The Sunday Salon

The Sunday Salon – Summer Reading Slow Down

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A few weeks ago, I began to ponder my reading list. I finished up several books at the house, put numerous books on hold at the library, and jumped in greedily to the pile of books that came home with me. Then something happened — something unexpected — I slowed my reading down.

My usual rate of consumption is about two books a week sometimes three depending on the size and type of book. There are always weeks when I read more or less but for the last few weeks I’ve been reading about one book a week. This isn’t good or bad, it just is, but I started to wonder why. Then I realized what the culprit was — summer.

Yes, summer has been playing havoc with my reading. (I know summer officially starts on the 21st but it’s been hot in DC for weeks now so I don’t care what the date on the calendar says. When it’s 90, it’s summer.) Here’s the annoying part of my realization, I’m not a summer person. I don’t like to be hot. I like the cold. I love the snow. I can take 15 degrees. I can’t take 95 degrees. You can always put on a sweater. There is only so much you can take off. I usually don’t even spend much time outside when it’s hot. I scurry to my destination seeking the cool, refreshing, life sustaining, recycled air shot out of ducts that is probably going to some day ruin the atmosphere.

But lately, I find myself wanting to sit outside for dinner, take a walk after work, and sit in the park. All of which can, and most of the time do, involve sweating in copious amounts which I do not enjoy. Yet, I find myself seeking out these sweat inducing activities, craving them in fact. I’m coercing friends who have agreed to sit outside with me. I’ve drug my husband outside to sit in the evening sun and people watch. It’s baffling me. I do not get summer fever, winter is my season. But now I wonder…could I be a summer person on the inside? No, I’m sure it will pass.

This is my answer to my lowered reading — summer. I may not have as many reviews to share in the next few weeks but I’m happy to blame my summer lounging for this.

Time to wrap up. This week I read:

The Conquest by Elizabeth Chadwick. It’s an early novel of her’s and not bad although I’m beginning to wonder how much romance I like, and in most historical fiction, there’s always a bit.

Benighted by Kit Whitfield. I finished this up this morning and I liked it much better than her other book, In Great Waters. The world is interesting even if you’re not a fan of werewolves.

I think I’m going to start The Divine Sacrifice by Tony Hays today.

I hope to have reviews of The Crystal Cave and The Conquest up this week and possibly a My Favorite Reads pick. It’s going to be a busy week personally and something tells me that I may find myself outside trying to shrug off the work week at the local park people watching.

Happy Sunday.

The Sunday Salon and How the World Cup is Stopping Me from Reading

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Did I ever think there would be anything that would stop me from reading? No.

Have I found something that has stopped me from reading? Yes.

Am I being dramatic? A bit.

I haven’t actually stopped reading but the time I would normally spend curled up with a book has instead been spent in front of the TV watching proper football. My husband loves his soccer, and I do too. We even took a half day off of work on the opening day so we could procure bar seats to watch a game. 🙂 Yesterday, the US and England played and we glued our butts to the couch, with the butts of several friends as well, to watch our boys. All I have to say is, thank god for the fumbling hands of the English goalie. But, hey, a goal is a goal! Today was much the same and I only spent a short time with my book. I expect the next few weeks to sort of be the same. So don’t be too surprised if you end up hearing about a game instead of a book. 😉

I did want to take a minute to talk about Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) before I wrap up this week. I started my blog last August, shortly before BBAW 2009, and was amazed by the sense of community it created and the sharing that went on. I was blown away. This year, I think I will register for it and see if I can participate a bit. It’s always hard to know how busy the summer is going to be but I think this will be worth it. If you’re interested, click on the logo below for more info.

There are several things I wanted to talk about today but since it’s a late post for me already, I’m going to hold off and post a few of the bookish things I have in mind later in the week.

Have a good one!

The Sunday Salon – What a Week’s Worth of Thinking Gets Me

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I spent all last week and a good portion of my Saturday thinking about writing this post. Honestly, I still don’t know what I’m going to talk about but stick with me.

First, I thought I would talk about challenges, do some sort of re-cap, see where I am but then thought, nope, don’t really want to do that. Although, I did manage to find enough guilt to get me to update my challenges page so that I actually do know where I stand even if I’m not planning to talk about it much. I’m not keeping it secret, it’s all posted here. I just don’t want to make a whole post out of it.

Then I thought I would talk about reading habits. I do this a lot — when I like a book I immediately go to the library website and see if any more books by that author are available and put them on hold. It’s a new hobby of mine to see how many authors I’ve repeatedly read in the last year. When I say I do this often, I mean it. I did it twice last week. But in the end, I didn’t feel I could talk about it for a whole post. This paragraph is probably sufficient. If you do this, leave a comment and let me know. I’d be curious to know if others out there find themselves doing this too. I also planned to talk about summer reading habits but then thought, meh. Not that either.

