What is the Sunday Salon?
The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.
What I Read Last Week:
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Fantasy)
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Fiction)
What I'm Reading Now:
The Mirror & the Light: A Novel by Hilary Mantel (Historical Fiction)
Gringos by Charles Portis (Fiction)
Finger Exercises for Poets by Dorianne Laux (Nonfiction)
I'm participating in the Houston Bookshop Crawl #HTXBookCrawl25 this month. I started with Then & Now Bookshop in Galveston. Let's see how many independent bookshops I can visit from the list this month.
April 26 is Indie Bookstore Day, and indie bookstores all over the US are hosting events. Take a look at the map here to see what is going on around you, if you live in the US.
What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:
The Sunday Salon: Everyone is Welcome Here
Paris in springtime?
I wouldn't miss it!
Lisa at Bookdock Ramblings and Erin at Still Life, with Cracker Crumbs are hosting another film watching event for springtime. It is six weeks, six movies, and very easy going. If you want to watch one or all or a few, they would love to have you join in. Just watch along and comment on their posts or post your own thoughts and link up.
I bought Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris when my sister and I celebrated her birthday with a We Love Paris Day a few years ago. The movie had just come out on DVD, so we ate wonderful Paris treats and watched the movie at my house. A lovely day!
I hadn't watched it since then, and I remember being mildly disappointed since I had just read the book and, face it, the movie is rarely as good as the book.
But two years have passed, and I felt completely different about the movie this time. Maybe part of it is because the times are different, and the movie makes a slam against those folks (I think you know who I'm talking about) who seem to feel like rich people can do whatever they want.
Our main character, Ada Harris, is a cleaner in London who wants to buy a Dior dress. She's clearly not the target market for Dior in 1957, but she is determined to buy a Dior dress anyway. What gumption Mrs. Harris has! I found it delightful that one of the rich snooty women Mrs. Harris encounters makes her money from picking up garbage, and, at the time of Mrs. Harris' visit, the garbage men are on strike. The movie is a fairytale for those of us who find Paris to be the most wonderful city in the world.
Here are my thoughts about the book.
(Some spoilers)
Mrs. Harris is a cleaning woman who sets her sights on a Dior dress, a dress that costs a year's wages, a dress she hasn't a place to wear, a dress that can only be obtained by traveling to Paris. Like a beautiful fairytale, all her dreams come true. And don't. And do.
You might find the Meaning of Life in this book. It's a new favorite.
Mrs. Harris is a cleaning woman who sets her sights on a Dior dress, a dress that costs a year's wages, a dress she hasn't a place to wear, a dress that can only be obtained by traveling to Paris. Like a beautiful fairytale, all her dreams come true. And don't. And do.
You might find the Meaning of Life in this book. It's a new favorite.
I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:
Good Thing #1:
We rode across the ferry
to Bolivar Peninsula
on our birding outing this week.
Good Thing #2:
Action for Happiness:
Active April calendar
Good Thing #3:
I had some repairs made on my
50-year-old guitar
last week.
What a nice sound it has now!
Your ferry boat adventure sounds neat -- I love little car ferries like that. Your reading and movies this week are also fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I would LOVE that book crawl! And isn't "Mrs. 'Arris" a delightful movie? I need to read the book now! Three cheers for getting your guitar repaired! Happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you’ve had great week! Your April Happiness action calendar is cool idea. And yes old movies seemed to portray the wealthy class as they are rather than people to be admired. Yay for repairing your guitar!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you are participating in our movie journey to Paris. Lol! Mrs. Harris was such a wonderful movie - I loved it completely. But now I need to read the book!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that film as well - perhaps one day I will read the book. Have a wonderful weekend Deb!
ReplyDeleteI just checked to see if my area is hosting a book crawl anywhere. I don't think so, sadly. There are some independent bookstores I can check out though. Love the ferry! I enjoyed getting on those as a kid when it was a way to get your car across from Pennsylvania to NJ.
ReplyDeleteAs you know from my post, I haven't seen the new movie in full, so I can't say anything to that.
ReplyDeleteI often find, I'm less disappointed if I see a movie first and read the book afterwards which I actually did this time because it had been ages - definitely more than 40 years ago - that I had read the book. Sometimes I even like the movie more then (in the case of The Bishop's Wife, for example).
Even if there are differences in the version I watched and the book, it worked well for me in this case. As you said, I took both for what they are and enjoyed both.
I like this post all over the place. How fun to do a 'crawl' all over Houston. Enjoy, enjoy! I think Austin is likely having one, but we've got several things going on in upcoming days. We'll see if I can participate. Glad you're having fun with your birding. It's been raining here this morning and that's a good thing for sure. The birds are singing sweetly - they like it too!
