The Sunday Salon... and Having a Summer Sister

Happy Sunday and Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the place where Book Bloggers from around the world share their bookish finds with one another in a virtual place called The Sunday Salon. Thank you to Deb at ReaderBuzz keeping us all together on Sundays and hosting The Sunday Salon now! I also visited with Kim at The Caffeinated Reader, another Sunday gathering place for us bookish people called The Sunday Post! 

Even though the calendar doesn't say Summer is here yet, Summer is going strong in South Carolina! I have been madly re-potting and potting all those seed snails I grew this winter and have finally finished that part and am now lugging 40 lb bags of topsoil and organic garden soil into a new raised bed I bought. We have 2 other raised beds that were looking a little "tired" and I thought it would be nice not to have to bend down to get to those 12 inch high raised and bought a 26 inch high metal raised bed. What I didn't think about was how much dirt a 4 x 8, 26 inch high raised bed would need. Would you like to know how many bags of 1 cubic foot soil it needs? 69! OMG! I threw cardboard on the bottom, sticks, branches and then bought 20 bags of cheap topsoil to put in the bottom. My plants are waiting, but Summer is not. It is getting really hot here during the days... which reminds me of Summers past. My favorite reads. Summer just brings a different feeling to everything. Maybe it's because growing up when school let out for summer, we were free and carefree. Filling our days with adventures and happiness and friendships...

I was thinking about some of the books I read that brought those feeling back. I thought about Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. Have you read it? It's about 2 girls who went to school together, but didn't really know eachother. When school gets out, one of the most popular girls in the school asks one of the not so popular girls to go on summer vacation with her. This was the start of their life long friendship. And it was such an incredible read with that "spending time with your girlfriends during the summer vibe". So, today I thought I'd highlight books that bring back that "summer vibe spending time with your girlfriends"

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume... In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.”

 Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.

This broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes when I first read it, but it is such a good read. You feel yourself growing up with Victoria and Caitlin, and become invested in their friendship and their lives. If you have never read Summer Sisters, this is your sign that you should! Published by Dell in 1999.

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by... Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them.

But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them.

Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye.

And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.

All I can say, is this is a great book! Summer and friendships and growing up. Some friends just fit together. Published by Ember Publishing way back in 2003.

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This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki (illustrated by Jillian Tamaki).... Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It's a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other. Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of her teen age—a story of renewal and revelation.

Jillian Tamaki is a talented artist and her illustrations for This One Summer, who she collaborated to create with her sister Mariko, are wonderful. I enjoy graphic novels. Not the super hero kind, but the kind that tells a story of something I can relate to. This One Summer is that kind of story about "Summer Sisters". I read this a dozen years ago and it still remains in my summer heart today. Published by First Second Books, Read this! 

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The Summer List by Am Mason Doan... Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.

But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan was published almost 8 years ago by Graydon House. I just reserved it at my local library! This sounds like a "Summer Sisiter" vibe and I'm looking forward to reading it!

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Girl's Girl by Sonia Feldman... Fifteen-year-old Mina’s whole world is her two best friends, but after an unexpected kiss, the established dynamics of their trio quickly unravel. Everything that was once shared openly, from clothes to secrets, now feels impossibly fragile. Loyalties shift and tensions simmer across the long days of this pivotal summer, where the girls have nowhere new to go and everything new to feel.

Looking back, an adult Mina traces the undercurrents of longing that shaped her first experience of desire. The rituals of girlhood—gossip, selfies, sleepovers, and videogames—become threads in a delicate, volatile web of intimacy, in which everything feels achingly fleeting and permanently etched. Loving one person, Mina learns, can change the way we love everyone else—including ourselves.

Published this week by The Dial Press, Girl's Girl by Sonia Feldman sounds like that summer spent with your girlfriends kind of vibe I love. This is on my TBR list and I'm hoping it meets all my expectations.

Weekly Recap... 

(or how did I miss reading all this the last 2 weeks!)

New Release Tuesdays... 

May 26th,  June 2nd and June 2nd part 2. A massive amount of great books just got released these past two weeks! Check out what you need to put on your TBR list!

First Lines Friday... 

