Buying In by Laura Hemphill

Buying In by Laura Hemphill
Published by New Harvest, ISBN 978-05444114579
Hardcover, 304 pages, $24

Last year I read a dynamite book about a woman working at one of Wall Street's big banks, Erin Duffy's Bond Girl. I loved it, putting it on my Best Of The Year list. Recently I had the opportunity to read another debut novel in the same setting by a woman who also worked in the industry, like Duffy. My return to that world was rewarded with another terrific read, Laura Hemphill's Buying In.

Sophie Landgraf grew up in a small town to parents who owned a sheep farm. They were hippies, and none too happy when their  child decided to get a degree in finance and pursue a job with Sterling, one of the big New York City banks.

One of the first things we see Sophie doing is going through the desk drawers of the people whom she works for, trying to understand something about them. I liked this quirk of Sophie, and it gave us a look at the secret side of these single-minded people. She goes through her boss Ethan's desk.

"One peek inside his top drawer had been enough for Sophie. Swimming goggles, nail clippers, a Ferragamo tie wound into a tight coil, and packets of Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard. None of that compared to Ira Blumenstein's gold tooth, Kenneth Yang's Darth Vader lollipop, or Rich Angstrom's Magic 8 Ball."

Sophie is a first year hire, so she does all of the grunt work: research and plugging numbers into Excel formulas, then analyzing the data. This world is so foreign to me, and I was fascinated by my immersion into it, thanks to Hemphill's skilled storytelling.

Ethan's team consists of Vasu, an Indian man with a wife and two children he loves but rarely sees, and Sophie. They work in the Industrials division, and their big project is convincing their client AlumiCorp that they should merge with another aluminum manufacturer, whether or not it is in the best interest of their client. This would bring Sterling huge fees, along with a gig as a consultant to the newly formed company.

If you had told me that I would find a novel about a big bank and the aluminum industry so intriguing, I would have said "I don't think so." And yet that is exactly what happened. As the merger goes through ups and downs, at times looking like it was all going to go down in flames, the tension builds and Hemphill has the reader on the edge of her seat, like a great spy thriller.

The story is told through four different points of view- Sophie, Vasu, Ethan and the CEO of AlumiCorp. Sophie's story is more prevalent, but Vasu's is the one that is heartbreaking, and I would have liked to have heard more from him.

There is one vignette that I also read in Duffy's Bond Girl. Two men compete to eat one of each of the items in the vending machine. Sophie was a referee for this contest (as was Duff's female protagonist), so I'm going to guess that this is something that goes on at all big banks. It epitomizes the testosterone driven mentality that exists. Vasu compares Sterling and all of the other banks who caused the subprime economic crisis to the Vending Machine Challenge guy, who "swallow(s) too much too fast, (then) throw(s) up."

The novel takes place just prior to the Lehman collapse, and like many of the other banks, Sterling is in trouble for their reckless ways, affecting all of the major characters. We see that for all of their sacrifices- having no social life, missing holidays with family, working insane hours- their loyalty and hard work means nothing to a corporation.

I bought into Buying In. I was swept into this crazy world of high finance along with Sophie, and taken on a fast-paced ride learning more about aluminum factories that I thought possible, and liking it. This is a smart novel, and one that will have you turning the pages to see how it all comes crashing down, and if Sophie is a survivor.

rating 4 of 5

Laura Hemphill's website is here.
My review of Erin Duffy's Bond Girl is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for inviting me to participate. The rest of Laura Hemphill's tour is here:

Laura Hemphill’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, November 4th:  Kritter’s Ramblings

Tuesday, November 5th:  Entomology of a Bookworm

Wednesday, November 6th:  Peppermint Ph.D.

Thursday, November 7th:  BookChickDi

Friday, November 8th:  Bibliotica

Monday, November 11th:  The Well Read Redhead

Tuesday, November 12th:  Tiny Library

Wednesday, November 13th:  Staircase Wit

Thursday, November 14th:  Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile

Monday, November 18th:  Luxury Reading

Tuesday, November 19th:  Sarah’s Book Shelves

Wednesday, November 20th:  A Bookish Affair

Thursday, November 21st:  Walking with Nora

Friday, November 22nd:  Classy Cat Books

Monday, November 25th:  Reading Reality

Tuesday, November 26th:  Books and Movies

LaRue: 'The Life' chronicles Johnny Cash vividly : Diane Larue

Nicole from the blog Linus's Blanket and the Bloggers Recommend newsletter raved about this book and I couldn't agree more. I reviewed it this month in my Book Report column in the Citizen.