ReplyDeleteThe Indie bookstore crawl looks so fun! We are up to 3 Indie bookstores and a couple of used bookstores in our area right now and I'm really loving it. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThe Indie bookstore crawl sounds like a lot of fun, enjoy! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteJealous of your bookstore crawl!!!! I looked at the map...each of the ones in L.A. would be a road trip for me. I do have two awesome 2nd hand bookstores near me, but I don't see them listed on the map so I guess they're not participating.
ReplyDeleteI love the Actions for Happiness calendars. Do you do the activities with others or on your own? I can't seem to find anyone who is interested in doing them, so I do some of them on my own. I'll have to keep an eye out to see what my local indie bookstore is doing later this month. Have a great weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteI do the activities on my own. A lot of indie stores are celebrating at the end of the month.
DeleteI love the idea of a bookstore crawl!
ReplyDeleteMrs. Harris Goes to Paris was such a delightful movie.
Mrs. Harris sounds like a character to remember, I'll have to see it.
ReplyDeleteHooray for the guitar repairs!
I love the Mrs Harris movie! It just makes me feel good to watch it!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed Mrs. Harris (again) and I hope the Bookshop Crawl goes well!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a bookstore crawl. What fun! I wish there were some in my area, but there aren't. I hope you have fun with it.
ReplyDeleteoh finger exercises sounds like a great book to read this month!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the bookshop crawl map! I did find some neighbourhood maps for Toronto. I can never pass up a bookstore, in fact, I am planning on a trip to one tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing more!
DeleteAhh, Howl's Moving Castle! How did you like it? I love how Welsh it is.
ReplyDeleteSuch fascinating characters! I see why it's such a beloved book.
DeleteThat’s so many bookstores! We don’t have very many around me. The only bookstore that sells new books doesn’t stock any of the books/authors I like to read. I rarely watch a movie if I’ve read a book, I just don’t want the disappointment. Have a great week!
ReplyDeletewow, already of the 3rd book of this amazing trilogy!
ReplyDeleteSo many indie booksstores around you!
I was very impressed by my first Gallico (The Snow Goose), I need to read more for sure
I think Howl's Moving Castle sounds like a book I would enjoy, but despite all the mentions I've seen, I haven't read it yet. And I REALLY want to find a bookshop crawl local to me - that sounds so fun!!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of an indie book store crawl and how fun that you can go into a big city where there are lots of them!
ReplyDeleteThe Houston indie bookstore crawl looks like so much fun! There is one in CT, too (it's a small state) but we are never back in time. I'll visit our local island indie though. Adding Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris to my list.
ReplyDeleteThat Bookstore Crawl sounds like a blast! I did a partial one several years ago here is Wisconsin. So many indie bookstores have shutdown.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week!
A bookshop crawl sounds so fun! I’m interested in knowing your thoughts on your adventures through Houston’s Independent bookshops.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I’ve never been on a ferry! I need to remedy that :-)
I printed out the active April calendar and I’m looking forward to see how I can implement it on our next visit to San Diego.
The ferry here is the rare free ferry, too!
DeleteI've only been on a ferry once.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both the book and the movie of Mrs. Harris. With Howl's Moving Castle, however, I definitely prefer the book!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to be at the L.A. Festival of Books on the 26th, but we will see if that works out. The Houston Bookshop Crawl sounds like fun and I hope you enjoy it! I am glad you got your guitar repaired! I need to have mine re-stringed. I hope you have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI have discovered that my library has both the book and the movie of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. I'm trying to decide if I should read the book first, or watch the movie first!
ReplyDeleteI’ve been shopping at indie bookstores every time we go somewhere on Rod’s book tour. I bought three new books at Third Place Books in the Seattle area last week, and another at Beach Books in Seaside yesterday afternoon.next week we’ll be Sisters and Bend, so I need to make a list of what I might like to buy.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the make of your guitar? Rod has several, but then I have several books, so I won’t complain. 😄
I bought my first Yamaha guitar in the spring of 1975, Les. It was stolen that summer when I worked in Yellowstone Park. I bought a second Yamaha guitar when I came home that fall.
DeleteMy iPad isn’t letting me sign into my Google account. The previous comment is from Lesley.
ReplyDeleteI knew it was you, Les!
DeleteSounds like a fabulous week, Deb! A bookstore crawl would be amazing. Like the Action for Happiness calendar idea. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/04/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-mailbox.html
I want to go on a book store crawl. We have so few around here we'd spend most of our time in the car. Sigh. Have a bunch of fun!
ReplyDelete