Sunday Salon - April 8

Happy Easter!

Even though it's cooled off here, it always feels like spring is truly here once Easter arrives. With spring comes a new kind of reading. For Greg Zimmerman of The New Dork Review of Books has put together his choices for the top five novels about baseball over at Book Riot. Those are the novels. Do you have any books about baseball that you would add to a list of the top five non-fiction books about baseball? 

If you're like me, it's also time for spring cleaning. Good Housekeeping has these suggestions for organizing your bookshelves. Of course, while you're at it, you might be tempted to add a couple of organizing books to your shelves to help you get your house in order. Did you know there's an entire book devoted to cleaning with white vinegar? In memory of the late Jan Berenstain, maybe you can even pick up The Berenstain Bears Clean House and enlist the kids to help you this spring.

What kind of things does spring inspire you to do? Does it have an impact on your reading?

Sunday Salon - April 1

Happy April Fool's Day! I wish I had some wonderful little prank to play on you but I'm pretty sure that the "Guess what, I'm pregnant" prank won't work the same way on you that it worked on my husband for something like ten years.

I'm excited that Timothy Schaffert's latest, The Coffins of Little Hope, is coming out April 10th in trade paperback. I read this one a year ago and couldn't have enjoyed it more (my review here). Timothy is a great asset to the reading and writing communities on Omaha and throughout Nebraska so I'm happy to see him getting so much great press for this book. Plus, it's published by Unbridled Books and you know how much I love them!

I'm busy working away on Bloggiesta projects still today and anything I've started by end of day today is a commitment I'm making to myself to finish so you may notice some things half-finished and in a state of flux as the week progresses. It may well cut into my reading time - luckily I don't have reviews scheduled this week. What are your reading plans for the week?

Sunday Salon - March 25

As I'm typing this up (at a ridiculously late hour on Saturday night or ridiculously early hour on Sunday morning, whichever way you prefer to think of it), I'm smelling my breakfast cooking in the crockpot. One of the things I've discovered about blogging is that I'm learning about all kinds of things other than books from the bloggers I follow. When Trish, from Love, Laughter and A Touch of Insanity, was enacting Operation Use My Crockpot, she tried and shared a recipe for steel cut oatmeal. I've been wanting to try steel cut oats since first reading about them in Peter Geye's Safe From The Sea and Trish finally gave me the push I needed. The recipe I'm using has apples, raisins and cinnamon and smells fantastic!

I was looking through my calendar today (or, again, yesterday, depending on your point of view) and see that I'm starting to dig myself a hole with review books again. I had been doing such a great job of saying "no" and making a dent in my commitments. But dang, there have just been so many great books available lately. You may have noticed that this has not stopped me from signing up for another challenge and even upping the number of books I'm going to try to read for the Historical Fiction challenge. For those of you who are musical fans, I feel a bit like Ado Annie..."I'm just a girl who cain't say no" (except not in that easy virtue kind of way!).

I've got a couple of reviews coming up this week, which means I need to go to bed so I can have the energy to finish the books in time. I'll be finishing up for review Jacqueline Winspear's Elegy For Eddie, the latest Maisie Dobbs book, for later this week and Wednesday I'll be reviewing Louise Doughty's Whatever You Love. Of course, I'm still working away on Bleak House so Friday will be an update for that. What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - March 18

Goodness, what a glorious week it's been here - in the seventies every day which is just unheard of for this early in March. It's made me sweep through the house, rolling up rugs, packing away blankets, clearing off surfaces. It feels so good!

Thoroughly enjoying watching the NCAA Basketball Tournaments - mens' and womens'. I don't watch a lot of basketball during the regular season but I do love to watch it this time of the year. It helps to have a race in the horse this year; my husband went to Creighton University so we enjoyed watching them Friday. It does really cut into my reading time, though!

This week I'm bound and determined to have my review of In The Garden of Beasts finished and posted. I have no idea why that one's giving me such fits. I'll also have a review of The Sun Also Rises which the Omaha Bookworms chose for this years classics read. We'll be discussing it on Tuesday; I'm looking forward to hearing what the other ladies thought of it.

This weekend I finally started The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. Having heard so much about them and having seen the movies, I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to finally seeing what all of the fuss is about or wondering if I even need to bother. As I finish each book, though, Mini-him has asked that I pass the books along; it will be fun to discuss them with him as he gets through each one. I'm so thrilled that my boys are both big readers and we get to talk books with each other. They certainly have their own interests when it comes to books but we often overlap in the books we're interested in, which is fun.

What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - March 11

I'm always torn when daylight savings time starts - I hate losing that hour of sleep the first night and I hate waking up again when it's still dark. But, dang, I'm really looking forward to those long evenings.

Yesterday really announced itself as spring here - highs in the upper 70's, mild breezes, sunshine. It was time to put away the snowman collection and start the spring cleaning. That always means that I'm pulling up rugs, tucking away blankets, and generally trying to make our spaces more airy. That always means I'm going to be rearranging the things on the bookshelves on either side of our fireplace. Remarkably, every time I do that, I'm surprised to find, amongst our collection of old books, some of the classics that I'd like to read some day.

It was a great coincidence that I happened to turn up some of these classics yesterday because only Friday I'd begun contemplating signing up for The Classics Club (hosted by Jillian of A Room Of One's Own). It's a big commitment (at least 50 books) but you get to set up your own time frame for completing the challenge (up to 5 years). Amongst your choices you can include short stories, novellas and children's books so that does make reaching that number much easier. I started poking around my house the other night and realized that I can reach that number without buying one book because we have so many classics I'd love to reread.

I also quietly snuck in the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge. I'm doing this one at the "un-challenge" level, which means that I can choose to read as many or as few of Cather's books with the group as I want. I'm planning on reading a couple of them, My Antonia and A Lost Lady. I so enjoyed O, Pioneers! last fall and it's time for this Nebraskan to brush up on her Nebraska writers. It won't really add anything to my reading commitments since both books will work for The Classics Challenge and the Historical Fiction Challenge.

I'm very much enjoying the Bleak House readalong, although I lost track this past week of where I was supposed to finish off reading and read several chapters more than I should have. I'm twelve chapters in, though, and Dickens is still introducing new characters and story lines. It's a lot to keep track of so I'm glad to have the rest of the group to point up things I may have missed along the way.

This week I'm finally getting to my mystery reading, starting off with a review this week of the latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, Elegy for Eddie. I've got another of Jacqueline Winspears' books to read this month in celebration of Maisie Dobbs as well. I'm going to finally get to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, pick up some Harlan Coben, maybe some more Stephanie Plum...who knows where my mystery reading will take me in the next couple of weeks!

What are you reading this week? Do your reading patterns change when the weather changes?

Sunday Salon - March 4

Happy sunny Sunday! Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I've been battling a case of the blues for about a week; I haven't had much gumption for anything...so I've been reading a lot. That's the silver lining to the cloud, I guess.

Last year, in an effort to work through some of the many mysteries and thrillers that my parents have passed along, I designated March as my month to read mysteries. I've been planning on doing that again this year and was excited when Trish (Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity) asked if I was participating in "March Mystery Madness" with Reading Thru The Night. I wasn't, but I am now!

I joined in with a discussion today with BookBelle and Suko about Friends Like Us. Author Lauren Fox is also involved in the conversation. When I was offered this book, I was expecting a nice fluffy book to clear my brain for the heavier reads I had planned. There was some fluff here, to be sure; I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of depth in the book as well. My review of this book will be posted this week.

