Skip to main content

Featured Post

Waltzing in the Music City | Weekly Snapshot

Posted on
If you're in the US, do you have Monday off from work or school, to observe President's Day? All of us at our home do, which is lucky because this isn't a day that every company or institution observes with a day off. Even though it's not been too long since the Christmas and New Year holiday season, I'd been pining for a vacation for a while - something either low-key or relaxing that even the kids will enjoy.


Currently This post is coming to you from the Music City - Nashville - where we are spending the long weekend. We are technically here only for two days and will leave early on Monday so that we are home in time to pick our dog from boarding. Although I don't personally care much for the music scene other than to listen to what's popular on the radio, I had been hoping to stop by Nashville someday and check it out.

We are staying at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, which is a sight in itself, with its acres and acres of gardens and walkways. It's def…
Post a Comment

Look at what just arrived! - May 10, 2010

Posted on
mailboxmonday This meme is hosted by Marcia @ The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do).

After a busy week for my mailbox, I think it was relieved that it didn't have to stuff itself this week. How sad, because I don't think I would have minded!


Jenniemae & James: A Memoir in Black and White by Brooke Newman arrived from the Read it Forward program. (About a friendship between a brilliant mathematician and an uneducated, illiterate African American maid)


Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva @ A Striped Armchair and Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

Usually I would go into the library with a list of books I want to check out, and grab them off the shelves before exiting. That's mainly because I wait till the last minute to go to the library, and then I just have to get home soon. This week though, I spent some time looking through the shelves, even though I didn't take any books other than what I went in there for. I have a feeling I'll be doing that this week as well!


  1. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman: I already finished this book two days back and still can't stop gushing about it! It's one of the best YA books I've read in a long time.
  2. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford: I had initially planned to read this book this weekend, but a bunch of weekend chores kept me from it.
What do you think of any of these books?


Did you sign-up for the Glorious giveaway?

Tags

Comments

Book Dilettante said…
Climbing the Stairs sounds very good! So do the others. Enjoy your reading!
May 10, 2010 at 4:04 AM
(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said…
Your library loot should be enjoyable. I liked Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and I have Climbing the Stairs. enjoy
May 10, 2010 at 6:04 AM
Mary (Bookfan) said…
I'm curious about Climbing the Stairs. I'll have to look for it!
May 10, 2010 at 7:28 AM
bermudaonion said…
Jenniemae & James sounds fascinating! I'll be watching for your review.
May 10, 2010 at 8:13 AM
CCL said…
This is my first time participating in this Monday Meme...I'm looking forward to learning about new books, new blogs, and new friends!

All three of the books you have listed this week have me intrigued!

Susan
sweb4us@aol.com
http://crazycatladyslibrary.blogspot.com/
May 10, 2010 at 8:19 AM
Serena said…
Happy reading.
May 10, 2010 at 8:27 AM
Helen's Book Blog said…
Climbing the Stairs is one I've just got to read this summer! Have a great week
May 10, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Introverted Jen said…
I really want to read Hotel. I hadn't heard of Climbing the Stairs before, but it sounds really good. Enjoy!
May 10, 2010 at 8:53 AM
Tales of Whimsy said…
I absolutely adore the name of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I can't wait for your review. This one has been catching my eye for months :)
May 10, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Laurel-Rain Snow said…
Love the cover on Memoir in Black and White.

I've been wanting to read the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Enjoy!

My MM:

http://laurelrainsnowcreations.blogspot.com/2010/05/mailbox-monday_09.html
May 10, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Bookventures said…
Wow, these books sounds great. Climbing the stairs sounds really interesting. I hope you enjoy them. Check out my mailbox here

http://bookventuresbookclub.blogspot.com/2010/05/mailbox-monday_10.html
May 10, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Jenny Q said…
I haven't read any of those, but I've heard lots of good things about Bitter & Sweet. Climbing the Stairs sounds good! Happy reading! Here's my Mailbox.
May 10, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Alayne said…
I'm definitely intriguing by Climbing The Stairs based on that! Happy reading! My mailbox is at The Crowded Leaf.
May 10, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Beth(bookaholicmom) said…
I loved The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I hope you enjoy it as well.
May 10, 2010 at 1:10 PM
avisannschild said…
They all sound good to me! The only one I'd heard of before was Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, which I've been wanting to read for a while now. Hope you enjoy them!
May 10, 2010 at 5:40 PM
April said…
What great books! Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet is a great read! Enjoy!
May 10, 2010 at 9:39 PM
Lisa said…
I really liked Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet!
May 12, 2010 at 12:27 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hell-Heaven by Jhumpa Lahiri (Short Fiction Review)

Posted on
I first read Jhumpa Lahiri years ago, when her Interpreter of Maladies was making a huge buzz. At the time, I didn't catch any of the buzz, but for some reason, when I saw the book on the shelf at the store I was browsing in, I felt it just might be a decent read. Funnily, I read the entire short story collection without complaining about it, but for some reason, I cannot read any collection anymore without agonizing over its disjoint nature.

I did enjoy Interpreter of Maladies, but I did get bothered by the thread of loneliness and infidelity and distrust that laced through the stories. For that reason, I have been reluctant to read Unaccustomed Earth. However, when I came across Hell-Heaven at the NewYorker - a free short story from her book, I decided to go ahead and read it. I can't resist the pull of stories set in India or featuring Indian characters, and it is that same aspect that hooked me throughout this story.


In Hell-Heaven, the narrator contemplates the relations…
13 comments
Read more

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Posted on
Maybe that’s what religion is, hurling yourself off a cliff and trusting that something bigger will take care of you and carry you to the right place.
Bernadette Fox has a reputation. While her husband and her daughter Bee love her, there's barely anyone else who share the sentiment. Her neighbor Audrey loves to gossip mean things about her with her close friend, Soo-Lin. The other parents of kids at Bee's school look down on Bernadette because she doesn't involve herself in school affairs. Bernadette herself goes out of her way to avoid company.

And then one day, Bee comes home with an excellent report card and asks for her reward - a family trip to Antarctica. The very plan throws Bernadette into a panic but she has no other option. She hires a virtual assistant, based out of India to take care of all her demands, including getting prescriptions at her local pharmacy, doing her online shopping and taking care of some of the logistics of her trip. (It is ridiculous! Bern…
27 comments
Read more

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (Short Fiction review)

Posted on
With the Hunger Games hype that engulfed us last week, it was hard to avoid all the discussion of similar works that existed. Of the many titles that I came across, two stood out particularly - a short story called The Lottery and a Japanese novel (and movie) called Battle Royale (which I'm reading right now and just cannot put down). The novel will be fodder for another post, so for now, I just want to rave about the awesomeness that was The Lottery.

In contemporary America, villagers across the country are gathering on the 27th of June (and some a day earlier) for an annual event called the Lottery. Children, women, men, all come to the main square of their village or town, where the lottery master keeps a black box full of paper chips. One of these chips is marked has a special mark on it to identify the winner (the person who draws that chip). Not everyone draws however, but only the head of the family. Husbands are viewed as the head of their families/households, and if the …
19 comments
Read more