THE CREATIVE PROCESS DISNEY USED TO REWRITE “FROZEN”

April 4, 2017

The innovation technique Disney used to rewrite FROZEN | Charles Duhigg – Charles Duhigg (author of SMARTER FASTER BETTER) looks at the creative process Disney used when rewriting FROZEN, making it into a huge success.

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SMARTER FASTER BETTER by Charles Duhigg

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The Power of Habit comes a fascinating book that explores the science of productivity, and why managing how you think is more important than what you think—with an appendix of real-world lessons to apply to your life.

At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key productivity concepts—from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently.

They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

A young woman drops out of a PhD program and starts playing poker. By training herself to envision contradictory futures, she learns to anticipate her opponents’ missteps—and becomes one of the most successful players in the world.

A group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function, and find that how a group interacts is more important than who is in the group—a principle, it turns out, that also helps explain why Saturday Night Live became a hit.

A Marine Corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp—and discovers that instilling a “bias toward action” can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers.

The filmmakers behind Disney’s Frozen are nearly out of time and on the brink of catastrophe—until they shake up their team in just the right way, spurring a creative breakthrough that leads to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

What do these people have in common?

They know that productivity relies on making certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to drive innovation; the way we interact with data: These are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.

In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity, deep reporting, and rich storytelling to explain how we can improve at the things we do. It’s a groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help anyone learn to succeed with less stress and struggle, and to get more done without sacrificing what we care about most—to become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do.

Praise for Smarter Faster Better

“A pleasure to read . . . Duhigg’s skill as a storyteller makes his book so engaging to read.”The New York Times Book Review

“Not only will Smarter Faster Better make you more efficient if you heed its tips, it will also save you the effort of reading many productivity books dedicated to the ideas inside.”Bloomberg Businessweek

“Duhigg pairs relatable anecdotes with the research behind why some people and businesses are not as efficient as others.”Chicago Tribune

“The book covers a lot of ground through meticulous reporting and deft analysis, presenting a wide range of case studies . . . with insights that apply to the rest of us.”The Wall Street Journal


BUM LUCK by Paul Levine

April 3, 2017

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Levine writes two of my favorite series, the Jake Lassiter series and the Solomon & Lord books. With 2016’s Bum Rap, he put his series characters together in one book, and he’s done it again here to great success.

Bum Luck is a terrific legal thriller and humorous crime novel, but more than that Levine tackles a tough subject: CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Lassiter is an ex-Miami Dolphin whose spent his pro career, not to mention high school and college ball, suffering one concussion after another and those headbanging injuries have come home to roost.

Lassiter realizes he has a problem when he gets his client, a famous and hugely popular football star, a not guilty verdict based on Florida’s infamous “stand your ground” law. Convinced his client is really guilty, Lassiter has fantasies of killing him himself – a little vigilante justice. Meanwhile, Solomon & Lord are opposing counsel in an insurance claim case and Lassiter is helping them more than his client, the insurance company.

Lassiter is also suffering from tremendous headaches, dizziness and tinnitus, in addition to his vigilante fantasies, and meets a neurologist that he wants to date, but she’s more interested in his brain issues. Lots of twists and turns keep the pages turning and this was a one nighter for me.

I’m deeply troubled by all the news about CTE and this was the perfect vehicle for a closer look at it. Levine manages to make it all easy reading and never gets preachy, and I am most appreciative that he made that leap in this excellent read.

4/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BUM LUCK by Paul Levine. Thomas & Mercer (March 28, 2017).  ISBN 978-1477823101. 332p.

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2017 RITA and Golden Heart Finalists

April 2, 2017

Romance Writers of America Announces 2017 Contest Finalists

Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for romance fiction authors, announces the finalists for the 2017 RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards. The RITA — the highest award of distinction in romance fiction — recognizes excellence in published romance novels and novellas. The Golden Heart recognizes excellence in unpublished romance manuscripts.

Up to 2,000 romance novels are entered in the RITA competition. A novel may be entered either by the author or by the book’s publisher in one of the contest categories. After the first round of judging by published romance authors, entries that meet the qualifications to become a finalist then advance to the final round.

The winners will be announced July 27 at the 2017 RWA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Congratulations to the finalists!

