Readerbuzz

The Sunday Salon: Exit Party, Theo of Golden, and The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 05:00:00 +0000

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

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.

We got a tiny bit of a cool front this week, and the temps dipped down into the low 70s F at night. This is a beautiful time to live along the Gulf Coast of Texas.

I had a wonderful, busy week, with butterfly monitoring, swimming, my ukulele lesson, Empty Bowls, a library league meeting, book club, lunch with a friend, a butterfly walk with my naturalist group, and a family reunion.

What I Read Last Week:

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon (Science Fiction)

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (Book Club)

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel (Science Fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (Nonfiction)

The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (Mystery)

Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pam

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: The Shorty September Challenge is Complete

Memorable Books I've Read with Others

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi: Friday Book Snippets 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 talked my husband into spending two nights with

Wicked, Part One and Part Two, this week,

with pizza.

Good Thing #2:

Look at these beautiful, locally crafted bowls

we took home from the Empty Bowls fundraiser.

Good Thing #3:

A lovely little Gray Hairstreak

we saw on our butterfly walk.

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.

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Friday Book Snippets is a weekly blogging event co-hosted by

Anne@HeadFullofBooks and Olivia at Bemused and Bookish.

Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from:

a. the book's beginning and

b. page 56 (or another page)

in the book you are currently reading.

No spoilers, please.

Join the fun every Friday.

Theo was in Golden for only a year, from springtime to springtime.

Levi, Allen. Theo of Golden, p. 1.

Theo was not particularly comfortable with small talk. His own active mind and colorful thoughts were so engaging that shallow babble felt at times like an intrusion, an interruption, a subtraction. That said, and all because of his capacious spirit, sidewalk chats became a welcome part of his days.

Levi, Allen. Theo of Golden, 56%.

Today's Featured Book:

Theo of Golden

by Allen Levi

Genre: Fiction

Published: October 5, 2025

Page Count: 399 pages

Summary:

One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn’t explain much about where he came from or why he’s there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person’s story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.

There may be some spoilers below.

An old man arrives in a new town and he decides to buy portraits of people from the town and give them as a gift to the person portrayed in the portrait.

It's a story of trying to heal oneself. In the process, others are healed.

It's a story of change in perspective, in philosophy.

It's a story of looking deeply at people, seeing them in all their sadnesses but also in their strengths.

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.

Do you run more than one blog? If so, how do you manage your time? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

No. Readerbuzz is my one and only blog.

Memorable Books I've Read with Others

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Have all my favorite books been books I've read with others? Maybe! All of these are books I read with others and they are all books on my favorite books list.

Books my mom read with me when I was just learning to read:

Go, Dog, Go
The Little House by Virginia Burton
Caps for Sale

Books I read when I was a young person in a class in junior high, high school, or college:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Odyssey
Don Quixote

Readalouds in my classroom:

Wrinkle in Time
Where the Red Fern Grows
Henry Huggins

Books with my kids and grandkids:

A bajillion picture books
Hank the Cowdog books
The Hobbit
Little House in the Big Woods

Books I read to kids as a librarian:

The Little Match Girl
I Want My Hat Back
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Martin's Big Words
Pete the Cat
Rotten Island
Where the Sidewalk Ends

Books I've read with other bloggers:

Moby Dick
War and Peace
The Thorn Birds
The Narnia books
The Oz books
1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up

Books I've read with my book clubs:

Little Women
Isaac's Storm
Unbroken
My Name is Asher Lev
The Westing Game

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: The Shorty September Challenge is Complete

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome! We are glad you joined us at the Sunday Salon.

What I Read This Week:

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey (Mystery)

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (Novel)

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Novel)

What I'm Reading Now:

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (Nonfiction)

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon (Fiction)

The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (Mystery)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Waco-Bound

Dishing Up Some Wonderful Stories, with Pie

Save the Date! Nonfiction November is Coming Soon!

