The Sunday Salon

The Sunday Salon: The Short Post

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Today is going to be a short re-cap since my day is turning out to be much busier than I anticipated it would be.

So, here’s what I read this week:

Finished Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell. I liked it but not as much as a few of his other books but still good.

Read The Midnight Guardian: A Millennial Novel by Sarah Jane Stratford. Vampires trying to bring down the Third Reich…it was not what I expected but interesting.

In honor of Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday, I read two short stories of his — Legeia and The Fall of the House of Usher.

I also read a book on my new Nook, Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler. I liked it and reading it on the Nook was a nice experience. I plan to do a longer post about the Nook itself to let you know what I thought of it. It’s still new and I think I need to give it a few more days before I rush into a review of it. I’m still trying to figure out all it’s little quirks after all.

I’m moving on to Conspirata by Robert Harris this week and I hope to start The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery at some point.

That’s it for me this week. Happy reading!

The Sunday Salon

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Earlier this week I was looking at the stack of books sitting on the corner of the desk waiting to be read and realized I was putting them in order. There was a mystery, a fantasy, and some historical fiction. I don’t like to read books that are similar back to back, unless I’m reading a series, and I purposely look for something different when I finish one and move on to another. I know that’s probably fairly common. For me it just makes reading that much more enjoyable, always something new. I try for a diverse reading list but do read a lot more fiction than non-fiction and I’m hoping to change that this year.

The Wife's Tale

For this week’s round-up: I finished The Black Tower by Louis Bayard and The Wife’s Tale by Lori Lansens and started Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell. Both were good but I really loved The Wife’s Tale. Lansens has a way of making you feel completely uncomfortable with her characters and then you fall in love with them. I almost abandoned the book because it was so depressing (it’s about a morbidly obese woman whose husband leaves her on the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary) but I felt like I couldn’t. I was already hooked and even though I felt like I was watching the events through my fingers laced across my face, I had to keep going. It’s a very good book and I’m glad I stuck with it.

The Black Tower

The Black Tower was about Louis the Seventeenth, the long lost son of Marie Antoinette and Louis the Sixteenth. It was a good mystery but by the end of the book I couldn’t decide if I liked any of these people or not. For me, the events were much more interesting than the characters although it was a very interesting list of characters. It was still a good read and I plan to do a longer review of it in the coming weeks. I don’t read many mysteries so this was a nice change for me.

On my reading list this week: Finish Stonehenge by Cornwell and start The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbury and The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford. I gave in and bought myself a copy of The Swan Thieves and while I promised myself that I would read all my library books this month and leave my own for February, I maybe breaking that truce to start this one.

Anything good on your list this week?

The Sunday Salon

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A happy week of reading for me. I finished up The Hobbit on Monday night for the Lord of the Rings Read-Along, read Maeve Binchy’s Heart and Soul which was nice and comforting, and started The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick. I also managed to snag some good library loot.

I spent a lot of time thinking about my reading habits for some reason this past week. A lot of bloggers are talking about cutting back, reading deliberately, and so on. Guess it got me thinking. I generally read what I want, take breaks a lot, and go on the occasional binge. The library seems to be one such binge this month. I stayed away from the library for most of December knowing I wouldn’t have time to read and now that January is here, I’ve gone overboard. In addition to the books I have out and the holds that came in, I still have a few holds out and a list ready to go for the next round. I decided that what I’m going to do is make January a library book month. I plan to finish all the books I have out and not check out any more out until March. February is going to be a read my own books month. It’s not as if I don’t have any…

There’s a very good chance that I will not stick to this plan whatsoever. In fact, I’m sure I won’t and, when February dawns, I will still be reading my library books and my books that I waited forever to get, will still be sitting on the shelf. This is why I don’t make resolutions — I never stick to them. Either way, I’m going to try my little plan out for at least two months and see how far I get and have already promised myself that no guilt will be involved. In the end, I’m still reading the books I want to.

The Sunday Salon

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This was a good reading week but not as good as I had hoped it would be. I finished three books and have been slowly making my way through a fourth. I was off all week using up some extra vacation time but, after having gotten a cold while visiting family, I didn’t get in as much reading as I thought I would. Instead, I spent hours sitting on the couch sniffling and watching marathons of Mythbusters and the Dog Whisperer since my brain was mush thanks to cold medicine.

I finally wrapped up Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I didn’t like it as much as The Great Gatsby but it was still good. I read The House on Tradd Street by Karen White which was really enjoyable and I think I’ll probably be reading her next book too. I also read Versailles by Kathryn Davis. It was an odd book — sort of setup as a mini memoir of Marie Antoinette but there were also these small vignettes with people entering stage right and left leaving you with part of a strange conversation as if it were something overheard at the palace. Somehow it all worked though. Finally, I’m reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien but I’m taking my time so not much progress but I’m enjoying it.

Since I didn’t do a December wrap-up I thought I’d do that here today. I read eight books total and posted reviews of four. For December 2009, here’s what I read:

The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory

Star Trek: The Great Adventures, Book 1 by James Blish

Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell

Heretic by Bernard Cornwell

The Taker and the Keeper by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin

Powers by John B. Olson – DNF

Into the Path of Gods by Kathleen Cunningham Guler

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

I’m anxiously awaiting the delivery of my Nook and, now that it’s January, I’ll be checking the mail everyday for a package. I have a monstrous list of books to download for it and I can’t wait till it gets here.

I’ve got two book reviews to finish and two more to write, so that’s it for this week as I’ve got some writing to do.

The Sunday Salon: On Monday

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After a car trip and a lot of unpacking, I just didn’t have it in me to do a post yesterday, so Monday it is.

We had a great holiday full of visiting family and, I have to admit, I didn’t read any books at all last week. I got in a few pages of Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the first chapter of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien but that was it.

I didn’t get any books for Christmas but I did get a lot of gift cards to buy books so I’m just as excited. I have a huge list waiting to go and will probably give in and order a few before the week is out.

For my birthday earlier this month, my husband bought me a Nook. 🙂 The way it’s looking right now, I’ll probably have it by Valentine’s Day.  😦 It says it will be shipping in January but I’m skeptical, what can I say, but I’m still very excited. I’m going to save at least one of the gift cards so I can buy a boatload of books for the Nook too.

I’m off all this week using up the last of my vacation days for the year and plan to make a trip to the library for some books too. I finished up all the books I had out a few weeks ago and decided that since I was busy with the holidays, I would just wait until this week to make a library run. I have my list ready and can’t wait to share the loot when I get my little hands on it. I haven’t done a library loot post in so long I feel as if I’m going into withdrawal.

I have two reviews to write up for this week along with a list of my favorite books of the year. For now, I’ll be retiring to the couch to lounge in my new, very fluffy and very comfy robe to spend some good quality time with a book.

The Sunday Salon: Snowed In

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For once, the weather forecast was right. We got snow! About 16 inches which is a lot for Washington, DC.

One good thing — lots of reading. Well, actually, that would be a good thing if I did that but instead we spent most of it outside. I plan to bake some cookies and wrap gifts later today (just call me Martha) so probably not much reading today either.

I was hoping to finish two books this week but parties, shopping, and the snow sort of took over. I’m still trying to decide if I want to finish Powers by John B. Olson. I have about 100 pages to go but it lost my attention around page 99. I put it to the side and picked up Into the Path of Gods by Kathleen Cunningham Guler. It’s fine but not moving too fast for me. I was excited to read both of these — I won both on Librarything; one is an early reviewers copy and the other is a member giveaway. I put off reading them a bit but thought I’d finish them up before the end of the year. I guess it remains to be seen whether or not I actually do that. With the holiday later in the week, a long car trip, and lots of family and friends to visit, it will most likely be a hectic week with minimal reading.

Since I don’t have much to report on the reading front. I thought I’d share a few snow pictures instead. Enjoy your Sunday.

The Sunday Salon: Under the Wire

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So, a little late today. I goofed off pretty much all day and, yes, I enjoyed it. I slept late, read the paper, had a nice brunch, did a little shopping, took a nap (I need to fit more of these in!), and read a book. It was a good day all around.

I had a decent reading week too. I finished two books by Bernard Cornwell, Vagabond and Heretic, and with these books finished up the Grail series. I enjoyed the last two books in the series much more than the first and hope to have reviews up later this week. I read The Taker and the Keeper by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin today. It’s a young adult book and a fairly entertaining, fast read. I hope to get in a few pages of Powers by John B. Olson tonight too.

While making my way through the paper today, I came across the book section. My paper got rid of the section earlier this year and just includes reviews as part of the style section now so if felt like a real treat. It was a best of 2009 list. I found a lot of books to add to my list and a few I didn’t agree with at all but you can’t make everyone happy. 🙂 It also got me thinking about what I’ve read this year and what I liked and didn’t. I believe this will be turning into a post later in the week.

Now that we’re approaching the end of the year, I always find myself putting together lists — books I liked, didn’t, and what I plan to read next year. How about you? Are you a list maker too? Please don’t tell me I’m the only one out there…

The Sunday Salon

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This was a light reading week for me. I finished one book, The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory, I have a few pages left to go in Star Trek: The Great Adventures, Book 1 by James Blish, and I managed to crack the cover on Bernard Cornwell’s Vagabond. I have three books that are due back at the library and only one is finished. I’m doing my best to read what I have checked out before getting any more. I have a list of books I’m interested in but I’m restraining myself since I have several books at the house that I would like to finish before bringing more home.

My reading always tends to slow down in December. There are so many things to do — shopping, buying a tree, walking it home (We live in a city and, yes, we walk our tree home. We did it yesterday while it snowed. It seemed very fitting.), decorating, parties, visiting friends. I feel like I should be slowing down since it’s the end of the year but there are too many fun things to do to slow down now.

So, two very quick reviews before the tree decorating commences.

The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory — In a small town in Tennessee, a strange new disease attacks the population and the ones that survive begin transforming. In the end, survivors become one of three new human-like races — argos (giant like humans), betas (wine colored humans that show no emotion), and charlies (large, squat almost round humans). Pax, the son of the town’s preacher, was not infected, a skip as people in the town like to refer to the unaffected.  He moved away as soon as he could after the transformation. Now, he’s returning for the funeral of one of his best friends. What he finds in the town changes his life forever. The Devil’s Alphabet was an OK story. The writing was good but the main character, Pax, doesn’t ask a lot of questions and is all right with feeling left out and not understanding what people are talking about. I felt left out too and didn’t care for it. I’m not one for having everything explained to me but it’s nice to know what the characters are talking about.

Star Trek: The Great Adventures, Book 1 by James Blish — I still have a few pages left but did want to mention what fun it is. It’s a box set of 5 books all containing several short stories. Each story is an episode with all the Star Trek nuances that fans have become accustomed to. One small caveat, I think you need to be a fan to get the most out of it. I have watched a lot of Star Trek over the years so these are turning out to be fun, quick reads for me.

Well, onto a new week of reading.