National Whatever-You-Want Day!

Yummy Ice Cream!Well, I’m bummed! I only now found out that today is National Ice Cream Day. It’s nearly 9 pm and I already had my Breyers light brownie ice cream sandwich for dessert, which frankly is no substitute for a bowl of Edy’s Slow-Churned French Silk. If I’d known it was National Ice Cream Day, I would have run down to the nearest store (which happens to be one of those little stores connected to a gas station. Not pretty.) and bought a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry’s and not felt guilty about it, but now I’m full and it’s too late. 

My curiosity was piqued. What other holidays are coming up? I checked out this week and here’s the lineup: Tomorrow is National Daquiri Day, but since I’m a non-imbiber, I’ll sit that one out. Tuesday is lollipop day. Did you know that lollipop machines make nearly 6,000 lollipops a minute? Wednesday I’m definitely going to celebrate! National Junk Food Day! I am unbelievably neurotic about food safety in my kitchen. I drive John nuts with the hand washing, the not-using-the-same-utensils-on-raw-and-cooked food, the sniffing of the milk, etc. But put me in a Taco Bell (burritos!) or Bojangles (biscuits!) or Wendy’s (taco salad!) and I’ll never give their kitchen a thought. (Please don’t tell me horror stories. Let me live in blissful ignorance!)

Thursday is National Hammock Day and I wish I had one. When I need to go to my Happy Place in my head, it’s in a hammock hanging under tall green trees. Instant relaxation. Friday is National Hot Dog Day, and I have to admit that’s another edible that I eat without thinking about what’s in it and how long it’s been rolling on those long, hot metal tubes at Target.

I just realized that Wednesday–National Junk Food Day–is the day I’ll be part of an event at the Silver Coast Winery near Ocean Isle, North Carolina, so I think I’ll be sipping club soda and nibbling something very non-junky there. You’re all invited to join me! I understand it’s a lovely location. There’s no cover charge, just a chance to meet and chat and sip. There will be a few other writers on hand and the Pelican Bookstore will supply books for a signing. If you’re anywhere near the area between 1-4 on Wednesday July 21st, I hope you’ll stop by.

Right now, I’d like to proclaim this evening “National What Are You Reading Evening”. As for me, I’m enjoying Karen White’s On Folly Beach. Now I know how to answer when people ask who I write like! I feel as though I’m reading one of my own books, probably because Karen and I both love mixing past and present and we love to keep our readers guessing. Also the beach setting, of course, and dipping back into coastal Carolina history during World War II. I think Karen and I must have been separated at birth. Obviously, I’m enjoying this book a great deal and highly recommend it.

How about you? What are you reading now?

36 Comments

  1. Denise on July 18, 2010 at 9:56 pm

    I missed my ice cream, too!

    I just finished THE HELP and am now reading THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE. Interesting so far! Next in my pile (of non-WW2 books…) is THE SLAP by Christos Tsiolkas which looks really interesting.

  2. Audrey Bonnell on July 18, 2010 at 10:03 pm

    I am currently reading Flood Tide by Clive Cussler. He is just such a great writer and I just get lost is the moment as he creates fiction with an flair for the history of what he is writing about. He is an edge of the seat writer and I really enjoy his work. I would rather be reading an Emilie Richards and Diane Chamberlain book but I have already read all their new ones…lol

  3. Mary Ward on July 18, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    I just finished The Pretend Wife by Bridget Asher, which I absolutely loved. And I am now reading you! I just started The Lies We Told.

  4. Billi on July 18, 2010 at 10:39 pm

    I am reading The Dome by Stephen King. So far, it has been a very captivating read.

  5. Betty Savage on July 18, 2010 at 10:42 pm

    I just finished The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Piccard. Now I have started Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods. I want to know about the bonobos for interest and also to be prepared for Sara Gruen’s new book, Ape House, due out Sept. 7.

    Diane, I agree that you and Karen White must be related. :>) I told you that you would enjoy On Folly Beach. The WWII part reminded me of Kiss River (which is, by the way, one of my husband’s favorite books of yours.)

