The Sunday Salon and End of Summer Sale on eBooks

Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!

Today I saw an add in my email for an end of summer sale at Williams Sonoma. END OF SUMMER?! I suppose in New England, the end of July does make us think of getting all those summery things done that we want to do before it snows. But summer is still here and I still have a long list of reading for all those books that came out this year that I haven't had time for yet. But just like the end of summer sale at William Sonoma, book publishers run sales too, and today I just saw a bunch of those books on my TBR list pop up on eBook sales. Yes, it's interesting to see how publishers happily discount eBooks every once in a while to get them in our hands. When the choice is between an eBook and a paperback, if there isn't a big difference, I go for the paperback. But here are some books where there's no doubt...

If you want to read any of these books, and don't want to patronize the library, and have an eReader, grab these while you can. THESE ARE TODAY ONLY sale prices!!!

And one more thing... these eBook prices change without notice, so always check the price before clicking the "buy" button...

The Girls by Emma Cline... An indelible portrait of girls, the women they become, and that moment in life when everything can go horribly wrong—this stunning first novel is perfect for readers of Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Virgin Suicides and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad.

LINK for Kindle book TODAY ONLY... $4.99
LINK for Nook book... $4.99





Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld... a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Wonderfully tender and hilariously funny, Eligible tackles gender, class, courtship, and family as Curtis Sittenfeld reaffirms herself as one of the most dazzling authors writing today.

LINK for Kindle book... $3.99
LINK for Nook book...  $3.99





The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie King... NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes series weaves rich historical detail and provocative themes with intriguing characters and enthralling suspense. Russell and Holmes have become one of modern literature’s most beloved teams. But does this adventure end it all?

LINK for Kindle book... $1.99
LINK for Nook book... $1.99






The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty... Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s stic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk. Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her... Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.

  LINK for Kindle book... $3.99

  LINK for Nook book... $3.99

Other Notable Mentions...

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
LINK for Kindle book... $4.99
LINK for Nook book... $4.99

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
LINK for Kindle book... $4.99
LINK for Nook book... $4.99

Wreckage by Emiily Bleeker
LINK for Kindle book... $1.99
Not available as a Nook book

The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux
LINK for Kindle book... $1.99
LINK for Nook book... $1.99

Question... Hardcover, Paperback or eBook?

I enjoy getting a bargain when I buy books. I hope you found something here that you were thinking about, because today is definitely the day to grab any of these. Of course I have a TBR pile in my Kindle as well as on my book shelves, but at least they're a little easier to handle on the Kindle....

Have a great week! Happy reading... Suzanne

The Man Booker Prize 2016... "Man Booker Dozen"

The Man Booker Prize 2016 Longlist!

On Wednesday of this week, The Man Booker Prize Longlist for 2016 was revealed! Out of these 12 books, 6 books will make it to the "short list", which will be revealed on Tuesday, Sept. 13th. And finally on Tuesday, Oct. 25th the 2016 winner will be announced! There were a total of 155 submissions for this prestigious award, which is "a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language, and published in the UK."

                      Paul Beatty (US) The Sellout (Oneworld)
                      J.M. Coetzee (South African-Australian)
                      The Schooldays of Jesus (Harvill Secker)
                      A.L. Kennedy (UK) Serious Sweet (Jonathan Cape)
                      Deborah Levy (UK) Hot Milk (Hamish Hamilton)
                      Graeme Macrae Burnet (UK) His Bloody Project (Contraband)
                      Ian McGuire (UK) The North Water (Scribner UK)
                      David Means (UK) Hystopia (Faber & Faber)
                      Wyl Menmuir (UK) The Many (Salt)
                      Ottessa Moshfegh (US) Eileen (Jonathan Cape)
                      Virginia Reeves (US) Work Like Any Other (Scribner UK)
                      Elizabeth Strout (US) My Name Is Lucy Barton (Viking)

                      David Szalay (Canada-UK) All That Man Is (Jonathan Cape)

Madeleine Thien (Canada) Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Granta Books)

Have you read any of these yet?

The Sunday Salon and Vacation Reading...

Hey, I'm finally back from vacation! What an awesome roadtrip we had! The Outerbanks of North Carolina, which was our first "planned" destination, was beautiful. So much variety when it came to nature, which includes animals and land. We tent camped in the dunes in the  Cape Hatteras National Seashore and experienced how quickly the weather can change in this area. We went from beautiful hot, to extreme winds (which eventually did our tent in once), to an amazing storm (which finally did our tent in and anything that was lying on the tent floor, such as our cell phones!) I found some great bookish things along the way... which included an awesome bookstore AND my first encounter with an actual Little Library! Plus, like any good reader, I bought some books about some of the places we visited. Now, did I get any reading done? NO! I tried to settle down and read, but there was literally (no pun intended) so many things to do and see, I never got to crack the spine of the book I brought. Sorry, Brian Meltzer, maybe next time.

