The Best American Mystery Stories 2008

This is the 2008 version of this annual compilation of the best mystery stories of the year.  The series editor is Otto Penzler and each year has an individual editor.  The editor for 2008 is George Pelecanos.  This series has been running since 1997.

In the 2008 edition, both well-known names in mystery and suspense as well as those less familiar to the reader are featured.  Authors include James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Robert Ferrigno, Chuck Hogan, Rupert Holmes, Holly Goddard Jones, Peter Lasalle, Kyle Minor, Alice Munro, Thisbe Nissen,
Joyce Carol Oates, Nathan Oates, Jas. R. Petrin, Scott Phillips, Stephen Rhodes, S.J. Rozan, Hugh Sheehy, Elizabeth Strout, Melissa Vanbeck and Scott Wolven.

Every mystery reader can find a story represented here in the genre they like best.  Victorian mysteries, hard-core detectives, puzzlers, offbeat mysteries; all are here.  Elizabeth Strout's story will be recognized by those who later read her bestseller, Olive Kittridge, as it is a vignette from that book. 

My personal favorite was an offbeat mystery called Given Her History by Melissa Vanbeck.  It is an offbeat story of a girl touched by death and taken in by a quirky woman who treats her much better than her family ever did.  This book is recommended for lovers of short stories and mystery readers.

Life Sentences by Laura Lippman

Cassandra Fallows, a successful author, is casting about for a new project.  She has written two well-received memoirs about her childhood and her two marriages, and then a novel that was panned by the critics.  At loose ends, she hears a story about a woman in New Orleans whose baby is missing and the police have been unsuccessful in either finding the child or convincing the mother to cooperate.  A sad enough story, but the next words make Cassandra sit up and take notice.  The announcer refers the story back to a similiar one that occurred in Baltimore years before.  That mother, Calliope Jenkins, had reported a child missing and spent seven years in prison rather than telling anyone what happened.

Cassandra is entranced.  She had grown up in Baltimore and in fact, knew Calliope or Callie, as they called her, as a childhood schoolmate.  Cassandra had been one of the few white children at a local school and had become part of a group of girls, all of whom were African-American.  Cassandra had been grateful to be in their group.  There was Donna, the child of a prominent and politically successful family.  Trisha was the go-getter and leader who kept the group together.  Fatima was from a poorer family, but blossomed sexually long before the others.  Then there was Calliope, whom the group nicknamed Callie, and who hung arond the edges of their group, but rarely spoke or participated.  She was an enigma to those surrounding her even then.

Cassandra was the child of an English professor and a stay at home mom.  Her father had walked out on her mother and her when he met another woman that he claimed was the love of his life. As the girls grew up, they went to different high schools and lost touch. 

Cassandra is determined to go back to Baltimore and use this story as her next book.  She will write about these childhood friendships and tell what really happened to Callie's baby.  When she gets there, however, she quickly finds it will not be an easy job.  No one is eager to talk to her or renew old friendships.  She is rebuffed by all the other girls in the group, all of whom insist they have no idea where to find Callie and let Cassandra know that they wouldn't help her if they could as they don't want to be the focus of a book.

Cassandra presses on.  Can she find the truth that has been hidden for more than twenty years?  As she pushes foward, she discovers that everyone involved has secrets, including some hard truths about her own childhood that she hasn't faced or known before.

Laura Lippman has written an intriguing book.  The characters are portrayed deftly, and remind us of how difficult it is to renew old friendships when life has moved us on to different pathways as adults.  The plot twists and turns and pulls the reader in quickly.  This book is recommended for all readers.

Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri

Imagine this.  You're at home when your lover calls for you to come over.  You rush over, regardless of the fact that she's the wife of your ex-boss, who happens to be the head of Homicide in your town.  You make love and then hear the unthinkable: the front door opening and footsteps heading up the stairs, so you jump out the window and head home.

Add in one fact: you're an ex-cop who had to leave the force due to brain damage.  Brain damage that was caused when you failed to commit suicide by shooting yourself in the head, and that leaves you with blackouts and the propensity for making bad decisions. 

An hour later, your ex-boss calls.  He wants to hire you as a part-time consultant, as he has done off and on since you had to leave the force.  The crime?  His wife, Scarlet, has been found butchered in her bed--the bed you just left.  Unfortunately, you can't remember if you witnessed the crime, or maybe even committed it.  Can you find the answer before more tragedy occurs?

Vincent Zandri has created a compelling narrator.  The reader is drawn into the web the same as Richard Moonlight, the ex-detective is, and is as unable to break free of the action as he is.  The plot is intricate, the pace spellbinding.  This book is recommended for any and all mystery readers; it is easily one of the best I've read lately. 

Waking Up In The Land Of Glitter by Kathy Cano-Murillo

In Waking Up In The Land Of Glitter, Kathy Cano-Murillo follows three women as they prepare for the annual national Craft show, held in their town.  Chloe, known as Crafty Chloe, is a TV reporter determined to make her mark.  Although she hates crafts, she has determined that it is the easiest way to get a TV show, book deal and all the perks of being a personality on the national stage.  Ofelia is a true crafter, and one of Chloe's biggest fans.  Ofelia loves crafting, any craft, no matter how difficult or how expensive.   Unfortunately, while her heart is good, her end results are hideous and her family and friends cringe when she gives them her creations.  She is also spending way too much time and money on her crafts, and her family is hurting as a result.

Then there is Star.  A fountain of ideas and energy, she just can't quite get it together in life.  She starts a hundred projects and doesn't finish one.  Moving at the speed of light, she leaves disasters behind, as she doesn't take the time to follow through on details.  Star is at a crisis point.  Her parents are going to start charging her rent or make her move out, three years after she has finished college.  They've fired her from her job at their restaurant.  Worst of all, she has alienated the love of her life who has decided he has to move on to protect himself from her wild mood swings and energetic ambitions that seem to go nowhere.

The three come together to work on the craft show.  Ofelia is Star's cousin, and Chloe joins with them to further her image as a crafting queen.  Can these three pull it together in time for the show?  Can Ofelia learn to keep her love of crafts without ruining her family?  Will Chloe make it to the top of the crafting world?  Can Star find her way, both in life and love?

Cathy Cano-Murillo has created an engaging book that will please the reader.  The characters, while very different, are all written so realistically that the reader will feel they know them.  Star, in particular, is a vibrant character, a whirlwind with a love for others, that the reader won't soon forget.  The writing is breezy and the story never drags.  This book is recommended for women readers. 

