TTT: My Winter Reading List

Top Ten Tuesday: My winter reading list

I. Books I want to read based on end-of-the-year lists of best books of 2019

1. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
2. Normal People by Sally Rooney
3. On This Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
4. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
5. Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

II. Book Club Selections

1. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Letham
2. Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
3.  Love and Other Consolations by Jamie Ford

III. Cybils JH/SH Second Round books

• I start my role as a second round judge for Cybils on January 1, 2020. Likely we will have 12-14 books to read and digest in 6 weeks. Crazy, huh? But I am excited and ready to go to work. 

IV. Mock Printz (YA book award) possibles are selected the end of January. I will try to read a few of these titles before that time.

1. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo.
2. Frankly In Love. David Yoon. 
3. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi 

I'll stop there. I know the majority of my time will be made up of reading Cybils books anyway.

How I did on my autumn reading list?  Hint: TERRIBLE. See below...

I. Books from my own shelf: Finished 4, DNF 2, read part of one as needed, currently reading one.

1. Prague by Rick Steves----I read parts of this book while on our trip to Prague.
2. Christy by Catherine Marshall
3. Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks---DNF. It was returned to library before I was finished and I decided to NOT request it again.
4. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson✔
5. Called by Mark Labberton✔
6. Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
7. Crooked Letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin---currently reading
8. A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchey---DNF. I read about 60 pages and decided to not finish it.
9. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner✔
10. An American Spy by Lauren Wilkenson✔

II. Upcoming book club selections: read two of three

1. Disappearing Earth by Julia Philips✔
2. Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins
   
3. Mother Daughter Me: a memoir by Katie Hafner✔

III. Books I've started but need/want to finish: none

1. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 
2. The Submission by Amy Waldmen
   
3. Fear by John Woodward

IV. Mock Printz/YA titles: none.

1. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America.
2. How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox.
3. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo.
4. Frankly In Love. David Yoon.
5. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese.
6. Internment by Samira Ahmed
7. I, Claudia by Mary McCoy

Best Books of the Year Lists

Best Books Lists of 2019

I love this time of year, don't you? The holidays are good but the end-of-the-year-best-books lists are great!

Here is what I have found so far (with a little commentary from me.)

New York Times Top Ten---This is the first book list I perused and I was surprised by the number of nonfiction titles---five of them. DISAPPEARING EARTH was mentioned first. Their top 100 list came out today. It is too overwhelming to look at that many books at once.

Entertainment Weekly---Top ten list. Their #1 title is NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney.

Library Journal---Top Literary Fiction. Check out their page for all their lists of favorites by genre.

Town and Country Magazine---Top 23 books. Their #1 title is BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF.

Parade Magazine---Top 25 books of 2019.

Book Riot---Top fifteen fiction titles.

Washington Post---Top Ten of 2019. The lists are so varied this year.

Vulture (dot) com--- Top ten. #1 title is THE TOPEKA SCHOOL.

The Guardian Newspaper---Not sure how many books were on this list (I didn't count), but since this is UK publication there is less crossover than one would think and American Marriage was on the list, apparently it wasn't published in 2018 in the United Kingdom like it was here.

BuzzFeed News---Has three lists: fiction, nonfiction, poetry. There are 23 fiction titles, 11 nonfiction, and seven poetry books. So this is long list.

New Yorker---Top ten. My experience with lists made in New York is that they are often New York City strong. Not sure about this one. Just sayin'.

Publisher's Weekly---They have lots of genre lists of best books. Check them all out, if you have time. Only TRUST EXERCISE and NICHEL BOYS have been listed in other top ten lists.

Vox (dot) com.---Fifteen of their book-critics' favorites.

NPR---Maureen Corrigan's top ten, unputdownable books of 2019.

Lit Hub's Ultimate List of books on the most lists in 2019. ON THE EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS and NICKEL BOYS were the highest, making 21 end-of-year lists a piece. Making 20 lists were NORMAL PEOPLE and FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE.

Based on the fourteen lists I've linked here, these books showed up most often: NICKEL BOYS (9); ON THE EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS and  TRUST EXERCISE (8 each); YELLOW HOUSE (7); FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE (6); and DUTCH HOUSE (5). My book group had read Nickel Boys and Dutch House, but I am thinking we should read the other top-top books.

Note: I did all this work, then I found this...Bests of 2019: Your Guide to All the Best Books Lists. 
This guide has lots of lists I didn't link and they have children's and YA lists, too. Have fun perusing it. 


