The Sunday Salon

The Sunday Salon – Back after an unexpected break

/ justbookreading / 6 Comments

Well, I’m back.  (Gold star if you can tell me what book this line is from.  Hint: it’s the last line.)

Last week turned out to be a bit of a debacle in terms of blogging.  I had no intention of leaving things blank around here but a work conference took up a big part of my life and I couldn’t find the energy to do anything so Just Book Reading went quiet for a week.  Not the end of the world I know but since I do enjoy writing, it was a bit of a disappointment on my end.

While work did manage to suck the energy out of my writing, it didn’t do the same for my reading.  Conference work is boring with a decent amount of downtime so I did manage to read off and on.  I finished:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen — This one is wicked in terms of the social commentary and very enjoyable.  I only have Lady Susan and Mansfield Park to finish in my Complete Works of Jane Austen book.  And, well, there is Emma but I’ve never been a fan of that one and after several attempts to read it failed, I may skip it once more.

Abandoned by Amanda Stevens — This is a short story prequel to The Restorer which I read over a week ago and liked.  In Abandoned, some parts felt as though they weren’t fleshed out but that also may have been due to the fact that I read this after finishing The Restorer and was expecting it to fill in some additional background on certain characters which wasn’t the point of the story.  Once I got past my expectations, I enjoyed it.

Heat Wave by Richard Castle — I have no idea how this one ended up on my Nook; I think it may have been a recommendation from my uncle but can’t be sure.  After some ghosts stories, a classic take on a gothic novel, and a failed attempt at classic children’s literature, I thought a cop story might just be what I needed.  It was short which was also appealing.  It was goofy, clichéd, I figured out the killer early on, and parts made me laugh out loud, but I found it fun.  Odd how that works some days.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hogdson Burnett — I don’t remember reading this one as a child but I’m familiar with the story from the movie.  I started it earlier in the week but left off on page nine.  I’ll go back but I need to be in the mood for it and wasn’t this week.

I started Poison by Sara Poole yesterday and that will probably be my reading for today.

Some links to peruse:

A peek inside homes of writers.

Culinary book clubs.

People aren’t using the iPad to read.  Not surprising to me.

That’s it for me.  Happy Sunday.

The Sunday Salon

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

It’s been at least two weeks since my last Sunday Salon.  Life’s been slightly busier than usual but this weekend has brought everything back to slow and relaxed which means I have time this morning to write a post and read a few.

Oddly, I don’t have a ton to discuss book-wise as my reading has been somewhat slow.  I’m reading a non-fiction book this week (Livia, Empress of Rome by Matthew Dennison) and non-fiction tends to take me longer to read.  On a whim, I decided to start a second book (The Hypnotist by MJ Rose) which I rarely do being the one book at a time person I am so now I’ve got two going and I’m not sure I’m making progress on either.  Both are good, it’s just been a slow week on the reading front.

Since I don’t have much to talk about and I don’t feel the need to moan about work or really anything else for that matter, I’ll leave you with some links.

Impossible books titles.  We’ve all seen them; we love to hate them or mock them ruthlessly.

This falls under things that baffle me.  While I love to read, I don’t think I actually want to smell like a book.  Just weird.

There are always discussions about what being well-read means to people and here’s one more to add to the list.

Bad movie adaptations.  Ya know ya want to look.

The ways digital books have changed our lives.

The Sunday Salon – Audiobooks

/ justbookreading / 6 Comments

I’ve never been one for audiobooks.  No reason really.  I’ve tried them, liked them even but unless I’m in a car for a very long period of time, I find it hard to listen for only a few minutes and then stop.  My interest wanes, I have trouble remembering characters and what they’ve done, settings, plots, etc.  However, I haven’t given up entirely and have found an activity that might fit perfectly.

Swimming.  I know, electronics and water not a good mixer, but hear me out.  The gym we belong to has a pool, and in an effort to have my jeans not fit so snuggly, I’m attempting to go regularly.  I’ve always loved swimming and to be honest, it’s really the only exercise I don’t loathe.  My husband had the idea to get me a waterproof case for the iPod so I could listen to music while doing laps.  Whole-heartedly agreeing this was an excellent idea, we bought all the things needed to make the iPod useable for total water immersion which as it turns out is not really much.  Now I am ready to be entertained while exercising.

