Just so you know, I’m not a musician.
Despite the fact that I took piano for 9 years, a baby grand sits in our den, and both of my brothers play and write music. For me, it didn’t stick. I didn’t get the gene. Whatever you want to call it.
However, I do know what I like & I like this. I work with a guy – Derek Toomey – who moonlights as a songwriter. (Yeah, we all moonlight – big dreams, I guess.) I think he’s pretty talented & that he’s …

I think I loved Ava’s Man so much because I have a Charlie.

Ava’s Man is Rick Bragg’s memoir about his grandfather – whom Bragg only got to know through stories told to him. It is also a story about the South, about how things are different here – or at least used to be – and the people who are as colorful as a patchwork quilt.

Charlie is one of those folks. A roofer by trade and bootlegger by night, Charlie is haunted by revenuers, ‘likker’ and occasionally the …

Did you know that you could spend all day, every day for 18 weeks looking at blogs by people who read & then blog their reviews and still not have even made a dent in what is out there?
I’m recently coming to realize that, and shoot, it is overwhelming. And, a little bit guilt inducing. I mean, if I write about books & want people to read my blog, shouldn’t I be out there reading other people’s blogs? Well, I am making a serious attempt at resisting the guilt. However, …

Until tonight, I believed that the Varsity had the best onion rings in Atlanta.

A couple of weeks ago, a co-worker introduced me to Flip Burger Boutique. It’s a unique ‘burger shop’ on Howell Mill – the part on the west side of I-75 that is being revitalized. I’ve been there one other time and went back tonight with Scott. 

The burgers truly are gourmet. The ‘beef’ burgers are a combination of hanger steak, brisket and short rib. (You can also order turkey burgers, chicken sandwiches and a variety of seafood patties including fish, …

When I first started this blog, I mentioned that I’d love to have ‘guest bloggers.’ If you frequent BBB, you’ll notice comments by Bunny. She’s been a loyal visitor from the start and in ‘real’ life one of my very best friends. Also, we have pretty different taste when it comes to books, so I’ve always known she’d provide a good balance. Enjoy & thanks, Bunny!
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Guest Blogger: Bunny of bunnygoround.blogspot.comReviewing My Life in France by Julia Child
Hello, all! Thanks to E-beth for giving me the opportunity to submit a guest …

A few months back one of my friends asked me to be on the lookout for interesting and cheap things to do together this summer. Somehow – I don’t even remember now – I found out about the 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival at Glen-Ella Springs in Clarksville, Georgia. 

Glen Ella is a quaint little 16-room bed & breakfast not too far from where I grew up in Toccoa. It first became an inn back in the late 1800′s, and the structure as it is today is more than 100 years …

I know what you’re thinking: “Two reviews in two days, this chick is on a role!” Actually, not so. I started The Middle Place before Pope Joan arrived in my mail box and was already about half way through it before I was side tracked by the Catholic church.

First, this is something I NEVER do – read two books at once. And I’m not sure that this even counts, because I didn’t go back and forth between them. I read half. Put it down. Read the other completely. Finished the …

Donna Cross’ Pope Joan has been on my TBR list for a couple of years. There is much about the Catholic church that intrigues me, and the idea of a 9th century female who ascends to the position of Pope even more so. This novel did not disappoint.
Cross has done her research, and while admitting that the book is a work of fiction, makes her case for the actuality of the character and a handful of the events leading to and surrounding Joan’s papacy. In the novel, Joan is …

Remember what I said that time about the advantages of having a husband who is a photographer? Well, it plays out well for family vacations, too. Here’s ours. Thanks, honey.

Though it starts and finishes light and fluffy, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has surprising depth at its core.

Suggested to me by my mom, this one sat for awhile on the TBR  pile. I remember when she first started it she wasn’t that thrilled, and I guess that initial impression stayed with me, leading me to put it off & put it off. 

The novel is a series of letters, mostly to or from Juliet Ashton, a British writer just post WWII. She becomes pen pals …