The Sunday Salon & Sometimes You Just Want a Quickie!

I do read romance and erotica, but the QUICKIE I'm talking about this week has to do with "quick READS"! 

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!

It's another cold and rainy day in Connecticut! We are even expecting hail this afternoon! So it makes for a perfect day to curl up with a good book. The problem with that is, which good book? I want to read a really good book, but I don't want to start a really long book. I just want a quickie! So, what's a girl to do? Find a really good NOVELLA!

What is a novella? Personally, I think of a novella as around 200 pages. And the novella's I've read lately have been very satisfying. Recently I read Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky, at 132 pages it was perfect. And Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, which won a Nebula award this year, and weighed in at 90 pages, was wonderful! These short novels have to have all the luster of a full length novel but with the constraints of fewer words. From the outside, this seems to be harder to write. Do novellas have the same respect as their bigger brothers and sisters? I know short story collections don't, but haven't heard much about the relationship of novella's and readers. It seems that there are a lot of books I pick up these days that fit the bill as a novella. Are authors starting to turn their talents to shorter works?

Let me tell you about 5 books on my Novella Radar...

All Yours by Claudia Pineiro... Ines is convinced that every wife is bound to be betrayed one day, so she is not surprised to find a note in her husband Ernesto’s briefcase with a heart smeared in lipstick crossed by the words “All Yours” and signed, “Your true love.” She follows him to a park on a rainy winter evening and witnesses a violent quarrel he has with another woman. The woman collapses; Ernesto sinks her body in a nearby lake. When Ernesto becomes a suspect in the case she provides him with an alibi. After all, hatred can bring people together as urgently as love. But Ernesto cannot bring his sexual adventures to an end, so Ines concocts a plan for revenge from which there is no return.

This sounds so interesting. I love Spanish writers in general because they generally write very passionately, and what can be more passionate than love, jealousy and revenge?! Under 200 pages,  good reviews, and on my TBR list Read in 2016 list! Here's a link to my Review! Published by Bitter Lemon Press.

Signs Preceding The End of The World by Yuri Herrara... Yuri Herrera explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back. Traversing this lonely territory is Makina, a young woman who knows only too well how to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her brother, she is smuggled into the USA carrying a pair of secret messages – one from her mother and one from the Mexican underworld.

This book and Yuri Herrara have gotten such praise that I knew I HAD to read it. Translated from Spanish, it is the first of three novella's to be translated and published in the United States by And Other Stories. The writing is suppose to be amazing. 107 pages.

The Art of Sinking by Naomi Booth... Some call it the Fainting Game, others Indian Headrush - but it's all the rage amongst the girls of Class 2B. This is the story of Esther, who lives in the Pennines with her father. Esther is obsessed with experimenting with different ways to pass out: from snorting Daz powder at school to attempted autoasphyxiation in a serviced apartment in north London. But what happens when you take something too far? And what has Esther's mother, a beautiful dancer wasting away in her bedroom, to do with it all? The Lost Art of Sinking is a dark comedy about losing yourself. Sensual, funny and exquisitely written, this bold novella introduces a fresh new literary voice in Naomi Booth. Shortlisted for the MMU Novella Award 2014.

This book reminds be a bit of a coming-of-age story. Naomi Booth has received quite a bit of praise for her lyrical writing and I'm looking forward to reading this. It's 137 pages. Published by Penned in The Margins.

Speedboat by Renata Adler... When members of the National Book Critics Circle were polled to see which book they would most like to see republished, they chose Speedboat—“by far.” This story of a young female newspaper reporter coming of age in New York City was originally published serially in the New Yorker; it is made out of seemingly unrelated vignettes—tart observations distilled through relentless intellect—which add up to an analysis of our brittle, urban existence. It remains as fresh as when it was first published.

This book has a lot of mixed reviews. The style of the book was "new" when it was originally published in 1976 and most of the likes and dislikes of this novella stems from the style, which are like snippets of observations. I read a sample and loved it. The protagonist is suppose to be a journalist, so these snippets are what she see's along the way. Definitely on my TBR list. 192 pages. Published by Harper Perennial.

One Hundred Twenty-One Days by Michele Audin... This debut novel by mathematician and Oulipo member Michèle Audin retraces the lives of French mathematicians over several generations through World Wars I and II. The narrative oscillates stylistically from chapter to chapter—at times a novel, fable, historical research, or a diary—locking and unlocking codes, culminating in a captivating, original reading experience

This novella has received so many great reviews I have to read it. Some people who reviewed it were actually unable to really describe it and just left it at "read this!". Due to its' unusual format, I think this may be a love hate think similar to Renata Adler's book above. 155 pages. Published by Deep Vellum. On my TBR list!

