THE THREE by Sarah Lotz

December 21, 2014

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Four flights – all originating from different countries and each one from a different airline – crash on the same day, stirring up a whirlwind of controversy. But it’s not just the crashes themselves that have people talking. The crashes are the sort no one walks away from, and yet three of the flights have one survivor each. These survivors – all of them young children – and an odd phone message left by one of the dying passengers have spurred movements claiming everything from aliens to Armageddon. Are these children really harbingers of some biblical apocalypse or are they to become the victims of mass hysteria?

The Three is told in a very atypical way. It’s set up as being a book written in the immediate aftermath of the crash. The writer, Elspeth Martins, interviews the family members, airline officials, religious personalities… anyone and everyone with something to say about the crashes and the surviving children. Those interviews, correspondence, recordings, and even emails and online chats are The Three.

The Three is a quite disturbing read. It begins ominously and becomes more so as the book progresses. There is a definite supernatural aspect but that takes a serious backseat for most of the book. It is horror but not in the gore and monsters sense. It’s the human kind of horror. The way people react to the magnificent. The way people turn miracles into monstrosities. The way people handle the things they simply can’t understand.

12/14 Becky LeJeune

THE THREE by Sarah Lotz. Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (May 20, 2014). ISBN: 978-0316242905. 480p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon

December 20, 2014

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Narrated by Davina Porter

Many years ago, in a bookstore that is now just a footnote in history, a co-worker who became one of my closest friends insisted I read Outlander. It was shelved in Romance, I didn’t read romance and I resisted – but like any good bookseller, and any good friend, she wore me down and I capitulated. That book was almost 700 pages and I tore through it in a weekend, I literally could not put it down. I remember perching it on my kitchen counter while I made (burned?) dinner. But that was a long time ago, the 1990’s, so why am I writing about it now?

Well, like millions of other Outlander fans, I waited with hope and a tiny bit of cynicism for the Starz network series based on that book – and I fell in love with it all over again. And lest you think this is some woman’s thing, I have to tell you my husband has been listening to the audio version of this series and also loves it, and the TV series as well. Starz did an amazing job, from the casting to the location to the costumes to following the story Diana Gabaldon gifted us with while adding to it with stunning scenery and fantastic acting. Alas, this is not a review of the TV series (but watch it, people! You can watch the first episode for free)

My friend who had insisted I read Outlander also suggested the audio books. My first thought was I had read them already, why would I listen to books I had already read? Then my husband started listening and told me how fantastic the reader, Davina Porter, was. Then came the TV series and I decided that listening to the book would be a nice way to pass the time until the series picked up again. And I am ever so glad I did.

There are eight books in the series, and here they are in order:

1. Outlander
2. Dragonfly in Amber
3. Voyager
4. The Drums of Autumn
5. The Fiery Cross
6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes
7. An Echo in the Bone
8. Written in My Own Heart’s Blood

That 700 page first book in the series is also the shortest, so it has been many years and thousands of pages since I read Outlander. Listening to the fabulous Davina Porter brought it all back plus so much more, all those fascinating little details I had forgotten. It took me quite a while to read all 33+ hours; I have only a 10 minute commute to work, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Outlander is one of those stories that is really hard to pin down. As I said, my bookstore had it in romance, other bookstores shelve it in science fiction/fantasy or just fiction. The basic premise is that our heroine Claire is a World War II nurse in England at the end of the war. She is married to Frank Randall, and they are rekindling their relationship after a long separation due to the war with a trip to Scotland. Claire visits a display of stones, rather like Stonehenge, but when she touches the stones, she finds herself back in 18th century Scotland. There she meets a long distant relative of her husband’s, the villainous Black Jack Randall, and she is forced into marrying a Scot, Jamie Fraser, who keeps her out of Randall’s clutches and probably jail. These are wild times in Scotland, just preceding the Jacobite rebellion, and Gabaldon does her homework. Claire and Jamie have incredible chemistry and their adventures keep the pages flying by.

Outlander was Gabaldon’s first novel. She was a college professor, a scientist and a researcher so when she decided to write fiction, she thought it would be easier to research it then to just make it up, and her attention to detail is astounding and completely fascinating. Gabaldon put serious thought into the time period – she saw an episode of Dr. Who where the good doctor ends up in Scotland and she decided that men in kilts were the way to go. As for Claire, she needed a protagonist who could easily adapt to the hardships of that earlier time period, so she created this nurse who had been through severe deprivation during the war, not to mention was battlefield ready, and her characters were born.

