Book Birthday Shout Out #1

   There are several books just out this month that I want to tell you about. I thought this would be a great idea for a meme, and lucky for me, there is one that is perfect. Book Birthday Shout Out, hosted by Bewitched Bookworms, is a new meme to celebrate new releases, or 'book birthdays'. Each week, participants will post one or more new release they are looking forward to reading, along with synopses and cover art. Read more about it here at Bewitched Bookworms.

   The first book birthday I want to celebrate today is 'Escape' by Barbara Delinsky. Barbara is a relatively 'new to me' author, though she's been writing for several years. I discovered her about a year ago when I saw 'Not My Daughter' on the shelf at the library. Never underestimate the attraction of cover art! I recently read her 'Shades of Grace'. You can read my review here. I picked up several of her books at book fair last month and plan to take them along on vacation.

   'Escape' is the story of a woman going through a period of 'disconnect'. Here is the author's summary which appears on her website.

Emily Aulenbach is 32, a lawyer married to a lawyer, living and working in Manhattan. An idealist, she had once dreamed of representing victims of corporate abuse, and signed on with a firm that promised this, but it hasn't worked out. She spends her days in a cubicle, surrounded by lawyers in other cubicles, talking on the phone with people sickened by tainted bottled water. Her firm is being paid by the bottler to minimize claims.

Convinced that she is betraying her dreams, she has looked into changing firms, but no one is hiring. She wakes up each morning dreading her work.

And it isn't only work. It's her sister, her friends, even her husband James, with whom she doesn't connect the way she used to. Her relationships are superficial and rushed. She connects to three things - her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch.

One particularly difficult Friday, she realizes that her life is all wrong. Uncharacteristically acting on impulse, she leaves work early, goes home, packs her bag, and takes off. As she gropes toward the future, though, she finds herself going back - back to the small New Hampshire town where she had last been unequivocably happy and carefree. If she were to map out her life, this was the spot where she had made her first wrong turn.

Escape is the story of the dreams we have and the heart-breaking task of giving up the parts that don't work, salvaging those that do, and creating new dreams for what lies ahead.

   Be sure to visit the author's website here. You will find links to media reviews, a readering group guide, a preview, and a trailer. You can read Goodreads reviews here. The publication date was July 5th. You can pick up your copy from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

   Another book I have been looking forward to is 'Dandelion Summer' by Lisa Wingate. This is book 4 of her Blue Sky Hills series. You can read my reviews of the previous books in the series here. Lisa is another 'new to me' author. I was walking through our library and noticed 'Beyond Summer' on the new release shelf. It is a beautiful cover that was screaming at me 'take me home'! I did, but of course, when I got home, I realized it was part of a series. I do not feel it was necessary to read them in order, but I'm glad I did. Here is a synopsis of 'Dandelion Summer' taken from Goodreads.

All of her life, Epiphany Salerno has been tossed like a dandelion seed on the wind. Now, with the death of Mrs. Lora-the family friend who took Epie into her home-the sixteen-year-old must move to Dallas to live with her indifferent mother and new stepfather. Trapped on the low-rent side of Blue Sky Hill, the half-Italian and half-African-American Epie doesn't fit in-and soon finds herself on the wrong side of the law. To make restitution, she's sent to work in another place she's not wanted: a home on the upscale streets of the The Hill. 

When J. Norman Alvord learns that his daughter has hired a teenager to stay with him in the afternoons, he's determined to nix the arrangement. Widowed and suffering from heart trouble, Norman wants to be left alone. But in Epie's presence, Norman finds a mystery. Deep in his mind lie memories of another house, another life, and a young black woman, a housekeeper, who saved him... 

As summer comes to Blue Sky Hill, two residents from different worlds will journey through a turbulent past and find that with an unexpected road trip through sleepy Southern towns come a life-changing friendship...and clues to a family secret hidden for a lifetime.

    You can read the comments of Goodreads members here. Visit Lisa's website where you can read a preview here. The book was released July 5th. You can order it from Barnes and Noble or Amazon, or pick up a copy from your local bookseller.