Sunday Salon: Autumn Reads

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday: What Are You Reading hosted by Book Journey.
A few new books to share:

Cattle Cate

>Cattle Kate: Ella Watson is the only woman to be lynched in the nation as a cattle rustler. She and her husband were hanged on July 20, 1889, by prominent cattlemen. History portrays the lynching as a case of “range land justice,” with “Cattle Kate” tarred as both a notorious rustler and a filthy whore. Is this sordid story true? 

It was all a lie. 

Death with All the Trimmings

The only snow in Key West this Christmas is Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, who is not getting time off for the holiday…or time off from murder. 

Murder Served Simply

Amish quilt shop owner Angie Braddock has a lot on her plate this Christmas. But things only get worse after someone develops a taste for murder…

The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer

Wagtail, Virginia, the top pet-friendly getaway in the United States, is gearing up for a howling good Halloween—until a spooky murder shakes the town to its core . . .
What's on your desk this week?

Book Beginnings: The Language of Silence by Peggy Webb

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

The Language of Silence

The Language of Silence by Betty Webb
Published August 5, 2014; Gallery Books
Genre: women's fiction

Page 56;
When the time was right, she'd run to the only place she knew where  woman could vanish so completely there was nothing left of her except a yellowed newspaper clipping, a gold tiger brooch, and enough conflicting stories to keep three generations guessing.

Book beginning, first chapter: It was the blackbirds that first told Ruth something was wrong. At exactly the stroke of non, they landed in the cornfield and commenced eating her corn as if they'd been the ones to stand in hundred-degree heat and chop the weeds out with a hoe. 

Publisher description:

Following in the footsteps of her tiger-taming grandmother, a woman flees her abusive husband to join the circus. A poignant portrayal of a woman on the edge seeking solace in the past.

Nobody in the family talks about Ellen’s grandmother, Lola, who was swallowed up by the circus and emerged as a woman who tamed tigers and got away scot-free for killing her husband. When Ellen’s husband, Wayne, beats her nearly to death, she runs to the only place she knows where a woman can completely disappear—the same Big Top that once sheltered her grandmother.

Though the circus moves from one town to the next, Wayne tracks it, and Ellen, relentlessly. At the same time, Ellen learns more about her feisty, fiery relative, and the heritage that is hers for the taking—if she dares. With her violent husband hot on her trail, Ellen must learn to stand up and fight for herself, to break the cycle of abuse, and pass down a story of love and redemption to her children.(amazon)

I don't like circuses as much as I did as a child and probably would not visit one today. But how does the idea of literally "running away to the circus" grab you as an ingenious though desperate attempt to escape domestic abuse?

Book Review: The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha

The Demon Who Peddled Longing

Title: The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha
Published November 21, 2014; Underground Voices
Genre: multicultural fiction, literary fiction

Opening sentences: Sometime in the night, the woman woke. The wind had died down and the rain had stopped and now she could hear something bang against the piles of the house. Sitting up in her cot, she listened.

Nineteen-year-old Nam of Vietnam, in the Plain of Reeds, takes a long journey after he is left homeless and without family when his uncle's fishing boat sinks in an accident, killing all the others on board. Nam finds employment with two different women in the flooded plain, fishing for them to earn his keep. He moves on to the coast and the seaside, in a determined quest to find the two brothers who had assaulted and murdered his cousin, his first love. His memory of his cousin drives him to try to exact revenge.

Lyrically descriptive, the book takes you to an unfamiliar land that gradually becomes more and more real. I was fascinated not only by the flooded plain of reeds, the taxing lives of the river fishermen, the intriguing preparation of fish and food, but also by the religious beliefs and the beliefs in spirits and ghosts.

This is almost a coming of age story as much as an odyssey, and a story of a young man's unholy pilgrimage to seek retribution for the wrong done to the young woman, his cousin. How he changes and matures toward the end of his journey is an intriguing part of the novel.

I enjoyed the writing, the plot, characterizations, and the cultural context. I heartily recommend The Demon Who Peddled Longing for its insight into character as well as for its fascinating story and setting.

Khanh Ha is the author of Flesh (2012, Black Heron Press) and The Demon Who Peddled Longing (November 2014, Underground Voices). He is a three-time Pushcart nominee and the recipient of Greensboro Review’s 2014 Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction. His work has appeared in Waccamaw Journal, storySouth, Greensboro Review, Saint Ann’s Review, Permafrost Magazine, Tayo Literary Magazine, Printer's Devil Review, Mount Hope, Thrice Fiction, and other fine magazines. Visit him at http://www.authorkhanhha.com
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Thanks to Virtual Author Book Tours and the author for a review galley of this book. See more reviews and the tour schedule. 

Sunday Salon: Reading on a Rainy Day

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday: What Are You Reading hosted by Book Journey.Tynga of Team Tynga's Reviews has a meme, Stacking the Shelves, to spotlight the books we receive each week.