It's been an excellent week for reading here at Lit and Life. I finished two books and got my 6 chapters read of Bleak House. A couple of weeks ago, before I remembered that I needed to read Friends Like Us for a discussion and when I still thought I could balance three books at a time, I started R. L. Prendergast's Dinner With Lisa. This week I'll finish that up so I can post my review on Friday. Then I'm finally going to be reading my first Maisie Dobbs mystery which I'll be reviewing next week. What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - February 19

Screech - that's the sound of what happened to my reading in the past three days. I had two books going and planned to have both of them done by the end of yesterday. Then my mother-in-law arrived for the weekend. Usually we spend a lot of time around the house but this weekend we have been busy. While we've done a lot of fun things, I've only had time to read about 70 pages. Today I will finish both of them because I've got other reading to get started on.

I'm joining in a readalong that I want to get started on (more on that later this week) and Trish of Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity and I are going to be reading Erik Larson's In The Garden of Beasts together. Assuming I can find my copy. Did I loan it to you? UPDATE: Found it! My hubby had stuffed it under his night stand when he was done with it. Who does that?

Friday night we went to spend time with three of my favorite people. It was wonderful to watch the original Mama Shepp with her newest great-grandson. I can only hope that I live long enough to literally get to bounce my great-grandchildren on my knee like she got to do!

Last night we went to see George Clooney in "The Descendents." It's an excellent movie; I highly recommend it. Did I mention that it stars George Clooney? Ahhh - that man is no less good looking as he's gotten older!

This coming week I'm looking forward to a book club meeting, a get-together with old work friends and an Oscar watching party - that's an awful lot of socializing for me. I'm definitely going to have to shut myself in my room and spend a couple of nights reading in a quiet place! What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - February 5

Welcome to the Snowman edition of the Sunday Salon! After getting no more than 8-9" total of snow all winter, we got that much snow overnight Friday and into Saturday. Not that nice light fluffy stuff that doesn't make good snowballs but is easy to scoop. Oh no, this was the kind where every scoopful felt like it weighed twenty pounds. Miss H does two of the neighbors' driveways and sidewalks and with that much snow The Big Guy and I felt like we should help her. Once we got through all of that, it was a day to play on the computer, watch movies and read, read, read. I'll tell you what, I'm hurting today but geared up to get the house cleaned and ready to have some people in to watch the Super Bowl. Go Giants (I have to say that; Miss H is a huge fan)!

I spent yesterday afternoon getting caught up on reviews. In almost three years of blogging, I've never been so far behind on reviews! It's nice to be ahead on posts for a change, though. This week I'll have reviews of Across The Endless River by Thad Carhart and Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. I updated my challenges and find that I'm off to a good start there for a change. Maybe I'll succeed at all of them this year!This week I'm reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. I've been looking forward to it for awhile, especially after finding it on so many bloggers "best of 2011" lists. What are you reading this week?

This week's highlight for The Big Guy and me will be a concert in Lincoln on Saturday night. Every year, Neal and Leandra (a folk music duo) come to either Omaha or Lincoln to perform and we've been going for years. We've never tired of hearing them and have been happy to introduce their music to many friends. Here's why:

What are you looking forward to this week?

Sunday Salon - January 29

I had such high hopes this week for getting a lot of reading done. After all, it's usually cold (and often snowy or icy) this time of year and my natural instinct is to burrow in to a corner of the sofa with a warm blanket and a good book. A week or so ago, it seemed like this was the perfect week to participate in a read-a-thon.

Then life, once again, intervened. Mini-me got an apartment was was able to move in this week which meant mom, of course, had to drop everything and help pack and move. Tuesday night the Omaha Bookworms met to discuss Nicole Krauss' The History of Love. Wednesday evening Mini-him came into town and announced to his astonished parents, as we cleaned up dinner, that we needed to clean ourselves up because we were headed downtown to see Craig Ferguson (of the Late, Late Show on CBS). Finally, it was The Big Guy's birthday yesterday which meant we had to celebrate that all weekend. So it was a fun week but not a good week to get a lot of reading done.

Still, I will have finished two books by the end of A Winter's Respite today and gotten a start on a third so I'm feeling good about the read-a-thon. Better yet, I'm feeling like I've gotten my reading mojo back, something I've been missing terribly in the past few months.

