Weekly Roundup 7/8

After all of my angst about what books to take to the beach, I didn't have the opportunity to read very much. When I did have a second, I kept picking up books and putting them back down...I couldn't stay with anything for very long. Have you ever gone through a period like that?

I came home to find Kindred Spirits by Sarah Strohmeyer waiting on me...so I quickly dove in. It's sad, but it's a sweet and touching story of friendships between women, which is always a hook for me. This was my first by this author, but I'll definitely be reading more from her.

This was a big week for great fiction releases, all of which I have in hand: The Gap Year by Sarah Bird, Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante, Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens, and A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano.

Also, I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I'm excited to start How to Eat a Small Country by Amy Finley. If you're a fan of The Next Food Network Star, you may remember that she was the season three winner...and the new fame/career ending up wrecking her family. She decided to leave it all behind, pack up her husband and two children, and move to France to rebuild her life. It sounds sooooo good...and I think the cover is so pretty!

Finally, my favorite recipe this week was Southern Living's Southwestern Pull-Apart Ring, a savory twist on monkey bread. This is a crowd-pleaser!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Starting from Happy

 "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:

Starting from Happy
By Patricia Marx
Publication Date: August 23

From Amazon:

While waiting in line for apple pie at a party, Imogene Gilfeather, a lingerie designer who does not understand the reason for romance, meets Wally Yez, a scientist whose business card says “An Answer for Everything.” Imogene is told that Wally is the perfect guy. He is told that her company, Featherware, manufactures intimates (that gets his attention). Unfazed by Imogene’s indifference, Wally resolves to win her over. E-mails turn into late-night phone calls; one date turns into two and then into more. Thus begins the most absurd and amusingly unbalanced relationship to grace the pages of a novel.


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

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Weekly Roundup 7/1

I'm taking a half day off work and getting my holiday weekend started early...heading down to the beautiful Gulf Coast. If you're going out of town and still haven't packed your bag of books, here are links to my best beach picks for this summer, in case you missed them the first time around.

Preview Part I

Preview Part II

Of the 10 picks, I've already read all but three (Kindred Spirits, One Summer, Burnt Mountain), and I can vouch for those seven...all great reads!

Thanks to your suggestions, my bag includes South of Superior, Ten Thousand Saints, and The Borrower.

I've made a batch of Redneck Caviar (black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, Rotel tomatoes, Italian dressing), and I'm ready to hit the road!

Help!!

I'm not usually at a loss for what to read next, but I found myself last night staring at 10 books, with absolutely no clue where to start. They all hold equal appeal. So....I'm asking for your help!

What should I read next? Or, even better, what three should I take with me on vacation this weekend???

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

South of Superior by Ellen Airgood

The Astral by Kate Christensen

A Young Wife by Pam Lewis

Groundswell by Katie Lee

One Summer by David Baldacci

Daughters of the Revolution by Carolyn Cooke

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Most Dangerous Thing

"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 Most Dangerous Thing

By Laura Lippman
Publication Date: August 23

From Publishers Weekly:


Childhood friends, long since splintered off, uneasily reunite after the death of one of their own in Edgar-winner Lippman's superbly unsettling tale of the consequences of long-buried secrets. Gordon "Go-Go" Halloran drives his car into a wall after a night of drinking, even though he's been on the road to sobriety. On the brink of divorce, Gwen Robison returns home to care for her aging father and learns of Go-Go's death from his older brother, Sean. With the eldest Halloran brother, Tim, and a scruffy, nature-loving neighborhood girl, Mickey Wickham, the five had come together in the spring of 1977. The group broke apart after a violent encounter in the woods, an event that was never spoken of again, but permeates each of their lives. Lippman cleanly shifts between the past, following the band of kids through their adventures in the woods of their Baltimore suburb, and the present when Go-Go's death draws them back 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 your link below!

Weekly Roundup 6/24

My most notable read this week was Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan. Believe every great thing you've seen/heard about this book (like Lily King's NYT review)...it's a must-read. It had all of my favorite elements...strong female characters, (complex and complicated) relationships between family members, a lush/summer setting. I stood at my mother's kitchen island last Sunday, while over there for Father's Day, with my finger in the air (hold on) as I read the final pages so I could leave it with her.

