Bertha's Son

Bertha’s Son by Joseph Waddy is an autobiography full of plot twists. Waddy was born in Guyana, South America, to his mother, Bertha. The story of Waddy’s birth truly is heartbreaking. Bertha, a sheltered young woman, was never allowed out of her house by her mother. However, Cyril, a young man in her town, invited Bertha to go Christmas window shopping with him. Surprisingly, her mother consented to this venture, allowing Bertha on her first ever excursion out of the house. Tragically, instead of having an exciting experience, she was horribly raped on this first date, becoming a mother to Waddy from this unfortunate experience. Waddy recounts that his father never played a role in his life. Although having met him on a few occasions, Cyril never showed interest in his son or gave a penny to support him. Because of this, Waddy grew up with disappointment and anger towards his father.

Tragically, Waddy, like his mother, did not escape sexual abuse in his lifetime. He was raped by relatives at a very young age, something he believes contributed to many problems later on in his life. Furthermore, coming from a poor family, Waddy was prevented from starting his schooling. With a deep desire to learn, he begged Bertha to send him to school. However, they could not afford Waddy's shoes, something that stopped him from entering a schoolhouse. Finally, after Waddy was able to find shoes, he was able to attend school. Entering kindergarten at the age of ten, he tirelessly studied to catch up, and fortunately, he did, which allowed him to enter a top-rated high school within a few years.

Fast forwarding in Waddy’s life, he ends up immigrating to the United States and becoming a hospital nurse. He also ends up getting married, not once but twice.

Unfortunately, I have to admit I did not enjoy this book. Based on the description, I was expecting to read an autobiography about Waddy’s career and public servitude. Rather, a large portion of the book covers Waddy’s adult sexual experiences, relationships, and encounters that are unnecessary to this overarching plot. I was disappointed to hear very little about Waddy’s immigration story and very little about his life outside of his physical and intimate encounters. I wish Waddy had dived more into the actual story of his life—his childhood, early teenage years, and adulthood—from the perspective of overcoming adversity as the book  advertised.

In summary, I would advise Waddy to rewrite his story to reflect the full narrative of his life, not specific romantic encounters that the reader has no interest in reliving with him.


Bertha's Son

Born to a single mother in poverty in his native British Guyana, Joseph Waddy authors a memoir that recounts childhood neglect, and emotional, and sexual abuse, overcoming multiple challenges and persevering with a longstanding career in healthcare. Now retired, Waddy shares his story to impart inspiration and hope to others.

Abandoned by his father at an early age, Waddy was raised by his mother, Bertha, and her relatives. Living in abject poverty during a tumultuous time in Guyana, Waddy could not attend school until age ten. Enduring experiences of trauma at the hands of teenage relatives, Waddy did what he could with a hard start in life to create opportunities for learning and growing. Bertha worked for an expatriate couple who took to the mother and son, helping both realize futures they never imagined. Waddy realized his gifts in school, particularly his penchant for befriending and charming women. These are the same gifts he leveraged to build a career in the healing profession in the United States, his adopted country. In New York state, Waddy pursued an education in nursing, where he achieved significant career milestones and a sense of fulfillment.

Bertha’s Son survived against insurmountable odds. Like other countries in the Global South, children like Waddy who grow up in poverty have almost always assured a life of desolation. The fact that Waddy transcended the throes of despair amid abuse and neglect is a testament to the boy’s resilience, grit, and good fortune. Waddy’s is a familiar and heart-warming story of immigrant triumph and success against formidable obstacles. Through sheer determination and ambition, the boy who could not go to school because he did not have shoes to walk to the village schoolhouse completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from U.S. colleges.

While the memoir has strong qualities, much of the book can be improved by paying attention to style, content, and intent. Waddy has a straightforward narration style, which can read a bit mechanical and too matter-of-fact. The book could use content warnings about the description of childhood sexual abuse and suicide attempt.

Waddy suffered mental and emotional anguish from childhood sexual abuse, which impacted his relationships with women later in life. I also wondered if unresolved trauma may be the reason for graphic, gratuitous chronicles of numerous sexual exploits. The author remembers lurid details of sexual encounters but does not divulge his feelings about those events. Perhaps this aspect of Waddy’s memoir is part of the healing process from the cycle of trauma and violence.


Bertha's Son

Delivering an honest autobiographical recitation of one’s life while avoiding self-aggrandizement requires self-reflection and honesty about the author’s passage through life. Doing so while also avoiding alienating companions and friends is a tricky business. However, Joseph Waddy, in Bertha’s Son throws caution to the wind and delivers a brutally honest memoir.

Waddy, son of Bertha, whose name graces the book’s title, is born as poor as poor can be in colonial British Guiana.  Waddy’s father abandons both Bertha and Joseph and is the quintessential “dead beat dad.” Joseph suffers great privations for much of his early childhood. He doesn’t attend school until he is ten years old because his mother is too poor to provide him the shoes necessary to walk to school. However, due to pure grit on his part, Joseph quickly succeeds in school, trains in the healing arts, and becomes a nurse and a pharmacy dispenser. Joseph emigrates to the United States and lands in Brooklyn, New York, where he begins a long and successful career in nursing.

Joseph pulls no punches in his vivid description of growing up and living in Guyana, particularly regarding his prowess as a ladies’ man. A revolving cast of women, all with different motivations and desires, enter and depart his life. Through these liaisons, and three marriages, Joseph proudly fathers five sons and daughters, all of whom he eventually sponsors to emigrate to the United States. Joseph’s memoir skewers those who wrong him, ranging from hospital supervisors to grasping girlfriends, while he heaps praise on those who support him in his life, none more so than Bertha, whom it is clear he revers and loves.

This fascinating memoir is, at its core, a story of a man who struggled and persevered to pull himself out of extreme poverty and build a successful life and career in the United States. Through this narrative Waddy also delivers a primer on the ravages that colonialism had on the developing world. However, post-colonialism does not emerge unscathed either as Waddy narrowly avoids being exiled by vindictive government administrators to work in the deep jungle for ten years by obtaining passage to the United States.

Bertha’s Son is a mesmerizing autobiography that delves deep into the culture of Guyana, its sexual and cultural mores, and compares them to the immigrant experience in the Guyanese expatriate community in Brooklyn. It reads as a memoir aimed at a specific audience, namely Waddy’s family and friends; however, it remains more than that, and is well worth the read, if only to contemplate the variety inherent in the human condition.


The Greek Gambit

Fast-paced, action-packed, and brimful of both suspense and intrigue, Charles A. Salter’s The Greek Gambit, the first book in his Nuke Response Team Alpha series, is a rip-roaring international thriller that whisks readers along on a life-or-death race to thwart a potentially earth-shattering terrorist plot.

As the head of the U.S. Nuclear Response Team, Colonel Blake Hunter is well accustomed to rushing head first into danger at only a moment’s notice and well aware of how danger can be lurking in the most unlikely of places. However, not even he could have anticipated becoming embroiled in a far-reaching conspiracy while enjoying a family vacation in the peaceful village of Oia on the island of Santorini, Greece.

Still, the Hunter family’s much-needed break is brought to a sudden end when wife Mia’s bag is snatched. Hunter immediately gives chase to the thief, but when he corners the kid in what appears to be a small shop, he finds himself confronted by a gun-toting bruiser who looks like a pro wrestler and a sinister man in a white suit. The pair warn that Hunter won’t see his family again unless he does a job for them in Corfu in thirty-six hours, a job involving a deadly hyperbaric plasma sphere.

While Hunter’s strength and advanced military training—to say nothing of the tactics he has taught his family—mean that they are all able to escape this initial danger, he still has to get to the bottom of the terrorists’ plot, especially as it seems that radiation generated by the elusive sphere is already causing major health problems on the East Coast of the United States. Fortunately, Hunter and his crack team are no strangers to dealing with nuclear threats, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to contain the danger.

The Greek Gambit is an explosive techno-thriller that highlights the significant peril posed by unchecked technological development, greed, and ideology. As the conspiracies, lies, and double-crosses come thick and fast, a feeling of nail-biting tension and a serious sense of danger permeate the story, which are cleverly enhanced by the many well-written and scarily plausible action sequences. The character of Colonel Hunter also adds to the realism and excitement of the story, as he’s an archetypal action hero with all the knowledge and skills necessary to save the day.

Packed with thrills, spills, and nefarious happenings, The Greek Gambit is an exhilarating story from start to finish. It should make a great read for fans of Tom Clancy’s Op-Center series, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, and Brad Thor’s Scot Harvath series.


The Greek Gambit

Blake Hunter, the head of the U.S. military’s Nuclear Response Team, doesn't have much time for much other than work. Unfortunately, his time with his family on holiday in Greece is cut short when he is contacted by some suspected Greek terrorists who threaten him and his family. Meanwhile, random people around the North Carolina coast are aging quickly and dying within a week, which is thought to be caused by some strange new sort of radiation. Blake and his team must act quickly to take down the well-organized, merciless criminals who will violate any limits for more control, with his family and the globe in danger. The Greek Gambit by Charles A. Salter is a fast-moving, action-filled story about the hazards of modern technology and a perilous mission to save the planet.

I was immensely motivated by the protagonist of the novel, who is not one to back down from a task, choosing to go after powerful criminals and risk losing his most vital relationships. Despite major physical problems, his ambition to succeed and save his loved ones drives him forward. At the same time, I was incensed by the book's terrible characters, such as Beria, who has a soundproof chamber in which he sexually assaults his victims. These two sides of the plot are presented through an insightful representation of Blake's thoughts and ambitions, as well as his well-placed discoveries and terrifying interactions with the adversary.