RITA Finalists

Best First Book
Alterations by Stephanie Scott

Before Goodbye by Mimi Cross

Close to You by Kara Isaac

The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

Once and For All: An American Valor Novel by Cheryl Etchison

Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods

 

Contemporary Romance: Long
Always a Bridesmaid by Lizzie Shane

Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Anne Long

Make Me Sin by J. T. Geissinger

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

Pansies by Alexis Hall

Snowfall on Haven Point by RaeAnne Thayne

Tender Is the Night by Barbara Freethy

 

Contemporary Romance: Mid-Length
Back in the Saddle by Karen Templeton

Barefoot at Midnight by Roxanne St. Claire

Carolina Dreaming by Virginia Kantra

Fast Connection by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell

Lone Heart Pass by Jodi Thomas

Off the Hook by Laura Drewry

Once and For All: An American Valor Novel by Cheryl Etchison

Tell Me How This Ends by Victoria De La O

The Turning Point by Marie Meyer

Wanderlust by Roni Loren

 

Contemporary Romance: Short
APB: Baby by Julie Miller

Breaking Good by Madeline Ash

Christmas on Crimson Mountain by Michelle Major

Falling for the Rancher by Tanya Michaels

Far from Home by Lorelie Brown

His Stolen Bride by Barbara Dunlop

A Malibu Kind of Romance by Synithia Williams

Overwhelming Force by Janie Crouch

Searching for Disaster by Jennifer Probst

Two Doctors & a Baby by Brenda Harlen

 

Erotic Romance
The Dirty Secret by Kira A. Gold

The Master by Tara Sue Me

Off the Clock by Roni Loren

Ravenous by M. S. Force

Three Sweet Nothings by Nikki Sloane

 

Historical Romance: Long
Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase

How I Married a Marquess by Anna Harrington

No Mistress of Mine by Laura Lee Guhrke

Susana and the Scot by Sabrina York

 

Historical Romance: Short
Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen

Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick

 

Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance
The Color of a Promise by Julianne MacLean

The Depth of Beauty by A. B. Michaels

The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel

Now That It’s You by Tawna Fenske

 

Paranormal Romance
Bayou Shadow Hunter by Debbie Herbert

The Beast by J R Ward

The Champion of Barésh by Susan Grant

Enchanted Warrior by Sharon Ashwood

Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella

The Leopard King by Ann Aguirre

The Pages of the Mind by Jeffe Kennedy

Where the Wild Things Bite by Molly Harper

 

Romance Novella
Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan

“The Husband Maneuver” by Karen Witemeyer

Let It Snow by Jeanette Grey

“Let Us Dream” by Alyssa Cole

Searching for Mine by Jennifer Probst

Tycoon by Joanna Shupe

Wild in Rio by Lyssa Kay Adams

 

Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements
Close to You by Kara Isaac

Keeper of the Stars by Robin Lee Hatcher

My Hope Next Door by Tammy L. Gray

Trust My Heart by Carol J. Post

 

Romantic Suspense
All the Dead Girls by Rita Herron

Atone by Beth Yarnall

Field of Graves by J. T. Ellison

Killer Countdown by Amelia Autin

Mr. and Mr. Smith by HelenKay Dimon

One Minute to Midnight by Nico Rosso

Repressed by Elisabeth Naughton

Tall, Dark and Damaged by Sarah Andre

 

Young Adult Romance
Affective Needs by Rebecca Taylor

The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods

 

Golden Heart Finalists

Contemporary Romance
“Always Sunny” by Kimberly MacCarron

“Far-Fetched Love” by Priscilla Cook

“Framed” by Susan J. Bickford

“Mounting the Marquis” by Kelli Newby

“No Man Left Behind” by Penelope Leas

“Sometimes You Need a Sexy Scot” by Melonie Johnson

“Take the Lead” by Alexis Daria

“Tempting Fate” by Jeri Black

“Things I’ll Never Say” by Christina Hovland

“This Child Is Mine” by Jo Anne Banker

 

Contemporary Romance: Short
“Job Opening: Billionaire’s Wife” by Susannah Erwin

“A Love Wide Open” by JoAnn Sky

“Princess of Meridian” by Catherine Stuart

“What Would Ginger Do?” by Kimberly MacCarron

 

