Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

SECRETS OF A SCANDALOUS HEIRESS by Theresa Romain

January 10, 2015

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Matchmaker Trilogy (Book 3)

As usual, I’m starting a series at the end, which doesn’t seem to matter much.

The scandalous heiress is Augusta Meredith, a very wealthy young woman, but the money was earned by her parents, not inherited, which doesn’t sit well with the ton. When she goes off to Bath she decides to masquerade as a widow, Mrs. Flowers, because she thinks a widow is held to lower standards of behavior than a single girl, and she’s probably right – to a point.

Josiah Everett, known as Joss, is also looked down on for his dark skin; his grandmother was from Calcutta and married an English soldier. But when Joss and Augusta get together, the pages fly by.

This is a fast, fun read and I enjoyed it.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SECRETS OF A SCANDALOUS HEIRESS by Theresa Romain. Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 6, 2015). ISBN 978-1402284052. 320p.

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A DANGEROUS MAN by Connie Brockway

January 9, 2015

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I’ve been reading more romances than I ever have before, and I find a lot of these authors through a co-worker, Barbara, who orders all the paperbacks for my branch. She has been reading romance for years and often steers me to writers I may not have heard of. That was the case here; I was going on vacation and wanted a couple of paperbacks to take to the beach and this was one that she put in my hands.

Normally, we weed our paperbacks on a regular basis, which means we pull the old books to make room for the new. Except Barbara has some favorites like this one from 1996 that she refuses to pull.

A Dangerous Man starts off slowly. We meet Mercy Coltrane, an American heiress who has come to England to find her brother. She tries to enlist the Earl of Perth, Hart Moreland, in her search. She knew Hart back in Texas when he worked as a hired gunslinger for her father, and even saved her life when she was being held at gunpoint.

Hart is trying to forget his past and see his sisters wed. He doesn’t want the ton to know about his past, and is afraid Mercy will ruin everything. All the British aristocrats are mesmerized by the beautiful, vivacious American, including the Duke who is to marry Hart’s sister.

The book is slow going until a little ways past the middle. Hart is a damaged character and it becomes obvious that Mercy will be able to save him. Once their characters start interacting, the book moves along nicely and then gets pretty hot by the end. There was a lot of wooden characters to get through to reach that point and I’m not sure it was worth it.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A DANGEROUS MAN by Connie Brockway. Berkley (October 1, 2013). ISBN 978-0425253953. 384p.

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THE STRANGE LIBRARY by Haruki Murakami

January 8, 2015

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Translated by Ted Goossen

This is an odd little book. First of all, the designer is Chip Kidd, who regular readers of this blog know I am obsessed with. He has created some of the most iconic book covers around, and this is no exception. In fact, it reminded me a bit of The Cheese Monkeys, a book Chip Kidd wrote and designed.

The Strange Library is a sort of hybrid hardcover/paperback. The cover feels like stiff cardboard rather than paper, and lifts upward, with the bottom part opening downward. The paper is nice and heavy as well.

The text is large, and there are several full page illustrations throughout so this is a very fast read. Kidd explores Murakami’s nightmares beautifully.

The story revolves around a boy who visits the library to research a report. The librarian intimidates him into staying late and studying, with other worldly results in this fantastic story bordering on horror. There are only a few characters; besides the boy and the librarian there is a man in sheep’s clothing and a beautiful young wraith. It’s scary and fun.

This is a book I will happily find room for on my shelves; beautiful, weird and memorable.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE STRANGE LIBRARY by Haruki Murakami. Knopf (December 2, 2014). ISBN 978-0385354301. 96p.

5 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Tagged: Illustrated | Permalink
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THE WICKED DEEDS OF DANIEL MACKENZIE by Jennifer Ashley

January 7, 2015

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Mackenzies Series (Book 6)

This is the sixth book in the series, and my first read from this author. This was an unusual historical for me. It is set in England and France, and the main protagonist, Violet Bastien, is a famous medium, along with her mother.