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

Shorty September is Complete! 12 / 12

Hometown Shorts (Local Author/Setting)

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (64 pages)

Hairy Shorts (Animal Character)

Wesley the Owl (244 pages)

Cargo Shorts (Helpful in a Pickle)

Jingo Django by Sid Fleischman (184 pages)

Denim Shorts (Modern Classic)

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor (224 pages)

Ripped Shorts (Mystery/Horror/Thriller)

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine They (144 pages)

Crochet Shorts (Independent Publisher)

Little Bird (96 pages)

Postal Shorts (Set in a Country You’re Likely to Have a Penpal In)

Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery (224 pages)

Half-n-Half Shorts (Read the Book then Watch the Movie)

Train Dreams (130 pages)

Zip-Off Shorts (Nature Writing/Outdoors)

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico (48 pages)

Runway Fashion Shorts (Translated)

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandra Solzhenitsyn (208 pages)

Elton John’s Wedding Shorts (Something Outrageous)

Trash! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Paré-Poupart (192 pages)

Patchwork Shorts (Blend of Genres)

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel (242 pages)

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 on a tour of the site at

the Waco Mammoth National Monument.

Those mammoths!

It was an amazing tour.

Good Thing #2:

We visited the Armstrong Browning Library on

Baylor University's campus

and took a look at some of the books

and artifacts of

poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Good Thing #3:

My sister made,

and I'm starting to address,

the invitations

for my dad's 100th birthday party

on January 2, 2027!

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.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Friday Book Snippets is a weekly blogging event co-hosted by

Anne@HeadFullofBooks and Olivia at Bemused and Bookish.

Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from:

a. the book's beginning and

b. page 56 (or another page)

in the book you are currently reading.

No spoilers, please.

Join the fun every Friday.

Fungi are everywhere but they are easy to miss. They are inside you and around you. They sustain you and all that you depend on. As you read these words, fungi are changing the way that life happens, as they have done for more than a billion years. They are eating rock, making soil, digesting pollutants, nourishing and killing plants, surviving in space, inducing visions, producing food, making medicines, manipulating animal behavior, and influencing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways that we think, feel, and behave. Yet they live their lives largely hidden from view, and over ninety percent of their species remain undocumented. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.

Sheldrake, Merlin. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, p. 3. Kindle Edition.

The transformational power of yeast has long been personified as a divine energy, spirit, or god. How could it escape this treatment? Alcohol and inebriation are some of the oldest magics. An invisible force conjures wine from fruit, beer from grain, mead from nectar. These liquids alter our minds and have been enfolded within human cultures in many ways: from ritual feasting and statecraft, to a means to pay for labor. For just as long, they have been responsible for dissolving our senses, for wildness and ecstasy. Yeasts are both makers and breakers of human social orders.

Sheldrake, Merlin. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, 56%. Kindle Edition.

Today's Featured Book:

Entangled Life:

How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures

by Merlin Sheldrake

Genre: Nature

Published: May 12, 2020

Page Count: 345 pages

Summary:

When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.

Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works.

This is our naturalist group's book club selection for October and November. I know little about fungi, and I'm eager to learn more.

As a book lover, what’s your biggest fear? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

I will turn seventy in November. I'm beginning to fear that I may not have time to read every book before I die.

Save the Date! Nonfiction November is Coming Soon!

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

It's almost time to put aside your novels, wrap up warm (or get out the spring clothes in the southern hemisphere!) and spend November reading and talking about nonfiction. Yes, Nonfiction November is back!

Week 1 November 2-8 - My Year in Nonfiction - Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

Hosted by Heather. Heather is a veterinarian living in Ohio who blogs at Based on a True Story. She reads all genres but really loves nonfiction and fantasy.

Week 2 November 9-15 - Nonfiction Journeys - This week choose a book that reflects a journey for its author or for the reader or both. This can be a physical journey, an emotional, psychological or spiritual journey or a combination of these. Any nonfiction title that leaves its author/protagonist and/or reader in a different place at the end from the start point is good for this challenge.

Hosted by Frances. Frances is a poet, essayist and reviewer. Her novel The Winchester Codex was published in 2024. She lives in London with her husband and Suki the Golden Doodle. Her blog can be found at volatilerune.blog It covers books she happens to be reading – both fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She especially enjoys biographies of writers and artists.

Week 3 November 16-22 - Nonfiction Pairings - This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it’s a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read and you would like recommendations for background reading. Or maybe it’s just two books you feel have a link, whatever they might be. You can be as creative as you like!