Historical Romance
“Confess, Your Grace” by Scarlett Peckham

“The Governess’s Glance” by Jennifer Henderson

“How to Train Your Baron” by Diana Lloyd

“Lord Lion and the Lady Publisher” by Laurel Kerr

“The Lost Chord” by Suzanne M. Turner

“The Price of Desire” by Emily Sullivan

“Unmasked” by Elizabeth Rue

“With Love in Sight” by Christina Britton


Paranormal Romance

“Beryl Blue, Time Cop” by Janet Halpin

“Bless Your Heart and Other Southern Curses” by Heather Leonard

“Constant Craving” by Kari W. Cole

“Fire’s Rising” by Grace Adams

“The Mer Chronicles: Love’s Diplomatic Act” by Kate Ramirez

“Soul Affinity” by A. Y. Chao

 

Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements
“Dangerous Exposure” by Dianna Shuford

“Fair Haven” by Laura Conner Kestner

“Wings of Love” by Pamela Ferguson

 

Romantic Suspense
“The Fire Beckons” by Lynnette Labelle

“The Guide” by Sarah Morgenthaler

“Seductive Strokes” by Patty Hoffman

“Semper Fi” by Meta Carroll

“Shot Down” by Tracy Brody

“Vengeance” by Diana Belchase

 

Young Adult Romance
“All the Feels” by Kimberly MacCarron

“Listen” by Jennifer Camiccia

“Mouthful” by C R Grissom

“Swimming through Fog” by Nicole Hohmann


Win the April ’17 bookshelf of signed thrillers!

April 1, 2017

Welcome to the April bookshelf of signed thrillers! Lots of new books to win – some favorite authors or find a new author. To enter, go to the Win Books page. Best of luck!

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THE LOST ORDER by Steve Berry: When rival factions of a dangerous clandestine organization begin a race to find billions in stolen treasure hidden by their progenitors, Justice Department agent Cotton Malone finds the case complicated by his unsuspected ties to the organization and the political schemes of an unscrupulous politician.

THE RED HUNTER by Lisa Unger: Tackling a house restoration project and blog in the hopes of escaping a traumatic event that ended her marriage, Claudia uncovers an ugly history in the crumbling house, where another woman, Zoey, survived a home invasion and pursued the martial arts to find security and healing.

THE BURIAL HOUR by Jeffery Deaver: A return to Deaver’s successful series finds Lincoln Rhyme investigating the abduction of a traveling businessman from an Upper East Side street, a case that is complicated by an 8-year-old girl who was the crime’s only witness.

BUM LUCK by Paul Levine: When trial lawyer Jake Lassiter becomes fixated on killing a client he believes he helped get away with murder, Jake’s friends Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord suspect his raging obsession is caused by concussive brain injuries from his previous football career.

THE OUTSIDER by Anthony Franze: Intervening in a violent mugging and catching the eye of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, young law clerk Grayson Hernandez becomes caught in the crosshairs of a serial killer when the FBI asks for his assistance in hunting for a murderer.

DUPLICITY by Jane Haseldine: Detroit crime reporter Julia Gooden struggles to overcome past demons and support a high-profile case against a drug trafficker who has orchestrated a bombing that has left Julia’s assistant district attorney husband critically injured.

THE RED LINE by Walt Gragg: World War III explodes in seconds when a resurgent Russian Federation launches a deadly armored thrust into the heart of Germany.

SILENT CITY by Alex Segura: Succumbing to heavy drinking, unemployment and a broken engagement after the loss of his father, Pete Fernandez reluctantly agrees to search for a friend’s missing daughter and finds himself in a tangle of murder, drugs and betrayals in the heart of the Miami underworld.

 

You can win autographed copies of all these books! If you are new to the site, each month I run a contest in conjunction with the International Thriller Writers organization. We put together a list of books from debut authors to bestsellers, so you can win some of your favorites and find some new favorites.

What makes this contest really special is that all of the books (except eBooks) are signed by the author! Books with multiple authors will be signed by at least one of the authors.

Penguin Random House books for giveaway were provided by the publisher. #PRHpartner

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to the newsletter or follow this blog, you get an extra entry into every contest you enter. Check out the Win Books page for more information on all these books and how you to enter this month’s contest.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!


