Jan 26, 2014

Sunday Salon: When A Book Can Take You Someplace Else

The Sunday Salon.com Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday at its permanent home, and Stacking the Shelves at Tyngas' Reviews.


This was the scene from my window last week and it hasn't changed much since. Some of the snow has melted, but the temperatures have been on a see-saw up and down and we are back in the minus zero wind chill zone, with bits of white being added every day.

I have a love-hate relationship with this unseasonable winter. We haven't had this kind of snow in a few years and so these blizzards and strong winds that blow snow around are almost a new experience. I love the looks of it, have taken lots of pictures, and even gone out occasionally, though I have forsaken yoga classes and am staying away from movie theaters, malls, and places where people who might have the flu congregate.

For the first time ever, I was persuaded to get a flu shot because of the scare in the area - a few people have died and many hospitalized, and the health department here says the flu this season is no respecter of age. The young and old and some seemingly healthy people in between those ages have been hit. My hope - some of these extreme temps will kill those bugs!

Two new books came in last week. Thank heavens for books~


The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh was sent by Penguin for their book tour. A young woman emigrates from London to South Africa in 1880 and has adventures and encounters that reflect a country under colonial rule.

Anyone notice that a few publishers are doing their own tours for their authors? This is the second book I have scheduled for a publisher tour.


Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee, from Alfred Knopf, is just right for this season. It's a modern day retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, The Snow Queen. A young girl discovers a boy locked away in a museum, in a city where it always snows; a prisoner of the Snow Queen, he has been waiting for the girl to rescue him. Symbolic, eh?

I am caught up with reading I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War by Jerome Charyn, for a tour in a couple weeks. Also open on my desk are two books pulled from the TBR shelf:
Paris My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (And Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas and
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Taiwanese restaurant owner Eddie Huang.
Three very different books, but I do love the variety!
And of course, there are those wonderful cozies....

What are you reading and in what weather are you enjoying your books? Can't wait to hear!

22 comments:

  1. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy sounds like a children's version of one of the books I received and read this week. My book was an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty!

    Enjoy your reads! Here's my Sunday Salon!

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  2. Looks like you have some good reading ahead. Have a great week and stay healthy. Great snow picture!

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  3. The flu seasons was awful here last year. It went through almost my entire family--I think my brother and I are the only ones who didn't get it. Since Husband ended up with it last year, I ended up getting the flu shot this year too. Happy reading!

    SP & STS
    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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  4. We are experiencing a cold and a colder and snowier winter then usual hare on Long Island New York too. I would actually enjoy it but for the fact that I often must travel in the bad weather which is an abominable experience.

    It is good weather for reading however. It seems to be the winter of nineteenth century novels for me.

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  5. Your weather looks like ours. It isn't unusual for where I live though. Come see what I got at Inside of a Dog and Ms. Martin Teaches Media. Happy reading!

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  6. I have been getting flu shots every year for quite awhile...my daughter always says it doesn't help, but I haven't had the flu...so Knock Wood.

    Hope you stay well...love the snowy picture, even if I wouldn't really want to BE in it! lol

    Paris My Sweet looks tempting...and not just because of the dark chocolate! Enjoy...

    Here's MY WEEKLY SUNDAY/MONDAY UPDATES

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  7. Fever Tree sounds wonderful! Glad to hear you got a flu shot... I did that for the first time last year. We're in the deep freeze here, too.

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  8. Ooooohhh...pretty! I miss true snow. We don't get that here in NC. *fingers crossed* you'll avoid the flu. It seems to be particularly nasty this year, but that could just be the alarmist news agencies blowing it out of proportion. Have a great week!

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  9. I've heard great things about OatMB. I hope you can stop by mine.

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  10. Pictures always make the snow look pretty, but not so much when you have to go to work in it. I get a flu shot every year.

    Hope you have a great week!

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  11. Oh my, that looks amazing. We seem to have missed out winter completely here in SE England this year, haven't seen snow yet. I do like the sound of Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. Have a great week.

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  12. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy looks fun. I enjoyed Paris, My Sweet!

    Have a good week!

    Joy's Book Blog

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  13. I have been avoiding crowds too. I am so tired of this winter, but we have a few weeks left. Have a great week of reading.

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  14. Yes books are nice in weather like this, it's nice to get away from the cold for a while. Nice picture, I have to say even though I'm starting to hate this winter, it is pretty with all the snow. :)

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  15. I always get a flu shot - so far no flu :) The view out my window looks just like yours. I can handle the snow but the incredibly frigid temps this winter are going to be my undoing!!! I need to find one of those count down meters for how many days until Spring, lol. Have a good week and enjoy your books!

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  16. I received The Fever Tree too. It looks pretty good.

    ENJOY your reading week.

    We have snow and freezing temperatures here in Pittsburgh. Almost EVERY school is closed in anticipation of the temperature of -8.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Mailbox Monday

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  17. I hope to go back to Ohio in the next few years and see the snow. This year would have been perfect for that though.

    Enjoy your books!

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  18. Hi Harvee,

    Whilst you have had the snow this year, here in Somerset UK, we have seen rain and floods which are being described as being of 'biblical proportions'. The spot where our home is, hasn't been so badly affected as the surrounding low lying land, where whole towns and villages have lost everything and the farmers are at despair point, with their land under several feet of water!

    Thanks for sharing your books this week, I am particularly liking the sound of 'The Fever Tree'. As a debut novel it appears to have a good solid storyline and some interesting characters and having read a few books set in South Africa, I am keen to find more good stories.

    I hope that the thaw sets in for you very soon, meanwhile enjoy your reading and stay safe and warm,

    Yvonne

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  19. The Fever Tree does sound like one I'd really enjoy! And I've heard great things about Paris My Sweet as well. Hope you enjoy all your books!

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  20. I'm just finishing The a Fever Tree tonight, such an odd thing to read when my view out the window is the same as yours. I can't quite equate the snow with the dust of Africa. But, I am reminded of out of Africa and A Painted Veil with this story. It's intrigued me all day.

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