EAT LIKE A GILMORE by Kristi Carlson

November 21, 2016

Click to purchase

The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls

Bonnie Matthews, Photographer

When my daughter was in middle school, we used to watch the Gilmore Girls together. That lasted a season or two, probably 5 & 6. When it moved to the CW, we stopped watching.

With all the excitement about Netflix picking it up, I decided to go watch them all, beginning to end. It took a few weeks of not reading or watching anything else – back in the day, a season was 21 episodes, not like today’s 6-10 episode seasons. And I got completely hooked, I loved it. So when I heard about the cookbook, I was like, yes please! It is adorable.

So like many of us, Kristi Carlson is a big fan. But lucky girl lives a few blocks away from Stars Hollow – the real one, on the Warner Brothers lot. She even finagled an invitation to watch them filming once.

Kristi came up with the idea for a cookbook and put it on Kickstarter where it generated quite a bit of excitement. Next thing she knows a real publisher comes calling and voila, a book is born. There are lots of contributors and recipe testers and you can read all about them in the book, including their favorite episodes, a very nice, much appreciated touch. Testers are the unsung heroes of most cookbooks. Kudos, Kristi – you are a class act.

The chapters:

Feature: Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!
Cocktails, Mocktails & Other Assorted Beverages
Pancakes, French Toast, Omelets & Cereals
Muffins, Rolls, Breads & Scones
Soups, Sauces & Butters
Burgers & Sandwiches
Pasta & Rice Dishes
Appetizers & Side Dishes
Meats, Seafood & Main Dishes
Cookies, Cakes & Ice Creams
Feature: Cakery

There is also an author’s note, reference guide, index, conversion charts and a recipe guide.

The best thing about the book is how every recipe is related to something in the show. Chilaquiles are on the menu, as they were when Caesar served them up at Luke’s Diner while Luke was away. Emily’s famous Salmon Puffs, served at every one of her events, Rory’s favorite, Parker House Rolls, Sookie’s guilt induced Ratatouille, made with Jackson’s competitor’s vegetables, and even Butter – yes, really, a recipe for butter along with a nod to Emily kicking Richard out to the pool house because he didn’t ask her if she wanted any.

If none of this makes sense to you, you are not a Gilmore Girl fan and there is no use trying to explain. If you understood the previous paragraph, you probably want to buy this book, and you should.

There are many cookbooks based on TV shows and I’m not talking about actual cooking shows on Food Network or Cooking Channel or even PBS. I mean TV shows like the Gilmore Girls, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, Orange is the New Black, and Outlander (soon to be reviewed here.) Some are much more successful than others, and I’m happy to report that Eat Like a Gilmore is a good one. And Amazon.com (click on the book cover above) has some of the recipes on the website, so you can take a peek.

11/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

EAT LIKE A GILMORE by Kristi Carlson. Skyhorse Publishing (October 25, 2016). ISBN 978-1510717343. 288p.

Comments Off on EAT LIKE A GILMORE by Kristi Carlson | Book Reviews, Cookbook, Nonfiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

MAD GENIUS TIPS by Justin Chapple

November 19, 2016

Click to purchase

& the Editors of Food & Wine

Over 90 Expert Hacks and 100 Delicious Recipes

This may be the most useful kitchen book/cookbook you’ll ever read. I am completely enthralled with Justin; I’ve been watching and sharing his videos for years, so I was delighted to see they gave him his own book.

I learned to halve cherry tomatoes and grapes between two plastic container lids, to pit cherries with a wine bottle and a chopstick, and to cut the corn off the cob in my Bundt pan (don’t scoff, try it once and you’ll never do it any other way.) Plus he includes recipes for a variety of terrific dishes, like taking that corn and making Corn-Studded Corn Muffins with Honey Mascarpone Whipped Corn Dip with Chili Oil. Yes, I said that. That same Bundt pan is used to make a terrific Buffalo-Style Roast Chicken with Potatoes.

Use your box grater to DIY Your Bread Crumbs, then make Braised Leeks with Fennel Bread Crumbs. It’s as good as it sounds. Loved the grilled cheese hack where you end up with Stuffed Grilled Cheese just using a fork. Learn to pipe using a Ziploc bag then make Frozen Yogurt Dots with Strawberries and Pistachios.

This book is laid out by kitchen tool, for lack of a better word. But what I love most is that the whole idea here is not to go out and buy a multitude of one-job kitchen tools. Justin uses stuff you already have. The chapters:

Aluminum Foil justin-chapple
Baking Rack
Box Grater
Bundt Pan
Cheesecloth
Cookie Cutters
Floss
Food Processor
Fork+Spoon
Knife
Mason Jar
Microwave
Muffin Pan
Oven
Plastic Baggie
Plastic Lids
Scissors
Sticks+Skewers
Waffle Iron
Wine Bottle

There’s a workable index and lots of great photographs, including many with Justin’s irrepressible smile. I love this book and hope you will, too.