I also thought about a library post. I have a love hate relationship with my library. As with most things run by the DC government, the library has it’s faults but most of time I can be easily placated. For instance, I’ve had a book on hold for almost a year. I finally removed it from the list because each time I logged in to see if a particular book was available or to put something on hold, I saw it sitting there, lonely as could be just waiting and waiting and waiting. I gave up. I checked the delete box and away it went. Also, I’ve become annoyed with the holds system in general. I usually run to the library during the week when I can find a few minutes to sneak away from my office and pick up whatever holds have come in. The last time I stopped by, my promised books were not waiting for me. I was able to find one of the books on the shelf and also a few others (this is the part where I’m easily placated) but I was annoyed. Not annoyed I spent some extra time in the library, that’s a bonus and something I love to do, but I felt that the library promises but doesn’t always deliver. I also have some issues with the state of the books but I know funding has been severely cut this year and I’m happy the library remains open and free so I won’t complain about that one. Now, on to the library discussion where I’m easily placated — I always walk out with books! And, service for the most part is really good. People are always willing to help and answer questions. I’m happy leave to leave this discussion at that for now.

Cookbooks. I thought maybe I would write about cooking. I love to cook. I have many a book that has led me to re-consider a career change and see if I can make a go of it with my tried and true pizza recipe or the absolutely phenomenal chocolate cupcakes I make. (I don’t actually call the cupcakes by that name, one of my co-workers does. When she asked what I put in them I told her crack since she seems addicted to them.) I couldn’t get excited about talking about cookbooks though since I can’t say that I read them but more flip through them looking for ideas and pictures.

So, this is where all my thinking led me. To a long and, mostly babbling post.

Well, as a way to wrap this rambling post up, here’s what I read this week.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore which I really enjoyed.

I started The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart and it’s really wonderful.

I didn’t get the chance to post any reviews this week since I haven’t written any in a while but I cleared up some of my backlog this weekend and have several posts ready for next week.

My hubby is at a baseball game sweating today (It’s supposed to be 91 and there’s no shade at the stadium.) and I plan to spend some time cleaning up my blog with minimal interruptions and most importantly, air-conditioning. Ahhh….

Happy Sunday.

The Sunday Salon – Lazy Days

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Life seems to be slowing down, slightly, which means I’ve had a bit more time to read this week. I finished:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek

I’m back to reading The City & The City by China Mieville which I stopped and started again to finish The Summer We Read Gatsby which is due for review.

Persuasion was enjoyable and typical Austen fare — girl, boy, letters, and love with a few annoying characters to liven up the story. The Summer We Read Gatsby was a fun, chicky sort of book with some fabulous characters, the beach, and a little romance. It was just the right book at the right time for me. The City & The City is not my normal fare but I have to say that Mieville is a talented writer and I plan to pick up more of his stuff when I finish this one.

It’s been a very lazy weekend for me but it was what I needed. There’s nothing better than a day spent with a book and that’s pretty much been my weekend with the exception of a long nap. And who doesn’t love a nap? 🙂 There’s some writing that I need to knock off today but now that I’ve got myself upright and moving, I think I can easily accomplish the job and get back to my lazy pose on the couch. There was talk of a trip to the gym but I think we’ve given up that thought for today.

Here’s to a good week of reading. Happy Sunday.

The Sunday Salon

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It’s been a slow week of reading for me.  I finished only one book and haven’t read much of another.  Work has been very busy and I’m not sure this week will be any better on the reading front.  It’s annual conference season and my company has several big events going on this week which means a few very late nights and many early mornings for me.  I’m not a morning person so I’m really not looking forward to this week at all.

The round up this week.  I read — The Ark by Boyd Morrison

I also started The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.  It’s moving very slow for me but I can’t tell if it’s the book or me.  I’ll admit it; my brain has been ruined by work this week.  I’m hopeful a few brain cells which have flown the cranium due to overwork will return when all the work craziness has stopped.

I was checking my blog feeds earlier today and realized I haven’t had much of a chance to keep up with anyone this week and next week doesn’t look very hopeful either.  In fact, I’m pretty sure that my postings will be light this week since I don’t think I’m going to have much left at the end of the day.  My only saving grace is that I hope to get a bit of reading in while waiting around for things to happen.  Oh, how I need a vacation…

Happy Sunday everyone.

PS – Happy Mother’s Day mom! 🙂

The Sunday Salon

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Is it just me or does anyone else out there have trouble believing it’s already May?

The round up this week. I read:

Shadow of the King by Helen Hollick

It’s the third book in the Pendragon’s Banner trilogy and I can honestly say I’m sorry to see this story end. I enjoyed all three books immensely and did take the last one a bit slow and it is a 648 page door stopper of a book so it took me a second to read.