Subtexts of family, solidarity, and love lurk behind the layers of the urgent quest to save the world. Special moments of joy and bonding are infused into the story through a genuine picture of an endearing relationship between Blake and his family and even his team. Charles creates convincing characters by using conversation and behaviors that correspond to the characters' ages, desires, and temperaments. For example, the protagonist's son, like any child who meets terrible individuals, might question why certain people are bad.

Fans of plots with highly competent protagonists and sophisticated technology, such as the James Bond series, should read this book. The vividly depicted action sequences are excellent movie material, and I appreciated the use of functional technology, such as GPS and sensors that tell the protagonist's location and health state, as well as a holographic shield that works as an invisibility cloak.

This all-around thrilling story offers readers an opportunity to immerse themselves in the exciting and challenging world of a relentless agent on a highly dangerous mission from the comfort of their own homes, as well as appreciate the mundane after exploring the possibility of losing it all in the book. A tremendously captivating and addictive experience!


Collect Call to My Mother: Essays on Love, Grief, and Getting a Good Night's Sleep

Collect Call to My Mother is a beautifully put-together compilation of essays written by author Lori Horvitz about life, love, happiness, grief, and all the little things in between. Horvitz starts her memoir with the title story, "Collect Call to My Mother," in which she tries calling her mother collect from a payphone in Oslo. Her mother does not accept the call, and Lori sits in the phone booth, stunned. The relationship between Lori and her parents is interesting, to say the least. One of four children born in five years, Lori knows that her mother, a child of Russian immigrants who grew up during the Great Depression, may have found solace in hoarding and being stingy. She doesn't remember her mother ever hugging her, which I found really sad.

em>Collect Call to My Mother follows Lori through life as she meets new people, some wonderful and some toxic. There are thirty-five individual stories that Lori chose to tell encompassing her life. The book does not necessarily follow a chronological order, however, this is okay since each story reads just fine as a standalone.

As a gay, Jewish woman growing up in the 60s and 70s, life was not always sunshine and roses. Lori describes how she had a boyfriend here or there but then realized that she really liked women. Many of the stories in the book describe the women she dated. One woman was a gift-giver and lavished Lori with flowers, fancy dinners, and shopping sprees. Lori said she "didn't know how to not accept her presents, just like [she] didn't know how to not accept her attention." To her, the iPad and fleece jacket made her feel like a prostitute. In many of her relationships, it seemed like Lori wanted out of the relationship so badly but couldn't find a way to break it off and not go back.

I really enjoyed the chapters in which Lori described her grandmother Becky and grandpa Harry. The dialogue between the characters is so straightforward and honest. Trips to Coney Island and Brighton Beach are clearly the happier times in the author's life and are sprinkled throughout the book.

Each chapter in this book is truly a new adventure. Lori's life lessons have made her who she is today. As a college professor, not only does she teach her students, she learns from them as well. Her childhood, travels around the world, and many experiences are shared in this gorgeous compilation. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a great memoir that will make them laugh and cry.


A Hell Uncertain

"With detailed setting descriptions and deep conversational dialogue, A Hell Uncertain will draw its readers in. Experience the sights, smells, and sounds of New York during the Vietnam War era. Emotions run high in this coming-of-age story about a young man, his friends, and their futures with themes of military enlistment, friendship, trust, racial injustice, and self-awareness."—Kyle Eaton, San Francisco Book Review


The Five-Bottle Bar

I was so excited to get a copy of this book. After all, as the author describes the book, it is like a capsule closet for cocktails: keep these five main spirits on hand, and you can make all these drinks (plus the extra little ingredients, of course). The author, who is the co-founder of an award-winning distillery, lists these five spirits, how to make them, and a little history of each: gin, whisk(ey), vermouth (dry and sweet), and Campari. Now, being a vodka, no gin girl myself, I was surprised that vodka was not on the list, so I read up a little more on the gin section. It turns out gin is actually a flavored vodka. Can I substitute my favorite vodka for the gin in these recipes? Maybe. Will I? Definitely. The book also gives five extra ingredients you'll need, tools, and an explanation of glassware. The recipes look quite delicious, and the photos are simple and almost reminiscent of those found in a 1950s cookbook like your mom had. I also love that bubbly is included as a sixth bottle (YES!!!), and there are some fun non-alcoholic drinks too. This book is a great learning experience for anyone who wants to learn the art of mixing cocktails.


Turn Your Passions into Profits: The Proven Path for Building a Rewarding Online Business

As someone who loves a good self-help business book, I was excited to pick up a copy of Matt McWilliams' new book Turn Your Passions into Profits. But as I started reading it, I felt that it was just another book repeating things that every other self-help business guru was putting out there. Things like "Clarify Who You Help," "Be one step ahead of your followers," and "Find Your Superpowers" has been said and done before. It wasn't until I reached a little past the midpoint of the book that I saw some great value in what Matt was giving his readers. Tips like "don't send your posts in email," how to use affiliate marketing with even a small email list, how to copywrite effectively, and the best section, in my opinion—"How to Create More Content." Matt also gives a good amount of tools that entrepreneurs can use, most of them being free. The last chapter, "This is Not the End," sums up each of the ten steps given in the book on how to turn your own passion into a moneymaker. This is a great guide for anyone who doesn't know where to start when wanting to create a business plan.


The Blackhouse: A Novel

Robert Reid moved his family to Kilmeray, a small isle off the coast of Scotland. He attempts to build a new life far away from a secret in his past. When Maggie MacKay is five, her mother brings her to Kilmeray because Maggie has claimed she is a man from there who has been murdered. Other than creating some rifts, nothing much came of that. Now, twenty years later, Maggie has returned to Kilmeray to discover the truth, about who she is and what happened to Robert. It all begins at The Blackhouse.

A truly gothic tale that is absolutely atmospheric. This is one of those stories where the setting itself becomes one of the characters. If you enjoy happy endings, this book isn’t for you. However, if you enjoy stories about the complicatedness of humans, you will love this book. I feel pretty horrible for everyone on the island, but especially for Will. I don’t know if there is any coming back from that if he ever found out the truth. If you want to discover all the secrets of Kilmeray, I highly recommend you read this book.


The Game is a Footnote (A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery)

Gemma isn’t a stranger to investigating mysteries but this is her first time investigating a potentially haunted house. Scarlet House has a long history and when it's suspected of being haunted, Gemma is called upon to see for herself if it’s true. With the help of her friend Jayne, she sets out to eliminate the possibility of ghosts and prove there’s a logical explanation. The task proves more difficult than she thought when a mysterious break-in and the discovery of a dead body lead to only one conclusion - something sinister is afoot at Scarlet House.

Delany delivers a charming and delightful plot that is reminiscent of a classic mystery with elements of a whodunit and a locked room mystery. The Scarlet House feels straight out of a Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple mystery as it creates a setting ideal for murder, suspense, hauntings, and secrets. The history behind the house gives the story a rich background that incorporates eeriness into the tone. The plot never shies away from having fun, such as Gemma and Jayne’s pajama party at the house taking a ghostly turn and opening up to a greater mystery than either expected. The Game is a Footnote is a love letter to classic mysteries with suspense, sleuthing, and humor.


A Ruinous Fate (Witch's Dice)

Calla Rosewood lives in hiding from the witch queens, never staying in one place for more than a few months. Her Roles of Fate have determined that she will be the sixth- and final- Blood Warrior, and the queens seek to destroy her before she makes her final role and begins the Final War. But when her ex betrays her, it leads her one step closer to completing her Final Role and fulfilling her fate as a Blood Warrior, and Calla is desperate to do whatever it takes to change her fate before it’s too late…

While fleeing for her life, Calla must travel through the Neverending forest with an unlikely team. Can she change her fate? Or will she lose everything trying?  I liked this book because it was entertaining, fun, and easy to get through. On the other hand, Calla and the other characters didn’t have a lot of personality, the plot was extremely predictable, the world-building was rather vague, and the story was repetitive. Overall, I would not recommend this book, but if you enjoy tropey, easily readable YA literature, then this is the book for you.


Pierre Singaravelou, Karim Miske, Marc Ball

Translated from French, Decolonization: Unsung Heroes of the Resistance focuses on the personalities that shaped post-colonial revolutions across the world. Authors share stories about the struggles against invasion, anchoring historical and cultural resistance from the point of view of people whose freedoms were curtailed as their lands and resources were forcibly taken. The book highlights stories of revolutionaries who asserted their freedoms against the British and French colonial projects in Algeria, India, Vietnam, Senegal, and others. The history of religious and ethnic oppression is also merged with an enlightened view of economic subjugation.

Each story reflects the rebellious tone of revolt, insurrection, and insubordination. We learn that violence was often necessary to drive out European domination and reclaim social and economic power. The authors take great care to highlight women revolutionaries such as Kenya’s Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru and India’s Sarojini Naidu, shattering gender stereotypes that persist to this day.

This illustrated volume includes photos of different aspects of the struggle, from Kikuyu women forced to work on British plantations to refugees fleeing East Punjab after the partition of India and Pakistan. This is an important volume for anyone seeking to broaden their knowledge about the lasting legacy of colonization. Through this book, American students of social movements will learn about the different strategies used by freedom-seekers and truth-tellers in demolishing colonial power structures.


Snuffed Out (Magic Candle Shop Mystery)

Snuffed Out is a cozy mystery about the Winfield twins, Tabby and Sage, who own The Book and Candle Shop in Savannah. When an irate customer named Blithe McAdams comes into the shop, the twins give her a refund and free lotion to appease her. Blithe is known around town to not be the easiest person to talk to. When Blithe ends up murdered, Gerard, an employee of the shop is arrested. Tabby immediately starts her own investigation to things because she knows Gerard didn't commit the crime.

This book is a breath of fresh air. Tabby and Sage are energetics, a trait inherited from their mother which they also share with their aunt. Both ladies have a love interest in the book and I really liked the quirky Medical Examiner named Quig who Sage starts dating. This book is fun, adventurous, and perfect to curl up on the couch with. A small town cozy murder mystery that will make readers feel like they are part of the community, Snuffed Out is a winner!


