Book Reviews | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

I KNOW AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A DREIDEL by Caryn Yacowitz

November 10, 2014

Click to purchase

Illustrated by David Slonim

Let’s be honest here; as holidays go, Christmas has December covered. Sure, there’s New Years, and we may celebrate it on the eve of December 31st, but the legal holiday falls on the day, January 1.

Then there’s Kwanza and Chanukah. I don’t know a whole lot about Kwanza other than it is a fairly recent holiday. On the other hand, I grew up with Chanukah and still celebrate, so I’m much more familiar with that holiday. So I feel confident when I tell you that books on the holiday, children’s books in particular, are few and far between.

So when I heard about this Dreidel book, I was intrigued. Yes, my kids are beyond the age for picture books, but I’m not and I was delighted to get my hands on this one.

I don’t review many children’s books, but I make a few exceptions. Probably the last children’s book I reviewed was also a Chanukah book, Chanukah Lights, a beautiful pop up art book by Michael Rosen and incomparable Robert Sabuda. Frankly, the Dreidel book is not in that league, but nonetheless it is a fun read and sure to be enjoyed by any family celebrating Chanukah.

The book is based on the children’s classic, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and there are probably dozens of variations and illustrations of that book. But an old lady who swallows a dreidell, well, that is something special!

If you are looking for a Chanukah gift for your favorite child, please consider adding this lovely and fun book to your shopping list. Your recipient will be sure to thank you, in between peals of laughter.

By the way, this year we light the first candle on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at sunset.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

I KNOW AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A DREIDEL by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by David Slonim. Arthur A. Levine Books (August 26, 2014). ISBN 978-0439915304. 32p.

Comments Off on I KNOW AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A DREIDEL by Caryn Yacowitz | Book Reviews | Tagged: Children's, Holiday | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter

November 6, 2014

Click to purchase

This book is set in Atlanta in 1974. I lived in Atlanta 1964-1968, and as much as I love the city I think Karin Slaughter has fairly accurately portrayed the city as it was at this time.

It was no longer “permissible” to hate Negros , so gays became the new hate target. Changes in the power structure were cataclysmic as black voters gained the majority after the exodus of many whites from the inner city, and so were the reactions of the remaining not less-powerful forces, like the Atlanta Police Department.

Primarily a story of two families – the Lawson’s with three family members on the force, and widow Kate Murphy, whose Jewish heritage is masked by the Irish last name of her late husband.

The story: As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock the city’s police department, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last. She’s determined to defy her privileged background by making her own way—wearing a badge and carrying a gun. But for a beautiful young woman, life will be anything but easy in the macho world of the Atlanta PD, where even the female cops have little mercy for rookies. It’s also the worst day possible to start given that a beloved cop has been gunned down, his brothers in blue are out for blood, and the city is on the edge of war.

11/14 Jack Quick

COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter. Delacorte Press; First edition, signed by author. edition (June 24, 2014). ISBN 978-0345547491. 416p.

Comments Off on COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

BEWARE THE WILD by Natalie C. Parker

November 5, 2014

Click to purchase

Everyone in Sticks knows to stay away from the swamp. It’s not just the ‘gators and snakes you have to worry about, in this swamp people disappear. Sterling and her brother Phin have been raised to fear it and avoid it at all cost. It was their grandfather after all who helped build the fence that protects the town. But when Phin storms off one morning, heading over the fence and straight into the one place they’ve been told never to go, Sterling fears the worst.

And then someone comes back. Someone – not Phin – climbs back over that fence. That someone is Lenora May, a girl everyone believes is Sterling’s sister. And Sterling is the only one who still recalls Phin was ever part of their lives.

I liked Natalie Parker’s debut, bordering on loved – but not quite. Beware the Wild is a fun premise, but I felt like there should have been more development. The characters were thin and both the small town feel and the overbearing creepiness prevalent in a swamp like this one (can you tell this Louisiana girl is not a fan of swamps?.) were missing.

The Shine, however, was a completely unique aspect to this story and the plot was kind of dark, as a southern gothic should be. In the end, Beware the Wild was entertaining and almost – almost – lived up to its promise.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

BEWARE THE WILD by Natalie C. Parker. HarperTeen (October 21, 2014). ISBN 978-0062241528. 336p.

