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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

Happy winner!

December 6, 2014

I received the best letter from the lucky winner of the September Bookshelf of books, and I had to share —

Stacy,

My box of books was sitting at our garage door this morning (at 4am) when my husband left for work! I’ve just been sitting, staring at them and hugging them —- this is better than any Christmas I’ve ever had! I’m just so excited, can’t sit still and this will keep me and my husband busy with books for a while……..thank you ever so much and special thanks to all the authors, and International Thriller Writers, Inc.!!!!!!

Heaven, I’m in heaven……….from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!

Bones Never Lie (Kathy Reichs,) The Lost Key (Catherine Coulter & J.T. Ellison,) Robert B. Parker’s Blind Spot Reed Farrell Coleman,) Tokyo Kill (Barry Lancet,) The Sun is God (Adrian Mckinty,) Sabotage Matt cook,) Everyone Lies (A. D. Garrett,) Shattered Secrets (Karen Harper,) Beware Beware (Steph Cha,) No Time to Die (Kira Peikoff ) and Personal (Lee Child)!!!! What a dream!!! When I’m done with them I give them to our library. They’re kind enough to process them for the library users……..

Lynn

I also need to say a big thank you to the International Thriller Writers for making it all possible, and to the generosity of all the authors who choose to participate.

Many years ago when I was a bookseller at Borders (R.I.P) one of the best perks of the job was getting advance reader copies of books – before they went on sale to the public, and for free! I was always thrilled to find the latest book in a series I loved – Harry Potter! Harry Bosch! There’s something about Harry…but I digress.

Way back in 1998 I started my website as a way to keep track of the books I’d read. A publisher contacted me via the website and asked if I’d like to give away their books and I didn’t hesitate for a second. I knew how much I loved getting free books, and couldn’t wait to share with my readers. Then another publisher asked if I would give away their books, and before I knew it, I was giving away hundreds of books each year.

Getting letters like this one from Lynn makes all the work worthwhile. I barely make enough money from the website to break even and that’s fine because I do what I do because I love it.

So Lynn, thanks for writing and enjoy your books!

5 Comments | Ramblings | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE by Paula Daly

December 5, 2014

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Natty spends a lot of time juggling her various responsibilities. With two teenage daughters and a busy hotel to run, it’s a lot for anyone to handle. But Natty has the help of her husband, Sean, and together they make it work. Then their eldest has to be rushed into surgery while on a trip to France. Natty wants to be by her side but worries about how her family and work will handle her being gone.

Fortunately, her longtime friend, Eve, arrives in the nick of time.

Eve offers to stay and help out at home while Natty travels to France. But Natty’s relief is short lived when she returns to discover that Eve and Sean have begun a serious affair. It seems in spite if their friendship, Eve is set to take Natty’s place. But Natty isn’t going to go down without a fight.

Keep Your Friends Close is a really twisted thriller. We’re talking Fatal Attraction meets The Hand That Rocks the Cradle craziness. And it’s completely awesome.

Daly quite disturbingly offers readers a glimpse into Eve’s mind throughout the story. Let me tell you, Eve is one scary and manipulative monster of a character. There’s no question about siding with Natty, but there’s also Sean to consider in the matter. I love how Daly builds the story, leaving the reader not quite sure how to feel about Sean’s actions. It makes Keep Your Friends Close both an intense thriller and an emotional psychological suspense.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE by Paula Daly. Grove Press (August 19, 2014). ISBN: 978-0802123206. 320p.

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

ORDINARY GRACE by William Kent Kruger

December 4, 2014

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Okay, so I’m late to the party. It happens; not often, but it happens. Ordinary Grace is anything but ordinary; in fact it would not be an exaggeration to say it is extraordinary. A New York Times bestseller, School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, and as you probably know (or should know, especially if you follow me on Twitter) winner of the “EBAM” – Edgar, Barry, Anthony & Macavity awards for best novel, plus the Dilys Award and well, you get the idea. I did a little digging and could not find another mystery that had won this many awards. Closest I could find was Val McDermid, A Place of Execution (4 awards) & Dennis Lehane, Mystic River (4 awards) according to The Mystery Bookshelf.

That said, I hadn’t read it so this book had a lot to live up to, and I’m thrilled to say it did and then some. So what’s all the fuss about?

A series of deaths in a small Minnesota town are at the center of this literary mystery, but it is the characters that are at the heart of this novel, and the setting, really another character, is just the icing on the cake.

Our protagonist is 13 year old Frank Drum, who forty years later is telling us about his last summer in 1961 New Breman, Minnesota. The book opens with a friend of Frank’s found dead, and quickly other deaths occur.

Frank’s father is a minister, attending to the flocks of three small area churches. His mother struggles with being a pastor’s wife, and finds solace in music and leading the church choir. His eldest sister Ariel is a brilliant musician with a slight deformity from a harelip surgery who is slated to go to Julliard in the fall. Jake is Frank’s younger brother who suffers from stuttering, and is often tortured as children are about his affliction.

