Lulu: My dalliance with Dallas

(As in author Sandra Dallas, and "dalliance" as in its first definition: a trifling away of time; dawdling....a trifling away of time is hilariously accurate, as I spent a good 4 hours reading her books today.)

Abby first recommended The Persian Pickle Club to me, and that was the first Sandra Dallas book I read. I loved it. Her books are always full of really great historical details (historical fiction? but with suspense and almost always a bit of a mystery), vivid characters, and at the heart, a great plot. There is always some unexpected twist! I usually consider myself a pretty good predictive reader, but every book of hers has surprised me in at least some small way.

So for this month, I have finally gotten to those other Dallas books I have been wanting to read! Abby recommended The Chili Queen (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and then I read Alice's Tulips and have started on The Diary of Mattie Spenser.

The Chili Queen involved [SPOILER ALERT...ish] some skilled con artists and some Wild West-type characters, and the rich background stories for each character could have spawned a few more novels.
Alice's Tulips made me cry and laugh--a lot of both. Alice's husband is a Union soldier in the Civil War, and during the two years that he is gone, Alice goes through some horrible things, and some less horrible things, but comes out of it with so much growth and refinement...I really loved the story.
The Diary of Mattie Spenser is about a girl who married a man she hardly knew (quite common then, really) and went out west to Colorado with him to start an entirely new life.
Tallgrass, which I plan to read after Mattie, is about the Japanese internment camps in the U.S. during WWII.
And lastly: Buster Midnight's Cafe is about a forties-era Hollywood star (her rise and fall, I guess).

I'm also reading Nightlight, a ridiculous and hilarious parody of Twilight. (Maddie sent it to me) I was laughing so hard it hurt and had tears (of laughter) running down my cheeks by page 5.