"Waiting On" Wednesday: This Is Just Exactly Like You

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

This Is Just Exactly Like You

By Drew Perry

Publication Date: April 1

From Amazon:

When Jack Lang impulsively buys a second house directly across the street from his own, his wife Beth leaves him and their six-year-old autistic son, Hendrick, to move in with Jack's best friend. Jack tells everyone in his life he's okay, but no one believes him. Not his employees at Patriot Mulch & Tree in suburban North Carolina, not Beth herself, and not Canavan's estranged girlfriend Rena, who arrives on Jack's doorstep to see how, and whether, he's bearing up. When Jack starts letting Rena further into his life, and when Hendrick suddenly starts speaking fluent Spanish, stunning everyone, it becomes apparent to Jack that the world is far more complicated than he believed.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Weekend Cooking: Ultimate Mac & Cheese

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

We had our big meal on Christmas Eve, so for last night's dinner, I made Mac & Cheese to go with leftover ham.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to Mac & Cheese: creamy and eggy. If you fall into the "eggy" camp (like me), which I think is more of a Southern thing, Paula Deen's recipe (from her original cookbook, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook), is the BEST.

The two keys are: 1) mixing the cheese with the cooked macaroni while it's still hot and 2) sour cream (it IS Paula Deen, after all!).

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni (2 cups uncooked)

2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup milk

After macaroni has been cooked and drained, add cheese while pasta is still hot. Combine remaining ingredients and add to macaroni mixture. Pour into greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese, if desired.

P.S. For Christmas Day breakfast, I deviated from my traditional Bundt-pan Monkey Bread and tried The Pioneer Woman's Monkey Bread Muffins. They were simple, beautiful, easy to eat, and delicious! I accidentally bought evaporated milk instead of sweetened, condensed milk for the topping, but I made a quick substitute glaze by boiling water and sugar and brushed it over the tops. YUM!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Losing Charlotte

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Losing Charlotte

By Heather Clay

Publication Date: March 23

From Amazon:

Born and raised on their parents’ lush Kentucky horse farm, Charlotte and Knox Bolling grew up intimately connected; yet their bond frayed as one of them sought to rebel within their close family. When Charlotte moves north to New York and marries Bruce, leaving her sister firmly rooted on home soil, the two women seem to stand on opposite sides of a geographic and ever-widening emotional divide. But their fates are forever intertwined when Charlotte dies giving birth to twin boys, and Knox steps into her sister’s vanished life for an interim to help care for them. For Knox and Bruce grief is initially subsumed by exhaustion and duty as they plow through their daily rounds. The crucible of their devastating weeks together is the backdrop against which these survivors, all but strangers to each other, will be tested in unforeseen ways and grapple with a deeper understanding of the woman they both loved.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Weekend Cooking: Sandwiches

I took a vacation day from work yesterday and headed to Atlanta for an overnight girls' trip with my mom, sister, and three young nieces. The primary purpose of the visit was to go to the American Girl store, but we also added a ride on the historic Pink Pig train at the Lenox Mall Macy's; a precious play, Madeline's Christmas, at the Horizon Theater; and an impromptu lunch at Figo, where I had the most amazing sandwich.

The crusty roll with prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella was enhanced by peppery arugula, vine-ripened tomatoes, and rosemary mayonnaise.

I have long held the belief that the best sandwich is made for me by someone else. Given equal ingredients, even basic ones from the home refrigerator, another person is bound to make a better sandwich than I make myself. Why is that?

