Shelf Life

Tag: #books

  • Young Rich Widows: Big Hair, Big Egos, and Big Trouble

    Young Rich Widows: Big Hair, Big Egos, and Big Trouble

    “It sounds like the opening of a joke: Four lawyers die in a plane crash.

    “But no one is laughing inside the brand-new 1985 Cessna careening toward the dark icy Atlantic waters. One engine is already on fire and the other about to blow.

    “On the manifest: three men, one woman, and a screaming pilot.

    “’MAYDAY MAYDAY’

    “All four partners. The only partners. The foundation of the firm. This group has never traveled together before. It’s like the virgin who gets knocked up on her wedding night: It was just one time. But once is enough to end it all.”

    Four award-winning mystery writers, Vanessa Lillie, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, Kimberly Belle have teamed up to write Young Rich Widows (Soucebooks), set in 1980s (for those who weren’t around think big hair and  big shoulder pads, ostentatious living like that seen on such shows as Dallas and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous thriller about four rich widows who have not only lost their partners in a mysterious plane crash but also are realizing four million dollars is missing as well.

    And to make it worse. That’s mob money and they want it back. Not next week, but right now.

    The women don’t like each other. Indeed, one, Camille, a former saleslady and now a much younger second wife, is having an affair with Peter, one of the partners who was married to Justine, a former fashion model, while another, Meredith is a stripper who was in a passionate relationship with the only female partner.

    Complicated? Well, it gets even more so, in this comedy/mystery written by Lillie (Blood Sisters), Fargo (They Never Learn), Holahan (Lies She Told), and Belle (The Personal Assistant).

    For one, there’s the long-simmering romantic spark between Crystal and the mobster who is threatening them. He happens to own the strip club where Meredith works. And is Camille more than a homewrecker? Is she a thief like her former employer claims? And then there’s the land deal if they can make it happen, will restore their fortunes—but is that handsome developer who is chasing after Camille to be trusted? Is anyone?

    When you’re in danger, you have to work together or die alone and that’s what these women do, bonding in a way that never would have happened before the crash, and they learn to trust one another as they fight to stay alive.

    The review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

    It is available on Kindle and as an audiobook.

  • The Duchess: Scandalous Ladies of London by Sophie Jordan

    The Duchess: Scandalous Ladies of London by Sophie Jordan

    “I liked my husband well enough . . . but I like him even better dead,” says Duchess Valencia Dedham.

    Now a Dowager Duchess following the death of her husband (no great loss there) and the discovery of the nearest male heir means Valencia Dedham must move out of the mansion that has been her home since she married at a young age and into a dower house far away in Yorkshire. It’s all part of primogeniture, the English way of assuring that property passes down through the male line.

    But for Valencia it means she loses not only the house but also access to London and the glittering Regency-era society to which she belongs. As she starts to pack for her journey to a home and location she has never known, she doesn’t even know what is hers to take. The beautiful writing desk she bought? The jewels she wore? Her beautiful gowns? Or are the all part of the estate that belongs to the new duke?

    And so, Valencia, in The Duchess: Scandalous Ladies of London (HarperCollins) by Sophie Jordan, is faced with a situation common to many wives back in those days.

    But the new duke, the brooding and handsome Rhain has six sisters he wants to marry off and he quickly realizes that their wild ways from growing up in Wales under less-than-strict guidance need a lot of polish before they can hope to land suitable husbands. After all, what gentleman would want to make a match with a woman such as Isolde, the duke’s sister who carries her stuffed dog with her even though it died years ago?

    Who better than Valencia with her knowledge of manners and social mores to whip the sisters into marriageable material with dance and singing lessons, the right coiffures and gowns, and entry into the best of homes? And besides, the duke has more than a passing interest in the beautiful young widow and she in him as well.

    Of course, this being a romance novel there are many issues to overcome. Rhain is sure he wants to return to Wales and doesn’t need the impediment of a wife, and Valencia was abused by her husband and also complicit in the way he died. She’s afraid of falling in love again as much as she wants a man’s touch.

    Sensual looks and sizzling attraction abound. Of course, we know it will all turn out well in the end but the fun of these books—if they’re well-written and this one certainly is—is how the author keeps our attention until all the plot lines are tied together into a happy ending.