The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England's Most Famous Dynasty

Outside of the current English monarchs, the Tudors appear the most often in printed works. It is extremely difficult for any authors to explore areas that have not already been covered though Sarah Gristwood makes a valiant effort in exploring how the Tudors used courtly love and politics during their time. This book explores the world of courtly love and how the use of verse, poem, and story was used to make declarations of love during an era when arranged marriages were the norm for the high-born in society and that love was a secondary feature if love was ever considered at all. Gristwood takes her time exploring how courtly love came to be in Europe through the rise of the romances, especially the Arthurian romances, before exploring how the different Tudor monarchs explored their passions in verse themselves, whether it was for a mistress or a wife. Like anything with the Tudors, politics is involved and there is no getting away from the fighting, martial prowess, and insecurity the Tudors constantly felt. Overall, there is not much new for people already familiar with this famous family and it rehashes the major points like many other books.


Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World

This book uses food as a bait to spur a discussion on macroeconomics. Some discussions, such as using bananas to discuss the impact of multinational corporations, flow well. However, in others the connection between food and economics seems forced. Each chapter starts with a food item, connects it to a topic in economics, and critiques the underlying economic theory. The critique is providing historical examples of where the outcomes were not as initially intended. The chapter ends by providing some suggestions for how to remedy the situation (generally with greater government regulation).

While the economic discussion is stellar and free of equations, the concepts are sometimes so oversimplified as to miss the inherent nuances, which may ultimately lead to suboptimal solutions. Each chapter is a stand-alone chapter, and there does not seem to be any effort to link them together into a coherence whole. While many facets of economics are discussed, the solution always seem to be more government regulation. Readers who distrust increased government regulation may not find the solutions as viable. However, the book is a nice look at how common economic assumptions are sometimes flawed and the reasons why application of these policies may not be as straightforward as economics may suggest.


Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage

On April 19, 1993, the FBI had exhausted their patience with the Branch Davidians after a nearly three-month standoff. A breach had been ordered to get the men, women, and children residing in the Mount Carmel compound to surrender. The tanks began to toss tear gas into the compound. However, by mid-day, fires began to spread. Similar to the ATF raid that initiated the siege, things went terribly wrong. By the end of the apocalyptic inferno, 76 Branch Davidians were dead. The Branch Davidians, an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists, had anticipated the end times and were devoted to their leader, David Koresh. The ATF and FBI saw a cult that was violating laws and went all out to bring them to their knees.

Author Jeff Guinn has distinguished himself as a true crime author with his past works (The Road to Jonestown, Manson), and Waco furthers his credentials. Guinn compiled a remarkable record of the deadly shoot-out and tense standoff that mesmerized the nation for 51 days. Guinn maintains an even-keeled approach in his delegating of the blame for the tragedy and this book will serve as a reason why Waco must not be forgotten. A true crime classic.


A Sweet New Year for Ren

The Lunar New Year is approaching - a happy time for family and friends to join in celebration and awe. When Ren pleads to be included in the cooking festivities this year, Mama says, “You’re still too little, Ren.” Everyone is sure she’s not ready, even Auntie Weili who prepares the noodles that are so long they could reach the sky. So, she decides to try it on her own; she longs to show her big brother Charlie she can make her beloved pineapple cakes. In the end, the two of them create delightful treats to contribute to a day filled with love and togetherness.

This is an indelible story about tradition, family, and culture. Red envelopes with money for the little ones, Chinese lanterns delicately swaying in the distance, and brightly-colored fruits and candies of all sorts are lavishly displayed through brilliant illustrations and rich imagery-filled text.

This is an ideal book for educators of second and third-grade students to utilize as a means of introducing multiculturalism into their classrooms. Children will find it interesting as well as light-hearted. Many in this age group (those between eight and nine) will be able to read it with limited assistance or even independently.


Stranger Things Omnibus: Afterschool Adventures (Graphic Novel)

Will and his besties are back in three new adventures. In one book, the Mike, Dustin and friends imagine that they are turned into zombies, so they turn it into a play for school! In another book, Erica not only knows how to play Dungeons & Dragons but she becomes the  Dungeon Master! All hail Queen Erica!

In another book, Eleven got bullied by Troy, but embarrassed him when she put him in his place. So now Troy wants to pretend like it's just a game they are playing with others.

These graphic novels were really fun to read! I really loved watching Stranger Things but the books were so fun! I hope there are more books to come in the series! The graphics were fun and imaginative.


Very Good Hats

Any child can tell you what a hat is. Except that a hat isn’t always what we think it is, and a head isn’t always the place for a hat. One might need hats for the tips of their fingers. And finger-tip hats can be many things—raspberries, tortellini, or other fun things. If it’s cold outside, a cat or other small, furry animal might be a perfectly good hat for one’s head. Bath bubbles make a good hat, but only for a short time. Some jobs require special hats, like chefs and cowboys and pirates and firemen. Pajamas make dangly hats and towels make pointy hats. And bowls and leaves and clouds and more make hats.

Author Emma Straub has written a silly but very comprehensive look at hats and what constitutes a hat. The writing is fresh and awfully clever. The littlest of listeners and the youngest of emerging readers will find this to be a very fun book. The bright, primitive illustrations by Blanca Gómez are filled with delightful details, support the text beautifully, and will help to keep young listeners and readers engaged.


Night Shift

Night Shift is a medical suspense thriller that readers will find captivating. Medical Examiner Jack Stapleton knows something fishy is going on when his close friend, Dr. Sue Passero, dies from cardiac arrest even though she is extremely healthy. He pulls all the strings and calls in favors from hospital staff and the lab to try and figure out how this could have happened. As he digs deeper and asks more questions, another doctor is found dead in her home. Could this be the doing of a hospital serial killer like Jack and his wife encountered several years ago? And if so, what is his or her motive? Jack knows Sue was onto something, which is why she may have been killed. But how did the killer make it look like a heart attack?

Readers will love following the feisty Medical Examiner as he rides his bike through the streets of Manhattan searching for answers to his friend's death. He finds himself in plenty of hot water with hospital administrative staff but will stop at nothing to figure out what really happened. Fans of medical thrillers will love this one.


The Noom Mindset: Learn the Science, Lose the Weight

The Noom Mindset is the companion book to the Noom app, which helps users make better health decisions. Whether it's creating a relationship with food, deciding to exercise or not, or learning different methods to destress, Noom can help its users with all of these. The biggest takeaway from this book was that there is no right or wrong plan for anyone. We must decide for ourselves what we want, be mindful of everything from our environment to our own self-deprecating thoughts, and learn from everything we do.

This book is great for anyone who doesn't want to be on a strict diet or exercise plan. It gives the readers options that they can customize to their lifestyle. The book gives ideas on popular diets and their descriptions and tools, such as charts and graphs, to analyze where you are now and figure out where you want to be in the future. It gives a list of helpful affirmations on days when you don't feel like doing anything but sitting and eating chips and talks about giving yourself rewards throughout your program. It also includes a glossary of the different terms used in the book. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to start a health and fitness journey.


What Lies in the Woods: A Novel

Two eleven-year-old girls run out of the woods. Their friend has been murdered, they say. Only Naomi Shaw isn't dead. She was stabbed seventeen times, once in the face. The girls, Liv, Cass, and Naomi, identify a man rumored for picking up hitchhiking women and killing them, and he is convicted. Now, several years later, Alan Stahl dies in prison of cancer, and all of the feelings the girls have about the man come back. But the girls also know that they lied about that day. After all, they were only playing their Goddess game and watching over the skeleton they found who was wearing a bracelet that said "Persephone."

This book is one of the best thriller suspense novels I have ever read. It is pieced together so well, with everything coming together at the end. The story is told from the point of view of Naomi, whose personal life seems to be hanging on by a thread. She finds herself in danger multiple times as she tries to uncover and remember the secrets of that day. Readers will love this fast-paced mystery set in the woods. Nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted. Reminiscent of Chevy Stevens and Ruth Ware novels.


Wait for Me

Lessons of a Teen Roundup

Although the books in this roundup may all have very different plots, they have one thing in common. All of these books have a cast of strong teens who are on very special missions. And whether they are researching or fighting or just trying to figure things out, they all learn some very important life lessons along the way.

The Infamous Frankie Lorde 3: No Admissions
Brittany Geragotelis
Holiday House
9781645951230

Frankie Lorde, a once renowned international thief, finds herself in a predicament once again in the third volume of The Infamous Frankie Lorde. She finds out that a group of wealthy parents is using their influence and wealth to buy their kids into the best institutions. Frankie sets out to get to the bottom of this scandal and in the process learns some important lessons. This book can be read as a standalone.

The Q
Amy Tintera
Random House Children's Books
9780593486177

This action-packed YA novel will have readers cheering as they follow two teenagers from opposite worlds who must right their way through a dystopian America during a pandemic. Seventeen-year-old Maisie has spent her whole life in the Q—the post-pandemic quarantine. Lennon Pierce is the son of a US Presidential Candidate who has been kidnapped and dropped into the Q. The two teens must work together to get Lennon out of the Q before he is permanently infected. This book has many thought-provoking themes including political unrest, medical care, and poverty.

Wait for Me
Sara Shepard
Union Square & Co.
9781454945772

Casey Rhodes is a seventeen-year-old in her sophomore year at NYU. When she starts hearing voices, she flees to the beach town of Avon to get away. The voices become more intense and soon she has visions of things and people she knows nothing about including a guy named Jake. This is a thriller suspense novel that has many twists and turns that readers will love.


