Sunday Salon -- "I'm back, guys!"

The color!!!!! (Our backyard this past week.)

Weather: Rainy, overcast, foggy. It poured yesterday. I mean POURED. But it dried up in time for the football game which started at 7:30. Whew!

"I'm back, guys!": This little phrase is what our grandson used to say when he had to leave the room and then returned. It's become a family saying that we say to each other when we leave and come back, no matter how long we are gone, I haven't posted on Sunday Salon for over a month. We have been gone from home about every weekend, driving to Oregon and back for football games and family gatherings. By the time we get home late Sunday afternoon I usually busy myself unpacking and getting ready for the week...so no blogging. Oh well, I'm back, guys!

Since Sept. 24th, the last time I posted on Sunday Salon about normal stuff, here is what I've read/am reading:

• Read (hyperlinks to reviews):
• The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges. A classic collection of short stories written by the very intelligent (erudite) author from Latin America. I read most of this while in Ecuador. Read my blog post for my insights and thoughts. I decided to use this book for my Classics Club Spin book even though it didn't sit on the winning number.
• Maame by Jessica George. I listened to the audiobook of this book about a Ghanan-British girl who is a late bloomer how has to make her way in the world which is often racist and lonely.
• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. A book club selection that I listened to the audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep. I came to appreciate more after I did some research on Thornton Wilder, classic author of Our Town and The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Read my two reviews: Tom Lake.  My weeks Spent with Thornton Wilder.
• Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.
• Made for the Journey: One Missionary's First Year in Ecuador by Elizabeth Elliott. I really enjoyed this nonfiction account of time spent in Ecuador in the early 1950s. I read it while in the country.
• *The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. This is so much to like in this book written by a favorite author. It is another book club selection, this for our December meeting.
• Mr. Impossible and The Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater. Books two and three in the Dreamer series, which is a side series of The Raven Boys. I listened to both of them and the narrator is a favorite: Will Patton.
• 27 Cybils' nonfiction nominated books (Children's, Middle Grade, YA). Reviewed in batches: #1, #2, #3. Since I'm a Round 2 judge, I don't actually need to read any of these books yet. So I may slow down and focus on a few nonfiction YA titles, instead, going forward. I'm read some good ones, though and still have a pile or two to review.
• Middlemarch by George Eliot. In late July I signed up to participate on a Middlemarch read-along, reading one chapter a day, finishing Oct. 22nd. I finished after the deadline, but I finished. 
• My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead. The day I finished reading Middlemarch, I started this memoir where the author compares her experiences to those of George Eliot and to the characters in Middlemarch and other Eliot novels. This really helped me understand what I missed on my own reading the classic. 
• From From: Poems by Monica Youn. This poetry collection has been nominated for a National Book Award. I am working on my review but haven't finished it yet. Stay tuned.
• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. This novella was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2012, the year that no book won the award. I really enjoyed it.
• Currently reading/listening to:
• Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater. Reading for Nonfiction November. YA. Eye-opening. 50% complete, print.
• *The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. Reading for my personal Pulitzer challenge to read past winners. 91% complete. Audiobook. 
• Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. An author uses another author's work and publishes under her own name. 30% complete. Audiobook.

Football: We have season tickets for University of Oregon Football games. That is why we have been driving up and down the freeway SEVEN times since the beginning of football season the beginning of September. My mother (age 94) lives close to the stadium and we stay with her, so it's not like we have to drive five hours one-way and back in one day. One benefit of so much time in the car together: listening to audiobooks with my hubby. Since football season has started we've listened to The Shrines of Gaiety by Atkinson; Tightrope: American's Reaching for Hope by Kristof and WuDunn; The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by McBride; and The Orphan Master's Son by Johnson. Another benefit I get to spend good time with my sister/her hubby and my cousin/his wife. Third, we are making good use of our new Electric Pick-up truck. We've used zero gasoline making all these trips.

Good News: "New Melanin Skin Cream Heals Skin from Sun Over-exposure"

Politics: Feeling nervous about the polls which show Trump leading in five swing states? I was until I read this blogpost: "15 Reasons Why Biden Can (and Will) Win in 2024!" I promise you it is worth the time it takes to read it.

Political Comics (Think about it):

Other Funnies:

This makes me so happy. All kids worldwide! Celebration. Playing for Change.

-Anne