Sunday Salon: Post Election Glow and More

Weather: It is sunny right this moment but we had a rain and wind storm last. It was pretty dramatic.

Post midterm election thoughts: As you know, if you are a reader of my blog, I was delighted by the results of the election which was called a Blue Tsunami. Here are a few points which I'd like to highlight:

• Racism by the republicans was on clear display this election cycle with several states gerrymandering their legislative districts to diminish the chances of Democrats and people-of-color retaining/winning them. In Mississippi people were kicked off the voter rolls because they had low credit scores (I kid you not) and who has the highest chance of lower credit scores? Why poorer people-of-color, of course. But these people all understood the assignment to make sure they were not dismissed. Of all the gerrymandered districts it looks like almost all became dummymanders, with Democrats holding onto almost all of them (a few are still question.) Mississippi is poised to select a Black man, Scott Colom. Take that racists! (Dummymanders)
• New records for women as a result of this election:
• 132+ women will serve in the next House of Representative starting in January. A record.
• In Congress there will be 31 Black women, 26 Latinas, 3 Indigenous women, too. (Rutgers)
• There will be 17 women governors, 14 of them Democrats. Among them: Keisha Lance Bottoms (Black, Georgia), Gina Hinojosa (Latina, Texas), and Deb Haaland (Native American- Pueblo tribe, New Mexico.)
• TEXAS goes blue all the way through (every statewide office is now Democratic, State House flipped blue), Talarico to Senate! Thank you Texans!
• I've been busy doing to opposite of doom scrolling the past week. Still keeping my fingers crossed for Alaska and Mississippi senate. The numbers are too close to call but both of these democrats are in the lead.

Blog posts since my last Sunday Salon:

• TTT: My Perfect Day -- I hope my family members read this because you will recognize the setting.
• TTT: Halloween Freebie
• Review: The Things We Never Say
• Nonfiction November, Week One
• TTT: One-Word Reviews
• In Celebration of the Election Results, Nov. 3rd
• Review: Homestead
• Review: Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry
• Six Degrees of Separation: Novellas

Currently reading:

• Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward. Audio. For Goodreads challenge. 34% complete.
• The Fight of Our Lives: AIDS in America by David Levithan. Print. For National Book Award Challenge; Nonfiction in November. 25% complete.
• True or Poo?: The Definitive Field Guild to Filthy Animals Facts and Falsehoods by Nick Caruso. Print. Nonfiction November. 60% complete.
• Tree of Knowledge: Poems by Victoria Chang. Print. National Book Award challenge. 80% complete.
• The Land and Its People by David Sedaris. Audiobooks with Don. Nonfiction November. 50% complete.

Recently completed books:

• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones. MG Audio. Loved it. 5 stars.
• Python's Kiss: Stories by Louise Erdrich. Audiobook with Don. Best story collection I remember reading. 5 stars.
• Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry by Ada Limon. Print. Nearly perfect defense of poetry, especially for these fragile days. 5 stars.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Audio. Classic novella.

-Anne

Six Degrees of Separation: Novellas

Host: BooksAreMyFavoriteandBest

I'm participating in Novellas in November again this year so I was pretty delighted to see that this month's six-degrees challenge is about novellas.

I decided to make a themed list this time around. All of these novellas started me down a reading or research path. Follow me down that path for explanations.

Starting with

Black and White by Paul Volponi, c. 2005.
Read in April 2012
199 pages
After reading this book, I planned an author project for a class of high school juniors which culminated with a Zoom call with the author. It was one of the highlights of my teacher-librarian days.

Mister Orange by Truus Matti, c. 2011.
Read in February 2014
156 pages
Part of the story focuses on the art of Piet Mondrian. I trip-trapped down a personal research rabbit-hole to learn more about Mondrian, his art, and the museums where it is displayed.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, c. 1927.
Read in November 2023
160 pages
This book started me onto a Thornton Wilder tangent where I read a few other books by him or about him, including his famous play, Our Town.

Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo, c. 1955.
Read in November 2024
122 pages
This book is so unique I had to do additional research on it and the author, on surrealism, and magical realism. Want to know more? Click on the title for my review.

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella, c. 2024.
Read in October 2025
133 pages
The novel is about a woman with brain cancer. My research helped me learn that the author was struggling with the same cancer and has since died from it.

