Odds & Ends, Updates, Books & Joe Flacco

There was a lot of excitement this week…

It all started Monday night, when ABC2’s THE LIST featured BENEATH THE MIMOSA TREE on the show. It was a thrill to see the piece come together. Many thanks go to Steven, Nicki, Suzette, and my husband for helping this come to fruition.

This week also marked the beginning of the spring semester. I hope my student are busy reading FRANK SINATRA HAS A COLD by Gay Talese, one of the greatest profile pieces ever written. We’ll be talking about that in magazine class this upcoming week. Originally written for Esquire in April 1966, it’s a classic snapshot that delves into Sinatra during a certain period of his life.

On Tuesday night, I stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish THE KITCHEN HOUSE. Admittedly, I couldn’t put it down and wanted to see what happened to all the characters. I’ll be formally reviewing the book on GOODREADS, so if you want to get connected and share book reviews, check me out there. We can “swap” book stories  and make recommendations.

Last night I attended my first book club meeting as a “new” member. THE LADIES OF CLARKSVILLE/COLUMBIA invited me to join their book club after I was their guest author in December. I was thrilled to be asked, as I haven’t been in a book club in years, and we had a hearty discussion of THE KITCHEN HOUSE in Chris’s family room last night, replete with southern recipes Chris prepared for us as hostess. I’m enjoying getting to know my new friends! So much fun! We picked our next book, THE LOST WIFE, and I look forward to the February meeting.

Along with my friend, Jenny, we also met a couple of other folks, Jack and Jamie. It’s always wonderful to connect with people who share a love of reading, books, and the appreciation for the beauty of books. As Jack said, “In every room in my house, there are books. I love the Kindle for traveling, but I hope books never go away.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

p.s. Speaking of magazines, Baltimore’s Joe Flacco graced the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, which leaves me only to say, Go Ravens!

Joe Flacco makes the cover of Sports Illustrated.