Sunday Salon

In spite of my good intentions last week, I ended up taking a long nap. The fire was warm, the wind was blowing, and the cat curled up in my lap. I made the mistake of flipping the handle on the recliner and ZONK....I was gone.

This week, even after losing an hour's sleep, I'm enjoying a true reading Sunday. I have to backtrack about a week....I had seen so much press about Henrietta Lacks and her incredible cells, that I put a hold on at our local library. I was told I was 48th on a list for 37 copies in the system. So I mentally put that one in the queue for sometime in May, figuring it would be a good one to slide in when I finished my lenten list. Then I was talking to my mom and we somehow got onto the subject of cruising, and I was looking up the name of one of the Holland America Lines ships that our family loves to sail on whenever they scrape up enough money to take a cruise. One of the tidbits that appeared in my google search was a book about a Holland America ship THAT SUNK....and voila....that one was also available by inter-library loan, so I put in a request for it, thinking that when it ever arrived from that far distant library in upper Maine, I'd just page through it, show it to my husband, the old sailor, and then send it back to the library.

Yesterday....the library called.....

Well....today I have spent five hours reading FOUR (repeat) FOUR wonderful pieces of non-fiction.  A new first for me. Haven't finished any of them yet, but by this time next week, I'm sure they'll all be done.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (I missed the piece on today's CBS Sunday Morning and as of 3:30 today they haven't posted a replay yet).  I figured I would just sort of page through this one.  NOT---it is fascinating, well-written, and of course, since it is largely set in Baltimore, my hometown, I'm sure I'll have lots to chat about with all my relatives.  I have to finish this one because with that many holds at the library, I know I won't be able to renew it.  It will not be a hardship to finish it  ( I suspect I may even be up late tonite --choir practice after dinner will take out a time chunk-- to get to the end.)

Burning Cold: The Cruise Ship Prinsendam and the greatest sea rescue of all Times.   This is another one that is really easy to read.  I started to say fun, but I suspect since we haven't gotten to the fire that resulted in the disaster, that the fun of boarding, dining, and enjoying the cruise is about to end.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the Coast Guard and Holland America managed to save EVERYONE (mostly elderly).  Believe me, I'll definitely pay big attention next time to the lifeboat drills!

The Woman Who Named God This is one that I won in a blog contest several months ago and started reading about 10 days ago.  I thought it was fiction, I thought the title referred to Sarai (Sarah) Abraham's wife, but now in the middle, I'm finding it may refer to someone else.  It's fascinating reading, and Charlotte Gordon, the author has done a great research job to present material that could have been very dull in a very easy to read and understand story.

The Seven Storey Mountain - an autobiography.  I believe this is the first book written by the very prolific monk Thomas Merton. We inherited an entire collection, and I've been determined to read at least one.  I have been taking it slowly, savoring it.  Published years ago, the font is small and tightly packed, the writing is fairly formal, and Merton isn't going to miss telling us about every little detail of his life before he became a cloistered monk.  It is interesting though, and I'm about half-way through.  I'm hoping to finish by Easter.

Now....during the week I plan to listen to more of  WOLF HALL--- a book that deserves every accolade it's been receiving.  I thought I knew a lot about the era, but I'm finding much new information.  The narration on the audio is fantastic, and I almost look for excuses to exercise, clean house, or do my cross-stitch so I can listen.

Finally, spring training has begun, and the Red Sox game is on the TV (muted) so we can keep track of how they're doing---winning of course!  Let's just hope choir doesn't drag on forever tonite.....