Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sunday Salon- Current Reading and Reading Coming Soon


I'm enjoying a nice laid-back weekend after another crazy week. I attended a mini conference on Friday at which I had to give a talk on upcoming Jewish books through the rest of the year. I'll do a post on this soon; I can't wait to share some of the interesting things coming out.

Yesterday Jeff and I went to a big library booksale in the neighboring town of Concord; it was total chaos! Tables everywhere, books everywhere, people everywhere. And it was raining. I love library booksales but affluent suburbanites can be very competitive when it comes to cheap books. I got three things- Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (signed!), The Jerusalem File by Joel Stone, and Snow by Orhan Pamuk. We got there about an hour and a half after it started and it was already pretty picked over. I'm happy with my finds though!

I've now got three books going: The Colony, by Jillian Weise; He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, by Trish Ryan; Beautiful Maria of my Soul, by Oscar Hijuelos. Last night my husband and I spent some time relaxing and reading our books with coffees at our local Barnes & Noble cafe; I love doing that. I added a couple of books to my wishlist of course, most notably Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna, which just won the Orange Prize, and Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, which is going on my "When it Comes out in Paperback" list, because I can't quite bring myself to buy any more hardcovers right now. But if one of you has read it, I would love to know what you think.

Today's big plan? I'll go to the gym and spend time with Jeff; probably, a bookstore will be involved somehow! I also need to catch up on all your blogs. What are you up to?

More Sunday Salon here.

21 comments:

Amanda said...

Our library booksales are always very chaotic too, and now that I think about it, we have one coming up next week...

Frances said...

Oops, I have not mailed your copy of The Lacuna! I held it back from the others to take out my post-it notes and read them one more time and then I totally forgot about it. It has been so crazy lately! I am SOOOO sorry! I will put it in the mail tomorrow. Take it off the wish list.

Also getting ready for the Oscar Hijuelos. Feeling a little cautious. Can he pull this off? Gutsy topic choice. Happy reading!

Harvee said...

I like the sound of A Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Happy Sunday! Harvee
My Sunday Salon

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Looking forward to your post on Jewish books.

I love library book sales, the bargains you can pick up are amazing.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it is the weekend for library sales! I have two local ones, one of which I am not going to make it to and the other of which I will go to with my stepdaughter later today, although I expect it to be completely picked over.

Trisha said...

Book people can be a bit crazy when it comes to sales!

bookmagic said...

Last Night in Monteal was so good, I'm jealous of your signed copy because i think Mandel just rocks!
I heard Snow was confusing but I've heard good things about Lemon Cake. Enjoy your books

Suzanne Yester said...

I really loved Last Night in Montreal! I can't believe there was a signed copy at the book sale! Lucky girl! I also have Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake on my wish list. I actually reserved it at our library and will probably read it from there- trying to patronize my local library AND save a little $$! ;-)

I am gearing up for our local book sale. It's the first weekend in July and there is always a BIG crowd. There are also a ton of "resellers" with their bar code guns and lists grabbing all those wonderful newish paperback! I know the money we pay for the books goes towards the library, but somehow I think those resellers should let us "really want to read that book and pay only $1 for it" people have a chance at it first!

Thanks for sharing your weekend!
Suzanne

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I've added Sadness to my queue at the library, but the line (and thus the wait) is pretty long.

I'm having a relaxing weekend, too.

Melissa said...

Our library book sale was a few weeks ago and it was CRAZY! (I still need to write a post about it and what I bought.)

I loved Last Night in Montreal - hope you enjoy it, too!

Looking forward to hearing about your conference and the new books coming out.

Marie Cloutier said...

Frances- THANK YOU! I didn't want to say anything because I figured either you forgot or someone else got it first, but THANK YOU! This absolutely makes my day!! *smooch*

Marie Cloutier said...

suzanne- I can't stand the "resellers". So annoying. I agree with you 100%! Us average readers should still be able to find treasures at these kinds of sales; it's not fair when the barcode brigade snaps them all up. And they are always the pushiest people as well. rrgghhh!

Kate said...

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday! Just wanted to let you know there's an award waiting for you at Kate's Library!

JoAnn said...

I really want to read Last Night in Montreal - envious of the signed copy! Our library book sale is next month.

Kitten said...

I'm looking forward to "Lemon Cake" too. And "The Lacuna."

I'm not much of a fan of library booksales at my local library. By the time I am able to get there, the pickin's are slim.

Right now I'm finishing up "The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman. Very good book!

ImageNations said...

Just got myself (las Friday) Uwem Akpan's Say You're One of Them and Wole Soyinka's You Must Set Forth at Dawn. Presently reading A.S. Byatt's Possession. Enjoy your books

Bookin' It said...

I haven't read Lemon Cake yet, but I just heard a great review of it on the Books on the Nightstand podcast and I have to put it on hold at my library.

There was a library book sale here (Saratoga Springs, NY) last week, and I couldn't get a parking space - not in the lot, or on the street, or in another lot...guess I wasn't the only one who read the "books for 10 cents" add in the paper.

Zibilee said...

We don't have that many great library sales in this area, but my husband and I were just discussing calling the downtown branch to see if they have one yesterday. Not that I need any more books :) I also want to read Lemon Cake and have heard such good things about it. I do hope I can grab a copy, but I will probably wait for paperback too!

bermudaonion said...

My life's been crazy too. Between BEA and my dad's declining health, I've been home 1 week out of the last 4.

Alayne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alayne said...

I really loved The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. It's got wonderful magical realism like Alice Hoffman, without being quite as depressing. My review is here..