Good morning, friends! It's a gloriously cool, breezy morning in Sanibel... 66 degrees and lower humidity, at last. Perhaps I'm not cut out to be a year-round resident, but judging from the snowy photos my mother and sister sent this morning, it's not time to head home just yet!
Yesterday we visited a Ford Thunderbird show at Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Ft. Myers. I'm not a huge car buff, but have always thought T-birds are kind of cute. The blue car in the photo above traveled to all 48 continental states and has a photo near each "Welcome to" sign to prove it. What a road trip that must have been.
We did end up taking a boat tour to Useppa Island early in the week... such a gorgeous place! It was like stepping back in time. During the island's “Golden Years”, visitors included the Vanderbilts, Herbert Hoover, Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Gloria Swanson, Shirley Temple and Zane Grey. Later the island was abandoned and eventually used by the U.S. government as a base for the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. Today it has been restored to its original Old Florida elegance.
It was also a good week for reading...
Finished this week//
Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen
I loved everything about this novel... look for a review this week.
by Kate Andersen Brower
A mostly listening read/listen combination... memories and anecdotes from the White House service staff from the Kennedy years through today.
Current reading//
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
Maxwell has been on my 'authors to read' list for a long time, so I was happy to discover this on the shelf at the library.On the blog//
My thoughts on Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Favorites
The TBR Triple Dog Dare
... ended a few days ago and didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped. Much of what I read turned out to be library holds or ebooks already on my kindle, so the number of physical books on my shelf barely changed. I plan to follow Andi's lead and make an effort to #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks for the rest of the year.
Later today//
Our usual Sunday routine... the farmers market, a walk on the beach, then my FIL will join us for dinner. I'm hoping to squeeze in an hour or two of reading, too.
What are you up to today? Did you read anything good last week?
This post will link to It's Monday, What Are You Reading hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.
Your week sounds wonderful! I also loved Miller's Valley...and I love T-birds.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous week...and now I'm going to check out So Long, See You Tomorrow.
Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Laurel-Rain Snow - Wasn't Miller's Valley good? I thought it was her best novel since One True Thing. My daughter even preordered a copy so she can get started this week.
DeleteUseppa Island sounds like a great place to visit - so much history!
ReplyDeleteLisa - I think that was the first private island I have ever been on. You can only go if you are a property owner/guest or arrive on the tour boat we took. Beautiful place!
DeleteCarl loves cars and would have loved going to that car show!
ReplyDeleteKathy - I don't even remember the last time I went to a car show... it was so much fun!
DeleteWhat a lovely day! I want to read the Anna Quindlen book.
ReplyDeleteDebbie - Quindlen's new novel is a winner! Hope you get to read it soon.
DeleteOoh is that a new Anna Quindlen? I've read a couple of her novels and rather liked them. Useppa Island looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteVintage Reading - Yes, a new Quindlen novel will be released on Tuesday. I just love it! Useppa Island is unlike anything I've ever seen.
DeleteIt sounds like such a great day! I love the Thunderbirds. So fun about the car going to 48 states! I'm so glad you enjoyed The Residence! I loved all the stories.
ReplyDeleteKatherine - I've loved Thunderbirds for almost as long as I can remember. The one that had been to 48 states had over 300,000 miles on it... and it was still beautiful. The Residence kept me up until after 3AM this morning... I just had to finish. The author has a book about first ladies coming out soon and it sounds like another good one!
DeleteI always like the T-bird. I think the Residence sounds fascinating.
ReplyDeleteBeth F - It's amazing how loyal and protective all those workers are toward the first family... it's really a calling or vocation. The author has a new book about the first ladies coming out soon and I've already added it to my list.
DeleteI've been watching the Miami Open tennis matches held in Key Biscayne this week. Much, much more humidity than they are used to having in late March-early April. And heat! Even the best players were struggling.
ReplyDeleteSo I sympathize with your weather. I'm glad it's cooler now.
Judith - The weather earlier in the week was brutal! My glasses fogged up every time I went outside... so, so humid. It's been glorious since the front passed through. Not sure what happened, but our power was out for a few hours this afternoon. Think I would have died if that happened when it was so hot and humid!
DeleteWhat fun times! Definitely looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Anna Quindlen book. Hope you enjoy your walk on the beach.
ReplyDeleteIliana - Hope I can put together some coherent thoughts and say more than "I loved it", lol!
DeleteYour thunderbird picture reminds me of one that the White House instagram account posted from Cuba!
ReplyDeleteI finished Bill Bryson's newest book, The Road to Little Dribbling. Now I'm reading Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne - for the second time. I can't remember what prompted me to add it to my book list, knowing I'd already read it. It is a strange book.
Paience_Crabstick - The White House has an instagram account? I'll have to find it :)
DeleteI've had Bill Bryson's Home on my shelf for years, but have recently decided that it would be good as a read/listen combo. Hope to get started when we are back home.
