Sep 26, 2012
"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Wisdom of Hair
Here is a little about the book taken from Amazon.com -
"The problem with cutting your own hair is that once you start, you just keep cutting, trying to fix it, and the truth is, some things can never be fixed. The day of my daddy's funeral, I cut my bangs until they were the length of those little paintbrushes that come with dime-store watercolor sets. I was nine years old. People asked me why I did it, but I was too young then to know I was changing my hair because I wanted to change my life."
In 1983, on her nineteenth birthday, Zora Adams finally says goodbye to her alcoholic mother and their tiny town in the mountains of South Carolina. Living with a woman who dresses like Judy Garland and brings home a different man each night is not a pretty existence, and Zora is ready for life to be beautiful.
With the help of a beloved teacher, she moves to a coastal town and enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Cathcart, she learns the art of fixing hair, and becomes fast friends with the lively Sara Jane Farquhar, a natural hair stylist. She also falls hard for handsome young widower Winston Sawyer, who is drowning his grief in bourbon. She couldn't save Mama, but maybe she can save him.
As Zora practices finger waves, updos, and spit curls, she also comes to learn that few things are permanent in this life--except real love, lasting friendship, and, ultimately... forgiveness.
As a lover of all things Southern, I love reading about strong Southern women so it is easy to understand why I am so anxious for this release. I can't wait to share it. For more information on Kim, visit her web page at kimboykin.com
To discover more yet-to-be-released books, be sure to visit Breaking the Spine for other "Waiting On" Wednesday blog posts every Wednesday.
Book Info:
Genre: Southern Fiction, Women's Fiction
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Publish Date: March 5, 2013
Length: 304 pp
ISBN-10: 0425261050
ISBN-13: 0425261057
Apr 28, 2010
"Waiting On" Wednesday 4.28.10


On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose. The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them. It is heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad, and confirms Aimee Bender’s place as “a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language” (San Francisco Chronicle).
I love books with magical realism and I am really looking forward to this one. It will also be my first Aimee Bender book. What is your can't-wait-to-read book?
Jan 13, 2010
"Waiting On" Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill at Breaking The Spine. It is a great way to find out about new books that are are soon to released.

Nov 11, 2009
"Waiting On" Wednesday: 11.11.09


Apr 29, 2009
"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Last Child

A year after 12-year-old Alyssa Merrimon disappeared on her way home from the library in an unnamed rural North Carolina town, her twin brother, Johnny, continues to search the town, street by street, even visiting the homes of known sex offenders, in this chilling novel from Edgar-winner Hart (Down River). Det. Clyde Hunt, the lead cop on Alyssa's case, keeps a watchful eye on Johnny and his mother, who has deteriorated since Alyssa's abduction and her husband's departure soon afterward. Whena second girl is snatched, Johnny is even more determined to find his sister, convinced that the perpetrator is the same person who took Alyssa. But what he unearths is more sinister than anyone imagined, sending shock waves through the community and putting Johnny's own life in danger. Despite a tendency to dip into melodrama, Hart spins an impressively layered tale of broken families and secrets that can kill.

Feb 4, 2009
"Waiting On" Wednesday: Sarah Addison Allen

My pick for this week's can't wait to read title is Sarah Addison Allen's new book, THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON. Here's a description from Amazon:
In her latest enchanting novel, New York Times bestelling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different women discover how to find their place in the world…no matter how out of place they feel. Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. For instance, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? Why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew—a reclusive, real-life gentle giant—she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life.Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson’s cakes. She offers them to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth and in the hope of bringing back the love she fears she’s lost forever. In Julia, Emily may have found a link to her mother’s past. But why is everyone trying to discourage Emily’s growing relationship with the handsome and mysterious son of Mullaby’s most prominent family? Emily came to Mullaby to get answers, but all she’s found so far are more questions.
Is there really a ghost dancing in her backyard? Can a cake really bring back a lost love? In this town of lovable misfits, maybe the right answer is the one that just feels…different.

Dec 31, 2008
"Waiting On" Wednesday: Roanoke by Margaret Lawrence


Dec 3, 2008
"Waiting On" Wednesday: Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

Heart and Soul is Maeve Binchy at her heartwarming storytelling best.
Although the book has already been released and is currently #1 in Australia, the UK, Ireland and Canada, it won't be published here in the States until February. I'm looking forward to getting to know this most adored author.
HEART AND SOUL
Maeve Binchy
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 432
Release Date: February 17, 2009
Nov 26, 2008
"Waiting On" Wednesday: Bound South (Paperback)

My pick for this week's "Waiting On" Wednesday is BOUND SOUTH by Susan Rebecca White. I love southern fiction and I'm really looking forward to this debut novel. There is no available cover image as of yet so you'll just have to picture it in your mind.
Oct 29, 2008
"Waiting On" Wednesday - My First

From Amazon:
In The Music Teacher, a penetrating and richly entertaining look into the heart and mind of a woman who has failed both as an artist and as a wife, Barbara Hall, award-winning creator and writer of such hit television series as Judging Amy and Joan of Arcadia, tells the story of a violinist who has accepted the limitations of her talent and looks for the casual satisfaction of trying to instill her passion for music in others. She gets more than she bargains for, however, when a young girl named Hallie enters her life. For here at last is the real thing: someone with the talent and potential to be truly great. In her drive to shape this young girl into the artist the teacher could never be, she makes one terrible mistake. As a result she is forced to reevaluate her whole life and come to terms with her future.
Another reason is that music is near and dear to my heart. When I was young, I was involved in our school's music program and participated in our school band. It was a wonderful experience. There is something about the dynamic between teacher and student that is fascinating and it makes you want to try harder and be better.
Barbara Hall, the author, is another positive point. Not only is she an accomplished writer of television's Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia, and the author of eight other published books, she also wrote for the show, Northern Exposure, which was one of my all-time favorite shows back in the mid 90's. I think it's one of tv's most underated programs - I loved the humor, the characters and the stories. And . . .
Lastly, I LOVE the cover!
So that is my first 'Waiting On Wednesday"' pick. What book are you excited about?