Friday 5ive- March 10, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly(ish) post featuring five things that caught my attention during the week.

1)  I attended a book launch party event for Andrea Dunlop's novel, Women Are The Fiercest Creatures. The book is about three women all connected to a tech CEO- his ex-wife, current younger wife, and his ex-girlfriend who helped him create his company and now wants justice that he is taking his company public. It sounds like a great timely read, and after hearing Andrea and publisher Zibby Owens talk about the origins of the novel, I definitely want to read it. 

The book launch was well attended, and Zibby recognized many of the authors in the audience who stood and introduced themselves. I was excited to see Jeanine Cummins (American Dirt), Bess Kalb (Nobody Will Tell You This But Me), and Christina Baker Kline (The Orphan Train) as I really enjoyed all their books.

Attendees were asked to write down the name of fierce woman they know, and I wrote down Dorothy Reiss, one of the founders of the Book Cellar, the used bookstore where I volunteer. Dorothy runs circles around all of the younger volunteers, and everyone in the neighborhood who comes into the shop loves to talk to her. 

Firece women

Author Andrea Dunlop

Publisher Zibby Owens

2)  Speaking of Dorothy, the Book Cellar is celebrating its 19th anniversary this month. I have been lucky enough to have volunteered there since 2014, and things just keep getting better. We're located in the basement of the Webster Library branch of the New York Public Library, and the staff there is such a joy to work with. They are exceedingly kind to all of their patrons. Our volunteer staff are amazing, they all love books and are so knowledgeable, our customers are so impressed. They are kind too, each customer that comes into the shop gets a smile and a warm greeting. Our neighborhood has become home to more and more younger people, and we have seen people from all over NYC and the world walk into our shop. On Thursday, we had a young couple from Germany, an Irish man who used to live in New York and now lives in France, and a grandfather from India who always stops into our shop when he comes to visit his granddaughter in the neighborhood. Here's to 19 more years at the Book Cellar!

3)  In our quest to eat healthier, I'm finding that desserts have been the most challenging. I did make this Strawberry Pie and added some blueberries to it. It turned out really well, but it was a little too big for just the two of us. After a few days, it started to get a little wet so I will save this recipe for a time when more people are around to enjoy. The recipe is from my favorite, Marlene Koch.

4)  We are watching the second season of Your Honor on Showtime. We liked the first season, and after the end of season one, we weren't sure where it could go. Season two is really riveting, as Bryan Cranston's fantastic portrayal of disgraced judge Michael Desiato finds himself caught between a federal agent, brilliantly played by Rosie Perez, and the mobster family she is trying to take down. Hope Davis as the mobster mama is menancing. The New Orleans setting is good too. 

5)  March is Irish Heritage Month and I'm reading books set in Ireland written by Irish authors. First up is Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Set in a small Northern Ireland town during the Troubles, Cushla lives with her mother, teaches at a Catholic school, and works at the family's bar. They are a Catholic family, and many of their patrons are Protestants, including soldiers who'd rather be back home. When Cushla meets a Protestant barrister who represents people accused of being IRA terrorists, she falls hard for him. The fact that he is married and his friends think many Catholics are terrorists causes friction between them. The story is so atmospheric, it brings the reader right into this time and place that isn't that far away. There are some parallels to things that happen here in the United States, particularly interactions between minority populations and police.  Two pivotal scenes had me torn up and audibly crying "No!" I highly recommend Trespasses. 

I started reading When in Rome by Liam Callanhan on my Kindle thinking I was reading When in Rome, a light rom-com by Sarah Adams. Liam's book is about a 52 year-old commerical realtor named Claire who specializes in helping religious communities sell their properties. She travels to Rome to help an order of nuns get the best price for their convent, set in the ruins of Rome. Claire becomes involved with the four nuns, whose order will disband them unless they can find another apostolate to join the order or get a buyer who will let them stay. When Claire was in college, she had intentions of joining a different order of nuns, but life intervened otherwise. Now Claire is in a midlife crisis and she has to decide what she truly wants out of life. I'm always intrigued when a male author writes a female protagonist, it's unique. If you are thinking about visiting Rome, this one should be on your list, it's another atmospheric novel. 

Stay safe, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Friday 5ive- May 28, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. Monday was Memorial Day, and although we couldn't have big family celebrations, I hope you were able to grill out some hamburgers and hot dogs and maybe catch a viewing of Saving Private Ryan on TV.


1)  While out walking my son and his girlfriend's dog Otto, I found this small monument in Pelham Manor, a tribute to the men who fought in the Battle of Pelham in the Revolutionary War.

2) Last week we celebrated a belated Mother's Day, and this past weekend we celebrated a belated St. Patrick's Day. I always made a big St. Patrick's Day dinner when the boys were growing up, and my oldest son says it is his favorite meal of the year. I made the traditional corned beef and cabbage with carrots, Irish champ mashed potatoes, pistachio bread, and Irish bread pudding. It turned out really well, and we all enjoyed it.

Corned beef, cabbage and carrots

3)  With no Broadway (and who knows when it will come back), I have been watching performances online. Last week, Sally Field and Bryan Cranston performed A.R. Gurney's Love Letters as a fundraiser for The Actors Fund. The show is about an artist, Melissa (played by Sally Field), and a politician, Andrew (played by Bryan Cranston), and the letters they exchanged over 50 years. It was so moving, Sally Field was just phenomenal, and Bryan Cranston is great in everything he does. It makes me wish I could have seen Sally Field on Broadway when she was in The Glass Menagerie. 

