Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Today's Featured Book 

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

Genre: Fiction

Published: March 1927

Page Count: 610 pages

Summary: 

"Elmer Gantry is a satiric indictment of fundamentalist religion that caused an uproar upon its publication in 1927. The title character of Elmer Gantry starts out as a greedy, shallow, philandering Baptist minister, turns to evangelism, and eventually becomes the leader of a large Methodist congregation. Throughout the novel Gantry encounters fellow religious hypocrites, including Mrs. Evans Riddle, Judson Roberts, and Sharon Falconer, with whom he becomes romantically involved. Although he is often exposed as a fraud, Gantry is never fully discredited."

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and share the first line.

"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk."

Lewis, Sinclair. Elmer Gantry: A Novel (p. 1). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice, but Freda is currently taking a break and Anne of Head Full of Books is filling in. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Freda's Voice and visit others in the linky. 

Elmer was yawning, “Oh, God, I do get so sick of you fellows yammering and arguing and discussing. All perfectly simple—maybe we preachers aren’t perfect: don’t pretend to be; but we do a lot of good.” 

“That’s right,” said Eddie. “But maybe it is true that—The snares of sex are so dreadful that even ministers of the gospel get trapped. And the perfectly simple solution is continence—just take it out in prayer and good hard exercise.” 

“Oh, sure, Eddie, you bet; what a help you’re going to be to the young men in your church,” purred Harry Zenz. 

Frank Shallard was meditating unhappily. “Just why are we going to be preachers, anyway? Why are you, Harry, if you think we’re all such liars?”

“Oh, not liars, Frank—just practical, as Elmer put it. Me, it’s easy. I’m not ambitious. I don’t want money enough to hustle for it. I like to sit and read. I like intellectual acrobatics and no work. And you can have all that in the ministry—unless you’re one of these chumps that get up big institutional outfits and work themselves to death for publicity.”

Lewis, Sinclair. Elmer Gantry: A Novel (p. 56). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

May 10th-16th - May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Are there any books with themes or characters dealing with issues related to mental health that you have found to be enlightening or comforting? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I love reading books about happiness. 

May Flowers

If there is one idea that has been life changing for me when it comes to gardening, it is the idea of native plants.

The best books I've read about native planting are Doug Tallamy's books, Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard and Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants.

Do any of you have any other recommendations for me? I'd love to learn more about pollinators and native plants.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information. 

The Sunday Salon: Whirlwind of a Week

     

Welcome! I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week plus it's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Hi, everyone! I'm away this weekend celebrating at a wonderful couple's surprise 50th wedding anniversary party!

By the way, do you know what percentage of American marriages make it to fifty years? The answer at the bottom of this post.

Another whirlwind of a week. We celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of our longtime friends, Mac and Karen, last weekend...we volunteered at Migration Celebration at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday...I went to a daylong writing retreat on Monday in Galveston...We collected books for our friend, Rae, on Tuesday...We volunteered at Spring Fling at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary on Wednesday...We are celebrating at a surprise 50th wedding anniversary party this weekend...We will return home Monday...

What I Read Last Week:

Heaven on Earth: 101 Happy Poems edited by Wendy Cope 

(Link takes you to my review)

What I'm Reading Now:

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott (Happiness)

World of Pies by Karen Stolz (Novel)

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis (Classics Club Spin)

The Best of Brevity: Twenty Years of Flash Nonfiction (Nonfiction)

Our friend, Emma of Words and Peace, is urging us to begin to pack our luggage for 

Paris in July 2024.

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz

The Sunday Salon: A New Bicycle is on its Way

I'm finished with 3 of 10 challenges: 

Super Past Due Reviews, Creativity, and the Goodreads Challenge.

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

Who knew a Century Plant would be a huge attractor of birds?!

The plant bloomed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary

 and orioles, hummingbirds, and 

Cape May Warblers flocked to it.

Good Thing #2:

I was in charge of nature tattoos at

Migration Celebration this year.