Youniverse: The Quantum Kaleidoscope of You

Open Youniverse and discover the magnificence of the universe and how ornately the fabric of it is interlaced. Its design is masterful, beginning with the infinitesimal atoms that make up every living and non-living thing and moving on to the intricate molecules contained in a single drop of water. They, too, are everywhere: in blood cells that carry oxygen to tissues throughout the body, in organs as complex as the human eye, and even in the chlorophyll that allows plants to thrive. You are yet another of these miraculous wonders; you are the youniverse, and the universe is you.

This book is brilliantly crafted and will be a wonderful resource for upper-elementary school science teachers and students alike. Astronomy and biology enthusiasts will favor it, as will youth with insatiable curiosity about the world around them.

The pages of this spectacular book contain only a limited amount of text, so it’s a relatively quick read. The author’s use of rich figurative language is impressive, and her style is alluring. The illustrations are sensational, featuring vivid hues and striking real-life images set against dark back-matter. They’re certain to leave a lasting impression on young readers.


The Bears Shared

The bear's hair is outside their lair, flying everywhere. A bird gathers the hair and uses it to make a warm, soft nest high up in a tree outside the lair the bears share. But a storm comes and the wind howls and blows, battering the warm nest. Rain pours down and the wind blows harder until the branch holding the warm nest cracks and breaks, sending the nest and all the birds swirling down. They all land in a bouncy bush and then slide down the muddy hill right into the bear’s lair, the one with smelly bear hair. Oh, no, not the bear’s lair! What will happen now?

Author Kim Norman has written a delightful rendering of the old poem This is the House that Jack Built with a fresh, new take. Her rhyme and meter are perfect, and the retelling is fun and entertaining. Young listeners will love this wonderful read-aloud, and those who read to them will not mind when it is asked for over and over. The enchanting illustrations by David Walker will keep young listeners fully engaged with the book. This is a sweet book that will be a fast favorite.


Free Spirit Cocktails

Eat, Drink, and Be Happy: Books to Make You Say Mmmm

Food and drink are a popular topic in any room. In this collection of books about the things we consume each day, you will find chefs’ secrets, a twist on your favorite drink, stories about how we connect food with memories, and everything else related to food and drink.

Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door
Emmanuel Laroche,Elizabeth Falkner
Morgan James Publishing
9781631959172

Author Emmanual Laroche brings to the table a compilation of decades-long conversations with some of the world’s most renowned chefs. His search for new foods and flavors has brought insight from those he has met over the years with discussions on topics such as inspiration, culture, life-skills taught in the kitchen, and the creative process of cooking. Anyone who loves food will find this book entertaining and fascinating.

From Scratch
Fiona Weir Walmsley
Hardie Grant - Chronicle Books
9781743798072

A wonderful collection of 200 recipes that will help even the most novice chef create simple foods from scratch. Author Fiona Weir Walmsley brings fun into the kitchen and readers will love making their own mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, caramel, jams, and more. With beautiful color photographs to display the final products, this cookbook is a staple for all kitchens.

The Anthropocene Cookbook
Zane Cerpina,Stahl Stenslie
MIT Press
9780262047401

One of the most interesting themes in a cookbook yet, the idea of finding new ways to think and make food in case of future catastrophes. Authors Zane Cerpina and Stahl Stenile imagine ways to make food out of plastic, extracting spices and medicine from sewage, and using human bacteria to make cheese. The projects introduced are certainly food for thought!

60-Second Cocktails
Joel Harrison, Neil Ridley
Princeton Architectural Press
9781648961762

This recipe book contains 60 cocktails that can be made in 60 seconds or less. Utilizing a variety of spirits, authors Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley have made cocktail-making easy and enjoyable. Try a Douro Spritz or a Firecracker Margarita! Users of this book will wow their guests with cocktails that look and taste so fancy they’ll think they’re at a 5-star restaurant. Complete with vivid photographs of each drink.

My First Popsicle
Zosia Mamet
Penguin Publishing Group
9780143137290

My First Popsicle will connect food with emotion for its readers. Food can be used to evoke past memories whether through taste, smell, or visually. Author Zosia Mamet has compiled stories from people that tell readers what food reminds them of what. One storyteller has an obsession with desserts from chain restaurants. One speaks about the cultural responsibility surrounding dumplings. Although not a cookbook per se, the random thoughts and stories will remind its readers of how large a role food plays in our lives.

Bar Menu
Andre Darlington
Running Press
9780762474363

This book of globally inspired bar food and cocktails will have the eyes of foodies everywhere wide with wanting. From Persian Saffron Pistachios to Sticky Flanken Ribs to Vietnamese Lemongrass Skewers, this book will have your mouth watering. The book also has a list of food and cocktail pairings so hosting will be a no-brainer. Try the Butter Chicken Wings with the Planter’s Punch! Or how about Soba Noodles with a Sake Lillet Spritz? Your guests will think you’re a gastronomy expert!

Butter and Flower
Ann Allchin
TouchWood Editions
9781771513708

This cookbook introduces its readers to cooking with cannabis. With 40 recipes for foods such as oatmeal raisin cookies and gluten-free snickerdoodles and an introduction on how to infuse cannabis into sugar and oils, this book has everything you need to make that “special” recipe. Butter and Flower also includes stories from people who have found the medicinal benefits of cannabis to be life-changing.

Free Spirit Cocktails
Camille Wilson, Jennifer Chong
Chronicle Books
9781797215006

A collection of 40 zero-alcohol drinks that are based on classic libations, these recipes are a wonderful alternative to the regular booze-filled cocktail. With drinks such as the Apple Pie Mimosa, Art Basil, Passion Fruit Punch, and the Gingerbread Martini, everyone will want to try these tasty concoctions. Perfect for baby showers, weddings, and housewarming gatherings.


The Social Climber: A Novel

Eliza Bennet is The Social Climber. She’s about to be married to Graham Walker of the well-known Walker family. The Walkers are old money, and Eliza has done her homework very carefully. Her secrets will remain hidden until the perfect time. As her wedding day approaches, she continues with her plans to make sure that everyone gets exactly what they deserve.

I don’t really want to give away anything more than that, so unfortunately, that’s all I can say. However, if you enjoy the television show Revenge, you will love this story. It was very similar, just with a different relationship that the main character needed justice for. It was really interesting to see how far Eliza would go to change herself in order to get revenge. Are guys really that easy to manipulate? That seems to be what books and movies are telling me. After reading this, I, for one, am glad I do not live in this elite world where you can’t trust anybody.  Anyway, if you enjoy stories where people get their just desserts, especially if they are part of the one percent, then I highly recommend you read this book.


Polar Bear

It’s springtime in the Arctic, and the winter’s deep freeze is beginning to thaw. A mother polar bear and her still-young cubs set off for the arduous journey north. She is starved, eager for that first taste of seal blubber in what seems like a lifetime. As she and her kin trek miles across rough terrain, they struggle to keep up with her neck-breaking pace and impressive endurance. She slows for a bit, and then onward they venture until they reach the water’s edge. They emulate her every move: swimming, hunting, and watching for nearby dangers. December arrives, and with it, the frigid temps, a gentle reminder of what’s to come.

Children ages six to twelve will embrace this gorgeously illustrated picture book. It’s chock-full of fascinating facts about these mammoth creatures of the Northern Hemisphere. Award-winning author Candace Fleming has a remarkable ability to tell the polar bears’ story with interest and intrigue, welcoming readers along on their northbound expedition. She reveals their innate capabilities, unparalleled adaptability, and unrelenting determination to thrive in a region plagued by climate change and an ever-evolving landscape of minimal predictability. They are simply majestic in their own right.


Elephants Remember

In Elephants Remember, author and illustrator Jennifer O’Connell writes of Lawrence Anthony’s remarkable journey to save a herd of wild elephants from imminent death. When Lawrence received that initial request for help, he knew he wasn’t equip for the challenge. Being the owner of a wild-animal reserve in Zululand, South Africa, didn’t necessarily make him fit for the job. Despite his reservations, he accepted, and in the days to follow, spent hours gaining the trust of the incorrigible matriarch and her wary herd. In time, he was able to develop a deep relationship with them, one that became especially prominent in his passing.

This is a wondrous story of love, commitment, determination, and companionship. It highlights the impact of a single individual and is beautifully written and illustrated. It will undoubtedly captivate young minds. Animal-enthusiasts and conservationists ages seven to twelve will likely count it among their favorites. They’ll find it inspiring and heartwarming, especially those who have a soft spot for these miraculous creatures. What they do in response to Lawrence’s death is astounding and a true testament to their ability to bond with human beings. They’re capabilities are indeed amazing.


How to Excavate a Heart

Young Love and High School Drama Roundup

Young readers will fall in love with these books that have not only romance but a bit of drama thrown in. There is high school drama, small business owner drama, and even a winter rom-com in this mix of Young Adult reads.

Friends Like These
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Random House Children's Books
9780593309674

When Jake convinces his girlfriend Jessica to go to Tegan’s end-of-summer party, Jessica reluctantly agrees to go. Then Tegan goes missing from the party and something embarrassing happens to Jessica. This book has themes of sexual assault, teenage sex, and high school drama. With twists and turns throughout the book, readers won’t want to put this one down.

How to Excavate a Heart
Jake Maia Arlow
HarperCollins
9780063078727

A sweet story about a woman named Shani who is getting over a breakup only to accidentally hit May with her mother’s car. A serendipitous relationship resumes as Shani and May find themselves snowed in together. This is holiday romance is perfect for fans of rom-com. Warning: has themes of sexual assault.

The Book of Us
Shane Peacock
Cormorant Books
9781770866553

When sixteen-year-old Noah is overheard by his girlfriend Miranda talking to another girl, he says something that deeply hurts her. Trying to win her back, Noah writes a book called The Book of Us, which documents his journey to understanding the harm his words have caused. Will this be enough to get Miranda back? Warning: this book has themes of the abuse of girls and women.

