The Sunday Salon: A New Season

Happy Sunday and welcome to Books and Cooks! September brings a new season and along with it comes excitement! I'm looking forward to the next few months for a few different reasons. First, as you know, I've had a difficult summer with the loss of my father after a long battle with cancer. Its been hard to get used to the loss but we are taking it a day at a time. I'm hopeful that with the new season, it will bring a fresh start for my family.  With September also comes the college football season, which I am especially excited about. The first games were yesterday and my team, the University of Florida Gators did not disappoint. Although it wasn't a great match-up, a Win is a Win! We'll take it!

With everything going on, I still managed to read a few really good books in the last few months. The latest one was CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER by Tom Franklin. I'll be posting that review in the next day or so. Many of you told me it was a great book and you were right! Southern Fiction is my favorite genre and Tom Franklin did a terrific job. But more on that later this week.

I'm reading a new novel by John Hart right now. It's called IRON HOUSE. I became a big fan of his work after reading THE LAST CHILD a few years ago. His writing was poignant and gripping and so far this new book has proven to be equally as good. The story revolves around two brothers, Michael and Julian, who were abandoned as babies and grew up in an orphanage in North Carolina until Michael, who is the oldest, was ten years old. Julian, being younger and not as strong as his brother was always being tormented by the older boys. But Michael was there to protect him - most of the time. Tragedy struck one winter night and Michael was forced to run away from Iron House, leaving Julian behind. The story continues as Michael, now a grown man, working for the man who took him off the streets of New York as a boy, now wants out of the dangerous and violent life he was brought in to all those years ago.

I'm really enjoying this story so far and it promises to only get better. If you have never read John Hart and you like suspenseful, edge of your seat Southern Fiction, you should definitely check him out.

As for today, I have a very relaxing day planned.  When I'm not flapped out in my comfy chair with my book, I'll be online playing Scrabble with my cousin in Texas.  (She is the queen of Scrabble, but I'm beating her at the moment!)  John is away at a bow shoot, so its very quiet here today. I should get a lot of reading done. Enjoy the holiday weekend and please visit again soon!