The Sunday Salon and Breaking Up is Hard to Do... What to read after you break up with your book.

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! Winter is starting to settle in, in South Carolina. We started the week with 70 degrees and sunny and yesterday we couldn't get above 40 degrees! So, I grab two things to keep me warm in the winter... crocheting and a good book. Of course this is all done in front of a cozy fire going in the fireplace and possibly something interesting to drink.

This week I finished a great book! The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michel Richardson had all the things that hold your attention -- a great lead character, well developed minor characters, an interesting story (which in this case happens to be based on history), some interesting plot twists with a little romance thrown in for good measure. I'll be reviewing it later in the week, but trust me, if you enjoy historical fiction, write this one down for your TBR list!

But the thing with reading a great book is that sometimes you need an emotional break. I was getting so into the book that starting another book wasn't going to be easy. It's almost like breaking up with your book because sometimes you become so invested in the characters and story that when it ends you are just so... alone, lonely, spent.

How do you recover? Big breath and then I try to read something "light".  Maybe a graphic novel, some poetry, a funny book... I need to go thru a detox. So, here are some "inbetween" books or books to lighten your emotional load...


Strange Planet by Nathan Pyle...

"Nathan Pyle fills the pages of his new book Strange Planet with big eyed, bright blue aliens from a planet that shares a lot in common with Earth. These aliens sunbathe, sneeze and even wish each other sweet dreams like us, but they describe these practices with deadpan technical terminology like "sun damage" and "face fluid explosions." The lifegiver aliens even implore their offspring to "imagine pleasant nonsense" as they tuck them in for the night."...NPR's Liz Metzger.

A friend of mine recently shared this graphic novel that he received as a Christmas present. He's not really the graphic novel kind of guy, but he loves humor and that is exactly what Nathan Pyle dishes out in 144 pages. Nathan started drawing Strange Planet and sharing it on Instagram, where he has his aliens exploring all of our human emotions and explaining them in their own "alien" terms. Follow the link to his Instagram page and check it out. Little tidbits of human wisdom on each page. I love reading them! This book is on its way to me! Published by MorrowGift.

Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen... These casually drawn, perfectly on-point comics by the hugely popular young Brooklyn-based artist Sarah Andersen are for the rest of us. They document the wasting of entire beautiful weekends on the internet, the unbearable agony of holding hands on the street with a gorgeous guy, and dreaming all day of getting home and back into pajamas. In other words, the horrors and awkwardnesses of young modern life. Oh and they are totally not autobiographical. At all.

Another artist who posted her comics on social media before releasing her  popular humorous books. She really hits the nail on the head sometimes with her poignant funny cartoons. She has a big following too. Lighten up with Sarah's Scribbles! Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy... Charlie Mackesy offers inspiration and hope in uncertain times in this beautiful book based on his famous quartet of characters. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse explores their unlikely friendship and the poignant, universal lessons they learn together.

This book won Barnes & Noble's Best Book of the Year 2019 award! It has rave reviews and there is and was a lot of buzz about it after it was published in October by HarperOne. Sit down and relax with this one and slowly take it in. A great book to reset your mindset with. And this book is on it's way to me also. Published by HarperOne.

Now those were some sweet, fun reads to enjoy while getting back to the business of serious literary reading, but what if you wanted a little bit more to sink your teeth into? Well, my last recommendation is a 180 from these others...

Batman: The Killing Joke written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Brian Bolland... "For the first time the Joker's origin is revealed in this tale of insanity and human perseverance"

I started reading this after I watched the movie Joker starring Jaoquin Pheonix. Have you seen that movie yet? I am not really a superhero kind of girl, but this movie had gotten so much buzz (and a few awards) about the performance Jaoquin Pheonix did that I just had to rent it. I have to say it is depressing. Really depressing and sad. And it's not really a superhero movie. This movie is really about the person the Joker was before becoming notorious and how his circumstances created the crazy evil guy that we know today. This is the comic book that the movie is based on and it really is a great story. Read the deluxe hardcover edition, the artwork is amazing and the story is so interesting. This edition also shares the process of story boarding and developing the actual drawing of the story. I really only knew the Joker based on the Batman series on TV. This graphic novel really puts a human face to the criminal we all thought we knew. Not a "light" read, but not a complex literary tomb either. Published by DC Comics.

Weekly Update...
Memoir Monday... highlighted Hill Women by Cassie Chambers and tells the story of the strong Kentucky women who helped shape her and how she left her humble beginnings to find a different way of life

First Lines Friday... highlighted Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kreuger, and his beautiful opening lines for Ordinary Grace.