CANNIBAL by Safiya Sinclair

March 31, 2017

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The Notable Books Council, first established in 1944 by the American Library Association, announced the 2017 selections of the Notable Books List, an annual best-of list comprised of twenty-six titles written for adult readers and published in the U.S. including literary fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The list was announced in January and I was delighted to see one of the two poetry winners was my favorite poet, Billy Collins. The other was a poet that I was not familiar with, Safiya Sinclair. Seemed like a good time to check out her debut book of poetry, and I’m very glad I did.

The Notable Books Committee described it as, “sharp observations on our off-kilter world will spark your emotions while engaging your mind.” Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, calling it “stunning debut collection.” And Booklist, in another starred review, said “reading (and rereading) Sinclair is an urgently necessary, absolutely unparalleled experience.”

A few other people liked it, too.

From the publisher:

Winner of the 2016 Whiting Award 
Winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (Poetry)
An American Library Association “Notable Book of the Year” 
Longlisted for the 2017 Dylan Thomas Prize 
Longlisted for the 2017 PEN Open Book Award
One of BuzzFeed’s Best Poetry Books of 2016
One of The New Yorker‘s “Books We Loved in 2016”Poets & Writers Top Ten Poetry Debut of 2016
Publishers Weekly “Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2016”

Colliding with and confronting The Tempest and postcolonial identity, the poems in Safiya Sinclair’s Cannibal explore Jamaican childhood and history, race relations in America, womanhood, otherness, and exile. She evokes a home no longer accessible and a body at times uninhabitable, often mirrored by a hybrid Eve/Caliban figure. Blooming with intense lyricism and fertile imagery, these full-blooded poems are elegant, mythic, and intricately woven. Here the female body is a dark landscape; the female body is cannibal. Sinclair shocks and delights her readers with her willingness to disorient and provoke, creating a multitextured collage of beautiful and explosive poems.

Lets start at the beginning, where Sinclair explains the title:

The word “cannibal,” the English variant of the Spanish word canibal, comes from the word caribal, a reference to the native Carib people in the West Indies, who Columbus thought ate human flesh and from whom the word “Caribbean” originated. By virtue of being Caribbean, all “West Indian” people are already, in a purely linguistic sense, born savage.”

Talk about being hooked from the beginning of a book! The poetry is exquisite; the language is so vivid and emotional and at times, shocking. I couldn’t read it in one gulp, I took my time and savored every page. I came away feeling like I learned something, which I can’t always say about poetry. The best way to see if you may like a poet is to try reading some – or listening to the poet read her own. Enjoy.

Sinclair reading “Hands”

 

Confessor

This is where you leave me.
Filling of old salt and ponderous,

what’s left of your voice in the air.
Blue honeycreeper thrashed out

to a ragged wind, whole months
spent crawling this white beach

raked like a thumb, shucking, swallowing
the sea’s benediction, pearled oxides.

Out here I am the body invented naked,
woman emerging from cold seas, herself

the raw eel-froth met beneath her tangles,
who must believe with all her puckering

holes. What wounds the Poinciana slits
forth, what must turn red eventually.

The talon-mouths undressing. The cling-cling
bird scratching its one message; the arm

you broke reset and broke again. Caribbean.
Sky a wound I am licking, until I am drawn new

as a lamb, helpless in the chicken wire of my sex.
I let every stranger in. Watch men change faces

with the run-down sun, count fires
in the loom-holes of their pickups, lines of rot,

studying their scarred window-plagues,
nightshade my own throat closed tight

against a hard hand. Then all comes mute
in my glittering eye. All is knocked back,

slick hem-suck of the dark surf, ceramic
tiles approaching, the blur of a beard.

The white tusk of his ocean goring me.
This world unforgiving in its boundaries.

