#wondrouswednesday @Eggs @KarenUK
1. Roxane Gay. How have I missed this woman for so long.
2. For 2020 tagged. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
3. Learning about new cultures

#two4tuesday
@TheSpineView @KarenUK
Yes, I know I‘m late but I cannot avoid a direct challenge.
1. I pass most every book on, but ask for them back if it is dear.
2. I wish to replace this book which I did pass on but never had it returned. Somehow hard to find a nice hardback.

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
1. So many, but this year—The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse book from dear friend @KarenUK who knew I needed it.
2. We were a reading family. There truly was no other option. We read on long car trips, at grandparent‘s houses, together quietly at home.
3. After over 40 years at my company, I get to go home each day and think that I helped someone do something better.

A few really good ones this month. Valentine, Deacon King Kong, and Big Friendships.
Mixed in with some mediocre ones, but I needed a palate cleanser between some anyhow.

#15thingsaboutme
These exercises are illuminating to me. They allow me to reflect, pause for a moment, to see who I really am.

@cdcnmac You sly devil!
#thoughtfulthursday
@MoonWitch94
Waffles, if I have to select anything.
CAKE! (Damn, I love cake)
Spicy for sure.
@cdcnmac Sweet of you to think of me.

Squeeeeee! Just got my copy and cannot wait to dig in.

@TheSpineView #two4tuesday
1. An Untamed State is my most recommended as it reached out and grabbed me. An excellent surprise in the most frightening way.
2. I want everyone‘s recommendation. Some to know what to read and some to know what to avoid. (There are books out there for every kind of reader.)

I am an Accessory Girl--JEWELRY!
I've visited the desert, but I can't immediately see the beauty in it the way Georgia O'Keefe did.
Reading the tagged book, halfway through, and have bookmarked about 6 different sections already. Very good!
#moonWitch94
#thoughtfulthursday

*Hamburger any day over hotdog
*Sparklers, the explosions are too much for my fidgety GSD
*Ocean swims...but with beaches closed, I'll take my back porch and really cold iced tea
#thoughtfulthursday
@moonwitch94

@Eggs #wondrouswednesday
1. Nobody truly, but MOST, a friend now in Houston, TX.
2. I never need to ride another roller coaster—the big ones.
3. The Roche Sisters. Their harmony was terrific fun and they had great lyrics.
4. Tell marketer for Sears—at 16!! I barely got by cuz I hated forcing stuff.

For June, I had one extraordinary (Roxane Gay), one close to home (Lilian), one fun political ( Would be president), one that didn‘t stand the test of time ( Savannah blues), and a fake German heiress (Anna). Only one nonfiction (more typical).
Good month, but not spectacular. Lots covered.

Hugs @KarenUK for the trigger. I‘m not as free with my stars as some of you are, so I found my absolute top 6 for the year so far.
#top6reads

There are a LOT more editing jobs in literature than I believe ever existed in real life.

1. used to live in Texas (nicknamed Tex) and I moved 2 Florida (no name change).
2. Process owner & trainer for a giant company
3. Not much different; have worked from home for almost 20 years.
4. tagged--magical realnesss in the deep south.
5. Just found a virtual art project directed by my local museum to take my mind off stuff.
@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#allaboutme

I hope this is good. I need a bit of a distraction from real life just now.

Clever librarians!
“The English patient had caught it on the beach. “I should have stayed at home,” she said. Now she was in quarantine, in the dark house of splendid isolation. Still. Hope springs eternal. With a little bit of luck,common sense, and personal hygiene, horror stories must end soon. Always remember, clean hands save lives and when in doubt, don‘t go out!”

#7books7days. Day 7
My books of influence wouldn‘t be complete without a list of all my George Rodrigues and other blue dog books. In the early 80s I started going to New Orleans every year on vacation and these paintings caught my eye. Finally I could afford a few of my own. The story of the inspirational dog and this artist make me smile. And, now my hours is full of all sorts of blue dogs.

#7books7days. Day 6
Once I was introduced to musical theatre, I was hooked. In my high school, we regularly put up to 300 dancers on stage and produced a run of a couple of weeks of shows. I still have (and break out) my tap shoes from 1975‘s production of George M. We couldn‘t stage them all, so this helped me dream. Well worn.

#7books7days. Day 5
7 books that have influenced me
I was a Girl Scout all the while growing up and when I discovered Tolkien, I was camping and canoeing and generally trekking about with NO ring to guide me. What if there were other worlds? If I walked far enough, could I find them?

#7books7days. Day3
This little guy was the base of how I learned about seeing the beautiful in one simple thing. I‘m not sure why I have 2 English copies—likely to make sure I always had one in case something happened to the other.

#7books7days. Day 4
When I was growing up, my grandmother had my aunt‘s collection of Oz books illustrated by John R. Neil. Since DEVOURING those books as a kid, I have been looking for those editions (with limited success).

#7days7books. Day 2, 7 books that have influenced you
I was a young adult and in my decidedly hippie phase of actual tree-hugging, but well before any altering herb usage. The desire to fly and make my own path was STRAINING my psyche. This book (this actual physical book) took me through those days and influenced me to move away from my hometown to go to school up north (Denton, TX) and never look back.

#7days7books
Oh, the choices I had to make to bring the numbers down to only 7.
I started with the earliest. We never did seem to have the books that everyone else had growing up (had to find those later in life), so this little aspiring rabbit was a favorite.
It is also the first book I attempted to translate to French (a copy of which I found folded inside as I chose this one).
Thank you #karenuk. Many virtual love hugs.

1. Childhood
2. Not yet, but the TBR is getting low and I want to support some book stores
@TheSpineView

1. Black Water Rising
2. The Little Prince
3. BN Plantation
4. No re-reads. Too many to read out there
5. Hunger Games, maybe?
6. Jeez! It's over 2000 titles strong!
7. Oz
8. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
9. 34 of 120
10. Dining table alone
11. The Oz series
12. Tagging @Reggie
Thanks to both @KarenUK and @cdcnmac for the tags
#Quarantinereadschallenge

Birthday flowers. Lamb organ Josh with a lovely white wine. If I have to be isolated, I‘m good.

@Eggs #wondrouswednesday
Just changed my hair color away from red to white!
Books: punctuation, sarcasm about organized religion, and Kinky Friedman‘s Texas.
I have zero problem lending books. Only one person has ever made me question this. Mostly people are great.
Thanks @KarenUK for including me. I‘ve been too long away from Litsy.

1. English well, French with enthusiasm, German with great difficulty, and Italian just for cussing. 2. Wild Things. 3. One, beige. Hummus on crackers with pepitas. 4. Can‘t get used to using them, so none. @howjessreads @4thhouseontheleft #friyayinto

My best friend sent me a pressie today!! I might actually write in that journal instead of just looking up my recipes on Pinterest all the time m

This book is a feast. Every other page is a letter to young readers from an author accompanied by images by illustrators. Both capture the essence and wonder of loving to read.
I‘ve been spending a lot of time with children‘s books lately and this encourages me to go farther.

Loved learning that Theo Geisel was given these 222 words with which he could write his iconic Cat in the Hat book.

“A person who has attributes that excite in you a continuous desire to see them, who, on coming in thorough your front door, seems to create in you a strange satisfaction, may be deemed a friend, and the devil take the reason.“

Well, this should be interesting.

If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can and there is nothing nor to it than that.

1. John Dies at the End
2. I was born by the river (with Sam Cooke in my head)
3. Summer, never the cold stuff!
4. @TK421 (for the terrific images) @stillookingforcarmensandiego (for the first swap of mine on Litsy)
@4thhouseontheleft #howjessreads
#FriYayIntro

I grew up around NASA and had control engineers for neighbors and astronauts for school assemblies. I dig finding out what‘s behind the scenes. Mass is a goof.

I finally registered for my Little Free Library site and will be setting it up soon. (It‘s only taken a year!)

#thoughtfulthursday @moonwitch94
Best this week: Work bonus was announced!!
Weekend plans: Book club and plant shopping
Reading today: tagged--John Dies at the End (hysterical so far!)

@KarenUK @cinfhen

#wondrouswednesday @eggs
1. steadfast, selective, hoarder
2. kitchen table at breakfast watching the exotic birds at the feeder
3. Best: tagged (my favorite time of artistic expansion). Worst: nothing bad enough to mention. (early days yet)

The reason that I pulled out the Timetables reference...this time. So many arty things happening at the same time!

Ever since I bought this when starting own library in about 1976, I have referred to this volume often. In a beautifully laid out oversized book, elements that happened in time are laid out visually. It is a faithful reference book that I scramble to retrieve anytime event sequences confound me.

Gift to myself. Went a little crazy at the bookshops. Almost half are nonfictions. Let‘s see how many get read immediately what with the giant TBR cottage already on my shelves.

December Reads. Not one single nonfiction. Not sure if I‘m entirely proud of that.

The most lovely and heart-filled illustrated book I have ever owned. To my kind friend, @KarenUK , I do wish you friendship and cake. Thank you for this gift. I feel your heart.

@Eggs #wondrouswednesdat
Ice cream or Un-iced cake
The Bird‘s Christmas Carol, a book I inherited from my great aunt which was fr9m her childhood
Supportive friends, sustaining career, steadfast pets.

I struggled at first with the old fashioned language. The characters are unique and introduced slowly enough that I can keep them separated. Really starting to enjoy it. Opening up like a butterfly.

Yep

No sooner do I finish one chunkster than I start another. Isn‘t that what a holiday is for?