LaRue: 'The Life' chronicles Johnny Cash vividly : Diane Larue

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”. If you remember hearing that phrase in that iconic baritone voice, then Robert Hilburn’s comprehensive new biography, Johnny Cash: The Life is one of fall’s not-to-be-missed books.

Hilburn was the editor and pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1970-2005, and his meticulous research and flowing writing style elevates this biography from good to great.

The book takes the reader through Cash’s entire life, from his days as a child, living with his family in Dyess, Arkansas, picking cotton on their land and singing gospel songs his mother taught him.

When John’s brother Jack died tragically in a farming accident, it devastated the entire family. John admired and loved his older brother and was destroyed when his father said aloud that it was John’s fault Jack died, even though there was no basis in fact for that.

Jack’s death colored the rest of John’s life; he never got over it. John loved music and after a stint in Germany in the military where he began to write songs and wrote to a young girl, Vivian Liberto, whom he met back home.

John courted Vivian, and when he came home they married and ended up in Memphis. There he met two other men, and they played music together. When Sam Phillips opened Sun Studio in Memphis, they began to get serious about a career in music.

Hilburn interviewed many people for this book, and at the end, he lists chapter by chapter with whom he talked. Over the years, he had interviewed Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, so he had a personal knowledge of his subject, which adds a great deal to this book.

This is a big book at 688 pages, but Cash led a big life, and calling Johnny Cash- The Life is more than apt. From the successes and good times to the pervasive drug use and infidelities, not only with June but with other women, and dwindling sales and creative dry spells, this book covers an amazing American life.

There are so many fascinating stories, and many of them have been covered before in other books and the terrific movie 2005 “Walk the Line”, but there is a depth here that gives a much more complete picture of his life.

After the success of the late 1960’s with the incredible “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison- Live” album, Cash hosted a successful variety show on ABC. He clashed frequently with ABC executives about the format of the show; he wanted to feature interesting musical guests and themed shows revolving around gospel music and folk music, they wanted circus themes and popular country music stars.

The 1970s and 80s were less kind to Cash. He recorded dozens of albums, few of them successful artistically or commercially. He was dropped by Columbia Records and moved to Mercury, but his slide continued.

Cash was supporting a large entourage, and June spent money extravagantly, so he had to tour hundreds of days a year to make enough money to support everyone. It was exhausting, and the drug use continued, much to the dismay of people close to Cash.

At the end of Cash’ career, he met iconoclastic producer Rick Rubin, best known for his collaborations with hip hop and rap artists. Rubin spoke extensively to Hilburn, so this part of the book is especially vivid. 

Cash did four CDs with Rubin, and it revived him artistically.  Although his health was deteriorating to the point where he couldn’t see or walk, his sessions with Rubin were a high point creatively. He won multiple Grammys, and was even nominated for an MTV Video of the Year Award for his video “Hurt”, which is now considered by many to be one of the finest videos ever made.

Hilburn brilliantly conveys the life of an American icon. From the Depression-era impoverished family life to musical superstardom to eventual decline to phoenix-like rise at the end of his career, from a failed first marriage to finding lifelong love with June and becoming a good father, from drug use to failing health and losing his beloved wife, this is a book not only for Johnny Cash fans, but for everyone who likes a good biography.

If you weren’t a fan before reading this, you will be after, and you’ll be searching out Cash CDs as well. This is simply one of the best books of the year, I give it five stars.

You can read an excerpt from Johnny Cash- The American Life on Hilburn’s website at roberthilburnonline.com.

Bloggers Recommend review is here.

Weekend Cooking- What I Didn't Cook This Month

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.

I did a lot of cooking this month because I got a new slow cooker and Trish from Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity hosted a Pin It & Do It Challenge. The posts for that are linked at the end of this post.

But we do live in New York City, so there are plenty of opportunities to not cook as well, and in this post I will share some of those things too.

