Sunday, May 18, 2008

Sunday Salon

Today's a busy Sunday around my house; this morning I attended a brunch at the Hebrew school where I work, and later this afternoon I am going to trim my hydrangea bush and read.


I've been reading When We Get to Surf City, by Bob Greene, which is his picaresque memoir of touring with Jan and Dean, the beach band from the 1960s, in the 1990s and early 2000s. I'm about seven chapters into it (it's 25 chapters long) and I'm not sure how much more I'm going to read. Greene's tone is very nostalgic and star-struck, and repetitive. It seems like every other page he's saying something along the lines of "I can't believe little-old-me gets to tour with the Great Jan and Dean." 'Kay. The scenes of the band playing at state fairs and small venues reminds me of the movie Spinal Tap, where the guys are playing at an amusement park "arena" that looks to hold about 50 people. The gigs go from that one day to huge venues the next, and it's sort of fun to see the highs and lows, and then to see how the guys are handling it all. I'd say it would be a fun beach book for someone who's into 1960s beach rock and is looking for light trip down memory lane. Just not for me. (You can click on the cover if you want to buy it. It just came out in hardcover.)

Maybe I'll bring it into work. I've been doing that a lot lately, taking galleys into the office for the staff once I'm done with them. And a nice book about aging rock stars is always fun.

I also just started Songs for the Missing, by Stewart O'Nan, which I received from Barnes and Noble as part of their First Look program. And let me tell you I am really liking it.. The discussion on
bn.com starts on June 1 but I will be finished with it long before then. It's about a girl who disappears, and the aftershocks her disappearance leaves on her family and her town. It's not light, but it's not heavy- it's one of those books that seems to be building quietly, little by little, detail by detail. I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes. It's out in November but you can pre-order it if you want. I'll blog about it more when I'm done but I think it's going to be a good one.

I also have to blog my latest LibraryThing Early Reviewer book, which I've been procrastinating on. I did my LT review (and even posted it to Amazon!) but I still have to do that last piece.

And after that, I'm just putting together tomorrow's Graphic Novel Monday article, and tidying up my mountains of books to read. I really enjoy getting plugged into all these great resources for new books and having so many nice people with whom to talk about it all!

4 comments:

samantha.1020 said...

I love talking to other book lovers as well. It gives me new book titles to check into and I always end up adding to my TBR.

Andi said...

This is my first time stopping by, and I'm intrigued by your mention of Graphic Novel Monday! I'm a graphic novel nut. I'll be back!

LisaMM said...

Hi there, found you through LTer and am so glad I did! I'm reading Songs for the Missing too and also enjoying it. Do you know- is it ok to post the review on our blogs when we're finished, or do we have to wait for the discussion at B&N? I'll be done with it probably tomorrow.

Thanks for hosting the LTer blog ring!

Marie Cloutier said...

LisaMM- I don't know. I posted a question on the forum & I'll let you know when/if I get a reply. Good question!!