Book Club Pick: Lie To Me

Lie To Me
by J.T. Ellison
Mira
original copyright 2017
Paperback available September 2019
407 pages
ISBN: 0980778330950

A twisty, dangerous psychological thriller is just right for a summer beach read.

"Moves at a blazing-fast pace and smoothly negotiates more twists and turns than the backroads of Tennessee. It will keep you guessing every step of the way to the surprise ending." --Lisa Scottoline, NY Times bestselling author of One Perfect Life 

Dark psychological marriage noir, Lie To Me will leave readers breathless and exhausted. Once a reader begins this book, it's impossible to stop reading. Page-turning action and twists within twists within an enigma are fast paced and tragic.

Married literary giants Sutton and Ethan Montclair's life is idyllic--from the outside. They are each accomplished writers earning big paychecks and hordes of fans. When Ethan has trouble writing, and Sutton wants out of a publishing deal, their finances take a downturn. They welcome a new baby boy that Sutton never wanted. Ethan tricked her into having the baby, and she still blames him. When their baby dies, their entire world unravels as they blame one another and lie about everything.

When Sutton suddenly disappears, friends and family whisper that Ethan must have something to do with it. He swears he knows nothing about his wife's disappearance and turns to the bottle for solace. Suddenly, Ethan has found his muse and begins writing the best prose of his entire career. The police build a case against him, and an unknown narrator drops in here and there to warn the reader that someone is pulling the strings. Just when it looks like Sutton may have been found or Sutton is to blame, other strings are pulled.

This is one wild ride and a great book for adult book clubs who will be talking about it long after they've read it. Pick this one up today for your beach vacation or your home staycation. Good luck figuring out who's to blame!

FTC Required Disclaimer: I did not receive monetary compensation for my review of this book.

Book Club Pick: Dating By the Book

Dating By the Book
by Mary Ann Marlowe
Kensington Books
2019
336 pages with Book Club Discussion Questions
ISBN: 9781496718211


Available June 2019

Maddie Hanson is nursing a broken heart since being left at the altar by Peter, her almost husband. Pouring her heart, money and time into acquaint indie bookstore, The Mossy Stone, Maddie struggles to keep the business afloat.

When old friend Max stops by every day, almost all day, offering to help and a partnership, Maddie is fierce to keep her store her own. Daily visitor Charlie is a local English professor, but not really love interest material. Enter old flame Dylan, the one who got away and left town to seek fame and fortune in the music industry. Dylan exudes hotness and all the ladies notice.

Maddie has no shortage of bachelors to choose from, but her writing keeps her busy. Her first book is due out soon, and when a reviewer slams it on a blog, Maddie is stunned. The writer, known as Silver Fox, claims the romance in her novel feels stilted and fell flat for him. At first Maddie is mad and sad, then she responds to the reviewer against her friend Layla's advice to ignore the guy.

Friday nights are book club night at the shop where Maddie and MEN read Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind and Jane Eyre. As Maddie continues to respond to Silver Fox online under her pen name Claire, she thinks about meeting him.

Ex-Peter is warning Maddie that he wants to sell the shop, her shop! Maddie had better figure out her tangled finances and her equally tangled online "love life."

Clever cover design screams at romance readers to buy this book. This cover is my favorite of the year so far. Marlowe continues to offer readers spunky heroines, small town "feels," quirky love interests, and fun plots. You'll want to move to Orion after meeting this cast of characters.

Recommended for adult book clubs and all romance readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher.  I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Adult Book Club Pick: Dreadful Young Ladies

Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories
by Kelly Barnhill
Algonquin
2018
304 pages
ISBN: 9781616207977

Author Kelly Barnhill has proven her talent as a children's writer with the blockbuster middle grades fantasy  The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Now she tackles short stories for adult readers, and she does so with nuanced finesse!

Adult fans of Barnhill's books will revel in this literary feast. The author has lost none of her magic, whimsy or fantastical situations and characters. Short story collections are rare, but this one is worth your time and investment.

Highly recommended for short story fans.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher.

