Friday, February 20, 2015

Foodie Friday: Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg



Title: Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage
Author: Molly Wizenberg
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 9781451655094
Number of Pages: May 6, 2014
How I Got It: Library
Format: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:
In this funny, frank, tender memoir and New York Times bestseller, the author of A Homemade Life and the blog Orangette recounts how opening a restaurant sparked the first crisis of her young marriage.
When Molly Wizenberg married Brandon Pettit, he was a trained composer with a handful of offbeat interests: espresso machines, wooden boats, violin-building, and ice cream–making. So when Brandon decided to open a pizza restaurant, Molly was supportive—not because she wanted him to do it, but because the idea was so far-fetched that she didn’t think he would. Before she knew it, he’d signed a lease on a space. The restaurant, Delancey, was going to be a reality, and all of Molly’s assumptions about her marriage were about to change.
Together they built Delancey: gutting and renovating the space on a cobbled-together budget, developing a menu, hiring staff, and passing inspections. Delancey became a success, and Molly tried to convince herself that she was happy in their new life until—in the heat and pressure of the restaurant kitchen—she realized that she hadn’t been honest with herself or Brandon.
With evocative photos by Molly and twenty new recipes for the kind of simple, delicious food that chefs eat at home, Delancey is a moving and honest account of two young people learning to give in and let go in order to grow together.

My Review:
I had not heard of Molly Wizenberg or her blog, Orangette, before I picked up this book. I was hearing some buzz about it when it was released last summer. The description caught my attention because I've daydreamed before about opening a restaurant. It is fun to think about but I don't think I would have the chops for it! Molly and her husband had no serious restaurant work under their belts yet they jumped in feet first and opened Delancey. Molly chronicles their journey from finding the perfect location, to what restaurant workers and chefs eat themselves, to the problems running a restaurant placed on her marriage in this lovely book featuring beautiful photos and recipes. I really enjoyed this book and will be adding her first book A Homemade Life to my list.
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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Review:: That's Paris: An Anthology of Life, Love and Sarcasm in the City of Light and Book Talk with R & T Announcement


Title: That's Paris: An Anthology of Life, Love and Sarcasm in the City of Light 
Author:
Publisher: Velvet Morning Press
Publication Date: January 20. 2015
ISBN: 9780692340110
Number of Pages: 266
How I Got It: From Adria Cimino 
Format: e-galley

Goodreads Description: 
Paris-the most romantic, beautiful and frustrating city in the world! If you've ever traveled to Paris, lived in the City of Light or dreamed of setting foot on its cobblestoned streets, you'll enjoy escaping into this collection of short stories about France's famed capital.
From culinary treats (and catastrophes) to swoon-worthy romantic encounters (and heartbreaking mishaps), this anthology takes you on a journey through one of the most famous cities in the world.
View this cosmopolitan metropolis through the chic eyes of Parisians, francophiles and travelers who fell in love with the city and haven't quite gotten around to leaving yet...
That's Paris: a glimpse into living, loving and surviving in the City of Light.

My Review:
I love anything Paris-related and this book did not disappoint. I would recommend this for any night stand. This anthology is a perfect combination of fun, funny, romantic, and like any great book, contains some yummy food. I especially love that this anthology features the amazing author, Adria Cimino.

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

Announcing the next Book Talk with R & T: 

3/2 - 3/6:

Close to Destiny by Adria Cimino 

Come join Tamara and I to discuss this wonderful new release and enter our giveaway for a copy! 
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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh



Title: My Sunshine Away 
Author: M.O. Walsh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
ISBN: 9780399169526
Number of Pages: 320
How I Got It: Associate Publicist, Lauren Truskowski
Format: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:
My Sunshine Away unfolds in a Baton Rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate football fandom. But in the summer of 1989, when fifteen-year-old Lindy Simpson—free spirit, track star, and belle of the block—experiences a horrible crime late one evening near her home, it becomes apparent that this idyllic stretch of Southern suburbia has a dark side, too.
In My Sunshine Away, M.O. Walsh brilliantly juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families, and consuming adolescent love. Acutely wise and deeply honest, it is an astonishing and page-turning debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive.

