Three Books That Deserve Attention

Reprinted from the Citizen:

There are so many books published each year that unless the author is an established one (James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, etc.), it may be hard to cut through the clutter and find an audience. I found three recent books by not-so-famous authors that deserve attention.

Maureen Sherry worked on Wall Street and she uses her experiences in her novel Opening Belle. Sherry takes us into this breakneck-paced, testosterone-fueled world of high finance through the character of Isabelle. 

Isabelle is married to Bruce, who is content to be a part-time stay-at-home dad, part-time not-exactly-sure-what-he-does-for-a-living. They have three young children, and even though Isabelle works full-time, she is still the one responsible for grocery shopping, Christmas present shopping, and arranging playdates for the children. Bruce goes to the gym. And they have a nanny.

The trading floor of the company Isabelle works for is filled with men who behave appallingly towards the female traders and analysts and heaven help the poor female assistants and administrative employees, it is worse for them.

And when some of the women working at the firm decide they have had enough, Isabelle has to decide whether to jeopardize her position at the firm and her family’s financial security to join with them.

Isabelle works hard and she is a great analyst. She has a luncheon meeting with the CEO of her biggest client and who shows up with him but Henry, the man who was once her fiance`until she found out that he was dating another woman just weeks before their wedding.

Sherry never signed a non-disclosure form when she left her job on Wall Street, so “Opening Belle” is filled with little tidbits and stories that you just know ring true, and I bet that some of the people who used to work with her recognize some of the events and characters. They are just too good to not be true.

Opening Belle is fast-paced read, and one that you will devour like a eating an entire bag of chips. You’ll root for Isabelle to get everything that she deserves.

Another contemporary novel is Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest, also set in New York City. The Plumb children are all grown adults who are waiting for the day when they can get their hands on a trust fund set up by their father. 

Each has different plans for the money. Jack needs the money to replace funds he spent behind his husband’s back; he mortgaged their beach cottage to keep his small antiques shop from closing.

Melody is counting on the money to send her two daughters to a good college and to keep from losing the home she has created and loved for so long. Sister Bea wants to quit her job and finish the novel she has started.

But all their plans go up in smoke when brother Leo has a car accident with young lady who is not his wife and she is seriously injured. Their mother gives Leo the money to pay off the young lady, and now the siblings must convince Leo to pay them back. Easy, yes?

Well, not so easy. Leo is a selfish man, and he feels no loyalty to his siblings. The story is interesting and the idea of what parents owe their children is one that will engender a thoughtful discussion for book clubs who choose this one.

The final book, The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett, takes place across the pond in England, starting in 1958 when Jim Taylor runs across Eva Edelstein, who has just had an accident with her bicycle on the way to take a test at university. They fall in love and what comes next is told in three different versions. 

The title of the book comes from the triptych that Jim paints, depicting three versions of a couple. I loved this story, and although you may think that keeping track of three different versions of this couple’s lives over the years would be confusing, Barnett does an amazing job of keeping it all straight in the reader’s mind.

We see what happens or could have happened, over the years to Jim and Eva, and how one decision made changes so many lives in each version. Fans of the books/movies One Day and Sliding Doors will like this one, and I enjoyed it even more than both of those.

Opening Belle by Maureen Sweeney

Published by Simon & Schuster

Hardcover, 352 pages

A+

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Published by Ecco

Hardcover, 368 pages

B+

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 416 pages

A

BEA 15- Book Group Speed Dating with Publishers- Part 2

Continuing on with Part 2 of BEA's Book Group Speed Dating with publishers hosted by BookReporter.com, we have five more publishers who shared their favorite upcoming books with us.

Henry Holt had two books I liked:

• Tenacity by J.S. Law is psychological thriller set on a submarine. When there is a murder on the submarine, a tough female naval investigator must solve the case and bring the murderer to justice. There seems to be a theme this fall of strong female characters in books, and I like that. On sale November 3rd
• Being Mortal by Atul Gawande was a big book talked about at last year's BEA. Dr. Gawande shares his thoughts on how the medical community and society seems to avoid planning for the end of life, and to celebrate the fact that the book is still on the bestseller list, Henry Holt gave each participant a copy of this most important book that everyone should read. On sale now

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt presented three interesting books:

