Literary Friday ya’ll…

It’s the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. And I don’t know what your plans are- but mine is this: Sun, cool drinks, grilling out (corn on the grill = AMAZING), and other fun things (plus some reading!)

1. Deep South Mag and their #literaryfriday: A sneak peek at some of the Summer Reading List, news of Zelda Fitzgerald, David Sedaris, Erika Robuck, and Mary Kay Andrews events, and more!

2. Enter to win THE GLASS WIVES by Amy Sue Nathan at Great New Books!

3. My #fridayreads THE GUEST HOUSE by Erika Marks & NEVER TELL by Alafair Burke. What is your #fridayreads?

4. Book Lovers Unite Online Book Club hosted by me, Traveling With T, begins it’s inaugural month on May 31. Join me and Book-Alicious Mama as we read this book, RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA. Look for the hashtag #bookloversunite on Twitter for when questions are posted, pictures of us reading the book, and other fun things!

5. Be sure and check out Traveling With T on JUNE 3rd. There will be a Kate Carlisle #giveaway that you do not want to miss!

6. If you will be in the Georgia area on Tuesday, May 28th, go see Erika Robuck at Fox Tale Book Shoppe. Sadly, it did not work out that I would be able to be in town- but Book-Alicious Mama is snagging me a signed copy so at least I’ll have that!

7. Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train will be discussed at She Reads all next week. Come and discuss! May 27-June 3rd!

Have a Happy Memorial Day and Happy Reading! xoxo

Thursday Mashup

It’s a lot of reading lists popping up, some e-books on sale, and some reviews…. It’s Mashup style!

Summer Reading Lists

3, count them 3, reading lists have popped up the last few days- and have mercy- they all have some great sounding books (and none of them are mentioning the same books! So no belly-aching saying “I don’t know what to read this summer” because book lovers- you are in for some treats!

Great Thoughts has posted their reading list with 20 books- The Best Books to Read on Memorial Day Weekend– and it’s got some great ones!

I’ve read and reviewed 2 that made the list: The Affair and The Other Typist.

And Reconstructing Amelia, the book we are reading at Traveling With T for the inaugural Book Lovers Unite Online Book Club also made Great Thoughts list! So pick the book up, join in on the fun at Traveling With T and let’s read! HERE is the reading schedule for Reconstructing Amelia!

Jen Lancaster has posted her (Early) Summer Reading List– and Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler made that list!

Deep South Magazine has posted a teaser of their Summer Reading List (the rest will be revealed in June). Of the 5 books, I own 3 and have read 2- so I must have good taste, right? 😉

My review of Topped Chef has been posted, I’ve read; but currently working on my review for Looking for Me (get the Kleenex folks!) and I have The Cherry Cola Book Club– but have not read (YET). I did meet Ashton Lee and HERE is my post about that memorable experience!

E-books on Sale:

Meg Waite Clayton’s The Wednesday Sisters is currently on sale for .99! 99 cents! That’s cheap! If you haven’t bought it, get it! If you have it in paperback, but have a Kindle or Nook- buy it for that just in case you get the hankering to read it again and you are on vacation or something. Got a book club? Consider being generous and buying everyone a copy so they can see what the fuss is about. Got a family member graduating? Give them the gift of reading by getting them this e-book (bonus points for generous spirit if you buy them the e-reader device as well.)

Assignment today: Go check out the reading lists, grab that 99 cent e-book and report back what book you are excited to see make a reading list!

Monday Mashup

It’s been a while since I’ve done a mashup- so I’m bringing it back!

#giveaways:

A Novel Review is giving away THE LAKE HOUSE by Marci Nault (! Day left to enter- so get those entries in there!)

#onlinebookclubnews

The Book Wheel and Love at First Book are still rocking on with their nonfiction pick for May. If nonfiction floats your boat- then there is still time to join in on the fun!

Traveling With T (that’s me!) and Book-alicious Mama are working hard on getting RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA ready for June. Thanks to a special person, I hope to have blog buttons by June. Plans for the hashtag #bookloversunite will be revealed on Friday.

Southern Lit Lovers on Goodreads are discussing Julie Kibler’s CALLING ME HOME. If you missed the chance to talk about it with me at She Reads- do stop by Goodreads.