May 26th & It's a Calamity... June 5th & A House Full of Ghosts. Great first lines from some new books you definitely need to put on your TBR list! Check out the first few lines and tell me if you'd keep reading!

Did you find books to add to your growing TBR list? I hope so! Share books that aren't on today's post that you love too! I'd love to hear about them! Have a wonderful week! And stop back this week for more great bookish things!

 Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and Packing a Bag of Books for Vacation...

                                         
Welcome summer! Welcome to The Sunday Salon!  And Welcome Back to Chick with Books! It's been a few months since I've peeked my head out of the pages of the books I've been reading, but my winter hibernation is over! This week I am going on vacation... destination is Myrtle Beach and I have a bag of books coming with me! What's in my bag?... Beach Reads! Let's take a look at three...

Here's the first book that caught my eye and wound up in the book bag... Isn't summer the perfect time for a little romance?

The Map That Leads to You by J.P. Monniger's... 

Two strangers take the road less traveled...

Heather Mulgrew’s world is already mapped out: she is going to travel abroad with her friends after college, come back to a great career in September, and head into a life where not much is left to chance. But that was before an encounter on an overnight train introduces her to Jack, a passionate adventurer who changes the course of her journey and her life.

Throwing Heather's careful itinerary to the wind, they follow Jack's grandfather's journal through post-World War II era Europe: Vienna, Budapest, Turkey―exotic places that serve only to heighten their feelings. As September looms, Jack urges Heather to stay with him, to keep traveling, to give in to the romance of their experience; Heather convinces him to return to the United States.

Jack has a secret that could change everything. And Heather’s world is about to be shaken to the core.

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Next book to make it in the book bag is one of those "Chick" books. And I just love where the story takes place (Cape Cod) in and I like the family dynamics involved (Sisters)... this actually is more of what I think of as a beach read...

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand... 

Identical twin sisters who couldn't look more alike...or live more differently.

Harper Frost is laid-back, easygoing. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She likes a beer and a shot and wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything fashionable. She's inherited her father's rundown house on Martha's Vineyard, but she can't hold down a job, and her latest romantic disaster has the entire island talking. 

Two beautiful islands only eleven miles apart.

Tabitha Frost is dignified, refined. She prefers a fine wine and has inherited the impeccable taste of her mother, the iconic fashion designer Eleanor Roxie-Frost. She's also inherited her mother's questionable parenting skills--Tabitha's teenage daughter, Ainsley, is in full rebellion mode--and a flailing fashion boutique on Nantucket in desperate need of a cash infusion. 

One unforgettable summer that will change their lives forever.


After more than a decade apart, Harper and Tabitha switch islands--and lives--to save what's left of their splintered family. But the twins quickly discover that the secrets, lies, and gossip they thought they'd outrun can travel between islands just as easily as they can. Will Harper and Tabitha be able to bury the hatchet and end their sibling rivalry once and for all? Before the last beach picnic of the season, there will be enough old resentments, new loves, and cases of mistaken identity to make this the most talked-about summer that Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have experienced in ages.

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Here's another book where the place is special... South Carolina's low country ( a place I love to visit).  The last book that made it into the bag for this trip is...

Same Beach, Next Year: A Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank... 

One enchanted summer, two couples begin a friendship that will last more than twenty years and transform their lives.

A chance meeting on the Isle of Palms, one of Charleston’s most stunning barrier islands, brings former sweethearts, Adam Stanley and Eve Landers together again. Their respective spouses, Eliza and Carl, fight sparks of jealousy flaring from their imagined rekindling of old flames. As Adam and Eve get caught up on their lives, their partners strike up a deep friendship—and flirt with an unexpected attraction—of their own.

Year after year, Adam, Eliza, Eve, and Carl eagerly await their reunion at Wild Dunes, a condominium complex at the island’s tip end, where they grow closer with each passing day, building a friendship that will withstand financial catastrophe, family tragedy, and devastating heartbreak. The devotion and love they share will help them weather the vagaries of time and enrich their lives as circumstances change, their children grow up and leave home, and their twilight years approach.


Bursting with the intoxicating richness of Dorothea Benton Frank’s beloved Lowcountry—the sultry sunshine, cool ocean breezes, icy cocktails, and starry velvet skies—Same Beach, Next Year is a dazzling celebration of the infrangible power of friendship, the enduring promise of summer, and the indelible bonds of love.

