Sunday Salon, Dec. 17, 2017

Ian, our grandson, is playing with grandpa.

Weather: cold and wet, it is either raining or threatening to rain.

End of the year in books: Every year at this time I put together a bunch of lists: favorites, best books for books clubs, and just lists of other other publication's list. Here are links (click on hyperlinks) to my End of the Year in Books blog post; my list of  best books lists; my favorite books of the year; and another end of the year meme. I will be putting together a list of my favorite book club selections soon. Stay tuned.

Home for the holidays: Our daughter made it home from New York on Friday. It is beginning to feel like Christmas will happen this year.

Outlander series: my husband and I have been bingeing on the Outlander series. Season three just ended for most folks but we are still watching season two. It makes us want to visit Scotland.

Christmas cookies: I made Pfeffernuse cookies earlier this month. I love those tiny, crunchy cookies with their anise flavor. Carly and Rita are making ginger bread cookies today to use Carly's new cookie stamp. Last week I tried Italian Anise cookies...there's that anise again, but I think everyone agrees that maybe too much anise is not desirable. Today I made a batch of sugar cookies for a church project. Nothing like making cookies at 7:30 AM. Needless to say, they were not fancy. I;m guessing that we will make a least one more kind, perhaps spritz cookies so we can use the cookie gun, or yummy peanut butter blossoms. What are your favorite Christmas cookies?

Snapdragon blooming in December, growing out of the brick.

Silly flower: We have a snapdragon flower growing out of our brickwork and it is blooming. It has snowed. We have had freezing temperatures. It seems undaunted.

Cybils update: This week the other judges and I will meet in a google chat and hopefully decide the books we want to move forward as our short list. I've rechecked the books that made our long list and have been reviewing them. I've read all of those books but one and I should be able to finish that book in time for our discussion on Wednesday. It has been a demanding yet rewarding experience and I am ready to hand off the responsibility to round 2 judges soon. Here is a link to the post where I talked about my favorites. These books may or may not make it to the next round.

Currently reading:

• The 57 Bus---a nonfiction book that is being talked about in the blogosphere. I hope to write up a review of it soon.
• My Brilliant Career---my Classics club spin book. Honestly I haven't been reading this book with all the nonfiction I have been working on. I will have to put on the gas to finish it by the goal date of December 31st.

On my early 2018 reading list:

• Far From the Tree by Benway---the National Book Award title for YA literature and a Mock Printz 2018 selection.
• Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence. I've ordered the audiobook from the library.
• The Lost History of Stars by Dave Boling...the next book for my book club.

Things I loved this week---

• Carly is home for a month!
• Ian has visited us twice. His laughter when Grandpa talks like a duck.
• The annual Cantata at church
• The finalists for "The Voice": Brooke, Chloe, Red, Addison
• The siding is on the house, painted and looks great.

Have a good week!