Outlander is a real love letter to Scotland – both the book and the TV series. I am now listening to Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in the series, which is even longer. I’ve taken to listening while I cook, which is much safer than trying to read!

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon. Recorded Books. Audible.com Release Date: July 13, 2006. ASIN: B000GW8NVA. Listening Length: 33 hours and 8 minutes

Trade Paperback: Bantam; Mti edition (July 1, 2014). ISBN: 978-0553393705. 672p.

Note: I really don’t recommend the mass market paperbacks of these books, they are so unwieldy and I find them difficult to read, the books are just too big. And don’t forget you can get them at your local library!

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES, ed. Otto Penzler

December 15, 2014

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If I lived up north, I’d keep this book for those days that I was snowed in. Since I’m in Florida, I would keep it with my hurricane supplies except hurricane season just ended and I couldn’t wait until June to read this. It is a big door stopper of a book, close to a thousand pages, and very much worth the time it takes to read it all.

I fell in love with locked-room mysteries when I was a kid and tearing my way through Agatha Christie – And Then There Were None is a splendid example.  It reawakened when I read Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, and then again in college when I took a class on Noir/Hard-Boiled Fiction. We started with classics like The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, probably the earliest locked-room mystery, published in 1868, then to short stories in Black Mask magazine, and moved forward only to about the 1960s, where my professor believe noir to have ended. I tried hard to abuse him of that notion, and perhaps made some headway with books from publishers like Akashic Books and their series of city noir (Baltimore Noir, Brooklyn Noir, Tel Aviv Noir, etc.,) Bleak House Books, and of course, Hard Case Crime.

If you’re a fan of locked-room mysteries, do yourself a favor and pick up this tome. Included are such gems are Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” G.K. Chesterton, “The Invisible Man,” Dashiell Hammett, “Mike, Alec and Rufus” (“Tom, Dick, Or Harry,”) Stephen Barr, “The Locked Room to End Locked Rooms,” Bill Pronzini, “Where Have You Gone, Sam Spade?,” Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Bird in the Hand,” Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Poisoned Dow ’08” and many, many more.

This is an exceptional collection that Penzler has pulled together, and I highly recommend it to mystery fans.

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES, ed. Otto Penzler. Vintage (October 28, 2014). ISBN 978-0307743961. 960p.

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BAKING CHEZ MOI by Dorie Greenspan

December 14, 2014

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Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere

I have had the pleasure of baking from this fabulous cookbook for the past few months, and it is one of the best baking cookbooks I’ve used. Don’t let the French factor scare you – these are not recipes of homemade puff pastry, because, as Dorie explains, the French buy those complicated confections at the bakery. These are the recipes that she had to pry out of her French friends, who all proclaimed that she wouldn’t want them because they are too simple. And many of them are very simple, a half dozen ingredients or less, sometimes without even measuring (gasp!)

At first glance, the recipes look very complicated because they are so long. But do not be fooled; Dorie has tested and re-tested these recipes and walks you through, step by step, pointing out the pitfalls and telltale signs of smell, sight and taste that make each recipe easy for even a beginning baker.

One of my favorites was the Vanilla-Bean Sablés, a delicate and delicious cookie. She offers recipes that can be made in advance yet are complete showstoppers, like the Marquise au Chocolat, a frozen chocolate mousse that can be stored in the freezer for up to a month. The Custardy Apple Squares were a big hit with the fruit lovers in my family, and a nice change from apple pie or apple cake that I usually make and super easy, made with ingredients I had on hand.

One of the more complicated recipes, running four pages long, is for a Gingerbread Bûche de Noël, a rolled log filled with praline cream and covered with a snowy frosting and made to look like an actual snow covered log that you might stumble across in the forest (but not in Florida!) I might attempt this during my upcoming holiday vacation. But that is the exception rather than the rule.

If you are not familiar with Dorie Greenspan, she has written many cookbooks, and is considered one of the foremost cookbook writers, especially in the baking world. She has worked with the icon herself, Julia Child, on Baking with Julia. She lives in New York, Connecticut and Paris, so comes by these recipes honestly, from her Parisian friends.

