Big Sandy, Here We Come!

     

Welcome! I'm happy 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 plus it's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

I'm headed to Big Sandy to see the grandkids today. My husband and I will be here all week. Big Sandy, Texas does not always have the best Internet, but I will make every effort to catch up on visiting blogs in the evening when we return to the cabin where we are staying.

What I Read Last Week:

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Inprint author)

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam (Inprint author)

What I'm Reading Now:

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham 

The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Sunday Salon: "...and that powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse..."

Bookish Brags: Little Free Libraries

Cozy Comfy Cinema: Blithe Spirit

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

I joined the readalong of W. Somerset Maugham's book, Of Human Bondage, this month at Ti's blog, Book Chatter. I'm only a few chapters in, but the discussion goes for all of October. The book drew me from page one. It's not too late to join in.

The 1970 Club runs from October 14 to the 20. It is hosted by Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings and Simon at Stuck in a Book.

I plan to read The Paper Chase. I also hope to watch the movie.

Optimistic October

from Action for Happiness

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:

Paul Lynch, the author of Prophet Song,

winner of the 2023 Booker,

came to Houston Monday night.

Good Thing #2:

My writing group and I 

ate and hung out at the Hotel Lucine

in Galveston Tuesday.

Such a beautiful place.

Good Thing #3:

The tree cutter who came to remove the tree limbs

felled by Hurricane Beryl 

accidentally displaced the electrical wire.

The fellow who came to fix the electrical wire

accidentally displaced the Internet line.

But AT&T was able to send out 

a repairman the same day,

and all is well at my house again.

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.

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

   

Today's Featured Book: 

Prophet Song

by Paul Lynch

Genre: Fiction

Published: August 22, 2023

Page Count: 320 pages

Summary: 

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police on her step. They have arrived to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart, caught in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny. As the life she knows and the ones she loves disappear before her eyes, Eilish must contend with the dystopian logic of her new, unraveling country. How far will she go to save her family? And what—or who—is she willing to leave behind?

The winner of the Booker Prize 2023 and a critically acclaimed national bestseller, Prophet Song presents a terrifying and shocking vision of a country sliding into authoritarianism and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What 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.

"The night has come and she has not heard the knocking, standing at the window looking out onto the garden."

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. 

"I thought you were somebody else, he says, the other day I had some trouble at the door. Trouble, she says, what kind of trouble? It's hard to know exactly, three men called to the door and I did not like the look of them, they said they were from the party, they looked like thugs..."

Read this book.

Eilish is a mother of four, a wife, and a scientist. One day two men come to her door. They want to see her husband. Then her husband disappears. Other people begin to disappear. Eilish tries to go on with everyday life, getting her kids to school, cooking, going to work, checking on her elderly father, and she also tries to find out what is going on. Emergency measures have been put into place. Eilish tries to reassure everyone that things will get better soon.

Things do not get better.

Read this book. I urge you to read this book.

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.    

October 11-17. Do you have a favorite book to turn to in order to celebrate Halloween each year?

I do love Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. All three volumes.

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Blithe Spirit

I suggested to my husband that we try to do a few Comfy Cozy Cinema choices this fall, and he agreed. 

Movie Title: Blithe Spirit

Original Release Date: 2020

Where I Found It: DVD at my public library

Rating: PG-13

Time: 95 minutes

Amazon Rating: 4 / 5 with 6,184 ratings

Cast: Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Judi Dench

I know, I know. I watched the wrong version of Blithe Spirit. Forgive me. I have my reasons.

Short version: The tree guy came to remove the tree limb felled by Hurricane Beryl in July. He bumped the electrical wire. The electrical guy came to fix the electrical wire. He bumped the Internet. The Internet guy came to fix the Internet. He changed the password to a secure one. 

It is a secure password. So secure that I don't even know it. So I can't log into the Internet and watch tv.

I thought I was requesting the 1945 version of Blithe Spirit from my library. In any case, it was the 2020 version that arrived for me.

So, okay, 2020 Blithe Spirit it is.

What's the Story About?

Author Charles (Dan Stevens) has writer's block. He goes to see a spiritualist, Madame Arcati, (Judi Dench) who accidentally brings back Charles' first wife, Elvira. Second wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) is not glad to see Elvira. But, it turns out, Charles is delighted as it's actually Elvira who has been writing his books. 

My Comfy Cozy Rating: Medium 

Comfy Cozy Qualities: Humor, gorgeous settings, 

a bit of Noel Coward (though it's highly diluted in this version) and,

best of all, more Judi Dench

Here's the trailer for the movie.

My Thoughts?

I liked it. I'm sad I didn't get to see the 1945 version, but still this version was funny and light. 

Maybe I will call AT&T and try to wrestle them for my password. If I can, it won't be too late to do a compare-and-contrast.

Oh my, and next week is one of my all-time favorite movies, Rear Window, with one of my favorite comfy-cozy actors, Jimmy Stewart!

This is year two of Comfy Cozy Cinema, hosted by Erin at Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs and Lisa at Boondock Ramblings. Erin and Lisa invite us all to join in by watching the movie, posting about it, and linking up within a week of the day listed on the chart below.

Bookish Brags: Little Free Libraries

Reading has brought me so much joy in my life. 

One of the ways I like to share my love of reading is through Little Free Libraries.

