Adding to My Southern Festival of Books Pile

I made yet another addition to my SFB pile tonight. Visiting Books-a-Million is always a catch-22 for me... I don't really need anything. And yet I do. I always browse the bargain books section carefully, because you just never know what gems you'll find on those shelves. Sometimes it holds much-hyped books that didn't quite pan out (Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels, numbers twelve through fifteen or so only, I'm looking at you). But often times you can find a real steal -- a great book that they simply over-ordered, or whose shelf life has somewhat passed.

Although there were several YA titles I almost bought, and a copy of Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger that's been on my to-read list FOREVER, I walked away with only one purchase: Marisa de los Santos's Belong to Me. I really enjoyed her first novel Love Walked In, but for some reason never read this second novel. Now she has released a third book, Falling Together, which is the reason she'll be attending the Southern Festival of Books this weekend.

I'm excited about diving into Belong to Me, because -- although I didn't realize it until tonight -- de los Santos revives her main characters from Love Walked In in this second novel. Readers once again return to the world that Cornelia and Clare inhabit, as Cornelia moves to the suburbs from downtown Philadelphia. Rumors have been flying around since the release of Love Walked In that Sarah Jessica Parker will produce and star in a film version. As of now, IMDB still lists it as "in development," which can mean nothing at all or that it's in process of being filmed. I suppose only time will tell. It does seem like the perfect role for Parker.

My excitement is building for this weekend's Southern Festival of Books (as if you couldn't tell by my weeks of posts about it)! I'm attending with my mom, my aunt, and a couple of my closest friends -- and fellow readers. We're staying in Nashville Friday night, planning some shopping, and definitely visiting my favorite Festival hotspot -- the Provence inside the Nashville Public Library.

Friday will also be Vanderbilt basketball's Memorial Madness, a night which "celebrat[es] the first official day of practice, [with] a meet-and-greet with both squads, special introductions, a short scrimmage along with a three-point and slam dunk contest." My guy has long been a Vandy fan, and this year we have season tickets to the men's basketball games. We may stick around on Saturday night, too, as Vandy's football team faces off against Georgia.

All in all, a weekend of fun -- and books, of course!