My review of CALLING ME HOME by Julie Kibler.

#justgoodnews

The Book Wheel has started her own literary consulting company. Read her blog post for the details.

On Danna Pycher’s blog- I was given a lovely shout-out for my interview with Danna that posted on Friday. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

More good news for me: I won an autographed copy of TIME FLIES by Claire Cook– I don’t think I even need to explain how excited I was since TIME FLIES since it made my Beach Bag Reads list!

#books

I reviewed THE COTTAGE AT GLASS BEACH today. Beautiful cover, good book, mystery and intrigue- worth a read!

Do you like a little chill in your reading for the summer? Marybeth Whalen, co-creator of She Reads, has got a list of summer reads for you then! Looking over the list of A Little Chill in the Summer– I already have marked to read LIE STILL by Julia Heaberlin- looks like I have more to add!

I created a Book Signings board on Pinterest- go check it out- it’s every book signing that I’ve been to!

Last week was Bout of Books– here is how my week went with that!

LASTLY: Twitter chat with CHRISTINA BAKER KLINE, author of ORPHAN TRAIN Thursday, May 23 at 8pmEST. Use #srchat to join in! It’ll be fun and fabulous!

My review of ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline

Reading Schedule for RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA (Book Lovers Unite Online Book Club)

Hey everyone-

We’re getting closer to June- to when my blog, Traveling With T and Jen S (go check out her new blog Book-alicious Mama) will be reading RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA. We both are beyond excited!

Here’s the link to the previous post explaining the rules, the details, etc- Book Lovers Unite Online Book Club

Reading schedule for Reconstructing Amelia:

First, I know some of us have the “real” books- but I know there are several of us that have either bought or are not so patiently waiting for the library copy to loan an e-copy. So the breakdown of the reading schedule reflects both styles.

Week1 (beginning on MAY 31) read: pages 1-95 (for e-readers the title of last chapter will be Facebook Sept 30)

Week 2 (JUNE 7) read: pages 96-202 (for e-readers the title of first chapter will be Amelia Sept 30/ last Amelia Oct 14)

Week 3 (JUNE 14) read: pages 203-292 (for e-readers the tile of first chapter will be Amelia Oct 18/last Amelia Oct 22)

Week 4 (JUNE 21) read: pages 293-380 (for e-readers the title of first chapter will be gracefully Oct 24th/end of book)

Basically it’s a 100 pages a week (slightly less).

So what fabulous thing do I have planned for June 28th? Well- it’s still early planning on that- but I know for sure that day will be dedicated to overall thoughts, likes/dislikes and more. There very well could be some more surprises planned- so I’d def keep my eyes and ears open!

So just a few more things: if you love doing the Twitter thing- and you’re reading Reconstructing Amelia with us- do a favor and tweet something like: Reading RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA w/ T and Jen S #onlinebookclub #bookloversunite. And, I’ve got something planned for our hashtag #bookloversunite so you’ll want to keep an eye on that! Facebook more your speed? Share it on Facebook!

Happy Reading!

Book Lovers Unite Online Book Club

You might remember a few weeks ago that I posted that on my book-ish bucket list was “having my own online book club”? Because while I LOVE participating in other’s- sometimes I want to choose the book! Anyway, during all this time- another bookworm found me on Twitter and we’ve become #bookbesties (she’s the creative genius behind that Hashtag!) So, as we got to talking more and more- it was like “why don’t you start the online book club? I’ll help!” and that was all I needed to hear. Because of prior commitments, and needing to work out some details- it’s taken some time- but here we are: Me, T. at Traveling With T and Jen S. (her blog is not quite ready to be revealed YET!) – have started an online book club!

The details:

Book Lovers Unite Online Book Club– each month a book will be chosen by the “host” and for June, our first month, it’ll be RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA by Kimberly McCreight (@kimmcreight on Twitter). This book is already getting quite a bit buzz- and some are calling it the Gone Girl of 2013. Currently (which means today) Amazon list it’s price as $18.44 hardcover, $18.36 Large print paperback, $8.89 on Kindle. It can also be found at IndieBound and Barnes and Noble (similar price at B&N and Amazon). Or you can get it from most libraries.