Tristram Shandy??? A second time? You are a much more dedicated reader than I will ever be ;-)
Both the Thunderbird show and Useppa Island sound wonderful. I need to start a Florida attractions list for us to check out when (or if) we become snowbirds :)
ReplyDeleteThe Residence sounds fascinating!!
Molly - I started a Florida list last summer and we have checked off most of the items... will definitely start a new one for next winter!
DeleteOh yeah, not time to come home! I am glad to be leaving, hopefully I'll get out in between storms. Looking forward to Miller's Valley.
ReplyDeleteNise' - There was over 6 inches of snow at home today. No way am I heading back now! ;-) Miller's Valley is excellent.
DeleteLast night finished The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee. Highly recommend. First reading of William Maxwell was his correspondence with Eudora Welty. Warm, chatty and wonderful. Anything by or about Eudora is high on my list. Favorite fiction of his so far is The Chateau, a young married couple's return to France in search of an old chateau in the French countryside and a lesson in French manners. Loved it. My bedside stack now includes a bio of Sylvia Townsend Warner and a book of her short stories, Emma by
ReplyDeleteJane Austen for a bit of old British fiction, and the library has the latest by Carly Simon to be picked up. The stack is getting deep again.
JudyMac - You are the second person to recommend The Queen of the Night in the past few days. Prior to that I'd only read a few lukewarm reviews. Would also love to read the correspondence between Maxwell and Eudora Welty. Every book in your nightstand stack sounds tempting!
DeleteI would have preferred to have been in Florida yesterday too. I live in northern Pennsylvania and while we didn’t get as much snow as your home state did, it still was enough to be a bummer.
ReplyDeleteBryan - We had 8 inches of snow at home yesterday and today. Lots of schools got snow days today... I'll stick around here a little longer!
DeleteNot a lot of reading in my neighborhood lately. I'm struggling. I want Spring to come soooooo badly. Glad your weather is calming down, we have family in Florida, Homosassa and Leigh Acres. Haven't heard a lot of complaining, but they may have acclimated, they have been there for years.
ReplyDeleteGrammajudyb - After living in the great White North for my entire life, it might take a while to get acclimated to the heat and humidity down here. Not sure if we'll stay snowbirds or live here full time.
DeleteI can't wait to read Miller's Valley and glad you loved it! I liked all her previous titles.
ReplyDeleteThe humidity does get brutal in So FL come late Spring until late Fall. Thus the joy of A/C everywhere :) Do you plan on living there F/T or being Snowbirds? Just being nosy... being a former FL resident, and having many relatives who still live in state, I like to keep up with it.
Rita - We'll stay snowbirds for now, but may change out minds after my husband retires. No firm date for that yet...
DeleteOh, I have Miller's Valley! So glad to see you enjoyed it; I look forward to reading it even more.
ReplyDeleteJenclair - You're in for a treat with Miller's Valley! Hope you love it as much as I did.
DeleteMiller's Valley is high on my list since you loved it so much. The car show gave me an idea for a way to get my husband to travel - car shows! Sound like you had a lot of fun enjoying the nice weather. The island sound marvelous!
ReplyDeletePat - What is it with guys and cars? lol! Hope you love Miller's Valley, too.
DeleteI am currently trying to read down my review stack so that, by summer, I'll be able to read my own books. I can't wait! Here is what I read last week. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteKathy - That sounds like the perfect summer reading plan to me. Good luck!
DeleteOoh look at those cars! I love that blue one!!! Amazing story about it too. I am now officially jealous ha ha especially as we're getting little snow flakes here! Nothing sticking, but you know- this is not the spring I'm looking for lol.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day!
Greg - The blue one is my favorite, too, and I love the story. It has 300,000+ miles on it. More snow today at home... 8 inches! Lots of schools closed and delayed. Guess I'll stay here a little longer ;-)
DeleteSo...my fave book last week was The Girls In The Garden. Your Sunday sounds lovely. I hope that you get that hour or two to read...I was wondering when you were coming home!
ReplyDeletePatty - Our power went out Sunday afternoon, so I ended up canceling my FIL for dinner... and got that reading time after all!
DeleteHooray. I look forward to your review of Miller's Valley. So glad Quindlen delivers again. Enjoy your Sanibel days.
ReplyDeleteThecuecard - I've been reading Quindlen for decades, and this is her best in a long, long time.
DeleteFarmer's market! I love a good Farmer's market. We don't really have them when I live even though it's a rather large city. We have a open air market here on campus on Tuesdays which is supposed to be like a farmer's market but no... it's too crowded, has little in the way of produce and just has a lot of food trucks for the students. Oh... and bongs and vaping pipes. LOL.
ReplyDeleteTi - LOL, doesn't sound like much of a farmers market to me! I do like the sounds of the food trucks though ;-)
DeleteThe weather has certainly been strange this year. We had a good couple of warm weeks and now it's cold and windy for the past two weeks. Right after everyone got ready for Spring.
ReplyDeleteAthira - At least down here, they're blaming it all on El Nino!
Delete