Bookish Miscellany

Welcome to my weekly update for July 31, 2022! My sister is here visiting this week so I'll keep my post brief. As my husband and I drove home to Billings from Rapid City, SD last Saturday, we stopped by Devils Tower National Monument. It was really something to see! Apparently the name "Devil's Tower" is a mistranslation and local tribes, who view the area as sacred, have asked Congress to officially change the name to Bear Lodge, which is what they've always called it. That proposal is now a bit of a political football. *sigh* Why can't we just get along? Anyway, here's my picture of it. We saw maybe eight rock climbers in various stages of ascent as we circled the tower. They're braver than I'll ever be! Posted: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R. K. Narayan: Book Review Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, read by Kaipo Schwab: Book Review Books from Seasonal TBR Lists That I Haven't Read Yet Read: Nothing. Currently Reading: I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.  A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack Up Next: My sister leaves Saturday morning and another friend arrives for a visit late Saturday night. It's nice to see everyone but I'm sure it will cut into my reading time! What did your week look like? Hosts: Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to my weekly update for July 24, 2022! My birthday was last Monday and my husband's birthday is this Monday so he took the week off of work. We spent the time in Rapid City, South Dakota. There is a lot to see and do there! We visited Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Black Hills National Forest, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, and more. It was a busy week! And hot. My car's outside thermometer showed that it was 106° F (about 41° C) on my birthday. The forecast was for 105° F so I believe it was right. But we put on our sunscreen and hats, donned our masks in indoor spaces, visited the caves on the hottest day, carried lots of water, and had a fabulous time! Slideshow: Cathedral Spires Trail in Custer State Park Badlands National Park Roughlock Falls in Black Hills National Forest Inside Wind Cave National Park Mount Rushmore Posted: Ten of My Favorite Books Set in the Southern Appalachians All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston, read by Adenrele Ojo: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟 Read: I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.  Links go to my reviews on GoodReads. The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R. K. Narayan 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Dark Waters (Small Spaces #3) by Katherine Arden, read by Renee Dorian 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Currently Reading: I visited a local bookstore in Rapid City, Mitzi's Books. It was a cute shop with a good selection for its size. I couldn't find any fiction obviously set in South Dakota…

Welcome to my weekly update for July 17, 2022! We took a break last weekend and just relaxed in Billings so I don't have any new pictures to share. My birthday is tomorrow (July 18) so we have plans for that and I should have pictures next week. I won't be around the blogosphere much this week though. In the interest of sharing, I'll tell you about a new-to-me Chrome extension I installed a few months ago. I read about it when Book Riot reposted some old content. I sign up for a library card from every city my husband works in so I have access to a lot of libraries at this point. The Library Extension lets me check availability at all of my libraries (digital or physical) at one time directly from GoodReads, Amazon, and many other bookish sites. It made my life so much easier! I still only have access to libraries I have a card for but it's nice to check the card catalog and/or Overdrive directly from GoodReads instead of opening a new browser window or something. Posted: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, edited by Paul Hawken 🌟🌟🌟 Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepety, read by a cast 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Ten Summery Book Covers Read: Links go to my reviews on GoodReads Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13) by Jim Butcher 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, read by Kaipo Schwab 🌟🌟🌟½ Currently Reading: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R. K. Narayan Dark Waters (Small Spaces #3) by Katherine Arden, read by Renee Dorian The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack Up Next: I don't see myself finishing any of these soon so I won't even speculate. What did your week…

Welcome to my weekly update for July 10, 2022! My husband and I spent last weekend in Helena, the state capital of Montana. We took a boat tour of the "Gates of the Mountains," a small canyon on the Missouri River that was named by Merriwether Lewis. We didn't intend to follow so heavily in Lewis & Clark's footsteps while we were in Montana; they just passed through all the places that attract us! The Gates were ruggedly beautiful. My brother-in-law and his wife are ceramic artists and they each completed a residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena back in the late '90s. We went by the foundation and strolled around the grounds. It was cool to walk around the old industrial brickyard and find ceramic art tucked away in so many nooks and crannies. It was rainy on Sunday morning so we visited the state capitol building. The weather dried up in time for our planned architectural history walking tour of the downtown area, which was a lot of fun. The inside of the Cathedral of St. Helena surprised us. It's very ornate for a cathedral in such a small city! Afterwards, we decided to hike to the summit of Mount Helena on the 1906 trail. It was breathtaking up there! 360 degree views overlooking everything. We checked the radar before we started hiking and it looked clear for the foreseeable future. But while we were on the summit, we saw a pretty nasty storm in the distance. We hurried back to the car. Probably 30 minutes after we got back to our hotel, the heavens opened. Rain and small hail poured down while the wind blew everything around. It was crazy to watch! When the storm passed, we drove out to find dinner. Gravel had washed…

Welcome to my weekly update for July 3, 2022! Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! The current political situation makes this one feel...Bittersweet? Ironic? Fraught? but I hope you still spend time safely celebrating with your loved ones. We've had a busy week. I reported in my last update that the southern loop of Yellowstone National Park was reopening on June 22. I didn't mention that my husband's cousin and his wife had made plans at the end of April to fly up on June 23 and meet us inside the park to spend a long weekend exploring together. You see why I was so disappointed when the park was closed. But thanks to everyone's hard work, we were able to have our getaway reunion! We say they graciously adopted us and saved our sanity during California's covid shutdowns around the holidays in 2020; it really meant a lot to spend time with them again. We saw Old Faithful, the Grand Prismatic Spring, more geothermal features than I can name, Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and lots of waterfalls and wildlife. And as I write this on July 1, the north loop is scheduled to reopen on July 2! The north and northeast entrances remain closed but Yellowstone employees and volunteers really are miracle workers. Their next goals are reopening those entrances so the nearby towns can get the tourist dollars they rely on. We drove back to Billings on Sunday evening and on Monday evening my aunt and uncle arrived to spend a few days with us. They love to travel but this was their first visit to Montana. My aunt is a history nut so she was thrilled to see Pompey's Pillar and the Little Bighorn Battlefield (link to my post about both sites).…