The day’s owl and its omen
slipping a bright hook

into my cheek —

Source: Poetry (December 2015)

The Art of Unselfing

The mind’s black kettle hisses its wild
exigencies at every turn: The hour before the coffee
                               and the hour after.
Penscratch of the gone morning, woman
a pitched hysteria watching the mad-ant scramble,
                               her small wants devouring.
Her binge and skin-thrall.
Her old selves being shuffled off into labyrinths,
                               this birdless sky a longing.
Her moth-mouth rabble unfacing
touch-and-go months under winter, torn letters
                               under floorboards,
each fickle moon pecked through with doubt.
And one spoiled onion. Pale Cyclops
                               on her kitchen counter
now sprouting green missives,
some act of contrition; neighbor-god’s vacuum
                               a loud rule thrown down.
Her mother now on the line saying too much.
This island is not a martyr. You tinker too much
                               with each gaunt memory, your youth
and its unweeding. Not everything blooms here
a private history — consider this immutable. Consider
                               our galloping sun, its life.
Your starved homesickness. The paper wasp kingdom
you set fire to, watched for days until it burnt a city in you.
                               Until a family your hands could not save
became the hurricane. How love is still unrooting you.
And how to grow a new body — to let each word be the wild rain
                               swallowed pure like an antidote.
Her mother at the airport saying don’t come back.
Love your landlocked city. Money. Buy a coat.
                               And even exile can be glamorous.
Some nights she calls across the deaf ocean to no one
in particular. No answer. Her heart’s double-vault
                               a muted hydra.
This hour a purge
of its own unselfing.
                               She must make a home of it.

Source: Poetry (December 2015)

3/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CANNIBAL by Safiya Sinclair. University of Nebraska Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2016). ISBN 978-0803290631. 126p.

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THE OUTSIDER by Anthony Franze

March 29, 2017

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Anthony Franze debut novel, The Advocate’s Daughter, was so good that it made my best books of 2016 list. I always worry about the so-called “sophomore slump” – writers generally have years to work on their first novel and a much, much tighter timeline for the second. I’m happy to report that The Outsider is a terrific legal thriller as well. And with the Supreme Court in the news, it’s also timely.

Franze is an attorney who has argued before the Supreme Court, and that’s where he sets his thrillers. He offers a wonderful backstage tour of our highest court, complete with notes at the end so you know what is true and what is made up. Plus his stories are riveting, as is the case here.

The “outsider” is Grayson Hernandez, a young man who graduated from a non-Ivy League law school and is working as a messenger in the Supreme Court building. Hernandez grew up in a poor part of D.C., and his best friends really related with S.E. Hinton’s Outsider. In fact, Hernandez’s nickname was Pony Boy.

The day he stumbles onto an assault against the Chief Justice in the parking lot changes his life – in more ways than is at first obvious. Hernandez saves the Chief Justice but the attacker escapes. Shaken, the Chief Justice decides to offer Hernandez a clerkship, the most sought after position for law school graduates.

Most, if not all, the clerks are from top tier law schools, the brightest of the brightest. Hernandez is bright, but had to stay home to help run his family business so those opportunities didn’t come his way. And then the Justice offers him some perks along with the job; his apartment in Georgetown, which comes with a new Audi. Hernandez is overwhelmed but the justice convinces him to accept the offer.

Hernandez loves his new job, discussing law with these brilliant scholars and the smartest one of all, the beautiful Lauren Hart. He has a hard time fitting in, of course, but the Justice offers advice from time to time and eventually he finds his place.

Meanwhile, it appears a serial killer is at work in the D.C. area, and the murder sites all have one thing in common; a feather quill pen, a gift that the justices present to all attorneys who come before them, is found at all the crime scenes. Hernandez is approached by the FBI to help, and he quickly gets in over his head.

There are enough plot twists to keep the pages turning and the suspense just keeps ratcheting up until the final denouement. If you’re a fan of legal thrillers, or just fast paced adrenaline reads, you won’t want to miss this one.

3/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE OUTSIDER by Anthony Franze. Minotaur Books (March 21, 2017). ISBN 978-1250071668. 320p.

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WHAT YOU BREAK by Reed Farrel Coleman

March 27, 2017

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A Gus Murphy Novel, Book 2

Setting a thriller out in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York immediately drew my attention. I went to high school in that area and still have friends there. Nelson DeMille may own Nassau County, Long Island, NY (love the John Corey books and all his earlier thrillers) but now Coleman owns Suffolk. It’s always fun to see places you know pop up in a book and it adds another level of enjoyment. Of course, if you’ve never been to New York you get an interesting overview of an area even most visitors don’t see.

