Readerbuzz

All-Things French: Ten Books about the Best French Things

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Confessions of a French Baker

Introduction to French Poetry

A Very French Christmas

The Whole Fromage: Adventures in the Delectable World of French Cheese

Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living

Anna and the French Kiss

Simple French Food

F is for France: A Curious Cabinet of French Wonders

A Breath of French Air

The French Art of Living Well

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

The Sunday Salon: Shorty September Starts Soon! (I Know, I Know, It's Short Notice)

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon.

What is the Sunday Salon?

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

Stillmeadow Daybook by Gladys Taber

I handed this off to a friend---I feel certain

she will love it as much as I did.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Hurray! I've already read my Spin book,

and we watched the (very different) movie.

What I Read Last Week:

What I'm Reading Now:

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig

A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry

Jinjer put me onto Shorty September, and off I went. I love a fun challenge, and what kind of books do I love more than any others? Short ones!

Here's a little info about the month-long challenge: Shorty September is a month long booktube readathon to read short books. It was originally created by Bert and Sian at Pastorytime. And while they put a pause on their booktube channel for now, this is year six and Shorty September is being carried on by @gormodoheathers (Too Many Heathers), @roving_reader (Karen) and Marcella (@marcellainthemargins) all over on Booktube. Follow them on YouTube, make your own Shorty September videos, comment and be merry! Everyone is invited!

From the 1st to the 30th of September, we read “shorty” books all month. Shorties are maybe about 200 pages (or up to 250 pages) or less, it's also defined by some as any book you can read in a day. Whatever is short for you, you define your own shorty length! Read shorties throughout the month - and it's Shorty September, easy as that. You could just pick any "shorty" books. Read one short book, read through a a stack you’ve saved up (as I know many of us have!) or follow this year's prompts.

Okay, I'm not making a video and I don't really know what Booktube is, but I'm going to find a way to join in, even if it's in my own little blogging way. Here's a list I keep of One-Night Reads that you might find helpful.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: The Joy of Blue Polka-Dotted Piggy Squeak Toys

Bookish Places I’ve Visited

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

One yearly challenge to go!

Summer challenges are complete!

Big books. A lot of people like to take on a big book for summer.

And fortunately for all of us who enjoy big books, Sue Jackson of Book by Book hosts a Big Book Summer Reading Challenge.

Here's a little about the challenge.

The idea behind this reading challenge is simple: Use the ease of summer to tackle a Big Book (400+ pages) or two or ... however many you want! You set your own goals. And if it is the start of winter where you live, then it's your Big Book Winter Challenge. Everyone is welcome to participate.

The Details:
Hey, it's summer, so we'll keep this low-key and easy!

Anything 400 pages or more qualifies as a big book.
The challenge runs from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (May 22 this year) through Labor Day (September 7 this year).
Choose one or two or however many big books you want as your goal. Wait, did you get that? You only need to read 1 book with 400+ pages this summer to participate! (though you are welcome to read more, if you want).
No sign-ups are necessary! All readers are welcome to participate.

What kind of books "count"? All kinds! Middle-grade, YA, graphic novels, classics, all genres, all types--as long as they are at least 400 pages. Yes, e-books and audio books count, too--just check online for the number of pages in the print edition.

My reads (7):

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 475 pages

The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides - 408 pages

My Friends by Frederik Bachman - 448 pages

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor - 400 pages

Beyond Words by Carl Safina - 482 pages

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan - 464 pages

The Earth by Émile Zola - 512 pages

But maybe you are not a person who enjoys reading big books. Maybe you like to read in quantity over the summer. In that case...

When Cathy of 746 books announced in 2025 that she would not host 20 Books of Summer this year after ten successful years, Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel of AnnaBookBel both volunteered to take it on. This year, Annabel will run the challenge alone.

The 20 Books of Summer2026 (#20BOS26) challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st
The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15, or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
Pick your list in advance, or nominate a bookcase to read from, or pick at whim from your TBR.
If you do pick a list, you can change it at any time – swap books in/out.
Don’t get panicked at not reaching your target.
Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!

Annabel will have monthly summary posts where you can add progress reports and recommendations. The final one at the at the beginning of September will stay open for a while to catch all the last reviews.

If you’re planning to join in please do add your blog / planning post link to the Mr Linky here.

Here are my (planned, but subject to change) 20 Books of Summer:

20 / 20

*Lost Horizon by James Hilton.

*The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim

*Beyond Words by Carl Safina.

*The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Mcfarlane.

*The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout.

*Make Life Happier by Mark Williamson.

*The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

*Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice

*Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood

*The Earth by Émile Zola

*Candide by Voltaire

*Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson

*The War of the Buttons by Louis Pergaud

*A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

*My Friends by Frederik Bachman.

*The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

*The Lark and the Laurel by Barbara Willard

*The Shippers by Katherine Center.

