Last Day to Win a Copy of the Smart One and the Pretty One

Today is the last day to enter to win one of FIVE copies of The Smart One and the Pretty One. So if you haven't already go here win a copy. Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- November 30th

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) The Living Testament: Trading Dollars for Change by Jacob Isom: Author's Summary. This book touches on the history of our most pressing issues including family, religion, politics, race as well as others. It openly and honestly discusses why some things haven't change and the change that needs to occur. It addresses this issues from a social standpoint as well as a moral and psychological view. The Living Testament talks about the destructive lifestyles are society has come familiar with and what we can do to alter this.

Thanks to the author.

2) End the Fed by Ron Paul. Publisher's Summary. In the post-meltdown world, it is irresponsible, ineffective, and ultimately useless to have a serious economic debate without considering and challenging the role of the Federal Reserve.

Most people think of the Fed as an indispensable institution without which the country's economy could not properly function. But in END THE FED, Ron Paul draws on American history, economics, and fascinating stories from his own long political life to argue that the Fed is both corrupt and unconstitutional. It is inflating currency today at nearly a Weimar or Zimbabwe level, a practice that threatens to put us into an inflationary depression where $100 bills are worthless. What most people don't realize is that the Fed -- created by the Morgans and Rockefellers at a private club off the coast of Georgia -- is actually working against their own personal interests. Congressman Paul's urgent appeal to all citizens and officials tells us where we went wrong and what we need to do fix America's economic policy for future generations.

3) What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. Publisher's Summary. What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period.

Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.

"Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.

4) How to be Famous by Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt. Publisher's Summary. From braving the wilds of Los Angeles to the Costa Rican jungle, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have learned a thing or two about reality...television, that is. But while dominating the airwaves and tabloid covers every week may look like all fun and mind games, Speidi is here to tell you: becoming wildly famous requires hard work and a no-fail blueprint for success. Now, for the first time ever, Heidi and Spencer invite you behind the scenes as they reveal the ten-step plan that took them from nobodies to notorious! You will:

* Learn how to say I hate you without opening your mouth--Heidi's exclusive tutorial
* Increase your capacity for evil with Spencer's "Villain-o-meter"
* Discovery why getting and talking about plastic surgery is a must
* Unlock the secrets of celebrity couple math (e.g. Speidi > Heidi + Spencer)
* Mesmerize the media with outrageous behavior
* Bow down to the power of the paparazzi

...and much, much more!

With Heidi and Spencer as your personal coaches, you, too, can transform yourself into a red-carpet-ready superstar!

Thanks to Hachette Book Group.

5) The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate. Amazon Product Description. As 28 year old New York paralegal Rebecca Strand's widowed father lays dying, he confesses a secret: he had an affair 26 years earlier when Rebecca was just a toddler. Now he wants Rebecca to deliver the secret stash of letters he wrote, but never mailed, to the daughter he fathered. Rebecca's lawyer boyfriend, Michael, is adamant that she forget the woman exists. He's sure the woman will be an opportunist who will demand half of Rebecca's father's million-dollar estate. But Rebecca, now without any family in the world, can't help but wonder about her one living relative. With her relationship with Michael in tatters, Rebecca drives from New York City to Maine to find Joy Jayhawk, who operates a Weekend Singles Tour service out of an orange mini-van that her regulars dub "The Love Bus." Enter a cast of lovable, colorful characters, from Joy's eccentric mother to the singles on The Love Bus, and a sexy carpenter for whom Rebecca finds herself unexpectedly falling in love...

Thanks to Simon and Schuster.

6) Ivy & Bean: Doomed to Dance by Annie Barrows & Sophie Blackall. Amazon Product Description. Finally! After begging their parents for ballet lessons, Ivy and Bean finally get what they want...well, not exactly. Much to their surprise, it turns out ballet lessons do not include karate chops and roundhouse kicks to the villain's heart. The girls have no interest in learning how to dance gracefully, but they promised their parents they would finish the entire ballet course! When it comes time for Ivy and Bean to participate in the ocean-themed class recital, the girls must figure out a way to get out of it without breaking their promises.

Thanks to the Publisher.

Spotlight: Free Audio Book Downloads

As a commuter-reader I enjoy many books on wheels. The long hours on the road whiz by while I am engrossed in a new tome. And audio books are the perfect literary accompaniment for all commuters. Quite simply, audio books and commutes are a marriage made in heaven.

To promote literacy for everyone the folks at online degree programs have written a nice clickable list of 100 Free Audio Books You Should Have Read By Now. By using the links I was able to locate several personal favorites, including, Jane Eyre; A Christmas Carol; and The Wizard of Oz.

Check it out and make your commute a little sweeter!

Annie's Ghosts

Author's Summary. My mother was an only child. That’s what she told everyone, sometimes within minutes of meeting them. When I heard that my mother had been hiding the existence of a sister, I was bewildered. A sister? I was certain that she had no siblings, just as I knew that her name was Beth, that she had no middle name, and that she had raised her children to, above all, tell the truth.

Part memoir, part detective story, part history, Annie’s Ghosts revolves around three main characters (my mom, her sister and me as narrator/detective/son), several important secondary ones (my grandparents, my father and several relatives whom I found in the course of reporting on the book), as well as Eloise, the vast county mental hospital where my secret aunt was confined—despite her initial protestations—all of her adult life.

As I try to understand my mom’s reasons for hiding her sister’s existence, readers have a front-row seat to the reality of growing up poor in America during the 1920s and 1930s, at a time when the nation’s “asylums” had a population of 400,000 and growing. They will travel the many corridors and buildings of Eloise Hospital, a place little known outside Detroit but which housed so many mentally ill and homeless people during the Depression that it become one of the largest institutions of its kind in the nation, with 10,000 residents, 75 buildings, its own police and fire forces, even its own dairy.

Through personal letters and photographs, official records and archival documents, as well as dozens of interviews, readers will revisit my mother’s world in the 1930s and 1940s in search of how and why the secret was born. The easy answer—shame and stigma—is the one that I often heard as I pursued the story. But when it comes to secrets, there are no easy answers, and shame is only where the story begins, not ends.

Whenever the secret threatened to make its way to the surface, Mom did whatever she could to push it back underground. Just as Annie was a prisoner of her condition and of the hospital that became her home, my mother became a virtual prisoner of the secret she chose to keep. Why? Why did she want the secret to remain so deeply buried?

Employing my skills as a journalist while struggling to maintain my empathy as a son, I piece together the story of my mother’s motivations, my aunt’s unknown life, and the times in which they lived. My search takes me to imperial Russia and Depression-era Detroit, through the Holocaust in Ukraine and the Philippine war zone, and back to the hospitals where Annie and many others languished in anonymity.

For me, it was the quest of a lifetime.

Review. “Though we share so many secrets
There are some we never tell”

The Stranger by Billy Joel

When journalist Steve Luxenberg discovers after his mother’s death that she was not an only child, bur rather had a physically and mentally disabled sister, Annie, he embarks on a journey to uncover the truth behind his mother’s secret. What he discovers is a societal and legal system that for decades sequestered the mentally ill and disabled into institutions – leaving behind few traces of the person institutionalized. And on a personal level, he gains insight into his mother’s abandonment of Annie. Luxenburg surmises that his mother felt compelled to keep her sister’s existence a secret because at that time (the 30’s - 40’s) “psychiatry was a long way from curing the seriously ill; and . . . genetics [were believed to] be a factor.”