Saturday I shared my Book Bingo Card for 2020! Ever play Book Bingo? Every year I create a Bingo Card with bookish squares that my reading group tries to fill in during the year. The squares range from reading a MYSTERY to Read a Book Whose Author's Last Name Starts with the First Letter of Your Name. Want to play along?? Follow the link and print out the Bingo Card!

Do you need a break after reading a really good book? 

...or do you dive right into your next read?

I've got quite a few books to choose from to get back to "literary" reading this week. One of which is a WWII tale of a girl and her mother hiding from German soldiers in a barn... and there is a Barbara Delinsky eBook I just got from the publishers too. I always love reading Barbara Delinsky! and this one will be released May 2020. (I also love Barbara Delinsky because she was also sweet enough to Skype with my reading group once).... What are your plans this week? What great books have you been reading?! Share in the comments because I would love to know!! 

Happy Reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... Books with Buzz!

Good Morning! It's been a busy week planning my blogoversary, so there was a lot going on behind the scenes of Chick with Books, but not much posting. Not to worry though, I'm going to make it up to you in a few weeks time, with some exciting things going on for the celebration! In the meantime, I did get in a bit of reading- I started and finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett and really enjoyed it! The characters came alive to me and I found that when I had to put the book down, I eagerly went back for more! If you haven't cracked the spine on this one yet, let me say YOU SHOULD! I'll be reviewing it this week, so I'll talk more about it more then. This coming week I've also got a few great reviews with giveaways coming up, including a couple of audiobooks! And Kindle fans, I've got a cute little gadget review coming up in a Kindle Korner post this week too! But on to the Sunday Salon, and some great books with buzz! I've got a little of everything today, including a medical miracle...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot... "Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the effects of the atom bomb; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions... Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today. Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. Henriettas Daughter Deborah wonders, if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?" Rebecca Skloot is an award winning science writer, but The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is not suppose to be some dry piece of research, but a story of a woman, her family, her legacy and scientific research. This book has gotten a lot of praise and just seemed so interesting to me. I never knew about "immortal" human cells or what they could be used for. Read an Excerpt of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks from O the Oprah Magazine, and learn more about the author and the book at her website, Rebeccaskloot.com.

Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy..."Years ago, the Gypsy Kumpania (c0mmunity) where Janeal Mikkado lived was attacked by outsiders. With her best friend about to be consumed by a fire, Janeal had two options: try to save her friend--at serious risk to her own life--or disappear with the million dollars that she had just discovered... But the past is quickly coming back to haunt her. Both the best friend and the boyfriend that she was sure were dead have reappeared in her life, as has someone who knows about the money. There's a debt to be paid for the money she found, but there's an even greater debt she must face--and if the chaff isn't burned from her own heart, it will consume her." Thrill writer Ted Dekker is back along with Erin Healy with another page turner. Lots of buzz on this one, and sure to be another Ted Dekker best seller. So if you'd like a little more terror in your winter reading, check out Burn!

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake... "Weaving together the stories of three very different women loosely tied to each other, debut novelist Blake takes readers back and forth between small town America and war-torn Europe in 1940. Single, 40-year-old postmistress Iris James and young newlywed Emma Trask are both new arrivals to Franklin, Mass., on Cape Cod. While Iris and Emma go about their daily lives, they follow American reporter Frankie Bard on the radio as she delivers powerful and personal accounts from the London Blitz and elsewhere in Europe. While Trask waits for the return of her husband—a volunteer doctor stationed in England—James comes across a letter with valuable information that she chooses to hide. Blake captures two different worlds—a naïve nation in denial and, across the ocean, a continent wracked with terror—with a deft sense of character and plot, and a perfect willingness to take on big, complex questions, such as the merits of truth and truth-telling in wartime." The Postmistress by Sarah Blake is due in stores this coming week and it has gotten so much positive praise for the writing and the story. WWII has been a favorite among authors this past year, (I'm thinking The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society), but there's always room for another great book and this promises to be one! This is suppose to be a big hit this year! Read the first chapter of The Postmistress by Sarah Blake and see what you think! (and here's a little sneak peek at a surprise for a lucky "follower" of my blog... a copy The Postmistress is part of a wonderful bundle of books up for grabs as part of my blogoversary and courtesy of G.P.Putnam's Sons!)

Hope you've found something to peak your interest today! Less than 2 weeks before the One year anniversary of the blog celebration! And in the meantime... Happy reading! Suzanne