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One other book made it into my eReader... 

Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe... When Cara Rutledge rents out her quaint beach house on Isle of Palms to Heather Wyatt for the entire summer, it’s a win-win by any standard: Cara’s generating income necessary to keep husband Brett’s ecotourism boat business afloat, and anxiety-prone Heather, an young artist who’s been given a commission to paint birds on postage stamps, has a quiet space in which to work and tend to her pet canaries uninterrupted.

It isn’t long, however, before both women’s idyllic summers are altered irrevocably: the alluring shorebirds—and the man who rescues them—begin to draw Heather out of the shell she’s cultivated toward a world of adventure, and maybe even love; at the same time, Cara’s life reels with sudden tragedy, and she wishes only to return to the beach house that had once been her port amidst life’s storms. When Heather refuses to budge from her newfound sanctuary, so begins the unlikeliest of rooming situations. While they start out as strangers, as everything around the women falls apart they learn that the only thing they can really rely on is each other.

And, like the migrating shorebirds that come to the island for the summer, these two women of different generations must rediscover their unique strengths so by summer’s end they, too, can take flight in ways they never imagined possible.

Of course the setting is still South Carolina, there's the beach and it's sprinkled with birding!

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Summer vacation reads, to me, need to be light and romantic at heart. I don't want to read about police investigations, murders or kidnappings. I save those genre's for the rest of the year. Do you read differently on vacation? Do you change your reading habits in the summer?

What kinds of books do you like to read in the summer? 

It's nice to be back and to talk about books! And there are so many great books to talk about now too!  Share your summer plans and summer reading! I'll be heading for some relaxation on a beach in South Carolina with books in hand. I'll also be keeping my eye out for any great book stores on the way and there! I'll be gone for two weeks, but back to Chick with Books on Sunday, July 16th! Come back then and say hello and see what other great books I've found to share! 

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and Keeping Cool with Macaroni Salad and a Book

Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!

The heatwave in Connecticut is still raging and I can't get enough of the word "cool"! The glass above was filled with Sweet Tea made by hubby, who is a true Southerner and knows how to make it perfectly. Last night all I wanted was something cool to eat, so I thought about macaroni salad. Cool, yummy and I had no idea how to actually make it, but I found out! There are a few tried and true cooks (and sources) I trust when I look up a recipe... Alton Brown, The Barefoot Contessa, and Cooks Illustrated (though not a cook, but loads of great recipes!) to name a few. When I googled "macaroni salad" pages and pages came up. That's when I saw a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I love cookbooks (It's a book, right!?!) and I have one of Ree's cookbooks on my cookbook shelf, so I thought I'd see how she made it. 3 things she said about her recipe that made me forget the other recipes...

  Here’s what I do like: Macaroni salad that’s creamy but still light.

         Here’s what I don’t like: Macaroni salad that’s overly vinegary.

    Here’s what I do like: Macaroni salad with a sweet/tangy/spicy kick.

So, along with some Southern fried chicken (not cold), we had The Pioneer Woman's "Macaroni Salad" and we both loved it! Here's the recipe, courtesy of Ree's website, ThePioneerWoman.com...

The Best Macaroni Salad Ever

Prep: 10 Minutes Level: Easy
Cook: 15 Minutes Serves: 12

Ingredients...
4 cups Elbow Macaroni
3 whole Roasted Red Peppers, Chopped (more To Taste, Can Also Use Pimentos)
1/2 cup Black Olives, Chopped Fine
6 whole Sweet/spicy Pickle Slices, Diced (about 1/2 Cup Diced)
3 whole Green Onions, Sliced (white And Dark Green Parts)
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Red Wine Or Distilled Vinegar
3 teaspoons Sugar, More Or Less To Taste
1/4 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
 Plenty Of Black Pepper
1/4 cup Milk (more If Needed)
 Splash Of Pickle Juice (spicy Sweet Pickles)
 Extra Pickle Juice To Taste

Preparation...
Cook the macaroni in lightly salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool. Set aside.

Mix together mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Splash in enough milk to make it pourable. Splash in pickle juice for extra flavor. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Set aside. 