The History of Love, by the way, was a spectacular bust with the Omaha Bookworms. Three people didn't bother to finish it even and those that did had a hard time with the story line and no connection to the characters. I think I was the only one that found anything to like about it at all.

I've got reviews of The End of the Affair and Left Neglected coming up this week and I will, finally, return to Fairy Tale Fridays. This week, Hans Christian Andersen will be making an appearance. For some reason, one of the songs from Disney's Little Mermaid popped into my head which meant, of course, that I had to read the original story and at least one story inspired by it.

It also meant that I'll be starting Carolyn Turgeon's Mermaid today and will also pick a new nonfiction book, although I haven't decided on that one yet. What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - January 15

Still on the mend this past week so I've been doing quite a bit of reading and quite a lot of time on the net but haven't managed to post anything since last Monday. One of these days, I'll get fully back on track. I've got a couple of reviews that will post this week (one for Nicole Krauss' The History of Love which the Omaha Bookworms will be discussing on Tuesday and one for a TLC Book Tour which The Big Guy is reviewing) and a couple for next week Now I just need to find the time to read some myths and fairy tales and I'll be good to go. Just after Christmas I picked up a couple of new books, a Hans Christian Anderson compilation and an edition of The Thousand and One Nights. I'm looking forward to sharing both of those with you.

This past week I had two books going at once, a fiction and non-fiction, and really enjoyed mixing that up so I'm trying it again this week. Yesterday I started American Eve by Paula Uruburu for my non-fiction and today I started Across The Endless River by Thad Carhart. Not only am I getting books read that are already on my shelves but American Eve satisfies my goal to read more non-fiction and Across The Endless River will work for the Historical Fiction challenge so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

I start my new job tomorrow and, just between you and me, one of the things I'm most looking forward to is lunch time. Not so much because I want to eat (although after three months of not having time for lunch, I'm looking forward to that meal again!), but because it will give me 45 minutes every day to read. Oh sure, I suppose I could use the time to socialize and get to know my new co-workers but you know I would much rather be reading!

What are you reading this week? Do you ever have multiple books going at once?

Sunday Salon - January 8

A return to normal is on my horizon! I've accepted a new position which I'll be starting shortly and can't wait to have time to make meals, be with my family, read, blog...heck, I'm even looking forward to having time to clean again!

Of course, as everything as worked out for me in the past few months, first there had to be a hurdle to overcome. I ended up in the emergency room in the early hours of New Year's Eve and started the new year with not one but two surgeries in one week, one to have my gallbladder removed. What a terrible way to start the year but I'm looking forward to feeling better than I have in a long time! While I recover, I'm taking advantage of the time to read!

 We don't go to many movies so I finally got around to watching Water For Elephants this past weekend which I really enjoyed. I felt like the movie makers had done a fine job of recreating the setting and mood of the book and retained enough of "old" Jacob's story to make you understand why he wanted to run away with the circus again.

The weekend before we had watched both of the last two Harry Potter movies. I've only read one of the books so I can't say whether or not the movies live up to the book but we all enjoyed the movies.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a hit with my family members who made it to the theater but the movie adaptation I'm looking forward to, We Need To Talk About Kevin, still hasn't made it here. It's one that I think I'll probably make a point to see in the theater.

Have you seen any of the movie adaptations of books that have been released recently, either in the theater or on DVD?

Sunday Salon - November 27

For those of you who got to enjoy a long weekend, I hope you've enjoyed it. For those of you who had to work so that my family and I could shop for bargains (and, let's be honest, for the great fun we have when we all go off together to fight the crowds), thank you!

In Nebraska you never know what kind of weather to expect for Thanksgiving. There can be snow on the ground a bitter cold. That makes knowing how to dress for Black Friday a bit bothersome; you need a coat, hat and gloves outside but you certainly don't want them in the stores. Plus it puts a major damper on two of my family's annual Thanksgiving traditions. The field goal kicking competition never lasts as long and fewer of us are willing to go along just to be spectators. Also, the turkey trot (a treasure hunt for the grandchildren) must be done entirely inside.