    This is the second book in the Scandalous Ladies of London, a new series from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan, a prolific writer with over 50 books to her credit. Each chronicles the machinations of women at the highest level of society making their way in the world where their best chance of getting ahead is marrying well.

    About the author.

    Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country, where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she’s the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of more than fifty novels. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and streaming anything that has a happily ever after.

    This review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • Max’s War: The Story of a Ritchie Boy

    Max’s War: The Story of a Ritchie Boy

    The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) on Thursday, April 18 at 6:30 pm is presenting a program with author Libby Fischer Hellman featuring her new book, Max’s War: The Story of a Ritchie Boy. This suspenseful coming-of-age war story is Libby Hellmann’s tribute to her late father-in-law who was active with the OSS and interrogated dozens of German POWs. To register for this free event, please visit their website or CLICK HERE. 

    More About the Book: As the Nazis sweep across Europe, Jewish teen Max and his parents flee German persecution to Holland, where Max finds friends and romance. But when Hitler invades in 1940, Max escapes to Chicago, leaving his parents and friends behind. When he learns of his parents’ murder, Max immediately enlists in the US Army. After basic training he is sent to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, where he is trained in interrogation and counterintelligence.

    Deployed to the OSS, Max carries out dangerous missions in Occupied countries. He also interrogates German POWs, especially after D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, where, despite life-threatening conditions, he elicits critical information about German troop movements.

    Post-war, he works for the Americans in the German denazification program, bringing him back to his Bavarian childhood home of Regensburg. Though the city avoided large-scale destruction, the Jewish community was decimated. Max roams familiar yet strange streets, replaying memories of lives lost to unspeakable tragedy. While there he reunites with someone from his past, who, like him, sought refuge abroad. Can they rebuild their lives together?

    More About the Author: Libby Fischer Hellmann left a career in broadcast news to write gritty crime fiction and historical fiction. She has written eighteen novels and twenty-five short stories and has been nominated for many awards in the mystery and crime writing community. She has been a finalist twice for the Anthony and the Shamus; and four times for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year. She has also been nominated for the Agatha, the Daphne, and she won the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year in 2021. Her novels include the Ellie Foreman series, the Georgia Davis PI series, and five stand-alone historical thrillers.

    Her short stories have been published in anthologies, the Saturday Evening Post, and Ed Gorman’s 25 Criminally Good Short Stories collection. In 2006 she was the National President of Sisters in Crime, a 4000-member organization committed to the advancement of female crime fiction authors.

  • Poisoned Passover: Book 2 Torah Mystery Series

    Poisoned Passover: Book 2 Torah Mystery Series

    he Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) is delighted to host mystery author Susan Van Dusen on Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 pm for an in-store discussion featuring her new book, Poisoned Passover, the second book in the Torah Mystery Series. With no experience except watching TV detective shows, Julia Donnelly, the wife of the mayor, and her Torah group leader, Rabbi Avrum Fine, have been pressed into service to solve the town’s mysteries. 

    This event is free with registration. To register, please visit their website or CLICK HERE.

    More About the Book: Who’s poisoning Passover guests in Crestfall, Illinois? When Julia Donnelly brings chopped liver to her Torah group friend Devorah’s seder, she has no idea it will result in mass poisoning, murder, and a connection to past arson. Julia, wife of Crestfall’s mayor, and Rabbi Fine, Torah study group leader, become involved in a mystery surrounding Sophie’s Kosher Deli. Someone is trying to put her out of business. Is it Lester Pintner, a developer who wants to put up a building, her good-for-nothing son Milton who wants to transform the store into a pool parlor, Sweet Cheeks, a mysterious woman who has attached herself to Milton, or perhaps Nate, another deli owner who wants to buy Sophie’s store. 

    Meanwhile, Julia must also deal with challenges on the home front when her son Sammy refuses to go to school. She has a full plate! How does she cope with everything? By teaming up with the Rabbi, using powers of observation, and logic from Jewish tradition to solve a confusing puzzle of danger and greed!

