The Sunday Salon- 1 down on my only challenge

Another weekend, down the tubes. Still fighting health issues, hence the x-ray of my shoulder. Going to the fancy neck Dr. tomorrow, so hope they can suggest something other than more surgery.

I am 1 down on the Steampunk Challenge- finished "Soulless" and loved it! (review coming) I got all 3 books in the series for Christmas so gooooooooooo me!

Watched "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest" yesterday. WOW!! I hope the American version can do it justice, since I love, love love the Swedish series.

I was disappointed to see the casting for my favorite book.."Atlas Shrugged". Most of the cast are from TV shows like One Tree Hill (John Galt..are you kidding me?). I will try really hard not to judge until it comes out, but I fear my disappointment will be great. I have read the book every 2 years since I was 14. (Obsessive perhaps?)

Finished "Just Kids" and I can see why it won the National Book Award. It is lyrical. (review next week)

I have been wandering the "blogosphere" reading new blogs and commenting, but no one is coming to see me. I have almost 100 followers, so that is my goal for Feb. 26 more followers....pipe dreams.

Going to make chicken fried steak for dinner so I guess I'd best get cracking.

Have a great week......

Sunday Salon

This week has been fairly uneventful, still not feeling up to par, and now The MAN is feeling sicky too. Had a bunch of little girls here for Granddaughters sleepover, but wisely hid in my room all evening, and let her Mom handle it. I will no even describe the aftermath....maybe a match and a can of gasoline might be the answer.

I am going to try and catch up on my reviews this week, I know I have said that before, but this time I mean it.....

I have gotten a lot of reading finished and am almost finished with "The Angel's Game". If I can stay semi healthy I will finish and add my 2 cents worth to the many reviews I have seen.

Also look for reviews on "American Lightning", "Wake up Dead", "You've been Warned", and "Dino Vicelli, Private Eye, in a World of Evils".

Sunday Salon-I needed a beach

Last Summer everyone was reading and enjoying "The Castaways" by Elin Hilderbrand, and I felt a little left out, since I was number 473 on the wait list at the Library. Well, it was finally my turn, and I have to say.....not so much. I read it, but I didn't enjoy it much. Maybe I am getting too long in the tooth, but these people were all just not very nice. I expected more fun and less angst, so I was disappointed. Four couples who did so much together, they became like family, living on Nantucket, travelling together, all the things so few people really do, and when one couple dies suddenly, all the secrets come to a head.

My parents had a group like this and it was awful when it hit the fan, so I could relate somewhat.

The couples were all just okay for me, the rich couple, the farmer couple, the teacher couple and the cop couple, had just too many secrets and not nearly enough good times. I really wanted to like this, but you can;t win them all, I guess.

I got this book from my Library, number 474, you are up.

Sunday Salon-Start of a New Year

Another year has sped by, and I am too coughy to do much of a recap. I read a lot of books(100), some great, some good and some not so much. I do have a few things I would like to change in the New Year, and blogging more often is one of them. I am not sure how personal to get here, since this blog is primarily about books, but I think a little of me is okay. I have started 2 books since the New Year, "Brooklyn" and "Breathless", and since I have a Dean Koontz thing going, it will be my first post of the year, as far as reviews go.

I had a terrific year, reading new authors, and many books suggested by other bloggers, for which I thank you all. I received books from authors, publishers, publicity groups, and my library, as well as books bought for me as gifts, and books from my bookish friends. I have had so much fun reading, and writing my feelings about the books I read, not rating them, but writing from the heart. Most of all I appreciate the folks who stop by and comment, and even the ones who just stop by! Thank you so much for making my 2009 a good one. I hope 2010 is even better for all of us!

Sunday Salon

It has been an icky week with the coughing and all. I am way behind but hope to catch up this week. So many books and so few reviews written...shame on me!

Sunday Salon-Where, Oh Gentle Readers

Where, oh gentle readers, do we get ideas on which books to read? Do we get them from other bloggers? From Best Seller lists? From magazine reviews? I often wonder where they all come from.

I get so many ideas from other bloggers, books I would never have found otherwise, since my library is limited and I cannot browse the bookstore so well with my crutches. I find so many good ideas, but I have to say, so many bloggers read the same books that I have to subscribe to many, many blogs in order to get more ideas.

Do you carry a list to the library or bookstore, or do you just wing it? Do you stick to one genre or do you read whatever catches your fancy? ( I am a fancy grabber..does that sound bad?)

Speaking of subscribing to blogs, I really like the fact that they are all in one place, but I do so miss seeing the actual design and beauty of the blogs I read, so I find myself going to each site, which really defeats the purpose of subscribing. Sigh…..

I was on vacation this week, so I got some reading done, but not as much as I had hoped. Oh, and my dear sister spilled the beans and told me she got me a Book Buddy for my birthday at the end of the month. Woo Hoo! I guess sending the website and writing hint hint, really works.

Sunday Salon-Week in review

Reread The Lathe of Heaven, after a zillion years.

Started No Mad- by Sam Moffie

Started The Hunger Games- by Suzanne Collins

Reviewed- Dancing with Ana-by Nicole Barker

Reviewed You Don't Have to Learn The Hard Way- by J.R. Parrish

Finished- Julie and Julia- by Julie Powell

Finished -Fatally Flaky- by Diane Mott Davidson

Finished- Sweet Revenge- by Diane Mott Davidson

Plus I got A BBAW nomination...Woo Hoo!

Whew--I am eyesore! (no I am not AN eyesore)

Sunday Salon-What’s going on

This week was a good reading week and a bad week for Tinkerbelle.
(motor home formerly known as The Beast)

Tinkerbelle was parked in her storage space, minding her own business when some a-hole hit the truck parked next to her and pushed him into her side. Poop!

Reading was good- I won The Girl Who Played with Fire, but now I have to shave my head.

I read The Lie, Now What, Mercury in Retrograde (review is coming) , Dancing with Ana (review is coming), and Julie and Julia. I have been reading the original blog from Julie and Julia Project. It is so funny. It makes me wish I could cook better, or butter as it were.

I got 2 Diane Mott Davidson books from the library to catch up with Goldie, and the third Frankenstein book by Dean Koontz. So I have a little bit of reading to do. I am down to one ARC and will get it done this week.

Sunday Salon and Literary Road Trip

I hope this is not cheating, since it is my first attempt at both Sunday Salon and Literary Road Trip.

I had read several popular Colorado authors in the past, but for the Road Trip, I wanted to try someone new. Sandra Dallas is a Denver author, who has written a really fascinating book, “Tallgrass”.

A shameful time in America’s past is in the spotlight in this book, the interment of American born people of Japanese descent, after Pearl Harbor. Based on a real camp located in Colorado, it is the story, as told by 13 year old Rennie Stroud, a beet farmers daughter, of the turmoil and suspicion, surrounding the imprisonment of American citizens, based on their race. When one of Rennie’s fiends is brutally murdered and raped, suspicion immediately falls on the Japanese/Americans. The small town becomes a powder keg, just waiting for the spark that sets it off.

A really interesting look at a time when people did not know who to trust, who the real enemy was, and who their neighbors truly are.

This week I got a free audio book (my first) Paranoia by Joe Finder. Silly me, I thought it would be something to listen to while I drift off to sleep. Little did I know how exciting and terrific it would be.

Mercury in Retrograde by Paula Froelich arrived, and I am embarrassed to say I’m not sure if it came from the publisher or a giveaway.

The Lie by Fredrica Wagman arrived from the publisher, and I just got started on it.