We had a visitor from back home for a few days, and he wanted to go to Little Italy for lunch. I've really only been there during the San Gennaro Festival when it is very crowded, so it was enjoyable to walk the streets when you can really see everything.

There are many lunch choices, and we ate at Da Nico. I had the ravioli, which was fabulous, with a tomato sauce that was absolutely delicious. Our friend had minestrone soup, which was perfect on this cold, windy day.

Da Nico Ristorante on Mulberry Street

A trip to Mulberry Street isn't complete without a stop at Ferrara Bakery and Cafe for treats to bring home. I got two chocolate mousse cannolis and a ricotta cannoli that were huge hits that night for dessert. I also brought home an assortment of Italian cookies for the next few days. I was very popular at home that evening.

Ferrara's cannoli case

I made a trip this week to Times Square to meet some friends and they took me to an Irish pub I had never been to before- O'Lunney's on 45th between 6th and 7th Avenues. It was a lovely place, so bright and inviting, and I had sliders with a chipotle aioli and fries that were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It was the best meal I have had in an Irish pub here and I will be putting O'Lunney's on my go-to list when people come to visit. (Thanks, Becky!)

We also made a stop at my favorite cookie shop- Schmackary's on 45th between 8th and 9th Avenues. I brought home my favorites- Red Velvet with Cream Cheese and Oatmeal Scotchie, and if you are ever in Times Square, seek this place out. Their special cookie that day was in honor of the 10th anniversary of Broadway's Wicked, so of course it had bright green frosting on top of a chocolate cookie.

Schmackary's mascot

After a trip to see Big Fish on Broadway, which I recommend for Norbert Leo Butz's energetic performance, I had to decide what to do for dinner. I walked over to Columbus Circle to Whole Foods and after circling the prepared foods for what seemed like forever, I went back to the meat case, picked up some ready-to-cook meatballs, some Rao's sauce (if we can't get a reservations there, we might as well buy the prepared sauce), and some spaghetti and we had a delightful meal that everyone enjoyed.

I couldn't leave Columbus Circle without stopping at Bouchon Bakery for some Oh Oh's for dessert. If you are a fan of Hostess HoHos, you would love Thomas Keller's homemade Oh Oh's. It was the perfect end to our simple spaghetti and meatballs dinner.

Bouchon Bakery case

What are some of your hometown favorite places to eat? Let me know in comments.

Pin It & Do It- Part One
Pin It & Do It- Part Two
Pin It & Do It Part Three
My Pin It & Do It October 2013 Board

Weekend Cooking- A Whirlwind Weekend's Worth of Cooking

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.

I'm not entirely sure what came over me last weekend, but I started cooking and couldn't stop. My husband had a long week, he was out Monday through Thursday for work events and didn't get a home cooked meal all week.

So Friday night I made an old standby- Rachael Ray's Italian Mac and Cheese. This is the one dish I make to bring to friends or for a potluck dinner. It has Italian sausage in it (hence the name), and it goes a long way so you have leftovers for at least another meal. I added a baguette from Maison Kayser (voted best baguette in NYC) and The Pioneer Woman's Salad Bar Salad with Creamy Dressing and we had a delightful meal.

My husband likes something sweet for breakfast and I found this recipe for Pumpkin Poppers from hwescott.blogspot.com on Pinterest, which worked for Trish's Pin It & Do It Challenge. They are really more like pumpkin muffins, but they were so easy to make and my husband loved them, as did my younger son. I didn't have ground cloves, so I used pumpkin pie spice in place of all of the spices. I'd like to try this next time using the spices described in the original pin to taste the difference.

Pumpkin Poppers

I had half of a can of pumpkin left over, so it was another batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that I made. My younger son brought them to work to share with his coworkers and he said they went quickly and got lots of praise.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

For dinner on Saturday, I made Giada's Tomato and Pancetta Soup to go with the leftover mac and cheese. I do not like tomato soup at all, but my husband does, so I made it. To my surprise, I loved this soup! I used a can of crushed tomatoes instead of the diced tomatoes because we prefer a smoother rather than chunky soup.

