Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Sunday Salon: Bits of Bookish Business


I thought of tons of things I wanted to mention in a Sunday Salon blog post today, all while was unsuccessfully trying to sleep last night. Do you find yourself doing that? Thinking of blogging in the middle of the night? Drives me crazy!

And of course now I can't remember what any of those things were, but we'll give it a try.

--First off, I did want to mention Banned Books Week that's going on this week. I love banned books. They're always the best ones, you know. Some may have something a little squirmy in them, but it's those kinds of things that give you something to think about usually. Anyway, so I looked one of the lists, for banned and challenged classics, and some personal favorites on that list are: The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Charlotte's Web, Brave New World, Gone With The Wind, My Antonia, Howard's End, Rebecca, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... just to name a few. And on it goes with current books also. So.Go read yourself a wonderful banned book this week!

--I've counted all the votes for my book club's upcoming reads. We'll be adding The Help, Bel Canto, Rebecca, North and South, The Guernsey Society, and a fairy tale book month to our schedule! I'm so excited! Almost all of these are book club sets from the library too. What a cool idea someone came up with!

--What I'm reading today: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. Finally! And you were all right, what an intense amazing crazy story. I've been waiting for this one to become available at the library forever it seems, and when it finally did this weekend, I dropped everything else, and read all yesterday, and just finished it a moment ago. Whew! What a ride.

--Hey, don't forget, the Bookword Game is back! Head on over to An Adventure in Reading to suggest the new word, then come and vote at a poll I'll have here this coming Wednesday. You remember the routine, right?

--Oh, and if you're reading this on a feed at the moment, click on over and let me know what you think of my new look. I'm trying to change things up a little anyway. Still not sure I've got what I set out to get, but getting closer anyway. If you're new to the blog, click on my new About link where I've listed some random info.... yeah... about me! :)

--I pondered present tense in a fun post this week. Guess what? Almost everyone says it bugs them, and that it throws off the flow and that it doesn't feel natural. Interesting. Makes me wonder why authors even want to use it. Click on over if you haven't had a chance yet and let me know what YOU think.

-- Okay. Well. I looks like a remembered a few of my thoughts. I'm sure there was more, but instead of wracking my brain to remember it all, I'm going to hit publish, and be off to watch The Amazing Race premier, while I staple 600 book fair fliers to go out to the kids this week!

Have a lovely week everyone and get lots of reading done!

14 comments:

  1. I just recently finished Wicked Lovely as well and really liked it. It was a fun read for me!

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  2. Yes, I do think about blogging in the middle of the night! So annoying! I love your new look, and now I need to go check out the new About Me page...

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  3. Such good choices your book club made. One of my book clubs is currently reading The Help.

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  4. I do sometimes think about blogging in the middle of the night. It even keeps me up some nights. And if you come up with a great idea, you wish you had had a tape recorder in your brain because in the morning, you'll never remember it. Yay for reading banned books! It always amazes me the books people want to ban and their reasons why. I am glad to hear you are enjoying Wicked Lovely. Hopefully I'll get to that one day.

    I really enjoyed the discussion about books written in present tense. Your new look is great, Suey!

    I hope you have a great week!

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  5. Hey you! Thanks for the reminder to us feed readers to click on over. *ahem*

    I'm liking the changed I'm seeing to your blog's layout and whatnot, it's becoming somewhat brighter and new. :) Before you know it, the helpful hubby will be setting you up on a brand new server with your very own URL, WordPress, yadda yadda. lol

    I also enjoyed lurking your present tense article...especially since I stumble over it when I have to deal with it! :)

    Keep up the wonderful work you're doing!

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  6. Very snazzy! I love the header thing, with the tabs to important posts. I really liked the Features post and all the stuff on there.
    I'm impressed, and may, when I have time, email you about how you managed this. I guess it's some coding in the header section of blogger. See, it sounded like I knew what I was talking about, and truly I have no clue.

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  7. These Banned Books Week resources may also be of interest:

    "American Library Association Shamed," by Nat Hentoff, Laurel Leader-Call, 2 March 2007.

    "Banned Books Week and the ALA," by Dennis Ingolfsland, The Recliner Commentaries, 4 August 2009.

    "'Censors' Are So Scary," by Annoyed Librarian, Library Journal, 6 October 2008.

    "Finding Censorship Where There Is None," by Mitchell Muncy, Wall Street Journal, 24 September 2009, p.W13.

    "National Hogwash Week," as coined by Thomas Sowell. And this resource has a long, updated list of BBW-related articles.

    "US Libraries Hit Back Over Challenges to Kids Books," by Sara Hussein, Agence France-Presse [AFP], 6 September 2009.

    "Various Humbugs Regarding Banned Books Week, by Mateo Palos, Mateo Palos, 27 September 2009.

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  8. Your header is fabulous!

    Some of your favorite books from that list are among my favorites -- including My Antonia, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Charlotte's Web. You're right -- the books that make you feel a little squirmy are often the powerful ones.

    http://starkravingbibliophile.blogspot.com/

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  9. Your header makes me want to reach out and grab that "Catching Fire" book! LOL

    Great look, but I like your blog no matter what you do to it. The content is amazing :)

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  10. I am glad you are enjoying Wicked Lovely!

    And, I love the new look of your blog! :)

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  11. I like the new header!

    I have Wicked Lovely in my TBR, as in already own it and everything! But it'll be a while til I get to it, I just got a couple YA from the library that I really want to get to, including The Hunger Games!

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  12. Samantha: Yes, I liked it a lot. I'll put a review up soon.

    Amanda: It is annoying to "blog" in the middle of the night. But I think of my best ideas then!

    Lola: I put The Help at the end of our schedule and I don't think I'm going to be able to wait that long!

    Gautami: Addicting, that's for sure!

    Literary Feline: A recorder in my brain! That could be scary!

    Michelle: Hey, thanks for the great feedback. I don't know that I'll ever go to my own server though. I don't know a think about it.

    Raidergirl3: I just googled stuff tell I found something that worked. I really truly have no idea what I'm doing!

    Safe Libraries: I didn't know there was a bit of an issue regarding Banned Book Week, but now I do!

    Laughing Stars: Yes, squirmy is good.

    Lynne: Thank you so much!

    Kailana: I loved Wicked Lovely.

    Britt: Thanks!

    Lisa: Yes, The Hunger Games should be your very most top priority for sure!



    Thanks so much for the great feedback on the header everyone! Still not sure I like that much white, but it's that way for now...

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