But sometimes we get lucky and have one of those glorious fall days where there are enough spectators at the field goal competition to actually do the wave! One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is of just such a day when my husband and I hosted Thanksgiving. All four of my grandparents were still with us and my grandfathers sat out on my deck playing cards. As much as I love my family in its current form, I never get through Thanksgiving without missing my grandparents!

We got lucky again this year and had a marvelous day which meant that it was nice enough day to also work in a lesson on Australian rules football. We were blessed to have with us this year a dear friend from Australia and her family who gamely participated in all of our American and family customs, including the turkey trot and field goal kicking. Wisely, they did pass on Black Friday shopping!


My uncle sent me this link to an article in the Chicago Tribune about why some of us have such a hard time giving up our physical books. I'm not necessarily one for the moldy smell (my allergies aren't wild about it for one thing) but I do feel my book in my hands. Although, I must admit that I'm thinking I may need a Nook Tablet so that I never have to worry about finding myself without a book as I was for two hours the other day when the locks on my work building malfunctioned and I had to sit in my car and advise employees as they arrived to go home until it was fixed. Such a waste of precious reading time!

Sunday Salon - November 20

Yikes - what a week at work! I got almost nothing done at home all week and almost missed my book club meeting this month. I did make the decision early in the week that I would make time to read even if it meant nothing got done around the house so I managed to finish two books (you may notice that This Republic of Suffering is, at last, no longer on my sidebar). I'm so looking forward to the coming long weekend. Hope my family doesn't mind if I lock myself in my room with a pile of books and don't come out for a couple of days!

I steer clear of talking politics on the internet (doing so tends to cause problems!) but I did want to remark on the fact that a large number of writers have now lent their names to the Global Occupy Movement. So much of what we see of the movement on television might be called a "hippy" element. It's interesting to me to see so many educated, well-spoken people lending their "voices." I'm not sure what the end result will be of the movement but I do know that when Paris Hilton is more popular than Congress, it's probably time to take a hard look at the way our system operates, no matter what side you're on!

Utterly unrelated but I thought it was funny:

Ever felt like you were doing something equally as ridiculous? I'm thinking that I'll finally put up my Thanksgiving decorations today even though we're not having Thanksgiving here. With all I need to do, it seems kind of pointless but I just can't make myself put up Christmas decorations unless I've decorated for Thanksgiving first!

This week I've got my final Fall Feasting review. Trish of Love, Laughter and A Touch of Insanity asked if I was planning on doing Fall Feasting again next year and said she'd join me if I did. I was thinking of doing it again (I just have to remember that a year from now!) and I'd love to have people join me. There are still so many foody books left for me to read!

I've got a guest review from my mom up this week as well. Grateful for that - it's hard to fill a blog on a regular basis when you hardly have time to read a book, let alone write the review! This week I'll continue to read books related to the U.S. Civil War for the War Through The Generations challenge. Since a couple of them will also work for the Historical Fiction Challenge, I may well be able to complete two challenges soon.

Are you going to be able to fit any reading into this busy week or will your focus be on food, family, football and shopping? I'm going to try to make time for all five!

Sunday Salon - November 13

I do not know how some of you do it - how do you work 50-60 hours a week and still get anything accomplished outside of work? I just gave up this week and decided I deserved to spend what free time I had largely reading. The Big Guy has been great for the past month with having dinner on the table when I get home from work and I have managed to stay on top of the laundry. But I seriously need a self-cleaning house!


Attention to those of you in the New York City area:

What: November 17th - Unique PEN Reading and Reception

Who: PEN American Center/Westbeth - featuring Lev Grossman, Henry Chang, Michael Greenberg, Lev Grossman, Sabina Murray, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, Stephen Stark, Kevin Holohan and Hal Foster

When: Thursday, November 17, 2011. 7 p.m.

