Sunday Salon: February 19, 2023

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon. 

• Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff
• How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Fox and the National Spelling Bee by Carole Boston Weatherford
• Foster by Claire Keegan
• This is Chance: The Shaking of an ALL-AMERICAN City and the Voice that Held it Together by Joe Mooallem

I had a fantastic trip up to the Seattle area. I spent the rest of my trip with one of my best friends from high school: Bruce (on the left) and his wife, Heidi. They are so wonderful. Sunday we went to see his brother Brian (on the right) and wife Julie for brunch. We were trying to get a photo of the three of us, but the brothers just couldn't behave so the image above sums that up. 

We went back to Bruce and Heidi's house and some of their friends came over to watch the Super Bowl. I am so not a football person, but it was a good game. However, we were less than impressed with the half-time show.

Monday I flew home and the painter was in my house starting the primer coat on my new bookshelves. They were in my house the whole week and now I just have to wait about a week before putting the shelves in and books on the shelves. Patience is the name of the game.The paint is now all done and I am so pleased with the way it all turned out!

When my daughter went to Oman over the winter holiday, she brought back a bunch of Kangas. Kangas are "incredibly versatile and are often worn as traditional African clothing but also to sleep in, wear around the house when cooking and cleaning and for carrying babies in. They can also be used as curtains, mops, towels, aprons, tablecloths and are really handy to take to the beach." She gave me two and I had a friend make pillow cases for me. I LOVE how they turned out!

The CYBILS winners were announced this week! If you'd like to see al the winners, check out the CYBILS blog. To see posts about my categories, see the graphic novel winners, my reviews of the elementary/middle grade graphic novels and my reviews of the YA graphic novel winners. 

Here is is the current state of my 2023 challenges. At this point, I am counting individual books for multiple categories in each challenge, but I'll replace them with other books throughout the year.