Reading | Book Chatter

Sunday Salon

I come to you a tad late today. I had to hit the market this morning (not my favorite thing to do) and after getting dinner in the Crock Pot and helping The Girl make Sweet Potato Chips (a recipe she saw on the Disney channel), starting a load of laundry and completing paperwork for The Boy’s Cross Country summer camp, I finally have a moment to myself. Sort of.

If you don’t count the numerous Otter Pup interruptions (she sits on my head while reading) or the numerous questions The Girl has about summer camp, then I guess I have a moment to myself. At this point, I’ll take what I can get!

The Boy finished school last Friday. He is now a 10th grader! The Girl won’t be out until June 13th and she’ll be a 5th grader! Amazing! She still seems so little to me. I am anxious for the school year to end as I have school papers coming out of my ears! I cannot wait to weed through them. Plus, the summer reading program starts in a couple of weeks and for once, The Girl is excited about it!

What have we been doing? Last night, we had the opportunity to see John Mauceri at the Valley Performing Arts Center, which happens to be at the campus where I work. The venue is really very nice and the concert was great. This time, the kids came with us and we all had a really good time. Except the very last performance where The Girl fell asleep. It was very late for her though so I expected that.

We were a little nervous about going because the Powerhouse fire seemed to have changed direction, but right now it’s burning away from us. Let’s hope it stays that way. It’s burned about 20,000 acres so far and isn’t expected to be fully contained until Friday! The air quality is just horrible right now. One thing that you have to get used to when living in Southern California are the brush fires. We haven’t seen rain in 6 months and it’s only going to get worse.

Powerhouse Fire - Daily News — Image Credit: Daily News

Okay, that’s all I have. I am cooking beef tips in the Crock Pot for dinner. We’ll have them with these smashed parmesan potatoes I saw on Pinterest. You bake ’em, you smash them, butter them up and then top them with parmesan, and then pop them back in the oven a bit to crisp up. Sounds pretty good to me.

I am reading In the Garden of Stone by Susan Tekulve for a tour next week. I am also listening to Life Itself by Roger Ebert. I am enjoying both but deep, deep down…I am wanting something a little bit trashy. Not sure where that is coming from. Trying to shake myself of it and quick!

What’s up with you?

You know that feeling you get when a new, highly anticipated book comes out and that brand new copy ends up in YOUR hands? That is the best feeling. But when you get that copy before it even comes out? Bliss. I’ve been Ms. Lucky pants in that department lately!

Here are just a few that I am really excited about:

Galleys of Upcoming Books

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver (June 4, 2013)

For Pandora, cooking is a form of love. Alas, her husband, Fletcher, a self-employed high-end cabinetmaker, now spurns the “toxic” dishes that he’d savored through their courtship, and spends hours each day to manic cycling. Then, when Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at the airport, she doesn’t recognize him. In the years since they’ve seen one another, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? After Edison has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: It’s him or me. (Goodreads)

The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy (June 25, 2013)

Award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells a harrowing and enchanting story of how one man’s act of mercy during World War II changed the lives of a group of strangers, and how they each eventually discover the astonishing truth of their connection. (Goodreads)

We Are Water by Wally Lamb (October 29, 2013)

We Are Water is an intricate and layered portrait of marriage, family, and the inexorable need for understanding and connection, told in the alternating voices of the Ohs-nonconformist Annie; her ex-husband, Orion, a psychologist; Ariane, the do-gooder daughter, and her twin, Andrew, the rebellious only son; and free-spirited Marissa, the youngest Oh. Set in New England and New York during the first years of the Obama presidency, it is also a portrait of modern America, exploring issues of class, changing social mores, the legacy of racial violence, and the nature of creativity and art. (Edelweiss)

What would make this list even better, would be the inclusion of Stephen King’s two books (Joyland and Dr. Sleep) and The Abominable by Dan Simmons. I keep looking out for ARCs but I suspect the King books are impossible to get and I haven’t seen a galley offered of The Abominable as of yet. I keep looking though!

What upcoming books are you excited about?

Chatting with friends about books and life…