Sunday Salon – snapshot of the week
Another Sunday and a chance to catch up on the events of the past week. So here’s a quick snapshot from my sunny spot next to some fragrant rose bushes in my garden. I have a cup of Earl Grey tea at my side and some wicked looking raspberrry and white chocolate cheesecake to fortify me for the rest of the day. Naughty I know but I promise to be good tomorrow..
What I’m reading
Just started Heat and Dust, the Man Booker prize winning novel by Ruth Jhabvala. It’s been quite a while since I read anything set in India so I’m experiencing some withdrawal symptoms. Too early to say much about it at the moment though.
What’s new on the blog
I seem to be reading far quicker than I can write the reviews at the moment. I think I have a backlog of about six novels that I’m trying to make inroads into but without a huge amount of success. I’ve not done that well this week, only managing to write one review – The Country Girl which is Edna O’Brien’s memoir. Well worth reading. I did finally get around to answering the Classics Club meme for the month which is about the ability of books to change our ideas – I’m still struggling for a good answer to that one so posted a somewhat flippant article.
What’s on the horizon?
This Tuesday marks the first step in the process of choosing the 2013 Man Booker prize winner. We’ll get the announcement of which 12 or 13 titles have been long listed from the 120 plus that the five judges have been reading since October. They must be faster readers than I am because there is no way I could get through that number and be able to remember them in sufficient detail to make any kind of educated comment.
And the dreaded question – how is your TBR mountain looking?
Actually it doesn’t look that much different from how it looked a month ago. Although I’ve read four books this month none of them have been from the TBR pile. However I have resisted buying anything new which is a major achievement.
That’s a wrap for this week everyone. Hope you all have a good week ahead of you..
Heh, yes my TBR mountain never seems to get smaller no matter how hard I try. Either I borrow books or I’m tempted by a bookshop or I break my ban and request something from a publisher… Still, there is something quite delicious about going to the TBR bookcase and wallowing in all those wonderful titles waiting to be read.
You have the, in a bookcase! Now that does sound far more organised than my piles of books on the floor
TBR mountain? Mine has morphed into a whole mountain range! Hope your cheesecake was as yummy as it sounded.
Nestling in the foothills of TBR mountain is Wish List Hill and Goodreads Ideas Peak. So yes I know how you feel. Cheesecake was only ok…..
Heat and Dust was one of the novels that we read at last year’s Summer School and although we all enjoyed it I think we felt that it was the slightest of the books we tackled and were rather surprised that it won the Booker. I keep meaning to check and see what else was on the short list that year.
It seems there was only one other novel shortlisted which seems rather odd – Gossip from the Forest by
Thomas Keneally
I am behind writing reviews too. That makes me not write anything. I should take a lesson from your good example and just try some other topics –let people know what I’m doing and that I haven’t vanished.
That’s one of the reasons I do the Sunday Salon – it’s a reminder that it’s time to post something. Otherwise I find the week just drifts away from me …
Thanks for the reminder about the Man Book Prize. I need to keep my eye out on that one this week. I’m behind on reviews but I’m hoping to catch up this week. I hope you can too. Knowing you have reviews to write, sometimes build up unwanted pressure. Enjoy your week.
I’ll post the long list on the other blog I manage – http://completebooker.blogspot.co.uk
Come and take a look if you have the time
I’m way behind on writing reviews as well. It just takes so long – and then, when you put it off, it takes even longer.
I’m curious about the Man Booker long list too. Hopefully it’s a great list of books!
I’m afraid that if I leave some of the reviews much longer i’ll have forgotten what I thought of the book.