The Sunday Salon... Reading Travels and Destinations!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! It's the day of the week where we get together and chat about books! Pull up a chair, grab a cup of joe and relax!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I was away enjoying the warm weather and the great hospitality of North Carolina. Which brought to mind today's Sunday Salon- traveling and destination. When we travel, we always have a destination, so I've got a couple of great "Travel" books and a true crime book written about where my destination was this week!

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck... In the 1960's, 58-year-old John Steinbeck gets in his truck and goes off in an adventure with his standard poodle, Charley. He wanted to explore the American landscape he had written about for so long. This has been on my "to read" list for some time, and when thinking about my recent travels I decided it was high time to crack the spine and see what Steinbeck discovered.

As he talked with all kinds of people, he sadly noted the passing of region speech, fell in love with Montana, and was appalled by racism in New Orleans.

Were there any similarities as I left Connecticut for the great unknown? I did learn that Y'all is a word!

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger... I fell in love with this novel the moment I started reading it! If you are a true romantic, there is nothing more special that the love story between Henry and Claire.

When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. Henry and Clare's attempts to live normal lives are threatened by a force they can neither prevent nor control, making their passionate love story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable. The Time Traveler's Wife is a story of fate, hope and belief, and more than that, it's about the power of love to endure beyond the bounds of time.

A love story that isn't bound by the rigors of time, and wonderful heartfelt writing, make this a great read! If you haven't read it, DO IT NOW! Definitely part of my travels this past week.

Bitter Blood: : A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness, and Multiple Murder by Jerry Bledsoe... Now we come to my destination - Greensboro, North Carolina, and my last book pick of today. Bitter Blood still evokes a response from people living in Greensboro, who unwittingly became part of a bizarre and horrifying series of murders.

The first bodies found were those of a feisty millionaire widow and her beautiful daughter in their posh Louisville, Kentucky, home. Months later, another wealthy widow and her prominent son and daughter-in-law were found savagely slain in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mystified police first suspected a professional in the bizarre gangland-style killings that shattered the quiet tranquility of two well-to-do southern communities. But soon a suspicion grew that turned their focus to family. The Sharps. The Newsoms. The Lynches. The only link between the three families was a beautiful and aristocratic young mother named Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch. Could this former child "princess" and fraternity sweetheart have committed such barbarous crimes? And what about her gun-loving first cousin and lover, Fritz Klenner, son of a nationally renowned doctor?

Everyone who I have talked to about this book says it is an amazing page turner and not to be missed by any true crime reader! Mesmerizing, haunting and riveting are some of the comments I have heard about Bitter Blood and the writing of Jerry Bledsoe. I'm toting this one around in my pocketbook with a fast moving bookmark!

What have you been reading this week? Did you have any bookish travels for Thanksgiving? Although I didn't have time to read too much while flying down to North Carolina, I did discover some great reads!

Happy reading... Suzanne

Sunday Salon... Happy Valentine's Day! Some Great Love Stories to Devour!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Long before there was a Bella & Edward, there was a Cathy & Heathcliffe, Scarlett & Rhett, and Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy. The history of Valentine's Day is a mystery, but "One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death." While in prison, Valentine fell in love with the jailor's daughter, and just before his death sent her a letter signed, "From your Valentine".

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day then to devour a good love story! (Less calories than chocolate)... So, today's Sunday Salon highlights some great literary romances! And please share some of your favorite's too!

Love Story by Erich Segal... Love Story is a modern day "classic". The tragic love story between two young vibrant people, a Harvard student and a Radcliffe student. Love Story was originally written as a screenplay. When Erich Segal couldn't sell it as a screenplay, he turned into a novel and the rest was history. A New York Times No. 1 bestseller, the book became the top selling work of fiction for 1970 in the United States, and was translated into 33 languages worldwide. Shortly after the book sensation it was turned into a movie too! Here's the first few lines...

"What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me."

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy... Forbidden Love, Adultery, Jealousy, and True love, that's what Anna Karenina is about. It's a long book, with the backdrop of Russian politics and farming, but the love affairs, and the romance of Anna and Vronsky, seem fresh and could have been written yesterday. The new Pevear/Volokhonsky translation is key to this 'freshness', because they have added footnotes and appendages for the reader to fully understand 19th century Russia. I loved this book! We read this in my reading group, which took a couple of months for everyone to finish, but everyone was glad to have read it. It's a book that takes effort, but you won't regret it! Here's the first line...

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger... Have I told you all how much I loved The Time Traveler's Wife? I think I probably have, it's one of my favorite books. It just grabbed me and held me for 546 pages. A wonderful love story between Claire and the time traveling Henry. Henry is a librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. Henry travels back and forth in time meeting his true love Claire when she is 6 years old, when she is 20. They fall madly in love and endure these "episodes". The story is told through both characters, the writing is wonderful, and the story is funny, heartbreaking and fantastic! It may take some people a little bit of time to get use to the time traveling aspect of the book, but eventually the wonderful story and interesting characters take over the need to keep the years straight and you will just sit back and enjoy! You can read the beginning of The Time Traveler's Wife at Google Books.

Harvee of Book Dilattante recommends Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I loved this book too! It all takes place with the backdrop of the circus!

Scobberlotcher (Karen) recommends The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. 4 lives thrown together in a desolate Italian villa during the ravages of World War II.

Esme of Chocolate & Croissants recommends The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough. An epic saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love between Meggie and Ralph de Bricassart, the handsome parish priest. All of which takes place in the Australian Outback. I actually have this on my nightstand...waiting to find the time to open!

Other great love stories... Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937), Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. What are your favorite love stories? Leave a comment and I'll add them to the list!!

Have a wonderful week! And don't forget! The Blogoversary celebration starts Thursday! A sprinkling of great giveaways throughout the week! Remember to sign up to be a "follower", if you haven't already, on Google Friends (which is on the left of the blog posts) to be able to enter some of the exclusive giveaways for all registered followers! You won't be sorry!

Happy reading... Suzanne