BOOKFINDS
Book Reviews and News

A must admit, right off the bat, that I was addicted to The Real Housewives of NYC on Bravo. The show was fantastic and even though reality shows tend to seem staged, planned and fake, I think this show gave an accurate and interesting glimpse into the lives of women in New York City. One of the standout women on the show was “The Countess.” No matter what craziness was circling around LuAnn, she kept her head held high and her wits about her. When I heard that she was coming out with a book on class and etiquette, I knew I had to have it. Class with the Countess: How to Live with Elegance and Flair did not disappoint!

This book is the perfect go-to guide for anyone with simple questions about fashion do’s and don’ts, conversation killers, and tips for throwing a great cocktail party.

In an era when women are running around flashing skin, backstabbing and gossip is the norm and being polite is a foreign concept, it is a refreshing twist to read about living a graceful and elegant life.

The Countess even blogs! Her blog is as informative and entertaining as her book, with insight and guidance into the elegant life.

Here is a sample from the book on mistakes people make when dining in restaurants:

• Taking your coat, umbrellas, shopping bags, and briefcases to the table. Check them when you enter.
• Putting your phone on the table. Leave it on vibrate and keep it out of sight.
• Use your inside voice. You don’t want to disturb others, and you certainly don’t want people to eavesdrop. You never know who is listening.
• Calling out or snapping your fingers to get the attention of your server. If a quiet “excuse me” or a subtle gesture doesn’t work, ask a busboy or the maitre d’ to send your waiter over.
• Your purse belongs on your lap, the floor or on an empty seat.
• Picking up anything you drop. Just get the attention of the waiter or busboy and ask him for a replacement fork or whatever has fallen.
• Brushing crumbs or stacking plates. That’s what wait staff is for.

Tip: Despite what your mother told you about keeping your elbows off the table at all times, it is acceptable between courses. Leaning forward a bit on your elbows shows that you are listening with interest.

It’s the beggining of summer, but you wouldn’t know if you lived in the northeast. I don’t remember June being this rainy and cold. New York Magazine has a number of essays on the topic of memorable summer flings. The contributing writers are quite impressive: Darin Strauss (Chang and Eng, More Than it Hurts You); Kate Christensen (Trouble, The Epicure’s Lament); John Wray (Lowboy); Geoff Nicholson (The Lost Art of Walking, Bedlam Burning); Rivka Galchen (Atmospheric Disturbances) and more!

So even if you aren’t enjoying the warmth of the summer sun, you can at least enjoy a summer escape through the pages of New York Magazine.

Mating Rituals of the North American Wasp by Lauren Lipton

I need to begin this post with a description of Lauren Lipton’s latest book:

After arguing with her live-in boyfriend about his inability to commit, Peggy Adams flies to a friend’s bachelorette party in Las Vegas, and wakes up next to a man she can’t remember. Hung-over and miserable, she sneaks out of the sleeping man’s hotel room and returns home to New York, where her boyfriend apologizes for the fight and gives her a Tiffany box containing a pre-engagement ring. Not what she expected, but close enough! The next day she receives a phone call from the Las Vegas one-night stand, Luke, claiming she’s already married to him-and he faxes her the license for proof! Both are ready for an annulment, until Peggy arrives in quaint New Nineveh, CT, where Luke cares for his Great Aunt, and the old woman makes Peggy an offer she can’t refuse.

Now if this book doesn’t scream AMAZING BEACH BOOK, I don’t know what will. It is so fun, so entertaining and so unbelievably absorbing that you will not be able to put it down! You may even find yourself mentally casting the movie version of this gem because that is exactly where it should be headed next…to the Big Screen! This book is laugh-out-loud funny and I really didn’t want it to end. I loved this book and I am looking forward to Lauren Lipton’s next novel.

The Local News by Miriam Gershow

This review is from Daily Candy. I loved it so much and found it to be such a unique and fresh way to write about books. It’s much more personal than most book reviews and isn’t trying to sound too boisterous or jaded.

Your older brother worked hard to prove his love. Dunking your hand in warm water while you slept; incessantly giving you noogies. There were times you wanted him to disappear.

In first-time novelist Miriam Gershow’s The Local News, socially awkward 15-year-old protagonist Lydia Pasternak longs for some time away from her popular older brother Danny — until he actually goes missing.

Lydia is immersed in a complicated stew of grief, relief, and guilt when Danny’s football and cheerleader friends rally around the girl they’ve always ignored (or worse). As the search drags on, she learns to navigate a shifting world.

But it’s not all doom and gloom: Lydia’s clever quips pepper amusing images throughout, like when the heroine, drunk for the first time, suddenly discovers her extra-large pores.