My Review:
As the release date for this book approached my book blogging buddies started buzzing. I heard several "this is my first five star book of 2015" and "I read it in one sitting" comments. I was excited to start it but had no idea how engrossed I would become. The publicist's summary originally had me thinking of Joyce Carol Oates' We Were the Mulvaneys, but upon reading I found that My Sunshine Away is not so dark. Where We Were the Mulvaneys focuses on the demise of a family, My Sunshine Away shows the continuation of daily life. I love how the narrator's evolving point of view causes readers to consider the difference in their perceptions of events as children and later as adults. M.O. Walsh will have readers trying to guess who the perpetrator of the crime is and will make you suspect everyone. I am extremely impressed with this debut and expect My Sunshine Away to be on the top of the lists for 2015. I definitely recommend this book and I would recommend it to everyone! M.O. Walsh is definitely an author to watch. I expect many more great releases from this author.  

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Housewitch by Katie Schickel



Title: Housewitch
Author: Katie Schickel
Publisher: Forge
Publication Date: February 17, 2015
ISBN: 9780765377302
Number of Pages: 352
How I Got It: from publisher
Format: paperback
Goodreads Description: 
Allison Darling, former foster child, now a stay-at-home mom of three, desperately wants to fit in with the organic latte drinking, hundred-dollar-yoga-pants-wearing moms who run Monrovia, her charming seaside village. Constantly feeling like an outsider, Allison dreams of more for her children. When the Glamour Girls, a soap-selling company run by the most charismatic and powerful women in town, recruits Allison, she jumps at the invitation. The Glamor Girls have a hand in everything in Monrovia, from bake sales to business deals. This is what Allison’s wanted her whole life—to be liked. To be popular. To belong. After Allison’s estranged mother passes away, she learns her family’s heartbreaking legacy and the secret Allison’s been fighting to suppress all her life emerges: she’s a witch. What’s more, she’s not the only one in town. There’s more to the Glamour Girls then it seems… and once you’re a Glamour Girl, there’s no going back. Allison must use her rediscovered magic to defend Monrovia, protect her marriage and her children, and reclaim her legacy. Fighting tooth and nail for her family is easy, but what about for herself? Is it too late to confront her own demons and become the woman she dreams of being?
My Review:
Stepford Wives meets Practical Magic in this absolutely, charming read. I had this book taunting me from my TBR for months now. I wanted to read it so bad but kept pushing it down the list due to other releases needing attention for their due dates. Then...I got sick. 😷 Boo, right? I was laid up in bed for a full day but I found great comfort in this book. It was perfect. I thought of how much I loved last year's The Glass Kitchen and I am praising this as on par with that release. I am definitely recommending this to readers who love cliquey women in the suburbs. The magic is sprinkled through story but the female dynamics are the star of the book. 

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

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GIVEAWAY: 2 Copies of Holly LeCraw's THE HALF BROTHER

I'm giving away 2 copies of Holly LeCraw's THE HALF BROTHER !! Enter below!!




A passionate, provocative story of complex family bonds and the search for identity set amid the ivy-covered walls of a New England boarding school.

When Charlie Garrett arrives as a young teacher at the shabby-yet-genteel Abbott School, he finds a world steeped in privilege and tradition. Fresh out of college and barely older than the students he teaches, Charlie longs to leave his complicated southern childhood behind and find his place in the rarefied world of Abbottsford. Before long, he is drawn to May Bankhead, the daughter of the legendary school chaplain; but when he discovers he cannot be with her, he forces himself to break her heart, and she leaves Abbott, €”he believes forever. He hunkers down in his house in the foothills of Massachusetts, thinking his sacrifice has contained the damage, and controlled their fates.

But nearly a decade later, his peace is shattered when his golden-boy half brother, Nick, comes to Abbott to teach, €”and May returns as a teacher as well. Students and teachers alike are drawn by Nick'€™s magnetism, and even May falls under his spell; when Charlie pushes his brother and his first love together, with what he believes are the best of intentions, a love triangle ensues that is haunted by desire, regret, and a long-buried mystery.

With wisdom and emotional generosity, LeCraw takes us through a year that transforms both the teachers and students of Abbott forever. Skillfully plotted, lyrical, and ambitious, The Half Brother is a powerful examination of family, loyalty, and love.
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Monday, February 16, 2015

Masterpiece Monday: :The Light in Cuban Eyes: Lake Forest College's Madeleine P. Plonsker Collection of Contemporary Cuban Photography

**Welcome to a new weekly feature on Ivory Owl Reviews: Masterpiece Mondays
This will complement the recent Foodie Friday feature that reviews new cookbooks. Masterpiece Mondays will feature reviews of new art book releases.**


Title: The Light in Cuban Eyes
Author: Lake Forest College
Publisher: Lake Forest Press
Publication Date: March, 2015
ISBN: 9781941423905
Number of Pages: 350
How I Got It: Susan Weinstein 
Format: e-galley

Publisher's Description:
This book publishes photographs from the "special period," when the former Soviet Union withdrew its economic support and Cuba was plunged into an extended period of deprivation. Embargoed away from the world with few cameras and expired film, the photographers of Cuba emerged from the shadows to show what was happening to their country. This is the first time this work will be shown together.
Photographic sculpture that from a distance appears as an antiquated T.V. screen; Havana’s Revolutionary Plaza photo shopped so as to appear underwater; a Russian nesting doll book that depicts the “good” Cuban citizen dressed in various Soviet guises; a satellite dish camouflaged in a huge black trash bag; a decaying classical building in old Havana, strangers pressed together on a traveling bus; a schoolboy weighted down with much more than his school bag.
The new book, THE LIGHT IN CUBAN EYES: Lake Forest College’s Madeleine P. Plonsker Collection of Contemporary Cuban Photography brings this work to U.S. and Cuban audiences. This is the first book entirely devoted to contemporary Cuban photography highlighting both emerging and established artists. The bilingual publication—is also the first book granted full support with permission to be distributed within Cuba by the Cuban Ministry of Culture—will be released in Cuba during the opening of the XII Bienal de la Habana in late May 2015. The Robert Mann Gallery in New York City will host a March launch in the U.S.
The story of THE LIGHT IN CUBAN EYES begins in 2000, when Madeleine P. Plonsker embarked on a cultural exchange trip to Cuba. Plonsker, a Chicago-based collector of twentieth-century masterworks on paper, thought she might collect a few souvenirs. She did not know the compelling works she uncovered would expand to the whole passage of a society in transition. THE LIGHT IN CUBAN EYES captures this inspired vision for the first time. Plonsker explains, "Cuban Photography has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past twenty years. Cuba's contemporary photographers are poised to reach a broader international audience, and the intent of my book is to bring you their story."

My Review: 
This collection of 50 photographers' works accompanied by artist's statements and collectors' comments, each presented dually in Spanish and English, is raw and beautiful. Brides, factory gears, and gates give glimpses to an island community rarely seen by non-Cubans. My favorite photo is by combat critic Adonis Flores, of a bouquet of flowers coming out of a soldier's mouth (p 69.) Alejandro Gonzalez' photos of Cuba's gay community are candid and raw and piercing. The final 50 or so pages feature essays such as "Metaphor in Photography"and "Notes on the Difficulty of Collecting Contemporary Cuban Photography," again dually presented in English and Spanish. This is great addition to anyone's art collection, especially one that does not not contain much modern photography or is lacking in geographic and cultural diversity. 

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

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Friday, February 13, 2015

Foodie Friday:: The American Plate: A History of the United States in 100 Bites by Libby H. O'Connell, Ph. D



Title: The American Plate: A History of the United States in 100 Bites 
Author: Libby H. O'Connell, Ph. D
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: November 1, 2014
ISBN: 9781492603023
Number of Pages: 320
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: BlueFire

NetGalley Description:
A mouthwatering history of the evolution of American food from the lead historian at the History Channel. For generations, people have proudly defined themselves and their values through their national cuisine. But American food, like its history, is a world of its own. This enticingly fresh book introduces modern readers to lost American food traditions and leads them on a tantalizing culinary journey through the evolution of our vibrant cuisine and culture. Covering a hundred different foods from the Native American-era through today and featuring over a dozen recipes and photos, this fascinating history of American food will delight history buffs and food lovers alike.

My Review:
I was in nerd heaven when I read this book! The author is the lead historian at the History Channel and the information presentation is comparable to an Alton Brown cooking program. Think of your high school history book (I know *groan*)  and think what were people eating during various decades? I never really thought of it before. The book opens with maize and foods we probably already knew the Native Americans were eating before colonization, then progresses through the  various "high impact" periods of American history. The book is formatted in "bites," with a detailed table of contents, allowing the reader to skip around or read a small section during a downtime while preparing a meal (what I did.) While there are recipes included, this is more reference book than cookbook. However, I would recommend keeping your copy in your kitchen to grab a glance at while you are waiting for your next pot to boil. 


** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **
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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

21 New Autism-Related Books Releasing in 2015

According to the CDC, "Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability" occurring in 1 in 68 births in the United States. Meaning, chances are you or someone you know is affected in some way by this disability's increased prevalence. As a society we are hungry for knowledge and desperate for a cure. Regardless of your personal views, we all want to know more and if you are looking for the newest book releases focusing on Autism Spectrum Disorder, this list is for you. These selections span every age and give insight to multiple aspects of the autism spectrum. I've supplied the links to their Edelweiss and Goodreads pages for access to summaries, author bios, and additional links. If you are a book blogger, let me know if you feature a review of any of the books on this list and I will post your link to the corresponding release. Otherwise, keep your eye out for these books and order the already released features from your favorite bookstore or library. Also, consider pre-ordering for yourself, to give as a gift to someone you know that is looking for more information, or donate a selection to a nearby school or library. 

January


1/21: Tomas Loves...: A rhyming book about fun, friendship - and autism by Jude Welton and Jane Telford (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)


February


2/2: An Aspergers Guide to Public Speaking: How to Excel at Public Speaking for Professionals with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Rosalind A. Bergemann  (Edelweiss summary)



2/6: Asanas for Autism and Special Needs : Yoga to Help Children with their Emotions, Self-Regulation and Body Awareness by Shawnee Thornton Hardy (Edelweiss summary)

2/21: The Essential Manual for Asperger Syndrome (ASD) in the Classroom : What Every Teacher Needs to Know by Kathy Hoopmann and Rebecca Houkamau (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)

2/21: Autism from Diagnostic Pathway to Intervention : Checklists to Support Diagnosis, Analysis for Target-Setting and Effective Intervention Strategies by Kate Ripley (Edelweiss summary)

2/21: Overcoming Anxiety and Depression on the Autism Spectrum : A Self-Help Guide Using CBT by Lee Wilkinson (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)

2/21: Can I tell you about Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome?: A guide for friends, family and professionals by Ruth Fidler and Phil Christie, Illustrated by Jonathon Powell (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)


March


3/1: Autism and the Extended Family: A Guide for People Who Love Someone with Autism by Raun Melmed (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)  [**I reviewed this release for Scottsdale Lifestyle magazine (where the author resides) and will post the link as soon as the article publishes**]

3/21: From Here to Maternity : Pregnancy and Motherhood on the Autism Spectrum by Lana Grant (Edelweiss summary)


3/21: The Growing Up Book for Boys : What Boys on the Autism Spectrum Need to Know! by Margaret Anne Suggs and Davida Hartman (Edelweiss summary)


3/21: The Growing Up Guide for Girls : What Girls on the Autism Spectrum Need to Know! by Davida Hartman and Margaret Anne Suggs (Edelweiss summary)


3/21: A Pony in the Bedroom: A Journey through Asperger's, Assault, and Healing with Horses by Susan Dunne and Liane Holliday Willey (Edelweiss summary)


April


4/2: I am an Aspie Girl: A book for young girls with autism spectrum conditions by Danuta Bulhak-Paterson and Teresa Ferguson (Edelweiss summary)


4/7: 101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism: The Most Crucial Things You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Doctors, Schools, Taxes, Vaccinations, Babysitters, Treatment, Food, Self-Care, and More by Tony Lyons and Kim Stagliano (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)


4/7: 101 Tips for the Parents of Boys with Autism: The Most Crucial Things You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Doctors, Schools, Taxes, Vaccinations, Babysitters, Treatment, Food, Self-Care, and More by Ken Siri (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)


4/21: Sisterhood of the Spectrum : An Asperger Chick's Guide to Life by Jennifer Cook O'Toole and Anne-Louise Richards (Edelweiss summary)


May


5/21: Women and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age by Sarah Hendrickx (Edelweiss summary)


5/21: The Obsessive Joy of Autism by Julia Bascom (Edelweiss summary)


July


7/14: Just Add Water: A Surfing Savant's Journey with Asperger's by Clay Marzo and Robert Yehling (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)


August


8/4: Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry M. Prizant with Tom Fields-Meyer (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)


8/24: Best Boy: A Novel by Eli Gottlieb (Edelweiss and Goodreads summaries)
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Giveaway: MY SUNSHINE AWAY by M.O. Walsh




I'm giving away 2 copies of MY SUNSHINE AWAY by M.O. Walsh this week! Enter below:


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Friday, February 6, 2015

Foodie Friday: Sheet Pan Suppers by Molly Gilbert

Title: Sheet Pan Suppers
Author: Molly Gilbert
Publisher: Workman
Publication Date: December 2, 2014
ISBN: 9780761178422
Number of Pages: 304
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: BlueFire


NetGalley Description:
The virtue of cooking on a sheet pan is two-fold. First there’s the convenience of cooking everything together and having just one pan to clean up. Then there’s the cooking method—roasting, baking, or broiling—three techniques that intensify flavors; in other words, food tastes better when cooked on a sheet pan (move over, slow cooker). But the real genius here is Molly Gilbert’s fresh, sophisticated approach. There are easy dinners for weeknight meals— Chicken Legs with Fennel and Orange; Soy-Mustard Salmon and Broccoli; Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Squash, Apples, and Onions. Special occasion meals—Rack of Lamb with Herby Bread Crumbs and Buttered Carrots; Asparagus and Black Cod in Parchment. Meatless meals—Israeli Couscous–Stuffed Peppers. Plus surprise extras, including in-a-snap party snacks—Baked Brie and Strawberries, Corn and Crab Cakes with Yogurt Aioli; quick brunch dishes like Greens and Eggs and Ham, and Baked Apricot French Toast; and, of course, dessert—Stone Fruit Slab Pie, Halloween Candy S’mores.
Maximum ease, minimal cleanup, and mouthwatering recipes. In other words, a revelation that will change the way we cook.

It’s the one-pot meal reinvented, and what is sure to become every busy cook’s new favorite way of getting dinner on the table. It’s Sheet Pan Suppers—a breakthrough full-color cookbook with more than 120 recipes for complete meals, snacks, brunch, and even dessert, that require nothing more than a sheet pan, your oven, and Molly Gilbert’s inspired approach.

My Review:
I love my slow cooker and despite the fact there are thousands of slow cooker recipes out there, there are only so many that I like. Sheet pan cooking allows for crispier outcomes versus softer outcomes from a slow cooker. These recipes are perfect for winter when I don't mind (and actually enjoy) having my oven on. I also like the idea of pulling supper out of the oven and everyone serving themselves from one sheet versus plating for the family or us all reaching over each other to make our plates from several dishes on the counter (we're not big kitchen table eaters.) This cookbook's layout and photos are beautiful! I had never heard of Molly Gilbert or her blog Dunk and Crumble before reading this cookbook, but I've added her to my blog roll. I would buy this book for myself, for a new cook, or as a housewarming gift. I definitely recommend this as an addition to everyone's cookbook library.

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **
Update 2/25/2015: This release is now available online here: http://issuu.com/kewlbeans/docs/sheet_pan_suppers/1
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Monday, February 2, 2015

February 2015 TBR

I'm excited to dig into my February TBR. I currently only have 8 titles (5 physical / 3 e-ARCs) on it because I'm hoping to rotate in a few from my bookshelves and backlist. Here's the February releases I'll be reading this month with descriptions included from Goodreads or NetGalley. Are any of these on your February TBR? What releases are you excited about this month?



My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
My Sunshine Away unfolds in a Baton Rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate football fandom. But in the summer of 1989, when fifteen-year-old Lindy Simpson—free spirit, track star, and belle of the block—experiences a horrible crime late one evening near her home, it becomes apparent that this idyllic stretch of Southern suburbia has a dark side, too.