I saw Giada make this on The Today Show, and I'm glad I did. The smoky flavor of the pancetta and adding rye bread croutons really took the soup to another level. I even made a misstep in the cooking process (forgetting to crisp up the rye bread before adding the liquid), but I managed to recover. Next time I make it, I will do it correctly and can't wait to taste it then. The pin came from kahakaikitchen.blogpsot.com

For Sunday football, I made Better Than Taco Bell Pizza, which I had first made a few weeks back. The recipe called for too much chili powder, which overwhelmed the dish. I cut it back from 2 tablespoons to 1/2 teaspoon and it was still too much. I have to tinker with this one, but it is worth it because other than the chili powder, it is so tasty.

Dinner was a new favorite, Slow Cooker Balsamic Shredded Beef, served over mashed potatoes. I made Roasted Garlic Mushrooms to go with it, and this time the mushrooms tasted a little soggy; I was not happy with this batch. For dessert, my husband asked for Apple Crisp, so I went back to our old family standby from Betty Crocker.

I posted my whirlwind weekend cooking on Facebook, and all my friends asked for recipes, so I put together a Pinterest board and shared them. That is one of the great things about Pinterest; I can share one link for all of these with anyone who wants them.

By Sunday evening my feet hurt, my back hurt and I was exhausted. But, I did add two new pins for Pin It & Do It, bringing me up to eight pins and making me officially Pin Obsessed. This was a fun challenge, I hope to participate again in the next one.

Here is the link to the October Food Board pin with my weekend's cooking.

Mind Without a Home by Kristina Morgan

Mind Without A Home by Kristina Morgan
Published by Hazelden ISBN 978-1-61649-460-5
Trade paperback, $14.95, 260 pages

Kristina Morgan opens the prologue of her memoir Mind Without a Home in September of 1993 when she is twenty-nine years old. She has been sober for eleven years, has overdosed seven times in three months and hears the voices of men and women urging to hurt herself and others. She gets drunk and tries to kill herself again but doesn't succeed.

From there we meet Kristina's family- Jeremy and Hannah, her parents, and sisters Rose and Hunter. Her parents married because Hannah was pregnant with Kristina. Over the years, Hannah became an alcoholic, Rose became a sleepwalker and occasionally used drugs, Hunter was a heavy drug user and Kristina had schizophrenia and was an alcoholic.

Kristina's family had a lot of issues, but luckily she had two sets of grandparents who, at various times in her adult life when she needed them most, took her in. I really felt for them, trying their best to help their granddaughter through the many hospitalizations.

The book shows what it is like to live with mental illness, a topic that we have seen in the news recently and really needs to be addressed by society. Kristina hid her illness for a long time, but finally, like many who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, it comes to surface in her late twenties.

She describes mental illness as a "Stephen King novel. I knew it was there, I knew something was happening, but the first 300 pages it had to yet to reveal itself. I was on page 150. I still had time before my heart was cut out and my mind completely poisoned."

The reader is dropped into her world, where she hears the constant hum of voices, is heavily medicated, sleeps for long hours at a time, can't get or hold a job, moves from place to place when roommates can no longer put up with her behavior, deals with frequent hospitalizations, and tries desperately to find and hold onto a mate.

Kristina gets a job as a high school English teacher, which she loves, but loses it when the principal discovers her history. It devastates Kristina, for teaching gives her structure and joy. She falls in love with men and women, but can't sustain a permanent relationship, although she does have long on-again-and-off-again relationships with a few people until they can't take it anymore.

Living in a big city, one sees many people sleeping on church steps, wandering the city during the day, and the assumption is that they have some sort of mental illness. The most important thing I got from this memoir is the feeling of empathy for those with mental illness. We are put into their shoes in this shattering memoir.

