The Sunday Salon... Books Coming soon to a shelf near you... and Kindle for Mac!

It's been a beautiful week in Connecticut! The sun is finally showing its face and the crocuses have too. Taking your reading outside is such a treat after a long winter, and that's exactly what I did this week. I've spent the last week walking to Gatlinburg with Morgan Kinneson from King County and have enjoyed every step. Along the way, Morgan and I met a handful of quirky characters that brought a smile to my face. This week I'll be posting my review of Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher... Exciting news for John Sanford fans as the 20th Prey Novel will soon come out. The name is Storm Prey, it's a new Lucas Davenport thriller, and I happen to have an uncorrected proof of it in my hands! The publisher is finalizing some fun marketing campaigns, stay tuned for more news about that next month... Ted Dekker also has a new thriller coming out in April 13th called The Bride Collector. I can't say too much about it yet, but suffice it to say it I have a better appreciation of serial killers... Emily St. John Mandell, who wrote the wonderful book Last Night in Montreal, is coming out with her second novel, The Singer's Gun... On to some great Kindle news for Mac owners! Kindle for Mac is now available! It's a free application for Macintosh owners. If you have a Kindle already, you can access your books, bookmarks & annotations right from your Mac! This application has been available for a while for PC, but as with most Mac applications is a PC world Macintosh owners had to wait just a bit longer. I love seeing my book covers in full color on the computer screen too!

Here are two other wonderful books to be on the lookout for...

A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White... Back of the Book, For more than ten years, Naomi and Phil Harrison enjoyed a marriage of heady romance, tempered only by the needs of their children. But on a vacation alone, the couple perishes in a flight over the Grand Canyon. After the funeral, their daughters, Ruthie and Julia, are shocked by the provisions in their will... Spanning nearly two decades, the sisters’ journeys take them from their familiar home in Atlanta to sophisticated bohemian San Francisco, a mountain town in Virginia, the campus of Berkeley, and lofts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As they heal from loss, search for love, and begin careers, their sisterhood, once an oasis, becomes complicated by resentment, anger, and jealousy. It seems as though the echoes of their parents’ deaths will never stop reverberating—until another shocking accident changes everything once again. I received a copy of A Soft Place to Land this week and it looks to be a wonderful story. I did read a little and found the writing to be so enjoyable. I can't wait to dive in now. I can see this to be a good reading group selection and there are wonderful praises for A Soft Place to Land including one by Kathryn Stockett (The Help), who says, "It's smart, funny, moving and wise." I also really love the cover, it just reminds me of lazy summer days as a teenager. It's due to be released April 6th by Simon & Schuster. I'll have a few review after I finish.

She-Rain by Michael Cogdill... Back of the Book, In the early 20th Century, a pair of North Carolina mountain children sow the seed of a love that becomes their only solace in the hard yet beautiful world they know. They grow it from steep ground of poverty, ignorance, and violence. A landscape so brutal it can kill hope long before claiming life... Bloodshed years later finally sends Frank Locke on the run, deep into wilderness, abandoning his extraordinary love, Mary Lizbeth. When a whitewater river washes this desperate soul into the hands of Sophia, he discovers a luminous woman steeped in mystery, trapped in a tragically brilliant life. Far ahead of her time. Secreted from the world. As she awakens Frank’s mind, they rise to meet a love that binds three people for a lifetime. Michael Cogdill's prose is beautiful. Written in an Appalachian voice, this love story will have you turning the pages. It reminds me of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain a bit. Not so much for the time period of the Civil War, but the flavor of the book and the characters. Release date is scheduled for March 31st! A full review coming soon!

What are you reading this week?! Hope you enjoy the week ahead! Stop back this week for a review of Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher, and a review of The Favorites by Mary Yukari Waters...

Happy Reading... Suzanne