I'm up to my ears in "beach reads"...and I'm in heaven. I feel like I need to take a vacation just to read everything I have on hand. I plan on finishing Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank today and reading Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand and Heat Wave by Nancy Thayer over the weekend.

I also picked up Southern Living Off the Eaten Path, subtitled Favorite Southern Dives and 150 Recipes that Made Them Famous. I've been waiting forever for it, and it has some heavy competition for my attention right now...but doesn't it look/sound great???

Finally, my new (to me) recipe of the week was Bubble Up Pizza, a sure-to-please-everyone recipe that is easily customizable to your preferences. Yum!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Falling Together

"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:

Falling Together
By Marisa de los Santos

Publication Date: October 4

From the author:

Pen, Will, and Cat met during their first week of their first year of college and struck up a remarkable friendship, one that sustained them and shaped them for years--until it ended abruptly, and they went their separate ways. Now, six years later, Pen is the single mother of a five year old girl, living with her older brother in Philadelphia and trying to make peace with the sudden death of her father. Even though she feels deserted by Will and Cat, she has never stopped wanting them back in her life, so when she receives an email from a desperate-sounding Cat asking her to meet her at their upcoming college reunion, Pen goes. What happens there sends past and present colliding and sends Pen and her friends on a journey across the world, a journey that will change everything.


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

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave your link below!

Weekly Roundup 6/17

I'm halfway through Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister, and it's an absolute pleasure. I love, love, love novels about women friendships. And the premise really got me thinking...after the main character recovers from cancer, she commits to taking a white-water rafting trip, a big fear of hers. She then issues individual challenges to her group of friends, getting them each to do something they would never normally do.

It made me wonder...what would my friends challenge me to?

I'm well-known for my all-black wardrobe (I even got married in it!), and my "uniform" of sorts is a black top and jeans. So, it was no surprise when I asked one of my friends what she would make me do outside of my comfort zone, she responded, "Spend an entire day in a hot pink, sleeveless dress with hot pink high heels." :) What would your friends say?

Next up for me is Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan!

Also this week, I discovered the Decatur Book Festival, held in a suburb of Atlanta, which is just a couple of hours away from me. I'm definitely going to make a Labor Day road trip. They released the list of authors today, and it includes Mary Kay Andrews, Jennifer Haigh, Joshilyn Jackson, and Kim Severson. If you've attended this event, please let me know your thoughts/experiences!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Aftertaste

"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:

Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses
By Meredith Mileti
Publication Date: August 30

From Amazon:

Mira Rinaldi lives life at a rolling boil. Co-owner of Grappa, a chic New York City trattoria, she has an enviable apartment, a brand-new baby, and a frenzied schedule befitting her success. Everything changes the night she catches her husband, Jake, "wielding his whisk" with Grappa's new waitress. Mira's fiery response earns her a court-ordered stint in anger management and the beginning of legal and personal predicaments as she battles to save her restaurant and pick up the pieces of her life. Mira falls back on family and friends in Pittsburgh as she struggles to find a recipe for happiness. But the heat is really on when some surprising developments in New York present her with a high stakes opportunity to win back what she thought she had lost forever. For Mira, cooking isn't just about delicious flavors and textures, but about the pleasure found in filling others' needs. And the time has come to decide where her own fulfillment lies - even if the answers are unexpected.

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

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave your link below!

Weekly Roundup 6/10

I spent the majority of the week on vacation, reading in front of beautiful water. I took Still Alice by Lisa Genova with me. I know...I think I'm one of the last people to read this. It just escaped me when it was first published, but after reading Left Neglected earlier this year (and loving it!), I went back and picked this up. Genova has an amazing ability, with both of these books, for you to really internalize the medical issues of her main characters.

I also read Seven-Year Bitch by Jennifer Belle. It was an ideal vacation read...easy, fun, light, humorous.

For my weekend reading, I picked up Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews (one of my favorite Southern authors) and To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal.

Finally, I did way more eating out than in this week, but I did make my favorite topping for spaghetti, Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter, the night I got home. Clean and simple (three ingredients!).