It turns out her mother has a gift, but Violet has a way with machinery, and machinations. She’s able to produce scary knocking sounds, shadows, eerie lights and so forth, all the better to fool her clients and increase her payments.

Daniel Mackenzie is a wealthy lord and an engineer who is equally fascinated with machinery, and is designing a race car. When he wins at a card game, the loser offers to repay the debt by introducing him to Violet.

Daniel quickly realizes she is a fraud but is completely intrigued with her inventions. In a moment of panic, Violet bashes him in the head and thinks she’s killed him. She dumps his body at the door of a nearby doctor and hightails it to France.

Daniel isn’t dead and he follows her, learning about Violet’s past but falling in love with her smarts and her sense of adventure. This story had an intriguing premise that is never really fulfilled; the history was more interesting than the characters, so I doubt I’ll be reading any more of these.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE WICKED DEEDS OF DANIEL MACKENZIE by Jennifer Ashley. Berkley (October 1, 2013). ISBN 978-0425253953. 384p.

1 Comment | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Historical | Permalink
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THE PIZZA BIBLE by Tony Gemignani

January 6, 2015

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The World’s Favorite Pizza Styles, from Neapolitan, Deep-Dish, Wood-Fired, Sicilian, Calzones and Focaccia to New York, New Haven, Detroit, and more, with Susie Heller & Steve Siegelman, photography by Sara Remington

I am Italian by marriage, and over the years we have gotten pretty serious about pizza, serious enough that my husband built a wood burning pizza oven in the back yard (see picture below.)

The first time I had homemade pizza was at my mother-in-law’s house on Long Island. Growing up in New York, I ate a lot of pizza from pizzerias. It never even occurred to me that this was something you could make at home. Sure, we had English Muffin pizza and maybe some frozen French bread pizza, but real pizza? That we went out for or had delivered.

My mother-in-law made pizza that is now called “Grandma Pizza.” Baked in the oven in a half sheet pan, similar to Sicilian pizza except the crust isn’t prebaked and most unusual, at least for me, the mozzarella went on the bottom and the sauce went on top. It was awe inspiring and delicious. She was kind enough to share that recipe and many others – in fact, my husband taught me to cook using his mother’s recipes.

Backyard pizza oven all fired up

Fast forward many years, and pizza started going what some call gourmet, but really was back to its roots in Naples. The ubiquitous pizza chains are as popular as ever, but so are the Napoletana style pizzerias and lots of mom and pop shops. There are shows on the Food Network and other channels, pizza forums like Forno Bravo, pizza blogs like Worst Pizza here in south Florida.

That said, over the years we have tried lots of different recipes from a variety of sources and cookbooks. So when I heard about this Pizza Bible, I was intrigued, and when I got my hands on the book (thanks, Ten Speed Press!) I knew I found pizza nirvana.

For the beginner to the Professional Pizzaiolo, this book works for everyone. Every conceivable type of pizza is included, as the subtitle informs (I won’t be trying Chicago style pizza, which I consider to be more of a casserole than a pizza) with lots of gorgeous pictures and clear explanations and directions. Nothing is assumed, and this book is geared towards the home kitchen. There is a complete index and a list of online sources to find some of the more esoteric ingredients and equipment, but more commonly found alternatives are usually given.

We decided to try the Napoletana Dough and Sauce. There are instructions for making your own mozzarella cheese, but fresh cheese is very easy to find in my area so I didn’t feel the need to go that far. The dough was a three day affair; in fact, when I first got the book I wanted to try it right away but then realized it would take a bit of planning. All I can say is that it was worth it. It’s not difficult or even time consuming, it’s just that you need to make a poolish (starter) which needs 18 hours to grow, then make the dough, a quick affair using a stand mixer, and that needs refrigeration for 36 hours or more – thus, the planning. The dough was easy to manipulate, and that alone is worth the planning. If you’ve ever worked with store bought pizza dough or frankly, most recipes, the dough can be a bear, wanting to spring back to its original shape or tearing as it is stretched.