Adult Book Club Pick: This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!

This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!
by Jonathan Evison
Algonquin Books
2015
304 pages
ISBN: 9781616202613

This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is about 78 year old Harriet Chance and the small and big things she has faced in her life. Harriet, daughter of a prominent attorney, has all the trappings of a successful childhood. She lives a cultured life of country club tennis and debutante balls. Her father pushes her to study law--to follow in his footsteps. Perhaps if Harriet were born a few decades later, this may have happened. Poor Harriet, born too soon! Women still earning less than half a man's salary and certainly not able to complete law school, men chuckling behind their backs. Harriet finds herself trapped in the traditional role of wife and mother.

The novel is told by a sometimes annoying omniscient narrator. Through his or her(?) insight, Harriet's life is examined under a glaring microscope. Human beings are complicated and all humans have secrets. Maybe the truth becomes clouded over the years. Memories fade. Lies are told. If enough lies are told enough times, lies become the truth. Hopping around over seven decades of a woman's life is sometimes a jarring experience. Jonathan Evison must have planned it that way. However off-putting it is, it works. As Harriet's world comes undone, the decades change. Suddenly we are back with seven year old Harriet or teen Harriet waiting for her date.

Full of heart and compassion, full of woe and sorrow, full of unfinished business and untold secrets, this is one novel that will make you think. This story will resonate with many baby boomers. It is the story of America and past eras where hope was high, expectations soared, the economy was booming and America was still number one.

The story is told as a series of scenes--think back to television's "This Is Your Life." Evison's writing is incomparable but Harriet's story, although probably the story of many 78 year old widows, is weighty. This is life under scrutiny.

Recommended for book clubs. This is not necessarily a "feel good" book. Looking back at someone's past with all its broken promises and scattered dreams is taxing at times.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Adult Book Club Pick: The Fall of Princes

The Fall of Princes
by Robert Goolrick
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2015
304 pages
ISBN: 9781616204204

Available August 25, 2015

From the first paragraph this sizzling, white-hot novel ignites and its tortured burn doesn't stop until the last embers die out. Our anti-hero, Rooney narrates, "When you strike a match, it burns brighter in the first nanosecond than it will ever burn again. That first incandescence. That instantaneous and brilliant flash. 1980 was the year, and I was the match, and that was the year I struck into blinding flame." I don't think I've ever read a more delicious first paragraph! Goolrick is on fire! (Having read A Reliable Wife and Heading Out to Wonderful, I had high hopes for The Fall of Princes). I was not disappointed. In fact, I am thrilled to have had the chance to read Goolrick's latest scorching tale of blistering woe. The film rights have already been optioned to "Being John Malkovich" producer  Sandy Stern and R.E.M. 's Michael Stipe. I expect this novel to be a huge seller and widely read among book clubs. In my opinion, this is one book that will be talked about for some time.

1980 is the year of free money. Trading on "The Street" can make you millions in seconds. Rooney is at the top of his game and playing for kicks. He scores a dream job at "The Firm"--one of Wall Street's hallowed, manic trading houses where if you're lucky you hope to retire before forty with enough money to jet set. If you're unlucky, you will die, burn out, or go to prison. It's too much for many a young man with his eyes set on blinding success, stunningly beautiful women, outrageous debauchery and off the charts decadence. The 80's were ripe for Wall Street and Wall Street got rich off the headiness of expensive champagne and ever more expensive cocaine.

Rooney is courted while still in college. Firms want the best and brightest. He is wined and dined. His head is spinning until that fateful day one hand of cards decides his life for him. His "interview" is a card game. He knows he's hired when he opens the box given to him by a secretary. It's a pen with the firm's name embossed on it. Rooney says, "Pay attention. You can hear the match strike. You can smell the sulfur...as the train pulls out of the station through the dark tunnels and into the brilliance of the future."