Although Luxenberg’s quest does not uncover all the answers to his questions he expresses overall satisfaction with the results. He reflects that “my search has allowed me to achieve a freedom of my own: free to see my mother as she was, free to embrace her flaws and accept her choices, free to put aside, once and for all, [and] the pain of not being able to help her . . .”

Annie's Ghosts is a fascinating detective story/memoir of one son’s determination to understand.

Publisher: Hyperion (May 5, 2009)
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the publisher and FSB Associates.

Cherries in Winter

Publisher's Summary. What is the secret to finding hope in hard times?

When Suzan Colón was laid off from her dream job at a magazine during the economic downturn of 2008, she needed to cut her budget way, way back, and that meant home cooking. Her mother suggested, “Why don’t you look in Nana’s recipe folder?” In the basement, Suzan found the tattered treasure, full of handwritten and meticulously typed recipes, peppered with her grandmother Matilda’s commentary in the margins. Reading it, Suzan realized she had found something more than a collection of recipes—she had found the key to her family’s survival through hard times.

Suzan began re-creating Matilda’s “sturdy food” recipes for baked pork chops and beef stew, and Aunt Nettie’s clam chowder made with clams dug up by Suzan’s grandfather Charlie in Long Island Sound. And she began uncovering the stories of her resilient family’s past. Taking inspiration from stylish, indomitable Matilda, who was the sole support of her family as a teenager during the Great Depression (and who always answered “How are you?” with “Fabulous, never better!”), and from dashing, twice-widowed Charlie, Suzan starts to approach her own crisis with a sense of wonder and gratitude. It turns out that the gift to survive and thrive through hard times had been bred in her bones all along.

Cherries in Winter is an irresistible gem of a book. It makes you want to cook, it makes you want to know your own family’s stories, and, above all, it makes you feel rich no matter what.

Review. Growing up my mother used to occasionally make “Gravy Bread” which is comprised of day old bread scraps, bacon fat, flour, and water. While the ingredients sound terrible, the dish itself is quite tasty. This Depression era recipe was handed down from my great-grandmother to my grandmother to my mother to me. Many families have similar hardship recipes that have been passed down for generations.

When Suzan Colón, author of Cherries in Winter, is let go from her six figure publishing job she decides to “put up soup.” According to Colón “to put up soup” means to do “whatever will sustain you through rough going until things get better.” The phrase also literally means to make soup. When Colón decides to “put up soup” she reaches for her Nana’s Depression era recipe file of cheap and hearty fare such as: Chicken Pie a la Mississippi; German Potato Salad; Aunt Nettie’s Clam Chowder; Quick Apple Cake; Butter Cookies; and Beef Stew with Yeast Dumplings.

Colón discovers that her Nana’s recipes fill more than just literal hunger, but also nourish the spirit. As Colón reflects,

"The recipes Nana wrote and saved offer more than directions for making comfort food that sustained my family for four generations. They’re artifacts from times good and bad – not vague references, but proof that we’ve been through worse than this and have come out okay. And right now, that’s something I need to know."

Each chapter begins with a recipe that Colón deftly weaves into a poignant lesson for weathering life’s storms. Particularly touching is the chapter, “Fine Vases, Cherries in Winter, and Other Lifesaving Devices” in which Colón explains that poverty of the soul is far more crippling than a zero bank account balance. As Colón muses, the little extra spent when there isn’t any extra is important because it reminds “us not to become miserly in spirit. We may be broke, but we’re not poor.”

Cherries in Winter is a literary hot bowl of chowder for a weary reader’s soul.


Publisher: Doubleday (November 3, 2009), 224 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Mailbox Monday -- November 23rd

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. Publisher's Summary. From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities.

As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon.

Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen's biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It's survival of the fittest -- and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

2) A Christmas Carol Special Edition Publisher's Summary. We heartily recommend this little volume
as an amusing companion, and a wholesome monitor,
to all who would enjoy in truth and in spirit
'A merry Christmas and a happy New Year.'"
--Charles Mackay, Morning Chronicle, December 19, 1843

Since its publication in 1843, the tale of a miserly old man and the ghosts who visit him has been bringing the true spirit of Christmas into hearts and homes. Whether you've read the story a thousand times or have only seen the movie, A Christmas Carol Special Edition will enrich your enjoyment of this holiday favorite with:

* The complete text of the Charles Dickens classic.
* Annotations offering interesting insight into the story's biblical allusions, the author's faith, and compelling Christian themes throughout.
* Discussion questions designed to engage and promote dialogue among readers of all ages on such subjects as regret, repentance, and redemption.
* A list of related resources to enhance your study.

Enjoy A Christmas Carol Special Edition in your home, study group, book group, or Advent celebration and learn how to say with Scrooge:

"I will honour Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year."

Thanks to FSB Associates.

3) Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. roduct Description
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel he will steal your heart.


The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?

Thanks to Random House via Shelf Awareness.

4) Hope for Animals and Their World by Jane Goodall. Publisher's Summary. At a time when animal species are becoming extinct on every continent and we are confronted with bad news about the environment nearly every day, Jane Goodall, one of the world's most renowned scientists, brings us inspiring news about the future of the animal kingdom. With the insatiable curiosity and conversational prose that have made her a bestselling author, Goodall-along with Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard-shares fascinating survival stories about the American Crocodile, the California Condor, the Black-Footed Ferret, and more; all formerly endangered species and species once on the verge of extinction whose populations are now being regenerated.

Interweaving her own first-hand experiences in the field with the compelling research of premier scientists, Goodall illuminates the heroic efforts of dedicated environmentalists and the truly critical need to protect the habitats of these beloved species. At once a celebration of the animal kingdom and a passionate call to arms, HOPE FOR ANIMALS THEIR WORLD presents an uplifting, hopeful message for the future of animal-human coexistence.

5) True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy. Publisher's Summary. Edward M. Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the great Senators in the nation's history. He is also the patriarch of America's most heralded family. In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Kennedy speaks with unprecedented candor about his extraordinary life.

The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother, John F. Kennedy. In 1962, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he learned how to become an effective legislator.

His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love for family and an abiding faith. He writes movingly of his brothers and their influence on him; his years of struggle in the wake of their deaths; his marriage to the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; his role in the major events of our time (from the civil rights movement to the election of Barack Obama); and how his recent diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor has given even greater urgency to his long crusade for improved health care for all Americans.

Written with warmth, wit, and grace, True Compass is Edward M. Kennedy's inspiring legacy to readers and to history.

6) The Liar in Your Life by Robert Feldman. Publisher's Summary. In The Liar in Your Life, psychology professor Robert Feldman, one of the world's leading authorities on deception, draws on his immense body of knowledge to give fresh insights into how and why we lie, how our culture has become increasingly tolerant of deception, the cost it exacts on us, and what to do about it. His work is at once surprising and sobering, full of corrections for common myths and explanations of pervasive oversimplifications.

Feldman examines marital infidelity, little white lies, career-driven resumé lies, and how we teach children to lie. Along the way, he reveals-despite our beliefs to the contrary- how it is nearly impossible to spot a liar (studies have shown no relationship between nervousness, lack of eye contact, or a trembling voice, and acts of deception). He also provides startling evidence of just how integral lying is to our culture; indeed, his research shows that two people, meeting for the first time, will lie to each other an average of three times in the first ten minutes of a conversation.

Feldman uses this discussion of deception to explore ways we can cope with infidelity, betrayal, and mistrust, in our friends and family. He also describes the lies we tell ourselves: Sometimes, the liar in your life is the person you see in the mirror. With incisive clarity and wry wit, Feldman has written a truthful book for anyone who whose life has been touched by deception.

7) Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace. Publisher's Summary. David Foster Wallace made an art of taking readers into places no other writer even gets near. In his exuberantly acclaimed collection, BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN, he combined hilarity and an escalating disquiet in stories that astonish, entertain, and expand our ideas of the pleasures that fiction can afford.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group.

How It All Vegan! 10th Anniversary Edition.

Publisher's Summary. Since it was first published in 1999, How It All Vegan! has become a bible for vegan cooks, both diehard and newly converted; its basic introduction to the tenets of vegan living and eating, combined with Sarah and Tanya’s winning charm, made it an essential cookbook for anyone considering eschewing animal products from their diet. It won VegNews’ Veggie Award for Best Cookbook twice, has been reprinted fourteen times, and spawned several successful sequels (including The Garden of Vegan, La Dolce Vegan, and Vegan à Go-Go!).

In the ten years since How It All Vegan! was first published, however, veganism has “come out of the closet,” and is now considered a legitimate diet and lifestyle not only for those wishing to improve their health, but also those who care deeply about the welfare of animals. This tenth-anniversary edition includes new recipes, as well as updates and advice that better reflect the new vegan reality; it also includes a colour photo section and a new introduction by co-author Sarah Kramer, who speaks personally and passionately about the impact of veganism on her life over the past decade.

With this tenth anniversary edition, Sarah and Tanya's fans can find out "how it all vegan" all over again!

Review. Have you or you loved one’s been affected by the “Thanksgiving Day Dilemma?” By tradition Thanksgiving is a meat-centered day. However, while most Americans celebrate the holiday many hosts or guests, do not eat meat. Hence, millions of hosts or guests are experiencing the Thanksgiving Day Dilemma of what to serve, or bring, to accommodate all palates.

Coming to the rescue of vegan challenged cooks everywhere is How it all Vegan the 10th anniversary edition by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. How it All Vegan solves the Thanksgiving Day Dilemma with seasonally appropriate recipes, including, Tofurky, Roasted Garlic Potatoes, Perfect Pumpkin Pie and many more. The recipes are comprised of everyday ingredients and are simple enough for even the most inexperienced of cooks.

How it all Vegan is part vegan cookbook and part primer for living the vegan life. However, while the authors are passionate about their life style they are not preachy or part of what they call the “Vegan Police.” Rather they simply explain the why and how of their conversions. Their non-judgmental writing style is what makes this book accessible to vegans and non-vegans alike. Eaters of all palates will enjoy mouthwatering fare such as Classic Spinach Lasagna, Butternut Tomato Soup, Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins, and Peppermint Patties (that look like York Peppermint Patties on steroids!).

Whether you’re going vegan for a meal, a month, or for life How it all Vegan is an invaluable resource!


Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press; 10 Anv edition (September 1, 2009), 240 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the publisher.

Chosen By Desire

Publisher's Summary. It's down to the wire and Carrie Woods is leaving China without the proof she needs for her thesis: Wei Lin's journal. While on a final tour of the monastery, Carrie finally locates the scrolls and attempts to photograph the documents. Caught in a sticky situation, Carrie takes the scrolls, only to notice a mysterious monk watching her--the same monk that she's seen each time she's taken a tour. Unable to return the scrolls, she travels back to California and isn't too thrilled when she notices the monk at the airport.

Maximillian Prescott first came to the monastery as an orphaned teenager when he inherited the Book of Metal from a distant uncle he hardly knew. After spotting a woman stealing from the monastery, he follows her to get back the documents he knows she's stolen. Max is further intrigued when he finds out that the chatty woman is friends with his archrival, Rhys Llewellyn, and he will stop at nothing to get back everything he's lost.

Review. By Renee A.J. Carrie Woods is a scholar of Chinese history at UC Berkley, who has been told by her overly critical faculty advisor that her doctoral thesis about ancient China under the rule of the Yongle Emperor isn't groundbreaking. So our intrepid heroine takes her strawberry blonde curls, big brown eyes, and rosy cheeks to China where she escapes from her tourist group and pilfers two powerful documents from the archives of a Chinese monastery. Carrie's theft of the journal of the mythical monk Wei Lei and an accompanying scroll called the Book of Water will provide her the means to create a thesis that will have universities clamoring for her services.

Chosen By Desire easily intertwines fantasy and romance as heroes with special powers, rippling muscles, passion embraces, and protective instincts enter Carrie’s previously humdrum life. Carrie’s theft has been quickly noticed by Max, the millionaire son of diplomats who is currently at the monastery serving as a Guardian of the Book of Metal. Max, with his special powers to command metal, is tasked to go after Carrie and recover the journal and the Book of Water before Carrie discovers how to tap into their powers.

I found this story fun and heart-warming, not only because of the simmering romance between Carrie and Max, but also because of how Carrie values her relationships with her Mom and her friends. Carrie’s mother asks her if she’s had sex with Max and explains that Carrie has to confront her issues with intimacy. The scenes where Carrie blushes at her mother’s advice regarding condoms and sex toys, made me laugh. When Carrie’s apartment is destroyed by fire, she turns to her best friend Gabe, who also has also developed a romance with another mysterious Guardian, for help. Carrie’s friends suspect that Max may have something to do with the damage and they give him a hard time until he convinces them that he’s out to protect Carrie.

Chosen By Desire is a great romance because the heroine manages the delicate balance of loving her family, maintaining her friendships, and bringing her new man with magical talents into the fold - all while solving a dangerous mystery!




Publisher: Forever, Hachette Book Group, (October 1, 2009), 368 pages.
Advance Review copy provided courtesy of the Publisher.

The Smart One and the Pretty One

Publisher's Summary. "This sparkling novel about two sisters is both witty and stylish. Even if you don't have a sister of your own, you won't be able to resist LaZebnik's charming take on modern relationships. Read it!"
- Holly Peterson, bestselling author of The Manny

When Ava Nickerson was a child, her mother jokingly betrothed her to a friend's son, and the contract the parents made has stayed safely buried for years. Now that still-single Ava is closing in on thirty, no one even remembers she was once "engaged" to the Markowitz boy. But when their mother is diagnosed with cancer, Ava's prodigal little sister Lauren comes home to Los Angeles where she stumbles across the decades-old document.

Frustrated and embarrassed by Ava's constant lectures about financial responsibility (all because she's in a little debt. Okay, a lot of debt), Lauren decides to do some sisterly interfering of her own and tracks down her sister's childhood fiancé. When she finds him, the highly inappropriate, twice-divorced, but incredibly charming Russell Markowitz is all too happy to re-enter the Nickerson sisters' lives, and always-accountable Ava is forced to consider just how binding a contract really is . . . .

Review. No matter how old we are or how far we travel whenever we return to our first family we often revert to the old familial roles. Like an oldie but goodie tune sung slightly off key grown men and women transform into “the baby” or “the favorite” as soon as they re-enter their childhood homes. And few familial relationships are as complex as the sister bond.

In The Smart One and the Pretty One author Claire La Zebnik spins a delicious tale of adult sisters who come to appreciate that they are more than their childhood labels. The twentysomething Nickerson sisters reunite due to personal crises: their mother has cancer and sister Lauren is in dire financial straits. The sisters quickly resume their respective roles as the “smart one” (Ava) and the “pretty one” (Lauren). Ava, an attorney, has a successful career and money in the bank, but hasn’t had a serious romantic relationship in years. Lauren, an unemployed clothes buyer, dresses stylishly and is never long without a new guy on her arm, but is homeless and has creditors chasing her for unpaid debts. While both sisters love and support each other, they believe that they can “fix “the other sister. To that end Ava corrals Lauren into cleaning up her financial mess, while Lauren plays matchmaker for the reluctant Ava.

