The Sunday Salon is a virtual reading room.. click the pic to find links to all the participating 'Sunday Saloners' and see what they are reading and talking about this week! I also finally remembered to join up with Muse in the Fog's Sunday link-up which she started when the Sunday Salon became closed to new members.
After such a busy post last Sunday, I feel silly now. I have nothing extravagant to report .. no fun links.. no new big events, except of course I could repeat everything I said but I won't.. so go visit last week's post to learn about some fun reading things going on.
I have been busy working and trying to say sane and not doing very well at that. I HAVE actually finished a book or two and picked up another, so I will tell you about that.
I finished Margaret Campbell Barnes' reissue of Within The Hollow Crown, which was originally published in 1944. I had only read one previous Barnes' book before, The Tudor Rose, and while it was not extraordinary I still enjoyed that one. With this one, Within The Hollow Crown, I wondered if it was going to be the same type of mediocrity bordering on an underlying persuasion of excellence. For the first third of the story it was beginning to look that way. Subtly, and expertly, I became totally in tune with Richard II and I really enjoyed the rest of the book. This was characterization at its finest.
And we have yet another big event coming up in celebration of Elizabeth Chadwick's The Scarlet Lion. My round table members really enjoyed reading the William Marshal series.. and we will have some fun posts to celebrate our love for William Marshal. My review of the earlier release in the series, The Greatest Knight, will post on 3/18th to get you ready for our main event.
Following that is the Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell event. I read Claude and Camille in a short time; the story focused on the love between Claude Monet and his wife Camille.. and yes, it was wonderful and inspiring and heartbreaking. The event will start April 6 and will feature giveaways on a few of our Round Table blogs inspired by Claude Monet!
This week I will have my review for the touching love story, Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff, another good book!
If you can't tell, I am a book lover. And no, I do not like to be a book critic. I do not find satisfaction in ridiculing an author's work, or pointing out incredulously some facts of a story that may be far fetched. Like with Philippa Gregory, where there are so many people who seem to thrive on pointing out historical inaccuracies within her books that are novels, i.e. Fiction. Since she has focused on historical figures in many of her works, she draws a lot of controversy. I can say that she is one of the authors that propelled me into this passion of historical fiction that I hold dear, and since she only writes fiction, she has also inspired me to find out the truth behind the people she writes about. What are your thoughts? Arleigh at Historical-fiction.com has written a spectacular author highlight on her at this link, and you can join in the discussion as well. I definitely know I will be eager to read Gregory's next book that is coming out on August 19, 2010:
I have two giveaways open at this time that will end on March 27th.
31 Bond Street is a new historical mystery by Ellen Horan, and The Stolen Crown is a new look at the Wars of the Roses by Susan Higginbotham.
Over at Austenprose.com the Sanditon Event begins this week. Follow along at this link.
(some of the schedule:)
Day 1 – Monday March 15th: Introduction to Sanditon and character list
Day 2 – Tuesday March 16th: Discussion of Sanditon chapters 1-4
Review of The Watsons and Sandition, by Jane Austen (Naxos AudioBooks)
Day 3 – Wednesday March 17th: Guest blog on Regency-era seaside resorts by Julie of AustenOnly
Day 4 – Thursday March 18th: Discussion of Sanditon chapters 5-8
That's all for now.. enjoy your weekends and may your laundry not ruin your day.
And for later on this week: Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
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