This family deals with death, with God and faith, with community and the long term repercussions of war in this beautifully written, soul searing novel. If I had to sum it up in one word it would be – unforgettable. Don’t miss it.

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ORDINARY GRACE by William Kent Kruger. Atria Books; Reprint edition (March 4, 2014). ISBN 978-1451645859. 336p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Literary, Mystery | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE PERFECT MOTHER by Nina Darnton

December 3, 2014

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Emma Lewis is the perfect daughter; bright, pretty, and she also has a big heart. The Princeton sophomore moves to Spain for a semester abroad and halfway through makes the call home that is every parent’s nightmare; a young man from a prominent Spanish family has been stabbed to death in her apartment, and Emma is the prime suspect.

She concocts a tale in a pathetic attempt to protect her drug dealer boyfriend, and her mother flies in to stand by her daughter, refusing to doubt a word of it. Her father, an attorney, knows she is lying but wants to protect her, and he hires a private detective and attorney to help clear her name.

The story becomes a media frenzy, the stress is playing havoc on her parent’s marriage, and slowly the truth begins to emerge and her mother has to face the fact that Emma is not the same girl who left home. The changing relationships in this devastated family ring true, especially as the mystery is slowly revealed.

If you were glued to Nancy Grace during the Amanda Knox trials, the obvious inspiration for this story, this is the book for you.

12/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE PERFECT MOTHER by Nina Darnton. Plume (November 25, 2014). ISBN 978-0142196731. 240p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Legal, Mystery | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE MERCILESS by Danielle Vega

December 2, 2014

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In spite of the fact that every new town and every new school offers Sofia a new chance to fit in, the constant moving makes it hard to make – and keep – friends. When her mother moves the family to a town literally called “Friend,” though, things start looking up.

On her first day at school, Sofia meets Riley, Grace, and Alexis. The girls are fun and friendly and immediately welcome Sofia into their group as if she’s always been part of it. But Sofia soon learns that the girls – Riley in particular – are overly interested in another classmate. This girl, Brooklyn, used to be their friend. They say though that Brooklyn has changed. That Brooklyn is different. That Brooklyn is evil. With Riley at the helm, the group decides that they must save Brooklyn from her sins and Sofia is forced to make a horrible decision.

The Merciless is disturbing on so many levels. First, Sofia’s desire to fit in leaves her in quite an unfortunate position. She’s easily manipulated and follows Riley’s lead from the start. Second, the book begins by making the reader believe one thing when by the end we discover something quite different is going on: it’s all horrific, but the twist takes the book to a whole different level.

I did find that the story jumped a little too quickly into the action. I wasn’t sure I believed that Sofia would let herself fall so easily into Riley’s plans – or as quickly as she did. Further insight into her character did somewhat prove me wrong but a bit more focus on the character development earlier in the story would have been much more effective, in my opinion. All in all it left me on the fence about the book. On the one hand it reminded me a lot of the 90s horror I grew up on, so there was a definite nostalgic appeal. On the other hand the plot seemed much more focused on overall shock value than on believable and well-rounded characters.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

THE MERCILESS by Danielle Vega. Razorbill (June 12, 2014). ISBN: 978-1595147226. 336p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

Win the December bookshelf of signed thrillers!

December 1, 2014

December is here! I updated the Win Books page with some fantastic books. As always, there are NY Times bestsellers, favorite series, and debuts.

New addition: Shadow Boys by Harry Hunsicker, the latest in the Jon Cantrell thrillers!

Tess Gerritsen brings back her hugely popular Rizzoli & Isles in Die Again. Charlaine Harris hand picked a team of superb writers to dream up more tales for Sookie Stackhouse in Dead But Not Forgotten. Laura Joh Rowland takes us back to feudal Japan in her latest Sano Ichiro novel, The Iris Fan.

Phillip Margolin stumbled across a haunting photograph in a breakfast eatery in Virginia which inspired his latest, Woman with a Gun. Brad Taylor continues his tremendously exciting Pike Logan series with No Fortunate Son.

Land of Careful Shadows by the award winning author Suzanne Chazin introduces Jimmy Vega, a Latino homicide detective. Reece Hirsch brings us into the secretive world of Big Data in Intrusion. Jeff Markowitz wonders, “did you ever have one of those days,” in his latest, Death and White Diamonds. And Tiffany Snow brings us into an underground British agency in In His Shadow.

I love finding new authors so it is with great pleasure I offer up two smashing debuts, The Monarch by Jack Soren, and How We Fall by Kate Brauning.

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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Posted by Stacy Alesi

FULL MEASURE by T. Jefferson Parker

November 30, 2014

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US Marine Patrick Norris has seen the worst that Afghanistan has to offer–excruciating heat, bitter cold, and death waiting behind every rock as comrades are blown to pieces by bombs and snipers. He returns home not knowing the worst is ahead of him.

