Wednesday, July 27, 2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday: A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty


"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:

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty
By Joshilyn Jackson
Publication Date: January 25

From author's website:

Every 15 years, trouble comes after the Slocumb women. Now, as their youngest turns 15, a whole new kind of commotion is chasing all three generations. Mosey's desperate to know who used their yard as a make-shift cemetery, and why. The oldest, 45-year-old Ginny, fights to protect Mosey from the truth, a fight that could cost Ginny the love of her life. Between them is Liza, silenced by a stroke, with the answers trapped inside her. To survive Liza's secrets and Mosey's insistent adventures, Ginny must learn to trust the love that braids the strands of their past---and stop at nothing to defend their future.


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!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday: White Truffles in Winter


"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:

White Truffles in Winter
By N. M. Kelby
Publication Date: November 7

From Amazon:

White Truffles in Winter imagines the world of the remarkable French chef Auguste Escoffier, who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at the Savoy and the Ritz. A man of contradictions—kind yet imperious, food-obsessed yet rarely hungry—Escoffier was also torn between two women: the famous, beautiful, and reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt and his wife, the independent and sublime poet Delphine Daffis, who refused ever to leave Monte Carlo. In the last year of Escoffier's life, in the middle of writing his memoirs, he has returned to Delphine, who requests a dish in her name as he has honored Bernhardt, Queen Victoria, and many others. How does one define the complexity of love on a single plate? N. M. Kelby brings us the sensuality of food and love amid a world on the verge of war in this work that shimmers with beauty and longing.

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!

 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Before Ever After

"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:


Before Ever After
Samantha Sotto
Publication Date: August 2

From Library Journal:

Twentysomething Shelley’s world is shattered as she hears her husband being blown up while talking to him on the phone. Three years later, she’s made little progress in getting beyond her paralyzing grief when she opens the door to a man who looks so much like her husband, Max, that she faints. Paolo’s story is so utterly ­improbable—Max was his grandfather who never aged—that she can barely keep it together. The two grieving survivors head to Europe to retrace the offbeat continental tour that Max led five years before. As they slowly unravel the mystery of Max’s immortality and multiple reincarnations, Shelley and Paolo seem to be getting closer to finding the latest version of Max.


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!

Friday, July 8, 2011

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!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

"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?

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

Friday, July 1, 2011

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.



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!