The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell by Willian Klaber
One day in 1855 Lucy Lobdell cut her hair, changed clothes, and went off to live her life as a man. By the time it was over, she was notorious. The New York Times thought her worthy of a lengthy obituary that began “Death of a Modern Diana . . . Dressed in Man’s Clothing She Win’s a Girl’s Love.” The obit detailed what the Times knew of Lucy’s life, from her backwoods upbringing to the dance school she ran disguised as a man, “where she won the love of a young lady scholar.” But that was just the start of the trouble; the Times did not know about Lucy’s arrest and trial for the crime of wearing men’s clothes or her jailbreak engineered by her wife, Marie Perry, to whom she had been married by an unsuspecting judge.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
In love we find out who we want to be. In war we find out who we are.
FRANCE, 1939: In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Housewitch by Katie Schikel
Allison Darling, former foster child, now a stay-at-home mom of three, desperately wants to fit in with the organic latte drinking, hundred-dollar-yoga-pants-wearing moms who run Monrovia, her charming seaside village. Constantly feeling like an outsider, Allison dreams of more for her children. When the Glamour Girls, a soap-selling company run by the most charismatic and powerful women in town, recruits Allison, she jumps at the invitation. The Glamor Girls have a hand in everything in Monrovia, from bake sales to business deals. This is what Allison’s wanted her whole life—to be liked. To be popular. To belong. After Allison’s estranged mother passes away, she learns her family’s heartbreaking legacy and the secret Allison’s been fighting to suppress all her life emerges: she’s a witch. What’s more, she’s not the only one in town. There’s more to the Glamour Girls then it seems… and once you’re a Glamour Girl, there’s no going back. Allison must use her rediscovered magic to defend Monrovia, protect her marriage and her children, and reclaim her legacy. Fighting tooth and nail for her family is easy, but what about for herself? Is it too late to confront her own demons and become the woman she dreams of being?

The Uncanny Reader: Stories from the Shadows edited by Marjorie Sandor
From the deeply unsettling to the possibly supernatural, these thirty-one border-crossing stories from around the world explore the uncanny in literature, and delve into our increasingly unstable sense of self, home, and planet. The Uncanny Reader: Stories from the Shadows opens with “The Sand-man,” E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1817 tale of doppelgangers and automatons—a tale that inspired generations of writers and thinkers to come. Stories by 19th and 20th century masters of the uncanny—including Edgar Allan Poe, Franz Kafka, and Shirley Jackson—form a foundation for sixteen award-winning contemporary authors, established and new, whose work blurs the boundaries between the familiar and the unknown. These writers come from Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Russia, Scotland, England, Sweden, the United States, Uruguay, and Zambia—although their birthplaces are not always the terrains they plumb in their stories, nor do they confine themselves to their own eras. Contemporary authors include: Chris Adrian, Aimee Bender, Kate Bernheimer, Jean-Christophe Duchon-Doris, Mansoura Ez-Eldin, Jonathon Carroll, John Herdman, Kelly Link, Steven Millhauser, Joyce Carol Oates, Yoko Ogawa, Dean Paschal, Karen Russell, Namwali Serpell, Steve Stern and Karen Tidbeck.

That's Paris: Life, Love, and Sarcasm in the City of Light (anthology)
If you've ever traveled to Paris, lived in the City of Light or dreamed of setting foot on its cobblestoned streets, you'll enjoy escaping into this collection of short stories about France's famed capital.From culinary treats (and catastrophes) to swoon-worthy romantic encounters (and heartbreaking mishaps), this anthology takes you on a journey through one of the most famous cities in the world.View this cosmopolitan metropolis through the chic eyes of Parisians, francophiles and travelers who fell in love with the city and haven't quite gotten around to leaving yet...

The Librarian by Mikhail Elizarov
If Ryu Murakami had written War and PeaceAs the introduction to this book will tell you, the books by Gromov, obscure and long forgotten propaganda author of the Soviet era, have such an effect on their readers that they suddenly enjoy supernatural powers. Understandably, their readers need to keep accessing these books at all cost and gather into groups around book-bearers, or, as they're called, librarians. Alexei, until now a loser, comes to collect an uncle's inheritance and unexpectedly becomes a librarian. He tells his extraordinary, unbelievable story.

After Birth by Elisa Albert
A year has passed since Ari gave birth to Walker, though it went so badly awry she has trouble calling it “birth” and still she can't locate herself in her altered universe. Amid the strange, disjointed rhythms of her days and nights and another impending winter in upstate New York, Ari is a tree without roots, struggling to keep her branches aloft.When Mina, a one-time cult musician — older, self-contained, alone, and nine-months pregnant —moves to town, Ari sees the possibility of a new friend, despite her unfortunate habit of generally mistrusting women. Soon they become comrades-in-arms, and the previously hostile terrain seems almost navigable.With piercing insight, purifying anger, and outrageous humor, Elisa Albert issues a wake-up call to a culture that turns its new mothers into exiles, and expects them to act like natives. Like Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin and Anne Enright’s The Gathering, this is a daring and resonant novel from one of our most visceral writers.


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