Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sunday Salon...



Been a long time since I've Sunday Salon-ed. (It is okay to turn that into a verb, isn't it?) The reason for my long absence: I'm always so impressed with others' SS posts...they're so well-written, so thoughtful, so relevant...but me...well, I just tend to ramble. But. I've decided it's time to stop worrying so much all the time...I need to stop apologizing for being me.

Thanks to everyone who answered the question about how many books you have going at any one time. I wasn't alone in smiling at Wendy's use of the term "monogamous reader." But when I started thinking about carrying that analogy further, well... Seems I'm one promiscuous little hussy. ;) Perhaps I really should think of settling down. Keeping so many books happy all at the same time really isn't an easy thing to do, after all. But who do I kick to the roadside?

Oh, how I love my quiet moments with Twelve Moons by Mary Oliver.
And well, I've neglected Starry Rift for far too long as it is. The first several stories brought me such pleasure earlier this year. Do I now just toss it aside and forget simply because I'm busy?
And then we have Affluenza and The Jungle. I've made commitments. I must stick with them, for the sake of the child (in other words, they're for homeschooling).
And well, speaking of for the sake of the child, there's College-Prep Homeschooling.
And then there's The Scientists, Africa: A Biography of the Continent, and Collapse. Yes, I've fulfilled my commitments to them. I read as much of them as I needed to for school. But considering the time I've already invested into our relationships, do I now just say "good-bye" without seeing where they might lead?
And finally, there's Oh Pure and Radiant Heart. She's new. She's exciting. She's making me look at the world in fresh ways. I don't think I can bear to lose her right now.

And so you see my dilemma. Perhaps I'm just not meant to be a one book kind of woman. I've had a taste of playing the field, and I just can't seem to go back.

*****

Elsewhere in my bookish world...

I'm rarely one to indulge in retail therapy. Honestly. I'm more likely to drown my sorrows in plate of chocolate chip cookies. But I'm afraid this week my feelings of "overwhelmedness" coincided with Book Closeouts big kids/ya book sale. Yeah, I went a tad overboard. But allow me to rationalize just a bit...a.) how often can you get 29 books for $75?!! (and that includes shipping!), b.) they weren't all for me--I not only bought books for all three munchkins, but I picked up some gifts as well, and c.) some of these books were ones that were high on my wish list so not buying them now for $1.99 would have been stupid when I likely would have paid full retail for them sometime in the next few months.

Okay, before my lovely box of books arrives, I think I should just go ahead and update the Blame Game 3. Not many acquisitions, but all but one come with points to be handed out:

The Planets by Dava Sobel.

Though I've seen this book around since, it was Carl who first brought this book to my attention. Between the nice things he had to say about Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter and the extraordinarily beautiful cover on this one, well, I just couldn't help but order it when I saw it on PaperbackSwap.






Normal by Amy Bloom.

No question. Point for Eva. Absolutely couldn't stop myself from immediately hitting our library website and ordering this one after her awesome review.









Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators by William Stolzenburg.

No points. But I am clinging to the excuse that we're likely going to read this for environmental science this year.








The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

I can't tell you how excited I was to find this book at B&N yesterday! Ever since reading Nymeth's review, I have been dying to get my hands on this. And every time we went to a bookstore, I looked for it but no one ever had it. I'd pretty much resigned myself to ordering it, and I almost didn't even bother to look for it yesterday since they didn't have it the last time we were there. But anyway, Hooray!




*****

Do you enjoy sitting outside during the summer, reading and drinking a nice cold beer? Uh, forgive me...I couldn't find any other way to make this next little tidbit bookish in nature.

I'm so excited...we're going to start brewing beer again! (Okay, truth in advertising time: "we're" is probably more accurately stated as "Rich." But I'll help him as needed, and I'll enjoy the fruits of his labor. :D )

21 comments:

Amy said...

Personally? I think the Sunday Salon is all about rambling!!! :)

I just got my shiny new paperback of the Knife of Never Letting Go this week as well. Looking forward to it.

I also keep a few books going at the same time...I guess I can't be too monogamous. ;)

Amanda said...

