literary junkies: august 2015

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I just started reading The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. It was available on Kindle Unlimited, and I knew it was set in the Lowcountry, so I snapped it up! All I know so far is that it's about a man who lives with his family on Sullivan's Island (I was just there a few weeks ago!) and is trying to overcome some childhood trauma that left him estranged from his parents.

2. What books have you just picked up lately?

I got I Am Malala on sale at Costco, The Astronaut Wives Club on sale at Barnes and Noble, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Up the Down Staircase, and the first Poldark novel from Kindle Unlimited (I try to download at least two books a month on my Kindle to make the subscription worthwhile!)

3. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

I almost always have several books going at once - usually a literary, romance, or historical fiction novel that I'm reading at home, a YA book that I want to recommend to students in my classroom, and a nonfiction book or memoir to carry around and read in waiting rooms and such.

4. What makes you love a book?

For me, it's all about good characters - if I can't find at least one character in the story to love, I can't truly enjoy the book, no matter how well it's written.

5. This one is totally random but Fall is just around the corner and we want to know...what's your favorite cookbook?

If I'm being honest, I use Pinterest as a cookbook more than anything else! My mom got me Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible shortly after Mr. Q and I got married and I've used it quite a bit, as well as some well-loved fundraiser cookbooks that were hers in the 1970's and 80's and include some of my favorite recipes. I really want to try the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook because I'm trying to eat more real/whole foods in my quest to get healthy - I love Paula Deen, but she's not going to help me beat diabetes!