The April round up. I read:

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb

A Corpse at St. Andrews Chapel by Mel Starr

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley – DNF

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

Pendragon’s Banner by Helen Hollick

Shadow of the King by Helen Hollick

I’m currently reading The Ark by Boyd Morrison which is moving really fast.

I came across a funny story on NPR recently — What Does It Take for You to Give Up on a Book? It’s a 17 minute interview (You know NPR, they actually talk.) with The Chicago Tribune’s cultural critic, Julia Keller, in which she talks about her struggle with Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. I didn’t get a chance to listen to the whole interview (my player is having fits today and the other laptop is in use by the hubby) but I did get to read the two articles — When to give up on a book and Reader say when.

My experience with Wolf Hall was much the same. I struggled through it and while I was glad to have finished it, I was also GLAD to have FINALLY finished it. My review is here if you’re interested. I took the book with me on a 48 hour business trip and if I had taken another book with me, I would have packed this one in the suitcase and probably forgotten about it. Since it was the only book I had, and books in airports are a must, I stuck with it and slogged through to the end.

April brought along one more DNF for me this year. I’m usually a good sport and try to give most books the benefit of the doubt but sometimes it just doesn’t work out between us and we end up going our separate ways. I find another book and the book goes back to the library or to the far reaches of the book shelf. Oh well, so many books, only so much time.

The Sunday Salon

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Last Friday, I decided to sleep late so my Friday Finds post lingered. I thought I might post it yesterday but, instead, I stayed in bed and watched a movie before getting my self up and about. Then we thought, “Well, before the rain starts, we should take a walk and get lunch.” So we did. Lunch turned into a stroll about the neighborhood, which became a trip to the new used bookstore and the new coffee shop which just happened to be next door to the new bookshop. My love of sleep and lazy days has now turned my Friday Finds into my Sunday Salon post.

But first, this week’s round up. I read:

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

I’m currently reading Pendragon’s Banner by Helen Hollick and absolutely loving it. Ah, Arthur, how you do fascinate me…

Anyway, Friday Finds. Don’t worry, my ramblings today will eventually lead to something. 🙂

Lately, I’ve been all about the fantasy and oddball stories. I’ve decided that once I finish up a few of the historical fiction novels I have around the house, I plan on indulging that fantasy sweet tooth of mine.

The City & The City by China Mieville. Speculative fiction, with a weirdness factor. A hidden city, within a city, with the two populations trying to pretend the other doesn’t exist. Last week I featured Kraken, also by Mieville, and let me tell you, I can’t wait to read both of these books. They sound absolutely wonderful. I think I have just found my summer reading. 🙂

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber. I believe this is a follow-up to The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker which I have not yet read but it is on my TBR. Honestly, the names of these two books are more than enough for me to want to read them. I have no idea what they are about but I’ve fallen for the titles.

The City & The City

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Happy Sunday. The day has dawned gloomy and rainy and I’ve got a book calling my name…

The Sunday Salon

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Since I missed doing a Sunday Salon last week, I thought I’d include two weeks worth of reading round-up which still isn’t a whole lot since work has been incredibly busy and I haven’t found a lot of time to read the last few weeks.

The round up:

A Corpse at St. Andrews Chapel by Mel Starr

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

I’m currently finishing up The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick. I also gave up on Jane Smiley’s The Greenlanders. It’s not a total give up but a back on the TBR list for another time. I want to take another try at it but it’s due back at the library and I won’t get to it before it starts accumulating fines so back on the list it goes.

Last week I came across an article on Salon.com by Jeanette DeMain titled, “Amazon reviewers think this masterpiece sucks: From “The Grapes of Wrath” to “1984” — some amateur critics just can’t stand the classics.”

She goes on to talk about some of the more scathing reviews left on Amazon which had me laughing and cringing at the same time. Like the article’s author, I use Amazon to look up titles, find books, and see what some are saying about a particular tome. I’ve been amused by some of the reviews, piqued by others, and in some cases just downright flabbergasted by the cruel use of the thesaurus which was trotted out only to be used to inflict additional pain in finding words that mean hate. In general, I don’t post my reviews on Amazon but I do wonder at some of the mean-spirited reviews out there.

When reviewing a book, I never aim to be mean even when I didn’t enjoy a book. What good does that do? Just because I didn’t like a book doesn’t mean that others will not. My tastes are my own and I always try to remember that when writing a review. I’ve read books that have come highly recommended and found the books just all right and sometimes even boring. Hey, it happens. We can’t, and don’t, all love the same books. Isn’t that what makes this fun though?

Anyway, I thought the article would be of interest to a few out there and wanted to give it a brief mention since it got me thinking about my own writings and musing.

Happy Sunday.