The Sunday Salon: Ahhh . . . Normalcy!

It is so nice to be back! I missed the last two weeks of The Sunday Salon, first because of computer troubles, then last week I came down with a bad flu bug. However, my computer and I both seems to be back to normal.

Unfortunatly, I was so sick I didn't even feel much like reading, so I wasn't able to take advantage of all that down time like I would've liked. The only thing I was able to accomplish was finishing THE DAY I KILLED JAMES, a young adult book by Catherine Ryan Hyde of PAY IT FORWARD fame. I'll have that review in the coming days.

I did do some online book shopping though at Alibris. If you're unfamiliar, that's a bookseller where you can get really good deals on used books. I picked up some great books at ridiculously low prices! For instance, I got Stewart O'Nan's book LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER for $1.99! It arrived yesterday and even though it was listed as 'used', the book looks brand new! The other two books I chose were WHISTLING IN THE DARK by Lesley Kagen and ALL HE EVER WANTED by Anita Shreve. I got all three for under $20.00 including shipping!

The most exciting thing that happened this week, was actually just last night. I got an email from Jayne Pupek, the author of TOMATO GIRL asking if I'd like to read and review her book here at Books & Cooks! I've heard so much about this first time novelist's release and I was thrilled to hear from her personally! Isn't it nice that authors are so accessible? Anyway, she will be mailing me the book this week and I am really looking forward to reading it, so look for that review coming soon. In the meantime, Jill over at Breaking The Spine recently reviewed it and you can catch her review here.

TOMATO GIRL was published by Alongquin Books of Chapel Hill who also published Hillary Jordan's MUDBOUND back in March, which I thought was fantastic, even though the subject matter was daunting. Alongquin has released some really great Southen Fiction books. Like MUDBOUND, TOMATO GIRL is not a happy story, but a sad tale of a young girl forced to grow up too fast because of circumstances beyond her control. According to the publisher, its a story about betrayal and childhood lost.

There was a time when I read mostly legal thrillers, but more recently I enjoy reading books about southern people and the twists and turns their lives take. I guess partly because I am a southerner. I tend to gravitate towards books with a southern theme that tell stories of family, loyalty, love and even betrayal. What genre of books do you consider your favorite? Or do you go through phases?