I’ve spent most of my weekend trying to get ahead in Suite Française. I really like this book but it’s not at all what I expected. I think I expected a lot of battle scenes and I’m so glad that hasn’t been the case, but I’ll tell you more when I finish it. I can’t wait until book group on Tuesday to hear what the other members thought about the book.

In other book news I did select my three choices for Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge. This one runs from June 1 through August 30. I was a bit surprised when I started going through my stacks and I realized I didn’t have that many authors/books to choose from for this challenge. Anyway, want to hear what my choices are? Here they are:

• Sights Unseen by Kaye Gibbons. From the editors: The good people of Bend of the River, North Carolina, politely refer to the beautiful Maggie Barnes as “the woman with all the problems.” But young Hattie sees her mother as a captivating manic-depressive worth caring for. This is the tender and irresistibly funny story of a child’s despairing love for her ill mother and the undying loyalty of a husband and extended family who go to great lengths to deal with a heartless woman’s volatile mood swings.
• Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. From Library Journal: Forget steel magnolias-meet titanium blossoms in Jackson’s debut novel, a potent mix of humor, murder, and a dysfunctional Southern family.
• The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell by Loraine Despres. From Publisher’s Weekly: In 1920s smalltown Louisiana, a woman who got her hair bobbed at a barbershop, bathed “indecently” and spent her free time carousing with her best friend’s married Yankee brother would hardly be considered the portrait of a proper lady. But protagonist Belle Cantrell isn’t after virtue, she’s after independence.

I think I’m in for some good times don’t you think?

There is also another challenge I just heard about, New Notions Challenge, which sounds very tempting too. The challenge is to pick five books that you believe will challenge your thinking about any topic. This one starts May 1 and goes on through September.

Now I need to ask my husband for some help so I can put my challenge buttons on my blog. I really need to remember how to do that. Oh and wish me luck everyone, I start reading Don Quixote this week!