Sunday Salon: Labor Day Weekend

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! What are you currently reading?

Not only do we get an extra day off work, but this weekend also kicked off the start of college football season. It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Don't forget that this is the last day to place your vote for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Blog Awards. Details here.

Also, this past week, I posted another "Waiting On" Wednesday preview (here) and a review of Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons (here).

With Hurricane Gustav looming in the Gulf, it's a little strange that I'm starting City of Refuge by Tom Piazza today, given its premise:

"From the award-winning novelist and author of "Why New Orleans Matters" comes a breathtaking novel of two families, one white and one black, whose lives are torn apart by Hurricane Katrina, and then pieced back together again in ways they couldn't have imagined."
(Books-A-Million)

Readers of this blog will know how strongly I feel about New Orleans, and memories of watching the Katrina aftermath are rushing through my head. Prayers abound for these residents...

Review: Off Season

Let me preface this review by saying that I'm a huge Anne Rivers Siddons fan. A few years ago, I set about tracking down first editions of all of her novels, and I cherish them.

I think her early work (Outer Banks, Peachtree Road, Colony, Hill Towns) is her best...and I'm not afraid to say so. Anytime I see someone reading one of her recent books, I can't help but say, "If you like her writing, please be sure to go back and read her first few novels."

Her storytelling talent is undenied, and she has paved the way for many of today's female Southern novelists. She has a certain knack for creating consuming family dramas, weaving the tapestry of generations of secrets and quirky personalities, told through the backdrop of the particular uniqueness of the setting and delectable combinations of words (many a paragraph have made it into my quote book over the years).

I have had mixed feelings delving into her latest releases over the past decade or so, and I went into Off Season the same way. However, I was quickly sucked in to the rhythm and lyricism of Siddons' prose and had higher hopes.

When 60-something Lilly loses her spouse, Cam, she heads to familiar territory to grieve...her family's Maine summer retreat, Edgewater. The house has been the scene for many memories through Lilly's years, both tragic and redemptive.

The ocean there has always helped her breathe, and she looks to its restorative power to help her through the process. Her arrival there at once takes her back in her head to a pivotal summer, her 11th, and what transpired in her life both then and afterwards.

Having relived those years in her mind, she must then live out the summer of her retreat from her Washington, D.C., life following her widowhood. While there, she uncovers surprises and revelations about her marriage, along with a voice other than her own whispering encouragement and providing company to her vast solitude.

(Note: I don't like books about ghosts. But, this seemed innocuous enough early on.)

I absolutely will not spoil the ending for you except to say that I really enjoyed this book up until the last 30 or so pages. I'm really interested in reading what others have to say about this novel, especially longtime ARS fans.

Closing the cover still convinced me that the books of hers I loved the most are still the ones I love the most. I may just have to pick up one and re-read it to remind me why.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

My Friend Amy is hosting an upcoming Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and it includes awards!

From her site:

It's time to open nominations for Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards 2008!

Listed below are the categories of awards.

Nominate up to two blogs per category and send an email with your choices to:

BbawawardsATgmailDOTcom

You DO NOT have to have a blog to make nominations.

Nominations will close on August 31st.

And the categories for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards 2008 are:

Best General Book Blog
Best Kidlit Blog
Best Christian/Inspirational Fiction Blog
Best Literary Fiction Blog
Best Book Club Blog
Best Romance Blog
Best Thrillers/Mystery/Suspense Blog
Best Non-fiction Blog
Best Young Adult Lit Blog
Best Book/Publishing Industry Blog
Best Challenge Host
Best Community Builder
Best Cookbook Blog
Best History/Historical Fiction Blog
Best Design
Most Chatty
Most Concise
Most Eclectic Taste
Best Name for a Blog
Best Published Author Blog
Best Book published in 2008
Best Meme/Carnival/Event
Most Extravagant Giveaways
Best Book Community site

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Testimony

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

Testimony
By Anita Shreve
Publication Date: October 21

From Amazon.com:

"At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment."

Shreve is one of the most consistent authors I know, and I'm always anxious to get my hands on her latest. The subject matter here sounds like a darker departure for her, so it will be interesting to see how it compares to her previous work.

What are you looking forward to reading?

Sunday Salon: Back From Vacation

I missed last week's Salon, as I was at the beach. I thought I wouldn't get much reading done, with three little nieces running around, but I got in a couple of books:

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage (review here)

Babylon Rolling by Amanda Boyden (review here)

I've also started "Waiting On" Wednesday, which profiles a soon-to-be-released book that I'm much anticipating. I'd love to have book bloggers participate each week. It's another great way to build our TBR lists.

It's a rainy Sunday here in Birmingham, as we're feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Fay. I desperately need an "at home" day, so I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with Off Season, the latest from Anne Rivers Siddons, one of my all-time favorite Southern writers.

Hope everyone has had a great week! I'm looking forward to reading what you've all been reading.

Booking Through Thursday: Libraries

This week's question is right up my alley:

"Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So …What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?"

I remember everything about going to the library when I was a child. I can still see my little brown plastic card, with my own name on it...I was so proud. I remember the smell of the building, the names and faces of the librarians, the exact layout. It's not there anymore, but it's frozen in my mind.

