Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Sunday Salon

In the spirit of biting off more than I can chew, I have decided to also take part in one of the weekly memes that so many people in book blogging are involved in. I chose The Sunday Salon. Why? Well... because it's Sunday today and I wanted to get started :-) No really, I think the Salon is a great one because it is basically just a post to update people on what you're reading, which makes a lot of sense to do for someone running a book blog.

So here goes! If I forget to do this next week, someone please remind me.

I am currently reading Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. It is a book set in Tudor England (as probably about half the books published these days are), right around the time that Henry VIII is divorcing Katherine and marrying Anne Boleyn. I was so excited to be offered a copy of this book to review because I am a huge Hilary Mantel fan. I've only read two of her other books, A Place of Greater Safety and Fludd, but I really, really enjoyed them both. I think Mantel has ruined me for other authors of the French Revolution. Seriously. She's fantastic.

Also, Wolf Hall has been short-listed for the Booker Prize, and is heavily favored to win (not that that means very much- Chicago was heavily favored to win the 2016 Olympics, and look where we ended up. In last pace! Yikes, how embarrassing. I didn't want the Olympics here, but I am quite offended that no one on the IOC wanted them here, either. But, I digress). I have liked pretty much every Booker winner I've ever read. I'm about 150 pages into Wolf Hall, and have 400 pages to go. It's a massive book, but trademark Mantel in the writing style. She's a woman who is good at her job. I have a feeling I'll really love this book, but I also have a feeling it will take me a good amount of time to read. This worries me not because I don't think it's worth the time commitment but because of course, I signed up to read 50% old TBR books in the next two months. And Wolf Hall is not a book being cleared off my shelf, but a book for which I shall have to clear my shelves. Woe is me. Well, back to reading!

4 comments:

  1. There is a lot of freedom with the Sunday Salon posts. I don't really think of it as a meme, but I suppose it is technically, isn't it? I am glad you decided to join in! One of my author guests mentioned Wolf Hall in her post and I've been curious about it every since. I'm not familiar with the author at all, I'm afraid. I will have to check her work out since you like her writing so much.

    I'm planning to read a fantasy novel that is quite long this month and was thinking of tackling The Shining, which is a online book group read pick this month, but with all my other reading commitments, I'm hesitant to dive into that one. I don't read nearly as much or as fast I would like to sometimes. My reality and ideal need to be more in line with each other, I think. :-)

    I hope you have a good week, Aarti!

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  2. I technically did this weekly event today, too, but I was contrary and called it by another name!

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  3. I was at the library this morning and almost picked up Wolf Hall. I was put off by its size - large books intimidate me because I don't have the time usually to devote myself to chunky books, but I'd like to. I'll keep it in mind for next time..

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  4. I am so excited about Wolf Hall and really look forward to reading it. I am really anxious to see your review, and I am hoping that you love it. Glad that you are doing the Sunday Salon now, it will be good to hear what you are reading.

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