Happy Sunday, everyone! November finally came to Madison, and although we didn’t get any snow like my family did back in MN, it’s been dreary, cold, and damp for the last few days. I think I must have some minor case of Seasonal Affective Disorder because I’ve been feeling pretty lethargic and out of sorts the last few days.
But I hope some great reading will cheer me up. I’m all caught up with a readalong of The Odyssey, so I’ll be posting my thoughts on that tomorrow, I hope. And after getting some opinions about how to read for the rest of 2010, I decided to focus first on books borrowed from other people. If I get done with those, I’ll switch to review copies and get to start out 2011 sort of caught up.
The first book I’m going to read, because of a lot of positive mentions, is Devil in the White City. I’m only about 30 pages in, but I can already tell it’s going to be a book really rich in characters and scenes, which is some of my favorite narrative nonfiction. I don’t know of a story of murder is exactly the thing for the winter blues, but we’ll see.
The other big thing on my plate today, besides finding some quality time to read and write up thoughts on The Odyssey, is hosting the wine tasting group that Boyfriend and I are a part of, WASTED. When I talked about WASTED in a review of a book on wine, I mentioned that I don’t actually know what the acronym stands for. I did some digging (ie, went to the group Facebook page) and discovered WASTED stands for “We All Should Taste Every Day!” I like that.
The theme for WASTED this week is “Wine in Literature” — can you tell I came up with it? The idea is to find wine mentioned in a book somewhere, then bring your best approximation of the wine. I found a mention of white wine in The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood, so I bought a white wine from California called “Obsession” that is made from Symphony grapes. It’s not exactly what I wanted, but turns out wines from Canada sold around here are ridiculously expensive. Boo!
Don’t worry, there will definitely be a blog post about this tasting, just not tonight because I’m pretty sure it would be incoherent. But anyway, I have a lot to do before 3:00 this afternoon, so I should get to it. Once WASTED starts, I am pretty much useless for the rest of the day. Have a great Sunday, everyone!
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Ooh I would LOVE to be a part of a wine-tasting group, that sounds like so much fun! Enjoy the meeting tonight.
Heather: It is a lot of fun! I’m glad we were invited to join – it’s really expanded my tastes when it comes to wine.
Sounds like you will be having a great night! Enjoy!
Amy: Yes, it was a fun night. We had a lot of fun with all the readings, that’s for sure. There was a huge variety of books represented.
One of my favorite radio talk show hosts (Michael Smerconish) raves about Devil in the White City. I’ve been meaning to give that one a try because I usually like (and agree with) his recommendations.
I hear you on the SAD, too. I definitely have this and the time change just seems to make it kick into full gear. This time of year is not exactly my favorite.
Enjoy your wine tasting group … that sounds like fun!
Melissa: You know, I didn’t think about the time change, but I bet that is a huge part of it. It’s hard to be motivated and excited when it’s dark ALL the time.
So far, Devil in the White City is pretty good. I wouldn’t give it a rave review at this moment, but it’s definitely decent.
I love the wine in literature theme! How fun!
Trisha: I thought it was fun – I think people had to stretch a little bit to find something, which was cool. There was also a lot of book nerdery, especially about Harry Potter!
Have fun tonight 🙂
I think the weather is affecting me as well, but you are right, good reading can help a lot..
Iris: The season change to winter always gets me. I don’t mind any other one, but winter just gets to me. I am not a winter person, at all.
Oh dear, I hope you don’t have SAD, because winter could last a long time in Wisconsin! But at least there is always a sense of “shared suffering” that bonds people together there! And of course you have WASTED – a good way to escape from winter blues! It sounds so fun!
rhapsodyinbooks: Nah, I don’t think I really have SAD, just a minor version related to the season change. And knowing that winter in Wisconsin lasts a long time! But we do have a shared bond; sometimes digging out a car makes you feel badass, sometimes not 🙂
Did you know that they are making a movie of “Devil in The White City?” My hubby read it a couple of years ago and really liked it but I’ve put it off. Guess I’m going to have to pick it up soon.
Lisa: I did see that – with Leonardo DiCaprio. My sister read this book a long time ago, so we both got excited about a possible movie!
OH! I need to hurry up and read this if they’ve got a movie coming out soon!
Care: I don’t think it’s coming out soon — still way early production, as far as I remember.
Mmm, wine.
My husband owns Devil in the White City (I think because I told him he should get it, at one point), but neither of us have read it. It does sound really good, though, and someday I’ll get there!
Erin: Mmm, wine, is right. You know, I’ve had this book on my shelf for like 2 years, always thinking that I’d get to it at some point. It’s exciting to finally be getting to it for real.
I loved Devil in the White City ! I’m confident you will too.
Lately I’ve been matching my reading with some sort of “adult” beverage. As a result of “extensive research”, I’ve found that Greek ouzo goes quite well my 400 page history of the Greek city of Salonica !
Since I’m in a bit of a vodka mood, perhaps I need to read a little Russian literature tonight !!
Maphead: LOL! That’s hilarious. I think we would have had a huge variety of drinks if the tasting had been “Drinks and Books.” 🙂
Hope you wine tasting goes well– it sounds super fun!
I think the weather has affected me but in the opposite way. It stayed hot for so long I feel like I missed out on my favorite cool fall weather and now I’m depressed.
Ash: I don’t mind the switch to fall, although I was happy about it being warm for so long. But maybe the switch from warm to col was so drastic it threw me off… someday, I should let the weather impact my mood less 🙂
I’ve been meaning to read Devil in the White City since my daughter finished it and passed it on to me, telling me I had to read it!
Jeanne: I think that’s sort of why I have it – my sister read it and then said that I should… two years ago 🙂
Our weather has been nicer the past month or so than it was all summer, but usually I suffer from SAD this time of year.
Yeah for California wine and SUPER yeah for you reading The Devil in the White City!
Gwen: My weather mood just started a few weeks ago – before that it was just beautiful! Sigh for the winter…
Jealous, jealous, jealous. I live in BOSTON and I don’t know of any such wine groups. Sounds like fun!
Cass: It is a lot of fun. WASTED has been around for three years, so it’s changed quite a bit, but it’s always been fun when I get to go. Like I said, it’s really helped expand my wine taste buds.
Kim…hope you are feeling cheerier soon. The season chaos does not help:(
Thanks diane, me too! I tell you, the weather just gets crazier and crazier.
Sounds like you had fun – I am interested in hearing more about this 🙂
Sheila: I’ll be doing a post about it once I get a copy of the notes that my friend Lindsay took — there were some really fun pairings!
I am SO not ready for winter! We have a little dusting of snow this morning and I was not happy to see it!
Lisa: I am not ready either! I’m so glad we don’t have any snow yet, that would just be too much. Although, it is almost December, so maybe we’re due.