While both sisters have romantic entanglements, the men are supporting players to the sister relationship. The author even includes her own personal sister Hall of Fame at the back of the book: Little Women’s the March sisters; The Simspson’s Bouvier sisters; the real-life Brontes; Pride and Prejudice’s the Bennet sisters; and Greek mythology’s the Gorgon sisters.

The Smart One and the Pretty One is witty chick-lit fare with a meaningful twist!




Publisher: 5 Spot (September 10, 2008), 304 pages
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of Hachette Book Group.

Last Day to Enter Permission Slips Giveaway.

Today is the last day to enter to win one of FIVE copies of Sherri Shepherd's fabulous memoir Permission Slips. So if you haven't already go here to win a copy. Good Luck!

The Smart One and the Pretty One Giveaway (ends 11/30)

Publisher's Summary. "This sparkling novel about two sisters is both witty and stylish. Even if you don't have a sister of your own, you won't be able to resist LaZebnik's charming take on modern relationships. Read it!"
- Holly Peterson, bestselling author of The Manny

When Ava Nickerson was a child, her mother jokingly betrothed her to a friend's son, and the contract the parents made has stayed safely buried for years. Now that still-single Ava is closing in on thirty, no one even remembers she was once "engaged" to the Markowitz boy. But when their mother is diagnosed with cancer, Ava's prodigal little sister Lauren comes home to Los Angeles where she stumbles across the decades-old document.

Frustrated and embarrassed by Ava's constant lectures about financial responsibility (all because she's in a little debt. Okay, a lot of debt), Lauren decides to do some sisterly interfering of her own and tracks down her sister's childhood fiancé. When she finds him, the highly inappropriate, twice-divorced, but incredibly charming Russell Markowitz is all too happy to re-enter the Nickerson sisters' lives, and always-accountable Ava is forced to consider just how binding a contract really is . . . .

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
You must be 18 years of age or older.
NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Giveaway ends November 30th. Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- November 16th

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1)Double Take A Memoir by Kevin Michael Connolly. Amazon Product Description. Double take: A rapid or surprised second look, either literal or figurative, at a person or situation whose significance has not been completely grasped at first.

Kevin Michael Connolly is a twenty-three-year-old man who has seen the world in a way most of us never will. Whether swarmed by Japanese tourists at Epcot Center as a child or holding court at the X Games on his mono-ski, Kevin Connolly has been an object of curiosity since the day he was born without legs. Growing up in rural Montana, he was raised like any other kid (except, that is, for his father’s MacGyver-like contraptions such as the “butt boot”). As a college student, Kevin traveled to seventeen countries on his skateboard, including Bosnia, China, Ukraine, and Japan. In an attempt to capture the stares of others, he took more than 33,000 photographs of people staring at him. In this dazzling memoir, Connolly casts the lens inward to explore how we view ourselves and what it is to truly see another person. We also get to know his quirky and unflappable parents and his girlfriend. From the home of his family in Helena, Montana, to the streets of Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur, Kevin’s remarkable journey will change the way you look at others, and the way you see yourself.

Thanks Harper Collins via Shelf Awareness.

2) Surviving Paradise by Peter Rudiak-Gould. Amazon Product Description. Just one month after his 21st birthday, Peter Rudiak-Gould moved to Ujae, a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands located 70 miles from the nearest telephone, car, store, or tourist, and 2,000 miles from the closest continent. He spent the next year there, living among its 450 inhabitants and teaching English to its schoolchildren. At first blush, Surviving Paradise is a thoughtful and laugh-out-loud hilarious documentation of Rudiak-Gould’s efforts to cope with daily life on Ujae as his idealistic expectations of a tropical paradise confront harsh reality. But Rudiak-Gould goes beyond the personal, interweaving his own story with fascinating political, linguistic, and ecological digressions about the Marshall Islands. Most poignant are his observations of the noticeable effect of global warming on these tiny, low-lying islands and the threat rising water levels pose to their already precarious existence. An Eat, Pray, Love as written by Paul Theroux, Surviving Paradise is a disarmingly lighthearted narrative with a substantive emotional undercurrent.

Thanks to Sterling Publishers.

3) The Privileges by Jonathan Dee. Amazon Product Description. Smart, socially gifted, and chronically impatient, Adam and Cynthia Morey are so perfect for each other that united they become a kind of fortress against the world. In their hurry to start a new life, they marry young and have two children before Cynthia reaches the age of twenty-five. Adam is a rising star in the world of private equity and becomes his boss's protégé. With a beautiful home in the upper-class precincts of Manhattan, gorgeous children, and plenty of money, they are, by any reasonable standard, successful.

But the Moreys' standards are not the same as other people's. The future in which they have always believed for themselves and their children—a life of almost boundless privilege, in which any desire can be acted upon and any ambition made real—is still out there, but it is not arriving fast enough to suit them. As Cynthia, at home with the kids day after identical day, begins to drift, Adam is confronted with a choice that will test how much he is willing to risk to ensure his family's happiness and to recapture the sense that the only acceptable life is one of infinite possibility.

The Privileges is an odyssey of a couple touched by fortune, changed by time, and guided above all else by their epic love for each other. Lyrical, provocative, and brilliantly imagined, this is a timely meditation on wealth, family, and what it means to leave the world richer than you found it.

Thanks to Random House via LibraryThing.

4) What Your Mother Never Told You by Richard M. Dudum. Book Description. What Your Mother Never Told You was written to help teenage girls anticipate issues and to provide strategies to address those issues.

Our daughters are vulnerable when they are introduced to the real world without being adequately prepared. They are curious, playful, intelligent, and beautiful. They look and often act much older than their age. They are getting the wrong kind of attention much earlier than they should. They will find themselves in difficult situations that will test them over and over again. My efforts are focused on helping the girls to grow, to be strong, and to successfully deal with the realities that confront them today.

Over the years, I've taken the time to listen to teenagers and young adults, and I understand what they say. I've taught them communication skills and common sense strategies that are in this book. I offer them to you in What Your Mother Never Told You.

Thanks to the author via Bostwick.

5) New York, Washington DC & the Mid Atlantic Trips from Lonely Planet. Amazon Product Description.
50 of the Region's Best Trips!

Whether you're a local looking for a long weekend escape, a visitor looking to explore or you simply need some ideas when family and friends come to visit, Lonely Planet's Trips series offers the best itineraries - and makes it easy to plan the perfect trip time and again.

Theme icons make finding the perfect trip simple - no matter what your interest

Easy-to-use maps for every trip, plus driving times and directions

Explore the region with trips ranging from two to 10 days, and day trips from New York City, Washington DC and Philadelphia

Local experts share their favorite trip ideas, including a sports journalist's baseball tour, a photographer's art tour and a music-inspired tour from a New York musician

Iconic Trips chapter covers must-do trips across the region, from Beach-Hopping the Mid-Atlantic to Upscale Appalachian Trail

Tune In

on the road with our regional music playlists

Family-friendly and pet-friendly listings throughout

Green Index lists the region's most environmentally friendly options.

Thanks to the Publisher via Shelf Awareness.

Searching for Whitopia

Publisher's Summary. Between 2007 and 2009, Rich Benjamin, a journalist-adventurer, packed his bags and embarked on a 26,909-mile journey throughout the heart of white America, to some of the fastest-growing and whitest locales in our nation.

By 2042, whites will no longer be the American majority. As immigrant populations -- largely people of color -- increase in cities and suburbs, more and more whites are moving to small towns and exurban areas that are predominately, even extremely, white.

