2009 June

The Sunday Salon ~ 06.14.07

Today has been a preparation for the week to come. On Tuesday I’m heading to the DC area with a couple of my co-workers for a Learning Tree course on Project Management in a Scrum Environment. Ooo! I know, exciting stuff, eh? It actually should be beneficial for my career and it’s always nice to [...]

Filed Under: 4 Rs Challenge, Books, The Sunday Salon Tagged With: 4Rs Reading Challenge, Alfred Hitchcock, North by Northwest, Scrum

#173 ~ The Glassblower of Murano

13 Jun By Jennifer 9 Comments

The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato During the 17th century, Venice was the world leader in glassblowing. The acheivements made in Venice were envied – so much so that the Council of Ten guarded the glassblowing masters. Corradino Manin was the most talented of all glassblowers and the Council virtually held him hostage on [...]

Filed Under: book review, female author, Historical Fiction Tagged With: Council of Ten, Glassblowing, Louis XIV of France, Marina Fiorato, Murano, The Glassblower of Murano, Venice

An Embarrassment of Reading Riches

13 Jun By Jennifer 10 Comments

On the eve of Allison’s Pre-K graduation a couple of weeks ago (I was proud, she was adorable, I cried, slow with pictures as usual), I took the girls to Famous Anthony’s, a local restaurant chain, for dinner beforehand. Although we like this great, family friendly chain, we don’t normally eat at this particular location. [...]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff, Mercer Mayer, Shopping, The Best Teacher Ever, Uncommon Reader

#172 ~ A Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy

12 Jun By Jennifer 14 Comments

A Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy by Charlotte Greig Susannah, a college co-ed studying philosophy at the University of Sussex in the 1970s, is living in a nice flat with her boyfriend Jason, an almost 30 antiques dealer. Although everything was fine at first and she enjoyed the luxury of not having to live in [...]

Filed Under: book review, female author, fiction Tagged With: A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy, abortion, Charlotte Greig, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Philosophy, Pregnancy, Sussex, Sussex University, Søren Kierkegaard

#171 ~ My Cousin Rachel

10 Jun By Jennifer 13 Comments

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier Philip Ashley, orphaned at an early age, was raised unconventionally by his older bachelor cousin Ambrose. Ambrose owns the estate and 500 acres on which they live. Ambrose did not care to have women around, so Philip’s exposure to the fairer sex was quite minimal. He only regularly [...]

Filed Under: book review, female author, fiction, Gothic Fiction Tagged With: Cornwall, Daphne Du Maurier, Daphne DuMaurier, Frenchman's Creek, Rebecca, relationships

Admit One ~ Read Admission with Me!

8 Jun By Jennifer 9 Comments

After listening to Jean Hanff Korelitz’s Book Blog Radio interview with Miriam from Hatchette Book Group, I really wanted to read her novel. I then had the great good fortune of receiving a copy of the book and the opportunity to provide a second copy as a giveaway. Instead of doing so in conjunction with my review, I thought it [...]

Filed Under: book giveaway, contest Tagged With: Admission, Blog Talk Radio, Hatchette Book Group, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Twitter

#170 ~ Katka ~ Book Review and Blog Tour

8 Jun By Jennifer 7 Comments

Katka by Stephen R. Meier One of the dangers of joining a book tour is committing to a book and then not liking it. Unfortunately, this is the case for me and Katka, a novella about a man involved in a slimy mail order bride scheme in Eastern Europe. Gavin gets drawn in to this [...]

Filed Under: book review, fiction, male author Tagged With: Czech Republic, Eastern Europe, Katka, mail order bride scam, self-published, Stephen R Meier

The Sunday Salon ~ 06.07.09

7 Jun By Jennifer 9 Comments

I’m sitting here thinking that I can’t believe that it is June already. This middle of 2009 is upon us. For me, this is a time to guestimate how many books I’ll have read by the end of the year. My first book of 2009 was Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It was my 134th review [...]

Filed Under: The Sunday Salon Tagged With: America America, Baggage Claim, Barnes & Noble, Books, Ethan Canin, Little House on the Prairie, Loving Frank: A Novel, Melissa Gilbert, Nancy Horan, Prarie Tale, Shopping, Tonya Michna

Announcing Winner of The Laws of Harmony

6 Jun By Jennifer 2 Comments

Thanks to HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours, I was able to hold a contest for a copy of The Laws of Harmony by Judith Ryan Hendricks. I am pleased to announce that the winner is: Karen @ Planet Books! Congratulations, Karen! Please send me your mailing address and I’ll forward it along. I can’t wait [...]

Filed Under: book giveaway Tagged With: HarperCollins, Judith Ryan Hendricks, Laws of Harmony, TLC Book Tours

June’s Bookmark ~ Bookmark It! Club

6 Jun By Jennifer 4 Comments

I am almost finished with June’s bookmarks. I ran out of contact paper last night (and that’s the only hint you’re going to get out of me), so I need to pick up some more today. They will be in the mail on Monday. Hurray! In case you haven’t seen it, Valarie from Life is [...]