Friday 5ive- July 23, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  We went to a restaurant with friends in Harrison on Saturday, Emilio Ristorante. The food was fabulous, starting with my so-very-thinly-sliced eggplant parmesan appetizer on to my cingale (wild boar) ravioli entree. We've only had cingale in Italy, and this was so tasty. Our party of six drank a lot of great wine, and we had a lot of laughs with the affable owner, Sergio. There was also much
commiserating from the Mets fans at the table, who are fervently hoping for a World Series appearance this year. We'll see.... 

 Photo from Emilio's Instagram account

2) I finished another virtual ride, this one was Tahoe to Malibu, a 700 mile ride. I started it on May 1st and finished it on July 11th. On to my next challenge, Route 66, a 2200 mile ride, which should take me almost a year to complete. 

3) Walking to get my hair cut, I saw this ad in a window on 3rd Ave. for Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, a terrific summer read from Elyssa Friedland. I get so excited when I see book ads in the wild.  This delightful novel is for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Dirty Dancing, and Schitt's Creek.

4)  We watched Dr. Death, a limited series on Peacock, based on a popular podcast. Joshua Jackson stars as a Texas surgeon who maimed and killed several of his patients before he was stopped by two doctors, played by Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin. The doctor moved from hospital to hospital, and the big question became was he just incompetent or a sociopath? The medical powers-that-be are indicted in this true crime story because they covered up his actions and let him move on to another facility with impunity. The acting is very good, but I would have preferred that the story was told in chronological order. True crime podcast fans will like this one. 

5) I finished two books this week. The first was Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front, a novel set in WWII near London. Four women are recruited to enter a cooking contest, the prize is co-hosting a popular radio show on the BBC, called The Kitchen Front. Audrey is a widow struggling to provide for her two sons, and this would allow her to keep her home. Her sister, Lady Geraldine, is married to a powerful man in the town who rules over her with an iron fist. Zelda is a displaced rising London chef, now working as the head cook in  the local factory. Nell is a young cook working in Lady Geraldine's home. It's a good story of female friendship and resilience, and my book club is discussing it today.

Sara Ackerman's Radar Girls is also set in WWII, but in Hawaii, right after the Pearl Harbor attack. Local women are enlisted to work, learning how to read radar signals and assist the pilots fighting the Japanese. Fans of Kate Quinn's The Rose Code will find themselves drawn to this intriguing story. My full review publishes on July 26th. 

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy, and that you have gotten your vaccine if you are able. It will keep us all safe.

Friday 5ive- July 8, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  We celebrated the 4th of July with a small gathering at our apartment with family. From our balcony we can see the Macy's 4th of July fireworks show over the East River, and they did a wonderful job this year. It really seems like things are returning to normal.

2) I made a new recipe this week- Spaghetti al Limone with Shrimp. It's a great dish to make on a hot summer day when you don't want to turn the oven on. It's from the New York Times, and the lemon really brightens up the dish. I also liked the addition of fresh tarragon. This one is definitely a keeper.

3) When  I opened my pint of Van Leeuwen vanilla ice cream, I found this quip on the lid- "Less reading. More eating." What kind of blasphemy is this? I was not amused.

4) I started watching HBO Max's new limited series, Mare of Easttown. Kate Winslet stars as Mare, the only female detective on the police force of the small town of Easttown, Pennsylvania. When a teenager girl is found dead, she is teamed up with a male detective from another department. Mare has been unable to solve the disappearance of another teenage girl months ago, and that girl's mother is understandably frustrated with Mare. Everyone is town is related to everyone else, and Mare's complicated home life adds to her stress. There are some excellent performances from Winslet, Evan Peters (as her new partner), Julianne Nicholson as her best friend, and Jean Smart as her mother. The show is getting darker now, and there seems to be more than one suspect. This show sucks you in.

5) I read two very different books this week. First up is Fed Up!, Colin Lancaster's memoir about the pandemic year as seen through his lens as a hedge fund macro trader. If you are a dedicated CBNC fan, you'll get so much out this. I really learned a lot, and found Lancaster's observations and analysis of the our economy fascinating. My full review is here.