11/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MAD GENIUS TIPS by Justin Chapple. Oxmoor House (November 1, 2016). ISBN 978-0848748425. 256p.

Comments Off on MAD GENIUS TIPS by Justin Chapple | Book Reviews, Cookbook, Food, Nonfiction | Tagged: Italian | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

RULER OF THE NIGHT by David Morrell

November 17, 2016

Click to purchase

Thomas and Emily De Quincey, Book 3

Morrell brings to a conclusion his well researched trilogy featuring Thomas De Quincey, known as the Opium eater, and his daughter Emily. He brought us into the mid-19th century in England, at a time when Russia was at war with England in the Crimea, and the railroad was in the process of transforming the country and bringing it head long into the Industrial Revolution.

De Quincey was one of the first figures to utilize logic and the finding of clues into solving criminal cases. He was a huge consumer of opium, using the intake of laudanum which was used as a painkiller to imbibe it.

The first death aboard a train was about 25 years before the year 1855, which is when this novel is set. We re-meet De Quincey and Emily when they are aboard a train coming out of London, and discover a horrible murder committed in the next compartment to theirs.

The war against Russia is not very popular in England and the first thoughts are that the killing has been done by a Russian agent. The De Quinceys join forces with friends of theirs at Scotland Yard, Detectives Ryan and Becker. Both of these men have learned much about crime solving from Thomas and also each has an open crush on Emily.

Other murders occur in London with the thought the same that they have something to do with the Crimean war.

In solving the cases, David Morrell ties up some past conflicts for De Quincey and in a literary license manner tied to the truth brings the trilogy to a very satisfying ending. Due to the prodigious amount of research into the period and the people living then, the reader experiences the sights, the smells, and the living conditions for both rich and poor.

Well done, a possible prelude to more historical novels with portraits of the people living then.

11/16 Paul Lane

RULER OF THE NIGHT by David Morrell. Mulholland Books (November 15, 2016). ISBN 978-0316307901. 352p.

Kindle

Comments Off on RULER OF THE NIGHT by David Morrell | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE JEKYLL REVELATION by Robert Masello

November 16, 2016

Click to purchase

Robert Masello has the knack of writing books that incorporate both the supernatural with a well researched time and place for the action. The thoughtful combining of these two factors provide the reader with a unique reading experience which will hold him or her captivated by the novel.

Rafael Salazar is an environmental scientist working in the Topanga Canyon in California with a project of classifying the habits of coyotes. While he does expect to find animal poachers in the normal course of his work, he is surprised to find an antique steamer trunk when a rain shortage brings the item to a newly dry area of a lake.

Investigating the contents, Salazar finds an old journal written by the famed author Robert Louis Stevenson and describing events centering in the 1880’s. At that time Stevenson, a sickly man, was a resident at a care center headed by a doctor developing new and radical treatments. Taking some of the treatments described require an acceptance of literary license. For example, pertinent to the story Stevenson is injected with blood taken from a wolf. The doctor also offers him a specially made tonic which somewhat invigorates the famed author.

Readings from the journal are interspersed with Rafael Salazar’s adventures in the Topanga Canyon in present day California. Stevenson moved to London from the care center and met such literary figures as Charles Dickens and Bran Stoker, the creator and author of Dracula. Stoker, during the period he met Stevenson, was the manager of a theater and coincidentally had a dramatization of “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” playing. The book had recently been published, becoming a hit in England. The play featured an actor that achieved an almost miraculous ability to change quickly on stage from Jekyll to Hyde.

During the period when the play was drawing big crowds, the famed serial killer “Jack the Ripper” appeared in London mysteriously murdering several prostitutes, and surgically cutting them up. For a short while the blame fell on the actor playing in Stoker’s theater since Mr Hyde looked like the supposed description of Jack. But, as is known, the ripper was never caught.

Stevenson left England with his wife and family, stopped in California for a short time and than moved to American Samoa with the hope that the climate there would help his illnesses. He passed away leaving the world with a brilliant literary legacy. What his trunk was doing in California is explained and as part of the narration it’s contents help Rafael Salazar move forward in a budding affair with a woman living in the Canyon, and also do away with a drug manufacturing ring based there.

Very well done and certainly another captivating book by Masello.

11/16 Paul Lane

THE JEKYLL REVELATION by Robert Masello. 47North (November 8, 2016). ISBN 978-1503951198. 492p.