Hosted by Liz. Liz is an ex-librarian, a freelance editor and transcriber, a runner and a volunteer and works part-time at a cooperative-owed community centre. She blogs about everything from social justice and geology nonfiction to YA romance and literary fiction at librofulltime.wordpress.com

Week 4 November 23-29 - What I've Added to my TBR - It's a month of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones made it into your TBR? Be sure to link up to the original blogger who posted about that book.

Hosted by Deb. Deb is a Texas librarian-for-life who loves to read nonfiction-that-reads-like-fiction, literary fiction, classics, and children’s picture books. Deb plays guitar, swims, draws, writes, thinks about happiness, and blogs at Readerbuzz

I do hope you will be able to join us for Nonfiction November! #NonFicNov26

Dishing Up Some Wonderful Stories, with Pie

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

We do not get much autumn here along the Texas Gulf Coast.

I don't actually own a coat, for example.

So, no cold weather. No falling leaves. Mostly just Summer Lite.

What's autumn to me?

When I think of fall, I think of pie. Shall we celebrate the arrival of fall with a few pie books?

I've read a lot of books with a pie or two at the heart of the story. Some are picture books. Some are cookbooks. And some are adult novels.

Any genre, any age group---I will take some pie, please. And welcome, fall!

PICTURE BOOKS (FICTION)

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

Piggie Pie! A Halloween Book for Kids by Margie Palatini

Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson

Little Bitty Bakery

PICTURE BOOKS (NONFICTION)

Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis

Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott

COOKBOOKS

The Book on Pie: Everything You Need to Know to Bake Perfect Pies

Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet and Savory Slab Pies

Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life

The Pie Academy

TRAVEL NARRATIVE

American Pie: Slices of Pie (and Life) from America's Back Roads

MG FICTION

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yen

ADULT FICTION

Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp

World of Pies by Karen

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

The Secret Ingredients of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell

The Help by Katherine Stockett

My Pie in Literature Award winners from Care at Care's Books and Pie:

2016...Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

2017...What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

2018...The Idiot by Elif Batuman

2019...The Lager Queen of Minesota by J. Ryan Stradal

2020...Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

2021...The Resistors by Gish Jen

2022...The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

2023...The Guncle by Steven Rowley

2024...The Book of Love: A Novel by Kelly Link

2025...Heart the Lover by Lily King

What have I missed?

The Sunday Salon: Waco-Bound

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 05:00:00 +0000

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

Please add your link below, visit other bloggers, and comment on their posts.

We are in Waco this weekend, spending time with my sister, Cathy, and her husband. This photo is from the last time we visited when we rode Cathy's e-bikes all around town.

What I Read Last Week:

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor (Novel)

What I'm Reading Now:

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey (Mystery)

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (Novel)

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Novel)

Yes, Nonfiction November is being planned for 2026!

Start assembling your stacks!

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Shorty September

Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

Shorty September 9/12

Hometown Shorts (Local Author/Setting)

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (64 pages)

Hairy Shorts (Animal Character)

Wesley the Owl (244 pages)

Cargo Shorts (Helpful in a Pickle)

Jingo Django (184 pages)

Denim Shorts (Modern Classic)

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor (224 pages)

Crochet Shorts (Independent Publisher)

Little Bird (96 pages)

Postal Shorts (Set in a Country You’re Likely to Have a Penpal In)

Emily of New Moon (224 pages)

Zip-Off Shorts (Nature Writing/Outdoors)

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico (48 pages)

Elton John’s Wedding Shorts (Something Outrageous)

Trash! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Paré-Poupart (192 pages)

Patchwork Shorts (Blend of Genres)

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel (242 pages)

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:

A friend and I went to a lecture

by an amateur historian and model ship builder

on Captain James Cook

at University of Texas Medical Branch's

Osher Livelong Learning Institute in Galveston.

Good Thing #2:

A group of us went to see a play, The 39 Steps,

a comedic version of the classic thriller,

in which 150 characters were played

by just four actors.

Good Thing #3:

We finally got rain!

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.

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

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

Friday Book Snippets is a weekly blogging event co-hosted by

Anne@HeadFullofBooks and Olivia at Bemused and Bookish.

Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from:

a. the book's beginning and

b. page 56 (or another page)

in the book you are currently reading.

No spoilers, please.

Join the fun every Friday.

