My Head Is Full of Books: Sunday Salon -- Memorial Day 2023

"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, May 28, 2023

Sunday Salon -- Memorial Day 2023

First bloom 2023: Left to right, top -- Cecile Brunner climber (mini); Scentimental; Pope John Paul II. Center --Abbaye de Cluny; Midas Touch; Love. Bottom -- 4th of July; Gourmet Popcorn (mini); Eyeconic.

Weather: Overcast and cool. The forecast calls for sun later in the day.

Rita is 35 and very happy!

35: My eldest daughter turned 35 this week. Where did the years go. How can I have a daughter who is 35 when I o clearly remember the day she was born?

First bloom: with our spring weather being cooler than usual, our first bloom on the roses is later than usual. But almost all of my 21 rose bushes are currently blooming right now with their best effort of each year. See collage above.

Pentecost: Today is the birthday of the church, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles like wings of fire. It was quite a celebration today as well!

Books: I have been reading a lot this month. I'm not bragging. I'm even shocked how many books I've read the past two weeks, many children's books and graphic novels.

Currently reading

Humans by Brandon Stanton -- photos of people from various locations around the world with self-reported stories from their lives. Many of the stories are very depressing. Why am I reading this? Print, from library, 47%.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Kawaguchi -- a coffee shop where you can get more than a cuppa, time travel. Set in Japan. Print, from the library, 38%.
Pray First by Hodges -- our current Women's Bible Study choice. Print, own, 29%.

Recently finished (within last two weeks). Click on title to read my review:

The Art of War: a Graphic Novel by Pete Katz and Sun Tzu -- I've always wanted to read the book and now I can say I have, however I didn't get much out of it.
Five children's books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I love this author so much. I've shared with my grandchildren and they enjoy the books, too.
Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game: a Graphic Memoir -- He is a very complex man and athlete.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson -- a book club selection. Audio.
Unshuttered: Poems by Patricia Smith -- very powerful poems written in concert with photos of 19th century African-Americans.
Long Way Down: a Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds and Danica Novgorodoff -- I read the novel-in-verse several years ago. This was better and the other was fantastic.
Obit by Victoria Chang -- after her mother died, poet Victoria Chang spent weeks writing obituaries for everything she had lost. Powerful yet odd.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks. -- I have read many other books by this author. She writes fantastic and thorough historical fiction, based on facts. I've written my review but haven't published it yet, watch this space, it will be published Thursday. Audio.
Yellow Submarine -- a children's book based on the Beatles movie.

On the lighter side:

This is me. I had to interrupt my husband's project cleaning out the shop this week because I was having trouble on Excel. I call him my personal Excel Helpline.