The Sunday Salon and... Last Trip to the Bookstore 2020

                  

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! Yes, it's that day of the week we talk books, and boy it sure has been a long time since we have talked. It's been a crazy year, hasn't it?! And it's not really over yet. Here in South Carolina where I live, there are no mandates. One town over, and in many of the other towns close to me, there are mask mandates. We haven't traveled anywhere this year, my Mother didn't get to fly from Connecticut to come visit us this year, and traveling for anything other than essentials nowadays is tinged with a bit of apprehension. Hand sanitizer, toilet paper and paper towels are almost commodities. But books, yes books, have remained steadfast... and it has been a means for escape for many. I hope y'all are doing well in these strange times. Welcome back!

 Every year for the past 8 years, I have participated in First Book of the Year, hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Bloggers and readers from all over the world have participated. We all share
the first book we are planning to read for the year... we take a selfie with that book and Sheila puts them all together in a photo collage or two and posts them on her blog. It is a lot of fun to participate every year and see what everyone else is going to read. My first book of the year "technically" is Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole: A Novel by Hans-Olav Thyvold. I originally had decided on World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, but I decided I wanted to leisurely read it, a story at a time, and I felt that my first book should also be the book I finish first which was not going to happen with World of Wonders. You see World of Wonders is a book of essays on nature. These essays are small subtle observations of some of the things around us, little stories that are just a page or two for each one. Aimee is a poet and these essays reflect her beautiful writing, which makes me want to enjoy them over time... So, I will start the year with Good Dogs and at bedtime I will relax with the first story in World of Wonders.

What are you reading for your First Book of the Year 2021?

But I was having a hard time finding my original choice for First Book (you can read the story on my post for First Book of the Year 2020) and because of that managed to find myself in a Barnes and Noble. Well, I couldn't just pick up World of Wonders and go home, could I? No, I had to wander around a bit. And because of that I picked up 3 other books to take home with me too...

First I picked up Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole: A Novel by Hans-Olav Thyvold...  I had read a little something about it already. I decided to open the book up and read the inside jacket...

 "Told through the eyes of a very grumpy yet lovable mutt, a funny and touching tale of aging, death, friendship, and life that proves sometimes a dog's story is the most human of all."

He had me at "through the eyes of a very grumpy yet lovable mutt..." Yes, I love "dog" stories, but love stories told thru the eyes of a dog as the protagonist, like The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which, BTW, is a great read! I expect "Good Dogs..." to be a fun light read that will start my reading year off happy!

Then I wandered further and picked up a book of poetry by Barbara Kingsolver called How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons).  I had no idea she even wrote poetry, but I can't resist poetry books so I opened it up and I loved what I read. This is her SECOND book of poetry, and now will have to check out her first collection. If you enjoy poetry, look for How to Fly! I'll review it later this month.

And Finally...

I picked up a fourth book... A Wild Winter Swan. All I had to see was the cover for it to pique my interest. First I loved the cover instantly. It looked like a woodcut and it was colorful. But it also had another cool element... a cutout! And the cutout/window revealed part of the amazing cover underneath! My photo cannot really show how cool this cover is, but trust me it is. And then I read a bit of the inside jacket, "an Italian-American girl's poignant coming-of-age story, set amid the magic of Christmas in 1960s New York." And after all of that, I noticed the author... Gregory Maguire! Yes, the master storyteller himself. This is his take on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Swans". I vaguely remember reading that story as a child, but look forward to reading something written by Gregory Maguire.

So that was my last bookstore adventure for 2020! And if that weren't enough to keep me reading, I have plenty of TBR's in my book cases. 

Weekly Catchup...

Friday... First Book of the Year! Follow this link to read all about what book I chose!

Saturday... I've been making a first book choice for 8 years now. Saturday I rounded them all up and posted them HERE so you could see what they were!

What great books have you found lately? I would love to hear about them! You can share them here! And in the meantime...

Happy Reading... Suzanne