Fire

 The LA Library Fire

How did I happen to be reading about two major tragic fires at the same time? I don’t know, but recently I’ve been rereading The Library Book by Susan Orlean, which documents the disastrous fire in 1986 that burned the downtown library in Los Angeles. Below is  a photo of the burning building. Long after the fire, in around 2003, I visited the library, which had been restored — at that time I was unaware of the fire, but now I see how horrible it was. 

Note that the reason I started to reread this book is that Susan Orlean has just published a new book, which made me think about going back to this one. My earlier review is here (link) and the NY Times review of the new book here (link)

News photo of the library on fire

Another Major Fire:

The Devastation of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The New York Times magazine currently has a story (link) about the horrendous forest fire at the Grand Canyon that destroyed the forest, the historic lodge, and 100 other buildings last summer.
We visited there on one of our cross-country trips in 2011.

Looking through the burned-out building towards the Grand Canyon.
What fabulous views the tourists at the lodge once enjoyed.

The fury and speed of a major fire is staggering to contemplate.

We took this photo at the North Rim Lodge in 2011 when we visited the Grand Canyon.
Its destruction would have been unimaginable at that time.

Photos from the web.

Blog post © 2026 mae sander

Recent Books

 

Library books. I have read one so far.
UPDATE: I read 100 pages of Girl, Woman, Other. It had no plot and I lost interest.

One view of my Apple Books page.

A very old favorite! With a puppy for Eileen.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.
Not usually a sci-fi fan, I still found this an enjoyable read.
Yes, the contradictions of time travel! Yes, life on distant planets!

Trust by Hernan Diaz.
Nested stories that constantly surprised me! Especially the surprise ending.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
Twins are always a good metaphor for something. Good read!

The Adventures of China Iron by Cabezon Camara.
I really did not like this book at all! Very forced and mannered writing.

Reading now: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
Finished it: it’s good.

And In Our Neighborhood

Finally: A few spring flowers among last fall’s dead leaves.

Mainly this week was busy with Evelyn’s very quick visit. We did a few things together, cooked good dinners, took some nice walks, and ate lunch out a couple of times — NO STRESS! Although I did finish some books, I didn’t have time to write the kind of reviews that I like to write: those DO take time and thought.

“Bombay Fish Tacos” at Cafe Zola. Mango with Urfa Pepper is delicious!
Evelyn had shakshouka, Len had the mezze platter. All good.

Blog post © 2025 mae sander. 

Shared with Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz and Eileen’s critters.

Library Shelfie Day

A bookcase in my living room.

 A very new celebratory day: Library Shelfie Day. Today for the seventh year, on the fourth Wednesday in January, is a day to celebrate your library shelves with a photo. You can celebrate your Kindle too. When I read about this obscure celebration, I couldn’t resist!

My Kindle bookshelf showing most recently read books.

A corner of my bookcase featuring a recently-purchased reprint of a book by Edouard de Pomiane
which I hope to read soon, and other books by or about this author, some in their early-20th-century editions.

Blog post and photos © 2022 mae sander.