Arrived today. Pure #NYRB bounty.

I really enjoyed this. I thought the author did a great job writing about mothers/daughters, the pursuit of artistry while being a single mother, the art of photography, abortion, and friendship. All told through letters, journals, and memories of the daughter as part of a retrospective of the mother‘s photographs. Thanks to @Lindy for the review that inspired me to pick it up.

I‘m enjoying this so much that I just took advantage of NYRB‘s 50% off sale of crime noir books (happening this weekend) to buy four new reads. Crime noir is not something I usually read, but clearly that‘s about to change.

Vermont has 183 libraries. There are only 251 towns and cities. I could go on and on about Vermont‘s dedication to their libraries, both large and tiny. Additionally, I could talk endlessly about Jessamyn West. She‘s an activist librarian who fought the Patriot Act on behalf of libraries because of privacy issues, a Vermonter, and one who pushes for community engagement with the assistance of the town library.

This was a quote from a year or two before the civil war in El Salvador. The statement has echoed throughout my days since reading it. There is always a breaking point. Always.

I‘m having trouble returning this book to the library. I‘ve had a visceral reaction to it - I want to hold and protect it. I want to hold those who lived through those times and protect them. And I want to sit beside those who read it and talk with them about it.

This memoir is dedicated to Leonel Gomez Vides, as it should be. Leonel teaches the author about the history, impending war, and the role of the US in the slaughter of citizens in El Salvador while keeping her out of harm‘s way during her time there. His work in brokering peace, after the brutal deaths of 100,000 citizens, is astonishing. This is an extremely difficult book to read. The brutality of men & the role of the US in it all is 😭🤬🤯.

Wait. What? Tommy Orange is going to be a visiting writer at Vermont Studio Center in October. And doing a reading as well? This means he might actually sit right next to me at the one restaurant in this one horse town! Gah! I‘d been dreading the cold of winter approaching but now I can‘t wait for October to arrive.

@vivastory You asked me to let you know what I receive as part of the NYRB monthly book subscription plan. Here‘s my first!

A quote that NPR highlights from the book. While this quote is about the state of a nation, with gun deaths constantly on the rise, the oppression of guns, the NRA, the politicians who kowtow to the gun lobby and the angry white man came to mind this morning. Something better is definitely possible.

Remind me never to step foot in North Korea. A harrowing account of growing up in prison camps, where people experience the worst of conditions and learn to inform on each other at a very early age. Each human is expendable. The information on the country‘s policies (outside of the camps) was informative and I‘m glad to know more about the country. More needs to be done to address human rights violations in that country.

There I am, returning books to the library on Sunday because then I won‘t be tempted to get more books, & I run across this amazing stained glass house in front of the library and a book sale! The famous church in Stowe, VT can be seen in the bottom right photo. A NYRB book and a memoir for $2. My plan is to read my own books and the Universe finds a twisted way to laugh at me, adding to my pile while I quietly try to stay away from the library.

“Carrying that baby made her radiate serenity in a way I‘ve only seen in Buddhists and Californians.” It‘s so true! All the Buddhists and Californians that I know have a specific look that I have never been able to experience myself.

I loved this book. A completely unprepared 19 year old races in and wins the Mongol Derby. Racing over 1,000 km, it is the world‘s longest endurance horse race. Mountains and vast plains of nothingness, boredom, fatigue and wild horses that are often unmanageable. Prior-Palmer was born on my birthday so her musings about her life experience, while meandering and sometimes self-indulgent, were so familiar to me that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

On the Jersey Shore. LBI. Hard to read when the sound of the ocean keeps lulling me to sleep.

This book!!! I can‘t tell you how much I‘m enjoying it. And the author‘s birthday is the same as mine, so there‘s that. We share so many similarities.

