"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Sunday Salon -- My family and books


Mom with her great-grandsons, telling stories.

This week we are in Central Oregon for a family reunion. I thought it would be fun to find out what everyone was reading and what books they have enjoyed this year so far. It has been fun collecting their information and stories. And now I'm sharing what I've learned with you. Enjoy! (Links lead to Goodreads so you can read more about the variety of books!)

Anne (me) I'm a reading omnivore: I like literary fiction, poetry, narrative nonfiction, historical fiction, graphic novels, YA, Children's books but I will read it all -- mysteries, fantasy, Sci-Fi, even horror.

Kathy (sister) Enjoys reading literary fiction and inspirational nonfiction.

Don (husband) Prefers reading nonfiction.

Tom (brother-in-Law) Enjoys both fantasy and Sci-Fi.

Kaylyn (niece) Romantasy is her go-to genre.
  • Currently reading: 
    • Silver Elite (Book 1 of series "Silver Elite") by Dani Francis. (Romantasy, dystopia) 
  • Favorite of the year: 

Bobby (nephew-in-law) Bobby is a reading omnivore but 2/3rds of what he reads is nonfiction especially on the topic of business and leadership. When he reads fiction he prefers Classic Lit or Stephen King novels. Bobby reviews books and articles on his blog: Bobbypowers.com

Dan (son-in-law) Dan enjoys Grimdark Fantasy, a new subgenre to me.

Rita (daughter) Like me Rita is in two book clubs. She reads a lot of contemporary fiction, and especially enjoys romance and Romantasy novels. She also reads to her children every night so is always up to her eyeballs in middle grade and children's books.

Working on a puzzle together.


Jamie (grandson, preschool) Jamie likes being read to as long as there are good illustrations.

Ian (grandson, upper elementary) Ian is a reader! He devours his favorite series in no time flat, he especially likes those which feature magic and dragons.
  • Currently reading:
  • Favorite book/series of the year:
    • Dragonborn (Book 1 "Dragonborn" series) by Struan Murray (MG, Fantasy)

Tony (brother) Tony considers himself an omnivore reader but almost exclusively listens to audiobooks.
  • Currently reading:
    • A Michael Connelly (Crime thriller)
  • Favorite:

Becky (sister-in-law) Likes historical fiction and thrillers

Shirley (my mom, age 97) Is currently making her reading selections from the on-site library at her retirement home
  • Currently reading: 
    • A Reader's Digest compilation (Remember them?)
  • A book she has liked this year: 

Carly (daughter) Likes to alternate between these genres: fantasy, thrillers, historical fiction, and romance. She almost exclusively consumes books in the audio format

Rock (brother-in-law) Likes to read Christian nonfiction

Brent (nephew) Likes Classic and literary fiction and philosophical nonfiction
  • Currently reading:
  • Favorite so far:
    • The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Literary fiction)

Grace (sister) Enjoys historical fiction and as a preschool teacher is all about great easy books for children
Another niece and her family arrived last night but I haven't seen them yet. If they choose to join in, I'll add their books here.


Oh boy this was a fun activity and it really got everyone talking. I learned things about my beloved family members like my nephew who loves to read classic lit (like me) and my brother who almost exclusively listens to audiobooks (like my daughter). Notice there are very few people with similar tastes. The girl cousins all like romance or Romantasy and the sisters/-in-laws all like historical fiction. Other than that there isn't a lot of crossover. I usually keep up on what my daughters are reading and will often ask my sisters what is on their nightstands. We all help keep Mom in books now that she doesn't go to the public library. My husband reflected on this project and wondered aloud if it unusual for everyone in a family to consider themselves readers. I think so!

Old and young: everyone loves to swim.


Well, we're off to go float the Deschutes River and will try to avoid as much forest fire smoke as possible. (It seems that all of Oregon in on fire.) Tonight we will celebrate my oldest sister's birthday. It will be our last meal together before we start to disperse to points south, north, east, and west after another fabulous family reunion.

Thanks for reading.

-Anne



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Thursday, July 23, 2026

Review: ENORMOUS WINGS (+Friday56 LinkUp)



Title: Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

Book Beginning/First Line Friday blurb, p. 1:

Friday56 blurb, p. 33 last page of sample:


Summary: Pepper Mills is 77 when her adult children encourage (force) her to move into the Vista View Retirement in Austin, Texas and to give up her driver's license. She doesn't expect it, but she finds that she makes new friends and falls in love. Then she starts feeling sick, exhausted, and confused. Pepper worries that she has something very serious like a brain tumor. But when she goes to the doctor she finds she does have something serious... and inexplicable... she's pregnant. How can that be?

