The Sunday Salon

June 7, 2009 - 10:50 a.m.

Well here we are on Sunday again. I am always a little sad on Sundays, knowing work is just around the corner again. But I love Sundays for catching up on things around the house and reading. Today I think I'll be pulling weeds, doing some laundry and cleaning up a bit before I can read.

I finished The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright this week, and while I enjoyed it, I don't understand all the hoopla surrounding it. It was a New York Times Bestseller, but for some reason it didn't grab me the way it probably grabbed others. It's the story of a woman and her 2 brothers who come together in their parents estate after they've both passed away over night. They stumble upon boxes and boxes of letters their father has written to their mother over the years, and they discover all sorts of things - include one huge, life altering secret - that makes them all think about the past and the family they thought they knew. I am curious what other readers thought about this book, so if you've got any thoughts, please share!

One of my favorite reading times is on the weekend mornings, while Kevin and our dog are still asleep. They're usually stretched out and I just curl up on my pillows and I can usually read for more than an hour before they wake up. It's so quiet and peaceful at that time and it's great! I started a new book Saturday morning and was able to read for almost 2 hours. It Had to Be You by Sarah Webb is the story of 3 friends, all living different lives in the sleepy town of Burnaby, Ireland. While the girls lead different lives (one is married with kids and running for local office, one is a bookshop manager who can't seem to get it right with men, and one has 2 very different jobs and a rough boss), they still meet up for coffee and to dish on life and love. It's cute so far, and a quick read, but I'm still wondering about the title. I suppose I'll get it when I'm finished.

Almost 2 years ago, my best friend gave me a copy of Suze Orman's The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke, and it was very helpful to me at that point in life. I pulled it out this week for some advice on finances, and guess what? It's still relevant! I am figuring it will be helpful to me for at least the next 10 years as well. It has great money tips for people my age - how to start a retirement account, how to manage your stock portfolio, how to work at trimming your debt while trying to pay your bills each month and save money, etc. I've said before that I just love Suze's style when it comes to money - her "Suze Smackdown" as I guess it's called. Her mantra is now my mantra: People first, then money, then things.

Kevin has all sorts of great business books, and sometimes I just grab one or two and sit down with them, hoping to learn something. I always do. Last night I took The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker and started flippinng through it while I watched hockey. There are so many great examples of work topics in the book - including management (as a whole and as an individual), financials, inspiration and innovation and more. I like that each page begins with a quote, and ends with an Action Point (a takeaway, the charge to the reader for the next step). I think I ended up writing down 4 or 5 pages worth of notes. The book contains 366 different pages of advice, the point being to read one a day. (But who can wait that long?) :)

Happy reading to all my fellow bloggers out there. (All images courtesy Barnes & Noble)

Reading of a different kind

So lately I've been on this "get well, live healthy" kick, and not just with fitness and food, but with more education. I've been considering going back to school for my Masters, although that's not what this post is about.

I've been trying to just educate myself. I feel like there is a wealth of good information out there that doesn't necessarily come in a textbook, or a classroom, especially on topics such as finances, career development, and life as a young professional. Recently I downloaded a copy of an ebook called The Young Professional Rockstar: 10 steps to rocking your career right now (get yours here!) and I'm trying to really learn from it. Sometimes I feel like I fly through books so fast I take nothing away from it.

Also fairly recently I've been reading a new blog, Sources of Insight, and I just found a really short ebook called You 2.0: Finding and Living Your Process (read more here). This topic is really speaking to me right now as I sort out my career and my priorities and the life I want for myself (and with my boyfriend).

I'm also pulling out my trusty Suze Orman book, The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke. My best friend bought me this book for my birthday almost 2 years ago, and it's such a great book. I really like Suze's style: she's straightforward, no bullshit. And she should be. Some of the questions she receives from callers on her show just blow my mind. It's like, "really? You are asking if you can afford this, and you have $20,000 in credit card debt?!" But I like her philosophy: people first, then money, then things. It's a good mantra, really.

Cross posted here.

The Chicago Way - Michael Harvey

From the back:


Private detective Michael Kelly is hired by his former partner to solve an eight-year old rape and battery case long gone cold. But when the partner turns up dead, Kelly enlists a team of his savviest colleagues to connect the dots between the recent murder and the cold case it revived: a television reporter whose relationship with Kelly is not strictly professional; his best friend from childhood, now forensic DNA expert; and an old ally from the DA's office. To close the case, Kelly will have to face the mob, a serial killer, his own double-crossing friends, and the mean streets of the city he loves.


For starters, I love Chicago, but it really does contain some mean streets and horrific murders. For another thing, I love crime stories so this was right up my alley. Since that description from the back cover pretty much sums up the book, I just have a few extra comments.


While reading this, I really tried my best to keep an open mind about all the characters, despite their flaws, and to really try to figure out who the murderer was. I succeeded in the first but never did figure out the killer until it came out. I still felt unresolved at the end of the book though, as it seemed to never fully connect all the dots. I did really enjoy Harvey's writing style and his humor, as well as most of his characters.


