August musings

Summer is flying by. The weather has been hot and humid. We have gone through windy days with no rain, windy days with rain- crazy. Have been reading. I am enjoying the Book Girl guide challenges. I am doing the "Around the World" challenge suggested by a friend. Every month a different part of the world is selected and you receive a list of books to read. I try to read a book from an area that I am not familiar.

These are a few of the books I have read this summer. I highly recommend Island of a Thousand Mirrors set in Sri Lanka around the time of its civil war. I knew nothing about the island nation. I also recently finished, and highly recommend, Dust Child set in Viet Nam. The story centers around a veteran returning to Viet Nam to reconcile what he did during the war. The term Dust Child is what a child born of a Vietnamese woman and US soldier is called. I am about to finish The Storyteller's Secret, again another suggestion from the Book Girls, which takes place primarily in India. Also very good. My book group met (those who could) in July at a local winery for an evening to catch up. It wasn't too hot and we had a good variety of snacks. It was a pleasant evening. I am now trying to organize a movie night. Unfortunately it is hard to find a evening and time when most of us can go to the movies. Will try again. We may have to go to an earlier show, before 5:00 pm, to get seats. Guess what movie we are trying to see. I have been thinking about our book group planning weekend in September. I have some ideas for books to discuss. I believe we have been gathering in September almost 20 years! I also am attempting to get the group to select a fixed day and week for our meetings. The past several years we have moved the meeting each month to accommodate everyone. I think, and most seemed to agree, that having a fixed date would make our lives easier. I have a calendar with weekly conflicts for each person. So fingers crossed we can find one night that works.

Summer time

Well it's been awhile since I last posted. Time marches on. I have updated my book group's reading list. We plan our next reads in September for the 2023-24 year. This year I am trying to get the group to select a fixed day of the month to meet instead of trying to accomodate everyone's busy life. Hopefully this will make our meeting easier as the day of that week doesn't change. Fingers crossed. We had an excellent discussion in June - The Splendid and the Vile. I did not finish it (but will) with the annual potluck dinner. One member had the suggestion to set up a Google page so members

can add comments etc after each meeting. I have been keeping track of likes/dislikes, attendance, on my own but maybe this is worth a try. Now to get that member to set it up. I am not very familiar with all that Google has to offer but she is so she might take it on. We are going to try to get together in July at a locale vineyard. It is the rare occasion that I do not finish a book but Inland I gave up at about 150 pages. Ugh.

Described as a magical Western, I just could not keep track of the characters, the time period. Too many books to read and I just had no interest in the characters or the plot. Another book I struggled with was Harlem Shuffle. I really felt as if the first 2/3 of the book could have been shortened or even eliminated. A book that everyone seemed to really enjoy was Horse ( Brooks) which I have not read as I was away in February when it was discussed. Another book that the majority of the group enjoyed was Lessons in Chemistry. Good discussion and it was amazing how many of the group has similar experiences in the workplace and school as Elizabeth Zott. I have been reading the Veronica Speedwell series. Set in Victorian England, Veronica is unlike any other leading character. Very unique. Intriguing mysteries, well done. I had started in February the Book Girls Challenge- Reading Around the World. I am a bit behind but as there are many suggestions for each month and world place it is fun and interesting. My first book of the challenge was How The Penguins Saved Veronica.

Well I think I wll close with the photo I took on one of my morning walks in Rhode Island. Very peaceful.

Happy New Year 2023!

A new year and a new reading goal. I read 94 books last year. My goal was 80. I read a lot of rom- coms. My book group had a really good diverse selection of reads. https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2022/1756884 Not quite sure if the link will work but I took some screen shots of my accomplishments!

I think my favorites were the Thursday Murder Club series, Tender Land and the audiobook Finding Me read by the author Viola Davis. Here's to more reading in 2023!