Salt and Sugar
Rebecca Carvalho
Inkyard Press
9781335454331

The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their family history. Lari Ramires’ family owns Salt and Pedro Molina’s family owns Sugar. When Lari’s grandmother passes away and a large grocery store opens in town, Lari must decide if she can trust Pedro enough to save both of their bakeries. This Romeo and Juliet-style romance is delightful from cover to cover. The history of the characters and their culture is refreshing.


The Opportunist: A Novel

Alana has been receiving urgent text messages from her brothers since her seventy-six-year-old father, Ed, announced he was going to marry his twenty-eight-year-old nurse, Kelly. Alana could care less, since she hasn’t spoken to her father in years, but her brothers won’t let it drop. They are convinced she’s a gold-digger out to steal their father’s billions. They persuade Alana to come to their father’s island to try and talk Kelly out of it. However, Kelly turns out to be a force to be reckoned with and it will take a lot more than a request to get rid of The Opportunist.

Overall, this was a great book, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy revenge stories, especially those with lots of twists. I think the only thing that would make it better is to have had it be longer, with more backstory on the characters. That could have certainly added to the suspense and made the ensuing deaths seem like more of a big deal, instead of just getting rid of characters that you weren’t really attached to. It’s a quick read, making it a great addition to your booklist.


The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel: The Lost Stories Collection

Get to know more about Scott’s beloved characters in this stunning collection of short stories. Each story is set during a different time period (ranging from 500 BCE to 2005) and follows various characters from Virginia Dare taking a trip with Edgar Allen Poe to the Flamels making an epic discovery. These stories will take you back into the world of Nicholas Flamel with eight new adventures.

Each journey is fantastic such as Virginia Dare going on an epic adventure with Edgar Allen Poe. The stories are charming and explore a different element of the world with beloved characters at the helm. The collection brings to life more of the folklore and mythology rooted in the world. The stories are original and put a creative spin on various well-known figures such as Krampus and the Pied Piper. Scott proves yet again that he has a true gift for worldbuilding and will make you want even more from this world. So much fun to read these delightful adventures from the first story to the last. The Lost Stories Collection serves as a great companion to The Immortal Nicholas Flamel series.


All the Blood We Share

All the Blood We Share tells the story of the family of serial killers known as the Bloody Benders. The Benders come to Kansas in 1871, where they open an inn and welcome weary travelers, especially those who travel alone. Those who stay for a meal rarely leave alive. Pa Bender is more than happy with their arrangement, always wanting one more to finance his desires. Ma Bender is ready to be done with their murderous ways. John wants nothing more than to be with his stepsister Kate and will kill anyone who looks at her too long. Kate is left to choose their marks and offer sittings as she pretends to be a medium. Eventually, the body count will become too high, and the Bloody Benders will have to move on once again.

Even in the Old West, it’s hard to imagine an entire family getting away with this much murder. I can only hope in the digital age, it would be a lot less likely. The author’s take on Kate was interesting, as she made her a sociopath who also desired a normal life. If you enjoy fictional retellings of history, this book is for you.


Financial Feminist

Tori Dunlap, popular podcast host, authors her first book doing what she does best: dispense knowledge about money smarts to women of all ages. Dunlap shares hard-earned know-how about paying off debt, investing, budgeting, building savings, and even negotiating a better salary. Questions geared at uncovering long-held beliefs help readers understand the root of myriad money issues. Guest essays from financial experts round out sound advice offered throughout the book.

While some of the advice dispensed throughout the book is standard fare, Dunlap adds a nuanced view of personal finance by helping readers understand how systems of oppression affect personal choices and the resulting circumstances. By deconstructing the harmful and condescending messages that women get about money, Dunlap helps women overcome the shame and guilt related to money. What sets Dunlap’s approach apart from other financial advice geared toward women is a solid and thorough discussion about spending. Dunlap believes that money is a tool and resource to help people achieve their best life; however, they define it. Spending money on things that give one joy is just as important as saving and investing.


The Nightmare Man: A Novel

The Nightmare Man is the one who gives nightmares to children. What novelist Ben Bookman and Detective Mills know is that nightmares aren’t just for kids. Mills and his daughter, also a detective, are called to investigate a gruesome murder of a family only to discover it exactly as described in Bookman’s latest novel. When the bodies start piling up, Ben becomes the main suspect as each continue to play out like his story. But what he wrote, isn’t the only nightmare come to life. Ben and the detectives will have to discover the link between all the nightmares before they claim more victims.

This was much better than I even thought it would be. The plot was an interesting twist on the classic nightmares come to life. I really enjoyed Detective Mills’ character and his struggles with his gift/curse. The only downside is that the book ended too soon. I would love to see where things go with Bri and Blue. If you enjoy creepy horror stories, this one’s for you. I will never recommend this to my son who struggles with nightmares, but for everyone else, I highly recommend.


Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods: History, Insights & Magickal Practice

This book incorporates the rich and fascinating history of the Greek gods through a lens of modern witchcraft in this masterful guide. The book covers the main gods in the pantheon with each section devoted to a different god that gives a brief summary of their history with personal insights and spells that will teach you how to channel the gods in day-to-day life. These spells include a home connection spell (with Hestia), a mirror spell to see one’s beauty (with Aphrodite), and protection from evil spirits (with Hekate).

Well-organized and easy to connect with as each section thoroughly explains Mankey and Taylor’s personal connection and gives insight into why they wrote this book. It’s truly fascinating to read the brief rundowns about the gods’ history, including how the stories changed over the years through each new iteration. The spells in this are easy meditation and channeling practices aimed to show anyone looking to learn how to have more peace and harmony in their lives. These range from protection from Lightning with Zeus to a ritual to protect the vulnerable with Artemis. This is a great source for beginners, those curious about modern witchcraft, and those interested in seeing a different perspective of the Greek gods.


A Quiet Life: A Novel

Chuck is a new widower struggling to accept the shape of his life without his beloved wife, Cat. Their annual trip to Hilton Head has long been booked, but he can’t imagine being there without her. His grief is complicated by intense, years-long regret over his reaction to Cat’s relationship with a young woman in need. Approaching his porch each morning is Ella, a newspaper carrier facing an entirely different kind of grief: her ex-husband kidnapped their daughter, and Ella hasn’t seen her for months. Elsewhere in town, twenty-something Kirsten works each day at an animal rescue, not looking too closely at the dreams she once had of being a veterinarian. Her father’s violent death has derailed her entire life, and she can’t see a way forward. In fact, none of these bereft characters can, not until their paths cross, offering an unexpected opportunity for not only healing but happiness.

The title of this novel explains its power. The moments rendered here are indeed quiet, and a lack of motion is part of what these characters struggle against. Joella’s gift is a kind of relentless interiority that allows readers to know these characters deeply. Being inside such lives isn’t easy, and readers will encounter crushing, soul-leveling tales.


101 Greatest Soups on the Planet: Every Savory Soup, Stew, Chili and Chowder You Could Ever Crave

Erin Mylroie has brought us 101 Greatest Soups on the Planet. There are broths, stews, creamy soups, cold soups, and recipes from around the world. Most recipes contain a beautiful photo of the finished soup, while all of them have easy to follow instructions. Many recipes contain slow cooker or instant pot instructions, if you would rather cook it that way than on the stove. There are also ideas on how to make the recipes vegan or vegetarian in many cases.

I love soup, especially thick, creamy, savory soups, so this book was perfect for me. I made both the Bacon Jalapeno Cheeseburger Soup and the Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Browned Butter Gnocchi and Sage. They both turned out amazing! The instructions were super easy to follow. My only suggestion for this book, would be to include a time estimate as both took a bit longer than expected, since I didn’t quite know when to start.

My goal is to make every single soup in this book. Hopefully, at some point, my kids will decide they like soup as well; otherwise, I’ll just have to keep serving it to other people! This book is a must for all soup lovers!


This Is a Book About Noodles

Brendan Pang has curated a delightful and approachable collection of recipes. While the main focus is a celebration of noodles in all their various types and forms, he also includes supporting and/or complimentary recipes to create a well-balanced experience. The book is both visually appealing and organized in a format that is easy to navigate. The photos are clear, appealing, and invite the reader to try their own variation. Nothing comes across as overly fussy or beyond the ability of the average at-home cook.

The thoughtful chapter topics provide Brendan the opportunity to educate the reader on the types of noodles in an easily digestible manner. I particularly appreciated the choose your own adventure options within the recipes. For example, readers had the option to purchase store-bought noodles or they could try their hand at making their own noodles. The same option was provided for sauces. This flexibility allowed the recipe to adapt from a thirty minute quick fix to a full afternoon project depending on your preferred level of involvement.

Overall, it is an excellent addition to any cook book collection.


The House of Eve

Readers who love complicated stories about parallel lives will be absorbed by these stories of two women who ultimately share the same destiny. I loved this book because it took me into feeling like I knew these women intimately. They are sexual beings during a time when female sexuality was taboo. Because of these societal strictures, women are constrained from becoming their authentic selves. While both of their roads begin in poverty and deprivation, both share an unrelenting passion for doing fulfilling work and creating better circumstances. Both are willing to humble themselves in the face of circumstances and deal with reality as it presents itself in attempting to crush them into nonentity. Layered onto this story are the further humiliations of being black in a society that only values light skin and compliant blacks. The author is gifted in writing about daily humiliations which resonate throughout one’s life and choices. Ultimately, readers will feel the familiarity of feeling that these lives are real and that even under trying circumstances, achievement is possible.