When I got married (in Nassau County) one of my bridesmaids was my roommate from the University of Miami. She was from Kansas City, Missouri and had never been to New York. She was shocked at Long Island. She thought all of New York was like the city, Manhattan, which is heavily featured in most NY films and TV shows. And in reality, Manhattan is only 23.7 square miles while the state of NY is 54,556 square miles, so you can see it is just a drop in the bucket. But I digress.

Gus Murphy is a retired Suffolk County detective who lost a child and never really recovered from it. His marriage fell apart, and he took a job as security at the Paragon hotel near MacArthur Airport in Islip, a sleepy little airport that mostly shuttles snowbirds back and forth to Florida. He also runs the shuttle to and from the airport and the train. In exchange for his services, he lives for free in a hotel room, a rather dreary existence but one that suits his needs.

Gus’s friend, former priest Bill Kilkenny, introduces him to a wealthy businessman, Micah Spears, whose granddaughter had been murdered and he wants to know why. Having lost a child himself, and being offered remuneration that would help keep his son’s name alive, Gus can’t say no despite not liking or trusting the man.

Gus is friendly with another hotel employee, Slava, who has a shadowy past that comes to the forefront. Gus delivers a new hotel guest to the Paragon and something about him just sets off Gus’s cop spidey-sense. When he sees the guest go off with Slava, he follows them to Brooklyn.

Gus parks down the street and watches as they talk to a man outside a house there and leave, and the man is brutally assassinated immediately after. After witnessing the cold blooded execution, Gus ends up protecting his friend from a Russian mercenary, street gangs and even some cops.

The pages fly in this ultimately dark and violent thriller. I didn’t read the first book in the series, but didn’t feel like I missed anything because Coleman offers enough back story to fill in the blanks. Coleman delivers another very good thriller.

3/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WHAT YOU BREAK by Reed Farrel Coleman. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (February 7, 2017).  ISBN 978-0399173042. 368p.

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SHEET PAN by Kate McMillan

March 26, 2017

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Delicious Recipes for Hands-Off Meals

Sheet pan cooking is the latest trend I’ve noticed and there are several new cookbooks out or coming out. Recently released are 150 Recipes in a 13×9 Pan by Gooseberry Patch; One-Pan Wonders from Cook’s Country; One Pan & Done by  Molly Gilbert; and Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark (Clark is one of the food writers for the NY Times, and I’m hoping to get my hands on this one soon for review.)

Sheet Pan is a smaller, hard cover cookbook with nice, heavy paper and great photos that are perfect for inspiration. The chapters:

Easy & Delicious One-Pan Meals
Sheet-pan basics
Meat
Seafood
Vegetables

The first thing that caught my eye was “Garlicky Shrimp with Asparagus Fries and Meyer Lemon Aioli.” I didn’t have asparagus but zucchini, squash or mushrooms were suggested as substitutes. I had just gotten some zucchini in my CSA box so that was perfect.  I also had just picked up a bag of Meyer lemons at Trader Joes – when I see them, I buy them because they have a short growing season. I actually have a Meyer lemon tree in my yard but usually only get 2-3 fruit each year. It’s a baby tree, no taller than me yet so we are hopeful that as it grows it will fruit more. But I digress.

I was a little nervous about overcooking the shrimp and/or undercooking the zucchini so I put the zucchini fries in the hot oven for five minutes or so before I added the shrimp. It was a quick dinner to put together, about 10 minutes prep time and 12 minutes cooking and it was really delicious, my family loved it. And by lining the pan with parchment paper, cleanup was a breeze.

Not all the recipes are that quick. “Pork Chops with Apricots, Red Cabbage & Blue Cheese” takes about 15 minutes prep and cooks for 40 minutes or so. “Stuffed Eggplant Three Ways” takes about 25 minutes or so in the oven, “Roasted Caesar Salad with Salmon” only 15 minutes and “Vegetable Pizza Tarts” made with frozen puff pastry takes about 20 minutes.

I don’t mind if all I have to do is wait, that still seems like an easy dinner to me. And again, clean up is only one pan – and that’s why people are loving these sheet pan cookbooks. I work full time and I love to cook, but cleaning up is not fun so I really appreciate how easy it is to only have to deal with one pan.