*The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith

*Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

Blueberry French Toast

Good Thing #2:

The Mississippi Kite is

still hanging around.

Good Thing #3:

My first ukulele class

starts this week.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

The Midnight Train

by Matt Haig

Genre: Cozy Fantasy

Published: May 26, 2026

Page Count: 255 pages

Summary:

No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most.To see what kind of person you really were.

For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice.

Before he gave it all away.

He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything... . .

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

NOTE: Gillion of Rose City Reader is retiring soon from hosting Book Beginnings on Friday. Please contact her if you are interested in hosting.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

As the water taxi sped across the lagoon, the two young honeymooners gazed ahead in awe.

Wilbur squeezed Maggie's hand and leaned into her as they sat at the back of the small boat, the sun glittering on the water in front of them.

"I love you, Mr. Budd," she told him, her words as natural as breath.

"I love you too, Mrs. Budd."

Maggie laughed, softly, at how funny and official that sounded...

"We'll always be like this, won't we?" Maggie asked him.

He smiled reassuringly. "Of course. Why wouldn't we?"

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky.

Mr. Bagdale reached for the hip flask in his pocket. Took a swig. "Well, this boy is not a customer. He is a browser. That is why I got rid of the chairs, Mother. We don't want people just sitting there, reading..."

"Oh yes, wouldn't that be terrible," she said with a wheeze. "A bookshop with readers."

The Midnight Library was my favorite book of the year. Probably not the most literary. Probably not the most perfect. But the wisest book I read that year, a book can't help itself from helping everyone who reads it.

So I felt compelled to read The Midnight Train. I am certain that, like most sequels, it won't come close to being the book The Midnight Library was for me. Nevertheless, I can't resist reading it, a new book from an author who dares to write about mental health in genuine and healing ways.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.

What grabs you and keeps you hooked in a book? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

Fascinating characters!

Bookish Places I’ve Visited

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Anywhere I go---from New York City to Paris to Montana, from work to home---is a bookish place.

Left to right in a clockwise motion: Super Readers at the library's book fair; Doctor Buks in the library showing children how to take care of books; kids and me at the library; the Library Hotel in NYC; bloggers and me in NYC at Book Expo; our book club at my friend's bookstore, Rae's Reads; installation of a Little Free Library in a part of town with no access to books...later we put in a LFL in a town of 200 people with no library; my take from the library conference; my reading spot at home; Inprint with Salman Rushdie in Houston; my overflowing bookshelves at home.

The Sunday Salon: The Joy of Blue Polka-Dotted Piggy Squeak Toys

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon.

What is the Sunday Salon?

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

What I Read Last Week:

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

What I'm Reading Now:

Stillmeadow Daybook by Gladys Taber

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: A Classics Club Spin

SciFi and Fantasy and Other Book Series I Might Like to Read

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

We went to see The Odyssey.

Good Thing #2:

A Mississippi Kite in our backyard.

Good Thing #3:

I accidentally bought

two blue polka-dotted piggy

squeak toys for dogs,

and my husband is finding it quite amusing to

make the pigs grunt.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

The Day of the Triffids

by John Wyndham

Genre: Science Fiction/Horror

Published: December 1951

Page Count: 241 pages

Summary:

Bill Masen undergoes eye surgery and awakes the next morning in his hospital bed to find civilization collapsing. Wandering the city, he quickly realizes that surviving in this strange new world requires evading strangers and the seven-foot-tall plants known as triffids—plants that can walk and can kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.

I felt that from the moment I woke. And yet, when I started functioning a little more smartly, I became doubtful. After all, the odds were that it was I who was wrong, and not everyone else—though I did not see how that could be. I went on waiting, tinged with doubt. But presently I had my first bit of objective evidence—a distant clock struck what sounded to me just like eight. I listened hard and suspiciously. Soon another clock began, on a hard, decisive note. In a leisurely fashion it gave an indisputable eight. Then I knew things were awry.

Wyndham, John. The Day of the Triffids, p. 1. Kindle Edition.

I said: “I wonder just how many of us have escaped and can still see? I’ve come across one other man, a child, and a baby; you’ve met none. It looks to me as if we are going to find out that sight is very rare indeed. Some of the others have evidently grasped already that their only chance of survival is to get hold of someone who can see. When they all understand that, the outlook’s going to be none too good.”

Wyndham, John. The Day of the Triffids, p. 56. Kindle Edition.

The Day of the Triffids is my Classics Club spin. I'm delighted that the spinner stopped on this book. Jinjer of The Intrepid Angeleno rave-reviewed it last November here and I could not resist buying a copy and then adding it to my latest Classics Club list.

The Day of the Triffids is not what I expected. I'm a scifi book and film person from childhood, and I thought this would be a standard scary-monsters-invading-earth sort of story. It's not; instead, it's scifi integrated skillfully into literary fiction.

I followed up my reading of the book with watching the film, and the movie, it turns out, is loosely based on the story---with a man who retains his sight while most everyone else goes blind; a world unable to cope with the sudden loss of vision; and plants that walk and kill humans.

Do you follow book trends and bestsellers, or do you prefer hunting down lesser-known titles? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

I am a person who loves to find little-known, beautifully written books. If you have titles of books you've loved that no one else has read, I'd love for you to share them with me.

SciFi and Fantasy and Other Book Series I Might Like to Read

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

When I first became a school librarian, I had to play catch up. And fast.

So I read the first book of every series. I wanted to be able to familiarize myself with the books my students were reading.

This has become a way of reading for me. I read book one. I don't read on.

The truth is that book two is a disappointment. The author carefully worked out book one. Perhaps she never even planned to write book two. Or she wrote book two as a bridge to the far-better book three.

But now I see that I've missed a lot of great books. I'm starting a list of book series I might like to read.

What would you recommend to me?

Here are a few that have been suggested so far:

Xanth by Piers Anthony. My aunt recommended this.

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

If you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

The Sunday Salon: A Classics Club Spin

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! We're glad you're here at the Sunday Salon.

What is the Sunday Salon?

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations there.

What I Read Last Week:

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage by Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor

I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World by Sarah Wilson

What I'm Reading Now:

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt

The Classics Club has issued the announcement of the Classics Club’s 43rd CC Spin.

What is the Spin?

It’s easy. At your blog, before next Sunday, August 16, 2026, create a post that lists twenty books of your choice that remain “to be read” on your Classics Club list.

This is your Spin List.

You have to read one of these twenty books by the end of the spin period.

On Sunday, August 16, The Classics Club will post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by Sunday, October 4th, 2026.

Let's see who can make it the whole way and finish their spin book!

I have a lot of books to read on my latest Classics Club list. Let's see where the needle stops.

So here is my list. I picked the ten books from the list that I most want to read and listed them twice.

1, 11. A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym

2, 12. So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

3, 13. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

4, 14. Emily of the New Moon by L. M. Montgomery

5, 15. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

6, 16. Indian Summer by William Dean Howells

7, 17. Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton

8, 18. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

9, 19. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

10, 20. Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym

Have you read any of these?

Do you recommend any of these?

And the spin lands on...

The Day of the Triffids!

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Two Wonderful Re-reads; Persian Food; Jury Duty; and a New Ukulele

Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

I experimented with some new

chocolate chip cookie recipes.

Good Thing #2:

Our book club read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency this month,

so I reread the book and watched the series in prep for leading

the discussion.

Good Thing #3:

I was delighted to see my first

Julia Heliconian butterfly

this week.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

Project Hail Mary

by Andy Weir

Genre: Science Fiction

Published: May 4, 2021

Page Count: 476 pages

Summary:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

"What's two plus two?"

Something about the question irritates me. I'm tired. I drift back to sleep.

A few minutes pass, then I hear it again.

"What's two plus two?"

The soft, feminine voice lacks emotion and the pronunciation is identical to the previous time she said it. It's a computer. A computer is hassling me. I'm even more irritated now.

"Lrmln," I say. I'm surprised. I meant to say "Leave me alone"---a completely reasonable response in my opinion---but I failed to speak.

"Incorrect," says the computer. "What's two plus two?"

The candidate pool wasn't deep. There just weren't many coma-resistant people out there who had "the right stuff" and were willing to go on a suicide mission.

When all of the copies at my library are requested from now until the end of next year, and even used copies are selling for full price, sometimes you have to look around in unlikely places. Happily, I was able to join a bookring at BookCrossing a few months ago, and this book arrived for me yesterday.

Yes, I've seen the movie. I liked it a lot.

Is there a book you keep coming back to, reading it more than once? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

I'm not sure how many times I've read and listened to and browsed through Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I've written posts about ZAMM and included ZAMM on lots of my lists over the years.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Quotes

Chataquas: Education and Uplift

Most Memorable Books I Was Forced to Read

Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't

Books I Loved Much More Than I Thought I Would

Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside My Comfort Zone

Thankful: Six Books That Changed My Life

Can Books Improve Your Happiness?

A Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Frenzy

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 17:22:37 +0000

We got together last week with an old friend who is a baker, too. Our conversation about our recent baking adventures rapidly turned ferociously competitive. Ali and I both want to make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie before we die, and we will do anything to win this title.

I reminded Ali of the time I came closest to bringing home that trophy. In 1990, I won second place in a cookie baking contest at my town's Wal-mart.

Since then, I've made hundreds of versions of chocolate chip cookies. Before we left Ali's house, I vowed to myself to renew my attempts to win the chocolate chip cookie championship.

Two cookie cookbooks and several batches of chocolate chip cookies later, I feel I have inched toward that goal.

I used Dorie's Cookies by Dorie Greenspan and Cookie Club: 80 Creative Cookies to Make, Swap, and Share by Mallory Oniki as my inspiration, my reference books.

First I tried a recipe from Oniki's chocolate chip cookie (CCC) section of the book.

Crunchy Edge, Soft Middle CCC

(Makes 8 Large Cookies)

1/2 cup (113 g) salted butter, melted

1/2 cup (108 g) brown sugar

1/3 cup (66 g) granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups (162 g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cups milk and/or dark chocolate chunks, plus extra for topping

Flaky salt, for topping

1. Place the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Use a whisk or rubber spatula to mix until well combined, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until combined, about 1 minute.

3. Add the flour, kosher salt, and baking soda. Use a rubber spatula to mix until the flour is just incorporated, about 1 minute.

4. Add the chocolate chunks and mix until evenly distributed through the dough.

5. Use a large (4 tablespoon/2 ounce) cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls. Top each dough ball with one or two chunks of chocolate, gently pressing the chunks into the dough. Place all the dough balls onto a small baking sheet or plate lined with parchment paper. Cover and transfer to the fridge to chill overnight (or at least 12 hours).

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place four dough balls onto each baking sheet, spaced equally apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.

7. Top each cookie with a pinch of flaky salt. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

My modifications: I made twenty small cookies instead of eight large ones. I cut the baking time to ten minutes.

My assessment: Soft. Chocolate-y. A nice salty zing to face off with the sweetness of the cookie.

Here's one more that I tried from the Cookie Club cookbook.

Spicy CCC

(Makes 12 Large Cookies)

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus extra for topping

1 1/2 cups semisweet or dark chocolate chunks, plus extra for topping

Flaky salt, for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Place the brown sugar, butter, and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to mix until combined, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and mix until fluffy and lighter in color, about 1 minute.

4. Add the flours, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you'd like the cookies to be. Mix on low just until the flour is combined, about 30 seconds.

5. Add the chocolate chunks to the bowl. Mix until the chocolate chunks are even distributed through the dough.

6. Use a large (4-tbsp/2 oz) cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls. Place up to six dough balls onto each baking sheet, spaced equally apart. Top each dough ball with one or two chunks of chocolate, gently pressing the chunks into the dough.

7. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until the edges start to brown. Top each cookie with a pinch of flaky salt and a dash of extra cayenne pepper, if desired. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

My modifications: I had no whole wheat flour so I used all-purpose flour only. I did not have dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate, so I used milk chocolate chips.

My assessment: A soft, flat cookie. Sweet and salty, with a kick from the cayenne.

I'm ready for you, Ali!

Other attempts to make the world's best chocolate chip cookies:

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

How to Bake for Beginners: Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Chapter Book Club Picnic

Life is What You Bake It

Be a part of the friendly In My Kitchen (IMK) community by adding your post at Sherry's Pickings each month - everybody welcome! We'd love to have you visit. Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month. Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on. And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related. The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

For more photos, link up at Wordless Wednesday, Comedy Plus, Messymimi's Meanderings, Keith's Ramblings, Image-in-ing, Soul and Mind and So On, Wild Bird Wednesday, and My Corner of the World.

Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

What was I reading on this day a year ago? Two years ago? Ten years ago?

2025. Mark Twain by Ron Chernow. Not a surprise, since this book is 1,200 pages, and I was reading on it for most of the summer of 2025. I felt like I had to read this bio of the writer after reading James and then Huck Finn earlier in the summer.

2024. The Wedding People by Alison Espach. A good summertime read---silly, light, frivolous.

2023. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. Another book I chose to read because I thought it would be a light summer read, but it turned out to be thoughtful and a well-written book of historical fiction.

2022. How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith. I traveled with the author across my country to visit sites and events of significance to slavery, and I learned so much I'd never been taught in school. A must-read.

2021. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. A big book of summer at 710 pages about the start of World War I. I'd been meaning to read this book since I was in high school, and I was proud that I finally got around to it.

2020. Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. I forgot how many kids' books I read in 2020. You remember that year, right? I walked to the library every day and turned in a couple of picture books and picked up a couple more, masked, all requested online.

2019. The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea by Mark Beauregard. This August was my month of All Things Moby Dick.

2018. The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen. The first summer I was retired. I finally decided to read Jane Austen, so I did Jane up big, reading all her books and watching movies made from each movie.

2017. Lassie-Come-Home by Eric Knight. I was a school librarian in 2017, and I decided to try to read all of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. As of today, I've read 806 of the books on the list.

2016. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich. I always eagerly anticipated the publication of the next Stephanie Plum mystery, and this one was not an exception. My friend Lisa always bought the next book in the series each August and read it and then passed it on to me.

The Sunday Salon: Two Wonderful Re-reads; Persian Food; Jury Duty; and a New Ukulele

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! We're glad you joined us here.