  6. Diane Chamberlain on July 18, 2010 at 11:31 pm

    Love this variety! I’m taking notes. Mary, Hope you enjoy TLWT. Betty, is the Woods book nonfiction? And re Folly Beach–I find myself getting mixed up between my Kiss River plot and Karen’s. It’s a weird feeling!

  7. Julie Kibler on July 19, 2010 at 12:49 am

    Recently finished an ARC, Alicia Bessette’s SIMPLY FROM SCRATCH, and it was great. About to finish Sarah Addison Allen’s THE SUGAR QUEEN. A lovely, relaxing summer read! I want to find NEVER LET ME GO (Kashua Ishiguro) very soon – saw a preview for the movie last night and oh, my goodness, it looks good! Carey Mulligan is in it.

  8. Julie Kibler on July 19, 2010 at 12:57 am

    Make that Kazua Ishiguro … 🙂

  9. Julie Kibler on July 19, 2010 at 12:59 am

    LOL … I give up after this.

    KAZUO ISHIGURO!!!

    (Can you tell I hate spelling things incorrectly?)

  10. sherry on July 19, 2010 at 6:24 am

    am reading as husbands go by susan isaacs. next up is either the island by elin hilderbrand or the passage by justin cronin.

  11. Denise on July 19, 2010 at 7:32 am

    Lol Julie! I have never read Ishiguro but the books look so interesting. Have never read Karen White either, but I sell a lot of her books. I need to try her, too.

  12. Denise on July 19, 2010 at 7:33 am

    P.S. Julie: Did you like The Sugar Queen? I love the book cover. It makes me want to read it. 🙂

  13. Ann on July 19, 2010 at 7:46 am

    Just finished reading Faithful Place by Tana Woods. I have read all 3 of her books and enjoyed them but I believe this is the best of the 3.

  14. Ann on July 19, 2010 at 7:56 am

    Woops – Tana French is the author of Faithful Place. In the Woods is her first book – I guess that is where the Woods came from – who knows???

  15. Margo on July 19, 2010 at 8:14 am

    I’m currently reading BEACHCOMBERS by Nancy Thayer…next up will be THE ISLAND by Elin Hilderbrand…Diane, Brenda told me how much she loved ON FOLLY BEACH so I bought it and it’s in my to-read stack…I love that you’re telling us she writes like you!…I know I’m going to love it!
    P.S…I didn’t know yesterday was Natl Ice Cream Day but I had a very generous helping of chocolate chip ice cream for dessert…we lost our power to bad thunderstorms for about 24 hours starting Sat nite so the ice cream (even tho a little soft from the freezer) was a nice cool treat. (-O:

  16. Ronnie on July 19, 2010 at 8:19 am

    If I would have known I wouldn’t have had my weight watchers cookies and cream bar. Question: if you eat something decadent on a it’s national holiday (ice cream, junk food etc.) does that mean the calories, fat, sodium, sugar don’t count?

    I just finished Secret Lives (stayed up much too late but had to see how it ended) and Diane I just absolutely loved it.

    My conundrum is can get through a day without reading? If so then tomorrow Daniel Silva’s new book The Rembrandt Affair is released, if not I might have to start Hitler’s Judas by Tom Lewis. It is the second book of the trilogy about Pea Island, first book was Sunday’s Child which I found very engrossing and not something I would normally read.

  17. Diane Chamberlain on July 19, 2010 at 9:59 am

    Julie, I read Never Let Me Go several years ago. Very different and very good. I didn’t realize they were making a movie about it. Could be fascinating!

    Ann, is Faithful Place an extension of her first two or a stand-alone? I was so angry at the end of her first that I didn’t read the second (Hey! Now I know how some of my readers felt after reading The Lies We Told. LOL)

    Margo, nothing like a freezer outage to force you to eat ice cream!

    Ronnie, I’m so glad you loved Secret Lives! As for the Lewis books, so you need to read Hitler’s Judas first? This sounds like it would be right up Denise’s alley.

  18. Ronnie on July 19, 2010 at 10:36 am

    Diane, Sunday’s Child comes first, then Hitler’s Judas and the third is Pea Island. I actually got them because they were $1.00 on Kindle. Sunday’s Child starts in 1918 and goes till the mid-late 1940’s. I had never heard of Pea Island till I read Sunday’s Child. I am not from your neck of the woods…………. but I like historical fiction.

