Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Sunday Salon - February 24

The Sunday Salon.com

To join in the Sunday Salon, go here.

I am always a bit hesitant to start a book that everyone gushes over. And The Book Thief by Markus Zusak certainly falls into this category. The blog world certainly loves it:

"Overall, what can I say. WOW and again WOW. I don't keep many books - I pass them along for others to read. This is going to be one of the few that I put my name in because I want my daughter to read it when she's old enough." Books, Memes, and Musings

"But what I found so fitting in this novel, so perfect, was that it is about words. The power of words and what we are with them—and without them." Trish's Reading Nook

"Markus Zusak makes the words right. His novel will resonate with book lovers. It is a story larger than life; one that touches the reader's heart and never lets go." Caribousmom

And that is just a smidgen of all the wonderful reviews I have read in the past year. So, it was almost with relief that I started reading it a few days ago, and found that I absolutely love it. If it weren't for the fact that the Oscars are on tonight, I would probably stay up after Maya is asleep to finish the book. I had 150 pages to go this morning; now it's closer to 100, but I probably won't have the chance to read that much more today.

Book Acquisitions: Today was also a day of book acquisitions. Long-time readers of my blog will be familiar with my trips to The Book Thing, a non-profit organization that gives books away to city school libraries, senior centers, homeless shelters - anywhere that needs a book. On the weekend, they open their doors for the general public to browse and take as many books as you want for free. So we took a family trip today to donate a few books, and pick up a few for our home library.

Here is what I came away with:

A bunch of Agatha Christie's:

    • What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!;
    • Murder in Mesopotamia;
    • Ten Little Indians;
    • The Witness for the Prosecution, and other stories
  • A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
  • Brick Lane by Monica Ali
  • Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty
  • When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • The Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle
  • The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (not pictured)
  • Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner (not pictured)
All in all, a great day for a bibliophile! And Maya had a pretty happy day too:


Happy Sunday, folks!

14 comments:

Literary Feline said...

A hundred pages left! Ack! When I reach that point in a book that is going well, it doesn't matter how late it is getting, I usually will try and finish the book. I tend to see that as the last stretch. I'm not sure why exactly, but that's the way my mind works. LOL

I am glad to hear you are enjoying The Book Thief. I'll be the last one in blogosphere to read it at the rate I'm going. Haha

Have a great week!

Nyssaneala said...

wendy - I used to be the same way. But I had to learn pretty quickly to accept putting a book down (even with only 10 pages left - this happened about two months ago!), after Maya was born.

Jill said...

I am another blogger who loved, loved, loved The Book Thief - to the point that it was my favorite book read in 2007. I am glad you are enjoying it too.

Wow, what a BEAUTIFUL baby you have! Love that smile! =)

Jill
http://mrstreme.livejournal.com

Joy said...

Ohhhhhh . . . Maya's adorable! :)

A bunch of Agatha Christie, huh? Come on over and join the Anything Agatha Challenge! :)

Laura said...

I'm thinking you might have to pull an all-nighter! Or at least read while you're feeding Maya at 3am! She is soooo cute!

Anonymous said...

I loved this book too. One of the best reads in a long time. Maybe I was stuck in a rut, but it stands out as one that I find myself thinking about again and again.

Anonymous said...

I think 'The Book Thief' has been a book that readers have either loved or hated. I'm with you in the loving camp, but I do have friends who have found the way it's structured very hard to cope with. I think The Book Thing sounds wonderful. We tried to start something similar in Birmingham, but it didn't take off, mainly because the sort of books that people were donating weren't the sort that others wanted to read. If we'd had donations like these it would have been a very different matter.

Wendy said...

I am sooooooo glad you are loving this book :)

And what an adorably photo of Maya - beautiful baby!

Iliana said...

Maya is such a cutie!
So glad you are loving this book. It is hard to read a book everyone has raved about isn't it? For some odd reason I immediately go in thinking I'm not going to like it. Silly. I want to read his Zusak's other book which has also gotten good reviews. Oh and enjoy your new books!

tanabata said...

Maya is adorable! What a great smile!
It's hard to read books sometimes that have been raved about excessively, or at least hard to not have too high expectations. Glad you're enjoying it.

Bybee said...

What a cute girl! A future bookworm, maybe?

Nyssaneala said...

jill - thanks! The Book Thief will most likely be near the top of my 2008 favorites.

joy - I'm now looking forward to delving back into some AC mysteries! I haven't read any with T&T, that might be where I start.

laura - well, I didn't pull an all-nighter, but I did finish it the next morning.

maw - I have a feeling I will be thinking about BT for a long time to come, as well.

table talk - That's too bad it didn't take off in Birmingham. It does all depend on the books donated. Ours receives quite a few from the library, and I almost always see a few recent bestsellers when I go, which makes a big difference!

Nyssaneala said...

wendy - My hubby and I keep congratulating ourselves on the beautiful child we created. ;)

iliana - I'm the same way with popular books and movies, I always assume I'm not going to like it. Perhaps it's my subconscious attempt to not get my hopes up, in case I don't like it!

tanabata - I LOVE her smile. She has a great laugh too, when she is in the right mood.

bybee - Our little girl loves trips to library, she has a blast just looking at all the colors of books on the shelves. She's entering that stage where she will sit and listen for a little while when we read, but is more interested in seeing how the book tastes. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh! Maya is soooo adorable, so pretty and such a happy looking little girl