Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sunday Salon- Back to Real Life

Tomorrow marks the end of vacation; I had a wonderful week in South Carolina followed by another wonderful, if slightly abbreviated, week on Nantucket; we got out on Thursday night ahead of the anticipated Hurricane Earl, which ended up fizzling out after all. But before we escaped on the last boat out Thursday night, my husband and I had a very nice few days in the sun. We went swimming in the ocean, walked around town, had some very nice meals and did a little shopping. No books though! Can you believe it? I can hardly believe it myself.

But it's back to the grindstone after tomorrow.

Over vacation I treated myself to reading a bunch of books I wanted to read, i.e. none that I had accepted for review. In all I read four over the two weeks, finishing up with Avner Mandelman's enjoyable page-turner The Debba. Now I'm going to plow through a few review books and see what I have for fall.

Today I'm reading Joan Leegant's Wherever You Go, which I have to admit I'm not really crazy about so far. But we'll see. I think I'm having a hard time with it because it's set in Israel and the book I just finished, The Debba, was too, and maybe I need a change of scene. I'm also reading John Kennedy Toole's very enjoyable A Confederacy of Dunces, which is not for review but the last of my for-me vacation reads. Alternating between the two is not helping me enjoy Wherever any more.

After Leegant's book I'm going to start Ghita Schwarz's Displaced Persons, which I have to read for LibraryThing. I just won Nicole Krauss's new book from LT and need to knock off one of theirs to accept the latest win with a clean conscience.

Well, back to the books. What are you looking forward to for the rest of the long weekend?

More Sunday Salon here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

i have A Confederacy of Dunces on my bookshelf and i keep putting it off, even though i'm pretty sure i'll adore it. something about the ugly cover is always such a drag. heh.

gautami tripathy said...

My weekend ends after some hours! And I have read 50 pages of And This Too Shall Pass by E. Lynn Harris.

Here is my Sunday Salon post!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Sounds like you had an excellent vacation. I am hoping to start Displaced Person very soon as well - enjoy

bermudaonion said...

The end of vacation is always hard! I'm glad Earl fizzled out, but I'm sorry he ruined the end of your trip.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Vacations are so lovely, aren't they? I really think I've never quite made it home from Europe.

I don't know what I'm reading this weekend. I'm almost finished with Mockingjay, but I don't want to finish it, and I don't want to start another book till I do! Crazy.

caite said...

A Confederacy of Dunces is a book I always mean to read and haven't yet. I bought a copy when I read in one of Linda Greenlaw's book that she said it was one of her all times favorites...and someday I will get to it!

fibrowitch said...

I am working my way through a couple of works on American and Boston history "Lincoln & Douglas" by Allen Guelzo; "The Boston Italians" by Stephen Puleo and "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser.

I have recently finished "A City so Grand" by Stephen Puleo and "John Adams" by David McCullough

I really should write reviews, especially for the Puleo books, but I just didn't do it.

Zibilee said...

A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favorite books, and I think Ignatius is unforgettable. Mind you, he's not endearing or lovable, but definitely unforgettable! I hope you have a great time with the book and a wonderful week ahead!

Kathleen said...

Glad you enjoyed a nice holiday and avoided the worst of the storm. I'm slowly getting back to my blogging and reading after a few days off.