Winston provided me with my Hat Review… and I am going to make those brims just a wee bit narrower so he can see, but still be shaded from the sunshine! But… did you ever see anything cuter than Winston in hats? Me either! LOL

This second half of the week I will be trimming back the brims a bit and finishing up the remaining hats for Win.

Continuing in the Shameless Nana Praises…I have an amazing Vivi update. This girl was in a Barrel Race at.age.five. last weekend and she did so well! I am so proud of her! With luck we will be there in August to spend some time… and I cannot wait!

This week the reading was unbelievable! So.Much.AMAZING.Reading!! I am one square away from my first bingo and it is not even mid-June! It just goes to show you what can happen when you spend hours on end outside in the garden with your ear-buds in!

My Name Is Lucy BartonMy Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lonely was the first flavor I had tasted in my life, and it was always there, hidden inside the crevices of my mouth, reminding me.

This line from Lucy Barton stayed with me as I listened to this curious story. What is loneliness? Strout does an excellent job of sharing Lucy’s very lonely life. But, if you look back on your life… is it as lonely as you thought it was? Are the people now, exactly what you thought of them then?

An engaging story that I recommend!

Summer Book Bingo Square: Written in the first person

The Messenger (Gabriel Allon, #6)The Messenger by Daniel Silva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh boy, this is my favorite (thus far) of the Allon series. It is a fast-paced story that I had a hard time putting down! This story finds Allon back to help his friend in Rome and it takes off with a bang (literally!) and races on as Allon and his team work to unravel this mystery. If you have not read any of these books, you should… they are wonderfully written and the perfect “summer escape”!

Summer Book Bingo Square: Set in a country you’ve never visited

The Office of Historical CorrectionsThe Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She thought the insistence on victims without wrongdoers was at the base of the whole American problem, the lie that supported all the others.

If two avid reading friends of mine had not so highly recommended this book, I would have passed it by… why? Well… short-stories. I just never quite “get” the entire short-story thing. If that describes your experience with short stories… read this book. It is wonderful. It is eye-opening! Each story is beautifully crafted and each is so thought-provoking. I simply could not stop listening… and then, it was all too soon finished. I highly recommend!

Summer Book Bingo Square: Audiobook with multiple narrators

WhereasWhereas by Layli Long Soldier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“The Dakota 38 refers to thirty-eight Dakota men who were executed by hanging, under orders from President Abraham Lincoln. To date, this is the largest “legal” mass execution in US history. The hanging took place on December 26, 1862—the day after Christmas. This was the same week that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

These amended and broken treaties are often referred to as the Minnesota Treaties. The word Minnesota comes from mni, which means water; and sota, which means turbid. Synonyms for turbid include muddy, unclear, cloudy, confused, and smoky. Everything is in the language we use.

Without money, store credit, or rights to hunt beyond their ten-mile tract of land, Dakota people began to starve. The Dakota people were starving. The Dakota people starved. In the preceding sentence, the word “starved” does not need italics for emphasis.

Dakota warriors organized, struck out, and killed settlers and traders. This revolt is called the Sioux Uprising. Eventually, the US Cavalry came to Mnisota to confront the Uprising. More than one thousand Dakota people were sent to prison. As already mentioned,“Real” poems do not “really” require words.

I am a citizen of the United States and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, meaning I am a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation—and in this dual citizenship, I must work, I must eat, I must art, I must mother, I must friend, I must listen, I must observe, constantly I must live.”
― Layli Long Soldier, Whereas

Powerful. Bold. Damning. These words could aptly describe Layli Long Soldier’s poetry… but so could Tender. Heartbreaking. Freeing.

I read this book slowly to savor her poems… I am happy that I own the book so I can revisit them again and again. This is not a book you can read once and “get”… rather, it is a book you need to be invited into and once there open your heart and mind to Layli. You will be glad you did!

Summer Book Bingo Square: Less than 200 pages.

Anything Is PossibleAnything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“They had grown up on shame; it was the nutrient of their soil.”
― Elizabeth Strout, Anything Is Possible

I don’t know about you, but I always have thought that other people did not have the same problems as I did… I know that is not exactly true, but still… it is a belief.

Anything is Possible opens the ALL the doors of a small town and shows how absolutely untrue that belief really is. The characters are sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly, sometimes mean, sometimes nice…but what really happens in this book is that the truth rises to the top and sings the most incredible song.

Summer Book Bingo Square: Prize winner.


What about you? What are you singing the praises of this week?

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