I did have one issue with the book, that being the narrator's relationship with a reporter named Diane. Being a private investigator and talking to a reporter should create enough friction as it is, but to be in somewhat of a relationship with a reporter who obviously has an agenda is just bad news. It annoyed me to a certain degree that Michael Kelly didn't see Diane for who she was earlier - of course she's going to try to sleep with you, because she wants a story out of you. It was obvious from the start that's what she was after. But when she turned out to be just a little too involved with the case, it was a disaster. But of course, made for a great book.


I am curious if anyone else has read this one. I haven't come across it on any other blogs, I just happened upon it in the bookstore. Share your thoughts if you have some!

50 banned books that everyone should read

Found this list recently, which gives a brief description of why each book has made the banned list (including categories such as religion and politics, race and sex, and more). I have read nine books on this list (see below) but would like to incorporate more of these into my reading. I think that having a well-rounded list of books is the key to my learning.

I hate that books are banned. It should always be up to an individual what he or she choose to read, but to not have the opportunity to read something because of an issue seems to be counterproductive. Isn't the point of education to discuss these issues? I don't get it.

Here are the one's I've read:

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Tom Sawyer
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (my all-time favorite book)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Beloved by Toni Morrison

Which ones have you read?

The Sunday Salon - Memorial Day Weekend Edition

11:15 AM - Sunday May 24

Is anybody out there?

[crickets]

I haven't played along with the Sunday Salon in weeks, I'm long overdue for a catch-up post. Life has kept me very busy, between work, traveling to Michigan for my best friend's wedding, after-hours events, women's soccer, cleaning up and working around the house, and everything else that always comes up. I've finished Jodi Picoult's The Pact and The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey in the past month, and have started a great book, Carrie Adams' The Godmother.

I've yet to write about The Pact because I can't seem to work my opinion into words. Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed, which I rarely am in a Picoult novel. I had very high expectations because of some recommendations from friends, but it wasn't up to par. Or maybe it's that I've read some of her best works that I couldn't quite like this one after the others. Regardless, I've finished it, and I'm glad I read it. It was quite heavy though, and at some parts I really was surprised I wasn't crying. A suicide pact between teenagers doesn't seem to happen that often (or maybe it's just that it's not reported), but there does seem to be such an incredible rate of suicide in general these days. (Obviously I think the economy brings out the desperation and people don't think there's a better way out.) I have to hand it to Picoult though, for tackling yet another controversial and dramatic topic. She has a great way of shedding light on hot-button issues. I'm hoping some of you readers (if there are any left out there) will tell me what you thought of this book...

On this long weekend I have been catching up with things around the house, since we were out of town last weekend. Five loads of laundry are done, the house has been swept and mopped, the grass has been cut (thank God, after 22+ inches of rain this week, it was looking very shabby), and all of our produce for the week is in the fridge after a successful trip to the farmer's market. We also watched Seven Pounds the other night. Incredible movie, although I still don't understand the title. Anyone?

Today we are headed to our favorite restaurant on the beach to watch the waves and enjoy some burgers and drinks with friends. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day tomorrow, and remember your veterans!

101 Books Update

Well, here we are in May and I've yet to do an "update" post this year.

A long long time ago (not really) I announced my goal of reading 101 books in 1,001 days. My end date is September 30, 2010. I'm over half-way there already, and I still have more than a year to complete it. Think it's not really challenging enough anymore? Yeah, me either. I'm going to add to it and make it 150 books eventually, so stay tuned.

Books read so far - 60

Books to go to finish the challenge - 41

How are you doing on your challenges?

Rattled! - Christine Coppa

I devoured this book in 2 days; I started in on my 4.5 hour flight to Las Vegas and finished it poolside the next day.

(image from Barnes & Noble)

I loved this memoir. I have been reading Chrissy's blog ... since she started it while pregnant with her now-fifteen-month-old son, Jack Domenic. She has always been the epitome of a warrior single-mom, in my eyes at least, and I can't imagine doing what she did. As said on the cover, "Christine Coppa was 26 and living the life of a typical upstart urbanite - a great job at a women's magazine; a cramped apartment with two Craigslist roommates; sushi nights with the girls, must-have handbags and overpriced cocktails; $271 in the bank - and then her life was Rattled!"

Chrissy's life was literally uprooted and her surprise pregnancy brought a range of emotions to her, all of which come to play throughout her pregnancy and then her son's birth. After she overcame the shock and the unfortunate exit of her son's "father," she went into extreme mature mode. I was in complete awe of how quickly she got everything together - extra freelance gigs, new job, health insurance, cribs, a major (and to her, devastating) move from NYC to New Jersey and a new apartment for her and her baby. She also took a "babymoon" to Palm Springs - a completely solo trip! I was in shock as I read about her flying across the country and staying in a resort, dipping her toes in the pool and ordering room service ALL.BY.HERSELF. This woman is amazing!

Chrissy writes very well, including all the emotions she was feeling, and how she looked forward to her new life with her newborn. It was like she made the decision to go forward as a single parent and never looked back. I really applaud her decision, and I highly recommend this book for everyone, especially single mothers.