Moving and Shaking

I am very behind on my posting and yet I have many books to share and compare.  Hoping this week I can finish writing up the Brideshead Revisited review for my Classics Club list and then I will be very sporadic posting.

The reason for my preoccupation is we have sold our house.  Yea! But that also means the clock is ticking on closing and finalizing the purchase/contract of another house so we have been busy. My week has been a mission of finding boxes and packing things I don't need now such as puzzles, winter clothing, photo albums, etc.

That said, I need the mental escape of reading (even if it's not as much as I usually read) and I'm still on for planned buddy reads for Ferrante and Pilcher upcoming.  📚

I may be slow answering comments but be assured I will.  Love my book buddies and keeping up so I'll see you when I see you!

I leave you with photo of Loki enjoying his dental treat.  He tends to hold them upright to get maximum chew.

Chat with you later...........

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

Book Rambling

This week my reading time has been off as I've been up in the wee hours of the morning with a sick dog.  Which means a much needed nap was in order over several days.  Hoping to get things resolved so life goes back to my usual uneventful average.  The only book post I made was about Stanley Tucci's latest book here.

Anyway....on a visit to the library I saw the April issue of Book Page is out so picked that up. I found so many to add to my very long to-read list.

Here are a few that caught my attention.

I'm a fan of Ann Cleeves and see the first book in her Inspector Ramsay series, titled A Lesson in Dying, will be released here soon.  Funny thing about that is it was first released in the U.K. in 1990. Thirty-five years later it's now available here.  I wonder why the huge gap in release for the U.S. as her other series such as Shetland and Vera have been available.

Birding to Change the World by Trish O'Kane looks like a perfect companion to the Amy Tan book I read recently.

Emma Donoghue is featured in an interview about her latest book The Paris Express.  She and was moving to the Paris neighborhood of Montparnassee  with her partner and she came across a photo of a 1895 train crash at the Montparnassee station.  After reading about it it inspired her to write a book.  It sounds like one I would enjoy.  The interview with this Dublin born author is interesting.

Rooms For Vanishing by Stuart Nadler is a family saga and I like those very much. This one is unique as it examines how some of the innocent dead of the Holocaust would have gone on to live their lives, had they not been killed.  It's apparently a nonlinear narrative and I bet emotionally charged.  It's a fat 464 pages and I will get to it much later in the year.

Has anyone read one of the titles I mentioned here?  There are many more in Book Page but these attracted me straight off.  I hope your week was filled with good books and happiness.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon and Joy for British Isles Friday.

What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci{2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge}

This book is filled with food (hence the title), love of family and travel stories.  I very much enjoyed this book. 

Straight off I wanted the salad of cannellini beans, canned tuna, red onion, tomatoes, basil and olive oil.  I wish I had added cucumbers but I will do that next time. (please excuse my poor photograhy skills)

His love of soups - "it's the greatest culinary invention which can be made with two ingredients or twenty ingredients.  It can be served hot or cold. It can be cooked fast or slow. It can be vegan, vegetarian, paleo, pescatarian or carnivorian.  Soup is life in a pot."

The entry for April 27 was poignant with the memories of his former home, the life he and his first wife Kate created with their children. Memories of raising their children there until her death in 2009.  "The house he watched his children leave for the first days of school, where they learned of their mother's illness, where Kate passed away and where the magnolia tree where some of her ashes are scattered."

The stories in the October entry about working with Ukrainian refugees was very moving to me.  Hearing the women talk about what was left behind and how they are managing with young children but wanting nothing more than to be home. 

So much food and so many ideas I am inspired to prepare from reading this.  It is after all called What I Ate in One Year.  I liked the diary like format and descriptions of life with his family and his working projects as well.

This book is shared with Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge. Category: Food

Jane Austen puzzle#JaneAusten #BriFri

 If you like puzzles this is a very good one.  If you are also a fan of Jane Austen you will love it.

The back of the photo page, which came along with the puzzle, has information about each character depicted along with which book each character belongs.