Rich Benjamin calls these enclaves "Whitopias" (pronounced: "White-o-pias").
His journey to unlock the mysteries of Whitopias took him from a three-day white separatist retreat with links to Aryan Nations in North Idaho to the inner sanctum of George W. Bush's White House -- and many points in between. And to learn what makes Whitopias tick, and why and how they are growing, he lived in three of them (in Georgia, Idaho, and Utah) for several months apiece. A compelling raconteur, bon vivant, and scholar, Benjamin reveals what Whitopias are like and explores the urgent social and political implications of this startling phenomenon.

The glow of Barack Obama's historic election cannot obscure the racial and economic segregation still vexing America. Obama's presidency has actually raised the stakes in a battle royale between two versions of America: one that is broadly comfortable with diversity yet residentially segregated (ObamaNation), and one that does not mind a little ethnic food or a few mariachi dancers -- as long as these trends do not overwhelm a white dominant culture (Whitopia).

Review. In the provocative social commentary Searching for Whitopia African American author Rich Benjamin takes up residence in communities that are primarily populated by non-Hispanic whites. Benjamin’s raison d’être is to understand in the age of an increasingly diverse U.S. citizenry what drives these racially segregated communities.

Benjamin defines a whitopia as “whiter than the nation, its respective region, and its state. It has posted at least 6 percent population growth since 2000. The majority of that growth (often upward of 90 percent) is from white migrants.” Whitopian communities are small towns; economic boomtowns; and retiree dream towns.

The Whitopians’ explosive growth is powered by a myriad of quality-of-life and pocketbook factors. According to Benjamin, “most whites are not drawn to a place explicitly because it teems with other white people. Rather, the place’s very whiteness implies other perceived qualities. Americans associate a homogenous white neighborhood with higher property values, friendliness, orderliness, hospitability, cleanliness, safety and comfort. These seemingly race-neutral qualities are subconsciously inseparable from race and class in many whites’ minds. Race is used as a proxy for those neighborhood traits. And if a neighborhood is known to have those traits, many whites presume – without giving it a thought – that the neighborhood will be majority white.”

Benjamin writes that racism as characterized by direct interpersonal racism is largely absent from these communities. He notes that “the majority of whites in predominantly white communities across our heartland are endearing and kind.” Still Benjamin posits that “structural racism” – racial inequity without intent or design -- is alive and well. Benjamin acknowledges that racism without intent is not defined as racism under the law. He argues that it should be considered racism because “today racial segregation and division often result from habits, policies, and institutions that are not explicitly designed to discriminate.” To rectify this structural racism Benjamin proposes working to the common good. In particular, he declares that the solution lies in “denouncing multicultural-style tribalism and white flight . . . to foster a society that is complete and whole.”

Regardless of whether one agrees with all of Benjamin’s arguments Searching for Whitopia is an opening volley for an honest discourse on race and immigration in America.


Publisher: Hyperion (October 6, 2009), 368 pages
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the publisher and FSB Associates.

The Castaways

Publisher's Summary. Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life.

Review. The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand reads like a modern day Big Chill set on Nantucket. The novel follows the unraveling lives of six friends after one couple in the group, Greg and Tess, drown. The friends: Andrea, the Chef, Phoebe, Addison, Delilah, and Jeffrey individually cope with the couple’s deaths as each has a secret from the rest of the group.The chapters are narrated by alternating members of the ensemble cast. This narrative style is fairly confusing in the beginning of the novel, but is ultimately richly rewarding as the reader gains fresh insights into each character.

The individual story lines ranged from the believable to the incredulous (at least in this reader’s opinion). Without giving away spoilers there were passages in the novel that were suitable fodder for tabloids. Other parts of the book were highly engrossing and richly crafted. For example, the passage dealing with Reed’s (the twin brother of Phoebe) actions on 9/11 read like an eyewitness account of that tragic day.

Overall, The Castaways is an enjoyable, but atypical summer novel.


Hachette Audio; Unabridged edition (July 7, 2009)
Review Copy Received Through Giveaway Sponsored by the Publisher.

Last Day to Enter Girl on Top Giveaway.

Today is the final day to enter to win one of FIVE copies of Girl on Top here. Good Luck!

Bear Portraits

Publisher's Summary. A top celebrity portrait photographer, Jill Greenberg has a unique ability to coax powerful emotions out of her subjects - whether human or animal. Her portraits of bears, collected here for the first time, surprise and engage. We encounter cubs as cute as a child's Teddy, grizzlies that look like they might swallow you whole, and Polar bears seated in Sphinx-like tranquility.

Full-grown brown bears, grizzlies, black bears, Polar bears, and bear cubs are photographed on location against a portrait backdrop. The poses and facial expressions are at turns oddly comedic, pensive,terrifying, and sometimes unexpectedly human. Alive with Greenberg's signature lighting and seen through the unique perspective of her lens, these startling bear portraits bring us face to face with our fears and fantasies.

Review.Bear Portraits by Jill Greenberg captures trained bears in unbelievable poses. The stars of the book are: Agee, polar bear; Ali Oop, Kodiak; Amos, European Brown Bear Cub; Barney, Kodiak; Betty, Kodiak; Bonkers, Black Bear; Brett, Black Bear; Cheyenne, Russian Brown Bear; Koda, Grizzly; Max, Black Bear; Ursula, Kodiak; and Whopper, Kodiak. Page after extraordinary page of this remarkable book features bears as never seen before.

Each portrait demonstrates that bears “are magnificent creatures of immense power, emotion and beauty.” Some bears are caught in reflection, while others enjoy “cutting up” for the camera. Some bears are depicted in full fury, while others appear to be gentle giants. Some bears are shot so close that one can check the bear’s teeth for cavities! And the baby photos of Amos the 40 pound brown bear cub are irresistible!

Greenberg declares that “bears can be simple, sometimes savage animals, but they have as much right to survival on this planet as we do.” Thanks to the arresting images in Bear Portraits many will be inclined to agree!



Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (November 3, 2009), 104 pages
Advance review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.

Guest Post:: Thad Carhart

Today I am please to host a fascinating guest post from Thad Carhart, author of Across the Endless River.

Sacagawea: The Seduction of Mythology, the Paucity of Facts

By Thad Carhart,
Author of Across the Endless River

How much do we know for certain about the life of Sacagawea? The answer is: almost nothing. She was born "around 1788." She was abducted by the Hidatsa "when she was about 12." The date of her death is similarly uncertain: the prevailing view is that she died in 1812 at Fort Manuel Lisa on the Missouri, but others contend that she lived well into her 90s and died at the Wind River Reservation in 1884. Even the pronunciation and meaning of her name are still disputed, a reflection of the unknowable transliteration that both Clark and Lewis tried to capture in written syllables.
Lewis & Clark -- The Written Record Shapes All

The most reliable primary documents that have come down to us concerning Sacagawea are, of course, the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, through which she has entered the public imagination as an improbable but key player on the stage of American history. But even the journals, famed as they are, give us only fleeting glimpses of this young woman. She was one of Toussaint Charbonneau's several "squaws", a usage that covered everything from absolute servitude to common law marriage. In historical accounts, she is most frequently described as his "wife", but the fact remains that we have no way of knowing the human contours of their relationship.

The instances of her mentions in the journals are themselves full of dramatic details: a difficult labor for her first child, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, born on February 11, 1805 in the bitter cold far-northern reaches of the Upper Missouri; her dire illness and near death in June of that year, when Lewis dosed her attentively from his meager medicine kit; her vote as an equal member of the expedition about the location of their winter camp once they reached the Pacific; her insistence at being allowed to accompany the party dispatched by Clark to the shore of the Pacific to investigate what meat might be recovered from a beached whale.