This is a beautiful book with tons of color illustrations, which I always find helpful. If you are looking for a new baking cookbook for yourself, or perhaps a gift for someone who yearns to bake but is afraid, or even your most experienced baking friend, look no further. Baking Chez Moi is a winner.

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BAKING CHEZ MOI by Dorie Greenspan. Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 28, 2014). ISBN 978-0547724249. 496p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE VAULT by Emily McKay

December 13, 2014

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In the aftermath of the events at El Corazon, Carter and Mel are faced with the possibility of losing Lily altogether. Because Mel has already been turned, they know that Lily carries the same gene. The progression of the Tick virus has been slowed temporarily thanks to the medical team at El Corazon, but Carter knows the only way to save her is to find the cure. And the only way Carter and Mel can get the cure is to work hand in hand with the very people who betrayed them.

This third installment in McKay’s series begins right where The Lair left off. And though it would seem that things are improving for the trio, what with the assassination of Roberto and all, they’re facing just as much danger as ever.

Carter, Lily, and Mel – and even Sebastian – have come so far in this trilogy. With each new book, McKay continues to grow these characters, pitting them against the reality that is their new world. They are emotional wrecks (as one would expect) – vulnerable and confused but also strong and determined. In other words, they feel real in every way!

The Vault is an excellent follow up and – though I’m sad to say goodbye – a really great end to the series.

12/14 Becky LeJeune

THE VAULT by Emily McKay. Berkley Trade (December 2, 2014). ISBN: 978-0425275887. 384p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE LAIR by Emily McKay

December 12, 2014

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Ever since escaping the Farm and surviving the events that followed, Carter has been especially careful in protecting Lily. And it could be to the detriment of the rest of the survivors at Base Camp. So when Lily’s pregnant friend McKenna decides to head to Canada, Carter supports Lily’s wish to travel with her.

The plan is that McKenna, Lily, and Ely – one of Carter’s most trusted men – will head to the border in search of safety. If, as rumored, Canada somehow escaped the outbreak that plagues the United States, Ely is to leave McKenna and Lily and return to Base Camp for the rest of the survivors. But, of course, things don’t go according to plan at all.

Meanwhile, Mel has been living alongside Sebastian, learning to control her insatiable hunger and hone her skills as a new vampire. When she learns that Lily is in trouble, though, Mel is unable to resist the call to save her sister.

This follow up to The Farm is definitely not a sophomore slump read. Nope, McKay deftly weaves a second story that keeps up the momentum set by its predecessor all the while managing to move the plot along significantly and satisfyingly. There were also a few twists that I did not see coming!

12/14 Becky LeJeune

THE LAIR by Emily McKay. Berkley Trade (November 5, 2013). ISBN: 978-0425264126. 432p.

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THE FARM by Emily McKay

December 11, 2014

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Life for Lily and her twin sister, Mel, has irrevocably changed. A viral outbreak has left much of the country’s population infected, mutated into creatures driven by bloodlust. They call them Ticks. And nothing is as tasty to a Tick as the hormonal blood of teens. The so-called solution was the creation of the Farms – facilities built to house and protect the nation’s teenage population. But Lily knows this is far from the truth. Instead of protecting the kids, the Farms collect and dole out their blood as food for the Ticks.

At least within the walls of the Farm there’s some semblance of protection, though. The biggest fear is what happens when you turn eighteen. No one is sure and Lily isn’t going to wait around to find out. Lily has a plan to get her and her sister out of the Farm, but the arrival of an acquaintance from Before throws a wrench in her plan before she can even begin.

Carter says he can help. He says he’s been on the outside. But Carter is hiding something and Lily isn’t sure that she can trust him.

The Farm is fabulous! McKay wonderfully builds a post outbreak end of the world scenario – with vampires that don’t sparkle. Seriously, these are brutal and violent beasts and McKay doesn’t shy away from making that undeniably clear.

The world building alone is quite admirable. There’s a believable explanation behind the virus and its consequences. The Farms, the Before, and the outside world are all vividly clear as is the atmosphere of fear and ruthlessness that Lily lives in. But what’s best about this book is Mel. Mel is autistic and McKay really does a phenomenal job giving voice to her character. She’s one of the most unique narrators I’ve ever read.