That said, I do have one go-to entertaining sandwich that never fails from the 2005 Southern Living Annual Recipes cookbook:

1 large deli-loaf focaccia or ciabatta bread

1 3.5-ounce jar prepared pesto

1/2 pound thinly sliced Black Forest ham

1/2 pound thinly sliced roasted turkey breast

6 provolone cheese slices

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Cut bread in half horizontally using a serrated knife. Spread pesto evenly over cut sides. Layer remaining ingredients over bottom half of bread and top with remaining half. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Cut into 6 wedges or smaller portions for appetizers.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Dear Strangers

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Dear Strangers

By Meg Mullins

Publication Date: February 4

From Amazon:

In the high desert of the American southwest during the summer of 1982, the Finley family is awaiting the arrival of the baby boy they're due to adopt. Oliver, just seven, is eager for another playmate to join him and his sister in their idyll of swimming pools, climbing trees, and playing tag. But one hot afternoon, Dr. Finley dies suddenly and everything changes. Mrs. Finley, newly widowed, decides she cannot proceed with the adoption alone.

Twenty-one years later, Oliver believes he has finally found the brother his family was meant to adopt. Along the way, he also finds Miranda, an eccentric, charming photographer whose subjects are consenting strangers in their own homes after dark. Oliver and Miranda's love story collides with catastrophe when their worlds intersect in ways they could never have predicted.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Weekend Cooking: Paula Deen's Hot Chicken Salad

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

I came down with a cold this week, and when I'm sick, my comfort food of choice isn't soup...it's any kind of casserole. I made one of my favorites last night that will carry me through the weekend. It may sound odd, but this Hot Chicken Salad, from the Paula Deen and Friends cookbook, is absolutely amazing.

I've made it without the almonds before...but whatever you do, don't skip the celery. It's a critical ingredient for flavor and crunch. YUM!

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 cup diced celery

2 cups cooked chicken breast meat, cubed

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

2/3 cup crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, celery, almonds, salt, pepper, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and cheese. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Spread the crushed potato chips on top.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

Note: I recommend using low-fat mayo in this recipe to keep it from being too greasy. Also, this is great hot, room temp, or even cold the next day!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Model Home

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Model Home

By Eric Puchner

Publication Date: February 9

From S&S Website:

Warren Ziller moved his family to California in search of a charmed life, and to all appearances, he found it: a gated community not far from the beach, amid the affluent splendor of Southern California in the 1980s. But his American dream has been rudely interrupted. Despite their affection for one another, Warren; his wife, Camille; and their three children have veered into separate lives, as distant as satellites. Worst of all, Warren has squandered the family's money on a failing real estate venture.

When tragedy strikes, the Zillers are forced to move into one of the houses in Warren's abandoned development in the middle of the desert. Marooned in a less-than-model home, each must reckon with what's led them there and who's to blame -- and whether they can summon the forgiveness needed to hold the family together.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Weekend Cooking: Cleaving

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

I have to hand it to her...when Julie Powell sets her mind to something, she gets it done. Following her now-famous project of cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Powell experiences a familiar bout of restlessness and decides to tackle...meat.

After unsuccessful attempts at finding a butcher apprenticeship in Manhattan, Powell ventures outside the city, landing at Fleisher's in Kingston, where she just honestly proclaims that she wants to "learn how to turn a cow into a steak."

Breaking down animals into their various cuts of meat (and holding her own in a typically men-only domain) keeps her from thinking about what's really going on in her life...a two-year complex affair with a man from her past and its enormous impact on her marriage.

It's gruesome and difficult work, but as her physical strength builds, so does her resolve to get her personal life in order. As her horizons are broadening, her life at home seems small in comparison.

So, while the first part of the book focuses on her apprenticeship, the second covers her travels to Argentina, Africa, and Ukraine, where she comes across the following dish, which I'm going to have to try after reading that it's "like a Ukranian translation of your favorite childhood comfort food."

2 cups sour cream

1 cup white or yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons butter

Salt to taste

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place the sour cream in a small pan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until hot but not yet boiling.

Gradually add the cornmeal, stirring often, not letting the mixture come to a boil. Cook for about 15 minutes. The consistency should remain somewhat liquid; if it begins to get too dense, stir in more sour cream, a tablespoon at a time.