Good Thing #3:

Writing retreat in Galveston.

So what percentage of American marriages make it to fifty years? Just 6%!

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

The Sunday Salon: A New Bicycle is on its Way

     

Welcome! I'm glad you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

I finished four books, and I started four more. I baked, cooked, worked in the garden, birded, and visited with friends. This weekend, if all goes well, I will be going to my old (in both sense of the word) friends' 50th wedding anniversary party and I will be face painting at Migration Celebration at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge. 

And I ordered a bicycle...

My bicycle should arrive in about two weeks.

The two books I'm thinking about the most this week both have spiritual themes: God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam and Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis. Have you read either of these books? I had never heard of Jane Gardam until I read Bilgewater and A Long Way from Verona, two books on the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read list. She's an amazing writer, I think. I wonder why she is not better known here in the US. And even though Elmer Gantry was published in 1927, the novel feels very contemporary in its depiction of a conflicted preacher. The book was banned in Boston and many other places when it was first published, and I can see why. I plan to see the 1960 movie, for which Burt Lancaster won Best Actor, when I finish the book.

What I Read Last Week (Links are to my reviews):

God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam (Novel)

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (Nonfiction)

The Time Garden by Edward Eager (Kids' Book)

The Emerald City of Oz by J. Frank Baum (Oz Book #6; Ozathon)

What I'm Reading Now:

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott (Happiness)

Heaven on Earth: 101 Happy Poems edited by Wendy Cope (Poetry)

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis (Classics Club Spin)

The Best of Brevity: Twenty Years of Flash Nonfiction (Nonfiction)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Anne Lamott Comes to Houston

Unread Books on My Shelves: In Which I Make (Yet Another) Plan to Read Books That Have Sadly and Patiently Awaited Me for a Long Time

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

First fruits from the garden

Good Thing #2:

Magnolia trees blooming

Good Thing #3:

Milkweed blooming

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

I went to hear Anne Lamott speak at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston last Wednesday night, and I came home with Somehow: Thoughts on Love as well as a thousand wonderfully refreshing Anne Lamott-isms on life and human beings and writing and parenting.

Today's Featured Book 

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: April 9, 2024

Page Count: 208 pages

Summary: 

"Lamott explores the transformative power that love has in our lives: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward. 'Love just won't be pinned down,' she says. 'It is in our very atmosphere' and lies at the heart of who we are. We are, Lamott says, creatures of love.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

"Even in the darkest and most devastating times, love is nearby if you know what to look for."

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice, but Freda is currently taking a break and Anne of Head Full of Books is filling in. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Freda's Voice and visit others in the linky. 

"With no man and no money, love pushed back its sleeves and took over...I got therapy to learn to let people take care of me. What a concept. Love poured over me, into me, under me, buoying me up. It was a little hard to take, but I had no choice."

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

April 25th-May 2nd - You are in a dilemma: stream your favorite TV show or movie, or read your favorite book. Which one do you pick? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Reading. Every time.

Unread Books on My Shelves: In Which I Make (Yet Another) Plan to Read Books That Have Sadly and Patiently Awaited Me for a Long Time

I would almost be willing to bet money that no one else has a single one of these books on their own list.

What do I hope to read? 

Three cookbooks/cookbook-ish books:

Gordon Ramsay's Uncharted: A Culinary Adventure with 60 Recipes Around the Globe

Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery

The Art of Mindful Baking by Julia Ponsonby

Four nonfiction books:

City on Fire: The Forgotten Disaster that Devastated a Town and Ignited a Landmark Legal Battle by Bill Minutaglio 

(Yes, this is a library book, but it's only because I finally gave away my copy of this book after I had it on my shelf 

for such a long time.)

The Best of Brevity: Twenty Groundbreaking Years of Flash Nonfiction

Photo Ark Insects

100 Poets: A Little Anthology

Three children's books:

Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin

Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet

Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

One novel:

World of Pies by Karen Stolz

Two classics:

The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.