The Sunday Salon

I'm procrastinating. It's so freaking cold outside and I really hate the thought of going to the grocery store. It's not the errand I dread, but getting back into my car after shopping for half an hour. I can warm up the car in my driveway, but that's not as easy when it's in a parking lot. Oh, wait! I have a husband... He could go with me. ;)

It's been such a miserably cold winter, but at least we haven't had to deal with quite as much snow as those of you to the east of us. We were supposed to get 4-8 inches yesterday, but all we got was a dusting. I can't imagine what Rod's book signing would have been like with the cold temps and snow. He signed for an hour and had a nice turnout, in spite of the frigid temps, so we were very pleased.

I'm finally feeling like I might just about be over with the terrible cold I came down with two weeks ago. Almost. I was so miserable; I pretty much stayed in bed for 48 hours straight. One of my sweet neighbors became concerned when she noticed my car hadn't moved for several days (and she hadn't seen me walking Annie in the afternoon), so after learning that I'd been sick, she brought over The.Most.Delicious chicken soup (and salad, bread and cookies!) for our dinner one night. I think it was the soup that cured me! I've got the recipe and plan to make it for dinner tomorrow night, so I'll try to get a photo and post the recipe next weekend.

I've never really been a big fan of tea, but after returning to work I discovered a delicious new tea and have since given up my second cup of coffee for a big mug of this bold blend. Suffice it to say, I will never drink Celestial Seasonings tea again!

But what about books, you ask? I have one more review to post and I'll be finished with 2013. Woot! But what have I read recently? Well, let's see. I won't go all the way back to January's list, but in February I finished the following:

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen (quite good)
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison (meh)
Iron Lake by William Kent Kreuger (very good)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (loved!)
A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante (good, but not great)
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (loved!!)

I'm currently listening to Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) and have started reading On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle. I plan to read the Coyle mystery at work on my breaks and will attempt to focus on reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck during the month of March. Thanks for the nudge, Trish! 

Alright. Time to bundle up and get to the store. Have a good week, friends. Stay warm! Who's keeping your tootsies warm tonight?

Book Signing!

 

Shameless plug for my husband! He (and several other local authors) will be doing a book signing at the SouthPointe Barnes & Noble (in Lincoln, NE) on Saturday, March 1st, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Copies of his new Dana book and the earlier Slocum book will be available, so come on by and get your signed copy, or just hang out and say hi, get a cup of coffee, maybe buy some books or magazines. We're looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it! Can't be there? Get your copy here. Or that OTHER dot-com, if you must. 

Early Reviews:

Stephen M. Buhler

Rod Scher is an ideally informative and amiable companion as he follows Dana on his exciting and exhausting voyage—he places Dana fully in his time and place, offering historical and cultural contexts for the writer's experiences, observations, and expressions. Scher knows how to inspire a sense of historical imagination in his readers, without forgetting who we are now. Scher can be proud of his own achievement in bringing such factual detail and humane judgment to this edition.

Patricia Wood

An enjoyable and fascinating look at a [classic]. The modern reader navigating Dana’s story is given a global view in retrospect, which adds much to Dana’s narrative and offers a glimpse of the views and opinions of that time and place. Scher’s The Annotated Two Years Before the Mast takes a classic tome and repackages it with seafaring terms defined and historical references in place, thereby transforming it into a gripping tale for any avid sailor, history buff, or literary aficionado to enjoy.

E. Michael Jackson

Rod Scher has done it again, this time with his brilliant annotation . . . . Scher’s annotation reopened this classic for me. This is a careful and thoughtful work, never dry and often with a subtle twist of humor, yet always sensitive to Dana’s themes. Reading this annotation brings young Dana’s chronicle into sharp, poignant relief in an almost new and very exciting way.