Category Archives: Bookish Talk

Bookish Talk

Opening Round: The Tournament of Books 2012

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TOB Logo

Today is a very exciting day! It’s the opening round for The Tournament of Books! It took a really long time for them to update their site, but it’s all updated now and the first round between The Sense of an Ending and The Devil All the Time has been posted.

I’ve been aware of the tournament for a few years now and although I have enjoyed many of the books, and some have become favorites of mine (Model Home for example), I never read ALL of the books chosen. So far, I have read four of them (1Q84, The Marriage Plot, The Cat’s Table, The Stranger’s Child [DNF]) and I plan to read five more (Swamplandia!, Salvage the Bones, The Art of Fielding, The Sense of an Ending, The Tiger’s Wife). The others don’t really catch my eye.  However, depending on what is going on I might chip away at the remaining seven.

If you are not familiar with this event, I urge you to check it out. Books duking it out for the win. Judges keeping it fun. I love this event! Stop by today to see who won round one! Oh, and later… there will even be a Zombie round where one book, previously eliminated…will be resurrected!!! Very exciting!

Bookish Talk, Life

The Sunday Salon: Warm Weather Reading

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Sunday Salon

I know many of you got another taste of winter this past weekend but here, it’s a glorious 85 degrees. The flowers are blooming so with every breeze I am greeted with the wonderful smells of spring. With that, comes sneezing so I dosed up on allergy meds and took it easy today. The Girl and I hit the library. She came home with a full bag of books whereas all I found was a copy of The Old Man and the Sea.

I love to read with The Girl because with her, it’s all about cozy. She opened up her windows and we flopped onto her bed and dove right in. She chose a mystery, and I chose to continue with Heft by Liz Moore. At first, it seemed a little slow but now…about 100 pages in, I am unable to put it down. Along with that, I am also reading some other books, one of which is A Visit From the Goon Squad. I don’t know why but when the weather gets warm, all I want to do is kick back with a book. Outside, or inside by a window. Warm weather equals reading to me.

I have a lot of reviews to write as I have been a reading machine, but with work being so crazy and me, unable to shut my brain down after work, writing the reviews has been a challenge. No worries though, they will all get written. I am just trying to figure out the best use of my time these days. Balance has always been a concern with me and lately, it’s been more difficult to juggle it all. Between play rehearsals (yep, another show) and basketball playoffs and school stuff, I am just wiped out. I know many of you go through the same thing and knowing that there are others like me, trying to keep it all together and remain sane, makes it a lot easier to deal with.

On another note, the gym is going well. I am really enjoying the early morning workouts, but I have gained 5 lbs! I seem to recall this happening before when I worked out, but it’s not supposed to work that way. After a month of hitting the gym, I expected to see something. Anything, but not 5 lbs. I am just going to keep plugging along and hope it all evens out soon.

This evening, we are picking up take-out and plan to watch The Help. I’ve seen it, but The Hub hasn’t so that’s the plan. Hope you are all well and that you are out enjoying your Sunday.