Undress Me In The Temple Of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman

In 1986, fresh out of college, Susan Jane Gilman and a college friend, Claire, decided to embark on a grand adventure.  Before they took up a life of jobs and marriage, why not take the chance to travel the world and see lands and sights they had never seen before?  They bought world-wide air tickets, and decided to start their journey in China.

Naive and armed only with academic knowledge, they were knocked aback by the reality of traveling in a primitive country like China.  The trip occurred in the early years of China being opened for travel to Westerners, and there were still multiple governmental restrictions.  The stark reality of waking up in a place where you knew absolutely no one, and where even the street signs were in a foreign language unknown to you, overwhelmed the girls.  They didn't even know each other that well, and quickly discovered that they were not good traveling mates.  They were totally unprepared for the lonliness and isolation they encountered.

There were also great times.  They were stunned at the friendliness of the Chinese people.  There were other backpackers around, and the backpacking world was one of instant camaraderie.  There was gorgeous scenery, and ancient wonders that they could hardly believe they were seeing in person. 

This book is recommended for travel writing lovers and for any readers looking for an interesting read.  Gilman has opened a world of the other side of travel; not just gorgeous sights and new experiences but lonliness and fear.  It is a fascinating story and recommended for anyone anticipating such a trip.

AUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!!! THE SWAN THIEVES BY ELIZABETH KOSTOVA

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life--solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.


Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

Giveaway Rules

All entries without an email address in the comment will be disqualified.  Please leave your email so I can contact you if you win.

1. The giveaway starts Sunday, March 7th and ends Saturday, March 20th at midnight.

2. There will be three winning entries, which will be chosen by a random number generator.

3. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

4. For one entry, comment below with your email address attached. You can get additional entries by being or becoming a follower of this blog, posting about the giveaway on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter. If posting elsewhere, please provide the link.

5. Winners must have a street address in either the United States or Canada. No P.O. boxes allowed by Hachette, sorry!

This is a wonderful book so good luck to all participants!  Thanks for coming to Booksie's Blog.

Shadow Of The King by Helen Hollick

In this final book of Helen Hollick's Pendragon trilogy, the reader follows the story of Arthur and Gwenhwyfar through their final years.  The book begins with Arthur and his men going to Gaul to help his allies there.  He is betrayed by them and forced into a battle where his army is massively outnumbered.  A few of his men escape and take the body of their beloved king with them.  As they are followed by the victorious enemy, Morgaine, the pagan healer who also loves Arthur and who followed him to Gaul, convinces them to move on and leave her to bury the King.

What she knows is that there is still life beating in Arthur's body.  She nurses him back to health and he then remains with her and their son, Medraut, for three years.  Arthur has lost his confidence and feels he has nothing to return for, as he believes that Gwenhwyfar had died of illness before the battle.

A Saxon slave was granted freedom by Arthur before the battle and is intensely loyal to him.  When he learns that Arthur is alive, he travels to England and tells Gwenhwyfar and her court.  She travels to Gaul to find Arthur, who leaves with her and brings his son.

But he comes back to an England where his kingdom is in tatters, with many scheming for his former position and alliances broken.  The book follows Arthur's campaigns as he once again brings England together under his rule. 

This book is recommended for historical fiction readers.  Helen Horrick has created a historical masterpiece, taking a different route with Arthur's life than that which came down through history, but with enough touchpoints that the reader will be constantly reminded of those legends.  The history rings true, and the relationships and battles transport the reader to another time. 

Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass

Kira Solomon is a Shadowchaser.  She knew even as a child that she was different.  She could sense the truth about people by touching them, and could discover truth from inanimate objects as well.  When she reached puberty, her power increased to the point where her touch became deadly to humans.  That's when the Gilead Commission stepped in, took over guardianship and trained her to fight the beings steeped in Shadow.

Kira is given a dagger of enormous power by her handler that he has come into possession of.  He is killed once he gives her the dagger by the forces that have come to Earth to steal the dagger and its power.  Kira is left with the dagger and the knowledge that an Avatar of one of the Fallen will stop at nothing to get the weapon so that he can take control of Earth.

She is sidetracked when a new player enters the game.  Not sure who he is or what he wants, Kira fights him also, but soon realises that he is the true owner of the dagger.  This is Khefar, a Nubian warrior who has lived for four thousand years, cursed to remain alive until he has saved the same number of lives that he has taken over the years.  His companion is a demigod who is Anasi, the Spider God. 

Khefar and Kira join forces to fight Enig, the Avatar who will kill anyone in his path.  Will they be able to defeat this powerful force, or will he gain the dagger and capture Kira for the Shadow side?

Seressia Glass has written an exciting entry into the urban fantasy genre.  Her heroine is a strong but believable character, and she is careful not to let the love story between Kira and Khefar overwhelm the story .  This book is recommended for urban fantasy and science fiction readers.

The Weight Of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar

Frank and Ellie Benton have suffered the ultimate parents' nightmare.  Their seven year old son, Ben, was struck with a fast-moving infection and died almost overnight.  Understandably, they are crushed.  After months of plodding haplessly through their daily routines, an opportunity appears.  Frank's company, a pharmacutical, gets the raw ingredients for their new top-selling drug from trees native to India.  The company needs someone to go and head up operations there.

Desperate for a change, the Bentons agree to move to India, hoping that it will be a fresh start in a place with no memories of their son.  Ellie thrives there, making new friends and falling in love with India and its people.  Frank has a rougher time. 

Frank's job provides problems along with the opportunities.  The Indian workers are different from those he has managed in the past, creating conflict.  There are bribes that are paid to local governments, a different scenario than he has encountered.  Wages are low and working conditions are harder than in American factories.  The biggest conflict concerns not only his workers but the entire area.  The company has bought the rights to the trees that their top-selling drug is created from.  The local population has used those trees for centuries, and have established harvests and markets.  They are now forbidden to do so; their livlihood sold to a foreign company by their government.  This creates constant tension and as things deteriorate, protests and riots.

A new relationship starts to help Frank.  He takes an interest in the son of their cook and housekeeper.  This child, Ramesh, is a bright child, engaging and outgoing.  Frank and Ellie offer to pay his tuition to a local private school.  Soon they are taking him on weekend trips, and he is a guest at dinners they give for their friends--dinners prepared and served by his parents, who are there as servants rather than guests.  Frank becomes more and more involved with Ramesh.  Both Ramesh's parents and Ellie start to feel uncomfortable with his focus; Elllie because she thinks he is trying to replace their son, and the parents because he is weaning their son's allegience away.