The Stranger by Albert Camus, c. 1942.
Reread in July 2026.
123 pages
I first read this book in high school. When I went to see The Stranger at the movies this year, I decided a reread was in order. That led to extensive research about existentialism, absurdism, the author, and the time period.

-Anne

Review: AGAINST BREAKING: ON THE POWER OF POETRY

In 2022 Ada Limón was appointed as the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, by Dr. Carla Hayden of the Library of Congress. In 2025 Limón delivered this moving address at the end of her tenure. Against Breaking is the perfect thing to read (should I call it a book?) if you are wondering what poetry has to do with your life or what value it even holds for society today. People often tell me they don't read much poetry and don't know where or how to start doing so. This would be a perfect place to start because Limón lays out so articulately the power of poetry.

Limón delivered this speech in April of 2025, three weeks later Dr. Hayden was unceremoniously removed from her post at the Library of Congress, evidence of how our nation is changing in dangerous ways. It is heartbreaking what this administration is doing to our Constitution and also to the arts, health sciences, etc. In the conclusion of her forward Limón says she wishes we could have all been together in the big room that April night. And by reading this book, to a degree, we are. "I hope you feel invited in the room, the large room we all must create together, the room where we all must work hard to save what matters." 

Just imagine for a moment life without the arts. That is certainly something we must all fight against. Limón began her speech with this, "When clarity is hard to come by, when language morphed into a tool for confusion, I put my faith in poetry." She goes on to say that she thinks it is possible poetry saves lives. In her role as the Poet Laureate she encountered many people hungry for poetry, language, and connection and many others who experience poetry as a lifeline. She gave the example of one grandfather she met who started memorizing poetry after he lost his son to war. He memorized poems so he could keep them in his mind while he waited in lines. It kept his mind busy so it didn't go to all the dark, grieving places. I wish I were better at memorizing poems, even lines from poems, so I would have them at the ready when I need them like Limón does. "When I am stuck in the middle of something difficult, some immovable obstacle in front of me, I conjure up the line from Jean Valentine's poem "Door in the Mountain." I stare out a window, or at the challenge in my mind and say her last lines: "Door in the mountain / let me in."

This, Limón says, is the secret power of poetry: little engines of sound urging us on, telling us we aren't alone. Poetry might even move the collective. "Perhaps, in dire and dangerous times like these, all poetry can do is remind us where courage comes from." Who doesn't need a little nudge to keep going, to to be braver?

This last week, since the midterm elections, many people have shared their joy in the collective moment of beating back to cruelty and oppression wrought on us by this Administration. Many have celebrated by sharing song and lyrics (poems set to music) the memorialize the moment. (Here is an example from the Hamilton song.)

The book is only 56 pages long. It will probably take you less than an hour to read but the impact on you my last a lifetime. Find a copy at your public library. Read it. Thank me later!

"If you need to be reminded of what makes us human, tender, brave, flawed, and worthy of love, then you need poetry!"

-Anne

Friday Book Snippets: HOMESTEAD

Title: Homestead by Melinda Moustakis

First line snippet:

June 1956 -- God made the trees and men make the kindling.

2nd snippet, page 56:

January 1957 -- Blizzard wind a howl and rack for days, and the blessed quiet when a storm dies down.

Summary:

Anchorage, 1956. When Marie and Lawrence first lock eyes at the Moose Lodge, they are immediately drawn together. But when they decide to marry, days later, they are more in love with the promise of homesteading than anything. For Lawrence, his parcel of 150 acres is an opportunity to finally belong in a world that has never delivered on its promise. For Marie, the land is an escape from the empty future she sees spinning out before her, and a risky bet is better than none at all. But over the next few years, as they work the land in an attempt to secure a deed to their homestead, they must face everything they don’t know about each other. As the Territory of Alaska moves toward statehood and inexorable change, can Marie and Lawrence create something new, or will they break apart trying? (Publisher)