Then I had an idea.  I would put audiobooks on the iPod.  My husband, the music person he is, looked horrified at my announcement then shrugged and walked away.  Now, a few days later, I’m still wondering what audiobooks to get.  Should I go with a book I’ve read since I will actually be occupied while listening at first?  Should I try something completely new?  What I need is a recommendation…so have any recommendations for me?

Interesting links this week —

In case you can’t get enough Harry Potter related stuff, you can now follow the Dark Lord on Twitter.  As a warning, he’s prone to using four letter words and isn’t nice.  So what I’m trying to say here is you need a dark sense of humor to appreciate some of the 140 character musings.  Not all of it’s funny to everyone and I wanted to put that out there so no unhappy reader reports she/he showed this to a child.  It’s not child friendly, in some case NSFW either.  Just puttin’ it out there.  Disclaimer end.  Thanks for listening.

Last words in literature.

Finally, being a dog person, I couldn’t pass up a link to authors and their dogs. 

Sunday Salon – Arthurian Legend(s)

/ justbookreading / 6 Comments

Morning everyone.

I’ve said it here before and will say it again — I love all things King Arthur.  Honestly, I have no idea why, I just do.  When I heard Showtime would be airing a series called Camelot, I was on it.  Friday night I talked my husband into watching it with me and I don’t know what to think of it.  The actress in the role of Morgan is great and King Lott is also fantastic but from what we learned from googling the internets while watching, Lott will only be in two episodes so bad news for me.  Merlin, well, they went with the political advisor version which I’m good with and I actually think it works better than the magic-man Merlin here anyway.  There is a fantasy element to the show which could have easily been ignored (Unless it’s all fantasy and you go in with full fantasy blazing, I think you should forget it.  All in or all out is the way I feel.) but they seem to be adding it grain by grain.  I don’t know if it adds anything to the story yet; hard to tell with only one episode.

Notice how I haven’t mentioned Arthur yet?  I don’t know if I like him.  Reading a lot of Arthurian legend based books, I have an ideal Arthur vision and to put it kindly, it’s not him.  Maybe things will change but for now I don’t know.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is this — when you read a book and have a set ideal of the characters, are you willing to edit them to fit a TV/movie version?

I’ll admit I don’t see a lot of movies but when I do, I can usually separate out the differences and move on.  A book is a book and a movie is a movie.  Different mediums, different stories.  For instance, The Lord of the Rings — I loved the books and loved the movies.  I was fine with it all even if it wasn’t what I had previously envisioned in all my readings of the books.

Somehow, I found myself having trouble with Camelot.  I think the reason is that having read so many Arthurian legend books and their numerous takes on the characters, their faults, etc., I have a cobbled together Arthur but one I’ve come to like very much.  Seeing the show and how its writers put together the different people and places, made me a tad annoyed that it wasn’t my version.  But then again, maybe it was something my husband said:

“Ya know, some of the writing and acting here are pretty bad.”

I had trouble not agreeing with that statement.  So maybe that’s it.

A few links to share this week…

A Game of Thrones.  Oh, how I loved this book.  George R.R. Martin, you are a genius.  Tonight at 9PM there will be a 15 minute preview of the series which is set to start April 17th on HBO.  After the above discussion, I still have high hopes for this series but we’ll see what happens. If you haven’t read the book yet and want to; join the book club.

50 books you don’t need to read before you die.

Cooking bibles?  Mine – Julia Child’s Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom.  By the way, I haven’t completely forgotten about the post where I mentioned I would take a look in some of my cookbooks and share a recipe.  I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Want to know what it was like to edit Harry Potter?  Here ya go then.  Oh, and if you want to see the latest movie poster, here.  Funny how they don’t even mention the name of the movie.  Oh, the Harry Potter marketing machine.

Yeah!  A DC landmark bookstore will be here for me still.

The Hobbit is finally in production which means we might see Ian McKellan’s Gandalf looking the same age and not older than he did in The Lord of the Rings.

Happy Sunday.

