Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sunday Salon - Reading and Blogging

The Sunday Salon.comWell....this is my first ever Sunday Salon!! At the beginning of the year, I wasn't reading very much. So I tried to find lots of book-related topics to post about. Now....I'm reading a lot more, but it seems that I am blogging less. Hence, joining the Sunday Salon. I'm trying for a happy medium!! I'm sure there's one out there. I guess the trick is to find it.

I am already behind on reviews. Man...that never happens to me. Hopefully, I will get one up, maybe tomorrow, for This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I opened the book thinking it was going to be a "fluff" filled "Chick Lit" novel. Now that's not a bad thing, mind you. Sometimes I NEED some fluff in my life. But this book was WAY more than that.

At the moment, I'm knee-deep in 3 books. The first is Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I'm over half way through, and I already know, without a doubt, I'm going to HAVE to read the Discworld series!! I'm already head-over-heels with Neil, but I just know alot of the wit and irony in this novel has to come from Pratchett. Hands down, a hilarious novel.

I've also reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Another incredibly funny book. I had no idea there were so many ways to die by bear attack!! It's the non-fiction journey of Bryson as he walks the Appalachian Trail.

Finally, I'm reading Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. She is definitely the queen of the Gothic novel, and so far, so good. It starts on a gloomy, storm-filled night. (What good Gothic novel doesn't?) I haven't gotten to far, but I was captivated by the open paragraphs. Du Maurier has such a wonderful style of writing. I just love it!!

I guess that's all for now. Happy Sunday!! And Happy Reading!

17 comments:

Literary Feline said...

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! One of these days I want to read the Discworld series. There's a ton of books in the series, so I know I'll be busy once I get started. :-)

Daphne du Maurier is another author I really want to try. I love a gothic setting.

I hope you have a great week!

Anonymous said...

I'm planning to join Sunday Salon next week - I enjoy reading everyone else's SS posts.

I'm happy to hear you're enjoying This Charming Man so much - it's next on my list.

tanabata said...

A bit of gothic sounds like fun. I've only read Rebecca by du Maurier but should read something else one of these days.

Stephanie said...

Wendy - Thanks!! I've read so many of the Sunday Salon posts, that I finally decided I needed to join. I don't know why I've put off reading Pratchett before now. Oh yeah...I know. If I liked him, I'd be "forced" into a series with MANY books!!

Carrie - I was the same way. I've read so many Salon's I can't believe I haven't joined sooner. This Charming Man was very good.

Tanabata - I liked Rebecca, but I loved My Cousin Rachel. It was fantastic! So far, so good with this one. I do love a good Goth novel!

Ladytink_534 said...

I still doing reviews on books I read in April lol! I was going to read one of the Discworld until I realized it was the fourth book in the series. I'll eventually get around to reading it though!

Debi said...

Oh man, I can't wait to read reviews on all three of those current reads! I've got the first two on my TBR shelves. I've been wanting to read A Walk in the Woods forever...we hiked a piece of the AT for our honeymoon. My husband read it, and really loved it.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Salon! I've had Bill Bryson's books on my TBR list for a long time. Just last week my brother-in-law even sent us a copy out of the blue. Guess that means it's calling my name.

Unknown said...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who reads more than one book at a time!

Iliana said...

Yay for your first Sunday Salon post!
I can't wait to read your review of the Marian Keyes book. I've only read one of her books and was really disappointed with it but I know a lot of people really enjoy her books. I'd like to try another one, one of these days.

Anonymous said...

i've never read any du maurier but i really want to. charlotte, my wife, loves "rebecca" and so i'm really keen to read som du maurier.

and funnily enough, considering i'm a gaiman fan and have read all of terry pratchett's discoworld books, its so weird that i haven't read "good omens" yet!!

Marg said...

I really enjoy Pratchett - some of his books are pure genius. Others are just really good!

I am a huge Keyes fan, so will be interested to see what you think of This Charming Man. It wasn't bad, but I don't think it was her best.

I have still only read Rebecca by du Maurier, but I loved that so I should really read more from her.

Anonymous said...

I echo all the others who have welcomed you to the Sunday Salon (if not a little late here). Gaiman, Prattchett and Bryson: what more could you ask for? I don't think much else. To be honest, I haven't read any Pratchett either, but I'd like to read some soon.

Andi said...

I'm a little late, but WELCOME to The Sunday Salon! I'm glad to see you salonning with us.

Of the books you mentioned, so many goodies! I have Good Omens on my TBR and my mentor and I were just talking about how much I need to read it the other day. lol

I also have A Walk in the Woods on my TBR, so thanks for those encouraging words. I've never read Bryson and I'm looking forward to it.

S. Krishna said...

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on This Charming Man. I really enjoyed it and reviewed it here:

http://skrishnasbooks.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-charming-man-marian-keyes.html

It looks like you and I have similar taste in books - I'll have to add your blog to my regular reads!

Ana S. said...

You do have to read the Discworld books, Stephanie! I'm so glad you're enjoying Good Omens so much.

And Jamaica Inn is a book I've always wanted to read...glad to hear it's good.

Suey said...

Both A Walk in the Woods and Jamaica Inn have been on my TBR forever. I have got to get to them one of these days! AND, I just picked up the first Discworld book last week at the library. I know nothing about this series, so what am I getting into?

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

If you figure out how to balance--let me know the secret!!

I've heard great things about Daphne du Maurier--happy reading. :)