The avocado ranch his family has owned for generations in Fallbrook, in the foothills of San Diego, has been destroyed by a massive wildfire and the parents he loves are facing ruin. Patrick’s older brother Ted is drawn into a circle of violent, criminal misfits.

Patrick puts his own plans to become a fishing guide on hold to save the family’s home and falls in love with Iris, a beautiful and unusual woman, when disaster strikes.

A tale of two brothers and overcoming the odds. Maybe Parker’s best and I have to give a shout out to another outstanding Fallbrook mystery writer – Randy Hicks.

11/14 Jack Quick

Another review:

Patrick Norris was a marine serving in Afghanistan amid the killings, bombings chaos of war and the sight of friends killed and maimed. He is discharged, and returns home to a small town in California near the marine base of Camp Pendleton with a dream of opening his own sport fishing business, catering to a clientele that wants some guidance in fishing for game fish.

Much to his surprise and dismay, he discovers that the avocado tree ranch his family has owned and worked for years, located in the foothills of San Diego, has been destroyed by a wildfire. Consequently his parents are facing ruin in the aftermath of the blaze.

Patrick’s brother Ted is living with the family. He is a gentle, trusting person by nature but tormented by dark thoughts. With Patrick back, Ted falls in with a criminal element as a means of proving himself worthy of his brother’s and parent’s love. Patrick puts his own plans on hold in order to help his parents move through the crisis they face and also attempts to get Ted on a path to normalcy and a full life. He meets and falls in love with Iris in the course of his attempts to help both his parents and his brother.

Parker is known for his many crime novels but makes a major departure with Full Measure. He explores the emotions, thoughts and currents experienced by the characters in the book. When Ted makes some major personal blunders, Patrick goes to his aid with a love only a brother has for a sibling getting himself into major problems. This is not a typical Parker novel, delving into a world of emotions and feelings rather than describing a crime taking place. Well done, and hopefully leading to other books by the versatile Parker straying from the mysteries he is famous for.

10/14 Paul Lane

FULL MEASURE by T. Jefferson Parker. St. Martin’s Press (October 7, 2014). ISBN 978-1250052001. 288p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

W IS FOR WASTED by Sue Grafton

November 29, 2014

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Kinsey Millhone Mysteries

When Kinsey Millhone receives a call asking for help in identifying a dead man found with her card in his possession, of course she unhesitatingly steps in to try and help. Kinsey has never met the man in question but offers to do some asking around to see what she can uncover. As she cracks the mystery of his identity, though, things become even more complicated than before.

Meanwhile, it’s been three months since the murder of fellow PI Pete Wolinsky. Kinsey doesn’t know it yet, but she’s about to be dragged into the unsolved case whether she likes it or not.

Twenty-three titles in, Sue Grafton’s series is still one of my all-time favorites. Kinsey is whip smart and completely no nonsense, traits that really do come in handy in this latest.

Without giving too much away, I will say that W forces Kinsey to face more of her growing family issues as well as some past relationship issues. Kinsey’s family story is, of course, a long-running theme of the series. Orphaned at a young age and raised by a spinster aunt, Kinsey never met any of her extended family. And while she did begin discovering various connections in previous books, there are a lot of issues she’s still not faced with regards to her family history. We do finally get the long-awaited return of Dietz in this one, too.

With just three titles to go in the series, I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye. That said, I also can’t wait to see what Kinsey will be up against in X.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

W IS FOR WASTED by Sue Grafton. Berkley; Reprint edition (August 5, 2014). ISBN: 978-0425271575. 448p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

A CERTAIN RETRIBUTION by Michael Lister

November 28, 2014

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Investigative reporter Merrick McKnight is back in this sequel to Thunder Beach, set in his hometown of Wewathitchka, called “Wewa” by the locals, in Northern Florida.

Somehow recovered from losing his wife and son, he runs into Reggie Summers, a beautiful young woman that McKnight had a crush on in high school, but now seems to be lacking in self-esteem. She’s a single mom and thinks herself somehow inadequate and beneath the notice of the reporter whom she admires.

The police department in this small town is corrupt, and McKnight is there investigating when a cop is killed, apparently with his own gun.

This is a gristly tale of cop killers and small town corruption, but also a romance between McKnight and Summers, and to complicate things even further, author Michael Lister makes an appearance as himself; a mystery writer much admired in this small town. This book is advertised as a twentieth anniversary celebration of Lister as a novelist, so there are several nods to twenty years of history here. The setting is atypical for Florida novels and is interesting in of itself, and lots of dialogue helps move the story along.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A CERTAIN RETRIBUTION by Michael Lister. Pulpwood Press (November 28, 2014). ISBN 978-1888146462. 232p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi