Favorite Books of 2020

 

Favorite Books of 2020

Fiction:

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune 

Home Front Girls by Suzanne Hayes

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

The Shooting at Chateu Rock by Martin Walker (Bruno, Chief of Police #13)

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

Science/Nature:

Buzz, Sting, Bite: Why We Need Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter by Ben Goldfarb 

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer 

Rescuing Ladybugs by Jennifer Skiff

Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere on the Wings of Migratory Birds by Scott Weidensaul

History:

The Blood of Emmet Till by Timothy B. Tyson

The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory by Andrew Bacevich

The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham

The Path to Power by Robert Caro

Ascent to Power by Robert Caro

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson 

Nothing to Fear: FDR’s Inner Circle and the Hundred Days by Adam Cohen

Midnight at Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham 

Pessimistic

 Pessimistic 

Just because you’ve been labeled as a pessimist does not mean things won’t go all to hell.

I am exceedingly pessimistic because unless both Biden wins the presidency and the Democrats take the Senate, nothing will be done about our three looming problems:

     1. Climate change 

     2. The COVID-19 pandemic

     3. The economic fallout from the pandemic and our growing inequality 

I am turning my attention away from the things over which I have no control and focusing on keeping us:

     1. Fed

     2. Housed

     3. Healthy

Around OakMeadows

 

Common Buckeye on Blue Mist

    It is another absolutely beautiful day. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 40s. Clear skies and no humidity.  It is very quiet in the neighborhood and all you hear is the birds, including a couple of very raucous crows. The most spectacular thing though is the blue mist absolutely alive with bees and butterflies. Several times a day I go out and sit still in the scooter right by them and just drink in the beauty. We should have them for at least another week, maybe two.

     Today is Election Day and how thankful I will be when it is over. I hope with all my heart that Joe Biden wins. I cannot understand how people could vote for such an immoral, vulgar person as Donald Trump. I expect we will have a pretty good idea who the next President will be by 10 pm tonight. At least, whichever way it goes, the uncertainty of what will happen will be over. 

     The COVID-19 pandemic goes on. 232,000 Americans are dead from it. I don’t see any let up anytime soon. There may be a vaccine after the first of next year. It will take quite some time to inoculate enough of the population to get the virus under control though. Joe and I have been so fortunate to live here on our beautiful 4 acre Oak Meadows. We’d like to be able to go out to a restaurant or to see a movie or just go into a store but all things considered, we are in really good shape.