The Sunday Salon: Thanksgiving Reading and Christmas Buying

And so the long Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close. Tomorrow is December. I'm already feeling a panic. One day at a time, and I'm sure I'll make it!

I finished a book this morning! But that's only because it was so short and such easy reading. It was The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. I snagged it from the library awhile back because of all the rave reviews so many of you have been giving it. Now we can add mine to the list, rave review that is. What a cute, fun, thought-provoking little story! But I won't talk about that here, that will be in an official review post, of which this is definitely not.

I also finished The People of Sparks by Jeanne Duprau this past weekend... the sequel to The City of Ember. That was interesting commentary on war if there ever was one. But I totally enjoyed it too. Looking forward to book three, which I understand is totally different, so that could be interesting.

Now I'm working on one of my book fair grabs, Deep Down Popular by Phoebe Stone. A cute little middle grade book, which I'm enjoying okay. It's not out-of-this-world fabulous or anything. Just fun. Then, perhaps today I may work on... now hold on and don't drop dead or anything.... War and Peace! Remember that one? I haven't touched it for months. My goal to finish it by the end of the year, yeah, not going to happen. Should I extend the date to the end of NEXT year? I am only half way done, so that just may be a realistic idea. Two years to read War and Peace. How pathetic is that?

What the family is reading this Sunday afternoon:

The Mr: Whenever he finishes a book, he comes to me and says, "NOW what should I read next?" I was ready for him this time, and handed him The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I loved that book and thought it would be perfect for him too. He made a face when I said what it was about (vampires of course) but I explained that I really thought he should try it and see, it being an "intellectual" study and all. Well, guess what? He seems to not be able to put it down hardly. He reads even ... in the middle of the day! Now THAT is saying something.

Bud (19): I think he is still working on Obama's book. I haven't seen him reading much of anything lately.

JJ (17 almost): She finally finished The Scarlett Letter for school. However, this past break from school, she picked up New Moon and re-read the entire thing. (Blame that on the Twilight movie.)

Moder (13 1/2): He's going back and forth from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Paper Towns by John Green. I'm jealous about the Elantris one because I want to be reading it so bad myself, but I'm saving it for later when my book club reads it.

Toto (9 1/2): She is still working on the second in the unicorn series by Bruce Coville, The Song of the Wanderer. She giggles a lot and has to read me parts as she goes along. I'm taking this as a sign that she's really liking it.

Books I've bought so far for Christmas presents:

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Pilage by Obert Skye

Dreams of My Father by Barack Obama

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

Farworld by J. Scott Savage

Review: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Book: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Genre: Literary Fiction

Rating: A

For: Fun!

Thanks to Serena, I got this one for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and bumped it to the top of the TBR, even though it did still have to wait after a couple of other "have to reads." Anyway, once I was finally able to start it, it was a fast, quick and fun read. I totally enjoyed this story and got all wrapped up in the craziness surrounding this character.

The story is about a woman nicknamed Towner who gets word that her aunt, who she lived with a bit of her time growing up, has disappeared, so she comes home to see what's going on. We are to understand at the beginning that something has happened in her past that made her a little crazy. She had to move away from her hometown Salem, and she's had therapy, she's on medication.... stuff like that. So when she comes home, she begins to remember things. There are several flashbacks to when she was growing up, memories of her twin sister, memories of the mean uncle, memories of her mom.

Anyway, I don't want to say too much or give anything away, but it seems she is getting all this stuff figured out, but things still aren't what they seem. In fact, it has one of those... "wait, what?" kind twists and I loved it! You know, when you have to read the paragraph over and over to make sure you're really reading what you think you're reading!

Great stuff. Lots of pondering moments about who are we really, and what's really the meaning of our relationships. Oh, and I loved all the historical Salem references... witches, Nathanial Hawthorne, etc.

What other people had to say, all of whom can explain this book much better than I can:

She Is Too Fond of Books

CaribousMom

So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Book-a-rama

Booking Mama

The Sleepy Reader

Booking Through Thursday: Thankful

Booking Through Thursday


Today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S.
Now, you may have noticed that the global economy isn’t exactly doing well. There’s war. Starvation. All sorts of bad, scary things going on.
So–just for today–how about sharing 7 things that you’re thankful for?
This can be about books, sure–authors you appreciate, books you love, an ode to your public library–but also, how about other things, too? Because in times like these, with bills piling up and disaster seemingly lurking around every corner, it’s more important than ever to stop and take stock of the things we’re grateful for. Family. Friends. Good health (I hope). Coffee and tea. Turkey. Sunshine. Wagging tails. Curling up with a good book.
So, how about it? Spread a little positive thinking and tell the world what there is to be thankful for.