All of these scenes have survived in the clear and dispassionate prose of the two captains, and while they offer tantalizing glimpses of how Sacagawea reacted under pressure, they of course come from the pens of those whose business it was to give the expedition shape in daily journals. While history is indeed written by the conquerors, perhaps here it would be more apt to say that history is first written by those who can write. How would she have described the captains? Nothing certain remains from Sacagawea's oral tradition, so the accounts of those whose language included an alphabet were bound to prevail.
Sacagawea, Repository of Legends

Even so, the degree to which the slender and infrequent mentions of Sacagawea in the Lewis & Clark journals have subsequently been weighed down with meaning is astounding. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, and gathering steam well into the twentieth, there developed an elaborate literature of wonder, almost of awe, around her being. She has come to represent resilience, courage, patience, loving motherhood, feminine independence . . . the list is virtually endless. It has been said that more images of her adorn public places than that of any other American woman. The latest iteration of her imagined likeness, the young mother bearing her papoose who graces the U.S. dollar coin, is as close as American culture is ever likely to come to an indigenous Madonna and Child.

And yet most of this is pure fabrication, a projection of our own changing needs and perceptions of the past. I am reminded of the elaborate hagiography that has built up in France around Joan of Arc, just enough of it based on the startling and dramatic facts of her life to lay the groundwork for a complete mythology. In that sense, Lewis & Clark is our own founding myth, and the individual actors in its story assume the proportions of legend as we embroider the fragile facts we have with our own imaginings. Sacagawea dances around the edges of the narrative: innocent, strong, pure of heart, and ultimately unknowable, an undying receptacle for our dreams about both past and future. The beaten and abducted young squaw stands alongside the mother of a mixed-race son, the determined woman who saved Lewis & Clark from failure by bargaining for horses with the tribe from which she had been torn. Could any refracted image we fashion to express our hopes be more ambiguous, or more captivating?

©2009 Thad Carhart, author of Across the Endless River

Author Bio
Thad Carhart, author of Across the Endless River, is a dual citizen of of the United States and Ireland. He lives in Paris with his wife, the photographer Simo Neri, and their two children.

For more information please visit www.thadcarhart.com

How to Roast a Lamb.

Publisher's Summary. A rising star in the food world, Michael Psilakis is co-owner of a growing empire of modern Mediterranean restaurants, and one of the most exciting young chefs in America today. In How to Roast a Lamb, the self-taught chef offers recipes from his restaurants and his home in this, his much-anticipated first cookbook.

Ten chapters provide colorful and heartfelt personal essays that lead into thematically related recipes. Gorgeous color photography accompanies many of the recipes throughout. Psilakis's cooking utilizes the fresh, naturally healthful ingredients of the Mediterranean augmented by techniques that define New American cuisine. Home cooks who have gravitated toward Italian cookbooks for the simple, user-friendly dishes, satisfying flavors, and comfortable, family-oriented meals, will welcome Psilakis's approach to Greek food, which is similarly healthful, affordable, and satisfying to share any night of the week.

Review. How to Roast a Lamb by Michael Psilakis is an oversize and gorgeous Greek cookbook. It is also, in part, a memoir of Psilakis’s early years.

How to Roast a Lamb would be ideal for a Greek cuisine foodie or other proficient cook. For instance, foodies will likely enjoy the following recipes: Ouzo & Orange-Braised Snails; Roasted Skate with Walnut Baklava Yogurt & Candied Quince; and Octopus, Salami & Apples with Anchovy Vinaigrette and many more. The novice cook, however, may find these recipes challenging and/or aspirational. Still even the novice cook will find numerous delicious and accessible recipes, such as: Shrimp with Orzo & Tomato; Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon Potatoes; Spinach Rice; and Beef & Rice Meatballs in Egg-Lemon Soup. In addition, the memoir passages provide an interesting backstory to the recipes.

How to Roast a Lamb would be a great gift for Greek Foodies of all levels!



Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group, (Oct. 28, 2009), 304 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Mailbox Monday -- November 9th

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) Run for Your Life by James Patterson. Publisher's Summary. A calculating killer who calls himself The Teacher is taking on New York City, killing the powerful and the arrogant. His message is clear: remember your manners or suffer the consequences! For some, it seems that the rich are finally getting what they deserve. For New York's elite, it is a call to terror.

Only one man can tackle such a high-profile case: Detective Mike Bennett. The pressure is enough for anyone, but Mike also has to care for his 10 children-all of whom have come down with virulent flu at once!

Discovering a secret pattern in The Teacher's lessons, Detective Bennett realizes he has just hours to save New York from the greatest disaster in its history. From the #1 bestselling author comes RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, the continuation of his newest, electrifying series.

2) My Paper Chase by Harold Evans. Amazon Product Description. In My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts the wild and wonderful tale of newspapering life. His story stretches from the 1930s to his service in WWII, through towns big and off the map. He discusses his passion for the crusading style of reportage he championed, his clashes with Rupert Murdoch, and his struggle to use journalism to better the lives of those less fortunate. There's a star-studded cast and a tremendously vivid sense of what once was: the lead type, the smell of the presses, eccentrics throughout, and angry editors screaming over the intercoms. My Paper Chase tells the story of Evans's great loves: newspapers and Tina Brown, the bright, young journalist who became his wife.

In an age when newspapers everywhere are under threat, My Paper Chase is not just a glorious recounting of an amazing life, but a nostalgic journey in black and white.

3) Bear Portraits by Jill Greenberg. Amazon Product Description. A top celebrity portrait photographer, Jill Greenberg has a unique ability to coax powerful emotions out of her subjects - whether human or animal. Her portraits of bears, collected here for the first time, surprise and engage. We encounter cubs as cute as a child's Teddy, grizzlies that look like they might swallow you whole, and Polar bears seated in Sphinx-like tranquility. Full-grown brown bears, grizzlies, black bears, Polar bears, and bear cubs are photographed on location against a portrait backdrop. The poses and facial expressions are at turns oddly comedic, pensive, terrifying, and sometimes unexpectedly human. Alive with Greenberg's signature lighting and seen through the unique perspective of her lens, these startling bear portraits bring us face to face with our fears and fantasies.

4) Lone Star Legend by Gwendolyn Zepeda. When Sandy Saavedra lands her dream job with the popular website ¡Latino Now!, she can't wait to write hard-hitting pieces to combat all those stupid Latino stereotypes. While visions of Pulitzers dance in her head, her editor in chief is suddenly laid off, replaced by the infamous Dolores Villanueva O'Sullivan. Dolores has one mission: make ¡Latino Now! an internet phenomenon, no matter how many pandering puff pieces she has to pack onto its pages. Sandy doesn't see how she can keep this job without losing her soul, especially when she's sent to Middle-of-Nowhere Texas to investigate the dumbest legend her people ever created, the Chupacabra.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group.

5) The Unforced Error by Jeffrey A. Krames. Publisher's Summary. A guide to help managers prepare for whatever comes over the net

In tennis, the player with the fewest unforced errors usually wins. The same is true in business— all too often, the mistakes that sabotage a career are completely avoidable, if you can anticipate them early enough.

Bestselling management writer Jeffrey Krames adopts the metaphor of tennis to show how to spot and sidestep the types of faults that do the most damage. He shows how businesspeople can develop and practice good habits so they’ll be ready for an unusually fast serve or wicked backhand.

Drawing on stories about famous CEOs like Jack Welch, Robert Goizueta, and Lou Gerstner, Krames shows how to avoid some of the biggest “career killers.” His advice includes:

• Never say, “The ball was out by a mile”; face reality at all times.
• Choose your doubles partner carefully; bad people decisions (hiring, firing, promoting) can be fatal.
• Keep practicing your best shot; enhancing your strengths is more effective than trying to fix your weaknesses.

Thanks to the Penguin Group.

6) Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch. Publisher's Summary. He’s in the middle of nowhere, Alaska, because his Eskimo mother has moved home, and Cesar, a seventeen-year-old former gang banger, is convinced that he’s just biding his time ‘til he can get back to LA. His charmingly offbeat cousin, Go-boy, is equally convinced that Cesar will stay. And so they set a wager. If Cesar is still in Unalakleet in a year, he has to get a copy of Go-boy’s Eskimo Jesus tattoo.

Go-boy, who recently dropped out of college, believes wholeheartedly that he is part of a Good World conspiracy. At first Cesar considers Go-boy half crazy, but over time in this village, with his father absent and his brother in jail for murder, Cesar begins to see the beauty and hope Go-boy represents. The choice.

This is a novel about a different Alaska than many of us have read about in the past, about a different kind of wilderness and survival. As Cesar (who later assumes his Eskimo name, Atausiq) becomes connected to the community and to Go-boy, the imprint he bears isn’t Go-boy’s tattoo but the indelible mark of Go-boy’s heart and philosophy, a philosophy of hope that emphasizes our similarities to one another as well as a shared sense of community, regardless of place. As Go-boy says to Cesar, “Sometimes we’re always real same-same."

Thanks to Unbridled Books.

7) Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls, Publisher's Description. Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant.

"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.

Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix audiences everywhere.

Thanks to Simon & Shuster.

Guest Post: Richard Benjamin

Today I am pleased to be hosting an article from Richard Benjamin, author of the newly released Searching for Whitopia.









How Will Barack Obama Fill Out His Census Form?: The Future of "Miscegenation" in America
By Rich Benjamin, Author of Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America

The President says publicly that he is "African-American."But will he check "black" or "two or more races" on his 2010 Census form?

My parents, two dark-skinned blacks, married in 1967, a year when miscegenation -- interracial marriage, cohabitation or sex -- was a criminal offense in sixteen states. But now, like the Obamas, my family descends from and lives across three continents and about a dozen nations. My cousins, nieces, and nephews have complexions reminiscent of a Ben & Jerry's menu ranging from Karamel Sutra to Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

Given America's growing and intermixed minority populations, controversy broils about how Uncle Sam categorizes, then counts, ethnicity and race (more vociferously from minorities than from whites). Black civil rights advocates strong-arm those with traces of African ancestry to identify as "black," so as not to dilute blacks' 2010 census numbers and future political power. Defining and counting mixed-race people in America has historically been riddled with conceptual and practical challenges. Now as much as ever. President Obama says publicly that he is "African-American." But will he check "black" or "two or more races" on his 2010 Census form?

Over the past three decades, the Census Bureau has documented a growing number of children living in mixed-race families. In 1970, the number of children living in mixed-race families totaled 460,000. That number more than doubled to 996,070 in 1980. And it doubled again to almost 2 million in 1990. In 1990, children in mixed-race households accounted for 4 percent of all children in American homes. And in 2000, 2.4 percent of census respondents were multiracial; they ticked "two or more races" on their forms.

Admittedly, scores of Americans will brag they have another race's blood coursing through their veins. Just listen. Black people will mention that they have Native American lineage. ("That's why my hair is good.") Mustering all the nonchalance available, white people will note having "some Latino blood." (Everyone knows that white person who claims having one-thirtieth of Latino or Native American lineage, especially when affirmative action goodies are in play.) Historians contend that a plethora of Americans have some degree of multi-ethnic lineage dating from centuries back.

The ephemeral lure of multi-racial pedigree notwithstanding, the number and percentage of Americans who credibly qualify as multi-racial -- the direct biological progeny of mixed-race parentage or grand-parentage -- is comparatively small: 6.1 million people in 2006, or roughly 2 percent of the population.

The media attention devoted to multi-racial populations and issues exceeds what seems warranted, at least based on sheer numbers. From the fascination afforded to Tiger Woods' "Cablinasian" character, to a growing cultural and political multiracial identity movement, to our President's much lauded social dexterity "between" races, we seem headed for an era of multi-racial mania. Mixed-race status is consolidating its cachet and earning media validation like never before.

Is race an anachronism in our very near future, presided over by that gregarious mixed-race leader (Oatmeal Cookie Chunk)? If Americans profess their yearning for a post-racial America, why bother to count race? Does the 2010 Census's conception and tally of mixed-race people say anything instructive to the rest of us, the unglamorous mono-racial supermajority?

Another fascinating conundrum lurks. We laud diversity and race-mixing in public, but our actions don't stack up. "Americans Say They Like Diverse Communities -- Election, Census Trends Suggest Otherwise," declares the title of a 2009 study just released by the prestigious Pew Research Center. "Despite most respondents stated preference for 'diversity,'" the study concludes, "American communities have grown more racially, politically, and economically homogeneous in recent decades."

The 2010 Census puts a reality check on our wildest racial statements and dreams.
©2009 Rich Benjamin, author of Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America

Author Bio
Rich Benjamin, author of Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, is Senior Fellow at Demos, a nonpartisan national think tank based in New York City. His social and political commentary is featured in major newspapers nationwide, on NPR and Fox Radio, and in many scholarly venues. He holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

For more information please visit www.richbenjamin.com.

Chocolate A Love Story

Publisher's Summary. With gigantic vats of churning chocolate, desserts like their famous chocolate pizza, and 12 varieties of hot chocolate served in custom mugs, Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man has turned their line of hip, colorful themed restaurants into an international sensation.. Chocolate: A Love Story is a vibrant new cookbook that includes 65 original recipes narrated in the quirky, captivating voice of Max Brenner, the restaurant's visionary founder and "bald man." Bold original illustrations inspired by Art Deco poster graphics, full-color photographs, easy-to-follow, delicious recipes, and a serving of Max's unique vision for spreading "chocolate culture" around the world make this book a must for every chocolate lover.

Review. If you have ever had the pleasure of enjoying a chocolate melting heart cake (or other famous chocolate dessert) at one of the many Max Brenner Chocolate restaurants, then this cookbook is for you. And if you have not yet experienced the sinful decadence of a Max Brenner dessert, then this cookbook is for you too!

Chocolate: A Love Story is divided into ten recipe sections: Morning Chocolate Variations; Comforting Pastries; Chocolate Cream Cake Creations; Chocolate Pies; Concentrated Chocolate (including the recipe for the chocolate melting heart cake); Street Food and Gourmet Chocolate in Harmony; Chocolate Mousses, Custards, Creams, and More; Some Fun Chocolate Games; The Chocolate Cookie Jar; and Straightforward Chocolate Drinks. These sections encompass virtually every conceivable use of chocolate. Generally speaking, the ingredients are readily available in the supermarket and the preparation process appears straightforward. My only criticism is that the recipes do not specify the quality of chocolate to be used e.g. 70% dark chocolate, etc. I assume that for the best results the highest quality chocolate should be used, but a little more guidance would have been helpful.

The oversize book also features artistic drawings and photography, and would make a great coffee table book. For your guests’ comfort, however, I would advise keeping some high quality chocolates around or, better yet, serving a Brenner recipe, because it is impossible to peruse through Chocolate: A Love Story without craving chocolate!

Chocolate: A Love Story would make a great addition to any baker’s or chocolate lover’s cookbook collection!


Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group, (Nov 2, 2009), 144 pages
Advance Review copy provided courtesy of the Publisher.

Permission Slips

Publisher's Summary. Covering topics such as "It's Jesus or Jail," "Marriage, the Hard Way," "Children: The Gift You Can't Give Back," and "All the Things I Don't Know...And All the Things I Definitely Do," stand-up comedienne, actress, and ABC's The View co-host Sherri Shepherd comically chronicles her struggles to keep up with the many roles-professional, wife, mother, daughter, and friend-that women must play in today's world. Sherri urges women to pursue their most important dreams and to never give up, but also let's readers know that it's okay to give themselves "permission slips" when things don't always work out the way they want them to.

Review. Permission Slips by Sherri Shepherd is a refreshingly honest and uplifting memoir! Sandwiched between the laughs Shepherd’s memoir delivers a message that women need to hear. Namely, that it is okay to make mistakes and to continue to make mistakes.

Why are women singled out for this message? Because as Shepherd cracks:

I never met a man who obsessed about being a perfect husband, but I know plenty of women who want to be perfect wives.

It ain’t happening. We women have start accepting that no matter what we do, someone’s always gonna be cranky about it. Instead of feeling guilty, let’s make it okay.

Amen!

Reading Permission Slips was like hanging out with a wise, candid, and hysterical best friend. She’ll hook you from page 23 when she proclaims:

I’ve made every mistake that a decent person can make, and I’m still here, still learning. Probably like you, I could have given up about a million times by now, but I didn’t. Hopefully, I’ve got at least forty more years worth of gaffes and mistakes to make. I can’t wait!

You have permission to laugh, cry, nod in agreement, and enjoy mistake-maker-in-chief Sherri Shepherd’s Permission Slips.





Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 5, 2009), 288 pages
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of Hachette Book Group.

Feelin the Vibe Winners!

The winners for the Feelin the Vibe giveaway are: Andrea & Jonnie.


Congrats to the winners!

Permission Slips Giveaway (ends 11/17)

Publisher's Summary. Covering topics such as "It's Jesus or Jail," "Marriage, the Hard Way," "Children: The Gift You Can't Give Back," and "All the Things I Don't Know...And All the Things I Definitely Do," stand-up comedienne, actress, and ABC's The View co-host Sherri Shepherd comically chronicles her struggles to keep up with the many roles-professional, wife, mother, daughter, and friend-that women must play in today's world. Sherri urges women to pursue their most important dreams and to never give up, but also let's readers know that it's okay to give themselves "permission slips" when things don't always work out the way they want them to.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
You must be 18 years of age or older.
NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Giveaway ends 11/17 Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- November 2nd

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) A Highlander's Temptation by Sue-Ellen Welfonder. Publisher's Summary. Darroc MacConacher spends sleepless nights dreaming of a raven-haired beauty who makes him ache with desire. Then his dream comes true: the lady with her lush curves and fair skin appears shipwrecked on his shores. Darroc is immediately drawn to her strength and beauty, and from the moment she lays eyes on this powerful, broad-shouldered warrior, Lady Arabella MacKenzie knows she'll never want another man.

But theirs is a forbidden love. The MacKenzies drove the MacConachers from their lands and destroyed their honor. Now, Darroc can use this sapphire-eyed seductress to shatter his foes. Yet how can he deny the passion that burns between him and Arabella, and ruin the one woman who touches his very soul?

2) Chosen by Desire by Kate Perry. Publisher's Summary. It's down to the wire and Carrie Woods is leaving China without the proof she needs for her thesis: Wei Lin's journal. While on a final tour of the monastery, Carrie finally locates the scrolls and attempts to photograph the documents. Caught in a sticky situation, Carrie takes the scrolls, only to notice a mysterious monk watching her--the same monk that she's seen each time she's taken a tour. Unable to return the scrolls, she travels back to California and isn't too thrilled when she notices the monk at the airport.

Maximillian Prescott first came to the monastery as an orphaned teenager when he inherited the Book of Metal from a distant uncle he hardly knew. After spotting a woman stealing from the monastery, he follows her to get back the documents he knows she's stolen. Max is further intrigued when he finds out that the chatty woman is friends with his archrival, Rhys Llewellyn, and he will stop at nothing to get back everything he's lost.

3) Love You To Death by Shannon K. Butcher. Publisher's Summary. It's been days since reporter Elise McBride has heard from her sister, Ashley. She's convinced Ashley has met with some kind of foul play, especially when she learns that bodies of other missing women have surfaced in and around Chicago--all victims of a brutal serial killer. Convinced her sister is still alive, Elise vows to risk everything to save her...

The last thing ex-cop Trent Brady needs is more blood on his hands. Yet when he catches Elise breaking into her sister's house, full of reckless determination and fear, he knows she needs his help. But just as desire ignites between them, a twisted madman sets his sights on Elise. Hell-bent on possessing her for himself, this psychopath won't rest until he has his perfect woman.

3) Chocolate A Love Story by Max Brenner. Publisher's Summary. With gigantic vats of churning chocolate, desserts like their famous chocolate pizza, and 12 varieties of hot chocolate served in custom mugs, Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man has turned their line of hip, colorful themed restaurants into an international sensation.. Chocolate: A Love Story is a vibrant new cookbook that includes 65 original recipes narrated in the quirky, captivating voice of Max Brenner, the restaurant's visionary founder and "bald man." Bold original illustrations inspired by Art Deco poster graphics, full-color photographs, easy-to-follow, delicious recipes, and a serving of Max's unique vision for spreading "chocolate culture" around the world make this book a must for every chocolate lover.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group.

4) Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch. Publishers Weekly. Roesch's offbeat debut is set in Unalakleet, Alaska, population 700, a destination that seems like the end of the world for teenage L.A. gang member Cesar Stone, uprooted by his mother after his older brother catches a murder conviction and a life sentence. Navigating without his brother or father, Cesar dwells on regrets while attempting to find himself in the refuge of his mom's native Alaska. Aggrieved at leaving L.A., but also relieved to be free from the gang's demands, Cesar bonds with his older cousin Go-boy, a Native with an optimistic outlook that belies personal tragedies. Go-boy bets a homemade tattoo of Eskimo Jesus that Cesar will stay in Alaska for a year, where he believes Cesar truly belongs. After becoming accustomed to Go-Boy's peculiar dependability, Cesar begins to see troubling changes in his cousin; as he charts Go-boy's drift, he begins to see himself changing as well. Roesch's compelling story, exotic setting and eccentric characters make this coming-of-age tale a fresh, welcome read. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thanks to Unbridled Books.

5) The Unforced Error by Jeffrey A. Krames. Publisher's Summary. A guide to help managers prepare for whatever comes over the net

In tennis, the player with the fewest unforced errors usually wins. The same is true in business— all too often, the mistakes that sabotage a career are completely avoidable, if you can anticipate them early enough.

Bestselling management writer Jeffrey Krames adopts the metaphor of tennis to show how to spot and sidestep the types of faults that do the most damage. He shows how businesspeople can develop and practice good habits so they’ll be ready for an unusually fast serve or wicked backhand.

Drawing on stories about famous CEOs like Jack Welch, Robert Goizueta, and Lou Gerstner, Krames shows how to avoid some of the biggest “career killers.” His advice includes:

• Never say, “The ball was out by a mile”; face reality at all times.
• Choose your doubles partner carefully; bad people decisions (hiring, firing, promoting) can be fatal.
• Keep practicing your best shot; enhancing your strengths is more effective than trying to fix your weaknesses.

Thanks to the Penguin Group USA.