The Sunday Salon

The great thing about reading goals is they give you structure and focus. They give you something to attain and a sense of accomplishment once attained. They are a great motivation when you find yourself in a reading slump. Or, if you're like me, they give you something to thumb your nose at while yelling "Nanny nanny poo poo" when you totally ignore them to read something entirely different.

Last week I was all set to read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. Instead I picked up The Cranberry Queen but I didn't like the narrative voice. So I picked up Aspects of the Novel but I wasn't sure I was ready for a nonfiction book. So I went to the library (ignoring all the beautiful, painstakingly collected novels on my shelves) where I came across Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture. If it sounds familiar that's because it made it onto the Man Booker 2008 short list. So far the writing is lovely, as I would expect. I'm not sure where the story is going yet but I plan to find out by the week's end.

I also plan to finish listening to Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and Home by Marilynn Robinson. I started the former several months ago and the latter over the Christmas holiday. Expect a week of reviews.

To celebrate the return of Lost I have decided to break my reading challenge fast. I have signed up for the LOST Books Challenge. Have you ever noticed the number of book references on the show? They are there on purpose. You can go here for official book club information, including a complete list of books, and then go here to sign up for the challenge hosted by My Friend Amy, et al. It looks like a lot of dystopian literature but there are a few authors I love in there, like Dickens and Agatha Christie. Let me know if you join so we can cheer each other on.