Rooney tells his own cautionary tale of 80's meteoric  success and an even more  terrific, epic nosedive  from grace. From golden boy to nearly homeless and pathetically helpless schmo barely existing in a roach infested apartment with his dreams now mere ashes of a long ago burnt out fire. He never invites the readers to feel sorry for him; Rooney is merely reminiscing on days gone by. Days of wine and roses, of hopeless abandon, drunken antics, coked up nights that somehow turn to day and time to get to the office.

The turbulence of the era, the glitz and glamour, the music of money, the sheer excess sings off the pages of The Fall of Princes and it is a glorious tune. New York's Wall Street has never seemed more exciting, exclusive and elusive than in this magnificent read.

Rooney may have lived a life of excess but he was loved and that makes up for everything. The compassion of strangers comes through in the days of squalor and that hope keeps humans alive.

I will never forget Rooney and I will never forget the storytelling genius who is Robert Goolrick.

Highly, highly recommended for adult readers and book clubs. I was sorry when this book ended. I feel like I will miss Rooney and his foibles.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Sweet Tween Pick: Frosting and Friendship

Frosting and Friendship
by Lisa Schroeder
Aladdin
2013
216 pages
ISBN: 9781442473966

Frothy, friendly, feminine and flirty, Frosting and Friendship is a fun read for tweens who love adventures in food!


Lily joins a mother-daughter book club with her mom and is excited until...she realizes that the host of each month's  meeting has a bake a beautiful culinary confection. Lily is so doomed! Her baking disasters have haunted her for years. She considers herself a zero when it comes to baking and wishes that the other girls would allow the hostess to simply buy a dessert from the store or local bakery. The other girls are emphatic: the dessert must be home-made. Lily has only two months to learn how to bake and the bar is set for high standards.

Lily's mom assures her that two months is a long time, and they can figure this baking thing out together. Lily is still not sure and spends her time practicing with her garage band. When the school announces that it's having its Spring Fling, the band is excited to try out for it. Lily is torn between spending time with her band mates and practicing or learning to  bake something over the top in order to wow The Baking Bookworms.

Those two endeavors  would be enough for any tween to balance, but then Lily agrees to help plan and host a surprise  birthday party for her friend Sophie.  Being pulled in three different directions is not pleasant and something has got  to give.

Each short chapter is has a cute title: "Music Lovers Cupcakes: A Perfect Harmony of Chocolate and Vanilla" and "Lollipops : Happiness on a Stick." This is a quick read and should appeal to girls, reluctant readers and "Koodies"--kids who are foodies.

For a sweet, sweet time reading, Frosting and Friendship takes the cake (yes, pun intended). Fans of Schroeder's culinary themed  books It's Raining Cupcakes and Sprinkles and Secrets will like Frosting and Friendship.

Recommended grade 5 and up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Book Club Pick: The Art Forger

The Art Forger
by B.A. Sharpiro
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2012
355 pages

view the book trailer and read more

information about the theft

Deeply satisfying and rich in detail, The Art Forger is that rare novel that not only captivates the reader but takes the reader on a journey into another world: the world of prestigious museums, unscrupulous art dealers, unsavory, international thieves and corrupt gangs who use stolen art to fund their drug and gun purchases, and talented, yet unknown and undiscovered artists, who are driven by their desire to create works of beauty and those who will do anything to get that first big break.

It is in this world that Claire is struggling to gain her foothold. Three years earlier, she was in a relationship with celebrated artist Isaac Cullion and the art insiders remember her as the woman who brought shame and suicide to his name. Claire helped Isaac paint one of his most celebrated works--actually she painted  all of it--but Isaac takes all the credit, fame and wealth from her work. The more famous he becomes, the angrier Claire gets. She tells the museum that she painted 4D and they don't believe her claims. Shamed, Claire is unable to get any gallery to take her seriously and show or buy her work, so she ends up working for a company that sells high end copies of famous masters' works; she is an expert on Degas.

After three years in obscurity, Claire is approached by gallery owner Aiden Markel who contacts Claire and offers her a deal. He asks that she paint a copy of an important painting and she will be richly rewarded. Claire thinks of all the things that the money could buy and after pondering the deal for a few days, she agrees to help Markel.

