The Sunday Salon... Week in review, Looking ahead and a Couple of Books with Buzz

There's something special about Sunday mornings... maybe it's the sweet music of a songbird singing to its mate. Or maybe it's just the fact I can sleep in a little longer Sunday morning... this morning I spent at the local nursery buying some perennials to fill parts of the butterfly & bird garden that need a bit of attention, and then I headed off to my local wild bird store to buy some food for those same visitors... whatever your reason for enjoying Sunday, pour yourself a cup and relax... let's look at what bookish things went on this week...

I was traveling back and forth in time, with some of that time spent in France with the Impressionists, swept up in a long ago romance that involved forbidden love, romantic letters, a mysterious painting and blackmail. I listened to the audiobook of that sweeping romance, The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostava, and was totally enamored by the story and the reading of the story.This week I'll be reviewing the audiobook of The Swan Thieves, which I enjoyed so much... Then I took a trip to Russia, during the brutal Soviet rule, where the KGB judged every word and action you made. I followed "former" Secret Police Officer Leo Demidov in The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith and into a war within himself and the injustices surrounding him. What an amazing novel filled with Gulags, betrayals, and the unconditional love of a mother. It was gripping and thought-provoking. Can a soul be redeemed after the horrors of war? I'll be reviewing The Secret Speech this week, plus posting a reading guide for it (it would make a great book for discussion), and there will be a GIVEAWAY too! Again, all that traveling between France and Russia can makes a girl hungry, so I was lucky that I received a copy of 101 Things I Learned in Culinary School by Louis Eguaras with Matthew Frederick from Hachette Book Group! Louis Eguaras has more than 20 years experience teaching and working in the culinary arts, and this cute little book provides little snippets of culinary lessons. You can turn to any page in this 101 page book and gain a bit of enlightenment, from what Amuse-bouche is to what cookware material is best for what dishes. Not a recipe book, but a book that can satisfy your hunger for a bit of culinary knowledge! Look for my review this week of Louis Equaras book too!

Also this past week, I had a fantastic guest post by Historical Romance writer Paula Quinn, so if you missed it, check out the Tuesday May 11th post and read what Paula had to say about writing her wonderful Historical Scottish Romances for a 21st century audience. This week I'll be sharing my full review of her latest novel, Ravished by a Highlander, and there will be a GIVEAWAY too!

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While there are lots of great book reviews coming this week, there are also a couple of books that have gotten a lot of chatter this week... Here are two Books with Buzz...

The much anticipated 3rd book in Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, will be released May 25th in the US! From Stieg Larsson's website, here is the plot summary... Two seriously injured people arrive at the emergency ward of the Sahlgrensa hospital in Gothenburg. One is the wanted murderer Lisbeth Salander who has taken a bullet to the head and needs immediate surgery, the other is Alexander Zalachenko, an older man who Lisbeth has attacked with an axe. In this third novel in the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth is planning her revenge against the men who tried to kill her, and even more importantly, revenge against the government which nearly destroyed her life. But first she must escape from the intensive care unit and exculpate her name from the charges of murder that hangs over her head. I loved The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and have The Girl Who Played With Fire on my nightstand ( I didn't want to torture myself like I did after reading the first book, waiting for the next book!), So now I can get down to reading book 2 in the series knowing book 3 is right around the corner. The first 2 books in the series are now available in paperback. If you haven't ventured to read Steig Larsson yet, and you enjoy a good mystery, I encourage you to open up The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and start reading! His writing style is a bit different from his American counterparts- more of a slow build up until you can't stop reading- but very satisfying. The movie that just came out is based on book one, with a tad of book 2 in it, but it was perfect. Very true to the book and Lisbeth Salander, definitely my favorite character in the book, was great! I reviewed the movie in April.

Women Food And God by Geneen Roth... This book is all over the blogosphere. In our weight conscious society, Geneen Roth, who also wrote When Food is Love, tries to help us get to the core of our eating habits. The Inside Jacket introduction says... "Now, after more than three decades of studying, teaching and writing about what drives our compulsions with food, Geneen adds a profound new dimension to her work in Women Food and God. She begins with her most basic concept: The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and, yes, even God." I have a love hate relationship with food, and picked this book up to see what all the chatter was about. Sometimes you just have to put down the diet book, take a deep breathe and relax a bit. Geneen Roth has workshops, retreats and has published numerous articles talking about our relationship with food. Maybe this book will strike a chord, I'll let you know what I think...

What are you reading this week?! Share what's on your nightstand... And in the meantime, have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead!

Happy reading... Suzanne