Kindle

1 Comment | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Supernatural | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

WHILE THE DUKE WAS SLEEPING by Sophie Jordan

November 14, 2016

Click to purchase

The Rogue Files, Book 1

One my favorite Christmas movies is “While You Were Sleeping“, Sandra Bullock’s first starring role and if you, too, like that movie, you will like this book. The film:

Lonely transit worker Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) pulls her longtime crush, Peter (Peter Gallagher), from the path of an oncoming train. At the hospital, doctors report that he’s in a coma, and a misplaced comment from Lucy causes Peter’s family to assume that she is his fiancée. When Lucy doesn’t correct them, they take her into their home and confidence. Things get even more complicated when she finds herself falling for Peter’s sheepish brother, Jack.

This book is the same story, only set a couple of hundred years earlier.

Poppy Fairchurch is a salesgirl in a flower shop where the Duke of Autenberry shops nearly every day. He is handsome, kind and generous, and Poppy fancies herself in love with him. He, of course, doesn’t even know she’s alive.

One day after shopping, Poppy sees the Duke throw a punch at another man. The Duke ends up in the road and a horse drawn cart is racing down upon him. Poppy flings herself on the Duke, pushing him to safety. A moment later, the other man in the fight pushes Poppy to safety.

Turns out the men are half brothers and don’t get along. Poppy’s boss insists she accompany the unconscious Duke home, where due to a mis-overhead conversation, the housekeeper thinks they are engaged. The Duke is in a coma, but family is delighted with Poppy somehow, despite the difference in their classes.

Meanwhile Struan, the half-brother, who was raised in Scotland, is intrigued with the shopgirl and can’t quite believe she is engaged to the Duke. The Duke’s best friend knows it isn’t true, but he peruades Poppy to allow the family to think they are engaged.

Poppy and Struan are both fighting an intense physical attraction but none too successfully, and there are a few steamy scenes there.

The happy ending is eventually reached, and Poppy and Struan realize they fell in love while the Duke was sleeping.

11/16 Stacy Alesi AKA the BookBitch™

WHILE THE DUKE WAS SLEEPING by Sophie Jordan. Avon (October 25, 2016). ISBN: 978-0062222541. 384p.

Kindle

Comments Off on WHILE THE DUKE WAS SLEEPING by Sophie Jordan | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Historical | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

A WEDDING FOR CHRISTMAS by Lori Wilde

November 13, 2016

Click to purchase

A Twilight, Texas Novel

Although there are several Twilight, Texas novels, this is really the sequel to last year’s I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. That story was a takeoff on the film, The Holiday, where Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet trade homes over the Christmas holiday. In the book, Kate and Gabi trade homes, and Gabi falls in love with Kate’s brother.

This book starts off with Kate’s adventure in Los Angeles while staying at Gabi’s home. She goes to a club where she runs into her first high school crush, Ryder Southerland. He is security at the club and tackles her, mistaking her for a stalker. They end up spending the night together having mind blowing sex, but Kate slips out in the morning and heads home.

The story then picks up a year later. Gabi and Joe’s wedding is taking place on Christmas Eve and Kate is the maid of honor. Ryder is the best man and it is his first time back in Twilight in over a decade. He comes home a few weeks early after he finds out the stepmother who hated him has died. His father is in the hospital and Kate is hired to clear out the house before he comes home. There were major hoarding issues going on there.

Kate and Ryder meet up and the sparks fly, but Kate is afraid of a relationship because of Ryder’s commitment issues. Ryder has feelings for Kate, but is afraid to take the next step. Meanwhile the housecleaning goes on, as do the pre-wedding parties and Ryder and Kate are constantly thrown together.

They end up back in bed again but Kate is treating him like an embarrassment. Eventually Gabi and Joe point out that everyone knows what’s going on and they come out of hiding. A pregnancy scare moves things forward but there is no easy path to the happy ending.

Another fun, sexy read in Twilight, Texas.

11/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

A WEDDING FOR CHRISTMAS by Lori Wilde. Avon (October 25, 2016). ISBN 978-0062311450. 384p.

Comments Off on A WEDDING FOR CHRISTMAS by Lori Wilde | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Christmas, Holiday | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

John Grisham on his literary influences

November 12, 2016

In high school, author John Grisham (THE WHISTLER) was assigned a book by Steinbeck, who he appreciated for the clarity of his writing. Later, John le Carré’s THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL became an important influence.

THE WHISTLER

From John Grisham, America’s #1 bestselling author, comes the most electrifying novel of the year, a high-stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State.

Click to purchase

We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice.

But what happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe? It’s rare, but it happens.

Lacy Stoltz is an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. She is a lawyer, not a cop, and it is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. After nine years with the Board, she knows that most problems are caused by incompetence, not corruption.