What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

I thought life would slow down in August, but it hasn't yet. I went to a Seed and Plant Exchange on Sunday, I had jury duty on Monday (the case was settled out of court, so yay!), we went to dinner at a Persian restaurant in Houston with old friends on Tuesday, we went with my dad to an appointment to see if he might be a candidate for an ultrasound procedure to reduce his hand tremors on Wednesday (he was!), I swam on Thursday, I went to a class on poet Wallace Stevens on Friday, and we did our butterfly count on Saturday.

I reread two wonderful books this week, one because a friend said it was her favorite book (Peace Like a River) and the other because I will be leading a book club discussion of it next week (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency).

What I Read Last Week:

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Fiction)

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides (Nonfiction)

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor (Dark Fantasy)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Three Five-Star Books Completed

Beautiful Illustrated Books Set In or Near Paris

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

I bought a ukulele.

Good Thing #2:

Bastani (Persian ice cream).

We also tried koobideh kabobs and

tahdig (Persian crispy rice).

Good Thing #3:

I took a class on

taking photos for iNaturalist.

I'm thinking about getting a macro lens for my phone.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

The Wide Wide Sea:

Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook

by Hampton Sides

Genre: History

Published: April 9, 2024

Page Count: 411 pages

Summary:

On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment?

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

It was the start of a very important year---1776---and James Cook had become a very important figure, a celebrity, a champion, a hero.

One day James Boswell (the Scottish lawyer and diariest) dropped by Cook's house on Mile End Road and had a pleasant visit, sipping tea in the garden, while a blackbird trilled a song. Boswell would recall, "It was curious to see Cook, a grave, steady man, and his wife, a decent plump Englishwoman, and think that he was preparing to sail around the world."

Do you see yourself more as an editor, a writer, or just a reader? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

Just a reader.

Beautiful Illustrated Books Set In or Near Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Yes, I know, I know, Paris in July is over---it's already August. But I really wanted to share my favorite illustrated books set in or near Paris this week, so I did.

Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir by David Coggins (Memoir)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (A 544 Page Fiction Picture Book)

Dear Paris: The Paris Letters Collection by Janice MacLeod (Memoir)

Coco Chanel (Little People, Big Dreams) by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara (Biography Board Book)

Marlaguette by Gerda Muller (Fiction Picture Book)

Crêpes by Suzette by Monica Wellington (Fiction Picture Book)

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Fantasy)

Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France by Vivian Swift (Travel)

750 Years in Paris by Vincent Mahé (History)

Bon Appetit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland (Biography Picture Book)

Ooh-la-la: Max in Love by Maira Kalman (Fiction Picture Book)

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (Fiction Picture Book)

Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Björk (Fiction Picture Book)

The Sunday Salon: Three Five-Star Books Completed

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! I am happy you joined us at the Sunday Salon.

I did a little of everything this week. Drove to Dallas. Celebrated Lucy's happy birthday. Visited with my aunt and uncle. Came home. Swam. Visited with my sister. Got paperwork for my attempt to obtain Italian citizenship. Visited with my husband's cousin. Went to my writing group in Galveston. Had a picnic with my friend in Galveston. Ate blueberry pie and ice cream with my dad and his wife. Finished three five-star books: Candide and Zola's The Earth and Ann Patchett's Whistler. Wrapped up Paris in July.

What I Read Last Week:

The Earth by Émile Zola

Candide by Voltaire

Whistler by Ann Patchett

What I'm Reading Now:

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides

I read eighteen books for Paris in July this year.

I didn't really have time to do much more this year than read.

The Earth by Émile Zola (Fiction)

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire (Fiction in French)

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson (Travel Memoir)

The Paris Bookshop for the Brokenhearted by Rebecca Raisin (Fiction)

My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life by Janine Marsh (Memoir)

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (Fiction)

My Good Life in France by Janine Marsh (Memoir)

The Shortest History of France by Colin Jones (History)

Toujours la France! by Janine Marsh (Memoir)

The War of the Buttons by Louis Pergaud (Children's Fiction)

Thirty Days in Paris by Veronica Henry (Fiction)

One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan (Fiction)

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction by Deborah Levy (Fiction)

Quartet by Jean Rhys (Fiction)

Moveable Feasts: A Story of Paris in Twenty Meals by Chris Newens (Travel)

En Route: A Journey Through France in the Company of Great Writers by Peter Fiennes (Travel)

Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery by Apollonia Poilâne (Cookbook)

L'Enfance de Bécassine by Jacqueline Rivière (Children's Cartoon)

I visited to Paris via the Rick Steves' episode, Paris of the Parisians, coupled with the Daytripper's episode on Paris, Texas.

I practiced my French on Duolingo at least one time a day.

I made my first batch of sourdough bread based on a recipe from Poilâne. It was okay, but I think I'll try a different sourdough recipe next time.