This is a great cookbook for anyone who likes to cook but maybe doesn’t have all that much time or energy, especially after working all day. I made this tart but subbed green onion for the leeks, used creminis, and almonds for the hazelnuts. It was really good and really easy. Try it yourself — 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

MUSHROOM & GRUYÈRE TART WITH HAZELNUT HARICOTS VERTS

All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of a 17.3-oz/490-g package), thawed
5 ounces (155 g) Gruyère cheese, shredded
2 leeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, white and pale parts thinly sliced
¼ lb (125 g) white mushrooms, brushed clean and thinly sliced
4½ tablespoons (70 ml) olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large egg beaten with
1 tablespoon water
¾ lb (375 g) haricots verts, trimmed
¼ cup (11/4 oz/40 g)
hazelnuts, roughly chopped

SERVES 2–4

1 Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2 On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry into a 121/2-by-15-inch (32-by-38-cm)
rectangle. Fold into thirds, transfer to the prepared pan, and unfold, positioning the dough so there will be
room for the haricots verts on the pan. Fold over about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of each side of the dough to create a border.

3 Sprinkle the dough with the cheese, leaving the borders uncovered. In a bowl, toss together the leeks,
mushrooms, and 3 tablespoons of the oil, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture over the cheese. Brush the borders with the egg mixture. Bake for 10 minutes.

4 In a bowl, toss together the haricots verts and the remaining 1½ tablespoons oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on the pan next to the tart. Continue baking until the tart is golden brown and the haricots verts are fork-tender, about 15 minutes longer. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, sprinkle the hazelnuts over the haricots verts.

5 Let the tart cool slightly, then cut into slices and serve the haricots verts on the side.

3/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SHEET PAN by Kate McMillan. Weldon Owen (January 3, 2017). ISBN 978-1681881379. 112p.


THE DIME by Kathleen Kent

March 25, 2017

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It’s been just over two years since Betty and her girlfriend, Jackie, relocated from Brooklyn to Dallas. Betty, a narcotics officer with Dallas PD, has finally been given lead on a huge case: a local has been in contact with one of the big Mexican cartels and a drop has been scheduled. Betty and her team have spent hours staking out the location where it’s to take place, but an incident with a bystander throws everything off kilter. As bodies stack up, the case becomes more complicated – worse so when it becomes clear that Betty herself has become a target. But a target of exactly what is unclear.

While this is by no means Kathleen Kent’s first rodeo, it is her first crime novel. And I have to say it’s a resounding success.

Betty Rhyzyk is a tall redhead, born and bred in Brooklyn. And she’s just the latest of a string of cops in the family. Her Polish roots run deep and the narrative is peppered with pieces of translated family wisdom. By the time the meat of the story begins, however, Betty is the only surviving member of the Rhyzyk clan.

Not that she’s alone in the world by any means. Her girlfriend, Jackie, a nurse who spends much of her time worrying over Betty’s diet, is steadfast and supportive even when the story begins to take a nasty turn. And Betty is supported by her fellow police officers as well, more or less. Kent does a fantastic job portraying the difficulties of being a female cop in what is still a very male centric career.

She also does a wonderful job bringing Dallas and Texas to life in this tale, so much so that the city becomes more than just a setting. The sense of place is true to its inspiration, as I’m sure anyone in the DFW area can attest (which makes sense because it’s the place Kent calls home.), imbuing the story with a distinct flavor and characteristic.

The Dime is the kind of book that begins with a bang and still manages to become increasingly intense. And the pacing and plot never falter. It is a dark one, so do be warned, but definitely one that’s joining the ranks of my own personal favorites. No word yet on whether Betty will be a new series lead, but I for one certainly hope that will be the case.

3/17 Becky LeJeune

THE DIME by Kathleen Kent. Mulholland Books; First Edition/First Printing edition (February 14, 2017).  ISBN 978-0316311038. 352p.

Kindle


Debut Novels | Six Picks

March 24, 2017

Read It Forward editors Abbe and Emma give six recommendations for debut novels! If you’re not familiar with the website, you really should check it out, there is some great content there for readers.

SYMPATHY by Olivia Sudjic

A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE by Brittany Cavallaro

RICH AND PRETTY by Rumaan Alam

THE NEST by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR by Jennifer Ryan

DODGERS by Bill Beverly