Sunday, October 26, 2008

Sunday Salon: A Little Bit of This & A Whole Lot of the Other

I am wearing the softest, most cozy socks. I can see why they are perfect for sleeping. It is not quite cold enough to wear them to bed, but they are well suited for keeping my toes warm on this chilly Sunday morning. Give me a second to check the kettle and see if the water is ready yet for a morning mug of hot chocolate.

Okay, I'm all settled in and ready to visit for a while.

Wouldn't you know it, the week I set aside blogging, Marie from Boston Bibliophile asks a question dear to my heart and then a question I had asked this past summer ends up on Booking Through Thursday. Just my luck. Well, it's never too late to join in, is it?

Tuesday Thinger Question:
Series. Do you collect any series? Do you read series books? Fantasy? Mystery? Science fiction? Religious? Other genre? Do you use the series feature in LT to help you find new books or figure out what you might be missing from a series?
I will keep my answer short. Yes. I collect and read series books in all sorts of categories, from crime fiction, fantasy, and science fiction to good ol' general fiction. I can't say I follow a religious series, but then, that's not really a genre I gravitate towards usually. I have never used the series feature in LibraryThing (LT). Frankly, I didn't even know it existed. Instead, I get most of my series information from sites like Stop, You're Killing Me! and the authors' websites when available.

I have fallen sorely behind in updating my series' lists, but I do recommend you check them out if you want to know just how series crazed I am (Serial Offender: Guilty As Charged and Serial Offender: Guilty As Charged, Part Two). Hopefully I will get around to updating the lists before the year is out.

I spent two days this past week catching up on one of my favorite series thanks to the spurring on of a coworker who threatened me with great bodily harm if I didn't. You can expect my review to be posted in the near future.

Booking Through Thursday Question:
Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.
I would like to thank Monica for suggesting this question to Deb as a Booking Through Thursday question. I had originally asked the question as part of a giveaway in celebration of my 10th wedding anniversary this past July. I received a variety of responses to my question, from fictional (and nonfictional) characters to author couples. A couple of people wondered if I meant highbrow literary couples--and the answer to that question was an emphatic, "No!" I use the term "literary" in its broadest of sense. I compiled a list of the responses here. Do take a look!

Mention of my wedding anniversary reminds me that today marks another sort of special occasion. Or, at least in terms of the history of my blog. This is my 500th post. Leave a comment between now and November 2nd (along with your e-mail address) and you may be one of three lucky commenters to win a little bookish surprise from me to celebrate the occasion.

With the holidays approaching, readers all over the world are putting together their holiday reading lists and some already have started in honor of Halloween. I am not much of a seasonal reader and, while I have occasionally succumbed to holiday themed reading, it does not always work out the way I planned. A Christmas book I hoped to get to before the big day becomes a July read instead, for example. This month, however, I noticed that my reading has taken a supernatural turn--seemingly perfect for the Halloween season. It was wholly unintentional, which perhaps is the best way to go about it. At least for me.

My reading this past week especially has been full of the most fantastical of elements: vampires, fairies, witches, imaginary friends, and shape shifters. I might as well add ghosts to the mix since one of my upcoming books this week includes a few of those. Funny how sometimes these things work out the way they do.

I do hope you will drop by later in the week. Monday I will be posting my review of Stephen V. Masse's holiday crime fiction tale, A Jolly Good Fellow. On Tuesday, David Ebershoff kindly answers a few of my questions about his new book, The 19th Wife. And later in the week, I will share my thoughts about an anthology of short stories called Imaginary Friends. Keep your eye out for a couple of giveaways as well!

Until next time . . . Happy reading!


23 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your 500th post!
    I'm looking forward to hearing about the vampires and witches and shape shifters.. that you've been spending time with lately. :)

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  2. I can't wait to read your interview with David Ebershoff. I loved The 19th Wife.

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  3. Congratulations on your 500th post! (I'm closing in on #700 this week.)

    These cool mornings are so nice, aren't they? It's almost November, so it's good to FINALLY get a taste of autumn here in SoCal.

    I enjoyed seeing your anniversary question on BTT, but I didn't really have a good answer for it this time either :-).

    Hope you had a good vacation from blogging, Wendy - missed you, and it's nice to know you'll be back this week!

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  4. 500 posts!

    Glad you had a nice week, hope you're having a lovely Sunday.

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  5. Nat - Thank you! I can hardly believe I'm already at 500. It seems like such a huge number.

    Kathy - I really enjoyed David Ebershoff's book too. I wish it was Tuesday already so I could post my review and the interview!

    Florinda - Thank you! 700 - and I thought 500 was a big number!

    I am enjoying the cooler weather--at least in the mornings and late evenings. It's supposed to be in the 90's today.

    The BTT questions came as quite a surprise. Did you notice that I never actually answered it myself? :-)

    Lisa - I hope you have a nice Sunday too!

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  6. Congrats on your 500th! That's pretty exciting. And I'm equally excited about throwing my name in the hat.

    I hope that your blogging break refreshed you.

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  7. Congrats on your 500th posts! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my 900th (814 and counting...)

    Darcy and Elizabeth have topped the chart for the BTT question. Why am I surprised? I will muster up to read Jane Eyre, which has been sitting on my shelf since 11th grade!

    As to Harry Potter, I'll pick Hermonie and Ron. :)

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  8. Hi Wendy :} I am trying to put THE 19TH WIFE on hold at my library.
    Thank-you for your visit, since then it my post has changed a few times :P No matter what I did my message looked right while composing it and on my blog it came out all mixed up. Probably the pics i added.
    Anyway i added the free book to review by the author of "Super Mom", it isn't out yet, it is downloaded as an e-book for anyone who wishes to review it.

    I hope you have a nice week ahead

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  9. Welcome back Wendy!

    I'm really looking forward to seeing your review of A Jolly Good Fellow. The tour stopped at my blog last week, and I loved the book.

    Also, I've read mixed reviews of The 19th Wife, but I'd say more positive than not. I'll look forward to seeing what you think about that one to. It's one I'd like to read someday.

    Shana
    Literarily

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  10. It's great to have you back, Wendy! And congratulations on your 500th post!

    Mmm...reading your first paragraph made me want a mug of hot chocolate :P

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  11. Congratulations on your 500th post!

    Question, though: How do you keep count? Do you have something that counts for you? I have no idea how many posts I've written on my blog :)

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  12. Congrats on your 500th post! That's great.

    I'm a seasonal reader, but my plans don't necessarily work out the way I planned. Hope you had a good Sunday!

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  13. Congrats on your 500th post Wendy! I love your Serial Offender post by the way and may have to steal that one of these days :) I love series too as you know and it's fun to share that. I'm really looking forward to your Q&A with David Ebershoff... I've been reading a lot about the 19th Wife lately and it sounds very good. Curious what was the spark of that idea.

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  14. Nikki - Thank you! I do feel refreshed after my break. I have a busy month ahead of me blogging wise and I figured I should do a little mental preparation for what lies ahead. :-) Plus, I had some other things that needed my full attention, unfortunately.

    Matt - Thank you! Your almost to 900! Wow, Matt! We do have a lot to say, don't we? Who would have thought?

    It's really no surprise that Jane and Darcy are coming out on top of the BTT couple's question. They do seem quite popular. I know I'm a fan of theirs. :-)

    Sylvie - I do hope you are able to reserve a copy of THE 19th WIFE! Be sure and enter my giveaway on Tuesday for a chance to win a copy. :-)

    Shana - I need to go back and look at all the reviews I've linked to my own for A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW and THE 19TH WIFE now that my reviews are all written and ready to go. I enjoyed A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW too.

    Nymeth - Thank you! It was a good mug of hot chocolate too. :-) You would never know it was so cool out this morning when it reached 91F this afternoon. It's slowly beginning to cool down again, thank goodness.

    Karen - Thank you so much! Blogger fortunately keeps track of the number of posts. I only wish Blogger did the same for the number of comments.

    Yvonne - Thanks! What is that cliche about the best laid plans? :-) I hope you have a great week!

    Iliana - Thank you! I do love my series' lists. That's one of my favorite posts too, actually. I just need to make time to update them. I do hope you get the chance to read THE 19TH WIFE!

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  15. I'm not much of a seasonal reader either, but I've recently picked up a few books that are holiday related and am looking forward to diving in (Holidays on Ice by Sedaris and Red Bird Christmas by Flagg). Sounds like you've been doing some spooky reading, though!!

    Glad you had a good week off and glad you're back.

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  16. I don't really do seasonal reading, either, though I just finished The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan for a guest review, and it all took place on a Halloween night. Talk about timely!

    Congrats on 500 posts, too. :)

    nnjmom at yahoo dot com

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  17. I'm so glad Deb used that question, because it was a good one! And congrats on Post #500!!

    P.S. My toes are freezing! You might have to send those socks my way!

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  18. Congratulations on your 500th post, I have months to write before i achieve your feat :)

    I have enjoyed reading the reviews of both A jolly good fellow and the 19th wife on the blogsphere. I am interested to read your posts about them as well.

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  19. I look forward to your 19th Wife review tomorrow! Now that mine's all done, I can breathe easy and enjoy reading everyone elses.

    Congrats on 500! I should check what post number I'm at these days... I don't even have a clue...

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  20. I love series as well. I'm always starting a new to me series which means more books to read. LOL! I love it though. Have a good reading week :)

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  21. Trish - I've heard great things about Red Bird Christmas, although I haven't read it myself. I hope you enjoy it. I really need to get around to reading Sedaris. I hear he's quite funny.

    Carrie K. - Thanks! Sometimes these reading coincidences just happen, don't they? :-)

    Monica - I was very flattered that you sent it in and that she chose it. Thank you! My toes weren't cold this evening, but I am wearing a similar pair just because. :-)

    Violetcrush - Thank you! You'll probably be there before you know it. :-)

    Suey - I liked your review. I hope I was able to get across what I wanted to in my review. I don't feel like I did the book justice.

    Samantha - Starting a new series is great fun--especially since you still have plenty of books in the series still to read. :-) Something to look forward to.

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  22. Congrats on your 500th post, Wendy!

    For series books, I collect all the different genres except sci-fi since I'm not much of a fan. I wish I've more time to follow all my favourite series though... *sigh*

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  23. Thank you! I wish that too! Sometimes I even wish my favorite series authors would slow down just a little so I can catch up. :-)

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