Morgan is a poet, and the language here is poetic. She uses imagery a great deal of the time, and anyone who enjoys poetry will probably get more from this book than others.  Near the end of the book, she writes a note titled "Dear Self" that beautifully sums up where she is. If I have a criticism, it is that it can be repetitive towards the end of the book.

rating 3.5 of 5

Thanks to TLC Tours for allowing me to paticipate. The rest of Kristin'a tour is here:

Kristina Morgan’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, September 30th: Book Hooked Blog

Thursday, October 3rd:  My Bookshelf

Monday, October 7th:  Books in the Burbs

Wednesday, October 9th:  Good Girl Gone Redneck

Thursday, October 10th:  Book-a-licious Mama

Monday, October 14th:  Love at First Book

Wednesday, October 16th:  A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall

Thursday, October 17th:  Tiffany’s Bookshelf

Monday, October 21st:  Justice Jennifer

Wednesday, October 23rd:  Bookchickdi

Thursday, October 24th:  Sara’s Organized Chaos

Monday, October 28th:  Patricia’s Wisdom

Wednesday, October 30th:  A Bookish Way of Life

Friday, November 1st:  Bibliophiliac

Date TBD:  Peppermint Ph.D.

Weekend Cooking- Everyday Food cookbooks

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.

Every once in awhile, I will catch the Today Show segment called "Steals and Deals", where Jill Martin highlights great deals from manufacturers at huge discounts, good for 24 hours only. In the past, I have gotten some terrific bargains on Christmas gifts for family members on jewelry and health and beauty items.

A few weeks ago Random House had a fantastic deal on several sets of three cookbooks from celebrity chefs. They had sets from Lidia Bastianich, Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence and Martha Stewart. The deal was three books for just $21, which really is a steal.

I chose the Martha Stewart Living Everyday cookbook set, which had Everyday Food Light, Everyday Food Great Food Fast, and Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast. I used to pick up the Everyday Food magazine once in a while because the recipes were usually pretty easy to make and used fresh ingredients that I generally had on hand.

Everyday Food Light features recipes all under 500 calories, and I like how the book starts with tips on poaching, steaming, and stir-frying, along with lists of what herbs work best for each style of cooking. The calorie counts are printed in big numbers right on the photo page for each recipe. The recipes are separated by season, which I always find helpful. I turned right to the Fall section and found several recipes to try, including:

• Butternut Bisque (117 calories)
• Roast Chicken with Pears (421 calories)
• Chicken Cacciatore (212 calories)

Everyday Food Great Food Fast is perfect for those weeknights when it you only have a short window of time to get a healthy dinner on the table. On each photo page, the prep time is helpfully printed in big numbers, making it easy to see at a glance how long it will take you to get dinner ready to go into the oven. Some of the recipes, though, can take an hour to cook, so that must be factored into the equation. I am confused as to why the nutritional information for the recipes is listed in an index at the back of the book; it would have been so easy to place on the recipe page itself. It is also divided by season, and the fall recipes I am looking at are:

• Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Oven-Baked Polenta (30 minutes prep time)
• Steak and Onion Sandwiches (20 minutes prep time)
• Pork Chops with Apples and Shallots (30 minutes prep time)

Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast has 250 recipes in the book, which divides the book into categories like Breakfast, Appetizers, Pasta, Desserts. The end of the book has helpful tips with lots of photos on Chopping Onions, Peeling Ginger, and Softening Brown Sugar. Again, the nutritional information is indexed instead of with the recipe. I'm going to try:

• Roast Beef with Peppers, Onions, and Potatoes
• Warm Spinach Salad with Poached Eggs
• Mexican Ice Cream Sundaes with Cinnamon-Chocolate Sauce

All of these recipes are pretty basic, they don't require a lot of technical skill, making these books great gifts for people just starting out on their own. I also like that each recipe has a glossy photo so you know what your final dish should (sort of) look like.

The Steals and Deals website is here.

Broadway- The Glass Menagerie

The current revival of Tennesee Williams' classic play The Glass Menagerie has been called one the best revivals ever by more than one theatre critic and after seeing it this past week, I can concur.

I went to see the amazing Cherry Jones, who I have been dying to see, playing the role of Amanda Wingfield, single mother to two young adult children- Tom, brilliantly played by Zachary Quinto in his Broadway debut, and delicate, insecure Laura, gorgeously portrayed by Celia Keenan-Bolger.

Amanda has been abandoned by her husband, whose presence is still felt even though he has been gone six years. The play takes place in Depression-era St. Louis, and Amanda is panicked about who will take care of Laura. Laura has a severe limp, and because of this, avoids any social interactions.

