Book

Please ignore the title of this book. Read only the subtitle, for that is the true subject of Bronwen Dickey’s seven-year investigation into the history, hype, and true meaning of what it means to have, hate, or even think about pit bulls. When I first heard about Pit Bull from KC Dog Blogger, Brent Toellner, I was interested, but a little intimidated. With 34 pages of notes and bibliography (in very small print) I expected a densely-written tome dragged down by the weight of facts, quotes and references. What I found was a marvelously written reflection lifted up by facts, quotes and

I laughed most of the way through The Big Tiny. Dee Williams, a superhero of the tiny house movement, is a very funny and big-hearted lady. While at the doctor’s office waiting for one of her many appointments for her recently-diagnosed congestive heart failure, forty-one year-old Dee finds a magazine article about tiny-house designer Jay Shafer, and she’s instantly hooked. She knows immediately that she not only wants to downsize to a tiny house, but that she wants to build it.  She flies to Iowa to meet Tiny House Man, as she affectionately refers to him, and sets the plan into motion.   

T

The Fairy Tale Girl and Martha’s Vineyard, Isle of Dreams must be read together. The two books were originally meant to be one book, but Susan Branch’s life is so packed with living and inspiration that one book quickly became two very powerful volumes overflowing with growth, play, wisdom and a hefty dose of girl power. Though the books are heavy they are equally adorable, easy to tuck into and get lost for hours in. Susan Branch quickly becomes a sister within just a few pages and makes the reader feel like they are as much a part of her life as she is. 

The Fairytale Girl is a more than

It's been a long time since a book has transported me so completely. Has taken me so deeply into myself that I become oblivious to the world around me and my head spins with disconnection when I try to regain awareness. Just me and the book, and nothing else. I started reading and was supposed to stop because life was still going on around me, but I didn't. I couldn't find my way back. So life moved on without me until I finished the book. Now I must figure out how to catch up, but that's okay. It was worth stopping at a special place for a while.

That's not entirely different than what

Richelle Mead, well-known for the Vampire Academy series has written a new book, The Glittering Court. While there are no vampires or werewolves in this new fantasy series, there is instead, Adelaide, Countess of Rothford.  Adelaide lives with her grandmother and has no source of income, leaving marriage her only choice. At least that's what her grandmother has told her.

The gentleman her grandmother has arranged for her to marry is the Barron of Ashby, Lionel Belshire. He owns two estates, farms barley and makes his house servants eat barley every morning to boost morale. He really hopes

If you are someone who regularly eats the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, good for you. For the rest of us, who might feel overwhelmed in the produce section or at the local farmer's market, this is a great place to start. Featuring over 50 vegetables and a couple of sneaky fruits, the author takes you through selection, preparation, and cooking. She also provides information about the equipment you will need and pantry items you might want to have on hand. Each section includes an overview of the vegetable which includes when it is best in season, seasoning or spices that pair

Told from the point-of-view of 10-year-old Kenny, it's really his big brother Byron who's the hero of this funny, emotional sucker-punch of a novel. Byron, thirteen, is a juvenile delinquent--a black sheep--according to Kenny, and pretty much everyone else in the so-called "Weird Watsons" family. But in the end it's Kenny who helps Byron overcome his depression over witnessing tragic events during a trip to visit their grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama during the height of the struggle for Civil Rights. 

I came *this* close to giving up on the book after reading chapter five, which is way

Have you ever felt that you didn’t belong anywhere? Ever wanted to be with people who understand as much as you understand yourself? If so, the affinities are for you. Of course, you may not be a match for any of the twenty-two groups at the heart of Robert Wilson’s The Affinities.

Adam Fisk decides to undergo the battery of tests that will determine if he will fit into any of the Affinities – groups of people who are compatible beyond the normal societal classifications. Members of the affinities come from all backgrounds, races, social class, economic class, ethnicity, gender, age, etc

Cambodia Noir is a full tilt boogie from the get go!

Will Keller is a photographer for a Cambodian newspaper and has lived in Cambodia for nine years. He has a drug and alcohol problem and just doesn’t care. 

When a fellow reporter on staff goes missing, her sister comes to Cambodia to look for her. Unsuccessful, she offers the job to Will, who takes the job and begins the search. Let the fun begin! Everybody has a history and not everybody is who they say they are. Seeley does an excellent job of conveying atmosphere and building suspense. I enjoyed every page.

