Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sunday Salon- The Eye of the Hurricane

What a week. The new kitties are settling in, but mostly that means they're finding new places to hide every day and generally driving me crazy. Today we have to take one of them to the vet for a general check up- wish me luck! Yesterday we cleaned out my craft room and made it the cat room- got them all set up with their own quiet little space. I hope that helps them!  On Thursday Jeff and I got to go to the local premiere of the movie Gnomeo and Juliet; one of his clients was involved with the film and invited us. I wrote a review on my movie blog if you're interested.

Friday was my birthday and I got to see a bunch of friends and eat some cake, which is just about all you can ask for. Book-wise, my husband got me a vintage illustrated edition of Jane Eyre and a Folio Society edition of Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda, one of my favorite books. I also got a gift card for Barnes & Noble, which I spent on the complete DVD series of "Jeeves and Wooster" and the Everyman's Library edition of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's wonderful historical novel The Leopard. If you love Italy or Italian history, you have to read this magnificent novel and see Luchino Visconti's masterful film adaptation. Please!

Today? Today is all about relaxing and reading, I hope! I'm taking a creative-writing class and I need to read my fellow students' short stories, and work on my own, and I've got Enough About Love by Hervé Le Tellier to read, a bubbly literary romance perfect for Valentine's Day, and Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, which I'm enjoying. It's a quirky story about a quirky family and so far, a fun read. This month I'm reading 2011 releases and there are so many good-looking books to choose from. Too many, as always!

I'm also hoping to write some decent reviews and posts this week, and get back to commenting and reading other blogs; this past week I've been so preoccupied with the "kids" that everything else sort of took a back seat. So today I'll play catch-up on a bunch of things and try to just chill out a little, too.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I'd love to know what's your favorite literary love story. I'm reading mine- Jane Eyre- for Laura's readalong at her blog, Laura's Review Bookshelf. Oscar and Lucinda is another great one, albeit kind of twisted; A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot is another; The End of the Affair, The English Patient, The Remains of the Day and Possession round out my favorites. What are yours?

More Sunday Salon here!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday! My favorite love story at the moment is Pride and Prejudice.

Mystica said...

Happy birthday. For love story I would also go with Pride and Prejudice.
You have sold me on The Leopard (completely new to me) Thanks.

Laura said...

Happy birthday Marie! Our birthdays are a week apart (mine is this coming Friday). Sounds like you had a nice day and received some excellent bookish gifts!

As for literary love stories, I'll keep with the Jane Austen theme. I also love P&P, but enjoyed Persuasion even more.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Happy belated Birthday Marie. Enjoy your new special books.

It sounds like those new cats are still traumatized from their long trip to Boston? Hope they snap out of it soon.

Bookfool said...

Pride and Prejudice is my personal favorite, but The English Patient and The Remains of the Day are also on my mental favorites list.

Sounds like the kitties are going to need a lot of adjustment time. I'm sure that's frustrating. Their age probably has something to do with it, but I'm sure they'll eventually relax if they don't drive you crazy, first. I'm glad they made it safe and sound.

bermudaonion said...

Those are some pretty special cats to get their own room! Enjoy your day!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Happy belated birthday from me as well!

My favorite romance is of course Jane Eyre!

Cassandra said...

I sat and thought about this for a while. I don't really read a lot of books that have a "romance" that's worth anything in them. I'm sure I used to, but not any that I have stood out to me. It doesn't help that the bulk of my book collection is in storage. I can't skim the titles and be reminded.

I don't like not having an answer :(

Oh, and a very happy birthday!

Frances said...

Happy birthday and best of luck with the unruly and unpredictable children! I would lean toward The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Just love that book!

Suzanne Yester said...

Happy Birthday Marie!! And what wonderful gifts!! I have a few favorite literary love stories, one of my favorite would be... The Time Travelers Wife. Love Anna Karenina too! Pride & Prejudice!

Have a great week! AND, hope the kitties enjoy their new room!

Anonymous said...

The Complete Jeeves and Wooster? My wife and I are so jealous. I got her a collection of the Psmith books a few years ago. She still has to get to them.

JaneGS said...

Happy Birthday, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Sunday just relaxing.

I loved your review of Gnomeo and Juliet--cute.

Jane Eyre is a wonderful love story--definitely among my favorites. Other favorites are the Austen novels, Anne of GG and Gilbert Blythe, Laura and Almanzo Wilder (These Happy Golden Years remains my favorite of the series), and Much Ado About Nothing.

The Leopard has been on my TBR radar, maybe I should actually get a copy!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday and Valentine's Day! Jane Eyre is a longtime favorite of mine too, and I am about to reread a slightly younger one, The Ordinary Princess. Hearts.

Lisa C. Hayden said...

Happy birthday, Marie! And thank you for mentioning The Leopard, which has been languishing on my shelf for years.

Like IndieReader, I'm not sure I have a favorite love story... well, other than War and Peace, which is love story, historical novel, and slice of life all in one.

Happy Valentine's Day... and may the cats settle in soon!

ImageNations said...

Hi Marie, a lot going on at your end. Same here, reading-wise and others. Hope your cats acclimate fast enough to be good pets (lol).

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice over the weekend and you definitely know that it's one good love story. I loved Elizabeth and Darcy too. I hated Mr. Collins to the core - esp his blatant disregard to people's feelings. Was that guy human? Or he was just being blunt? Well, that's pride and prejudice for you. And Lydia... awww. Possession I enjoyed though the ending was so swift and too expectedly. I have Jane Eyre but would save it for after three African Writers readings.

Vasilly said...

Happy Birthday! It sounds like you had a great day. Glad to hear that Swamplandia is a good book. I haven't read Russell's book of short stories yet so I think that's the one I'll start with. Have a great week.

Kathleen said...

Sounds like you ended up having a lovely birthday with some nice gifts!