‘After all, I am not a young girl to be intimidated by her,’ Kate decided, as she waited outside her mother-in-law’s house.

Taylor, Elizabeth. In A Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics Book), p. 1. Kindle Edition.

When they were sitting together in the bus, she felt completely happy, without knowing that to feel so is such a rare experience that it might never come to her again.

Taylor, Elizabeth. In A Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics Book), p. 56. Kindle Edition.

Today's Featured Book:

In a Summer Season

by Elizabeth Taylor

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1961

Page Count: 224 pages

Summary:

Kate Heron is a wealthy, charming widow who marries, much to the disapproval of friends and neighbours, a man ten years her junior: the attractive, feckless Dermot. Then comes the return of Kate's old friend Charles - intelligent, kind and now widowed, with his beautiful young daughter. Kate watches happily as their two families are drawn together, finding his presence reassuringly familiar, but slowly she becomes aware of subtle undercurrents that begin to disturb the calm surface of their friendship. Before long, even she cannot ignore the gathering storm . . .

This is exactly the sort of story that I read exclusively for many years as a young woman. It's the kind of story written by a woman author that gets inside people's heads, that doesn't have a great deal of action, and that focuses on the lives of women. It's the genre we once called women's fiction, but I'm not sure that term is still used. Whatever you want to call it, it was my favorite then, and it is still one of my favorites.

How then have I just come, after almost seventy years of reading, to this author, Elizabeth Taylor? Elizabeth Berg, Ann Hood, Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Strout---I've read most everything by these writers, but Elizabeth Taylor, who writes in much the same fashion? No.

This is a story that feels perfect in many ways. Sensible Kate, after losing her first husband and settling into middle-age, marries reckless, much younger Dermot. The two are madly in love, but that's all they have in common. Kate's son, Tom, and her daughter, Lou, suffer from their own love foibles, and then there is her neighbor, Charles, and his beautiful daughter. The author skillfully takes us into the minds of all these characters as they interact and go through the day-to-dayness of life with them.

If you have read any other books by this author, please share them with me. I am eager to read more.

What’s the best investment you’ve made for your blog? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

Oh dear. I've never spent money on my blog. Blogging is, for me, a hobby, fun, a joy, but I don't expect it to give me any cold cash.

Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List

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

Some of these have already been published, some are just being published, and some are yet to be published.

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

A Planet Called Happy by Riley August

Kitten by Stacy Yu

You'll Love It Here by Natalie Sue

Man Overboard by Kathleen Rooney

The Bookshop Woman by Hanako Hanada (September 15)

The Butterfly Season by Lea Korsgaard (September 15)

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel (September 15)

Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger (October 6)

The Rush by Nathaniel Philbrick (October 6)

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver (October 6)

An Unlikely Visitor by Joanna Cannon (October 20)

Dead Batteries by Kate Maupin (October 27)

America Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the Hidden Wonders of the United States (November 10)

The Sunday Salon: Shorty September

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 05:00:00 +0000

It's wonderful that you are here at the Sunday Salon. Welcome!

Please add your link below, visit other bloggers, and comment on their posts.

We had a fabulous time visiting with our son and daughter-in-law, Ben and Lisa. We spent some time in Chicago where they live, and we also spent a few days in Traverse City, Michigan where Lisa worked when she was first out of college. The highs were in the 70s, and the temps dipped into the 50s at night. The weather was glorious and the company was more glorious.

What I Read Last Week:

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (Novel)

What I'm Reading Now (for Shorty September):

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor (Novel)

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine They (Mystery)

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (Novel)

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solhenitzen (Novel)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Authors I've Met

The Sunday Salon: ♫ ♪ Chicago! Chicago! ♫ ♪

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

SHORTY SEPTEMBER 8 / 12

Hometown Shorts (Local Author/Setting)

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (64 pages)

Hairy Shorts (Animal Character)

Wesley the Owl (244 pages)

Cargo Shorts (Helpful in a Pickle)

Jingo Django (184 pages)

Crochet Shorts (Independent Publisher)

Little Bird (96 pages)

Postal Shorts (Set in a Country You’re Likely to Have a Penpal In)

Emily of New Moon (224 pages)

Zip-Off Shorts (Nature Writing/Outdoors)

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico (48 pages)

Elton John’s Wedding Shorts (Something Outrageous)

Trash! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Paré-Poupart (192 pages)

Patchwork Shorts (Blend of Genres)

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel (242 pages)

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:

A new-to-me butterfly in Chicago:

Small White.