And now this...Books are My Favourite and Best has analyzed 56 publications to find the top 50 books of year. She found that NICKEL BOYS and FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE were on the most best-of lists, making 30+ of them. WOW. Guess we'd all best drop everything and read these two books.

Review: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

In the first chapter of Disappearing Earth, titled 'August', Alyona Golosovskaya, an eleven-year-old girl, is looking after her sister, Sophia, while their mother is working. Alyona tells her younger sister a story about a whole city being wiped off the map by a tsunami where everyone and everything disappears. The story was prescient because not long after its telling the girls seemed to completely disappear from the face of the earth after getting into a car with a man who promised them a ride home.

Each subsequent chapter, titled for the months following 'August', is told by another woman living on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern-most Russia, where the girls lived. Each chapter, at first glance, really seems like a separate short story about life on this desolate part of the earth. But on closer inspection each woman/girl is somehow related to the missing sisters or to Lilia, a native woman who went missing three years earlier from an Even village, Esso, north of the peninsula's main city, where most of the inhabitants are reindeer herders. Though the book does not bother the reader with the details of the searches conducted to find the abducted Golosoyskaya sisters, it was made clear that little was done to find the missing native woman. Though the story was set in Russia, this seems like a very American issue---unequal justice for minority or indigenous people.

The stories told by each woman carry similar themes about the view of women in general. They are viewed as victims, untrustworthy, in need of male protection, not capable of full respect. In a lot of ways the women, though not abducted themselves, are fighting for their own autonomy and not being captives themselves in their own lives. The woman, a scientist, is the only witness to the abduction and she thinks her education and advanced degree make her immune from such attacks on her gender, yet the police decide that her testimony is unreliable and go with a unsubstantiated theory that the sisters weren't really abducted, but drowned. This devalues the scientist in everyone's eyes, including her husband.

In the end, motherhood triumphs when the mother of Lilia meets the mother of the abducted sisters and many of the characters end up at the same place at the same time. Perhaps women's intuition and doggedness in the face of hopelessness has an important role in society after all. The ending is both surprising and disorienting.

Kamchatka Peninsula

As I read the thirteen stories I kept thinking of the phrase 'quiet desperation.' The setting was so bleak. The characters, by in large, so unhappy. The color gray invaded every aspect of the stories. Yet when I look at photos of Kamchatka Peninsula, the land of many mountains and volcanoes, I am shocked at its raw beauty.

I listened to the audiobook which was a good choice on one point and a bad choice on another. First, the narrator of the audiobook, Ilyana Kadushin, was an excellent choice since it is clear she can speak Russian. She did not stumble over the pronunciation of names and places as I would have were I reading a print version of the book. I could just sit back and be swept up into the stories and empathize with the women who lived such desperate and lonely lives. On the other hand, I did not have the benefit of the character list on the first page of the book. Apparently, (I still haven't seen it) the relationships between characters was also listed. I needed this list badly as the stories started to intertwine, especially for the last one where everything coalesced.  I guess if I were to offer advice it would be to listen to the audiobook but have a print version of the book to refer to as you listen.

I understand that Disappearing Earth is author Julia Phillips' first book. She hit a home run with this book, even garnering a spot on the National Book Award Short List. When asked what she would write about next time, her answer made me laugh out loud---to NOT set the book in a part of the world where she has to save up for several years in order to afford visiting it.

This was a book club selection and I'm not sure we got the full benefit of a good discussion on it. The publisher did not provide discussion questions. The long list of characters with unpronounceable names didn't help either. Egads, we had a hilarious discussion about the ending where we all ended up more confused than before we started the discussion. Oh well, I still thought the book was brilliant and now recommend it to you.

RHS book club selection December 2019

Review and quotes: THE DUTCH HOUSE

Title: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Book Beginnings quote:

The first time our father brought Andrea to the Dutch House, Sandy, our housekeeper, came to my sister's room and told us to come downstairs. "Your father has a friend he wants you to meet," she said.

Friday 56 quote:

"That's still my job," Sandy said. I hadn't heard Sandy get in a joke in months, if there was in fact anything funny about Maeve moving to the third floor.

Summary: When Cyril Conroy buys the Dutch House as a gift for his wife and two children, Maeve and Danny, he is shocked at his wife's reaction. She hates it. The purchase of the house sets in motion an undoing of a family. Danny, the books narrator, and his older sister, Maeve, rely heavily on each other for support after their mother leaves and their step-mother exiles them from the house. The sibling bond is unshakable and it saves both of their lives, yet also seems to thwart them at the same time. Described as a dark fairy tale on the book jacket, the story takes place over five decades and tells the tale of how two smart siblings cannot seem to overcome their past and at the center of the story is the odd but beguiling mansion, the Dutch House.