My thoughts: Homestead was a book club selection. Our club utilizes book kits available from the library for clubs. The kit contains ten books and a packet of materials including discussion questions. I'm fairly sure that no one in the club would have picked this book were it not part of a convenient kit for us to use. Don't get me wrong. The book was well written and had a realistic story set in Alaska on the brink of statehood. None of us had read a book from this setting and time period before, so it had value from that vantage point. And we did have a very good discussion of way society has changed since the 1950s, especially concerning the rights of women. Oddly I had just finished reading a Hemingway novel before reading this book. One of my criticisms of that novel was the way Hemingway writes in such a spare style, using few adjectives, with hardly any transitions. There is an immediacy to that kind of writing, I just don't like it. Here Moustakis, the author of Homestead, writes in that same spare style as Hemingway. And guess what? I didn't like it here, either. Reread the two snippet samples I provided. I've read and reread that page 56 quote many times and I just can't make it sing in my mouth. Why doesn't it say, "Blizzard wind howls and racks for days"? The style Moustakis uses actually grates my nerves a bit. Ha!

Not sure if I would recommend this book for your consideration. I rated it 3.75 stars.  

______________________________________________________ 

Welcome to a combined Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday56 with a new name Friday Book Snippets. I am co-hosting this weekly blogging event with Olivia at Bemused & Bookish. You can link up at either of our sites but be sure to still visit and comment on other participant's blogs to increase our community.

Directions: Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from a) the book's opening and b) page 56 (or another page) from the book you are currently reading. No spoilers, please. 

Click on the "OH-NO" message and it will take you to the linkup this week. I'll find you there.

LinkUp: 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

-Anne

In Celebration of the Election Results November 3rd

Democrats (donkey) represent the American people!

This past weekend I was with my sister and brother-in-law. While the men talked football the conversation with my sister turned to politics. I asked her if she was looking forward to November 3rd and the end of the midterm campaign season. She said she was so anxious she wasn't sure she wanted the day to come because prior to that day hope was still alive.

Well, I am happy to report that we're well beyond hope. We are smack in the middle of reality. Trump and the GOP were thoroughly trounced last night and the good news keeps coming.

Let's see. Where to start?

First, this guy. I think his experience exactly matches the experiences of so many Americans. We were tired. So tired of Trump, MAGA, GOP hatred and division. I can't stop watching this video. It makes me laugh today. 

Secondly, and I didn't really think of this until this morning, the rest of the world was holding their breath, too, and is now celebrating with us. We actually beat back fascism. Phew.

Thirdly, I don't think the magnitude of the election has hit us completely. 

      Yes, Democrats will take over the House of Representatives with a likely 254+ members (out of 435.) For comparison, the red wave of 2010 seated 242 Republicans and that was considered huge. 

      Yes, the Senate turned blue with 54+ seat (two are still pending). Pulling new senators from unlikely places: South Carolina, Kansas, and TEXAS! And now we are learning that Mississippi is also a possibility. Mississippi!

      And, at the state level, Democrats won over 330 seats giving them full control in 22 state governments and moving into the majority in many state chambers where they had been the minority. This will mean generational change throughout the country.

Talarico won in Texas! Finally a politician who is kind, thoughtful, generous, and concerned with living out his faith -- to love his neighbor and care for the less fortunate. His acceptance speech brought tears to both my husband and my eyes. His rhetoric has been missing from politics for many, many years and it is so comforting to hear him speak. Have a listen for yourself:

Today there is a new term: BLEXAS. It is because the state of Texas elected a Democratic Senator, Governor, Attorney General, Lt. Governor and the Texas State House flipped blue.

Several remarkable, first ever, changes happened last night, all positive for women --

• The first ever Indigenous woman was elected to the Senate -- Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota
• Three Black women will be serving in the Senate together, the highest level ever -- Juliana Stratton from Illinois will be joining Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland.
• The House of Representatives 2027 class will have over 100 female representatives for the first time.
• Annie Andrews is the first female senator who won an election in South Carolina.
• and more...  
  
  

Well. That was something.

Time to get down to governing well and bringing accountability to the corrupt Trump administration. 

-Anne

TTT: One-Word Reviews

Top Ten Tuesday: One-Word Reviews for My Last Ten Books

Python's Kiss: Stories by Louise Erdrich
Delightful

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Fantastical

The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days by Kate Bowler
and Jessica Richie
Thoughtful

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Lonely-people

Crook Manifesto: a Novel by Colson Manifesto
Morally-conflicted

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Bowler
Inviting

Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
Historical

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
Heartbreaking

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Hedonistic

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Wild-ride

-Anne

Nonfiction November --Week One

Week 1 November 2-8 - My Year in Nonfiction - Celebrate your year of nonfiction.  