Place cooled macaroni in a large bowl and pour 3/4 of the dressing. Toss and add more dressing if you'd like. (Dressing will seem a little thin, but it will thicken up as salad chills.)

Stir in olives, roasted red peppers (or pimentos), pickles, and green onions. Add more of any ingredient if you'd like more stuff going on! At the end, splash in a little more pickle juice and stir. 


Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle with sliced green onion to serve!

What's Your Favorite HOT Weather Recipe?

*Molly, from My Cozy Book Nook, told me about her family's favorite Pasta Salad recipe that she shared on her blog this week! Here's the LINK! Thanks Molly for sharing! It looks delicious and I love the story behind it too!

What other "cool food" cookbooks are there out there? Here are a few I discovered recently...

The Peace, Love & Potato Salad Cookbook by Zack Brown... What happens when you appeal to Kickstarter to fund your first attempt at making a bowl of potato salad? Well, if you’re Zack Brown, you end up raising $55,492, a story that goes viral, a charity-minded “PotatoStock” Festival, and, eventually, a potato salad cookbook for the masses. The Peace, Love & Potato Salad Cookbook is the result of one man’s attempt at making potato with the help of the world. Featuring 24 delicious and wide-ranging potato salad recipes, this fun and engaging cookbook is the result of the generous support of the backers who elevated Zack Brown’s crowdfunding appeal from a simple, good-humored joke to philanthropic levels covered by Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, and the Huffington Post. In an effort to do “the most good that he can,” with the Kickstarter funds and his new found fame, Zack’s new cookbook will continue to spread the word about “peace, love, & potato salad.” Best of all, this tasty collection of potato salad recipes represents the positive change we can accomplish – even from the smallest ideas -- when we all work together.

Potato salad is another one of those summer staples. Although, I guess I'm picky about my potato salad too, because I don't like all potato salads either. This cookbook, which is the real result of a Kickstarter joke, is for real. Zack is a professed "VERY average"cook, but Teresa Blackburn, whose name is in little print below Zack's is the real woman behind the cookbook, or so it would seem, as well as some other "collaborators". Teresa is a food stylist and she and Zack were brought together when Zack was approached about creating a real cookbook about potato salad. Gorgeous photography and what looks to be some interesting recipes too! Here's a link to Classic Potato Salad that Teresa Blackburn developed for the book, and is posted on her blog, food on fifth. On my wishlist now! 

POPS! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella...

  Cool + Sweet + Refreshing = Pops!

This innovative book gives the ice pop a flavor makeover, providing more than 100 recipes and variations for irresistible concoctions you’ve never tasted before. You’ll also learn fancy

techniques for making whimsical pops that look as fun as they taste. Kids will enjoy the juicy pops and flip over the soda fountain and pudding pops. Grown-up kids will dig the energy-boosting coffee, tea, and healthy energy pops and delight in the sophisticated cocktail pops. And for the do-it-yourselfers, this book provides instructions for making your own pop molds from recycled housewares and even silicone. When it comes to pops, the possibilities are endless—and so much fun!

Ever make your own ice pops? This book will show you how from healthy to "adult beverage".  No special equipement needed except something to put the mixture in and a "stick" to hold it when it's done. I haven't tried any of these recipes yet, but it is on my cookbook shelf.

 How are you keeping cool during the hot summer months? 

Reading any Cool books? On my nightstand, breakfast table and tote is Homegoing my Yaa Gyasi. I can't put it down. A sweeping novel about two half sisters born in Ghana in the 18th century and the two very different lives they have. Not only about the two young girls, but the generations that follow. I can't believe how fully developed the stories of each generation are. But besides that the writing is truly breathtaking. I am almost done and even though I took this out of the library, I'll be buying a copy to put on the shelf so I can revisit these characters again and again. 

                Weekly Wrap-up...
  *Memoir Monday with I'm Suppose To Protect You From All This by Nadja Spiegelan
  *Tuesday a Book Review of A Guise of Another by Allen Eskens
  *Wednesday a Review of a Book of Poetry, Saris and a Single Malt by Sweta Srivastava Vikram
  *Thursday a Guest Post by Sweta Srivastava Vikram, My Mother's Voice

Hope you've found something here to keep you cool! I'd love to hear what you've been reading these hot summer night too! Share it in the comments!