But a corruption case eventually crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer is back in business with a new identity. He now goes by the name Greg Myers, and he claims to know of a Florida judge who has stolen more money than all other crooked judges combined. And not just crooked judges in Florida. All judges, from all states, and throughout U.S. history.

What’s the source of the ill-gotten gains? It seems the judge was secretly involved with the construction of a large casino on Native American land. The Coast Mafia financed the casino and is now helping itself to a sizable skim of each month’s cash. The judge is getting a cut and looking the other way. It’s a sweet deal: Everyone is making money.

But now Greg wants to put a stop to it. His only client is a person who knows the truth and wants to blow the whistle and collect millions under Florida law. Greg files a complaint with the Board on Judicial Conduct, and the case is assigned to Lacy Stoltz, who immediately suspects that this one could be dangerous.

Dangerous is one thing. Deadly is something else.

THE WHISTLER by John Grisham. Doubleday (October 25, 2016). ISBN: 978-0385541190. 384p.

Comments Off on John Grisham on his literary influences | Crime Fiction, Ramblings | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE MAN WHO WANTED TO KNOW EVERYTHING by D.A. Mishani

November 11, 2016

Click to purchase

Avraham Avraham Series, Book 3

In this third entry in the Avraham series set in Tel Aviv, the detective investigates his first murder case. The victim is a 60-year-old widow, and Avraham is surprised to see that he knows her.

A neighbor reported seeing a policeman in the building around the same time as the murder, but the higher ups don’t want to hear about that or publicize it in any way. Avraham is also dealing with his girlfriend, who recently moved in with him after moving from Brussels. Avraham struggles with his personal problems and his murder case, especially when his bosses zero in on a suspect he is not convinced did it.

Mazal Bengtson realizes her marriage is in serious trouble, and when her husband tells her he may have hurt someone in a hit and run accident, she realizes there may be more to his story than he’s telling.

The case slowly unfolds and the translation by Todd Hasak-Lowy is occasionally awkward or politically incorrect (“yesterday night”; “Do I look retarded to you?”) and that awkwardness tended to pull me out of the story. Nonetheless, this should appeal to readers who enjoy international police procedurals, books set in Israel, or Liam Shoham novels.

11/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE MAN WHO WANTED TO KNOW EVERYTHING by D.A. Mishani. Harper Paperbacks (November 8, 2016). ISBN 978-0062447906. 304p.

Kindle

Comments Off on THE MAN WHO WANTED TO KNOW EVERYTHING by D.A. Mishani | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: International, Police Procedural | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

CITY ON EDGE by Stefanie Pintoff

November 10, 2016

Click to purchase

Eve Rossi, Book 2

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is at the center of this New York City thriller. A riot breaks out the night before the parade and Police Commissioner Logan Donovan is shot.

Luckily, it’s not as serious as it first appears, until he realizes that during the confusion, his thirteen year old daughter has been kidnapped. Fearing for her life, he turns to the FBI, specifically to Eve Rossi.

Rossi heads Vidocq, a strictly undercover team of ex-cons with specific skills that can be put to good use here. Then another child is kidnapped, one with serious medical issues.

The kidnapper has several demands and Eve and her team scramble to meet them all, but panic ensues when they realize there may be more than just a kidnapping at stake. This appears to be a personal vendetta against the police commissioner, with possibly horrific consequences for the thousands of people lining the streets for the parade.

This is a worthy follow up to the first Eve Rossi thriller, and should appeal to Linda Fairstein or Meg Gardiner readers.

9/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CITY ON EDGE by Stefanie Pintoff. Bantam (November 15, 2016). ISBN 978-0425284452. 400p.

Kindle

Audio CD

Comments Off on CITY ON EDGE by Stefanie Pintoff | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

YUGE! by G. B. Trudeau

November 8, 2016

Click to purchase

30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump

“Doonesbury is one of the most overrated strips out there. Mediocre at best.”

“A third-rate talent trying to get publicity on my back.”

–Donald Trump

Consider yourself warned; if you couldn’t tell from the title, the cover, or the author, Trump supporters may not appreciate this book, or my review.

Garry Trudeau may be prescient. He first ran a “Trump for President” cartoon in 1987. If only it had remained a joke.

“Analysis: Donald Trump talks to voters at a fourth-grade level.” USA Today headline

This book is a compilation of Trump cartoons that started in the 1980’s and continues up to the present day campaign, he ends prior to the first debate – so no Billy Bush, but that’s probably too easy anyway.

yuge-91tqc78rsl

If you are a regular Doonesbury reader, or like me have missed a few over the years, this collection will bring home all the fun Trudeau has had at Trump’s expense over the years. And it couldn’t happen to a more deserving candidate.

yuge-91xs7wfmql