The Sunday Salon: Book Signing

What Caught My Fancy This Week
This week has been a bad bad bad reading week for me. I was super busy with school and work and family and then I managed to get sick as well. Not so good.
I did have some fun on Tuesday though. One of my favourite Swedish authors was in the town near where I live signing books. I headed over there and got a copy of his latest book signed. He was so nice and I am really looking forward to reading this latest book from him.

The book is about the Swedish King Karl XIV Johan before he became king. He was a French soldier whom we elected to be king.
Herman Lindqvist is primarily a storyteller. He has written the history of Sweden in several volumes (which I covet) and he writes in a very accessible style.
I wish that his books had been part of the curriculum for history in Sweden, then maybe I would have been more interested in Swedish history. Oh well I can learn about it now!

Reading
My Antonia by Willa Cather. Bad reading week and I haven’t finished this.
 
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Instead of reading this today I read my students papers. I would rather have been reading this.

I continue my history self-education by reading The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer. Still not really making any progress here.

I’ve started The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. So far I have very mixed feelings about it. I am not overly fond of the narrator but I find the story fascinating. I know very little about Afghanistan and finding out more about the country and the people is very interesting. I loved the comment about how the world forgot about Afghanistan.


Finished

I did read “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway this week since my seniors were reading it for class. I haven’t reviewed it though. This week has been a bit crazy.

Challenges

Fall into Reading
I am reading:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (review)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (review)
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
Almost done My Ántonia by Willa Cather.


Childhood Favourites Challenge
The original post is here:
The Babysitters Club: Mary Anne Saves the Day by Ann M. Martin (review)
A Horse Called Wonder by Joanna Campbell
Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Madicken by Astrid Lindgren
Nothing read for this one this week.

The Really Old Classics Challenge
Introductory post here:
I'll be reading:
The Epic of Gilgamesh
I might also add the extra credit challenge but I haven't decided yet.

Women Unbound Challenge
I ended up joining this challenge. I wonder if there is a twelve step program? Introductory post is here.
Fiction
1. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
2. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (short story)
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. Madicken by Astrid Lindgren
5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Non-Fiction
1. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
2. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
3. Living History by Hillary Clinton


I am also taking part in The Classic Circuit: On Tour With Elizabeth Gaskell where I will be reading Cranford. The Circuit will be visiting my blog on December 18th so please stop by then!

Fun Stuff

There is a great giveaway right now over at Bibliofreak. Click to Join the Great Kindle II GiveAway! and I get another entry (have I mentioned how much I really really want a Kindle?) and you can enter too! There are several ways of getting entries so get clicking!

I got my match for Book Blogger Holiday Swap I’m really excited and plotting what I should give. 
If you want some more fun sign up for the Progressive Dinner Party that Amy, Nicole and Julie are hosting December 7-11. It looks like great fun!
I also posted a Weekly Geek this week featuring one of my favourite podcasts. Enjoy!