Comments Off on BEWARE THE WILD by Natalie C. Parker | Book Reviews, Fiction | Tagged: Young Adult | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE BURNING ROOM by Michael Connelly

November 4, 2014

Click to purchase

This is the latest Harry Bosch novel, and it is another excellent addition to the series and frankly, I’m running out of superlatives to describe Connelly’s work.

Harry is still working with cold cases, but has a new partner, Lucy, a young Latina woman who has distinguished herself early in her career. Being Harry, he has his doubts about her but is willing to give her a chance.

They are assigned a rather unusual case; a mariachi player had been shot ten years earlier and incapacitated, and the shooter was never found. The man has just died and with the bullet finally extracted, the case has new information available.

Harry and Lucy make a good team. He’s got the investigative skills, and she’s got the techie skills and both are zealous about their work. But when it appears local politicians may be involved, things get “hinky,” as Harry would say.

Harry is getting older and is in his last year of the DROP, a forced retirement program that is costing the Los Angeles Police Department a ton of money. He knows that administration is looking at any excuse to cut people from the DROP and save a few bucks, which just adds to the stress of the job. And for me, seeing Harry so close to the end of his career is bittersweet; I can’t imagine the series ending, so I’m hoping it takes a turn in some way. Harry’s always been so scornful of private investigators, but it is always an option I guess, or maybe more of a merge with the Lincoln Lawyer series? Just speculating…

Michael Connelly is the undisputed king of the police procedural, and The Burning Room is a superlative example.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE BURNING ROOM by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company (November 3, 2014). ISBN 978-0316225939. 400p.

Comments Off on THE BURNING ROOM by Michael Connelly | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Police Procedural | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

BED OF NAILS by Antonin Varenne

November 3, 2014

Click to purchase

Translated by Siân Reynolds

Police lieutenant Richard Guérin works suicides in Paris, a thankless job that has led his predecessors down a rocky road, but he thrives on it. Guérin is a cop with scruples, working in a very dirty division. He has to determine whether it was suicide or murder when an oncoming truck kills a smiling young man running naked down a major thoroughfare.

Another strange suicide case lands on his desk when Alan Musgrave, a junkie, supposedly killed himself on stage in a private S&M club. Musgrave’s friend, American John Nichols, is living off the grid in southern France, but is forced to return to Paris to identify the body. Nichols finds the suicide call suspicious, and ends up working with Guérin on the investigation.

As more bizarre suicide cases land on his desk, Guérin puts his extraordinary puzzle solving skills to the test, finding the common thread that confirms his philosophy that “everything is connected.”

There are lots of interesting characters here, including Guérin’s dim-witted assistant, a Parisian park keeper who also happens to be an ex-con, and a beautiful German artist who covers her naked body in paint and flings herself at canvas. Guérin’s foul-mouthed parrot, inherited from his deceased mother, a former prostitute, adds an occasional lighter moment to this dark police procedural, winner of the Prix Quai du Polar crime fiction award in France.

For readers who enjoy Fred Vargas, the same translator does fine work here.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BED OF NAILS by Antonin Varenne. MacLehose Press (November 4, 2014). ISBN 978-1623651251. 256p.

Comments Off on BED OF NAILS by Antonin Varenne | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Police Procedural, Translated | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE UNDYING by Ethan Reid

November 2, 2014

Click to purchase this eBook

Best friends Jeanie and Ben have chosen the wrong time to visit the City of Lights.

They arrive in Paris on New Year’s Eve jet lagged but looking forward to experiencing everything the city has to offer. The following morning, hung over and not quite rested, Jeanie awakens to witness the building across from her window explode in a hailstorm of fire. Another American in their hotel believes they are experiencing a catastrophic world event in the making: fallout from some sort of asteroid or comet impact. He warns the two that this is only the beginning – that they should gather supplies and find a safe place to ride out what will come next.

As they make their way through the city, the friends quickly realize there’s another aspect to this disaster that their acquaintance didn’t mention. Whatever the impact was, it seems to have had an odd effect on the citizens of Paris. The survivors now find that they’re being hunted by creatures that very much resemble the walking dead.

