Last week, for the just the second time I took part in The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance at Readerbuzz. This week I'm back with another post.
Monday morning I finished up Helen Rappaport's 2017 Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 - A World on the Edge. I can easily say Caught in the Revolution will make my year-end list of Favorite Nonfiction. I took a chance on Kitty Veldis's 2018 historical novel Not Our Kind and it paid off wonderfully. If it doesn't make my Favorite Fiction list in December it's a shoe-in for a future honorable mention. This week I also started Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius by A.C. Grayling. So far I've read around 30 pages so it's too earlier to tell if I'll like it or not. Well, it only took me a few days to deviate from my hastily put together list for this year's 20 Books of Summer. I dropped by the library just to return a book and walked out a few minutes later with a copy of Scott Stambach's The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko. But really I had no choice. How often do you come across a novel set in Belarus?
Listening. Last week I mentioned former conservative talk show host turned Never Trumper Charlie Sykes's podcast The Bulwark and his recent interview with Peter Wehner "Christianity's Generational Catastrophe" on the current state of American evangelical Christianity, specifically the fallout surrounding the Southern Baptist Convention sex abuse scandal. The recently released independent report of the scandal is a gut-punch detailing decades of horrific abuse, cover-ups and public shaming of victims. Sykes's follow-up interview "Russell Moore: The Southern Baptist Apocalypse" with the noted evangelical theologian and writer is also a must listen. Last week on the Fresh Air episode "Uncovering Abuse In The Southern Baptist Convention" Terry Gross interviewed Robert Downen, a reporter following the case. Lastly, Hemet and Jessica of The Friendly Atheist podcast recently discussed the findings of the report, as well as a host of other topics.
Watching. Last week I hardly watched anything other than a few episodes of Mr. Robot Excellent writing combined with a sizable cast of up and coming young talent makes this pleasantly subversive series a winner. Hopefully this week I can resume watching the Canadian sitcom Letterkenny.
Everything else. On Friday I snuck out early and joined my buddy the semi-retired sociology professor and a few of his cronies for beers at one of the campus watering holes. After having nice weather throughout the week yesterday was a parade of heavy showers. I spent most the day sitting on my porch reading with a large black cat either on my lap or at my feet.
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