Sunday Salon, January 26

Lego Church

Weather: sunny and cold; it was foggy until 3 PM. Yesterday was gorgeous. Sunny and warm, around 50 degrees. People were out washing their cars, including us.

Pomegranates: I've decided that pomegranates are the perfect diet food because they take so much work to eat with each seed being so difficult to extract from the fruit without popping it. My husband bought some pomegranate yogurt and it not only had the fruit and flesh but the seeds. That is not my idea of a ladylike way to eat ones yogurt---taking a bite of yogurt and then spitting out the seeds. I just took a look at the health benefits and I'd say this is a very worthy fruit to eat.

Church leadership retreat: yesterday I attended a one-day workshop on church leadership. It really was well-done and gave me a lot to think about. One of the gems that has caused me to pause and think is the issue of people that volunteer to do everything at church (or in any organization) make it so that others won't step up. Our church is going through a time of change. One thing is for sure, we are not lego church. (See picture above.)

Mock Printz Workshop: Thursday, January 23rd after school, 25 of the 52 participants stayed after school and we talked books and voted on the books they thought would win the Printz Award this year.  That announcement comes tomorrow. The students passion for books and reading was palpable. It gives me goosebumps to think about it.  What fun.  If you want to know how I go about doing a Mock Printz event, here are the steps I follow. I wrote this up last year. The results of our 2014 Mock Printz vote is listed here.

Jane Austen week is coming soon: right after the Mock Printz was over a girl came up to me and asked when Jane Austen week is going to be this year. I was so tired from the big event I couldn't get my brain around turning around immediately to next big event in the life of my library. But on my drive home I thought about it and decided that she was right. We need to turn our attention to the next thing before we lose the momentum. So stay tuned for details soon.

Spicy soups the order the week: Mulligatawny Soup which is an Indian-spiced soup with lots of veggies, and Senegalese Peanut soup which has pureed garbanzo beans and peanut butter along with more curry. Tonight we are having roasted vegetables---a new favorite dish to make.

Lacuna at book club a hit: This month my SOTH Book Club read Barbara Kingsolver's Lacuna which is over 500 pages on the dense topics of the politics of the first half of the twentieth century, mainly in Mexico and United States. It touched on the labor movement, socialism, Trotsky, Communism, and McCarthyism. I was just sure that I would be the only one to finish the book, let alone like it. But I was wrong. We had our best book club discussion ever. Of the fourteen gals in attendance, only two didn't like it/finish it. Everyone else really liked it and our discussion was so stimulating.

The Hobbit, Part two---my hubby and I finally got out to see the second of three parts of The Hobbit. I enjoyed it but it didn't seem to follow the book very well.

Books completed this week:

• The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown---last week I reported that reading this book was a little like doing homework. Around page 250 the narrative finally picked up and I was able to quickly finish the book. It is a very inspiring story, worth the effort to read it. A RHS book club selection for this coming Wednesday.
• The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje---a thought-provoking book about events that change the whole trajectory of our lives. This is about a boy who has a 21-day voyage from Ceylon to Great Britain in the 1950s and how this trip changed his life. Another SOTH book club selection

Currently reading:

• Allegiant by Veronica Roth, It is the third book in the very hot Divergent series. This is my audiobook selection right now.
• The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell---yet another RHS book club selection. This one I am not enjoying. I sincerely hope it improves soon or I think we have a dud on our hands.
• March (Book One) by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, with illustrations by Nate Powell---this graphic biography is about the early life of Congressman John Lewis and how he became involved in the Civil Rights movement.

Prayers for: our friend Marty and his wife, Janet. Marty has Lupus and is not responding to any treatments. Janet is so frustrated and sad.

Prayer for the week: "O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by aths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that you hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."---from the Lutheran Worshipbook

Have a lovely week. Look for the ALA Award book announcements tomorrow!  Can't wait!