Category: Sunday Salon

Sunday Post #45: Rainy Day Reading

Posted on by Dana

Sunday Post

I ask you: is there anything better than sitting inside on a rainy day, listening to the rain fall as you read and sip a hot beverage of your choice? Especially if it also happens to be fall, and even better, October? I live in New England, and our falls are just perfect. My favorite season.

I haven’t written a Sunday Post in a really long time. I’m making good progress with the R. I. P. Challenge. I read the second two Miss Peregrine books, Hollow City and Library of Souls. I have two other contenders currently on the nightstand: The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine. Progress on my other challenges is mixed.

nanowrimo_2016_webbadge_participantI don’t know that I’ll be able to do 50,000 words this November, but I’ve signed up again for NaNoWriMo. I have an idea that I’m very excited about, but it will involve some research, and I don’t have a ton of time to do it. Still, I do have some, and if I can prioritize some things a bit this month, perhaps I can be ready to go on November 1. I’m returning to my favorite: historical fiction. At any rate, I have a Scrivener file ready to rock and roll with some notes and preliminary sketches. I am thinking about whether or not to get involved with some local events. My experience with writing groups has been decidedly negative up until this point. Not in terms of discouraging feedback or anything, but more in terms of finding a group who takes writing seriously and isn’t, you know, weird.

It’s a nice long weekend. I have Monday off. We are still talking about what we might want to do since it’s rare these days that my husband, my kids, and me all have the same day off. If it’s raining still, I’m not sure we’ll go out, but I was hoping we could go into Boston and look around, but if we’re going to do that, we need to make some plans.

Well, I’m going to curl up with the coffee and book again. I have some reading to do. Enjoy what’s left of your weekend!

The Sunday Salon

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Sunday Post #4: We Have ALL the Snow

Posted on by Dana

Sunday PostWorcester had 30.5 inches of snow as a result of the blizzard I mentioned last week. I had two snow days, and my kids had three. Another foot of snow is in our forecast for tomorrow. I’m not sure where we’re going to put it. I already have a snow day tomorrow as well.

This week I finished William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher. I am close to finishing the audio book version of Diana Gabaldon’s fifth Outlander book, The Fiery Cross. It’s a long audio book. Well, all her books are long. This one is 55 hours and 34 minutes. I am 4 hours and 36 minutes away from being finished.

Now that February has arrived, I plan to read my next book in the Literary Movement Reading Challenge, a Renaissance book. I have chosen As You Like It. I haven’t ever finished that play, and I have long wanted to.

I’m also still reading Christopher Moore’s novel The Serpent of Venice. I am enjoying that one quite a bit. I won’t be reviewing until February 17, no matter when I finish it, because I’m reading it as a part of TLC Book Tours, but a review will be coming soon. Next up, also as a TLC Book Tour selection, is The Tell-Tale Heart by Jill Dawson.

I’m still thinking of picking up either The Lotus Eaters, All the Bright Places, We Were Liars or Men Explain Things To Me after I finish The Tell-Tale Heart. I’m leaning more toward The Lotus Eaters than the other three mainly because 1) I already have it, and 2) I’m feeling in the mood for it right now.

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and things we have received. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

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Sunday Salon: Resolutions

Posted on by Dana

A Ride in the SnowJust like everybody else, I am making a few resolutions as the new year begins. However, making resolutions is not typical for me. I usually ignore the passage of a new year, at least in terms of turning over a new leaf. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a teacher or not, but I always felt like the real new year turned when a new school year started. For some reason, I don’t know why, this year feels different. I actually find myself feeling like it is the start of the new year, and for the first time in years, that didn’t feel like a sad thing to me. New Year’s Eve usually makes me quite sad, and this year, while I can’t say I was excited or anything, I felt pretty content. As a result, I started thinking about the things I really want to do better or do more of in the coming year.

No Excuses Art Journaling: Making Time for Creativity I have the usual resolutions regarding tackling organization, etc., but in terms of reading, I want to try to be much more active in reading and talking about my reading here. I have had a hard time making myself blog for the last couple of years, but I do enjoy it, particularly book blogging, and I have missed it.

I also want to do better with journaling, and to that end, I picked up No Excuses Art Journaling: Making Time for Creativity. It looks like a fun way to try a new creative outlet. One of the things I have enjoyed about making soap is the creativity. The soap is like a work of art. No two cut bars are the same, and no two batches of soap are the same. Art journaling seems like a fun way to be creative when I’m stuck. One of the things I’ve learned about making soap over the last year is that it can’t be my only creative outlet, or I wind up making too much of it. By the way, if any takers want to try out my soap, let me know. If you want to check out my soap on Etsy, try here.