What's also interesting about 4 of the 5 books here, is that they are all published by publishers I am not familiar with. Smaller houses (Indie publishers?) that may be looking at fresh talent from different sources. 

Of course, there are plenty of classics that fall into the "Novella" category... Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (I loved this book!), The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,  and Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote to name just a few. (Although not a classic, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is a GREAT read and is only 218 pages).

Question... If you had a choice of reading 5 great novellas or 1 great novel, which would you choose?

What do you think about novella's? Although I love a good hefty novel to sink my teeth into, sometimes it's just as nice to read something in a sitting or two. Read any good novella's lately?! I'd love to hear about them! Share them right here!

Happy reading... Suzanne

Como Te Llamas?… Carlos Ruiz Zafon! ***Author Highlight***

What is it about Spanish authors? Their language is foreign to me, but their writing has such a beautiful rhythm & flow. It is as though I am reading their native language somehow, when I open one of their books and begin reading. The way the words are painted on the page seems so different. That is how I feel when reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon. From the first book I read of Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Shadow of the Wind, I was hooked on his writing, so today I thought I would share his "adult" books so you too could be swept away with his words…

Shadow of the Wind… Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out LA SOMBRA DEL VIENTO by Julian Carax. 

But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from LA SOMBRA DEL VIENTO, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.

*The book that started it all, Shadow in the Wind, and my favorite. Complex, mysterious, with stories within stories, it is a wonderful read, and the writing is beautiful.

The Angel's Game… 'The whole of Barcelona stretched out at my feet and I wanted to believe that, when I opened those windows, its streets would whisper stories to me, secrets I could capture on paper and narrate to whoever cared to listen.' 

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David MartÌn, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books, and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. 

Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has existed - a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realises that there is a connection between this haunting book and the shadows that surround his home. 

Set in the turbulent 1920s, THE ANGEL'S GAME takes us back to the gothic universe of the Cemetery of the Forgotten Books, the Sempere & Son bookshop, and the winding streets of Barcelona's old quarter, in a masterful tale about the magic of books and the darkest corners of the human soul. 

*Not my favorite book in the series. Sophomore curse? You know, how the second book is not up to the first for whatever reason, but a good read.

The Prisoner of Heaven… Barcelona, 1957. It the is week before Christmas in the Sempere & Sons bookshop. Daniel Sempere has married the love of his life Bea and they have had a son whilst their partner in crime, Fermín, is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. Just when it seems as if luck is finally smiling on them, a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters the shop. He insists on buying the most expensive volume on display - a beautiful illustrated edition of The Count of Monte Cristo - and then proceeds to inscribe the book with the words 'To Fermín Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future'. 


Who is this man and what does he want of Fermín? The answer lies in a terrible secret that has lain hidden for two decades, an epic tale of imprisonment, betrayal, murder and love that leads back into the very heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

*Back to what I expect from the author's writing! And I can't wait for the next book! 

Shadow of the Wind was the start of a wonderful series. Set in Barcelona after the Spanish War, 1945, the story transports you to the dark hidden streets of Spain, with a story within a story. Though I think that the first book is the best, it is a gift to be able to read more from characters and places that you enjoyed and Carlos Ruiz Zafon gives us rich complex stories, layered with mystery and intrigue. Someday there will be a fourth and final book in the series, but until then…

Before his "adult" books, the author wrote YA novels. The Prince of Mist, The Midnight Palace and The Watcher in the Shadow were his first 3. I excitedly bought The Prince of Mist when it became available here (Zafon's novels usually take a year to make it to the States), but be it the timing, or the genre ( I never read YA back then), I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I was expecting more from it than I should have. I'm not giving up, I just put it aside for another time. But I am again excited that we are expecting another novel from Carlos Ruiz Zafon! Yes, it is another YA novel, but it sounds so good (and I do enjoy YA now)! It's also the last novel he wrote before Shadow in the Wind, and I'm hoping that translates into something different in his YA writing. This was also his last YA novel, and of that he writes:

"By then I had already published three novels for young adults but soon after embarking on Marina I knew that this would be the last I'd write in the genre. As the writing advanced, everything in the story began to acquire a shade of farewell, and by the time I'd finished it, I sensed that something inside me, something that even today I cannot explain, but that I still miss every single day, was forever left among its pages."

Here's the scoop on Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon…

Marina… 'Fifteen years on, the remembrance of that day has returned to me. I have seen that boy wandering through the mist of the railway station, and the name of Marina has flared up again like a fresh wound. We all have a secret buried under lock and key in the attic of our soul. This is mine...' 

In May 1980, 15-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in the old quarter of Barcelona. For seven days and nights no one knows his whereabouts... 

