Welcome back to the Sunday Salon (hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz)! I've been joining the linkup on the last Sunday of every month to share both life news and bookish updates.
All covers are linked to Goodreads.
August News
Not much has happened in August, but here are a few things:
1. I enjoyed a belated birthday dinner with a friend at our favorite restaurant, which was fun. What's not fun is that the restaurant's prices seem to be going up while their portion sizes decrease. My friend and I also made a pact never to get their house made sodas again–they're always way too sweet!
2. I took my sister-in-law thrift shopping and got a new-to-me T-shirt. We had fun giggling about the odd clothing items we found on the racks.
3. My book club met up earlier in the month to select our reads for the next eight months (plus next September's book; we only meet September through May). I'm excited about a lot of the books we chose!
4. My husband and I celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary! I made a gluten free sourdough chocolate cake with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. It was very yummy!
5. This past Wednesday, a writer's group I'm in met up for the first time since March! There were only three of us, but it was a lovely evening and they had some very helpful and insightful feedback.
6. My car needs a new catalytic converter, which is EXTREMELY expensive, so that's been a source of stress for the past couple weeks, but I'm grateful that: 1) I'm able to safely drive it while we wait for the part to come in and 2) we have the funds in our savings to cover the repair.
Just Finished Reading
I finished one book last week: A Class Apart, by Alec Klein. It was a very interesting nonfiction read about Stuyvesant, a public high school for the gifted and talented in Manhattan. Not only was it my pick for this month's national theme ("Back to School"), it also fulfilled a prompt for the 2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge ("a chalkboard").
Currently Reading
I'm currently reading Runemarks by Joanne Harris (very fun take on Norse mythology) and The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch by Jacqueline Firkins (which I keep wanting to call The Unpredictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch for some reason). I'm also listening to The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, which I'm not totally loving, but I'm close-ish to the end so I'm going to finish it.
Last Week on the Blog
Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places I've Visited
I used to love to read books about effective education. That looks like I book I would enjoy reading in an earlier time of my life. My granddaughter loves to thrift (she uses the word as a verb). I'm always amazed when I thrift at the things I come home with!
ReplyDeleteIt was quite interesting! It felt more like narrative than nonfiction, and I felt that it was very well done.
DeleteI've gotten some of my favorite cookware at Goodwill for a couple dollars each!
Happy anniversary! As someone who is gluten-free too, that sourdough chocolate cake definitely caught my attention—it sounds delicious. I hope you’ll share the recipe sometime! Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Here is the recipe I used for the chocolate cake: https://theglutenfreeaustrian.com/gluten-free-sourdough-chocolate-cake-sourdough-discard-recipe
DeleteOh no, a catalytic converter! My Prius has one and I hope it keeps going for awhile more. I do love that car.
ReplyDeleteCar issues are the worst, aren't they? I wish your Prius may have many more years of life and good health!
DeleteHappy Anniversary 🥂
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your week, happy reading!
Thank you! :)
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