Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Pick Me Up Reads

Tell Me Something Tuesday, a meme started by CambriaHebert, but now hosted on Rainy Day Ramblings. It is a chance to get to know your fellow bloggers by sharing fun stuff, discussions and more. Grab the question and post your answer on your blog and link up at Rainy Day Ramblings! Have fun!

This weeks question:
What are some of your favorite pick me up reads?

My fave type of reads that I feel will make me smile every time are magical realism genre. The book I reviewed yesterday, Lost Lake, is one of these that I enjoy.

Lost Lake
by Sarah Addison Allen
Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found.
I also enjoyed another book by her:
Garden Spells
by Sarah Addison Allen
The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them.

For nearly a decade, 34-year-old Claire Waverley, at peace with her family inheritance, has lived in the house alone, embracing the spirit of the grandmother who raised her, ruing her mother's unfortunate destiny and seemingly unconcerned about the fate of her rebellious sister, Sydney, who freed herself long ago from their small town's constraints. Using her grandmother's mystical culinary traditions, Claire has built a successful catering business -- and a carefully controlled, utterly predictable life -- upon the family's peculiar gift for making life-altering delicacies: lilac jelly to engender humility, for instance, or rose geranium wine to call up fond memories. Garden Spells reveals what happens when Sydney returns to Bascom with her young daughter, turning Claire's routine existence upside down. With Sydney's homecoming, the magic that the quiet caterer has measured into recipes to shape the thoughts and moods of others begins to influence Claire's own emotions in terrifying and delightful ways.
As the sisters reconnect and learn to support one another, each finds romance where she least expects it, while Sydney's child, Bay, discovers both the safe home she has longed for and her own surprising gifts. With the help of their elderly cousin Evanelle, endowed with her own uncanny skills, the Waverley women redeem the past, embrace the present, and take a joyful leap into the future.
Oh yea... I do plan on reading more of her back titles when I get a chance.

I also enjoyed Of Bees and Mist in which I loved the symbolism and visuals used in this unusual book:

Of Bees and Mist
by Erick Setiawan
Of Bees and Mist is an engrossing fable that chronicles three generations of women under one family tree and places them in a mythical town where spirits and spells, witchcraft and demons, and prophets and clairvoyance are an everyday reality. 
Meridia grows up in a lonely home until she falls in love with Daniel at age sixteen. Soon, they marry, and Meridia can finally escape to live with her charming husband’s family—unaware that they harbor dark mysteries of their own. As Meridia struggles to embrace her life as a young bride, she discovers long-kept secrets about her own past as well as shocking truths about her new family that push her love, courage, and sanity to the brink. 
Erick Setiawan’s astonishing debut is a richly atmospheric and tumultuous ride of hope and heartbreak that is altogether touching, truthful, and memorable.
Of course there are many other examples of books I have enjoyed in this genre, but I do think you get the gist of the kind of books I like to pick up for a fun ride. So, do you have any magical realism titles you'd like to share with me? 

18 comments:

  1. I usually reread things when I'm in a mood, all funny favorites like the Charley Davidson series or my beloved UF series. I must have reread Kate Daniels at least a trillion times so far.
    These look great, especially Lost Lake.

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    1. Oh those are great too. I still need to read the Kate Daniels series. Going to do it!

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  2. I haven't done nearly enough rereading since I started blogging but I love to reread Patricia Briggs and Kevin Hearne -- mostly UF & some very specific romances.

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    1. I know what you mean. I don't think I've reread much at all. Those are great choices though!

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  3. Well how much do I fail that I haven't read any of these Melissa? I have Lost Lake on my list after your review yesterday, but I'll have to check out the others as well. Thanks for the recommendations, I can never have too many pick me up reads on my list!

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    1. Oh I do think you'll like this genre Jenny! I think it would match you well.

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  4. I love magical realism...I need to check my GR page....

    Ok you have Allen, read more of those.

    The House at the End of Hope Street
    Praag, Menna van

    and you gotta read Ali Shaw

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    1. Yep I need to read more, read one Ali Shaw (need to read more) and I do wan tot read the House at the End of Hope Street. Great recs!

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  5. My favorite pick me up reads are fun contemporary romance with a guaranteed HEA. More humor than angst.

    I can read them in about 4 hours and I'm in a good mood for the rest of the day!

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  6. Oh everything picks me up..LOL but if I just went to slip away a good historical regency romance or a small-town one will usually make me smile. I love Allen she is one of my favorites.

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  7. I wish I could recommend magical realism books, because I have enjoyed the few I've read, but really I"m just going to take your recommendations, they sound wonderful, especially Lost Lake! Of Bees and Mist sounds wonderful too. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. That answer is easy, I read The Mercy Thompson series. It always makes me smile.

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  9. I absolutely LOVE Garden Spells and cannot wait to get my hands on Lost Lake soon. Bees and Mist seems really interesting as well, so I'll have to look into that. Wonderful post, Melissa!(:

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  10. I haven't heard of Bees and Mist, now I must read it. I adore Sarah's books and I can't wait for Last Lake

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  11. I don't think I read very much magical realism. I can't even think of one I've read, even though I know I have. It depends on my mood. Sometimes killing zombies puts a smile on my face, and sometimes a sweet romance.

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  12. I am going to read Lost Lake. I have you and Heidi both saying this author is really good. I love the Charley Davidson series. I also love reading Jane Austen over and over again. It's comforting.

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  13. I read Garden Spells a few years ago and I would say it definitely would work to 'pick me up'. I forgot about Of Bees and Mist! I read it ages ago now and it was really strange but really cool!
    I usually like light contemporary books for a pick me up. Or a romantic comedy works too. :)

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Thanks for commenting! I ❤ comments!