Do you envision relaxing with a good book this Summer? Whether you’re reading on an E-reader, your Tablet or computer, or my favorite way — holding a bound book of paper pages in your hands–here are few new and about to be released books, that will intrigue you. Which ones have you already read or do you think will be your favorites? Feel free to leave COMMENTS, below!
If there’s anything more fascinating than the life of a veterinarian, I wonder what it could be. That’s why I’m recommending the soon-to-be-published book called: The Gift of Pets – Stories Only a Vet Could Tell by Bruce R. Coston, D.V.M. (Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martins Press, August, 2012). This book is filled with short accounts of the various people and pet “patients” the good doctor has encountered. M
any times it’s the owners, not the animals, that Dr Coston has to really worry about. The stories are sometimes really sad (I found myself tearing up more than once) because, after all, animals, like people, do get seriously ill and some can’t be saved. But the tales (and tails) are entertaining and are sure to keep you entertained throughout the book. Anyone who loves pets or who dreams of becoming a vet, will truly enjoy this easy to read, charming, and truly entertaining book.
Fruits and vegetables abound this time of year. Let’s Preserve It by Beryl Wood (Square Peg Cookery Classics) is a reprint of a book that was first published in 1970. If you have never tried to preserve or can food, you may find this book to be the thing that gets you going. Why pay for Mint Jelly, Lemon Curd, or marmalade, when you can make your own? I love the sheer variety of recipes in this classic British book including a treasure-trove of jams, jellies, chutneys and more. On the downside, the recipes are not very detailed and might not provide enough information for someone who is clueless about cooking such items.
As someone who has won a number of blue ribbons for my own jams and jellies at a couple of country fairs, I know that successful preserving may take just a short time to learn, but a lifetime to master. There is not enough information about the canning and sterilization process (you can’t just dump hot cooked jelly into any old jar and that’s that unless you are using it up within a week and don’t care if you make anyone sick). Also, there isn’t a lot of information about what to do if something goes wrong (e.g. if your products aren’t cooking properly or jam won’t jell).
There’s a tiny bit of information about pectin, but not enough about the various types, how to use them, etc. This information is vital to the positive outcome of a recipe. It is a great book for experienced canners who will know what to do, but maybe not the best book for beginners.
Chick lit seems to scatter itself into a few generic categories, two of the most popular being love stories, and stories of women who experience personal “growth.” Prospser in Love by Deborah Michel (Berkley Trade Paperback, 2012) falls into the first category. Jamie and Lynn Propser are hip, young, attractive, married professionals who seem to have the perfect marriage. But a series of events, mishaps and misunderstandings find the couple broken apart and seeking divorce lawyers. Jamie is a lawyer who travels a lot for business, while his wife keeps busy as a junior museum curator. The characters run in fast circles, especially in the art world, and Jamie’s family are upper crust snobs. That should make for colorful reading, but the characters are for the most part, unlikeable. Perhaps the most important thing one can take away from this fast-paced read is that no relationship is rock solid, and it is often the people surrounding a couple that degrade their relationship. I sat down and read it in one sitting, and recommend it as a good beach read.
Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister (Penguin Group USA, June 2012) is the quintessential chick lit novel about personal growth. It’s nice that the characters are nearing middle age, not the usual 20-somethings hunting for love and career or the 30-something angst of not knowing what direction to go in, next. These women have lived, and now they’re ready for the next steps. The book starts out with an unusual premise: Kathy, a cancer survivor, gathers her girlfriends to celebrate her recovery. Her daughter Robin, wants to take trip down the rapids with her that Summer, but Kathy is terrified. She agreed to do the trip, if all of her friends will also complete a challenge (of Kathy’s choosing), in the next year. It will also be something that confounds or frightens them. The author weaves the women’s stories together, artfully, and draws you into their world(s). Whether it’s a divorced woman moving on, learning to bake bread and open a heart, or simply facing a new skill or conquering a mental block, you’ll find that each story focuses on real issues that many women will face. If you are at one of those junctures in life where you might stay stuck, or leap forward, you’ll particularly appreciate Joy for Beginners. It’s a classic chick-lit novel, but the characters are believable. There will be at least one whose story will have special meaning for you.
There was a genre of movies in the 1950’s about teen “bad girls.” They smoked, they drank, they got in trouble at school, they were promiscuous, and defied their parents. Most of them (in the movies) ended up in jail, and perhaps, dead. But Lucille Lang Day is a real life juvenile delinquent whose story, eventually, had a happy ending. Her early years were full of turmoil. Lucille’s claim to fame, and the title of the book, is that she was Married at Fourteen (Heyday Books), quickly had a baby, and found herself with an abusive young husband who didn’t even want her to get an education. The marriage didn’t last long, but amazingly, she re-married the same man! She quickly divorced him (again) and went on to get not just a college degree, but higher education. As a very young bride and then a single mom, Lucille spent a lot of her life trying to improve herself but also looking for love. Eventually, she reached her goals. The thing about the book that intrigued me was the fact that someone so “troubled” could find the inner strength to truly turn her life around. We all have a bit of “Lucille” in ourselves, and this book is fascinating, troubling, and in the end, inspiring.