Her mother discovers that Laura dropped out of secretarial school because she was paralyzed by fear on the first day. The scene where Amanda confronts Laura over this is just so heart-stopping, Jones berating Keenan-Bolger, who looks trapped as an small animal. It gave me chills.

Tom wants to be a writer, but he is stuck working a dead-end job at a warehouse to provide for his mother and sister. He spends his nights out drinking and carousing, and Amanda is panicked that he will lose his job and then what will happen to them all?

Amanda convinces Tom to invite a friend from work to dinner to meet Laura. The gentlemen caller is played by Brian J. Smith, whom I have never seen before, and he stands out as well, not easy to do with these powerhouse performers surrounding him.  I look forward to seeing him in other roles. His scene with Laura is lovely and then so terribly sad.

The Glass Menagerie is frequently called "ethereal", but the performances in this play are anything but. Jones is a strong Amanda, concerned about her family's future and willing to find a way to protect it, no matter what, even while recalling her glory days as a debutante who "had 17 gentleman callers in one day!" It is unclear if this is true, an exaggeration or a complete figment of her imagination.

She imbues Amanda with a steely resolve, a different take on Amanda than others have done. Jones is electric, and when she is on stage, she owns it. Her performance has been called "one for the ages", and is simply not to be missed.

Quinto is like a caged animal, angry at being tethered to his family and looking for a way out, like his father. He is a ticking time-bomb and his performance is ferocious. You wait for him to explode at any moment.

I had seen Keenan-Bolger in Peter and the Starcatcher, where she played Wendy in the fantastic play about Peter Pan's origins, and she was wonderful in that active role. This role is so different from Wendy, she makes you feel Laura's panic when confronted by her mother and her blossoming when she talks with the Gentleman Caller. She is going to be a big star.

John Tiffany, who directed the Tony-winning musical Once, directs here and he uses his staging in a similar manner as in Once. The setting is sparse, but as Tom explains in the beginning, this play is from his memory, and the setting creates that dreamlike feeling.

Brian J. Smith

This is a play that you should see in an orchestra seat so you see the actors' faces close up, as there is so much going on in each actor's look. It is also one that if you paid full-price for a ticket, you got more than your money's worth. I hope it is rewarded come Tony time next year.

I waited outside to get my program signed, and Brian J. Smith and Celia Keenan-Bolger obliged us, even taking photos with many people. Quinto and Jones did not come out to greet fans, which disappointed many theatergoers.

Celia Keenan-Bolger

rating 5 of 5

The show's website is here.

Gracious Living Without Servants by Brenda Cronin

Gracious Living Without Servants  by Brenda Cronin
Published by Stoneslide Books ISBN 9780985233839
Trade paperback, $14.95, 376 pages

We meet Julia, a thirty-year-old widow who has spent the past six months living back with her parents in New Haven grieving her lost husband. Her parents think it would be good for her to get out, see people, and think about what she will do next.

What she does next is begin an affair with Seth, her parents' sixty-five-year old neighbor, a law professor married to a wealthy heiress. I confess that I found this puzzling. Was Julia looking for security after her world was turned upside down? Was she just looking for a fling?

As the story progresses, we see that Seth and Julia seem to be falling in love. Julia wonders about a future with Seth, and he seems very smitten with her, unlike other women with whom he has had affairs. They meet in his office, have assignations at a local run-down hotel, and Seth makes elaborate preparations with food, wine and flowers.

Seth's wife Naomi arranges for Julia to interview for a job at a local arts newspaper. She runs a foundation that annually bestows a prestigious dance award. She also teaches dance locally, and many of the winners of the foundation's award were her students.

Julia gets the newspaper job, and starts out compiling events calendars. Naomi pushes Julia to write a story about her and the prestigious awards, and when Julia gets the assignment to write the story, it is not the fawning puff piece Naomi hopes for, but an investigative piece about financial irregularities at the foundation.

While investigating the financial irregularities, Julia meets with someone who has more damning information about Naomi and an improper relationship she had in the past. Julia continues to delve further, without telling Seth what she has uncovered.

And this is where I have an issue. Julia is a thirty-year-old woman, not a young girl starting out, and she should know better about conflict of interest. She is writing a story about the wife of a man she is sleeping with and she doesn't seem to ever question her own ethics.