  19. Diane on July 19, 2010 at 10:44 am

    I just finished Charles Martin’s The Other Side of the Mountain. Fantastic! Couldn’t put it down. Read it after reading on FB that Diane C. had just finished reading it. Will look for more of his. Thanks, Diane!

  20. Diane Chamberlain on July 19, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    Pea Island in the Outer Banks? Sounds interesting. Probably as smart promotional move to price the books at a buck.
    Diane, I loved The Other Side of the Mountain (what a twist, huh?)

  21. Jodi on July 19, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    I’m babysitting a napping 3-year-old right now…and a few minutes ago, we finished reading a very intense story, entitled Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, by Dr. Suess. I’m guessing you may have heard of it! haha. I highly recommend it, even though the reading experience is sliiightly different from a Diane novel. :).

    But to challenge my reading skills a tad more, the “adult” novel I’m currently enjoying is Oxygen by Carol Wiley Cassella. It’s certainly interesting, but often too medical-y for my non-science brain to fully comprehend.

  22. Kirsten on July 19, 2010 at 3:19 pm

    I just finished The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson. It was okay…scouting around for something now.

  23. brenda on July 19, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    I do not want to know anything either because as a vegetarian, few things in a restaurant I can eat-but the 7 layer burrito at Taco Bell is one.

  24. brenda on July 19, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    ON FOLLY one of my favorite books of all times-have rec it to everyone…you do write alike

  25. brenda on July 19, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    The charles martin book was fantastic–both of the newer ones…he is a winner…

  26. Julie Kibler on July 19, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    Denise, yes the cover for SUGAR QUEEN is really sumptuous, isn’t it?! I think I looked at it for a little bit every time I opened the book. I really love SAA’s books when I am in the mood for something that won’t take me too long and is just affirming, humorous, and full of sensory detail. I wasn’t disappointed.

  27. Diane Chamberlain on July 19, 2010 at 4:22 pm

    Sugar Queen has a totally yummy cover!

  28. Denise on July 19, 2010 at 6:45 pm

    If Karen White writes like Diane, I will definitely have to read Folly. I have been selling loads of them (and recommending Diane at the same time…I’m sneaky like that).

    THE SUGAR QUEEN cover is so fairy-like. I need to read it for sure (not that I read fairy stuff on a regular basis).

    I am glad to hear that Tana French’s new one is so good! Loved THE LIKENESS and have been wondering about the new one. Love Irish writers.

    Kirsten, I’m not a big Patterson fan. But if you read a lot of mysteries, have you read the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child? Great series! I also recommend TETHERED by Amy MacKinnon.

  29. Denise on July 19, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    P.S. I have declared today to be National Barbeque Fritos Day.

  30. Ann on July 19, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    Faithful Place is a stand alone book.

  31. Diane Chamberlain on July 19, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    No, Denise, it’s National Banana Bread Day.

  32. brenda on July 21, 2010 at 10:48 am

    If you ever have a spare day-wishful thinking…go down to Pawley’s Island-a couple of hours-if that from Topsail–and get the hammock…I do not have one or two huge trees to hook it to…but since my kids were little, we have visited the shops at Pawley’s including the hammock shop…at Myrtle Beach…enjoy…you deserve a break.

  33. Jackie on July 21, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    I just finished reading Bodily Harm by Robert Dugoni…a really good thriller involving the Toy Industry. Right now I’m reading Cause For Murder by Betty Sullivan La Pierre. I’ve been reading lots of mysteries lately because I’m in a Book Club that reads mostly mysteries. When it gets to be too much I grab a Romance.

  34. Samantha Costanza on July 26, 2010 at 7:09 pm

    Sister’s contest. Love your writing!

  35. Whitney on July 28, 2010 at 6:19 pm

    I am currently reading The Courage Tree by you. 🙂 I have already read 3 of your books in about a week and a half. You’re an amazing writer & one of my favorites.

  36. Diane Chamberlain on July 28, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Thank you, Whitney!

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