Sunday, April 24, 2011

Sunday Salon- Happy Easter and Happy Spring

Flowers are finally coming up in my back yard- tulips and crocuses. My yard is always kind of a mess- I'm not a gardener at all and I hate digging and getting dirty. My husband did some tidying up a couple of weeks ago and planted some grass and put some bricks around the flower beds. It looks nice now, and it will be great once it's warm enough to put the hammock out and use it. But for now I'm happy to look out every now and then and see some modest progress.

I finished reading Fosca, by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti, this week. It was pretty good; it's about a man who becomes obsessed with a very ugly woman while his love affair with a beauty winds down. I didn't love it but I thought it was a neat little time capsule of a read. I'll have a full review next week. In the meantime today I'm reading The Last Brother, by Nathacha Appanah; it's about a young boy on the island of Mauritius during World War II and the friendship and tragedy he shares with a young Jewish boy who's interred there along with other Eastern European Jews escaping the war and on their way to Israel. I didn't know anything about this particular chapter of WW2 history and it's fascinating. And the book is terrific!

As usual I've quit my monthly reading project early; I worked my way through several review books and several "me" books, and now I'm on to May's project, reading some 2011 releases. The Last Brother is the first of these; then I'm on to Ghost Light and The Tiger's Wife and others. Of course I'll keep you informed! If there's a 2011 release you think I would love, please tell me in the comments!
Next weekend is the Newburyport Literary Festival; come back Thursday for more details about what's going on, and next week for a full wrap-up.

And it's Easter! I love Easter. Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates it. It's such a great family holiday. We'll be at my in-laws having lamb and cheesecake with family and friends. I'm anticipating an awesome day and I hope everyone has a great day, no matter what you're up to.

More Sunday Salon here!

11 comments:

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Happy Easter to you and your family!

Cassandra said...

I really enjoyed Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney. It's about an American widow who discovers her Irish husband had been lying about his past. She goes to Ireland to wrestle his demons, so to speak.

I posted a review last week, and I have a guest post up by her tomorrow. She's giving a book away, too. In fact, she lives in the Boston area, I think. You might get lucky enough to go to a reading :)

Oh, and I'm glad you like The Last Brother. It's been one of my favorites this year.

bermudaonion said...

Happy Easter to you!!

Frances said...

Happy Easter to you and yours! Also enjoying all that is coming out of the ground right now but find that I did plant most of it. Do enjoy the dirt, and am currently obsessing about the state of the grass and the new tomato supports I want to build this year. Enjoy the books that suit you and don't worry about the others. And can't wait to hear about upcoming festival.

Sandy Nawrot said...

Happy Easter to you too! We have no family down here, but will hang with our friends who adopted us. I'm very curious about The Tiger's Wife. Great reviews in EW, but mixed on the blogs.

bibliophiliac said...

Maybe you've already read it, but I thought Robin Black's collection of stories If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This was superb. It comes out in paperback soon. I just downloaded The Bird Sisters on my Nook since I've been hearing so much about it on Twitter, but I haven't started it yet.

Vasilly said...

Happy Easter! I just finished reading Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin. I think it was great! Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones won't be published until next month but it's an absorbing read along with The Violets of March by Sarah Jio.

Michelle said...

Happy Easter to you as well! Hope you have an enjoyable day.

Anonymous said...

I am so awful when it comes to gardening! i feel your pain. Happy Easter!

Zibilee said...

Every year I tell myself I am going to catch the gardening bug, but every year my lawn stays bare and flowerless, so I understand just what you mean about not being the type to do that type of thing. I am hoping that you have a really nice Easter and that you enjoy getting the chance to spend the day with your family. I will be with friends instead of family this year, which is new for me. Enjoy your week!

Booksnyc said...

Happy Easter! I can relate to the gardening woes (although my garden exists on my windowsill) which is why I enjoyed the NY Botanic Gardens so much - everything was gorgeous and someone else did all the work to get it that way :)

I second Cassandra's recommendation for Dance Lessons - I loved it!