The Guests on South Battery by Karen White

What new books are you reading this weekend? 

The Guests on South Battery by Karen White
Publication Jan. 10, 2018, Berkley Books

Book beginning:
There is no escaping the dead. On the slender peninsula that is Charleston, we cannot help being surrounded by them, packed as they are into ancient cemeteries behind ornate iron fencing. Beneath our streets. And under our homes and parking garages. Land is at a premium here, and it was inevitable that over the course of time the living and the dead would inevitably rub elbows. Most residents of the Holy City are blissfully unaware of those residents who have passed on but whose names and homes we share and whose presence lingers still. Others, like me, are not so lucky. 

Wow! What an opening paragraph! Makes me want to read on, for sure.

Page 56:
She stopped and faced me. "I don't like old houses, and seeing this hasn't really changed my mind. I'm ready to list it as it is."

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White: Review, First Chapter

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White, April 11, 2017, Berkley
."..a young single mother discovers that the nature of friendship is never what it seems.."

A thoroughly enjoyable Southern novel about life in an Atlanta suburb and the culture surrounding families there, especially the women and their school children. Merilee Dunlap moves to the suburb of Sweet Apple, Ga. after her divorce, renting a cottage from a local woman legend, Sugar Prescott,  and hoping to go on with life and raise her two children.

Although the past comes back to interfere in her life, and an anonymous blog threatens to reveal everything about her life, Merilee eventually finds new love and stability though feeling like the odd woman out among the wealthy suburban moms.

I gave this a five for reader enjoyment and its revealing insights into a slice of Southern life, and plan to reread it again in the future!

First chapter:
The Playing Fields Blog
Observations of Suburban Life from Sweet Apple, Georgia, written by Your Neighbor

A woman at my hair salon today asked me where I'd learned to put on make up. I considered this a compliment, having always taken good care of my skin for the sole purpose of making it a smooth palette on which to put makeup. I could tell she was a transplant to our north Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple by her accent. And by her question. Every true Southern mama teaches her daughter bout makeup. I think, in some parts of the Deep South (like the Mississippi Delta, girls are born with makeup brushes clutched in their tiny hands.This might be hearsay, but have you ever noticed how many Miss Americas are from Mississippi?

Based on my comments and the beginning of the book, would you read on?
MEME: Every Tuesday Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two, from a book you are reading or  have read, or will be reading soon.

Karen White also wrote another excellent book, FLIGHT PATTERNS (see my review). "It tells the story of Georgia Chambers, a fine china expert who left her family years before and is forced to return home and repair the relationships she’s carefully avoided. To embrace her own life—mistakes and all—she will have to find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets she was forced to keep."

Sunday Salon:Summer Reading

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer; It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey.

Books for summer reading: Southern fiction, a few mystery novels, and historical fiction.

The Hurricane Sisters

The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep in the heart of the magical Carolina Lowcountry--a sultry land of ancient magic, glorious sunsets, and soothing coastal breezes, where three generations of strong women wrestle with the expectations of family while struggling to understand their complicated relationships with each other.(goodreads)

In Be Careful What You Witch For by Dawn Eastman, Clyde Fortune has returned to her seemingly quiet hometown of Crystal Haven, Michigan. In spite of the psychic powers of its residents, there’s no telling what trouble is brewing in this burg…(goodreads)

and an audio win from Soho Press: 
The Blood of An Englishman by James McClure, a mystery set in South Africa.

I am currently reading a library book:

Fleur de Lies by Maddy Hunter has travel agency owner Emily Andrew-Miceli taking her band of tech-savvy seniors to France, cruising down the Seine River. But once a guest is found dead along Normandy's famed Alabaster coast, Emily bids adieu to the hopes of a fatality-free trip. (goodreads)

For a book tour by the publisher, I'm also reading

The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin:  From Paris in the 1920s to London after the Blitz, two women find that a secret from their past reverberates through years of joy and sorrow. (goodreads)

What books are on your summer reading list? 

The Storycatcher by Ann Hite

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: The Storycatcher by Ann Hite
Published September 10, 2013; Gallery Books
Genre: Southern fiction, historical novel

Opening paragraph, first chapter:

September 1935 

The salt from the ocean hung thick and heavy in the air. The only breeze came from the boat moving. Roger and me stood together side by side at the boat's wheel, him driving, me watching.
Ebb tide gave me the creepy crawlers. Ebb tide was unnatural, bad, nothing but bad.
"That sorry fool Mr. Benton is bringing his colored mistress to stay for two weeks. Mr. Tyson be letting them sleep in his house. He never struck me as one to put up with that mess, but by gosh he is...." 

Publisher description:
"Shelly Parker never much liked Faith Dobbins, the uppity way that girl bossed her around. But they had more in common than she knew. Shelly tried to ignore the haints that warned her Faith’s tyrannical father, Pastor Dobbins, was a devil in disguise. But when Faith started acting strange, Shelly couldn’t avoid the past—not anymore.

Award-winning author Ann Hite beckons readers back to the Depression-era South, from the saltwater marshes of Georgia’s coast to the whispering winds of North Carolina’s mystical Black Mountain, in a gothic tale about the dark family secrets that come back to haunt."

Based on the opening paragraph and book description, would you keep reading? 

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers. First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile By the Sea.

Title: Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
Published July 2, 2013; Gallery Books

Opening sentences:

July 1963
My grandmother says she will pray for me every day. Which was funny, as I've only ever heard Mamie pray, "Dear Lord, give me strength." That sure sounded like a prayer for herself - and Mrs. Knopp in Sunday school always said our prayers should only ask for things for others. Once I made the mistake of saying that out loud to Mamie and got slapped into next Tuesday for my sassy mouth. My mouth always worked a whole lot faster than my good sense.

Book description:
From an award-winning author,  a wise and tender coming-of-age story about a nine-year-old girl who runs away from her Mississippi home in 1963, befriends a lonely woman suffering loss and abuse, and embarks on a life-changing roadtrip.

Nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. born to teenage parents in Mississippi, is being raised by a strict paternal grandmother, Mamie, whose worst fear is that Starla will turn out like her mother. Starla hasn’t seen her momma since she was three, but is convinced that her mother will keep her promise to take Starla and her daddy to Nashville, where her mother hopes to become a famous singer—and that one day her family will be whole and perfect.

When Starla is grounded on the Fourth of July, she sneaks out to see the parade. Starla’s fear that Mamie will send her to reform school cause her to panic and run away from home. Starla is offered a ride by a black woman, Eula, who is traveling with a white baby. She happily accepts a ride, with the ultimate goal of reaching her mother in Nashville.

As the two unlikely companions make their long and sometimes dangerous journey, Starla’s eyes are opened to the harsh realities of 1963 southern segregation. Through talks with Eula, reconnecting with her parents, and encountering a series of surprising misadventures, Starla learns to let go of long-held dreams and realizes family is forged from those who will sacrifice all for you, no matter if bound by blood or by the heart. (publisher)

Based on the opening sentences and the book description, would you read on?

Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary review copy of this book.

Porch Lights, A Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank

Title: Porch Lights: A Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank
Hardcover; William Morrow, released June 12, 2012
Source: publisher

Opening sentences of a book can help the reader get a flavor of the book and decide if it's one that they want to continue reading. Here are the beginning sentences of Porch Lights.

I will tell you the one thing that I have learned about life in my thirty-something years that is an absolute truth: nothing and no one in this entire world matters more to a sane woman than her children. I have one child, my son, Charlie. Charlie is barely ten years old, and he is the reason I get up in the morning. I thank God for him every night before I go to sleep. When I was stationed in Afghanistan, I slept with a T-shirt of his wrapped around my arm. I did. Not my husband's. My son's.  It was the lingering sweet smell of my little boy's skin that got me through the awful nights while rockets were exploding less than a mile away from my post. 

Publisher's book description: When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman with the NYFD, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated. Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing, curious boy has become quiet and reserved. Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island.

Awaiting them is Annie Britt, the family matriarch.  Annie promises to make their visit perfect—even though relations between mother and daughter have never been smooth.  But her estranged husband, Buster, and her best friend Deb are sure to keep Annie in line. She's also got Steven Plofker, the widowed physician next door, to keep her distracted as well.

What do you think?