"I need to stop apologizing for being me."

Yay!!

Good luck with The Jungle. I just can't bring myself to read that book.

I started trying to read The Planets but really just loathed it from page 1. After three chapters, I gave it up. It hit on a couple pet peeves of mine. I hope you like it far better than I did.

Lastly, nothing about "summer" says "sitting outside" to me. Stupid Texas. I used to love sitting outside (mind you, not with beer, I'm not the beer type) when I lived in Wisconsin, but 8 months of the year in TX it's just too hot to ever be outside. :(

(Can you tell I want to move north again really badly?)

serendipity_viv said...

'I'm one promiscuous little hussy.' LOL - Debi, you make me laugh! If you are one, then I must be to, I am flitting flirtatiously between three books at the moment.

Ana S. said...

"I need to stop apologizing for being me."

Three cheers for this! And I'd say it's okay to turn anything into a verb. That's the beauty of language :D

Eva has me dying to read Normal too! And Where the Wild Things Were sounds awesome too. I actually saw it on a blog recently, but I can't remember which...that's the problem of reading too many of them :P

Hooray for The Knife of Never Letting Go :D I so hope you enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

Psha!
My TSS posts are never very well thought out or even interesting. I do not mind reading your ramblings at all; I agree with Amy, that's what it's all about!!

raidergirl3 said...

That Planets book is beautiful. So beautiful, that I bought 2 of them when I found the hardcover for $2 at Indigo. In my defense, I put them in my physics classroom, so it was educational!
Happy Sunday Salon!

Anonymous said...

All my posts are rambling monstrosities. Affluenza is stupid. That is all.

Anonymous said...

"I need to stop apologizing for being me."

Hear, hear! (Also, if you're going to tell yourself off for rambling on posts, I think you need to tell a lot of us off or it's not fair. ^-~)

And that does sound like an awful dilemma... With more books to make it worse on the way! (*brain fritz, cannot remember what comes between 'co' and 'pound'* Gaaah...)

I want to know what the books aaaare... (Of course I managed to misread the whole thing as '75 books' the first time around. I really wish Bookcloseouts could offer better international shipping - or I lived nearer and get the low shipping! You should've told me about the sale! I'd have given you one of my discount coupons' details.

Okay, yes, you weren't to know I had any and will probably get one yourself in the box, but still! I'd have been happy to give you one. They charge too much internationally for me to get much worth out of the discount. Don't blame 'em, mind you, but still...)

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I literally laughed out loud at the thought of you being one promiscuous little hussy. I'll answer your post question here, if you don't mind, since I'm playing catch up over. :( I usually only read one book at a time, but right now I've got two. Catch-22 is too heavy for bedtime reading, so I've got the fluffiest chick-lit book for then. Once I finish that, though, I'll quit the cheating and hopefully be monogamous again. I do so little reading each day that it just doesn't make sense for me to read more than one at a time.

And rambling? Seriously???? Please! I LOOOOOOVE when people ramble. Actually, I'd more often rather read rambling than bookish reviews. So please don't apologize for being you. We love you.

Gavin said...

I think rambling is what TSS is for. It is a way for us all to get to know each other better, and share what we are reading if we want to! gavin

Melody said...

I love reading your rambling post, Debi!!!

Yay about getting The Knife of Never Letting Go! I got that and the sequel after reading Nymeth's reviews too! :P

Normal sounds intriguing to me so I'll have to check that out!

Jean said...

Hey, that's way cool about Rich brewing his own. I'll know where to head if I feel a road trip coming on!

DesLily said...

29 books?? holy... ummm, cow!
I think you beat Chris's "one time buying record!" LOL..(is that possible?? Holy... ummm, cow!)

ok now confress.. how many were for schooling and how many were for enjoyment?

Debi said...

Amy,
I'm really looking forward to The Knife, too. Nymeth made it sounds sooooo good. Of course, I'm still convinced that she could make reading the phone book sound good if she set her mind to it. :D

Amanda,
I actually read The Jungle in high school. And while I certainly would never rank it among my favorite reads, it most definitely stuck with me. I'm actually using it as part of our "history through literature" choices. I don't think I would choose to read it as a book for our literature unit. (If that makes sense.)
I remembered you'd started and abandoned The Planets. That actually made me a bit reluctant to pick it up. But I figured it was essentially free (paperbackswap), and I loved the cover so much (pathetic reasoning, I know), that I'd go ahead and grab it.
"Stupid Texas"...you crack me up! But I do hope circumstances allow you all to move one day soon!

ScrapGirl,
And here I thought you were all innocent and everything? ;)

Nymeth,
I don't even read that many blogs and still can't remember where I read some things! I have to admit I'm REALLY looking forward to all these acquisitions...but with all the dang books I've got going I'm not sure when I'll ever get to crack them open. :(

RegularRumination,
Thanks...and you know, I really love to read other people ramble, too.

RaiderGirl3,
Have you read Planets yet? Actually I should go search your blog and see, huh? I'm sure you probably got a lot more from it than I will though. As much as I love science, I have to admit that biology is far easier for me to grasp than other branches.

DamnedConjuror,
I couldn't agree more that affluenza is stupid. Incredibly stupid. Unless you mean the book...I'm really enjoying the book, though it is also making me a tad sick to the stomach.

Shanra,
You're so darn cute!!! Yes. Yes. Yes, you are!
And I actually had one of Book Closeouts coupons from my last order (when I went nutzo on their manga sale, I think).

Trish,
I can certainly understand why you've marked Catch-22 as a "day read"! I tried reading it long, long ago, and despite the fact that I was actually liking it, I still didn't finish it...I think I sort of set it aside for something "easier" and just never went back to it.

Gavin,
Thanks for stopping by! And now I'm looking forward to dropping by your place and seeing what you rambled about. :D

Melody,
Isn't Nymeth evil?!! In the most lovable of ways, of course. :D Wouldn't it be interesting to know just how many books she has been responsible for people buying all around this world?

Jean,
Well, of course, you'd better know that we'd love to have you any time, right? But I was just thinking that we may just have some bottled by the time we head south. :D

DesLily,
You know, I don't think a single one of them was for school! But some are for gifts, so it was a case of just pure self-indulgence. ;)

Dawn said...

Wow, that is a lot of books you bought! I buy most of my books from Scholastic LOL!!!

I hope all of the recipients enjoy their books!

Right now I am reading the Friday Night Knitting Club.

Have fun with the beer! I've never liked beer. I remember on my 18th birthday a million years ago I got a beer and it took me over an hour to drink it with help from some friends. LOL!

take care,
Dawn

Care said...

I just think you are TOO CUTE! and then you tell me you like beer!? sigh. And you don't even have to excuse it as a homeschooling science lab project?! very cool.
I keep seeing The Knife of Never Letting Go like a blinking neon sign and I do not want to know anything about it so I will just buy and read it, ok?!

Kailana said...

You do need to stop apologizing for being you. You are one of my favourite bloggers for a reason. :)

Yay for new books!

I wish I could experience the fruits of Rich's labour. lol I only drink beer in the summer...

kreed said...

Mmmmmm...beer. Aaron will be totally jealous - I haven't gotten excited about his occasional suggestion to brew beer - I would just rather drink somebody elses!

29 book for $75? That is a heck of a deal! And I think as long as you keep you two-timing to books you will just fine! :)

chrisa511 said...

Oh, you got Where the Wild Things Were!! I just found that book this week and almost bought it. It looks really good! I have a copy of Planets here too, but haven't read it yet. And The Knife of Never Letting Go sounds so good...need to read that one.

And Debi! I am so glad to hear you say that you need to stop apologizing for being you! You is who we all love :)

Carl V. Anderson said...

So great to read a mention of Galileo's Daughter on the day that marks the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. I haven't read that book forever. I really should pull it out again, I loved my first experience with it. I hope you enjoy Planets. Not nearly as good, but good nonetheless!

DesLily said...

debi, debi, debi.. you need a break.. you need to read a book like... oh i dunno.. maybe something with Nicholas Flamel and John Dee in it? Ohhh wait that would the the Alchymist! *giggle*