Review: I listened to audio version of The Dutch House narrated by Tom Hanks. What a rare treat to listen to a book read by a favorite actor. This narration truly brought the story to life. My husband also listened to the book so we got a chance to digest the book together along the way. I hadn't really thought of the story as a fairy tale until I read the description on the book jacket and then I smiled. Of course it is, there is a wicked step-mother and two spoiled step-siblings. There is also a bumbling father and a gorgeous, yet unrealistic setting in the Dutch House.

Two things really made this book special for me. One was the extraordinary relationship between Maeve and Danny. They had no one but each other and that was enough. Throughout the forty plus years of the story line, they had each other and that made all the difference. Few stories in literature have created such a deep bond between siblings. Secondly, the ending. It was perfect and worth a re-read all on its own. And, as an aside, I do love the cover, too, which is part of the story, too.

This is a book club selection for a future meeting. As much as I loved the book I am not sure it will make for a good discussion. I hope we can probe into the concept of forgiveness to get at the depth of the story.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share.

 RHS Book Club upcoming selection for sometime in 2020.

When reading poetry becomes a torturous activity

People often tell me that they don't enjoy reading poetry because they don't understand it. I usually tell them that they just haven't found the right poet to read and they should keep trying. Well, today I here to confess that I can completely relate to those poetry skeptics more than to my former self. Over the past several months I have started and set aside seven different poetry books, while only finishing one, and that was a painful experience. (See photo above.)

So what gives? Where and how did I get off the poetry rails?

First, I recognize that all poetry is not for everyone. I purchased No Fear Shakespeare's Sonnets several years ago in hopes that it would, with a little help, make the maestro's sonnets relatable to me. This book provides a translation to each of the sonnets in language one should be able to understand. I do understand the translations and after reading about twenty of them realized I am just not "into" Shakespeare's sonnets. Set that book aside.

Next up, I thought I would enjoy Rainer Maria Rilke's Selected Poems. And I found the 44 page introduction written by Robert Hass to be very interesting. But when I started reading the poems, translated by Stephen Mitchell, I was left feeling cold. Set that book aside, too.

Surely Robert Burns: The Scottish Bard would be more my thing besides this edition has pictures. I used to love reading the Philospher's Club series by Alexander McCall Smith where his character Isabel Dalhousie erupts into spontaneous poetry recitations, usually reciting Burns. Well, apparently one needs to be Scottish to understand Burns. I can't even pronounce many of the words even when I read them out loud. Mush. No good. So Scottish and English aren't the same thing?

Perhaps what I really need is a book about how to read poetry. I purchased Jane Hirshfield's Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World. I might not have been in the mood for such a scholarly work because I abandoned this one before the end of the first chapter. It started rather ominously so I should have been prepared..."A mysterious quickening inhabits the depths of any good poem---protean, elusive, alive in its own right." I have set this one aside for the time being but I vow to get back to it when I feel smarter. (Now I'm off to look up what the work 'protean' means.)

It is a long story, which I will only tell you over a hot cup of tea and a warm scone, but Pure Gift: The Writings of William O. Walker was unreadable for another reason than those cited for the above volumes. I couldn't read past the first few poems because of personal reasons. I had hoped the book would help me get past those reasons but the exact opposite thing happened: it reminded me of them. I only like the book because my father, who died just last year, wrote me the sweetest note inside the cover. I am keeping the book for that reason but I won't read on.

Poetry as an implement of torture. That is what it seems like these days.

Let me read easy stuff to get back into the swing of things. How about Great Poems for Grand Children, a large volume of poetry designed for grandparents to read to their grandkids. I expected "The Owl and the Pussycat", which is there, but not so much Shakespeare and Sandburg. I will finish this tome but will do so slowly. I should get out a marker and make check marks next to the poems I think I might actually want to share with my grandson when he is older. I doubt it is one in ten of them.

