Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week.

How’s the weather?

We’re in a “can’t complain for January” phase. If it’s January and the temperature goes above 40 or we get rain instead of snow, we can’t complain. That pretty much describes our 10-day forecast, so I’m happy with that.

What are you reading?

I’m continuing two books from last week. In Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 2, by Blanche Wiesen Cook we’re getting the Roosevelts settled into the White House in 1933. In Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby, we finished her secondary schooling and are in a bit of a “what next?” moment. I’m intrigued because it’s a long way from where she is to a comedy special on Netflix.

For my novel research, I read Hitler’s Japanese Confidant: General Ōshima and Magic Intelligence, 1941-1945, by Carl Boyd. It’s pretty academic and far away from the usual discourse about World War II, but I was fascinated.

I’m also reading Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century, edited by Alice Wong. That’s for our book group and it’s terrific! I’m learning things that I wish I’d already known.

What are you watching?

I started watching Vera, a detective series set in Northumberland, on Amazon Prime. I watched the first five seasons several years ago but lost track after that. It kept going. Series 12 will be aired in the UK later this month. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Our favorite movie this week was The Mauritanian — it was intense and important. Tahar Rahim was riveting as the main character, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch both had interesting roles. We watched this on DVD from Netflix. According to IMDB.com, it’s available to stream on Showtime.

What are you writing?

For British Isles Friday, I reviewed Munich — The Edge of War. I was more fascinated by the history involving Neville Chamberlain than the fictional spy thriller aspect of the film.

The book about General Ōshima inspired notes for scenes in my novel — just like I hoped it would!

What are you doing?

The activist group that I’m involved in successfully hosted a meeting on Saturday where we organized people to talk to their school board candidates about equity in our school districts.

This week, I have fewer things on my calendar and I’m looking forward to a bit more targeted research to inspire scenes in my novel.

How are you on this fine Sunday?