Hello friends, Happy August! We ended July with a whirlwind of activities which included another birthday celebration and a weekend in NYC for our daughter's baby shower. We tried to get back to a normal routine this week, but spent a couple of days at home midweek due to all the rain. Friday it cleared up long enough for a drive to Stonington, CT where we toured The Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House, ate lobster rolls by the water, and walked around Stonington Point. We got home just in time for another round of thunderstorms!
Recent reading//
Kin by Tayari Jones
Wow. This was my first Tayari Jones novel, but now I want to read her entire backlist. Initially I was reminded of The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett, but Jones quickly moved into a space all her own. Kin is a story about two motherless girls growing up together in rural Honeysuckle, Louisiana in the 1950s and 60s. By high school it's apparent that Vernice (Niecy) and Annie's life trajectories will be very different, yet their "cradle friend" bond remains unshakable. Jones tackles issues of family, race, class, civil rights, identity, sexuality, and more.
This was a read/listen combination for me. The story is told from Vernice and Annie's alternating points-of-view and the dual-narrator audio production was excellent. This is one of my favorite reads of the year so far!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
This short, epistolary YA classic was originally published in 1912. Judy Abbot has lived in an orphanage for as long as she can remember and at the end of her senior year, she is selected by an anonymous trustee to receive a full college scholarship. The only stipulation is that she write him a monthly letter detailing her college life. Daddy Long-Legs is her nickname for this unknown benefactor and the novel consists of her four years of correspondence. Judy shares details of her classes, friends, travel, and aspirations, plus some deep feelings. The story is certainly dated and, when held up to modern sensibilities, possesses a certain "ick factor". Yet it is also charming, sweet, and so evocative of a by-gone era.
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
Current reading//
The Annotated Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, David Shapard
Pride and Prejudice has long been one of my favorite novels and I'm happy to be reading this annotated edition with a small group from the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club for Austen in August.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Are you getting tired of seeing this cover yet? I'm 65% in and the yearlong chapter-a-day slow read continues...
The week ahead//
I finally have an eye exam this week! Last spring (2025) I was getting a lot of headaches and an exam showed that my glasses were too strong. My eye had improved!? After dialing back the prescription a couple of notches, all was well. Now, just over a year later, I'm having trouble seeing and getting headaches again. We'll see what happens this time...
We're having dinner with a group of friends later in the week. And it looks like the NYC "kids" are planning to visit for one last long weekend before the baby arrives. My heart is full!
How was your week? What have you been reading?
The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.
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