What books have you read? What were your favorites? --

I've read 22 nonfiction books so far in 2026. The 5-star ratings being the best, underlined in yellow.

Of the nine 5-star books, my favorites are:

• Mother Mary Comes to Me
• This Land Is Your Land
• Year of Wonder
• London Falling

Have you had a favorite topic?

No, I don't have a favorite nonfiction topic. I try to read a variety of topics so that I am learning new information and gaining insights from my readings. I see that of my 5-stars reads this year, three are biography/memoirs, two are histories, two are inspirational.

Is there a topic you want to read about more?

Of the 227 books on my TBR, 55 are nonfiction. The highest topic most represented in this list is inspirational/religious books, with books about nature/climate coming in second.

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November? 

I always enjoy being part of a community which is interested in the same types of books that I am. Often when I review nonfiction books I get no comments so I don't even know if others even read the review. I enjoy the interchange I have this month with other nonfiction readers. I also hope to read a few more nonfiction books this month. In fact I started a new one today: The Land and Its People: Essays by David Sedaris.

Hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story.

-Anne

Friday Book Snippets: THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY

Title: The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

1st snippet-- Opening sentences:

It was the middle of June and the sun all day had kept right on shining with sweet mightiness. "Stay jovial, please, Artie! Just promise me that. Please stay your old jovial self."

2nd snippet, page 52

As Artie lay there in the not quite darkness of the hospital room he thought about this, Reginald rolling his eyes at him, and Artie felt a real sense of sorrow for the man, to have such a poverty of spirit.

Summary: Artie, a popular high school teacher, seems to be having an existential crisis. Shouldn't he feel happier and more content than he does? What if there is no such thing as free will? Why is he so lonely when he is surrounded by people all day? To make matters worse his best friend is moving, his wife seems more remote than usual, and he and his son are out of touch, unable to talk about what is really going on in their lives. Just when a near-death experience shocks him out of depression, a piece of news from his son shakes Artie to the core.

My thoughts: Today our pastor started his sermon by confessing of all the services he leads he appreciates doing funerals the most. Why? Because, he said, it is at funerals where we often hear many stories about the person, giving us a fuller picture of how they lived their life. No one story can sum up a life, yet often people only think of us one way, using only one story as a reference. But at a funeral people share many stories about the departed person and their many stories coalesce. 

Artie is a wonderful teacher -- so wonderful he won the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award -- yet he feels lonely, even suicidal. People know one story of Artie, that he is a good teacher, but he is full of conflicting thoughts and feeling that don't match that story. Once when he and his wife, Evie, attended a neighborhood party, where Artie felt isolated, he asked her why people never talk about anything important when they gather with friends. "I wonder why people never say anything real," he mused. I've wondered that very thought myself. Even among friends of many years, we often only talk about surface topics. All those superficial relationships led Artie to feel very lonely and depressed.

Carl Jung: "Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible." --the epigraph in The Things We Never Say

Before today's sermon, I had very mixed feeling about this book. I was so exasperated by Evie. She never listened to her husband. I was frustrated for Artie, who seemed unable to actually express his feelings. There was no happy ending to the the story, though I would argue it had a strong moral message. It is hard to like a book which contains so little happiness. But as I sat in church and pondered the idea that we all have many stories which make up our lives, this book kept coming to mind. The book addressed many topics we usually don't discuss with others -- loneliness, shame, guilt, suicide ideation, insecurity, and feelings of inadequacy -- and suddenly my whole estimation of the book shifted. Artie may have been living a life of quiet desperation but he helps point the way to another path. One we can choose or help others choose.

The Booker Prize committee chose The Things We Never Say as a finalist for 2026. Here is what they said about the book: "With exquisite prose and profound insight, Elizabeth Strout captures the way grief reverberates through decades, the comfort found in deep friendships and the freedom that comes when we break free of our secrets." -Booker Prize  I would add, that we are often not aware of the influence we can have on the lives of children. Artie, the wonderful teacher, had a profound impact on the lives of his students. That's not nothing. 

Upgrading my estimation of the book to 5 stars.