The Farm is the first in this dark teen series. Books two and three, The Lair and The Vault, are both out now as well.

12/14 Becky LeJeune

THE FARM by Emily McKay. Berkley Trade (December 4, 2012). ISBN: 978-0425257807. 432p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

ASYLUM CITY by Liad Shoham

December 10, 2014

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Tel Aviv police officer Anat Nachmias gets her first murder case when a young woman is found dead in her apartment. The victim is Michal Poleg, who worked helping African refugees settle into Israel.

One of the refugees she helped was Gabriel, who had emigrated along with his sister, but she was kidnapped, and he doesn’t even know if she’s alive. Then Gabriel comes forward and confesses that he killed Michal, but his story doesn’t jive with the evidence.

Nachmias’s bosses just want the case closed, and she angers her co-workers and superiors when she continues to investigate. Michal’s boss, Itai, also doesn’t believe Gabriel and he works with Nachmias to try to figure out who really killed Michal and why Gabriel is taking the fall.

This in depth look at the immigration crisis in Tel Aviv somewhat mirrors the problems, both political and real, in the U.S., and adds some complexity to this thriller. A strong sense of foreboding runs throughout the book and makes this a real page-turner.

Shoham is one of the bestselling thriller writers in Israel, and this is his second book, after the excellent Line Up, that has been published in the U.S.

Copyright ©2014 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ASYLUM CITY by Liad Shoham. Harper (December 9, 2014). ISBN 978-0062237538. 352p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

FIVE by Ursula Archer

December 9, 2014

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Austrian detective Beatrice Kaspary lands an unusual case of grisly geocaching in this combination police procedural and fast paced thriller.

A woman’s body is found with geographic coordinates tattooed on the soles of her feet, leading Kaspary and her partner Florin on an unusual chase. Following the GPS leads them to a box containing a body part and a puzzle, which they must solve to find the next cache.

Luckily, one of their coworkers is familiar with geocaching and is able to explain it all, so readers unfamiliar with the usually tame hobby will understand it too.

There are red herrings galore while the body count keeps climbing in this deadly treasure hunt, causing the overworked detectives to feel even more pressure to solve it fast.

The stereotypical police detective Kaspary is divorced and married to the job, and has to deal with a difficult and demanding ex and the constant juggling of her kids and her job. Her relationship with Florin hints at a possible romance down the road and adds another level of interest to the story. Sure to appeal to Stieg Larsson fans.

Copyright ©2014 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

Five by Ursula Archer. Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (December 9, 2014). ISBN 978-1250037411. 336p.

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BARGAIN SHOPPING IN PALM BEACH & BROWARD COUNTIES by Paulette Cooper Noble

December 8, 2014

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200+ Consignment & Thrift Shops

200+ Consignment, Thrift & Vintage Shops for Women’s, Men’s & Children’s Resale Clothes, Accessories, Jewelry, Antiques & Collectibles, Furniture, Estates, Outlets & more in Boca Raton, Deerfield, Delray, Jupiter, Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, Tequesta, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park & Wilton Manors and more!

Noble has been writing and publishing these guides for years now and this is the latest update. She does her homework, her sources are impeccable, as is her reasoning and ratings.

Consignment, thrift & vintage shop clothing for women, men and children’s clothes, accessories, jewelry, etc. are included, as are shops that specialize in furniture, antiques and home furnishings. It is a pretty extensive list, and although not every thrift shop in both counties is listed, I found several I didn’t know about and several that I did.

For review purposes, I zeroed in on the shops that I was most familiar with in order to see if Noble’s assessments mirrored my own, and for the most part, they did. Lucky for us, she avoids many of the stores that I tend to avoid, the stores that have mostly junk and the stores that I find overpriced, making this book extremely useful.

If you are a bargain shopper and are planning on visiting the Palm Beach or Broward County areas – West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, or anywhere in between, this is the book you will want to take with you. And if you live here, you should probably buy a copy to keep for yourself and loan out to your guests.

Here’s a great idea – buy the ebook version and keep it on your smart phone for instant browsing while you’re out and about!

12/14  Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

 

BARGAIN SHOPPING IN PALM BEACH & BROWARD COUNTIES by Paulette Cooper Noble. Polo Publishing of Palm Beach (September 12, 2014). ISBN 978-0991401321. 152p.

 

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

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