Things come to a head as Frank attempts to find a way to take Ramesh back to America when he and Ellie finish their tour in India.  The book sweeps along to a shocking climax that the reader will not soon forget.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.  The writing is lush and quiet,  but provides a steady increase of suspense.  The conflicts between industrial nations and those countries providing resources and labor are starkly outlined.  How marriages survive tragedies and the way individuals rebuild lives is explored in a deft manner, providing insights without being heavy handed.  This book is recommended for all readers.  It is a stunning book that the reader will remember for quite some time.

Shadow Dance by Angela Carter

Angela Carter introduces the reader to a London that isn't talked about in the tourist guides.  It is the London of detached working class men and women scruffing out a living.  The book centers around two friends.  Morris is married to Edna, but rarely goes home to her.  His best friend, Honeybuzzard is an eccentric figure.  Physically attractive but emotionally blunted, he sails through life, using everyone around him for his own purposes.  Morris and Honeybuzzard haphazardly run an antique store, stocked by their forays into abandoned houses where they steal the items they sell.

Honeybuzzard has been away for several months.  A promiscious woman who slept with both the men and most of their acquaintenances, was found raped and cut horribly about the face.  Ghislaine has now returned to the neighborhood after getting out of the hospital, horribly disfigured.  The rumour mill says that Honeybuzzard may have been the culprit, although the offical report blames a roving gang. 

Honeybuzzard has also returned, with a new lover, Emily, in tow.  The book follows the lives of these characters as they meet and fall apart and struggle into new configurations. 

Shadow Dance is Angela Carter's first book, and it is my introduction to her writing.  The writing is stark yet compelling, and her deft touch introduces characters that inhabit the mind long after the last page is read.  This book is recommended for fiction readers.

Meet The Howlers! by April Pulley Sayre

April Pulley Sayre has created a wonderful book about howler monkeys that will be a huge hit with children.  Most children love monkeys, and this book reinforces that love through an exploration of a typical howler monkey family.  The roles of the father, mother and children are discussed in a fun, rollicking way that will leave children amused while increasing their knowledge.

Each set of pages has a catchy rhyme about what is happening on those pages.  Topics include care of the young, food, living conditions and utility of the howling sound the animals make.  For older children, there is also another section that gives scientific facts about the topic.  This combination of rhyme and fact makes the book usable for a wider age range.  Parents can introduce the book to a young child through the rhymes and as the child gets older, interest in the scientific facts will increase. 

The illustrations are done by Woody Miller and are absolutely enchanting.  The howlers are seen swinging in the trees, sleeping, resting, eating, and in several memorable illustrations, howling.  The images make the howling seem like enormous fun; viewing them makes the reader want to join in and howl along. 

This book is recommended for children from two to ten.

Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg

Hurry Down Sunshine is Michael Greenberg's painful memoir of the summer his fifteen year old daughter was diagnosed as bipolar.  Bright, outgoing and verbal, he and his wife didn't notice that Sally was edging closer and closer to the edge.  She was staying up all night, writing frantically in her journals and walking for hours in New York. But it was summer with summer's relaxed structure and they thought it was the typical teenage behavior of finding one's self and one's voice. 

Then came the day when it became apparent that this was more than normal teenage angst.  Sally became very agitated, unable to stop talking and babbling, eager to share her revelations.  The family took her to the hospital, and then were appalled to find that she needed to be admitted to the psychological ward.

The book details family reactions.  There was guilt, disbelief, and incredible amounts of worry about what would happen to Sally in the future.  Compounding the issue, the author had a brother that had always struggled with mental illness.  Seeing his maladjusted life, the pain of realising that his daughter might be headed down the same road was almost unbearable.

Yet the book is inspring also.  The reader walks with the family through recovery as different drugs are administered, each with it's own set of side effects.  Sally was able to come home as the summer progressed, and by the time the summer was over, was able to go back to her high school.  The book details how her struggle changed the family and its dynamics forever, as they learned to live with this lifetime affliction.

This book is recommended for those struggling with the diagnosis of mental illness or for parents facing any type of life-altering issue in their child's life.  It is also recommended for those who have been diagnosed, giving hope for how to live with the new reality.

The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick is a continuation of her book The Greatest Knight.  Both books cover the life of England's greatest knight, William Marshall.  The Greatest Knight covers Marshall's early life and his service to Richard The Lionhearted.

In The Scarlet Lion, we follow Marshall in the last years of his life, from 1197 to 1218.  His marriage to Isabelle de Clare is his bedrock, and she is no typical medieval wife.  Instead she is recognized as his partner and helpmate, and she is Irish royalty in her own right.  Together they make a formidable pair as they help move England forward during the wars of conquest that are so frequent. 

For most of this book, Marshall serves King John, the last son in his bloodline who ends up King of England when his four other brothers die in various ways.  John is mercuical and cruel, delighting in pitting his couriers against each other and quick to take offense.  William and Isabelle must thread a wary path between serving John and becoming part of his cruelties. 

The couple have ten children and the reader gets to see how children were raised and the part that they played in consolidating power.  It was a common practice to take children as hostages for their parents' loyalty, and John took the Marshall's two oldest boys into his court as young men.  This created tension and conflict between the king and his subjects, and often between parents and children.  The female children were expected to make marriages that furthered alliances between the great families.

The reader gets to see court life during the reigns of  both King John and King Henry, who came after him.  There are intricate power plays and balancing acts to stay in favor and retain family inheritances and lands.  During this time, there was constant war between England and France, England and Wales and between the various knights who were each jockeying for power and influence.  William Marshall kept his honor and word through various travails and prevailed as a beloved leader.

This book is recommended for historical fiction lovers.

Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman by Ogo Akubue-Ogbata

Nikiru is born into a wealthy Nigerian family.  She is able to attend a private boarding school with her sister, Nonso.  Born into privilege, she feels secure but finds out how fragile security is when her father dies, leaving her with a stepmother who hates her and her sister.

Farmed out to relatives, Nikiru reaches down within herself and finds a way to get back to school.  She finds she has a passion for engineering; an innate ability to make mechanical items work.  While at school, she meets and falls in love with Ejimonye, a political science major.  They marry, and the book follows their lives; their triumphs and failures and children and love and disasters that befall them.

Ogo Akubue-Ogbata has created a special viewpoint into the African experience of the last half of the twentieth century.  Set in Nigeria, the book also follows events in Sierra Leone and Uganda.  The reader is able to view colonism from the viewpoint of those colonized, and how that colonization reaches its grasp into everyday life of those who endured it.  It also shows the similarity that all women share in life as they grow up, fall in love, marry and have children in their turn, often while trying to balance family and work.  This book is recommended for readers who are interested in African history, and for those who enjoy family sagas.