When you judge it to be about done, stir in the butter and salt to taste and take off heat. Let sit, covered, for five minutes.

Serve in four bowls with cheese crumbled on top.

I have to say that Powell's latest mission didn't resonate with me nearly as much as her last...or, really, at all. My eyes started to glaze over during some of the very specific details of butchering meat, but I appreciated the process for what it ultimately was...taking back her life and staving off losing herself.

She's incredibly honest, sharing her less-than-flattering thoughts and behavior. And, Cleaving, like Julie and Julia, inspires you to do something. Set a goal outside your comfort zone, tackle the roadblocks, and see what happens. All in all, it's a fascinating read.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Lies of the Heart

(I realized that my logo was in serious need of some updating. So, here's the new one!)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Lies of the Heart
By Michelle Boyajian
Publication Date: April 15

From Amazon:

Katie Burelli is living a wife's worst nightmare. Her husband, Nick, a speech therapist, has been killed, shot at point-blank range by Jerry, one of his mentally handicapped patients. Now, she sits in the courtroom, playing and replaying the events that led up to the murder.

As the trial progresses and Katie searches her own recollections for answers, she begins to confront the truth about her marriage and her own responsibility for its dissolution. In chapters alternating between the past and present, Lies of the Heart unravels the truth behind the mourning widow's grief.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Cook from the Book: Breakfast Wellington

For brunch this past weekend, I wanted a departure from my typical egg/grits/sausage casserole. I remembered making a note of this recipe awhile back and decided to give it a try. It was delicious, different, and very attractive (I need to get in the habit of taking food photos to accompany recipes).

This is from Secret Ingredients, from the Junior League of Alexandria, Louisiana. The original recipe called for a 10-ounce package of chopped broccoli, but I omitted that. It also called for a garlic cheese roll, which I think has been discontinued by Kraft.

1 pound ground sausage (I used hot)
1/2 cup sour cream
6 oz. Velveeta (as substitute for garlic cheese roll)
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Brown and drain sausage.

Add in sour cream and cheese and cook until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended. Season with garlic powder, if desired. Let mixture stand off heat for 10 minutes or until thickened.

Place 1 package of crescent rolls flattened on a cookie sheet. Press together seams. Cover with sausage-cheese mixture, leaving a one-inch border around.

Cut remaining crescent rolls into strips and place on top of mixture length and width (lattice).

Brush top and edges with egg.

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cut into squares to serve.

Cook from the Book Cookbook Challenge is hosted by Tales from the Fridge.

Weekend Cooking: "Sinful" Roasted Chicken

How much do I love, love, love Top Chef??

The latest cookbook from the Bravo television series is out, Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook. I have it in my TBR stack, but its release reminded me that I needed to pull out last year's release, Top Chef: The Cookbook, and make one of my favorite recipes.

Elia cooked this on season two to represent pride in the seven deadly sins challenge, calling this a very "proud" chicken. I know everyone is "poultried out" right now, but this is definitely one to keep on file!

One 7-pound organic roasting chicken, rinsed and patted dry
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus one stick unsalted butter, melted

3 medium carrots, cut in diagonal chunks

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

8 ounces button mushrooms, stemmed and halved

1 pound fingerling potatoes, halved

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock

4 fresh rosemary sprigs

8 fresh thyme sprigs

Brush the chicken with the softened butter. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Tie the legs loosely together.

In a large bowl, combine vegetables. Add the melted butter and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put chicken in roasting pan and scatter vegetables around. Pour in the stock and top with herb sprigs.