Good Thing #2:

We shopped in a store where

everything---ice cream, syrup, salsa, and more---

was made from cherries.

Traverse City is

the Cherry Capital of the World.

Good Thing #3:

We visited two bookstores in Traverse City,

including this one

in a former mental asylum.

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.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

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

Friday Book Snippets is a weekly blogging event co-hosted by

Anne@HeadFullofBooks and Olivia at Bemused and Bookish.

Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from:

a. the book's beginning and

b. page 56 (or another page)

in the book you are currently reading.

No spoilers, please.

Join the fun every Friday.

When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago, her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, a small lunch in a paper box, and a yellow leather snap purse, containing her ticket, a scrap of paper with her sister's address in Van Buren Street, and four dollars in money. It was in August, 1889. She was eighteen years of age, bright, timid, and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth. Whatever touch of regret at parting characterised her thoughts, it was certainly not for advantages now being given up. A gush of tears at her mother's farewell kiss, a touch in her throat when the cars clacked by the flour mill where her father worked by the day, a pathetic sigh as the familiar green environs of the village passed in review, and the threads which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken.

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie, p. 1. Kindle Edition.

Carrie looked over the large bill of fare which the waiter handed her without really considering it. She was very hungry, and the things she saw there awakened her desires, but the high prices held her attention. "Half broiled spring chicken—seventy-five. Sirloin steak with mushrooms—one twenty-five." She had dimly heard of these things, but it seemed strange to be called to order from the list.

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie, p. 56. Kindle Edition.

Today's Featured Book:

Sister Carrie

by Theodore Dreiser

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1900

Page Count: 464 pages

Summary:

When Carrie Meeber runs away to Chicago, she has nothing to rely on but her beauty and a fierce determination to improve her life. She escapes work in a factory by becoming the mistress of first one man and then a more successful one but ultimately leaves them behind for success and fame on the stage in New York.

Long hailed as one of the best novels of the twentieth century, Sister Carrie provides a panoramic view of the dynamic and relentless forces that still drive city life and American culture.

I brought three books set in Chicago along with me on my recent trip to visit my son and his wife. I think I have brought Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser along with me fifty times, and I've yet to read the whole things. This time I'm determined to finish.

If you could recommend one overlooked book, what would it be and why? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer

I'd recommend Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell. It's the story of a woman who is a homemaker of the 1940s, and each chapter is a page or so long, each one like a little Zen story.

Authors I've Met

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

Margaret Atwood! Wow!

Lots of great kids' authors:

Jayson Reynolds. R. L. Stein Aaron Reynolds

Jacqueline Woodson. Kate DiCamillo Melissa Sweet

Rick Riordan

Mo Willems

Jon Klassen at my school!

Lots of wonderful adult authors:

Anne Lamott

Gretchen Rubin

Amy Krause Rosenthal Katherine Center

Jane Green

David Baldacci Mary Higgins Clark

Lots of authors I've met at Inprint in Houston:

Richard Powers Kiran Desai George Saunders

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi Salman Rushdie

My "twin," Janet Evanovich

The Sunday Salon: ♫ ♪ Chicago! Chicago! ♫ ♪

noreply@blogger.com (Deb Nance at Readerbuzz) — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 05:00:00 +0000

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

I encourage you to join in by adding your link below and then visit other bloggers and leave comments on their posts.

We are in Chicago, visiting our son, Ben,

and his wife, Lisa.

What I Read Last Week:

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

(Nonfiction)

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico (Fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe (Fiction)

Passing by Nella Larson (Fiction)

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (Fiction)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: My First Ukulele Class is Hard

Indie Bookshops Near Me

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

SHORTY SEPTEMBER 6 / 12

Hometown Shorts (Local Author/Setting)

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (64 pages)

Hairy Shorts (Animal Character)

Wesley the Owl (244 pages)

Cargo Shorts (Helpful in a Pickle)

*Jingo Django (184 pages)

Crochet Shorts (Independent Publisher)

Little Bird (96 pages)

Elton John’s Wedding Shorts (Something Outrageous)

Trash! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Paré-Poupart (192 pages)

Patchwork Shorts (Blend of Genres)

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel (242 pages)

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:

A friend and I went to the

Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge last week

after we were told there were lots of birds visiting.

