Sunday Salon

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.

This week I made the decision that I was going to re-read both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins before I jumped into Mockingjay. I made the decision sort of last minute – the day Mockingjay came out – so I ended up having to wait a few days for my books to get delivered, but once they arrived I read though all three books in three days.

About three months ago, Boyfriend and I were invited to join a wine tasting group here in Madison called WASTED – it’s an acronym for something, but no one can see to remember what!

We’re heading off to another WASTED meeting this afternoon, which made today seem like the perfect time to review a narrative nonfiction book I just recently finished about the history of wine in the United States, The Wild Vine by Todd Kliman.

I haven’t done The Sunday Salon in a long time, and I’ve found myself really missing it. I liked having a space and excuse to do just have a sort of personal musings and readings post, so I’m going to try and start up again.

Right now seems like a good time for a general reading and life update, if you’re interested in this dork’s life, with pictures!

Sometimes I just don’t want to read the book I’m supposed to read.

I want to ignore the shelf of review books (even though I am excited to read them), skip my pile of library books, and avoid the books pulled because of challenges of other book blogging projects. I just want to read something different.

So for the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to indulge that desire, since I think reading books I’m “supposed” to read when I don’t feel like reading them doesn’t work for anyone. And my rebellious reads have been a lot of fun.

This week I got to read two memoir/travelogues that were also graphic novels — Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson and Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle.

I’m going to try to review them together because what I thought was most interesting was the way the graphic novel format allows for two pretty similar stories to be told in very different ways.

Over the last few weeks I got to work on a freelance story for our local newspaper about summer reading trends and approaches. I interviewed local librarians and other readers to try and write about why people choose the books they choose in the summer, and about the idea of taking on summer reading projects versus “beach reads.”

I’d love it if you went over and read the article and let me know what you think. There’s also a sidebar of suggested summer reads in a variety of categories that I think turned out well too. And there’s a story on e-readers (by another editor), that I think is good too.

Life got in the way this weekend and I couldn’t participate in Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-Thon. My friend Amanda came to town to look for apartments next year, which took most of Saturday. Luckily, we did find a great place close to where I live now that has a nook area, wood floors, a decorative fireplace, and built in bookshelves. It’s awesome. I can’t wait to move in August and share pictures.

Thanks to everybody who voted on which books I should read on my bus ride home. I ended up taking Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni and Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.

I finished Honeymoon in Tehran this morning, and although I didn’t love it as much as I loved Moaveni’s first book, Lipstick Jihad, I think it’s a book worth checking out. I decided I’m going to do a Q&A review about the book, since there was so much interest, so leave any questions you have in the comments and I’ll use them as I write.