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.