Fish Cough

Part science fiction, part slightly deranged introspective narration on life, Fish Cough is a surreal ride through the special neurosis that accompanies the mid-life crisis of the formerly hopeful and free-spirited while simultaneously wrestling with a literal alien force intent on bending reality to its will. Thom is a freelance writer living in Portland, Oregon with his husband Howard in the small apartment Thom first moved into when he came to the city as a young man. Unbeknownst to either of them, a meteor shower that occurs every 33 years is about to subtly shift their lives and the lives of those around them into funhouse mirror images of what they were. After the shower, a small meteor becomes wedged in the tree outside their apartment and Thom, already standing on shaky ground in his relationship and feeling stuck and unsure in every other aspect of his life, is the first unfortunate to initially find it with the assistance of a curiously cognizant wild squirrel he later dubs Gordito. The changes in how Thom and Howard relate to one another following the meteor’s appearance, as well as how the lives of their neighbors slowly start to crumble are some of the most imaginatively written events I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

At certain points, I was definitely questioning whether or not Thom was a reliable narrator or if he was simply losing his mind to his own neuroses a little bit. Buchner’s writing style and the way Thom relates his experiences reminded me quite a bit of The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan, which also features an unreliable narrator, but Fish Cough is honestly in a category all its own. There were so many plainly described yet uncanny things that occurred alongside Thom’s own meandering inner narration that figuring out the reality of the characters’ situation became a kind of captivating puzzle for me. He would sometimes get on one thought train regarding his relationship or an experience from his past that would take a drastic turn and then circle back around to the original point of reference in a strange sort of spiraling thought loop. Afterward, he would have interactions with Howard, or with Gordito that would be just slightly this side of weird that it made me question whether or not his previous ramble actually made sense, or if it just made sense to Thom in his own mind. This coupled with the very visceral changes to Howard’s appearance and demeanor meant it wasn’t quite clear what the reality of the situation was versus Thom’s personal interpretation of it until the end of the book. It’s definitely a must-read for lovers of the strange and unusual.


Cost of Deceit

Jake Clearwater is a former attorney turned law professor who has been sought out for his viewpoints on a sensational murder trial. Jake will be providing analysis for a local TV network where his interpretation of events in the courtroom will be played for the viewing audience. The case involves a police lieutenant who is accused of murdering his wife. The prosecution’s case possesses a lot of circumstantial evidence but is hampered by a key missing item: the wife’s body.

As the prosecution presents its case to the jury, Jake offers a blunt assessment of the prosecutor. Jake’s girlfriend, Lisa St. Marie, is quick to take him to task for his harsh take. Jake’s celebrity has led to a higher profile at the law school, but Jake maintains a level head. His main concern is ushering his students through the fiery combat of trial and getting them prepared to be the next generation of legal minds. Jake is soon offered tenure but must take on more class work as well.

As Jake’s fortunes seem to alter for the better, the trial begins to go downhill. The defense has rattled a witness here and there, and another witness has taken the fifth in lieu of testifying. The trial ends in a hung jury and Jake is stunned. He is even more stunned when the DA’s office approaches him to take over prosecutorial duties in the second trial. Jake has been out of the courtroom for some time and the task of retrying a case can prove daunting. Jake’s sense of justice compels him to accept the position and try to secure a conviction against the Lieutenant.

Cost of Deceit illustrates how there is nothing quite comparable to the drama of a murder trial. A media-saturated spectacle ensues with a heinous crime, a contemptible defendant, and an exorbitant defense. Jake Clearwater is a clever and forthright teacher of the law. Author H. Mitchell Caldwell (Cost of Arrogance) pens an exemplary legal procedural ranking with the works of Turow and Grisham.

Caldwell writes the courtroom scenes in a descriptive and informative fashion. The ends of various chapters are equipped with trial tips for budding lawyers that will grab the reader's attention. The dramatic dynamic of the trial is comparable to the action that occurs outside the courtroom as one proceeding gives way to another and tensions rise. A most enjoyable read from start to conclusion.


My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement

Rather than a book about the civil rights struggle in Selma, Alabama, this is a story about a middle-class happy family and the everyday life therein. Because of the title of this book, the reader will be kept in suspense, hoping that this happy Brown family will be spared what befell so many Selma families in that city’s history. Although Dr. King makes two brief appearances in this memoir, the civil rights struggle is peripheral to the story.

At the start of the book, the writer gives lush and detailed descriptions of her setting; however, when she introduces her father, Dah, on page six, we have no idea what he — or for that matter — the rest of her family look like. It occurs to this reader that these setting descriptions contrast with the emotional overlay of segregation dominant in Alabama.

A brief word about the book’s graphics: while the cover is graced with a beautiful illustration, when that motif is carried into the chapter headings, it makes the book look dirty and used. The book is an interesting look at a good family with tight bonds in an otherwise hostile environment.


Alexandra Wyman's book The Suicide Club: What to Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death chronicles her arduous journey of reconstructing her life after her husband's death nearly shattered her will to live. The deeply moving and informative memoir is organized into three sections. The first section, Shock and Awe, describes how she is forced to accept her husband's suicide, her recovery process, and certain business-related duties she had to carry out. The Now What? Phase is where her rebuilding begins, and it includes the emotional fluctuations she experienced, as well as the practical strategies she employed during this time to rebuild and heal. The last section, Finding the Collateral Beauty, walks readers through the stage when she accepted her new reality and embraced her new self. She also began to anticipate what her future held for her. Compassion, love, and forgiveness accompany this stage.

The book shines a light on the experience of losing a loved one to suicide. We observe not just a lady attempting to rebuild her life but also a distraught personality attempting to rediscover joy and happiness. Alexandra shows us her deepest problems and thoughts as she juggles some tough situations with family and friends in this refreshingly honest narrative. I learned numerous essential things about the aftermath of losing a loved one through her various personal experiences and discoveries, including the need to create a will and the meaning of anniversary reactions.

The author's healing process is described in raw, unvarnished words, with nuanced stories that provide useful messages and deep, emotional descriptions. Apart from relating her particular experience of life after a partner's suicide, Alexandra also illuminates other stories and ways people behave in such a situation. For example, she reveals how she prefers to grieve in private while recognizing that others grieve in public and in other ways.

Readers struggling with grief and loss, particularly those who have lost someone to suicide, are likely to find various similar perspectives and experiences in the book. They will also benefit from the author's brilliant observations and suggestions. The captivating book covers topics such as dating as a widow, dreading loss, therapy sessions, making a will, burial arrangements, motherhood, conflict with in-laws, religion, and so on.

As I read The Suicide Club: What to Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death, I was getting to know someone with an admirable drive to forgive, heal, and find love and joy again, despite her loss. Thank you, Alexandra Wyman, for illuminating your path from a place of pain and hurt to a realm of abundance, grace, and strength.


Rough Justice

Callie James and Cash Logan are no strangers to dangerous situations. In Rough Justice, a young woman named Sara is getting ready to immigrate to the United States from France. What she doesn't know is that the company she used to complete the transaction actually wants something more from her—her identity. This means they must make Sara disappear. But they don't know what they are getting themselves into. Sara knows how to defend herself. She also finds clues about her mother's past, leading her to Cash and Callie.

Readers will find themselves engaged in Rough Justice from cover to cover. Author Burt Weissbourd does a fantastic job of developing his characters. First, we are introduced to Rosie, an immigration lawyer, and Yu, an immigrant from Hong Kong, with his eyes set on building his own empire. Rosie and Yu partner up to become rich using their skill sets. Readers are then introduced to Sara, a twenty-five-year-old half-Algerian who grew up in an orphanage and reunited with her mother when she was fourteen. Sadly, her mother passed shortly after. She never knew who her father was. The action starts when Sara arrives in Seattle and ends up on a boat with a woman who tries to take her life. This is just the start of a whirlwind of events that happen in Rough Justice.

Cash and his crew trace Sara's experience back to Northwest Trading Company, a company owned by Rosie and Yu. Rosie and Yu know they have their hands full with Cash and so they order a hit on Sara, Cash, and Callie. My favorite part of the book was when Cash and Sara are tied up by one of the henchmen, and Sara saves Cash's life, getting herself shot in the process.

The backdrop to Rough Justice is also well-described from the time Sara arrives in Seattle to the time the crew spends in Cuba. The fast pace of this book makes it easy to follow, and the dialogue between characters flows naturally. There is also a bit of a love story thrown in, not just with Cash and Callie, but with Sara and someone she really finds a connection with when they arrive in Cuba. Overall, Rough Justice is a book that, although part of a series, can be read as a standalone action thriller. Fans of Patterson and Baldacci will love the story, characters, and setting in this captivating adventure.


Handwritten Notes: Learn How a Small Powerful Act Can Enrich Your Life

"Author Carrie Pierce shows readers how a simple note of gratitude can brighten someone's day. Handwritten notes should be personal, positive, and from the heart. In a world immersed in technology, human-to-human interaction has evolved into a less personable experience via screens. As readers will see, taking a few minutes to create a handwritten note for your client, parent, or child, or even to a complete stranger, can spread joy and happiness to many lives."—Kristi Elizabeth, San Francisco Book Review


Nine Days

Sara Austin struggles with a job she no longer enjoys when she learns her mother is ill. Genevieve Austin was never an easy mother to love, and Sara, along with her siblings Jess, Parker, and Ross, has struggled when it comes to getting along with the strong-willed ninety-four-year-old woman. Frankly, she's been a force to reckon with for as long as anyone can remember. But the time has come for the family to come together and rally around Genevieve as she comes to terms with a death she claims she's ready to accept. Will the siblings be able to put aside their differences and find time in their busy schedules to care for their mother? And will Sara find the peace and contentment she's been longing for, even with the possible loss of her mother?

