2021 Postcards from Friends

2021 Postcards from Friends

2021 Postcards from Friends

                                            I will be so excited when I can visit Canada again! 

But this month I do get to visit Alaska, just like my friends who sent me these cards!

2021 Postcards from Friends

April: Books I read

 

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn  I read this in college a million years ago and thought I should start rereading some of those books. I actually got a lot more out of it now. Ahhh maturity. LOL 

My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff (library) I think it was made into a movie? About an assistant literary agent who starts answering the letters that are written to Salinger. I am a Salinger fan, just spent some time during covid watching movies made of "A Perfect Day for Bananafish". I love Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey.  Might need to read those again too. But I thought this book was just okay, not fabulous. 

The Hunger by Alma Katsu (library) this author was recommended by a friend. Fictionalized account of the Donner Party tragedy. Pretty good, I enjoyed the back stories she created for some of her characters on why they were traveling west. 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (library) I laughed, I cried, I highly recommend. I might have liked it better than Man Called Ove. (by the same author, just go ahead and read all his stuff) 

Greek to Me by Mary Norris (library) fun book about learning the Greek language and how it evolved and what it contributed to English. 

The Deep by Alma Katsu (library) Fictionalized account of the Titantic story. 

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger just enjoying rereading some favorites

The Great Santini by Pat Conroy (audiobook) I have so much time to listen to audio books now that I sit in traffic all the time with the West Seattle bridge closed. 

Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly Devos (library) If you liked Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, (and I did) then  you might like this take on the fashion industry by a Plus Size girl. Kelly Devos' heroine is a fashion blogger who gets her big break and takes on an industry where a size 10 equals a "plus size" model. (and to my series book collecting friends, Kelly Devos used to write Trixie Belden Fan Fiction!)

Weather by Jenny Offill (library) a short little book and very odd. It reads like a bunch of journal entries. All these separate little paragraphs that are supposed to add up to a story, I wouldn't call it a novel. Very gimmicky in my opinion. 

Only Truth by Julie Cameron (library) Suspense novel jumps back and forth from the past to present day. And that was effective in building the suspense in this case. 

The Enchanted Places Beyond the World of Pooh Part I by Christopher Robin Milne (audiobook) this is the autobiography of Christopher Robin Milne and if you are a Pooh fan, you will enjoy it. It was very interesting and now I am on the  hunt for part II. Hearing it as an audiobook was fun too, because he does quote a lot of the poems from the Pooh books. 

Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie rereading favorites, the Tommy and Tuppence books by Agatha Christie have always been favorites of mine and they are fun reads. 

2021 Postcards from Friends

2021 Postcards from Friends

2021 Postcards from Friends

2021 Postcards from Friends

                                            I will be happy when we can travel overseas again! 

March: Books I read

 

Leave the World Behind by Alam Rumaan (library) creepy little book about a family isolated during a storm....or is there really a storm? 

Top of the Morning by Brian Stelter (library) The story of morning TV news, the Today Show and Good Morning America and their rivalry. 

Food Rules by Michael Pollan Quick little read that is just a consolidation of the things you learn when reading Pollan's books. Things like "shop the perimeter of the grocery store and stay out of the middle" and "leave something on  your plate" etc

Hawker Denver Strike by Randy Wayne White I am a fan of Randy Wayne White and I had not seen this book before. It is part of a series of books about a vigilante sniper that take place in different cities all over the USA. He wrote these early in his career as a writer, under a pseudonym. 

Heroes by Stephen Fry (library) He takes the Greek stories and makes them understandable for a modern reader. 

In A Dark Dark Wood by Tana French (audiobook) unreliable narrator? Or victim? I had read this before, but had totally forgotten it and was caught up in the reading as an audiobook. Looking back, I read the book in 2016, so looks like after 5 years, I can just go back and reread everything!! LOL

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (library) About a couple who walk the South West Coast Path in the UK after losing their home. Very good. I recommend. 

Death In Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh (library) nice short thriller, unreliable narrator AGAIN, I am still not sure what happened in this one, I might need to read it again to get a handle on it. Was there a murder? was it all in her head? Was she the one murdered? Did she murder her husband? So many questions!! But in a good way. Very intriguing. 

Grown Ups by Emma Jane Unsworth (library) a fun look at a woman obsessed with social media and how it affects her relationships in real life with her friend, her mother and her boyfriend. 

Jean and Johnny, Fifteen and The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary In honor of Beverly Cleary, I read these 3 books. Some of the teenage books by Cleary I realized that I had not read them as a child so I really enjoyed them now. 

Funereal for  Friend by Brian Freeman (library) This is part of a series of mysteries by Mr. Freeman. I did not enjoy it coming into it in the middle. Maybe if I had started his books with the first one, I might have cared more about the characters and enjoyed it more. 

2021 Postcards from Friends

I asked for postcards from friends and Kimberly M. sent me a whole bunch of antique cards from Vermont, I went through them and picked out all the covered bridges!

2021 Postcards from Friends

So many states represented from my friends! 

2021 Postcards from Friends

Thank You to all my friends who have been traveling the USA and sending me postcards along the way

2021 Postcards from Friends

How cute is that Rhode Island postcard??!! 

Just the most adorable artwork 

2021 Postcards from Friends

Big Thank You to my friends in Pennsylvania who send me postcards!!

February: Books I read

 

Death Without Company by Craig Johnson One of the Walt Longmire mysteries. 

Stephen Fry in America by Stephen Fry (library) I enjoyed this one a lot more than his other book that I read last month. 

Bachelor Brother's Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson such a fun and sweet little book, I liked it and it gave me another list of books to read! (It is a literary B&B)

Killer Riches by Chassie West  Chassie West once was a ghostwriter of Nancy Drew books. She also wrote some mysteries in her own name and this is one of them. Very good. 

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man by W. Bruce Cameron I really loved it, so much fun to read. Reminded me of Pest Control by Fitzhugh or some of Carl Hiaasen's stuff. A regular joe kind of guy (the repo man) gets caught up in weird and unusual circumstances (there is a murder) 

The Body by Bill Bryson (library) Learn a lot by learning along with Bryson. 

Shooting to Kill by Christine Vachon an Independent film producer talks about how to get a movie made and her adventures making movies. 

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kensey (library audiobook) I really enjoyed the pictures of the PNW that he painted with words. The trees, and rivers and ocean, the geese, and the rain. 

Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham  After reading, I found out that this is book 8 in a series of books featuring this protagonist. I enjoyed the book on its own, but everything I read about it now says you should start these books from the beginning to get the most out of them. So I found it entertaining as a stand alone book, but fyi, you might want to start reading these from the beginning. 

So Many Steps to Death by Agatha Christie Espionage, aliases, secrets and a touch of romance. 

Nomadland by Jessica Bruder (library) Different from the movie in that it concentrates on Linda May most of the time. The Fern character from the movie, seems to be made up. And I thought the book was more hopeful. 

Repo Madness by W. Bruce Cameron I loved the first book so much, I immediately was able to get the sequel from my library! 

2021 Postcards from Friends

Thank you to all my friends who send me postcards from their travels. I hope everyone will be able to travel more in the future. 

2021 Postcards from Friends

Ryan always sends me cards when we are apart. These are from Poland. 

2021 Postcards from Friends

Most everyone knows that I love to read as well as collect postcards, so I especially love to get postcards related to books and reading. 

    

2021 Postcards from Friends

A Big Thank You to everyone who has sent me postcards from their hometowns or from their travels!