GIVEAWAY!!!! LOVE IN 9O DAYS BY DIANE KIRSCHNER

Finding true love is possible in just 90 days. Renowned clinical psychologist, Dr. Diana Kirschner, uses the latest research, clinical and personal experience to show you how. Dr. Diana knows the questions single women everywhere face: "Why am I attracted to the wrong kind of guys?" "Why is he just not that into me?" "Why can't I seem to find the One?" She also knows the unconscious mistakes that women make over and over again in love-regardless of age, work success, or the type of men they are dating.

Over the years Dr. Diana has received countless inquiries from single women about writing a how-to guide on her work. Love in 90 Days: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Own True Love is that book.

Love in 90 Days is fun, savvy and based on the latest research on singles, online dating and healthy relationships. Loaded with step-by-step instructions, checklists, and weekly homework assignments, this revolutionary love book is also an intensely personal journey for each reader. Love in 90 Days guides you along your own path towards self discovery with proven and effective dating advice and tough love. Dr. Diana dispels common misconceptions about love relationships and dating, and share personal stories from women who have successfully completed the Love in 90 Days Program. There's also a chapter devoted to the special issues faced by African-American women, single mothers, and women forty-five and older.

Giveaway Rules



You MUST, MUST, MUST leave an email address in order to be entered in the contest. I hate to have to throw out entries because I have no way to notify winners.

1. The giveaway starts Tuesday, February 2nd and ends Friday, February 12th at midnight.
2. There will be five winning entries, which will be chosen by a random number generator.

3. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

4. For one entry, comment below with your email address attached. You can get additional entries by being or becoming a follower of this blog, posting about the giveaway on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter. If posting elsewhere, please provide the link.

5. Winners must have a street address in either the United States or Canada. No P.O. boxes allowed by Hachette, sorry!

All right ladies; let's find out how love works.  Valentine's Day is right around the corner!

Searching for Tina Turner by Jacqueline E. Luckett

Lena Spencer has it all.  Married to Randall, one of the few black CEO's of a major corporation, she has a lovely home, all the material possessions one could wish for, a son in college, a daughter about to graduate high school and a circle of friends who love her cooking and advice.

But that vision is on the outside looking in.  From the inside, Lena has reached age fifty-four and feels empty.  Her son has left college due to drug problems and her daughter rarely talks to her.  Her husband uses her as a tool to further his career, and her friends are fair-weather ones.  She feels as if she has nothing that is truly hers and that she has lost her dreams in the service of others.

Lena's dream is to operate a photography studio.  She's had a business plan for years, but has put off starting her business as her husband climbs ever higher in the corporate world.  Instead, she has helped him write speeches, strategized meetings, and served as his hostess.  He kept promising that her turn will come, but now that it's time, he still refuses to support her in finding her dream.

Desparate to carve out something for herself, Lena finds a biography of Tina Turner.  Reading how Tina left her husband at age forty-five and went on to become a bigger musical star without him gives Lena the courage to insist on her plans.  When Randall won't help, she moves out and takes the steps necessary to make her dreams a reality.

This book is recommended for all readers.  Jacqueline Luckett has captured the feeling of imprisonment that many women face, along with the reality that they have given up what they wanted to help everyone they love find what is important to them.  This is an interesting debut novel.

The Nightmare Navigator by Billy Bonsangue

Nightmares are a very real thing to many children, and parents who have children who suffer from nightmares know intimately how it can disrupt the entire family.  In The Nightmare Navigator, Billy Bonsangue uses verse and colorful pictures to list all the common nightmares that might be plaguing a child.  He lists scenarios like monsters under the bed, feeling like you're falling from a great height, something following you in the fog, and spooks in your bedroom at night.

But after listing all the horrors, the author turns the book around and lists ways the child can turn the scary situation around into one that is pleasureable.  Feel like you're falling?  Tell yourself you can fly and suddenly it's an amazing adventure.  A horrible beast in your room?  Welcome him and tell him you've been waiting to play with him.

I love this book!  The rhymes are catchy and the pictures bright and colorful.  I can see this book quickly becoming a favorite of children suffering from nightmares, with the request to read it each night before bedtime.  Parents will be pleased to find something that might help defuse the situation.  This book is recommended for children 5-10, and for parents looking for resources to help them help their child overcome fear of sleeping and nightmares.

Topless Prophet by Alan Markovitz

From the book:

"There are 2,500 topless clubs in America with gross revenue exceeding $7.5 billion.  Topless clubs entertain an estimated 1,000,000 customers every day and employ 350,000 workers to serve them.  Topless clubs serve more alcoholic beverages (and, I would add, at a higher average price) than any other type of nightclub and are open more days and hours than any other type of nightclub.  Of particular significance, topless clubs pay more state and local taxes than any other type of nightclub and receive less corporate branding than any other type of nightclub."

These are just some of the surprising facts that the author, Alan Markovitz, shares about his life as the owner/operator of the #1 rated topless club in the United States.  Markovitz grew up in Detroit, the child of a Holocaust survivor.  When he finished high school, he was at loose ends.  He was accepted and tested to be a figher pilot for the Israeli air force, but ultimately declined.  He went to college in premed, then later business, but again just wasn't satisfied.  He started working at a topless nightclub, and immediately saw the business opportunity that hadn't been exploited there.

When Markovitz started out, most topless nightclubs were lower class establishments, with the typical clientele being biker or other gangs, or blue-collar workers.  He saw that there was a niche not being filled.  There was room for an upscale club that would cater to businessmen and professionals.  This is the type of club he started, along with his father and an older man in the business as partners.  His vision was correct, and it led to a lifetime in the business, multiple clubs, and wealth.

While the language is rough, it is interesting to read how the success came from a standard business model, and how Markovitz talks incessently about business concepts like quality of service, return on investment, loss leaders, location, etc.  Not everything is business talk, and there is certainly a downside.  Markovitz has been shot twice and one of his partners hired hitmen to kill him.  There were incidents with law enforcement and local municipalities. 

This book is recommended for both those interested in topless nightclubs, and surprisely, those interested in business and how to succeed in a business. 

The Currency Of Time, Brandon Stuart

Patrick Felson, 70 years old, wakes one morning and stiffly makes his way down the hallway to start his day.  But this day is different for Patrick.   As he is staring at a collage of family portraits in the hall, he feels a terrific pain and realises he is having a stroke.

When he comes back to consciousness, he slowly begins to realise that this is not the same date he woke up on.   Somehow, he has been transported back a decade.  His wife, who he loved dearly, but was estranged emotionally from, is still there.  Patrick goes to her and tells her how much he loves her and they have a perfect day.

When Patrick awakes next he has traveled back another decade.  He is able to reconnect with his children.  This pattern continues; each time Patrick awakes he has retreated another decade and is able to rectify some of the emotional damage he has done to himself and others.  This continues back to his childhood and the trauma of losing a sibling.  Patrick comes to realise the factors that have held him back his whole life and start to change them.

This book is recommended for general fiction readers.  Stuart has created an interesting framework for the book, and the reader moves with Patrick from decade to decade, wishing as he does that things had been different and pleased that he is undoing some of the emotional damage.  The book is life-affirming and leaves the reader with positive thoughts.

Island Of The Swans by Ciji Ware

In Island Of The Swans, Ciji Ware follows the life of Jane Maxwell.  Born into genteel poverty, the daughter of a minor noble, Jane is a tomboy who lives to escape the strict rules of her upbringing and indulge in madcap adventures.  She is joined by her sisters and a neighbor boy, Thomas Fraser.  As Jane grows, she is forced to become more ladylike and respectable.  She grows into a raving beauty, and her job is to make an advantageous marriage that will help out the family fortunes.

Jane catches the eye of Alexander Gordon, the fourth Duke of Gordon.  Her heart belongs to her childhood friend, Thomas, but he has gone to America to help the Crown settle the country.  When news of his death gets back to England, Jane agrees to marry Alex. 

But word of Thomas' death was premature, and he returns to England time and again over the decades.  Jane is caught between her marriage and children with Alex, and her lifelong love of Thomas.  Which man will win out and keep Jane for his own?

Ciji Ware has created a gorgeous tapestry of the time period, woven around the love conflicts of Jane Maxwell Gordon, fourth Duchess of Gordon.  She weaves in information about the politics of England at the time, famous men, Scottish dancing, poetry, food, and the state of women's status.  This is a glorious book and is recommended for lovers of historical romances. 

The Summer We Fell Apart by Robin Antalek

In The Summer We Fell Apart, Robin Antalek follows the grown children of a dysfunctional marriage.  The Haas marriage was renowned in theatrical circles.  The father was a Tony-award winning playwright, but his career stumbled badly after this honor.  The mother is more successful, still getting acting roles in her fifties and sixties.  The question is why these two ever married and had children.  The children seem to be nothing more than an afterthought, and the marriage revolved around the headgames and the serial adultry of each parent.

Now that the children are grown, they have entered adult lives of their choices.  Kate, the oldest and the father's favorite, is a hard-charging corporate lawyer, full of to-do lists and lots of projects but little time for emotions.  Finn, the mother's favorite, has had alcohol issues and stumbles from rehab to rehab.  George is a swim coach at a private boy's school and provides the most emotional support for his siblings.  Amy is the youngest and is an artist, living in New York with her boyfriend.

The book follows the children in their lives, especially in the time immediately following the death of their father.  Antalek explores how we grow up, what sibling relationships mean and what we owe to our nuclear families once we grow up and make separate adult lives.  The writing is immediate and real, and although the topic could be depressing, it doesn't weigh down the book.  This book is recommended for readers who enjoy books about how we relate to each other and the world.

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Waverly Sloan can't believe his luck.  He just got disbarred as an attorney, but has fallen into a great new business.  Of course, not everyone would like it, but he isn't picky.  The viatical broker finds terminally ill patients with large life insurance policies.  He buys the policy for half price on behalf on his investor.  The patient gets some needed money for the end part of their life, and when they die, the investor gets the face value of the policy.  The broker takes his fee up front, and Waverly soon finds that these fees add up to substantial funds.

What could go wrong with that?  Let's see.  A drug dealer who decides Waverly is his best bet for laundering drug profits.  A federal prosecutor who is heading up a task force to investigate the industry and Waverly's office in particular.  Clients who die; and not from their diagnosed illnesses.  His clients are dying in car accidents, hit and runs or suspicious fires.  In particular, one case comes back to haunt him.  The new Attorney General of the United States used his services for his terminally ill wife.  The problem?  After she dies, it's determined that she was murdered.

Pamela Young has written a fast-paced mystery that keeps the reader turning pages to see what will happen next.  This book is recommended for mystery readers who like fast-paced action.

The Culture Of Excess by J.R. Slosar

In The Culture Of Excess, J.R. Slosar defines how modern culture is based on the personality traits of narcissism and the loss of self-control, and how this emphasis on personal attainment is warping various segments of society.  The demand is for everything to be faster, bigger and better.  As self-control diminishes, impulsivity increases.  We have more and more and are less and less happy.

The author talks about how broad segments of our society are affected by this cultural focus.  In a chapter about education Slosar talks about how today's students are not willing to study math and science, leading to a decrease in logical thinking and bad conclusions to decisions made on emotion rather than evidence.  Another chapter is devoted to the current health care crisis and legislation.  The demeaning of science is discussed and how differing opinions on scientific questions divide the country more and more.  The future of media is another topic with a discussion on how the screaming talking heads we are all familiar with impact society.  The notable fact of helipcopter parenting and the inability of young adults to break away and find their own identity is another aspect of this trend.

J.R. Slosar is a clinical psychologist and an adjunct assistant professor at Chapman University in California.  His training and experience give him the ability to provide examples and to create a structural framework through which the issues of American society can be viewed.  His arguments would be stronger, however, if every ill affecting society wasn't laid at the doors of Republicans and conservatives.  This book is recommended for those nonfiction readers that are interested in cultural analysis.

Better Part Of Darkness by Kelly Gay

Charlie Madigan is a newly divorced single mom who is also a cop.  That job is much more complicated now that beings from other worlds live here.  The Atlanta Underground crime scene has taken on a whole new meaning.  Charlie can handle the change though.  Brought back to life six months ago, she is discovering that she has new powers she never thought about.

There is a new drug hitting town.  Incredibly addictive, ash is like nothing ever seen, and Charlie and her partner Hank are put on the case to discover the pipeline selling the drug and to shut it down.  They are making progress on the case when they inadventently discover a major plot that makes selling drugs look like playing in a sandbox.  The plot will take over the entire Earth and make it habitable only for those from another world.  As Charlie and Hank race to find out the details and save the Earth, they take major hits to their families and regular lives.  Will they succeed before they are too damaged to fight?

