Jun 2, 2013

Sunday Salon: All That Rain and Blooms Too


The Sunday Salon.com Welcome to the Sunday Salon!This post lists new books and links up to It's Monday; What Are You Reading? at Book Journey;  to Mailbox Monday hosted by Dolce Bellezza; and to Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews.

It's been busy the past month or two with book tours of novels I couldn't resist accepting. Last week I reviewed The Wonder Bread Summer, contemporary comic fiction by Jessica Anya Blau; and Running with the Enemy, a novel set in Vietnam by Lloyd Lofthouse. There are more book tours coming up too!

I received two review books in the mail and one book win:

The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley
The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress

Oak and Dagger by Dorothy St. James

I liked Lucinda Riley's previous novel, Girl on the Cliff, and other books by Dorothy St. James, who writes the White House Gardener Mysteries. Ariel Lawton's book is a new historical mystery set in the 1930s. Can't wait to read them all!

I also borrowed two books from the libraryPaprika by Yasutka Tsutsui, considered his masterpiece involving a surreal, dream-invading device. Also, Hiikomori and the Rental Sister by Jeff Backhaus, a novel about an erotic relationship between an American and a "rental sister." The concept of a rental sister is intriguing.

The Tsutsui book I hope to add to my reads for the Japanese Literature Challenge 7 hosted by Dolce Bellezza. The popular challenge runs now through January 30, 2014 and several bloggers have already signed up for the seventh season.

There has been steady drizzling of rain the past few days and all the roses are out, all at once! I cut a bunch for a vase this morning as a bush was weighted down by blooms and by water. I can't complain though, the roses are blooming like never before!

I am reading a few books all at once. How often does that happen to you?

28 comments:

  1. I'm not familiar with these books! But I hope you love them!

    SP & STS
    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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  2. A rainy day is perfect for reading! And for bringing out the blooms. Enjoy your books...they look lovely.

    Here's MY SUNDAY SALON POST

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  3. I tend to always have two books started at one time. I find that any more then this is a situation that I cannot handle.

    Paprika looks to be very intriguing. I have read and seen a few other stories with similar plots but there is so much that an author can do with it. I hope that you put up commentary when you have finished it.

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  4. Those all look good. The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress sound intriguing. Happy reading!
    I tend to read more than one book at a time since I started book blogging.

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  5. These are all new to me, but The Lavender Garden has such a gorgeous cover and looks like the type I'd really enjoy.

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  6. Very interesting books. You have very different tastes than me.

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  7. Harvee, I look forward to reading more about Paprika. I hope to particiapte in the Japanese lit reading challenge as well.

    I love roses! Have a wonderful Sunday.

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  8. I really enjoyed Lucinda Riley's Girl on The Cliff, too, so I'm especially interested in The Lavendar Garden.

    I read Paprika a few years ago and the thing I most remember about it is how visceral a reaction I got from the cover picture (my edition had her lying on the ground with squished berries in her mouth and all around). It was a bizarre book, but of course, worth reading in my opinion.

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  9. Enjoy your books and challenge. I usually read only one book at a time. BTW - For my MM, I posted a picture of Flowers in Boom!

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  10. Hi Harvee,

    I find it almost imposible to read more than one book at a time and I am not sure that this would ever be a practice that I would want to adopt. Concentrating on one book at a time is difficult enough, especially if I am going to be posting a review!

    You have a good selection of books this week, I was particularly drawn to the Lucinda Riley story, although hers is a new name to me. I have added her name to my author list, as I quite like the sound of more than one of her stories, although I did see that 'The Lavender Garden' is being published under an alternative title, here in the UK .... I do wish that publishers wouldn't do that!!!

    Thanks for sharing, enjoy your Japanese challenge and have a good week.

    Yvonne

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  11. Ohh I like the cover and the sound of The Lavender Garden -- enjoy your new books.

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  12. I like the look of The Wife, Maid and Mistress. Enjoy!

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  13. The roses and the rain sound lovely. Enjoy your new books! I'm usually juggling an audiobook and a print book at one time so I can relate. Have a good week.

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  14. I saw a raving review of The Wife, The Maid and The Mistress this weekend. Enjoy your books!

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  15. I'm hoping to read The Lavender Garden soon. That cover is to die for!

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  16. I would love to see what you think of The Lavender Garden; it's caught my eye in a couple of spots on the 'net. I used to read a few books at once, but ever since I started back to work last year, it's all I can do to read one at a time! :)

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  17. What a interesting mailbox. Enjoy your reading.

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  18. The Lavender Garden should be great. I LOVE Lucinda Riley.

    ENJOY all your books.

    I didn't post a Mailbox Monday this week. I am not home yet. Will be heading home tomorrow from the BEA. I am just checking out everyone's mailboxes. :)

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog

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  19. I received The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress as well. It sounds so good, I'm looking forward to reading it.

    Have a fab week!!

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  20. I wish is would rain here! The Powerhouse fire is out of control and has burned over 25,000 acres! It hasn't rained for 6 months. The air is so yucky right now.

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  21. The Lavender Garden looks intriguing!

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  22. The Lavender Garden also caught my eye.

    http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/06/mailbox-monday.html

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  23. I am so late today and never caught up on the Sunday Salon posts yesterday. You are reading some wonderful books!!
    Hope you have a great week!

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  24. The Lavendar Garden looks like a good book. I'm reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares.

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  25. The Lavender Garden and the Wife, Maid and Mistress book have been on several blogs this week. The others are new to me. Enjoy them all.

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  26. I've got The Lavender Garden too. We've been cold and rainy here as well, but it has helped with all the work we've been doing inside the house.

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  27. Hiikomori and the Rental Sister sounds interesting. I saw it on the library's new arrivals shelf. I'm always reading more than one book at a time. Usually listening to an audio, reading a fiction novel in print and sometimes also a non-fiction.

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  28. Ooh, I have seen the Anime Paprika but I have not read the book. I hope you enjoy it. The movie was quite strange.
    my Monday post

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