First, here are the books I bought along the way. From books on The Outerbanks, to books on the rich history of North Carolina pottery and in particular pottery from Seagrove, NC., to a book on Lighthouses and even a book on the USS North Carolina, the most highly decorated American battleship of WWII, which is now a museum ship and is located in Wilmington, NC. There's also a book of poetry by Marge Piercy, The Moon is Always Female, that Gee Gee, owner of  Buxton Village Books recommended, and that Chelsea Newnam of the now defunct blog, Ethershop, says of Marge Piercy, " It is not every day that a collection of poetry aligns itself so staunchly with the issues of the heart and the female spirit that it is hard to put down." And I have to say, I have enjoyed reading The Moon is Always Female and a review will be up soon. Thanks Gee Gee for the great recommendation! You'll also see in "The Pile" a "library book", that I picked up used in the Factory Antique Mall, in Verona, VA. It is the largest antique mall in America, and I have to admit that Jim and I had to ask directions on how to get back to the front doors to leave. (Yes, it's that big with all sorts of rooms off of the main drag). Anyway, the book is A Citizen-Soldier's Civil War and it is the letters Brevet Major General Alvin C. Voris wrote to his beloved wife, Lydia, during the Civil War. There are 428 letters and they are so interesting with such touching & romantic sentiments at times, I just had to read the whole book. Hard to see from the photo is a book on The Wright Brothers called First Flight published by The National Parks. We visited the field in which that first flight was taken in Kill Devils Hill, NC. (This part of the town use to be in Kitty Hawk). Jim likes to say I achieved first flight there too because I flew a really cool kite that I bought from Kitty Hawk Kites there.

Also in "The Pile" is a book called Lighthouse Ghosts and Carolina Coastal Legends by Norma and Bruce Roberts. I can't resist a good ghost story. And I also picked up Wave by Suzy Lee, a beautiful wordless book that reminded me so much of the beaches beyond the dunes we camped in. It was so relaxing to listen to the waves crash as we settled down for the evenings.

One of the highlights of the trip was the accidental discovery of a Little Free Library on the main road as we were traveling from our campsite to the tip of Hatteras Island. Located in Waves, NC and put up by Pamela Strausbaugh, Pamela actually put up two libraries! One for adults and a "Jr." library for younger readers! First of all, they were beautiful! So well made and I loved the idea of the Jr. library! There was even a hook for a dog leash on one of the posts. But next to each library was a place to sit and read! An "adult" bench next to the adult library and a childrens adorondak chair next to the Jr. library. Great job, Pamela! Someday I'll be putting up a Little Free Library and I was so excited to actually see one in person! Here are a few more photo's...

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Of course, no reader on vacation would mind checking out a cool bookstore, right?!......

As we were making that trip to the tip of Hatteras Island, I also saw the cutest looking bookstore. It looked like someone's house, it had an inviting aura about it, and so I begged Jim to please stop! (okay, maybe I screamed, "STOP!" as I realized it was a bookstore we were zooming by.) Buxton Village Books owned by Gee Gee Rosell was definitely worth a stop! It had everything you'd want in an independent bookstore -- a friendly person running the place, who loved books and loved to share them with you (that would be owner Gee Gee), a great selection of books, a section of local books, and a gently used section of books!


Gee Gee was so nice. We talked about books, about the Outerbanks, about Chick with Books, she let me wonder around with my camera and take pictures, and told me about Buxton Village Books. If you are ever near the Outerbanks, NC, near Buxton or somewhere you can get to this bookstore, GO THERE! It is a great independent bookstore with lots of charm and a woman who knows her stuff! I will definitely be going back there! Of course you can find Buxton Village Books online (nice website too)... here's the link.

That about does it for the bookish parts of our roadtrip. I have plenty to read and will probably never finish it all! But that's why we have TBR piles! Something I DID read THIS past week was The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. It was the selection for book club this month and I really enjoyed it. I'll be reviewing it this week, but in a few words it was like a cross between a police procedural and literary fiction with a dose of horror film... the part of the horror film where someone decides to check out the basement and you're on the couch yelling, "NO!!".

Question... Have YOU seen a Little Free Library Yet?!?

Happy Reading... Suzanne