Kelly Gay is a new voice in urban fantasy, but this book should gain her new readers and fans immediately.  The characters are memorable, and the plot is edge-of-your-seat.  Once started, this is a must-read book and readers will finish it ready for the next adventure of the team.  This book is recommended for urban fantasy and sci-fi readers.

GIVEAWAY!!!!! Beyond Blue by Therese Borchard

Therese Borchard may be one of the frankest, funniest people on the planet. That, combined with her keen writing abilities has made her Beliefnet blog, Beyond Blue, one of the most trafficked blogs on the site.
BEYOND BLUE, the book, is part memoir/part self-help. It describes Borchard's experience of living with manic depression as well as providing cutting-edge research and information on dealing with mood disorders. By exposing her vulnerability, she endears herself immediately to the reader and then reduces even the most depressed to laughter as she provides a companion on the journey to recovery and the knowledge that the reader is not alone.
Comprised of four sections and twenty-one chapters, BEYOND BLUE covers a wide range of topics from codependency to addiction, poor body image to postpartum depression, from alternative medicine to psychopharmacology, managing anxiety to applying lessons from therapy. Because of her laser wit and Erma Bombeck sense of humor, every chapter is entertaining as well as serious.

GIVEAWAY RULES


YOU MUST, MUST, MUST LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS. I HATE TO NOT USE AN ENTRY BECAUSE I HAVE NO WAY OF NOTIFYING YOU IF YOU WIN. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR ENTRY.


1. The giveaway starts Sunday, January 24th and ends Friday, February 5th.
2. There will be five winners chosen by random number generator.
3. Winners will be notified by email and have three days to respond with their mailing address. After three days, an alternate will be chosen.
4. For one entry, leave a comment with your email address. For additional entries, be a follower, or post to your blog, or twitter the giveaway.
5. Winners must live in the U.S. or Canada. Hachette doesn't deliver to PO Boxes, sorry!

Good luck. I think this one will be fascinating.

Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Gloria Sterling has a fairy-tale life.  Rich and beautiful, she has recently remarried.  Known for her escapades, even her remarriage makes news--her new husband is gorgeous and twenty years younger.  But when Gloria is found dead in her swimming pool, the fairy tale comes to an end.

It turns out there are plenty of suspects.  Inevitably, the husband is always the first suspect and he was the talk of the town by those who refused to believe the marriage had been a love match.  Then there was the local attorney who had been Gloria's prior lover.  Finally, all that money was left to her by her prior husband, and he made that money in real estate.  There were many in Plum Harbor, where Gloria lived, who felt that his fortune was built on their misfortune.

Gloria had recently joined a circle of five friends that called themselves The Black Sheep.  The group was centered around all the participant's love of knitting.  There was Maggie, who owned the local knitting shop.  Suzanne was a real estate agent, while Dana is a psychologist.  Lucy is a graphic designer while Phoebe is a college student who lives over the knitting shop and works there.  When the police decide that the death is an accident, the group starts to put suspicious events together and decides that the death must have been a murder.  They each use their unique talents to bring another piece to the puzzle of Gloria's death.

Knit, Purl, Die is the second book in the Black Sheep mystery series, and would be considered to be on the cozy part of that genre.  The characters are interesting and their interplay and demonstration of true female friendship is fascinating for the reader to follow.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

Thicker Than Blood by C.J. Darlington

Christy Williams finally has her life on track. She’s putting her past behind her and working hard to build a career as an antiquarian book buyer. But things begin to unravel when a stolen Hemingway first edition is found in her possession, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. With no one to turn to, she yearns for her estranged younger sister, May, whom she abandoned after their parents’ untimely deaths. Soon, Christy’s fleeing from her shattered dreams, her ex-boyfriend, and God. Could May’s Triple Cross Ranch be the safe haven she’s searching for? Will the sisters realize that each possesses what the other desperately needs before it’s too late?

This novel is the winner of winner of the 2008 Christian Writer's Guild Operation First Novel contest.  My review is coming later, but here are some quotes from others:
With careful attention to detail, emotion, and scene-setting, C.J. Darlington scores with her debut effort. Here is a special writer you won’t want to miss.
--Jerry B. Jenkins, New York Times best selling author

If you love a good read filled with adventure and ultimately redemption, I encourage you to brew the tea, settle into your favorite chair and pick up the page turner that is C.J. Darlington’s imaginative new novel of a modern day sisterhood that triumphs over separation and the raw challenges of life to find the real endurance of both family ties and God’s amazing grace.
--Rebecca St. James, Grammy award winning Christian singer and bestselling author

With Thicker than Blood, C.J. Darlington proves she's a novelist for the long-haul, a strong new voice in Christian fiction. This book speaks to the heart, from the heart, about the heart. Readers will not soon forget it.
--Sibella Giorello, Christy award-winning author of The Rivers Run Dry & The Clouds Roll Away

About the Author:

C. J. began writing the story that would become Thicker than Blood (her first novel) when she was a fifteen-year-old homeschool student. She has been in the antiquarian bookselling business for over a decade, scouting for stores similar to the one described in the novel before cofounding her own online bookstore. Thicker than Blood was the winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel.

C. J. co-founded the Christian entertainment Web site TitleTrakk.com with her sister, Tracy, and has been actively promoting Christian fiction through book reviews and author interviews. She makes her home in Pennsylvania with her family and their menagerie of dogs and cats. Visit her website www.cjdarlington.com for more info.

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

It's not a good day for Jack McEvoy.  A crime reporter at the L.A. Times for twenty years, he has just been told that he will be laid off in two weeks.  Jack decides to go out with one last good story.  He has been contacted by the grandmother of a sixteen year old gang member who has been arrested for a grisly murder the media is calling The Trunk Murder.  She insists her grandson is innocent, and Jack decides to look into the story. 

As Jack starts to investigate, he quickly realises that not only is the teenager innocent, but the reason he is not guilty is that there is a serial killer out there who has been killing women in different states and leaving them in car trunks.  He starts an investigation, aided by FBI Agent Rachel Walling.   He worked with Rachel on his biggest story years before.  That story was the detection and capture of The Poet, another killer. 

This time is different however.  The killer is investigating Jack and Rachel as intently as they are investigating him, and is targeting them as his next victims.  Along with the chase, the reader learns about how technology plays into both the killer's targeting of his victims, and the investigation into his crime.

Michael Connelly readers will not be disappointed in The Scarecrow.  It delivers what one expects from Connelly, a page-turner with enough twists and turns to keep the plot moving.  The story is taut and the reader is involved in the investigation.  The love interest between Jack and Rachel adds another dimension.  This book is recommended for mystery readers and Connelly fans.  Although it is another in a Jack McEvoy series, it can easily stand on its own. 