And that's it. Thank you, Emma, from Words and Peace for hosting this wonderful event.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Fun with Turtles, Snakes, and Alligators

Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read

Whistler by Ann Patchett: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

What do you wear to a dinosaur and snake birthday party?

There are not as many snake shirts out there as you might expect.

But Wal-Mart, I learned, has some pretty cool dino shirts

in the boys' department.

Good Thing #2:

My new reading chair.

Good Thing #3:

My Finch, Zip, visited Paris in July.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

Whistler by Ann Patchett: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

Whistler: A Novel

by Ann Patchett

Genre: Fiction

Published: June 2, 2026

Page Count: 300 pages

Summary:

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

"Old guy," my husband said in a low voice, his lips touching my ear. "Near the exit sign."

"Stop it." The joke itself was as old as rocks.

Jonathan raised his eyebrows. "I'm serious. He kept looking at you in the ticket line. Then he followed us through Medieval Art, and now he's just standing there. Do you see him? He looks at you whenever you're not looking."

I knew what Leda would say. She would say it was because childhood never leaves us. We seal the room up and cover it in sheetrock. We dry and sand and paint, but the pocket of history remains, and sooner or later someone always winds up tapping on the wall, commenting on the way it sounds strangely hollow in there, and then the whole thing comes tumbling down.

Just so you know---it's not a horse story as the cover might lead you to believe. No, it's a book that takes on love and secrets and childhoods and marriages and remarriages and stepparents and family and a car accident and healing and death, and, yes, there is a horse in the book and he plays an important role in the story but he isn't really even part of the story.

I wasn't expecting to love this story. I love this story. I love Daphne and her husband, Jonathan, and Daphne's sister, psychologist Leda, and Daphne and Leda's stepfather, Eddie, and even the horse. Whistler. Whistler the horse.

If you had to stick to one genre forever, which would you choose and why? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

This is tricky. Let's see...

I would pick nonfiction. I know I'm not in the majority here, but I am crazy about good nonfiction...

Or poetry. There's nothing that hits you in the gut like poetry...

I'm wild about picture books, too...

And literary fiction is great...

This is agony. Stop it. Don't make me choose.

Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

My pattern:

I hear about a wonderful book.

I desperately search my library catalogs for the book.

It's not available.

I comb through the used book sites for a bargain.

It's only for sale at full price.

I hunger to read that book. I click the purchase button.

Every day I scan my mail notifications. When will my book arrive?

I wait and wait. It takes a week, sometimes two weeks, to make it to my house.

It's here! I go to the mailbox, and rush inside to open the package.

I set the book at the top of my to-read stack. I do not start it.

I move the book to my under-the-bed stack. I do not start it.

I shift the book to my book closet. I do not start it.

The fire in me is now embers. And then ashes.

The book is pushed to the back, to the bottom of the book closet.

I see it several years later. I think about putting it out in my Little Free Library.

Sigh.

The Sunday Salon: Fun with Turtles, Snakes, and Alligators

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! We are happy you are here at the Sunday Salon.

After a busy week and a brush with a tropical storm in the Gulf, we drove to Dallas this weekend to celebrate our great-granddaughter Lucy's fourth birthday. I'm almost finished with my Paris in July reading, and I finally tried making sourdough bread from Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery.

What I Read Last Week:

The Shortest History of France by Colin Jones (History - Paris in July)

Toujours la France! by Janine Marsh (Memoir - Paris in July)

Quartet by Jean Rhys (Fiction - Paris in July)

Moveable Feasts: A Story of Paris in Twenty Meals by Chris Newens (Nonfiction - Paris in July)

En Route: A Journey Through France in the Company of Great Writers by Peter Fiennes (Nonfiction - Paris in July)

What I'm Reading Now:

The Earth by Émile Zola (Fiction - Paris in July)

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire (Fiction in French - Paris in July)

Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Visitors from Out of Town

Eight Books That Live in My Head Rent-Free

Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

More fun with alligators and turtles and snakes.

Good Thing #2:

Our book club celebrated fifteen years talking books this week.

Good Thing #3:

How happy I feel!

Jackie of Junk Boat Travels

sent me this Toronto Public Library

library card for my collection.

Thank you so much

for your thoughtfulness, Jackie!

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery

by Apollonia Poilâne

Genre: Cookbook

Published: 2019

Page Count: 288 pages

Summary:

To food lovers the world over, a trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to Poilâne. Ina Garten raves about the bread’s “extraordinary quality.” Martha Stewart says the P in Poilâne stands for “perfect.” For the first time, Poilâne provides detailed instructions so bakers can reproduce its unique “hug-sized” sourdough loaves at home, as well as the bakery’s other much-loved breads and pastries. It tells the story of how Apollonia Poilâne, the third-generation baker and owner, took over the global business at age eighteen and steered it into the future as a Harvard University freshman after her parents were killed in a helicopter crash.
Beyond bread, Apollonia includes recipes for pastries such as the bakery’s exquisite but unfussy tarts and butter cookies. In recipes that use bread as an ingredient, she shows how to make the most from a loaf, from crust to crumb. In still other dishes, she explores the world of grains: rice, corn, barley, oats, and millet. From sunup to sundown, Poilâne traces the hours in a baker’s day, blending narrative, recipes, and Apollonia’s philosophy of bread.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

There are no written recipes to follow at Poilâne. Our bakers are trained in a rigorous nine-month program during which they learn to bake using all their five senses. Although I was the owner's daughter, there were no shortcuts or cheat sheets for me.