Everyone who knows anything about art knows about the infamous break-in and robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museam in Boston in 1990. Thieves broke in and ripped thirteen pieces of famous art from their frames including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas. It is the largest unsolved art theft in history and the FBI is still on the case. None of the stolen art has ever surfaced.

Claire is excited to see the giant shipping crate that is delivered to her loft and opens it with Markel's help. In it is what Markel says is the stolen original Degas After the Bath. Markel wants Claire to paint a copy of the original which will be sold to a foreign investor and the stolen one will once again grace the walls of the Gardner Museum. Markel isn't doing anything illegal--he's returning one of the most celebrated pieces of art to its rightful owner--the museum and thousands of people worldwide will now be able to view it. Claire is speechless and excited. She has a real Degas in her loft! She gets to live with a masterpiece!

She begins to painstakingly prepare the canvas, taking an old, lesser work of art down to the canvas and mixes all her own paints. She knows Degas' techniques inside and out and she knows how to "bake" a painting to make the paint look as old as the original. When she is finished, no one should be able to tell that Degas did not paint it himself.

Markel reminds Claire that it is not a crime to make a copy of a painting. She is merely doing what she does at her real job--creating a copy of a masterpiece. Claire is paid again when the painting is finished and experts agree that it is the real masterpiece and it's sold to the buyer. Claire and Markel get entangled in a romantic relationship, and just when everything seems so right...it goes so wrong. Twists and turns will keep the reader enthralled.

Masterful storytelling and a compelling plot make The Art Forger a must read for any history or art buff and anyone who loves a great novel. This is a great book club book, are you listening, Oprah? I am constantly impressed by the talent of the writers chosen to be published by Algonquin. Algonquin is one publishing house that finds the true keepers in the world of literature. Do yourself a favor--run, don't walk, to the nearest book store and get a copy of The Art Forger--it's that good!

Highly, highly recommended grade 9-up. Some mature content. Sex, language.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Book Club Pick: The Watchmaker's Daughter: A Memoir

The Watchmaker's Daughter
by Sonia Taitz
McWitty Press
2012
243 pages


Poignant and sweet, The Watchmaker's Daughter is a loving tribute from a daughter to her hard-working parents who lived through Hitler's death camps and Nazi Germany to immigrate to America and start a family and a small business. Theirs is the true American dream story. Poor immigrants who through hard work and determination escape poverty and attain home ownership and send their offspring to shining American institutions of higher education.

Gita, Sonia's mother, never questioned her lot in life. She worked alongside her husband in the shop for decades and raised two children on next to nothing. Gita put food on the table in the most frugal way. She didn't move to the suburbs and buy a mink coat like all the other ladies of her generation once they had a few dollars.

As a young girl, Sonia longs to move to a house with a yard. A house where she could have a dog. Her parents' friends all have fancy cars and large, impressive homes. Sonia is embarrassed by her parents who seem so old-fashioned and religious. Her father celebrates his Jewish religion and the high holy days. He goes to synagogue and reads the Torah. He eats a kosher diet. Gita belittles their Jewish friends who eat shrimp cocktail--that it's not kosher. Sonia just wants to fit in with the upwardly mobile middle class.

There is so much to love about this book. Sonia Taitz has captured 1960s New York and its Jewish community. Her father's watchmaker's shop comes to life. Her mother's love is apparent in every action. Even when her mother tears up the letters from Sonia's ex-flame Paul, hiding the fact that he is trying to stay in touch, Sonia knows her mother did it out of love for her. Sonia is able to forgive her mother and reconnect with Paul, finally marrying the love of her life.

Sonia has always thought of her father as old-fashioned and kind of uptight, but she sees his greatness one day when a stranger approaches them on the street. The stranger thanks Simon Taitz for saving his life. Simon tells Sonia that because the Nazis valued promptness, they valued his watchmaking skills. He had his own workshop in the camp and was able to save many men by teaching them his trade. One man--her own father--was a hero and saved many lives.

This is the story of one famly, but it will resonate with all families. This is a book of the human condition and survival.

Highly, highly recommended grade 9 and up andfor any history buff and anyone who likes to read memoirs from another time. Highly recommended for book clubs; this is one book that will get members talking. Some mature content.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Foodie and Book Club Pick: My Berlin Kitchen

My Berlin Kitchen
By Luisa Weiss
Viking
2012
302 pages with recipes

Fans of Luisa Weiss’s blog, The Wednesday Chef, are in for a real treat—her own true story of cooking, living and loving. Weiss was a young child when her parents divorced, her father relocating to America and her Italian mother living in Berlin. She traveled between the two continents throughout her childhood and teens, never feeling truly at home or belonging to any country. She remembers the long flights and the Christmases away from either her father or her mother, but never Christmas with both of them.

The only place young Luisa felt safe was in the kitchen, the aromas and colors of familiar food welcoming her into its open arms. Luisa soon associated certain foods with certain family members or places. Her father gave her a recipe for the family’s Tomato Sauce—great comfort food handed down from her Italian grandmother (maternal). Whenever Luisa prepares it, she remembers her father and her grandmother, and she hopes to pass it along to her children someday. She points out that everyone needs a great tomato sauce.

From her uncle Pietro, Luisa includes a delicious recipe for Pizza Siciliana, a Sicilian treasure topped with escarole, anchovies, provolone and grape tomatoes. Serious foodies will love recipes for Erbsensuppe (German Pea Soup), Braised Leeks and Meatballs in Tomato-Chipotle Sauce.

Luisa’s story is shared by countless numbers of career women on the fast track. Through their 20’s and 30’s, they are building a career and not thinking about marriage or children, and suddenly, they hear that biological clock ticking faster. They nearly panic. It’s time! Their clock keeps reminding them. Find a husband. Settle down. Start a family. And like Luisa, they may fight the clock; they may walk away from love. Only to discover it has always been there.

My Berlin Kitchen is a charming and winsome read with wide appeal. It’s a love story, a coming of age story, a food story, a family story, a life story. Like Eat, Pray, Love, this novel will captivate and capture hordes of hungry new fans (pun intended).

Highly, highly recommended for foodies, romantics, and book club members everywhere. Mature content. Wide appeal for high school libraries. Teens will be enthralled by Luisa’s “jet-set” lifestyle.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

High School Pick: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls

The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls
by Julie Schumacher
Delacourte Press
2012
227 pages

Forced into a mother-daughter book club, four very different girls have to spend time together. CeeCee would probably never talk to Adrienne or Jill, but because of a teeny tiny car accident, she’s being punished.

Adrienne feels as if she’s being punished by her mother. Her mother seems distant and argumentative. Adrienne has never known her father, and feels neglected by someone who’s never even seen her. When she tries to get answers out of her mother, her mother answers questions with other questions. Their household is entirely dysfunctional. Adrienne breaks a few rules and curfew, but she’s still a quiet girl with her head on straight. The same can’t be said for other members of the dysfunctional book club.

Wallis is an enigma to the other girls. She lives in the woods, but no one has ever been to her house. Her mother never attends the book club, and Wallis always has an excuse for her absence. The other mothers seem worried but it never occurs to them to investigate.

The book club decides to read only books by women authors and begin with a short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Then they read Frankenstein and question whether the monster is good or bad; they finish with The Left Hand of Darkness. No wonder the girls were bored, and confused! What a weird list of books/stories to read! No wonder they called the club Unbearable!

A few poignant moments when I almost loved CeeCee, and readers will probably like Adrienne and be stumped by Wallis’s “problems.” Jill is the most “normal” character of them all. Girls with mother problems will empathize with Adrienne.

Recommended grades 8-up. Some mature topics and talk. No details. The terms lesbian, slut and hermaphrodite are used in girls’ conversations. Not for younger readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. Caution: I used Follett’s advice on grade level. Actually, I think grades 8 and up. Parents of middle school may not want to answer questions about hermaphrodites.