The Sunday Salon -- And Now It's December

Happy December y'all!

It's hard to believe that pretty soon 2011 will be yet just another memory. And December is already rushing by. Amazing, really.

For some reason December is a month when you remember just how few minutes there really are to a day, a week, a month because there's so much you want to do and yet if you're like me, still exceptionally gifted at procrastinating.

Yesterday I went to Scholastic's Book Warehouse sale because if there's one thing I need in life, it's more books. I actually managed to control my book acquisition impulse pretty well and only came out with a few books. Anya's Ghost is what I'm most excited about.

Speaking of that though, the 2011 Book Blogger Virtual Advent is in full force with fun posts to be found everyday, be sure to check it out!

Reading

This week I read The End of the Affair by Graham Greene which I actually liked quite a bit, but I suspect my review will take some time to write. I'm just glad I finally read a Graham Greene book...and I expected not to really like it, I actually tried to read it a few years ago and never finished but this time around it was quite engrossing, if not a bit uncomfortable to read. I'm always made to feel slightly uncomfortable by stories of such extreme obsessive love, it might be a quirk of mine, it's part of why I didn't particularly love Twilight.

I'm also reading Bel Canto because I'm determined to finish one book from my challenge list. The beginning was utter perfection but now it's slowed down a bit for me, but that's okay I'm still enjoying it. I know people have really mixed reactions to this one....but I'm hoping to come out on the positive side!

TV

The Walking Dead mid-season finale was really strong in my opinion. I don't know, I thought it was a great first half of the season, and this sort of finale showdown between Rick's ideals and Shane's was well done. Shane is right of course that they live in a brutal ruthless world where survival might be the only thing you can really have, but Dale also has a point, that by not resorting to Shane's tactics he'll still be himself when he dies. What makes life worth living after all if not love and human compassion? I'm curious about exactly where they plan to go with Shane. In some ways I feel like his perspective is needed and he is often right that the choices he makes keeps them safe. We can never know if he and Otis would have made it back safely together, but at the end of the day Shane did make it back. At the same time, he has a sort of arrogance that if I was a writer, I'd have a really hard time not punishing in the most spectacular way. After all if he gives himself completely over to the act of surviving, karmic payment MUST BE COMING.

The Closer
Okay so I might be a little bit silly but every time another episode airs I actually feel a kind of grief. I do really love this show, it's one of the last procedurals I watch, and I just love Brenda! I don't know I still feel like the writing and acting is top notch and they can still deliver an amazing hour of television. Anyway, strong episode, though I have yet to warm up to Captain Raydor as a lead of a spin-off....we'll see I guess.

Gossip Girl
This week I enjoyed Dan battling his internet haters, because we've all had a little experience with the unhappy author haven't we? Unfortunately for most authors their online hate is not their agent trying to create buzz. Gossip Girl gets points for touching on online reviews for authors but major deductions for not sending Dan on a book blog tour. :) Everything else was pretty bad, especially Chuck and Blair.

Music

Marie somehow alerted me to Jars of Clay's More Christmas Songs EP which is just three songs, but they're great. I have suddenly become obsessed with the song, Someday at Christmas, I think it's this year's song, if you know what I mean. I love discovering an old song as my song of the season! :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week ahead of you!