The recipes in this book begin the same way Poilâne started: with sourdough.

It's not enough to share just a few sentences from a cookbook---you have to actually share a recipe and try to make something.

So I guess I need to make some sourdough starter.

Poilâne-Style Sourdough

Makes one 12-inch round loaf

For the Starter

First Fermentation

2/3 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

1 cup plus 1 tbsp. flour

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour

Second Fermentation

1 cup flour

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour

1/3 cup lukewarm water

The mixture from the first fermentation

For the Bread

All but 1 cup of the mixture from the second fermentation

4 cups flour

3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoon fine sea salt

Make the First Fermentation: In a medium bowl, whisk the water and yogurt until combined. Add both flours and mix until the dough starts to come together. (The mixture should feel a little like chewed gum.) Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm (72 degrees F to 77 degrees F) draft-free place for 24 hours.

Make the Second Fermentation: Add both flours and the water to the bowl with the first fermentation and mix together with your hands (flour your hands first to keep from sticking). Once the mixture starts coming together, transfer to a clean work surface and use a dough scraper to continue to scrape up and mix the starter until throoughly combined; it should still be quite sticky. Gently stretch two opposite sides of the mixture and fold into the center, then repeat with the other two sides to create a ball. Return to the bowl, cover with the kitchen towel, and set aside in a warm, draft-free place for another 24 hours. The mixture won't change much in appearance, but you should see some bubbles, and the top will look a little wet. At this point, the starter is ready to use.

Make the Bread: Transfer all but 1 cup of the starter to a large bowl. Add both flours and the yeast. Combine the water and salt, stir to dissolve the salt, and add to the bowl. Using your hands, mix until combined. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured clean surface and knead until it comes together in a homogeneous mass and feels smooth, 10 to 15 minutes.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a warm, draft-free place for about 45 minutes. The dough should increase in volume by 150 to 200 percent, though you're not looking for volume as much as a gentle expansion and increased resistance. To test, use the back of your hand to gently touch the surface of the dough; you should feel a slight resistance that's just strong enough so the dough returns to its shape.

Very generously flour a 12- to 14-inch linen-lined proofing basket, being sure to get the flour on the sides of the basket as well. Lightly flour the work surface.

Transfer the dough to the work surface and, using your hands, very gently flatten it to two-thirds its original size. Roll the dough over from right to left, then tuck the sides of the dough under while rotating the dough on the work surface to create a nice round with a taut top. Turn the dough over and place it smooth side down in the prepared basket. Cover with the kitchen cloth and set in a warm, draft-free place.

After 2 hours, check on the dough: You're looking for it to expand and gain resistance. To test, touch the dough lightly with the back of your hand; if it maintains its shape, it's ready. If it isn't, proof for 5 to 10 minutes in a warmer space. Conversely, if the dough deflates immediately when you touch it, it has overproofed and you should bake it immediately.

Meanwhile, about 25 minutes before baking, position a rack in the lower-third of the oven, place a 12-inch pot on it, and preheat to 475 degrees F.

Using oven mitts, remove the pot from the oven. With one swift movement, being mindful of the hot sides of the pot, flip the dough into the pot so its smooth side faces up. Use a lame (or razor blade) to quickly score the dough; you can score a square shape, a hashtag, a cursive P (as at Poilâne) or any other design you like. Remove the lid and continue baking until the crust is dark and caramelized, another 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Using oven mitts, carefully turn the loaf out of the pot and check it for doneness: Stand the loaf on its side and knock on the bottom; it should sound like you're knocking on a door. If it doesn't continue to bake directly on the oven rack, checking every 5 minutes or so, until it sounds hollow when tapped. Place the baked loaf on a wire rack, cover with a thick cloth, and let cool for at least an hour before slicing.

That's me at Poilâne in 2022.

What’s the fastest or slowest you’ve ever finished a book? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

I learned to be a fast reader in sixth grade when I had to read and write a book report on a 300-page book every week. I could tear through a book with start-to-finish times of just a couple of hours. I still tend to rip through books; I wish I could read more slowly.

I read a couple of books at a leisurely pace. War and Peace has 365 chapters, and I read it over the course of a year. That's probably the slowest I've ever read a book.