Elyssa Friedland's novel, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, is a must-read for everyone missing The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The Goldman and Weingold families have owned and operated the Golden Hotel in the Catskills for over 60 years. It was the crown jewel of the Catskill resorts in its heyday, but tastes have changed, and now they are one of the only old-time resorts left standing. The place is run-down, reservations have declined, and when a hedge fund (they keep creeping up here) offers to buy the land to build a casino, the families have to get together to decide what to do. There's three generations of Goldmans and Weingolds, all with their own problems, desires, and secrets to contend with. It's a perfect summer read for the porch, pool or beach. I so enjoyed it.

I hope you all had a happy 4th of July and that summer is off to a good start.

Summer Reads

Reprinted from auburnpub.com :

With Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to summer reading season. There are so many books in so many different genres, what should we read?

For traditional beach reading, while fans of the Amazon show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are patiently awaiting the next season, Elyssa Friedland’s novel, The Last Summer at the Golden Hotel with its Catskill vacation hotel setting and family dynamics will fit the bill. 

In Mary Kay Andrews’ The Newcomer, a woman flees to a small beach town motel in Florida with her young niece after her sister is murdered. The retirees and snowbirds of the small town are suspicious of them, and a handsome cop becomes a romantic entanglement. (The hotel/motel setting is popular this season). 

Taylor Jenkins Reid, who scored big with Daisy Jones and the Six two years ago, is back with Malibu Rising, another rock’n’roll affiliation. The four adult children of famous rocker Mick Riva are throwing their annual summer blowout at their Malibu mansion. Everyone wants to be there, and the craziness that begins ends with the home burned down by morning.

The Queen of Beach Reads, Elin Hilderbrand, has Golden Girl as her annual entry. When a popular female novelist is killed in a hit and run accident while jogging, she ends up in the Beyond, where her guide allows her to follow her family for one last summer, and give her three adult children each one “nudge” to guide their behavior. 

If mysteries and thrillers are more to your taste, Laura Lippman channels Stephen King and the #MeToo movement in Dream Girl, as a famous novelist, laid up in his apartment after an injury, receives disturbing phone calls from a woman claiming to be the protagonist in one of his novels. No one believes him. Is he losing his mind or is he in trouble?

Fans of John Grisham’s legal thrillers will like Stacey Abrams’ While Justice Sleeps. When a Supreme Court justice mysteriously slips into a coma, his law clerk discovers that she has been named his legal guardian. She uncovers that he has been researching a controversial case before the Court, and now she is the middle of danger. 

Good historical fiction abounds this summer. Alka Joshi’s The Secret Keeper of Jaipur follows the characters from her brilliant 1950’s India-set novel, The Henna Artist as they move into the 1960s and try to find their way in the changing world. 

Chris Bohjalian goes back to 1662 Boston in Hour of the Witch.  Mary fears for her life after her husband’s violence towards her escalates. When a young boy she treated with herbs dies, Mary is accused of being a witch, and must fight for her life. It’s The Crucible meets The Handmaid’s Tale.

Beatriz Williams takes on Cold War spy novels in Our Woman in Moscow. In 1952, Ruth McCallister receives a postcard from her twin sister Iris who disappeared with her husband and young children four years ago after Iris’ husband defected to Russia when he was uncovered as a spy. FBI agent Sumner Fox convinces Ruth to travel to Moscow to help extract her sister. It’s a tension-filled narrative with twists and turns that will keep your turning the pages.

Nonfiction fans have many choices as well. Continuing with the Cold War, Anne Sebba’s Ethel Rosenberg- An American Tragedy  takes a fresh look at life and the case against the wife and mother who was executed with her husband in 1953 accused of for spying for Russia. 

Ashley C. Ford’s memoir, Somebody’s Daughter shares her story about growing up as a young black girl in Indiana. She had a troubled relationship with her mother, and her father was imprisoned for reasons no one would tell her. Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle, and Oprah have praised this powerful memoir. 

There are a few suggestions for Father’s Day gifts as well. Popular business/current events writer Michael Lewis’ The Premonition tackles the COVID crisis through people who saw it coming when the CDC didn’t and tried to warn others. 

Sy Montgomery’s The Hummingbirds' Gift takes a deep dive into the world of that beautiful bird, perfect for the nature-loving dad. 

Tom Coyne takes readers on a trip across the country to the best golf courses in A Course Called America. If your Dad spends his weekends hitting the links, he’ll love this one. 

Happy summer reading to everyone!