At the very least she should tell her editor she has a conflict. She wouldn't need to get into the specifics, but she is jeopardizing any career she thinks she may have if the truth comes out. I don't think the author (who is a journalist herself) hit on this hard enough; there should have been more about how Julia's ethics were compromised.

The story is interesting, and the author gives us an insider's look at a small newspaper. Julia is a smart woman who makes bad choices, and seems to be a little out of touch with the reality of her situation.  The fact that she thinks she could get a job at a bigger newspaper and keep Seth shows her complete lack of  understanding the consequences of her actions.

I would have liked this novel better if Julia was more contemplative, but maybe after the last six months of her isolation and grief, this made her feel alive, and perhaps that is what the author intended all along.

rating 3.5 of 5

You can read the first chapter of Gracious Living Without Servants here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for including me on this tour. The rest of Brenda Cronin's tour is here.

Brenda’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, October 15th: bookchickdi

Tuesday, October 22nd: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Wednesday, October 23rd: Bibliotica

Monday, October 28th: Book-alicious Mama

Wednesday, October 30th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Thursday, October 31st: A Simple Life, Really?

Tuesday, November 5th: Anita Loves Books

Thursday, November 7th: Brooklyn Berry Designs

Monday, November 11th: Amy’s Book-et List

Tuesday, November 12th: A Book Geek

Thursday, November 14th: Obsessed Italian Brat

Leaving Haven by Kathleen McCleary

Leaving Haven by Kathleen McCleary
Published by William Morrow ISBN 979-0-06-210625-4
Trade paperback, $14.99, 352 pages

Leaving Haven is a wonderful novel about friendship, family and marriage. Georgia is married to John, a sexy, hardworking chef, and they have teenage daughter Liza. Georgia has been trying for years to have a second child, but she has suffered many miscarriages and has just about given up all hope when her best friend Alice offers to donate a egg.

Alice is married to Duncan, a practical, hardworking lawyer who provided a safe haven for Alice, the only child of a single woman who would frequently leave young Alice on her own while she worked and socialized. Their daughter Wren is best friends with Liza.

The novel opens with Georgia, having just given birth to her son, abandoning him at the hospital. John is frantic and calls Alice to help him with the baby, who won't stop crying. Why has Georgia left the baby and her family behind? She had postpartum depression when Liza was born, but what would make her leave this baby whom she so desperately wanted?

The chapters alternate between Alice and Georgia, as well as back in time, as we learn the story behind Georgia's disappearance. Alice and Georgia have two very different personalities. Alice describes Georgia as " open, honest, direct." She was "the quintessential earth mother, with her rambling old Victorian house and the bright colored skirts she wore (which she sewed herself) and her tendency to call everyone "darling" or "sweetie".  She even bakes cakes for a living, a nurturing profession.

Georgia lost her mom when she was twelve and became a mother figure to her younger sisters Polly and Chessy. Polly is mom to four youngsters and Chessy is the youngest, still trying to find herself, and the relationship among the sisters was my favorite part of the book; it was the one relationship that rang most true to me. I would love to see more of the sisters, maybe in a later book.

Alice was, according to Georgia, "all the things that Georgia wasn't- confident, organized, practical. Georgia felt reassured by Alice's steadiness, her unflappable common-sense approach to everything." Alice taught economics part-time at a local college, matching her personality.

While Georgia is on bedrest for the baby and going stir crazy, a problem arises between Liza and Wren. Alice would normally go to Georgia with this, but Georgia can't be upset right now. Duncan quit his job and took a much lower paying one without talking it over with Alice, and Alice's unreliable mother is moving to Argentina. All these things combine to make Alice feel unmoored and she makes a bad decision.

I have to admit to having a hard time understanding Alice and what she does, but this paragraph helped.

"I've never done anything out of passion in my whole life." Alice said. "I've been mature and responsible since I was four. And the bullying with Wren- it made me so angry; I didn't know what to do with all that feeling."

After reading that, I had a better handle on Alice and I'm sure that there will be more than a few people who read that and understand where she is coming from.

I enjoyed the locales that appeared in the book- the Amtrak train to Albany, Rehoboth Beach in Delaware and Kramerbooks in Washington D.C. are all places I am familiar with, and I got a kick out of seeing them here.