Eight Books That Live in My Head Rent-Free

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

I've read some books so many times that I have them almost memorized. I've read all of these at least three times, and some of them I've read up to eight times.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

What books have you enjoyed so much you read them over and over?

I actually have memorized some of the books on this list, after reading them aloud twenty-five times or more in a single week every year that I worked in the school library.

Thank you, Emma @ damppebbles.com, for this week's prompt.

The Sunday Salon: Visitors from Out of Town

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! I am glad you joined us at the Sunday Salon.

What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a time to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

We had lots of company last week---our granddaughter and great-granddaughter plus my sister and her husband and my brother. It rained almost every day, but we still managed to make it to Galveston where we played on the beach, and we spent time with great-granddaughter, Lucy, exploring all the wonderful toys we keep at our house for just such visits.

My husband and I celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary by going out to eat and (yay!) visiting a bookstore.

I also squeezed in a couple of swims between rainstorms, and I made it to my writing group for the first time in several weeks.

What I Read Last Week:

Thirty Days in Paris by Veronica Henry (Fiction - Paris in July)

One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan (Fiction - Paris in July)

The War of the Buttons by Louis Pergaud (Children's Fiction - Paris in July)

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction by Deborah Levy (Fiction - Paris in July)

What I Am Reading Now:

The Earth by Émile Zola (Fiction - Paris in July)

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire (Fiction in French - Paris in July)

France: An Adventure History by Graham Robb (History - Paris in July)

The Shortest History of France by Colin Jones (History - Paris in July)

Toujours la France! by Janine Marsh (Memoir - Paris in July)

Quartet by Jean Rhys (Fiction - Paris in July)

Moveable Feasts: A Story of Paris in Twenty Meals by Chris Newens (Nonfiction - Paris in July)

En Route: A Journey Through France in the Company of Great Writers by Peter Fiennes (Nonfiction - Paris in July)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Reading an Absurd Number of Books for Paris in July

Eleven Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors

Moveable Feasts: Paris in Twenty Meals by Chris Newens: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

I showed considerable restraint and

just came home with one book

from the anniversary trip to the bookstore.

Good Thing #2:

I made progress in French

on Duolingo.

Good Thing #3:

Lucy took a surprise photo of us this week.

Sometimes it's nice to see things

from an almost-four-year-old's

point of view.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

Moveable Feasts: Paris in Twenty Meals by Chris Newens: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Today's Featured Book:

Moveable Feasts:

Paris in Twenty Meals

by Chris Newens

Genre: Travel; Foodie

Published: February 3, 2026

Page Count: 368 pages

Summary:

Paris has a justifiable claim to be the center of European gastronomy—but beyond its trademark terrasses and zinc-topped tables, what can its cuisine tell us about the city? Chris Newens, an award-winning food writer and long-time resident of the historic slaughterhouse quartier Villette, takes us on a delightful gastronomic journey around Paris' twenty spiralling arrondissements, seeking out, sampling, and attempting to recreate a dish that represents each as it is today.

Hemingway wrote that "wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” From Congolese cat fish in the 18th to Middle Eastern falafels in the 4th, to the charcuterie served at the libertine nightclubs of Pigalle in the 9th, Newens lifts the lid on the city's ever-changing, defining, and irresistible food culture.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

A Paris bistro is the stage of a thousand cliches. Surly waiters in their suits, barflies crowding the zinc, a terrace of small tables and rattan chairs that all face the street, coffee, croissants, steak frites.

Le Mistral, at the corner of the rue des Pyrenees in Belleville, fitted this description so perfectly it deserved World Heritage status; it was a place so familiar to the global imagination that, like Paris itself, I felt I knew it before I even came to visit the city, let alone live here.

The transubstantiation of raw into cooked is a low-grade miracle. You witness in real time something repellent become its opposite. Never, though, had I seen a change as profound as I did then. Raw, the kebab had looked like a prolapse, but now it was starting to resemble, well, a kebab. The layers of turkey and lamb were drawing into one another: sizzling, browning, beads of flavour escaping from within. And the smell: that commingling of proteins which hits somewhere at the top of the nose, combined with a base note of smouldering charcoal. It was actually working! Of course it was working. It was meat on a stick.

Do you read one book at a time, or juggle a few at once? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

Ha! I was reading fifteen books at one time at the start of this week. Ha!

I usually have four or five going at one time.

Eleven Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson

Indian Summer by William Dean Howells

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen

Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

The Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector and Selected Stories by Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol

Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata

The Sunday Salon: Reading an Absurd Number of Books for Paris in July

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! I am glad you joined us here at the Sunday Salon.

What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a spot to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a time to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

It's summer, and I'm doing all the things I usually do in summer...I'm swimming and doing butterfly counts and working at reptile shows at the library and eating lunch with friends and going to my book groups and reading sixteen books (!) for Paris in July and loving the feeling of the sun on my face.