Where: Westbeth, 155 Bank Street, NY, NY

Details: PEN American Center in conjunction with Westbeth will host a one-of-a-kind literary adventure. Guests are invited to hear from two of New York City’s hippest and most experienced book sellers about the runaway hits, the beloved secrets, and the must-reads of the 2011 fall season; then wander the halls of Westbeth to attend live readings by PEN World Voices Festival authors in the homes of Westbeth residents. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to explore the oldest and largest artist community located in the heart of bohemian West Village, at 155 Bank Street, repurposed by renowned architect Richard Meier into 383 living and working lofts. Tickets may be purchased at ovationtix.com.

What fun it would be to attend!

New books I've been thinking about:

Stephen King's 11/22/63 - This one does intrigue me but I'm wondering if King is able to pull it off. Will probably hold off on this one until I hear what other people think.

Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetary - I'm not sure any number of great reviews could convince me to read this one. Eco's The Name of the Rose is one of my all-time least favorite books ever. But the story does sound interesting...

Up This Week:

Fall Feasting is wrapping up. I didn't finish as many books as I wanted to and could certainly continue to read books about food through Thanksgiving but I'm ready for something different. This week I'm going to tie Mythology Monday and Fairy Tale Fridays into Fall Feasting and finish the Feast with my review of The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister.

I'm going to spend the rest of the year working on books that I'd hoped to get to this year for challenges. First up is Robert Hick's A Separate Country and I'm also hoping to finish This Republic of Suffering at last. It's fascinating but I can only absorb so much at a time.

What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - November 6

November, already? How did that happen while I wasn't looking? It's been such an unusual and busy year for me and my reading time has really taken a hit. Heading into the holiday season, I'm going to have to accept that it's not going to get any better the rest of the year. That being said, I'm tossing in the towel on all challenges. I'm going to try to read some of the books that I'd planned for them but I'm giving myself permission to "fail" without guilt.

Now for that promised picture from last month's Omaha Bookworms meeting. Mary Helen Stefaniak, author of The Cailiffs of Baghdad, GA is third from the left. What fun we had talking with Mary Helen about her books, her family and even baseball. Hmm, now that we've seen how great it is to have an author in our midst, I wonder how Timothy Schaffert (also from Omaha) would feel about joining us to talk about The Little Coffins of Hope?

Added to my wish list this week: Catherine The Great by Robert K. Massie, Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman, The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman, The Wandering Falcon by Ahmad Jamil, The Boy In The Suitcase by Lena Kaaberol and Agnete Friis, and James Madison by Richard Brookhiser. It's probably bad to add this many books at a time given how little I've been reading lately!

Fans of Sarah Jio's, The Violets of March, will be happy to know that she's got a new book, The Bungalow, coming out this December. Here's a little teaser for you:



 I'm finishing Vivienne Schiffer's Camp Nine for a TLC Book Tour this week. Then I'm back to reading The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin, the Omaha Bookworms December selection. What are you reading this week? What books did you add to your wish list?

Sunday Salon - October 30

Happy 29th anniversary to my beloved Big Guy! This year has really served to remind us both of those vows we said before our family and friends all of those years ago. And how did we celebrate, you may ask? Last night we enjoyed dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant but today we have spent most of the day going our own ways - he to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and me to have Miss H's senior pictures taken. Here's what he saw today:

Thursday evening The Omaha Bookworms enjoyed a wonderful evening with Mary Helen Stefaniak, author of The Cailiffs of Baghdad, GA. Ms. Stefaniak stepped in and immediately became one of the gang, particularly when she mentioned to group that she was interested in the World Series game. When you let on to a group of women, half of whom have spent some time in St. Louis, that you're cheering for the Cardinals, you have made yourself a group of friends! We started by picking her brain about her writing process and ended by talking about the Ku Klux Klan--what a fantastic conversation! Pictures to come!

