Reading & Books - grace grits and gardening

Notes from another fabulous Book Club

October 20, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yesterday I attended a book club in Lavaca, Arkansas. Lavaca, near Van Buren (which is near Fort Smith) reminded me of Savage Crossing. Boy, everything about this book club was a home run.

And I’m gonna tell you why.

Beginning with the SETTING.

Lynn, the host of this book club, lives on a ranch / farm. So right off, I felt at home. She and her husband have cattle, and they are row crop farmers. Her husband was cutting soybeans while we had book club because (to quote my Daddy) somebody has to work.Continue Reading

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake

October 13, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

I made mini pineapple upside down cake for bookclub Tuesday night. Our book of the month was The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin, which I’m sorry to say I haven’t read yet. Even so, since the book was set in the 1950s and 60s, I wanted to make a retro-chic dessert popular during that time.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake has an interesting history that originated back when most everything was cooked in a cast iron skillet. Flip cakes, as they were known, involved some sort of fruit on the bottom—usually apples, cherries or plums—layered with sugar and a thin batter. The cake could be baked on an open fire, stovetop, or oven. When the batter was done, flipping the cake onto a plate made for an instant fruit and glazed sugar display. (If you think about it, this sounds almost like a layered cobbler.)Continue Reading

OCTOBER Goodreads Giveaway!

October 1, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Hey everyone and Happy October! To celebrate my favorite month, I’m hosting an October Goodreads Giveaway. I’ll be giving away three signed copies of The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee at the end of the month. Enter today over on Goodreads by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.

But first, my top ten reasons you should enter and share this post…

10. It’s free! So why not? Free is good.
9. Books make great Christmas presents, and Christmas is fast approaching.
8. The more people who enter, the more people who’ll want to enter. Am I right? It’s the whole follow the leader thing.
7. You might win and winning feels great.
6. Even if you’ve already read it, I bet you know lots of folks who haven’t. And people should read more. Really, you’ll be promoting literacy.
5. The cover is cool, and it’ll look good on your special bookshelf. Homes look more homey with books.
4. I’ll sign it and even write you a special message in invisible ink if you want.
3. I wrote every single word. Every.Single.Word. And you’ll be helping an Indie writer out. Seriously.
2. You loaned out your copy and have no idea what happened to it. And you miss seeing it on your coffee table.
1. Because I figured out how to embed the giveaway code in this post which is no small feat. At least I think I did.