On the other hand, the Napoletana Sauce was super easy, basically made from San Marzano canned tomatoes pushed through a food mill and salted. For the first pizza I used the minimal amount of sauce suggested, but preferred a bit more than called for, an easy fix.

If you are using a wood fired oven, or wonder how that works, there are pictures and step by step instructions on building the fire and preparing the oven floor, along with directions on turning the pizza and so forth. This is excellent for the beginner or the curious.

Making pizza is not the easiest thing in the world, but it is worth it. The Napoletana Dough was perfect – the crust was crispy around the edges, chewy through the middle. You could pick up a slice and it held its shape without drooping and dropping sauce or cheese. It baked perfectly in a smidge over two minutes. I think we ate it about that fast, too!

I also made a calzone with ricotta, mozzarella and Romano cheese. Again, the dough was easy to work with. I didn’t overfill it, per instructions, and sealed it much like an empanada. It still popped open in one spot and lost a bit of filling, but it was delicious and pretty, too.

I like that he includes recipes like Two Cool Things to do with Leftover Dough – most useful, and an interesting meatball recipe. He explains why pepperoni is an American invention and how it differs from sausages made in Italy.

I’ll still keep using my mother-in-law’s pizza recipe when the oven in my kitchen is a better option – there’s something quite hellish about standing in front of a 900+ degree oven during a south Florida summer when it is a not-so-breezy 90+ degrees and 100% humidity outside. But I will be trying more recipes from this book. I have to try the Burratina di Margherita, which won the Gold Cup in the Pan Division of the International Tournament of Champions in Lecce, Italy – plus it’s made with burrata, which is the most heavenly cheese on earth. Here’s Tony’s description from page 129:

Burrata is mozzarella that’s formed into a pouch, filled with more mozzarella and cream, and then wrapped in leaves. As it sits, it comes together as a fresh, moist “super mozzarella” that’s insanely rich. In Lecce, they make huge burrata balls, and they treat them like sacred works of art.

In South Florida, I can get slightly smaller than tennis ball size burrata at Whole Foods or Trader Joes and it is a treat.

I’m also excited about the Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza, the Margherita Extra, made with wood oven charred cherry tomatoes instead of sauce, the Insalata AKA salad pizza, one of my faves, and so many more. This is an excellent cookbook, well laid out, easy to use, with recipes that work. Gift this to the pizza lover in your life and hope they invite you over!

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE PIZZA BIBLE by Tony Gemignani. Ten Speed Press (October 28, 2014). ISBN: 978-1607746058. 320p.

3 Comments | Book Reviews, Cookbook, Nonfiction | Permalink
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GAME by Barry Lyga

January 5, 2015

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The Sequel to I Hunt Killers

Things haven’t gotten any easier for Jazz Dent in the wake of his participation in the hunt for the Impressionist. While that killer is safely behind bars, Billy Dent has managed to escape and Jazz is almost certain he holds some responsibility.

But Jazz doesn’t have time to worry about Billy at this point. A new killer is on the move in New York City and the police there have approached Jazz for help. It seems his work in solving Lobo’s Nod’s recent case has gained some attention and has finally made the authorities admit that Jazz’s particular upbringing could be useful in hunting down serial killers.

This second in the Jasper Dent series is an excellent follow up to I Hunt Killers. It picks up just months after the end of its predecessor, immediately addressing all of the questions that one left in its wake. Of course by the end there’s a whole slew of new questions. (And it’s a cliffhanger of an ending if ever there was one.)

This time around Jazz is even more concerned about his potential in following in his dad’s footsteps – in spite of all of his efforts – and that’s thanks mostly to the fact that Billy is once again out on the streets. Jazz is plagued by his father’s voice both figuratively and ultimately literally.

