The Sunday Salon - The Art of Reading

The Sunday Salon.com


Good Evening, Sunday Saloners. Today has been one of those days that everything you didn't get accomplished during the week catches up with you. It was a day of working on my Art History course, doing laundry, going grocery shopping, paying bills, planning lessons and of course, giving my loving hubby a foot rub.

This morning I received a surprise when I came online. I received the Sisterhood Award from not one, but two lovely ladies: Desert Rose and Sheri of A Novel Menageri

Thank you, my bloggy sisters. It is very much appreciated. The rules are to nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude. I am going to reserve the award for the future to share when you least expect it.


This week in Art History is all about my favorite artist - Claude Monet. I have this wonderful screen saver which is a slide show of his artwork.
One of these years, we plan on going to stay with friends in France and one of the many stops will be Claude Monet's house and gardens in Giverny. In the meantime we continue to read all about him and enjoy his artwork. Some time ago I found "MONET by himself" edited by Richard Kendall which is a collection of his letters to friends, artists and family, plus pictures of all his paintings. James and I enjoy reading the children's book "The Magical Garden of Claude Monet" written by Laurence Anholt. He has written a wonderful series of books called Anholt's Artists Books for Children about Monet, Degas, Leonardo, Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso. They are very good.

I managed to read ONE whole book this past week: Thomas Merton Seven Storey Mountain An Autobiography of Faith. I put everything else aside and decided to concentrate on reading and finishing it. The book has been on my nightstand for over a year now and I'm happy to say I finally read it. Merton was an interesting man, especially since he wasn't a particularly religious person growing up and decided to become a priest even though he hated Catholics and knew nothing about prayer. Yes, you heard right. His journey to catholicism and becoming a trappist monk is certainly an interesting one and well worth the read. I'll be reviewing it soon and expanding more about his trials and tribulations. Let's just say that when I finished the book, my mind was so full I couldn't read anything else, nor could I come up with the words to adequately review it until I had thought about it for a while.

In the meantime Spring is upon us and two great reading challenges are taking place in the Blogosphere: Callapidder's Days Spring Reading Thing and Stainless Steel Droppings Once Upon A Time III. My theme for the Spring Reading Thing is first time author reads and for OUATIII I will be reading a few new to me authors, a few favorites and revisiting a few oldies. Lots of reading. To start off spring with a bang, I am reading a book Father gave me for Christmas - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. No, I have never read anything by Tolstoy believe it or not.

Yes, I started it last night and am on page 66. I started off reading a little too quickly and found myself going back a couple pages every few minutes to keep the characters straight because there are so many. So I slowed down and made sure not to skim and found myself intrigued. Who knows how long it will take me to read but it will be my only read until it is done.


6 comments:

  1. When you read Tolstoy, either keep the Cliffs notes nearby for character reference, or make a list as you go. Just personal experience....

    :)

    Congrats on the award! And I'm jealous of your future trip to France. I love Monet and would love to see his house and gardens. Wow!

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  2. I'm intrigued by your comments on Merton. I had no idea. I have a very small book (Thoughts in Solitude) that I keep nearby and read various chapters over and over. I use it with my other devotionals. Your Merton book sounds like a good companion piece to mine. Thanks for the suggestion.

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  3. WOW! I think I am now speechless - thank you!

    :-D

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  4. Test comment...lol

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  5. I would love to take a Art History class..
    I read one of Merton's books a few years ago and I thought to myself that he would be someone I would like to meet if I could go back in time.

    You're brave..Tolstoy...not sure I could hang in there!!

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  6. Good for you for tackling Tolstoy! He's one of my favorite Russian authors, and while I've read Anna Karenina a thousand times, I've never finished War and Peace. Only started it a thousand times! May you have better luck than I, it is a good book at least up to page 790. ;)

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