Happy reading... Suzanne

*P.S. Check out the Giveaways on my sidebar! They are courtesy of Shelf Reader and are 3 great books! Just click on the photo and enter!!

First Lines… The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktokski

"I open the window shade in my third-story attic bedroom anticipating my usual - somewhat obstructed- ocean vie and instead get an eyeful of Connor Malloy, sans shirt, on the roof of his parents' bungalow. Better than a mocha latte with two shots of espresso and whipped cream, as far as early morning eye-openers and guilty pleasures go. Or at least he use to be until last fall, the Big Mistake, and the big storm…" 
             ...The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktokski

Are you starting to get ready for your summer reads?! Make sure you add this to the list! It's a perfect start for the summer and I loved it! It's YA, but really any girl over a certain age will enjoy this. It reminded me of Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. The writing was wonderful, it made me feel those first love flutters in my own stomach, and Lucy, our main character, will capture your heart with her heartfelt honesty. What can go wrong with the cutest guy on the planet spending the summer next door? Everything… The Summer After You and Me is coming out on Tuesday, May 5th! My full review coming this week too!

The Sunday Salon and 4 Women You're going to Want to Meet

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's that day of the week we relax a bit and talk virtually with our reading friends about what bookish things we've been doing. So, pull up a chair, grab a cup of Joe and let's talk books…

It's going to be another snowy weekend in Connecticut, but I am tired of "snowy" reads and want something a bit warmer. Let's turn our attention to some great books where not a snowflake can be found, where all the attention this week is in the bookish world and to these 4 great women...

I like books with strong female characters. Whimpy and whiney are not for me. And these days there are so many great female characters.This week, I found 4 women telling their tales from within the pages of some hot new and soon to be released books! We travel to the Jersey Shore, Tombstone, Arizona, and to France during WWII to meet these women, and here are their stories...

The first book that caught my eye this week and that I downloaded an eGalley of was The Summer after Me and You by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski. The premise sounded like your typical teen summer romance, but when I read the excerpt I fell in love with the easy going, wonderful writing and have been turning the pages for the last day or so. Here's the publisher's blurb...

 Then Superstorm Sandy sweeps up the coast, bringing Lucy and Connor together for a few intense hours. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm, and Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and her broken home. Time may heal all wounds, but with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, Lucy's summer is sure to be filled with fireworks.
For Lucy, the Jersey Shore isn't just the perfect summer escape, it's home. As a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in during Memorial Day weekend, crowding her costal town and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Still, she can't help but crush on charming Connor Malloy. His family spends every summer next door, and she longs for their friendship to turn into something deeper. 

You've got the Jersey Shore, that stirring of first love, a great FEMALE lead character and plenty of sunshine for a great summer read! The book reminded me of a teenage version of Barbara Delinsky's Sweet Salt Air, which I absolutely loved! Our girl Lucy, is a wonderful character. She's fresh and honest with her feelings, which made me open my heart to her. But you'll have to wait until May 5th to put your flip flops on with this one, because that's when Sourcebook Fire has it slated for publication! It looks like it's going right to eBook and Trade Paperback when it comes out. When I finish this read up, I'll let you all know what my final judgement is, but so far, it's two thumbs up.

Next book I stumbled across was Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell. It's a novel about Wyatt Earp and The O.K. Corral, but it's told through his wife, Josephine Sarah Marcus, and I was so frustrated by only getting a sample of the first few chapters, because it is so GOOD! Josephine opens the story in Tombstone, Arizona. We soon learn she is the live-in girlfriend of not Wyatt Earp, but the sheriff, Johnny Behan. Hmmm, now how does she end up Wyatt Earp's wife? We also learn the creative way Josephine ends up in Tombstone, which just goes to show you this girl has spunk (I don't want to spoil anything here by telling you how)! What a compelling character! If this were not a book about the O.K. Corral, Mary Doria Russell could have probably written a great book on Josephine Sarah Marcus, because her back story is that interesting! The writing definitely grabbed me from the start, and whether or not you are familiar with the O.K. Corral and all that legend says about those boys in Tombstone, Mary Doria Russell brings this time period to life from a different perspective… The Girl's. Coming March 3rd! Here's the blurb from the publisher about the book...