There were!

We loved seeing this Wood Stork.

Good Thing #2:

This Yellow-crowned Night Heron

seemed to be enjoying the water.

Good Thing #3:

A new-to-me butterfly at the refuge:

White Peacock.

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.

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe: Friday Book Snippets and Book Blogger Hop

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

Today's Featured Book:

Last Summer on State Street

by Toya Wolfe

Genre: Children's Fiction

Published: May 2, 2023

Page Count: 224 pages

Summary:

Felicia “Fe Fe” Stevens is living with her vigilantly loving mother and older teenaged brother, whom she adores, in building 4950 of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes. It’s the summer of 1999, and her high-rise is next in line to be torn down by the Chicago Housing Authority. She, with the devout Precious Brown and Stacia Buchanan, daughter of a Gangster Disciple Queen-Pin, form a tentative trio and, for a brief moment, carve out for themselves a simple life of Double Dutch and innocence. But when Fe Fe welcomes a mysterious new friend, Tonya, into their fold, the dynamics shift, upending the lives of all four girls.

As their beloved neighborhood falls down around them, so too do their friendships and the structures of the four girls’ families. Fe Fe must make the painful decision of whom she can trust and whom she must let go. Decades later, as she remembers that fateful summer—just before her home was demolished, her life uprooted, and community forever changed—Fe Fe tries to make sense of the grief and fraught bonds that still haunt her and attempts to reclaim the love that never left.

Friday Book Snippets is a weekly blogging event co-hosted by

Anne@HeadFullofBooks and Olivia at Bemused and Bookish.

Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from:

a. the book's beginning and

b. page 56 (or another page)

in the book you are currently reading.

No spoilers, please.

Join the fun every Friday.

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 share the first line.

SNIPPET FROM THE BEGINNING / FIRST LINE FRIDAY

I'd known Precious forever, Stacia a year, and Tonya for just a minute. We were so different, but everybody loved them some double Dutch. Sometimes we made a tight-knit crew; other days we couldn't get along for nothing.

Wolfe, Toya.. Last Summer on State Street, p. 1.

SNIPPET FROM PAGE 56

"He at that age, Fe Fe. Everybody checking for him now. My brother left last year when he turned fifteen." I looked for a sadness, any crack at all in her hard shell, but she just reached for the ropes, motioning for us to start a game.

Wolfe, Toya.. Last Summer on State Street, p. 56.

I brought Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe along with me to Chicago for our visit with my son and daughter-in-law this week. It will be interesting to talk about this book with my daughter-in-law, Lisa, who was a teen living in Chicago in 1999.

How much do online reviews shape what you pick up next? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer).

I rely completely on other bloggers to help me decide what book to read next!

Indie Bookshops Near Me

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

Last year I did the Houston Bookstore Crawl and visited twelve independent bookstores in the Houston area.

When I think of independent bookstores, I think first of Brazos Bookstore. It was created in 1974 by Karl Kilian who wanted to focus on personalized service, community engagement and passionate curation. The store prides itself on its support of writers and readers through long partnerships with Inprint!, the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, the Academy of American Poets, and the Annual Poet and Writer’s Ball. It's a small space, but it's packed with exceptional book offerings.

One of the largest and oldest mystery specialty bookstores in the US is Murder by the Book, originally established in 1980. There are over 25,000 books -- new & used, hardbacks & paperbacks, first editions, collectibles, gift items, and more. The store hosts more than 200 of the biggest mystery, crime, and fantasy authors for book signing events every year. In the past, Murder by the Book has hosted Dick Francis, P.D. James, Sue Grafton, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke, and Daniel Silva.

Kindred Stories is an independent bookstore located in Houston's historic Third Ward. Kindred Stories is a celebration of Black and other marginalized voices, and it seeks to create a community in which people "can unite over our shared love of these books; delve into the ways we see ourselves reflected in their stories; learn about new and upcoming Black writers, artists, creators, and changemakers; and find connection at a time when we need it more than ever."