I've mentioned before that the Omaha Bookworms is a diverse group of women; we count among our members our own political activist. You have probably not heard of the Trans-Canada effort to build a pipeline through Nebraska but it really is something that everyone should be concerned about given that its planned route takes it directly over the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest aquifers. That's gotten our former President of the League of Women Voters so riled up that she appeared in front of the state legislature in her Susan B. Anthony outfit, something she may regret having told a blogger! Here she is in action:



This evening we're enjoying some literary television. First we watched "Once Upon A Time" which I'm thoroughly enjoying (but The Big Guy says it feels like "Desperate Housewives" goes goth to him). Now we're watching "Case Histories" on PBS, a series based on Kate Atkinson's books about Jackson Brodie with this episode based on her book "When Will There Be Good News." We both quite liking this and wish we would have caught the first two episodes.

I'm finishing up Steve Inskeep's Instant City for a TLC Book Tour this week. I'll also have reviews of Julia Child's My Life In France and The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn. What's on your reading agenda this week?

Sunday Salon and Dewey's Readathon Wrap Up

I've been reading and reading these food related books this month and it's starting to look like I'm going to end this month with a pile of food books still to be read - it has not been a good month for reading! I had hoped to really crank out some reading during the readathon but, well, I didn't. Still hoping to get a couple more read this week and then I'm going to focus on reads for challenges the rest of the year. It would be nice to get a couple of those completed!

Once again, despite my attempts to be more realistic, I didn't get nearly as much reading done during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon as I had hoped to. Got up early to read for an hour before the official start but then I had to work, take Miss H in for her senior yearbook pic, and The Big Guy decided we really did need to go out to dinner. But, if I'm being honest, the thing that really kept me from getting any reading done was college sports. I had to cheer on my Huskers in both football and volleyball, of course, but then there were also Big 10 and Big 12 games that required my attention as well. Oh yeah, and a baseball game--go Cards!

To wrap up the readathon, it's time for the ending meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? That would be Hour 18. I got more reading done after that but I almost called it a night at that point.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I always think mysteries would make the best choices, even though that's never what I've lined up!
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No - it was great!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I liked that some of the mini-challenges were shorter and easier to complete quickly without taking too much time away from reading.
5. How many books did you read? finished one and had started and read all of another one.
6. What were the names of the books you read? The Kitchen Counter Cooking School and My Life in France
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I enjoyed both of them.
8. Which did you enjoy least?
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Have some "canned" cheers prepared. Trish said to do it but I didn't get around to it. I liked leaving personal comments but I could have visited more often if I prepared some cheers.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'll definitely participate again and I'll certainly cheer again. I know how great it is to get those comments!

Sunday Salon - October 16

Another week with very little reading done. So frustrating - not just because it means I'm not reading but also because it means I'm not finding enough time to relax. Got a promotion at work recently and it's going to mean more work hours, particularly for the next few weeks so I'm not sure when I'm going to find good chunks of reading time again. I'm going to have to get more organized so I have some "me" time every day. Everyone around me will be safer if I do!

Lucinda Riley's The Girl On The Cliff arrived in my mailbox this week unannounced. I'm never sure quite how to feel about books that arrive without my having requested them. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the ones I buy, read for book club, request, and do tours for as it is. But still...free books? Hard to argue with that. This one is historical fiction so that appeals to me. The blurb on the back makes it sound a bit reminiscent of Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden which I had mixed feelings about. I withhold judgement until I read it; who knows when that might be, though!

The Omaha Lit Fest was held this weekend. It's something I've been looking forward to since last year. Unfortunately, it's also something that was impacted by my increased work hours. I was only able to attend two sessions yesterday afternoon. Not surprisingly, they were both great - wonderful panel discussions by both authors I love and authors that are new to me. I was disappointed to learn that Rainbow Rowell's (Attachments) next book won't be released in the U.S. until next fall, despite that fact that she had in her possession a bound, uncorrected copy of it. It will come out in England in April. Wonder if I can get someone there to send me a copy? Got to introduce myself to Mary Helen Stefaniak (The Cailiffs of Baghdad, GA) and talk about her upcoming visit with the Omaha Book Worms. Can't wait for that! Came away with three books: Timothy Shaffert's Devils In The Sugar Shop, Carolyn Turgeon's Mermaid and Jo Ann Mapes' Solomon's Way.