This was a thoughtful gift from my kids when we visited them in Nebraska.  I had stowed it away as we planned to move and I knew there wasn't time for a puzzle. Now that the move isn't happening I could get started. 

If you have a fan of both puzzles and Jane Austen this would make an ideal gift.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

Mailbox Monday

 I received Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian, shown here with one of my spider plants and ferns. It's one of the titles on my classics list so I will get to that in the next few months for sure.  Perhaps I'll watch the movie afterwards. 

In the mail I received Rick Steves book On the Hippie Trail. Very much looking forward to that nonfiction. Thank you to Deb at Readerbuzz :-)

That's my week's Mailbox Monday.  Hope you received some goodies this week.

Sharing with Vicki for Mailbox Monday

Reading and puzzling

First off,  my sympathies to Susan for the loss of your father. I am so sorry for your loss, you remain in my thoughts. 

Here at home I have been inside a bit due to a 200 acre controlled burn which was choking. That meant reading and puzzling.  No complaints there but not getting a proper walk in was disappointing.  Prior to the fires we did manage a short trip to St Mark's Lighthouse with Loki. Photos later...

This week I finished two books.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

As advertised, it's a family drama in a Sonoma California setting featuring a family vineyard.  I enjoyed this book very much.  A close family with  believeable disagreements and interactions. The reviews for this book are all over the place but I read it every chance I got.  The workings of the vineyard, what it meant to the children growing up there and how they feel about it as adults when it looks like the father is about to give it all up. 

There is also the drama of Georgia getting thrown for a loop when she sees her fiance walking down the street with his former girlfriend (a superstar actress) and a 5 year old little girl. Obviously there is an explanation. Some good quotes within and I liked this one:

"You really shouldn't live your life doing what you think you should do."

Perfect time for every family member to evaluate where they are with current life choices and make changes. 4.5 stars

Currently Reading 

 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

 and Stanley Tucci's What I Ate in One Year.

Abandoned:  The Postman by David Brin.  It was on my classics list and it's also apocalyptic so I was going to add that to my Apocalyptic tab page above. 👆 I read up to the 29% point when an organized dog fighting scene was introduced.  Possibly it's just the one scene but considering the descriptions of the people gathered and betting, considering the fall of society, I thought I'd just stop.  I am a tender hearted person regarding animals, fiction or not, I don't want to read about abuse.

I'll need to replace that title on my Classics Club list.

That's it for me right now.  I hope you had a good reading week.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

A puzzle, a fox and lots of books

Sunday already.  This week has flown by for me. The temps have been up and down so one day we are sitting on the porch while Loki suns himself and the next I have the heater going and I'm inside working on a puzzle.

I have a new puzzle, courtesy of my son, so I started sorting the colors on Monday evening. It's the World of Jane Austen with a photo key on the back describing each character and which book they belong with. Very cool.

A fox visited us this week to eat the birdseed.  Sometimes I think I am feeding everyone but birds here :-)

Books finished this week

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

The Book Club by Roisin Meaney

Currently reading / Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave.

Mailbox Monday brought me the latest issue of Book Page and JoAnn sent me Three Days in June by Anne Tyler.

That's it for the week. Hoping for a little outing next week to get photos of birds and alligators.

Sharing with:

Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Vicki for Mailbox Monday

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico#ClassicsClub #BriFri

The Snow Goose is a short classic by Paul Gallico, published in January 1941. I sought this title out after reading Peter Heller's book The Orchard as his well educated main character and narrator was named Frith, one of the main characters in The Snow Goose.

Here is the plot of The Snow Goose - Philip Rhayader is a hunchback with dark hair and a beard, a hump, and a crooked hand resembling a claw. He had much love and empathy to give, but everyone was repelled by his appearance.  He was was shunned by all in the town and so heartbroken and lonely, he retreated to an abandoned lighthouse on the salt marshes in Essex.  His company was nature and the various wildlife which he captured in paintings.