This second installment also brings Jazz’s friends, Howie and Connie, even further into the mix. Howie is stuck in Lobo’s Nod helping with Jazz’s crazy grandmother and meeting his friend’s long lost aunt for the first time. Connie, on the other hand, tries to follow Jazz to NYC and lands in hot water with her parents. Their involvement with Jazz not only leads to their discovering some big news about their friend but also places them both in potentially big danger.

1/15 Becky LeJeune

GAME by Barry Lyga. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (June 17, 2014). ISBN: 978-0316125857. 544p.

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I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga

January 4, 2015

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Jasper “Jazz” Dent wants nothing more than to be an ordinary teen. But that’s kind of impossible when you’re the son of William Cornelius Dent, probably THE most notorious serial killer. From the very start, Billy raised Jazz to think and plan like a killer.

Fortunately for Jazz, Billy was finally caught and has since been serving so many consecutive life sentences that he’ll never see the light of day.

But that doesn’t mean Jazz is free of him. The teen spends much of his time terrified that he might actually be just like his father. So when a killer strikes in Jazz’s tiny hometown of Lobo’s Nod, he makes it his mission to help solve the crime by putting his particular skills and knowledge to work.

Barry Lyga’s Jasper Dent series is like a teen mashup of Dexter and Criminal Minds. Of course unlike Dexter, Jazz isn’t actually a sociopath. At least he hopes not.

It might seem strange to have a teen detective with so much direct access to the police and the crime scene (which is the case with this series) but I think Lyga does a great job setting the story up in a way that is almost believable. Anything that stretches the imagination too far is forgivable in my opinion because I Hunt Killers is just that much of a fun read.

I Hunt Killers should most definitely come with a warning. Anyone who thinks a book about serial killers might be less dark or graphic simply because it’s meant for a teen audience would be very mistaken in this case; I Hunt Killers is quite dark indeed.

1/15 Becky LeJeune

I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (April 2, 2013). ISBN: 978-0316125833. 384p.

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GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham

January 2, 2015

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I used to love John Grisham. The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief were all favorites. I also loved the non-legal books like Playing for Pizza, Calico Joe and A Painted House. But somewhere along the way, I lost patience with the legal thrillers, especially when the main characters, generally well educated lawyers, started doing incredibly stupid stuff. I stopped reading them, tried again with The Litigators because my library patrons raved about it, but again found the main character too stupid to live. I gave up. Then came Gray Mountain.

I heard it may be the first book of a series, and I liked the environmental angle so I picked it up and read it in a day (okay, I was on vacation.) I loved it. Welcome back to my reading circle, Mr. Grisham.

The story revolves around Samantha Kofer, a Columbia Law School grad with a great six-figure job for one of the behemoth law firms on Wall Street. And then there was Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis and all those big law firms started cutting and cutting. Samantha got a good deal – she could take a one year furlough, do some good work pro bono, keep her medical benefits and maybe, just maybe, after the year is up she might get her job back.

The pro bono jobs were going fast; Samantha received nine rejection letters in her first day of applying. Until she heard from the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic in Brady, Virginia, a small town in the Appalachia’s. And so she moved to Virginia, at least temporarily, to work at the all girl clinic.

For the first time, Samantha likes her work and feels useful. She actually gets to help people and they appreciate her help. Until her first black lung case – a huge problem with all the mining in Appalachia. When she finds evidence that the coal company and their lawyers hid evidence, people start dying.

I learned a lot about coal mining today and what the miners go through, none of it good. I really liked these characters and the setting, and the stupidity was left to minor characters, a much welcome change. I would love to read more about Samantha and her life in Brady and hope the rumors about a series come to pass.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham. Doubleday; First Edition edition (October 21, 2014). ISBN 978-0385537148. 384p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Legal | Permalink
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Win the January ’15 bookshelf of signed thrillers!

January 1, 2015

Happy New Year, dear readers! I updated the Win Books page with some fantastic books. As always, there are NY Times bestsellers, favorite series, and a debut.

First up is Cane and Abe, a spellbinding novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author (and one of my favorites!) James Grippando, in which Miami’s top prosecutor becomes a prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance, which may have a chilling connection to the woman he can’t forget.

Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitefield is back in A String of Beads, an addictive, fast-paced thriller about how abandoning the past can sometimes be the hardest thing to do, even when your life—and the life of those you love—depends on it.

Bill Loehfelm is a rising star in crime fiction and Doing the Devil’s Work only ups the ante. Maureen Coughlin is the perfect protagonist: complicated, strong-willed, sympathetic (except when she’s not), and as fully realized in Loehfelm’s extraordinary portrayal as the New Orleans she patrols.

On every police force in the country, there’s a SWAT sniper going about his daily life. Grant Jerkins and Jan Thomas’s Done in One pulls back the curtain on their world. Suspenseful, lightning–quick, and endlessly entertaining, Viking Bay is the pitch-perfect new adventure in the Kay Hamilton series from M.K. Lawson, who also writes the terrific Joe DeMarco series as Mike Lawson.

Patricia Gussin’s latest is After the Fall. In a starred review, Booklist said, “Gussin completes her Laura Nelson series with an action-packed medical thriller…Gussin uses her experience as a surgeon and medical researcher to create a complex, realistic story that will appeal to readers with a taste for thrillers centering on science and politics.”

If you love paranormal cozy mysteries, you won’t want to miss Shadow of Doubt, the first book in the Carol Childs Mystery series by Nancy Cole Silverman. In the Alaskan wilderness, love and danger collide in Buried by Elizabeth Goddard.

Jeanne Matthews “makes fine use of Berlin’s turbulent history and the enduring German fascination with Indian culture,” (Publisher’s Weekly) in her latest Dinah Pelerin mystery, Where the Bones are Buried.

Finally, romance and action come crashing together in Susan Adrian’s debut young adult thriller Tunnel Vision, in which a teenage boy with incredible powers is brought to the attention of the government.

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 group. We put together a list of books including bestsellers and debut authors, 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!

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to the newsletter or follow this blog, you get an extra entry into every contest you enter.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

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Best Books of 2014: Geoffrey R. Hamlin

December 30, 2014

Geoff’s Ten Favorites for 2014

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I thought that this was pretty good year for both great stories and intellectual challenges, so this was not an easy list to put together.

1. Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Gluck: Much to my surprise, the book that moved me the most this year was this slender volume of poetry by Louise Gluck. Calm and reflective, Ms. Gluck’s language is an easy entrée into thoughts about both the deepest and the most transient aspects of life and family.

2. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan: The powerful WWII story of a doctor from Australia who is the commanding officer of a group of Australian prisoners of war. His men are being forced by the Japanese Army to try to build a railroad through the jungle in Burma. It pulls no punches and is not a pretty or romantic story. However, there are many examples of courage and weakness displayed. The doctor, Dorrigo Evans, finds himself forced to be a better man than he had ever dreamed of being in order to set an example for his men. The book looks in depth at why people do great things and why other people engage in acts of what seems to be unspeakable cruelty. It is a powerhouse and was well deserving of the Booker Prize. (By the way, the title comes from a book by Basho, the legendary Japanese poet.)

3. The Burning Room by Michael Connelly: Bosch is back, working on another cold case, a man who finally dies from a bullet fired ten years earlier. It is politically sensitive and becomes even more so when tied to another cold case involving children killed in a fire. Bosch is assigned a new protégé, Lt. Lucia Soto, who turns out to be a survivor of that fire. As the story progresses, Bosch tries to pass along not only what he knows about crime-solving and why murderers must be brought to justice, but also how to avoid the pitfalls of politics and the press. Lt. Soto is an apt student, although every bit as headstrong as Bosch himself. As the twin cases progress, they each gain increasing trust and respect for each other. Hopefully, they will continue to get to work together in the future.

4. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny: Those who know how strongly I feel about Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache stories will appreciate how powerful I thought the first three books were to place them ahead of her latest. The Long Way Home is interesting for a lot of different reasons.To start with, it is not, at least at first, a murder story. It is the story of the usual gang’s search for the husband of Clara Morrow, the artist extraordinaire. Secondly, it does not take place in the wonderfully familiar and comfortable setting of the Village of Three Pines, but rather travels to the no man’s land at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. But most of all, it is different because you can sense Ms. Penny feeling more confident and liberated as an author, willing to take chances and try new things. It will be fascinating to see where her next book goes. I can’t wait.

5. Redeployment by Phil Klay: Klay’s short stories about life as a soldier in Iraq and afterward are based on his personal experiences there. A review of some of the stories titles will let you know how deep and powerful they are going to be – Frago, After Action Report, Bodies, Money as a Weapons System, In Vietnam They Had Whores, Prayer in the Furnace, Psychological Operations, and Unless It’s a Sucking Chest Wound. The grim humor of men at war comes through in the story OIF, which pretty much consists of the acronyms that bureaucracies love. It starts “EOD handled the bombs. SSTP treated the wounds. PRP processed the bodies. The 08’s fired DPICM. The MAW provided the CAS. The 03’s patrolled the MSR’s. Me and PFC handled the money.”

6. In Paradise by Peter Mattheissen: Mattheissen’s last book is one of his best. It is the story of Clements Olin, a professor of twentieth century Slavic literature, with a special interest in survivor texts. Professor Olin, who is himself of Polish extraction joins a group of about a hundred people, from various countries, for a week-long “healing” at a German death camp. The use of these different peoples, including a spiritual leader, Ben Lama, and a cynic named Dr. Anders Stern, illustrates how hard to it is to understand the holocaust and assign responsibility for that. It is thought-provoking, as well as a good story.

7. Cold Storage by John Straley: Straley is one of our finest regional crime fiction writers. It is interesting to see that his cover blurbs come from the likes of James Sallis, Ken Bruen, Gary Snyder, and Sam Alden (graphic novelist). Cold Storage is the name of a small town in Alaska. Clive McCahon returns there after having served seven years in prison for drug offenses. He rebuilds an old town gathering place which he calls the Love Nest and serves beer and plays music on records during the week and delivers a sermon on Sunday. All of the town characters are in fact characters. When a Tlingit Indian named Lester is asked if everybody in town is a comedian, he responds, “No, actually most of the people in this town are drunks or depressives, but we have our funny moments.”

8. Soul of the Fire by Elliot Pattison: This is the seventh in a series of novels about a Chinese official, Shan Tao Yun, who was exiled to and imprisoned in Tibet for alleged political crimes. He was able to survive his imprisonment by embracing the instruction he received from other prisoners in the Tibetan religious practices and traditional way of life. Now he uses those beliefs and practices to ameliorate the evils being perpetrated by the Chinese rulers of Tibet. What these books are really about is the way in which the Chinese are seeking to extinguish everything that characterized the Tibetans. In addition to being an entertaining and different story, the serious message of these books is an important reminder that awful things are still being done in many parts of the world.

9. The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch: The latest in Finch’s Charles Lenox Victorian era mysteries has Lenox starting a private detective agency after resigning his seat in Parliament. At first, he is frustrated because bad press has prevented him from bringing in his share of the business. However, when the Scotland Yard detective who was allegedly the source of the bad press is killed, Scotland Yard again requests his help. I enjoy these books not only because they are good stories, but also because they always have some interesting tidbit of English history or etymology. For example, I now know where the name Charing Cross comes from.

10. The Elephant Man by Vicki Croke: The story of an Englishman who humanized the treatment of elephants in the lumber camps of Burma and so was able to put together a formidable and useful force of elephants to assist the British in their defense and retreats during WWII.

I should note that I have not had the time to read Marilynne Robinson’s new book, Lila, which I suspect would have made this list. I would also like to mention Solo, by Rana Dasgupta, the story of a 100 year old man in Sofia, Bulgaria, looking back on his life. It was the best book I read this year that was published before 2014.

2 Comments | Best Books of the Year | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi