I took this photo of author Emily Giffin in August 2006 at an all-day Book Club Conference sponsored by the Memphis Public Library and Mid-South Reads. 
  I had tried to get a good shot from my seat in the front row while Giffin stood at the podium discussing her new book.
    To my consternation, she stopped in mid-sentence, gave me an annoyed look and asked that I not take the photo until she posed for it. She explained that she hated to be photographed grimacing or with her mouth open. She then posed prettily, but because I was flustered, I snapped a picture which cut off most of her head.
    However, after her talk, Giffin graciously let me take another photo with head attached. Later, I wrote : “By rights 34-year-old Giffin should appear frazzled, harried and careworn. She’s the mother of twin boys 2 1/2 years old, and she recently visited 17 cities in five weeks promoting her third novel, “Baby Proof.” Instead, she looks young and impeccably chic, and comes across as articulate and charming.”
    Two years later, Giffin, a former lawyer, originally from Illinois, lives in Atlanta and has a new daughter, Harriet, as well as a new book on the New York Times best-sellers list.
    “Love the One You’re With,” (St. Martin’s, $25) was described by a reviewer in our “Books in Brief” column on June 1 as “a satisfying, light, chick-lit read about the pain of self-discovery.”
   I don’t disagree with this assessment, but readers should be aware that there’s a darker quality and a bit more complexity to Giffin’s book than one might expect from a work in this genre.
    I liked the slightly snarky, sarcastic tone that Giffin sometimes employs, especially evident when she exploits the Yankee vs. Southerner conflict generated by her characters’ backgrounds. Read the rest of this entry »

 If you’re a Food Network junkie or can’t get enough of “Top Chef,” you’ll relish “Deep Dish” by Mary Kay Andrews, the Atlanta author who wrote “Savannah Breeze” and “Hissy Fit.”  She was in Memphis Tuesday, March 4, for a signing at Davis Kidd, and you can read about her experiences in her blog http://www.marykayandrews.com/blog/2008_03_01_archive.asp

“Deep Dish” is a romantic comedy which pits Regina Foxton, the host of “Fresh Start,” a cooking show on Georgia PBS against Tate Moody, the star of a hunting, fishing, cooking program called “Vittles” in a reality TV “Food Fight.” I liked the way Andrews respectfully pays homage to all those Junior League and church circle cookbooks that line the shelves of Southern cooks. (From my own collection, the most dog-eared and food-spattered are “Out of Our League” by the Greensboro, N.C. Junior League and “Bountiful Blessings” by the Munford Presbyterian Church.

Here’s a link to an interview with the author from the Atlanta Journal Constitution which includes the book’s recipe for “Reggie’s Simply Sinful Tomato Soup Chocolate Cake.” http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/food/stories/2008/02/26/trocheck_0228.html