Sunday Salon: Recombobulating

My husband, my mother, and I have a long history with the word discombobulated. Our conversations about the word - how dorky is it that we have had multiple conversations about this word? - have primarily revolved around my insistence that you can't take the prefix and suffixes off the word. My husband, on the other hand, believes that things which are discombobulated can be combobuled. :)  My mother just thinks we are both nuts and likes to use the word to spark discussion. While this may not amuse anyone else, us geeks get all giggly over the situation. And right now, humor helps.

On Friday, February 18, 2011, just over a week ago, one of my closest friends died in a motorcycle accident. Josh and I met when I was fourteen years old, and he has been a constant in my life ever since. Losing him hurts, and I really thank those of you who have sent sympathy my way through post comments and emails. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

In more sad news, while I was really enjoying Ulysses, I have to set it aside to be read at a later date. Right now my brain just isn't in the mood for the sort of mental gymnastics the book requires. I need to immerse myself in the quick and easy, the light and fluffy. I want to lose myself, not struggle with content. I feel really really bad about this since the readalong was sort-a-kind-a-maybe my idea.

Even though I'm failing the Ulysses readalong, I did manage to finish two other readalongs in February. I read The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mills for the Year of Feminist Classics and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson for Erin's Reading Buddies. Outside of readalongs, I also read a few books received for review including This Girl is Different by JJ Johnson, Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap, and Lost Voices by Sarah Porter.

The book I am reading right now is Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli, a memoir about her rather spontaneous decision to go work in a radio station in Bhutan. Just a couple chapters in and I am already in love with Bhutan, touted as the happiest place on earth.

Also coming up on the reading list, I have 31 Bond Street by Ellen Moran, Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer, and Pox: An American History by Michael Wilrich. All of these books are on the list because of tours, and I'm really excited about them.

Finally, I have a bookish confession. I bought a book which is now tempting me to break the TBR Dare. After much hem-hawing, I used a Barnes and Noble gift card to buy a copy of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. This book made my wish list in January, and after seeing a bunch of awesome reviews on the book, I totally caved and bought it. I think that technically, I'm only breaking the Dare if I actually read it, but it's just sitting there, calling to me, tempting me.....

So what's going on in your bookish world?