Sunday Salon - First Week

I'm excited to be a part of The Sunday Salon. I stumbled across the Salon when looking for a writing group and it looks to be a lot of fun. You can find out more about it by clicking the link (go on...give a little linky love), but now is the part where I get to talk about the books I read today.

I started the day with a little Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There's pretty much nothing I can say about this book that hasn't already been said, re said and turned into a movie and accompanying McHappy Meal toy. This is my first read through of the 6th Harry Potter book. I stalled on reading it for a long time as I really didn't care for Book 5. I felt like Harry was irritating and angry the entire book and it wasn't a great reading experience. However, I'm enjoying book 6 although the whole 'Hermione loves Ron' thing is really being done to death. I started the book on Monday and I'm about 400 pages in. I think I'll take a little break between book 6 and book 7 though.

I took myself off on a book looking expedition today. It started with the Save The Children book sale. I think the books had been very thoroughly picked over - today is Sunday, the last day of the sale, and opening night was Thursday. However, all the books were hald price today, so that was something. I picked up four books for $4.50 (I really wouldn't have minded paying full price!) and those books are:

Gladiator by Dewey Gram
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
Language Most Foul by Ruth Wajnryb
The Unburied by Charles Palliser

Gladiator is obviously a book adaptation of the film. I enjoyed the movie and I have a certain fondness for book adaptations of films, particularly where I really enjoyed the film. I find the book then lends a different interpretation on the whole thing. No longer do I have to reply on the actors ability to emote in order to work out characters.

The Horse Whisperer is a book I have heard much about, and again, I enjoyed the movie when I saw it which must be five or six years ago now.

Language Most Foul is a book about foul language and its origins. Language fascinates me (but I'm not one of those crazy linguist types who know the root source of all words and can't wait to tell you about it) and so does swearing, so I'm a winner all around here.

The Unburied just sounded interesting - it's apparently a murder mystery in a sleepy town. We'll see I guess. It isn't the sort of book that would usually attract me. But for 50 cents...



Then my book day progressed with a lunch where I read Page after Page: Discover the confidence and passion you need to start writing and keep writing no matter what! by Heather Sellers. I bought this book on Charing Cross Road in London when I was there recently. I knew I shouldn't - I could order the book from Amazon for half what I paid in pounds but I really wanted it. Really really. So I bought it and I'm not sorry. The more I read of it, the more I love it and want to give Heather Sellers a really big hug. Over lunch I read her take on people who are always saying "I'm so busy! I'm so stressed! I have so much to do!" I work with people like this. They drive me crazy. I worked out a while back and everyone is busy. It's ridiculous to tell people that you're busy. We know you are, because we are too. A Heather says - we all get 24 hours in a day, how are you going to use yours? She also wrote a whole bunch about treating writing like a lover instead of a mistress (or whatever the word is for women who have another dude on the side) and giving it attention and love and dreaming about it. Anyway, I love this book. I am reading it in small doses, digesting and completing exercises.

I'll be back next Sunday with another Sunday Salon post. I'm thinking I'll explore a different bookstore and see how I go. Maybe I'll even get some of my own writing done!