Ethan Reid’s debut is one of the first releases from the new Simon451 imprint. It’s a nice blend of science fiction and horror that pits a heroine still reeling from the loss of her father against an army of zombies and the end of the world. In other words, it’s pretty darn fun.

The Undying does leave a lot of things in the air. What caused the actual event, what happened in South America, what’s next for Jeanie… fortunately the author’s blog does mention additional titles in the works.

Available as an ebook or audiobook only.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

THE UNDYING by Ethan Reid. Simon & Schuster/Simon451 (October 7, 2014). ASIN: B00K3NEEC4. File Size: 1870 KB.

Comments Off on THE UNDYING by Ethan Reid | Book Reviews, Fiction, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL by Lena Dunham

October 31, 2014

Click to purchase

A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”

First of all, I have to talk about the book cover. It is a deliberate nod to the books of the 1970s, particularly feminist books like those from Betty Friedan, Erica Jong, Germaine Greer et al. I found that interesting since the author wasn’t even born then.

And then there’s the book itself. This is a memoir from a woman who, while definitely young, has an explosive career based not on her looks, like a young pop star or supermodel, but on her talent.

If you are not familiar with Lean Dunham, you should be. At the age of 25, she was given her own TV show, Girls, on the prestigious HBO network and she is its creator, producer, writer and star. It probably helped that Judd Apatow fell in love with her independent film, Tiny Furniture, and is also a producer of Girls.

Be that as it may, she is the first woman to win the Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series, has numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and I think it safe to say, has a very bright future ahead of her. So taking this time to look back may seem premature to some, but apparently Dunham had enough to say to fill a book. It also garnered a news worthy $3.5 million advance.

All that said, I didn’t love the book, probably because it’s about a time of life that I simply can’t relate to. Her stories reflect a coming of age at the cusp of the millennium, when I had children already; I mean, my son is older than Dunham. I was shocked and happy to see that she devoured Having it All, the classic book by Helen Gurley Brown, (I doubt my kids even know who she is, sad to say.) The stories definitely have some humor, some emotion, but also a certain standoffishness, as if some of these things happened to someone else entirely and Dunham was on the outside looking in. And some of the stories seemed simply therapeutic.

It was an interesting book and I would recommend it to twenty-something, maybe even thirty-something women but probably not anyone else. And frankly, my 22 year old daughter wouldn’t read it anyway.

Summary? I am a fan and it was nice getting to know Dunham a bit better outside the television milieu. I’m glad I read it.

10/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL by Lena Dunham. Random House (September 30, 2014). ISBN 978-0812994995. 288p.

Comments Off on NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL by Lena Dunham | Book Reviews, Memoir, Nonfiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE FORGOTTEN GIRL by David Bell

October 30, 2014

Click to purchase

When Jason Danvers’s sister shows up in the middle of the night asking for a favor, his immediate impulse is not to get involved. He’d caught glimpses of her around town and convinced himself it couldn’t be her – it’s been five years, after all, and their parting that last time wasn’t under the best of circumstances. But Hayden swears all of that has changed. She has a job, she’s been sober for some time, and now she’s looking to make amends for her past.

All Hayden asks is that Jason and his wife watch her daughter for two days. Should be easy. And Jason hasn’t seen his niece for quite some time, so it would be a nice chance to bond with her. But things quickly go downhill. An old classmate reports seeing Hayden hanging with her old crowd, possibly drinking once again, and then she sends a strange text to her daughter before breaking all contact. Jason wants to give his sister the benefit of the doubt and wait out the two days, but when Hayden doesn’t show up to pick up her daughter it’s clear something has gone very wrong.

David Bell sure knows how to build a suspenseful story. The Forgotten Girl begins with a teen Jason being picked up by the police after a fight with his best friend. Flash forward to present day and we find that said friend left town that very night and hasn’t been seen since. In fact, a classmate has been trying to find him and starts picking Jason’s brain about his whereabouts.

It’s understandable, then, that Jason is feeling a little nostalgic and a little emotional about his past when Hayden appears. And then when Hayden disappears, Jason’s determined not to lose another person from his life.