    More About the Author: Susan Van Dusen is an international award-winning writer of books, editorials, magazine and newspaper articles. She was the Communications Director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and Associate Director of Public Affairs at the University of Illinois. Susan created “The Read In” project at the University of Illinois in Chicago and “Coming Together in Skokie and Niles Township,” acknowledging the diversity of those communities. In Israel and in Chicago’s Uptown area, while teaching English to non-English speakers, she wrote songs and plays to stimulate interest in language. Susan was the editor of a neighborhood weekly newspaper, then became the award-winning editorial director of WBBM-AM Newsradio as well as writing for newspapers and magazines. While studying with a Torah group for ten years, she realized it was the perfect vehicle for a series of books, with the first book in the series being The Missing Hand. Currently she is retired, a normal human being, a mayor’s wife, a mother and grandmother, and participant in several civic and writing groups.  

  • I Cheerfully Refuse: Author Discussion & Book Signing

    I Cheerfully Refuse: Author Discussion & Book Signing

    The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) is thrilled to welcome award-winning author Leif Enger to the store on Sunday, April 7 at 2:00 pm for a discussion featuring his new book, I Cheerfully Refuse (Grove Atlantic). A career defining tour-de-force from the New York Times bestselling author of Peace Like a River, Enger’s latest novel is set in a not-too-distant America and epitomizes the “musical, sometimes magical and deeply satisfying kind of storytelling” (Los Angeles Times) for which Leif Enger is cherished.  A rollicking narrative in the most evocative of settings, I Cheerfully Refuse is a symphony against despair and a rallying cry for the future.

    This event is free with registration. To register, please visit The Book Stall’s website or CLICK HERE.

    More About the Book: I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of Rainy, a bereaved and pursued musician, embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. An endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, Rainy seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, he finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure, and a lawless society.

    Amidst the Gulliver-like challenges of life at sea and no safe landings, Rainy is lifted by physical beauty, surprising humor, generous strangers, and an unexpected companion in a young girl who comes aboard. And as his innate guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy’s private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his strengthening wake.

    More About the Author: Leif Enger grew up in Osakis, Minnesota, and worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio before writing his bestselling debut novel Peace Like a River, which won the Booksense Award for Fiction and was named one of the Year’s Best Books by Time Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. His second novel, So Brave, Young, and Handsome, was also a national bestseller. It was a Midwest Booksellers Honor Book, and won the High Plains Book Award for Fiction. His third novel, Virgil Wander, was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, Bookpage, and Chicago Public Library. He lives with his wife in Duluth, MN.

  • The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook: Discussion and Book Signing

    The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook: Discussion and Book Signing

    The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) is thrilled to host historian Hampton Sides on Monday, April 15 at 6:30 pm for a discussion featuring his new book, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook. (Doubleday). From the New York Times bestselling author, an epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day. 

    At once a ferociously-paced story of adventure on the high seas and a searching examination of the complexities and consequences of the Age of Exploration, The Wide Wide Sea is a major work from one of our finest narrative nonfiction writers. 

    This event is free with registration. To register, please visit The Book Stall’s website or CLICK HERE. 

    More About the Book: Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s. Cook was renowned for his peerless seamanship, his humane leadership, and his dedication to science. He was also deeply interested in the native people he encountered. On previous expeditions, Cook mapped huge swaths of the Pacific, including the east coast of Australia, and initiated first European contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well and endeavored to learn about the societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment.

    Yet something was different on this last voyage. Cook became mercurial, resorting to the lash to enforce discipline, and led his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically, he ordered violent retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to do with his secret orders, which were to chart and claim lands before Britain’s imperial rivals could, and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook’s intentions, his scientific efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword, and the ultimate effects of first contact were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world.

    The tensions between Cook’s overt and covert missions came to a head on the shores of Hawaii. His first landing there was harmonious, but when Cook returned after mapping the coast of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, his exploitative treatment of the Hawaiians led to the fatal encounter.

    Kirkus Reviews,in a starred review, says,“An acclaimed historian takes to the sea in this rousing tale of exploration … Sides draws on numerous contemporaneous sources to create a fascinating, immersive adventure story featuring just the right amount of historical context … Lusciously detailed and insightful history, masterfully told.” 

