"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, September 28, 2025

Sunday Salon -- Fall, Family, Football, and Fun

Family fun: Grandsons playing with fire, I mean making S'Mores. (Photo credit: W. Randall)


Weather: It is lovely today. The forecast was for rain but so far, it is blue skies with a moderate temperature. Ah!

Fall, Family, Football, and Fun: We're settling into our Fall schedule which always involves a lot of football (and baseball, but it didn't match with my alliteration), and fun with family members. This week, for example, Don and our daughter Rita went to a Mariners Game in Seattle. The team is earned the top spot in the Western American League the night before and they both wanted to join in the team-spirit fun. The next night Rita and her boys came to spend the night. Our younger daughter also joined us and we made homemade pizza and played games, while Don watched golf on TV. This morning, after the boys squabbled over whether they wanted waffles or cottage cheese pancakes (waffles won), we played more games and looked for chances to have fun. This evening Don and I watched our football team on TV and cheered wildly when they came from behind to win, which set off a cavalcade of texts from friends and family (all football fans) who live both near and far.




Audiobooks with Don: Every Fall Don and I spend a lot of time driving up and down and the freeway going to football games in Eugene. During this time we like to listen to audiobooks. This led to the creation of a new feature here at My Head Is Full of Books: "Audiobooks with Don." Click on the link to read about the feature and  then click on my first "Audiobooks with Don" review for How Not to Drown in Glass of Water. Stay tuned for many more in the future.

Reading. Here are a few thoughts of each of the books I've read or am reading :
  • The Personal Librarian by Benedict and Murray -- A book club selection. All of us were interested in this real person who passed for white, working for a very racist man, JP Morgan. But none of us particularly liked the writing, thinking it was sensationalized. Complete.
  • Tiny Habits: Small Changes that Change Everything by Fogg -- I have been reading this book for years. Finally, finally I finished it and actually have made some new habits based on its suggestions. A ''psychology' genre book. Woot Woot. Complete.
  • Hamlet by Shakespeare -- I'm attempting to read a books from all the StoryGraph genres. This one, clearly, helped me check off "plays."
  • There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Abdurraqib -- A Black Man and poet, writes about his life in Columbus, Ohio; about his love of the NBA Cavaliers; and thoughts on loving where he is from, even when it doesn't always love you back. Remarkably well-written. Complete. Audiobook.
  • How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Cruz -- A new favorite audiobook. The author and the voice actor are both from the Dominican Republic and we were delighted with the accent ad the sprinkling of Spanish words throughout. Audiobook. Complete.
  • Shackled: A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and a Town that Looked Away by Cooper -- another genre read, this one for "sociology" genre. A despicable tale of corruption where the victims were all kids. I confess I sped-read through this one. Complete-ish.
  • Northanger Abbey by Austen -- a reread. This was Austen's first and I was aware of that fact this time through.
  • Broken Country by Hall -- a completely heartbreaking story. COMPLETELY. Audiobook. Complete.
  • Small Gods by Patchett -- I binged my way through this audiobook in two days, doing not much else than listening and laughing.
  • Tilt by Pattee -- an audiobook. Set in Portland, Oregon, I thought this book would be fun. It is not. I am questioning whether I should just abandon it. 25%.
  • I Know Some Things by Siken -- A book of prose poet. It reads like a distressing memoir. I couldn't look away. Complete.
  • My Friends by Fredrik Backman -- a book club selection. I can't make myself get going on this one. I keep making rules which I don't follow, like "Read 25 pages a day minimum." 30 pages read so far is all.
  • Winter Counts by Wanbli -- An audiobook with Don, we didn't make any progress on it this week since we weren't traveling this weekend. A mystery.
  • I finally figured out why I haven't blogged much the past two weeks. It looks like I spent all my time reading!
Blogging:
  1. The Antidote by Russell. This is probably going to end up not only being my favorite book of summer but of all 2025. So many themes to explore.
  2. Someone Builds the Dream by Wheeler. My favorite children's book I've read in 2025. It has a message which really landed with my eldest grandson.
  3. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida. My favorite middle grade book. We listened to this with our grandsons during our Grand-Adventure this summer. We all laughed and laughed. It makes me smile to think of it.
  4. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. No wonder this book has made it to modern classic status. We were in Montana when we were listening to it. 
  5. Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins. This guy! His poems just seem to stick. There is no other poet I've read who writes poems I MUST read aloud to whomever will listen, usually my husband. We have changed the way we tease each other because of one of these poems.
  6. Three Days in June by Tyler. Sometimes I want a book which isn't high drama and is easy on one's nerves. This is that book.
  7. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Peterson. The best devotional/Bible Study Guide I've read ever.
  8. Say Nothing: Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Keefe. Narrative nonfiction. So interesting.
  9. Banned Together: Our Fight for Reader's Rights edited by Perez. A timely and varied collection of essays by YA authors, all of them on the banned books list, an honor none of them wish they had.
  10. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Kimmerer. Gift economies of indigenous people. Another way of looking solutions to our issues.


-Anne
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