Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

From Goodreads

With the stunning revelation surrounding Bliss's true identity comes the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods. Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods now find themselves in an epic battle for survival. Not to worry, love is still in the air for the young vampires of the Upper East Side. Or is it? Jack and Schuyler are over. Oliver's brokenhearted. And only the cunning Mimi seems to be happily engaged. Young, fanged, and fabulous, Melissa de la Cruz's vampires unite in this highly anticipated fourth installment of the Blue Bloods series.

Out October 6

Book of the Month --September

On the last day of the month, I will be posting my favorite book read.

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My favorite book for September was

The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

review

What was your favorite read for September?

Sarah's Key- Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key- Tatiana de Rosnay

From Goodreads-
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

I've read quite a bit of fiction and nonfiction concerning the Holocaust, but this one was the first that I've read about the Vel d'Hiv' roundup, that happened in Paris in 1942. The subject is hard to read about whether it's fiction or not, because you know that though the people in story weren't real, the situation was. This was a sad, heartbreaking story, and like all the other books I've read on the Holocaust, I was touched deeply.

The book is about the Vel d'Hiv', Sarah who lived through it, and Julia Jarmond, who 60 years later is writing a column about it. The book rotates chapters between Sarah and Julia. Sarah's story starts off on the night her family and her were taken from there home, and Julia's story begins with getting the Vel d'Hiv assignment. Julia has no idea, her present will entwine with Sarah's past. The rotating of chapters does not last through the whole book, a little more than halfway through, Julia takes over the story. I was disappointed when that happen, because I was drawn more to Sarah's story, and would find myself hurrying through Julia's chapters just to get to Sarah's. I read on though, because I needed to find out what happen to Sarah.

Sarah's Key was a really great book, about a horrible time in history. When you read books like these there really aren't nice endings.

Rating: 4/5

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- Hunter Thompson

September 1001 book challenge pick

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- Hunter Thompson

From Goodreads-

Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" by the New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documented drug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushing and D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto. Under the pseudonym of Raoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in a souped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In its trunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls," which they manage to consume during their short tour.
On assignment from a sports magazine to cover "the fabulous Mint 400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or the left). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen his experiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle; an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. A first-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of pure comedic genius. --Rebekah Warren

When I had chosen this book for my September 1001 Books Challenge pick I knew it was widely popular, and had a cult following. It was a wild, and crazy ride.

From the first paragraph, I was already laughing.

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive..." And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: "Holy Jesus! What are those goddamn animals?"

I was surprised at how hilarious this book was. It follows a journalist, and his lawyer on a drug induced trip to Las Vegas to cover a story. What ensues is nothing short of bizarre. I was completely appalled, and thoroughly entertained. Throughout there are illustrations so you can actually picture what these guys were seeing, while completely drugged out.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a very quick read, and a window into the world of drugs, and utter craziness. I really liked this book!

Rating: 4/5

Sunday Salon

This week I was able to get 4 books read, and change up my blog layout. Everything was starting to look crowded, and I was getting tired of the coffee cup. I started messing with the mumbo jumbo (template), and came up with the layout I wanted. I hope it's pleasing to the eyes.

Abandoned books- This week I abandoned one book, No Time to Wave Goodbye by Jacquelyn Mitchard. It was dragging along, and I was quite bored with it. I just don't think I was interested in the Cappadora’s anymore.

Currently Reading- I just started Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I think I'm really going to enjoy this one.

1001 Books Challenge- Just a couple of days before deadline, I was able to get my September pick read, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. My review will be up soon. I'm looking forward to searching the lists for my October read. I think I'll search for something scary.

Book of the Month- The last day of the month I will post my Book of the Month. I'm really hoping to hear what ya'lls favorites were. I think I'm going to try a Mister Linky, so it's easier to check out everyone's favorite. I'm looking forward to adding more books on my TBR shelves!

Have a great Sunday, and week ahead!

South of Broad- Pat Conroy

South of Broad- Pat Conroy

From the Publisher


Against the sumptuous backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina, South of Broad gathers a unique cast of sinners and saints. Leopold Bloom King, our narrator, is the son of an amiable, loving father who teaches science at the local high school. His mother, an ex-nun, is the high school principal and a well-known Joyce scholar. After Leo's older brother commits suicide at the age of thirteen, the family struggles with the shattering effects of his death, and Leo, lonely and isolated, searches for something to sustain him. Eventually, he finds his answer when he becomes part of a tightly knit group of high school seniors that includes friends Sheba and Trevor Poe, glamorous twins with an alcoholic mother and a prison-escapee father; hardscrabble mountain runaways Niles and Starla Whitehead; socialite Molly Huger and her boyfriend, Chadworth Rutledge X; and an ever-widening circle whose liaisons will ripple across two decades-from 1960s counterculture through the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

The ties among them endure for years, surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, and Charleston's dark legacy of racism and class divisions. But the final test of friendship that brings them to San Francisco is something no one is prepared for. South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest; a long-awaited work from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds.


I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book, since I've never read a Pat Conroy book, but I'm glad this one was my first experience into Pat Conroy's world. He writes such beautiful prose, and is really a master storyteller.

From the beginning I wanted to know these characters fully, and experience the journey they were about to take. The characters in this novel were unique, and exaggerated, to the point of unreal sometimes, but I appreciated, and adored them anyways. The book is dark, but underneath the exterior of the story, you can feel the bond, and love the characters had for each other, and it shined a light through the tragedy of their lives.

The book takes place in Charleston, and is it's own character. Every description is dripping with Pat Conroy's adoration of Charleston. It really is beautiful the way he describes the scenery, the people, and the social aspects of the South.

South of Broad is a sad story, with doses of loveliness. If you are looking for happy endings, look elsewhere, if you're looking for a great story, with wonderful witty banter, and lives that are messy, tragic, and real, pick this one up.

Rating: 4.5/5


Product Details:
Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Nan A. Talese (August 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 038541305X

Book of the Month

On PBS I participate on a thread where we post our favorite book read for each month. We started in January, and it's been a great way to discover some great books. I'm going to start posting my pick on the last day of the month here on my blog.

Here are my favorites for each month so far:

January- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larrson

February- Rena's Promise by Rena Kornreich Gellisen

March- The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

April- Graceling by Kristin Cashore

May- Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal

June- Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

July- The Double Bind by Chris Bojhalian

August- The Girl who Played With Fire by Steig Larrson

I already have a clear favorite for this month, but there's four more days left, who knows if the book I'm about to start will be better.

I hope to hear what your favorite book was every month.