• Girl With A Gun by Amy Stewart was a big presence at BEA, with over 1000 advanced reader copies being handed out. Stewart, the author of The Drunken Botanist, based her novel on the true story of one of the first female deputy sheriffs, set in 1914 Hackensack. I'm very excited to read this one. On sale September 1st
• Dietland by Sarai Walker  is a provocative novel about an overweight woman saving up money for weight reduction surgery who gets involved with a "shadowy feminist guerilla group". They are calling this one "Bridget Jones meets Fight Club", which sounds too crazy to pass up, and Dietland received a rave review in Entertainment Weekly. On sale now
• How To Start A Fire by Lisa Lutz is not the next book in Lutz's hilarious The Spellman Files, but more of a traditional women's fiction book, about friendship and secrets, but still retaining Lutz's signature sense of humor. A friend of mine read this already and loved it. On sale now

Other Press had one book I was intrigued by:

• Couple Mechanics by Nelly Alard was described to us as a "yummy French novel". Who can resist that description? Based on a true scandalous story, Juliette and Oliver are a modern busy French couple, parents to two young children. Oliver confesses to an affair, and after a Fatal Attraction scenario, Juliette must decide whether to kill or help her husband. On sale January 19, 2016

Penguin shared two books with us that excited me:

• Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh was an Editor's Buzz Book. Eileen is a young woman working a dead-end job in a boy's prison in 1960's Boston area, supporting her father. When a glamorous woman joins the staff, she sweeps Eileen up in a crime scheme, and Eileen is both delighted and horrified. On sale August 18th
• Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff and from their Riverhead Books imprint, tells the story of marriage, told from both the perspectives of husband and wife. It reveals how "the key to a great marriage is not in its truths, but in its secrets." I loved Groff's The Monsters of Templeton, and she writes so beautifully I know this one will be great. On sale September 15th

St. Martin's Press also had two books I wanted to hear more about:

• Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford was a book everyone was buzzing about at BEA. Clifford, a journalist at The New York Times takes on in hot topic- Upper East Side wives- in her debut novel. Her main character is a transplant from Maryland who does her best to fit in with the wealthy women in her new neighborhood. Called "a 21st century Bonfire of the Vanities mixed with Prep and Rules of Civility", this one is at the top of my TBR list. On sale August 18th
• Hemingway in Love by A.E. Hochner is one that fans of The Paris Wife will enjoy. Hochner, who was good friends with Hemingway, writes a lyrical, beautiful account of Hemingway's Paris affair that destroyed his marriage to first wife Hadley, the woman he called the love of his life. This is a great opportunity to hear about Ernest Hemingway from someone who knew him well. On sale October 20th

Again, I'd like to thank Carol Fitzgerald and her terrific team at BookReporter.com for putting together this fantastic opportunity for all of us to speak with the publishers and hear about what they think will be the big books of fall.

Part 1 is here.

BEA14- Speed Dating with Publishers

BookReporter.com has been hosting a Book Group Speed Dating session at BEA for the past few years, and each year it grows bigger and bigger. This year, over 200 participants heard from 21 publishers about their upcoming books that would be perfect for book clubs.

The participants, many of them librarians and bloggers, sit eight to a table and the publishers rotate from table to table talking about their books. It's very well organized and always a great, informative event.

At my table, we heard from Mary at Harper Perennial. She talked about these books:

• This Is The Water-by Yannick Murphy, about a murder on a girls' swim team and the parents who try to find the killer.
• We Are Water- by Wally Lamb that tells the story of a marriage, artistic expression and the secrets a family keeps that can harm for generations. This is coming out in paperback, and I read it in hardcover, it's another thought-provoking Wally Lamb novel. My review is here.
• What I Had Before I Had You- a debut novel from Sarah Cornwell is coming out in paperback in August as well. I read this one too, and it is heartbreaking look at how bi-polar disorder affects a family. My review is here. 
• Sea Creatures- by Susanna Daniel is described as a "beautifully written" domestic drama about a woman who has to choose between her husband and her son. This one intrigues me.
• The First Phone Call From Heaven- by Mitch Albom is coming out in paperback in October, and would be a good holiday book club read.
• This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage- by Ann Patchett is coming out in paperback in October as well. I loved this book of essays that tells the story of Ann's life, from childhood to a first marriage to finding her voice in writing to a successful second marriage and her new career as a bookstore owner. My review is here.