I‘ve finished this novel & I don‘t want to give it a rating. Honestly, spoiler alert, everyone lies in this story. Endlessly. Maybe that‘s the mark of a good mystery but I feel like we are currently being bombarded by presidential lies endlessly & for some reason the two things kept getting mashed up in my mind. And I kept confusing people. Gah! Lyme brain! So in all fairness, it‘s probably me and not the book. The garden is my very own miracle!

Hmmm... I‘m sorry to say I was a bit underwhelmed. Between a so-so and a pick. It may be because I was blown away by Disappearing Earth which I finished just before reading this one. Hoping the book discussion will help me to see what I‘m missing. #NYRBBookClub

The library wins again over my boxes and shelves of books. A memoir of a woman riding her horse in the Mongolian Derby, a memoir of witness and resistance in El Salvador, and the thriller Miracle Creek? Yes, please.

Yes, tucked amongst the postcards and stacks of books is Rebecca Makkai reading from The Great Believers. If you have the chance to go to a reading of hers, grab the car keys and go. Engaging stories of the research done, the importance of knowing the history of AIDS and activism, and the people she met on her previous tours. I‘m happy to say she‘s a part-time Vermonter. Thanks to Bear Pond Books in Montpelier Vermont for hosting the event.

I just signed up for the NYRB Book Club. A year-long supply of books coming my way from NYRB. I blame @sisilia and @vivastory and Litsy for this delightful extravagance. #NYRBBookClub

Had to laugh when I read this line. Truth.

This book has deepened for me the further away I am from having finished it. So many journeys - of an unraveling family, of refugee children, of the son & daughter of the traveling family. The timeliness of this book is astounding. All passages that touch on the lives of those children traveling to the US will stay with me and one passage about children being put on a small plane will have me wondering for a long time where they were being taken.

Love this line. I‘m quite familiar with a few of these types. 😂😂

I get excited when I see that a book requires a list of principal characters and provides a map. Thrilled to be starting this.

I read this as part of the Tournament of Books Summer Camp Program. I can‘t “pan” it outright because Choi‘s attempt was appreciated, but I will say that I never cared at any time for any of the characters, the writing, or the concept. I‘m with @DavidDiamond @TheNerdyProfessor who both made me laugh with their comments on the book. My advice? Don‘t bother.

I love the Vermont Studio Center in the little town of Johnson, Vermont - a 10 minute drive from my house. Writers from all over the world come and some of them even give readings. I‘ll be there with bells on.

“Imagine the first person who ever milked a cow. What a strange person.”

I can see why folks might not like this book, but I appreciated the observations, dry humor, and main character. Mona cleans houses and wanders from man to man and one cleaning job to the next. There are many trigger warnings for those who wish to know that. I needed a novel that would make me chuckle quietly while also allowing me to feel completely connected with the character. This satisfied in that regard.

Oh jeepers. A three star read at best. Sorry to have to say that. This photo was from my July 4th trip to the Montreal Botanical Garden where I desperately tried to find shelter in the 97 degree heat. 😂😂 Leaving the US for the day was my tiny form of protest. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well this made me stop and do some research. From Wiki: “Camilo Torres Restrepo was a Colombian socialist, Roman Catholic priest, a predecessor of liberation theology and a member of the National Liberation Army guerrilla organisation. During his life, he tried to reconcile revolutionary Marxism and Catholicism.”

Listening to this tedious novel while weeding and I turn my face to the left and this Luna moth was staring at me.

Thanks to @kspenmoll I was asked to pick my top 6 of the last 6 months. Poet X was a reread and it still delivered. 3 non-fiction, 3 fiction.

If you see this woman, run. She is a soulless woman with no moral compass. The book is well written. I had already watched the documentary so I felt that I knew most of the information already. It‘s an intriguing and disturbing story of the unbelievable gullibility of sooo many supposedly intelligent people. I felt particularly sad for the grandson of George Schultz who kept trying to warn Schultz. Schultz consistently believed Holmes.