______________________________________________________ 

Welcome to a combined Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday56 with a new name Friday Book Snippets. I am co-hosting this weekly blogging event with Olivia at Bemused & Bookish. You can link up at either of our sites but be sure to still visit and comment on other participant's blogs to increase our community.

Directions: Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from a) the book's opening and b) page 56 (or another page) from the book you are currently reading. No spoilers, please. 

Click on the "OH-NO" message and it will take you to the linkup this week. I'll find you there.

LinkUp: 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

-Anne

TTT: Halloween Freebie

TTT: Halloween Freebie

I know. Boring. I share the same Spotify list every year at this time. Except I do add new songs each year so the list is getting longer and longer. Push play and have a listen while you look at these funny photos of animals in costumes.

 

Happy Musical Halloween!

-Anne

Sunday Salon --Frightening and fun

Weather: We are experiencing the third driest October in over 100 years. I know it is not nice to spend the whole autumn under an umbrella, but we need rain! (Frightening.) Update: As I am finishing up before posting, it has started to rain! Yippee!

Trolls: The photo above is a collage of the eight Thomas Dambo trolls who are visiting Northwest Trek, an animal park in Pierce County, where we live. Our grandsons had two days off for teacher conferences so we commandeered them for one day. The mission: to find all the trolls who were hidden all around the park. We started our quest around 12:30 pm and we found the last one around 3:30 pm, right before the park closed for the day. We got a late start because we first had to take our youngest grandson to urgent care, at the request of our daughter, because he was complaining of a sore neck and headache. Poor guy has strep. He still wanted to go to the park so we dosed him with Motrin and wore masks whenever we were in direct contact with other people, like when we were on the tram tour portion of the day. I guess he crashed when he got home, sleeping for three hours in the late afternoon. There are four more trolls at the St. Defiance Zoo in Tacoma which are part of the same grouping. Guess we'll have to figure out another day we can take the boys on another troll hunt. (Pretend frightening and fun.)

On Tyranny: Timothy Snyder put together a very small book with 20 lessons to help people to resist acts of tyranny from their government. Below is the the actor John Lithgow reading out the 20 lessons. If you'd prefer not to watch but wonder what the twenty lessons are, I've listed them below. I recommend you read the book, too. It is short and to the point. (Frightening.)

Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny Lessons: (1) Do Not Obey in Advance; (2) Defend Institutions; (3) Beware the One-Party System; (4) Take Responsibility for the Face of the World; (5) Remember Professional Ethics; (6) Be Wary of Paramilitaries; (7) Be Reflective if You Must Own a Gun; (8) Stand Out (this means, speak up, even when others do not); (9) Be Kind to Our Language; (10) Believe in Truth; (11) Investigate; (12) Make Eye Contact and Small Talk; (13) Practice Corporeal Politics; (14) Establish a Private Life; (15) Contribute to Good Causes; (16) Learn from Peers in Other Countries; (17) Listen for Dangerous Words; (18) Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives; (19) Be a Patriot; (20) Be as Courageous as You Can.

Do you live in the USA? Please vote early if you can! I know it sounds hyperbolic, but our democracy depends on good people voting so our new Congress can help protect us from a maniacal president. (Frightening but hopeful.)

Do you believe in life after Trump? (Fun)

Books:

• Currently reading --
• Howl's Moving Castle by Wynn-Jones. I am loving this middle grade book. Can you believe this is my first time reading it? Audio. 15%
• A Mercy: a novel by Morrison. Going back to the beginning of our country, Morrison writes a story about the beginnings of slavery. eBook. 2%.
• Recently finished --
• The Things We Never Say by Strout. A Booker Prize finalist, Strout does it again, writing a story with relatable characters who struggle with their inner life. Who doesn't? Print. 4+ stars.
• Crook Manifesto by Whitehead. The second book in the Harlem Shuffle series. This wasn't a good audiobook choice. I had a hard time following the action. Audio. 3 stars.
• The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Brower. A fun introduction to the series. I am ready to read on. Audio. 4 stars.
• Homestead by Moustakis. A book club selection. Our discussion was fun even if I had some issues with the story or the writing. Audio. 4 stars.
• Recent blog posts --
• TTT: My Perfect Day
• Review: Mad Mabel
• Upcoming November Reading Challenges

Have a good week! Just a few more things to think about...

From Heather Cox Richardson. (Frightening)

-Anne