Carla and Hannah from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt shared their thoughts on these books:

• Wonderland by Stacey D'Erasmo is a stunning debut novel about a female rock star looking to "find the artist within."
• The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances- by Ellen Conley is a redemptive novel about a young woman who signs up to train dogs at a sanctuary, where she learns about friendship from the dogs.
• The Lion Seeker- by Kenneth Bonert is an immigrant saga, an "epic event" about a Jewish immigrant living in Johannesburg after WWII. This one is perfect for Jewish and male book groups.
• Florence Gordon- by Brian Morton has a New York City setting and is a novel about a 75-year-old "feisty feminist" who teaches her granddaughter about feminism, and unwillingly ends up in the middle of her family's catastrophes. This is one I really want to read.
• Fire Shut Up In My Bones- by Charles M. Blow, a New York Times columnist who writes about finding his voice after a painful childhood in Louisiana. It's also about the community he grew up in, as well as sexual politics, and has garnered great reviews.
• Falling From Horses- by Molly Gloss has also gotten great reviews and is called "good old-fashioned storytelling" about a cowboy who goes to Hollywood to become a stunt rider and meets a woman who wants to be movie star.
• The Jaguar's Children- by John Valliant is a novel that HMH is very high on. It's a page-turning thriller about a man hiding in the back of a truck trying to sneak into the US from Mexico. The truck stops and he only has a cell phone that has government secrets on it. 

Liveright, a new imprint to me from Norton, had some intriguing books.

• Epilogue: A Memoir by Will Boast has an awesome cover- a school photo of the young author. It's the true story of a young man who loses his family only to find a deeply hidden secret that changes everything.
• Internal Medicine: A Doctor's Stories- by Terrence Holt is another true story, a collection of stories written by an emergency room doctor about the cases and people he has met in his work. 
• The Last Days of California- by Mary Miller about a family who travels across country by car preparing for the Rapture. It was called "Carson McCullers meets Karen Thompson Walker" and Miller has an "incredibly strong voice." This would be a good YA pick too.

Norton shared three books.

• An Italian Wife- by Ann Hood is one I really want to read. It tells the story of a 15-year-old Italian girl arranged to marry a man who moves to the US. She follows ten years later, where she and her husband have seven children, one of whom belongs to the man she really loved. It is portrait of America from 1890s-1970s, with "lots of love and sex".
• Orfeo- by Richard Powers is a novel about science, music and love and is called Powers' most emotional book yet.
• The UnAmericans by Molly Antopol has received terrific reviews and will be out in paperback in October. It is about immigrants and families, changes from the Old World to the New World, and has been compared to Jhumpa Lahiri's The Intrepreter of Maladies.

I will cover the books presented by Soho, Simon & Schuster, Picador and Penguin in a post next week.

Francois Payard at the 92nd St. Y

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

Francois Payard made an appearance at the 92nd St. Y this week at their Daytime Talks series, sponsored by Kitchen Arts and Letters bookstore, which caters to professional chefs and casual cooks, with over 13,000 titles in stock. I have yet to visit there, but I am putting it on my list of Must-Sees.

I love hearing from smart people who are passionate about what they do, and Payard certainly fits that bill. He was there to talk about his new book, Payard Desserts, which contains recreated recipes from his days as a pastry chef at such esteemed restaurants as Le Bernadin and Daniel, as well as from his own Payard Patisseries.

He had planned on making squid ink macarons for us, but there was no oven or stove, so we had to settle for macarons he brought in. (Poor us!) After his talk, we got to taste chocolate, passionfruit, vanilla bean, raspberry lycee, and my favorite pistchio. I'm not a macaron fan, but these were delicious- not too sweet or crunchy, but pillowy. We actually stopped at Francois Payard's Patisserie on 74th and 3rd Ave. on the way home to stock up.

Macarons from Francois Payard's

Payard spoke about the importance of using fresh, seasonal ingredients (he like to visit the Union Square Greenmarket to get his in NYC), as well as his work with a new type of sugar that has 25% of the calories of regular sugar without giving up much of the taste. He hopes to be able to use that soon.

The book is not a coffee table book, but I think it is one for people who have more than moderate skills in baking. Baking is a science, according to Payard, in addition to being artistic. It takes years of study as well as practice to master the skills.

With Thanksgiving coming up, he told us that it is not necessary to make everything the day of, he encouraged us to make use of our freezer. Make pastry crusts and breads ahead of time and freeze them, make the stuffing the day before, spread out the work so you are not going crazy on Thanksgiving day.

Macaron shells are not easy to make, but he did say if you have macarons, it is important to put them in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then take them out three hours before you want to eat them. He told us there will be a big announcement next week on his website concerning macarons, so I'll include the link if you are interested.

Francois Payard at 92nd St. Y

Payard says that he "drives his employees crazy", but he drives himself crazy as well. People like him are perfectionists, and that might make him difficult to work with, but it is also why he is at the top of his profession.

Francois Payard's website is here.
Kitchen Arts and Letters website is here.
More information about Payard Desserts is here.

I Can't Complain by Elinor Lipman

I Can't Complain by Elinor Lipman
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN 978-054757620X
Hardcover, $20, 161 pages

I've read a few of Elinor Lipman's novels, but had not read any of her essays. Some have previously appeared in magazines (Good Housekeeping) and newspapers (she had a regular column in the Boston Globe), but all were new to me.

