I’m such a big fan of the Reagan Arthur imprint that I co-host the Reagan Arthur Books Challenge with Julie of Booking Mama.  I have to admit that, here lately, I haven’t kept up with the books as much as I’d like to, so I want to spotlight one that you won’t want to miss.  The 500 by Matthew Quirk will be published on June 5 and the early buzz is outstanding.  Here’s the publisher’s description:

A gripping thriller debut, set deep in the heart of the world’s most powerful political arena

A year ago, fresh out of Harvard Law School, Mike Ford landed his dream job at the Davies Group, Washington’s most powerful consulting firm. Now, he’s staring down the barrel of a gun, pursued by two of the world’s most dangerous men. To get out, he’ll have to do all the things he thought he’d never do again: lie, cheat, steal-and this time, maybe even kill.

Mike grew up in a world of small-stakes con men, learning lessons at his father’s knee. His hard-won success in college and law school was his ticket out. As the Davies Group’s rising star, he rubs shoulders with “The 500,” the elite men and women who really run Washington — and the world. But peddling influence, he soon learns, is familiar work: even with a pedigree, a con is still a con.

Combining the best elements of political intrigue and heart-stopping action, THE 500 is an explosive debut, one that calls to mind classic thrillers like The Firm and Presumed Innocent. In Mike Ford, readers will discover a new hero who learns that the higher the climb, the harder — and deadlier — the fall.

Doesn’t that sound good?  Be sure to check out the exciting trailer!

I love Mary Alice Monroe‘s writing, so I was excited to see that she was doing two events near me – a Book Your Lunch hosted by Fiction Addiction and a Literary Lunch hosted by Hub City Books.  Of course, I attended both and enjoyed two days of great food and bookish chatter.

Mary Alice’s books are women’s fiction with a twist of environmentalism.  Her goal is to write entertaining stories with a great plot and dialogue that will provide information and still be interesting.  She hopes her books spark an interest in readers to seek more information.  Her latest book, Beach House Memories, is the prequel to The Beach House, and once again features turtle lady Lovie Rutledge.  Mary Alice told us that there is an increase in sea turtles in South Carolina but more are being treated at the sea turtle hospital at the South Carolina Aquarium.

For her next book, which will be part of a planned trilogy, Mary Alice spent time with dolphins in Florida last winter.  The trilogy will be set on Sullivan’s Island and will involve dolphins, shore birds, and African American history and I, for one, can’t wait!

I got Mary Alice to autograph a copy of The Beach House and Beach House Memories for one lucky reader.  To enter to win autographed copies of both THE BEACH HOUSE and BEACH HOUSE MEMORIES, simply fill out the entry form.  Contest is open worldwide – one entry per person, please.  I will use random.org to determine the winner. Contest ends at midnight EDT Saturday, May 26, 2012.   Winner will be announced on Sunday, May 27, 2012.  Comments are welcome (and appreciated) but will not get you an entry in the contest.

Now that she’s grown old, Lovie Rutledge spends more and more time in the past.  She can’t help but think of the summer of 1974 since it was a pivotal time in her life.  In 1974, she’d been married to Stratton for years – he was a selfish man, though, so he didn’t appreciate Lovie and trivialized her passion for sea turtles.  When Lovie arrived at the family’s beach house that summer she discovered a biologist there conducting a study on turtles.  She shared her notes and worked closely with him and when the two discovered that they had so much more in common than turtles, Lovie found herself falling in love for the first time.  Lovie had a life altering decision to make – should she stay with the life she knows or risk it all and follow her heart?

Beach House Memories, by Mary Alice Monroe, is a fantastic book about a strong woman who is forced to choose between desire and duty.  It’s the third book in an accidental trilogy, but it stands alone just fine since it’s the prequel.  I have grown to love Monroe’s writing for it’s emotional impact and environmental messages.  I can count on crying and learning something when I read one of her books.

Lovie is a fabulous character.  As a Southern wife in the early 1970s, she was duty bound to put her husband and children first and she did just that.  She loved the summers because they were spent in their beach house on the Isle of Palms – things were more relaxed and she had time for her passion – the sea turtles.  Monroe masterfully weaves facts about the turtles into the narrative which I found fascinating.  I wanted to know more and found myself doing a little research and watching videos of turtle nests hatching as I read the book.

Times were changing in 1974, but those changes were happening slowly in the old established families of the South.  There weren’t a lot of choices for a woman with a family then and it was heartbreaking to see Lovie faced with such a difficult decision to make.  It was interesting to see the reactions of those around her, though – some supported her and others blamed her for the actions of others.   It was nice to see that we’ve made some progress in women’s rights since 1974.

The combination of an emotional story, environmental details, and Mary Alice Monroe’s beautiful writing makes Beach House Memories a book you won’t want to miss.  It’s the perfect summertime read!

Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.  I am an Indiebound Affiliate.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted by Martha of Martha’s Bookshelf in May.  I got back from my mom’s the first of the week and had a crazy, busy week.  Hopefully things will slow down soon.  Here’s what I found in my mailbox last week:

Saturday of the week before

• The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison came from Algonquin Books
• The Queen by Roberts Lacey came from Harper Collins

Monday

• The Salt God’s Daughter by Ilie Ruby came from the author
• On the Outside Looking Indian by Rupinder Gill came from Penguin 
• Only One Life by Sara Blaedel came from Pegasus Books

Thursday

• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce was a win from Random House
• Fooling Houdini by Alex Stone came from Harper Collins
• The Expats by Chris Pavone was a win from A Bookish Way of Life

Friday

• Ocean Beach by Wendy Wax came from Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting

Did you find any goodies in your mailbox last week?

Carl and I weren’t able to attend the April meeting of our cookbook club, so we were happy when the May meeting rolled around.  This quarter, the club is exploring Basic to Brilliant, Y’all by Virginia Willis. In this cookbook Willis shares 150 basic recipes that can be served as is or jazzed up to serve to company.

We were ready to eat and so excited about all the good looking food that we forgot to take pictures while we were at cookbook club.  We found all of the food tasty, but the clear winner of the day for me was the Endive and Roquefort Slaw.  Everyone discussed the cookbook while we ate and the consensus was that it is not a cookbook for beginners.  Most people thought their directions weren’t clear and several said their ingredients weren’t easy to find.  One person stated that they didn’t fix the recipe they wanted to because they noticed an error in the ingredients – it calls for 1 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) – 1 cup of butter is 2 sticks and she wasn’t sure which one was correct.

We were assigned nibblers or salads this month, so I decided to bake Black Pepper Cheese Shortbread, a variation of the classic Southern cheese straw.  I’ve made cheese straws before (and actually prefer my usual recipe) so this wasn’t difficult for me.  This was one of the recipes that didn’t have the best directions.  I also think the name is somewhat misleading – everyone assumed these would be sweet when they saw the name.  Everyone seemed to enjoy them, though, and one person said she is going to add black pepper to the cheese straw recipe she currently makes.

Black Pepper Cheese Shortbread

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
pinch of cayenne pepper, or to taste
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces sharp white Cheddar cheese, at room temperature, grated

Position the oven racks in the top and bottom third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 375º F.  Butter two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse to combine.  Add the butter and cheese and process until smooth.  Cover the work bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for about 15 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean work surface.  To shape the dough, work it in your hands; it should be soft and pliable (like Play-Doh).  Shape the dough into two equal cylinders and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.  Then, working with 1 cylinder at a time, using a utility knife, cut into ¼ inch-thick slices and place 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the shortbreads, rotating the baking sheets once, until lightly browned on the edges, about 20 minutes.  Remove the baking sheets to a rack to cool slightly.  Using an offset or slotted spatula, remove the individual shortbreads to a rack and cool completely.

Brilliant short recipe: Pecan Garnish
It’s all about accessorizing.  To lift our simple cheese nibble to Brilliant, garnish with pecans.  Prepare the dough as directed in the Basic recipe,  Roll the edges of each cylinder in 1 cup chopped pecans to coat.  Then, when you are ready to bake, slice the shortbread and place on the prepared baking sheets.  Top each slice with a perfect pecan half.  Bake as directed.

Making Ahead: Store the savory shortbread at room temperature in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper.  They will keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

We’ll miss the June meeting but hope to be back in the swing of things for the start of the next quarter in July, when the club will start exploring Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.  It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

Baby lit board books are the perfect way to introduce pre-readers to the classics.  These beautifully illustrated board books are bright and colorful and easy to hold.  I was lucky enough to receive two of these gorgeous books – Alice in Wonderland and Jane Eyre.  Both books were written by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Alison Oliver and they are both gems!

Jane Eyre is a counting primer and uses items from the original Jane Eyre, such as candles and trunks, to illustrate the numbers 1 through 10.  Those familiar with the classic will recognize the items and the few quotes that are included.  Little ones will delight in the drawings and counting the items.

Alice in Wonderland is a fun colors primer that uses illustrations from the classic of the same name.  This is a great book, but I did have a few issues with it.  The orange cat is hard to distinguish from its dark pink background and the blue caterpillar looks more teal than blue.  The illustrations are just adorable, though, so it would be a fabulous book to share with a little one.

I wish there had been books like these when Vance was small because they’ve got to be some of the cutest board books around.  I don’t have any little ones near me to share these books with, but you can bet I’ll be giving them for shower and new baby gifts.  Be sure to check them out the next time you need a gift.

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For more children’s books reviews, go to Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, leave a comment as well as a link on her site.

Review copies provided by Gibbs Smith.  I am an Indiebound Affiliate.

Anita Y is the randomly chosen winner of MISS JULIA TO THE RESCUE by Ann B. Ross!  Congratulations Anita and thanks to all who entered!

Be sure to enter my giveaway of TEN BEACH ROAD by Wendy Wax and watch for a new giveaway coming soon!

I’m going to be honest here and admit that I’m a big fan of Wendy Wax, even though I haven’t read any of her books yet.  (I hope to remedy that soon.)  I’ve met Wendy on several occasions and she is bright, funny, and articulate.  The first time I met her was at a book signing -  when I told her I was purchasing a book to donate to a literacy organization to auction off, she purchased another one of her books, at full retail, to donate as well.  I’m excited because Wendy will be in Greenville, SC for a Book Your Lunch event on July 10 to promote her newest book, Ocean Beach, which brings back characters from her last book, Ten Beach Road.   To celebrate, Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting is allowing me to give away a copy of Ten Beach Road to one lucky reader.

About the book:

When Wendy Wax introduced Madeline Singer, Avery Lawford and Nicole Grant and shared their story of friendship, family and triumph in TEN BEACH ROAD, USA Today cited the book as one of “six that belong in your beach bag.” Now, this highly praised novel, which has already gone back to press seven times since its original trade paperback publication, is also available as a mass market paperback reprint on sale nationally.

Wax set TEN BEACH ROAD at two of her favorite spots in the world—St. Pete Beach, the city in which she was raised, and the famous Pass-a-Grille beach—where she brings together three women, thrown together by fate, and challenges them with choices that will change their lives.

Madeline, Avery and Nicole are very different from one another. Madeline is a homemaker coping with an empty nest and an unemployed husband. Avery is an architect. At least she was until she ended up as the sidekick on her ex-husband’s television program—the one she created, sold and co-hosted. Nicole, dating guru, matchmaker extraordinaire and founder of Heart, Inc., is living in the shadow of her biggest mistake—trusting her only brother. All are at the end of their financial ropes, the victim’s of a Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scheme. All they have left is shared ownership of the once-glorious Bella Flora mansion, now a beachfront ruin.

Madeline, Avery and Nikki have to make a choice—cut their losses and sell the historic property for whatever amount of money they can get or trade sweat equity for the backing of a local contractor in order to restore it and their bank accounts. The women choose to save Bella Flora. There amidst the rubble and former glory, in the midst of a sweltering summer and the backbreaking tasks of renovation, they begin to redefine themselves, and to discover their own strength and the power of friendship. Then, as Bella Flora again stands magnificent and proud, secrets begin to pull them apart and fate steps in once more, ready to destroy everything they’ve built.

Once again, Wendy Wax has imbued the lives and dialogue of her protagonists with energy and insights that immerse readers in their story from the very start.

About the author:

A St. Pete Beach native and longtime Atlanta resident, Wendy is perhaps best known to readers for her exploration of women’s friendships and the emotional bonds tying people to their families, friends and work. Her writing has been called “entertaining and informative” (St. Petersburg Times) and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution praised her “breezy wit and keen insight.”

Ten Beach Road, Wendy’s best selling novel to date, has gone back to press seven times since its first printing in May 2011, and is now available in a mass market paperback reprint edition, as well as its trade paperback and electronic formats. It is the first of Wendy’s novels to use her hometown as her primary setting.

www.authorwendywax.com · facebook.com/AuthorWendyWax · @Wendy_Wax

To enter to win TEN BEACH ROAD by Wendy Wax simply fill out the entry form.  Contest is open to those with a US or Canadian address – one entry per person, please.  I will use random.org to determine the winner. Contest ends at midnight EDT Sunday, May 20, 2012.   Winner will be announced on Monday, May 21, 2012.  Comments are welcome (and appreciated) but will not get you an entry in the contest.