    More About the Author:  Hampton Sides is an award-winning editor of Outside and the author of the bestselling histories Hellhound on his Trial, Blood and Thunder, and Ghost Soldiers. He lives in New Mexico with his wife, Anne, and their three sons.

  • NYTimes: 22 of the Funniest Novels Since ‘Catch-22’

    22 of the Funniest Novels Since ‘Catch-22’ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/books/funny-novels-humor.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

  • Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

    Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

    “most importantly, Twitty reminds us that you don’t have to be Black or Jewish to love koshersoul.”

    Both a cookbook and a memoir, Koshersoul (Amistad) explores the food traditions of both Black and Jewish cultures and how for Black Jewish people, the two combine, becoming a distinctive foodway of its own.

    “When I first started talking about developing this book, a fellow African American food writer asked what it was about, saying ‘So you’re not writing about Black [food]; you’re writing about Jewish [food)],” writes Michael W. Twitty, a culinary historian, living history interpreter, and Judiacs teacher in the introduction to his book.  “My response was reflective: no this is a book about a part of Black food that’s also Jewish food; This is a book about Jewish food that’s also Black food because it’s a book about Black people who are Jewish and Jewish people who are Black.”

    Twitty, creator of Afroculinaria, the first blog devoted to African American history, foodways, and their legacy, won both the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book of the Year Award and Best Writing Award for The Cooking Gene. His writing is thoughtful, deep, and involved, taking a deep dive into his personal history and combining it with his conversations with other Black Jews. He seeks to put this in a historical and cultural perspective, showing us how food and identity converge.

    “Black and Jews in their Venn diagram have seen considerable turmoil and pain,” he writes “and this too is a fundamental ingredient.”

    But no matter what is going on in the world or what has happened in the past, we all have an urge and need to eat, writes Twitty, plus an enjoyment of what we consume. This is reflected not only in his writing but also in the recipes he shares at the back of the book.

    Twitty describes this section as a koshersoul community cookbook of sorts. He encourages readers when in the kitchen to feel free to adapt them to meet their own dietary practices and preferences.

    The recipes presented here are categorized under holidays and religious observations: Juneteenth, Pesach/Passover, Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur-Sukkot, and Shabbat, among others.

    The names of some of the recipes represent the different lands and regions where people came from such as Ghanian Pepper Sauce, Senegalese-Inspired Chicken Soup, Jamaican Jerk Chicken Spaghetti, West Africa Wet Seasoning, and Gullah-Geechee-Inspired Stew.

    Others like Yam Latkes, Kosher Spring Rolls, Collard Green Kreplach Filling, Black Eyed-Peas with Tomatoes, Sephardic Style, and Matzoh Meal Fried Chicken define the merging of two different cultures that meld into a distinct foodway.

    But most importantly, Twitty reminds us that you don’t have to be Black or Jewish to love koshersoul.

    Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

    Serves 4 to 6

    Black-eyed peas are a strong link between the two Diaspora cuisines, probably meeting in the Nile River Valley and the Fertile Crescent. Originally from ancient West Africa, black-eyed peas are a significant part of the cuisine of the Levant to this day, moving with African people throughout the region. Hummus, emblematic and beloved by many cultures in the Levant—is a dish that relies on the staple legume of the Arab farmer and ancient biblical standby, the chickpea. Here the black-eyed pea, loaded with mystical symbolism and its own honored place in West and Central Africa, replaces the chickpea. — Michael Twitty

    • 1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
    • 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1⁄3 cup tahini
    • 1⁄2 cup fresh lemon juice
    • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
    • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
    • 1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon ground coriander
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon brown or turbinado sugar
    • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
    • 2 teaspoons minced parsley, for garnish

    Throw everything but the parsley into a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add more spice, hot sauce, or whatever you think it needs. To serve, sprinkle parsley and drizzle olive oil on the top.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • Women Who Murder by Mitzi Szereto

    Women Who Murder by Mitzi Szereto

    “For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.”

    —Rudyard Kipling, from the poem “The Female of the Species.”

    “Why is that we’re always so shocked when women commit violent crimes, in particular, the crime of murder? Perhaps we’re more accustomed to seeing men as the aggressors when it comes to murder, not women. Yet some of history’s most notorious killers have been women. From Countess Erzsebet Bathory, Delphine LaLaurie, Amelia Dyer, Lizzie Borden, and Belle Gunness . . . it often seems impossible to keep up.”

    True crime writer Mitzi Szereto is the editor of Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Tales (Mango Publishing), a compendium of murderous women written by internationally famous writers such as horror writer Anthony Ferguson, who lives in Australia; Tom Larson, an American mystery writer; and Cathy Pickens, an attorney who writes both true crime and the Blue Ridge Mountain Cozy Mysteries.

    The tales they tell, some well-known such as “Ruth Snyder: The Original Femme Fatale” by Claran Conliffe and “On the Courtroom Steps: The Trial of Susan Smith” by Picken and others much more obscure but no less fascinating like “Mona Fandey: The Malaysian Murderer” by Chang Shih Yen and “Anno Biesto, Anno Funesto” by Alish Holland about the brutal slaying of John Charles on Leap Year Day in 2000 in New South Wales, give lie to the saying that women are the gentler sex. Indeed, these women can kill just as violently and wantonly as any man.

    In her introduction, Szereto points out that men and women do kill differently and often for different reasons. Poison, at least in the past, often was the murder weapon of choice of women—easier to administer than creeping up and stabbing someone and so much tidier—no blood to clean up. They also kill less frequently and are typically not in it for the thrill of the kill like many male serial killers. Szereto says that many women, particularly those labeled as Black Widows, do so for the money, though that’s not the only reason. Sometimes it’s the only way to get rid of a threatening boyfriend or spouse or because of jealousy, love, and hate.

    But kill they do. And in this fascinating read, we learn about 14 women who did.

    This review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

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  • Reese’s Book Club Pick: “First Lie Wins”

    Reese’s Book Club Pick: “First Lie Wins”

    “This is Ashley Elston’s debut adult novel and it’s a real page turner, so good you hate to turn the last page.”

    “My mind splits, showing two different paths; This is definitely a crossroads moment,” recalls Lucca Marino alias Wendy Wallace alias Mia Blanchard and a whole long list of other names. “Taking the job Matt offers moved me deeper into the world but comes with the support that would make the feel of these cuffs biting into my wrist a distant memory. The other path requires me to go straight. To get out before I’m in any real trouble because as Saturday night proved, it will only be a matter of time before something else goes wrong.”

    And, of course it does, in this complicated and entrancing novel, “First Lie Wins” (Pamela Dorman Books 2024).

    Lucca, known by the people in her life as Evie Porter when we meet her, chooses the darker path. She’s agreed to work with Matt and his boss, Mr. Smith. The latter is just a mechanically altered voice over the phone, a devious man who likes to play his operatives against each other, but the pay is very good, and Evie is an expert at her work. Her job? To take on another identity and infiltrate the mark’s life, securing the necessary information that Mr. Smith wants. Sometimes it’s so he can blackmail them, sometimes to take over their business, or steal some vital data.

    As Evie, she starts a romance with Ryan, her latest victim. She isn’t sure what Mr. Smith wants from him; her instructions are parceled out over time. But she soon learns that Ryan, who invites her to live with him and meet his family and friends, is more than just a successful small town businessman who has taken over the family business. He’s somewhat shady, just as she is, helping move stolen goods.

    But Evie has a heart, as she has proven in her other jobs, and now, she’s falling for Ryan and the nice life he has to offer. Unfortunately, no one easily leaves Mr. Smith’s business. It’s not exactly the kind of job you retire from as she finds out when several other operatives meet untimely deaths.

    Whom do you trust? Evie is discovering that she doesn’t really know. Even Ryan may be more than a unwitting dupe, he may be in the plot to destroy her that Mr. Smith has put in place, framing her for a murder she didn’t commit.

    First Lie Wins is the ultimate cat-and-mouse caper, leaving you guessing until all the loose ends are neatly tied up. This is Ashley Elston’s debut adult novel and it’s a real page turner, so good you hate to turn the last page.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.