This week I'll finish Julie Powell's Julie and Julia and start Kathleen Flinn's Kitchen Counter Cooking School. Hopefully I'll also have time to get to Julia Child's My Life In France as well. What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - October 9

What a crazy week I've had...again! Prefer not to have another one like it but, on the plus side, I've had something of my own reading marathon the past four days. I managed to finished the better part of one book and two more and I've gotten a good start on a fourth book. Now that does feel good!

My month of Fall Feasting will finally kick off this week with a reviews of Four Kitchens by Lauren Shockey and Table of Contents by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp. Next up for my foodie reading is (finally!) Julie Powell's Julie and Julia. I might just have to follow this one up with a girls' movie night. My sister, niece, daughter and I all went to see the movie in the theater and loved it. I'm thinking we'll kick the guys out, get some popcorn and candy, and create the fun.

This week I'll also be reviewing Waiting for Robert Capa by Susana Fortes for a TLC Book Tour. Capa was a Hungarian combat photographer; the story of Capa and his love, Gerta Taro, have interested me since I first learned about him a couple of years ago so I jumped at the chance to read this one.

Next weekend is the Omaha Lit Fest. I believe I've mentioned (a few hundred times) how impressed I was with last year's event. Needless to say I'm really looking forward to this year's event and getting a chance to introduce myself to Mary Helen Stefaniak (The Cailiffs of Baghdad, GA). Ms. Stefaniak teaches at Creighton University, here in Omaha, and I'm so excited that she's agreed to meet with the Omaha Bookworms in person this month!

Next up for me this week is The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn. I'm hearing great things about this one so I'm really looking forward to it. What are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - October 2

As part of Banned Books Week this past week, BookBrowse.com offered these thoughts on reading:

9 Things That Happen When You Read

In a series of lectures, Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk ruminated on what goes on in the mind of a person reading a novel. His thoughts are summarized by Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. below. Do these match your experiences? The point about finishing a (great) novel and feeling that it had been written just for me particularly struck home - it maybe irrational but it's so true!

1. We observe the general scene and follow the narrative. Whether action-filled or more literary, we read all novels the same way: seeking out the meaning and main idea.
2. We transform words into images in our mind, completing the novel as our imaginations picture what the words are telling us.
3. Part of our mind wonders how much is real experience and how much is imagination. "A third dimension of reality slowly begins to emerge within us: the dimension of the complex world of the novel."
4. We wonder if the novel depicts reality as we know it. Is this scene realistic, could this actually happen?
5. We enjoy the precision of analogies, the power of narrative, the way sentences build upon one another, the music of the prose.
6. We make moral judgments about the characters' behavior, and about the novelist for his own moral judgments by way of the characters' actions and their consequences.
7. We feel successful when we understand the text, and we come to feel as though it was written just for us.
8. Our memory works hard to keep track of all the details, and in a well-constructed novel, everything connects to everything.
9. We search for the secret center of the novel, convinced that there is one. We hunt for it like a hunter searches for meaningful signs in the forest.

Yesterday kicked off two things; National Reading Group Month and my month for Fall Feasting, a month devoted to reading books about cooking and food.  Oh sure, National Reading Group Month has all kinds of gatherings and famous authors but I'm not going to get to go to any them. So I'll be looking forward to reading and talking about food. I just got a new refrigerator and swapped out my deep freeze with the old refrigerator so I've really taken stock this weekend of the food I have on hand and my mind is racing with the possibilities. Can't wait for the books to give me the final inspiration to get in the kitchen and make some delicious meals.

What are you looking forward to reading?