Books I Did Not Finish

Many of you know that I am a voracious reader. Last year I read and reviewed 314 books, and I've already read and reviewed 69 this year. 

Most of these I get from my library.

I am fortunate (so fortunate!) to have a wonderful county library system that generously allows sharing of materials between the twelve branches. I thank the librarians and library staff who pull books for me and cart the books to me across the 1,609 square miles of Brazoria County. I apologize to them for not reading the books they worked so hard to get into my hands. 

Please urge me to try again with any of these that you loved. This is a list of the books I've borrowed over the last year that I did not read.

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger (two times)

Gliff by Ali Smith

Knife by Salman Rushdie

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib (three times)

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

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

Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (two times)

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb

Long Island by Colm Tóibín

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbons

Ten Birds that Changed the World by Stephen Moss

Absolution by Alice McDermott

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

How to Age Disgracefully by Claire Pooley (two times)

Ten Million Aliens: A Journey through the Entire Animal Kingdom by Simon Barnes (two times)

The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts

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: "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover that I Overlooked Before..."

 

 

Welcome! I am very glad 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. 

Some of those who gathered

 last week to celebrate 

the sixth birthday of grandson Wyatt 

(center front, with football)

and the visit of son Ben and his wife Lisa from Chicago

(center back).

A wonderful time was had by all.

Especially me.

What I Read Last Week:

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (Fiction)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (SciFi)

What I'm Reading Now:

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Katmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves (Nonfiction)

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (Creativity)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Fiction)

Claudine: A Fairy Tale for Exceptional Grownups by Marian Grudko (Paris Picture Book)

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl (Essays)

If you teach poetry or write poetry or just love poetry, I urge you to check out Vidya at Lady in Read Writes' index of posts about poetry. You will never run out of ideas of poetry forms to try!

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List

The Sunday Salon: Family Weekend!

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl

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:

Laminated four-leaf clovers

from a friend.

Good Thing #2:

Sadly, I missed the library sale at 

the public library in Galveston

last weekend,

but I was delighted to discover

that all the leftover books were free

this week.

I brought home four boxes of books.

Good Thing #3:

Paris in springtime?

I wouldn't miss it!

Lisa at Bookdock Ramblings

and Erin at Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs

are hosting another film watching event for springtime. 

It is six weeks, six movies, and very easy going! 

If you want to watch one or all or a few, 

they would love to have you join in. 

Just watch along and comment on their posts 

or post your own thoughts and link up!

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 Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

   

Today's Featured Book: 

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

by Margaret Renkl

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: October 24, 2023

Page Count: 288 pages

Summary: 

In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons—from a crow spied on New Year’s Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year, to the lingering bluebirds of December, revisiting the nest box they used in spring—what develops is a portrait of joy and grief: joy in the ongoing pleasures of the natural world, and grief over winters that end too soon and songbirds that grow fewer and fewer.

Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with each passing day. And the natural world, now in visible flux, requires every ounce of hope and commitment from the author—and from us. For, as Renkl writes, “radiant things are bursting forth in the darkest places, in the smallest nooks and deepest cracks of the hidden world.”

 

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.

Stop and look at the tangled rootlets of the poison ivy vine climbing the locust tree. Notice the way they twist around each other like plaits in a golden braid, like tendrils of seaweed washed to shore. Stop and look, but do not touch. Never, never touch, not even in winter.

Renkl, Margaret. The Comfort of Crows (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Backyard Year. Kindle Edition. 

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. 

“Something wonderful fell out of the tree next to the deck,” I said. “Guess what it is.” 

He peered at the drenched object I was holding out on a teacup saucer. 

A wary look crossed his face. He appeared to be choosing his words carefully: “What do you think it is?” 

“I’m not absolutely sure, but I think it’s an owl pellet, most likely from a great horned owl. It’s awfully large for a pellet, even from an owl that big, but I’ve been looking at pictures online, and it’s definitely . . .” 

My husband was visibly struggling for composure. I stopped. “What?”

Renkl, Margaret. The Comfort of Crows (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Backyard Year (p. 56). Kindle Edition. 

The Comfort of Crows is a collection of fifty-two short essays that follow the life in the author's backyard during the course of a single year. The author, Margaret Renkl, ties the happenings in her yard to the happenings in her family and larger community, and, in doing so, draws thoughtful observations about meaning and existence in the world.

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.    

March 21st - 27th - Sometimes, readers get into funks and maybe stop reading or feel like reading is work. What do you do to get yourself out of a reading funk? (submitted by Nicole @ The Christian Fiction Girl)

I have several strategies when I get into a reading funk. Sometimes I reread a favorite book. Sometimes I pick up a graphic novel or children's picture book. Sometimes I read what I call a browsable book, a big book that's easy to read in short pieces like a book of essays or an encyclopedia of birds.

What do you do?

Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List

Books I'm waiting to arrive for me from my library...

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton (fiction)

After nearly losing the election to a geriatric donkey, newly installed Mayor Delizia Miccuci can’t help but feel like the sun has finally set on the rural Italian village of Lazzarini Boscarino. Tourists only stop by to ask for directions, Nonna Amara’s cherished ristorante is long shuttered, and the town hall is disgustingly overrun with glis glis poo—even Postman Duccio has been disgraced. All that’s left is Bar Celebrità, a rustic establishment where weary locals gather to quibble over decades-long disputes, submit their poor stomachs to bartender Giuseppina’s volcanic espresso, and wonder what will become of the place where together they’ve spent their entire lives.  

Little do the villagers know that local truffle hunter Giovanni Scarpazza has just happened upon something that could change everything. A truffle—un tartufo, that is—sits beneath the soil with the power to either be the greatest gift or the foulest curse the village has ever seen.

Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti (fiction)

Sheila Heti collected 500,000 words from a decade’s worth of journals, put the sentences in a spreadsheet, and sorted them alphabetically. She cut and cut and was left with 60,000 words of brilliance and mayhem, joy and sorrow. These are her alphabetical diaries.

Let Them by Mel Robbins (nonfiction)

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words—Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

Dream State by Eric Puchner (fiction)

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him. Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task—an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past. But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future. And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again? As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (fiction)

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center (fiction)

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but pretends that she can.

 Thank You, Everything by Icinori (picture book)

What starts as a series of “thank yous” addressed to common objects that inhabit our daily lives gradually builds into a fantastic journey across landscapes, seasons, and inner discoveries.

Atlas Obscura: Wild Life (nonfiction)

From the curious minds of Atlas Obscura comes an unputdownable celebration of the world's living wonders.

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: Family Weekend!

  

Welcome! I am happy 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 great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

We are delighted to spend the weekend with my son and his wife from Chicago as well as my son and his family from East Texas! 

What I Read Last Week:

Oh dear. Nothing. 

Instead of finishing anything,

I started three more books!

What I'm Reading Now:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Book Club)

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Katmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves (Nonfiction)

Cold Sassy Tree: A Novel by Olive Ann Burns (Fiction)

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (Creativity)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Fiction)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Books that Inspire Me to Be a Better Person

The Sunday Salon: A Week in Which I Finish My Classics Club List

Wolf Hall by Hilary Martel

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:

Poetry Night 

at Rae's Reads Bookshop.

Good Thing #2:

Watercolor class.

Good Thing #3:

Dusky-blue Groundstreak

during Butterfly Monitoring.

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.