My husband built my first Little Free Library #2924 in 2012, and installed it in front of our house. We replaced it last year.

In 2015, we put Little Free Library #30157 in the Fair Oaks neighborhood of my town. The steward of that library is keeping it going strong.

Liverpool is a town of about two hundred people just down the road from my town. Liverpool has no public library. In 2016, we installed Little Free Library #31446 in front of Liverpool City Hall. The city secretary had a new LFL built and installed last year, and she keeps it going.

Thank you to Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com 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.   

"...that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse..."

    

Welcome! I'm happy 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 plus it's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

What I Read Last Week:

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark

What I'm Reading Now:

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Inprint author)

A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andrés Reséndez (Naturalist book club)

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam (Inprint author)

Throughout the month of November, bloggers Liz of Adventures in reading, running and working from home, Frances of Volatile Rune, Heather of Based on a True Story, Rebekah of She Seeks Nonfiction, and Deb of Readerbuzz invite you to celebrate Nonfiction November with us.

Each Monday, our weekly host will post our topic prompt and include a linkup where you can link your posts, connect with other bloggers, and dive deeper by reading and sharing nonfiction book reviews. Feel free to use our official Nonfiction November graphics, too! 

For more details about Nonfiction November, see my post Nonfiction November Returns: Save the Date.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Kiki's Delivery Service

Books I Refused to Read Because They Were Too Popular

Nonfiction November Returns: Save the Date!

The Sunday Salon: World Postcard Day, Comfy Cozy Cinema, and We'll Prescribe You a Cat

I just have two more Oz books to read before the end of the year.

I think I can do that.

From my reading this week:

"That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

—Walt Whitman

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. I've established a regular routine now of writing down my 3 Good Things. 

Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

Inprint Reading Series 

at Rice University

with authors 

Rumaan Alam (Entitlement) and

Danzy Senna (Colored Television).

Good Thing #2:

The Breakfast Mamas,

get together

to celebrate Brenda's (in blue) 

77th birthday.

Good Thing #3:

My husband and I enjoyed seeing

the high school play, 

The 39 Steps,

with my dad and his wife this week,

free for seniors.

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.

 

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Kiki's Delivery Service

I suggested to my husband that we try to do a few Comfy Cozy Cinema choices this fall, and he agreed. 

Movie Title: Kiki's Delivery Service

Original Release Date: 1989

Where I Found It: DVD at my public library

Rating: G

Time: 1 hr. 45 min.

Amazon Rating: 4.9 / 5 with 10,412 ratings

Cast: Animated, with Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, Phil Hartman as Jiji the cat,

Janeane Garofalo as Ursula, and Debbie Reynolds as Madame

I can't remember the last time I saw an animated film. I was apprehensive when I saw this film was from Japan, worried this film might be like the animated films from Japan like Speed Racer that I saw as a young person. 

I needn't have worried. Kiki's Delivery Service is an exceptional film. I was immediately captivated by the details in the film, the buzzing bee, the shifting point-of-view of the camera, the little gesture the bus driver makes when he shifts into gear. The film feels startlingly lifelike.

The story is about a young witch who turns thirteen and must strike out on her own. The only skill Kiki has is flying on her broomstick, so she decides to run a delivery service. The owner of a bakery provides Kiki with a place to stay and helps her get her business going. In addition to the baker, Kiki soon meets and befriends a boy fascinated with flying, an old lady, and an artist named Ursula. 

Kiki is horrified when she realizes that she is losing her magic, one of the most powerful parts of the movie, and it is the artist who is able to help Kiki cope with the way our gifts can come and go.

Kiki faces the same struggles as most teens, and with the help of her new friends, she learns more about herself and how to deal with others. 

I couldn't help speculating about what our world might be like if kids were sent out on their own at thirteen, to make their own way in life. 

My Comfy Cozy Rating: High 

Comfy Cozy Qualities: The trials of adolescence including

learning to make friends, discovering your strengths and weaknesses,

and learning how to make it in the world

Here's a bit of the movie in its trailer.

I was happy to discover that my library not only had the DVD, but it also had the book from which the movie was taken, Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono. It was delightful, too, though it was different from the movie. In the book, Kiki is not paid with money but is instead given a small gift in gratitude for her service. In the movie, Kiki faces big problems, including saving a boy from a wayward airship and losing her magic powers; in the book, Kiki faces small problems, including using her flying abilities to dry a person's clothes quickly, to deliver a knitted belly band to a woman's son who is boat pilot, and finding a replacement gear for a clock in the clock tower during an important event. I loved the little stories in the book as much as the big stories in the movie. My review of the book is here.

This is year two of Comfy Cozy Cinema, hosted by Erin at Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs and Lisa at Boondock Ramblings. Erin and Lisa invite us all to join in by watching the movie, posting about it, and linking up within a week of the day listed on the chart below.

Books I Refused to Read Because They Were Too Popular

Yes, I'm one of *those* people. A book snob, some might call me. A book gets too popular, and I shun it. I'm sure I wouldn't like it, I think, nose in the air. Probably just pure fluff. 

Here are some of the books I rejected for a long time, before finally caving in and reading:

Harry Potter

John Grisham

Here are some I ended up buying a copy of, though I have not yet read these. Should I read these?

The Thorn Birds

Cold Sassy Tree

Here are some I have never read. Should I reconsider?

The DaVinci Code

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.