Our city's library used to be right by the pool, and my strongest memories are of my mother taking us by there on the way home from swimming during the summer. I remember going down the aisles in my coverup and flip flops, with damp hair and chlorine-scented skin, as I made my selections, savoring the thought of being home soon, in dry clothes and surrounded by books.

Can you tell I loved the library just a little bit? :)

"Waiting On" Wednesday: I See You Everywhere

I have decided to start a weekly post spotlighting a soon-to-be-released book that I'm much anticipating. Hopefully, this will be another opportunity to share ideas for our TBR lists.

This week's selection is:

I See You Everywhere

By Julia Glass

Publication Date: October 14

From Publishers Weekly:

"The fictional palate of Julia Glass, bestselling author of 2002's Three Junes, is one of dog-breeding women and foxhunts, tony Manhattan galleries and boutiques, European travel and haute-cuisine chefs. In common with Rebecca Wells's Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood franchise, Glass's third novel, I See You Everywhere, has female bonding among the landed gentry, a focus on relationships, and devil-may-care, enigmatically charming women of great romantic allure."

I loved the author's second novel, The Whole World Over, so I'm really looking forward to her latest.

What upcoming book are you looking forward to reading?

Review: Somebody Else's Daughter

What if you could go back and check in on a decision you made to see if it was the right one?

That's the heart of Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage, a novel that explores one man's desire to make sure that the choice he made to give his daughter up for adoption 17 years ago was indeed the best decision.

In 1998, after their daughter's birth, Nate and Cat drive from San Francisco to Massachusetts to give their daughter a better life. Suffering from AIDS, Cat dies in the driveway just after handing Willa over to a wealthy couple sure to raise her in better conditions.

Years later, having turned his life around, Nate decides to take a teaching job at the very school his daughter attends, hoping just for an anonymous glimpse to reaffirm his decision to place her in more capable hands.

The Berkshires is a haven for new lives and for burying secrets. Willa's adoptive parents, the wealthy Goldings, have a fortune built on a secret profession. The school's headmaster, Jack Heath, is also there under a cloud of a hidden and dangerous past. Rounding out the main players is Claire Squire, an artist who has come home to inherit her father's estate, starting over for herself and her teenage son.

As the characters' lives come together in this small town, the novel builds to an anxious ending, as all of the secrets are revealed, some with positive outcomes and others disastrous.

Brundage is a skilled storyteller, and she weaves the players together in a breathtaking manner, forming an intersection of characters that points certainly toward a dramatic conclusion.

I read this book in one sitting, ignoring pretty much everything around me and holding my place in the book when I needed to take my breath for one minute before continuing on.

Review: Babylon Rolling

"We choose New Orleans. We love a place that cannot be saved by levees. We are brilliant losers. But, of course, those of us living Uptown on Orchid Street do not know this yet. Katrina is a year away."

I'm a frequent visitor to New Orleans...I love the history, the language, the food, the diversity of the residents, the sense of being in a place unlike any other. Many people can't get past the debauchery and think that's all the city has to offer, but they're wrong. Such is my love affair with the city that when I see a book about it, especially a novel, I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Babylon Rolling by Amanda Boyden examines the lives of a melting pot of families on one street in uptown New Orleans. The novel brings together a mix of races and origins, all forming their own community within their own little square of the Big Easy. The book examines the lives of residents beyond the parade route, beyond the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, beyond the tourist havens...those getting up and going to work and living normal lives in an anything-but-normal city.

Five families form the narrative, ranging from a transplanted family from Minnesota, a new-to-the-neighborhood Indian family, a couple in the midst of a cancer battle, a large family with a host of troubled children, and long-time residents just trying to keep the peace.

Despite their proximity to one another, they're all living largely separate lives, until one accident changes the landscape of the street forever. With it, both physical and psychological damage is inflicted, and the neighbors must come together like never before.

The title of the book refers to a Mardi Gras parade: "Babylon rolling, the marching bands drumming..." although Mardi Gras is the least of this book's focus. It's an in-depth look into the uniqueness of the culture of this Southern city, and what happens when relationships cross lines of demarcation.

Let me say that this book is not for the faint of heart. It's a gritty and tragic story...a collision course headed to no good end, but the story line is so engaging that it pulls you through to see how these characters will fare. It's no surprise that it's written by one of the city's own...no outsider could capture the personalities and the area so precisely.

It's by no means a beach read, but if you're looking for a character-rich drama set in this famed Southern city, don't pass this one up.

Sunday Salon: Calling for Vacation Suggestions

I spent my reading time this week finishing America America (review here), which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I'm currently reading What Happened to Anna K., and it's off to a good start. It's looks like a quick read, so expect a review (probably) tomorrow.

Okay, now to the heart of the post. I'm leaving later this week for a long-weekend beach vacation, and I need help with my reading material. Here's what I have on hand:

Babylon Rolling by Amanda Boyden

The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage

Don't You Forget About Me by Jancee Dunn

The House on First Street by Julia Reed

Recommendations?