The Sunday Salon – Movies

/ justbookreading / 5 Comments

First, I have to get this out of the way; daylight savings time is ruining my life today.  I planned to have a nice relaxing day — brunch with a friend, maybe a little shopping, maybe a museum, maybe a movie depending on how we’re feeling after a brunch full of goodies — but now I feel as if I’m already an hour behind!  Really hate that.  I’ll get over it in the next few minutes but putting it out there for anyone else that’s hates losing an hour of beloved sleep on the weekend.

Moving on to movies.  Jane Eyre came out this Friday and I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time and since my husband has already said I need to recruit a friend (there was no way he was going) I’m going to try and convince a friend to see it with me today.  A trailer is below for the curious.  It looks absolutely delightful.  I read the book for the first time last year and adored it so I have very high hopes for the movie.  Has anyone seen it yet?  What did you think?

I fit in some good reading this week too.  To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis was wonderful and I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to find her.  Needless to say, I’ll be reading more.  This book reminded me how much I love science fiction.  I started The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick yesterday but I’m not having much luck with it.  Right now it’s a lot of characters and one really giant ship and I’m having trouble seeing where it’s going even after reading the end.  Not so sure about this one.  I may give it till to the end of the day to make a decision about finishing.

Now some fun things:

Tips on how to make your books last a long, long time.

Awesome bookends.

Dolly Parton, while I’m a country music fan, I do admire her for the work she does to promote literacy.  I had the opportunity way back in the day when I worked for the publishing industry to meet her and some of the people who work with the Imagination Library program and it’s wonderful group of people who care a lot about what they do.  She deserves a hand for making new readers every day.

The Tournament of Books is in play. Fessing up, when I play along with the NCAA tournament, I pick by color and mascot if I don’t know anything about a team (my husband is full of useless useful basketball knowledge so this doesn’t happen as long as he can stop me from falling back on my old ways) but I would have picked winners by cover.  Cuz I’m a cover lover.

The Royal Mail is putting out some Harry Potter love.

That is all I have for today.  Enjoy your 23 hour day.  Happy Sunday!

Sunday Salon – Why I Shouldn’t Go to Going Out of Business Sales

/ justbookreading / 18 Comments

Yesterday, while out enjoying the lovely weather (it’s raining today so getting out yesterday was imperative) we crossed paths with the Borders that’s closing in our neighborhood.  We decided to browse a bit and that’s how I came home with six new books.  In bookstores, browsing and buying are the same thing for me.  My TBR pile is officially out of control but it’s all good because I managed to pick up several books on the mighty big list so I’m considering it a win-win.

The Gates by John Connolly – a young kid goes trick or treating a few days early and finds out his neighbors have managed to open the gates to hell.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley – a writer using history as inspiration starts to wonder is she’s dealing with an ancestral memory.

Poison by Sara Poole – a young woman searching for her father’s killer finds herself in the position of poisoner for Cardinal Borgia.

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse – a man traveling in the French Pyrenees during a snowstorm crashes his car and ends up at a small tavern where he meets a woman with a tragic story to tell.

The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger – a lady’s maid finds a new life but also finds out it’s not one meant for her.

Devil’s Brood by Sharon Kay Penman – the last days of the marriage of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Recently, these books also made it into the house:

Livia: Empress of Rome by Matthew Dennison – present from my husband who knows how much I love ancient Rome.  It’s my next non-fiction read.

Don’t Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon – LibraryThing Early Reviewers Give Away.

Twice a Spy by Keith Thomson – from the publisher.

And from the library:

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis – for the Time Travel Challenge.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick – other than being fantasy, I don’t know much about it.  I found it searching but it looks interesting.

Busy the next few weeks?  I will be. 🙂

Last week I had the chance to read an ARC of The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen and if I had to describe it in one word it would be wonderful.  I’m planning to finish Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran today — another favorite author — and from there I have no idea what’s next but at least I have options.

A few fun things to share this week:

Harry Potter Quiz at The Guardian.