Then a wild looking little girl called Frith came to his island. She was very brave. She carried an injured snow goose, not knowing what it was, wanting to save it. She had heard of Rhayader's ability to heal and shelter animals. While wary of this large man she had a good heart and wanted to save the bird.

Once the goose heals it flys north but returns every October to visit with Rhayader.  Frith, while brave and headstrong, is also a very lonely girl. Her friendship with Rhayader is good for them both.  She returns and visits over the years and he shares his knowledge of the marshes, birds and books.  They enjoy talking over the seven winters they visit and the healed snow goose returns each year as well.

After a hearing of the battle at Dunkirk Rhayader realizes he can help using his little boat, possibly saving trapped soldiers.  Frith begs him not to go as it would be dangerous with Germans still bombing the waters but he sees at last he can contribute and tells her to stay on the island, sailing away to help. The themes are compassion, acceptance, love and friendship.

Sharing with:

The Classics Club

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday

J

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan is a stunning book. It’s not one you’d read through very quickly but one you would want to pick up over time. It’s filled with delightful stories about birds, nature and personal observations.

Naturally I needed to use my favorite bird mug for sipping while reading.  (That mug made it through many years with me at work and brought me happiness in a Dilbert world)

I like the forward of the book written by David Sibley where he’s talking about early birding memories and starting a life list of birds he has seen.

When I was reading the forward I noticed she mentioned not driving and I wondered why.  Turns out she has Lyme Disease and I read about that on her website HERE.  It's a very interesting article.

Besides the commentary about the birds and observations, she also sketches the birds and does the artwork.  This labor of love is a result of our author needing escape from the state of our country and racism she encountered.  What a lovely way to channel distress into something positive.

In the back of the book, there is a selected reading list, sharing many authors and resources during the writing of this book.

If you have a bird lover in your family this would make a wonderful gift.

This book is shared with Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge. Category: Garden

If it's raining I'll be in the kitchen with a book

This week I have gotten quite a bit of reading time in.  We had storms for several days with unrelenting rain causing mini ponds to form in our field. I can hear the frogs in the evening now, enjoying themselves with so much standing water. 

Besides more reading time, the rain kept me inside making hot lunches and cookies. 

Here is a carmelized onion and chedder quiche loaded with chives from Mary McCartney's cookbook Food. Easy enough and fun to look through this cookbook.

In book news....

Currently reading / Backyard Bird Chronicles, Brideshead Revisited and The Snow Goose.

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico is an older book the library was taking out of circulation.  I like old books, the feel of them and the bent pages where previous readers marked a passage.  On the sale trolley for $1 so how could I resist, especially as it's on my Classics Club list.

Brideshead Revisited is also on my Classics Club list and happens to be the one picked by their game The Spin. 

Armchair travel this week is California, Oxford and Essex England.   That's about it.  Not a crazy exciting week here but I am getting some good reading in.  I hope your week is a good one.

Sharing with:

Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday.

A rainy Sunday

It's Sunday and the rain has been coming down since last night.  We have a mini pond out front where the water is collecting.  I expect to see ducks before too long!

I am still adhering to the No Buy 2025 and making purchases only as needed.  I don't buy books now either - I use the library and if they don't have my book/DVD, I utilize their inter library loan program to borrow a book from a participating source. 

“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One,” Trump said at a press conference in August 2024, targeting voters who have been dissatisfied with the price of goods.

How's that going? 👆

This week....

Watching / We are still enjoying MASH and are on to season two now.

Just in from the library is season three of London Kills.  We had watched the first two seasons a few years ago and never got back to it.  Will see if it still appeals.

Reading / I just finished James Rebanks second book Pastoral Song.

For Mailbox Monday the library came through for me with three books.

A nonfiction by Terry Gross titled All I Did Was Ask

Rosamunde Pilcher's Voices in Summer

Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisted

I'll most likely start Brideshead Revisited as it's the book selected for The Classics Spin.

Hope your week is going well and you have lots of good books and joy in your life.

 Sharing with:

Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Vicki for Mailbox Monday