Lastly, two small volumes of modern poetry, one I finished and one I hope to finish. Whereas poems by Layli Long Soldier is fun because she explores all kinds of shapes and formats for her poems. Soldier is Native American and I wanted to read it to enlarge my understanding of her culture. It did help on that score but many, many of the poems I just couldn't tell what was happening. I think there was a bunch of poems about miscarriages, but I am not sure. I was able to finish this small volume. One star for me. The last volume, Sight Lines by Arthur Sze just won the National Book Award for Poetry this past month. Even the short biography of the poet on that back of the book leaves me feeling daunted..."Moments of grace, eros, and beauty are braided with shudders of terror and threats of ecological destruction, as Sze moves adeptly through intersections of disparate and divergent." I am determined to finish this one because a. it is short (80 pages) and b. it won the National Book Award, but I am not sure I will understand any of the poems. It might be a little like reading a book in Latin. I'll understand a few of the words but the not meaning of the whole.

So there you have it. Eight volumes of poetry, one finished and two or three likely to finish. I'm not doing so good on my own advice to "try a different poet."

How about you? How do you do with poetry? Do you have some favorite poets or poetry collections you recommend? I'm afraid at this rate I'll be back reading Ogden Nash and Shel Silverstein before long.

Review: Brave Face: How I Survived Growing Up, Coming Out, and Depression

Dear Shaun David Hutchinson,

As a teen librarian I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this book, Brave Face, where you recount the perils of growing up, coming out, and your struggles with depression.

When I first became a high school librarian I didn't realize how few books there were available for teens who were questioning their sexual orientation until I looked closer at my collection. Over the years I have tried to purchase books which I think will speak to all students on a variety of topics, but the LGBTQ selection still seemed thin or too specific. I might find a book about conversion therapy, or religious bigotry against gays. A book where a lesbian character was also a predator or another where a gay character was successful in drama were on the shelves. Each seemed to fill a niche but didn't speak broadly to questioning teens at my school.

In Brave Face I recognized so many of my past students and I wish that I'd had this book to hand them. Two important ideas came out of your book for me. One, build a community of supportive friends and be open and honest with them. You seemed to push your friends away just at the point that you needed them most. Your honesty about how your own self-loathing compelled you to do the exact opposite of what you needed/wanted is a powerful message to others who feel the same way. Secondly, you came to understand that being gay and being depressed were two different things. That must have been a freeing revelation for you to realize. I'm sure that your low self-esteem contributed to your depressive feelings but being queer didn't mean you had to spend the rest of your life depressed. I am positive that many students have married the two concepts in their minds and like you wonder if life is worth living if it is always going to be a downer. Thank you for stating the obvious. Hearing it clearly spoken in the book divorces the two and allows the teens to seek help for their depression in constructive ways.

Your openness about your suicide attempt must have been very painful to write. I just wish you had given the reader a fuller idea about the helpfulness on talk therapy and aspects of your recovery. In placing the suicide hotline and other national helpline numbers at the beginning of the book, instead of at the end, was genius. Some desperate person might not have the initiative or focus to read a whole book to find what they need at the end. Thank you.

By the way, I really like your fiction, at least the books I've read. I really wrestled with We Are the Ants. Was the kid really abducted by aliens or was he so messed up it just seemed like he was? I've been pondering that question for a long time. The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza was brilliant. I love magical realism so I had a blast with that book. When I checked to see what other books you've written I find you've been quite prolific so I best get moving if I want to read more books by you.

Thanks again for Brave Face. You wrote a much-needed book and I hope it finds a home in libraries everywhere.

Sunday Salon---December 9, 2019

Wet but happy fans

Weather: Overcast, threatening to rain.

Home from San Francisco: We got home from a glorious weekend spent down in California. We made the trip to attend the Pac-12 Championship Game in Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara) and to spend a little time with daughter number two, Carly.

Photo of the jumbotron after Ducks win the Pac-12 championship

The game: The Univ. of Oregon Ducks won the game vs Univ. of Utah Utes. The game was a lot of fun and both teams played well. Carly was able to join us after work, though she did miss the first quarter. The weather cooperated most of the time. Right at the end of the game it started raining but it was late enough that it didn't make us miserable. Now the Ducks will play in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day at the Pac-12 champions. We'll watch that game from the comfort of our home.

A little Chistmas brought into Carly's apartment.

No sight-seeing in San Fran: for the first time since Carly moved to San Francisco last year, we visited without doing one single sight-seeing event. This time we ate wonderful food and helped Carly put together a few Christmas decorations for her apartment during our short time together. We also worshiped together at St. John's Presbyterian church, not far from where Carly lives. It was so good to join other Christians as we all prepare for advent.