Breakfast In Bed by Robin Kaye

Becca Larsen lands in New York City, ready to take on the art world.  When she moves into the apartment she sublet while her apartment and studio are being renovated, there's a slight problem.  There's already a tenent, Rich Ronaldi, who has also just moved in.  Becca's brother is married to Rich's sister, and the couple each rented the apartment without checking with the other. 

Rich also has problems.  He has just taken a job as a psychology professor at Columbia, but his dean seems to think that Rich's fancy-free bachelor days should be coming to an end, and expects him to settle down.  On top of that, his girlfriend, Gina, has just dumped him because he is the typical spoiled Mama's Boy who expects every woman to wait on him.

Rich and Becca don't like each other, although each is attracted physically.  But both need a place to live, and Rich needs someone to help him learn to cook and clean and take care of himself.  They agree to share the apartment for a few months.  Will they overcome their intial feelings and learn to love each other?

Robin Kaye has written a wonderful romance.  Light-hearted in tone, it keeps the reader turning the pages to see what will happen next in this relationship.  The love scenes are steamy, and the characters are vivid.  This book is recommended to romance readers. 

AUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!! HOPE FOR ANIMALS AND THEIR WORLD BY JANE GOODALL

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 AND THEIR WORLD presents an uplifting, hopeful message for the future of animal-human coexistence.


GIVEAWAY RULES

YOU MUST, MUST, MUST LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS.  I HATE TO NOT USE AN ENTRY BECAUSE I HAVE NO WAY OF NOTIFYING YOU IF YOU WIN.  PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR ENTRY.

1.  The giveaway starts Saturday, January 16th and ends Friday, January 29th.

2.  There will be three winners chosen by random number generator.

3.  Winners will be notified by email and have three days to respond with their mailing address.  After three days, an alternate will be chosen.

4.  For one entry, leave a comment with your email address.  For additional entries, be a follower, or post to your blog, or twitter the giveaway.

5.  Winners must live in the U.S. or Canada.  Hachette doesn't deliver to PO Boxes, sorry!

Good luck.  I think this one will be fascinating

Coppola, A Pediatric Surgeon In Iraq by Dr. Chris Coppola

This book came as a total surprise to me.  I've always had respect for those who serve in our military, and the doctors who serve there hold a special place.  But somehow I never thought that the medical staff is not only taking care of our wounded soldiers.  They also take care of the civilians caught up in tragedy, and even take time to aid enemy combatants.  As such, they provide two major services.  The main mission, and their main contribution, is allowing the survival of so many more military casualties.  But their work with the civilian population serves as an ambassadorship, showing other countries that America is willing to help all.

Dr. Chris Coppola served two surgical rotations in Iraq.  He is a pediatric surgeon and found quite a scope of work for his specialty.  There are many children who are burned in bombings, shot, or hurt by falling rubble.  Since the medical capacities of Iraq have been pretty much destroyed by the war, Dr. Coppola also found himself as the doctor of choice for birth defects, or diseases that disfigured and harmed the children there.  Often, he was able to provide life-saving or enhancing medical care that these children would never be able to get otherwise.

Much of the book talks about how anyone in the military serving overseas in a battle situation feels.  There is the fear when battle hits contrasted with everyday boredom.  There is the overwhelming lonliness of being without their family.  There is the satisfaction of knowing that they have completed a mission, and hopefully have made the lives of those around them better.  Regardless of whether they agree with the mission or not, these men and women are serving a life of service to others, and I admire them greatly for their sacrifice.

This book is recommended for those interested in current events.  It is an interesting take on the war not often heard, and it adds to the reader's knowledge of the conflict while helping them clarify their feelings about this situation.

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption by Robert Fate

High Plains Redemption is Robert Fate's third book in his Baby Shark series.  Baby Shark is Kristin Van Dijk, a private eye in partnership with Otis Millett.  She got the nickname Baby Shark when she hustled pool as a young girl, working the circuit with her father. 

The locale is the Oklahoma and Texas badlands, set in the 1950's.  Otis and Baby Shark have been hired to deliver a ransom for Savannah Smike.  Savannah is the girlfriend of Travis Horner, a powerful gangster.  She has been kidnapped and Travis wants her back badly enough to pay ransom for her.  The ransom attempt goes awry, and two rival groups attack each other, with Baby and Otis in the middle of the conflict.  They end up with Savannah, and deliver her back home to her bootlegging family. 

Both sides in the conflict come after Baby Shark and Otis.  The action is fast and furious and the reader is kept on edge, unable to put down the book before discovering what happens next and how the pair will escape the latest scrape. 

Fate has created a rarity; a female protagonist that is believable as something other than a shrinking violet.  That he can do so in the locale he picked is even more remoarkable.  Readers won't soon forget Baby Shark, and will eagerly await her next adventure.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Silent Desperation by Jeffrey Bryan

In Silent Desperation, a debut book, Jeffrey Bryan has given the reader a collection of short stories and poetry.  Each genre is collected into a separate area, with the short stories starting the book and all of the poetry at the end.

The short stories tend to be in the sci-fi/fantasy genre.  Most talk of lonely people that can't find a way to connect with others.  Of these stories, my personal favorite was "The Forever Man'", which tells the story of the last man on Earth.  Another story, "Eyes Of Echo" is more of a novella, and the author should consider fleshing it out into it's own book, since it shows such merit and interesting characters.

The poetry tends to be focused on the same themes.  In this section, my favorite was the poem, "I Will Never Forget Again."  It adeptly shows the horror of abuse by a loved one, and then the joy of forgiveness when that person realises the horror of what has been done. 

Bryan shows a real talent in this area, and can be one of the new voices in urban fantasy.  This book is recommended to readers of science fiction, fantasy, both traditional and urban fantasy.

Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Norah Kelly, a famous archaeologist, and William Smithback, New York Times reporter, are celebrating their first wedding anniversary.  But the celebration turns tragic when a man breaks into their apartment and kills Smithback.  The man is easily identifiable; he's one of their neighbors.  The police expect an easy arrest until they learn that the neighbor had been declared dead a week before. 

Police Lieutenant Vinnie D'Agosto is assigned the case which gets stranger and stranger.  Norah is stalked by a hulking figure that seems to be the neighbor and then later, after his body is stolen from the morgue, by her dead husband Smithback.  There are fetishes found and the newspapers jump on this evidence of voodoo and start to call the figures zombies.  D'Agosto is joined in his hunt for the killers by Special FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast.