Basket Books & Art is an independent bookstore inside the Montrose area of Houston. It specializes in literature, art, and thought. Owners Laura Hughes and Edwin Smalling say, "Our goal is to offer a unique context in which art and books can co-mingle in exciting ways, opening up alleyways of conversation. We aim to provide a space for creative and intellectual exchange through our inventory and programming, and to offer Houston’s diverse arts and intellectual communities something for the mind, a portal to the world of art, writing, and thought writ large.”

Then & Now Bookshop began life as a pop-up bookstore in Galveston. It was always Lori's dream to own a bookshop. After working for thirty years as a preschool teacher and librarian, Lori, with a nudge from her daughter did just that.

LIT Java Coffee & Books is a BIPOC, veteran, women owned, and online bookstore. LIT believes that books are powerful tools with the capability to bring people together, dispel misconceptions, and challenge thinking.

The bookstore operates according to what it calls Our 5 Cs:

1) Curated Literary Experiences

2) Community

3) Cultural Diversity

4) Connections

5) Conversations over LIT cups of Coffee!

If you are wondering, yes, that's Pear-Land, not Pearl-Land. When I was growing up in my little town of Alvin, Pearland was the closest town to us and it was a lot like us---maybe 5,000 people, predominantly rural, yet very progressive. And one of the farm crops was pears. Now---look out! Pearland has ballooned to almost 129,000 people, and it's delightfully diverse. I was very excited to try out this bookstore. Of all the indie bookstores in the Houston area, this one is actually the closest one to me. And it is not only a bookstore, but it's also a coffeeshop. Win, win.

You wouldn't know Blue Willow Bookshop was there if you weren't told about it. From the street it's just another tiny little space in a strip center. But don't let first appearances fool you. Blue Willow is all about books. And reading. And authors. And good writing. And especially books.

The Sunday Salon: My First Ukulele Class is Hard

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

We are happy you joined us at the Sunday Salon. Welcome!

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 great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on.

I encourage you to join in by adding your link below and then visiting other bloggers and leaving a comment on their posts.

What I Read Last Week:

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig (Fantasy)

Wished by Lissa Evans (Children's Fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (Nonfiction)

Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montogmery (Fiction)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

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

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

Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

SHORTY SEPTEMBER

Shorty September Update 2 / 12

Hometown Shorts (Local Author/Setting)

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (64 pages)

Elton John’s Wedding Shorts (Something Outrageous)

Trash! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Paré-Poupart

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 made focaccia bread.

Good Thing #2:

Okay, my first ukulele class was HARD!

But I have learned that I learn best

when a class is difficult.

Good Thing #3:

I agreed to serve on our library's friends board.

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 Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

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

Today's Featured Book:

The Art Thief:

A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

by Michael Finkel

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: May 8, 2012

Page Count: 242 pages

Summary:

Stéphane Bréitwieser is the most prolific art thief of all time.

He pulled off more than 200 heists, often in crowded museums in broad daylight.

His girlfriend served as his accomplice.

His collection was worth an estimated $2 billion.

He never sold a piece, displaying his stolen art in his attic bedroom.

He felt like a king.

Until everything came to a shocking end.

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, Michael Finkel gives us one of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of our times, a riveting story of art, theft, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.

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.

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.

Approaching the museum, ready to hunt, Stéphane Bréitwieser clasps hands with his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, and together they stroll to the front desk and say hello, a cute couple. Then they purchase two tickets with cash and walk in.

It's lunchtime, stealing time, on a busy Sunday in Antwerp, Belgium, in February 1997.

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.

Maintaining his strict back-to-the-camera position, he stiffly shuffles a few steps to his left, sliding the work horizontally along the wall until he's out of range of the lens.

The Art Thief is our book club read for this month. We will be discussing it in two weeks. It also has only 242 pages, perfect for Shorty September.

Which book do you think deserves more love but flies under the radar? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer

Many of my favorite books fly under the radar. Have you read any of these books? I feel pretty sure that they are not commonly on people's lists of favorite books.

Working by Studs Terkel; Civility by Stephen L. Carter; My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim PotokT; Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli; I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen; The Common Good by Robert Reich; The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim; The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers; Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell.

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

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... . .

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?"

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.

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.