No. 45 - I Bought Some Used Books & Post From This Week

This week, I took my I READ BANNED BOOKS tote to McKay’s and added several books to my personal library.

PHOTO BY HANDSOME MAN | All yellow checkmarks indicate a read book. All books with notes are to be read.

I’m looking forward to reading A Man without a Country again, and I’ve wanted to read East of Eden for years.

My book reading this year has been slow to start. I’ve been reading more Substack and news articles as of late.

More than one of those articles was about the impending budget cuts affecting our libraries and library services. I'm not going to get into this right now because, frankly, I don't have any primary source information about the cuts to provide any insight that has a foundation in facts.

However, I do feel confident saying that any cuts to public services provided by libraries will be devastating to many people beyond those like me who like to use the Libby app to read ebooks and audiobooks.

It was on the backs of these articles that my love for reading was reignited. I immediately took advantage of our Nashville public library’s offerings by checking out nine ebook and audiobooks.

My Current Library Loans in Order of Due Date

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
United by Cory Booker
The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang
Forward by Andrew Yang
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Funny Story by Emily Henry
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfel

Needless to say, the Reading In Public Section will be interesting for the next couple of months.

If you are watching or reading the news, I hope it doesn’t scare you into hiding but instead emboldens you to visit your libraries and discuss the wonderful books you’ve been reading with your neighbors.

Be Excellent To Each Other,

B.A. Burgess

Three Posts from This Week

Revisiting In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson B.A. Burgess·Apr 12

This is the third—or maybe fourth—time I’ve read this book.

Read full story WHOLEPERSONAL TRAININGEstrogens - PluralWhen we discuss sex hormones, and often when we read about sex hormones, we see three words: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone…Read more23 days ago · B.A. Burgess Fieldwork FramesReflections on the Hands Off! Nashville RallyWhen we arrived at Centennial Park, the area seemed completely deserted. To be fair, we were early—it was 11:15, and the rally was scheduled to begin at noon. The sky was overcast, and the weather forecast predicted intermittent rain throughout the day…Read more20 days ago · B.A. Burgess

No. 48 - Being an Outside Person

I suffer no delusions that being an outside person is rare. Moreover, I understand that being an outdoorsy woman isn’t novel. Then, why do I struggle to find people to spend time outside with? My husband is a lovely man who enjoys baking bread, painting, and video games. He

No. 48 - Being an Outside Person

No. 47 - Reading "A Man without a Country" Again

I’ve been looking for a secondhand copy of this book for a while. Years ago, I downsized my life to move into an RV. This was when minimalism had completely taken hold of me. I took pictures of all of my books before taking them all to my brother’