Many apologies to my readers as I’ve been a slack blogger of late. I’ve had three posts that I’ve needed to write (including the one from yesterday) and so each time I sit down to read, which hasn’t been very often quite frankly, I feel guilty for not writing. But, I’m doing my best to catch up. There’s another post scheduled for tomorrow.
What’s been going on you ask? A variety of things. Some of them just the usual – busy at work, busy at play. Some of them not so …

I recently had a chat with my favorite librarian on writing negative reviews. For me, these are the hardest to write. And, when I’ve been provided with an advanced reading copy, while I feel a responsibility to my readers there is a tinge of guilt for “looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

That said, I just did not love The Lovers.
Vindela Vida’s newest novel tells of two-year widow, Yvonne, who returns to Turkey, the site of her honeymoon with her husband many years before. She’s rented a home for …

Please welcome a dear friend M. Gunter, to Babbette’s Book Blog today as a guest reviewer. M. is an avid reader who recently has been privileged with a couple of ARCs. The Gendarme by Mark Mustian is scheduled to be released on September 2. Thank you M., for taking the time to write for BBB!

As I returned from the neighborhood pool, I found a copy of The Gendarme on my doorstep. It was Christmas in July at the Gunter household that day! Elisabeth was informed of my advanced copy …

I am so super excited about how many of you have registered for the giveaway of Still Missing. This is by far my most successful giveaway to date. If others of you aren’t convinced you want to take the plunge, hop over to Alison’s Book Marks for her review or Lynne’s Book Reviews for hers.
I’m not the only one who loved this book!

I’ve got to be honest. Robert Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife was a book I thought I would love that I just didn’t. Everything I’d read about it said I’d like it. A couple of other readers had said, “I didn’t love it, but I think you will.” Not uncommon for a particularly dark tale.
Here’s the nutshell. Ralph Truitt, wealthy business tycoon, places an ad for a wife; Catherine Long answers it. When she arrives in his cold, bleak, no-where Wisconsin town it is obvious that she isn’t who she claims to …

Flannery O’Connor once said (paraphrased): “When you’re from the South, it isn’t a matter of if there are freaks in your family, it is just a matter of which side they are on.”
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming is about Laurel. Laurel’s family has its share of freaks, and this is the story of how she learns to accept them.
I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. Since listening to Joshilyn Jackson read Between, Georgia and loving it so much, I was highly anticipating her next novel. Again, Jackson, …

I am so excited that Sarah with St. Martin’s Press has invited me to host a giveaway for Still Missing. As you’ve read, I loved this book. And it seems everyone is adding it to their ‘must read’ summer reading list. Here’s your chance to do the same!
I have three copies to giveaway. Here’s the scoop:
1. You must live in US or Canada.2. One entry for commenting.3. An additional entry for each of the following (please let me know in your comment which of the activities you’ve done):

Follow me (your …

This month America celebrates the 50-year anniversary of one of the staples of our literary history – To Kill a Mockingbird. Many 8th and 9th graders read this as part of the standard curriculum, as it is a classic in American Southern literature, broaching themes of bias toward race, class, education and gender.
I have a special affinity toward the 50th anniversary celebration. Over the last couple of years my uncle has fostered what has been deemed an unlikely friendship with Harper Lee. Their relationship has been written about in the …

I’ve been considering this for several years now… basically since the Iams scare five or so years ago. But today I actually did it. I made dog food for Annie.
What I have here is not to completely replace what I buy, but to be her evening meal, supplementing her morning vittles which currently consists of 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese and a half a cup of Nature’s Variety Prairie kibble. (I believe she needs the hard kibble for her teeth.)

Babbette’s Turkey Meatloaf for Pups1.3 lb ground turkey2 cups frozen green …

I’ve said it before, but this is what I like best in an audio book. Greg Iles’ Turning Angel is the epitome of a page turner, with interesting characters and riveting narrative. In addition, he offers some pretty un-PC editorial of life in the South that is apparent and true, but would not win him a popularity contest.
While this is my first experience with Iles, I figured out that Penn Cage must be a reoccurring character for him. In this novel, Penn, a former prosecutor turned best-selling author, is thrown …