It’s 9:15 on Sunday night, and I’m calling it a weekend on my Bloggiesta plans. I had 25 things on my To Do List, and in all I managed to cross off all but five of them. Given that I spent Friday at work and a soccer game and Saturday prepping for a birthday party, I’d say that is pretty darn awesome.
If you’re reading this in a feed reader, take a second and pop over to the site to see the face lift I gave it. Nothing drastic, but I did update the header, change the font, move and update the columns, and move the navigation bar. I like it a lot.
Communities
I recognized myself, at least a former version of myself, in this story — the kind of girl that goes into used bookstores or clearance sections not really looking for anything, just exploring what is there. I loved both the feeling of finding a book I’ve wanted for awhile unexpectedly, or picking up something I didn’t even know I wanted to read. I did the same thing at the library. I never had books on hold for me, I simply went and wandered the stacks and came out with a pile of books to explore when I got home.
I’ve had a couple of really uncharacteristic reading weeks over the last month. It started back in November when I realized that I could spend basically all of November and December reading whatever I wanted because I was done with reading commitments for the year.
I decided to finish all of the books I’d borrowed from people over the last several months, which I managed to do really quickly because I went unplugged for awhile. Since then, I’ve been on a literary fiction reading kick, which has been really abnormal and a lot of fun.
Last Sunday Salon I mentioned that I was hosting the wine tasting group I’m a part of, WASTED. The theme for the night was “Wine and Literature,” so everyone brought a wine that went with a particular book passage. There were a lot of good wines, and it was fun to listen to everyone read their particular book passages.
We started out with a Guenoc Victorian Claret, a red wine that I picked out because the wine shop employee told me it was the kind of wine that characters in a Jane Austen novel would drink. It tasted a bit like tobacco and cherry, pretty good.
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.
Welcome to the online discussion for The Jungle, hosted by BookClubSandwich: An online book club for foodies and wannabes. Andi (Estella’s Revenge) and I are both glad you’re here.
The discussion format is pretty simple – I’ve included my thoughts below in a sort of review – there are a bunch of discussion questions as well. The comments section is open for responses and discussion – responding to each other as much or more than responding to me – and there’s a Mr. Linky to add your own reviews. The discussion will take place all week, and Andi will have a wrap-up of the discussion next Monday.
This is just a quick reminder post that BookClubSandwich, an online book club for foodies and wannabes, co-hosted by me and Andi of Estella’s Revenge, will be “meeting” online next Monday, November 8 to read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.
On Monday I’ll put up an initial post with some thoughts, discussion questions, and a Mr. Linky for your reviews. You can post your thoughts anytime that week, then Andi will do a wrap-up post on Monday, November 15.
Last week I posted a Narrative Nonfiction 5 list of Spooky Stories, picking some nonfiction that reminded me of Halloween. The third book on the list, and the one that got the most responses in the comments, was Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, which I just finished reading this weekend.
The book is sort of a conglomeration of types of narrative nonfiction – part travelogue, part profile, and part true crime – but manages to pull off every part successfully, resulting in a book that’s lush in scenery, broad in characters, and tinged with mystery and intrigue.
If you want updates on my Read-a-Thon progress, visit this sticky post at the top of the page!
End of Event Meme
1. Which hour was most daunting to you? I think right around Hour 7 I was feeling tired and bogged down reading Food Fray. But then I finished and did actually read much after that since Jenny and I went out to hang with her friends.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I’m not sure any of the books I read would qualify for that, even if I enjoyed them!
Today is the Read-a-Thon! Woo! Yesterday I posted my book list and plans, read Jill’s newest song, and packed for Iowa, so I’m raring to go. My plan is to make this a sticky post with the most recent updates at the top. If I do any Mini-Challenges, they’ll be in a different post underneath this one.
Like I said yesterday, I’m couch-bound in Ames, Iowa, hanging out with my sister, Jenny, for this Read-a-Thon. Jenny has been on the blog before when we did a series of Sister’s Reviews awhile back. She’s awesome.
With that, let’s Read-a-Thon!
