The Sunday Salon - Another Month Gone

Happy May Day - a little late. Do you honor May Day as a spring celebration or a worker's holiday? I was well into adulthood before I realized that May Day had a history other than leaving flowers on people's doorsteps and dancing around a pole.



I'm spending my weekend at a choir retreat, which is a bit ironic since I have laryngitis. I'll be mouthing the words, mostly. Our concert is in two weeks, so I'm trying to save my voice from total meltdown.

And another month, another check-in. Seems that's mostly what I've been doing with TSS lately. And here I thought I'd be posting more after retirement! I'm cruising right along with my reading, though I'm still behind for my 125 book challenge for the year. I've decided to let go; if I make it, great! if not, uh, what's the difference? I want to enjoy my reading, not feel pressured by it.

And that said, here's where I stand with my reading challenges:

What's in a Name: completed 6/6 DONE!
Decades Challenge: completed 6/10.
The Orange Prize and Booker Prize challenges are perpetual, but I've set a personal goal to read 12 of each this year (some are crossovers). Orange Prize: 8/12; Booker Prize: 5/12. With Orange July not far on the horizon, I'll be able to knock that one off easily!
Dewey's Books: 5/5 DONE!
Pub Challenge: 4/9
Short Stories: 11/25
Essays: 0/20
Jane Austen: 0/1
Classics (other than Austen): 3/4
These last two are personal challenges. By my definition, Classic is any book older than me that has a high level of notoriety. There are a few exceptions (e.g. To Kill A Mockingbird).

Of course, for the ones I've completed, I've yet to write one review, which is part of the deal. I'm not sure why review writing is so challenging for me. I'm in awe of people like Wendy and Laura who write such stellar reviews. Perhaps a goal for next year?

My favorite reads in April:

East of Eden - John Steinbeck
The Hiding Place - Trezza Azzopardi
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
The Spare Room - Helen Garner
The Master - Colm Toibin

Hm, that's a list of everything I read in April! Nice to have a month where I liked everything. It took me almost two weeks to read East of Eden, which is unusual - hence the low number (for me) of books read. I liked it a lot but was not as enamored with it as I expected to be.

Next weekend I'll be on the east coast, meeting up with some very dear friends, most of whom I haven't yet met face to face! We're a group of women who "met" online via LibraryThing, and have forged remarkable friendships over the last two years. I'm very excited to meet them! We'll be staying at a B and B in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in The Berkshires (and finding every bookstore within a 50 mile radius -- when we can tear ourselves away from yakking). I'll give a full report in my next Salon!
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