Not finishing books: for some weird reason I have started and decided to NOT finish several books recently. This is very rare for me so it is odd. Here are the book titles: One Week in Winter (Binchy); a Christmas book I've forgotten the title of, since I got rid of it immediately after deciding not to finish; and Love Letters (L'Engle.)

Currently reading:

• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent---audiobook; a book club selection for some future month. This book is set in Iceland and is based on actual events surrounding a murder in the 1800s. 33% complete.
• Sight Lines by Arthur Sze---a poetry book which won the National Book Award. So far I haven't connected with any of the poems. Thankfully it is short and I will finish it. Print. 12% complete.

Books completed last week:

• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett---audiobook. I enjoyed this book so much especially since it was read by Tom hanks. I was prepared to give it four stars until the ending which I loved so much it jumped up to a five star rating. 
• Disappearing Earth by Julie Philips---audiobook. A book club selection. It is really a collection of short stories, all inter-related. I found the book and the writing brilliant. Others in book club weren't so sure.

Ian looking behind Santa's mailbox just in case the big guy is hiding back there.

Reindeer and Santa: Ian and I went to a local nursery to see both reindeer and Santa. The reindeer were there  but were underwhelming, doing nothing interesting (at least to a two year old.) Santa was no where to be found. Guess he only comes out during weekends.

TTT: Favorite Holiday Books and Stories

My husband and daughters in 1992 reading Jingle Bugs by David Carter.  It was a favorite when they were young.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Christmas Books and Stories, along with first line(s).
(Originally published Dec. 5, 2011)

1. The Bible, Luke 2:1-20

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world...And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem..."

2. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

"The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world."

3. The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry

"My name's Doug Barnes, and this stuff happened on Christmas Eve in my town, which is Asquont, New York. According to Mr. Purcell, who's my Social Studies teacher, Asquont is an Indian name that means some Indian thing like 'Hunting Place in the Green Forest,' but sometimes I think it was just a joke by the Indians to get white people to say 'Asquont'."

4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot...But the Grinch, Who lived just north of Whoville, did not."

5. A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

"Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid"

DISARM THE TOY INDUSTRY


Printed in angry block letter the slogan gleamed out from the large white button like a neon sign. I carefully reread it to make sure that I had not made a mistake

6. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus", by Francis P. Church (New York Sun, September 21, 1897)

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

7. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

"On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound- a sound a friend told me I'd never hear- the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh."

8.  Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myacle

"It was the night before Christmas. Well, to be more precise, it was the afternoon before Christmas."

9. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

"Imagine this: You are in your favorite bookstore, scanning the shelves. You get to the section where a favorite author's books reside, and there, nestled in comfortably between the incredibly familiar spines, sits a red notebook."

10. The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

"'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

11. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

"Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago."

12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

"Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that."

 

13. Seven Stories of Christmas Love by Leo Buscalia

"Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Holy Child of Bethlehem, nearly two thousand years ago. But whatever your religious belief, the spirit of Christmas is love, and love is universal."

14. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

"One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies."

    15. Lousia May Alcott's Christmas Treasury...The Complete Christmas Collection

"A Merry Christmas" found within Little Woman

"Jo was the first to wake in the grey dawn of Christmas morning."

16. Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

Christmas House, North Pole

22nd December 1920

Dear John,

I heard you ask daddy what I was like and where I lived. I have drawn me and my house for you...Your loving Father Christmas

Most of these books/stories are favorites because I have enjoyed reading them aloud with my family sometime during the holiday season. Many of them were favorites of my children when they were young and they carry such fond memories for me. Yet many remain family staples today even though the girls are grown. Many we read aloud to each other every year.


What are/were your favorite holiday books/stories?

This was originally posted on Nov. 23, 2010 for Top Ten Tuesday at Broke and Bookish 

Christmas Songs Book Tag (2019)

I am playing along with That Artsy Reader Girl's A Little Bookish Christmas meme called Christmas Songs Book Tag. Since I've never participated before I am not limiting my choices to only books I read this year.

1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You”: Favorite bookish couple.

•  Most of the Jane Austen couples: Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice); Anne Eliott and Captain Wentworth (Persuasion); Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey); Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars (Sense and Sensibility); and Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram (Mansfield Park)

2. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: Name a book where a character is away from home.

• Miles Halter in Looking for Alaska by John Green. He is at boarding school.

3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: Name your favorite “little” book (children’s book, short story, novella, etc.).

• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town“: What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?

•  I never request books for Christmas but I wouldn't mind a subscription to Bookmarks Magazine.

5. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. So much injustice against women.
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. So much injustice against blacks.

6. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: Your favorite book/kind of book to read during the holidays.

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. A family favorite.

7. “We Three Kings”: Your favorite trilogy. 

• His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

8. “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”: A character you would love to be snowed in with.

• Mark Watney from The Martian. The guy is brilliant and seems like he can do just about anything, like rig up electricity if the power goes out.

9. “Last Christmas”: A book that seriously let you down.

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I couldn't finish the tome. I wanted to love it and did not.

10. “White Christmas”: An upcoming release you’re dreaming about.

• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. 64 years before the first Hunger Games. Can't wait! 

Join in the fun. What books would you suggest for each Christmas song? Sign up to participate at ThatArtsyReaderGirl

Sunday Salon: Dec. 1

Weather: currently it is rainy and cold outside our home. The report is for worse weather to come. We'll see. This past weekend was cold in Eugene, Oregon where we spent Thanksgiving weekend. Yesterday it was overcast with temperatures in the mid 30s during the afternoon UO v OSU football game. I spent the whole game attempting to stay warm.

Thanksgiving was a big family reunion this year with three days of meaningful events. Twenty-one of us gathered for the traditional meal on Thursday,  the next day twenty-five family members gathered for the interment service to bury our father's cremains, and on Saturday sixteen of us sat together at the football game (mentioned above) even though we didn't all cheer for the same team. Last night when my sister Kathy and my daughters and I got together to reflect on the weekend we couldn't believe how much we had done and what a special time it was for everyone, especially our 90-year-old mother, who sad proudly watching her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren interact and play together.

Interment: My father died almost exactly a year ago. Since his death we have had several opportunities to memorialize his life. But because he donated his body to science we couldn't inter his ashes until they were returned to us. My mother's church has a special garden spot where members' ashes can be placed in their final resting spot. We held a small service just for family members. My brother and his wife, who live in Switzerland, even joined us via WhatsAp. The photo, above, shows the stained glass in the chapel. Outside you see my brother-in-law covering the ashes with dirt. It was lovely to be with family for the final goodbye to Dad.

Popular: I asked my youngest daughter to sing the song "Popular", and she obliged, from the Wicked musical, to our dog because he was so popular this weekend. He made friends with all my nieces and nephews, their kids, everyone who came in contact with him. At one point my grandson and my sister's grandkids were playing with him endlessly when he finally disappeared. We found him hiding in his crate, exhausted.

Books completed in November:

• Inland by Tea Obreht---audiobook; a simply stunning and surprising book. The ending took my breath away. Highly recommend for patient readers.
• Called: the Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today by Mark Labberton---e-book; this was the study guide for Women's Bible study at church. We had wonderful discussions.
• Brave Face: a memoir by Shaun David Hutchinson---print; I was reminded that "screwed up people make great art" as I read this memoir by a favorite YA author who talked about his life with depression and coming out as gay. I hope this book finds a home in all libraries public and school.
• Virgil Wander by Leif Enger---audiobook; a charming, funny, and poignant story by a favorite author. I've already recommended this book to several people including both of my daughters.
• Whereas: poems by Layli Long Soldier---print; poems by a Lakota author. I enjoyed many of them, or to be more specific, I found many of the poems to be very thought-provoking.

Currently reading:

• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips---audiobook; a book club selection for this week's club meeting. Two sisters disappear. Each of the stories involve other women who are impacted by their disappearance. Brilliant done. 55% completed. Not sure if I will be able to finish it before Wednesday but I intend to complete the book one way or the other.
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent---audiobook; another book club selection for some future month. This book is set in Iceland and is based on actual events surrounding a murder in the 1800s. 21% complete.
• A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchey---print; I was given this book by someone and have had it on my shelves for many years. Time to read it and let it go. 
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett---audiobook; ANOTHER book club selection. All three of the audiobooks have arrived at the same time. I didn't finish Disappearing Earth before it was returned to the library automatically, so I started Burial Rites myself and The Dutch House with Don on our recent trip. Now Disappearing Earth is back so I will have to postpone the last two and return to the first. 86% complete.

Split pea soup question. Do you add potatoes to your split pea soup recipe or not? I decided to make this soup when we got home from Oregon today. I had some leftover ham and some split peas but no seasoning packet so decided to look up a recipe on-line. Over half the recipes added potatoes. I've never added them before but decided to add an available sweet potato. Don liked it. I didn't.

It is hard to believe that the advent season is already here. Wasn't it just Halloween and Thanksgiving?

Have a lovely December.