Sunday, October 16, 2011

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?

14 comments:

  1. Oh, I hope that work calms down for you so that you can get in more reading time! It stinks when other obligations come between a reader and their books, and as it's happening to me right now too, I can get your frustration. I am reading a really amazing book called The Healing right now, and reading it really slowly to savor and enjoy it. Up next is a Phillipa Gregory, which will be a really guilty pleasure for me :) I hope that you have a wonderful week, my friend!

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  2. Congratulations on your promotion! The only bummer is it cuts into your reading time..hopefully you can figure out some time when you can read for a few hours.

    Although you didn't get to the book festival for long, it sound like you optimized your time there, spoke with some great authors and picked up wonderful books! In fact you reminded me that I want to read The Cailiffs of Baghdad, GA & I'm going to put it on a couple of my TBR lists!

    I hope you have good week Lisa and still have some time to watch Football!

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  3. WEll let me just say...CONGRATULATIONS on your promotion! That's great news.

    I did read Julie and Julia, as well as My Life in France, and found both interesting. Last week I finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and this week I'm reading The Kitchen House for our November book chat.

    I hope you get some reading time in. :-)

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  4. Happy for your promotion but sad that it's sapping a lot of your "me" time. I hope that you find that happy medium soon for your own sanity! The book that just showed up looks pretty good to me. I know what you mean about those unsolicited books arriving in the mailbox..sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it all. I hope that your week is wonderful and you find time to read!

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  5. congrats on your promotion! Something similar happened to me a few months ago and it took me a little bit of time to balance the extra hours, my college classes and reading. Good luck finding the balance!

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  6. I've been eyeing The Girl on the Cliff - looking forward to your thoughts on it. Congrats on the promotion and hopefully the dust will settle soon and a routine can be established so you can fit the reading back in. It's tough to have that one piece removed from the day-to-day!

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  7. Congrats on your promotion. There just are not enough hours in the day for pleasures like reading when you work full time. Hope you can find some balance.

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  8. Congratulations on the promotion! Hope you are able to settle into a routine that gives you more time for yourself soon. I'll be finishing of 97 Orchard today or tomorrow (not much reading time here either lately) - it would fit in well with your foodie books. Not sure what I'll decide to read next...

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  9. I can't believe you haven't read Julie and Julia! I will never forget the marrow chapter, which I listened to while running at Lake Zukinski. :) ICK

    Several people have read my copy of Kitchen Counter, even making recipes from the book. Everyone seems to love it, I hope you do to but the expectations might be too high.

    Congrats on the promotion. I'm will you... need to find time to relax.

    Have a great week, Mari

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  10. Well, congrats on the promotion!! I'm sure once things settle down, you'll be able to work some reading time into your schedule again. We just finished a major upgrade here which means I have a bit more time, but at the State level, when you have extra time someone tries to come fill it, right away with other stuff that may not necessarily be your responsibility so I am flying low and taking some professional development to appear busy.

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  11. Good luck with your new promotion and finding your me time again! I'm reading two YA books. One that's really interesting is Envy by Gregg Olsen. It's a crime/mystery fiction with two twin teenage girls who are psychic (you know to help them solve the crimes). It's kind of fun, especially for this time of the year.

    Hope you have a wonderful reading week!

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  12. Hurray for youe promotion! Hopefully you'll be able to snatch enough reading here and there.

    I liked The Forgotten Garden so maybe I'll check out The Girl on the Cliff.

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  13. Congratulations on the promotion! Glad you had some time available for the literary event and got some good books. Hope you get the time to read them soon!

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  14. Yes, I fear for those around me when I don't get any "me" time. Which, obviously, is frequent these days. ;)

    Congrats on the new promotion. Will it allow you to still participate in the readathon??

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