Another very intersting, self-published book that caught my eye (especially with Mormon Mitt Romney in the running as President of the United States), is Fifty Years In Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White Lies, by Kristyn Decker (available at amazon and barnes and noble). I am not suggesting that Mr. Romney is a polygamist, but the scuttlebutt is that Mitt Romney’s father was born into a polygamist commune in Mexico and of course, some sects of the Mormon religion do practice plural marriage, even though it is not legally sanctioned. In any case, while Mr. Romney does not practice plural marriage, the author of this book, did. She spent 50 miserable years in that lifestyle, as part of the second largest polygamist sect in the Country, the Apostolic United Bretheren.
The book isn’t artfully crafted, but the story is a train wreck, from beginning, to end. As with many young women born into alternative lifestyle communities, some adapt to it better than others. When that is all you know, it seems impossible, unthinkable, to do something else. Imagine being the target of a childhood full of neglect, molestation, and abuse, marrying at 17 and then just eight years later, having to share your husband and the father of your children with other women, to fulfill the obligations of your church and religion. Imagine never being able to call attention to yourself, but only serve others.
This author married young to gain some “freedom” from her restrictive and abusive family. But from the getgo, the relationship with her husband had plenty of ordinary troubles. When it was time to encourage her husband to take other wives, although she put on a happy face, Ms. Decker couldn’t quite handle sharing her husband with the other women. As describes it, their life was dismal, the other wives were conniving and incompatible, and everyone was very unhappy. When her teenage daughter ended up on drugs, Kristyn had to go to court-appointed family therapy. As a result, discovered her true self, as well. Still, she slogged on dutifully, trying to make the marriage work, and re-uniting with her husband several times, before finally breaking free, for good. Shows like the Learning Channel’s “Sister Wives” reality show on television show one side of polygamy that, for the most part, seems to work for that group, but it doesn’t work for everyone. The reality Kristyn describes is a far cry from “Sister Wives.” If you’re curious about another view of plural marriage from this insider author’s experience, Fifty Years in Polygamy, will give you a good view.
Are you finding yourself going to too many friend’s weddings, without even a date? Always a bridesmaid, but wonder if you’ll ever be the bride? I almost NEVER read, nor review, wedding or dating advice books, because I have written a number of them myself. I find most of thenew authors in this genre to provide nothing novel, very useful, or even appropriate. But Why You’re Not Married Yet: The Straight Talk You Need to Get The Relationship You Deserve, by Tracy McMillan, Ballantine Books, 2012) is one of the few I actually like. When you have received your degree and experience from the school of hard knocks as a three-time divorcee, if you’re smart, you’ve learned a thing or two.
This author has “been there–and back.” The book is kind of snarky (great for the under 30-somethings out there who just can’t manage to read a serious book straight through and not find it boring), but this book also has some blunt lessons to teach women of all ages about why their relationships have gone off the rails, and what the obstacles are to getting the love they want. The book isn’t about how to find a man, as much as to learn what kind of woman you are, when it comes to dating and mating. The book isn’t going to “play nice” with your emotions, and that’s ok.
If you are needy, selfish, nasty,slutty, crazy, self-loathing, a liar, act like a dude, or worse, you’re just a total mess (and you’re bound to be one of these), this is, according to the author, what is standing in your way to wedding bliss. If you’re already emotionally fragile, you might find yourself crying instead of laughing, but while the issues and their solutions are nothing new, McMillan’s blunt point of view is, well, to the point. It’s an informative read, even for those who have found their mates, and perhaps, a wake-up call to all those single ladies who can’t understand why no one will “put a ring on it.”
They say you can’t go home again, but that’s exactly what Salma Abdelnour did. Jasmine And Fire: A Bittersweet Year in Beirut by Salma Abdelnour (Broadway Books, June 2012), is the year-long chronicle of a young woman determined to go back to her roots after her family fled to the United States. Assimilated, but never feeling truly like she belong, Salma returns “home,” surrounded by family, but having to learn how to fit in in Lebanon, all over again.
Leaving behind everything, including a budding romance, she revels in daily life, amidst danger, chaos and change, in Beirut. For anyone, this type of challenge would be difficult, but for a woman, and a writer, it’s nearly impossible. However, Salma rises to the challenge, and finds that while you can’t quite “go home” (because home is really where the heart is), you can make a new home and find happiness.
This was a fascinating book, well written, well organized, and full of excitement. As a food and travel writer, Salma lovingly describes precious details that make you truly able to visualize the scene. Truth is much better than fiction. This book, proves it.
“My heart will go on…” sang Celine Dion for the theme some of Titanic, the movie, but the real Titanic love story is that of Ida and Isador Straus, German Jewish Iimigrants who became the owners of Macy’s Department Store in NYC, and who chose to go down with the ship and die together, rather than be parted. A Titanic Love Story: Ida and Isador Straus, by June Hall McCash ((Mercer University Press 2012) is a comprehensive book about the life, loves and family of Straus family, most note-ably, Ida and Isador.
This couple exemplified all that is honorable, loyal, and courageous. While a lot of the book is about the history of the family, their good deeds and compassion, and their rise to wealth and success, the real story, of course, is how Ida and Isador found themselves on the Titanic, and their probable last days together. Fact is sometimes stranger and more exciting than fiction, and this book serves it all up, although the writing is a bit dry.
The allure of the Titanic’s tragedies, the people involved, and the mystique of the ship, lives on. This book will fascinate, even though the outcome is still, after all these years, heartbreaking.