Bell’s ending unfortunately didn’t quite mesh with the pacing or the tension of the rest of the book. All in all it’s a fine read, but the finish was somewhat underwhelming.

10/14 Becky LeJeune

THE FORGOTTEN GIRL by David Bell. NAL Trade (October 7, 2014). ISBN 978-0451417527. 448p.

Comments Off on THE FORGOTTEN GIRL by David Bell | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

SOMETIMES THE WOLF by Urban Waite

October 29, 2014

Click to purchase

A novel set in the Pacific Northwest beginning with a hunt for a wolf that has been killing and eating sheep and other domestic animals. The hunt fades into the background of the book as ex Sheriff Patrick Drake is released from 12 years of incarceration in prison into the watchful eye of his son Bobby who himself works as a deputy Sheriff. Patrick’s wife had passed away prior to the opening of the story, and while Patrick tried to continue to raise his family he soon fell into major monetary problems. His solution was to hook up with some rather unsavory men and was then convicted of one of the biggest crimes that had occurred in the area.

Patrick moves in with Bobby and Bobby’s wife until he can get “on his feet” His son has his own problems in attempting to build a life with the background guilt of his father’s past haunting him.

Huge problems arise for all when it becomes known that Patrick hid a large quantity of money from the crimes committed before going to jail. Two convicts who were jailed at the same time as Patrick are aware of the hidden money, break out of jail and start hunting the funds. The crimes stemming from their breakout and the pressure to find the money cause a rampage of murder and terror.

Waite’s handling of events in the book is excellent, fast moving and keeping his readers glued to the pages. A must read and one that recommends Waite for the forefront of adventure writers. And of course the problem of the wolf becomes solved in the course of the action and satisfies the desire for a logical ending.

10/14 Paul Lane

SOMETIMES THE WOLF by Urban Waite. William Morrow (October 21, 2014). ISBN: 978-0062216915. 288p.

Comments Off on SOMETIMES THE WOLF by Urban Waite | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE MOCKINGBIRD NEXT DOOR by Marja Mills

October 28, 2014

Click to purchase

Life with Harper Lee

narrated by Amy Lynn Stewart

This is the latest biography of the reclusive author and an interesting look at her life. Marja Mills went to Monroeville, Alabama as had so many journalists before her, but for some reason Alice Lee, Harper’s sister, took a liking to her. Perhaps it was because she wasn’t being pushy. Perhaps it was because Chicago had chosen To Kill a Mockingbird for their one read program, and had sent Marja to get a story. Or perhaps she felt empathy for the lupus-stricken journalist. Whatever the reason, the Lee sisters spent a great deal of time with the author.

So when the book was published and Harper Lee protested, saying they never gave permission, it seemed rather unlikely. Mills claims that Lee had a stroke in 2007, resulting in memory issues, which seems the more believable explanation. Mills rented the house next door to the Lees, with their recommendation to the landlord. Harper’s friends spent lots of time with Mills, while other journalists and would-be biographers were given the cold shoulder. With that said, the book is no gossip fest, but rather a nuanced look at the life of one of America’s most cherished authors.

The sour relationship with Truman Capote is lightly touched upon, as was Harper’s fond regard for Gregory Peck, who played Atticus Finch in the film version, but this is no celebrity tell all, and that is probably a good thing. Lee fiercely guards her privacy, but is no recluse – she lived a full life, dining at local restaurants, feeding the ducks, and enjoying her friends until she had her stroke. She did live in both New York City and Alabama, and this book doesn’t touch on the NY experience much.

The narrator did a fine job differentiating between the various characters, and I especially loved her portrayal of Alice and Harper. Other than the constant gloating about actually spending time with Harper Lee (and really, who can blame her) it was an interesting and illuminating read about one of my favorite authors.

10/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE MOCKINGBIRD NEXT DOOR: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills. Penguin Audio (November 4, 2014). ASIN: B00L83I7B2. Listening Length: 8 hours and 11 minutes

Comments Off on THE MOCKINGBIRD NEXT DOOR by Marja Mills | Book Reviews, Nonfiction | Tagged: Audiobook, biography | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi