What's What in the Sunday Salon: Almost Halfway...

What I'm reading

• in print / on screen

It's summer. It's the midpoint of the year(!). And I want to do some non-required reading with my eyes and not my ears. I'm not giving up on audiobooks, of course, but it's been feeling as if that's the only format I'm reading for fun. I'm getting antsy and mildly rebellious.

One reason I bought myself the iPad mini for my birthday is that it's a more comfortable size for reading, but I haven't really used it for that purpose much until this past week. I'm almost finished with Golden State by Michelle Richmond in iBooks, and I'm determined to work e-books back into my reading rotation. That said, I'm also making my way through an August debut novel in paper-ARC format--I've learned the hard way that e-galleys are a bad idea for me, because out of sight, out of mind.

• on audio

I started and finished Aisha Tyler's memoir/essay collection Self-Inflicted Wounds this past week, and am trying to get my thoughts about it collected and written up to post this week as a farewell to Audiobook Month.

I just got my new Audible credits and am in the market for some good nonfiction listens outside the realm of memoir--leave me your recs, if you have them!

What I'm writing

I'm not signing up for NaBloPoMo in July--in fact, right now I feel like I want to blog a little less in July--but I like quite a few of the prompts for this month's theme, "Decade," so I may be doing some writing on those. (I already have, in a way, actually.)

What caught my eye this week

Two perspectives on one debate:

"Thinking that every reader should feel the exact same way about books as you do and read books the exact same way as you is not only close-minded, but it is also pretty boring. Getting to see a book through someone else’s eyes who has a completely different perspective on it can maybe change your own views on it. Or even if it doesn’t, it can still be an interesting experience and maybe help reinforce the reasons why you do feel the way that you do."

--"New Guidelines for Readers" at Book Riot

"I suppose what it comes down to is this: if you've read novels in a bunch of different genres, and you still think Twilight is your favorite, be my guest. That's your opinion, and even if I don't share it, it's yours and you should own it. But if your reading repertoire is 99% Twilight, Divergent, Matched, etc. and you declare them to be the bastions of modern literature...yes, I find myself being a wee bit judgmental. Because how can you know something is a true favorite, if you've never really tried to pair it against anything else? (And no, the Bronte and Thoreau you were required to read in high school doesn't count.)"

--"A long reflection on the relative merits of Book Shaming" from The Well-Read Redhead

And really, is it that hard to read for 15 minutes a day? Do you need a little extra motivation? It's not too late to join "The Summer Reading Challenge for Adults" hosted at From Left to Write Book Club!

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

Still waiting...can someone please let me know when tomorrow gets here?

Posted with Blogsy