So, do you have any resolutions?

The Sunday SalonA Ride in the Snow by DaveLawler

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Bookish Gifts

Posted on by Dana

beautiful books

Years ago, my local Barnes & Noble had a Christmas tree set up in the center of the store. It was decorated with gift tags, and each tag had the name and age of a local boy or girl who was in need of a Christmas gift. I had so much fun buying books for boys and girls that year. I haven’t seen anything like it since, though my school did a book drive for a local chapter of Girls Inc. I don’t know why I haven’t seen the tree idea used again. I suppose it’s possible it wasn’t very successful, but I find it hard to believe (of course, that’s also because I bought a lot of the books myself, so naturally I assumed others did, too).

I find it harder and harder to figure out what books people might like for Christmas. Even me. I hate to admit it, but I’d much rather receive a bookstore gift card than a book. I can spend the money on whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. I find this to be true even if I want a particular book, though I can’t say why, particularly because a book chosen as a gift usually sends the message, “I saw this and thought of you,” or “I loved this and wanted you to love it, too.” And I love to give books, even if I do have trouble figuring out what others will like.

One of my new roles at work involves working on the YA collection in our library. I also give book talks to the middle schoolers, and I absolutely love sharing books I enjoyed with them. Even more, I love it when they tell me how much they enjoyed a book. A student who heard my last book talk stopped me in the hall to tell me she read [amazon asin=0525478817&text=The Fault in Our Stars] in one evening and just loved it. Their teacher recently told me that many of her students were already finished with the books, which they had to read over their holiday break, and were requesting them for Christmas.

In a way, I almost feel like I gave those books as gifts, even though I didn’t physically do it. However, I have several books that have been given to me, book I actually really want to read, and I haven’t read them yet. Maybe 2013 is the year I need to do that. It feels sort of rude not to read a book given to me as a gift.

So what books are you giving for Christmas? What books do you hope to receive?

Merry Christmas to everyone.

The Sunday Salon

 

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Sunday Salon: Book Club

Posted on by Dana

Fall Foliage trip to New Hampshire 2011

I get to live in a place that looks like this in the fall. How lucky am I? I didn’t take this picture, and it’s actually New Hampshire rather than Massachusetts. The leaves have just begun to turn here. Right now there is a very soft rain falling outside. It’s perfect weather for curling up with a cup of tea and a book.

I recently became the new advisor of the Book Club at my school, and as you might expect, it’s full of smart girls. I wish we could have talked more boys into joining. If they were smart, they’d have joined if for no other reason than that they can meet girls. For their first book, the girls picked Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The plan is to read half the book by our next meeting on Thursday, and then finish the other half for the following week. Then we are going to go see the movie. I am more excited than I can say about the Book Club. For one thing, it’s a proper book club. The girls are serious. They love books. It makes me so happy. If you have ever been an English teacher and tried to get students to love books, then you understand how I feel. If you feel like the world would be a better place if only more people were readers, then you also understand how I feel.

I have also become something of a go-to person for YA in the library, and in the next few weeks, I plan to request a big stack of books for the library. I believe that the school library should be driven by student interest as much as by curriculum. Certainly teachers should request books, but it is my hope that students will also see the library as a place to check out the books they want to read. I will be helping one of our librarians out with a display for Teen Read Week. I am so excited about this role because I’m excited to influence and support our students’ reading. I have been fortunate to hear from parents and former students about my role in their development as a reader, and nothing gives me more pleasure than fostering a love of lifelong reading in a student.

I am about 60 pages into Perks, and so far, what a great book! Charlie, the protagonist, makes a mixtape for his friend Patrick, whom he has drawn as a Secret Santa partner for Christmas. I recreated the playlist minus the Beatles songs, which aren’t in Spotify (I substituted with some cover versions). I shared it with the Book Club girls, so I thought I’d share it with Perks fans here. Take a listen.

Enjoy this glorious fall Sunday!

