Books I'm Reading in September......

I received some books in the mail just in time for Labor Day weekend. There's nothing more intriging than a new stack of books!

 

"The summer I was five, John Singer Sargent came to visit us. He wasn't a famous artist then. But he painted a picture in our garden that became quite famous. Here is how I remember what happened.........'

My favorite artist right now is John Singer Sargent. This little book is about a time he spent with a family, and painted the children's individual portraits. It is written by Hugh Brewster as told by one of the little girls. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is a book for young readers, but that does not detract from its story.

House Beautiful Decorating With Books

A great book of photographs of home libraries and use of books for decoration.

Below: I would never leave this room if it were mine!

Here is my library area.

This book will take awhile to get through. The photos are so deep and colorful, full of detail. A coffee table type book The Most Beautiful LIBRARIES in the World is a architectural delight.

The Avvey Library of Saint Gall, Switzerland

The Prunksaal in Austria, this is the map room.

Above: The John Rylands Library reading room, England

The Boston Athenaeum reading room

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I am still reading this next book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Set in rural Mississippi, in the early 1960's, it is a sweet, informative  book about the lives of the help, and the white families they take care of. It does not finger-point, it is not an angry novel. It gently draws you into the very personal lives of all kinds of different people that interact out of habit, rather than thought. 

 I finished the book and I can say it was ok, but not riveting or earth shaking. I did learn about what things were like in the South in the 1960's in white and black households, but it was drawn out and had a very anti-climatic ending. The author summed things up in about 5 sentences, and then it was done.

Some Antiquing and Flea Market Time

Country Living Magazine said, "Tiny Sparks, Kansas — population 9! — hosts crowds of up to 75,000 twice each summer, with 450 dealers displaying a range of antiques and collectibles at great prices. "


Coming to Sparks on  Labor Day weekend has become a fun tradition in the last few years. Saturday was a beautiful day, high in the 80's and sunny. Several of us went to the Sparks Antique and Flea Market and then up the highway to the White Cloud Flea Market. These little towns are northwest of St. Joseph, Missouri, in Kansas.

As it got crowded, many began standing on tip toes to see.

This little bottle fed goat was a pet of one of the vendors. He got lots of attention!

Then I started getting hungry......

As we got back on the highway, the trail of parked cars had grown.

That's a soybean field behind the cars, and running along those hills in the background is the Missouri River.

 White Cloud sits on the banks of the Missouri River. Long before the white men came to the area, the land belonged to the Ioway tribe, whose chief was White Cloud. Entry to the river is right at the base of Main Street. White Cloud's flea market was all on the main drag.