There is mystery galore.  An ancient church taken over by a cult seems to be involved.  There is a young newspaper reporter who is caught up in the story, and more and more sightings of the mysterious figures.  Then Norah is kidnapped.  Can Pendergast and D'Agosto solve the mystery before more people are killed, sending the city into panic?

This is the ninth Pendergast/D'Agosto mystery written by this successful team of authors.  Fans of their earlier works will not be disappointed and those mystery readers who haven't yet experienced a Preston/Child book will find a new series to explore.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers of all ages.

AUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!!! PERMISSION SLIPS BY SHERRI SHEPHERD

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. As her many fans know, Sherri is never hesitant to speak from the heart, and her bubbly personality shines through in this delightful autobiography.

Giveaway Rules


You MUST, MUST, MUST leave an email address in order to be entered in the contest. I hate to have to throw out entries because I have no way to notify winners.

1. The giveaway starts Sunday, January 10th and ends Friday, January 22th at midnight.

2. There will be three winning entries, which will be chosen by a random number generator.

3. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

4. For one entry, comment below with your email address attached. You can get additional entries by being or becoming a follower of this blog, posting about the giveaway on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter. If posting elsewhere, please provide the link.

5. Winners must have a street address in either the United States or Canada. No P.O. boxes allowed by Hachette, sorry!

The Enchantress Of Florence by Salmon Rushdie

A yellow-haired foreigner has arrived at the palace of the Eastern Emperor, Akbar.  While many such strangers would be sent on their way, this man is given an audience with the emperor.  He starts to tell a fabulous story, and soon, makes the incredible claim that he is actually the Emperor's uncle; son of a famous beauty who was a daughter of the court but who was captured in a war and then chose to remain with her captor when freed.  Due to this refusal to return bak to court life, her name is erased from the family history, but there are still some older people who remember her or her story.

This woman is the Enchantress of Florence, but that is just one of her many names.  She is called Angelina, The Woman With Dark Eyes, The Enchantress, Qara Koz and other names.  She lives in various places, always with men who will give up anything and everything to have her love.  When necessary, she picks up and moves on to the next life, the next man.

Salmon Rushdie plays with several themes here.  There is the theme of each person knowing a different side of another; this theme is represented by the multiple names that each character has.  There is the theme of love and what will be done to sustain love.  The question of whether in each relationship there is one who loves and one who is loved is explored.  Another theme explores the lives of those who travel and contrasts them with those who choose to remain in their homeplace.  Rushdie repeats one phrase that ties the stories of the East and the Italian city of Florence together.  The curse of the human race is not that we are so different from one another, but that we are so alike.

This book is highly recommended.  The language is lush, and the story moves back and forth, with myriad characters that require the reader's full attention.  The characters are finely drawn and even those who have minimal parts to play are fully developed.  The book leaves the reader with much to think about.  For those readers who enjoy fantasy and non-linear plotlines, this book is a gift. 

GIVEAWAY!!!!! WHAT THE DOG SAW BY MALCOLM GLADWELL

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 TheNew 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.

Giveaway Rules

You MUST, MUST, MUST leave an email address in order to be entered in the contest.  I hate to have to throw out entries because I have no way to notify winners.

1. The giveaway starts Saturday, January 2nd and ends Tuesday, January 12th at midnight.


2. There will be three winning entries, which will be chosen by a random number generator.

3. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

4. For one entry, comment below with your email address attached. You can get additional entries by being or becoming a follower of this blog, posting about the giveaway on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter. If posting elsewhere, please provide the link.


5. Winners must have a street address in either the United States or Canada. No P.O. boxes allowed by Hachette, sorry!

Good luck! This sounds like an amazing book.

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur

For those readers whose New Year's Resolution is to save money this year, Todd Wilbur's new cookbook, Top Secret Recipes Unlocked,  is a godsend.  The cookbook gives the average person the tools to recreate their favorite restaurant offerings at home, allowing them to save money and impress those they are cooking for.

The cookbook is broken down by restaurants.  Some of the restaurants represented include Panera Bread, Boston Market, Burger King, Carnegie Deli, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Outback, KFC, Starbucks, Taco Bell and even Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.  Each recipe is given a page, with a paragraph preceding it that gives any tips that let the chef overcome any challenges.  Many recipes are followed by a section called Tidbits that give further tips and things to consider.  The recipes are clearly written and easy to follow. 

This book is recommended for all readers, especially those who are cooks.  Living in the hometown of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, I'm not sure anyone else can duplicate those heavenly treats, but most of the recipes are well within the expertise of the average person.  Using these recipes is a great way to impress friends invited over for a meal.

Bonnie McGee left a life as a teacher to circumnavigate the world on a yacht with her husband. Voices On The Wind is the story of that voyage. The book starts with the famous poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”. McGee’s yacht shared the same name, Road Not Taken, and provided the means for the couple to embark on a voyage that few of us have the courage and daring to attempt.

The book is a series of stories about the various places and people encountered along the way on the voyage. The reader is transported to far-away places rich in animal life and beauty, and discovers along with author the cultural visions of the people in those places. McGee narrates the values and beliefs of these tribal people of Africa and Australia and South America and the Tahitian islands. The overriding value of all these people is that of sustaining family relationships, and the work ethic of the West is viewed with surprise and suspicion. When, they ask, does a man spend time with his family and friends? The need for money and material possessions is greeted with astonishment. Most of these tribal people share their possessions with those around them, and take from the environment only what they need to survive for that day or week. Storing up treasures is foreign to them.

Another interesting theme of the book is the sailing language and concepts the reader encounters. One of the longest stories in the book tells of how the couple survived Hurricanes Irma and Jason while wintering in Australia. To hear the tale of what is required to survive such a harrowing natural event is eye-opening. The reader learns how dangerous it is to enter harbors, and how sailing through storms is a test of courage that few of us will ever have to endure.


This is an oversized book, and the reason is the gorgeous photographs that illustrate every page. There are shots of scenery from islands to jungles to bustling coastal towns. Animals such as elephants and sea life and an intrepid sea-faring dog are portrayed. There are scores of images taken from the yacht, showing the glorious maritime scenes that the couple was able to see daily. Many of the pictures show the various people met. There are scenes of tribal women performing traditional dances, of tribesmen paddling long canoes, of men performing the fishing work that sustains life. Above all, there are photographs of the many children. All are curious, interested to see how life is lived elsewhere, and smiling smiles of joy and welcome.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy travel books as well as for those interested in hearing about reaching out and grabbing the dream of another life. Those who indulge will come away inspired and refreshed. This is a gorgeous book and one that is highly recommended.