A deeply divided nation. Vicious politics. A shamelessly partisan media. A president loathed by half the populace. Smuggling and gang warfare along the Mexican border. Armed citizens willing to stand their ground and take law into their own hands... That was America in 1881. All those forces came to bear on the afternoon of October 26th when Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers faced off against the Clantons and the McLaurys in Tombstone, Arizona. It should have been a simple misdemeanor arrest. Thirty seconds and thirty bullets later, three officers were wounded and three citizens lay dead in the dirt. Wyatt Earp was the last man standing, the only one unscathed. The lies began before the smoke cleared, but the gunfight at the O.K. Corral would soon become central to American beliefs about the Old West. Epitaph tells Wyatt’s real story, unearthing the Homeric tragedy buried under 130 years of mythology, misrepresentation, and sheer indifference to fact. Epic and intimate, this novel gives voice to the real men and women whose lives were changed forever by those fatal 30 seconds in Tombstone. At its heart is the woman behind the myth: Josephine Sarah Marcus, who loved Wyatt Earp for forty-nine years and who carefully chipped away at the truth until she had crafted the heroic legend that would become the epitaph her husband deserved.

And finally, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. There has been so much press about this book. And again, we have female voices, two sisters, telling the tales of war and of love from their own perspectives. Weaving a story of WWII, one of my favorite historical fiction time periods, I wanted more from The Nightingale after reading about 30 pages. It just came out this week and definitely on my wish list! Here's the blurb from the publisher…

In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939. In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front.  She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth.  While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely.  But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

What else is happening? Did you hear the news about the NEW Harper Lee novel? Yes, a new novel called Go Set a Watchman is about Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird) 20 years later. The book was found recently among some of Harper Lee's papers, and actually was the novel Harper Lee intended to write instead of To Kill a Mockingbird. Her publisher liked the flashbacks from Scout and asked Harper Lee to develop that aspect of the story and the result was To Kill a Mockingbird. I wrote about it this past wednesday, Follow this link for more details and links for a few other sources about the book and the controversy surrounding it. Questions abound about whether Harper Lee wrote it, and actually approved of it being published some 50 years after writing it without editing it. In frail health in an assisted living facility, people are questioning whether anyone is taking advantage of her. Fiercely private, it does seem suspect that she would welcome all the hoopla after so long. What do you think?

ALSO...For the past few years, publishers have put together a digital download called Buzz Books for Spring and Summer books. I love taking a peek and reading through the excerpts. There were about 40 books in all different genres and I bookmarked quite a few of them for future reading, a few books I downloaded to continue reading the full book and one book I downloaded and finished reading in about 3 days, which was about the romance of Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, called Audrey and Bill by Edward Epstein. It is a biography of Audrey Hepburn and William Holden written about them separately and as a couple. It was so wonderfully written and I was totally absorbed! Tomorrow, "Memoir Monday", will highlight that book and you can read my full review. Let's just say, if you are a true romantic and love old movies, this books for you!

What's on your reading plate this week? Any new books we need to know about!? Hope you found something here today!

Happy Reading… Suzanne

Graphically speaking… This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, a Review

"Awago beach is this place… my family goes every summer… Ever since… like… forever."

And if you decide to breath in the summer air there too, with Rose and Windy, you'll experience a summer you won't soon forget…

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, is wonderful. It's cool breezes off the water, cottages by the beach and summer friends. It's the summer where Windy and Rose start to notice boys, their boobs, and how growing up isn't always easy…

Rose and Windy are summer friends. Every summer their families vacation at Awago beach, and they've been BFF's each summer since Rose was 5 years old. Windy is a year and a half younger, but close enough for Rose to enjoy what summer is all about with Windy.  This One Summer is a kind of coming-of-age story, where you can tell by the dialogue that the girls are starting to grow up, especially Rose. The girls notice things… they notice the Dude at the convenience store, they notice the way the older girls act (especially towards the boys), and they start to deal with some serious issues, one of which is Rose's parents constant fighting. But it's not all horror movies at night (Rose & Windy become obsessed with them), and swimming at the beach, Rose starts to react to the tensions around her, which also causes some momentary tension between her and Windy, but it all works out in the end. It's a perfect summer read, and the artwork is beautiful! Yes, this is a graphic novel! The drawings have a beautiful soft almost charcoal quality and the muted colors of black, white, grays, and almost purples make the scenes dreamy.

