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The Sunday Salon: Books I’m Looking Forward to in October

The Sunday Salon.com

Whew! This week really got away from me in both reading and blogging. I haven’t finished a book in about two weeks. It’d be a little distressing, if I weren’t enjoying the things I’ve been distracted by so much.

I blame my sister for getting me hooked on a goofy BBC/SyFy show – Merlin – the story of a young Merlin and Arthur Pendragon before Arthur is crowned king of Camelot. The special effects are pretty terrible and it seems that someone is at risk of dying in every episode, but the relationship between Merlin and Arthur is charming and funny.

The really unfortunate (perhaps) part about this particular television binge is that October is the month that I seem to have the most new books to think about reading. October was an extremely popular month for new releases when I was at Book Expo America earlier this year, and I have several other October releases I’m looking forward to reading (described below in 140 characters or less).

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe — From Madison Avenue office in the 1960s to multi-million dollar modern American mythology, a behind-the-scenes look at a comics franchise. (Harper)

Former People by Douglas Smith — What happened to the 2 million nobles in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution? The destruction of the aristocracy before Stalin’s Russia. (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)

Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson — A history of cutlery, from the knife and fork to gas ranges and sous-vide cookers, to explore how we’ve prepared and consumed food. (Basic Books)

Do You Dream in Color by Laurie Rubin — A blind mezzo-soprano tells her story of finding her identity while asking “Who am I?” and “Where do I fit in?” (Seven Stories Press)

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe — Mother (dying of cancer) and son bond over books while waiting for her chemotherapy treatments. (Knopf)

Judging a Book by Its Lover by Lauren Leto — “A send-up of — and inspired homage to — the passionate and peculiar world of book culture” from readers to authors. (Harper Perennial)

The Slumbering Masses by Matthre J. Wolf-Meyer — We worry a lot about getting enough good sleep, but perhaps modern life is the cause of all our problems? (University of Minnesota Press)

Familiar by J. Robert Lennon — Woman is given a second chance at her old life after her son’s death, but wonders if the new/old life is what she actually wants. (Graywolf Press)

Next weekend is Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-Thon (SO EXCITED!), so I’m planning to get a few books read then. In the last read-a-thon I participate in, I finished three books and three comic books, so I might be able to knock a couple off this list then. We’ll have to see!

I also have very few new books on my plate for November or December, so even though I’m drastically behind for this month I may still get caught up by the end of the year. I wish I were reading more, but sometimes it’s just more fun to watch television about boy wizards.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • bermudaonion(Kathy) October 7, 2012, 9:20 am

    I want to read a couple of those books too!

  • Jeanne October 7, 2012, 10:18 am

    If you go to Warwick Castle (near Stratford) in England in the next few years, you can go up in the “Merlin tower” where they have cheesy special effects based on the TV show. We enjoyed the heck out of it even though we’d never seen the show. Now I’m slightly interested.

    I’ve also been watching lots of TV on DVD because I had abdominal surgery and unless a book is very light it gets hard to hold after a while. DVDs of Supernatural, Dr. Who, Sherlock, Gilmore Girls, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and Castle are all spread about at the moment.

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:53 pm

      That sounds so fun! I have many things to see in England. Merlin isn’t great tv, necessarily, but I’m enjoying it a lot. Your tv list sounds awesome. I love rewatching the early seasons of HIMYM.

  • Jenny October 7, 2012, 4:50 pm

    I just got through reading an advance copy of the Marvel book. It really really made me want to read the older Marvel comics. Whenever they talked about the crazy plot twists they were introducing for new issues, it sounded like so much fun!

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:53 pm

      Good to know! Maybe I will pick up that one next (whenever I finally finish a book).

  • Vasilly October 7, 2012, 7:07 pm

    I totally forgot about the read-a-thon! Thanks for the reminder. 😉 I hope you’re able to get to your stack by the end of the year.

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:53 pm

      I hope so too 🙂 I am so looking forward to Saturday.

  • Joy Weese Moll October 7, 2012, 8:50 pm

    I watched Merlin! It was easy enough to follow that I could watch it while working out. It’s definitely the bromance that’s the allure. Not much else going on. Although they manage to do some interesting things with the Guinevere character a bit later in the story.

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:57 pm

      I’m in S4 now, and they are doing more with Guinevere now, which I like. I’m excited to see where things go now that Arthur is king.

  • Charlie October 8, 2012, 3:21 am

    I’m kind of glad I’m not alone on the reading front, it’s been almost 2 weeks myself – to the point where I’ve decided I’ll have to schedule a couple of hours strict reading time, and yes to there being lots of books to read this month. That said, sometimes taking a break to watch a TV series is a good thing and you’ll be more motivated once you’re “back”. Good luck for the readathon!

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:58 pm

      I think I need to do the same thing — plan out some reading time to get through some books. Luckily, there’s a read-a-thon this weekend 🙂

  • Laurie C October 8, 2012, 7:37 am

    I remember loving The Once and Future King by T.H. White about Arthur and Merlin. Will definitely look for Merlin in NetFlix! I cut back on TV shows to try to get more reading time in, but seem to spend it reading book blogs instead!

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:59 pm

      I’ve gotten a few recommendations for the T.H. White book — I want to read it now!

  • Jennifer October 9, 2012, 8:28 am

    I’m also looking forward to The Slumbering Masses, sounds like such a good one!

    And yay for the read-a-thon, it will be my first!

    • Kim October 9, 2012, 7:59 pm

      I started the first chapter, but got distracted. It was good so far though 🙂

  • Nikki Steele October 15, 2012, 4:02 pm

    Read read read Consider the Fork as soon as you can — I need to find somebody that will agree to have conversations with me about spoons and chopsticks 😀 Really though, it was such a fantastically well-done and well-researched book that will definitely hit my best of the year lists.

    Also have The Slumbering Masses on my list — hoping that one is great as well.

    • Kim October 21, 2012, 6:06 pm

      Done, I’m working on it right now! I just finished the chapter on grinding, so I’m making good progress 🙂