The book could have become a little nighttime soap-opera-y, but McCleary makes the reader feel for the people and root for them to work it all out. I liked that the ending is open, as this is a situation that can't be resolved overnight or in a month or a year.

rating 4 of 5

Thanks to TLC Tours  for including me on Kathleen McCleary's tour. The rest of the tour can be found here.

Kathleen’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, October 1st: Sweet Southern Home

Wednesday, October 2nd: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books

Thursday, October 3rd: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, October 7th: Book-alicious Mama

Tuesday, October 8th: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

Wednesday, October 9th: BookNAround

Monday, October 14th: bookchickdi

Wednesday, October 16th:  A Novel Review

Tuesday, October 22nd: Reading Lark

TBD: Seaside Book Corner

Weekend Cooking- October 2013 Pin and Do It Part Two

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.

Trish from Love Laughter and a Touch of Insanity is hosting an October Pin It and Do It Challenge and while I have always enjoyed checking these out, this time I decided to participate. People can participate at three levels- Timid Pinner (up to 3 pins), Pinterested (4-7 pins) and Pin Obsessed (8+ pins). Last week's Weekend Cooking post listed three recipes I made from my Crock Pot board, in honor of the fact that I got a new crock pot.

I have been a roll with Pinterest recipes and this week I made three more recipes that I found there. The first was a Greek Marinated Chicken that my husband and son enjoyed more than I did. It comes from budgetbytes.com and this is a good healthy, low cost recipe that was so easy to make, and I used Greek yogurt in the marinade.

Greek Marinated Chicken from Budgetbytes

This side dish, Brazilian Rice from food.com pairs well with the Greek Marinated Chicken.This one is a little more effort, as you use long grain, not instant, rice. The first time I made it, I did not follow the directions exactly. It is very important to bring the rice to a boil and boil it until the bubbles stop. When that happens, cover the rice and simmer for 20 minutes. The next time I made it, it was sensational.

Brazilian Rice from food.com

The last dish I made was another crock pot dish- Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken, again from food.com. I don't normally like to use recipes that include a can of cream of anything soup, but I relented and used cream of chicken soup and this one was another hit for the guys. I served it over egg noodles, but rice or any pasta would work too. I used fresh sliced mushrooms instead of canned.

Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken from food.com

So I am up to six pins, just two more to go to make my goal of Pin Obsessed. Have you made anything new this week? Let me know in comments below.

My first post for Pin It and Do It is here.

Tom Perrotta at Barnes & Noble

I remember reading author Tom Perrotta's novel Little Children in one sitting, totally enthralled by his story of a suburban mom who has an affair with a dad she meets at the playground. It is a stunning work, and was turned into a terrific movie.

Perrotta has written a short story collection, Nine Inches, and he appeared at Barnes & Noble on 86th Street in NYC to read from and discuss the new collection. I read the first story, Backrub, while waiting for the reading. It tells the story of a young, intelligent senior in high school who for some strange reason didn't get into any of the colleges where he applied.

Tom Perrotta

All of his friends have left for college and he is working as a pizza delivery man. His parents want him to volunteer for an organization in Africa, but he just can't bring himself to do it. He gets pulled over by a local cop, an odd man, and his life is going nowhere quickly.

Perrotta read a story, The Test Taker, about a high school senior who is involved in a scheme to take the SAT test for other students for money. Perrotta said that his daughter was at this stage in her life, getting ready to go to college and all that entails, and that informed many of the stories in this book.

During the Q&A, I asked him if he was anxious about this as both of these stories, and few more in the collection, seemed to indicate that. He laughed a little and said that in the town where he lives, he has seen the stress that this time of life has placed on people.

One thing he said that really intrigued me is that this generation of parents (my generation) identifies more with their children than with their parents, and that is something that has changed. I totally agree with him, and wonder if this is why some parents are so unwilling to discipline their children or believe that their children could possibly do anything wrong.

A good writer is an observer and judging from the two stories I read and having gone through this period a few years ago with my two sons, I can say that Perrotta's observations are keen indeed. He just puts you right into his characters' lives, and to be able to do that so well in short story format is a talent he well possesses.


Tom Perrotta's website is here.