The Sunday Salon

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Sunday Salon: Easter 2012

Posted on by Dana

I hope everyone is having a good Easter. We have a ham in the oven. The kids received books in their Easter baskets. Dylan got [amazon_link id=”0394823370″ target=”_blank” ]The Lorax[/amazon_link], and Maggie got [amazon_link id=”0439023521″ target=”_blank” ]The Hunger Games[/amazon_link] (that is probably kind of weird, but she has been wanting to read it). I received a gift surprise of the entire [amazon_link id=”0545162076″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter series[/amazon_link] in e-book format, and I decided that since I wanted to reread them anyway this year, might as well start, particularly as I was not really getting into [amazon_link id=”006197806X” target=”_blank” ]Pandemonium[/amazon_link]. I also picked up [amazon_link id=”0143118749″ target=”_blank” ]For All the Tea in China[/amazon_link], which looks like a great read.

If you’ve read and finished Pandemonium, tell me: should I keep reading it? The more I think about it’s prequel, [amazon_link id=”B00526ZKYS” target=”_blank” ]Delirium[/amazon_link], the less I like it. I’m not sure I want to invest any more in the trilogy if I am not going to like it. I think I must be missing something because plenty of folks seem to love these books. Of course, plenty of people seem to be enjoying [amazon_link id=”0345803485″ target=”_blank” ]Fifty Shades of Grey[/amazon_link], and I know enough about myself to know I’d hate that series, so it’s not like I swim with the crowd as a matter of course.

Speaking of rereading, The Guardian has a nice piece about what authors themselves like to reread.

So what are you reading this fine Easter Sunday?

The Sunday Salon

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Sunday Salon: Where I’ve Been

Posted on by Dana

France, Sunflowers Missing the Sun at BeynacI haven’t been posting much lately. I haven’t been able to read as much as I’d like. I know only a few people who read this blog also read my education blog, so you might not be aware I’m currently engaged in a job search. It’s taking up quite a bit of my time, not just physically, but mentally (meaning, that’s where my mind is focused). The search is going well so far, but it’s not without its stress. A colleague likened searching for a job in the education field (and perhaps this is true of any field) to Victorian courtship. Neither party wants to appear too eager, lest the other party not feel the same way, so there is this delicate dance we do in which we try to convey interest but not desperation (on both sides, I think!). It’s maddening, truth be told, and I can’t wait until it’s over.

Meanwhile, I already have Downton Abbey withdrawal, and I can’t believe I have to wait until next January to find out if Matthew and Lady Mary are really going to get married this time, or if Bates is going to go free. I’m going to have to pick up something similar to Downton to read. Diana Gabaldon has a methadone list for fans to read while they’re waiting for the next book in the [amazon_link id=”0440423201″ target=”_blank” ]Outlander[/amazon_link] series. I love her sense of humor, but I wish Julian Fellowes had a methadone list, too! Actually, I’ve encountered a few of these lists, but you know. Speaking of which, does anyone know of any good Titanic books? I have already read [amazon_link id=”B006ML50SS” target=”_blank” ]A Night to Remember[/amazon_link]. I’m thinking more of fiction set on the Titanic. It seems appropriate now that we’re facing the 100th anniversary of the ship’s virgin voyage and sinking. I’ve been fascinated by that ship ever since they found her on the ocean floor in 1985. It’s been a dream of mine to cross the Atlantic in a cruise ship for about ten years.

Two last things, gentle readers: 1)what is the etiquette, fellow book reviewers, of bowing out of a review gracefully if you aren’t sure you can finish the book? and 2) Forever Young Adult regularly casts book characters in their reviews. I admit it’s a feature I like. I kept picturing Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Crawley from Downton Abbey) as Gemma in [amazon_link id=”0062064223″ target=”_blank” ]The Flight of Gemma Hardy[/amazon_link].

Would you enjoy seeing casting for my book reviews?

  • Yes (86%, 6 Votes)
  • No (14%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 7

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The Sunday Salon

photo credit: Vincent van der Pas

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Sunday Salon: Rereading Outlander

Posted on by Dana

joshua radin:today

It’s been a rainy weekend, but that’s perfect weather for reading.

Because I joined the Outlander Series Reading Challenge, and because I haven’t read the last several books in the series, I have been rereading the first book, [amazon_link id=”1419381016″ target=”_blank” ]Outlander[/amazon_link]. Actually, I’ve been listening to it. I used my Audible credits to go ahead and pick up the entire series in audio format because I had heard that the narrator, Davina Porter, was particularly good. She is.