Seattle Private Investigator Harper Blaine is just a woman trying to pay her bills. But after a near death experience, her life is changed forever. Since the accident Harper has not been feeling well and sees strange shadows during the day. The doctor is no help and she slowly begins to realize she is seeing into the Grey, a place between the living and the dead. The Grey is full of vampires, ghosts and magic unknown to the everyday human. Harper needs clients and she cannot ignore the "Grey creatures" that seek out her help. Now, she must decide how much help is too much . . . because she

I don’t normally recommend books about elementary school kids to teens, but this is an exception. Especially a book about a hot topic in the news: transgender rights. See Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s recent speech here. From the speech, here's a quote that gets me in the feels:

“Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself. Some of you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama

Romance readers across the world jumped for joy when Lisa Kleypas announced the hero for the third book in the Ravenel series, Devil in Spring. Don't believe me, check out the amount of SQUEE! and OMG! on this site alone. The hero is Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent, son of Evie and Sebastian, the hero and heroine from one of my most favorite books, Devil in Winter.

Devil in Winter is book three in the Wallflower series, following Secrets of a Summer Night and It Happened One Autumn and preceding Scandal in Spring. The series centers on four women who, for some reason, are considered wallflowers by

Just when I thought I was done with the “bought a farm and moved to the country” genre, along comes Goat Song. Brad Kessler’s book is certainly about buying a farm and moving to the country. It’s also about learning to raise dairy goats. And even a little bit about making cheese.

But really, it’s song in itself--a sweet melody about harmony and how Kessler has managed to find it.

In sharing his experiences expanding his starter herd of four goats, making cheese to feed himself and his wife, building a new barn and acquiring a license to sell cheese, he’s actually sharing much more. Kessler

It took Joy Harjo fourteen years to write her memoir Crazy Brave. In it she tells of her parents' tumultuous marriage. Harjo's beautiful mother opposes her own father, traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma in search of a mate. When young, Harjo's father had been sent to a military academy where he “learned anger as a method to control sensitivity.” When the violent marriage ends, an abusive stepfather steps in to consume the family. At sixteen, when her stepfather tries to send her to a Christian boarding school, Joy pleads with her mother to send her, instead, to The Institute of American Indian Arts.

Miller’s Valley is a coming of age novel about Mimi Miller, a girl growing up in the 1960s in rural Pennsylvania. Mimi and her family live on the same farm their family has lived on contentedly for generations. But things in Miller's Valley are beginning to change. Mimi’s dad is a farmer, but he’s really the fix-it man for the entire town. Mimi’s mom is a nurse who still manages to be around to raise Mimi and her two brothers. Mimi’s aunt, Ruth, also lives in a little house on their farm. In fact, she hasn’t left the inside of her house for many years. Over the years, their valley has been

Robert Benson always takes the question of “how to write a book” very seriously. For he was once "in the same spot and grateful for any help that might move [him] along . . . Sharing the things [he] knows about how a person goes about telling his story seems only right. Perhaps it is even, as the old prayer book says, a good and joyful thing.” He’s the perfect mentor to help nudge a new writer on her way.

One of my favorite things about Dancing on the Head of a Pen are the chapter titles. "Dark Marks on a Page", for instance, explains how different writers make their marks. Benson’s way is

At 18, Andi Alpers has lost her will to live. Her brother Truman has died, her father has deserted the family and is putting her mother in a mental hospital. In Paris, where her father is working on a project on King Louis-Charles, Andi vows to make their three-week visit a misery. But when she finds a journal that might hold the missing key to Louis-Charles history, she completely forgets about everything, including her senior thesis, and focuses instead on solving the mystery of his death.

Rewind to the 18th century, where King Louis-Charles is imprisoned after his father and mother - Louis

It's been three years since her husband was killed in a freak accident and Taylor Cabot is making plans to start living again.  She’s made a moving-on list and is marking items off.  She's moved home, is getting active with the help of an activity tracker, and has replaced the donuts with healthier choices. She's even started spending time with a handsome plastic surgeon from the hospital where she works as an ER nurse. When her old friend, Seth Donovan, turns up at the hospital to train the crisis team, old feelings begin to resurface.  

While in San Diego to train crisis volunteers

Everyone (literally) in the small town (pop. 3,000) of Healey, Texas, knows the truth about Alice Franklin. Well, they know what's been determined by the collective consciousness of the town's population as the truth, which is virtually the same thing. Everyone believes it, so it must be so. Everyone treats Alice as if it's true, so the end result is the same.

So what is it that everyone knows? Four narrators take turns gradually revealing that, at the final party of summer before their junior year of high school, Alice, who already had a bit of a reputation, had sex with two guys at the same

Denver neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan has reached a low point and needs a break. After being named in a wrongful death lawsuit, her medical partners being indited for fraud, and a miscarriage and break up with her boyfriend, Maggie is yearning for the peace of the mountains where her father's country store and campground on the Continental Divide Trail reminds her of less complicated times. Cal Jones is an early arrival to the campground and is there for a specific purpose; letting go and moving on after his wife's prolonged illness and passing. Of course, he doesn't share that right away and