Life instructions, Jane Austen or JWwow (she’s on MTV’s Jersey Shore  if you don’t know who she is and since I had to Google that I wanted to share that bit of knowledge so others don’t have to look it up).  Trust me, you’ll go with Jane Austen.  Somehow this one made me feel old but smart then vindicated.

Minis Tirith out of toothpicks.

What your books do when you aren’t home.

New David Foster Wallace story to appear in The New Yorker. It’s been a few years since I’ve read one his books but I still don’t think I’m ready to tackle Infinite Jest.  I may never be but it will always be on my list.

Happy Sunday.

The Sunday Salon – A Slow Week

/ justbookreading / 4 Comments

I didn’t do much posting this week which is ironic because I’m caught up on my reviews but for some reason I didn’t find the time to post anything much.  I finished Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (amazing), Emily and Einstein by Linda Frances Lee (fun), and I’m about half way through Fathom by Cherie Priest (interesting) so while the posting was slow, the reading was good.

Being honest, this will probably be rather short today too because I want to go to the Hirshhorn Museum to see an exhibit by Blinky Palermo.  At some point this week I will get some blog karma back and return to normally scheduled things though.  Admittedly, I’m a bit overscheduled so once that clears up all will be well.

Some more sharing…

Middle-earth According to Mordor – Salon article about a Russian author who re-tells the Lord of the Rings from the evil perspective.

Chicago Tribune article about the killing of the Dewey Decimal System – it seems my library or at least certain portions of it are going along with the trend.

The 2011 Tournament of Books begins March 7, 2011.

If you have an e-reader and don’t want people to know you’re reading it, you can make this nifty cover.

Happy Sunday.

Sunday Salon – Cookbooks

/ justbookreading / 12 Comments

I took a cooking class with some friends this week and had a really good time — thanks to my friends but not the instructor who wasn’t all that good but I learned a few things anyway.  It got me thinking — I love to cook and own a number of cookbooks which I frequently look at to browse ingredient lists and sometimes to see what my dinner should have looked like.  I’m not a recipe person though.  I’d rather cobble together ingredients and have at it.  My mother cooks like this and so did both grandmothers so I’m used to it.  I have a cookbook that used to belong to one grandmother (not really a cookbook so much as a notebook full of recipes) and true to her nature, she left out instructions on most of the recipes.  She was a little weird like that.  I once called her to ask her for her potato pancake recipe and this was the conversation.

“Hi Gram.  I was wondering if you could give me your potato pancake recipe.  I think I’m going to try and make some this weekend.”

“What do you mean give it to you? You’re Polish, you should know how to make potato pancakes,” said my grandmother in her ever so pleasing way of not saying anything helpful.  Years later, I’m still confused as to how my being Polish (I’m also Italian and Welsh) had anything to do with me knowing the recipe but anyway.

“OK then.  So, potatoes, onion, egg, flour, and salt.  Sound about right?”

“See I told you that you knew it,” she said.

“Uh, huh.  Got to go.  Call ya soon.”

My mother who I relayed this conversation to very shortly after I talked to my grandmother (it was her mother so I knew she’d appreciate the story) found it funny because she would never tell her what was in recipes either.  Years later in the hopes of finding her chicken cattiatore recipe (it rocked when she made it) we scoured her house but couldn’t find it.  When we finally found the little notebook with her recipes that I now own, we both freaked hoping it would be there.  It wasn’t.  There was, however, a decoy recipe that we know for a fact wasn’t her’s because there were ingredients listed she didn’t use.  She took it to her grave.

Oh well, you now might be asking where this is going.  Yes, back to cookbooks.  I don’t review them but I’m thinking I might start taking a look at recipes, testing them out, and reviewing them individually.  Also, I’ll warn you all up front that I don’t, and will not start now, following the recipes exactly.  I’m apparently genetically incapable.

And now, more sharing!  A few good links I found this week while perusing the internets.  Have at it fellow readers.

Books that rocked your world at 16 and fall flat now thanks to Flavorwire

Also from Flavorwire, cult books that need to be adapted to the big screen

Readers block thoughts on Work In Progress

From GalleyCat, an unreadable manuscript gets a date

To end on a book note, I’ve been reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier this week and loving it.  I wonder why it took me so long to read her.  Happy Sunday.