Lipman shares stories from her childhood, where her father always listened to her and her sister, an appreciative audience for their anecdotes. He was an avid reader who introduced his daughter to humorists like Max Schulman. Her mother was "dainty and fussy" and could not abide any condiments, could not even be around them. Lipman grew up without ketchup, mayonnaise, Worchestershire sauce.

She writes lovingly about her husband Bob, with whom she shares no common hobbies or interests and likes it that way. She sees no need to play golf or Jet Ski with him. I love that she said if she were a matchmaker, her important questions would include Do you want children? How far ahead of your flight do get to the airport? Are you willing to leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight? She thinks these are more important predictors of compatibility than shared hobbies and I so agree.

I loved her essay, "My Soap Opera Journal", tracing her life's moments through her soap opera viewing habits because I could relate to it. I go to a lot of author events, and her essay on things that have gone wrong at author events had me chuckling.
I also enjoyed "Ego Boundaries" about her and Bob's clashing fashion styles; he is "a sharp dresser with an impeccable eye" and she is, well, not so much.

One of the last essays is a heartfelt one about Bob and the devastating illness he faced. It is a testament to Lipman's brilliant writing that in this slim volume of essays I got to know Bob so well, it felt like I was losing a dear friend too. How she and her son Ben dealt with this illness is honest and heartfelt.

The back of the book compares Lipman's essays to Nora Ephron and Anna Quindlen, both of whom I love, so it is no wonder that I enjoyed "I Can't Complain" so much. It's a great gift to give a girlfriend of a certain age.

rating 4 of 5

By the way, Lipman has a lovely, unique looking website here.

BEA12 Wrap-Up Part 3- Is speed dating wrong if you're already married 2- the sequel

Three upcoming book club titles

So my first experience with speed dating worked so well at BEA12, I decided to try it again at Hot Book Group Titles for Fall/Winter, hosted by BookReporter.com's Carol Fitzgerald.

Instead of authors, this time we "dated" publishers, who shared the books they were most excited about for book clubs.  We were assigned tables, and I got lucky number seven. In previous years, this was a panel discussion, and there was little time for interaction as the publishers raced through their presentation to get all of their titles in.

At the tables we got to interact with our tablemates and the publishers. I liked this much better; it seemed less like a lecture and more of a discussion. The only downside was, due to time constraints, we didn't get to talk to all of the publishers.

Craig from Algonquin Books shared his two favorite books with us, one of which was B.A. Shapiro's The Art Forger, about an artist who makes a pact with the devil in the form of a person who wants the artist to forge a work that was stolen 20 years ago from a museum in Boston. (It's based on the infamous Gardner Museum heist.) Craig says ""it's a great book to put in anyone's hands." It publishes in October.

I also loved how he described Algonquin Books as "the only publishing house that does not do vampire books." (YAY!) He also said, laughing, that wine goes great with Algonquin Books, cause "the more you drink, the better Algonquin Books read."

Hachette had a book I was interested in- Jami Attenberg's The Middlesteins, which was described as about family, marriage and obsession.  Mom Edie is obsessed with food, and she just keeps getting bigger. Her husband finally leaves her, and their adult children don't know how to handle this. It is set in Chicago, and we were told that "what Alice McDermott did for Irish-Catholic Easterners, Jami does for Midwest and food." The book also publishes in October.

Jennifer Hart from Harper Collins shared an historical fiction book that caught my attention- Lois Leveen's The Secrets of Mary Bowser, about an educated female freed slave who ends up spying for the Union inside the Davis White House in Richmond during the Civil War. I love books that are based in truth, and this story came out of a tale of a real-life female Union spy. This book is available now.

Carla Gray from Houghton Mifflin raved about Frances & Bernard by Carlene Bauer, a book based on the letters that Flannery O'Connor and Robert Lowell wrote to each other. Carla said that "This one had me sobbing on the subway, it got me in the gut. It's just a treasure." We'll have to wait until February 2013 for this gem.

Harlequin is not a publisher I usually read, but they are not just romances as I discovered. J.T. Ellison writes suspense novels, and her newest is Edge of Black, about a female medical examiner who is called to investigate what is believed to be a terrorist attack on the Metro subway in Washington DC. When she discovers that the victims all had something in common, it's game on. Ellison has previously been chosen as a PW Pick and Indie Next book, so she is worth a read in December when the book is released.

Carol Fitzgerald will have all of the books discussed here on ReadingGroupGuides.com.
http://readinggroupguides.com/art/BEA_Book_Club_Speed_Dating_Presentation_2012.pdf

It's well worth a look, I hope you find as many great books as I did.