It’s enough to make you love your brother — wedgies and all.

James Frey is finally getting back at Oprah for ambushing him in an interview in 2006, for lying in his memoir A Million Little Pieces.

In the paperback edition of Bright Shiny Morning, Frey adds a talk show scene, where the host berates the character.

“He went on the show. It wasn’t what he was told it was going to be. He got berated, yelled at, booed, scolded, lectured, humiliated.”

The narrator becomes paranoid because of this and loses his mind,  I wonder what Oprah will say about that.

(via Daily Beast)

What is often talked about in fiction writing is that every novel has pieces of the author’s life hidden in the details. In Rita Schiano’s emotionally riveting novel, Painting the Invisible Man, there is no hiding the parallels between Rita’s life and that of her main character, Anna Matteo.

Schiano explores what happens when Anna begins to learn the truth about her father through his brutal dealth. Rita Schiano learned the truth about her own father through his brutal death. And yet it is with this honesty and quiet depiction of reality that Schiano creates memorable characters and beautiful prose. Schiano explores the emotional ties that bind us to our family and our history.  She shows that it is our past that gives birth to our dreams and it is our future that gives us hope.

Rita Schiano’s Painting the Invisible Man explores truth through the veil of fiction and highlights these truths with honesty and emotional intensity.  A beautiful poetic read!

What better time to read a book about the President, Secret Service and The White House then right around the 100 day marker for our own newly elected President? Publishers Weekly called FIRST FAMILY “a thinking man’s thriller” and I couldn’t agree more (although, I would change it to person). Typically, the books I gravitate towards are women’s fiction but this thriller from David Baldacci grabbed me in the first chapter and did not release it’s grip. I felt like I was getting such an amazingly intense insider’s view of the White House, the life of the President and the pressure of the Secret Service. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an intense, fast-paced read that really makes you think and question everything. It would also make a great Father’s Day (or Mother’s Day) gift! Also, check out David Baldacci’s website for some interesting insight into his life as a writer. Here’s a quick summary of FIRST FAMILY:

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, back from their harrowing and near-fatal adventure in the blockbuster #1 bestseller Simple Genius, return in a mesmerizing new thriller. A daring kidnapping turns a children’s birthday party at Camp David into a national security nightmare, but the hostage is not who anyone would expect. The First Lady enlists the services of King and Maxwell to bring the child back safely. Years ago, King saved her then-senator husband from an assassin’s bullet; whether they shared anything else is their secret. With Michelle still recovering from her own demons the pair are pushed to the limit, with forces aligned on all sides against them, and the line between friend and foe impossible to define…or defend.

Adorable, adorable, adorable! From the first line to the last, this book about one woman’s accidental and unintentional self destruction and journey to reclaim and rebuild her life was inspiring, entertaining and absolutely delightful. Elise Chidley is a writer to watch!

SUMMARY:

Lizzie Buckley has a life many women dream of - a gorgeous husband, a beautiful home and darling (when they’re not fighting) three-year-old twins. But ever since the birth of her children, she’s had a fantasy about locking herself in her bedroom for twenty-four hours with a good book and a box of chocolates.

Unfortunately, her husband James doesn’t understand her feelings. And when Lizzie unburdens herself in a flaming email to her sister Janie, then hits send at the wrong moment and accidentally shoots it off to James instead, her fairytale life gets a big dose of reality. With the word “divorce” ringing in her ears, Lizzie finds herself moving out and embarking on a totally different life - working hard to reinvent herself as a runner, a gardener, and a writer of children’s books.

But despite transforming her body, her neglected career, and her libido (courtesy of the local landscape gardener), Lizzie can’t get over her soon-to-be ex. As Lizzie discovers, sometimes the fairytale ending is just the beginning of the real story.

I so enjoyed reading this book and the journey that Lizzie travels back to her true self is so inspiring. The key to a great story, one that keeps you entertained and enthralled and has you caring about the characters, is the voice. This novel has such a strong and resonant voice that I was sad to finish it. I am eagerly anticipating Elise Chidley’s  next novel.

This summer, we here at the Bookfinds team, will pick out some beach books that don’t make you feel you had to leave your brain behind.

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

Whitehead is a brilliant young writer, who has written about the myth of John Henry, warring elevator inspectors and a nomenclature artist who is most known for naming a product that has different skin color band aids.

His new novel is more autobiographical novel about
15 year old Benji Cooper who is black boy who goes to a white prep school in Manhattan but summers in a black enclave in Sag Harbor in the Hamptons.

This is a fun book that revels in the small details of growing up in the 1980s like getting your braces off, New Coke and the Cosby Show. Benji is confused about his racial identity because he hangs out with rich white kids most of the time.

It’s a great read.