"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=========

Monday, August 7, 2017

Sunday Salon on Monday, August 8

Three fawns camouflaged 
Weather: Cooler but still smoky.
Sisters
Home: We have been in Central Oregon for a week of vacation with the family. We had a glorious and healing time together. The weather was hot with smoke in the air from wild fires in the area and blowing in from BC but we still enjoyed every moment. There were family dinners with fabulous food like Don's grilled salmon, Robin's special creamy potatoes, Tom's flank steak, Grace's Taco Tuesday, and dump cake made by my girls. We played in the swimming pool and read books poolside until the blazing sun chased us back inside. We walked and golfed. We played games with Scattegories being our favorite this year. The poor people upstairs that had to put up with our laughter. My parents, age 88 and 89 said this was the last year they would host one of these family reunions. It is our turn to take over the family reunions in the future, (my sibs and I.) We had several visits by deer which are very close to resort pets. The photo above shows three of the fawns who wouldn't come too near, like their parents.
The happy new couple
Wedding: Before we headed to Central Oregon we helped celebrate the wedding of our niece, Samantha to her German husband, Basti, in Oregon City at a wonderful wedding venue. Samantha and Basti got married a year ago in a civil ceremony in Germany, then two weeks ago held a reception in Germany to celebrate with their German friends and family. So we called this ceremony their third wedding. Whatever number, it was a beautiful and fun occasion.
Tony, father of the bride, and his sisters
595: We had very spotty Internet reception at the resort where we stayed in Oregon. For that reason I didn't/couldn't look at my email. During the week I piled up 595 unread messages, most of them are unwanted political or companies advertising something or an another, but I am sure there are several messages that I really need to see. Sigh. Be patient if you emailed me. It may take me days to find your message.
Mule deer. Photo credit: Grace Ruddy, used with permission

Forgot: After our family reunion we headed east to Hermiston to meet up with Don's stepmother to pick up his father's pickup truck and his ashes. Don and his brother plan to scatter them later this summer or fall. We got the pickup but forgot the ashes. Dang. That means another long trip on another weekend to get them. Sigh.

Reading: I read much less than I anticipated on this vacation, only finishing two audiobooks while in the car and one half of another print edition. This is pretty unusual for me.

Completed books since the last "Sunday Salon" on July 23rd:
  • Dead Wake: The final crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. A book club selection. Audio. 
  • The Uninterrupted View From the Sky by Melanie Crowder. A YA novel set in Bolivia that deals with the corrupt judicial system. Print.
  • BookSpeak: Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas. Illustrated, children's book. Print.
  • The Gentleman's Guide to Virtue and Vice by McKenzi Lee. A delightful, humorous YA novel which is set during the 1700s but the theme is LGBT based. Print.
  • Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. Another book club selection. The writing was very good but the story was discouraging. Don gave it a 2.25 star review. Audio.
  • The One-In-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood. A Young boy set out to complete a Boy Scout badge with a 104-year-old woman. When he dies, his father completes the task. Very well done. Another book club selection. I gave this one 5 stars. Audio.
Currently reading:
  • Longbourn by Jo Baker. ANOTHER book club selection. This one is a sort of Upstairs/Downstairs book set in the home of the Bennet family of Pride and Prejudice. The characters are the staff mentioned only briefly in the famous novel by Jane Austen. Print. 58%.
Watch this clip: If you live in the Seattle area you no doubt know about or have seen Ciscoe on King 5 news. If you don't live in the Seattle area, you will wish you had this character on your local news. Enjoy. (It is only a minute long.) He makes you feel good just watching him. Click the link here: KING5

Have a wonderful week!


8 comments:

  1. Wow, what an exciting week for you - family reunion & a wedding, too! Sounds like fun. I love playing games, and Scattegories is one of my favorites! I especially like that we can play it with everyone sprawled on recliners & couches in the family room!

    We enjoy Erik Larson's books but haven't read Dead Wake yet. My book group and I all loved Our Souls at Night! Yes, true, the ending sucked, but we loved the rest of it. I especially liked the summer scenes with her grandson there.

    Enjoy your week back at home and your books!

    Sue

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    1. I liked Our Souls at Night better than my husband but the ending. Or dear...

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  2. It looks like you had a great time with your extended family.

    I loved (sorry!) the gardening fellow. Ooolala!

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    1. Ooolala! Ciscoe is a Seattle treasure!

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    2. I liked the writing in Our Souls at Night, but the ending could have been way better. It was almost like he didn't quite know what to do with the characters or the story. Of the three BC books I've read so far, Ordinary Grace is the one that blew me out of the water. I'm making my dad read it. The photos are the great and the family reunion sounds like it was full of wonderful memories. xoxo

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    3. I have Ordinary Grace in print and will get to it as soon as I finish Longbourn, which is taking me a while to read for my other club.

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  3. Sounds like you had a great trip! I've just started hearing about The Gentleman's Guide, which sounds good.

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    1. In a lot of ways it is very silly and not accurate historically but I think students will like it if they are not off-put by the hefty 530 pages.

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