His story begins in the heart of old Barcelona, when he meets Marina and her father German Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Oscar to a cemetery to watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the fourth Sunday of each month. At 10 a.m. precisely a coach pulled by black horses appears. From it descends a woman dressed in black, her face shrouded, wearing gloves, holding a single rose. She walks over to a gravestone that bears no name, only the mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings. 

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her they begin a journey that will take them to the heights of a forgotten, post-war Barcelona, a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons; and a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

Intrigued by Carlos Ruiz Zafon? Have you read any of his books? If so, what did you think? Marina was published Dec. 2013 in the UK. It's not available here yet, but if you're as interested as I am, you can order it through The Book Depository (amazon's UK rival), where shipping is free worldwide and the prices are usually discounted a bit.

Happy reading… Suzanne

The Kindle Korner... or What .99 Can Buy You Today!

                  

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake...

It has been so long since we talked about eBooks! And since we did, so many people I know have either reluctantly been given one (yes Steve, I'm talking about you!) or have made the plunge. I myself have always had mixed feelings about eReaders. I love the feel and heft of a paper book in my hand, and yet my house is filled to the brim with books and no place left for any more. Cost is another consideration... if an ebook is about the same price as its' paperback, I am prone to buy the paperback. Why? I guess it's because of my physical love of books. It feels like you really own something when you buy that paperback. But when the ebook is A LOT cheaper than the paperback, it's time to hit that purchase button for my Kindle. And the Kindle is not the only eReader I own, as you probably remember. I love my Sony eReader maybe even more, but it is so much easier to give my money to Amazon when it comes to downloading, because I don't have the Sony Wifi eReader... (yet).

But what I thought I'd pass along today is some great eBook deals from Harper Perennial! For the whole month of August, Harper Perennial is offering 20 of their favorite eBooks for just .99 cents! And we're talking what looks to be like some great reading! Not only is it great to get eBooks for under a dollar, but it's a great opportunity to try some authors without breaking the bank! Thank you Harper Perennial for the special treat!

There is a variety of books to choose from, but here are the top three that caught my eye...

The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen... More than two decades after moving to Saudi Arabia and marrying powerful Abdullah Baylani, American-born Rosalie learns that her husband has taken a second wife. That discovery plunges their family into chaos as Rosalie grapples with leaving Saudi Arabia, her life, and her family behind. Meanwhile, Abdullah and Rosalie’s consuming personal entanglements blind them to the crisis approaching their sixteen-year-old son, Faisal, whose deepening resentment toward their lifestyle has led to his involvement with a controversial sheikh. When Faisal makes a choice that could destroy everything his embattled family holds dear, all must confront difficult truths as they fight to preserve what remains of their world. The Ruins of Us is a timely story about intolerance, family, and the injustices we endure for love that heralds the arrival of an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction.


The Ruins of Us interested me because of it's setting in Saudi Arabia and what I hope will be an interesting take on cultural differences. I also like the idea of the love story between Abdullah and Rosalie and how we see their relationship changes due to the culture that surrounds them as they go back to live their lives in Saudi Arabia. This reminds me a bit of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, which showcased the cultural differences between generations, and the strife it can cause. And speaking of cultural differences, Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez, a true story, was a wonderful read. It was a love story and a cultural triumph for women all rolled up in one. Here is the Kindle link.



Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin... From Publishers Weekly: A blend of road novel and not-quite hard luck story, the latest from Vlautin begins when 15-year-old Charley Thompson and his father move from Spokane, Wash. to Portland, Ore., to give starting over yet another try. When Charley's dad takes up with a married secretary and stops coming home, Charley takes a job with Del Montgomery, a crank based out of the nearby racetrack who, among other things, shoots up a horse with vodka. After Charley's father dies from wounds suffered during a fight with his lover's husband, Charley, whom Vlautin has conveniently given the pastime of running, runs away with Pete, a horse and his only friend. This is where the narrative sours; Charley's trek across the West, occasionally on horseback, is dominated by an unbelievable stretch of luck: men appear to dispense food and money, miraculously uninhabited trailers contain washers and dryers, and his hitchhiking is eerie, but not dangerous. Still, Vlautin's characters, despite their unrealistic arcs, shine with his sparse style. It might be difficult to believe Charley's bottomless cache of silver linings, but it's remarkably easy to root for the kid.


Maybe a love story between a boy and his horse? Maybe a bit of a coming of age story, as Charley is forced to grow up fast? Will we get a peak at the American West on horseback? My hope for Lean on Pete is to have all of that and more. Here is the Kindle link.

Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall... In her stunning novel, Hall imagines a new dystopia set in the not-too-distant future. England is in a state of environmental crisis and economic collapse. There has been a census, and all citizens have been herded into urban centers. Reproduction has become a lottery, with contraceptive coils fitted to every female of childbearing age. A girl who will become known only as "Sister" escapes the confines of her repressive marriage to find an isolated group of women living as "un-officials" in Carhullan, a remote northern farm, where she must find out whether she has it in herself to become a rebel fighter. Provocative and timely, Daughters of the North poses questions about the lengths women will go to resist their oppressors, and under what circumstances might an ordinary person become a terrorist.


Dystopian fiction is so interesting. Posing the question of "What if?". Laying out scenarios that are usually not too far fetched and where you try and imagine how you would handle things. I enjoy dystopian fiction. The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist and Delirium by Lauren Oliver both come to mind. They are on my top ten list for this type of genre. (And if you haven't read these books, you should!) Daughters of the North seems to have all the qualities of great dystopian fiction, and a reluctant but strong heroine is one of those qualities I look for and it has! Here is the Kindle link.

Don't be discouraged if you don't own a Kindle, Harper Perennial is offering the eBook deals for Nook fans, Kobo fans, Google Book fans as well as iBook fans. Use the "eBook deals from Harper Perennial" link above to go right to Harper Perennial's facebook page, which has the full list and links for all the available eBook sources, or search for the books that interest you via your eReader and check out the deals. Make sure of the price before you buy, just in case they change the pricing!

Here is the complete list of the eBooks offered by Harper Perennial with their Kindle links...

Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy
The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter
Flatscreen by Adam Wilson
Drinking Closer to Home by Jessica Anya Blau
The Average American Male by Chad Kultgen
Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall
In the Hot Zone by Kevin Sites
Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love by Andrew Shaffer
The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen
Nothing by Blake Butler
Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
Everything is Wrong with Me by Jason Mulgrew
Dishwasher by Pete Jordan
Skinny by Diana Spechler
Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson
The London Train by Tessa Hadley
Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? by John Brockman
Seeds by Richard Horan
The Great Lover by Jill Dawson
What He's Poised to Do by Ben Greenman

Have you been using your eReader lately? What books have you read lately? Find any great eBook deals? Share what's been on your eReader lately!

Happy Reading... Suzanne

When We Danced on Water by Evan Fallenberg... A TLC Tour & Review!

When We Danced on Water by Evan Fallenberg... Have you ever been surprised by a book?! Thought it would be about something and it turned out to be something totally different? Something that burst with a story that faintly resembled what it started as? That's what happened as I turned the pages of When We Danced on Water. What I thought initially was that this was going to be a love story; a May/December romance between two people. One of which was recovering from a war she served in and a love affair that ended badly. What I read though was a story so rich and encompassing that I still feel the story even after I've turned that last page.

In a small cafe in Tel Aviv, Vivi, a waitress in her 40's reignites the passion of 85 year old Teo as they see each other every day. Their conversations become more intense until Vivi, a supposed artist who can't stay with one project too long, is inspired by Teo's passion for the beauty & discipline of dance; of ballet. Teo was once a gifted ballet dancer, well respected and applauded. As a gift, Vivi decides to celebrate his life and accomplishments. But what becomes an amazing gift has the consequences of almost crushing Teo as he is brought back to long-buried secrets and painful memories of his life spent surviving WWII and the extermination of the Jews by the Third Reich.

What I thought was a simple love story, swept me off my feet into a time and place where the carefree life of a young Jewish boy could change with the slightest bit of circumstance. With lush prose, we are transported back in time to both Teo's life during WWII and Vivi's life as a young girl madly in love during a time of war. Though both wars were different, both had a devastating effect on their lives. And it is their shared pain, and their opening up to one another that finally frees them from their pasts.

I was totally absorbed in the stories of Vivi and Teo. Heartbreaking and believable, When We Dance on Water is the kind of book that will stay with you... The characters, their stories, the consequences of their actions. The setting of this story is Poland, Berlin and Tel Aviv, which seems fresh and unique.

Beautifully written, but there are parts of Teo's life surviving the Holocaust that may disturb you, as there was sexual abuse at the hands of Teo's torturer. I would definitely recommend this book to reading groups, and readers who enjoy stories taking place during WWII.

About the Author... Evan Fallenberg is the author of Light Fell, winner of the American Library Association’s Barbara Gittings Stonewall Book Award for Literature and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. His translation of Meir Shalev’s A Pigeon and a Boy won the Jewish Book Council Award for Fiction and was short-listed for the PEN Translation Prize. He lives and teaches in Tel Aviv.

Today's post is part of Evan Fallenberg's TLC Book Tour! I want to thank TLC Book Tours for sending along a copy for review! I thoroughly enjoyed it! And Readers can enjoy When We Danced on Water this coming June, when it will be released by Harper Perennial!