to a reader from all twelve categories.

What are the categories for 2021? Again, from Karen:

1. A 19th century classic. 

2. A 20th century classic. 

3. A classic by a woman author.

4. A classic in translation. 

5. A classic by BIPOC author.

6. A classic by a new-to-you author. 

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author. 

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title.  

9. A children's classic. 

10. A humorous or satirical classic. 

11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). 

12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category.

Here are the books I'm (tentatively) planning to read:

1. A 19th century classic. David Copperfield.

2. A 20th century classic. Main Street.

3. A classic by a woman author. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford.

4. A classic in translation. Quo Vadis by Henrik Srenkiewicz.

5. A classic by BIPOC author. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth.

6. A classic by a new-to-you author. The Divine Comedy.

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author. The Tale of Two Cities.

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title.  Tarka the Otter.

9. A children's classic. The Girl of the Limberlost.

10. A humorous or satirical classic. Selected Stories of O. Henry.

11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). Travels in Asia and Africa by Ibn Battuta.

12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category. Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare.

Take a look at Karen's sign-up post on Books and Chocolate for more details about the challenge.

The 2020 Virtual Advent Tour: Christmas Caroling (from Afar)

 

What is the Virtual Advent Tour?

Has there ever been a year that is better suited for a Virtual Advent? 

2020 has been a hard year for everyone, and the current world scenario doesn’t suggest the upcoming holidays are going to be any easier. We’re all thinking about how to celebrate differently at a time when tradition is particularly dear. But there are some annual events that can continue unabated, and the Virtual Advent Tour is one of them, hosted for the sixth time by Sprite Writes. 

As you likely know, the typical Advent calendar is a season-marking device, often paper, but sometimes crafted of other materials, to count down from December 1st until Christmas. Each day, you open a door to unveil a hidden scene or piece of chocolate or some other delight. The Virtual Advent Tour is a bloggers’ take on that. In our version, each morning Sprite Writes will point you to a post at someone’s blog in which they share something about their holiday season.

Christmas Caroling (from Afar)

I never was a good guitar player, but kids don't care. One of the fun traditions I celebrate is singing Christmas carols while playing guitar.

I acquired a nice box of rhythm instruments---cymbals, castanets, maracas, bells, rhythm sticks, triangles, shakers, tambourines, wood blocks, drums---and let every person choose an instrument. (It helps those of us who don't have much of a voice to have an instrument that drowns us out.)

At school we caroled down the halls, in assemblies, in the library, and even walked down the street to the nursing home. I led church groups, Boy Scouts, family gatherings, women's groups, and senior citizens in caroling. 

Here's a Google Doc of Christmas songs with guitar chords. Maybe this year you can carol...from afar.

Iconic Christmas Stories, Great for Reading Aloud

Is there a better time to read aloud than at this holiday season? Many of us have traditions to watch Christmas movies at this time of year, but what about also listening to an audiobook or reading aloud instead? Here are some of my favorite short and iconic Christmas stories that you might consider.

For Grownups:

The Greatest Gift by Phillip Van Doren Stern (inspiration for It's a Wonderful Life)

Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

Christmas Letters by Lee Smith

One Man's Christmas by Leon Hale (a Texan's take on Christmas)

For Children:

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and Ed Martinez

Tree of Cranes by Allan Say

Yoon and the Christmas Mitten

Waiting for Christmas

The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Patricia C. McKissack and Jerry Pinkney

An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy

Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree

Night Tree by Eve Bunting

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folk Tale

Any Age:

A Christmas Carol

The Night Before Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Polar Express

On my YouTube channel, I posted some children's holiday picture book readalouds we did several years ago at my primary school. I linked all these on my first post for the 2020 Virtual Advent: Let's Read Some Wonderful Holiday Picture Books.

Have I missed some of your favorites?

Add them in the comments.

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.