We will begin on MAY 31’st. And the last set of questions will be posted on June 28th. A reading schedule will be posted soon! Each week will we discuss a certain number of chapters (and only discuss those!) Want to read ahead? That’s fine- but please, for the consideration of others, do not post spoilers ahead of the chapters we will be discussing! My plan is to read along with the schedule- but if I get too involved in book, I’m going to make notes about the things I want to discuss for each section. You may wish to do the same.

Checking the book out from the library- but won’t get it till mid June? Aww, I’m sorry! But, don’t worry- you can still join us. Just because we have moved on to another section in book does not mean you cannot go back to the first sections and post comments/thoughts.

Is there a fancy sign-up or will you be upset if I say I want to read- but then can’t? No! No Fancy sign-up and no, I won’t be mad. I sincerely hope you can join- but totally understand that life gets in the way. You MAY express your interest to read Reconstructing Amelia in this post- or wait till later when I post the official reading schedule. You also don’t have to sign up- although I would love to know who’s participating!

So, come and read Reconstructing Amelia with us for June- I think it’s going to be an excellent book- and one that can lead to a great discussion!

Look for more details such as the official reading schedule to be posted in the coming weeks. Right now- the most important thing is for you to get a copy of Reconstructing Amelia (either by buying or the library!) and make plans to join us beginning May 31’st!

Are you on Twitter? While we won’t be discussing it on Twitter really- we’ll be posting when new questions are added with the hashtag #bookloversunite

Got questions? Let me know in the comments section! Know you want to read Reconstructing Amelia- let me know in the comments section!

Literary Friday ya’ll….

Friday. The week has flown by. Supposed to go to Double Decker Art Festival tomorrow with my cousin- but appears to be rain in the forecast. So we’ll see!

1. Deep South Mag– the #literaryfriday edition celebrates Harper Lee’s birthday, Reese Witherspoon, and several festivals and writing events. Plus there’s a mention or 2 about The Great Gatsby!

2. Today, on my blog, I reviewed Mitiz Kelly’s Deadly Policy. Perfect for fans of #cozy books, or for readers looking to read about characters over the age of 40- it’s a quick read. Interesting. Nice plot. Mitiz Kelly is also being generous- and is giving away the 2 books in the Silver Sleuths series to each blog in the Cozy Mystery Reviews DEADLY POLICY blog tour. Go to my review of Deadly Policy, follow the directions (super-easy!) and you’ll be entered to win! Contest ends April 30th! Winner announced May 1st.

3. Monday, April 29th, Patti Callhan Henry will be Twitter chatting about her latest book, AND THEN I FOUND YOU. The Twitter chat will be hosted by yours truly- so def stop by! Did I mention there will be a #giveaway? We’ll chat from 2-3pmEST. Use #srchat to join in!

4. Can’t make it to Twitter chat? 😦 😦 Don’t worry! The AND THEN I FOUND YOU discussion will begin on April 29th and go through May 6th at She Reads. Again- yours truly will be hosting that as well!

5. What is your #fridayreads? Mine is The Glass Wives by Amy Sue Nathan!

6. With all this talk of AND THEN I FOUND YOU- have you gotten a thought of “this would be perfect for my book club?” Or maybe “I want to make something for my book club that goes with this book?” “Or I need music for my book club while we’re drinking a glass of wine- but what music?” She Reads has all these answers. Read the next articles for more info.

1. Books and music: The Playlist for AND THEN I FOUND YOU

2. Featured Recipe for AND THEN I FOUND YOU

7. Yesterday I packed my fictional beach bag with the books I plan to read over the summer- tell me what you want to put in your beach bag! Here’s my Beach Bag Reads list!

8. She Reads recommended books this week as well: A Tisket A Tasket A Book-Laden Basket

9. Remember my book-ish bucket list? Beginning in June, I can cross 1 thing off the list! Intrigued? Traveling With T will be having an ONLINE BOOK CLUB! The book is RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA by Kimberly McCreight. It’s been getting some great reviews- and it looks like it’s going to be a fun book to read. More details to come as it gets closer to time- but if you’ve been wanting the book and needing people to discuss the book with- this is a chance!

10. ICYMI:

Meeting Rita Leganski: The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow

Interview with Kimberly Freeman author of Lighthouse Bay

Meeting Jill McCorkle- author of Life After Life

Happy Reading!