4)  Speaking of fundraisers, John Oliver, host of HBO's Last Week Tonight started a fundraiser for the United States Post Office. The USPS has been having financial problems for awhile, and the pandemic has made it even worse. People depend on the USPS for many things, including absentee ballots and medications, and if you are a fan of Oliver's show or you get mail, you can buy the stamps here. I've met Mr. Nutterbutter a few times, so he is my favorite stamp. If you have a birthday coming up, look for Mr. Nutterbutter in the top right corner on a card from me.

5)   I read two books last week. Kimberly McCreight's psychological thriller A Good Marriage begins with Amanda being brutally murdered in her home.  Her husband Zach is arrested for her murder and he reaches out to Lizzie, a woman he briefly dated years ago to represent him. Lizzie is not a criminal defense lawyer, but Zach convinces her to help him. Lizzie has her own marital problems, with an alcoholic husband she doesn't trust. Amanda was murdered following an annual neighborhood party where men and women pair up with people not their spouses for sexual encounters. Did this have anything to do with her death? It's a twisty story, going back and forth between the days leading up to Amanda's death, the grand jury investigation, and Lizzie's own investigation. No one is exactly who you think they are, and there are plenty of secrets, suspects and red herrings here. I did find one plot twist a little too much to take, but fans of the Lifetime Channel movies will want to read this one. 

Now is a great time to read Mary Kay Andrews' Hello, Summer. When the news agency where Conley has just landed a job goes out of business, she heads home to the small Florida Panhandle town of Silver Bay where her sister Grayson is the publisher/managing editor of the local newpaper that has been in their family for years. Times are tough for print newspapers, and Grayson may have to sell the family business. When Conley witnesses a car accident where the local Congressman is killed, she digs deep into what really happened, and ends up "digging up dirt" and angering many in the tight-knit community. There's romance, small town life, and if, like me, you grew up wanting to be Brenda Starr, Hello, Summer is a perfect novel to read at the beach or on your front porch. 

I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

Books About Celebrities

Reprinted from the Citizen.

Books by and about celebrities have a built-in audience. People are curious to read more about their favorite stars, how they got to be where they are, who influenced them and yes, even for some good old gossip.

Three recent books by and about celebrities have published, all different and interesting in their own way.

Leslie Bennetts “Last Girl Before Freeway”: The Life, Loves, Losses, and Liberation of Joan Rivers” is the lone biography here. Bennett covers Rivers’ entire life, where she was Joan Molinsky, to her rise as a stand-up comedienne, her successes and failures, to her eventual death in September of 2014 during what was supposed to be a simple surgical procedure. 

The book is comprehensive, and with a subject such as Rivers, who accomplished so much in her life, it flies by quickly. Joan Molinsky grew up in a household where her doctor-father, a kind and hard-working man, never made enough money for his wife, who feared poverty and always tried to keep up with the Joneses. 

Joan was one of the first successful female stand-up comediennes, and the book is filled with anecdotes from younger female stand-ups who sing the praises of Joan’s generosity, even though Rivers often resented being called a mentor. She always wanted to be hip and relevant, and her fearless stand-up routines, which she continued weekly even up to her death, reflected that.

The early sections of the book rely on material from Rivers’ own writings (she wrote several books, including two memoirs), but once Bennetts interviews people who worked with Rivers, who knew her well, the book gives the reader a better overall picture of this complicated woman.

Rivers was driven, and her many self-reinventions, rising from the ashes of her failed Fox talk show after her very public falling out with Johnny Carson to become not only a successful stand-up comic but also a hugely successful businesswoman designing and selling jewelry in the fledgling QVC network, are an inspiration to anyone who has been knocked down in life.

Actor Bryan Cranston’s “Life in Parts” tells his story of a journeyman actor, where he began as a soap opera actor on “Loving” and became famous as the goofy dad on “Malcolm in the Middle”, and then hit the stratosphere playing high school science teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White on “Breaking Bad”.  

“Life in Parts” recounts his childhood, with a father who wanted to be a successful actor but failed, and then takes you through the life of an actor trying to make it. Cranston is successful because he treats acting as a craft, something to be finely honed. 

He shares stories from his early days on “Loving”, including how he found out he was fired, and there is a little good gossip here. He speaks fondly of his days on “Malcolm in the Middle”, and there are a few chapters on “Breaking Bad”, with some interesting inside information for fans.

For anyone who loves the craft of acting, “Life in Parts” is wonderful book. Cranston has such a reverence for the work of acting, and reading about his process, about how much he cares about doing good work, is fascinating. 

Trevor Noah is best known as the new host of “The Daily Show”, but his book “Born a Crime: Stories From A South Africa Childhood” is about his life growing up as the son of a black African woman and white Swiss man in South Africa. 

Noah is a terrific writer, and he grabs your attention right from the beginning. He grew up when apartheid was ending, after Nelson Mandela was freed from prison, but things didn’t get easier for South Africans right away. There was a strict caste system, and black Africans were pitted against colored Africans, and since Noah was half-white, he didn’t fit in anywhere.

“Born A Crime” gets its title from the fact that it was illegal for blacks and whites to marry, so his parents had to hide their relationship, and Trevor was never allowed to walk next to both of his parents.

The book is a really a love letter to his mom, who pretty much raised Trevor alone, although Trevor spent a lot of time with his grandmother. His stories of childhood are touching, funny and sad.

Anyone who likes a good memoir will enjoy “Born a Crime”. It gives the reader a look at a place many of us are unfamiliar with, yet his story of a mother who worked hard to give her son a better life is universal.

“Last Girl Before Freeway” by Leslie Bennetts-A 

Published by Little Brown

Hardcover, $28, 433 pages

“A Life in Parts” by Bryan Cranston- A-

Published by Scribner

Hardcover, $27, 289 pages

“Born A Crime” by Trevor Noah- A+

Published by Spiegel & Grau

Hardcover, $28, 304 pages