Roast chicken at 400 degrees for 1.5 to 2 hours, turning the vegetables a few times, until chicken is golden brown.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Gin Closet

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Gin Closet

By Leslie Jamison

Publication Date: February 16

From Publishers Weekly:

Jamison's beautifully written debut follows independent young New Yorker Stella and her estranged aunt Tilly as they form some version of a family. Stella is disenchanted with her life and job as a journalist's personal assistant; Tilly is a professional lost soul, a former prostitute, and an unsuccessful recovering alcoholic. To all appearances, Stella is the savior, finding Tilly, who's been shunned by the family, to rescue her; but through alternating first-person accounts, the reader grows to view the two women as equals. The relationship between Stella and Tilly is compelling, as are their relationships with auxiliary characters, but what truly drives the novel is Jamison's gorgeous prose.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Weekend Cooking: Best Squash Casserole

As adults, my sister and I have taken over the "sides" portion of Thanksgiving at my parents' house. We leave the turkey and dressing to them...and we split up the rest between us. I have my list of standards, but I always throw in one new dish each year, too. So, I hit my cookbook closet for this year's addition.

I collect Junior League cookbooks from across the South, and among my favorites is one from my own city, Tables of Content. It has a recipe for Best Squash Casserole that I have been wanting to try (how can you not, with a name like that?). I gave it a test run last night, and it will definitely make this year's table!

10 yellow squash
2 eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

1 cup shredded mild Cheddar cheese

12 butter crackers, finely crushed

1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Additional shredded mild Cheddar cheese

8 butter crackers, finely crushed

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the squash with enough water to generously cover in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes or until tender and drain. Let stand until cool and slice. Drain the sliced squash in a colander, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract any remaining moisture. The cooked squash should measure 5 cups.

Beat the eggs in a bowl until blended. Stir in the mayonnaise and salad dressing mix. Fold in the squash, 1 cup cheese, 12 crushed crackers, the garlic salt, and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a 2-quart baking dish and sprinkle with additional cheese and 8 crushed crackers. Bake for 30 minutes.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Murderer's Daughters

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Murderer's Daughters

By Randy Susan Meyers

Publication Date: January 19

From Amazon:

Mama was “no macaroni-necklace-wearing kind of mother.” She was a lipstick and perfume-wearing mother, a flirt whose estranged husband still hungered for her. After Mama threw him out, she warned the girls to never let Daddy in the house, an admonition that tears at ten-year-old Lulu whenever she thinks about the day she opened the door for her drunken father, and watched as he killed her mother, stabbed her five-year-old sister Merry and tried to take his own life.

As they grow into women, Lulu holds fast to her anger, denies her father’s existence and forces Merry into a web of lies about his death that eventually ensnares her own husband and daughters. Merry, certain their safety rests on placating her needy father, dutifully visits him, seeking his approval and love at the expense of her own relationships. As they strive to carve lives of their own, the specter of their father, unrepentant and manipulative even from behind bars, haunts them. And when they learn he’s about to be paroled, the house of cards they’ve built their lives on teeters on the brink of collapse.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Cook from the Book: Southwestern Sausage Ring

Connie at Tales from the Fridge has started a new Cook from the Book cookbook challenge that's right up my alley:

Are you addicted to cookbooks? Do you have a collection of cookbooks that are sitting around collecting dust? Do you wish you cooked out of them more often? Do you have a hard time figuring out what to make for dinner? Twice a month, cook a recipe from a cookbook and post about it. This is a great way for us to try new recipes from our books and share them with each other. Posting days will be the FIRST And THIRD Tuesday of each month.

I have close to a hundred cookbooks...that I don't really cook from. When I get a new cookbook, I read through it and make a list in the back of recipes that I want to try. I then put the book on a shelf...and inevitably forget about it!

So...instead of relying on one of my tried-and-true appetizers, I brought out something new for my Georgia-Auburn football game gathering this past weekend. It was a HIT! Think savory monkey bread.

Southwestern Sausage Ring
(Southern Living Annual Recipes 2003)

1 (12-ounce) package ground hot or mild pork sausage

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced
1 (1-ounce) package fajita seasoning mix
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (regular size, not Grands)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Mexican four-cheese blend

Cook sausage over medium heat until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in peppers and cook 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with seasoning mix and cook 1-2 more minutes. Drain well, pressing with paper towels.