It's cold, wet, and gloomy outdoors today as it has been the past few days and will be for some days to come. Luckily we have the LED Daylight bulbs that bring sunlight into the house, so we can pretend it's summer. The light is artificial, but it mimics the brightness of the sun and it's also energy efficient, so that's fine. No chance of SAD this winter, we hope.

My books for the week:

The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E. Jensen, Amy Ellis Nutt
An internationally respected neurologist offers a revolutionary look at the brains of adolescents, providing surprising insights--including why smart kids often do stupid things--and practical advice for adults and teens.

Cane and Abe by James Grippando
An explosive psychological thriller from New York Times bestselling author James Grippando in which Miami’s top prosecutor becomes a prime suspect when his wife’s disappearance may have a chilling connection to the vicious murders of beautiful women in the Florida Everglades.

Once Upon a Grind: Coffeehouse Mystery #14 by Cleo Coyle
When coffeehouse manager turned amateur sleuth Clare Cosi roasts "magic” beans for Fairy Tale Week, she brews up a vision that leads to a sleeping beauty in Central Park; a big, bad wolf of Wall Street; and an East Side enclave with storybook secrets..

Suspicion at Seven: Lois Meade Mystery#14 by Anne Purser
Lois Meade has done enough buffing and polishing over the years with her cleaning business, New Brooms, to know that all that glitters is not gold. So when a bag of costume jewellery is the main clue in a murder, she has a strong suspicion that appearances may be deceiving… 

Three mystery novels and a nonfiction book.   What are you reading these days? 

Book Review: Her: A Novel by Harriet Lane

Her: A Novel

Title: Her: A Novel by Harriet Lane
To be published January 6, 2015; Little, Brown and Company
Genre: fiction, suspense
Rating: 5/5

Emma and Nina met years ago when they were teenagers, but they never became friends. Emma, now married and pregnant with a toddler and a baby, is courted in seeming friendship by Nina, who does remember Emma from those long ago days. Nina offers help to the overwhelmed Emma, with some babysitting and even offering Emma and her family her father's French villa for two weeks in the summer.

But Nina doesn't tell Emma that they knew each other years ago. This keeps you on the edge wondering what Nina is up to with her secrecy, her spying on Emma, and her little sabotages of Emma's life.

Enticing but subtle plot, lyrical descriptions of surroundings and place, and two intriguing women whose characters and personalities are the opposite but whose "friendship" kept me on edge with anticipation.

Thanks to the publisher for an early read of the ebook proof.

Book Beginnings: A Dog Gone Murder by Elaine Viets

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

A Dog Gone Murder

Book beginning:

"A dog can't talk," Amelia Marcus said. Her tween scorn should have melted the TV set.
"Sure he can," Josie Marcus said. "As soon as Uncle Bob shuts up, you'll hear him."

Page 56:

"I trust you and Palmer," she said. "I know you'll pick a good dress."

Book description:

New in the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series, from the Agatha and Anthony Award-winning author of the Dead End Job Mystery series.

Mystery shopper Josie Marcus is getting the dirt on doggy day-care centers, and discovers that one dog-loving local celebrity is really bad to the bone. Josie has been asked to investigate Uncle Bob’s Doggy Day Camp, known for its commercials featuring Uncle Bob liking dogs so much that he acts like one. But Josie soon learns how Uncle Bob acts when the cameras are off. Her mother’s new tenant, Franklin, who works for Uncle Bob, plans to quit after seeing the man’s true nature. But before he gets the chance, Bob is murdered, and Franklin goes from the doghouse to the big house.

Now it’s up to Josie to clear Franklin’s name. Her investigation reveals that Bob was more of a dog than anyone knew—and had been kicked out of his house for bad behavior. As she digs up new clues, Josie will have to catch the killer quickly, before any more trouble is unleashed. (goodreads)

Have you read any in this series?

Scorched Eggs by Laura Childs

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill at Breaking the Spine. What new releases are you eagerly waiting for. Link your post to Breaking the Spine.

Scorched Eggs

Opening sentence: Suzanne didn't know how she felt about Blond Bombshell No. 4 as a hair color, but she was about to find out. 

Title: Scorched Eggs (Cackleberry Club #6) by Laura Childs
Expected publication: December 2, 2014; Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery

Book description:
Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry Club Café—are equally good at serving up breakfast and justice. As Suzanne is getting her hair colored at Root 66, she witnesses the County Services office next door suddenly go up in flames. The fire department does their best. Unfortunately, their best isn’t enough to save longtime civil service worker—and friend to the Cackleberry Club—Hannah Venable.

Soon it’s discovered someone set the fire on purpose. When Suzanne finds a possible connection between the fire and the nearby Prairie Star Casino, she realizes the arsonist wanted something very big and bad kept secret. (publisher)

What new release are you waiting for?