Ms. Lannon has written a profoundly moving story about how women cope when things get tough. While reading this, I was caring for my ninety-year-old aunt, who is also in-home hospice care. This book somehow made me feel less alone. Mainly when it explored Genevieve's care at home. Ms. Lannon exposed the feeling and questions most of us deal with when facing the end of life care with a relative. I loved the way she portrayed her main character, Sara. She was a woman who had many issues and problems to juggle. Not only did she need to care for her mother, but she couldn't help but question how she ended up in a job she no longer finds fulfilling. Plus, she has her husband and children to care for as well. This meant she had little time to relax and care for herself.

Nine Days touches on numerous challenges that many women can relate to. Not only is that what makes it a complex and enjoyable story, but it also seems to me that it would be a perfect fit for a book club. Or a good book to share with someone who has lost a loved one or is caring for someone special. And while Sara Austin might be a fictional character, she embodies what many women of a certain age feel. That sense of time passing and yet a continuing need to find purpose in life and a desire to create or strengthen familial and personal relationships.

Overall, this is a well-written story with well-developed characters and themes. It is easy to get drawn into their worlds and events, making this one I will remember for some time. I hope the author continues to create moving and enjoyable stories that touch readers' hearts. I know I would love to read more.


What A Wonderful World!

"A photography collection that is sure to brighten up any coffee table that it adorns, What A Wonderful World! comprises a multitude of stunning and uplifting images captured during a lifetime spent traveling the world. Themed according to the predominant color and illustrating different people, places, and experiences, M.G. Crisci’s work beautifully reflects the panoply of emotions associated with life on this extraordinary planet. Whether you’re an armchair traveler or a real-life globetrotter, Crisci’s photographs are sure to inspire and prompt deep reflection on all that is good in the world." —Erin Britton, Manhattan Book Review


What A Wonderful World!

“An exquisite collection of photographs organized by the colors of a rainbow shows one man’s experiences as he has traveled for a lifetime. The smiles, vivid architecture, and natural beauty captured by these pictures are a once-in-a-lifetime experience. From California to Russia to France to Australia and so many more amazing geographical destinations, this book will have readers of all ages in awe.” —Kristi Elizabeth, Los Angeles Book Review


Soul Wars: An Adventure into the Supernatural

A pitched battle has been raging between the forces of light and darkness. The light-bearers have been chosen by God to mitigate the actions of Satan’s minions in winning the hearts and souls of humans on earth. In 1958, the battleground is Cambridge, Iowa. A few families have been zeroed in on as possible targets. Sam and Esther Evans are raising their two sons, Josh and Sam Jr, while living in a precarious union. Sam hides a barely contained rage at the world, verbally abuses his wife and sons, and doesn’t conceal his own infidelities. Esther fears she is losing her grip on her family.

Larry Olson is a salesman who is married to the materialistic and vain Rose. Larry worries over his financial stability as Rose squanders dollar after dollar on clothes and primping herself. Their daughter, Debbie, feels neglected while her parents squabble constantly. The demons of anger and resentment push themselves into the Olson house as willfully as the Evans house. Janet Silverstone is married to Marvin and has a daughter named Eva. Janet has lost her mother and is grieving. An ability to commune with her late mother’s spirit leads to a piqued interest in the occult. Soon, Janet behaves in a way that alarms both Marvin and Eva.

The Smiths are new in town. George is married to Mary, and they have a young son named Walter. The couple possesses a deep faith, but it is challenged regularly by the racism the family experience on a daily basis. The desire to cripple the families through division is the goal of the disciples of the antichrist, while angels seek to save each and every one. The only thing that is certain is that this war will be lengthy and harrowing.

Soul Wars is an epic story that tackles the ceaseless war between the forces of good and evil. The characters featured in this sprawling narrative are diverse in their domestic situations but are unified in their lost direction. The stimulating story unfolds over decades as the United States undergoes various shifts in culture and permissiveness, with the characters either adapting to the times or rejecting change as threats to their values. Author Chris Kline writes not merely a morality tale but a generational tug-of-war where faith seems boundless but is put to the test in various ways. The author’s knowledge of the Bible is ubiquitous throughout this story and adds potency to the dramatic narrative that unfolds before the reader. A very powerful entry.


When You Wish Upon a Lantern

Liya and Kai have grown up together as best friends, but an embarrassing misunderstanding splits them.  Liya is still grieving over the death of her beloved grandmother so decides to continue secretly granting wishes in their small Chinatown community to keep her memory alive. Liya explains this to Kai after they start hanging out again, and he is a great help and moderator to her plans. Then Liya discovers her family store is at risk, so takes it upon herself to save it. First step:  hold a successful lantern festival. When their fathers see them together at the event, innocently searching for stars (though there could be more there), the family feud erupts, and they both say things they shouldn’t. Alone again, they both have things to work through before even thinking of saving their friendship.

The characters are written more as middle school kids than high school, so it’s jarring when more mature thoughts come through. However, their emerging romance is sweet, especially with their shared Chinese and pop cultures and past experiences bringing them together. Liya’s aversion to germs and constant consideration of what she said/did make her different and real. A sweet read.


How to Sell a Haunted House

Single mother Louise receives a call informing her that her parents have both died, and she returns to her hometown of Charleston to go through their belongings and settle their estate. Louise now lives in San Francisco, and her relationship with her parents and brother is strained. Back in Charleston, she reunites with her brother Mark, and things are tense as they argue about how to handle their parents’ belongings. Things turn sinister when their mother’s beloved puppets seem to haunt Louise, and the story takes a turn as she tries to escape from either vivid hallucinations or a true haunting.

I was not prepared for the wild ride of How to Sell a Haunted House! This book was comedically creepy, and it was a weird story that I couldn’t put down. Grady Hendrix has a wild imagination and made the dolls and puppets in Louise’s family home become nightmarish! I enjoyed the flashbacks to Louise and Mark’s childhood and they helped create a cohesive story around the evil puppet Pupkin’s existence. This book was terrifying but also so far out there; it was truly captivating. The ending went a bit off the rails, but I was absorbed in this book!


Sizzle Reel

Five New Romances for April

Spring head first into some new romantic fiction this April and experience all the thrill, spills, and chills that accompany a fantastic love story. The five novels featured in this roundup are all forthcoming releases packed with fun, frolics, and plenty of humor, and they’re all certain to put you in the mood for romance.

Five First Chances by Sarah Jost

Have you ever felt like you missed the chance for something great? Something that could have changed your life for the better? Such worries plague Lou as she muses on the currently unsatisfactory status of her life: single, unfulfilled, stuck in a city far from home, and watching those around her celebrate their happiness. Not all is lost, however, as Lou is given the chance to travel back in time to two days in the past, to the point where one small decision had a major impact on everything. Although this allows her to correct her mistakes, Lou’s new decisions and actions send her in unexpected directions, ultimately trapping her in some kind of time loop. Interestingly, during each attempt to change the past for the better, she finds herself interacting with the same friend of a friend. Could it be the sign of something? Five First Chances by Sarah Jost explores how the greatest love stories are often the most unexpected love stories, with serendipity playing a significant role in the search for happiness.

Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald

Carlyn Greenwald’s Sizzle Reel follows would-be cinematographer Luna Roth as she navigates the surprising complexities associated with coming out as bisexual at the age of twenty-four. She may have the support of her best friend, but she has no intention of coming out to her right-wing parents, nor does she have any idea how to actually flirt with women. Plus, the excessive demands of her boss mean that she has little time for romantic matters anyway. When Luna meets A-list Hollywood actress Valeria Sullivan and senses that there might be an attraction between them, she puts together a plan intended to overcome both her professional and her personal difficulties. But things are never that simply and Luna soon finds herself in danger of losing her career, her best friend, and any chance she had at romance. Can she figure out a way to fulfill all her dreams without hurting those she cares the most about? It all makes for a hilarious rom-com and a surprisingly insight account of life behind the camera in Hollywood.

King of Wrath by Ana Huang

Billionaire CEO Dante Russo thrives on being in control in both business and life, and he’s so keen on living an ordered life that he has no intention of ever opening himself up to the chaos associated with married life. However, when faced with a blackmail plot, Dante agrees to get engaged to Vivian Lau, a woman he barely knows who just happens to be the daughter of his greatest enemy. Although he initially intends to do everything in his power to avoid the blackmail and break off the engagement without leaving any evidence that it ever took place, as Dante gets to know Vivian better he finds himself strangely reluctant to let her go. For her part, Vivian knows that it is her job to be the perfect daughter and pave the way for her family to enter high society. Marrying Dante would do just that, which is why she agrees to the engagement despite thoroughly disliking him. Yet, against all her instincts, she finds herself falling in love with her future husband. Will love manage to keep this disparate pair together? The second book in Ana Huang’s steamy Kings of Sin series, King of Wrath can be read as a standalone romance novel centered on the idea that opposites can attract in powerful ways.

Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon

HelenKay Dimon’s Moorewood Family Rules is an unusual tale of romantic misadventure that is also part crime novel and part family saga. Jillian Moorewood is the oldest and most steady child of the union between a conman and an heiress. She’s the one tasked with keeping the family together and out of trouble, and she’s also the one who had to go to prison to save the bunch of them. After spending over three years behind bars, Jillian has finally been released, and she’s still feeling pretty sore about the whole ordeal. When finally reunited with her family, she’s disappointed to find that they have continued with their criminal ways while she has been away, despite many promises to the contrary. Although none of them want to go legit, Jillian believes that she finally has the leverage to force them to do so. There’s just one problem, how can she convince her relatives to change their lives when her own life is in shambles? Fortunately, with the help of a great aunt and a few new acquaintances (not all of whom are working undercover), she is able to stand on her own two feet and figure out who she really is, including what she wants by way of romance.

Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat by Sonya Lalli

Sonya Lalli uses the fabulous setting of an Alaskan cruise as the perfect background for an enemies-to-lovers romance in Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat, which is packed with charm, humor, and meddling aunties! Jasmine Randhawa is commonly thought to have it all—a prefect boyfriend, a great job, and an apartment that makes people green with envy—but she’s really nowhere near as confident or contented as she seems. What’s more, her perfect romance is quickly coming apart at the seams. With her life in near tatters, Jasmine finds herself tagging along on her parents’ vacation, which does nothing for her self-esteem or mood, nor does the fact that the only other person under fifty on the cruise is the big- and pig-headed Jake Dhillon. The pair of them become enemies at first sight: Jasmine hates how Jake is placed on a pedestal for being the perfect son, while Jake dislikes Jasmine’s reputation as a troublemaker. Still, they can’t really stay out of each other’s way on a cruise ship, and after a while they begin to find some common ground, including the fact that they are both keeping secrets from their families. Romance seems to be blossoming, but will it survive the move back to dry land?


Stanley's Secret

Stanley is a talented boy with big dreams of dancing on stage, but he is too shy to share his gift openly. So while his other classmates participate in sports, Stanley secretly taps away with his pet mice, Squeaker and Nibbles, as his audience. Stanley is surprised to learn that the school principal has discovered his secret and urges him to participate in the school talent show. With only weeks to overcome his shyness, he practices while birds, cats, and his mice friends spirit him on.

Soon, he musters the courage to practice on the school’s auditorium stage. As he ball changes, flaps, and finishes with a spinning tap, Stanley is surprised to hear applause! He has inadvertently danced his way smack into the talent show auditions. But how will he do in the actual competition?

Author John Sullivan has written a meaningful story, told simply and clearly, demonstrating that children can find confidence in doing, in preparing, and in stepping out with courage to share their gifts with the world, and not feel inferior by comparing themselves to others. Zach Manbeck’s illustrations are lively and sweet, the colors magically vivid and appealing. I highly recommend this book for young readers, teachers, and parents to share the important teachable messages it conveys.


Scottish Stories (Everyman's Library Pocket Classics Series)

This book is an Everyman’s Pocket Classic which is an indicator of the quality in every one of their volume presentations. The book is beribboned and in a wonderful size for fitting into one’s hand while reading. Now shall we move to the contents? I had long forgotten (if I ever knew) the wealth of Scottish authors; Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and more than twenty more. The stories were all new to this reader and most intriguing. It was admittedly difficult to stumble over the dialect in some of the stories. The upside was that the reading went slower and more thoughtful, allowing this reader to immerse in the story and characters therein, an unusual bunch. This collection reminds me of my delight in childhood stories such as these; traveling to another world and finding characters that one has not met in real life, from fishmongers to gaoler’s daughters to livestock herders who all work hard and have the pride that goes with it.


The Lost Wife

It’s 1855, and Sarah Brinton makes the bold decision to pursue a longstanding goal: to seek out a childhood friend who’s invited her to travel West. This requires her to leave her child and abusive husband, but Sarah knows she must do this to save her own life. Life in the West is difficult, especially when she discovers her friend has died, but Sarah is savvy and practical. With a new doctor husband and more comfort than she ever could have imagined at the Indian agency where her husband works, she establishes a new life for herself and, to her surprise, befriends the Sioux women.

When tensions ignite between the tribes and the white settlers, Sarah’s life is upended. Captive with her two children as the two sides battle, she’s caught between worlds--distrusted by both the Sioux and her white community. Her journey is based on a true story, and Moore has given Sarah a riveting, unexpected voice that breathes welcome new life into a story more meaningful today than ever.


I Am a Little Chef

I Am a Little Chef is a fun interactive book to learn all about cooking. There are so many different types of ways to cook foods. This book shows there are many different types of food from all over the world.

This book was perfect for my little sister, but I liked it too. I liked how it showed all the different ways to cook foods, like broil, grill, etc. The book was so fun with interactive fold-out pages. In the back of the book was an envelope that had pages of different types of plates one could make with stickers. There were so many stickers. We really enjoyed this book. We saw that there are more books in the series, and can't wait to explore them all!


Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen

Cleopatra Selene was the only surviving daughter of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII and Roman Triumvir Marc Anthony. In Cleopatra's Daughter, Jane Draycott examines her life and times by following her journey as a princess until the death of her mother and father. Afterwards, she traces her steps as a Roman prisoner where she lived under the tutelage of Octavia, the sister of Augustus Caesar, until she married another royal prisoner. Finally, with the well-placed marriage to King Juba II of Mauretania, she could reclaim some of her earlier power, privilege, and esteem by reigning as his queen as they represented Rome's political and economic interests in North Africa.

Draycott provides insight into the Roman Empire and Egyptian life during the time of Cleopatra Selene, giving readers a full picture of what life must have been like for her. It's well-researched and full of interesting facts and details that history buffs will find satisfying and exciting. And for those readers like myself who have often thought women haven't received their rightful place in the history books, this one goes quite some way in recognizing that they have long played an interesting and influential role in the past.


Doe's Dandelions (Woodland Friends, 4)

Doe's Dandelions is the story about a doe (deer) who was excitedly getting ready for the Petal Parade with her friends Porcupine, Squirrel, and Bear. Doe grew daffodils, Porcupine had petunias, Squirrel had snowdrops, and Bear had bluebells. Doe found many dandelions in her grass one day and became scared of the weed! She went to visit her friends to warn them about the dandelions and found that they weren't worried but thought of Doe's "weed" as a snack, a pretty color in a bouquet, or something to help you make wishes. This gave Doe something to think about; would she change her mind about dandelions or would they stay a weed?

Doe's Dandelions teaches us that people might think of things differently and that it's okay and good to hear what other people think because different thoughts could make more sense. Doe did a good job of letting her friends know what was bothering her and also listening to them and hearing what they thought of her "problem." I liked the colors in the story with the different flowers and I might have to try doing my own Petal Parade when it gets warmer with the instructions at the end!


76 Hours: A Novel of Tarawa

Acclaimed author Larry Alexander brings readers a riveting account in 76 Hours: A Novel of Tarawa. Told from the American and Japanese perspectives, characters from both sides reveal what takes place behind the lines. The Japanese Emperor convinces his troops the Americans are weak and incapable of winning. He insists they’ll be defeated; the legacy and strength of his country depends on it. Kenji Sakai, Leading Seaman, is young and fearful but determined to take on the task. Private Peter Winston Talbot with the U.S. Marine Corps is as well, but what they both learn as the hours unfold is that nothing prepares one for war.

This is a harrowing work of historical fiction. “Hardball” Talbot, a man whose childhood was denigrated by an abusive, alcoholic father, witnesses the death of countless lives. His experience fighting for control is nothing short of surreal. The internal toll the seventy-six hours take on him, as well as what led up to them, is unfathomable. Alexander’s acute details and realistic depictions enable readers to feel they are right there alongside Talbot and Sakai as the minutes tick by and up until the final, unexpected defeat. Those who favor emotional and graphic war stories will undoubtedly find this a compelling read.


Midcentury Cocktails: History, Lore, and Recipes from America's Atomic Age

Midcentury cocktails by Cecelia Tichi is a fun book to have and share. I enjoyed the various chapters and structure and, of course, the cocktail recipes. This book has a great layout in that each chapter discusses an interesting part of midcentury life and then shares cocktails tied to it.

For instance, the "Green Book" chapter told of the purpose of the Green Book (to provide safe stops for African Americans in the 50s with restaurants and hotels that would serve them during segregation in parts of the US) as well as recipes from some of these stops. In this way, it's a nice combination of history with cocktail recipes that I didn't expect and found very engaging.

Helen Gurley Brown's Chloroform Cocktail was a favorite, although I had to tame down the full one fifth of vodka (for four drinks) to a more manageable amount. I am looking forward to reading more about Ms. Brown based on the chapter she is mentioned in. All in all, I'd say if you enjoy cocktails and/or the midcentury era, you will enjoy this book for the tidbits of history and the recipes.


Out of Ireland: A Novel

Eileen Sullivan and her brother Michael are living in tumultuous times in 186y Ireland. Eileen is set to marry an older man she barely knows and certainly does not love while her older brother Micheal’s restlessness finds a home in membership in the Irish Republican Brotherhood. This is the powerful core of Marian O’Shea Wernicke’s novel Out of Ireland.

The problem, though, is that Out of Ireland opens on Eileen’s deathbed scene in America, so the curiosity and wonder at what will befall her is mute. Readers know she survives whatever awful moment she suffers and that she will grow old and have a loving family around her when she dies. It’s an unfortunate start given that the heart of the novel is compelling.

Eileen’s unhappy marriage eventually takes her to America where Michael has already fled under threat to his life. Brother and sister must forge a new life and a new sense of family in a strange land far from the customs and traditions of their roots.

The elements of historical fiction and rendering of the Irish/British conflict, as well as the deep love between the two siblings, makes Out of Ireland highly readable if, at times, largely predictable.


Try Not to Hold It Against Me

This reader cannot help contrasting this book with one written over thirty years ago by producer Julia Phillips. While both titles seem to reflect the difficulties of producing films, Ms. Phillips’ story is one of drugs, hyper-vigilance, furious activity, and an unrelenting pace mixed with a sprinkling of name dropping.

Mr. Schlossberg, the author of this volume, also drops names but does so in a much more loving and inclusive manner. His tone is never strident; his brief, entertaining chapters tell anecdotes about a producer’s life and bespeak a team effort rather than a singleness of purpose.

Perhaps, it reflects the difference in east coast/west coast mentalities. One author is centered firmly in Los Angeles while Schlossberg is very much a New Yorker with theatrical sensibilities rather than film grosses. What I have heard from others in the film industry is that in New York, there is a community of friends, while in Los Angeles there is a team of rivals.

However that may be, this book presents an overall picture of what a producer is charged with doing: making friends, bringing people together and striving for artistic excellence. It helps that one of the friends is the genius Elaine May, who writes the foreword.