Just in time for farmers market season Jeanine Donofrio has launched the new cookbook The Love and Lemons Cookbook: an Apple to Zucchini Celebration of Impromptu Cooking, which includes beautiful photography by her husband Jack Mathews. Rather than being divided into category chapters, such as Appetizers, Salads, or Desserts, the book is arranged by fresh ingredients, such as Asparagus or Mushrooms, encouraging readers to use what they have in their fridge or pantry at the time. The recipes are all vegetarian, with many being vegan or gluten free. The pair hails from Austin, TX and it seems

The Travelers is a fast-paced, globe-trotting novel filled with CIA intrigue. What better cover for a spy than to be a travel writer? Travel writers go to far-flung, exotic locals, meet people, and there are no red flags on why they travel so much. Will Rhodes is a personable, intriguing character looking for perfection in all areas of his life; from drinking the perfect glass of wine to finding the perfect wall sconce. While on assignment in France, his life begins to turn upside down when he meets Elle Hardwick, a woman who may wreck his marriage, career and life. Caught in the middle of a

Calvin was born on the day the final Calvin and Hobbes comic strip was published. His parents claim that they didn’t name him after it, that’s it’s just a fluke. They don’t understand what’s the big deal about his grandfather putting a stuffed tiger named Hobbes into baby Calvin’s crib, either. Calvin understands the significance. He is special: eternally bound to Bill Watterson, the creator of the beloved comic strip.

Then his mom accidentally washes Hobbes to death and everything changes.

When I was nine or so, Mom washed Hobbes to death. She threw him into the washing machine with a few

Family secrets are kept well-hidden until a modern day detective uncovers clues to solve a 70 year-old mystery of a little boy’s disappearance. Alice Edevane is an introspective, long-time crime writer who crafts perfect stories for her readers. However, Alice cannot reveal the secrets she’s kept surrounding the disappearance of her youngest brother Theo at a Midsummer’s Eve party at the Loeanneth Estate in 1933. Sadie Sparrow is a Detective Constable with London’s Metropolitan Police who is embroiled in a scandal after leaking information to the press about the Met’s mishandling of a missing

I read a good review of The Red Notebook on the Brit blog, We Love this Book and decided to give it a try. A Parisian woman, Laure, is mugged outside her apartment and her expensive leather bag is stolen. The assailant disposes of the bag in a nearby dumpster and it is found by a neighborhood bookseller, Laurent. With the wallet and any other identifying items taken, Laurent is intrigued with the remaining contents of the bag, including a little red notebook and is determined to find the owner. Francophiles and fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Elegance of the Hedgehog will want to

How can you not pick this book up? Look at all that melty, cheesy goodness on the cover.

Heidi Gibson and Nate Pollak own and operate three locations of The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco. For those of us unable to make the trip to California, they have kindly shared recipes for some of their sandwiches, as well as soups, sides, and spreads. In addition to the recipes, the author provides tips on bread types, cheeses, equipment, and methods of cooking.

Grilled cheese for breakfast? Why not? If you feel like a little heat, you can go with the Huevos Rollando. Or for a little

How do I begin discussing this book? It’s breathtaking, painful, haunting, and beautiful all at the same time. Paul Kalanithi attended Stanford and Yale to become a doctor trained in neurological surgery and neuroscience, all in the hopes of gaining an understanding of death, and choosing a much more difficult path to be able to treat the dying. As he’s just beginning his career and getting incredible job offers throughout the country, he is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at thirty-six years of age. He then begins to process death in a much more personal way, switching from a lifesaving

The mansion, Black Rabbit Hall, at times feels like the main character of this story. It's a second home for the Alton family in Cornwall, England in the 1960's. It's much loved but crumbling; an aging home with wings and turrets and windows that seem to watch you while you're outside. Set near the water with its own private cliffs and beaches, it also has a path that leads into the woods and seems purposely designed to get you lost.  

Two alternating stories reveal the secrets at Black Rabbit Hall. The first, Lorna and Jon, present day, are searching for a place to have their wedding. Lorna

Imagine always being in second place - one step behind the same person over and over again. Juliet Townsend was that second place person to friend Madeleine Bell all throughout high school. They ran track together and Maddy was always the star while Juliet stood to the side. Ten years later, she is still second place to Maddy, although she doesn't realize it until Maddy comes waltzing into the Mid-Night Inn looking as beautiful and pristine as ever. Embarrassed, Juliet agrees to meet with her to talk through some issues from their past. Juliet, however, can't seem to figure out why Maddy has

I cannot figure out why this book is such an overwhelming success. I am very torn in my opinion of Marie Condo’s “konmari” method to declutter one’s life, finding some of the teachings notable, but overall unnecessarily extreme and impractically harsh. The main theme of the book is to simplify by ridding oneself of everything that does not “spark joy.” By going through possessions item by item, the konmari method will strip away all unused, superfluous and sentimental items that serve no immediate, direct purpose. Taking to heart the books methodology, I’d like to systematically go through