Sunday Salon: A Bouquet of Flowers and Books

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

The roses have decided to bud and open now that the rain has stopped the past week and the weather is warm and sunny. I picked from the garden a small bouquet of two fragrant yellow roses, a pink zinnia, and a yellow and purple daylily for a relative who just got out of the hospital. She loved the fragrance and the variety of colors. 

Two new books for review: 

The Beautiful Bureaucrat: A Novel by Helen Phillips, to be published August 11, 2015 by Henry Holt and Co.

"In a windowless building in a remote part of town, the newly employed Josephine inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as "The Database." After a long period of joblessness, she's not inclined to question her fortune, but as the days inch by and the files stack up, Josephine feels increasingly anxious in her surroundings.... Helen Phillips enters the company of Murakami, Bender, and Atwood as she twists the world we know and shows it back to us full of meaning and wonder-luminous and new."  (goodreads)

I've started this one and can't seem to put it down. I love the magical world of Murakami, and this book seems to be in a similar vein. 

Evergreen Falls by Kimberley Freeman, to be released August 4, 2015 by Touchstone. 

A long-forgotten secret, a scandalous attraction and a place where two women's lives are changed forever. Inspired by elements of her grandmother's life, a tale of intrigue, heartbreak and love from the author of LIGHTHOUSE BAY and WILDFLOWER HILL. (goodreads)

This one mixes the past and the present - 1926 and 2014. 

What's new on your bookshelf?

Sunday Salon: A Cherry Festival

Welcome to the Sunday Salon.

It was in the 90s yesterday, but we went to the Cherry Festival in Whitehouse, Ohio anyway. This is a yearly local event in the Village of Whitehouse.

Two firsts for me, a sundae with real homemade cherry sauce. Tart and sweet! And a cherry pie eating contest with little kids under age 13 scarfing down a pie with their hands behind their backs and their heads into the pie tins. You guessed it; the oldest kid won. There was also a cherry pie auction to see whose pie or cake could raise the most money. One pie went for $110! All to help the village's Chamber of Commerce. We missed the cherry dessert contest and I don't know who won, but I bet some of the entries made it to the auction. All of these very local events were much fun to watch. Too bad we didn't stay for the fireworks at 10 p.m. as it was too hot to stay longer than 2 p.m.!

The Cherry Dessert Contest

I've been good about featuring new books on the blog but very bad about reviewing. I have a blog tour of The Concubine Saga by Lloyd Lofthouse tomorrow and another tour for An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd later in the month. I also have a review to post for Tim Hallinan's new thriller, The Fear Artist, which will be released early July.

My yoga teacher is also a sports athlete and gave us a stiff yoga workout stretch on Friday. My right leg is still aching but she did tell us we might feel it for a few days. All for the good, I'm sure.

What have you been up to this hot summer?