It’s strange what you pick up on when you reread books. I have read Outlander twice before. The first time I read it was in 1999. At that time, I read the first four books in the series, which were the only ones published then. I have never finished any of the books published after [amazon_link id=”044022425X” target=”_blank” ]Drums of Autumn[/amazon_link], but I did start [amazon_link id=”0440221668″ target=”_blank” ]The Fiery Cross[/amazon_link]. One of the things I think Gabaldon is very good at is character development and description. She can really bring a scene to life. However, for the first time, and perhaps I noticed it because I was listening, sometimes she includes scenes that don’t necessarily move the plot forward. They do develop the characters more, but I wonder if that could be done more efficiently with scenes that push the plot forward. I wonder if it is a side effect of her writing process. I know she is a “scene stitcher.” She has described composing individual scenes and then sewing them together. Obviously, not all of her scenes work like that. Some of them are critical plot points.

Of course, in the case of Outlander, I don’t complain about these scenes, but every single book in the series is a chunkster, and I do wonder if it will become a problem as the series wears on, particularly on a reread. I happen to love the first book, and I remember loving the second, but it did seem to me that each successive book wasn’t quite as good. I know for a fact that I prefer Jamie and Claire in Scotland to just about every other setting, but I know that they must stay in America after The Fiery Cross.

One of the reasons I am particularly enjoying listening to the audio book instead of reading is that I can hear all the wonderful accents. Davina Porter gives a slightly different voice to each character, and listening to the book is quite enjoyable as a result.

The Sunday Salon

photo credit: visualpanic

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Sunday Salon Check In

Posted on by Dana

Late Night Reading by Pino Dangelico

I’m not too far from finishing Lauren Oliver’s [amazon_link id=”B00526ZKYS” target=”_blank” ]Delirium[/amazon_link], and I can’t tell how I feel about it. It didn’t grab me like [amazon_link id=”0062024027″ target=”_blank” ]Divergent[/amazon_link] did. I like parts of it, but I also don’t have too much trouble putting it down and I don’t feel much desire to pick it back up again. Danger signs!

Now that we’re a couple of weeks into 2012, it seems like a good time to check in on some of my goals.

  1. The faculty book club has been revived. I went ahead and chose a book. Date and place of meeting TBD.
  2. I have been doing a little better with commenting more on reading blogs. Not much, but a little.
  3. I haven’t even looked at my blogroll to see if I need to clean any dormant blogs out.
  4. The first two books I read this year were not set in either the U.K. or the eastern seaboard, so I think I’m doing better changing up locales.

In terms of my other goals:

  1. The exercise regimen is going great. I do an hour on the Wii Fit every day—a mix of yoga, strength training, aerobic activities, and balance games. I am getting better at the activities, and what’s more, I can tell I’m toning up. I haven’t actually lost that much weight, and it seems to yo-yo up and down a bit with a general trend toward weight loss. I think I have maybe lost about five pounds. That thing yells at you if you gain weight or skip a day of exercise.
  2. The only progress I’ve made on learning to knit is joining Ravelry and talking to my sister about it. She sent me a link to the site she used to teach herself to knit.
  3. I’m probably cooking about the same. I did make some fabulous pub-style chicken and French fries last night. Fantastic dinner. I didn’t cook tonight though.

The Sunday Salon

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Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey Season 2

Posted on by Dana

Downton Abbey

Who is watching Downton Abbey tonight?

If you’re not familiar with the series, you could do worse than this season one primer from Forever Young Adult.

Stuff I’m looking forward to seeing:

  • More Maggie Smith as Dowager Countess Grantham.
  • The will they or won’t they between Matthew and Lady Mary (if he was smart, he’d go for one of her sisters instead. I think Mary is awful).
  • Matthew is going to have to fight in WWI. What will happen?
  • Are Thomas and O’Brien going to get a real comeuppance for all their scheming?
  • How involved is Lady Sybil going to get in the suffragette movement?
  • What will happen between Bates and Anna?

I hear that a season three is also a done deal, though when it will air in the States, I don’t know.

All of this has made me want to read [amazon_link id=”0199549893″ target=”_blank” ]The Forsyte Saga[/amazon_link]. I tried out [amazon_link id=”B004H0ZHD4″ target=”_blank” ]Upstairs, Downstairs[/amazon_link] (the 1970’s series rather than the new one), and I admit I didn’t like it much. Also on my list: [amazon_link id=”0140232028″ target=”_blank” ]The Buccaneers[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”0312658656″ target=”_blank” ]The American Heiress[/amazon_link] (which I found out in Britain has the much better and allusive title of My Last Duchess; I hate it that things are so often “dumbed down” for Americans).

The Sunday Salon

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