In search of something good to read? USA TODAY’s Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases. Published January 22, 2020 1. “Almost Just Friends,” by Jill Shalvis (William Morrow, fiction, on sale Jan. 21) This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. What it’s about: After her parents died, tough-as-nails Piper Manning raised her younger siblings, who are now all grown. Now, at 30, she’s ready to sell the house and move on to live life on her own terms. But a fling with a charming Drug Enforcement Administration agent with his own trauma threatens to upend her plans. The buzz: “Shalvis will immediately grab the reader’s attention with a strong heroine and caring connection between two wounded souls,” says Publishers Weekly. 2. “A Long Petal of the Sea,” by Isabel Allende (Ballantine, fiction, on sale…
I recently flew to Richmond, Virginia, to attend the annual Birthday Bash for Edgar Allan Poe. It is held at the Poe Museum. I stayed at the Berkeley Hotel which is a 12 minute walk from the museum. The Berkeley is located in the Shockoe Slip area in the business district. Fashionable Shockoe Slip is a downtown dining hub, with Southern-style restaurants, BBQ joints, gastropubs, and taprooms tucked down narrow alleyways and in former warehouses. This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. The boutique hotel seems period, however, it was built in 1988. The original owner was careful to fashion it architecturally after the other historic buildings in the area. Alan M. Voorhees designed it to be in a European style and named it after the Berkeley Castle and Plantation in England. Mr. Malcom Jamieson, the…
Happy New Year! I hope your 2020 is off to a great start. I am inspired by all the creative resolutions I see floating around the web. All the good things that I want to focus on this year. Life will be full of drama, but I want to live with a positive mindset and hope for the best every day. I’ve never been a big one to draw up new year resolutions. For decades I went with the one from St. Elmo’s Fire – “To fix everything in my life that isn’t working”/Wendy. This year I want to think more along the lines of activities or steps to make one feel good. Not the cliched ones like join a new gym and lose 50 lbs! Less blaring noise and more get outside and see the world and create a better world for yourself indoors. Be less afraid and start the business…
My trip is booked and tickets purchased for one of the exciting events of the year – at least for Poe lovers. Every year the Poe Museum in Richmond throws a huge party for the poet’s birthday. People come from all over to attend. In the beginning, staff and volunteers hosted the party for 24 hours. Let that sink in for a second. The curator told me they would bring mattresses or bedding and sleep on the floor in some of the buildings awaiting visitors. But, in the wee hours no one was visiting so they changed to a 12 hour format. I made it 6 1/2 hours on my first try, however, I flew in for the day and night and didn’t arrive in the city in enough time to stay the full length of the event. This year I am working with a strategy, including a trolley tour…