Separate biscuits and cut into quarters. Place in a large mixing bowl. Fold in sausage mixture, tossing to coat.

Layer biscuit mixture and cheese in a lightly greased 10-inch tube pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand in pan for 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

Review: A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein

"One day, God willing, my son will understand. He'll have children of his own and then he'll understand. There's nothing a father won't do for his children."

Pete and Elaine Dizinoff have been friends with Joe and Iris Stern since college, living near each other in suburban New Jersey, vacationing together, and raising each other's children as their own. That is, until the Sterns' oldest child, Laura, commits a horrific act as a teenager that will haunt Pete for years.

As the families struggle to move forward in the aftermath, Pete focuses his energy on his only child, Alec, trying to ensure his future as a successful, responsible adult, despite twists and turns along the way.

When Laura comes back after a decade-long absence, she sets her sights on Alec, ten years her junior, who has returned home after dropping out of college. Pete, still intent on keeping Alec on course, sees the life he imagined for his son slipping out of his grasp as the relationship between the two moves forward.

Early on, the author presents questions that propel the reader to the novel's dramatic end for the answers. Why is Pete now living in the studio above his basement, estranged from his family? Why is he potentially being sued for medical malpractice? It's these two critical issues that provide the novel's momentum.

The novel is told exclusively from Pete's point of view, so we don't get the other characters' perspectives on all the events, but the singular focus is effective at driving home Pete's unwavering love for Alec, even as his efforts are resisted.

The book jumps wildly around in time to cover the history leading up to the present circumstances, which can be a bit confusing. Ultimately, though, Grodstein does an impressive job at getting inside the head, and heart, of a father who just wants the very best for his child at any cost.

Sunday Salon: 11-15

Yesterday, I finished But Not for Long by Michelle Wildgen, an odd book set in Madison, Wisconsin, over three days (!) that focuses on three members of a sustainable-foods cooperative house. Throw in a mysterious lake incident, an area-wide power outage, and a housemate's alcoholic, estranged husband, and you have the potential for an interesting book...that ultimately falls flat. I was disappointed in this one, especially since I loved the author's debut novel, You're Not You.

I'm finishing up A Friend of the Family (review posted Monday), and then I'll (finally!) start John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River. This is one that I bought, but I've had to put it on hold until I finished up a round of library books. It's been calling my name!

Finally, stay tuned for Tuesday, when I start the new Cook from the Book cookbook challenge over at Tales from the Fridge.

P.S. Don't forget...if you participate in my "Waiting On" Wednesday meme, be sure to stop by and leave a link to your post so we can all see what you're anticipating reading!

Weekend Cooking: Three New Cookbooks

Beth Fish Reads hosts a Weekend Cooking meme, which is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: book (novel or non-fiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, recipes, etc.

Here are three hot-off-the-press cookbooks that are waiting for me to dive into! Don't worry...I'll be sure to post my favorite recipes from them, too!

(All descriptions from Amazon)

The Comfort Table: Recipes for Everyday Occasions by Katie Lee
A guide to enjoying great food with good friends around the Comfort Table, Katie Lee's simple recipes for cooking and entertaining guarantee the best kind of meals -- ones prepared with love that turn every occasion into a celebration.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond
The Pioneer Woman Cooks is a homespun collection of photography, rural stories, and scrumptious recipes that have defined my experience in the country. I show my recipes in full color, step-by-step detail, so it's as easy as pie to follow along.

The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knock-Out Dishes with Down-Home Flavor by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Matt and Ted Lee were raised on long-simmered greens, slow-smoked meats, and deep-fried everything. But after years of traveling as journalists and with farm fresh foods more available than ever, Matt and Ted have combined the old with the new, infusing family recipes with bright flavors. Using crisp produce, lighter cooking methods, and surprising combinations, these are recipes to make any night of the week.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Secrets of Eden

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Secrets of Eden

By Chris Bohjalian

Publication Date: February 2

From the author's Web site:

"There," says Alice Hayward to Reverend Stephen Drew, just after her baptism, and just before going home to the husband who will kill her that evening and then shoot himself. Drew, tortured by the cryptic finality of that short utterance, feels his faith in God slipping away and is saved from despair only by a meeting with Heather Laurent, the author of wildly successful, inspirational books about . . . angels.

Heather survived a childhood that culminated in her parents' murder-suicide, so she identifies deeply with Alice and George's daughter, Katie, offering herself as a mentor to the girl and a shoulder for Stephen - who flees the pulpit to be with Heather and see if there is anything to be salvaged from the spiritual wreckage around him.But then the State's Attorney begins to suspect that Alice's husband may not have killed himself. . .and finds out that Alice had secrets only her minister knew.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Review: Remedies by Kate Ledger

"Whatever had kept her marriage aloft had begun its slow exhalation, and what was left in her hand was like the string of a deflated balloon."

Simon Bear is a respected and well-loved internist, albeit with some questionable medical treatments, operating his Baltimore practice from a wing in his stately home. His wife, Emily, is a partner in a PR firm, and while she's successful at work, she feels like a failure as a mother to their sullen and rebellious teenage daughter.

The tragic loss of the couple's firstborn, as an infant, created a fissure in the foundation of their marriage, and years of refusing to talk about it or grieve properly have served to steadily widen the crack.

When Simon discovers and tests a surprising new treatment for chronic pain and Emily begins an affair with an old boyfriend, the rift grows larger. And, just as Simon realizes he needs Emily more than ever, if only more professionally than personally, she realizes that she doesn't need him at all anymore.

Although neither Simon nor Emily were particularly likeable characters, I nonetheless cared about their respective fates, wondering how, and when, their poor decisions would catch up with them. Ledger's writing is powerful, as she has a talent for "just right" descriptions. She deftly tackles big issues and thoughtfully examines the unraveling of a marriage, exploring how much pain can be endured before a breaking point.

Library Loot 11-8

Library Loot is hosted by Reading Adventures. Here's what I picked up from the library this week:

But Not for Long by Michelle Wildgen

A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein

Family Album by Penelope Lively

New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel

I also got Remedies by Kate Ledger, which I'm finishing up. The review will be posted later today.

What books came your way this week?

Weekend Cooking meme

Beth Fish Reads hosts a Weekend Cooking meme, which is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: book (novel or non-fiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, recipes, etc.

This weekend, I made one of my favorite football-season recipes, Brunswick Stew from The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking.

2 (15-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
2 (15-ounce) cans creamed corn
2 (13-ounce) cans chicken

2 (10-ounce) cans BBQ pork
1 (14-ounce) bottle ketchup

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, and cook on low for two to three hours. Best served with Jiffy cornbread or, amazingly, Ritz crackers.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Heights

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Heights

By Peter Hedges

Publication Date: March 4

From Amazon:

"Tim Welch is a popular history teacher at the Montague Academy, an exclusive private school in Brooklyn Heights. As he says, "I was an odd-looking, gawky kid but I like to think my rocky start forced me to develop empathy, kindness, and a tendency to be enthusiastic. All of this, I'm now convinced, helped in my quest to be worthy of Kate Oliver." Now, Kate is not inherently ordinary. But she aspires to be. She stays home with their two young sons in a modest apartment trying desperately to become the parent she never had. They are seemingly the last middle-class family in the Heights, whose world is turned upside down by Anna Brody, the new neighbor who moves into the most expensive brownstone in Brooklyn, sending the local society into a tailspin."

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

What I've Been Reading

I've completely gotten out of the book reviewing routine, and I know that I need to find a format that works for me (and my schedule!) to post write-ups of books that really spoke to me. It doesn't help that there have been quite a few books recently that just haven't been able to hold my interest long enough to finish.

That said, the beginning of a new month has inspired me. I've resolved to post one book review a week. I'm ready to get back into it!

Just to get up-to-date (and so I can start from scratch), here's a quick list of books that I've read within the past month that I really enjoyed:

The Wide Smiles of Girls by Jennifer Manske Fenske

Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter by Lisa Patton

Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn

Thanks for being patient while I have just been posting Waiting on Wednesday previews lately! New book reviews are on the horizon!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Three Weissmans of Westport

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Three Weissmans of Westport

By Cathleen Schine

Publication Date: February 2

From Amazon:

"Sisters Miranda, an impulsive but successful literary agent, and Annie, a pragmatic library director, quite unexpectedly find themselves the middle-aged products of a broken home. Dumped by her husband of nearly fifty years and then exiled from their elegant New York apartment by his mistress, Betty is forced to move to a small, run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage. Joining her are Miranda and Annie, who dutifully comes along to keep an eye on her capricious mother and sister. As the sisters mingle with the suburban aristocracy, love starts to blossom for both of them, and they find themselves struggling with the dueling demands of reason and romance."

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

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"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Melting Season

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Melting Season

By Jami Attenberg

Publication Date: January 21

From Amazon:

"Catherine Madison is headed West with a suitcase full of cash that isn't hers. She's just left the only home she's ever known, a small town in Nebraska, after the only man she had ever known, her husband, Thomas, deserted her. She's also left behind her deepest, most shameful secrets-among them a dysfunctional family she's never quite been able to escape and a marriage whose most intimate moments have plagued her with self-doubt. On the road, she was going to become a new person. Or so she thought.

But running away from the past isn't as easy as she had hoped. When Catherine reaches Las Vegas, she forms surprising new friendships that compel her to reveal what she had sworn she'd keep hidden, and teach her what human connection really means. Armed with this new knowledge, she is finally emboldened to uncover the truth about her family, come to understand what destroyed her marriage, and prevent her troubled sister from repeating her mistakes."

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

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"Waiting On" Wednesday: Safe from the Neighbors

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Safe from the Neighbors

By Steve Yarbrough

Publication Date: January 26

From Amazon:

"Luke May teaches local history--his lifelong obsession--at his old high school in Loring, Mississippi. Having been mentored by his hometown newspaper's publisher, a survivor of the civil rights turmoil, he now passes these stories along to students far too young to have experienced them.

But when a long-lost friend suddenly returns to Loring, where years ago her family had been consumed by an act of spectacular violence, Luke begins to realize that his connection with her runs deeper, both personally and politically, than he ever imagined. Just children in 1962, they had no sense of what was happening when James Meredith's enrollment at Ole Miss provoked a bloody new battle in the old civil war, much less its impact on their fathers' ambiguous friendship.

Once his daughters leave for Ole Miss, Luke's investigation of this decades-old trauma spills over into his own life. With his parents unwilling, or unable, to help him unlock secrets whose existence he had never suspected, this amateur historian is soon entirely consumed by an obscure past he can neither explain nor control--a gripping reminder that the past isn't dead, or even past."

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

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"Waiting On" Wednesday: Arcadia Falls

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Arcadia Falls
By Carol Goodman
Publication Date: March 10

From Library Journal:

"After her husband's sudden death leaves her in debt, Meg Rosenthal must liquidate everything and jump-start her career. She gets a teaching job at a private boarding school in the upstate New York town of Arcadia Falls, but leaving Long Island luxury is a tough adjustment for Meg's teenaged daughter Sally. Soon after their arrival, a student dies in an accident and Meg discovers that Arcadia Falls is full of secrets. Intermingled with the present-day story is the equally suspenseful tale of the school's two female founders, one of whom died mysteriously. The two mysteries intersect through Meg's doctoral research into the life of one of the women, but just when the resolution seems clear, Goodman throws another plot twist—or two—our way. "

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

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