Well, I answered the book part of this question last Sunday for my Sunday Salon. Click here if you missed it. However, it will be easy to elaborate to other things I'm thankful for:



I'm thankful for:

• chocolate, of course
• Ibuprofen and anitbiotics
• the computer and all the amazing things you can do with it
• animals and their unconditional love
• warm quilts and soft sweatshirts
• food of all kinds
• the opportunity to travel and see several differnent bits of this the coolest world
• the potential and hope to travel and see several more different bits of it
• music! All kinds!
• the dishwasher and the washing machine
• having bananas even in the middle of the desert!
• cars
• being with family, doing silly things like screaming down Splash Mountain, or getting lost on a geocaching adventure, or eating too much ice cream together, or just going to a movie.

Just seven? Really? I went over. Oh, well. I think I could go on and on, but I'll stop now.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating! Have a wonderful day!

Weekly Geeks #26: Blog Hopping

The assignment this week: check out five bloggers that are unfamiliar to you, find something you have in common and post about it. Here's my five:

A brand-new book blogger, Bernadette from Reactions to Reading and I both have decided that sometimes, it's totally okay to NOT finish a book if you hate it. I still get a little queasy at this thought, but I CAN do it!

Louise from Lou's Pages is from Copenhagen, which we don't have in common, but I DID visit there several years ago and loved it. Hey, but my husband's ancestors ARE from there. Does that count? Also, she's participating in the Blog Advent Tour, which I just barely signed up for myself, even though I think all the spots are taken!

Sarah, at Behold, The Thing That Reads A Lot hated The Nanny Diaries! Yep, you guessed it, I did too. Hated it. And there aren't many books I hate. Oh, and Sarah, yes, you should put Holes on your TBR!

Then there's Jessi at Casual Dread. I was excited to see that what we have in common is a love for Star Trek. She posted a trailer for the new movie coming up in May and says "I am so so excited!" Yep, me too. I. Can't. Wait. (She also didn't too much like The Nanny Diaries either.)

Melanie at Cynical Optimism liked Twilight... the movie that is. And as we all know by now, I liked it too. A lot. She's also the oldest kid in her family, like me, and she likes Lost and reality TV, like me. Cool.

Fun new-to-me bloggers that I've found! I love blog hopping!

Teaser Tuesdays: Goodbyes

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

I'm deep in the throes of The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. Here's a couple of sentences from the very page I'm on, page 264:

"She stood in the boat, and for a minute we just looked at each other, but then the boat got wobbly and she had to sit down. She waved to me then, and I watched her for as long as I could."

Watching Jane Eyre

I guess it's all about movies this week, because today I want to gush about Jane Eyre! A few weeks ago, I came home from the library with the BBC 1983 Timothy Dalton version of this movie, just for fun. I found bits and snatches of time over the last couple of weeks, to watch what turned out to be a 5 1/2 hour movie! (11 1/2-hour episodes.)

I can't remember if I've seen this version before, but I loved it! Of course, all my favorite parts can be found on YouTube, so I'm sharing:

After the fire, we get see that Mr. Rochester is harboring some major feelings for Jane:





Now, everything is out in the open..... well... almost everything....






Do you think you would be strong enough to turn your back and walk away?





But of course, she comes back again!






Ah, what fun to revisit this story. Now I want to read it again of course.

The Sunday Salon: What I'm Thankful For

What I'm Thankful For, The Book Version:

• Eyes, so that I can have the ability to read.


• A bit of money, so that I can buy books if I want.


• Two fabulous libraries close by.


• Wonderful, amazing authors that want to keep on writing!


• Wonderful, amazing authors that enjoy connecting with their readers.


• A never ending supply of TBR books.


• A fun book blogging community with which to share the love.


• A gaggle of IRL friends with which to share the love.


• Time and energy to read, most days anyway.


• The way books can make me think.


• The way books can take me away from real life.


• The way books can teach me stuff.


• The way books can make me feel so many emotions.


• The way books some how become my friends and part of my life.

Yes, I'm truly thankful to be a reader and to have so many books around me to read!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING week to you all!