This story reminded me of those summers I spent with my girlfriends as a young girl. My summer BFF's. Where you had not a care in the world, you could share your most silliest secrets and every day was a new adventure. Want to recapture a bit of that? Read this book! Never read a graphic novel before? This would be a great first read! I loved this book! Rose and Windy are wonderful characters that you'll be happy you spent a bit of summer with! Memorable! And one of my favorite reads this year!

Get Ready… Summer's Gonna Sizzle

Welcome to the The Sunday Salon and Summer! Yes, finally the weather matches the calendar and we can declare longer days with lazy nights, margarita's by the water, and SUMMER READING!

Summer is going to sizzle too! There is plenty summer reading to be had by our favorite authors! (And not to wish summer away, but there are some great books coming out this fall too!) What's your pleasure? Romance, thrillers, murder?  Let's take a peek at what you should be adding to your summer TBR list!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart… from the publisher:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

I'm intrigued! I love the smart description from the publisher too! Last time I found a cryptic book description like that was on Little Bee by Chris Cleave and that book was fantastic.  This book has gotten amazing reviews so far! It is suppose to be a YA novel , but from what I gather it's not exactly being sold as YA, because I guess that would "pigeon hole" it in a particular genre, and the story should be enjoyed by adults as well. It is on my TBR list! Sounds great and the small bit of a sample I read I enjoyed. Published by Delacorte Press (Random House) is was published in May of this year!

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica… "I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will." 

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.  Colin's job was to abduct Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, evading the police and his deadly superiors. Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter. 

Can you say thriller?! Yes, this a suspense thriller from first time writer, Mary Kubica. The Good Girl has gotten a lot of great pre-release press, and sounds like it will make a perfect summer read! But this one we'll have to wait for until July 29, 2014, when Harlequin MIRA will publish it!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King… In a mega-stakes, high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy. Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands. Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

Is Stephen King back?! I had kind of given up on him, until The Dome. I just didn't get that spark when I read any of his newer books. He had retired, then he came back with a new book, what is going on? Well, Mr. Mercedes sounds like old Stephen King to me. The sample I read I liked, but this is summer and let's have fun reading Stephen King without being wary. Does it have to be his best? Does it have to make me want to leave the lights on when I'm reading (Like The Shining did)? No, so I'm willing to give this a try for the fun of it. Lot's of people have given it great reviews. Published by Scribner (Simon & Schuster) it is available now!

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon… 1778: France declares war on Great Britain, the British army leaves Philadelphia, and George Washington’s troops leave Valley Forge in pursuit. At this moment, Jamie Fraser returns from a presumed watery grave to discover that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitimate son has discovered (to his horror) who his father really is, and his beloved nephew, Ian, wants to marry a Quaker. Meanwhile, Jamie’s wife, Claire, and his sister, Jenny, are busy picking up the pieces. The Frasers can only be thankful that their daughter Brianna and her family are safe in twentieth-century Scotland. Or not. In fact, Brianna is  searching for her own son, who was kidnapped by a man determined to learn her family’s secrets. Her husband, Roger, has ventured into the past in search of the missing boy . . . never suspecting that the object of his quest has not left the present. Now, with Roger out of the way, the kidnapper can focus on his true target: Brianna herself.

How can I talk about Summer Sizzler's without mentioning the newest book in the time traveling romance Outlander Series!?! After 7 books, Outlander fans still want more, and Diana Gabaldon has been gracious enough to give us more! If you are not familiar with the Outlander Series, it is the amazing time traveling romance between 20th century Claire and 18th century Scottish Highlander Jamie. It is HOT and at the writing is superb. The series starts with Outlander, and if you haven't read it, pick it up NOW. It's a big one, though, at almost 900 pages. Published by Delacorte Press (Random House) it is available now from your favorite book seller!

Do you have any plans for reading this summer? What's on your TBR list? I've had quite a few books on my plate so far, including a graphic novel This One Summer by  Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, that I loved and will be reviewing by the end of the week, and Garth Stein's newest offering called A Sudden Light, which was fabulous! You'll see the review for that this week too! Stop by the next few "Memoir Mondays" to find some great new memoirs you are going to want to read! And in the meantime…

Happy Reading… Suzanne

The Summer Salon and Guilty Pleasures

It's Sunday! Welcome to The Sunday Salon! We've been on vacation for a while (if you can rehab for my bum knee a vacation) and look what happened while I was away.... SUMMER! Well, not quite summer, but in Connecticut the weather is warm & sunny now, and the start of the perfect summer season! What do you start thinking about when the seasons change? When we leave the cold behind for Spring, I throw the windows open and let the cool breeze fill the house. I start thinking about outside instead of inside. AND I think about lazy days filled with reading! Summer is the perfect place for guilty pleasures and ice cream cones! What are your guilty pleasures? One of mine is relaxing in the sun with a "different" kind of book to read. Something lighter, funnier, maybe even silly. That's not to say I'm not reading any of my "serious" books, just that I feel freer in what I choose... Like wearing flip-flops instead of black pumps to work. As I think about what some of those books were over many years, here are a few...

Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding... The is the laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement. Caught between the joys of Singleton fun, and the fear of dying alone and being found three weeks later half eaten by an Alsatian; tortured by Smug Married friends asking, "How's your love life?" with lascivious, yet patronizing leers, Bridget resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult and learn to program the VCR. With a blend of flighty charm, existential gloom, and endearing self-deprecation.

While vacationing in Cape Cod one year, I saw a woman intensely reading something while parked on a bench in the middle of a touristy shopping area. I stopped to ask what she was reading, and it was Bridget Jones Diary. She told me I had to read it! It was one of the funniest books she'd read in a long time. I bought myself a copy and absolutely loved it! It was funny, insightful and well written. It's a chick book before the onslaught of what we talk about at Chick Lit. If you haven't read it, if you're a girl, indulge in this "summer read", it is worth it.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume... In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.” Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because Vix wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.

I loved this book as an adult. It just brought back memories of summers spent with my girlfriends, doing what girls do... going to beaches, shopping for clothes, singing along with the radio at the top of our voices, talking about boys. Oh and I guess there are a few more things we did that we won't mention here. But the friendship of Vix and Caitlin reminds me of those summers past and Summer Sisters was a fantastic summer read. Judy Blume, of course, is a wonderful writer as well, which makes it so much better.

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy... An incandescent novel of love, obsession, and the secrets that take root in the human heart. Lough Glass is at the heart and soul of the namesake town clinging to its shore. They say that if you go out on St. Agnes' Eve and look into the lake at sunset you can see your future. But beneath its serene surface, the lake harbors secrets as dark and unfathomable as the beautiful woman who night after night walks beside its waters. Lough Glass is home to Kit McMahon, in a way it will never be to her lovely mother, Helen, who does not fit in with the ways of the people of Lough Glass, and who found an unlikely mate in the genial pharmacist Martin McMahon. Kit adores her mother, but can't escape the picture of her, alone at the kitchen table, tears streaming down her face... or walking alone by the glass lake. Then one terrible night Martin's boat is found drifting upside down in the lake. The night Helen is lost. The night Kit discovers a letter on Martin's pillow and burns it, unopened, in the grate. The night everything changes forever.

A girlfriend handed me this book one day. I had never read romance, but she insisted I would enjoy it. It was fat with almost 800 pages and a romance. Ugh. That book sat on my shelf for months. MONTHS! And then I decided I should read it out of a moral obligation. I opened it and started to turn the pages... and then turn more... Until finally I couldn't stop! It was really good! The writing just dragged me in kicking and screaming and then I was hooked. Maeve Binchy knows how to write a doomed love story and this is one of my all time favorite romances! READ THIS!

So, what are your guilty pleasure reads for the summer? Do you have guilty pleasure reads? Or does your reading not change with the seasons? I'd love to hear your thoughts on summer reading!

Happy reading... Suzanne