Review: In the book's blurb the publisher sums up the book this way:
Enormous Wings is an urgent novel about female agency and bodily autonomy, morality and mortality. It’s about what happens when you don’t get to choose anymore.
OMG. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this book. Pepper Mills, a retired English teacher is my kind of gal. She is long divorced, happily so, and enjoys her independent life. When she moves into Vista View she is not thinking about love and yet it happens. Then she is not thinking about pregnancy. What 77-year-old would?  But now that it has happened she is suddenly confronted with the laws in Texas which make getting an abortion a crime, even if the person getting the abortion is 77 and a pregnancy may very well kill her.

The lack of consideration for personal choices and the morality and mortality issues involved all make this book very complex and thought-provoking. Yet, the dialogue and the characters are all filled with charm and humor. Heavy topics with a light touch. I think the book would make a great book club, for sure.

Lest you think I am giving away spoilers, I haven't told you anything you can't find on the book's blurb by the publisher. I guess the surprises aren't in the physical details but in the conversations and relationships with the characters.

I was attracted to the book initially because I am a Laurie Frankel fan, in fact I've met her. She wrote a fantastic book, This Is How It Always Is, about a family with a trans kid which was the first time I'd read anything on the topic. I found it eye opening. I was also attracted to the book because my siblings and I just finished helping our mother move into a retirement apartment. She has since given up her driver's license. I felt like I could relate to Pepper's dilemma about moving and making new friends because I've seen it happen with my mom. Even though I had read the blurb, I wasn't really prepared for the emotional impact the other main theme of the book would hit me. Egads, why are non-doctors making decisions about laws which affect so many people and then treat them as if every situation is the same? Women everywhere should be fighting for their rights to personal autonomy and for making decisions about their own health.

I tell you what -- this book really got me going!!! I just bought a copy for my sister. Can't wait to talk to her about it.

My rating: 5 stars.

__________________________________________________________




Sign up for The Friday56 on the Inlinkz below. 

RULES:

*Grab a book, any book
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader (If you want to improvise, go ahead!)
*Find a snippet, but no spoilers!
*Post it to your blog and add your url to the Linky below. If you do not add the specific url for your post, we may miss it! 
*Visit other blogs and leave comments about their snippets. Expand the community. Please leave a comment for me, too!  


Also visit Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Reading is My Super Power to share the beginning quote from your book.



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
-Anne
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Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Tanka Reviews

Thanks to Lark Writes for giving me the inspiration to write short, poetic book reviews. Hers are called 'Haiku Reviews.' I'll make mine a little longer and call them tanka-poetry reviews. Similar to haikus, tanka poems are short, using only 31-syllables in the cadence pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7. I'm catching up here on past-due reviews.


The Red Notebook
 by Antoine Laurain, translated from French by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce
2014.

A man finds a purse. 
He searches for its owner.
Only clue: notebook.
He finds her apartment but
where is she? Sweet love story.

My rating: 4 stars

_________________________________________________  


The Raven Boys: A Graphic Novel
by Maggie Stiefvater, adapted by Stephanie Williams, illustrated by Sas Milledge
2025.

A popular book.
One I liked a lot, redone.
Now graphic novel.
Many details shortened up,
Leaving me wishing for more.

My rating: 3 stars

_______________________________________________________


Brokeback Mountain 
by Annie Proulx
1997.

Reread short story.
Two ranch hands, Ennis and Jack,
Come together one summer.
Their relationship is doomed.
Men in love? Impossible. 

My rating: 5 stars

__________________________________________________


And Yet: Poems
by Kate Baer
2022.

Poems about life, 
mothering, exhaustion.
I met this poet
through book: Hope This Finds You Well.
This collection very good.

My rating: 5 stars

_____________________________________________________


Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer 
edited by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.
2024

Big, heavy art book.
Kennedy doesn't think of
himself as artist
but a printer of posters --
Black experiences in America.

My rating: 4 stars

__________________________________________________
-Anne
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Monday, July 20, 2026

TTT: Books That Live In My Head Rent-Free



Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Live in My Head Rent-Free

I think of that term "rent-free" as something negative. I tried to find negative situations which remind me of certain books. Not the books fault, though, just association. When I ran out of negative ideas, I threw in a few positive ones just to confuse everyone.


STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel
I think about this book ALL the time, almost every single day. The book is set before and after a worldwide pandemic which wipes out almost everyone, over 99% of the population. It seems to me that our ending may be similar and it causes me to think of what life may be like after such an event. Depressing little thoughts, huh?

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood
Every time politicians (all men) talk about removing or limiting health care options for women (abortion), I think of this book and it makes me cringe.

LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding.
Boys are marooned on an island and have to fend for themselves and make rules to govern how they live. Within days everything falls apart and lawlessness reigns to the point of murder. The ICE raids that end on murder is one example of current affairs which cause me to think back on the message of this book...left to their own devises most people do not govern their own behavior well. 

THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA by Philip Roth
This is an alternate history of America where the Fascists beat FDR in 1932 and things go downhill immediately after the election for almost everyone, especially for Jews. Trump's fascist tendencies make me want to shove this book in his face and scream "Read it." So maybe he would finally see what a dangerous path he is trotting down. 

THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS by Laurie Frankel
When people try to vilify trans individuals I always think about this book about a family which tries to keep their trans child sex change a secret until the secret keeps them. 

PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger
This book is about families and hope and miracles. It is full of poetry and warmth. I think back on this book often and find myself wanting to reread it. It speaks to me on a spiritual level.

UNDER A WHITE SKY: THE NATURE OF THE FUTURE by Elizabeth Kolbert
In this nonfiction book Kolbert uses examples of things humans have done to solve problems in nature, which made worse problems. Every time I hear about some effort being attempted to avert some other problem I think about this book and roll my eyes. Except the news that they have reintroduced beavers back to Scotland and it has already solved some flooding problems. Hmm. Mother Nature knows best?

THE OVERSTORY by Richard Powers
Snatches of this book comes to me unbidden whenever I am among trees, which is often.

LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
I think of this book often as I contemplate what I would do if I could go back in time and correct a mistake, mine or someone else's.

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams
Lest you think I only contemplate serious topics, this book, one of the funniest ever written, often knocks on the door of my head reminding me to laugh at something.


-Anne
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Sunday, July 19, 2026

Sunday Salon -- Summer!

Lighthouse at Pt. Robinson Park on Vashon Island

Weather: Oddly cool and overcast, with occasional sunbreaks. We actually had a thunderstorm on Thursday. I just learned the Washington State, where we live, has the lowest number of lightening strikes per year of all the lower 48 states. Weird statistic.


Summer fun: Friends from New Jersey were out west for a sad reason, a death in their family, but it gave us an opportunity to spend time together, just loving up on each other. We also made a small trip to Vashon Island (across the sound from Tacoma) to see "Oscar the Bird King", a Thomas Dambo troll, and explore the island a bit.


Swimmer: Our grandson is participating in a summer swim team for the first time. They had their first meet last Saturday and look how he did! We are so proud of him. Don and I both swam on swim teams when we were younger, as did Ian's uncle and great uncle. It is in his blood.

Books and blogging:

     -Completed the last two weeks:

Currently reading:


Blog posts:
Off to Central Oregon for a family reunion: I will have the Internet (I hope) so should be able to stay up on my blogging. I'll be taking all the books I'm currently reading plus another French book which I have queued up on my kindle something like Petr the Latvian?

Oscar the Bird King is pointing at you!


-Anne
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Saturday, July 18, 2026

Paris in July --Second Update




July 14th -- Happy Bastille Day
Bastille Day commemorates the 1789 Storming of the Bastille, a pivotal event in the French Revolution that symbolized the fall of the absolute monarchy and the beginning of the nation's push for liberty and equality.
 Boynton, children's author and illustrator, created a little movie to honor this special day in France, saying: "Happy Bastille Day! I premiered this inexplicable little movie—a remote pandemic collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma (with an accordion cameo by "Weird Al" Yankovic) 5 6 years ago today. I'm proud to say that it's just as irrelevant today as it was then."
Watch it if you can. It is hilarious. The link to the small Sandra Boynton movie is here on Facebook.


Food:

Choux à la Crème
The Pâte à Choux was delicious but the creme not so great. I need a good recipe. Anyone?

Meringues Françaises
Delicious but a flop. I didn't whip the egg whites long enough so they just flattened out. 


Books:

Recently completed:
The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

Reviews:
The Stranger by Camus



Sports:

 World Cup. France 4th place. I was surprised. I thought they'd win it all!

Tour du France. I've watched a few times. Amazingly fit men!


-Anne
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