This quote was in Shapiro‘s book. I‘ve been thinking of it a lot lately as my son tells me of the folks he leads on multi-sport adventure trips. People who are out of their element can either panic and blame the leaders for their discomfort or they can live fully and embrace the challenge. Ultimately, though, by the end of the trip each person has had the experience of a lifetime. Embrace the no-man‘s-land!

The young man in this book credits San Martin de Porres Velázquez for healing his injury. I looked him up: “[He] was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.” I think I‘ll start chatting with him about that racial harmony bit.

I may change my mind later, but this was a so-so for me. I am generally a Shapiro fan, but this one almost felt self-indulgent. Blasphemy! I know! She raises interesting questions about paternity and brings to light early practices of artificial insemination and for that I am grateful. 😀

This is my face after finishing this book. 😂😂😂 What the heck? I so enjoyed the snarky Harriet and then what happened?? 😂😂😂 l loved the first half a lot. #NYRBBookClub

I ordered my #NYRBBookClub selection from Better World Books. I wasn‘t expecting to receive a discarded library book from West Virginia. 😂😂 I wonder what those patrons thought of the book back in the 70‘s.

1. I read Gone With the Wind faster than I read this one.
2. I‘m really glad I read Say Nothing before I read this one. I had a deeper understanding of the nuances of the location and the people she spoke of.
3. I was claustrophobic and anxious while reading much of the book.
4. I loved the main character.
5. I think I‘ll try listening to the audio just for the fun of it.
6. I like the book more after finishing it than while I was reading it.

While we were reading this book for the NYRB Bookclub, I kept chirping away about my twins, about how close they were, and about the imminent marriage of one of them. I wondered what it would be like if either had been like Cassandra and how fortunate we all were that they were so independent and overjoyed by the joy of the other. Because I'm still basking in the glow of the wedding, I thought I'd share this photo of Max and Louie.

I am having the hardest time reading. I spent a week with family and friends in Boulder and the Chautauqua cabins at the base of the Flatirons to celebrate the marriage of my son and new daughter-in-law. There are no words to describe the joy and love that surrounded the 150 who attended. I feel as though I was in heaven and have now crashed down to earth. I want to be on permanent vacation with all of my loved ones.

This book is difficult to stay focused on when you‘re in an airport and have been traveling since 4:30 am. Dense and rich, but best read in a quiet place when you‘ve had a good night‘s sleep. 😁😴

I love the Tournament of Books. I love that someone before me had the idea to tag this book for a blurb about the ToB. And on this gray overcast day I love the mug that just arrived.

The only audiobook immediately available from the library. Not what I expected. Researched information on dating. It‘s all a little mind boggling to me. This app, that app, the inability to talk with people face to face. I‘m old and seriously out of the loop. Not sure exactly why he wrote this book and I‘m not sure why I listened to it. But the garden is a lot happier as I weeded with vigor and muttered about some of the info.

Don‘t intend to inundate Litsy with Gracie photos, but this girl finds any place she can to read. A painted brick beside the swing and slide set that her buddy Leander is playing on? Yes please. A book is always in hand.

Gracie and Leander share time with this book, pointing out pictures to each other. It‘s just about the only thing they share with each other. 😀😍🤷🏻‍♀️

I grew up near Boston and watched from afar as the Troubles took place in Northern Ireland. I thought I knew what was going on. It‘s clear now I knew only a small part. Keefe does an exceptional job of reporting on the war that was waged on so many sides and the repercussions for those involved. He provides the long view that we can only now see and tells the story in a way you connect with almost immediately. A brilliant book. Now on to Milkman.

This probably looks more like a Halloween post, but it‘s all about the tagged book. After reading the book the schoolchildren walked to the library and put their wishes on the tree. Community members are encouraged to do the same. (Frankly it‘s been so gray and rainy that a colored photo would look pretty much the same.) 😀

When the U.S. (sort of) tried to do good in the world.

It‘s not a knock your socks off book, but definitely an enjoyable read. I especially liked the interview format. Read it for one of the summer selection of books of the Tournament of Books.